Chapter 8

5 Years ago

Marie stared up at the clear blue sky as she laid down on the fresh green grass underneath her. The sun was bright and warm against her skin, the wind was blowing but it was warm and inviting and the person laying against her chest was the same. Marie smiled as her lover began to stir from her nap. Suddenly an umbrella poofed into existence covering both of them from the sun.

Marie frowned a bit, "you know I kind of like the feel of the sun against my skin".

"Well I don't" said the short haired blond grin up at her, "too much sun is bad for you".

"This again?" said Marie smiling, " don't you have a spell to cure skin cancer or something?"

"Um...no", said the blond while closing her eyes, "I don't have a spell for everything, besides who would give themselves skin cancer only to create a spell to get rid of it. I'd rather not, thank you very much".

The two were quiet for a while, seemingly plagued with thoughts of the day that transpired, Marie eventually broke the silence, "hey Naz?"

"Hm?" said Naz, keeping her eyes closed.

Marie paused for a while to collect her thoughts before continuing, "Is this really ok?"

"Is what ok?" asked Naz

"This? What we're doing?" asked Marie, "I mean sure we have the peace treaty with the coven but not everyone is on board with that".

Naz sat up and looked down at the blue-haired woman coyly, "true, it's like that at the coven too. My friends have been giving me a lot of shit over dating a werewolf lately., but I think they're just jealous that I was able to land such a sexy bitch".

Marie rolled her eyes before regarding her seriously, "you're really not worried that the coven or some jerk in my pack might do something stupid and launch the two sides into an all-out war".

Naz shrugged, "well we haven't had that happen since medieval times, even with the rivalry I don't think Bethlehem wants to risk the lives of those in the pack. That's the whole reason for the treaty. If we were to fight now, the casualties on both ends would be ridiculously high". She turns and straddles Marie's lap, "so no, I'm not worried unless something happens to Bethlehem or Jordan, then we're pretty much fucked".

Marie wraps her arms around her lover's thin waist, "you are way too relaxed about this".

"You want to know why?" asked Naz, she then leaned in and gave her girlfriend a gentle kiss. She kissed Marie a bit longer before pulling away and gazing into her eyes, "it's because I really don't care about what happens to our tribes. All I care about is you. Whatever happens, I know we'll be ok".

"You sure about that?" asked Marie, quirking an eyebrow.

"First sign of trouble, I'm getting you the hell out of here", said Naz, she wraps her arms around Marie's neck and plants another kiss on her lips. She pulls away and presses her forehead to her girlfriend's, "we could run off to Nebraska, or Oklahoma or some other place with lots of farmland…"

Marie starts laughing, "oh my god, I am not living on a fucking farm".

Naz sticks out her bottom lip in a mock pout, "oh come on please babe, I've always wanted to live on a farm".

"Where would we get farm animals?" asked Marie.

"Babe, I could literally conjure some for you right now", said Naz jokingly, this caused Marie to laugh. Naz smiles, "I am dead ass seriously, I can conjure a cow for you right now".

"HEY WAKE UP, WE'RE HERE".

Present

Marie was jolted out of her slumber by Sarah's voice. She looked in the direction of the voice but remembered why that would be useless, "oh yeah, still blind". Sitting next to her was May holding her daughter who had also allowed the lulling movement of the vehicle to put her to sleep. The car pulled up to a giant redwood tree, its humongous fat roots seemed to dig into the ground like fingers digging into the sand and its leafy top spread out like the world's largest umbrella. The tree was 12 stories tall and seemed to be climbing towards the sky as if to sweep away the stars.

The sound of movement on her right side caused her to turn towards that direction, "uh, are we sure this is the place?" Both the scent and the voice belonged to May, they had picked up her and her daughter an hour prior and had made a phone call to her husband making sure he was ok and giving him the directions to the coven.

"Well duh, it is our coven", said Sarah opening the door for Marie, she left the door open and made her way towards the tree.

"Oh no, don't bother helping me or anything", said Marie sarcastically, "I'm only BLIND, it's not like I can't see where I'm going".

Jimmy walked around the car to Maries' side and helped her out of the car, "seriously Sarah". His girlfriend didn't answer him, instead, she held her hands out in front of her. The symbol of an arch with a star in the middle of it glowed in her palms. After a few moments, the same symbol appeared on the front of the tree in front of her. Sarah then lowered her hands but the arch with the star remained on the tree, a glowing line separated one half of the star from the other. The magical entrance opened on its own waiting for them to walk through.

Sarah looked over at May who was holding her sleeping daughter in her arms, "you sure Ed knows where we are?"

"You better send a locator spell," said May, "you know how your brother is".

"Yep", said Sarah sighing, "I'll get on that". She turned to Jimmy and Marie who were making their way towards them, "I'm going to speak with Minerva, take them to their rooms".

Marie quirked an eyebrow as she allowed JImmy to lead her inside the coven, "we have a room?"

"We have plenty of rooms", said Jimmy as the doors closed and locked behind them, "they're upstairs though, I may have to carry you". Marie didn't object as he hoisted her onto his back piggyback style and they headed upstairs.

Sarah watched them ascend the wooden varnished stairs, and looked around her noticing that no one seemed to be up. The coven used to be a schoolhouse built in the late 1800s, however throughout the centuries, like a tree, it grew larger and larger. Now it was a tremendously spaced mansion that not only doubled as a schoolhouse but a dormitory and safe haven for wayward witches. Sarah made her way through the dark hardwood floor of the lobby and through the double doors on the other side. This led to a massive auditorium, with hardwood steps leading to a podium on top of a large stage. Standing on the stage and writing on a blackboard was a green-haired middle-aged woman. She was dressed in a black cloak and vigorously scribbled sentence after sentence of instructions on the board only stopping when she realized she had run out of space. She sighed in annoyance and snapped her fingers causing the board to expand into two connected ones. She clapped her hands together and pulled them apart causing the now two boards to expand even more. Satisfied, she continued to write in the newly found space she had created.

She didn't need to look in order to know who had just walked in. She addressed them in a very southern accent, "I assume you have found them".

"Yes Minerva", said Sarah as she approached her mentor, she reached the stage and floated onto it, landing right behind Minerva, "what happened to your hair?"

"I allowed a student to try out a spell on me", said Minerva, turning her attention to Sarah. The chalk she was holding was now floating and writing on its own, " it was part of her final exam, tomorrow she's going to show me how to change it back". Minerva smiles at Sarah, "now I know you didn't come here just to point out my hair color. What's going on with those mutts?" when Sarah hesitated Minerva's smile disappeared, "so it's true isn't it, Bethlehem is really…."

"I'm sorry Minerva", said Sarah sadly, "his son is gone too".

Minerva put her hand to her mouth in unspoken horror, they had become close friends throughout the years, she couldn't believe he was gone, "oh no, how horrible".

Sarah looked at her sadly, "We got there just in time to save Marie, May and her daughter are here too".

"And Lee?" asked Minerva.

"Burned alive," said Sarah.

The green-haired woman leaned over a bit as sadly washed over her, "I...I need to sit down".

Sarah levitated a folding chair from the back of the stage and sent it over to Minerva, allowing her to sit down, "are you ok?"

Minerva rested her elbows on her legs and cupped her mouth. She stared down at the floor, "I just can't believe it. That poor girl, all she ever wanted was to be loved". She suddenly thought of something and looked to Sarah with hope in her eyes, "what about the Vincents?"

Sarah frowned, "what about them?" She couldn't hide the bitterness in her voice, "Eleanor and Micheal want nothing to do with us and it seems that Edward has run off with a vampire".

"Oh for the love of…" Minerva trailed off in her sudden irritation, "who did he run off with?"

"Kevin Barr", said Sarah, "the reject from Electi".

"Well if that ain't a hoot", said Minerva leaning back in her chair, "one outsider ends up with another outsider". She massaged her temples, "I have to alert the council, we will know what to do from there". She looks over at Sarah concerned, "Meanwhile, send a letter to the Vincent's, I want them here."

Sarah crossed her arms and stared at the floor, "will they actually come".

Minerva frowned, "they've no choice, they're a part of this whether they want it or not. We need all hands on deck". She gets up and reaches into her pants pocket, pulling out a small origami bird. The paper animal starts to flap its wings and lifts itself off her hand. She looks at the bird as it floats in front of her face, "find Ed Hill, protect him from harm". The bird disappears, taking off on its mission. Minerva turns her attention back to Sarah, "now there's the matter of Edward and Kevin. Are we sure he ran off with him?"

"Yeah, Why?", said Sarah.

"I've met Edward before, that doesn't sound like something he would do", said Minerva as her chalk floated back to her hand. She moved toward the blackboard to double-check for any misspelling or any other mistakes, "The Electi cast Kevin out because of his obsession with humans. The guy can't seem to stop kidnapping them, I reckon Edd might be kidnapped. What's so weird about it is he doesn't seem to harm any of them, so he is most likely in some sort of relationship with his victims".

Sarah's eyes widened, she hadn't thought of that before, "should we go after him".

That was a good question, should they rescue Edward, there was no guarantee that he would be safe. Minerva descended down the stairs off the stage while Sarah followed close behind, "it might take me a while to locate him, but the minute I do, we go after him. Let's just hope he is still in one piece by the time we get to him".

3 days later

Edd decided tonight was the night to put his plan into action, earlier that day he was able to get through to Kevin, even if it was just for a brief moment. Now he was going to try and get to the heart of the issue, tonight he was going to get Kevin to talk about Hyacinthus. He walked into the dining room and was met by both Nat and Kevin. He chipperly made his way to the table where a broiled salmon with lemon butter and seasoned rice was waiting for him.

Edd smiled at Nat while regarding the prepared meal, "oh my, this looks delicious". Both of the other males suddenly woke up and gazed at the sudden chipper tone in the smart male's voice.

Nat quickly recovered, realizing the compliment made to his cooking, "thank you, took me hours to make but I'm sure you'll love it".

Edd took a taste of the salmon with some of the rice and moaned in delight at the combined flavors, "mmm, you're right I do".

Nat broke out into a huge smile, "ugh FINALLY, someone who actually appreciates my cooking. It's so refreshing to have someone around with working tastebuds that aren't just reserved for blood".

Edd took a few more bites from his plate and looked over at Kevin with a smile, "how are you this evening, Kevin?"

The redhead took another sip from his wine glass and eyed Edd suspiciously, "depends on who's asking and why".

Edd calmly cuts another piece of salmon with his fork, "I was just wondering, you seemed perturbed this morning".

"That is what happens to a vampire when surrounded by the first light of the day", said Kevin, still keeping his eyes on Edd, "it weakened me, I wouldn't be surprised if that was the reason why you tried to keep me there".

"Well perhaps that will teach you to not sneak into someone's room while they are asleep", said Edd taking a fork full of salmon into his mouth.

"It is my house", said Kevin, "I shall go wherever I please".

To Nat's surprise, Edd chuckles, "you're right on that, but I do have to make sure I don't wake up one morning with you on top of me".

Kevin smirked and took another sip of his blood. A moment of silence passed between them before he answered, "And what if you do, you are mine after all and I refused to be denied".

Edd smirked back and finished the morsel of food in his mouth before answering, "I have no doubt that you would be able to do whatever you wanted, however, you do have to sleep at some point and there are a surprising number of windows in your room". Kevin's eyes widened causing Edd to chuckle once again, "yes, I took a trip to your room about an hour after you left mine".

Kevin looked over at Nat, "did you…?"

"Kevin I swear I have no idea how he found your room," said Nat in defense.

"It wasn't hard", said Edd, cutting yet another piece of salmon, "although I thought it would be somewhere more secluded like the basement, I was also expecting a coffin but you actually sleep in a bed. A very fancy one at that".

"What the hell were you doing in my room….?" yelled Kevin outraged.

"Without your permission?" asked Edd, "doesn't feel good knowing that someone has snuck into your room without you knowing, does it?" He munched on some of his rice before continuing, "I could have done any number of things to you in your sleep. I could have let the sun in and let it bake you alive. I could have poisoned you, or driven a stake through your heart".

"So why didn't you?" asked Kevin, he then smirked, "are you finally starting to…..?"

Edd interrupts him, "please don't mistake pity for love. Just because I won't kill you does not mean that I love you. I'm just not a killer".

The room was quiet yet again, Nat sat back in his chair and took another sip of his wine. That was brutal but necessary, he certainly didn't want to discourage Edd from telling it like it is. Nat smiled and decided to break up the silence, "you know I found that interesting too, you'd think that someone who's lived for so long would be a bit smarter as to where to rest for the night. The basement would have been perfect".

Kevin ignored him and glowered over his glass of blood, he thought about the first night he spent in the room…

Flashback (1932)

Kevin turned in his bed to the sound of humming coming from the now open balcony doors. He smiled at the sight of his dark-skinned reincarnated lover. It took him a while to get her to remember him, which he found odd. Normally one look at him would have been enough to jog hyacinth's memory. He decided to put that out of his mind as a minor fluke and gazed at the plus-sized beauty. The 25-year-old woman stood on the balcony dressed in a loose-fitting golden robe, completely nude underneath. Some would call her chubby but to Kevin, she was a perfect, brown-eyed, black-haired, Jamaican goddess too pure for this harsh, prejudiced world. He got out of bed ignoring the over shoulder coy smile Miriam sent his way sensing him approaching. She leaned against the stone rail on her elbows and gazed at the moon.

Kevin leaned against the doorway, "penny for your thoughts?"

Miriam sighed a bit, she was thinking of a lot of things, she thought about her home which was a million miles away. She thought of all the people she had left behind, her parents, her siblings, her friends, and the man she was actually arranged to marry. They all must be wondering where she was and no doubt she was sure to be in an immense amount of trouble if she were to go back. She put a hand to her head and rubbed her temple, it was as if the past and the present were clashing inside of her mind. She remembered everything, every moment of her past life came flooding into her brain all at once the moment Kevin finally kissed her after years of trying to convince her she was really a reincarnation. It was weird, like her time as Hyacinthus was just a dream she had but couldn't get rid of. She turned to him and hugged herself, "I was just thinking". This was weird, she had a thick Jamaican accent but none of its dialect or pronunciations. It really did feel as though she were talking through the mouth of a hollowed shell.

Kevin grinned and went over to the shorter woman, wrapping his arms around her, "about what?"

"I feel like me", she said leaning into the hug, "but at the same time I don't, it is not like it was before".

Kevin kissed the top of her head, "what do you mean? We meet, I get you to remember your past and then we bang. It appears nothing has changed at all".

Another thought entered Miriam's head and she looked up at him, giving him a serious look, "I am tired Kevin, what will happen when you can no longer…"

"Let's not talk about that right now", said Kevin, he buried his nose in her short, black hair. The truth was he was thinking the same thing, but he figured he'd face that obstacle when or if it comes, "I should move my bed to the basement".

"Don't do that", said Miriam smiling and turning in his arms.

"Why not?" Kevin said following her gaze.

Miriam smiled looking at the moon completely surrounded by stars. The cool wind of the night blew against her skin as her gaze lowered to the clear blue ocean below. The entire area was surrounded by a meadow of trees, grass, and darkly lit flowers. She could also see the fireflies floating and glowing about and took in the sweet smell of everything around her. As if finally finding her answer, she turned around in his arms again, looked into his eyes, and spoke in a sweet gentle tone he will remember for years to come…

Flashback End

Kevin gazed at his glass of blood for what seemed like an eternity and murmur, "the view from here is breathtaking".

Edd quirked an eyebrow, "what?"

"The view from my balcony", said Kevin, still looking at the glass, "you said it was breathtaking. You thought it would have been a shame to deprive myself of such a beautiful view".

"I see", said Edd, he had finished his meal but wanted to stay and talk for a bit more, "it's still kind of weird. I mean what if you forget to close the curtains before you turn in?'

Kevin shrugged, "would you forget to do the one thing that keeps you alive?"

Edd thought for a moment, "good point".

Kevin finally looks over at Edd, "you're very curious tonight, interviewing me won't help you escape".

Edd smiled, "I merely want to get to know you".

" In hopes that I'll let you go", said Kevin casually.

"I already know that you won't, so I won't try", said Edd, not missing a beat, "tell me about Hyacinthus". The room was quiet again, Nat halted for a bit and looked over at Kevin.

The red head's eyes were on his glass of blood once again, "why the hell do you care all of a sudden?"

Edd frowned but pressed on, "Lately I have been hearing that man's name more times then I've heard my own. I guess I just want to know about the source of your obsession".

"There's nothing for you to know", said Kevin. He moved out of his seat and stood up, "I grow tired of this conversation. I shall retire for the night". He then proceeded to walk away.

Edd frowned and he called out to the other male, "Kevin, I am not done talking to you".

Kevin ignored him and continued onward towards the door of the dining room. Once he opened the door and stepped through he found himself in the dining room again. Both Edd and Nat stared at him from where they were sitting, however, the look on Nat's face was one of confusion. Kevin blinked at both of them but turned to head out the door again, only to end up right back in the dining room. Now it was Kevin's turn to be confused, he looked over at Edd who eyed him cautiously, he was waiting for the other shoe to drop. Kevin glared at him and turned to walk out the door only to end up right back in the dining room. At that moment Kevin's simple glare turned to one of rage, "YOU WITCH".

Edd looked back at him, unsure if he should continue. His intention was not to antagonize or agitate the redhead, he merely wanted to talk to him, "I'm an Occultist, not a witch".

Kevin swiftly marched towards him, his anger taking over, "I'VE NO PATIENCE FOR YOUR TRICKERY, WITCH. RELEASE ME NOW". He swiped at the table causing most of the food, silverware, and glasses to fall onto the floor.

The sudden motion caused Edd to jump out of his chair and stand stiffly next to it. He resisted the urge to hide behind it, he wanted this, now he had to follow through, "it's very rude of you to just end the conversation like that".

"I don't give a shit if you think I'm rude", Kevin growled, "RELEASE ME".

Edd stood his ground, "No, I honestly don't know what you were expecting of me".

Kevin approaches him menacingly, "I expect you to obey me".

"I'm not your slave", said Edd, gaining more courage, " and I'm not your doll. You took me from my home, from my friends and I even watched you tear apart a werewolf, I'll never be able to get that image out of my head. My whole life was uprooted in one night all because of you. You owe me some answers and neither of us is leaving here until I get them". Nat continued to munch on his dinner, he had no intention of interrupting. He was way too invested in the scene unfolding before him, he poured himself a glass of wine and sat back in his chair.

Kevin stared him down for a while, on the outside he was enraged, but on the inside, his loins were on fire. For the first time in a long time he felt a fire inside of him he hadn't felt in ages. His mind randomly flashed back to the first time he and hyacinth made love.

"I will not allow you to leave this room".

Flashback hotel room in Paris

Kevin was held in place by a spell that caused every vein in his body to freeze, he couldn't move, he couldn't even blink. The only thing he was allowed to move was his mouth, "why not? What reason do I have to stay?"

A fully nude Hyacinth flicked his hand forward slamming Kevin's half-naked body to the wall on the other end of the room. He then walked towards him glaring at him bitterly, "you do not get to use my body and then just leave. I AM NOT YOUR WHORE".

"WHY DO YOU EVEN CARE?" Kevin shouted back, equally as bitter, "you've committed a sin before your precious god". He closed his eyes as tears began to stream down his face, "you don't love me. How can you? I'm just a filthy beast who defiled you to the point where you have to pray repeatedly to save your soul".

Hyacinth looked at him in shock, Kevin had never cried before. He released the other male from his spell, "that is not true".

"You treat me like a plague", said Kevin angrily glaring at him, "like a disease you can't get rid of. You act like all I want is your body, but that is not true".

"Kevin", said Hyacinth backing away from him, "I…."

"After what we've done last night, do you still doubt me?" asked Kevin, tears still streaming from his eyes, "I LOVE YOU, I LOVE YOU DAMMIT."

The two stared at one another for a while, Kevin was considering escaping the room through the window. However, the warm feeling of Hyacinth's arms around him held him in place. Hyacinth holds him close as he speaks, "my feelings for you run deeper than anyone I have ever known. But there is so much about you I have yet to know. So many secrets I have yet to unearth, tis the reason why I am so unsure of our future together". He separates from the other male and plants a soft kiss on his lips. He then backs away pulling Kevin along with him towards the bed, "stay, reveal yourself to me, my Adonis, tell me your story".

Kevin gives him a look of hesitation, "it is not a very good story, there is no virtue in anything that I have done".

"I don't care", said Hyacinth, pulling him down to sit next to him, "talk to me Kevin, that is all I want from you".

Present Day

The touch of a hand brought Kevin back to the present. To his shock it was from Edd, the smarter male noticed that Kevin seemed to have mentally checked out for a moment as if he were lost in his own mind. Edd took a deep breath and spoke in what he hoped was a comforting tone, "talk to me Kevin, make me understand what all this is about. That's all I want from you".

At that moment something happened that shocked both Edd and Nat. Tears welled up in Kevin's eyes and fell down his cheeks. Nat's eyes widened in a mixture of fear and amazement, "holy shit, you broke Kevin".

"I'M SO SORRY," said Edd in a panic, he let go of Kevin's hand and went to grab a napkin, "I...I didn't mean to hurt you I just wanted to talk", he tried to hand the napkin to Kevin but the redhead quickly turned from him.

For a few minutes, his face was hidden from the two other males as he moved back towards his chair and put a hand on it. This was too much for him to handle at the moment. His mind flicked in and out between the past and the present, it was all too much for him to bear. He needed to regain his composure, he needed to rest. After what seemed like forever, Kevin waited for the last remnants of the past to flicker from his mind before addressing Edd. his back was still turned to him as he spoke in a low, almost vulnerable tone, "I…...apologize for my rude departure". Another flicker from the past invaded his mind.

"So many secrets I have yet to unearth".

He placed his hand to his mouth and shut his eyes tightly willing the painful memory away. After a few more minutes, he removed his hand and took in a silent breath and continued, "come to my room tomorrow night, we will have our discussion then". He kept his face towards the door as another memory flicked past him.

" Reveal yourself to me, my Adonis".

He was ready for that one, he took another breath before speaking again, this time with an air of confidence, "dawn will be upon us soon, I must rest for the night. Release me from your spell". Edd didn't hesitate, he waved his hand towards the door and released Kevin from the spell. Kevin still didn't turn to look at him, he headed toward the door, but stopped briefly when he was sure the spell was officially broken, "thank you". With that he exited the room, leaving Edd and Nat to ponder what just happened. Kevin made his way to his room in silence as another memory flickered through his mind.

"Tell me your story"

He stopped at the front of his door and banged his head against it as more tears welled up in his eyes. He quickly opened the door and walked inside his room. He then leaned against the closed door and allowed himself to sink to the floor. More tears streamed down his face, he was angry at himself for allowing these visions of the past to interfere with his present. It was the whole reason why he did not want to talk about Hyacinth. Both his body and his mind betrayed him at the worst possible moment. In a mixture of anger and despair, Kevin sat on the floor and quietly wept.