True born

The robbed that smiles,steals something from the thief"

~William Shakespeare

The night is cold, colder than the previous ones and eerily quite too ,the patrol guards have taken their beast form like every other day and the common weres are warming up their tents,the kids running around and causing wreck, everything seems normal,as normal as a pack of weres could be.

Then the cry of a baby is heard,sharp and disturbingly loud for the sensitive ears of the folks ,a girl with red hair,down turned blue eyes and pale skin,it appears she was born to a lowborn were couple where she was pulled out of her mother's corpse and her father (Bryn) continues to deny her as his and that he saw a person in the dark swap his baby depite the contrary claims of the midwives,he refuses to comfort the child and lays beside his mate's corpse.

The baby's cry grew louder and louder till the night guards arrived to take her to the pack's hall,under the decree of Alpha Meade that every newborn cub be brought to him before it's fortnight, normally couples spend the first two days cleaning and connecting with their cubs but Bryn didn't burdge as he continued to mourn his mate.

Alpha Meade of the northeast pack, furious at Bryn's defiance ordered him to be brought forcefully,dead or alive which created a fuss throughout the pack causing flooding of the hall as everyone wanted to have a glimpse of the "loud, red haired baby". When brought bloodied Bryn repeated that the baby wasn't his.

"Then you accuse your wife of infidelity,is that it?" questioned Kieran, the pack's beta

"No...no...no,I know what I saw, that child isn't mine,....it isn't, my wife and my baby are gone" Bryn continued to whisper.

"If what you claim you saw is true,how come none of the midwives saw it?" The alpha questioned

"There was a darkness..........like a thick black wall ,I saw this from outside the tent,then someone in a cloak took my baby from the midwives and replaced her with that ...... everything in the tent was still even the wind paused , please believe me." he explained amidst sobs

"Please help bring my baby back "he continued

The alpha tired to feel through his connection with his pack members ,and he felt nothing but pure grief and sorrow ,he then asked that the midwives be brought.

"It is true that the child was bore out of pain, however I cannot account for whatever else he said." Sara one of the midwives testifies

"If so we cannot rule out the possibility of what he said, you were all in the darkness according to him,how else would we explain the col....." Kieran was amidst his sentence

"Shadow.." the alpha mused

"My lord?"

"Not someone in a cloak...or darkness either,it was a person wearing darkness,A SHADOW" Meade muttered

"Witchcraft!!!!" someone yelled from within the crowd.

Multiple gasp echoed in the halls as everyone began muttering and coming up with their own theory,

"Let's burn it " someone said

"let's keep it,the mother would be back for it,then we shall kill them both " said another

"Are we sure Bryn isn't just shocked by grief.....or drunk?"they continued

Through all this,the "loud red haired baby" never stopped crying.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!!!" Meade's voice boomed

"Bring the child " he ordered as the hall quieted down.

Still crying,the "loud red haired baby " was brought and Meade examined the child,he sniffed and wrinkled his nose.

"Smells like a cub to me and the hair........" he stopped abruptly.

Recognition dawned on him as he saw the figure inscribed on the baby's nape in bright red ink.

"Nine" he whispered,and the"loud red haired baby " was no longer loud

"......nine" he whispered again.

"Bryn, " Meade said

"My Lord"

"Swear to me, that you're not hiding any information regarding the birth of this child"

"I swear to you my Lord,by my fangs and furs,I have told you all I know"

It is true that the enemity between the weres, vampires and witches have lasted for centuries,with the weres playing a vital role in the witches endangerment, hence raising questions at the birth of this child however if the claims are true it would be unwise to terminate a possible chance at upholding peace with the witches.

"Fine then, I'll assume you're forgetting something"and with that Meade slams into Bryn's memory.

********

Sulphur

Black pepper

and darkness

That's what it smells like as Meade tries to push past Bryn's mental shield

Once

Twice

Thrice

and on the fourth trial, he's mentally forced out of Bryn's memory, surprised and puzzled.

"This child would be kept under my fur and protection, whoever has a contrary opinion should sharpen their claws and fangs, for they stand to oppose me" Meade declares and not seeing any response walks out, leaving the hall with two things:

The child

and what he heard while in Bryn's memory

ABSUM

"I never wish to be easily defined"

~Franz Kafka

*19 years later*

Nine's POV

After so many worse days, I'm finally having a bad day. I'm happy for now,I guess I love to spend time with human folks and when I say human folks I mean only Meryl.

We're out in town,Meryl has to run an errand for her overly-touchy aunt, while I involuntarily escort her, emphasis on "involuntarily" to the store, fitting into the human world was a piece of cake, that's what being an outcast among outcasts does, right? It's easier here than amongst the weres despite having the alpha's protection, who's gonna stop the snickering and awful side comments whenever I walk past a group of weres, maybe it would have been better with the vampires,if only I was more connected to them except for the basic traits like excessive sun screening before going out during the day, healing injuries (mine to be precise), unable to see my reflection when I walk past a mirror anddd my telekinesis skill is mediocre at best (I'm still learning tho) not like I have a tutor or something,and as for immortality I haven't tried that yet, to the disappointment of Solana (the pack's medical advisor) alpha Meade assigned her to me in regards to my safety and Sol being my safe choice is a bar.

All am saying is I'm a hybrid.

An unhealthy combination of a werewolf, witch and a vampire and from what I could gather,my dad's not in Meade's northeast pack, infact my "dad" wanted me dead at some point, for "killing" his mate.

"Are you even listening?!" Meryl said as she snapped her fingers across my face.

"Yeah,yeah Ornado your aunt's kitty wouldn't let you pet it despite living with you for six weeks, trust me I get it"

"I need you to stop doing that, Nine" she complains

"And what's that??" I asked already tuning her out

"Yunno,this thing you do , like you're here but not and like you're listening but not actually listening " she says now stopping in front of me

"I wasn't, trust me I heard everything you said"

"See??! I never said you didn't hear me I'm asking you to listen, you need to calm down and stop trying to be at multiple places at once, you try to overhear every conversation you happen to stumble upon and it's wrong even for you..... somethings are better left unheard and that's how you live long"

"A'right look you're viewing life from a certain angle,an acute one at that ,do you know how many people have died from lack of information?? No,cause you probably won't and don't broaden your information horizon and besides,I don't think I'll have a problem living long" I side stepped her, picking up the pack of pickles from the shelf

"Annnddd, we're done, time to..." I was saying before

"Don't mess with me young lady, that's not all it says on the list" Meryl countered tapping her feet on the floor, trying and failing woefully to mimick Mirabel,her aunt

"Whatever you're doing you need to stop it now before those guys over there think you're having an attack whatsoever " I joked

"Well I'm not the one who's entire outfit screams "look at me, I'm a friggin vampire " ,am I ?"

"I can't hate Halloween,huh?" I smiled

"Do you think everyone buys it?" She asked as we wheeled our cart to the counter

"Well, no one has asked me if it's just a costume so far,so I think yes"

"Tcsh,have you seen your face?"

I was about to look beside me and fix Meryl with "the stare" then I saw the time and almost passed out.

I had almost missed my curfew, not that it doesn't happen but not today,no no... I'm not even supposed to be here with Meryl in the first place.

With swift farewells I bade Meryl goodbye as I wouldn't be seeing her till the next holiday.

"Tell Mirabel I don't think her gyming's working out " I yelled hearing Meryl's cackling as I ran off.

******************************

Hooting of owls can be heard all over the cemetery,like an anchor in the darkness,an awareness that you're not alone.

St.Peters cemetery has the highest record of raids,at least that's what it says here on the newspaper,I mean who robs the dead, Incase you're thinking about something else that's not why am here,far be it from me to be concerned about what goes on in the human realm.

I'm just here to get some herbs that's all......fine, and a certain cuticle from a person,a dead one, don't blame me, it's not my fault spells are oddly specific about their ingredients.

"Liam Harris"I mused as I continued my search,died two nights ago and asked to be buried besides his beloved wife.

" love even in the grave, Stupidity, that's what I'd call it,why would you want to be tied to same person in all lifetime, that's just dumb" I muttered to myself while trying to maneuver my way over his wife's grave.

"Hmmm Margery Harris, welldone to you ma'am for getting a guy this hooked to you"

Finally

"Sepulchrum fodiens voco te fodere"

Feeling the wisps of darkness swirling round my fingers,shadows condensing and manifesting into physical beings as they carry out my dirty work.

What?

You were not expecting me to whip out a shovel and start digging,were you?

The creaking of the coffin opening and then the smell of decaying body fills the air.

I can never get used to this as my were traits highlights my sense of smell.

"I'd be borrowing this,mister" I said as I clipped his index finger wrapping it carefully then placing it in my pocket.

" A time for everything

and to everything it's place

return everything that has been moved through space."

And with that I'm done here for the night and my am I hungry,I could drink a horse's blood,eat it's flesh and lick the bones dry,if only I could shift it could've made hunting easier,I don't think I'll be able to make it to the pack on time with this much hunger,I really.......

I feel something grab my jacket and my instincts kick in, only to find a tree branch then I did what any other normal person would do

I punched it

*Whistles*

"A feisty one ayy?" A scrawny guy who looks to be in his early twenties says as he approaches me.

A BIG MISTAKE

"Don't mean to interrupt whatever's going on there, but you look like you could use some company after that, yunno "he added still approaching me.

"Would you like it to be your face next?" I asked

"Depends, I've heard my share of red haireds wasn't sure they're this......"

Punch

I deliver my final blow on the tree causing the branch to break off.

".......aggressive, is it your time of the month?"he asks literally smirking

He's right,it is.

Now he's gotten my full attention,he doesn't look that bad either, and with that I smile

Dinner is served.

"Taceo"a silence spell.

****************************

"You're late" Lysand states the obvious as I walk into the cave where he tortures rogues.

"My bad, something came up, what do we have here?"

There's a guy binded up, quite good looking tho despite the blood and cuts on him,he should be in his early twenties too,dark hair although it's soaked with blood.

"Found him snooping around our territory." Lysand's voice is low now, which can only mean one thing, he's VERY pissed

It'd be wise to leave now but where's the fun in that and then

*laughs*

Our captive laughs,now I'm interested in knowing where this psycho's from and what he did to get on Lysand's last nerve

"You won't tell her?"

A vein pops in Lysand's head,

He laughs again

"Are you scared to tell her I wasn't alone and you couldn't get us both? Or you're scared your dad......." he couldn't complete his sentence and you know why.

"A hairy situation,huh?" I joked trying to lighten the mood, I'm the only one permitted to ruin, there's no fun in this at all.

"Why don't you tell me your name?"I addressed our captive

"It's no use the fucker wouldn't budge" Lysand all but growls as he wipes his knuckles.

"Lysand,why don't you go play fetch with the others since it rained last night,the earthy scent's still fresh abit"I reasoned not breaking eye contact with our captive.

On a normal day I wouldn't get away with what I just said but Lysand knows he's in a mood right now and that's what he needs

I'm not even sure he heard me.

He all but throws the napkin on the floor as he stands up to leave..

"Is your dad Meade aware about this"

"No" and he's gone

"You're a witch"

"Oh great, you can talk" I said taking Lysander's empty seat

"The rumours are true then?"

"I need you to be specific as I've lost count of the ones I've heard"

"That you're a bloodsucking witch"

"C'mon big guy, that's not all they say, anyways that's not why we're here,are we?"

He's studying me, like he's about to make an hypothesis.... like I'm an interesting piece of experiment or...a lab rat!!!

"I don't think the rumours did me justice if you think I can't get you to talk " I said while I studied him in return,he had company,was able to ensure his escape,was able to recognize Lysander as Meade's son......how long has he been snooping and how much does he know

"Oh no, the rumours have been fair enough to put images in minds, what I don't understand is why alpha Meade decided not to kill you despite his bloodthirsty nature"

"You flatter me, thank you " I've learnt to be comfortable in my skin as I grew older, being curvy with full burst amongst women of lean muscled build does that,it's not my fault and I refuse to shy from it.

"..... besides I don't think you're in the position to ask questions "

"Untie me"he says and I laugh

"Last time I checked I was the only witch here, you can't get me to do that just because "

"Fine, I'll answer your questions if you untie me"

"And what do you get?"

"Blood flow in my limbs,fair enough?"

"Fine" I said staying put on my seat staring at him as his impatience builds

"Well??!"

"No, you got it all wrong if you think I can loose our potential alpha's binding"

"Then what was the essence of the deal?" he asks barely hiding his anger

"The permission"

"The what?"he growls, looks like someone's getting angry

"You answer me and I give you the permission to untie yourself,that's it"I shrugged casually

"Why would I need your permission if you can't just get up and untie me?"

"Trust me, you can't leave this room without my permission"

"Then just cast a spell or something and cut the binds"

"I would but it wasn't part of the deal,the deal was......."

"..to untie me ."

"Exactly!!! Which is manually impossible for me as I've mentioned before,next time be specific "

He calculates his stance and understands he'd be fighting for a lost cause if he continues

"Please untie me"

Oh my,my heart would've skipped a beat if I had,one could really get addicted to his plea

I look him dead in the eye as I say the word

"cornetto"

watching him wait, expecting the binds to fall off or something and when realization dawn's on his face,his expression is comical.

"You easterners piss me off"he bites out failing to contain his frustration and anger.

"Jackpot!!!" I say as I snapped my fingers in his direction.

"..... you're from the Northern pack" he stares as I continue musing

"Why are this far from home then? You lost your way pup?" I tried provoking him

He chuckles "Why don't you untie me and find out"

"Okay then, I'll need your name....."

He looks at me confused

"For the unbinding spell I mean,and I need you to be polite about it"

"Name's Ned" he simply states and I smirk

"Since you asked so politely...." he wants to play? Fine

Besides, it's my time of time of the day and the night's still a lad

"bellus" glamour sell

****

Darkness swallows the light and takes form as I animate my shadow and cast the perfect illusion using the balance of darkness and fear from within "Ned"

And where did we find ourselves?

In a burning cottage, interesting.

*cough* "What's this?" He asks with visible horror

I act surprised "I don't know Ned,seems like a parallax error or something"

He manages to stand to his full height which is really terrifying if you ask me,and approaches in a manner that doesn't guarantee my safety,so I distract him

Shadows take form

A boy is panting and screaming in the cottage, trying his best to avoid the falling logs and hold his breath and ground

"Asher??" He lets out a throaty scream

"Ash!!!!" and a log smacks him right in the face, causing him to fall back but that's not stopping him as he rises again

*a soft whimper*

The boy staggers towards a squatting figure at the far corner of the room

"Asher!!!!"

The squatting figure is sobbing and shaking uncontrollably

"Look at me Asher, it's okay"

"They're gone......, they're all dead" he whispers more to himself.

"C'mon let's get out of here we'll........."and a burning log blocks their sight as the loud howling is heard

"That's enough......... make it stop" Ned says

"You're sure you don't want to say anything?"

"I said that's enough" now he's racing towards me.I let him

He grabs me by the neck in chokehold,his eyes inhumane and his claws digging into the soft flesh of my neck causing an artistic trail of crimson on my pale skin and shivering form.. he's strong,I'll give him that.

I begin to laugh

"You psycho" he bites out and I snap my fingers as my shadow vanishes from his hold.

"esto"

And we're back in the cave

"Why did you lie,Thane?"

"Pain is inevitable, misery is a choice"

~Daniel Caesar

He's barely catching his breathe as he's visibly exhausted mentally,drained in sweat and causing his jet black hair stick to his forehead,one would think he just ran like a timid prey when infact he is a natural predator,he must have struggled a lot judging from the bleeding on the binds and I almost pity him.

"You had no right!!!!"

"I don't need one" I stated frankly

"You're sick"he spits out "what are you?"

"You told me I was a witch,I don't know if I made quite an impression"

"You shouldn't have done that"

"Wow,look at you telling me what I should and shouldn't do in my own territory "

He smiles"You call this your territory? You and I know that those people out there don't give two shits whatever happens to you."

I know and have come to terms with it,he can't hurt me with that.."if you're trying to hurt me I need you to try harder "

He looks me dead in the eye, quite threatening

"Kill me" he says

"Already? There's no fun in that, you haven't even answered any of my questions correctly" I lean back on the chair and cross my legs

"And I wouldn't" now the binds are barely restraining him

"Good, I don't want you to either, I've got all night and I'd rather sit here and explore your subconsciousness and past than just kill you " I simply added

"Pray that the moon save you,cause whatever gets me out of here wouldn't be able to save you...."his voice darkens

"......as I tear you from limb to limb and bathe my claws with your blood, I've always wondered how bat's blood tasted anyway " he smiles mischievously and I notice rather late that he has somehow freed himself

He doesn't hesitate as he rushes towards me and slams me backward alongside my chair I'm caught off guard and he uses that to his advantage, lifting a broken piece of the chair on my head,he slams my face on the floor till he's satisfied and then he lifts me in a standing position, I'm able to breathe now though orally and not without tasting my blood

"bell.."

I couldn't get the full word out as he slams his fist to my face,the sound of my nose crunching was disturbingly loud

"You had your chance,not again" and with that I'm flying across the room and slamming hard into one of Lysander's shelves causing my head to spin

Or is it the room?

I try to focus on using telekinesis to get one of the pieces of broken furniture into the fucker's rib but I'm weak and it merely grazes his chest

He plucks it out and chuckles

"Is this the best you've got,you disappoint me yunno" he crouches to my level and satanically smiles as whatever he finds on my face seems satisfying "...for a witch you're dumb,I don't know much about bats unless...ah they're blind and.." I cut him off

"For a were you're slow "

He sees the smile on my face which I'm sure is the last thing he sees before the shelf across comes down hard on him

I don't waste time as I crawl towards the door but he must have broken my legs or something cause I don't make it before he's dragging me by the hair towards the middle of the room

"You got me twice"he says still pulling me by my hair till he lifts me up the floor again until I'm eye level with him, I'm breathless and I do what comes to my mind first

I spit on him and smile "thrice"

A terrifying mix of anger and surprise forms on his face "You're going to wish you used your third chance wisely ....." He wipes his face "...there wouldn't be another "and with that he slashes my throat with his claw and drops me.

In horror and instinct for survival I gurgle my blood as red pools and soak my hands while I try to apply pressure but the wound is too big to stem the flow,my vision weakens but I can still see him.

Smiling down sardonically at me, loving and enjoying every bit of my pain,I try hemokinesis with my blood magic but I can't seem to get the word out,

Where's Lysand when you need him,I can't go like this, it's shameful and worse

Pathetic!!!!

Hate and satisfaction is what I'd describe the expression on his face right now,he hates me and I get it,I mean I'd hate me too

I make a fable attempt to keep my eyes open but to no avail,the last thing I see is blood, my blood.

My life draining out of me.