A/N: I want to apologise for how long it's taken me to upload. It's been tough, the journey to finally getting this chapter written. I've had writers block with this story, as well as the fact that my life is a complete whirlwind at the moment. But it's finally here. It's here. Enjoy.

Knight of Converse

Chapter twenty

Consciousness didn’t come slowly like it always. I sprang up, with my hand on my chest, breathing heavily. My body shivered with a strange feeling, as though something had walked right through me. The pain was gone, and the screaming in my head had stopped. I looked around wildly, trying to recall what had just happened, but I couldn’t remember much since I stepped into Fran’s house. How long had it been? Five minutes? Twenty? The eeriness in her empty attic was frightening. I tried to stand up but slumped down to my knees weakly, my head started to spin.

Footsteps clacked up the stairs, and Fran walked into the room with a black bowl in her hands. As soon as she spotted I was awake, she hurried over to me and sank down to her knees, urging me to drink from the bowl.

“What’s going on? What is that?”

Her eyes were frantic. “Please, drink this first.”

“There’s no way I’m ingesting a concoction I don’t know!” Thirst clawed at my throat like a blazing heath. I cursed my tiredness as I grabbed at the bowl and gulped the soothing cool liquid down. It smelt and tasted of lavender and honeysuckle. “That was a one off.” I breathed in relief. My heart continued to beat erratically nonetheless.

“Oh Sol,” Fran cried, before pulling me into a hug. I felt disorientated, and slightly uncomfortable at her odd display of affection.

“What’s going on with me?” I asked her. “Did I just die?”

“No! Of course not… what can you remember?”

I racked my brain, and vague memories of my crazed trip here sprang to mind. I remembered the tearing feeling in my chest, I remembered the fear. My head ached the more I recollected. There was something wrong with me, I knew it.

I grabbed my head. “Fran, this is about more than I ever thought. Misty—Duran—this entire thing is bigger than I might be able to handle. I’m so afraid – and the portal they were here and I had to protect him because that’s what I had to do – and Misty was there, and she–”

“Shhh,” she soothed and stroked my back. “Take a deep breath, let the calming brew do its job.” I felt the lightness of the liquid spreading through me and sighed. Fran moved back, and placed her hands on my shoulders. I noticed then, that her eyes were rimmed with red, and furrowed my eyebrows.  “Sol, I need to you listen to me very carefully, alright?” I nodded. “You are good. You are good in here.” she patted her heart. Foreboding began to close in.

“Okay…”

“You blacked out because you were possessed.”

“What?” I screeched. “I’m going mad aren’t I?”

Fran shook her head and bit her wobbling lip. “No,” she whispered. “Merlin. He was here.” She squeezed her eyes once before opening them again. “He’s always been here.”

I was suddenly too aware of myself, too aware of my body. Merlin was here. Merlin was me. It didn’t make any sense, and then it made too much sense. “Why?”

She pointed to the ground beside me, and I finally noticed my grimoire there, along with a blood stained dagger. The book was sprawled open on a page I’d never seen before. Gold patterns were sprawled all over the spell entry. I reached out to grab it, and felt a stinging in my hand so I turned it over. There was a red line running across my palm as though a fresh slash had been healed and running all over it was a strange branding of patterns. I gasped before I grabbed the grimoire and threw it in my lap. “He did this to me?”

“You did it—”

“Right, yeah,” I skimmed the title of the entry and smacked my hand over my mouth, looking up at Fran quickly. “Is this… is this what I think it is?”

She nodded. “It is.”

“The Time Key. It’s the recipe for the spell.”

“Yes.”

“I can’t… I can’t believe it…” I swallowed what felt like a golf ball. It was right in front of me. My heart felt heavy. I couldn’t believe it was almost time. We were so close to figuring it all out and sending Duran back to Camelot.

“Sol—”

“This thing can really send Duran home? Just like that? I mean… It’s just that…” I faltered, summoning up every ounce of my courage. “This is what I’m supposed to do.” It felt as though I was saying it more to remind myself than out of surety.

“I don’t think it’s going to be very…simple.”

“None of this stuff really is,” She responded with silence. I fixed her with a strange look. “I thought you’d be a little more enthusiastic.”

It took a few moments before she spoke. “It goes against all good magic. It goes against everything in nature to force open the doors of time like this spell does, Sol. It should not be possible.”

“But… Merlin was a genius even you’ve said he was the best there ever was. Wasn’t he? I mean he found a way. He must have worked on it for years and…” I knew something bad was coming. I didn’t want to consider anything else. He must have figured it out. There were always loopholes and things like that right?

“The spell is tainted.” Her voice shook. “Soleils, the spell is tainted.”

“What do you mean it’s tainted? What does that mean?”

“I should have known… I should have suspected… I never thought…”

“Fran?” I was beginning to feel panicky.

She looked up at the ceiling, pinching her lips and hands together before standing up and pacing around the room. “You always did this. You always made these selfless decisions. Why?”

“Fran!”

“What good has it done?” she continued with her shaky ranting. “The good of the child? You listen to me. You listen to me.”

“For crying out loud!” I exploded. “What the hell is going on here?”

Fran froze and hurried over to me, eyes glistening with moisture. “It’s forbidden.” she whispered. “I daren’t speak it.”

My blood ran cold. “What’s forbidden?”

“Dark magic.”

As she spoke the words I felt the temperature in the room plummet. Deep inside of me I could feel that she spoke the truth, and that this mission had jumped from dangerous to hell.

“Why? What is it… why is it forbidden? What will happen to me?”

“I… do not know. I do not know what will happen.”

I felt strange. There was a connection with what she was saying. I knew then what was the root of my strange behaviour. It was the dark. It was calling to me. All this time. I was afraid. Was I going mad?

“What do you mean dark magic am I going mad or, what happens if I use it? What do—can you please just explain this to me.”

She swallowed. “The dark is something that consumes the user. I can’t say in what ways. Just that if the user isn’t strong enough… it can eat you up… and it won’t spit you out. Dark magic goes against all the warmth we draw from Mother Nature. Our magic is from the earth. Our magic is a part of the skies, derived from embers of the stars. Dark magic is unbalanced, powerful, but unnatural.”

“Why is it unnatural?”

“Because it draws its power from all living things.”

I shook my head as butterflies exploded in my stomach. “No. Merlin wouldn’t do that. You said I’m good. If I’m good, then he’s good. He’s not evil. I’m not evil.”

She grabbed my arms. “No! You are not. He was not. Do you understand me? No matter what. You are Soleils Ambrosius, and you are pure and good. This I know.”

“Then what is with this stupid dark magic malarkey?”

“Dark magic is thesourceof his power for this spell. It could not have been anything else.”

“Then why are you afraid?”

Fran squeezed my hand. “There is no other penalty than death.”

I was going to be sick. “He’s ruined me. I’m finished.” I gasped, trying not to hyperventilate. “I’m not strong enough for this. I can’t.”

“Listen to me–”

I yanked my hands out of her grip. “No, I’m done listening to you! I don’t want to anymore.”

Fran’s silver eye flashed brightly. “You must. Understand that you must!”

“Then tell me what’s going to happen to me!” Drawing power from living things? I refused to think about what that could mean.

“You are strong. You are strong and fierce and you love the Pendragon like no other has.”

“Shut up!” I started to cry. “Shut up!”

“He chose you. Merlin chose you.”

“I’m just a vessel for this crazy scheme. I’m a kid for fucks sake! I’m a kid. I’m a kid. I’m a fucking kid.”

“You are Merlin in your veins. You are destined for the Pendragon. You destined to save him.”

“You can’t tell me what my destiny is. I don’t even know what I want to eat for breakfast half the goddamned time.”

“You love him,” she continued. “Just as I have loved Merlin, just as I still do to this very day.”  I froze, taken by surprise. “I have borne many life forms. One of which… one of which… I loved him.” ears began to spill out from the corner of her eyes. “I loved him. But he had his destiny. Like you have yours. And sometimes, it doesn’t matter what we want. Sometimes, we can’t choose the life we live. Sometimes, we have to do what we must, when we feel it deep in our bones. The stars may align and paint you a path, and still you can refuse in here,” she tapped my head. “But it’s here,” she tapped my heart, “that you must follow. There is no escaping what you were born to do.”

I didn’t want to believe it. I scurried back away from her and wobbly stood up on my own two feet. “You doomed me to this life. It was just fine before I met you!”

“No, I did not.”

“I don’t want to hear it I don’t I don’t!” I threw my hands over my ears, hearing my pulse beat crazily.

“You mustn’t lose track of what it is. Don’t let yourself be fogged by fear. You are stronger than this, Soleils.”

“You don’t know anything about me. For all I know I’m a raging psychopath who’s biologically fixated on using black magic to fuck up lives! Hell I don’t even know who I am anymore.”

“I know who you are. I know you have to extract the cup. I know you have to follow the spell!”

“I’ll find a way… I’ll find a way.” Despite the fact that my thoughts were foggy I knew the exact person I could go to. Or vampire. I dismissed Fran’s earlier warnings about the creatures. For all I knew he was the best help I could get. He was the Keeper of Time. Surely, he knew a way around this?

I stumbled to the door, looking back once. “I’ll choose my own destiny!”

And then I ran out of her house, and into the night.

Deluçian Klarémoan was the name that was circulating through my head. I had to find him, to summon him. I ran, and kept running towards home like it was my defence mechanism. The paranoia was mounting, every creepy looking shadow made me jump. I wasn’t evil. I wasn’t evil, I didn’t want to believe I was. Maybe this was always my fate, but I had to try evade it. I avoided shortcutting through the forest and took a longer detour to end up at the back of my house, I slowed as I neared it. Thought of Misty, and Duran and stopped all at once. I stood under a lamppost, breathing heavily, before slumping down to the pavement ground.

“Ma petite witching, why so sad?”

I jumped a mile in the air with a scream. “Bloody shit-nuggets!”

“Tsk, a lady shouldn’t speak so badly!”

“Don’t tell me what to do.” I snapped, before calming down again. When my heart rate lowered, I looked up at Deluçian’s golden eyes and furrowed my brows. He looked different than I remembered, there was something off about his eyes. “Sorry, I’m ansty.”

“Why are you out here in the middle of the night alone?” He certainly cut to the chase. “You are alone, are you not?” he looked around creepily.

“Uhm, yeah…” He looked relieved, I wondered if I should have been suspicious about it, but I had too much on my mind. I gave him a once over, noticing that his hair was dishevelled, and his golden eyes glowed with ruby rims. I was taken aback at the strange energy he was putting off. He looked different to how I remembered.

“Alone now, with a vampire, should you not be more afraid, witchling?”

“Should I?” I placed my hands on my hips, and cocked my head to the left. Deluçian grinned chillingly.

“Do you enjoy responding with questions?”

“Why are you here?”

He began to pace awkwardly. “Why is the sky blue? Why does the sun shine? Why is global warming melting the icecaps?”

“Is there a point to you’re getting at?”

“My point,” he snapped, “is that I am always here. Don’t you understand?”

I took a step back, astounded at his sudden rage. He spun around once, and was smiling when he faced me again. My eyebrows creased, and Fran’s warning began to push at the corners of my mind. I forced them away. If anyone could help me, it was him.

“I apologise, ma petite. I’m just…”

“Bipolar? Damn.”

“I am a multitude of personalities.”

“I knew you were crazy as hell…”

He took a stride towards me. “Tell me, little witch. Have you been playing with time again?”

“Look, I need to talk to you.”

“And here I have arrived,” he swept his hands out grandly and bowed, “at your disposal.”

“Just like that?”

His grin was manic. “There is always a price.”

I shivered, taking another step back. “I need you to help me.”

“Do I sense trust?”

“No.”

“You wound me.”

“Stop!” I exclaimed, finally letting the panic seep in. “I can’t play tug of war with you. Not now, not when I’m like this!”

He twitched as he had been doing for the past few minutes. “Okay.”

“You’re the Keeper of Time. You can… you can do things that I can’t.”

Deluçian raised his eyebrows. “You want something from me.”

“I need you to tell me my future, or something, or tell me what is going to happen to me.” He burst out into crazed, manic laughter. I bit my lip in anger. “What’s so funny, huh?” His laughing ceased, and his face turned serious. “I’m not fucking joking right now I—”

“Hush,”

“No—”

He lunged forwards towards me faster than I could follow, pressing his finger against my lip with a sneer. “Hush, if you don’t know what you ask of me. If you don’t understand the repercussions, if you aren’t willing to trade. Are you willing to trade, Soleils Ambrosius?”

I was rooted to the spot in fear, but the fear of what awaited me if I went back to Fran scared me more. “I know I don’t have a choice.”

“We always have choices.”

“This is mine.”

He chuckled and stepped backwards, skipping towards the lamppost and spinning around it with his arm. He chuckled louder, as though he was celebrating a victory. As though I had just offered him my soul on a silver platter.

“I can’t help you.” Deluçian finally said. “I can’t tell the future.”

“Then what the hell was all that about?” I yelled.

“I can’t help you in the way you want. Tell me what you want, bright sun. You haven’t told me what you want. Say the words, say them.”

“I did tell you!”

“Say them!” he growled, baring his teeth.

My heart panged painfully against my chest. “I want you to use time in any way you can to help me open a portal to the past.”

He smiled again, except it wasn’t welcoming. “Now, was that so hard?”

“I’m… I’m breaking the law. And I just asked the Keeper of Time to help me! I must be out of my goddamned mind.” I laughed humourlessly. “You’re supposed to uphold the law!”

“There is corruption in every system, child. Grow up, and come back to me when you’re ready.” He turned to walk away. I ran after him.

“I am ready!” I screeched.  He stopped abruptly, making me crash right into him. It felt like walking into brick. I hunched over in pain. He bent down, staring me in the eye.

“To make a deal with a vampire?” he whispered softly.

“To make a deal with a vampire.”

Deluçian held his hand out. “Then come with me.”

I glanced at it once, ignoring every instinct that told me to run, and to never look back, and took it. “What do I have to give you in return?” I shouldn’t have even asked.

He pulled me up like I was a paperweight doll. “Are you so sweet and naïve?”

“My blood.”

“Come with me. I’ll explain the entire process in a much more…comfortable setting.”

“My room’s just up there.”

“No!” he snapped, and regained composure. “You think I’m safe in your room? Do you not understand what you ask of me? I am breaking oath, my vows, if even—”

“Okay,” I said. “Okay, jeez.”

He turned around. “Get on.”

“You’re kidding right?”

“Mortals are ever so slow.”

I awkwardly climbed onto his back, wrapping my hands around his neck. “I’ve never felt so uncomfortable.”

“You wound me, witchling.” he said, and then started running.

It was horrifying.

Being on a vampire’s back was nothing like they made it seem in Twilight. It wasn’t thrilling, and fun. The wind wasn’t blowing through my fucking hair making it windswept and pretty. It was like walking into the dark and falling down into a black hole. Except there was no way to scream. The fear was paralyzing. I was almost choking.

It felt like a split second and a billion years at the same time, when Deluçian finally came to an abrupt stop. My arms felt frozen around his neck. I tried to gingerly pull them off but I ended up snapping them away and falling down into the ground in a heap. Bloody hell.

After catching my breath, I got up onto my knees and looked around. It was so dark, I could barely make out the stars from the cover of trees. I had that strange feeling you get when you’re in a new place. An entirely new place, very far away from home. Paranoia began to creep up on me like a shadow. Deluçian was nowhere to be seen. Slowly, I began to regret my hasty decision to trust in a fucking vampire. Oh God, I was going to die, wasn’t I?

“Deluçian?” I called out. Suspicious rustling made me snap my head to the right, squinting into the dark to see what beast was there. I was surprisingly calmer about my perpetual doom than I thought I could ever be. I really hope it wasn’t a fox. I hated foxes. Creepy fucking things. I let out a hysterical laugh. Of all things to be afraid of right now…

“Have your feet stopped walking?” Deluçian’s voice came quietly by my ear.

I screamed my lungs out before scrambling up and jumping away. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

“Me? Moi? Nothing. Nothing at all. What is wrong with you?” I ran a hand roughly through my hair as I tried to catch my breath back and understand what he said at the same time. There was something strange about the way he looked. It was as though he had gotten…wilder. The red in his eyes glowed prominently.

“Nothing…” my voice came out quietly.

“Why do you look at me so?” He bit out, before spinning around, and staring in all directions. “As though I am a mad man!”

I jumped a little at the harsh tone of his voice. “I’m not… I’m…”

Deluçian laughed his melodic way, except it was tinged with a hint of hysteria. He took a step towards me, but I backed away. He was seriously beginning to frighten me.  “Ma petite fille, I don’t mean to startle you, come now.” I said nothing, not for a second taking my eyes off of him. His grin didn’t waver. “Your ‘art, it flies. With your witch’s blood.”

“Where are we?”                                                                                              

“Are you afraid? Hmm? Do you not trust me?” he took another step forwards.

“Back the fuck away, or I’ll set you on goddamn fire.”

He smacked his head once. “No, you needn’t do such a thing. Don’t we have a deal?” he pleaded sinisterly. “We have a deal.”

I tried to breathe steadily, this was not the time to look weak. I knew the basic principles of predator and prey. Why did I always get myself in stupid messes? Joke time was over this time. “Where on earth are we?”

“Very far from your home.”

“How far is very.”

“You ask too many questions!” his composure cracked.

I took another look around the forest-y outback, quickly, before my eyes were back on him again. “What is wrong with you?”

He grunted a hissing sound and blinked several times, before his posture straightened back to the one I remembered, and his facial expression softened. “I apologise. I’m just quite hungry, you see. It can make me… tense.”

“Tense isn’t the way I’d describe it.”

“Oh! What is the time? The time the time…” He searched his pockets before pulling out a pocket watch.

I couldn’t help but let out a snicker, despite my situation. “Aren’t you… The Keeper of Time?”

He looked up at me blankly. “Why, yes.”

I returned the stare. “So you’re telling me you don’t have an internal supernatural clock?”

“Don’t be absurd.”

“You keep time via pocket watch.” I deadpanned.

 “Well my iPhone battery is just so unreliable…”

“This is a scam isn’t it? There’s no deal really? Can you even manipulate time?”

“Don’t question my abilities.” he snapped. “Follow me.” He spun around and began to walk off.

“Why should I?”

“I’m sure you don’t want me to leave you for the wolves.”

I followed suit immediately. After a few a while we emerged in a clearing. The eeriness began to sink into my skin. I felt eyes boring into me, but could see no one. Something wasn’t right. I found myself wishing I’d followed my instincts earlier. I hoped he was at least taking me to people that could help. It was either that; or I was walking into a fuck-load of danger.

“Deluçian, why are we here?”

He ignored me.

“What the fuck is going on?”

“Just shut up!” he snapped, abruptly turning cranky. I couldn’t keep up with him. It was like speaking to ten different personalities at the same time. “They’re here.”

My stomach dropped. “Who?”

The answer came from someone else. “I see you have outdone yourself.” The man’s accent was undoubtedly Italian.

“My word is my bond, Ysev,” Deluçian strode forwards to meet the tall, muscular man. His hair was as dark as the night, and his skin like a pale bronze. He was striking, unnaturally so. There was perfection in every part of him, from his eyebrows to the tips of his fingers. He was too perfect. Abnormal. Inhuman. 

“Vampire,” I whispered and blanched. I thought I was going to start shuddering. I was rooted to the spot where I stood. Fear laced its way up my throat, falling down to my stomach where it began to burn as anger.

His eyes met mine, a blue pale and lifeless, rimmed with ruby red. His stare was so intense I couldn’t have looked away if I wanted to. I’d never seen eyes so cold and sharp. There was no laughter about this vampire. He was nothing like Deluçian. I had a feeling there would be no negotiating with this one. He’d snap my neck without a second thought.

“I see you’ve proven yourself so,” there was a condescending undertone to his voice as he addressed Deluçian, still staring at me. I couldn’t stop my heart from racing with fear.

“And I trust your promise is still intact?”

“Is this the one?” he responded, and his eyes slowly swept over me up and down, as though I was the meekest of flies he could swat away.

“Yes,” Deluçian insisted. “This is the one we’ve been waiting for!”

That snapped me out of my silence. “We?” I asked quietly. Deluçian ignored me, even though I knew he heard me very well.

“We had a deal, Ysev…”

I was astounded. “You had a ‘deal’? We had a deal,” my voice rose. “What the heck is this Deluçian?”

He finally turned around, eyes apologetic. “You are… the one.”

There was a moment of silence before I spoke again, glaring at him with as much hatred I could communicate with my eyes as possible. “The one for what?” I took a step back. He moved forwards. “I’m going home, right now. Right now.”

The tall vampire finally spoke, addressing me. “I’m afraid that’s not going to happen Soleils Ambrosius, the one and only descendant of Merlin. You and I have unfinished business.”

I felt so betrayed. I felt… I felt too much. “I don’t even know who the hell you are!”

The vampire, Ysev, hissed at me menacingly. My magic responded like lightning. I felt a strong tingling in my palms, ready to attack if he came any nearer, but before I could make a move, he spoke fast. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you. You’re thoroughly outnumbered.”

They slithered out from the trees like pythons. At least ten of them, with red rimmed eyes, and baring their sharp fangs. The panic increased, and I steadily began to squirm. The flight or fight response pumped through me hard. I turned around to run. It was no use, familiar hands grabbed me. I began to scream as he dragged me away.

“Get off me you lying deceitful piece of shit!” I felt myself being thrown back into a cell. I scrambled up to my feet and slammed against the bars. “How could you?” I choked out. “I trusted you! I trusted you enough to think you’d help me!” I felt my eyes flare with magic as I summoned up a hard hex to throw at him, but as soon as I tried to release it, it wilted. “What have you done to me?” I cried shakily. I instantly felt weaker, and fell to my knees. It was something about this cell that was trapping me.

Deluçian bent down the bars, with those same golden eyes. “It had to be, ma petite witchling. You are the one.”

I spat in his face. “Fuck you.”

His eyes hardened. “You think you know everything, but you are just a stupid little girl.”

“I will watch you die.” I whispered cruelly, feeling that unnatural bubble of hated rise in my chest.

He laughed humourlessly. “She says behind a steel cage. Enchanted, too. You’re powerless here, Soleils Ambrosius. Powerless.”

I choked out an incoherent screech, letting the hysteria loose. “Why? Why Deluçian?”

“It had to be this way,” his voice was tender again.

“Why?”

“Because you do not understand how it is like,” he leant against the bars manically. His voice losing all hints of comfort. “There was a time when nightwalkers could roam free during the day. Did you know? Once.” He got up and paced crazily “It was forbidden, I was forbidden.” Deluçian smacked a palm against his head and gripped the bars again.

He was out of his goddamned mind.

 “Exile is a cruel thing. For love, I was exiled, saved only, by this curse—this curse! Keeper of Time? I will watch time pass, and never really exist!” he savagely bared his teeth. “I cannot live both. Not exile too. I won’t be exiled from the vampires, my fellow brothers and sisters. The night is ours, and the day will be ours again.”

I shook my head. “You’re fucking crazy.”

“Do you even know the blood that pumps in your veins?” he licked his lips. “Do you know that blood is the key to it all?”

“Stop feeding me all these lies!”

“I lie not!” he hissed, banging the bars. “Merlin, oh gracious merlin,” he bowed, in his now grimy suit. “How gracious he was,” Deluçian’s accent changed to English. “Hail Merlin, the one who cursed us to the night!”

“You’re mad… you’re sick…”

Deluçian poined to the left, where I noticed in the distance was a campfire. I saw Ysev standing around it with other vampires, their lips moving. A woman with red marks over her half naked body was drawing a chalk circle on the ground. Her hair a wild tangle of black. The full moon shone directly into the circle, she threw her hands up to the sky, and a mysterious fog began to coat the grounds. I felt the power she was using, and knew with every fibre of my being that this was the work of evil. My heart was palpitating. I already knew what they wanted to make me too. I forced the tears back.

“Understand, little witchling, this is good. It’s for good. It’s for freedom. Look, look there at the sky!” The stars seemed to shine brighter. “A shooting star is due.”

“No.” I murmured.

“The ritual will be pure, your blood, your words, will break the curse.”

“I said no!” Deluçian was already skipping away in a craze. He laughed manically, making his way towards the enchanted circle. “I won’t do it!” I screamed, and kicked the cell repeatedly. “I won’t do it!” I wouldn’t succumb to the dark. It wasn’t my destiny. I wouldn’t let it be. But it was calling. And it was ready. “No!” my voice cracked.

“There’s no use,” a low voiced called behind me in a thick English accent. “They’re dirty bastards.”

I span around fast, with my hand over my chest. Slumped in the corner was a dark haired girl about my age. Her hair was cropped, and her vague outline was elegant, despite being slumped into a cell. She pulled her head up, finally looking at me fully. Her eyes were the darkest I’d ever seen, freaky, but they suited her tanned complexion. There was an aura about her that made goose-bumps rise all over my body. The hair at the back of my neck stood upright with the alarm. Her pink lips tilted up into a grimace.

“Are you—?”

“One of them? No.”

There was something off about her. “What are you?”

“That’s none of your concern.” she snapped.

I looked away for a few moments, before speaking again. “Why have they got you?”

“Deluçian.” she spat. “I’m the other part to this ritual.”

“You’re… you’re a witch?”

“They only need the one witch, and that witch is you.”

“And the other part—”

“A sacrifice.”

A tornado of butterflies erupted into my stomach. “You say it so easily.”

“This isn’t the first attempt on my life I’ve ever had.” My mouth dropped, aghast. “The vampires want to walk in the day, if that happens, the entire world is going to be fucked right up. There’s good reason that they’re cursed to the night. The DHS are probably salivating at the thought of a fight.”

“DHS?”

The girl peered at me, her face striking. Her smile was almost genuine. “You don’t know much, do you?”

“Know much about what?”

“About the dark.”

My mind was a whirlwind. I didn’t know how to process all of this. How had my world turned into a paranormal fantasy? With witches, and vampires and rituals? I wanted to wake up from this nightmare, but the sinking in my gut was too strong to be a dream. “My life is pandemonium.” I breathed out.

“If it’s any consolation,” she started in an emotionless voice. “The person who I trusted the most in this world betrayed me, and then planned to kill me.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah.”

“I’m—” my voice was cut off the sound of the cage door being thrown open. Two vampires hovered in, grabbing me and the girl with their steel grips. I writhed and shook, but it was futile. They were too strong, and the energy in that cage had muted my power.

“Get off me!”

“You’re all going to burn,” she swore in a steady voice.

They dragged us into the circle, my head hit the ground with a thud. I rolled onto my back with a groan, before sitting upright to see the girl's head being forced over some kind of sacrificial rock with chalk writings all over it. A pyre with a stake was set up in front. I felt myself being dragged upwards, and forced over to the pyre.

“She won’t die just yet, we need her blood.” The ritual woman commanded in a thick intangible accent.

“Let me go!” I screeched. “I’ll never do it!”

The woman sauntered over to me, eyes like ice. She grabbed hold on my head, smiling menacingly. “You’ll do it.”

“You’re a witch.” I spat. “How could you do this to me?”

She rolled her head back laughing. “You think that your measly natural powers are strong? You know nothing about power, girl. Nothing about the power these creatures possess.”

I could have thrown up. “You want to be one of them? You’re disgusting. A disgrace.”

She smacked me in the face. “Tie her to the pyre.”

“Her blood smells divine,” the vampire beside me cajoled, sniffing me unabashedly. I cringed with a whelp.

The woman stood in the middle of the circle, raising her hands high, eyes rolling back into her head as she began to chant. She picked up a long blade from the ground and cut a slash in her hand before raising it up to the full moon and walking towards the girl. I looked down at where she was held down on the rock.

“I’m sorry,” I mouthed at her. Her eyes glinted a message illegible.

And then a dagger flew out from nowhere and impaled the woman in the chest. She dropped to the ground in a slump.

They came from all directions, dressed in black. Saviours in the night. Hunters. “Vade Retro Satana!”  They chanted in unison, before eliminating the vampires one by one in a bloodbath.

The girl shot up, and sprinted over to me, before taking my hand. “What the hell?” I screeched, wanting to throw up at the gory scene of violence in front of me. I felt a splat of blood coat my face before I cried out again.

“Demon Hunters Society.”

And then everything went black.