TWISTED FATES BOOK 1: The First Twist

Present Time - Jareth

Bloody Hell!

How could I have been so damn incompetent?

I was so fucking daft. This evening wasn’t even over yet, and still, I allowed Samantha to persuade me to let her out of my eyesight for a few brief moments. And it was in those moments when Dasha’s minion attacked Samantha. Meanwhile, I was waiting in the damn limousine in nothing but my pants, all chuffed like a bloody Nancy-boy.

Bollocks!

Maleyna had warned me. All I had to do, was keep Samantha alive until past midnight on her twenty-fifth birthday, and Dasha’s curse would have been thwarted.

I smelled her blood before I heard her call out. Fortuitously, I was able to catch her fragile body before she had fallen onto the sidewalk; but that still didn’t alter the fact that she was wounded severely. I carefully enveloped Samantha up in my arms and dashed over to my home. Time was of the essence, and I would be able to tend to Samantha’s injuries a hell of a lot faster if I transported her on foot rather than traveling by auto.

When we arrived at my home, I immediately brought her upstairs. I laid her carefully atop my bed and removed her clothing so that I could further gauge her injury.

The wound didn’t appear to be that deep, but she was bleeding profusely in spite of it. There were also several black thin webbed lines slowly veining outwards from the injury site, a very grave indication that her injury was far worse than I had fancied. Something appeared off. Samantha wasn’t just stabbed; this was far more ominous looking. There was a poison festering within her wound that I was unfamiliar with. At that moment, I understood that it was necessary to call upon the assistance of those more familiar with this type of magic. Without haste, I dialed up the two witches that I believed would be of assistance. Samantha’s dreadful situation was exacerbating with every passing second.

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It wasn’t long before the two witches had manifested themselves in my bedroom and stared worriedly at Samantha. Her pale body was lying unconscious upon my now blood-stained bed. Her breathing was growing shallower, and the black webbing had spread throughout most of her fragile petite form.

Shay was the first to speak. “What the fuck happened, Jareth?”

She glared at me accusatorily as she ran and knelt beside Samantha’s side.

“You promised us that you would protect her today. I trusted you. We ALL trusted you!”

I couldn’t even answer her. Shay was right. I had been berating myself since this incident occurred, the guilt consuming my whole.

“I was protecting her, Shay. She had literally left my sight for a couple of minutes to go fetch – ”

Shay held up her hand to stop me from continuing. “I don’t give a rat’s ass what she was fetching, Jareth. You let her out of your sight, and because of your incompetence, Samantha is dyi- ”

I didn’t permit Shay the benefit of finishing her ominous declaration. In a fit of rage, I dashed over to her and crashed her back vehemently against my bedroom wall. I furiously lifted her with my hand tightly wound around her slender neck. My eyes were now completely pitch black, and my fangs were extended, ready to strike. A snarl emerged from my lips as I held her struggling body in the air.

“Samantha will NOT DIE, Shay! I will not allow it! You can rebuke me for my negligence until your bloody arse is content. But Samantha WILL NOT DIE!”

I released my grip from around her throat, allowing her to collapse on the floor, coughing to catch her breath. Tears threatened to sting my eyes as I looked over and noticed Astrid. She had been quiet throughout mine, and Shay’s tousle and was silently sitting on the bed next to Samantha. With a wet towel in her trembling hand, she was gently wiping away the dried caked blood that had situated itself all over Samantha’s torso and hands. There was a weathered old leather-bound book splayed next to her. It was open to a page with an image resembling the current state that Samantha was in. This caught the attention of both Shay and me.

“What is that in your book, witch?” I asked. “Those markings appear to resemble the ones covering Samantha’s body. What’s wrong with her?”

Astrid slowly looked up, glancing at Shay then at me. Her cheeks were tear-stained, and her eyes were already swelling from the silent tears she had shed without our noticing. A chill ran down my spine as I heard her warily prepare to speak. Again, she looked to Shay as if the two were silently mentally preparing for the next words that were about to come out of Astrid’s mouth. She cleared her throat and began.

“As you know, Samantha wasn’t just stabbed by her assailant. She was poisoned.” I slowly nodded in understanding.

“Well ... according to our book of ancient herbs and plants, the poison that was used on her is a lethal concoction made up of Jessamine, Autumn Crocus, and Aconite.”

Shay’s eyes grew wide as she stared despairingly at Astrid, who was cradling Samantha’s lifeless hand in her own. Both women began to sob as Shay made her way over to Astrid’s side and wrapped her arms around her forlorn sister. The downhearted expressions on the two women’s faces made it quite clear that Samantha’s outlook was far from optimistic.

I refuse to lose her.

“Is there anything that can be done? You are both witches, for Christ’s sake, isn’t there anything you can do to fix – ”

Immediately, my pleas were shot down by Astrid.

“I’m sorry, Jareth,” she murmured, “but there is nothing that we can do. The poison that Samantha was infected with was too potent and is working at an accelerated rate. Dasha must have predicted that we would try and heal her. She used black magics on the weapon that stabbed Sammie to ensure that the poison spread rapidly.”

I furrowed my brow lost in thought. I understood there was only one conclusion that remained. I was also well aware that I must keep my assessment to myself as the two witches before me would be less than amenable.

With a composed demeanor, I addressed both Shay and Astrid in hopes of persuading them to leave Samantha’s side. All I required was a few minutes alone with her in my sole care.

“I understand that you believe that we are at an impasse, but this is Samantha’s life we are discussing.” I continued. “I believe that we have not exhausted all our avenues. Now, while I do have faith in your capabilities, I must insist that we not give up hope just yet. It would still be worth the effort to seek the assistance of Maleyna. She is an ancient witch and therefore may be able to provide us with a solution that may be unknown to us.”

I paused and studied Shay and Astrid, trying to discern whether or not my suggestion seemed palpable to them.

An air of pensiveness surrounded them. It was Shay that finally broke the silence.

“I think maybe it’s worth a try, Astrid.” She sighed deeply and glanced over at her companion before continuing. “I mean, we’ve already exhausted our own capabilities and are already prepared for the worst, so maybe, for Samantha’s sake, we can seek some guidance from Maleyna...”

Astrid eyed me warily but finally conceded with my request. “Fine.” She retorted. “But I want to make this quick, Shay. In all honesty, I don’t feel like it will make any difference and am hesitant to leave Samantha’s side. That being said,” she continued, “it won’t hurt to try.”

The two women gave one last glance at Samantha’s frail body and nodded knowingly at each other. They intertwined their hands and spoke a silent incantation. Within seconds, they had vanished.

I knew I would only have literal moments before they returned with Maleyna, so I dashed over to Samantha’s body and whispered in her ear.

“I’m so sorry, my love. If there were any other way to save you, I would ...”

I allowed my true nature to emerge.

I extended my fangs and pierced the tender flesh on the side of Samantha’s neck. I slowly suckled the warm viscous fluid as it seeped into my welcoming mouth while my fangs emitted their venom. Once I had consumed enough of Sammie’s blood and was sure that my vampiric venom had been dispersed through my bite, I immediately used my extended fang to slice a deep gash into my wrist. Carefully cradling her head, I parted her pale lips and allowed my viscous warm blood to trickle into her breathless mouth.

Seconds later, I was propelled away by an invisible force. Shay, Astrid, and Maleyna had suddenly appeared before me. The three witches seemed to be quite livid as Shay glared at me and shrieked.

“What the FUCK did you just do, Jareth?!”