Salem Falls

Lucie sifted through her various dresses and scarves, smiling softly and biting her lip. She was finally going to do it, she was going to run away with Liam and everything was going to be perfect. She couldn’t believe they were so close to freedom, to finally being together. As she pulled out one of her dresses she blushed, holding the silky white material in her hands and smiling softly.

It was the dress she had worn when she and Liam had made love for the first time, and the memory of him slowly unzipping it, running soft kisses down her back as he did so, was enough to make her giggle. She folded the dress up neatly, setting it in her suitcase with a beaming smile. She hoped that Liam might just be ripping it right back off in the near future as she grabbed several of her pairs of jeans, packing them up as she thought of the boy she was going to finally be with.

She could still remember every single moment of their friendship in vivid detail, when he first stumbled onto her, their first magic lesson together, and when he confessed he was in love with her. She smiled, always wondering what she had done to deserve someone as perfect, as loving, as incredible as Liam. He had singlehandedly saved her from most likely burning the forest to the ground in rage, and the memory of him turning the tree, heading right for them, into millions of flower petals reminded her how strong they were together.

When Lucie was with Liam she could feel magic pulsing in her veins stronger than at any other time. He had helped her become strong enough to keep her parents off her back, and had given her confidence she had never gotten with the sixth circle. She reached back for the small scarf he’d gotten here, one of the few presents she had from him. The navy blue material was littered with fireflies, which Liam had decided was the symbol for the two of them.

She pressed her lips together before kissing the fabric softly, wishing it was Liam. But she knew she had to bide her time. In a few days she and Liam would leave this awful place in the dust and begin their lives together. Until then she had to keep up this charade for her parents, Zayn, and the rest of the clan. The most difficult part was lying to Siren so much, one of the few people Lucie thought of as a friend. She felt her smile falter at the thought of leaving the snarky girl behind, but she didn’t have much time to be upset before she heard the clacking of heels.

She kicked her suitcase under her bed, sitting down and grabbing a bridal magazine her mother had left for her just in time for the witch in question to step through the door. Annabelle sneered at her daughter, taking in the chunky sweater and messy bun. She clacked over, slapping the magazine to the ground. “What the Hell is this?” She snapped, taking in her daughter’s disheveled appearance. Lucie rolled her eyes.

“Forgive me if, unlike you, I don’t want to dress like a stripper all the time.” She shot, picking up another one of the magazines from the stack. “And I’m not wearing that dress you picked out. It makes me look like a cheap mail order bride.”

Annabella snapped her fingers and the magazine busted into flames, burning the tips of Lucie’s fingers before it burnt to ashes. “That is not how you speak to me you snot nosed little brat!” She hissed. “I worked my ass off to get this wedding and I’ll be damned if you screw it up. Now get dressed.”

“For what?” Lucie said flatly.

“I invited Zayn and his mother over for dinner. And I swear to Christ if he isn’t dying to rip off your dress by the end of the night I will disown you.”

“What happened to saving the goods until I was married?”

“Please.” Annabelle scoffed. “I know what a little skank you are. You’ve probably fucked every good looking guy in the sixth circle.” Lucie glared at her mother so coldly that Annabelle felt chills for the slightest moment.

“Don’t confuse my past with yours Annabelle.” She said finally. “I’m not the whore of this family.” Lucie felt a sharp pain across her cheek, and when she looked up she saw Annabelle, her hand cocked back from having slapped her daughter. Lucie cradled her cheek as Annabelle coldly muttered a healing spell, making sure Lucie would have no bruises.

“Now.” Annabelle said simply, looking through Lucie’s clothes. “Where’s that slinky little white dress that makes your ass look good?” Lucie felt her heart stop as she thought of the dress sitting in her suitcase. She pressed her lips together, knowing she had to think fast.

“I got something in the zipper so I sent it to be fixed.” She said quickly. She saw Annabelle freeze and held her breath, wondering if her mother would buy it.

“Why didn’t you just fix it with a spell? Christ you’re stupid sometimes.” The honey blonde finally muttered. Lucie let out a short breath as he mother pulled out a strapless black dress. It was the one Annabelle had originally wanted Lucie to wear to the funeral, but she refused. “Put this on and wear your push up bra. And you and Zayn better be fooling around by the end of the night. I expect hickeys at least.”

“I’m not some blow up doll you can just hand to Zayn to-” Annabelle turned around, grabbing Lucie’s face in her hand.

“You’re not even a blow up doll Lucie. You are nothing more than an object for Zayn to have some fun with that is going to pop out the next ruler and get me into the head family. Do you understand me?” Lucie didn’t say anything until Anabelle gave her face a rough tug. “Do you understand me?”

“Yes.”

“Yes what?”

“Yes… mother.” She said simply. Annabelle released her grip on Lucie, leaving her daughter to get dressed.



“Lucie, why don’t you go show Zayn the gazebo out back? The reflection of the moon on the pond is very romantic.” Annabelle said, her fake smile in full force. Lucie flashed one back, quickly standing.

“Of course mother.” Lucie said, smiling warmly at Zayn as he stood. They were silent as they walked out to Delacroix’s backyard, the gazebo sitting just far enough that no one in the house could see anything but their silhouettes against the moon. “I’m sorry about her.” She said once she knew her parents couldn’t hear her. She looked over to Zayn, but it was clear his mind was on other things.

She simply sighed, sitting down on the bench in the gazebo, looking out onto the pond as Zayn sat a good distance away. They hadn’t really spoken to each other since he’d forbidden Lucie from seeing Liam, but little did he know that in a few more days she’d be gone. She knew he’d have to try hard not to celebrate getting out of his engagement, however she was sure someone else would be shoved at him soon after she was gone.

“Lucie.” She turned to her fiancée as he simply looked at her. “About Liam… I hope you understand why I did what I did.” She smiled, taking his hand in hers and giving it a small squeeze, knowing her mother was watching. Zayn looked at her as if she had grown two heads and she quickly retracted her hand, setting it in her lap.

“You’re the leader of Sixth Circle Zayn.” She said. “It’s not my place to question your decisions.” He cocked her head at her and she smiled softly. “Look, my mom is standing right at the door, so will you do me a favor?”

“What?” She then leaned over, pressing her lips to his. She kept her eyes closed tightly, pretending it was Liam as he hesitated before kissing her back. She then quickly pulled away, looking to the door to see her mother smirking before walking away. Lucie let out a long sigh, running a hand through her hair as she turned to Zayn.

“Thanks.” He simply nodded, and as Lucie looked at him she couldn’t help but wonder if she hadn’t been the only one pretending they were kissing someone else.