Hekate’s Bride

There is something in my room.

It reeks of rot and death. The usually clear air is thick and murky, like a swamp I’m trying to wade through. Its aura is pressing down on me from all sides and drawing in a single breath is a struggle.

“Princess. . .” It drawls, and I am frozen in place, trapped in a nightmare that refuses to let me go. My heart sprints as a shadowy figure that is darkness incarnate draws closer to me, sucking in all light and life into its impenetrable void.

Evil in its purest and realest form.

I want to run, to flee from this creature that should not exist, but my limbs won’t obey me. I can’t shift.. My muscles are tense and rigid, as if they have been held captive by an invisible force.

Fear has me captive in its cold grip, and it suffocates me.

“You are a long way from home, Princess Astrid. . .” It says, and my blood curdles when I feel its cold breath on my neck. A whimper escaped me when sharp canines brush my neck and a tongue darts out to taste me. Cold sweat breaks on my forehead as I desperately try to move.

But I can’t. My lips part to scream for help, but a cry escapes me instead. Powerless is what I have become before this malevolent being, and I do nothing but stand and tremble as its claws rip into my forearm, drawing blood.

The pain jerks me out of my daze and I lunge forward, hurtling for the door because I know there is no way I can defeat that thing.

My fingers circle around the door knob, but before I can open the door, I am flung back by a force I can’t comprehend. I crash into a wall and sound of bones breaking fill the air.

Stars exploded in my vision and pain has me crying out. I fall to the ground, sobbing and coughing, as the taste of metal and cinnamon fills my mouth. Blood. I think my spine’s broken. It’ll heal, but not before that thing kills me.

Unhurried footsteps approach me and I squint up to find twin pools of darkness peering down at me. Cold. Its eyes are so cold, I shiver.

“What are you? What do you want?” I whisper, voice strained with pain.

Its chapped lips lift into a smile that will forever haunt my dreams. “The Hekate. I have come for you.”

It grabs my ankle, claws shredding my skin and I scream as I am suddenly tossed into an even worse kind of darkness.

***********

I jerk awake, panting and drenched in sweat. I stumble out of my bed in a daze, fumbling for the light switch. Bright light fills the room and I suck in sharp breaths as I look around, searching for a possible remnant of that darkness that had felt so real, but my room looks just as scattered as I had left it before falling asleep by the heap of clothes.

The lock is fine, my windows are shut, nothing’s in my room. It was just a dream. I shiver, hugging myself. I’m fine. Nothing is in my room. Nothing is in here– Pain suddenly lances up my arm and I wince, pulling up the sleeve of my dark nightwear. I start to tremble when I notice claw marks on my forearm. Oh Goddess. No. Please no. I stagger forward, leaning against the wooden frame of my bed as I bring up my ankle to rest atop my kneecap.

The skin around my ankle is red and angry with welts and sharp tears. I slap my hand on my lips to keep from screaming. What is this? I can still feel his breath on my neck, his hands on my skin. I shiver again and start to peel off my newly acquired night dress. I think of a thousand explanations for my dream and the marks of my skin as I do. I come up with nothing.

And as I start to walk to the bathroom, I note something in peripheral that causes me to stop. Darian and I picked up a potted plant last night. It was a beautiful thing that had caught my eyes and refused to let go.

Now, I look at it and there is no life left in it. The cluster of wildflowers and their delicate colorful petals have withered and turned a sickly brown colour. The leaves that were once a vibrant green have lost their luster, drooping and curling in on themselves as if they can no longer bear the weight of the flowers. The petals, once so delicate and colorful, now look as if they have been drained of their life force, clinging to the wilted stems like a desperate cry for help.

It’s stench has the content of my stomach turning to stone. Rot. It smells like rot. **********

Another body was found this morning. A female this time. It isn’t a new intake today. It’s a Star Student. For the colour Green. I believe her name is Ashley.

It’s the same story. She was seen simply walking out the door and into the void beyond.

What has us in a daze is the fact that her body was found not off the grounds of the the school but by the double exit doors. Like it was a ‘fuck you’ message from the Hekate.

A pile of bones and slack rotting skin.

That could have been me.

I miss a step in my sprint and slam into something– someone.

“Sorry,” I say, plucking the weirdly comfortable earbuds from my ears. It is strange, listening to music that is blasting directly into my ears when no one else can hear it. I can barely hear anything else and it makes good for sprints.

“Watch it, wolf.”

I’m really not in the mood for this racist shit today. I turn to find Ginevra sneering down at me. Her eyes are red rimmed. She must have been crying. I hear she and Ashley were best friends.

That doesn’t give her a reason to be a bitch though.

“What is your problem?” I ask her, stepping closer to her. She is naturally taller than me–all lycans are. Her strawberry blonde hair sticks to her sweaty skin and I think it isn’t fair that it makes her look hotter.

Her beautifully defined curving eyebrows furrow and the air of arrogance about her fuels my irritation as she says, “Who do you think you’re speaking to?”

I don’t back down, even if she’s releasing enough aura to have my legs shaking. The occupants of the hall have begun to notice the tension between us and they are watching, even if they are pretending to be focused on their routines. “I already apologized to you. Don’t bitch on me for no reason. You have a problem with me, just say so.”

Her light blue eyes darken and in the blink of an eye, dark veins appear on either side of her cheeks, spreading slightly. “Repeat that again and you’ll lose your pretty teeth. I’m sure you pups have little use for it anyway.”

I am startled by the sudden shift, but I am angrier. Perhaps this is the wrong time, but my mother’s words suddenly ring in my head, overriding the fear in my head. She’ll keep insulting me and treating me like dirt if I do not make a name for myself.

“Just try,” I hiss, eyes darting left and right, in search of exit doors and I can run toward in case she gets it into her head to skewer me.

She lunges for me, faster than I can follow and I have only enough time to escape getting sliced across my cheek. Stunned, I stumble backward, panting. “What are you? Insane?!”

“Take your stance,” she says, shifting into an offensive pose.

Take my stance? What does that even mean?

A crowd has started to form around us and rather than speak sense into her, they are taking pictures. Excited shouts begin to rise in the hall and everyone starts to talk at once, crowding me and Ginevra into a circle.

“Fifty thousand bet points on five minutes!”

“Star Gin!” They start to chant.

“Shit. The stats are rising! Are you seeing this? A hundred thousand!”

The sound of notification chimes fill the air. It comes from my phone too. Curiousity piqued, I pull up my phone and watch as messages flood the screen.

I tap on one of them and it takes me to a page. It’s a little hard to understand what’s written on the page. There are a lot of numbers and comments keep popping up and going under.

It takes a moment to understand what I’m looking at and when I finally understand it, my jaw slackens. It’s a bet poll with different time slots alloted to me and Ginevra.

It would seem my little statement, “Just try”, has been misinterpreted. I have unwittingly challenged Ginevra to a duel and the entire school’s betting on how long it’ll take to get my as handed to me.

Great. Just great.