The Accidental End (The Accidental Witch Trilogy Book 3) Read online

  John holds onto me. “Are you angry with me? With Fletcher?”

  I shrug. I suppose I’m not. Better a vampire than dead. And then I let out a wail of pure misery. My family. I will stay seventeen, and my family will keep growing. Isaac will overtake me. They can’t know I’m a vampire... which means they can’t know me. Not anymore. “My family...”

  I feel his arms pull tighter around me. “I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry. That’s the worst thing. The very worst thing.”

  “And the agreeable things?”

  He cannot answer me which says it all, so I allow myself to cry and him to comfort me, the only person I have ever met who knows what it is to be me. A freshly hatched vampire.

  There’s a tentative knock at the door and I’m growling again, hungry again. “I’ll just leave it here.”

  John opens the door and there’s nobody there, just a jug of red stuff. A jug of blood. My new beverage of choice. Yuk!

  He passes it to me and although I am disgusted and although I wish I could eat some chocolate, a thirst comes over me I have no control of. It’s instinctual, it’s survival, it’s base. I have to eat. And the only thing I can eat is blood.

  I chug it down and then wipe my mouth on my sleeve and then shiver when I look at the smear of red on my clothes. “How do you control it? How do you not kill the people you love, or the people you hate, or just random people you see on the street who look so delicious?”

  He smiles and wipes a trickle of blood from my mouth. “Will power. Practice. I don’t even know. Sometimes I have had to leave a room, count to a million. Hey – you’ll be fast.”

  I shake my head, a frown on my face. “What?”

  “An agreeable thing. I was trying to think of a good thing about being a vampire. To cheer you up. You’ll go everywhere you ever want and learn everything you ever want and read every book that’s ever written. You’ll see a zillion sunsets and sunrises...” He trails off having a hard time connecting with what a teenager would think was good about living forever, while everyone they know and love dies.

  “Doesn’t the sun kill me?”

  “Maybe it used to years ago, but we’ve evolved. You can go outside in the day or night. You can run super fast...” He gives up and just holds my hand. One vampire to another.

  “Can I come in?” Fletcher. I shrug at John. I don’t feel hungry anymore. I just feel numb. All I can think about are the things I have lost.

  He pushes open the door and I can see from his tear-stained face and stricken expression that he’s heartbroken about what he’s done. He hovers in the doorway, and I stand up and open my arms. He falls into them, and I get a tiny pull of hunger, but I dismiss it. I’ve just fed. I pull back. “Whose blood did I just drink?”

  “Just some chickens,” Fletcher says almost apologetically.

  I nod. Chickens are okay. A bit gross if you stop to think about it, but I won’t.

  “Can you forgive me?”

  I nod. There’s a bit of me that wants to give him a hard time, throw the weight of my fury around and sulk for a bit too, but what would be the point. It’s done. It can’t be undone. “It can’t be undone, can it?” John shakes his head, no.

  It can’t be undone. And I’m not dead.

  I’m a vampire.

  “I’m a vampire.” I whisper the words; they seem as unreal as when I suddenly became a witch.

  “I know. And I’m sorry. But I couldn’t let you die, I had to save you and it was the only way. We had a doctor here. There was nothing he could do. We tried magic... We think Sadie did something, double crossed you with her magic.”

  I shake my head. Time to confess. “No, when I talked to Sadie, the only way she would alter her magic was if I agreed to die. If I would sacrifice myself to save everybody else, she would change the magic.”

  “So you agreed?”

  I nod. Both he and John are looking at me with something like awe on their faces. I like it.

  He hugs me, and John pats my back. “So you knew you would die?”

  I nod.

  “You’re amazing.” They both say it at the same time.

  And I nod.

  “And you forgive me?”

  I nod. “There’ll be days when I hate you, I know. Like when I think about my family.” He can’t look at me. “When I think about being seventeen and awkward as hell for ever. When I think about the people I love growing old without me, dying, leaving me alone.”

  It’s the one thought I haven’t voiced yet. Fletcher. If I am a vampire and Fletcher is a witch, then he will die, and I will live.

  He takes my hands. “I won’t leave you. John, I want you to turn me.”

  John holds up his hands as though to ward off Fletcher’s request. My eyes are full of tears. If he wants to turn, it means he wants to be with me as much as I want to be with him.

  There’s a knock at the door.

  “We’ll talk about this later,” Fletcher says.

  17

  “Can we come in?” Elodie pushes open the door just enough to see into the room. Fletcher looks at Ellis, who nods, and then he lets his mum and Thea in.

  “Lovely, are you okay?” Elodie takes Ellis into her arms, hugs her and kisses her cheek. “I’m so sorry you got caught up in any of this. Are you angry with us?”

  Ellis shakes her head, no. “I’m okay. At least I’m not dead.”

  “We need to sort a few things out. Like what we’ll do with those three downstairs. I can’t keep them bound forever. We need to inform the council that the spell worked, and the creatures all have their freedom.”

  “Mum, Sadie changed the spell so it would kill Ellis. Ellis knew and agreed to it, anyway.”

  “What?” Elodie looks horrified.

  Ellis nods. “Sadie refused to change the magic. She still wanted everyone to die if anybody tried to change the magic. But then she agreed to change it, but only if I agreed to die instead. So, instead of killing everybody, if somebody changed the magic it would kill only me.”

  “Ellis. You are a wonder. You’re not even part of our magical, supernatural community and yet you would have sacrificed yourself for us? Why didn’t you say something?”

  “I ran out of time.”

  “Because of my sister.”

  Thea touches her aunt’s arm. “What are you going to do with her? And Talia?”

  “I don’t know. Talia isn’t to blame. But Ember... I don’t know. Forget about Adam, I’m not even bothered about that. But she was ready to kill Ellis.”

  “Let’s go.”

  “Lincoln is still here. I asked him to stay. He’s ready to make you head witch, Fletcher.”

  Fletcher doesn’t answer, and Elodie doesn’t notice his silence.

  They head downstairs and into the living room. The candles are all out. Talia is free, unbound, and there’s no sign of Ember or Vann.

  “You’re kidding me? Where have they gone?”

  Talia shrugs, misery covering her face, and she goes to Thea’s side. “Talia, where are they? Why did you let them go?”

  “I didn’t let them go. They escaped. I think Vann did some fairy magic thing; I don’t even know. They told me to tell you that if you leave them alone, they won’t bother you anymore.”

  “What does that even mean? They’ve gone off to live happily ever after together. What about you girls?”

  Talia is crying. “She told us to stay with you. If it was ever safe, she’d send for us.”

  Fletcher snorts. “Charming. So, she’s chosen Vann over you two, chosen herself over everybody else and chosen to swan off without facing what she’s done?”

  Talia nods. “I’m sorry, aunty El. I didn’t want to be head witch. Sorry, Ellis, I didn’t want to kill you. It was all my mum.”

  Ellis shrugs, but Elodie shakes her head.

  “I won’t let her get away with this. We need to get the council together. Straight away before there’s any more unpleasant feeling or drama. But, first thing’s first, Fletcher,
we need to get you invested. With no hoo-ha or drama. Lincoln?”

  Lincoln sits up, blinking, a confused look on his face. He rubs his eyes. “Elodie – I can’t say I enjoy being dragged into all of this.”

  Elodie nods. “Well, I wasn’t exactly the one who dragged you, but I’ll apologise, anyway. One more job. Invest Fletcher and then you can go.”

  She puts her hands on her son’s shoulders. “Ready?’

  He shakes his head, no, causing her to hesitate, confusion making her nose wrinkle.

  “No, mum.”

  “What do you mean no? Don’t start Fletcher. I don’t have the time or the patience after the day we’ve all had.”

  “I’ve asked John to turn me into a vampire, mum. I won’t be a witch anymore.”

  The colour drains from Elodie’s face, and she drops onto a chair. She puts her head in her hands and weeps. Fletcher turns to his cousins or sisters or whatever they are to him. “Girls take Lincoln in the kitchen, make him a sandwich or a cup of coffee. John, will you help them?”

  They all shuffle out of the room and leave Fletcher with his mum and Ellis. He takes his mum’s hand. “Mum, you know I have to do this, not just because I want to but because it’s the right thing to do. I can’t abandon Ellis. I have to change with her.”

  “And leave me alone? To face everything?”

  “No. We’ll still be here. I just won’t be a witch and I won’t be head witch. I love you mum. And I love Ellis.”

  Elodie is silent for a long time and then she nods. “I know you do. And it’s the right thing to do, but it’s massive Fletcher. You’ll be a vampire. Are you sure?”

  “I have to do it and I am sure mum. I thought about it the whole time I was fetching John, the whole time he was turning Ellis and as soon as I saw her afterwards.”

  “Okay.” She takes his face in her hands and kisses his forehead. Her baby boy, all grown up and making his own choices. It’s hard, but she knows she has to accept it. “So, who do we make head witch?”

  “Talia? Thea?”

  “And give Ember what she wants?”

  “Forget Ember. We’ll worry about her later. We’ll find her and kill her if you want us to. Whatever you decide. But we need to make somebody head witch.”

  There’s a knock at the door and Lincoln pokes his head in. “Sorry to interrupt but I wondered if this might help. A few hundred years ago in America, we had twin head witches. They were both in charge. It’s allowed.” He raises his cup of coffee in a toast or a salute or an apology for interrupting and closes the door, leaving them alone to decide.

  Fletcher grins at his mother. “Mum, with you to guide them the girls would do okay.”

  “You think so?”

  Ellis speaks up. “The girls can be horrible – they’ve been horrible to me, but I think their mum heavily influenced them. And Sally.”

  Elodie huffs. “Yes – we found Sally and her mother and father here with Ember when we came through.”

  “Did you kill them?”

  Elodie nods, though they can both see regret in her expression. “I hate that I had to, but they chose Ember. They chose to kill Ellis.”

  “Okay so I’ll ask the girls and see what they think, but I’m not happy. I wish it was you, Fletcher.”

  He looks sad but resolute. “I know mum, but I can’t be.”

  He calls the girls in, using a witch trick that he won’t have for much longer.

  “Girls, how do you feel about being head witch? Together?”

  Thea laughs. “Both of us?”

  Fletcher nods.

  “What about our mum?”

  Elodie clears her throat. “If I see her, if she tries to cause trouble, I will kill her. But I think I could lead you and guide you to be excellent head witches.”

  “What about Fletcher?”

  “I’ve asked John to turn me, so I can be with Ellis.”

  “I haven’t said yes, yet,” John says.

  “But you will. When Ellis asks you.”

  John laughs and nods.

  The girls hug their aunt Elodie, who they both love, who they have lived with for all their lives. “We promise to make you proud.”

  “I know you’ll try,” Elodie says, unsure of what to say or how to feel.

  Lincoln takes over, experienced at investments and matter of fact with things.

  Instead of a feeling of anger and sadness and hopelessness in the air, suddenly they are smiling and feeling lighter.

  It takes only ten minutes, but they invest Talia and Thea as head witches. Job done, Lincoln is quick to say his goodbyes and leave them to it.

  Ellis takes Fletcher’s hands. “I want to see my family.”

  “I know.”

  “Mum. Can we go to see Ellis’s family while you sort out the council? I’ll need my magic.”

  Elodie nods. She’d rather have Fletcher by her side for support and help, but she knows that she has to let him help Ellis. Poor Ellis, who is only in this terrible predicament because of them.

  “Yes. I’ll take the head witches with me. I’ll ask the council to put out a call to any rebels they might know, or any they don’t know, and tell them there’ll be an amnesty. They just need to come forward and hear what we’ve done, hear what’s happened and they’ll be forgiven. Let us all go back to normal, let us all get along again. That’s what I’m hoping for.”

  “That’s an outstanding idea, mum. There’s nothing to fight about anymore.”

  “I hope they’ll listen to me.”

  “They will. I love you mum. Do you forgive me?”

  “Nothing to forgive, my boy. Nothing to forgive.”

  Ellis

  Nothing to forgive.

  If Fletcher hadn’t turned me into a vampire, I’d be dead.

  How can I be angry about that?

  I’m happy that I’m alive. I’m heartbroken that I’ll have to leave my family. I’m giddy that Fletcher wants to be with me forever. I’m gutted I’ll be seventeen forever. Why didn’t this happen when I was twenty-one – when my boobs had grown a bit more, when my spots were gone, when I had better hair?

  I’m grossed out with the blood thing, and panicky at the thought of wanting to suck on human blood, of animal blood not being enough to satisfy my dark new desires.

  Dark new desires. That sounds dodgy as fudge.

  This whole palaver has been crazy off the charts.

  But we’re getting to the end.

  The end of life as I know it. The end of me as I know me.

  I was a girl, then a witch, now a vampire.

  What’s next?

  I won’t be able to go home; I’ll live with Fletcher. That’s an enormous step. Okay, so I know he wants to be turned into a vampire so he can spend eternity with me, but we still haven’t seen each other naked.

  Not that that’s my biggest concern at the moment. And at least if he’s a vampire too, I won’t want to bite him. Well, I won’t want to drink his blood at least. I can’t promise on the biting thing.

  Gross.

  See, off I go down the crazy rabbit hole of my thoughts again.

  I’m a vampire and I have to say goodbye to my family. I don’t even know how it will work. I feel too sick to ask.

  We hug Elodie, and then I quickly hug the twins. Will they really be excellent head witches? Selfishly I don’t care, I just had to make sure that Fletcher didn’t change his mind.

  “Mum, you’ll be fine, but let me know if there’s any trouble. We’ll come and help. John, will you stay until we’ve seen Ellis’s family?”

  John nods, I know he’ll help me. He likes me and he won’t refuse to turn Fletcher, even if it isn’t his first choice.

  “I’ll go with your mum. Just in case.”

  I like that. I like that he’s a gentleman.

  We part ways outside, after checking for signs of trouble. Fletcher’s mum holds onto John ready to fly off and he gives me a cheeky look with a raised eyebrow which makes me laugh. He hasn’t got a h
ope of bagging Elodie. Though he is a charmer, and it seems like Adam wasn’t as charming as Fletcher has always believed.

  I slip into Fletcher’s arms with the ease I always have. It feels like where I belong. I feel a brief flutter of panic when the thought of his blood comes into my head, but I push it away. I will not kill my boyfriend. It’s not the done thing.

  Outside my house, we hunker down while I get my nerves under control. “How will this work?”

  “I’ll use my magic to take away the memory of you going off on the trip to Paris and let them think you’ve been here all along as normal. Then you’ll go in, spend time with them, take photos of them.”

  “Do I show up in photos?”

  “Yes.”

  “Evolution?”

  He shrugs. He has as little clue as I do. “We’ve seen photos of John, remember.”

  “Yes. As a bat and a man. That means I can turn into a bat?”

  “Not right now.”

  “Well, I didn’t mean now.” I sigh. Of course, I didn’t mean now. How would I explain that to my parents and Isaac? He’s thick sometimes.

  “Then when you’re done, I’ll wipe their memory of you away.”

  “Just like that, huh?”

  He nods. What can he say? But I know I can’t hold this against him, hold this over him, not if he will change into a vampire for me. Not if we have a hope of a happy future together. I lean in and kiss him, softly, sweetly. Not in a bloodthirsty way.

  What’s done is done. We can’t undo it. “I’m ready.” And I am. I’m ready to see them, to hug them, to laugh with them, to drink in every detail of their faces and their voices. To indulge in them, like I’ve never done before, to be honest. We take our loved ones for granted every single day and I’m just as guilty.

  Fletcher faces the walls and chants some magic and then I feel a pang of the guilt he probably feels about having me turned into a vampire. When he turns – for me – he’ll lose his identity. He won’t be Fletcher the witch anymore. He’ll be a vampire instead. We’ll be a pair of vamps. Life is weird.

  He nods at me. “I love you.”

  “I love you too.”