After dance practice, I zipped back to the manor with the intention of crashing for a few hours. I was just leaving the shower when Mrs. Trentley interrupted my plans, informing me we had a visitor. Guests were never rare at the Noble Manor, but most who passed through our door were usually important. It was my responsibility to grease palms in the Elder's absence.
As soon as I stepped foot outside my bedroom, their scent gave them away. The lilac whispered this was a female guest; the verbena screamed she hated Vampires. I followed my nose to the dining room, where a raven-haired woman with red-brown skin sat at the edge of my grandmother's silk sofa.
"Well, sugar, ain't you the sweetest thang?" A compellingly mysterious voice-it struck me to my Wolf, raising the hair on my arms and neck. Her accent was a rich Louisiana twang. Though spoken in a slower, lower tone than most women, it did not not detract from her physical beauty which was accelerated by confidence and charm. The lines in her carefully arranged face told me she could be someone's grandmother, and the hint of her smirk told me not to rely on this for any sort of leniency.
I lingered in the doorway and she rose to her feet, regarding me from eyes that were dark and bright as obsidian.
"In all my days, I've had yet to see a lovelier home." Her gaze swept over the room. "Pity you haven't more photographs."
"I think so too..."
"Please, call me Catherine. I know who you are."
I stepped inside the room, running my hands down my sides, betraying my anxieties. Her old-fashioned airs were enough to make me wish for a longer dress, one that was actually past the knees. I had a closet full of come hither outfits, no comfortably baggy jeans and cable knit sweaters like Granny Catherine here. How comfortable she looks...
<<This is a social call. Perhaps a little something more...>>
We'll see...
"I apologize, Ms. Catherine. If you're looking for my grandfather, I'm afraid he's out of town." I picked my words carefully. I knew her name but not her intentions.
"Ms. Catherine..." She shook her head in amusement. "You're far too young to be so polite."
"My friends would tell you otherwise. I'm only nice to strangers." I smiled just to prove it.
"P'shaw. You're a tribute to your kind, my dear." Once more her gaze traveled the room. I wondered-what ghosts did she see? What ghosts did she expect? Her sense of familiarity unnerved me.
"Would you care for a drink? Refreshments..." And for myself, a separation from the prefontal lobe would be nice. Why are you here, old woman...
"Oh, I didn't come here for milk and cookies--though I am partial. I came here for you." Catherine embellished her admission with a soft chuckle.
"I'm sorry, I don't understand."
"Of course you don't. You been sheltered, child. You know nothin' of the world, and it knows nothin' of you. But I can change that. I can change everything. "
Remarkable how everything I thought about Daya, this woman now said to me. Though her speech was slow and careful, it was difficult to keep up with her riddles. They challenged me in ways few had. They interested me in ways few had.
"So... you're a Witch." I made no effort to hide my accusation, which was only tempered by my surprise.
"The Witch. Mother Catherine--leader of the Red Hand--at your service." Her smile widened, made full with knowledge above my station. "You're impressed. How sweet."
Indeed. I was so impressed I was guarded. All I could think about was what Chandler had said about Leda... How she, their former leader, had disappeared from the Red Hand...
"My coven would be just the place for you, Naomi." Catherine straightened her shoulders. They were soft and round with age. "I have taught many girls before you, and they were not nearly so apt."
"How do you know I'm... apt?" Most of the time I felt stupid, swallowed by own ignorance. But ever since that night with Ethan on the mountain... I had felt the taste of something quite different--insight.
Power.
"I see you like trees see the wind, like ships feel the water." Her words had taken a sharp quality, her gaze had narrowed. She did not like to be questioned. "There's somethin' in your soul, baby, I can feel it; ain't nothin' can hide from me..." She took a single step, then her image blurred and wavered... A second later she was standing right in front of me. "You are a Noble, the purest blood of your kind runs through them veins and you have yet to tap it. You have never known the extent of your power--but I can show you."
Too close. She was too close to this... To me. "I'm sorry to disappoint, but what you see is what you get, Miss Catherine. " I swept past her, towards the couch. As I strolled behind it, I delicately ran two clawed fingers along the top, splitting the fabric in even lines. "See? I'm just a Wolf. There's really nothing special about me." I waved my fingers, the claws retracted.
"What a shame..." She clucked her tongue in disappointment. "Because your aura says otherwise. The magic that cloaks it is very strong. I would have missed it if I hadn't known to look."
I folded my arms over my chest; instinct told me to cross my heart. Of course a Witch like her would be able to see auras. She's even more powerful than Claudia...
<<And just as dangerous.>>
"Miss Catherine... while I appreciate what it is you're trying to do for me--really--I think maybe the focus here could be shifted to other, more important things. Like the Rabid, for example?" I cleared my throat. The waters around me had deepened but I was no longer treading for just me. I swam for my life and the lives of others. "I'm sure you and the Elder have a very capable plan when it comes to dealing with the Vampires, but it was the Rabid who nearly tore apart The Village. I know it seems like we've taken care of that problem, but I'm not sure we have. The Vampires are angry--and I feel they have a right to be. They were kicked from the Alliance, then, right after we protected our Rabid, putting them in the woods to keep them safe, we turned around and murdered others--"
"Murder..." Catherine ran her tongue across her teeth, tasting the word and finding it bitter. "You cannot murder what is already dead. The Vampires should not be angry, they should be afraid. The alliance is only the beginning of their end--but that is not your concern--"
"But it is." I didn't enjoy being underestimated any more than Catherine liked being questioned. "One day, someone else will be leading this Pack--and it won't be my grandfather you have an alliance with, Miss Catherine. It could very well be me. And if I had my way, we would be working with the Vampires, not against them."
"And I suppose it matters not that it was their kind who brought this illness upon your people, striking down your loved ones with their wicked, insatiable thirst?"
"Those Vampires were infected--"
"Yes. By a spell gone awry. A young, foolish Witch was recently excommunicated from our clan when she decided she could cure a group of Vampires of their aversion to sunlight. But her spell went wrong. She did not cure them... Instead, she cursed them worse than they already are. Then they went wild and set upon your Fairway--devouring your pack like food as they spread their foul disease. And now, your people are trapped in the forest. Tell me, child--do you still pity the Revenant?"
I raised my chin, pushing aside her question for one of my own.
Claudia--was it only a coincidence she too had been excommunicated from the Red Hand?
Somehow, I didn't think so.
"So now the Vampires have to be punished for a Witch's mistake?" I shook my head, arms dropping to my sides in frustration. "That doesn't sound very fair to me."
"Is it fair that a Vampire would as soon eat you as look at you? When they sink their fangs in your neck, perhaps you might see otherwise. The new alliance is our protection. If the Hunters turn on the Vampires, we would do well to stay from their crosshairs. In distancing ourselves, we have thus isolated the problem." She drew herself together - a tall, handsome woman, who danced with words as she might have danced with people. "Turn your focus to what really matters, Naomi. I intend to revolutionize the Red Hand. I bring new magic to the table--magic I can teach you. There are so many forms--conjury you've never dreamed of."
The more she spoke the more my heart raced, overrun by the possibility of impossible things. "Ms. Catherine..." I stared at the floor, shamed by my limitations. "I'm sorry, but I'm not a Witch. I can't do these things--"
"You don't know what you can do." The light in Catherine's dark eyes flickered. "You have hidden talents. To pry them loose, you will have to do the unthinkable. But once you have discovered your true potential, it is my intention to help you achieve it. All I ask in return is that you devote your heart and soul to this alliance. Vampires bring ruin to everything in their path. One taste of your magic, and they will destroy you too. If you wish to survive, you must learn to protect yourself. Don't wait too long, precious. As they say, all good things..."
She didn't speak of endings because she didn't have to. With every moment I stood still, doing nothing, I felt the end creep closer and closer. With a last, careful smile, as if she knew it too or perhaps felt it herself, Catherine swept regally from the room.
Sighing, I placed both hands on the couch, staring ahead to the empty fireplace. I looked down and the sigh fell soundlessly from my lips. There, sat innocently in the middle of the cushion, was a brown-skinned china doll in a dreamy white dress.
Slowly I circled the couch, wondering at the likeness...
If this was truly our first time meeting, how did Catherine know what I looked like?
That night, I suffered strange and terrible dreams.
I awoke, trembling in the dark, unable to recall anything from those sharp, vivid images but wonder... and terror. Visions I couldn't remember, but could still feel deep in my bones. My heart pumped elation through my veins like sweet poison; my hands trembled at the memories. With a long exhale, I threw myself back against the pillows only to rise and throw back the covers. I padded towards the bathroom, intending to splash my sweaty face with cold water, when the hallway light came on outside my bedroom. I paused, staring at the yellow-orange glow spilling from beneath my door.
I crossed the room, turning the knob between my fingers and poking my head outside. The hallway was dark and silent.
"Mrs. T? Are you having trouble with the light bulbs again?" I frowned. "Mrs. T?"
Down the hall, the light clicked on above the stairs. I gasped, lips parting in surprise. Like a pesky apparition, the moment I entered the hallway, the light disappeared. Teeth lengthening, claws sharpening, I stole my way carefully across the hall. From the top of the stairs, I gazed downwards, into the abyss. When the light clicked on in the landing below, so did my awareness.
<<Follow the leader.>>
"Gladly."
I traced the lights in a game of tag, all throughout out the mansion. By the time I reached the foyer, my fangs and claws had stowed, but not my ill-temper. I threw the front door open with no hesitation, expecting to see a grinning Tidus. He was there, but he wasn't happy at all.
An unconscious man dangled from his grip like a plastic bag with a diaper in it.
"Tidus? Please tell me that was you inside my head just now? While I was sleeping..."
"Naomi, I would never disrespect you in that way. But he was." His mouth curled in disgust as he tossed the body aside. "He was trying to use Glamour to lure you outside and kill you. Don't worry, I snapped his neck. He'll wake up frying in the sun."
I swallowed, my hand rising to my neck. "Wow. Something happened this afternoon that made me totally forget about the Revenant--until now. Um, thank you." For saving me once again... I opened the door wider and took a step back. "You have really good timing, but I'm guessing there's another reason you're here?"
"There is." His hands went behind his back, his straight shoulders straightened further. "I'm afraid my killing spree at the diner has led to a few complications with the Council. Well, that and the fact that your people murdered our Rabid." Like red drops on white linen, his sorrow was flecked with rage.
"Tidus..." My hands wrung themselves. "I'm so sorry. I know you warned me--I tried to stop it, really, I did--"
"I trust you, Naomi. It's your Leadership--and my Council that contrived this problem. I must speak with the Elder."
"He's not here." I tucked my hair behind my ear. "But whatever it is... you can talk to me." I told myself I wanted this because there were things he and I needed to discuss. The beating of my heart said otherwise.
"Naomi..." Before now, his crystal-blue eyes were always so clear. Tonight they clouded.
"Tidus, you took something from me. I need to know why."
Tidus' hands went inside his pockets. He bounced on his feet. "That's a very complicated question with an even more complicated answer. But what I took from you, Naomi, it should never have been yours to begin with. It's a burden, a dangerous one."
"Your answer--so not good enough."
"I know."
"So..." I stepped back, hoping he'd follow, dreading he wouldn't. "Tell me more."
"I can't." Tidus glanced around the door's frame. "Not unless you invite me in."
"Okay." I smiled even though he didn't. "Then, I invite you in." This time, when I stepped back, he followed me inside.
His eyes never left mine.
I closed the door by pressing my back against it, staring at my perfect stranger. Not so perfect, and not so much a stranger any more... "Why did you Glamour me? What were you trying to hide?"
"Not me. Your parents..." His gaze swept across the darkened hall as if in expectation. "The woman you saw in the vision I gave you--Marie Laveau, yes, the Marie Laveau--wanted something from your mother that she no longer had. Paris' gift was gone, but not yours. By that time, she had passed that power onto you."
"Power..." Slowly, I shook my head. "What power? My mother was just a Wolf." And now she was just a rogue.
"No." Tidus shook his head. "Your mother wasn't always a Wolf, Naomi. Before she was turned, she was a Witch."
"Turned? Turned? My mother was turned?"
"Yes, she was never a pureblood; she was once a powerful Witch. Your father helped her to escape Marie's clan. But Marie came after them, in search of your mother's power. By the time she found your parents that night in the woods, your mother had already been turned--but not before they had you."
"So, so... That would make me..." I couldn't say it-I couldn't believe it. All these years... All these goddamn years, my entire family had lied to me about who I really was...
Tidus was the only one who dared to tell the truth.
"You're part Witch, Naomi. I cloaked your power so Marie couldn't find it and take it from you."
"And why would she do that?"
"So she can re-animate my father from the dead. Six hundred years ago, he was killed. It would probably be best he stayed that way."
"Wait--I don't understand. Why would a Witch go through all this trouble to save Dracula? No offense."
"None taken. Marie Laveau wants Dracula alive because she loves him. What can I say--they have chemistry. They also want the same thing--an end to all Vampires." His face hardened at just the thought. "She's had my father's corpse for quite some time, attempting to do the impossible--spells she was never strong enough to achieve. But your mother--she could. That's why Marie needed her power. And yours. I'm sorry, I wish I could undo what I did to you, Naomi, but that would be against your parents' wishes."
"Right. That makes sense. I guess." I bit my lip. "So, the incredibly famous Witch, Marie Laveau, was once after my mother--because she too was a Witch. Got it. And where is Marie now?"
"Closer than you think. She's the leader of the Red Hand."
Hey guys! Thanks so much for reading this chapter! If you enjoyed it, please click that little star up above and VOTE! And don't forget to add SF to your reading list so you don't miss out on any updates! More Tidus and Naomi ahead! Allons-y! <3 <3 <3