Quinn Shalom...

I swerved through the horde of charging Ravers and sped away, in the rearview mirror I could see the gray one in the flickering streetlights and flame glow of the burning homes. He was leading his group against the others. They were fighting while I fled like a coward, but I needed to protect my child. I wondered who set the main residential part of Westcliffe on fire. I wondered if it would reach the school or Silvercliff. We certainly made no plans to burn the town if the Ravers came, but from the number of buildings burning, I knew someone did it on purpose.

My arm was throbbing as I drove north on the empty highway, I just needed to make it to the old prison in Buena Vista and Greyson could treat my wound. I could see another vehicle's tracks in the places where the snow had not melted off the roads. Others escaped, hopefully Amelia and the children. I prayed for their safety. I stopped only long enough to pull the first aid kit from behind the seat.

The heavy denim maternity shirt I was wearing protected my arm from the worst of the Vampire Raver's bite, but I still had two small punctures that were already swollen and red. I lanced them with my own claws as I drove and poured alcohol on them. It hurt terribly, but I couldn't stop for any reason. I was too close to too many Ravers. My head was starting to pound, and I could feel a fever coming on as the Raver-bite infection set in. Raver bites were the worst.

I scrubbed the wound as I drove, glancing between the road and my arm. While I sprinkled antibiotic powder into the cuts and was pressing a gauze over it, my peripheral vision caught something in the road. My Jeep slammed to a stop as I hit something large. The airbag exploded, then darkness. My last horrified thought was that the Ravers would find us and eat us as my wolf cried out to Saul's wolf to help us.

I woke up in a warm comfortable bed, my arm hurt and so did my chest where the seatbelt caught me. A gentle hand brushed my hair away, but before I could open my eyes, a pungent smelling cloth was pressed over my nose and the odor had me falling back into a dreamless sleep. The strange sense of being sick, but not miserable, was my normal for what seemed like a long time.

My wolf slept too; it was a weird sense of limbo. We couldn't wake up, but we also didn't want to. There was the peaceful floating feeling that accompanied anesthesia. Once and awhile, I heard a familiar voice, but my addled mind never identified who the concerned voice talking to me was. I only knew I was being cared for, and it was enough.

I dreamed I was wandering through a beautiful, lush garden. The golden sunlight poured around me, and the floating silk of my dress tickled my skin in a delicate caress. The smell of flowers was intoxicating. I saw a small boy laying on a blanket, with brown curls and round cheeks. He slept so peacefully, blissfully unaware of the terrible truths beyond this place. Strong arms wrapped themselves around me and I felt safe.

"Don't worry, I'll protect both of you forever."

I turned in his arms to look up at him, thinking it was Kenneth, but he vanished in a shower of golden shimmers, leaving my skin tingling.

Sunlight was streaming through a gap in rich velvet drapes. The room I woke in was like something out of a magazine of the homes of the rich and famous. Lush oriental rugs with matching draperies and chairs in tones of dark charcoal and deep red. The scarlet silk of the duvet cover glided under my hands as I pushed it down. I was wearing the softest pajamas I had ever had on my body. The smocked top fitting perfectly over my baby bump. My hand felt for my child, who shifted sleepily. My wolf was just another sleeping presence in my body.

A glass, that I was pretty sure was crystal, held water that I gulped greedily. My body seemed rested and more than completely healed, even the Raver's bite was healed; only two raised pink scars remained. As I sat unsteadily on the edge of the bed, I realized I really needed to use the bathroom. I crossed the room to the two doors on the wall. One was a large closet filled with clothes. The other was thankfully a bathroom. I was surprised to find a tall, dark-haired man in a black suit waiting in my room, holding a tray, when I came out.

"Hello? I'm Shalom." I introduced myself. He nodded and motioned for me to get back in bed. When I did, he placed the tray over my lap. I asked, "Are you the one who pulled me out of my jeep?"

He nodded.

"Where am I?"

No answer.

"Who are you?"

No answer again.

I was starting to get grumpy, "Can you tell me anything?"

He shook his head, motioning for me to eat. I sighed heavily and took a bite of the most amazing omelet I ever tasted. The orange juice tasted fresh squeezed and the bacon was perfectly cooked. While I ate, he held up clothing from the closet, evidently the choice was for me to make. Not knowing what else to do I just pointed at the left ones. He pulled matching slippers and to my embarrassment, underwear from the dresser and went into the bathroom. I heard the tub filling. In moments, he was back, taking the empty tray away.

"Uhmm thank you, Mr.... uh, I still don't know your name," I said, blushing. It felt awkward.

He gave me a blank look, bowed slightly, and left without a sound. His eyes were so dark I couldn't tell the color, and the more I thought about him, the more everything about him bordered on creepy. Maybe it was just a butler thing, but still I locked the door as I bathed and dressed.

When I came out of the bathroom, the bedroom had been completely changed, not just the linens, but the curtains and chairs too. I realized that by choosing the lavender maternity outfit over the black maternity dress, the butler decided that I would not like the charcoal and scarlet color scheme that my room was decorated in and switched it to a more pastel palette. It was amazing, but it also freaked me out that several people were in my room while I was naked in the bathtub.

The room had neutral soft vanilla walls and a dark wood floor, that were now complemented with lilac accessories and aubergine accents. A bouquet of cut freesia, lilies, and pale peonies replace the dark red roses. Even the throw rugs were changed from rich dark Orientals to soft pastel florals. Beyond the now rich purple drapes and blush sheers was a view that probably cost more than the gross income of my whole neighborhood. Exclusive Rocky Mountain real estate unlike any I had visited. I went to the door and began wandering the house.

After an hour, I decided this place was not a house; it was a freaking castle and it seemed I was completely alone in it.

VvvvvV

While I dreamed.

The marble floor of the ballroom made no sound under our feet as we danced, something like a waltz, slow and turning. My heart beat so slowly, but I felt like I was floating. The strength of my hero keeping me close, my cheek over his valiant heart. Glorious sunlight made waterfalls of gold falling around us as we danced through them.

"We did it," he whispered into my hair. "We raised your son and we stopped the terrible things they wanted to do to the world."

I smiled. I turned my head to raise my eyes to his, but the windows shattered inward, and the snow swirled across the floor. A giant silver-gray warform wolf stood snarling at us, covered in the blood of the innocents he had slain. I screamed. My hero pulled me behind him, a golden flaming sword appearing in his hand.

"I won't let you take her, Jacob, she's mine. You've hurt her too much, she'll never want you to touch her again."

The monster growled in an unearthly sound, leaving bloody footprints on the pristine white floor. Jacob charged, and my hero pushed me away, they fought. His sword flew through the air, skidding to a stop at my feet. The monster that killed my son, had the only one left who loved me pinned down. Lifting the sword, I thrust it through his heart. The pain I felt was unbearable and I collapsed to my knees, gasping, before I fell into the snow.

Crawling like that night, I dragged myself into my greenhouse and collapsed.

Gerard turned me over, his eyes drowning me in concern, "I'm here, mon petit loupe. I promise to protect you always."

I could taste his honeyed blood as I was dying. "Please... Save my baby, mon ange."

"Stay with me, Quinn. Stay with me."

The sunshine broke golden around us and the world of horrors that was that night faded away. He pressed his lips to mine and breathed warmth back into my frozen body.

VvvvvV

By the fifth or seventh day, I was used to 'Mr. Black' the butler just showing up, and no longer had a heart attack every time he silently appeared behind me. But I began to be more creeped out by an entirely different eerie sensation. My groggy wolf and I were sure we were being watched, but I couldn't find any form of surveillance. I even took the mirror off the bedroom wall to make sure and unscrewed the light fixture. I was starting to get very nervous about where I was and who I was with, and how long I had really been there.

The unspeaking Mr. Black never made any threatening actions or appeared to have any other motivations than to feed and care for me. The meals were always perfect, but he never let me cook. I also hadn't gotten him to stop laying out my clothes or running my baths. He would just look at me with the same blank expression, bow slightly and continue with what he was doing.

Today, I almost got a smile out of him. My baby kicked, and I seized Mr. Black's hand and put it on my bump to feel the movement.

"I think he likes you, Mr. Black," I pointed out cheerfully. "Or he really likes your breakfasts."

The corner of his mouth twitched slightly. If I could make him my friend, I might be able to escape.

A few days later, I tried to relax as I slowly read a book I found under my pillow. There was just something that was off about this whole place, and I couldn't stop thinking about it. I felt like Belle trapped in the castle from Beauty and the Beast. But if I was the beauty, then who was the beast?

Then I turned a page and was terrified. I knew the person described in the book. I memorized the page and stashed the book in the library before going to dinner.

The kitchen was always perfectly stocked with fresh foods, and any thing I craved before I knew I was craving it. The fresh cut flowers in my room were changed every day, but there wasn't a greenhouse attached to the castle and no delivery tracks through the pristine snow. I had no idea how it was accomplished.

Also, I never woke up at night anymore, not once. I usually dreamed pleasant things of a life with my unborn child away from the world of werewolves, and when I had a nightmare, oddly, the golden stranger always showed up to rescue me. Just like the morning after that night, when Gerard found me in my greenhouse. Sometimes I could still taste his honeyed blood when I woke up in the morning. I wished he were here with me, longed for it in a weird way that made me feel like I was betraying Kenneth's memory.

Days or perhaps weeks passed, and I wished for anyone to talk to me. I was so lonely, and my unanswered questions ran around in my brain like a carousel. But the whole time, my sleepy wolf barely spoke, almost like she was trapped in a malaise the way I was trapped in the snow-bound castle. Unable to tell my dreams from my memories, I worried about my sanity as every want or whim to make me comfortable was provided almost before I could ask. It was all too perfect to be a good thing that I was here, and I wondered how I could ever escape this place, or would I even want to?

VvvvvV

On another afternoon, I walked out into the knee-deep snow and sunshine. I felt like I was going crazy trapped in the castle with no one to talk to and nothing but my strange dreams to think about. I made it less than ten steps before Mr. Black appeared, picked me up, and carried me back inside. In spite of my protest, he carried me all the way to my room.

"I mean it, put me down! I want to go outside, and I will hurt you to do it," I threatened.

He just gave me his usual blank look before setting me on the bathroom floor, he bent and took my snow-wet slippers. In a moment, he returned with warmer clothes, and fur lined boots, closing the door behind him.

After I changed, I came out to see him staring into the mirror above my dresser. When he turned, he was holding a red cloak over his arm. He motioned for me to follow. We went through a door I was sure was a closet and down a hall I had not seen before. He secured the cloak over my shoulders and pulled up the hood, before handing me a pair of matching gloves.

Opening the door into a garden that really did look like something out of a fairy tale. Hedges of different heights surrounded stone sculptures of angels and gargoyles, and a beautiful frozen fountain was in the middle of it all. The paths were all carefully shoveled but covered with a light dusting of last night's snow. Over my shoulder, Mr. Black was three steps behind me, as usual. He followed me between the tall hedges and deeper into the garden.

"So, all I needed to do was ask? And you would have brought me here?"

A nod.

I sighed heavily looking around, the garden was a vast maze, like the gardens of Versailles but with a tall stone wall around it. I wondered how I had not seen it from the castle, I thought I had looked out every window, but here it was. I doubted I could scale the wall in my condition. Another beautiful extension of my prison, I felt part of me giving up, so I thanked my warden.

"Thank you, Mr. Black. I'm sorry I freaked out on you. I was getting castle-fever claustrophobia."

Again, the corner of his mouth lifted ever so slightly at the nickname or perhaps my self-diagnosis, he bowed and left. I started to follow, but as always happened, I rounded the corner and he was simply gone again. I looked down at the snow-covered path to see which way he went and was shocked. There was only one set of tracks in the pristine powder, mine.

VvvvvV

In my dream.

I was found by the Ravers, trapped in my bedroom. Just beyond the glass, the monster of my nightmares. Only this time instead of letting me go, it pinned me to the ground, snarling and snapping. It carried me through the dark forest and threw me at the feet of an identical monster. It held up its half-hand and snarled before leaping on me, teeth in my shoulder, shaking me like an animal. It let go to howl and I ran. I ran toward a distant golden light as they chased me, knowing if they catch me they will take me back to him. I never should have stopped running.

Suddenly, a golden beam of sunlight surrounded me, and a strong presence reached to me, "Quinn, I can't find you. Where are you?"

"Gerard!" I screamed in the dream, then sobbed, "Help me. Someone is keeping me in a castle in the mountains, and the Ravers are coming to take me back to Jacob."

"Mon petit loupe, I will find you. Don't go with them." He sounded so far away. "I am coming for you."

Suddenly, snow swirled around me and covered everything in white. I was standing in my backyard. Horrified, I watched my family attacked, then myself...

A gentle voice whispered, "It wasn't meant to be this way. Only Jacob was meant to love and protect you, not another. He never meant to hurt you, you need to go back, and join him..."

"Leave me alone!" I shout, turning to run away from the horror of what Jacob did to me.

The voice followed, "You can't run forever, Quinn. You need him as much as he needs you."

I woke early from the strange dream that I wasn't sure was a dream. It felt like the thing which happened on New Year's Eve when I met Gerard in the snowfield. Dawn found me staring outside at the snow-covered mountains and valley, the colors changing in the shifting light. The pristine whiteness was untouched in every direction, denying the fact that Spring was coming. I could see no sign of a road leading to the castle, I felt the watcher studying me. My sleepy wolf growled at the presence. I pretended to be content watching the sunrise. The eeriness faded.

Moments later, the butler entered with my breakfast tray, hours earlier than normal. He set the tray on a small table and moved it next to my chair.

"Good morning, Mr. Black. Do you ever just watch the sunrise over the mountains? It is so lovely," I sighed.

"I always watch the dawn, it reminds me of everything I've lost," a voice answered.

I turned, shocked, to the butler but he was standing perfectly still, his hand frozen over the plate cloche. He didn't speak to me. Looking slowly around the room, I saw a young man, 20-something, dressed in biker goth. He looked dangerous, almost malevolent. He had the same infinitely dark eyes as the butler, but he felt very different. He regarded me from beneath spikey boy-band bangs and smirked as though he could read my thoughts.

My wolf lifted her head toward him. 'Not what he seems,' she thought.

"Your wolf is very smart."

He casually strolled over, and reached around the butler, who still hadn't moved or breathed even, to take the cup of hot tea. He sniffed it, then swallowed the whole cup down.

"Don't drink anymore of the tea, it is how HE is keeping your wolf sedated. And you need to trust Saul, he'll protect you."

"He lied to me," I said calmly, but I started to freak out inside.

Again, the smirk. "I know, I told him to, and to let you rescue him. You wouldn't have trusted him otherwise. You need him, Quinn, just like you need Jacob."

I bristled at my mate's name and growled, "No."

He slammed the cup down on the tray and was instantly standing in front of me, hands on the arms of the chair. He leaned menacingly into my face as I cringed back, my hands covered my son. His long, black leather duster fell on either side of my legs.

"Listen very carefully, princess. If you don't trust Saul and forgive Jacob, everything will be lost, including your precious little rape baby. The answers aren't as simple as clearing your husband's name and avenging your family. A world war could come. Remember, just because something looks golden, doesn't mean it's a good thing." His voice angrily fanned my face.

"Who... w-who are you?" I stammered.

"A friend." He stood and put the cup in my hand on my belly. "Don't drink the tea anymore. Help is coming in the form you fear most."

"Wh-why are you d-doing this to me?" my voice betrayed my fears.

"I'm not. He is. He doesn't love you; he doesn't even care about your life. This is all his game to get your son." He turned and walked toward the large mirror on the wall. "See you around, princess."

I gaped in astonishment, he didn't have a reflection as he stepped into the glass surrounded by an ornate frame and vanished. Outside a crow cried out, startled I turn to look out the window. Suddenly, the butler was removing the plate cloche from the tray. He retreated from my room without a word as usual, as if nothing happened. My mind struggled to process what had just occurred. The mirror on the wall was reflecting the room, the butler as he left, and me sitting by the window. The only proof that someone else had been here with me was the empty cup in my hand.

The goth young Dark Fae told me, 'Help is coming in the form you fear most.'

I couldn'timagine being more afraid than I was right then... 

~~~~~~~~~~~

End of Revelation of A.S.H. 
Next: The Ravers