(C)Copyright SJCLewis2016
Picture: Alpha Maya
Song: The Gypsy
There was a distinct lull in the general chatter as the three of them entered the kitchen.
Darcie blanched under the scrutiny of at least thirty pairs of eyes, which all turned to gaze curiously at her unfamiliar, dishevelled appearance. As she passed them all, ripples of questioning murmurs swelled after her. She felt herself go red.
They probably think I'm somebody's one night stand...
The room was much bigger than Darcie had expected, with enough space to comfortably fit a vast expanse of kitchen counter, two huge fridges, two red kitchen ranges and three long wooden tables. Once again she wondered what sort of place this was. The bits of the house she had seen were big enough to host hundreds of people, and judging by the number of men and women who were sat breakfasting with a casual familiarity, it often did.
Some religious community? Darcie wondered, accidentally catching the mocking eye of a young man and blushing still more furiously. A commune?
In striving to concentrate on her socks and to ignore everyone else, she also noticed two large dog baskets, within which were sat two pretty looking Huskys. They, she noticed, were two of the few not bothered by her appearance. In-fact, both were ignoring everything and everyone in the kitchen, aside from the huge platter of bacon and sausages which sat on the counter in front of them.
Leala halted in-front this counter, which was laden -buffet style- with food, and motioned for Darcie to stop also. She handed her a plate.
"Help yourself!"
Darcie surveyed the food uncertainly as Leala began to spoon yoghurt and fruit into a bowl. Her head throbbed painfully again and she sighed. This really wasn't what she wanted to be doing the morning after her birthday night out.
Tito trotted up to the counter and stood on Darcie's other side. He surveyed her for a moment before reaching out and patting her comfortingly on the arm. Darcie turned to look up at him and he gave her an encouraging smile.
"Don't worry about everyone!" he told her quietly, bumping her shoulder with his own in a friendly way. "It's not often we get...guests here."
Darcie gave a distinctly forced laugh. "It's ok." she mumbled, placing a piece of toast on her plate and deciding she was too shy to take anything else. "The way I look this morning, I'd stare too!"
Tito grinned. Seizing a couple of empty mugs, he began to pour himself some tea from a comically huge polka-dot tea pot. "You don't actually look that bad, considering how drunk you were." he remarked good-naturedly, pouring a second cup for Darcie before waving her over to an empty seat. "I've seen you look much worse than this - remember Brian's house party?"
Darcie placed her plate where he'd indicated and sat down next to him. She snorted.
"Oh god! How could I forget!?"
Leala, In spite of her apparent hostility towards Tito, followed moments later and sat down opposite him. They ignored one another, choosing instead to angle their chairs towards Darcie and take turns bombarding her with questions. Darcie was grateful for this. It took her mind off the other people in the room, many of whom were still twisting in their seats to stare at her.
They chatted away at her easily enough; about University and Oxford and general drunkenness. It turned out Leala was coming to the end of her Masters degree, and was studying classics and ancient history in France.
"I've finished my classes now." she said airily, sipping on her orange juice and pointedly ignoring Tito, who was rolling his eyes. "It's just the thesis left now." She speared a chunk of melon on the end of her fork and studied it. "Not entirely sure what I'm going to write about yet. I've only got until the end of April in my flat in Paris and then I'll have to come back here.
Darcie nibbled at her toast, trying to look interested. The more she ate, the worse she felt. She half wondered if it mightn't be a bad idea to find a toilet and try and make herself sick.
"Do you live here then?" she asked, attempting to ignore the rising nausea. "In Oxford?"
Tito and Leala exchanged glances.
"Yeah I live here." she said after a pause, although she didn't meet her gaze. "With Nikolai and the rest. We're actually not in Oxford right now..." she glanced up at Darcie then, to gage her reaction. "We're, er, in Surrey. As I said before...we were headed back here last night..."
"We couldn't find Minerva or anyone to take you back to Heavitree Road!" Tito put in, registering the look of shock upon Darcie's face. "We wanted to make sure you were ok."
Darcie nodded dumbly.
"Surrey?" she repeated, incredulously. "Wow." She mulled this revelation over for a moment or two before emitting a dumbstruck little laugh. She understood now why Leala had been so weird about her calling for a taxi.
"And I slept through all of this last night? How long did it take to get here."
Leala shrugged. "An hour or so." she answered, rather dismissively. "Maybe less...I've got a fast car."
Tito was smirking.
"Took me me 45 minutes." he announced, rather proudly, placing his knife and fork together on his empty plate and pushing it away. "On Bash's MTT."
This time it was Leala who rolled her eyes.
"That's the first and last time Bash'll let you near that bike!" she told him seriously, placing her empty bowl on top of his plate before kicking back in her chair. "It's the love of his life!"
Tito mirrored her and leant back in his seat too, folding his arms across his chest and smirking knowingly. "Oh, I don't know..." he drawled, a sly little grin playing around his mouth. "I wouldn't say it was the love of his life..."
This statement seemed to bother Leala, who scowled and aimed a kick at him under the table. Tito had lost all interest in the conversation, however, and was now craning his neck to see over her head at something that had obviously caught his attention. Not wanting to catch Leala's now violent gaze, Darcie looked up too.
The large patio doors at the other end of the kitchen had been thrown open. The dogs, all thought of food forgotten, were now bounding excitedly around the little group of people who had entered, their tails wagging furiously.
At the head of the group was a tall, attractive older man, who looked to be around fifty five. His expression was inviting beneath his salt and pepper stubble, and he was smiling around the room in such a way which made Darcie immediately warm to him. She'd recognised him instantly from the beach photo as Nikolai, the man behind the barbecue.
A little behind him came two -much younger- men. One was tall and sandy-haired, who wore his snap-back backwards, and who had a lone tattoo of a maple leaf on his forearm. He was wearing a rather goofy expression on his face. The other was - in contrast - rather serious looking, his hair shorn very short and his mouth set in a forbidding line. The sleeves of his plain t-shirt were pushed up to his elbows, exposing his powerful looking forearms, every inch of which were covered with tattoos. Darcie eyed the edge of another tattoo, just visible above his collar, and felt a rush of recognition. He looked much less fearsome in daylight and without his motorbike leathers, but his handsome face and impressive stature were unmistakable. It was Tito's cousin, Bash .
Darcie's chest gave a painful throb and the embarrassment she felt at being hungover and bare-faced, with messy hair and un- brushed teeth suddenly increased tenfold. As if sensing her eyes on him, Bash turned his head and met her gaze, his grey eyes unreadable. After a second's pause, his expression softened in to one of recognition and his mouth quirked up into a tentative smile . Darcie felt herself go red again and looked away, inexplicably angry with herself.
Bringing up the rear of the group was one of the most beautiful women Darcie had ever seen. She was tall and willowy, with brown skin, deep brown eyes and a mass of thick, black hair, which she'd loosely woven into a shining plait at the back of her head. It was so long that the end of it swung gently against the small of her back as she turned to close the patio doors behind her.
It didn't take long for the four of them to cross the kitchen, coming to a stop - much to Darcie's mortification - right in front of their table. Clenching her hands together, she gazed up into the face of Nikolai with a funny feeling in the pit of her stomach. For some reason, she found she couldn't quite meet his eye. He smiled kindly at her, and extended a hand, which she shook limply.
"Ah Darcie! I've heard all about last night's adventures. Welcome!" he said, his Russian accent thick but clearly understandable. "I'm Nikolai. It's a pleasure to meet you."
He patted the shoulder of the man with the snap-back. "This is Emerson..." Emerson grinned at her. "And you've already met Bash..."
He paused and looked back at her, as if expecting confirmation. After a moment's awkward silence, she nodded at Bash, who was looking at her with an unfathomable expression upon his face, and forced a smile. Tito sniggered and Leala rolled her eyes at him.
This is all very formal...
Nikolai, however, seemed satisfied with this and continued, his smile growing wider still as he indicated towards the woman.
"And this is my wife, Maya."
The beautiful woman stepped forward and nodded. Her expression was friendly, yet her manner was businesslike.
"Lovely to have you." she said, rather briskly, her gaze sweeping critically over Darcie's clothes and hair before settling on her eyes. "I hope you slept well?"
Darcie nodded again. "Yes, thank-you." she replied, trying hard not to stammer. "It's very kind of you to have me. I'll be leaving soon I think. As soon as I find my bag..."
She cast an eye at Leala, hopeful that she might jump in and offer her a lift; However Leala was preoccupied with examining the now dried grease mark on her sleeve, and didn't notice. She did, however, feel Tito tense in his seat beside her.
"Ah yes!" Maya sighed, exchanging a meaningful glance with her husband. "You're a long way from home, so I hear. Well, If you come with us I'm sure we can sort something out..."
At her words, as if commanded by some unspoken force, both Leala and Tito scraped back their chairs and casually rose to stand. Darcie sluggishly followed suit, bewildered, her head throbbing painfully.
"...we're just headed to the study." Maya continued, nodding towards her husband, who began to walk towards the exit, Bash and Emerson in tow. "Come!" She swept after them.
At the insistence of Tito and Leala, Darcie trotted dumbly after her. As they exited into the corridor again, Tito fell into step with her and gave her arm a quick squeeze. She looked up at him questioningly.
"Happy Birthday, Darce!" he said at length, his tone oddly sombre. "I hope it's been a good one."
Leala jogged up beside them and made a noise of agreement , but not before shooting Tito a pointed look Darcie thought she wasn't meant to see.
"Yes!."she echoed, rather sarcastically, as they rounded a corner and found themselves faced with a pair of grand double doors. "Happy Birthday!"
Here they paused while Maya took a key from her pocket and unlocked the study. She then turned to face Darcie and briskly gestured her forward, her lips pursed in a severe line. Darcie obeyed after only a brief hesitation, squeezing past Bash to stand awkwardly in the circle of her arm.
"I'm just going to get your bag." Leala called after her, joining Emerson and Nikolai who continued on down the corridor after briefly waving their goodbyes. "I'll see you in a sec."
Darcie nodded dumbly, wondering why there had to be such ceremony around driving her back home. She sighed and thought longingly again of Pizza and her own bed.
Not long now, surely.
The room beyond was large and circular. The walls were covered with yet more photographs, enormous, annotated maps of Europe, and shelves upon shelves of books. A huge mahogany desk sat in the middle of the floor, directly in front of a studded, leather-clad sofa. Matching wing-back chairs were placed here and there in what space remained, each paired with an intricately painted little coffee table.
The door swung shut behind them. Maya placed a hand on the small of Darcie's back and guided her further into the room, motioning for her to take a seat on the sofa, before settling herself into the chair behind the desk. Tito followed suit, throwing himself down next to Darcie with a huff, but not before seizing up a paperweight from a nearby table. This he began to pass absent-mindedly from hand to hand, pausing it's motion only to smirk at Bash, who seemed to stumble over his himself as he passed.
"Ten cuidado!" he chided mockingly as Bash took a chair to their right, looking faintly embarrassed. "El amante!"
Maya sighed impatiently. "Shut-up, Alberto!" she ordered, steepling her fingers together on the desk and giving him a stern look. "And let's talk in English, please, for the benefit of our guest."
Tito leant back in his seat, still grinning, and resumed trifling with the paperweight.
"Valde, Alpha!"
Maya ignored him.
"Well, we'd better begin then, I suppose." she sighed, peering over her hands at Darcie, who blinked back at her confusedly. "Best get it over and done with!"
Darcie was alarmed at the tetchiness of her voice. It suddenly dawned on her that, whilst Nikolai may have been perfectly happy welcoming a drunken stray into his home, his wife may have been less impressed. Clenching her hands together, she swallowed nervously. "I'm so sorry for last night." she began earnestly, trying and failing to meet Maya's eyes. "It was so kind of you to let me stay here. If I can just find my bag I can call a taxi and..."
Maya dismissed her apology with an impatient wave of her hand.
"Oh never mind that." she replied, her manner distinctly agitated. "And you wont be calling a taxi either." She paused and gave Darcie a long, hard look. Her expression was so grave that Darcie squirmed. She felt as if she were back at school, being scolded for talking during class. "If, you choose to leave here after you've heard what we have to say." she continued. "Bash will drive you home."
Darcie frowned.
'If she chose to leave'?
She opened her mouth to ask exactly what it was she meant, but Maya held up a hand to silence her.
"Nikolai was in favour of letting Bash tell you in his own time, but I'm afraid keeping you ignorant will not only put yourself in danger, but will endanger the lives of my entire pack."
Darcie was now thoroughly confused. At the mention of his name she glanced towards Bash to find him watching her unsmilingly, arms folded and jaw set. The back of her neck prickled and she moved her gaze quickly away to the paperweight being tossed carelessly in Tito's hands. Her chest gave another painful throb.
"Tell me what?" she asked, staring at the glass globe and wishing again that she were back at home. "I'm sorry, I don't understand."
She was starting to think that inviting Tito to the house party had been a bad idea. After-all, if he hadn't been in the club, she wouldn't have been introduced to Leala and Bash. She would have undoubtedly spent the night in Tim's company, and most probably have woken up next to him the following morning. As if he could sense that she were thinking about him, Tito tensed and suddenly ceased moving the paperweight in his hands. Darcie watched the sunlight from the window glint off it's rolling surface and wondered if anyone had told Minerva where she had gone. She made a mental note to text her as soon as she found her phone. The last thing she wanted was Minerva ringing her parents to report her missing...
Maya slapped her hands flat upon the desktop and cleared her throat. The noise jolted Darcie out of her reverie and she smiled up at her sheepishly.
"Gods! I've not done this in such a long time!" Maya exclaimed, still surveying her with that steely, omnipotent look. "But i'll try my best to do it properly. Darcie, I'm going to show you something. And after I'm done Bash will talk you through the particulars. I want you do know that you are perfectly safe here with us. Is that clear?"
Darcie nodded dumbly, although she couldn't have been more bewildered. In spite of the reassurance that she was safe, she was beginning to feel a little uneasy.
This woman is weird. she thought, as Maya stood and circled the desk to stand in full veiw of the sofa. Maybe this is a cult...
Maya took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Nobody spoke. The only sounds came from the clock on the desk, and from the dull, alcohol-induced thumping In Darcie's head. She coughed; She frowned; There was a split second wherein she almost laughed, but as just as her lips curved up into an embarrassed smile, her entire basis of reality was shattered in one, swift moment.
A loud snapping sound forewarned her that something was terribly wrong.
Dread quickly replacing confusion, Darcie felt herself propelled into panic-mode, her limbs tensing, breath-quickening, and her flight response willing her to turn tail and run. She couldn't move, though. Instead, she sat and watched, horror-struck, as Maya began to fold in on herself, her skin rippling and stretching, her limbs snapping out at sickening angles and lengthening into impossibly large and grotesque, inhuman shapes . Her flesh began to bubble, as if she were being boiled from the inside out, and it took a moment for Darcie to realise that this was Maya's skeleton breaking apart into hundreds of pieces, the jagged edges pressing and straining against the surrounding tissue.
Darcie was gripped by fear and disgust. Though every fibre of her being was urging her to escape, nonbelief kept her anchored to the couch. She opened her mouth to scream but the sound stuck in her throat, and so she sat there, gasping faintly, mouth slack and eyes wide.
The abomination began to twist and grow, clothes ripping and bursting off a body now covered with thick, red fur, growing taller and taller still until it's bear-sized head bumped the ceiling. At this moment, it pitched forward and landed on all fours, the face stretched into powerful jaws and snout. The hands and feet were the very last to take shape, the digits breaking and lengthening until they eventually formed huge, tea-tray sized paws. These also sprouted fur, and grew five, deadly looking claws from each toe.
The sounds of cracking bones grew less and less frequent before stopping altogether. There was a moment of shocked silence, before the thing that had been Maya, opened it's eyes again. Darcie stared into the pair of bright, now violet coloured orbs, and felt a thrill of fear slice through her paralysis. The scream, which had been straining against the back of her throat, now rushed free and she gave a strangled cry of revulsion. Her body tensed, adrenaline pumping through her as her limbs suddenly became governable again.
She barely registered Bash mumbling something from his chair in the corner, and then everything seemed to happen at once.
The bear sized-wolf tensed, groaned, and sunk to it's belly, placing it's massive head on it's paws in a submissive gesture, it's ears going down flat against it's skull. Darcie scrambled to her feet and propelled herself off the sofa, running backwards in the direction of the door, unwilling to take her eyes off the wolf for even a second. Tito sprang to his feet, emitting a sort of strangled laugh as the paperweight hit the carpet with a hollow thud. Bash alone was silent, and stood up rather gravely from his chair before Darcie had even made it half way across the room.
"Oh dear..."
Panting with terror, Darcie half turned her head, but before she could ascertain the exact whereabouts of the exit, her body collided violently with something solid. She gasped, slightly winded and bewildered. For a split second Darcie thought she'd run into a wall, but then arms came down and encircled her and she looked up in surprise to find that it was Tito who she'd collided with. She faltered slightly, her mind whirring in attempt to figure out how he could have moved from the sofa to the door so quickly, but then adrenaline kicked in again.
"Tito!" she gasped, struggling against him and straining around in an attempt to reach the door. "Let go!"
But Tito wasn't looking at her. He was gazing over her head at - presumably -the wolf; Darcie couldn't see. After a moment, a frown crossed his forehead and he released her again, holding his hands up in surrender and looking faintly worried.
"Hey man!" he began, stepping away from Darcie and holding his hands higher still. "Yo sólo estaba tratando de detenerla..."
A low, warning growl sounded from behind her, and Darcie turned her head again to see what Tito was looking at. Her eyes immediately found the bear-wolf and another thrill of fear ran through her . It remained on the floor, its head on it's paws, though it's purple gaze was fixed upon Bash, who had advanced past the sofa, and was now stood opposite Tito, his hands clenched.
Darcie recoiled in shock. Bash was shaking from head to foot, his entire body visibly tensed, but it was his face which tore another choked scream from her chest. His lips were pulled back in an ugly snarl, revealing a mouth which was suddenly and impossibly crowded with needle-like fangs. His eyes were narrowed at Tito, but Darcie could still clearly make out the glow of his now violet iris's.
Shit
Without waiting for Tito, Darcie crossed the remaining length of the room in a few short leaps and wrenched the door open again, her slick palms slipping as she twisted the handle. As she sprinted from the office, another, growl sounded from behind her, but she didn't dare turn back again. She was fuelled by epinephrine and now wholly focused on getting as far away as she possibly could.
Unfortunately, she didn't get very far before she had to stop again. She skidded to a halt in front of Nikolai and Emerson, who were leant casually against the opposite wall and chatting away easily. They looked up in mild surprise at her sudden reappearance, registering her frantic state and panicked expression. There was a short, bewildered pause before Nikolai pushed himself away from the wall and came towards her, holding out his hands and smiling. For a second Darcie thought he meant to comfort her, but then Emerson began to move towards her in much the same way and she felt another wave of dread wash over her. Their expressions were innocent, but as they advanced she realised with a flash of shock that they were trying to heard her back into the office. She groaned, perturbed, and dodged between them, their hands grabbing at her arms and waist, and sprinted off down the corridor, her heart pounding and blood thumping loudly in her ears.
What are these people!?
Darcie heard a shout and hurried footsteps as Nikolai and Emerson gave chase, and she pushed on, willing herself to run faster. The photographs on the walls flashed past her in a blur as she ran, flat out, past the door to the kitchen and into the entrance hall. She made it as far as the staircase before she was stopped again, this time by Leala, who appeared out of nowhere and held her hands up to her submissively.
"Darcie, it's alright!" she began, so soothingly that Darcie was almost inclined to believe her. "No one's going to hurt you..!"
Her words faltered and faded away into nothingness as Darcie then registered Leala's glowing, violet eyes. She reeled away from her, thrashing as Leala lurched forwards and grasped at the folds of her baggy jumper. Darcie began to cry freely, defeated, as Leala managed to clamp her in her arms and held her fast. She heard Nikolai and Emerson sprint into the hall behind them and she struggled in vain against the smaller girl's unexpectedly strong hold.
"No, Please!" she sobbed, her breath coming in short, frightened bursts. "Please don't..."
Leala held her tighter still and began to chatter away irritably in French to someone over Darcie's shoulder.
"Well that went well!" she heard Emerson exclaim sarcastically in his Canadian twang. "Good job, boys!"
Someone apparently thumped him, for he then let out an indignant gasp of pain. "Ow! I was only joking, Baz!"
Someone laughed.
"Gamma, take her into the dining room, will you?" Darcie heard Nikolai ask, a little breathlessly. "We'll join you shortly." Leala nodded and began to drag a kicking and sobbing Darcie effortlessly towards another door off the hall. "Valde, Alpha." she replied, her expression tight as Darcie's attempts at escape grew weaker and more hopeless with every step. "Tito, bring her bag, will you?"