First of all, Grace wanted a room with a sturdy lock on the door: the werewolf's victim must be secured in readiness for her painful and disorienting first transformation. They chose the guest bedroom which Olive had already cleared of most furniture and other obstacles and got Eli to move Olivia again, careless as if she was a sack of potatoes. Then Grace sent Eli out to find chains, and Imogen dissolved into tears again...

It all happened so fast. Eli grabbed the dog by the scruff of the neck and the animal wilted into submission at once, whimpering. Olivia lay in the grass, still and silent. Imogen hung back, not daring to look. "Is she -" her voice wavered. Without touch, taste or smell, events were passing unstoppably before her, like a nightmare she couldn't wake from. She couldn't hold back the tide of dread over-topping her composure....

Olivia, despite warnings from her mother, intended to carry out as much of the redecorating as she could by herself, and had decided to try her hand at stripping the wallpaper in the guest bedroom. This latest flurry of activity fascinated the cats: several of them overcame their misgivings about Olivia enough to stalk and harass the falling curls of paper, coming over to rub against her legs when her work ran on into fee...

Olivia woke to slippery blood on her thighs, her nightdress clinging. She got up, the cradle of leaden pain between her hips making her slow and clumsy as she stripped the sheets to see that she'd bled through to the mattress. This was not an auspicious start to her plans. Even before entering the house, she'd noticed the weathered and cracked paintwork, the slates missing from the roof, that broken window in one of the r...

Twilight had surrendered to the full dark of night before Olivia remembered to call her mum and let her know that the funeral had proceeded without incident (mostly) and that she was settling in. "Don't forget it's only a couple of weeks before you start at the library," said her mum. "I haven't forgotten." "It's a good job for you, and I don't want you wearing yourself out over all this business with Auntie Imogen's hous...

A black cat almost tripped Olivia before she'd even crossed the threshold, winding around her shins in enthusiastic greeting, no doubt hoping for food. Auntie Imogen had always collected cats. China cats, to begin with. Cloth cats, carved wooden cats, cats of every workable material. Later on, after her mother's death had closely coincided with the death of the family cat, and the last of the small band of servants who'd...

As the mourners filed into the pews, Olivia shuffled in amongst them, head down and focused on reaching her seat. She jumped when she felt a tap at her elbow, and looked round to find a small, pale young woman leaning over the back of the pew from the row behind her. She was perhaps a couple of years younger than Olivia, wearing a pretty black dress and resting a lacy black parasol on the back of Olivia's pew. Olivia didn...

He stalked through the forest, eyes missing nothing. He'd been hunting for most of his life, stalking the beasts who stalked the world. How little everyone knew. How blind humanity was! Abel stopped believing in God a long time ago. All he believed in now was himself, his mission, and the fact that the apocalypse was on its way; and that it would be started by what he hunted.  They were fell beasts, his prey. They looked...

Great soft snowdrifts of white roses filled the church. It looked more like a wedding than a funeral, made worse by the fact that on the morning of the big day, Imogen had found her clothes transformed into a wedding dress without her consent. She could only guess it stemmed from some embarrassing corner of her subconscious, and she grumbled to herself as she talked back and forth between the pews, peeling off the long la...

Dear diary,I am dead! And working through a medium, hence this dreadful handwriting. The girl is very young The pale wisp of a girl holding the pen stopped, sitting back from the writing desk. "I'm not that young," she said. Her voice, light, and chirping like a bird's, didn't help her case. "I'm just not used to this." She pushed back the unruly black curls of her hair and folded her arms. "You needn't be rude about my h...

Carlo went silent after bragging about his exploits. Sebastian sat quietly as he surveyed the fae carefully. In Sebastian's mind, he saw Carlo as someone not to be taken lightly. He was as deadly, as he was meek. It was a good thing Carlo did not recognize Sebastian. The men sat quietly looking at each other waiting for each to speak. Neither one did. Sebastian stood signaling the guard to take him to talk to Slade. He al...

Lily couldn't remember a time when she felt so bored. She made her way into the kitchen to get something for breakfast, trying to figure out how she was going to pass the time when her Father spoke up. "Lil. We need groceries and some other supplies. Go and pick some up." He handed her a wad of money. She blinked at it in surprise. "No problem. I'll need the keys too." "You can walk." She blinked owlishly at him. "Dad, th...

After night had fallen and Lily was certain that her father was sleeping, she pulled out her cell-phone, and the card in her back pocket. She ran her fingers over the raised numbers and then dialed them. She was a little surprised there was any cell service out here. "Hello?" She recognized Klaus's voice. "Um, Klaus? This is Lily. We just met today if you remember?" There was a surprised pause on the other end, and she he...

Lily jerked awake, barely registering the chorus of the song playing on the radio, and the white noise sounds cars made while on the move. She was dreaming about running through the forest. Something was chasing her, and she was all alone. She shook it off and looked around to familiarize herself with the here and now. Next to her in the driver's seat was her Dad. His familiar bearded profile brought her no comfort. Then...

"Let's run away, far away from here," A face blurred out but feelings undeniable, that was what she wanted as Fatima gazed over the horizons of Hell. They were alone, or so she thought, no one else ever paid her much mind, just as if she were a ghost in the background."I don't remember how I got here," she muttered letting her face furrow in confusion. The figure with her sighed almost knowingly the answer to her statemen...