Morgade entered the hidden cave where he was locked by the Campbell witches with pure distaste. It was damp, cold and chilling. That place reminded him how he was weak as a mortal and how he mercilessly got killed by these powerful Campbell witches.
Mara and Aamon, the two powerful demons to whom he sold his soul in return of immense dark powers, appeared at once.
Mara, the strangely long black haired beautiful demon who was always clothed in black spoke first. "Morgade darling," she trailed off soft and low, her sexy voice. "Where are the sacrifices you promised us?" She stood facing him, his pulse quickened as her hand dangerously ran down his neck, slowly circled it and squeezed hard enough to make him wince in pain. An evil smile curved from her pale lips as her long black nails dug in his flesh. "Our demon servants are getting impatient."
"We need an immediate sacrifice to appease our hunger for souls," Aamon, the silent and more dangerous one, informed. His red eyes gleamed when he grinned maliciously at Mara and she abruptly let go of his neck.
Morgade straightened himself and watched them narrowly. They were dangerous and he needed them to vanquish the prince of the Shadows. Once he gets Dravon Blackwell's powers, he will personally take care of these two demons.
"My powers have weakened an inch. Any idea why?," he questioned them, knowing he can't trust them.
"You dare ask us why? Your punishment for delaying sacrifices, Morgade, why else!," Aamon smirked arrogantly at him.
"We give you only one week for more bloodshed...a minimum of five innocent souls will satiate our need, for now."
"That's fine with me. But I have to analyse souls. Not everyone is innocent in this town," Moregade acknowledged.
"Then find them. Sinners don't count. We don't derive pleasure in trapping their souls to the shadows," Mara, impatient, said.
"Make sure it's young vibrant souls, Morgade," Aamon added.
"I will, my demons," he promised as he walked away from them, knowing exactly where he will find his next sacrifice.
***
Lisa grabbed Jason's hand nervously and led him to his mother's bedroom. As soon as she closed the door, Jason faced her, a questioning look on his face.
A light frown appeared on his forehead.
"Lisa, why did you want to talk to me alone? What's wrong?," he wasted no time in asking.
"Jason, I've been wanting to tell you something since so long. Tonight, I've finally mustered the courage to tell you this." She played with her long silky black hair, avoiding his piercing gaze.
"Jason, I...I love you," she whispered. Jason heard her but remained motionless, taking in what she just said. He watched her remotely, his grey eyes cold.
"Lisa, I've always considered you as a good friend who truly understands me. Nothing more," he trailed the last words to make sure she got it straight.
Lisa stared at him blankly as her whole world fell apart. Jason meant everything to her, her world revolved around him. But he did not share the same feelings as her. For him, she was just a girl who listened to him and understood him. Nothing more _ these two words echoed in her mind as the unshed tears clouded her eyes.
Next thing she knew was that she was sitting on the edge of the bed, Jason seated next to her, his strong arms wrapped around her as she sobbed uncontrollably.
"Lisa, I know it's hard for you to digest this but I believe somewhere, someone extremely kind is made for you, someone who will love you like you want to be loved."
She wiped off her tears and searched his eyes.
"I don't deserve you, Lisa. You deserve better than me."
Lisa nodded to him, faking understanding because she wanted his love, not his sympathy. She knew if she acted stubborn right now, Jason would back away. So, she remained quiet and reminded herself that she just needed to try harder to make him love her back.
***
Jade rummaged the drawers in a haste, trying to find what she craved right now. She needed something strong to forget her surroundings for a moment. She had just made a complete fool of herself downstairs. All the time she attempted to talk to Dravon, he answered back absently, his attention elsewhere. She knew then that somehow deep inside, the emotions that Dravon had buried inside of him the night he became an immortal were surfacing again.
But whenever his blue eyes gleamed with pride or affection, it wasn't for her. It was for Quinn. Her thoughts were interrupted when someone slammed the door shut.
She levelled up her eyes to stare into Ash's sterling silver grey ones. His eyes mirrored her disoriented look.
"Jade, why are you in my room?," he questioned.
She shrugged lightly. "I need something strong, Ash," she said softly. He assessed her quickly. Although if her blue dress was slightly creased, her sandy hair in big wild curls and her makeup a bit smudged, she still was a beautiful mess.
"You need bourbon, girl."
Jade watched his lean figure as he moved to a hardwood table where he ran his fingers underneath and pressed a button. The top layer of the table parted in two revealing a collection of bourbons.
"Damn boy, you sure know how to hide the best things!," she exclaimed, a mischievous glint in her hazel eyes.
He filled two glasses, handed her one as they settled on the bed, enjoying their drinks in silence. the whole room was in different shades of grey and red. Different photographs of him were displayed proudly on his wall, each showing how he was naturally charming.
"What's troubling you, Jade?,"he muttered after a long moment. He turned to her. "If you were sober, you would never have entered my room." He watched her serious expression. "Bonus point, Jade in my bed," he joked.
She smiled at him.
"Only when I'm drunk, Ash." She pressed her shoulder close to his for a minute and let her head settle on it. Ash took away the glasses, put them on the side table, then encircled his arm around her protectively. She looked at him as she moved closer and pressed her lips lightly against his.
"Easy Jade, you're drunk."
"I don't care. That kiss was for being nice to me. That's all that matters."
"Well, if you feel the need to return the favor, how about this?"
His lips sought her with a quick determined urgency and she responded with fury and surprise. Stunned by her response, which exactly mirrored his own, they continued to ravish each other's mouth with an intensity that frightened both of them. Ash hesitantly pulled away from her, cursed himself for what he just did.
"Once sober, I will hate you for this Ash Williams." He chuckled at that one. "Don't worry Jade, by the time it's morning, the feeling might become mutual."
***
Quinn got out of the washroom in distaste, disgusted by herself. Her head felt light and a bit dizzy. Her drink, she hadn't even finished it. Was her drink spiked? Worse, was Ash responsible for this? Her eyes searched the room and rested on a drunk Ash who was making out with two beautiful blondes. He waved at her and smiled cheerfully. She shook that thought off her head. It was stupid to even doubt him. Sure he was the party guy but somehow he didn't seem like the type who would spike drinks. Girls naturally fell for his easy charms.
Her gaze wandered the room as she spotted a wasted Jade who had convinced Dravon to dance with her. His expression was quite neutral when she pulled him close and hugged him as if he was her world. Dravon looked in her direction, lingered his dark gaze on her but she broke the eye contact, unable to see Jade so close to him. He pulled away from Jade after that and walked away from her.
Quinn preferred to look in any other direction than of Dravon Blackwell. She was too consciously aware of him. She smiled as she watched Shade not getting impressed by a tall brunette who hopelessly tried her luck in flirting. Shade kept ignoring her as she talked, played with her hair, smiled unnecessarily at him or even showing her cleavage more. Poor girl. She recognized that girl for being part of the cheerleader team. Shade completely ignored her. Her gaze roamed farther where she spotted Jason standing in a corner and Lisa seated on the couch facing him with a long worn out face. She wondered what happened to these two?
Just then something else caught her attention. She had seen two soccer players headed upstairs earlier. Now were the turn of Scarlett with her two ponytail blondes, Courtney and Sandra. They rushed a girl who she had never noticed before with them. What was going on? Something definitely was fishy and she had to find out what.
But first she had to cure her current dizziness. She went behind the bar and gave a hearty smile to the guy who was serving drinks. She had found what she needed - cold water. She gulped some hurriedly, then climbed up the stairs two by two.
Once upstairs, she stopped in the light blue hallway, her eyes amazed to see all the doors. Scarlett and her friends must be behind one of them, but which one?
Taking a deep breath, she turned the doorknobs one by one. Most of the doors were locked and when she reached for the fifth one, her intuition told her it was the one.
Slowly, she turned the doorknob, wanting to surprise the evil queen bee in whatever she was doing. But when she opened the door it was her and her alone who was surprised. No, surprise wasn't what she felt at that moment.
She batted her eyelashes in shock as her gaze rested on that girl in bed, only in her underwear with the two half-naked soccer players, then furiously stared at Sandra and Courtney who were filming everything. Scarlett, with a wicked smile watched her in triumph.
"Before you open your sassy mouth, Quinn, let me fill in the details." She glanced at the girl who was clearly embarrassed now, then faced Quinn. "This girl, Sara, desperately craved for popularity. So, we just gave her the ultimate chance to prove that she could be one of us."
Quinn, infuriated, glared at her. " How? By letting two guys twice her size force themselves on her?"
"Oh no, Richards! By letting these tough guys have fun with her. After all, who would refuse a threesome!," bitchy Scarlett corrected.
"You disgust me Scarlett. Using her innocence in return of popularity." She gave that girl a thoughtful glance. She didn't deserve it. In fact, no girl deserved this.
She moved closer to the bed, her rage apparent on her beautiful face. "Get out while you two have the chance," she threatened. The two guys hastily picked up their shirts and got out of the room.
"You will regret for ruining the fun, Quinn." She gave her a dark evil look. "We'll see, Scarlett," she menaced back. "And you, Miss nobody! Congratulations, because of Quinn, you are now still officially a nobody." She laughed loudly. "But rest assured, the videos of you will give you the tag of a stupid girl desperate enough to be used by soccer players." She winked at them and her two equally evil blondes dragged her away.
Quinn helped Sara dress in silence. She was a petite girl with a boyish figure. "Why did you intervene, Quinn?," she heard Sara's voice for the first time. "Because it's wrong and you were being used as a plaything." "No, I wasn't. I wanted to be here with them," she replied stubbornly.
Sara turned to her and gave her an accusing glare. "Now due to you, Scarlett will use those videos against me." Angry tears rolled from her brown eyes and she run away from the room.
Quinn sat on the bed, her frantic emotions consuming her. She needed to get rid of these videos. She got out too, still furious, when she stumbled on Scarlett. Miss super long ponytail however was acting quite strange. She remained on the floor, too bashed to stand up, her blue eyes, half closed. Quinn left her pitilessly on the floor as she searched for Sandra and Courtney.
She reached for the stairs when she heard voices screaming repeatedly. She rushed downstairs, confused to see not a soul was present, then dashed outside.
Everyone stood transfixed, their gaze on the balcony who consisted only of a rail and a small bit of decking. She looked up in absolute horror when she saw Luke and Scarlett arguing.
Scarlett moved closer to the frightened Luke who stepped back, lost balance and on the verge of falling but thankfully didn't. She then noticed why. Dravon had froze time but it didn't last long enough for someone to save Luke when time took back its normal course and sadly Luke fell.
Quinn analysed Dravon's face as everyone else gathered to the body of Luke. The shock was apparent on his face as he realised he had lost control of his angelic powers. She approached him and held his hand lightly. When he looked at her, the vulnerability in his sapphire blue eyes was replaced by gratitude. He held her hand with a tight firm grip. At that moment, nothing else mattered. She had vowed to look after him, protect him and that remained her priority.
Next second, they all glanced up to see Scarlett laughing wildly and walked away with an aura of superiority. Someone checked Luke's pulse and backed away when found none.
Luke was dead. But one thing was far more troubling, Quinn thought. It couldn't have been Scarlett up there with Luke when just two minutes before, she was wasted in the hallway. So how did she ended up, quite sober on the balcony? It just didn't make sense. Something weird and horrible had happened despite them being the chosen ones. They couldn't save Luke.
***
Morgade smiled as he transformed back to his normal self and entered a sleazy motel. Being a girl, that too the stupid Scarlett Bloom was hard work. He had to imitate her moves and talk. But, well everyone was convinced he was Scarlett. He had pulled it off well.
The bartender gave him his whisky and he smiled coldly. Those students had no idea about their dark future. Even the bond holding the coven members seem to weaken. He had to create rifts between them to achieve the title of King of the Shadows. Soon, he will have what he wants. He drank to his future in silence.