Chapter 17: Chapter 17- Unlife of the party
POV- Dom
"I said, will you be my date to our sweet sixteenth?" I looked into her beautiful eyes, as terrified of rejection as they were nervous to ask.
"Liz…" I could feel her start to panic so I moved to take her into a hug, gently rubbing her back. "You were really brave to ask, but if I take you, who would be Josie's date? As you said, it's both of your 16ths."
"Hope or Penelope could take her, she like them both after all." I saw the sharp look she gave me, almost like she was trying to stoke a flame of jealousy. 'But why would I be annoyed that my loyal and bisexual girls would want each other? They liked each other before I even arrived and it's hot as hell…I imagine.'
"That still leaves one of my girlfriends without a partner." 'Maybe I should find another girl to even things out? No…don't rush, I have eternity.' "Look, I can go as a shared partner, seeing as your plan doesn't involve any specific ballroom dancing or whatever, but maybe sort it out with Hope, or…maybe you could bring my girls instead?"
"But I don't lik-" She began, bringing her head back to look me in the eye.
"Beautiful, you are a TERRIBLE liar. Not a single one of the four of you are straight. Which is fine, obviously." Running my hand from her upper back down her waist, resting my hands on the curve of her ass, keeping her hips to mine, I lower my voice. "I saw the way you look at Hope, the way you looked at Emma even. You seem to forget I can see your emotions. I'm not saying you have to sleep with them, but it could be a solution. Just think about it."
Leaving the blonde girl as I made my way to the pier for training with Hope, I was now remembering the issues that any man in my situation would have. 'Seriously, why can't they just get along? It's not like they really hate any of the others, they're just too stuck up to talk about their issues.' Feeling stressed after having dealt with both of the Saltzman twins today, Josie having surprised me before breakfast and asked the same thing to a similar end, I just knew I was eager to release the frustrations on Hope, whether in a spar or otherwise.
~~~
The girls had, amazingly, decided to share me, for tonight's event, and while Liz was setting up her party with the help of Hope and Penelope, who was working and acting rather nice under the promise of some nighttime attention in the next few days. Though there was no doubt she would tire of acting nice shortly, returning to the sarcastic and vindictive witch I grew to love.
I hadn't slept with anyone new since Emma, though both Hope and Emma were more than happy to borrow me for a few hours at a time. While the older woman wasn't yet keen for a threesome, she had no problem dragging me into 'counselling' in the afternoon. Penelope on the other hand, was happy to watch Hope and I, and just like the first night, would cuddle with the both of us at night. 'Such a tsundere.'
Rapid footsteps reached me as Dorian grabbed my shirt. "Dom, need you in Alaric's office…now." Ignoring the opportunity to make a joke about getting hansy before a date, I followed him, entering the office to one of the strangest sights I'd ever seen."
"Halloween's in October, right?" Dorian smacked my arm, not looking away from Alaric's serious face. There in the office stood Alaric, primed and ready, leaking fear, joy, love and a great deal of sadness. What made it weird was the fact he was currently pointing a crossbow at a woman around his age, dressed in a blood-soaked wedding dress, with long black hair and blue eyes. She wasn't exactly my type, but she wasn't ugly by any stretch. "So, why am I here?"
Alaric tensed, unsure of whether to tell me something, but eventually he relented, releasing a heavy breath as he lowered the crossbow. "This," he said gesturing to the woman, is my ex-fiance. My DEAD fiancé."
"Woah."
"I need you to tell me what you can with your…abilities. We will also conduct a truth questioning, but it would help to have your input." Shrugging I gestured to the woman to sit down on one of the chairs.
"So miss?"
"Josette, or Jo," she said with a slightly forced smile. She was uncomfortable with being here with a stranger, but neither Alaric or Dorian left the room. However, her answer made me look at the headmaster.
"Like?" He only nodded. 'Holy fuck. This is going to be awkward.' "Well Jo, what I'm going to do is, for five minutes, put you to sleep and look through your memories." Dorian and Alaric seemed impressed, but really the thought only came to me last night in my own dreamscape. "I know you're scared and frustrated, but know that these two will be here in the room with you." She was cautious, but nodded and with a flick, a long grey claw sprouted from my finger and inserted itself into the back of her neck, just as I had done to Jed. 'It's probably not necessary, but it might make the connection to her mind easier,' I hypothesised.
With the bloodied wife now asleep, I dove into her unconsciousness, which was rather telling of the person itself. Unlike Jed's who was terrified of being abandoned, pressured by his position and although loyal to his underlings, a massive douche, Jo's was warm. She seemed gentle and loving, though sad about a lot of things. When someone is unconscious, their brain is better able to draw from their memories, even those we repress, which is why I thought this up last night. The other advantage of entering her unconscious is that it…in essence, isn't reality, thus making me capable of a great many things.
Creating screens that displayed her final moments of life, I saw her wedding, her brother and her death. I witnessed the panic she felt over her unborn children and losing out on her life with Alaric. Then, of course, it was black. Skipping forward to when she felt the tug on her soul, something I had come to understand was a real thing, and a smug voice that sounded through her, echoing in her dead mind. "Arise." 'Seriously, how pretentious.' She didn't remember anything more until she woke up near the school and made her way here to the office, so after checking her emotions after the resurrection, I slipped out.
"Well?" I heard Saltzman's whiny voice ask.
"Give me a second you shithead." Waking the woman, who had been experiencing a pleasant dream involving a beach in Fiji, I turned to him. "She's definitely not here for the knife, but she was brought back by someone. Necromancy maybe, I don't know."
"So she's not a threat?"
I turned to her, who had remained quiet as I defended her and asked, "Are you planning to attack, kill or otherwise harm any students or members of staff of the school?" When she shook her head and said no, the stupid blue truth orb glowed blue. "That's your answer 'Ric. Now, I have to go tell Josie and Liz to come see their bio mom."
"Don't tel-"
"You're going to steal the chance for them to meet the love of your life? Their biological mother who was also robbed of the opportunity to see them?" Dorian was smartly staying out of it, but while Jo looked confused, then stunned, then excited, Alaric was scared. "This might be their only chance."
I didn't eve have to go far before I found the tow of them making their way to the office.
"Hey, umm…can we talk for a second before you go see your dad?" The two of them were confused and while Liz went to push forward, I blocked her with my wing. "I mean now, Liz."
"What the hell, Dom?"
"Inside your dad's office, is a currently alive Josette Laughlin." Ignoring the shock, I continued. "I've already looked through her memories and she isn't dangerous, so if you want to meet her, you can. And before either of you," I said, staring solely at Lizzie, "says something you will regret…this may be the only chance either of you get to spend some time with her. So…try to be nice, okay?" Giving each confused girl a kiss on the head, I lead them back to the room, where I was promptly reminded that my wings were out.
"Jesus!" Jo exclaimed at the sight of me, "What are you?" Sprouting the horns and tail, I laughed.
"An angel of the lord," I snickered.
"That's her?" Josie asked, one of her hands gripping my shirt in her uncertainty.
"Yup, though maybe Alaric could let her change out of the bloodied wedding dress." The girls instead waved their hands, performing a spell similar to transfiguration and a shower, leaving her looking healthy, clean and dressed like a mother. 'I suppose Josie did the clothing.'
Leaving the two girls to their family reunion, I slipped out of the office, not only to think over why Jo was brought back, but to send a telepathic message to Hope and Emma.
"Hey, what do you know about necromancy, because Alaric's dead fiancé is back. She's harmless, but who knows what else could happen."
Emma's message got to me first, telling me about a sub-section of magic and promising to look into it, while Hope, whether through the mark or her sense of smell, tracked me down.
"So do we think it's another monster after the knife?"
Shaking me head, I couldn't honestly say. "Might be. She didn't want it though, but that doesn't mean the necromancer dude doesn't." Thinking on a scene from a rather dragged-out supernatural show, I raised a question anxiously. "There isn't a cemetery or mass gravesite anywhere near here is there? Since the guy's able to raise the dead and all." With the paling of her face, I knew we had a potential situation.
"Okay, I'll keep the knife with me all day since we can communicate. And I'll tell Penelope and Emma about the potential threat. Just to be safe. Necromancers aren't known to resurrect people just to be nice."
~~~
Dressed and ready in case either of the twins chose to leave their bio-mom, though I doubted it as I had made it very clear this would likely be their only opportunity to meet her, I knocked on the door to Alaric's office. I knew he wasn't in there, but felt bad for intruding on their personal time.
"And so the angel returns," Jo said with a mirthful laughter. 'I can see how Alaric came to like her. The soft and sweet personality would be refreshing after dealing with angsty vamps and hormonal wolves all the time. "Did something happen?"
"No," I said with a smile, shaking my head. "Just wanted to see how you three were going and to mention that the party is ready for you should you choose to attend."
"Wow, so kind. So are you my daughter's friend?" I shared a look with each of them that resulted in the girls both averting their eyes elsewhere, something not missed by their mother. "Ah."
"I would ask to date them, but with circumstances, it became a little awkward…Though we're slowly getting back to being comfortable."
Jo, smelling gossip, stood and pulled me down to the seat opposite her, making me directly face the three women who sat together. "What circumstances?" Josie placed her hand on her mother's lap but didn't say anything, while Liz instead leapt to explain.
"He's in a polyamorous relationship with two girls we hate, including Josie's ex." Remarkably, she didn't try to insult them even once, showing either a great deal of growth or restraint.
"Scandalous," she said with a smile, but having looked through some of her memories of Elena Gilbert, the doppelganger and Katherine Pierce, a sexy vampire, my feats didn't stand out much. "And you want to add both Josie and Liz to your partnership, I assume?"
Nodding, I confirmed. "I'm a demon, as you know, but my abilities grow as I…"
"That's…different," the mother said, having caught my drift. "Is that the reason you want to date them? To grow stronger?"
I sighed, realising this was the first time I'd ever met a girl's mother without it being because I was more interested in the mother. "No, I love them both and have since before I recognised how my species developed. And while originally the connection was mainly lust, I will admit, I want them in my family."
Each of the women had different reactions to my words, as Liz had love, happiness and hope in her aura while Josie held love, excitement and uncertainty. Jo's reaction was the most different, as she was thinking back to her own lover and the family she wanted to have with him, leaking sadness, pain and love all at the same time.
"That sounds more like a proposal than anything, Mr."
"Dominic, or Dom, if you prefer," I corrected, as I would be the first of her girls' boyfriends she could meet. The four of us continued talking after I sent a message to Hope saying the girls were staying with their mom and to run the party as a fun party without any of the 'Lizziness,' as she put it.
It was an enjoyable experience, meeting an in-law so-to-speak, since Alaric was less the talking type and more the threatening to end you with a crossbow or gun pointed at you kinda guy. At least it was until Jo's eyes turned a lifeless grey.
"Josie move!" She looked up in confusion, rather than dodging, so my options were limited. Josie had been sat between her legs having her hair played with when the change occurred, so with a quick apology, I tore through her hands like a knife through jell-o. 'Fortunately the body doesn't bleed much when you die and pools with gravity, so there's none in her hands currently, thus freeing the young witch with none of the horror-film gore.
"What the fuck?!" Josie shouted, turning to look at her mom with a look of panic, only to be confronted with a horrific sight.
"Both of you, out. NOW!" I really didn't want them to see me put down their mother, so getting them gone was top priority, I noted pinning the older Josette by straddling her waist.
"What's wro-"
"Josie, she's got grey eyes, just listen to him, let's go." Lizzie for once, was the sensible one, dragging her sister from the room, however that did not mean she was unaffected, as she had already begun to cry at having lost her again. 'I'll need to talk to her later.'
*Hope, Emma? Jo was reverted back into a soulless zombie, so expect an attack soon if there's one at all.* I received affirmation as they readied themselves, probably locking doors and the like.
"Hey, Jo. I'm sorry you didn't get to see them grow up and won't get to see them become mothers themselves, but I want you to know, wherever you are, that I will do my best to look out for them. And I'm sorry for what I'm going to do to your corpse." Black flames shot from my hands with intensity and speed, quickly covering the struggling zombie. The flames first targeted the brain, as I wanted to know if it was like a movie zombie at all. As the flames poured through her nose, mouth and ears, the body stilled, showing no signs of damage apart from the missing fingers, yet had once more returned to its dead state.
Laying the body on the couch in the office and covering it with a blanket, I moved to Hope's location, where she had found a dozen zombies and had been cleaving their rotten corpses with an axe, alongside Penelope.
Emma spotted me and rushed over, "What happened with Jo?" However, noticed the look in my eyes and didn't push further, realising I had been forced to act. "Are the girls safe?"
"Last I checked. They should be in their rooms." Looking around the room I spotted a glimmer of amusement through the treeline. Amusement and enjoyment. Not quite a sexual pleasure, but definitely the wrong emotion to have during a zombie attack. Those who had gone to the party had been locked in the warded gym for the time being, while Emma, Pen and Hope had come outside to actively defend against the zombies. And stepping out of the trees over some of the fallen corpses, was a horrific-looking fucker dressed like he robbed a vintage clothes shop or costume-for-hire shop. With a deep scar that framed his face and his hair in a quiff-kinda thing, I wondered if he was insane or just desperate to look like an idiot.
"Hahahahaha," he laughed, as we watched him approach slowly and grandiosely, preening like a peacock.
"Who the fuck is that guy?" I ask, being the least informed member of the squad.
Penelope shrugged while Hope looked at me like I'd somehow asked the dumb question. "How the hell would I know?"
The stupid undead git laughed again, before his rather annoying voice seeped out. "Your attempts at humour do not hide your fear. It is I, the NECROMANCER."
This time it was Pen who asked, "Who?"
"THE NECROMANCER," he repeated, still gesturing with his hands like a fuckwit.
"I thought necromancy was a sub-school of magic? You know anything to do with souls and reanimation?"
Emma, in teacher mode addressed me, "Correct, it is a rather looked down upon and incredibly rare branch of magic with little benefits and as such has practically been forgotten. It's fairly common in movies and games as a low-level monster though."
"Low-level?" The dead guy exclaimed in shock. "Looked down upon?"
Frustrated by the deed this shithead had made me do tonight, I strode over, stabbing my fingers into his shoulder and knocking him unconscious. However, it was not a gentle process as I usually did, softly sweeping the person to sleep, but instead, a rough slam on the mind and soul, placing him in a coma rather than just unconscious.
Dragging the douche by his feet, carving a line through the forest with his face, I moved him to the werewolf transformation cells, placing a rag in his mouth and tying him to the bars to prevent any somantic hand movements that could potentially be used for a spell should he wake.
"Someone fetch Dr Saltzman please…and Emma, could you check in on the twins tonight? They watched their bio-mom turn into a zombie after I cut off her fingers." She flinched, anticipating a rather intense round of therapy with the girls, but nodded. And with that, Pen and I sat in a cold cell watching an undead coma-patient.
"Somehow, this is more fun than that party," she said with a teasing smile, dirt over her hands and dress from physically chopping into the zombies. "It's a good thing we expected the attack though, coz I don't think a bunch of drunk students would have noticed the zombies. And if I'm honest, I'm not sure some of the dumbass wolves would have noticed regardless."
Giving her a soft kiss after our shared laughter at the expense of our peers, she lay her head down on my shoulder while we waited for tomorrow to come. 'Which may be quicker since Alaric is taking his sweet ass time.'
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