I lay silently, curled up with my back pressed up against Mistress, her face nestled into the back of my neck and arms wrapped tightly around my waist. I hadn't received even a moment alone since we got back to the mansion, the three of them crowding me incessantly to make sure I was okay. It wasn't as though I didn't appreciate it, because I did. But being coddled was the last thing I needed.
I've been laying here for about an hour now. Mistress surely must be asleep by now. To test, I reach my hand back and give a gentle poke to her side. She twitches against me, but doesn't react other than that. I let out a silent sigh of relief and get to work, shifting myself free of her arms and scooting over to the edge of the bed. I glance back over my shoulder, tensing up when she rolls over onto her back and mutters under her breath, but relaxing again when she stops moving. I slip myself off and go over to the closet, pulling out my tank top and shorts, and slowly making my way out of her room.
I walk through the halls, pulling my shirt over my head and shuffling my shorts up my legs as I walk, padding barefoot against the hard floor and making my way toward the dining hall, making my way in and stepping into the open space off to the side. I sit down in the middle of the floor, crossing my legs, resting my hands in my lap, and closing my eyes. I take slow, deep breaths in through my nose, and back out through my mouth, trying to center myself.
I slowly open my eyes again and hold my hands out in front of me, muttering softly under my breath as I will heat into my hands, letting the flames start out small, and gradually increasing in size, letting it grow to a considerable extent, but nothing too severe, about the size of a decent campfire, before easing it back down to a small flicker. I go back and forth a few times, letting it grow bigger with each breath in before easing it back down to a wisp with each breath out.
The sudden sound of footsteps makes me panic and I quickly extinguish the flames, hiding underneath the dining table, easing my breathing down to a slow enough pace to make it quiet, and lay flat on the floor so I can see.
I catch a glimpse of Mistress' long nightgown as she comes around the corner and I feel my chest tighten nervously. She pads around for a moment, going down the hall one way, then back down the other. "Dammit..." she mutters under her breath. "I knew she was gonna run away..."
I let out a quiet sigh and crawl out from under the table, rubbing my arms. "I didn't run away... I just wanted some time to myself..."
She immediately turns her head to face me and sighs with relief, running over to wrap her arms around me and hold me against her, turning her head back. "She's in here! It's fine!" She quickly turns her head back to face me and grips my cheeks, forcing me to look down at her as she narrows her eyes at me. "I really wish you would stop doing that, Jennifer. I thought you'd gotten spooked and took off."
I quickly shake my head and lean down into her, burying my face into her neck. "I'm sorry... I came out here to practice, is all. But you guys didn't give me any space after we got home from the club, so I figured I'd wait until you all were asleep..."
Cynthia pulls away from me just a bit, then sighs and shakes her head. "I mean, can you really blame us? It seems every time we give you a moment to yourself, something happens." she chuckles and shakes her head, before looking back at me and brushing her hand against my cheek, giving me a seductive smirk. "I'm tempted to just handcuff us together. Keep you with me at all times."
The thought of it sends a tingle down my spine and I chew my lower lip, then shake my head and narrow my eyes at her playfully. "Yeah, you'd like that, wouldn't you?"
Her seductive smirk turns into a sadistic grin and she approaches me, forcing me to walk back until I'm pressed back against the table, and places her hands on either side of me, keeping me pinned between. "I would... Just think of all the possibilities..." she reaches her hand up to run her fingers through my hair. "Keeping you at my side, reaching around with my free hand and pinching your sides, poking your ribs, whenever I want. And you can't escape from me."
Shivers run through me and I feel my eyes cloud over lustfully at the thought, but flashes of the previous day's events sends a rush of panic through me and I fall to my knees in front of her, body shaking uncontrollably as flames flicker in my hands. I clench them tightly and take a deep breath, holding my hands to my chest. I feel hands rest on my shoulders and look up at Cynthia again, the hunger in her eyes gone and replaced with concern. "S-sorry, M-Mistress. I-I-I'm f-fi-fine..." But even as I force the words out, tears slowly start pouring from my eyes. She reaches over and wipes them away with the back of her hand.
"I'm sorry, sweetheart. We should have been paying more attention. That shouldn't have gotten as far as it did."
I shake my head and look up at her. "No... That's not the problem. I had the answer right in front of me. I had a real, true lead to who killed my parents, and it slipped right through my fingers."
I tremble, slamming my fists down into the floor. She quickly takes them into her own and shushes me, rubbing her thumbs over my now bloodied knuckles. Footsteps finally pad in from the other room and Karin and Sienna sit on either side of me.
Karin speaks first.
"We'll figure this out, Jenn. I promise." She kneels down in the floor beside me. "But handing you over isn't an option. If we'd let her have what she wanted, there would be no way for us to find you."
"We didn't need to accept the deal, but we could've at least convinced her we were going to. I have ways of making people talk, and it's not your kind of torture." I feel my head get hazy and I can tell my eyes are hazing over. But a quick smack to the back of my head brings me out of it, and I reach my hand up to rub it, looking up at Cynthia. "Ow!"
"I'm not going to let you talk like that. You're way better than those damned hunters. Torture isn't the answer. We'll figure it out the simpler way. In a few weeks, there will be a solstice ball- held right here in our mansion this year, actually - and all vampires will attend. At least, the ones here in the city."
"But how do you know that she'll be here. She might not even be in the city! You heard what Krysta said. She's been looking for me everywhere."
"Exactly. But Krysta found out where you were, obviously, she'll relay that information to her Mistress." Sienna plops down on the ground beside me, sitting cross-legged and pulling me into her lap. I furrow my eyebrows a little in curiosity and confusion, but she quickly puts those thoughts to rest as she holds me against her. I sigh softly and relax in her lap, giving a soft nod up to her.
"Alright. I get your point~. Fine, I'll wait it out. Like I said, I'm not even ready for it yet. I have a lot of training left to do, which you three interrupted, by the way."
Sienna gives me a gentle bop with her hand on the top of my head, then kisses the spot. "You don't have to do anything on your own, dweeb, that's what we're saying."
"Unfortunately, you three are not good for my concentration when I'm meditating."
I feel Sienna lift her face away from me and turn my head to see her looking down at me with narrowed eyes and a mischievous smirk. "You wanna see 'not good for your concentration', I'll gladly show you."
I bite my lip and shake my head. "Not right now. Seriously. I just... I wanna be left alone for a little bit, guys. You already know I'm not gonna do something stupid, so may I just have some time?"
The three of them look to each other, then nod. They don't leave completely, though, simply going to the other side of the room and talking amongst themselves.
I settle back down where I had been before by the fire, closing my eyes and leveling my breathing, letting the fires in my hands expand and retract in timing with my breath. Flashes of memories of the previous day threaten to distract me, but I instead take them and add them to the fury of my flames, letting them grow higher and hotter.
But the more I think about it, the more calm I feel. I open my eyes just a bit to look out at the three of them, seeing the concern on their face, but also a bit of determination. I can feel their emotions, their eagerness to help me. I pick up pieces of their conversation as they talk over what they'd just told me, discussing how best to bring the person responsible to light.
My heart warms a little bit, knowing how far the three of them are willing to go to protect me. And all I can think is how I want to protect them too.
I slowly release the flames from my hands, letting the fire surround and engulf me, but it doesn't injure me. It instead seems to wrap around my body instead. I hear a gasp and a cry of panic from the other three, but I don't let it detract from my concentration.
I stand, slowly, the flames surrounding me in a hot sort of armor. But the way I feel right now... I feel... free. Open to something I hadn't expected, my veins gently burning, not in a way that felt hot or painful, but more, controlled. Like being wrapped up in a soft heated blanket. I slowly open my eyes and look out to the other three.
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As if the sight of the fire surrounding her doesn't scare me enough, looking into her eyes as she opens them is something else entirely. They aren't their normal green colour. Instead, they seem to glow with the same bluish color that the flames themselves are.
But she doesn't seem frightened, or in pain. So I allow her to herself, though I do feel Karin's hand slip into my own and hold on rather tightly. I rip my eyes away from Jennifer and look to her, seeing a mixture of fear and concern in her eyes. "What's going on?"
"She's opening herself up to her magic." The voice comes from behind us and I whirl around to find Serenity, standing with her arms crossed and leaning against the wall. "Sorry. I heard about what happened and came to check up on her, and then I felt her magic and was afraid something bad was happening. But this. This is incredible. I never expected her to have such solid control over her abilities."
"I feel so free..." The soft voice from the other side of the room causes me to whirl around again to face Jennifer, her eyes shifting back and forth between the fiery blue and her usual emerald green. She smiles back at me and closes her eyes again. "I feel like I'm so light and warm. It's comfortable."
But with a slow breath, the fires around her die out, and she opens her eyes again to reveal the green I'm used to.
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"That was beautiful. But honestly concerning. Are you okay?" Mistress' voice is soft, but concerned. I give her a gentle smile and a nod, bouncing a little on the balls of my feet.
"I feel fantastic. That was... a little unexpected. At first what I felt was anger, but then as soon as I started letting the fire build I felt... comforted. And then it just kinda wrapped around me and I felt like... I felt like I could take on anything."
"Moments of high-stress can be the best teaching moments." Serenity steps forward out of the shadows, sitting down in a chair in front of me. "Your anger fed the flames, but I believe that your realisation of 'this is the closest I've been to figuring things out' made you more comfortable to the point you connected with your powers. It's as I've been teaching you, Jennifer. Your powers are connected to your emotions, and now that your story is out in the open, and you've found a new piece to the puzzle, you're much more relaxed and willing to let your emotions show."
"It's... more than that." I smile between the four of them, sitting back down and leaning back on my hands, crossing one leg over the other. "I feel connected to everyone else too. For the first time in ages, I don't feel so - alone." They smile back and I slowly lower myself onto my back, staring up at the ceiling. "I feel like I can take things as they come, now. No matter what happens, I have you guys with me. And just as you guys wanna take care of me, I wanna take care of you too. And I know the best way to do that is to let myself take control for a while."
Serenity stands above me and reaches a tentacle down to my hand. I reach it up and let her wrap the tentacle around it, pulling me up to my feet slowly. I feel a bit dizzy when I stand up straight, but she quickly wraps her arms around me and holds me against her. "Easy, now. I'm glad that you've come to this realisation, but you also used too much of your power. Do you think that you'll be able to sleep, now?"
I give a soft nod and reach my hand up to my mouth to cover a yawn. Serenity gently lifts me and carries me over to the other three, and Sienna scoops me out of her arms, holding me against her chest. "My turn~" she purrs, before leaning down to kiss my forehead softly. I smile up at her dazily and lean my head against her shoulder, my eyes slowly drifting closed, until at last I fall asleep in Sienna's arms.
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END OF CHAPTER NOTES: So this one's not as long as the others, sadly, but I'm finally getting into a mental groove where writing isn't quite as difficult, so I'm hoping that lasts.