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“Get out.” Noa jabbed his finger into Khan’s chest. “You can’t be here.”
“Why not?” Khan laughed. “Sooha invited us.”
“You still can’t stay!” Noa’s eyes flared red, a warning beacon within the murky dark.
At that moment, he heard his name being called and turned his back to the would-be intruders, catching Heli’s eye quickly. He heard Heli’s cool voice ring through his mind telling him to handle this swiftly. Once he’d delivered the message, Heli spun back around, walking in the opposite direction with one arm wrapped around a girl as he told her some joke.
So this was a test. Heli wanted to see what he could handle. That was fine; he’d show him, all of them, that he wasn’t a fledgling anymore. He was more than capable of handling anything they wanted to throw at him, let alone a few cocky wolves.
Noa turned his focus back to the group in front of him.
“This is not your house and you’re not welcome. Party or not, you’re not coming in. If you don’t want to leave—” The light in the house seemed to dim slightly as the shadows behind Khan and his brothers’ feet seemed to warp and elongate themselves. “Then I will make you.”
There was a sharp pause before one of the brothers put his hand on Khan’s shoulder and pushed himself to the front of the group.
“You’re right. If we weren’t invited, we should go.” Enzy smiled.
Noa stared, holding eye contact and searching for any sign of a lie. It would’ve been easier if he could see into their heads like Heli, but he would just have to take his word. He nodded hesitantly and Enzy’s smile widened.
Enzy jerked his head slightly and his brothers began to leave, not without Khan throwing one last surly look towards the house.
“You shouldn’t threaten us like that, though. It won’t end well on your part.”
Noa narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth to respond, but Enzy was already walking off into the awaiting darkness. He watched as the night sky enveloped them then shook his head and re-entered the house, locking the door behind him.
As he entered, he felt fingers latch firmly around his forearm, and was pulled further inside by someone he couldn’t see. Leaning back into his weight, he tried to tug his arm away from the stranger, being careful not to put too much weight into the movement in case they were human, but the stranger held fast.
He stumbled up the flight of stairs as the stranger pulled him along brusquely, and found himself backed into a corner in an empty spare room in the house. Finally managing to yank his arm back, he found Jaan’s critical eye examining him for injury.
“I’m fine, it was just the wolves.” Noa had only encountered them a few times since he’d been turned but had faced little more than a few biting words thrown before a match.
Jaan stared at him grimly. “Don’t underestimate them.”
He did one last once over of Noa, nodding to himself once satisfied that he was unharmed.
“If you want to go back to the party then relax.” Noa forced his shoulders to slump. “And fix your teeth.”
Noa automatically reached up a hand to feel in his mouth, frowning when his finger felt the sharp point of a fang. His short temper had fought to be released in the encounter with the wolves. Heat had bubbled under his skin at their refusal to leave but he thought he’d kept it under control. Clearly not. He took a deep breath in, attempting to force his anger to subside. When he didn’t feel the sharp points of his fangs recede, he huffed in frustration.
“Aw, it’s okay,” Jaan said, patting his arm in amusement. “You’re only young still. I suppose we probably shouldn’t have sent you to deal with them anyway.”
“Don’t baby me,” Noa said angrily, shrugging off his hand.
He’d only been turned a year ago and it felt like he was constantly being underestimated. He’d fended for himself even before being turned so he couldn’t understand why they treated him like some kind of child.
“Okay, okay.” Jaan held his hands up in mock surrender. “But you’re not leaving here until you’ve calmed down, so better get to it.”
He walked away laughing to himself, dodging as spindly fingers of darkness began to reach towards him from shaded corners of the room. Once Jaan had left, Noa heard him fiddling with the lock on the door, preventing his escape whilst there were humans around.
He sat down in the nearest chair, his cheeks flushed red from irritation. He didn’t think the Khan thing had bothered him that much but here he was. What was worse was that Jaan's taunting had only exacerbated his anger. Red stained the edges of his vision and it didn’t seem like it was receding. He attempted to feel through the telepathic link that Heli had set up between the group if the rest of them were too busy to speak face to face.
‘Are any of you free? Can someone come up to the spare room upstairs, please?’
Just as he asked, he felt a hand shaking the door handle, attempting to enter. He stayed silent.
“Noa, it’s me, open the door!” Heli called.
“It’s locked from the outside.” He responded, after making sure his voice wouldn’t shake from the anger.
There was a pause before the door was unlocked, and there stood Heli, very much key-less. He wiggled his fingers and smirked.
“Magic.”
“Okay.” Noa stared stonily at him.
Heli widened his eyes in mock hurt. “Well if you don’t believe that was magic, feel your teeth.”
Noa reached up and realised all he felt was the rounded bump of human teeth where his fangs had been. He smiled despite himself. Was that all it took? He felt internally— the colours had changed from red to black. The rage wasn’t in his head. It seemed too easy.
“See? Magic!” Heli wiggled his fingers at him.
“Can I go now?” Noa could feel the floor beneath him vibrating from the music playing downstairs. He wanted to be in the fray of the party again. He could feel all the blood from the humans downstairs thrumming in their veins.
He’d had time to control his baser urges so he wasn’t going to attack anyone or anything, but sometimes it was nice to just be in the same vicinity. The scent was overwhelming, inundating all his senses. Sometimes he wished he’d never gotten past that initial stage of instinctive violence so he couldn’t be blamed for his actions. He shook his head to clear his thoughts— now was definitely not the time to be thinking like that.
Heli was staring at him with his head cocked and the corner of his lip slightly downturned as though he had heard all of Noa’s thoughts. Knowing him, he probably had.
“I don’t think now is a good time for you to go down, Noa. This is the first time you’ve been around such a large crowd of humans since you turned. Maybe we should’ve taken this slower instead of dropping you in headfirst.”
“I’m fine, look, I’ve calmed down!” Noa’s voice was strained with suppressed frustration as he tried not to let his anger get the best of him again.
Heli merely shook his head disappointedly. “Don’t worry. Next time we’ll send someone with you to deal with that lot, okay?”
Noa’s nails had sharpened once more and little red droplets of blood had started to drip from where he had dug his nails into his palm. His fangs were starting to pierce his bottom lip in a way he hadn’t allowed since he’d first gained control over himself. He felt more angry now than he had in a long time.
The dull overhead light flickered, leaving the room in darkness for a minute before the light quickly returned. The silence in the room was pierced only by Noa’s sharp inhales and exhales as he tried to calm himself down.
Heli watched him carefully, ready to stop him if his anger got the best of him. Noa could feel the observation like a parasite in his skin. He knew what Heli was thinking — that it was almost good that he was experiencing this rage now where Heli, and the rest of his brothers, could stop him. He was probably already pathologising this; it was because of the stress of joining a coven, of learning to protect himself, of learning to protect the others.
Noa could feel himself shaking. His hair was in his eyes. The blood moved stiltedly — it kept clotting. Jino was faking the need to breathe somewhere in the middle of a group of humans. That boy, the one with the flower tattoo behind his left ear, was on the verge of blacking out. He wanted to feed.
“Noa,” Heli called tentatively. “Are you okay?”
Noa’s hands reached up to clutch his hair. The veins on his arms were visible, a blue-ish colour against his pale skin.
“I already said I’m fine.” Noa said, letting go of his hair and forcibly placing his hands by his sides.
Heli eyed him for a minute, noting the trembling of his fingers and choosing not to push the matter.
“I still need you to stay up here for a bit. I’ll send Solon up to keep you company.”
Noa rolled his eyes and stuffed his hands in his pockets. “Whatever. Great. Just let me know when I can go down.”
Heli shot him a warning look, but didn’t otherwise speak, choosing to let the matter rest. Waving a quick goodbye, he left the room and locked the door behind him. The lock wouldn’t actually do much if Noa genuinely wanted to leave but he trusted that Noa would listen to him if he asked. He’d listened to Jaan even as his anger got the best of him.
“I’m on my way up there, don’t worry,” Solon said, sliding past Heli as he walked down the stairs.
Heli frowned. Solon had definitely listened in on the conversation and that was definitely a breach of privacy and not what their hearing was supposed to be used for. He turned to say as much, but Solon had already disappeared down the hallway. He sighed. That would have to be a conversation for later, then.
—
The door sprung open easily from the slight push Solon gave the handle despite being locked before. When he entered, Noa was sat in a chair, head thrown back with his eyes focused on the ceiling.
Dark limbs stretched out from where he was sat, fiddling with the door’s lock, flickering the lights and knocking over the little tub of pens on the desk in the corner. Although it had been months since Noa had developed his power, Solon was still continuously surprised by it. He forced his tense shoulders to relax, giving Noa an easy smile as he leant against the desk to face him.
“So.” He watched Noa carefully for any changes in demeanour, but if Noa was still angry, he was doing a decent job at hiding it. He stared blankly at Solon, eyes unfocused and the corners of lips turned downwards slightly. The only indication of his previous rage was the crescent shaped marks on his palm where his nails had dug into the skin. “You seem a lot better.”
Noa shrugged his shoulders indifferently. “Something like that. I’m just ready to leave.”
Solon nodded. “Fair enough.” He jerked his head towards the now unlocked door. “Let’s go then.”
He watched as Noa’s eyes flicked towards him questioningly. Once he’d figured out that Solon was being serious, he shuffled past him and out of the door with hesitance. Solon followed closely behind him as they walked down the stairs, watching the way his shoulders began to tremble almost imperceptibly once they began to encounter humans. He clamped his right hand on Noa’s shoulder, effectively stilling him.
“I’m trusting you with this.” The bass of the music should’ve drowned his voice out but he was certain Noa could hear him. “Do not fuck this up.”
The red light cast over Noa’s face seemed almost ominous. He turned to face Solon with a grin, “Of course not.”
Solon released his shoulder and watched as Noa disappeared into the crowd. He could feel the thrum of blood in every body surrounding them. Their lives, their hopes, their dreams — they were all held in Solon’s hands, ready for him to destroy at any moment.
In his youth, he had struggled with self-control amidst humans, so he could understand Noa’s problem. There was a certain entitlement that came with their state of being. Having the power to read minds, to snap bones on a whim, to end and assign new life within seconds — it altered your mind in a way imaginable only to those who shared the experience.
Not to mention, being in The House controlled by humans day in and day out had messed with all of their mindsets. They’d had to readjust, to relearn the concept of care for human life once they’d escaped. He shook his head and refocused. He’d need to go find the others; it was time to light Jakah’s candles.
—
“I want to hold the cake,” Noa frowned, looking impossibly younger for a flash.
Jino snatched the cake away, holding it as far as possible despite Noa being noticeably taller.
“There’s no way you’re holding it when you couldn’t even keep it together for one second earlier.”
Noa’s eyes flashed red in annoyance. Jino pointed an accusatory finger towards him.
“Look, he can’t even keep his eyes normal!”
Shion looked considering for a moment, his head tilted to the side before nodding slightly. Noa flashed his eyes towards him.
“Don’t start Shion, you’re just siding with him to irritate me. Heli, tell them I can do it!”
Heli sighed a moment before turning to Jino.
“Let him hold the cake this once, just whilst you light the candles. He’ll be fine for those few seconds.” Jino huffed and nodded in defeat so he turned back towards Noa. “And you— you need to learn patience. You were turned a year ago, you’ve had time to figure this out, even if you are still a baby in the span of things.”
Noa nodded, looking slightly chastised, before grinning as he saw Jino pushing the cake towards him. He held it out as carefully as possible for Jino to light the candles. With practised elegance, Jino wafted his fingers over the candles, leaving small flames wavering in his wake. Solon hung his chin over Jino’s shoulder to watch as Jakah blew his candles out. With his speed, the event seemed to be over in a blur, a few wisps of smoke the only evidence the candles had ever been lit.
Noa lifted the cake in excitement, a cheer on lips. It stayed there for a second, lifted high like a trophy, before gracefully sliding off and onto the floor. There was a pause of disbelief within the group when Jaan started laughing.
“Jino did warn us!” He wiped a tear from the corner of his eye. “God, you can’t trust him with anything.”
Noa’s shoulders hunched over hearing the others join in laughing. The lights began to flicker. He felt a firm hand come to rest on his shoulder.
“Don’t.” Jakah whispered. “And don’t listen to them, I’m not bothered — I don’t even like cake that much.”
Noa’s head was beginning to spin again so he was desperately grateful when Jakah asked if he wanted to go outside for some air.
Outside, the cold air rested on Noa’s shoulders like a safety blanket. The black sky, completely devoid of light, provided Noa with similar comfort. He’d always found solace in the darkness and now was no different.
They were sat on the pavement directly in front of the house, close enough to hear the music from the party still raging on, but distanced enough to feel uninvolved. A comfortable silence had settled between the two as they felt the thrum of music through their fingertips on the ground.
Here, alone with his brother in the sleepy night, Noa felt calmer than he had been since the party had begun. He’d realised that, more than quietude, he needed a reminder of the thread linking him to the darkness when he wanted to quell his anger. He had found a home in the night, and it would always welcome him with open arms.
“I’m sorry I ruined your party.” Noa wrapped his arms around his folded knees. He could feel Jakah’s eyes on him but he continued to stare into the night, purposely avoiding them.
“Like I said earlier, it’s fine. You haven’t ruined anything.”
“It’s not fine—”
“It is.” Jakah cut that train of self loathing short before it could even really begin. “I told you, I don’t even like cake very much. I’m just glad to be able to spend my birthday with you guys, semi-safe on our own for the first time in years.”
Noa could feel the tips of his ears heating up. If Jakah noticed, he didn’t say anything. Noa had never been very good when it came to showing affection and often shut down when a conversation involved it. They assumed it had something to do with his life before turning, before The House, but they couldn’t know for sure since he never spoke of it. As it was, they just tried to be as patient as possible with him when he got in his head.
Jakah waited until he saw a little tendril of night sneaking towards his outstretched arm. Noa always loved like this — tentatively as though afraid of immediate rejection. Seeing it, he took it as his cue to lay an arm around Noa’s shoulders and pull him close. At first, Noa tensed defensively, before relaxing into the soft embrace. They stayed like that for a while, unspeaking and intimate.