Twice Bitten (Love, Lust & Magic #1)

Griff

Do you ever have those dreams where you’re not sure if it’s a dream or if it’s real life? I think that’s where I’m at right now. But if that’s the case, what else is a dream?

Nestled warm under covers and surrounded by comfortable pillows, adjusted in bed. As he first opened his eyes, he wiped away the sleep to get a better visual of where he was waking up. He grabbed for his glasses, which were carefully placed atop the nearby nightstand. “H-how long was I asleep for?”

The only response was silence.

When he sat up in bed is when he realized he wasn’t where he thought he was. The sheets, the comforter, and the posters on the wall jogged his memory. He was back in his childhood home.

“Pruitt?” he called out. “Uriah?”

The sound of approaching footsteps relaxed him. That must be them .

“,” came a voice from the hallway. “Is that you?”

Is that who I think it is?

“Mama!?” responded in disbelief.

Dressed in a white, flowing dress and a sun hat, a familiar-looking woman leaned against the doorframe to his room. Wearing her favorite red lipstick and flashing her signature smile, recognized her as his adoptive mother, Ann. This—this isn’t a dream at all. But what about Pruitt… Uriah… Mystic Hollow?

“I thought we decided against Mystic Hollow, in,” said Ann as she moved to the bedside and took ’s face in her palm. It was almost like she had read his mind.

The loving physical gesture was not lost on , but he couldn’t help but to show his confusion. “Mama…”

“You’ve got a big day ahead of you,” Ann continued. “Why don’t you get up and get ready?”

“Sorry, mama,” sighed. “Do you ever have that feeling where you’re trapped? Almost like—I don’t know—trapped in a dream and can’t get out?”

“Or trapped in one because you don’t want to leave it?” asked Ann.

“Exactly,” grumbled as he rubbed his temples. But what about my ? —

“Well, it’s great to dream, in. But you know that I’ve always taught you to keep your feet grounded in reality. Now,” Ann said as she undid the clasp holding his necklace and set it on his nightstand, “let’s see about getting you up and dressed for the day.”

“Wait.” reached out to grab for his necklace. “Can you tell me about this?”

“What, this old thing?” Ann said with a dismissive laugh as she pushed ’s arms to his sides and prevented him from taking back the pendant. “Oh, honey, it’s just something you got out of a quarter machine when you were little.”

Suddenly, it was as though a lump in ’s throat prevented him from responding. Almost like an extreme physical reaction to being gaslit. “Wait. Do you mean?—”

“You remember, don’t you? The local Five and Dime. The one that?—”

“I always begged you to take me to,” finished her sentence, the sound of defeat obvious from his tone. Did I really misremember like that?

“Yes, in. And the shopkeeper, you remember him. Our neighbor, Mr. Riley, the one with the?—”

As what seemed like the correct memory started coming back to him now, once again finished her sentence. “With the support dog who always walked around the store and gave me?—”

“All those big, wet kisses you loved,” Ann concluded his memory.

I guess it really is her. This isn’t a dream; what I just woke from—Pruitt, Uriah, magic—that was.

“Oh, I knew you’d remember,” Ann smiled. “Such fond memories here at home. Maybe it’s where you should stay—right here with me.”

“Maybe you’re right,” sighed.

Ann seemed pleased with this response, her gentle grip on ’s arms loosening. “Well, then. It’s settled.”

watched as the woman who raised him studied his face before getting to her feet. “What’s settled?” he asked.

“Instead of moving away for college, you’ll stay right here,” she said cheerfully. “With me.”

turned his attention to his side table now, quickly collecting his most prized possession. “But the necklace. That’s—that’s not what you told me,” a puzzled blurted out. “You told me it was my mother’s, that it belonged to the family that gave me up for adoption.”

“Now, where would you get such a silly idea?” Ann said with a smile as she gently loosened ’s grip on the piece of jewelry, took it back in her possession, and tucked it into a pocket in her dress. “I mean, really, . Are you feeling well?”

“This isn’t right,” said . I must be dreaming—or something.

“Well, I’ll excuse myself,” a flustered Ann said.

“Mama?”

Ann didn’t respond, instead turning to the door with her back facing away from . These are my memories—at least some of them—but it doesn’t feel like it’s my dream, he thought to himself as he analyzed Ann’s actions.

“What was the name of the adoption agency that helped you find me, mama?” called out again.

Ann turned to face again with a smile. “I’m sorry, . You’ll have to forgive my morning mood swing. I think I’m at the start of a slight fever.”

“Ma. The name,” repeated .

“, I—” began Ann.

“You don’t remember?”

“There are a lot of things I wasn’t able to tell you,” Ann continued.

“That’s not true. You’ve never kept anything from me.”

“That’s what children like to believe about their parents—adoptive or otherwise,” sighed Ann. “Now, you’ll have to excuse me.”

“Wait,” jumped from the bed. “Mama?”

Once again turning away from , Ann’s face filled with worry. From her left eye, a crimson red teardrop pooled. “Y-yes, ?”

“I just wanted to say I’m sorry,” replied . “I know you haven’t been feeling well. I shouldn’t have acted that way.”

“That’s a good boy,” Ann said as she turned to face him.

was immediately alarmed by what was now a series of bloody teardrops streaming down from Ann’s eyes.

“Now, get cleaned up. It’s bad enough that you’re having such filthy fantasies, let alone dreams, about fictitious and repugnant monsters.”

“You’re not her,” shouted. “I knew it! You’re not my mother. Not my adoptive mother, and not my real one.”

“You’re headed down a dark path,” Ann exclaimed as she slapped across the face. “Don’t you see what they’ll do to you?”

grasped his stinging face as Ann smeared blood across hers. “Who are you?” he demanded to know.

“That’s all that they do. They feed on you,” Ann muttered as blood stained her dress. As though they were hidden before, red bite marks appeared on Ann’s neck as blood leaked from those, too. “ They take from you and they feed.”

“Get away from me!” howled as Ann reached out and grabbed his hand. In the chaos of the moment, he reached forward and dug through her pockets, frantic to find his necklace.

“You’ll die. All three of you!” Ann screamed out in a raspy voice that was unrecognizable to him as her hair turned stark white. He finally felt the cool touch of his pendant against his fingers and grabbed for it. Her final words were haunting. “A witch never betrays the coven!”

The sound of thunder rattling in the distance was enough to bring out of his midnight dream. The nightmare fresh in his mind, his body tensed as he adjusted to look around the room.

To both his surprise and his pleasure, he was back in Pruitt’s apartment. Wiping sweat from his brow, saw a sleeping Pruitt just inches to his left. Thank god, he thought to himself. As he moved to adjust, he realized he was planted squarely atop Uriah’s chest.

couldn’t help but to gush as he realized he was wrapped up in the equivalent of a vampire’s sleeping bear hug. Even their legs were interlocked. Uriah’s cool skin against ’s was comforting, but it was hard to shake what he had just awakened from.

“Bad dream?” Uriah whispered in his ear. The concern in his voice was new, but welcomed.

“You could say that,” nodded as he moved to sit up.

“Uh, you weren’t supposed to catch me being a big softie,” Uriah slowly moved his arms off of . “But I figured I wasn’t the one making your heart rate go through the roof. Thought a couple good squeezes might help you get through your bad dream.”

The realization that the bad boy vampire had taken him into his arms while he whimpered through his nightmare made ’s heart skip a beat.

examined himself. The weight of his pendant reassured him that his dream was just that. A dream. The bloody handprint on his wrist suggested otherwise.

Uriah sniffed the air. “You hurt?” he asked as he put his arm around ’s shoulders.

shook his head as he showed the vampire his crimson-coated wrist.

“We-well, looks like you missed a spot in the shower. From the bar attack maybe?” Uriah uncomfortably adjusted himself as the veins in his face seemed to turn a dark purple.

“It’s not mine,” said .

“Really?” asked Uriah, starting to sweat. He sniffed again. “It sure smells like it.”

“Like what?” When his vampire protector didn’t immediately respond, tugged softly at his arm.

“A witch,” Uriah hissed, his teeth bared as he quickly rolled out of bed and away from . “It’s—well, , it’s nearly irresistible.”

could sense Uriah’s sudden change in behavior. His fear. “Does it make you want to—uh, feed?”

“Yes!” Uriah responded in panic. “Pru? Pruitt, please wake up.”

“A woman in a dream,” a startled muttered.

“Huh?” Pruitt let out a yawn as he sat up. “What? Sorry. I just meant to rest my eyes.”

“It’s her ,” Uriah said as he backed into the hallway. “Pruitt, it’s Odessa.”

His nostrils flared, Pruitt grabbed ’s arm. “The blood?” he looked to Uriah.

Uriah nodded.

“Odessa?” asked.

Hand over his face, a distressed Uriah disappeared down the hallway.

“Let’s get you cleaned up, huh?” a concerned Pruitt helped out of bed.