the light blue curtains out of her way so that she could get a better look at the man lurking on the porch. He leaned against a post, all lean and covered in black, her slightly stalkerish behavior unnoticed. He probably got stalked on a regular basis looking like that, so it probably didn’t faze him even if he had noticed. When you’ve got a face that looked like that along with the promising body he concealed under that tight black t-shirt, it probably was bound to happen once or twice a week.
“Girl, he is not thinking about you,” Cord came into the kitchen making her jump. “You better just walk away now before it gets ugly,” he added as he poured himself a glass of sweet tea from a yellow flowered glass pitcher.
“Shhhhh,” she shushed him, quickly dropping the curtain, “you know he can hear things a mile away” she whispered.
“He’s a million miles away, thinking about…” he looked down at her, “Other things. Other things that are not you. I’ll say it again. Leave it alone, he’s bad news for you.”
“I know, Cord, but look at him,” she said, picking the curtain back up.
Jessica knew she should just let it go. He’d made it more than apparent at lunch that he wasn’t interested, but that seemed to just make her want him more.
“Uh huh, that’s a classic recipe for disaster. They wrote a book about it, it’s called ‘He’s Just Not That Into You’, remember?”
“I know,” Jessica said again, still looking out the window, not wanting him any less. It’s one thing to know something in your head, it’s another thing to make your heart comply. And Jessica’s heart, or an area somewhat lower, knew what it wanted. It wanted Demon.
Of course it did, if there was ever something that was wrong or bad for her, that’s exactly what she wanted the most. And being who she was she always at least made an attempt to get what she wanted.
Jessica opened the kitchen door leading to the porch, letting the screen door slam behind her. Demon didn’t so much as look her way.
“It’s going to be getting cool here in a minute, you might want a jacket,” she said, rubbing her arms, bare in the tank top she’d worn under a sweater that morning. It was already beginning to cool down.
Demon didn’t act like he’d even heard her, he just kept looking off into the distance. Brooding. God, what was up with her and brooders? It seemed like every guy she was into had some kind of deep past he had to mull over silently.
“Or not, ya know, whatever,” she said, sitting down in the porch swing to enjoy the view. She wasn’t sure why she’d expected a conversation out of him. Not after what he’d said to her at lunch.
And if she’d been someone else, it might have hurt her feelings, but she knew who and what she was and knew without a shadow of a doubt she wasn’t sloppy second to anyone. And she also knew that he’d said that in a moment when he’d been hurt himself. She could understand that. She lashed out at whatever was closest to her when she was hurt too.
The swing creaked as she pushed herself back and lifted her legs, letting momentum begin to move her. She didn’t say anything else, wasn’t going to press herself on him, she just watched him watching the trees in the distance and listened to the chain squeak as she rocked back and forth. It might take a while before he felt like getting to know her. She just had to bide her time. Maybe he was worth it, maybe he wasn’t, but she wouldn’t know if she gave up immediately.
The silence stretched and the sun dipped lower behind the trees. Watching Demon watch the tree line wasn’t too bad of a pastime, it beat whatever was on tv anyway. It seemed like a half hour passed as she sat there with him, doing nothing more than being, when she saw him tense.
“What is it?”
Demon jumped almost imperceptibly at the sound of her voice, he must have been so engrossed in his thoughts he’d forgotten she was there.
“There’s a motorcycle coming,” his eyes briefly skimmed her before going towards the road leading up to the house.
Jessica tried to strain her ears but she didn’t hear anything for a few moments and then she did. A low rumble in the distance that could be a motorcycle, she waited and the sound became clearer. It grew louder and soon she could see the dirt blowing up as it made its way down the road.
The rider was almost to the house before Jessica made out who it was and when she did, panic set in.
CORD! She mentally screamed, hoping, for the first time, that he was at least partially listening to her thoughts, Red is here, tell the others.
“Hey Red, long time no see. What ya doing here?” Demon asked, a smile on his face, his voice deceptively light.
“Hey, you mongrel fuck ,” Red’s cold eyes cut between her and his brother, the smile on his face anything but genuine, “I see you’re enjoying Sidney’s sister’s company as well. I don’t blame you man.” Red leered at her, “She’s a good ride but watch out afterward, she’s a fighter.”
Jessica gritted her teeth and cursed her impulsive nature. She wished more than anything that she could take back that night at the clubhouse with Red. If she had known he’d been with Sidney, or that he was such a gigantic asshole, then she never would have done it. She thought back to her previous boyfriends, well perhaps the asshole thing wasn’t that much of a deterrent, but she definitely would not have slept with her sister’s ex.
“Thanks for info, brother. Now, what are you doing here?” Demon moved in between her and Red. Sweet, unnecessary considering she could blow Red into the next county, but it was the thought that count.
“Oh you know, just visiting. I came to see Sidney, so why don’t you fetch her for me.” Red swung his leg over his bike and walked toward the steps.
Demon moved again to block him, “Brother, I don’t think that’s…“
Demon’s words were cut off when the door opened and Sidney walked outside. Her face was a mask of indifference, but Jessica knew seeing him had to be tearing her up inside.
“What do you want Red?” Sidney asked, coming to stand beside Demon, crossing her arms as if that would help her shut him out.
Red gave a sideways smile that somehow managed to look cruel, “I’m glad you asked. What I want, Sidney,” he said her name like it was a knife he could use to cut her. “Is to know what the fuck kind of spell or magic you’ve used on me.”
Jessica looked back towards Sidney, wondering what he could be talking about. She’d been blocked until just recently, what kind of magic could she have even worked on him? Unless, it was something she’d done unintentionally, but even then, Sidney didn’t want to hurt Red.
“What are you talking about? I haven’t done anything to you, except save you from the asshole who kidnapped and tortured you, who you now want to work with,” Sidney replied. “Yes, we all know about how you betrayed your own club, your own precious shifters by going against the vote.”
Red’s eyes slide over to Demon and then back to Sidney, “I’m not here about that, I’m here to find out what you did that has caused me to feel so numb. I’m not complaining, mind you, life has been a lot easier since I stopped giving a fuck about anything, but I’m just curious as to what you did. And why did you do it?”
“I didn’t do anything to you Red. Every time I’ve done anything for or to you, it has been to help you, not to hurt you,” she said. Jessica could see the hurt inside Sidney, could hear it in her voice, this conversation was taking its toll on her. Suddenly Jessica was mad, fighting mad. How dare he come here and do this to her sister, who had never done anything to him other than help him. The wind began to pick up as her anger grew.
“You can tell me Sidney, I’m not going to get mad, I’m not even sure if I could if I wanted to anyway, I’m just curious as to why,” Red said.
Jessica jumped up out of the swing, tired of watching his words slice at her sister, “Look, she said she didn’t do anything to you asshole, so why don’t you get back on your bike and ride back to wherever you came from.”
“Yeah, Red, that’s probably the best idea. If you didn’t notice, Jessica is about to whip up the tornado that sends you packing anyway. Might as well ride out instead.”
“I came for answers and I’m not leaving until I get some,” Red took a step closer to the porch, the air around him shimmering. He was about to shift and then things were going to go to hell quickly. Sidney could always just take him out on the molecular level, but Jessica wasn’t sure her sister could live with that so she was going to have to whip him out of there before things got to that point.
Jessica was gathering her strength for a big blast when the door opened yet again. Bree walked out and let the wood door slam home, almost seeming to shake the house.
“How dare you come to my house,” Bree said, her voice dripping with contempt.
The air still shimmered around Red, he was ready to shift at any second, “This is between Sidney and me, old lady, why not just go back inside the house and have a nice cup of tea while we take care of this.”
Bree ignored his words. “I am the one you need to speak to, you filthy beast. I am the one who helped you find your inner monster.”
“Oh, really,” Red’s attention had shifted to Bree, the shimmer fading from the air around him, “Please explain.”
Bree turned to look at Sidney, “I don’t need to explain myself to this… this… thing. But I’ll tell you what I did and why, Sidney.”
Demon looked at Jessica as if to ask if she knew what was going on. She shrugged in response, she was just as in the dark as he was. She didn’t have a clue what Bree was talking about.
“Sidney, I knew how powerful you were going to become when you found the fullness of yourself, when your blockage was completely gone and you had complete control. I knew you were going to be something… spectacular. I do wish you had come into it on your own, without any outside interference, because that was the way the block was meant to work, you were only supposed to have access to what you needed when you needed it. I can’t believe that this rush of power is going to be good for you, but that’s beside the point now.” Bree glanced back at Red, “I wanted you to see this creature for what he truly is. That’s all.”
Sidney looked as confused as I felt, “I feel like I’m going to need more of an explanation than that. What, exactly, did you do?”
“What you may or may not know is that I have an affinity for spirit magic. And I can see the thing that makes you truly unique. All the things that make you into you, they bind to your spirit and form into something individually you. Its why, while twins are incredibly similar, they aren’t quite the same, no two people are.” Bree cut her eyes toward Red, “And by people I don’t mean these beasts. There’s something animal about each of them, most hide it with the trappings of humanity, but they are beasts deep down. All I did for this one is allow him to let the pretenses he’d gathered throughout his life fall away so you could see what he truly is. And he loves it, don’t you?”
Red smiled at the old lady, “I’ve got to admit, it isn’t that bad. I remember how I felt before, all wrapped up in worry and guilt.” He laughed, “It was ridiculous. And now I just feel…. free. So, I guess I owe you my thanks.” He tipped his head at her and turned to go.
“See, all I did was suggest to his spirit that he drop the fake act of being human, and it was more than glad to comply.”
“Wait,” Sidney said, her eyes wide, “You can’t go yet. Bree, what you’ve done is heinous, you say you just made him more himself but you’ve just stripped him of his humanity. Without the things you’re talking about, any of us, all of us would act like animals.”
“Nonsense, our spirits would fight for us, they wouldn’t let our humanity slip away so easily,” she sneered at Red, “Because we really are humans we aren’t just faking it to blend in with the crowd, like he is.”
“Well,” Demon interjected, “Correct me if I’m wrong, but aren’t witches a completely separate race than humans? Like just as different from humans as shifters are from humans? How would a witch spirit react any differently than a shifter spirit if its ability to feel was taken away?”
Red was nodding along, “Good point brother. But, all I wanted was an answer and I got that, you all can argue about humanity or lack thereof without me, I find I’m not very interested in any of your opinions.” He turned to go again.
“WAIT,” Sidney said again, throwing her hand up. Red froze in place mid stride. “Undo whatever you did to him!” There was a touch of panic in her voice as she turned to Bree.
“Let him go. You heard him, he likes it better this way. He doesn’t feel any pain, doesn’t feel anything really. Other than the urge to satiate his immediate need. Just like the animal he is.”
“I’m afraid I’m going to have to agree with Sidney here,” Demon’s eyes glittered menacingly, “Take off whatever spell you’ve put on him and if he asks you to put it back on after he’s returned to his previous self then so be it. But he should make the choice himself. Not have some high and mighty old bitch like you make it for him.”
“Watch who you are speaking to young man,” she said, her words just as threatening as his.
Sidney stepped between the two of them and Jessica joined her there. If there was going to be any blood shed here, it was going to be her sister who decided whose would be spilled.
“Bree,” Sidney said, “Undo it, or I leave and take him with me until I figure out how to undo it myself.”
“You can’t leave us Sidney, this is where you belong, we are your family, the people who can help you come into your full power and understand how to use it… you can’t go anywhere…” Jessica wondered why Bree sounded so panicked at the thought of Bree leaving.
“Then undo whatever it is you did,” Sidney demanded.
“I can’t just… undo it. There is nothing to undo. I just gave his spirit a suggestion, he did all the rest himself, letting go of the parts of himself that caused him the most pain. Fear, guilt, compassion….”
“Basically all the things that made him human,” Demon said, anger and disgust coloring his words.
“This was his choice, maybe not a conscious choice but a choice nonetheless,” Bree defended.
“I don’t believe that,” Sidney said, “If you did the same thing to me would I turn out differently?”
Bree looked away and shrugged, “I don’t know, I doubt anyone who was truly human would choose to let go of their humanity. Only an animal would choose such a thing.”
“Well, then do it. Do the same thing to me that you did to Red and we’ll see if things go differently.” Sidney demanded.
Bree looked horrified, “I can’t. You’re too powerful. You could… “she seemed to search for the words, “destroy everything if you lost your humanity.”
“But I thought that couldn’t happen, that it would only happen to filthy shifters,” Jessica said
Bree hesitated, “Well, I can’t be certain enough to test it out on Sidney of all people.”
“You shouldn’t have fucking tested it on anyone,” Demon practically spat at her, “Fix him, now.”
“I can’t,” she spat back, “Even if I wanted to, which I don’t, I can’t give him back something I never took from him. And he wouldn’t want me to even if I could. You heard him, he’s happier now. You’re all going to have to face it. The man you knew is gone and isn’t coming back. The sooner you accept that the better it will be for everyone. Including him.” Bree pointed at Red, still paused in midstep and walked back into the house just as abruptly as she’d come out.