Seeds of Autumn

  Chapter Eleven

  18th November

  It was a restless night for the Blue Moon. They could all feel Teri's fear, and pain. Fortune paced the attic all night, Flames and Wind Talker had gone to the petrol station, having summoned supernatural allies to help protect the border. Shadow and Stone were patrolling while Ariana and Eyes were expected to rest.

  Ariana couldn't sleep, she sat in the kitchen waiting for something to happen. She felt useless and confused, but her feeling paled in comparison to the frustration she felt from Eyes. He was taking it out on the punch bag in the basement. Ariana only caught fragments of unguarded thought and feeling, their human forms were the least communicative in so many ways. It was only when Eyes shifted into the monster and started shredding the punch bag that Ariana picked up more of the picture. A toddler, in yellow pyjamas with gorgeous curly hair, she was being put to bed by a beautiful young woman with long red hair. Eyes had a family. Ariana knew where they lived, she had smelled Eyes in Crossway on that first trip out with Shadow. If she had smelled him, so had the Witches. Tears welled up in her eyes and she rubbed them away with frustration.

  As dawn broke Ariana's eyes were fighting sleep, the others were in mixed states of exhaustion. She couldn't feel much from Teri, she was still there so Ariana knew she was still alive, but there were no strong emotions coming from her. Ariana hoped that meant Teri was asleep, rather than unconscious or broken.

  The pack sleepily assembled for breakfast, though it seemed Ariana wasn't the only one with no appetite. Fortune burst into the kitchen, grim determination etched on his face.

  'We're not going to sit around any more. I need intelligence from our allies, Flames and Stone. I need to know where she is being held and why they took her.'

  'Blood,' Shadow's Step spoke softly from the corner by the back door. Everyone looked at him. 'The Witches value heredity above almost everything. Teri is from Fenwick, the Witches may consider her to be theirs by birth.'

  Fortune rubbed his forehead and ran his fingers through his long hair.

  'That sounds about right. Still, Flames and Stone, I need you to call in all favours from our allies. I want to get a message to the Witches too, let's see if we can arrange a negotiation for exchange. I want Teri back and if we can do it without open bloodshed, so much the better. Wind Talker, Ariana, you will help and observe. Shadow, I need you out on patrol.' Fortune turned to Eyes, a softer expression settling on his face. 'Eyes, I'm taking you home.'

  The relief that washed over Eyes was palpable, his shoulders relaxed and he let out a huge sigh.

  'Thank you,' he breathed.

  The pack began to split up and Ariana took the opportunity to dash upstairs to check her phone. She got to her room and eagerly turned it on. A little ripple of disappointment passed through her when she found no messages from Rhys waiting for her. She shoved the feeling aside and checked her missed calls, at least a dozen from Ron at the dojo. The events of the last three days had consumed her entire life and everything that was normal before her first change seemed a lifetime ago.

  She summoned some courage and made the call to work. It only rang twice before a voice cracked with stress answered.

  'Saint Mark's Self Defence Dojo.'

  'Ron, it's Ariana.'

  'Where the hell have you been?' her boss yelled. Ariana flinched.

  'I'm so sorry. I've been in such a state. A couple of days ago I found out that my dad died.' She winced as she said the words. 'I've been back home to be with my mum. I'm really sorry for not calling sooner, I was just totally lost.' She had never got along well with her adopted family and didn't talk about them much. She felt guilty for lying to Ron and invoking such a tragic tale, but she couldn't very well tell him the truth.

  'Of course,' Ron's voice softened, 'Of course, love, I'm sorry for your loss. I can grant you a leave of absence for a couple of weeks, if that's enough?'

  'Yes, that should be fine. Thank you.' Ariana breathed a silent sigh of relief. 'I'll keep in touch and see you soon.'

  'Take care Ariana. See you soon.' Ron ended the call and Ariana tucked her phone away in her pocket with a slightly shaky hand.

  She shoved her guilt aside and ran back downstairs, just in time to fall into step behind Wind Talker as they filed through the door into the back of the shop and each stepped across the veil, unnoticed by any human occupants of the room beyond.

  'Why do they never see?' Ariana asked as she stepped into the bizarre Hepethia version of the betting shop. The others looked at her quizzically. 'The humans? They didn't notice us crossing over.'

  'Humans usually choose to ignore the things that their brain cannot comprehend,' Flames replied. 'But just in case, we have a demon of obfuscation guarding the shop and concealing our comings and goings.'

  'Oh, I see. That makes sense. So the humans who come in regularly have no idea about any of us?'

  She was met with a slightly awkward silence, but only for a moment.

  'They may suspect,' Stone volunteered. 'But no, they have no sure knowledge. Lily knows everything though and if any customer did ever see something they shouldn't and commented on it, I'm sure she could convince them to ignore it. She can be very persuasive.' Stone smirked.

  Ariana nodded in silent acknowledgement and watched as Wind Talker and Flames-First-Guardian went about setting up the ritual. Wind Talker lit a fire in the fire pit and the room lit up with its warm blaze, the money on the walls fluttering gently. Flames cut his hand and let blood run into the fire, stoking the flames higher.

  Stone walked around them in a circle, muttering a low chant, her steps seemed to leave the trace of a line behind her, forming a protective boundary around them, Ariana knew that it wasn't just a symbolic protection, it was a physical barrier.

  Grins-Too-Widely slunk in through the door and sat just outside the circle, his head cocked to one side in the usual way, his peculiar grin too big for his face. She supposed that the fox must sense their rituals beginning, she wondered if there would ever be a time that he wouldn't come to observe.

  Flames took a blood sacrifice from each of them in turn, catching their blood in the large goblet and returning to the fire. Wind Talker crumbled some herbs into the blood and slowly poured the mixture into the fire while Flames raised his hands over his head and clapped them slowly three times.

  'We call upon the powers of the gods and all those that have dominion over tracking and surveillance,' Flames called out.

  From out of the fire crawled a small creature, rather like a salamander, but its skin was made of gravel and it crunched as it crawled out of the fire pit and onto the floor before Flames. Behind it came what looked like a CCTV camera with strange legs like a spider, it had a small red light blinking in place of an eye and it made an electronic whirring sound as it moved robotically towards Flames.

  'We thank you for answering our call.' Stone spoke calmly, but her voice was weighted with authority. 'We need you and your kin to find our pack sister. She was taken from us late last night by the Witches of Fenwick. We know she fled through Runmead, north of here, but after that we lost track of her.'

  'Witches!' spat the salamander angrily. 'No friends of ours. We will look, but those shifters shun our paths and keep to the woods.'

  'I know,' Stone sighed. 'But many of the nature fae are their allies and will not help us. Please do your best and we will continue to uphold our long standing bargain of keeping the roads clear and safe.'

  'Done,' the salamander hissed and shuffled back into the fire, the surveillance spirit blinked its red eye and followed.

  Flames cast his hands over the fire and it immediately died down, it didn't go out completely, the fuel still burned, but the ritual was closed and the fire responded by returning to its natural size. The circle faded from the floor.

  'Will they find her?' Ariana felt sceptical.

  'Perhaps,' Stone shrugged. 'They may find a way, or a sign for us to follow. Once we have news we will see about sending
the Witches a message, but we don't want to play our hand before we know where Teri is, just in case we need to take further action.'

  'You seemed to know just what to say to them,' Ariana mused.

  'I guess I'm pretty diplomatic, yes. That's why Fortune asked me to help here. Teri is too, she has a certain way about her.' Stone cast her eyes down into the fire, weight heavy on her shoulders.

  'Will we get her back? What if she should be with the Witches by right? What if she decides she wants to join them?' The questions tumbled out of Ariana before she could stop them. Stone put a steadying hand on her shoulder.

  'One thing at a time. Let's find her first.'

  One of the televisions suddenly stopped crackling with static and flared to life. The four shifters quickly went to it and watched as the image formed on the screen. The view was from a static CCTV camera, the image was black and white and somewhat grainy. Beyond the strange grey light from a street lamp was utter blackness, so it had to be out in the country, away from the lights of buildings. The rampaging bestial creature galloped across the screen, closely followed by two wolves and a fox. They all bounded across the road and disappeared into the blackness beyond.

  The picture blinked away, leaving the screen black. Words formed on the screen, as if they were being typed, with the location of the camera that caught the action. It was right out in Fenwick, on the main street out of Caerton, the one Ariana had driven up with Rhys the night before she changed. Ariana's breath caught in her throat. She had been on Witch territory right before she changed. Had they caught her scent too? If she had changed that night she might be with the Witches now. What about Rhys? Would she have killed him in her frenzy? Would the Witches have killed him for witnessing supernatural activity? It didn't bear thinking about.

  'Well, it doesn't give us much, but it's enough to confirm that they drove her up into Fenwick Forest. That's probably where they are holding her now.' Stone gave words to the group's thoughts. 'Let's update Fortune and see what message he wants to send.'

  The four of them trooped back across the veil, seamlessly appearing and strolling through the door into the house at the back. They had been in Hepethia far longer than Ariana had thought, the day had grown late.

  Fortune, Eyes and Shadow were all filing in through the back door as Ariana and the others reached the kitchen.

  'It shouldn't have happened,' Shadow was saying. 'It was a shadow demon, our ally, it shouldn't have attacked her like that. I am telling you now, there is chaos and disorder among the spirits.' He fell silent when he saw the others and Ariana thought she caught a glimmer of apprehension in his face as his eyes passed over her. He had been talking about her run in with the shadow on the way back the night before, he was concerned and hadn't told her. Now was not the time to be petulant about it, however, and Ariana smiled as if she hadn't heard a thing.

  She latched onto Fights-Eyes-Open, who looked grim and frustrated. She went to him and offered a friendly pat on his arm.

  'Hi. Did you see your family?'

  'From a distance,' he grumbled. 'Fortune told me I had to just check that they were okay, for my peace of mind, but not to go right up to the house and leave my fresh scent all over it. Which I know makes sense, but I really just want to be there to protect them myself.'

  'This is why many of our kind walk away from our human families, Eyes,' Fortune spoke softly and carefully. There was sadness in the Alpha's eyes and Ariana felt a wave of it pass through the pack telepathy. Had they all left loved ones behind them in order to live this life? Her family lived in another city and she had never been close to them, but she thought of Ben, and of Rhys. A lump welled up in her throat.

  Stone walked abruptly back towards the shop without a word, Shadow set about feeding the pack, while Flames filled Fortune in on what they had learned. Ariana peered down the hall and watched Stone busying herself in the shop, it was closing up time. She gave Eyes another pat on the arm and what she hoped was a reassuring smile. Ariana sat down at the table and pulled out her phone. She had a message from Ben and she opened it hurriedly.

  Where the fuck are you? I am worried sick. You were on death's door last time I saw you and now you've vanished. Call me, please.

  Ariana stood and walked briskly from the room before the tears began to fall. She sat down half way up the stairs and sobbed. She hadn't thought of him until just a moment earlier, she had left him in the dark for days. The guilt clawed painfully at her insides.

  I am so, so sorry. I am absolutely fine. I was pretty ill for a few days and basically shut the whole world out. But I am fine now. I am really sorry for causing you to worry. I totally failed to call into work too, I flaked out. It was so bad. Are you otherwise OK? Loads of love, A xx

  The tears kept falling and her hands shook as she typed, she had to keep going back and re-typing parts of the message. Just moments after she sent her message, her phone lit up with a reply.

  Thank fuck. Glad you're OK. Work is a bitch, as always, but I'm fine. Marcus is taking me to Rome for a few days next week for our anniversary. But when I get back we are going for cocktails. ciao, bella xxx

  Ariana smiled weakly and wiped her face.

  Wow! Have a wonderful time. See you when you get back xx

  'Right,' Fortune's voice boomed out from the kitchen and Ariana hurriedly finished drying her tears and slipped back to the pack. 'Flames, I need you to summon a messenger, something substantial, to let them know we mean business.'

  'We should all take part, it'll be easier to summon a powerful fae or demon with the whole pack there, bar Teri, obviously,' Flames responded.

  'Fine.' Fortune nodded and indicated for everyone to cross over the veil. They filed down the hall and met Stone as she was bolting the shop door behind the last person to leave. 'Stone, join us please.'

  The pack crossed over into Hepethia, which was becoming increasingly familiar to Ariana now. She was becoming accustomed to the static broadcasting from the televisions, the money fluttering on the walls, the eyes watching her and the strange silence that hung just beyond the shop like a soundproof curtain around them.

  'We won't always do rituals here,' Wind Talker said softly at her ear. 'We sometimes have to go to where the right elements are, but this is the safest place.'

  Flames-First-Guardian and Wind Talker rekindled the fire in the pit and Stone walked the circle, forming the protective boundary around them. Flames lit a black candle and walked around the circle with it, shielding the flame with his hand. As he passed her, Ariana noticed shadows dancing on him, on the back of his hand and on his face, everywhere that there were stark contrasts between the candlelight and darkness. The dance was unnatural, not the movement she expected to see from a flickering candle, the shadows themselves were alive.

  'Come to us, demon of shadow, of movement in darkness. Hear our call,' Wind Talker called out and he followed Flames around the circle with the goblet and knife, taking blood from each pack member in turn. Ariana held out her hand and didn't even wince as he cut her palm. She knew by now that she would be shedding a lot of blood this way and that the cut would heal in seconds.

  Grins-Too-Widely made his usual appearance through the front door, which always seemed to open for him of its own accord. Several small shadowy figures accompanied him; shifting, dark creatures, roughly the size of cats. They slunk around him, clinging to the floor and walls. They settled around the edges of the shop and watched.

  Flames stood by the fire and held the candle over it, tipping it over so that the melting wax dripped into the fire.

  'Essence of shadow, of flickering movement, I summon you.' Flames' voice reverberated off the walls, the command was clear and compelling. The shadows around the room shimmered and Ariana watched in awe as darkness was drawn out of every crevice and corner in the room. Out from under every fold of money on the walls, from behind each pack member, from under the fire pit, every shadow peeled away from the surface it was cast upon and seemed to be sucked in towards t
he centre of the circle.

  Out of the fire rose a twisting black shape, constantly flickering and twitching. It had no face, no limbs, no discernible edges at all, it was just formless shadow. Ariana struggled to wrap her head around what she was seeing, it made sense even though it shouldn't. She could feel the power of it, it was stronger than any fae or demon that she had seen before and she felt drawn to it, even though it frightened her.

  Ariana glanced around the circle. She could feel tension coming from Shadow's Step beside her and his eyes looked troubled.

  'Shadow-of-Moonlit-Leaves,' Stone spoke, drawing everyone's attention. 'Thank you for answering our call.'

  'Why do you summon me?' The demon's voice rustled, like leaves in the wind.

  'Our pack-sister has been taken captive by The Witches of Fenwick and we wish to send a message to her abductors, calling for a negotiation.' Fortune spoke clearly and authoritatively.

  'I am not your errand boy, dog, send your own messages.' The demon began to twist back down into the fire, but something caught its attention and it stopped its descent, although it still flickered. Slowly it rose out of the fire again and Ariana felt its attention turn towards Shadow's Step, standing next to her. 'You are of the darkness.'

  'I am,' her mentor spoke softly, but his deep voice carried well.

  'As are you.' The demon turned to her, shifting around constantly, dancing among the flames. Ariana felt her cheeks burn red, she didn't entirely understand.

  'Yes,' she replied, trying to keep the doubt out of her voice.

  'You would have me dance across city and forest to carry a message of peace to these Witches.'

  'You are the shadow of leaves under moonlight.' Ariana let the words flow from her, though her eyes darted to Stone for confirmation that she was saying the right thing. Stone gave her a reassuring smile and small nod. Shadow took her hand briefly and gave it a squeeze.

  'I am,' confirmed the demon.

  'You can move unseen across the city, be anywhere you choose.' Shadow's Step took up the negotiation, much to Ariana's relief. 'You are powerful and command a host of lesser shadow demons under you. You are allied with the Blue Moon and I am the faithful servant of your kind. We know each other, you and I, though we meet tonight for the first time. If you carry this message for us, I will dim the lights of St. Mark's every night of every full moon from henceforth, so that you might grow in strength and influence.'

  Ariana chewed her lip and carefully looked at him. How on earth could he accomplish such a thing? Then she remembered watching from the window of her flat as all of the street lights flickered out to mask the fight about to take place. She let out a slow, steady breath, unaware that she had been holding it.

  The demon flickered, it seemed to rotate and look at each pack member in turn, reading them, deciding whether or not it could trust them.

  'Very well. You will do this for me and I will take your message. What, precisely do you want me to say?'

  Fortune and Stone hurriedly muttered together and seemed to come to a quick agreement.

  'We cordially invite you, Witches of Fenwick, to Redfield Park at midnight to discuss terms for the return of our pack-sister, Teresa Melrose.' Stone relayed the message.

  The demon repeated it back in Stone's own voice.

  'So mote it be,' Flames-First-Guardian said and clapped his hands.

  The demon seemed to nod and it twisted down into the fire. The shadows spilled out from the pit and slithered back into their proper places. The boundary dropped and the lesser shadow demons outside the circle slipped away. A faint breeze lifted the notes on the walls for a moment and then there was stillness.

  'Will they come?' Stone asked the Alpha.

  'No,' Fortune said quietly. 'I don't believe they will. But we have to try.'

  He strode across the room towards Ariana, crossing the veil right beside her, which sent a peculiar ripple through her body, as if she could feel the very fabric of reality moving as he crossed.