Taken

Taken
Quinn enters the cottage. She makes her way into the nursery. The crib mattress lies hidden under the broken wood frame of the crib. She pulls the mattress free and lays her baby boy down on it. She then arranges the wood around the mattress to shelter the child from anyone else's view.

She slowly backs out of the room, stopping only at the door frame to make sure her son is sleeping. As she turns to leave, a creaking noise echos from the corner of the room. Quinn glances towards the corner but sees nothing but air. A whirl of ash twirls by and reminds Quinn to close the window. She quietly makes her way through the room, closing the window and pulling the curtains taut. When she looks to the corner again, it is still empty. She is satisfied the room is secure and exits to the main room of the cottage.

After doing a thorough investigation of the remainder of the cottage, Quinn makes her way back to the edge of the woods, hoping to help Ciaran or find him victorious over Alroy. She sees neither leprechaun by the woods. When she draws closer, she notices drag marks at the entrance to the woods. She follows the trail until it runs out. The trail stops at an opening in the trees. The sun shines a spotlighting beam into the center of the opening. Nothing but the disturbed leaves are warmed by the sun’s beam. 

Quinn trudges back through the woods and towards the cottage. Her mind spins with thoughts of Ciaran being injured. She worries Alroy has drug Ciaran away and she may never see him. Why did she have to leave him alone? Realizing the reason she left Ciaran, she remembers her baby alone in the house. Quinn scurries towards the cottage. When she enters the nursery, she notices the wood over the mattress is disheveled and the mattress is empty. Quinn frantically throws the wood away. She blinks furiously, hoping the child will appear before her eyes. Quinn slumps to the floor clutching the corner of the mattress as the realization her son is gone sets in.

While Quinn was in the woods searching for Ciaran, The Cailleach materialized in the same corner of the nursery Quinn heard the creaking floorboards earlier. The goddess bundled up the sleeping infant and slipped back through the portal from which she entered the room. She took the baby to her part of the Mag Mell, to the dark, wintry world she calls home. 

At the same time The Cailleach absconded with the child, Dian Cecht appeared in front of the cottage. He witnessed the ethereal trail left by the open portal The Cailleach created. When he entered the nursery, he saw the portal envelop itself. Dian Cecht reached the portal too late to go through it, but not too late to see what was on the other side. He recognized the landscape immediately. There is only one place in the Mag Mell that fits the icy and snow covered setting he glimpsed.

Dian Cecht surveyed the small room trying to determine what The Cailleach had returned to the cottage to retrieve. He noticed the awkward pile of wood in the middle of the floor. An icy residue sparkled on the fragments. Had The Cailleach taken the infant? He knelt next to the mattress and felt the warmth where the baby had just laid. Rage surged through his body. The Cailleach had indeed come back to take the leprechaun heir. He needed to find the child and return him to his rightful home, if there was any home left to which to return him. 

A swipe of his hand opened a new portal. The piercing wind blew into the room and chilled him. As he stepped through, he wondered where Quinn and Ciaran were. Had Alroy harmed them? Did they know their son was taken? Dian Cecht did not have time to hesitate, he continued through the portal and closed it behind him. When he stepped foot on the icy terrain, he strained to see through the thick air. The Cailleach was not visible. He trudged towards her castle, hoping to reach her before she was locked behind the fortress’s walls.

Back in the nursery, Quinn clings to the mattress. Every part of her is breaking. Both her child and her love are missing. She does not know what type of danger they are in. The thought of them being dead creeps into her brain. She shakes it out, knowing they are both immortal. However, the torture they may endure may make them or at least Ciaran wish he was dead.

A large hand descends down on her shoulder and squeezes hard. Quinn jolts forward and looks upward at the man hovering above her. Through blurred vision, she sees the outline of who she believes to be Ciaran. Her heart fills with joy and she wipes the tears from her eyes. She jumps to her feet to embrace him, but stumbles backwards. The man in front of her is not Ciaran. Alroy stands smugly smiling down at her. He makes a low growling noise, then speaks.

“Not happy to see me, little dove?” He pulls her towards him. “I think I deserve a better greeting than that.” Alroy grips her tight and lifts her up. He lowers his head and presses his lips firmly on hers. She bucks in his arms, struggling to get loose. 

Alroy forcefully parts her lips with his tongue and invades her mouth. Quinn lefts out a muffled cry and bites down hard on Alroy’s tongue. He leisurely finishes the kiss, licking the blood forming at the corner of his mouth. His calm laugh chills Quinn and the lust reflecting in his eyes terrifies her.

“Little dove, does my brother know you like it rough?” Alroy thrusts his tongue back into her mouth. 

She tastes the metallic tinge of his blood. He returns her bite and she winces, trying hard to release the kiss and pull away from him. He does not break the kiss or his hold on her. Her mouth fills with her own blood intermingling with his. Quinn begins to choke on the fluid. Her coughing finally causes Alroy to break the kiss, but his hold is still firm. Her chest can barely expand as she coughs for air because of how tightly Alroy clenches her to his chest.

When she swallows the last of the blood in her mouth and finishes coughing, a devilish grin spreads across Alroy’s face. He drops Quinn to the ground. Her back hits the floor hard and takes her breath away. Before she can recover, Alroy plummets on top of her, pinning her to the floor. His hands rip at her clothes, tearing through them like paper. She tries desperately to cover herself but can barely manage to get her arms into the space between him. 

Alroy pushes up for a moment. His eyes devour the image of Quinn in torn clothes, undergarments exposed. He licks his lips and descends down on her again. His teeth pierce her neck and Quinn cries out in pain. She shakes her head trying to break free of his bite. Alroy only clenches down harder, sucking her blood into his mouth and moaning at the taste. When he finally releases her, a bruise has already formed on the side of her neck. She immediately covers the wound with her hand. 

Alroy laughs. He snakes his hands over Quinn’s body, stopping when he feels the soft warmth of her breasts in his palms. At first he is gentle, enjoying the feel in his hands. Listening to the hitch in her breath as he caresses her. He mistakes her ragged breathing for desire, not realizing she is terrified of what he is doing. However, knowing she is afraid probably would turn him on more. His caresses turn into kneading. Quinn cringes and puckers her face as his fingers roughly pinch her nipples through her bra. She fights the urge to cry out, not giving him the satisfaction.

“Scream for me, little dove.” Alroy taunts. “You know you want to.” He rips off her bra and enjoys the view of her full bosom heaving under him. His mouth begins to water. Alroy swallows hard and licks his lips. “I am going to devour you whole, little dove.”