I sat up so fast my head spun. I had probably been out long because my stomach was growling with hunger. Better get some food and get back to work. As I approached the door something moved in my peripheral vision, or more like someone.
I followed the train of the dress to a section I hadn't been in yet and when I turned at the corner there was nothing. Great now I was hallucinating too. Just as I turned something huge and heavy fell and was only centimeters close to crushing my foot.
I stared at the old dusty book. Way way way older that any of the books I've seen so far. I picked it up and it weighed more than I expected. I made my way to the table and set it there making dust rise as it practically fell on the table.
Beelzgoetia. It said
I opened it and began to read.
For thousands of years they had ruled the world. Misleading ignorant humans in an effort to get a taste of human flesh. Their origin is not known, and may never be but their legacy will live on. Of the four in grand demons only one of them was able to bear children and he was the most powerful and dangerous. His name was Adramolech. He gave humans power in exchange for the lives of other humans and that is how witches came to be.
He and his siblings became more of a threat when the witches increased in numbers. It was horrible, mothers killing their new Borns and offering them up at alters and eating their flesh; families offering up their children to be used as earthly vessels for demons; forcing children to lay with animals or corpses; fathers molesting their sons and daughters in occult rituals, the list was endless.
To the grand demons it was nothing but entertainment but the children of Adramolech could not take it. They found humans who actually detested the way of living that was now considered normal and they became their tools for war. A different breed of witches.
The war took place in the light of a full blood moon, on that night not only the sky was red but the earth was painted with blood, the nearby streams that once flowed with clear water were now tainted with the blood of the fallen. However the real war was not between the witches but between the grand demons and Adramolech's children.
It was not in the least bit easy for either side, many lives were lost but not in vain. At the end of the war only one remained standing, Adramolech's first born son Asmode.
As thanks for their efforts he granted power to the children of those who fought beside him but could not make it home that is how he earned the title VetsMata Diablo.
He retreated to a sanctuary deep underground that only those ancients would know of and intended to keep himself from humans for all eternity. The last of his kind and locked away, it was a lonely existence.
The witches that had served the demons became eternally extinct as every single one of them was put to death. Their children who were to be sacrificed had hidden away in a forest far from the warzone were discovered and punished. It is said that Lodecia, asmode's twin sister used her death to cast a spell on the children that was completely irreversible. Her spell stripped them of their abhorrent powers and made them slaves to nature as she believed they could be saved. And that is how the three factions of witches came into existence.
I was astonished, I had no idea the witches had such a bloody beginning. I turned the page and discovered it was not translated in English. The rest of the pages were the same. "You'll be able to read it all in due time Morgan, in fact you'll find out quite a number of exciting things from here on out," the woman from before said. Just like the first time her face amazed me. I wondered if I was crazy or this supernatural mambo jambo was starting to latch onto me. She chuckled and the sound was melodious. "I'm very real, i just haven't returned to my true form yet, or should I say we haven't returned to our true form?"
I was confused but when I was about to ask her what she meant my stomach growled again and she urged me to go eat. "Will you teach me- about the supernatural world?" I asked her, "you seem to know an awful lot and for some odd reason I feel like I can trust you and you're the best person to learn from." She eyed me, something twinkling in her eyes. "Of course, but Morgan you cannot tell anyone that you can see me not even your best friend."
There was seriousness in her voice and a bit of urgency so I agreed. "Good then, you can call me Lina."
***
Before I knew it, ten days had passed and today would be that fateful day I dreaded so much. Seven days, with Demetre. Jules and I packed my suitcase while she tried to calm me down as best she could. But I just couldn't. She wasn't the one traveling with a temperamental werewolf.
Lina and I had gotten very close when she was teaching me about the supernatural. She had also mentioned that there was a fifth faction that had just disappeared and no one knew why or where they were. It had been thousands of years and so everyone gradually forgot that they existed in the first place.
I packed a lot of candy, like a lot. It was an addiction and I couldn't exactly talk to my tormentor if my mouth was full could I?
That was the plan; avoid as much conversation as possible because believe it or not it would end up in a fight which would end with my head getting bashed in, not exactly an ideal way to go.
Jules and I found Demetre waiting at the doors with an irritated look on his face. Little Orlando was by his side but only gave me the stink eye. I sighed. After saying goodbye to Jules I walked right passed him. "Let's get this show on the road," I muttered.
The car ride was silent. Well except for the voices of Klaus and Elijah coming from the laptop Jules let me borrow. I could feel his gaze on me and whenever I turned to look he would look away. Weird.
DEMETRE
I didn't know if she wore what she did because she wanted to or if my sister had a hand in this. The fact that I thought she looked gorgeous is what caused my earlier irritation. That dress.... It fit every curve perfectly and left little to the imagination with the amount of lace it had.
It was getting rather hard to control my own thoughts in the car while she was completely sucked into the world of Klaus and Elijah and the whole lot. I didn't watch the show myself but Julie and my mother enjoyed it very much. Her eyes were practically glued to the screen except the times when she'd look at me and I'd be forced to look away.
All of it, the anger, resentment, avoiding her like the black plague and keeping eye contact to a bare minimum as much as possible was because.... I was scared that if I let my guard down those feelings I had so long ago would resurface.
I was afraid that if I looked at those silver eyes long enough, I'd fall all over again and I couldn't betray Alissa. It was wrong. She had been my fated mate, my queen but... I had never loved her. Not truly, it was always the mate bond and we both knew that. She too had someone she had been forced to abandon so I knew exactly how she felt. Our loving marriage was just for the eyes of the public but in reality all we ever were, were friends.
She had sacrificed everything for me and for the sake of our friendship and the respect I had for her, I would not betray her memory. She was my best friend, the only one who knew the real me. I couldn't betray her, no matter what lingering feelings I held for my chosen.
I still remember the day we found each other, the day my father found out when we tried to cover it up, I remember when she ran back head first into battle when she saw her love being attacked. I remember it all like it was yesterday.
Alissa and I were in Orlando's room trying to get him to sleep but he just wouldn't and nothing was working. Just when he started to get tired which was two hours later the door burst open and Ethan, my beta looked frantically at both of us unable to speak.
Orlando started wailing again and I went to him to find out what was the cause of the crazy look in his eyes. "Dean...rogues...a lot of them...headed for the castle," he said and collapsed. That's when I noticed the blood on him. His own and that of the enemy.
The warning bell rang and Orlando's nanny came charging in along with a few warriors behind her. They would protect him with their lives should the rogues enter the castle. Alissa and I ran out as soon as we could and found Reece, the army general devising a plan. They were attacking from all sides.
The battle was bloody but our casuals were kept to a minimum, for now. These rogues seemed different than anything we've ever faced. I could sense Alissa fighting somewhere near me but I couldn't see her. She was the daughter of one of the previous general so she was especially gifted in combat. Her wolf raged, tearing at everything and everyone in it's path. Her brown fur was drenched in blood but she didn't escape unscathed.
A bone chilling howl came from somewhere in front of me and I knew without a doubt that it was one of my own. I rushed to her but I was too late. She dropped everything and ran, and that's when I knew she was running to him. I followed her, taking down as many of the wolves chasing her as I could.
I saw him then and she did too. He tried to fight off as many as he could but he was surrounded. She tried to fight for him, fight for her love. She gave all she could and more protecting him because by now he couldn't even stand. She was enraged. Angrier than I ever thought possible.
He let out a weak howl, struggling and again she froze. I was fighting double the wolves now and saw everything she saw because of our bond. His breathing was labored, his eyes kept rolling to the back of his head and he transformed back to his human form.
She knew as well as I what that meant. She sat down and put her head on his torso. His hand weakly rubbed her fur and he smiled. "I love you, Alissa in life and even in death. If we ever get reincarnated I hope to love you in my next life. Live, Mon amour, live...for the both of us." His hand stopped moving, his chest lowered not rising again and the light left his eyes as his soul left his body.
She howled. It was the most painful thing I or anyone from this pack has ever heard. Everyone rogues and warriors alike felt her pain and stopped for a moment all except one. She willed herself back into her human skin and wailed, and that's when I saw it.
It moved too quickly and tackled her to the ground snapping her neck. It was my turn to be enraged and when I killed that wolf I howled. For my best friend and close friend had been ripped away from me before my eyes.
***
I snapped out of it when I felt something against my face. It was a handkerchief and she was holding it. My hand reached up to my other cheek and I felt wetness. I was crying and didn't even know it. I slapped her hand away and faced the window, but part of me felt better that he cared enough to wiped my tears.