The Vampire & Her Witch

Jocelynn had been awake since the fifth bell, sitting on the edge of her bed in the dark with her boots already laced.

She hadn’t been able to get back to sleep, even though it would still be more than an hour before Ashlynn arrived. It had taken a full quarter hour for her hands to stop shaking this time, and no amount of cold water splashed on her face or ardent scrubbing with perfumed soaps could get the feeling of cold, iron manacles to leave her wrists.

”At least the nightmares were new,” Jocelynn muttered to herself as she stared out the window at the soft, velvety night sky where the stars were beginning to fade.

In her dreams, she’d returned to the dungeon under Lothian Manor, cold, shivering, and chained to the rotting wood and leather cot. Only this time, it hadn’t been Percivus who bound her there. If it had been Percivus, come to haunt her again, she could have struggled, could have cursed him for what he did, could have reminded him whose hands he’d died under...

She hated remembering the feeling of his blood on her hands and the echo of the wet rattle his dying breath made when it escaped his chest... But she could have used all of those things to fight back against a man who no longer had the power to hurt her or anyone else. Not ever again.

But it wasn’t Percivus outside the dungeon door in her nightmares tonight... It was her mother.

Jocelynn could argue against Percivus. She hadn’t been guilty of anything he’d accused her of... But when the mother in her dreams looked at her and said that this was what she deserved for what she’d done to her sister and their family... Jocelynn had no defense against that.

”I know you’re coming back for Ash,” Jocelynn told the night outside the window. ”And I know I can’t make up for what I did. But I hope... I hope you won’t go away again because I’m here too,” she said, pressing her fingers against the glass and feeling the reassuring, grounding cold against her fingertips.

”Eleanor,” Jocelynn whispered. ”If you were here, what would you tell me to do? What should I say when she arrives?” Jocelynn asked as a tear rolled down her cheek. ”I miss you so much...”

For several minutes, she sat in the early morning stillness, gazing out the window while the hour candle slowly burned down. She didn’t have any answers and she still had no idea how she’d face her mother, but maybe Ash was right...

No matter how much Jocelynn wanted to hide herself away behind the mask of polite smiles in the midst of a welcome ceremony, maybe a family dinner together was the best way to do this. At least that way, her mother could give her the scolding she deserved without worrying about embarrassing herself or anyone else.

In a strange way, she started to look forward to it. The waiting was hard, but once her mother arrived, one way or another, she’d at least know where she stood. Even if it buried a knife in her heart, it was better than waiting for the knife to fall.

A quarter hour later, when the door opened without a knock, Jocelynn was already reaching for her cloak.

”You’re dressed,” Ashlynn whispered, sounding faintly disappointed. ”I had a whole speech about dragging you out of bed by the ankles.”

”Ash!” Jocelynn hissed, her face turning a light shade of pink in the dim light. ”One time, it only happened one time, and I was only nine!”

”I know,” Ashlynn said. ”Just like it was only one time that you brought snow in from outside to wake me up when I was sleeping in,” she said, sticking her tongue out at her sister. ”You have a dress to change into when we’re done fishing?” Ashlynn asked, changing the topic.

”I do,” Jocelynn said, taking in Ashlynn’s very humble brown skirt and green woolen blouse under the cloak that she wore. ”It’s, um, not as humble as what you’re wearing. I don’t think I have much of anything that’s that plain,” she said honestly. ”The dress I’m wearing now is one of the most practical that I own and it’s still a bit, um,” she said, glancing down at the embroidery over the soft gray fabric of the heavy wool dress.

”It’s fine,” Ashlynn said. ”You know, I’m looking forward to teaching you how to work in an herb garden once you’ve become the Olive Witch,” she said, wincing only slightly when she brought up the topic. ”And lots more time in the kitchens too. It feels good,” she said with a soft smile. ”Simpler sometimes, just working with your hands. You’ll like it more than you think,” Ashlynn said confidently.

”We’ll see,” Jocelynn said, unconsciously running her thumb over the fingers that had been pricked so many times by an embroidery needle she’d stained them red with her own blood.

”Fishing is fine, and I’m willing to give cooking a go today... For Mother,” Jocelynn added, firming up her resolve as best she could as she picked up the small sack that held her change of clothing and tossed it over her shoulder.

”Good,” Ashlynn said, settling her own sack on her shoulder and picking up a hooded lantern that had been all but shut. ”If you need more light, let me know,” she whispered as she opened the door again. ”I see better in the dark than I used to, so if it’s not enough, tell me.”

”It’s fine,” Jocelynn said, following closely behind Ashlynn as they stepped into the corridor. ”I got used to the dark too,” she added softly. But even as she said it, she took a few small, quick steps to pull closer to Ashlynn, putting a hand on her sister’s shoulder, ’just in case.’

Moments later, Ashlynn turned them down a side corridor, leaving the vaulted ceilings and decorated halls of Lothian Manor’s guest wing behind and entering the narrow passageways used only by the serving staff.

As they did, for the first time in years, Jocelynn felt her pulse quicken with the distinct excitement of doing something forbidden... The Blackwell sisters were sneaking out again!