TheRaven: The Tragedy of Ashley Bilefoot

Teaser: Blood Moon

“Here.”


Jake looked up from his book as a large, pale, clawed hand held out a coffee mug towards him. “This will help with the nightmares.” Jake took the mug and looked at the contents, hazarding a sniff. It smelled vaguely of some sort of herb or tea, but he still wasn’t sure if he should trust it. “You mean the nightmares you’ve caused?” He snapped back with a raised eyebrow, causing the gothic amazon’s smirk to widen. “Yeah. And I’ll give you more of them if you don’t drink your tea. And watch your tone, I’m still in charge here.”


Jake grumbled and after another sniff of the liquid, took a large mouthful, closing his eyes as he allowed the tea to sit on his tongue and warm his mouth before sliding down his throat. “I think Beth and Pam would take exception to that statement.” Jake watched as Rebecca cackled as she walked into the other room. “And they’re not here to save you. You know how this goes, Jake. Magic or not. You’re still my property.” Jake clenched his jaw and thought about snapping back, but as much as he hated to admit it, a deep fear of the woman still gripped his very soul. He huffed and set the book down, and took a deep breath to try and level himself before taking another sip of the tea. Beth would kill him if she knew he was still letting Goth treat him like this, but there wasn’t much he could do about it. Goth had been imposing her will upon people for millennia, and if Dilatrix was being honest, there’s no one Rebecca preferred to subject to her will than Jake, even throughout his past lives. Jake sighed, despite the fact that she had lost her magical powers, her grip on him had never been stronger. She’d gone from a castle with hundreds of servants to a two bedroom apartment with Jake in downtown Metropolis, and Beth hadn’t thought Jake ready to go back out on patrol yet, so he had nothing to do all day except sit around the apartment with Rebecca, and be subjected to her whims. He laid back and closed his eyes, trying not to think about it. Beth was considering allowing him a patrol tomorrow night, and he could use the fresh air. Despite everything, he did feel like he was starting to get better. Hell, tonight he’d managed to quip back at Goth. If he was lucky, in a few months he might muster up the courage to tell her to fuck off….


… “fat chance…” Jake thought to himself and sighed in despair as he slowly dozed off to sleep. After a silent few moments, Goth crept back into his bedroom, and watched the boy sleep. The sleeping pills she’d slipped into his tea had worked to perfection. Technically she hasn’t lied to him either, he was very unlikely to dream while all drugged up. She walked to her own bedroom and grabbed a small case from one of her drawers, before walking back to Jake’s room, opening the case, and producing a syringe, screwing the needle onto it as she looked down at the sleeping boy. “I’ve never lied to you, Jake.” She said, plunging the needle into his arm, and extracting enough blood to fill the syringe. “I’m going to fix you. But we’re going to do it my way. And while I’m fixing you, you’re going to fix me too.” She pulled the needle out and capped it, before reaching for her phone and sending a text to an unsaved number. She tucked her phone back into her pocket and straddled the sleeping boy. She ran a hand through his hair before slowly moving her hand down to his throat. “You will call me Goddess again…”

—————————


Goth had just finished stashing the sleeping pills underneath the sink as she heard a knock at the door. She opened it to reveal a short girl, concealing herself as much as possible in her large hoodie. Goth smirked and handed the girl the needle. “I texted you the summoning ritual instructions. Complete this task, and when my empire rises again, you will take the role as my right hand, the one my… former… student once enjoyed…” the girl nodded and bowed at the waist. “T-thank you, Goddess. Despite having to take our worship to the shadows, it is still a true honor to serve your will…” Goth smirked and closed the door, and the girl left to do as she had been ordered. Goth was lying, of course. The girl wouldn’t survive the ritual, she was feed more than anything. But as Goth always told her followers, there was no greater honor than dying for the will of the Goddess….



——————————————————





“Fuck!” Allison cursed to herself, as she stood out in the freezing cold rain of an early Metropolis March. She’d used the last of the blood in the syringe, and had repeated the incantation multiple times, but nothing had happened. No opening of the ground and brilliant flashes of red, nothing. Allison was trying to figure out how to tell her Goddess that she had failed, when she heard a presence come up from behind. Allison spun around and pointed the syringe at whoever had been trying to sneak up on her, considering it was the only thing on her that could potentially be used as a weapon. “Stay back! Whoever you are, stay back!”


The redhead in the old Victorian style dress approached with her hands up, and a disarming smile on her face. “Relax, relax. I’m not here to mess with you. I’m a friend of the Goddess. She figured you might be having trouble with the ritual, and sent me over to help you out.” Allison slowly lowered the syringe and took a deep sigh of relief. “Thank the Goddess, her grace knows no bounds… I just don’t understand what I’m doing wrong.” The redhead smiled and approached the girl, resting a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t beat yourself up about it. It’s a hard ritual, the Goddess must trust you a lot if she’s sent you here to perform it. Here, I’ll help you out.” The redhead smiled and led Allison over towards where she’d tried to cast the summoning spell. “Alright. Kneel down, stretch your arms out to your side, and repeat after me.”


Allison, following directions, did exactly that.


“I.”



“I…”



“What’s your name, sweetie?”


“Allison.”



“I, Allision.”


“I, Allision…”



“... was a fool for trusting a lying, deceitful witch.”



Before Allison could even react, Ashley Bilefoot had dug her fangs into the side of her neck, and within seconds, sucked the poor girl dry. Allison dropped over onto her side, dead, with her entire circulatory system devoid of blood, and Ashley stood up and wiped her mouth of blood, licking the residual off of her hand, before huffing and looking at the ground.


“Using the blood of my first turn to summon me. You’ve got balls, witch. I’ll give you that. Still lacking a brain, I see, but you’ve got balls.” Ashley walked to the edge of the cliff overlooking Metropolis, and started out at the busy city nightlife. She was still hungry after the poor girl Goth had sent to die, and if she was going to take this city over, she’d need a few vampire servants as well- and most importantly, she would need her first turn at her side. Ashley was well aware of Goth’s fondness for Jake, and despised how she treated him in the past. If Goth had enough access to him that she was able to obtain a syringe full of his blood, it just told Ashley that Goth was doing things with her first turn that she wouldn’t approve of. She wasn’t sure why Goth had summoned her, but if Goth was looking for a fight, Ashley was certainly always one to oblige.