Author: Crystal

Email: susanharman70@hotmail.com + blacklightning.s@mailcity.com

Spoilers: NW, Black Lightning

Disclaimer: All night world ideas and characters belong to LJS, Susan Black Lightning, Blake Redfern and anyone else you don’t recognise belongs to me. Please ask if you want to use them.

Summary: It’s 2340, three hundred years after the disastrous millennium battle. He world is bathed in eternal darkness and under vampire rule. Humans are a slave race, in dispair and without hope, until one girl has a vision and decides to stand up to the vampire queen to put the world back to the way it was before the battle.

Author’s Notes: This also explains the creation of my character in the Wolf Clan RPG. I just thought Id mention at the time this was written there was no Midnight Wolf in the RPG. If there is now this has nothing to do with your character. If anyone wishes to be the two Wolves in the Wolf Clan RPG, please ask me first.

After three centuries of it, eternal darkness could take its toll on you. Even the most optimistic person in the world could snap. That was how the world had been ever since Circle Daybreak had lost the millennium battle and the Night World had taken over. Instead of moving forward with the dawn of a new age, technology and the world had stayed the same. The vampires liked it that way. They didn’t like change. The ones who had been around for hundreds of years had the most influence and enclaves like the Dark Kingdom had sprung up all over again. The humans and witches of Circle Daybreak were now slaves, the dangerous ones, any who had survived the battle, had been killed. A few had remained as slaves, but now, having lost their soulmates, their will to live and fight was gone. They were as blank and emotionless as the humans who had no idea how they had gotten where they were.

In the city of L.A. a new enclave had been built. A new castle, just like in old times, with walls of obsidian that gleamed dark and sinister in the endless night. It was called Black Lightning, named after the forth Wild Power, Susan Black Lightning, who had lead the dark side to victory at the millennium. The new queen of darkness was cruel and cold, cared for no one but her love, Blake Redfern, and her own pleasure. She enjoyed hunting and killing, and anyone who crossed her path and made her mad was usually very sorry. The Redfern family was back in glory. If Hunter or Maya could have seen them now, they would have been very proud. The Harmans were considered the enemy. Only a few of the blackest practitioners reformed Circle Midnight. Shapeshifters were still considered a low form of Night People, the dragons who had been woken to fight the battle, had been put back to sleep. Two remained, Litryiutra and Kiabata as bodyguards for the king and queen.

The two of them, Susan and Blake were in their world of dark heaven.

Little did they know, there had been a human born.

That might not mean much to two old and powerful vampires, but it would.

What they didn’t know, was that that human would change their cruel, cold world forever.

* * *

The slave quarters of the castle were dim, small and cramped. The lighting was dim, one or two electric lamps, as slaves were not allowed much wood for a fire. Wood of course, was kept out of the way, and if a slave was caught with any, then they were hunted down.

The rain pounded hard on the brick roof, dropping through the oak into a metal bucket with a terrible racket. Julia Starling had lived here all her life, in this dull, lifeless place, which was really hell on earth. She had no family, as they had been hunted down. Her mother had been discovered with a silver necklace that her father had given her, and as silver was forbidden, they were hunted down, leaving Julia alone. She worked in the pens, cleaning out after the animals that were kept for food or hunts. Her older sister Mariana was personal maid to the queen, chosen by the king for her witchcraft abilities. The Starlings were witches, Harmans on the male side. But generally, before the battle, they had mainly been Circle Midnight, which was why they were allowed to live.

Julia herself had never in the castle, and longed to see it. For the first few weeks of her new position, Mariana had come back to the slave quarters, telling about the magnificent art work, the fine clothes they wore, the stunning jewellery. This castle had some rare features, like electricity, as the queen had grown up in the 20th century and refused to give up luxuries like that and heat and stereos. Mariana would tell all about these wonders, which Julia had never seen. But as the days grew into weeks, and the weeks grew into months and the months grew into years, Mariana changed. She had always been a bit spiteful and nasty, now, she was almost as cold and cruel as the queen herself. Julia admitted, only to herself, maybe she was a little jealous. Especially when Mariana had bragged about an affair with the King Redfern himself and how the queen had absolutely no idea and must never find out. Mariana had soon become a noble woman, she had moved permanently into the castle, and Julia had never seen her again.

Julia had lived alone for a while, then had made friends with some of the other slaves who worked in her area, Poppy North, who was an ex-Circle Daybreak made vampire. She had survived the battle but was condemned to slavery for life, and Damien Anders, a human boy.

Julia wondered what Poppy had been like before the world changed over a century ago. She seemed mechanical, going through the motions of her work like a robot. She had lost so much and lived through a nightmare, but she kept going. She seemed to have brightened slightly at the friendship that was sparking between her and Julia and Damien.

Like herself, Damien had been born into slavery and had no idea of what the world outside the castle was like. Poppy had told them it wasn’t always eternal darkness. Something called the sun had lit up the world at a time once, creating daylight for a large number of hours, and there had been seasons too, winter, spring, summer and autumn. Spring and summer was a time for joy and happiness and new growth. Autumn was a change, when the leaves changed colour into bright reds and golds, and orange, and the sky was crisp and cool. Winter had been the only cruel season. Cold and wet and remorseless, caring for nothing.

Now, there was nothing but endless winter, and endless dark and death. There were hardly any plants, except evergreens and artificial ones. There was hardly any colour out here in the back of the castle’s slave quarters.

Julia herself, was a daydreamer, and loved to imagine the world Poppy had lived in. Poppy had once mentioned she used to have a soulmate, someone who understood her completely and loved her. But he had died during the battle, and Poppy had never really gotten over it.

The Soulmate Principle was nothing more than a myth, nowadays. A story, like a fairy tail.

Julia caught a glimpse of her reflection in the metal bucket that was catching the drop from the leaky roof. A pale, thin young woman of seventeen with long blonde hair and wistful grey eyes. She wore a black tunic and pants, the same outfit all the slaves wore, meant to make them look dark and blend in with the darkness and shadows around them. Only the nobles and important people wore colour.

This can’t be all there is to life, Julia thought, closing her eyes as she lay down on a few brown sacs spread out on the dirt floor. There must be more. I want the world Poppy used to have. There must be some way to get that world back…

* * *

When Julia opened her eyes the world had changed. At least, that’s what it looked like. She was in a grassy area, with tall trees and flowers. The sun was shining in the sky, which wasn’t black or midnight blue…but a pale, light blue with wispy white things in it that looked like balls of cotton wool.

Julia looked down at herself to see she was wearing not her usual dark and depressing slave clothes, but a lacy white sun dress that blew in the breeze. Her gold hair felt different. Instead of hanging limply down her back, straight and lifeless, it blew about in the wind, light and curly and free.

Free? She was free? Julia laughed in pleasure at the new world around her, wondering how she had gotten there, and not caring, only revelling in this new joy of freedom.

And that was when she realised she wasn't alone.

There was someone beside her. A girl, Mariana’s age, nineteen or twenty. She was tall with long pale silvery blonde hair and deep, wise brown eyes. She wore a white leather shift and a belt tied with a strange looking knot. She looked like a figure from a legend, which was exactly what she was.

"Who are you?" Julia asked the girl.

The girl smiled a gentle smile. "I am Hellewise Hearth-Woman."

Julia stared. "Hearth-Woman? A Harman?"

"I've come to give you a message." Hellewise was looking around the bright and peaceful landscape. "The world wasn’t always endless dark. It used to be like this once. There was even once a time when there were no slaves, and everyone lived in peace. Of course, those were the days when I was alive. But still, it was better than the one you live in now."

"I want to say in this world. I don’t want to be a slave anymore."

"And you shouldn’t be. Your race should be free and the darkness should be banished once and for all."

"Good luck," Julia muttered. No one could banish the eternal darkness and evil in the world now.

"You’re wrong there," Hellewise said, as if reading Julia’s thoughts. "That’s where you come in. You’re going to be the one to lead the slaves to victory this time."

"Me? But how can I do it? I’m nobody special."

"That’s what Maggie Neely said. And she freed the slaves. And you’re going to follow in her footsteps."

"Who?"

"She was an ordinary girl, just like you. She was brought as a slave to an enclave called Black Dawn. The prince of the castle was her soulmate, and she convinced him that what the Night People were doing to the slaves was wrong. And with his help they freed the slaves and banished the nobles. You can do the same here."

"That’s just a story. And anyway, I don’t have a prince to help me. No matter how much I’d like one I’m not going to get one. And the soulmate principal - it’s not true. It doesn’t exist anymore."

Hellewise studied her with sad brown eyes. "It’s you’re choice Julia. You’re the one with the strength and the power to lead the slaves to victory. It’s up to you. You can change the world back to the way it was. There are still Harmans in the castle of course. If you find them, they’ll help you. I’ll tell you something the Witch Maiden said that may help you. ‘Appeal to their true hearts’."

"I don’t think the nobles *have* hearts," Julia said sourly. "You’re a witch, someone from the past and *that’s* all the advice you can give? Soppy nonsense?"

"Believe what you want to. I’ve given you the message I came to give. The rest is up to you. If you want to live in a word of chaos and darkness and evil, as a slave where you will never know true happiness or joy, then fine. Live your life that way. But if you want this world, a world of sunshine and hope, then you can find people who share that vision to help you. As I said, it’s all up to you."

And with those words she turned and walked back into the forest. Julia lost sight of her among the trees. She stayed where she was, alone and helpless, her previous joy and wonder forgotten. She was nobody special. She couldn’t lead anybody to victory…and as for finding Harmans…it was going to be damn close to impossible. The ones on record had been hunted down and killed. Harmans were too dangerous to be allowed to live…unless they were Circle Midnight.

There was no way to change the world back to the way it used to be. Or was there…?

* * *

In the master bedroom of the castle of Black Lightning candles burned low, incense of a spicy, enticing smell filled the air. The bulbs in the room were a strange blue, which cast a mysterious, dark light over the huge furniture. A fire burned in a large fire place, and a cold wind blew in through the open windows.

Hot blood gushed into Susan’s mouth, filling her with warmth and power. She could feel the pounding of her victim’s heart as it shot the blood into her, the warm, living giving liquid that was dark and secret and wonderful.

When she could no longer feel the pounding of the heart, she pulled back, and promptly threw the dead body into the huge fire place, and stood there for a minute watching it burn.

"God, what’s that wretched stink?" Blake snorted, coming in the room behind her.

"I got hungry," Susan said vaguely, wrinkling her nose delicately. "It does smell a bit, doesn’t it?" She walked over to the desk and lit two more sticks of incense with a stronger, more pleasant smell that covered the reek of burning flesh.

"At the rate you’re going," Blake muttered, "we’re not going to have any slaves left."

"Oh like you never feed on them," Susan retorted, turning to face him.

Almost instantly, Blake felt his anger and annoyance drain away. She was without a doubt one of the most beautiful women in the world, with her raven hair, so black it reflected like a crow’s wing when light shone on it, her twilight coloured eyes, right now shining with silver, her beautifully curved, pearly white canine teeth, her soft, sensual mouth with it’s dark, inviting lips. She was lit with an inner glow right now, having just fed, and even with the blood still on her fangs she was gorgeous.

She was the one who had led the dark side to victory at the dawn of the millennium a century ago. After that the sun had never raised its head again. Darkness was all there was now. And it was their element, they gloried in the victory and destruction they caused. Nothing else mattered to them but each other.

He loved her more than anything. He would die for her in a second. And he knew she would do the same for him.

"I’m bored," Susan said with a pout. "Nothing’s happening around here. Nothing’s happened for ages. I’m so sick of just sitting around doing nothing."

"You want a hunt organised?"

"I want something *different*."

"What do you mean, different? You have everything you could ever want. How could you be bored?"

She turned away from him, staring out the window. "Maybe that’s why I’m bored. If you have everything you want, then there’s nothing more to do. And you get bored. There’s nobody interesting and new here, there aren’t even any human revolutionaries to fight with."

Blake was confused. "You *want* a human revolutionary to start a war?"

Susan shrugged. "It’d be something to do."

Blake grinned wickedly. "I can think of plenty of interesting things to do."

Susan smiled faintly. "Okay. Instead of talking about them, why don’t you get round to doing them."

* * *

An hour or so later, after a variety of "interesting things to do", Blake said, "I wonder what my ancestors would have thought of all of this?"

Susan lifted her head from where it lay on his shoulder. "You mean what we just did? They’d be surprised, for one thing. But I don’t really think they’d want to see it."

"Not that. I mean *this*. The world as it is now, under vampire rule like they always wanted."

An idea was beginning to form in Susan’s mind. "Let’s bring them back and ask them."

"*What*?"

"I’m sure I can find a spell for that. And not just the one about calling the spirit from beyond the veil, cause I don’t have all the stuff you need. I’m sure that little witch floosey you’ve been seeing behind my back must know other witches with shit like that available to them."

He stared at her in surprise. "How do you…"

"Nothing much gets past me. I don’t really mind, though."

"You’re incredible. Why not? If that were you instead of me I’d be throwing a fit."

Susan smiled, brushing his dark hair off his forehead, admiring his ever changing Redfern eyes which now were a warm burnt-umber colour. "As long as I know you love me and that I’m the most important thing in your life I don’t mind if you sleep with someone else every now and then." Then her lips curved and her eyes grew sly.

"What are you thinking about?" Blake asked suspiciously.

"You’ve just given me something new to do. Since you’re having an affair, I don’t see why I can’t."

He shook his head and sighed. "I asked for this," he muttered.

"Yes. You did. Now shut up and kiss me."

And they started all over again from the top.

* * *

Part 4

Susan wrinkled her nose slightly at the stench in the castle dungeon. She gazed around at the dim, tight twisting corridors, lit only by a flare every few fifty feet or so. Why Blake had dragged her down here, she had no idea. But she’d gone. She could see him up ahead., holding a flame torch and looking back. He paused and looked again.

"Susan? You still with me?" he asked, looking around into the darkness.

"Blake? What’s going on?" another voice said. Another woman was coming down the stairs, heels clattering on the stone floor. She held up the skirts of her red and gold gown to make sure they didn’t brush the dirty floor. Her hair was dark brown and elaborately styled. This was Mariana Starling, the witch who’d had an affair with Blake.

"Mariana? What are you doing here?" Blake asked with a frown.

"Queen Susan asked me to come down here," Mariana answered. She looked a little worried. She lowered her voice. "She knows, doesn’t she?"

Blake shrugged. "She said she was okay with it. But I’d watch her if I were you. She bites. Where is she anyway?"

Mariana shrugged her slender bare shoulders. "I have no idea. She said to come down here and she'd follow."

"Well she’s not here."

"Yes I am." With a smile curving her lips Susan stepped out of the shadows by the turn in the corridor. She saw them blink in surprise, and she could tell they were wondering how much of the conversation she’d heard. "You wanted to show me something, Blake. I hope you haven’t dragged me down here for nothing."

"Oh no." Blake moved away from Mariana quickly and slipped an arm around her shoulder. "You’re gonna love this. I had something made for you."

He unlocked a heavy wooden door to the castle’s torture chamber. Inside were two racks, chains hanging from the walls and two large whips. There was also a large metal pot over a fire, filled with boiling water.

And there were two new items there that looked like Egyptian sarcophaguses. Susan stared at them in surprise. "You brought me sarcophaguses? They’re not even gold or have anything of value on them! I bet they’ve got horrible rotten bones inside and the mummies probably have a damn curse on them."

"Oh no. These have nothing to do with that. They’re called Iron Maidens."

"Aren’t they a heavy metal band?" Susan asked. She snorted. "They’re music’s terrible."

Blake went to one of the sarcophaguses and opened it. On the inside door were carefully placed metal spikes sharp and deadly.

"What do they do?"

"Make people die slowly and painfully."

Susan’s face brightened. "That sounds like fun."

"They used to use these back in Medieval times," Blake told her. "You put people who’ve committed crimes into them. The spikes in these ones here are designed to miss all the vital organs so it takes the person inside a long time to die."

"What’s in the other one?" Susan asked.

Blake opened the other coffin. This one had spikes made of wood. "For vampires," he said. "If they betray you."

Susan stared at him. Then, with a sudden movement, too fast for anyone to see she pushed Blake into the Iron Maiden and closed the door, turning the key in the lock, and snapping the padlock on it shut. She heard him screaming in agony.

Mariana had been edging away from all this, but before she could run Susan had grabbed her arm in an iron grip and dragged her towards the other one. Mariana fought. She lashed out with sheer desperation and panic. Susan laughed and hit her, hard, knocking her head back against the iron side. Mariana stopped struggling and went limp. Susan shoved her into the person shaped coffin and slammed the door, latching it like the other one.

She stood there for a while, enjoying the sound of their screams of agony and Blake’s voice in her mind, begging her for forgiveness.

*I trusted you,* Susan said back to him. *I loved you, I brought you victory in the battle and this is how you repay me? You can rot in hell for all I care.*

She let the tears trickle down her cold cheeks and turned away, locking the cell door behind her.

* * *

Part 5

Julia blinked and opened her eyes. Darkness greeted her, as always. But the dream was still vivid in her mind. She thought about it as she sat up and finger combed her messy hair. It was possible that the world could be different? She wondered how many other people had heard of this Hellewise Hearth-Woman. She didn’t know much about witch history. She stood up and went out side. Maybe Poppy knew something about her. She found Poppy in the stables, sweeping at the straw with a broom. Her red hair hung lifelessly to her shoulders.

"Poppy? Do you know anything about someone called Hellewise Hearth-Woman?"

Poppy’s head snapped up. "If you say that name and the vampires hear you, you’re dead."

"Well, who is she then?"

Poppy looked around. There were one or two other slaves in the stables. Poppy looked uncomfortable. She took Julia’s arm and led her out the stables into her own hut. The way she kept looking around made Julia nervous. "She was the leader of the Hearth-Women back in the times when people lived in caves. Her and her sister Maya. They were the twin daughters of Hecate Witch-Queen, and they were the greatest fighters in the history of the Night World. Maya was the first vampire. She started the race and the Redfern family. Hellewise was leader of the Harmans, the witches. Why do you want to know?"

"Because she was in my dream last night. And the world I was in in the dream - it was just like the world you described. There was sunshine and colour and plants and trees and flowers and the sky was pale blue, not black. There was no darkness. No slaves. And Hellewise said to me that I was going to lead the slaves to freedom. She said someone called Maggie Neely had done it before."

Poppy’s eyebrows raised. "Maggie?"

"You know her?"

"I used to. But she died in the battle, along with her soulmate, who was a wild power. We lost because we didn’t have all four of them on our side."

Something was tugging at Julia. Memories were trying to emerge. The name of Maggie Neely did sound familiar to her, but she was sure she’d never heard of the girl before now. Also, something about the name Maya…it stirred feelings of fright and danger, anger and hatred and fear.

"Hellewise said you’re going to free us all? Did she say anything that could help?" Poppy was starting to sound more and more eager now, there was a spark of hope glimmering in her green eyes.

"Well, she said there were still Harmans in the castle, and if we could find them, then they would help us."

"The *castle*? How the hell are we supposed to get in the castle without getting killed? Did you hear what the Queen did to her King last night when she found out he’d been cheating on her?"

Julia shook her head, not really wanting to hear.

"She put them both in Iron Maidens and left them to die."

"What are Iron Maidens?"

Poppy shuddered and shook her head. "Don’t ask."

"Okay." Julia started pacing up and down, her mind sparking into action, as if she knew how to do this, how to plan a revolution. But she didn’t. She'd never done this before…in this life. "We need to talk to the slaves. We need to find the Harmans who can help us. We need - " She broke off when a footstep sounded behind her. She turned around, feeling sure they’d been caught. This was it. They were going to be hinted down for conspiracy.

"Am I interrupting something?" a surprised voice said. A familiar voice too. It was only Damien. They weren’t going to get caught. Yet. She pulled him into the hut and shut the door.

"You two look like you’re planning a conspiracy, so close and secretive." He sounded grimly amused.

Julia smiled back. "That’s exactly what we’re doing."

The grin faded from Damien’s face. He stared at them as if they’d gone crazy. "Have you two lost your *minds?* You’re going to get killed!"

"We are not!" Julia was surprised she sounded so confident when something inside her was telling her exactly the same thing. "It’s a long story, I’ll explain later. Do you know any witches?"

He blinked. "Witches?"

"Yes, witches," Julia said impatiently. "People with special powers, you know? Good witches who can help us."

He looked a little dazed, but his expression cleared suddenly. "Yeah, actually. Yeah, I do."

"Takes us to her."

"Us?" Poppy interjected.

"Do you want to live like this forever? If so, then fine. Stay here. If not, then come with us and help us get the world back to the way it was." Julia was surprised at herself. She had never spoken like this to anyone, in fact, she never spoke much at all. But things inside her were different. She definitely knew she had done this before. She also knew how to lead people, how to organise them and how to convince them to fight for the good. She didn’t know where any of them came from, but she was going to use them to the best of her ability.

She made a silent vow to herself.

She *would* get the slaves free. Even if it cost her her life.

* * *

In a dark room of the castle hundreds of candles burned, creating the only light, the rest of the room was pitch black, swamped in shadows. There were four people, Midnight Witches dressed in black robes. They each held a different coloured candle. One black, one red, one white, one purple. The flames burned different colours, creating deeper, dark and twisting shadows. Each was surrounded by a triangle with two wiggly lines either side of the feet, and on either side of each line, two pentagrams, all made with white salt. The witches wore chains with skulls and bones and chanted in a strange language in soft, eerie voices.

Susan herself was kneeling in the centre of a large pentagram drawn also of white salt and lined with white candles. Around the inner perimeter of the pentagram was a ring of black candles burning with a black flame. She held her palms up, facing the ceiling, chanting herself in a different language to the others, carefully, not wanting to mess up. The ritual was complicated and dangerous, and if she made a mistake, then it could be disastrous.

She reached for a beautifully crafted silver knife and made a cut along the base of her throat and on each wrist. The blood trickled down her pale skin, onto the front of her dark robes, it trickled down her arms and fell on the floor, soaking the dark bricks and the lines of the circle of white salt around her.

Blue fire began to stream upwards from the wounds in her wrists, and as the chanting in different tones grew louder, more urgent with strange pauses and harsh sounding words, the blue fire began to change colour. It turned blue-black, then dark purple, then red with sparkling gold and finally the bright red and gold grew to an unbearable brightness, filling the room and the vision of the witches.

When the red and gold magic cleared, the chanting of the witches stopped.

The room was silent.

But standing in the centre of the room was a new figure.

A tall man.

A tall man with hair as red as blood and eyes of gold like topaz or a hawk’s, with a slightly dazed expression.

Susan’s lips curved into a smile. "Hi there, Hunter," she said, standing up to face the man. "Welcome to the twenty-third century."

* * *

Damien led Julia and Poppy through the slave quarters to a small hut near the entrance to the kitchens. The hut was clean and tidy - or as clean as a slave hut could get. There were herbs and things on a shelf, the witch must be one of the healers.

Damien came in the hut with a medium sized young woman, a few years older than Julia. Poppy was a vampire-slave, and at least three hundred, since she’d been born before the millennium battle. The woman eyed them with dark eyes, tired and dull, but with a little spark of curiosity.

"This is Kira," Damien said. "She’s a healing woman. She also has dowsing powers. She might be able to help find what you’re looking for."

"We’re looking for other Harmans. Good witches. People that can help us," Julia explained.

"Help you do what?" Kira asked.

"Start a revolution," Julia said bluntly. "Get the world back to the way it used to be."

The woman looked at her as if she were crazy. Julia had been expecting it. "I know how it sounds, how dangerous it is…but I know if I have help from people and witches, then we can make a difference. The world wasn't always like this. People weren't always slaves. Do you want to live this way forever?" How many times was she going to have to give this speech? She wondered.

Kira looked at her for a long moment. Finally, she sighed. "All right, all right. But If we get caught…"

"We won’t get caught," Julia said briefly. "Now how are we going to find these witches?"

"I can do some dowsing. This will find out where they’re located but if you have to go in the castle itself, you’re on your own."

Julia nodded. She watched Kira walk over to the fire place. She knelt down and began to wiggle a loose brick back and forth. She reached inside the hole there and pulled something out. It was a large, folded piece of paper and a crystal on the end of a thin gold chain.

Kira spread the piece of paper out on the floor. It was a map of the castle. She took the top of the gold chain and drew it up so the crystal rested on the palm of her hand. Then she let go and the crystal twirled back and forth. Kira said some strange words and waved the twirling crystal over the map. Then the crystal stopped.

"The dungeons," Kira said finally. "The Harman witches are in the castle dungeons."

"Oh great," Poppy muttered under her breath.

Julia frowned. She had no idea where the castle dungeons were, or how she was going to get into them.

"Is there anyway to know their names?" she asked.

Kira closed her eyes for a moment. There was a look of great concentration on her face. Then, she opened them again. "Their names are Thea Harman and Winnie Arlin. Thea Harman and Winnie Arlin are made vampires. They survived the millennium battle but all the survivors of Circle Daybreak were taken prisoner by the queen. If their soulmates survived, they were separated, and one of the pair was killed, the other she had made a vampire and then locked them away to suffer."

"Charming, isn’t she?" Damien said sourly. "I’d hate to meet her in a bad mood."

"She was in a good mood when she did that," Poppy said dryly. "I’ll never forget it."

"Well we have to get them out," Julia decided. "Which means sneaking into the castle and hoping we won’t get caught." She picked up the map. "Can we keep this?"

"I guess. I don’t need it."

"Thanks." Julia looked at the others. "Let’s go."

"You mean, right now?" Poppy squeaked.

"The sooner, the better, right?" Julia said.

"This is suicide," Damien muttered. "We can get into the castle through the kitchens. Then we’ll have to work our way down to the dungeons."

Damien led them out the hut and to a side door of the castle. The castle loomed above them, dark and eerie in the unnatural twilight. Julia took a deep breath and pulled open the door. She had no idea what it would be like inside, she’d never been in. She was stepping into enemy territory.

She didn’t know if she’d come out alive.

"This is it," she said to Poppy and Damien. "There’s no turning back now."

She entered the castle.

* * *

Hunter Redfern blinked in surprise. The last thing he remembered was that witch betraying him, and ordering her to be killed, and then that brat of a nephew of his using the blue fire on his own uncle and all the remaining nobles…and after that…nothing.

Now, he was alive again. He looked at the young woman in front of him. She didn’t look much older than eighteen, but he could tell instantly she was much older. There was a maturity about her, a dignity and a coldness that radiated outwards.

She was beautiful. Her raven her rippled down her back like a black silk waterfall, her skin was creamy pale, her lips dark red and full. Her features were exquisite, delicate and fine, making her face a sculptor’s dream. Her most striking feature was her eyes. They were the colour of the sky at twilight with flecks of silver like starlight. They were also cold and cruel. She was smiling at him, though, and speaking.

And then Hunter focused on the words: "Welcome to the twenty-third century."

"What? What century is this?"

"Twenty-third," the dark haired woman said. "Three hundred years after the millennium battle."

"And what happened with that?" Hunter demanded of the woman.

Her smile became mean. "Well…Circle Daybreak lost. Any of them that did survive are in the dungeons. The world is under my rule now. Vampires are in charge again and the Redferns are back in glory."

Hunter found himself smiling back. "That’s good to hear. Are you a Redfern?"

"No," she said. "My name is Susan Black Lightning. I’m the forth Wild Power. But I stayed with the bad guys. One of your people found me, someone named Blake Redfern. He took over after you. We were very much in love…or at least," she added bitterly. "I thought we were. Then he cheated on me. But I’m getting my revenge," she added brightly.

"Oh, and how are you doing that?"

"I’m having them crucified."

"Having them *what*?"

She smiled again. "You heard me." She took his arm. "Come on, and I’ll show you around."

She led him out the room and down a dark, twisting passageway. She reached out and took a flare off the wall. The lights here were dim.

Hunter was confused. "I don’t understand. If you’re three hundred years in the future then why does everything look like the days when I was young?"

Susan shrugged. "The vampire elders and nobles don’t like change. When we won the battle and took over, castles like this and that other enclave, Black Dawn have sprung up all over the world. The remaining Twilight witches and Circle Daybreak members and humans are now slaves."

"As they should be," Hunter said, smiling in approval. This girl knew how the world worked. And if she’d brought him back, she obviously had good taste, too.

She led him out into a courtyard where people were gathering. There was a place cleared and two fairly deep holes in the ground. Hunter looked up at the sky. It was dark already? Susan saw him look. "It’s been eternal darkness ever since the millennium," she said.

Hunter looked around and saw two large wooden crucifixes lying on the ground and two people with a hammer and wooden nails on each side of one, and two people with a hammer and rusty iron nails on the other.

There was a commotion as screaming and shouts were heard as Mariana and Blake were led out. They struggled and fought, despite the fact they were both covered in blood and must be in a lot of pain after five hours in an Iron Maiden. They were stretched out and placed on one of the crosses. Then with the hammer the iron nails were driven into Mariana’s hands and feet, the wooden ones into Blake’s. Then they were righted and placed in the holes made for them. The guard stepped back, blank expressions on their faces.

Susan turned to address the gathering crowd. "Let this be a warning to all of you," she said in loud, clear tones. "If you cross me, I get mad." She turned and walked back into the castle.

Hunter followed her. "What a bad little girl you are," he said with a glimmer of amusement.

She looked up indignantly. "Who are you calling little?" she snorted.

"Okay, what a bad, *big*, girl you are then."

She smiled faintly, then turned her back on him, staring broodingly out a window into the ever-present night. Hunter walked over to her, slipped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. She started to pull away, then changed her mind and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"You’re quick," he muttered into her soft raven hair.

"Give me a break, I just had to crucify my own boyfriend. I need a little comfort," she said, looking up at him with a put-on sad expression.

Hunter smiled. "Well, I can think of a few ways to make you feel better."

Susan shook her head. "I swear all men have a one track mind."

Hunter started to turn away. "All right. Be miserable then."

"Hey, I never said I didn’t want to," Susan said with a smile, pulling him back and kissing him.

* * *

Julia, Poppy and Damien made their way down the corridors of the castle. Julia fished out the map once they were out of sight of the kitchen. She held it up to a dim light, trying to see where to go.

"I think we go down here and then turn right," she whispered finally.

They traipsed down the corridor, moving as quietly as they could, keeping close to the walls and the shadows. The corridor turned and they followed it, and then they came to a cross roads.

"Now what?" Poppy hissed.

Julia looked at the map. "I can’t see. Let’s go left."

"I thought you said right," Damien pointed out.

"That was the turn back there. We’ll go right, and if we come to a dead end, then we’ll turn and go back the other way." Julia led them down the left hand tunnel.

The corridor led to two enormous double doors. Julia pulled the handle of one and opened the door a little. Poppy looked outside, then quickly came back in. "Not that way," she said. Her face was white.

"What’s out there?" Julia asked

"You don’t want to see."

Julia looked anyway, and gasped in horror at the sight of the two bodies on the tall crosses big ugly birds picking at them. She heard faint screams coming from one. They were still *alive?* She shuddered.

"Told you so," Poppy muttered.

"Let’s go back the other way," Damien said, leading them back the way they’d come and down the other corridor. After that there was a long time of walking down twisting and dimly lit passages. It was too dark to see the map, so Julia trusted to luck.

The corridor was leading down a flight of stone steps to the deepest part of the castle. They emerged from the corridor into a small square room. There were three wooden doors with padlocks on and barred windows.

Julia looked in one. A girl was sitting on stone bench carved into the wall. She was tall with brown eyes and soft blonde hair that hung limply to her hips. Poppy had come up beside her and was looking too.

"Thea!" she called. "Thea snap out of it!" The girl on the bench blinked and looked up. Her flesh was stretched thinly over her face and was very pale, as if she were starving. She looked from Poppy to Julia and her eyes widened with surprise.

"Poppy?" she whispered. "Hannah?"

* * *

The dark city seemed to be deserted. There was no sound or sight of people. The full moon glistened down on the wasted land around the two silent figures who moved slowly, looking for shelter. Azalea Wolf and his companion, Midnight Wolf had been travelling for days, studying the new world under vampire rule. It was the same everywhere.

Now they had made it to what used to be the city of L.A where the castle Black Lightning was situated, where the King and Queen lived. L.A. had once been a bustling, busy city. Now its streets were deserted. The stores that had once been there were knocked down, leaving wasteland in their place.

The castle loomed above it all, dark, frightening and forbidding.

"To tell the truth, I really don’t want to go in there," Midnight said softly. She was small and dark skinned, her dark brown hair hung in hundreds of tight braids down her back. She was dressed in a black jumpsuit and was shivering in the deathly cold.

"We don’t have a choice," Azalea said briefly. "We don’t want to freeze out here. It’s not like we’re escaped humans. They should let us in."

Azalea lead the way to the castle and banged on the door loudly with a fist. A slit opened and two cold, unfriendly eyes looked out.

"Who are you and what’s your business here?"

"I am Azalea of the Wolf Clan and this is my companion Midnight. We want in."

"What’s Wolf Clan?" the voice said suspiciously.

"A new breed of Night People. A sort of development on werewolves. We’re more powerful, smarter and we live longer." He took off his long black leather coat and pushed the sleeve of his dark shirt up to reveal a tattoo of a black poppy on his upper arm. Midnight showed an identical tattoo on the back of her slender dark hand.

"All right. Hang on." The two huge doors opened slowly. Midnight and Azalea were led inside to the front hall.

"I’ll tell the Queen she has guests," the guard who’d led them in said and left.

The front hall was lit with electric lights and a fire burned in a large fire place. There were portraits on the wall of important Night World members. The heads of each species. There were portraits of King Redfern and Queen Black Lightning, also one of Darlinstia Tiarna, the head of the Circle Midnight witches, Jaquinlointyia Equistinoria, the Dragon Princess, head of the shapeshifters and even one of Lamia Wolf, the head of the Wolf Clan.

"I guess they have heard of us after all," Azalea said with a grim smile, seeing the portraits.

They both looked up when they heard the clattering of heels. They stared as the Queen entered the room, looking at them with a hostile, unfriendly expression, like so many of her subjects.

"What do you want?" Her voice was as cold as her expression.

"We just want shelter," Midnight explained.

"You’re not even important Night World citizens, you’re only shapeshifters, wolves at that. Not intelligent, not important."

Azalea could feel himself losing his temper. He spoke through his teeth. "It’s freezing cold outside. We need somewhere to stay. We don’t intend to infer with your house hold or anything. We’ll be out of your way before you know it."

The Queen looked at him, an appreciative smile on her beautiful face. Her beauty was a contrast to the evil on the inside. "*You* can stay as long as you like," she said in a low, liquid voice.

Azalea stared at her. Was she really that shallow? He knew what she saw…someone tall, dark and handsome, who looked like a shadow and moved as silently, with blazing blue eyes.

"Midnight stays too," he snapped. "And I can see what you’re thinking and you can stop right now. Nothing’s gonna happen between us." If that was the wrong thing to say it was too late, it was said now.

She didn’t say anything. She just looked at them for a while. "Oh all right," she said finally. "If you cause me any trouble you’re dead. You’re only wolves. You’re as good as dead anyway," she added spitefully, before turning away.

"If that’s what she thinks of us, I dread to think what the king thinks," Midnight muttered.

The Queen heard. "He doesn’t think of anything anymore. I killed him," she answered, before leaving the room.

Midnight and Azalea exchanged glances. Azalea was fuming, almost shaking in fury at this snotty little bitch’s callous attitude. How could she even think of killing her own love?

"Such a nice girl, isn’t she?" Midnight said sarcastically.

"I think I’m gong to teach her a lesson she’ll never forget," Azalea muttered under his breath.

* * *

"Who’s Hannah?" Julia asked.

Both Poppy and Thea were staring at her. Poppy’s eyes had widened. "Oh I’m so stupid!" she said. "Why didn’t I see it? You’re Hannah’s next incarnation. Of course you are. You even have the same mark."

"This?" Julia pushed at the hair covering her cheek, revealing a birth mark slanting just under her cheek. It was as if she’d laid a rose against her cheek and the petal had left an imprint. But Julia had never seen a rose. Julia thought of the strange things she'd been experiencing recently. Th strange memories, like the ideas she’d had of how she’d known instinctively she could successfully plan a revolution. The feelings that if she had to, she could fight strongly. Other memories were lightning up now too. Memories of a young man with pale hair and endlessly sad dark eyes. Memories of the two of them, standing on a battle field with the other members of Circle Daybreak. They all stood there bravely, as the sky turned dark and fiery and the dark side showed up with their armies and their weapons and started war. She clearly remembered the violence of the battle, the blood shed, the pain, and the worst pain for her when Susan had staked Thierry in front of her. And then killed her. She clearly remembered the pain of sharp teeth, the unique agony of blood being drawn out against her will.

She remembered other things. She could see a hundred different versions of herself, all with different names, looking a little different, but always tall, fair haired and grey eyed, all with the birthmark on her cheek.

"Oh God," she muttered. "It’s…I’ve had past lives. I…" She looked back at Thea who had come to stand behind the doors. She was clutching the bars with her pale thin hands. She was looking at Julia earnestly. "I remember you!" she said suddenly, everything flooding back. She knew now she had had a life as a warrior, that was probably why she was so sure she could win this battle. She also knew she had been a slave as well. She wasn't going to be any longer. Also, Winnie had overheard too, and was poking her small, dirty face up against the bars too.

"Hannah?" she asked.

"Uh, it’s Julia now," Julia said. "But I remember everything. And I’m going to get you all out of here."

"What?" Thea said in disbelief.

"I had a dream. And Hellewise Hearth-Woman told me that I could start a revolution and turn the world back to the way it was. And now, I think I have an advantage. I was born a witch in this life."

"Here." Damien handed Julia a long, thin piece of metal.

"Where’d you get this?" Julia asked, amazed, as she took it and inserted it into the lock. She worked with the pick as if she’d always known how to do this. The lock sprang. Then Julia moved over to work on the door to Winnie’s cell. She moved to the last cell, but it was empty.

"For now, let’s just get these two out of here and back to our huts before we’re caught and killed," Damien said, looking over his shoulder.

* * *

Julia led the small group back up the dark, winding passageway, trying to find their way back to the kitchens to get outside and back to their huts before they were caught.

Their flare had burned out, and there were no other lights here. This was the deepest, darkest part of the castle and it was almost impossible to see anything at all. They stood where they were, stumped, having no idea which way to go.

"Well I can’t see a thing," Damien complained.

"Neither can I," Julia muttered. "Poppy, vampires can see in the dark, can’t they? You’re going to have to lead us back. Thea and Winnie had better stay at the back close…" She stopped and laughed.

"I don’t see what’s funny," Winnie said.

"I was going to say close to the shadows," Julia said with a grim smile that no one could see, "but shadows is all this place is."

"Okay, let’s go," Poppy said, and came round to the front of the group. "Maybe we should hold hands and form a chain so we don’t get lost. That way we can make sure no one is separated from the group."

Julia nodded. "That’s a good idea."

The group held hands and began to make slow progress in the pitch blackness. Julia, who had grown up in the new world was used to darkness. But this was different. There as nothing at all less than black. She remembered something in her previous life, sitting trapped in a cave, deep in the earth, surely waiting for death. She remembered the sheer panic of waking up in complete dark, the feeling that the cave was going to crush her….she had that same feeling now, and couldn’t wait to find light…any light…

"Here I think," Poppy said suddenly. There were the creaking sounds of a heavy door being pulled open. Then they were inside a strange room. Candles were burning, white candles and coloured candles, the floor covered in markings that looked strange. Julia recognised the pentagram, but she didn’t recognise the other symbols. On a stand was an old book, open with strange words and more symbols.

"What is this place?" Julia asked, looking around.

"It looks like a black magic ritual," Thea said, walking over to the book and examining it. "This is a spell book." She looked down at the spell it was open to. "This is a ritual for raising the dead."

"Raising the dead?" Poppy asked. "Can you do it?"

Thea stared in disbelief. "What?"

Poppy was getting excited. "If we do that spell, then we can bring back Circle Daybreak. Or maybe just the Wild Powers and then we can have a real chance at fighting them."

Thea looked at the spell. "This one seems to be directed to bringing a specific individual back. If we did that for every member of Circle Daybreak it would take too long." She flipped pages, keeping the page the book was open to marked. "Wait…look at this. Here we are." Thea’s voice was getting as eager and exited as Poppy’s. "This one is for bringing back groups. It was used for war times back in old times."

"Well we’re about to start a war," Julia said. She walked over to the spell and ripped it out the book.

"What are you doing?" Damien said, shocked.

"We need this more than they do," Julia answered. "Thea do you need anything else?"

"Candles and salt."

"Salt we can borrow from the kitchens, they won’t rat on us. As for candles…" Julia looked around the room. She spotted a cupboard and opened it. Inside were boxes of coloured candles. "Looks like we’re getting a run of luck."

Thea came over and examined the candles, taking out what she needed and putting them in a small box they found.

"Is that it? Can we go now?" Damien snapped as they looked around the room.

"Excuse me, Mr. Touchy," Julia muttered. "Yes we’re done. Let’s get out of here."

They opened the door and started to make their way back down the dark corridor when Winnie suddenly whispered, "Oh-no."

"What?" Julia hissed.

"I hear footsteps," Winnie whispered.

A second later, Julia heard them too, and saw light coming towards them.

"Double back," Julia hissed. And the group hurried back through the blackness the way they’d come.

She felt her way along the wall, trying to listen to which way the others were going but of course, they were being as quiet as they could to avoid being caught. Julia felt the passage turn and followed it. She came to yet another door and quickly pulled it open and ducked into the room. She closed the door and leaned against it, breathing heavily in relief.

But her relief was short-lived.

"Well now what do we have here? Vermin in the castle? How revolting."

Horrified, Julia turned at the voice and found herself looking up at a tall man with blood red hair and amused golden eyes and she knew she’d doomed them all.

* * *

Part 13

Susan woke suddenly, feeling there was something wrong. There was a presence in her room, something that didn’t belong there. For a second, she was dazed, not sure what was going on, or what had woken her.

But something was there. Something that shouldn’t be there.

Then she focused. Something was sitting on the foot of her bed. Something…strange.

She blinked and looked at it.

A *wolf*.

There was a big black *wolf* sitting on her bed.

Before she could do anything the wolf moved so it was lying on top of her, pinning her down. Susan was strong, but the wolf kept her immobile. It was as long as she was tall. A beautiful animal, sleek and handsome with such strange blue eyes.

*You think wolves are stupid and useless then?*

The voice was in her head, but she knew it belonged to the wolf on top of her. She eyed it cautiously, not saying a word for fear it would kill her. She’d lived for three centuries, she’d beaten Circle Daybreak at war…only to be killed afterwards by a werewolf that would no doubt take her head home as a trophy. How humiliating.

*An interesting idea,* the werewolf said in her mind. *But I’m not going to kill you. I’m going to do something much more humiliating…I’m going to make you a wolf.*

*You can’t do that!* Susan shouted back at the wolf, stunned into speaking. *You can’t! When I wake up you’re dead! You can’t do this to me!*

The wide jaws of the wolf opened in a smile, revealing the sharp white teeth. Before it ripped her throat out it said two words: *Watch me.*

* * *

When Susan opened her eyes she was alone. She wasn’t in her room anymore. She was outside in a dark forest full of dead and twisted tree limbs. She blinked and groaned, feeling sick to her stomach. She pushed herself up onto her hands and knees. She groaned again and glanced around, feeling dazed and frightened and angry with herself. In her confused and weakened state, the twisted dead black trees looked like tortured spirits. Probably the spirits of the people she’d tortured, she thought irrationally.

She shook her head, her messy black hair a tangle of leaves and bits of twigs, falling around her blocking her view.

Suddenly she caught a whiff of something. Life. There was an animal out here somewhere. She could smell the blood in it, sense the meat on it…

Suddenly she was running, running through the dark and the shadows hunting down the bit of life that she could smell…life that would give her power.

She could feel something happening to her as she ran. Something about her body was changing. Not her usual change, her canine teeth lengthening, her eyes going shining silver, her lips getting redder and fuller face taking on a predatory look. This was something else. She could feel her muscles flowing. For a brief, wonderful instant she felt as if she didn’t have a body. And then she felt herself changing. She was becoming something else. She wasn’t Susan the person at all anymore. er skin had changed, she could feel the warm thick fur rustling in the breeze. She felt the bestial triumph of the hunt as she came down on target.

Her first real hunt. Her victory. Her kill. She knew instinctively which parts of the deer she’d caught to eat. The heart and the liver. But it took her a white to find them and she knew she was making a mess of the rest of the animal. The blood was probably all over her fur. After she’d finished with the meal she walked back to the castle.

She spotted a puddle of water from the rain the night before, silver moonlight glinting off the surface and went to look at her reflection. What looked back was a wolf. A large, ice-white wolf with soft fur and shining purple eyes. Susan looked up at the full moon.

She smiled.

And threw back her head and began to howl.

* * *

Through the open window in the tall man’s room Julia heard the wolf howling and shuddered and the sound. The sound was beautiful…but strange and eerie, unfamiliar. Well, wasn’t everybody afraid of the unfamiliar?

She turned to face the man in front of her. He was looking at her with hungry golden eyes. And looked somewhat familiar. She felt she should know him. But she didn’t. She’d never met him.

"Is it too much trouble to ask what you’re doing in here?" he asked in a pleasant, deep voice.

Julia fumbled for an explanation. "I…I was taking food to the prisoners in the dungeon. My torch burned out and I got lost. I heard strange noises and I got scared. I didn’t mean to intrude." Believe me, she thought. Please, please believe me.

"Such a good lie," the man said. "I suppose you’re not going to tell what you were *really* doing."

Julia stared. Then she realised. Oh shit, she thought. He’s a vampire. He must be reading my mind. She tried to envision a stone wall around her thoughts, blocking him. She was surprised she could do it so well. It must be the witch genes inside her.

The man looked surprised suddenly. He stared at her harder, looking angrier. "Tricky little vermin, aren’t you? Well, I’ll teach you a lesson. One for lying, one for trespassing."

He reached for her. Before she could run Julia felt his steel strong hands grab her arms below her slave tunic sleeves. Instead of feeling like her bones were being crushed something else happened. Sparks. From where his cold hands touched her bare skin there were something like shooting sparks and a vague pinky-blue haze filled her vision. A bright white light was beginning to engulf her and the man. Suddenly she realised to her horror she was being pulled into his *mind*. She couldn’t stop the light. She knew he was being pulled into her mind. No! She didn’t want him to see! He’d kill her. She searched the tall man's mind for a name. There…Redfern…Hunter Redfern.

*What are you doing to me?* he shouted at her. The voice was in her head. Not out loud.

*I’m not doing anything!* she shouted back. Something was bothering her. She didn’t like what was happening anymore than Hunter did…but…but Hunter was *shaking.* He looked sick.

*Oh no,* he was thinking. *Please no. Not me. Why me? I don’t want a human soulmate…*

*But I *have* a soulmate,* Julia thought back. *Okay, he’s dead now. But I have one. I’ve had past lives and he's tried to be there. And I’m not human,* she added indignantly. *I’m a witch.*

*That’s not much better,* Hunter grumbled.

At least, thought Julia, he was distracted and hadn’t noticed anything about her plans or her friends. She didn’t want them to be put in danger. But something else was happening now. The white light and the pinky-blue haze, they seemed to be mixing together, creating more sparks, trying to draw her and Hunter closer.

*How do we stop this?* Julia asked.

*I have no idea….but do we really have to? It’s not so bad.*

Julia was surprised. She realised now what was happening. The soulmate connection was making them realise there was more to each other than the fronts they put on. Being slave and vampire noble wasn't important. What was important…or maybe disastrous…was that…that Julia realised she was falling in love with him. And she suddenly knew, as surely as she knew her own name, that Hunter loved her as much as she loved him. Hunter Redfern, the ultimate vampire, the ruthless predator and leader of the Redfern clan had fallen in love.

*God help me, but I think I’m in love with you,* he said to her.

*Oh thanks a lot,* Julia snorted. *You really know how to flatter a girl, don’t you?*

*I have a reputation, you don’t,* he shot back. His arms had wrapped around her in a warm embrace. *I don’t know what I’m going to do with myself now. Susan’s going to kill me. She’ll have a fit. And for someone who crucified her own boyfriend, I dread to think what she’s going to do with us.*

Julia sighed and held onto him. * I still don’t understand this soulmate thing. I had past lives. And a soulmate.*

*You’re someone else now. You were a human before in your other lives, your a witch now. A new soulmate for a new species and a new life, maybe,* Hunter suggested.

*Maybe,* Julia thought. She was quite happy to let the wonderful haze float around them. She could read his thoughts easily, she could feel how he felt. She knew him better than she knew anyone.

*You’re planning a revolution? Are you insane?* Hunter said suddenly, angrily, sounding more like his old-self.

*I know it does sound insane,* Julia said. *But I’m going to. There are people who want the world back to the way it was before the millennium battle. And I know that it’s possible to do that. Don’t ask how I know, I just know. Are you going to turn me in?*

Hunter stared at her for a second, his gold eyes flaring. Finally, he sighed, defeated. Now he knew he couldn’t go back to his old ways of thinking. She would be angry and disappointed in him. She would be unhappy and he didn’t want that. *I really can’t believe this is happening to me. No, I won’t turn you in. I know how to fight a war. I can help you.*

Julia stared, surprised. This was turning out even better than what she’d suspected. *I just need you to distract the Queen. As long as she doesn’t suspect anything we can do this. And we need weapons.*

*I can sort that out.* And then he kissed her. Julia kissed back, feeling fire and heat all over her, a wonderful, tingly sensation she hoped she could experience again and again. *I think you’d better go back now,* he told her.

Julia nodded and turned to go. *I love you,* she added before she stepped back into the utter blackness of the corridor.

* * *

Susan walked back through the woods to the castle, still in her wonderful new wolf form. She even felt different. She felt much better. Warmer. She no longer felt ice cold and evil as she had when she was a vampire. She was shocked at the change in herself. She had changed completely. She paused as she walked up to the castle. If any of her guards saw an unfamiliar animal walking through they would trap it, tell her and organise a hunt.

She changed direction and went round the back of the castle to the laundry hut in the slave quarters. She found the hut she was after and went inside. It was deserted. There was a pile of laundry on the floor and she went behind it and shifted back into human form. She glanced down at herself, and as she’d guessed, she was completely naked. Her clothes had probably been all ripped when she’d changed for the first time.

The laundry slave, whose name she didn’t know, entered the hut, and gasped as she saw her queen behind the pile of laundry.

"I need clothes," Susan said briefly. "I’m kind of having a case of nakedness here."

The slave found clean clothes hand handed them to her and went out while Susan dressed. She nodded her thanks to the slave and left the hut, walking back to the castle with her head held high. Before she went inside she paused to look at the dull dirty slave quarters. Something inside her was telling her this was wrong. She hadn’t always been like this. She'd been human once. The world had been bright with colour and daylight. It had been warm once. She shook her head sadly and went into the castle, knowing this dark, cold, cruel world was all her fault. But…nothing could be done about it.

Somehow, she felt she was going to be proved wrong.

* * *

As Susan walked back through the castle to her own quarters, she spotted the two Wolves about to leave. One of them…she couldn’t remember his name, looked very smug. "Well, I taught her," he was saying with a chuckle.

"Yes, you did," she said sourly.

He looked surprised. Then he smiled. A nasty little smile. A smile that she’d had on her own face so often. "I guess Wolves aren’t as bad as they seem, huh?"

Susan shook her head. "Okay, I admit it, I like the new form. It’s changed me completely. I’m not the same person. I apologise for offending you." She clearly wasn’t the same person. She never apologised.

He looked surprised too. "All right. You’re forgiven." Then he handed her a small black book. "You’ll find everything you need to know about Wolves in here."

She took it and looked at it. "Thanks." Their eyes met and something passed between them. She didn’t know what it was exactly, some sort of truce. And she knew that if she was ever in trouble she could call on the Wolf Clan for help, now she was a member of it. She nodded to the other Wolf, and watched them walk out into the eternal night.

* * *

Julia made her way down the black corridor, back to the turn. She paused as she saw light up ahead. She crept as close as she dared, and saw to her relief that it was Damien, with a new flare.

"What happened to you?" he asked.

"You wouldn’t believe me if I told you," Julia muttered. "I think I got lost. Anyway, let’s go."

With the help of the flare, it was easier to get back. Julia felt a vast sense of relief now. She knew deep down inside that everything was going to be okay. She led them back to her hut. "Okay," she said. "Let’s do the spell."

She, Thea and Winnie carefully followed the instructions of the spell they’d stolen. They made symbols and patterns on the earthen floor of the hut with salt they’d taken from the kitchen. They spread out the candles and lit them. The strange colours creating eerie, twisting shadows. Then the thee witches stood together in the centre of the pentagram ad began to chant. Julia had no idea what she was saying. She just followed the part of the spell Thea told her to read. Thea herself was reading something different, as was Winnie, and their voices all joined together in a strange sound.

A light began to grow. It started off small at first, barely noticeable. Then, as it began to grow, the colour began to change. It started off white, then went blue, then purple, now it was red-gold. It was creating shapes of people. Seven shapes of people. There were no features on any of them yet. As the three witches’ voices suddenly rose, the bright colour suddenly grew to bright to look at. When the light had gone. The people had shapes and features and very surprised expressions.

There was a moment of confusion, then people were hugging and crying, grateful for the sudden gift to live again.

"Does anyone want to tell me who these people are?" Damien asked from where he stood, guarding the door.

Julia smiled brightly. She introduced him to the group of people. "These people are the fighters of Circle Daybreak. And the Wild Powers. They are Delos Redfern from the land of kings long forgotten, Jez Redfern from the day world where two eyes are watching, Iliana Harman from the which still holds the spark. They’re the Wild Powers. The rest are Maggie Neely, Delos’s soulmate, Morgead Blackthorn, Jez’s soulmate, and the other two are Keller and Rashel, the fighters. Jez, Delos and Morgead are vampires, Iliana’s a witch, Keller’s a shapeshifter and the others are human."

Delos Redfern looked like an old fashioned prince from medieval times. He was tall with dark hair and bright yellow eyes. Jez Redfern had fiery red hair and silver-blue eyes. Morgead’s most startling feature was his brilliant gem-green eyes. Maggie was short with brown hair and deep eyes that seemed to look right inside you. Iliana was small and delicate with shimmering pale gold hair and violet eyes that showed her Harman genes. Keller and Rashel were both tall and dressed in black. Julia hadn’t realised how much she’d missed these people. In this life, she’d never known them, of course, but in her previous life as Hannah Snow, these people had been some of her closest friends.

There was a muttering of other voices. Slaves were gathered outside the hut, coming to see what was going on. There was a huge crowd of them. Julia looked at the others. "Okay," she said. "I’m going to explain everything now." She went outside, dragging a table with her. She placed the table at the side of the hut, and the people inside came and stood by it.

Julia herself stood on the table and explained her plan. When three guards showed up carrying two big crates silence fell. They brought the crates to Julia. "Your weapons, courtesy of Hunter Redfern," one guard said. They opened the crates, then left.

"Hunter?" Rashel said. "What the hell has he got to do with this? He’s dead."

"I should know, I killed him," Delos added dryly.

Everyone looked at Julia. She flushed, a little embarrassed. "I don’t know how to explain this. But the Queen brought him back from the dead similar to the way we brought you guys back…and I ran into him and he seems to have had a change of heart."

There was a silence.

"You’re telling us that *Hunter Redfern* is not going to turn us in or hunt us down?" Rashel said in disbelief.

Julia shook her head. "I know how it sounds. I realise how this must looks to you…but…I just know he won’t."

"If you’re saying Hunter Redfern has gone good, then I’ll eat my own sword," Rashel muttered, holding up the long, curved wooden sword up.

"I think she means it’s because he’s her soulmate," Thea said.

This time there was another shocked silence.

"What about Thierry?" Maggie asked, confused. "I thought he was your soulmate."

"I don’t know how to explain it anymore myself," Julia said. "But in this life I’m a witch. And as crazy as it might sound, Hunter’s my soulmate in this life. He won’t turn us in. We’re going to put the world back to the way it was."

* * *

From an upstairs window that looked out onto the slave quarters Susan watched the girl on the table. She recognised the Circle Daybreak members of course. She didn’t know what they were planning to do this time, but she knew one thing. This time, she was going to help them rather than kill them.

She was a different person now.

A guard came up the stairs. "Ma’am your guests are here," he said.

Susan blinked. "Guests?" Oh God, she’d completely forgotten. Every three years or so the new heads of each country met to discuss the new world, how things were changing and such. There would be meetings, hunts and dinners. This year it was her turn to host it…and with everything that had happened, she had completely forgotten.

"Where are they?" she asked.

"They’re all in the conference room. They’re waiting for you."

"I’m not going."

"What?" the guard said in disbelief.

"I said I’m not going. I’m not a vampire anymore. And I’m glad about it. I’m not even Susan Black Lightning anymore."

"What do I tell them?" the guard said.

"You can tell them I’ve changed. I’m not who I used to be. They can burn in hell for all I care. I’m going along with the revolution of the slaves." And with that, Susan turned and walked down the stairs.

She heard footsteps following her and realised Hunter Redfern was coming with her. She looked at him in surprise. Her changing sides was one thing, Hunter changing sides was something else.

"My soulmate’s out there," he said simply. "I’m not going to let her fight alone."

"Let’s go."

* * *

The slaves and the Circle Daybreak members stood, armed and ready to storm the castle. Julia stood in the lead, the three Wild Powers and everyone else behind her.

"Wait," Iliana said suddenly before they plunged into the castle.

Julia stopped and turned. "What?"

"We’re still a Wild Power short," Iliana said. "If we’re one less than four then the darkness will triumph again."

"No they won’t," a clear voice said.

Julia turned. The crowd of slaves parted. She stared in disbelief. Susan stood at the centre of a part in the crowd of slaves. Hunter was with her.

"I’m not who I used to be," Susan said simply. "I’m not even a vampire anymore. An unexpected guest showed me evil isn’t everything."

"How the hell’d they do that?" Keller said with a snort.

"Changed me into a Wolf. They were a new species of Night People before the millennium. And when I changed for the first time my personality seemed to change as well. I can’t explain it all, I don’t really understand it. But this time I know I’m not against you and if you want to fight you need my help."

The Circle Daybreak members exchanged glances. Finally, Julia nodded. "About damn time, too," she said as Susan came to join the Wild Powers behind her.

Julia led them all into the castle. They made their way to the grand hall before they were stopped. An army of darkness was waiting for them. The new Night World council was waiting. They’d been prepared for this.

"We’re going to give you one change to surrender," someone at the front said. "Hand over the Wild Powers now and we’ll give them a quick death."

"Go to hell," Jez yelled at them.

"Already been thanks," someone shouted back, causing a riot of evil chuckles from the Dark Army.

"You’re choice," the dark leader said.

And the world exploded into violence and chaos.

* * *

The battle was terrible. The screams of the injured and dying filled the air. The Dark army were well prepared for this. Julia and her army weren’t. They fought and fought, ignoring their tiredness and injuries. The powerful magic and weaponry of the enemy outmatched Julia’s army’s simple weapons. They fought anyway. Julia found herself in a corner with the Wild Powers. The enemy had come at them in vast numbers, sensing them the most dangerous, the biggest threat to their dark pleasure.

"If you guys could use your blue fire anytime now it’d be helpful," Julia gasped,

They exchanged glances. They dropped their weapons. For a second, all was deadly still. The dark side were wearing victorious grins. They thought the Wild Powers had realised they were doomed and had decided to surrender.

How wrong they were.

The Wild Powers exchanged glances.

They were all bleeding from the battle as was everyone else.

They raised their palms up to the ceiling.

Julia could feel the power welling up around. Stranger yet, she could feel power welling up in her. She didn’t understand it. But she didn’t deny it either. She let the strange feeling of energy well up.

She found herself following the motion of the Wild Powers. She raised her palms to the ceiling. She moved to stand in front of them. She could feel the awe and astonishment of her fighters…she could feel the fear and shock of the enemy.

Suddenly, blue fire surrounded the Wild Powers, their joint energy growing and growing. Julia felt something come out of her. Her own magical energy. Her purple fire met with the Wild Power’s blue fire.

The two powers mingled and gathered, creating a gusting wind and energy. It moved from them over to the enemy, riveted to the spot with fright and too stupid to run. The mixture of magic surrounded the dark army, changing colour to a strange black-green. It suddenly flared bright.

When Julia opened her eyes, the enemy was gone. But something else was happening. The energy was still there. It had changed again, and now was a bright blue-white. It moved again, encompassing Julia and her army. Julia felt something happening. Something she couldn’t explain. Everything was changing. There were whirls of impossibly bright colour, different shapes. She had the feeling of infinite distance being crossed.

And then…nothing.

* * *

There was loud music and happy screams and shouts filled the air. Fireworks were going off, creating sparking patterns in the sky. All around was a group of madly celebrating people. People smiled and waved at Julia grinning and throwing handfuls of confetti at her.

"Happy new millennium," they called.

Julia looked around in confusion. She could see people who had fought with her in the battle. But they weren’t wearing their slave clothes. They were wearing other clothes, in bright and sparking colours. Party clothes.

Julia found herself facing Hunter, looking into his bright, smiling gold eyes. "What’s going on?" she asked.

He smiled. "You changed history Julia. We’re back to the dawn of the year 2000. You did it."

And then he kissed her and Julia was lost in the blaze of their love and passion.

* * *

Susan sat with Julia and the rest of the freed slaves sat outside Thierry’s Las Vegas mansion watching the sun rise for the first time in three hundred years. She didn’t know what happened anymore than anyone else did.

"’In blue fire, the final darkness is banished’," she muttered to herself. The blue fire must have erased all the darkness from the last three centuries, putting the world back the way it should have been at the dawn of the new millennium. They’d all woken from the suddenly magical converge at the end of the battle to find themselves back in Thierry’s mansion celebrating the new year. But there was no sign of Thierry. But everybody knew he wouldn’t mind Hannah - no, Julia, Susan corrected herself, living there with her friends now.

"What?" a soft voice beside her said.

Susan looked up at Damien, and realised he'd heard her muttering. "Nothing," she said. "Just muttering to myself."

He reached out to take her hand.

As their fingers touched, a familiar white light engulfed them, lighting up their minds, letting them see each other for who they really were underneath. Susan was surprised. A new soulmate? She'd messed up the last time.

"A new soulmate for a new person," Damien murmured in her ear. "You said yourself you’d changed."

Susan smiled at him, at her new love. They had a whole new future to look forward to. She felt that this time, she was going to be happy. And she knew instinctively that he would never leave her. She snuggled against him. "I think I’m going to change my name," she said. "I don’t want any connection to who I used to be. What do you think of Seraphin Wolf?"

He pulled her close. "I like it," he said. "It’s different. Could you make me a Wolf? Then we can learn about the new species and each other together."

Susan smiled. "I think I can do that. I think I’m going to like being a Wolf."

"I think I’m going to kiss you now," Damien muttered softly, pulling her closer.

"I think you’d better," Susan said. And he did.

The two of them snuggled close and watched the sun rise and the beginning of a new dawn.