A Shade Darker ✔️

{Chapter Forty Three}

Human Again

July 30th, 2017

Ashley

I felt more afraid now than I did before when Billie had tried to maul me. What had I done? How could this have happened? Was this for better...or for worse?

I escape Mike's grasp and slowly approach Billie, kneeling on the ground next to him.

He was still gasping for breath, groaning at his wounds and shivering as though he had just lost his clothes in the middle of winter.

"B-Billie?...." I'm stuttering, and if it were anybody else then I would cringe.

I hated it when people stuttered, it seemed so cliché (actual true fact about me in real life). But now the words couldn't seem to flow freely off my tongue, the sight in front of me had me appalled.

His skin, the healthy glow of that of a human's now spread over his entire body. In his moans his mouth was wide, open, and...fangless. Teeth, normal, like any other human's would be. And eyes...

They blink open and it's hard to see through the darkness. But at any other moment his eyes would be glowing, red like lamps in the night. But now they weren't glowing, they were just...eyes.

He stared up at me and he looked so miserable. I gathered my skirts and stood, trying to find my anger and justification.

"I'm sorry....it's what you deserve" And he did deserve it, but how did I do it? Why all of a sudden were these...powers coming upon me?

I hold my head high, pull the hood back over my eyes and signal to Mike.

"Let's go home...he won't be hurting us anymore"

****

My fingers run along the line of dusty book spines, searching for the right book that would hopefully reveal some answers.

Vampires, Witches, and Werewolves

I pick it out of the books stacked on the shelves of the library. It's a wonder I hadn't been in here before, searching for answers, history, and entertainment. I guess I had just been caught up in everything to notice.

First with just being here period, then doing my duty as Queen, then the drama with Billie, and then going home, only to return to more problems. More problems with Billie, and then finding out about the pregnancy.

A sigh escapes my lips, pressure begins building at my temples and I can't do anything but basically welcome the headache that was forming. I consciously rub a hand over my stomach, wondering what this new life I held inside of me would be like.

Still, I wondered if I was happy, I mean really happy. So much has been going on that at times, I just forget. I'm too overloaded to sit down and talk to Mike about it. Too busy and stressed to talk about the future, even about the present. My day consists of doing my duties, worrying about Billie, and then going to bed. So I don't really talk to Mike during the day. Only in the mornings when he's holding my hair back from the morning sickness. And then at night he comes to bed and we make love. Sometimes twice, and I haven't exactly figured out what that means. Are we trying to make up for the time we miss of each other during the day?

The pressure increases at my temples. I blow out a breath and pick out more books.

Myths and legends.

Mystical Creatures

Creatures Of The Night

This would keep me busy for a while, and hopefully provide some answers.