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Chapter Six was too long to post as written, so it's being posted as 2 parts, A and B.
Little Giselle Goodie was beside herself waiting for Heather’s arrival. She’d checked every detail five times already, checked that all the blinds were drawn, checked that her brothers were ready to hide the car, and finally checked with her mother, Faith, to see if there’s anything else she could do.
“We must be patient, Sweetheart. They’ll be here soon. Polina called to say they’re on the road. Now, once more before they get here, how will you address her?” her mother asked.
“Angie, until she remembers her real name is Heather.” Giselle sighed dejectedly. “Will I ever be able to call her “My Queen?” she asked, pouting.
“Have faith, Giselle. If she marries King Niall, she will become Queen again, just like the legend said.” Her mother answered.
“IF she marries him? I shall make sure they fall in love again.” vowed Giselle.
Faith Goodie had no doubt her daughter would do just that.
Once Polina and Heather were in the car and rolling, Alexa took off at a run to the Goodie’s safehouse to make sure everything was ready. Heather kept her eyes closed as they drove, guarding against the sun as much as she could. She nervously wrung her hands together, waiting for them to stop shaking, and felt her wedding ring. On impulse, she pulled it off her finger, rolled down the window, and tossed it into the woods they were driving past. With a satisfied smile, she rolled up the window and turned to Polina. It was time for some answers.
“Polina? Is that an Irish name? ” Heather began simply enough.
“It’s German. Polina Gunter is my whole name.” Polina responded carefully. She could sense the barrage of questions coming her way, and wasn’t sure how much information she was allowed to volunteer. She didn’t have to wait long for the questions to become harder.
“What about my name?” Heather asked. “Is my name Irish?”
Polina was thrown. She had no way of knowing which name Heather was referring to, and didn’t want to trigger any memories while they were on the road.
“I’m not sure, exactly.” Polina replied. “I believe that it is.” There. A nice, careful answer.
Heather turned to face Polina, opening her eyes and said, “Look. I can tell you’re worried about how much you’re supposed to tell me. Niall trusts you, so I know you’re one of the good guys. For the past year, I’ve been struggling to make sense of a life that made no sense. What I would like is to have a nice, pleasant, honest discussion. I don’t want to get you in trouble with anyone, so just tell me whether you can answer or not, but I would like to know when I’ll finally have all my answers. Fair enough?”
“Please keep your eyes closed. If anything happens to you, Niall will have my head. I'll tell you everything I know, but some of it will be a little shocking, and I don’t think a moving car is the place for that discussion. I promise when we get to the safehouse, I'll stay and answer every single question you have. For now, we’ll keep it simple. Deal?” asked Polina.
“Deal.” Heather smiled. “So, can you turn into a wolf like Niall? Can I?”
“So much for keeping it simple.” Polina smiled back. “I think we’re going to be great friends. No, neither one of us can do that, but you’re going to meet a bunch of people who can. They’re going to keep you safe while we figure out how to take care of the Bruno problem.”
They talked all the way, mostly about Polina, since that was a safe topic, finally ending up at the safehouse.
“One last question before we go in.” Heather asked.
“Of course.” Polina said. “Shoot.”
“Niall. Somewhere in the past…were Niall and I…” Heather trailed off, not sure how to phrase it.
Polina smiled, took her hand, and said “Very special to each other. Now let’s go meet everyone.”
The Goodie boys were waiting for them as they pulled up, and quickly guided Polina and Heather into the house. They bowed deeply to Heather, and took Polina’s keys before posting themselves outside the front door. Puzzled, Heather bowed back as Polina took her arm and walked her inside. Heather peeked behind her before going in and noticed wolves behind the trees, as well as something that wasn’t quite a wolf in the bushes near the porch. She was whisked through the door before she could wrap her head around what she saw.
Once she was inside, she was met by a woman and child who smiled brightly at her. Heather noticed she had a steel grip on Polina’s sleeve, and made herself let go and smile back at the pair.
“Hello. My name is Faith, and this is my daughter Giselle. You’ll be staying here with us for awhile. If there’s anything you need, anything at all, please don’t hesitate to ask. We’ve got all the drapes closed, so the light won’t hurt your eyes.” the red haired woman assured her.
“Angie,” Heather replied, shaking hands with Faith. “I hope I’m not putting your family in danger by being here,” she added, looking over at Giselle.
“That bad man won’t lay a hand on you here!” Giselle began. “If he shows up here, we’ll beat him within an inch of -“
Quickly, Faith put a hand on her shoulder to stop the rest of her tirade against Bruno and cut in. “I’m sure this is very overwhelming for you. Please, make yourself at home. Can I get you something to drink?”
“Yes, that would be wonderful.” Heather smiled at the pair. “Is Niall here?” she asked suddenly. She caught the look that passed between Polina and Faith, and asked, “What’s happened? Isn’t he one of the wolves I saw outside?”
Polina drew Heather to sit beside her on the sofa. She nodded at Faith to have her bring Heather the drink, and she began. “You know that Niall can change into a wolf. You seem to be OK with that, am I right?”
“Yes, I saw that, and for some strange reason, it seemed…right. Natural. I really didn’t give it a lot of thought, because it just didn’t seem strange to me. Now that I have a minute to sit and really take it all in, I have to say it still doesn’t bother me. Shouldn’t that bother me - that it doesn’t bother me?” Heather asked.
Polina laughed. “It doesn’t bother you, because it’s something you already knew about, a very long time ago. Now that you’re starting to remember, the memories will probably start coming faster and kind of gang up on you a little. We’re hoping that we can kind of ease you into this so it won’t be so hard. Niall wanted to be here with you for this, but he had to make a stop first.” Polina explained. “Plus, I think he was a little worried about how you’d take the whole werewolf thing.”
“Is he OK?” asked Heather. “He seemed fine earlier.” She added, thinking back. They had been walking slowly and quietly leaving the house, and he didn’t run with the others - he stayed behind. To change? Was there more to it?
Faith returned with a glass of ice water, and settled herself on the other sofa. Heather took a sip, steeled herself, and nodded at Polina to continue.
“Niall injured himself trying to get you out before we got there. He’s probably fine,” she added quickly, “But the pack is having him checked out, just to be sure. He’ll be here soon. I don’t think there’s anything in this world that could keep him away from you.”
Heather smiled briefly at that thought, then said, “Tell me what happened.”
“Niall was kidnapped by Bruno. He was tortured, and through it all, he came out of it with no memory of who he was. Bruno had a cell with electrified bars in his study, where he kept Niall. That’s where he was when Bruno tried to kill you earlier today.” Polina stopped to give Heather some time to absorb this.
“He was in there because of me.” Heather added quietly. “I was falling in love with him and I didn’t even know it. I looked forward to seeing him every day, and I was so sad when he had to leave me. He was so kind to me, and we had so much fun. He was always making me smile. And today… today when he sat with me, I took his hand. It just seemed the most natural thing in the world. I took his hand, and Bruno came home early and walked in on us. I was so afraid for Niall, that I was rude to him so he would leave the room. Bruno is so evil. I just wanted to keep Niall safe from him, so I dismissed him like he didn’t matter to me at all. I’ll never forget the look on his face when he went out the door. And it was all for nothing - Bruno got to him anyway. What happened next?”
“When he heard your screams, he threw himself against the bars, over and over, trying to break out to get to you.” As she saw the horror on Heather’s face, she quickly went on. “His kind heal much more damage, and much more quickly than humans. And it seems that either the electricity, the impact, or both brought him back to himself. When he regained consciousness, he remembered everything. When we found him and tried to get him out, he refused to leave without you. He might not have known how you felt about him, but he sure knew how he felt about you.” Polina added with a smile.
“Can I go to him?” Heather asked.
“No.” Polina answered firmly. “If something happened to you out there, then all this would be for nothing. They already know you’re gone. It’s just a matter of time before they start looking.” Polina winced - she hadn't meant to mention that yet.
“How do you know that?” Heather asked.
“Well, there’s a lot to tell you about. Let’s start with Bruno. The good news is that you’re not married to him. Once we found out who you were, we did records searches. He faked the whole thing, thinking no one would check.”
Heather could not speak, but her face said it all. ‘All this time, all the unspeakable things he did to me…’ her thoughts raced between rage and relief.
When she had some time to accept this, Polina went on. “This is the important part. Bruno is a warlock. A very powerful warlock. He has powerful friends, all who will help him try to find you. He chose you, stalked you, and kidnapped you. He used drugs and magic to confuse you, to make you believe you were his wife.”
“What about my accident? Was I really in an accident?” Heather asked, feeling the scar on her head.
“We really don’t know. It would be easy to assume he lied about that, too, but you do have an injury. We’re going to have you checked out very soon, so we’ll have a better idea about that. Knowing what I know about him, I suspect whatever gave you that scar was no accident.” Polina said. “We’re going to treat your vision as if you have an issue until we know otherwise.”
“As much as I need to hear the rest, I think I need to take a break. Maybe you can give me something nice to think of while I wait for Niall.” Heather said, looking towards Giselle.
“Well, what did Ki- I mean, Niall do that made you happy?” Giselle asked.
“He built me sandcastles, and told me wonderful stories about the people who lived in them.” Heather said sadly. She missed him so much.
Giselle ran from the room, and came back with a photo album with “Ireland” stenciled on the front. She opened it to a photograph of a castle and asked, “A castle like this?”
Heather couldn’t believe her eyes. It was her sandcastle, but it was real. It was a real place. Her eyes teared up, and she struggled not to cry. “It’s beautiful.” She told Giselle. “Can you tell me about it?”
Giselle looked over at her mother. Faith nodded, and said, “Carefully.”
Giselle thought a moment and began her story. “Once upon a time…”
Balin came back into the room where Niall was being checked over by their doctor. Dr. David Drake grew up with a sister who was a were, and learned medicine so he could take care of her. His wife, Juliana, assisted with were cases, but was actually a psychologist. The were community was very grateful to have a doctor of their own. After all, it was pretty hard to explain how an accident victim was completely healed in a day or two to the regular medical community.
“Well?” Niall growled from the bed.
“Now, now.” Balin scolded. “You just settle in. She’s fine. Faith just called to say they got there safe and sound. The pack has the house surrounded. You let the doc check you out, now. The sooner he’s done, the sooner you can go to her.”
“Well, you really shouldn’t be going anywhere. You did some pretty serious damage, and it’s best if you stay put to heal properly - at least for tonight. You’re going to do what you want, but you know that I’m right. It sounds like that girl of yours needs some serious protecting, and you need to be in better shape to do it.” Dr. Drake pulled no punches.
“And that’s what I’m going to do right now - protect her.” Niall said, getting off the bed.
“Down, Boy.” Balin said, pushing Niall back down. “It’s just one more night. You need to be in top form when Bruno comes looking for you two. You can’t save her if you’re injured, and you know it.”
Niall was beside himself. While he didn’t want his reunion with Heather to happen while he was a werewolf, he couldn’t bear having her so far away from him. Her safety was his responsibility, and he should be the one standing guard outside her door.
The doctor saw his agitation, and called Balin over for a private word. “I can give him something that will put him out for the night, but I don’t think he’ll let me. He can’t continue to be agitated. Can you call the girl and let him hear for himself that she’s OK?” he asked.
“Doc,” said Balin, “You’re a brilliant man.” Balin stayed in the lobby and called Faith at the safehouse. He told her the situation, and she explained it to Heather. When Heather came on the line, Balin told her, “we’d like to give him something to help him sleep, but he needs to hear that you’re OK before he’ll let us. I promise you, I’ll have him up and at your door first thing in the morning, but for tonight, he needs to stay put.”
“I understand.” Heather told him. “Thank you, Mr.Balin, for everything. I look forward to meeting you.”
Balin laughed, which sounded more like howling while he was in were form. “Mr. Balin, is it now? You and I will share a great laugh on that soon. Jack, or Balin, is just fine, my lass. Here he is, now. You rest easy tonight. I’ve got your boy, and I’ll take good care of him.”
“Niall?” Heather asked when she heard him come on the line.
“Yes, it’s me. Are you alright?” he asked.
She noticed the gruffness in his voice, and had to remind herself that he must be in his other form. “I’m just fine. Everyone here is so nice to me. They have guards all around the house, and all the shades are drawn. Now that you know I’m safe, I need to know that you’re safe, too,” she told him. “I need to know that you’ll let them give you the shot that’s going to let you rest tonight. Promise me you will.”
“Balin has a big mouth.” Niall grumbled. “I should be there guarding you, too.”
“You should be here tomorrow, ready for whatever it brings. I’m not going anywhere. I’ll be right here waiting for you. Now promise me.” Heather said sternly.
“But I can -“ Niall began.
“Promise me.” Heather demanded, cutting him off.
“I promise.” Niall muttered, defeated.
“Niall?” she asked.
“I’m still here.” He responded gruffly.
“I’ll see you in your dreams. Sleep well.” And she hung up the phone before he could argue any more.
Niall looked at the phone in his hand while a big, goofy smile spread across his face. He asked for the doctor, and said, “I’ll take that shot now. Right now.”
Balin took the phone out of Niall’s hand as he drifted off. Smirking at the grin Niall had on his face as sleep claimed him, he couldn’t help himself. He called the safehouse again, and asked to speak with Heather.
“What happened? Is he alright?” she asked, alarmed.
“Oh he’s just fine, lass. He’s already out like a light. He had an incredible grin on his face when he went out, and I just had to know what it was you said to him to get him to take the shot. It’s been a very long time since I’ve seen that look on his face.” Balin added.
Heather debated telling him, since it was private, but she figured everyone in the safehouse had heard it anyway, so she told him. Hearing him chuckle, she asked “You’re going to tease him about this, aren’t you.”
“Yes, Ma’am.” Balin answered honestly. “Every chance I get. Sleep well, lass. I’ll have him back to you tomorrow morn, good as new.”
Heather got into bed that night, thinking about the story of Niall and Angelica that Giselle told her. It was so sad for a bit, that she almost asked the girl to stop telling it. But when Giselle got to the part of how they found each other again in modern times, fell in love all over again, and joined their friends in defeating the evil warlock, she was glad she had held out. She’d have been a fool not to notice every eye in the room turned to her, waiting for a reaction.
‘They must think that I’m Angelica.’ Heather thought to herself. She had to admit, she was picturing herself as Angelica and her Niall as the Niall in the story while it was being told. And for everything she’d witnessed tonight, plus what she found out about Bruno, it really wasn’t that farfetched. She would think more about it in the morning. Right now, she was simply overloaded. With the knowledge that she and Niall were finally safe, pure exhaustion claimed her, and she was asleep before she could have another thought.
Once Heather was safely asleep, Polina drew Faith into the living room. “I didn’t want to say this in front of her - she’s already been through so much. We were seen leaving the house.” Polina told her.
“By Bruno?” Faith asked, shocked.
“No, no.” Polina replied hastily. “His witch, Frances. Remember how they were raising the zombie of Marta Glencoe tonight? They were in the middle of doing that when we slipped in. Frances had stepped out of the room while we were headed for the door. She looked right at me, and signaled me to be quiet.”
“She’s on our side?” asked Faith.
“No. She’s on no one’s side but her own. I’m sure there’ll be a high price for her silence, and I’m sure she’s dying to tell me what it is. I’ll have to face her at work tomorrow.” Polina finished.
“You can’t go back to that school!” Faith was alarmed that Polina would even consider it.
“I don’t have a choice; she knows who I am. She can find me easily enough. If I make her look for me, I’ll end up leading her straight here. I have to find out what she wants. My brother will have a bloody fit, but I have to go. It would look bad to Bruno, too, to have me disappear the same time Heather did.” Polina stated, defeated. “Besides, I can keep watch on them both there, and let you know where they are and what they’re up to.”
“I don’t like it, but I know you’re right. Once you’re at school, there won’t be much your brother will be able to do about it, anyway.” Faith told her.
Polina gave a sad chuckle at that thought, and headed for the door. “Let Heather know she can call me at any time. If I’m in class, I’ll step out. And let her know I’ll stop in tomorrow morning, then head straight back here after class tomorrow.”
Polina left the house, casting a cloaking spell over it before she headed home. It was a small spell, not designed to make the house disappear, but to make the eye glance right over it - take no notice of it. She told herself she really needed to catch up on her magic in night school, because she was sure going to need it soon.
As the spell cloaked the house, across town, a man got up from his reading to look out of his window. It was his unofficial job to keep watch over Bella Donna Cove, and he felt it instantly when the presence of an area went “dim”.
‘What was that about?’ he thought to himself. He knew there’d been some magic flowing around his territory lately, but when you live in a town full of preternatural creatures, that’s not unusual. Plus, the added fun of having a school of witchcraft in town, with tons of wannabe’s throwing magic around willy-nilly made it easy to overlook things. Maybe he’d been overlooking too much. Of course, he knew Francis McCullough created another zombie. He would never understand her fascination with them. That should put her current count at two, which was allowable. She’d gotten rid of the last one after it had tried to kill her. ‘A shame it didn’t succeed.’ He thought, curling his lip at the thought of her. He had no use for her kind of magic. ‘Things that are truly dead should be left that way’ he thought ironically.
Though he couldn’t see the house from his own, he concentrated and figured out it was one of the guest cottages owned by the werewolves. ‘Another useless creature’ he thought. But that was not his concern. His concern was what the werewolves were keeping there that needed hiding, and from whom were they hiding it?
'Well,’ he thought. ‘It HAS been awhile since anything needing my attention happened in this town. It seems this situation bears watching.’
He found that he missed taking action against evil instead of just watching and staying out of most matters. ‘Rules. Always rules’. He almost hoped someone would have to ‘disappear’ from Bella Donna Cove. That might be fun. He gave a very small smile, entertaining that fantasy while he went back to his reading.
(continued in Chapter Six, Part B)