Tales of Aradia The Last Witch Volume (10 page)

"You wanted to see me?" Dax said, sauntering up
behind her as she had her nose deep in a group of goldenrods.

"More like I wanted to talk to you rather than see
you," Aradia replied.

He just nodded, and the two of them stood in awkward,
tense silence. Dax had his hands in his pockets and his eyes on the
ground. Aradia’s back remained turned to him.

Finally, Dax asked, "Would it help if I said I was
sorry?"

Aradia shrugged. "I don't know. Are you?"

Dax grunted in frustration.

He muttered under his breath, loud enough that Aradia
could still hear him. "I never wanted to trick you."

Aradia's voice was as sharp and fine as a surgical
scalpel when she turned to face him. "Oh? Then why did you lie to
me?"

Dax stifled a dismissive shrug. Instead he raised his
head, looked Aradia in the eye, and replied, "I wish I had a
legitimate and proper excuse for my behavior, Aradia, but there is
no excuse. No matter my reasons, I had no right deceiving you. If a
passionate speech could erase what I did and improve your opinion
of me, I’d give it. No words would make a difference, though. I am
truly sorry. If you wish to end things between us, I will
understand and honor that."

Aradia met his gaze. Dax may have been the vampire in
the room, but Aradia’s eyes were the lifeless ones.

After several moments of silence, Dax continued, "You
should know that I did enjoy getting to know you. I may not deserve
a second chance, but if you could give me one..." He trailed off
waiting for Aradia to respond.

Still she remained silent, leaning against her
goldenrod table, eyes cold.

Now Dax did shrug. "Your silence speaks volumes. I
understand. I just wanted to let you know all of this, Aradia.
Please know that as long as you are happy with this decision, I
will be alright. When you exist for lifetimes, you gain a certain…
perspective."

With a life span rivaling a vampire’s
. The
words from the chronicle echoed through her mind.

Dax turned to exit the greenhouse. Aradia quickly
peeled off her dirty gloves, ran to him, wrapped her arms around
him from behind, and pressed her cheek into the material of the
shirt.

"I’m still angry with you, Dax," Aradia muttered.
"But what’s worse, I feel betrayed. I thought you really liked me.
Then I thought it was all a lie, just to learn my secrets."

Dax turned and embraced Aradia warmly. "I always
liked you, Aradia, even before we started hanging out."

"Oh? Then when you called me 'statue girl,' it was
meant to be a term of endearment?" Aradia asked him.

At least Dax had the decency to blush before
responding, "I am sorry for that. I maybe a vampire, but I am still
a guy. You can't always explain a guy's behavior, can you?”

"I will have to take your word for that," Aradia
remarked with a tiny grin.

“Take my word,” Dax repeated. “My word means little
if I don’t give you reason to trust it. Would you like to know the
real reason I was unkind to you?”

Aradia was hesitant, but nodded.

“I must warn you,” he said sincerely, “it’s most
embarrassing.”

Now she smiled and said, “Go ahead.”

“It’s been a long time since I’ve had to think of
something to say to a girl. Humans can be so trivial. All
interactions just blend together into one long, trite exchange of
nothingness. Relationships become scripted sitcoms, with different
characters and different locations, but the same stories and
conversations replayed over and over and over.”

“I think I understand,” Aradia said sarcastically,
but still smiling. “Because you got bored with
Friends
repeats, you had to entertain yourself by playing with my
emotions.”

“Precisely,” Dax replied with a grin to match
Aradia’s. Their break was nearly over. Dax released their embrace
and took her hand to walk her back to the campus proper. “Really,
though. I’ve fallen into a rhythm. I don’t really need to think
much when I interact with people. Life is just a series of macros.
I pick the right one and let it play.”

“But with me it was different?”

“I didn’t know which macro to choose,” Dax replied.
“I guess I picked the wrong one. The truth is I can’t behave like
that when I’m around you. I have to think again. You make me feel
young, almost human.”

“But I’m not human,” Aradia replied coyly.

“No,” Dax agreed. “No, certainly not.”

They walked together as far as they could, parting
only because their classes were on opposite sides of the school.
Reluctantly they let go of each other. The pair did not realize as
they walked away, smiling, occasionally glancing back longingly,
that someone was watching. A tall, Hispanic werewolf with a black
goatee stared at Aradia and Dax with an expression of jealousy and
rage.

"So she knows the truth now,” the Sovereign asked
Saul, “does she?”

Saul, on his knees, nodded. He had been there for
some time, but had not yet been commanded to stand. "She’s piecing
it together. Dayton gave her enough to set her on the right track.
I followed her and her adoptive parents to a cave. I don’t know
exactly what happened while they were in there, but I do know she
practiced some witchcraft and when they left, they had a book they
hadn’t brought with them." He gave a full description of what he’d
seen and heard. According to his account, the Prestons had only
been in the cave a few minutes.

"An adequate summary. Your commander has trained you
sufficiently," said the Sovereign.

Saul grinned.

The Sovereign then dismissed him with a wave of his
hand.

It was not until Saul left the throne room that Rome
appeared from a side door. As usual, he wore his long black hair
loose, and his skin, long ago tanned, was tinged with a ghostly
pallor. His straight pointed nose and chin framed a most vicious
smile.

"You wish to see me, Sovereign,” Rome stated while
dropping to a kneel.

"Indeed, Rome, I do. I have a special task for you,”
the Sovereign replied. "I want you to travel to Salem, gather every
scrap of information you can find on Aradia and bring it to
me."

"Why not let the Nightshadows do it?" Rome dared to
ask.

The Sovereign sighed. "The witches were executed long
before the two of them were turned. They don't know what to look
for and what to consider out of the ordinary. I’d think you would
relish the chance to prove them incompetent."

“Of course, Sovereign.”

“Find something they don’t, and I may even let you
kill one of them.”

“You have always known how to incentivize me, sir,”
Rome replied and rose to leave. Before he did, though, he swung
around to face his master. "If I may be so bold, Sovereign, why so
much effort on behalf of one girl, even if she is the only survivor
of her people? She is only one witch, and a young one at that."

"How many witches were you able to kill Rome?"

Rome smiled. "By my own hand, hundreds. Via my
commands, millions probably."

"Many of them were powerful, yes?" The Sovereign
asked Rome, who nodded.

"This witch, this one girl, managed to survive when
the others did not. She’s faced new trials, and emerged victorious
and relatively unscathed. That is more than enough reason."

Rome nodded. “Of course, sir. Please pardon my
question.”

Rome turned again to leave before this time the
Sovereign stopped him. "Do you believe in fate, Rome?"

Rome hesitated. "Well. I don't know, my Sovereign. I
never thought about it much. I suppose not."

"Well, I have thought about it," the Sovereign
replied smoothly. "And I do believe. But I also believe in
something that is far more powerful than fate, something which with
careful planning can not only change fate but bend and break
it."

"And what it is that?" asked Rome.

The Sovereign’s smile was all that was visible of his
face beneath his heavy cowl. He turned toward Rome, and replied
with a single word, "Me!"

"We need to talk!" Roy shouted, stomping over to
Dax.

Dax closed and locked his locker. Coolly, he turned
to look at Roy and asked, "How can I help you?"

"What did you to do to Rai-Rai?" Roy demanded.

Dax sighed. "I have no idea what you’re talking
about, and either way, it’s none of your business."

He turned to walk away.

Roy would have none of it; he grabbed Dax by the
shirt collar, and slammed him against his own locker.

“I’m in a good mood, as it happens, so I can let that
slide,” Dax said, “but I will ask you to release my shirt. I happen
to like this shirt. It reminds me of one my mother once gave
me.”

"Listen up, you pathetic excuse for Count Dracula! I
know you don’t like me, and frankly, I don’t think much of you.
However–”

“I don’t dislike you,” Dax interrupted. “Frankly, I
thought we had a budding bromance going.”

“Shut up!
However
, I do like
Aradia! I like her hell of a lot, and I don’t want to see her
upset.”

“There’s something we have in common.”

“We’re nothing alike, you and me. For example, I’m
not
dead
.
”

“Dead’s a relative word,” Dax replied. So far, his
voice had not risen any higher than it would have if he’d been
discussing the weather or the merits of pancakes vs waffles or
anything else equally mundane. “Do you really want this? We both
know I would emerge victorious.”

“At night, maybe,” Roy admitted, “but even with your
SPF 100, the sun still weakens you.”

“I’ll say it nicely one final time,” Dax stated.
“Take your hands off my shirt, now.”

Roy obliged, though not in the manner Dax had
intended. He slid his hands from Dax’s collar to his throat.

Dax didn’t seem to mind.

Through gritted teeth, Roy asked, "give me one good
reason why I shouldn’t knock you out right here and now?"

Dax replied, "You would fail to knock me out. As for
a reason why you shouldn’t try, right now we are in school, and if
you punch me, I would punch you back, and we both might be late for
class."

"Not good enough!"

Dax was prepared for such a response. He grabbed Roy
by the wrist, twisted it, and pinned him against the lockers. Roy
cried out in a little pain and a lot of anger.

Dax glanced up and down the hallway. Fortunately, Roy
had chosen a time when they were alone to attack him. Leaning up
against Roy’s ear, Dax whispered, “I might look like a teenager,
but that doesn’t mean a bloody thing. I am ten times your age boy,
and one hundred times the fighter you are. I have trained in styles
of which you have never heard. I was more fighter than you when
your great great grandparents were cleaning your great
grandparents’ diapers. Now be a good little pup. Shove off with
your tail between your legs. Health is more important than
pride."

Roy grunted and struggled in vain to free himself.
“You might say you care about her, but you did something to hurt
her, she won’t talk about it, but it’s taken her weeks to get over
it. Now you two are walking around holding hands again. My guess is
it’s just a matter of time before you hurt her feelings again, and
I won’t let that happen."

“You delusional child,” Dax said. He released Roy and
took a step back, putting some space between them. “Aradia hasn’t
been moping around Salem because I ‘
hurt her feelings,’
as
you put it. She’s been upset because she found out she was the last
survivor of a murdered race.”

Roy pulled back as if he’d been struck
physically.

“And if you ever challenge me like that again, day or
night, you will regret the outcome, I assure you.” Dax the took off
down the hallway, neither gloating nor waiting for Roy's
retaliation. Roy glared after him, eyes positively glowing with
hatred.

Chapter Four

"Aradia, do you like me?" Roy asked her bluntly the
first moment they found themselves alone in gym glass.

They were doing seated pulls. They placed their feet
against one another and pulled back and forth, stretching arms and
hamstrings. Roy was pulling Aradia when he asked the question, but
Aradia reckoned the tension she felt was not merely from the cool
down.

"What do you mean?" she asked, pulling him toward
her.

"What do you think I mean, Rai-Rai?" he replied,
pulling her back. "Do you like me?"

Aradia took a deep breath. "Of course I like
you."

"Yeah?" Roy smiled, as cheerful as a spring break
college kid on the Vegas Strip.

"Yeah, of course,” Aradia replied, feigning ignorance
of his true meaning. “You’re, like, my best guy friend."

His shoulders slumped and his grip weakened.

"No, Rai-Rai,” Roy asked as he pulled her towards
him, “I mean do you like me like somebody you’d date?"

Aradia hoped Roy might mistake her gulp as a crack
from her back or knees.

"I don't know, Roy," Aradia answered honestly. "I
really just don’t."

He sighed and asked, "So what about Dax then?"

"What about him?" asked Aradia, yanking Roy
forward.

He grunted in surprise and expanded, "Do you know how
you like him? As a boyfriend?"

Aradia looked at Roy. They both straightened up. The
exercise was over, but they were still clasping hands.

She decided to go with the full truth. "Roy, I don’t
know if I like him that way. In all honesty, I like you both as
friends. As boyfriends, I just don’t know. Can’t that be enough,
for now at least?"

“Aradia, I…” he trailed off, feeling empty inside. “I
really don’t know if all that makes me feel better or worse.”
Unfortunately he had no time figure it out, for the bell rang and
Aradia took off to the girl's locker room like a shot.

By the end of the day, Aradia's mind and emotions
felt like they had been through a high speed spin cycle. The only
thing she was sure of was that she could not string them on
forever.