by Tara Chau
“I do so love your company pip-squeak, but did you have to bring the bodyguard?” Hearing Lucien’s voice, I spin around in shock. Gabe is at my side before I’ve finished my turn.
Lucien doesn’t look one bit like the photo. In fact, he looks the same as three weeks ago. Wearing a red collared shirt and jeans, a dirty smirk playing on his face.
“Lucien,” I sigh. “How have you been?” I ask, attempting to conceal the slight quiver in my voice.
Lucien makes his way over to us from the kitchen, stopping a metre away. “Not bad. This is a lovely neighbourhood. Sorry I didn’t invite you earlier. I’m happy you found me, though,” he says, smiling widely.
“I just came to see if you were okay, haven’t seen you at school in a while,” I point out.
“Right,” he sighs, “yeah, I’m not planning to come back for a little bit. But I have been catching up with a few friends,” he assures.
“Speaking of friends, have you any idea where Nyx is? I wanted to do some practice with her this week, but I haven’t been able to find her, though,” I say, trying to see what he is willing to tell me.
“Not a clue,” he shrugs to my disappointment. “Don’t really know her that well.”
A swell of annoyance emerges out of nowhere. “Lucien, we’re here to help you. Tell me what I can do,” I demand, voice raising into dangerous levels.
Gabe grips my arm, more of a warning than reassurance. Just as he’s about to respond, a little boy walks nervously through the door. My heart heaves. Gabe dashed to his side, whispering intensely into his ear. Returning to my side, he looks regretfully at the boy. The boy can only be around nine, maybe ten. The poor thing looks terrified, shaking slightly, looking back and forth between us three. His bright red hair brushes the edges of his earlobe, his pale green eyes shining with fear.
“What are you going to do to them?” Comes his high-pitched voice. His question is directed to Lucien. I panic at what he’s going to ask next.
Lucien glares at the boy, sending my nerves through the roof.
“You interrupted our conversation,” Lucien accuses.
“What are you going to do to them?” the boy asks more clearly.
“Not half as much as I will to you,” he replies before raising his hand towards the boy.
Before I have any time to react, a bright yellow light blooms from Lucien’s palm. Tossing the globe of power, Lucien sets the boy up in flames. A loud shriek tears from my throat. The boy’s cries echo through the house, rattling the thin walls. I dash towards the fire, but I find that I’m restricted by a firm but shaking hand. Gabe holds me against his body. We both shake with anger and regret as the boy’s tortured screams begin to subside. By the time the fire dies, he is gone. All that remains is a black scorch mark on the wooden floor. No, no, no. My brain spins with a million unanswered questions. With the emotions that I fight to rein back, with the effort of keeping my scream at bay. Lucien just killed a boy. Why? How?
Looking back at Lucien, I stare in horror. The Lucien that was captured in the picture blooms to life in front of my eyes. His skin and eyes are now a deathly yellow, hair white, a look of pure amusement written across his face. I notice that he has a chain showing from his collar. Assumedly, the same one I saw in the picture.
Still trying to process what just happened, a small whimper escapes from my lips. Turning to look at Gabe, I see that his face is white, eyes blown wide, still staring at the spot where that small little boy should have been. Struggling out of his still tightened grasp, I take an unsure step forward.
“Lucien…” I say. My breath seems to have vanished with the flame that had taken that boy’s life, lost in the endless void that his soul now drifts in.
“Sorry,” he says, flashing a toothy grin. “That boy was so rude. Where are those manners that our parents taught us? You can’t just come into someone’s house and interrupt a conversation,” he says simply.
Looking back at him, I see that his supernatural features are starting to disappear once more. Sorrow is replaced with anger. Whipping out my staff, I extend the blade. Lucien gives me an amused grin. He watches me carefully, eyes smiling menacingly.
“Now you look just like them,” he comments, pointing at Gabe beside me.
Gabe also has an arrow drawn, ready to shoot. His face is set in his well-known statue expression. He automatically switches to this when he wants to hide whatever emotion he’s feeling and when he needs to keep those emotions from even himself.
“I’m going to take that as a compliment,” I sneer.
“Now, what have you done to my sweet little Dianna, Gabe?” Lucien says, turning to look at Gabe.
Gabe simply narrows his eyes and steadies his grip on the arrow, not willing to speak.
“I asked you a question,” Lucien snarls.
“I don’t answer to you,” Gabe growls back.
A silent war seems to be happening between the two of them. The air is electrified and dangerously taut. Finally, after what seemed like hours, Lucien sighs, relaxing Gabe’s ever tight bowstring, but not much.
“That is true,” Lucien says, looking back at me. “Sit, let’s catch up,” he says whilst eyeing my weapon.
“I’d rather not,” I answer in a flat tone.
“Then what is it you disturbed me for?” he asks, getting slightly annoyed.
“We came here to get some answers. Now that we know you’ve killed four people, we’re taking you into the custody of the Protectors,” I scowl.
“Oh, I didn’t kill four people, only three. Nyx was unexpectedly better than I had anticipated. Just shows that underestimating people can backfire,” he says thoughtfully, admittedly.
“Enough,” Gabe orders. “You’re coming with us, Lucien.”
“I’m sorry, Gabe, but I don’t answer to you,” he mimics in Gabe’s voice.
Gabe releases an arrow. It hits the back wall just as Lucien vanishes. No dust or smoke left behind. Just gone. Looking back to Gabe, I let out a shaky breath.
“How is that possible?” I ask, taking my gaze to the black scorch mark on the floor. That boy… did nothing to deserve this.
Turning in a circle, I look for any sign of Lucien, my breathing unsteady.
“I don’t know. It might have something to do with the pendant he's wearing.” Gabe says, voice cold and hollow.
“He-he’s a….”
“Warlock,” he finishes.
A shaky breath escapes my lips. “What now?” I ask, forcing myself to look away from the deathly sight. I watch Gabe.
I know that so many things are running through his mind, making him confused and angry, and I also know that Gabe is going to take from Lucien the very thing that Lucien took from that child. Life.
Gabe looks back at me, revealing no emotion. “Now… we find Lucien.
Part Two
A death, a birth, a fight…
Slipping into the steaming hot shower, I sigh. The water swishes around me as I lower myself into the tub, sinking all the way down, so the water is up to my chin and sloshing around my cheeks. Massaging my arms and legs, I try to remove all the knots that have formed in my muscles.
I wince as I hit a raw spot. As I close my eyes and breathe in the gorgeous lavender oils which Anne had dropped into the bath for me, flashes of the Polexn demon which Anne and I had just fought come crashing onto me like hungry wild cats.
Those huge, mutated wolves had been a nightmare. Gnashing their huge canine teeth and barking madly. Imagine the biggest Great Dane you ever saw, then multiply the height by two and the muscle by eleven. Their pure white, close-cut fur gives them a more menacing look than if they were black. Polexn have no eyes; they are blind, which increased their other senses. After being tossed around for about ten minutes, Anne finally arrived and stabbed the thing, while I kindly risked my neck to distract it, literally.
Shivering at the thought of encountering one of those again, I open my eyes. If I don’t have to
see one five years from now, that will still be too short a time.
After my fingers and toes have been wrinkled and soft for over twenty minutes, I reluctantly climb out. Drying myself carefully, I tap the towel over the scratches and burns that decorate my body, cringing slightly. Dressing quickly, I walk out of the bathroom and straight into my room. Anne was waiting for me on the bed. She looks up at me as the sound of the door opens and shuts. Sighing, she moves over and slumps back down into her original lazing pose.
“Ow,” I complain.
“Well, maybe if you didn’t rush off without warning me, you wouldn’t be in so much pain,” she scolds.
“Astrid called me and told me to go straight there because this demon was attacking some kids,” I protest. A realisation crashes down into my mind, making me sit straighter. “Hey, what happens when humans see stuff like this?”
“Like what?” she asks cluelessly.
“Like… supernatural stuff,” I say slowly.
“Oh, that’s easy. You literally press your Sterling to their temple and tell it to wipe their minds of everything to do with magic.” Anne tilts her head to the side, then begins again. “Well, you don’t really tell it. You close your eyes and feel it,” she says with a satisfied smile, nodding.
“Ha, I had no idea you could do that,” I say, fascinated. “When can I have a Sterling?”
“You get one when Daniel thinks you’re ready,” she says simply.
Slumping under the bedcovers next to Anne, I close my eyes. Groaning loudly, I stumble out of bed once again to collect my ringing phone.
“Hmm?” I ask tiredly.
From the other side of the line, I hear shuffling before Gabe’s voice echoes from the phone. I make my way back over to the bed, sitting down against the bed head.
“Hey,” he says. I can tell by the tone of his voice that he’s smiling. He won’t be after I tell him about what just happened.
“Hey,” I say, trying to put an equal amount of enthusiasm into my voice, “how’s Maline?”
From the corner of my eyes, I see Anne’s ears prick up with interest.
“Busy. I’ve just spent three hours in the Counsel room, trying to convince them to allow our team to track down Lucien.”
Gabe has been in Maline for the past week, talking with the High Counsel. After finding out that Lucien had somehow obtained warlock magic, we went straight to Daniel. He then sent Gabe to Maline with an urgent message. Daniel had specifically told Gabe to stay in Maline until the issue had been solved, just so he could bring the news back to Daniel personally. The idea of this news breaking out was not something they were willing to ponder.
The Counsel had been busy, still trying to desperately track down the Book of Beings and keeping panic to a minimum, making it increasingly hard to get that approval. Told that I was to stay with the rest of my unit. I’ve been on call the whole week. Fighting demons and rogue Shifters. Shifters being vamps, warlocks, Lycans, faeries and any other supernatural creatures. This demon tonight was pretty lethal, but it was also the first time I had to hold one-off on my own. It did not go so well.
“How’re your parents doing?” I ask.
“I haven’t seen them all too much,” Gabe replies, his voice a bit lower than usual due to the speaker on our phones. I’m becoming all too familiar with his newly modified voice.
“The Counsel has been a mess. Everyone in Maline is panicking or trying to stop other people from having a breakdown in the middle of the streets. With everything happening with the book, it looks like they won’t get to our problems within the next few days,” he says regretfully.
“Didn’t they read the message?” I ask.
“They did. For the first few hours, they were discussing it, but then another problem came in concerning the book. Haven’t picked up the case since then,” he says with a heavy sigh.
“Can’t you talk to your mum or dad? Surely they can do something,” I ask uselessly.
“I will, once I get the chance to talk to them,” he says tiredly.
Anne shuffles in bed next to me, kicking one of my bruised legs. Unable to hold it back, I hiss in pain.
“Di?” comes Gabe’s concerned voice. “What’s happened?”
“Nothing,” I say, trying to steady my voice as I rub my leg and glare at Anne, “just Anne being clumsy.”
“What happened?” he asks again in a worried tone, this time harsher.
Taking a deep breath, I prepare myself for Gabe’s wrath. “Anne and I fought a Polexn,” I say quietly in the hope that he won’t hear, but he is a Protector, so of course he hears.
“I’m sorry, do my ears deceive me? Please tell me you didn’t just say Polexn,” Gabe says desperately.
“She also ran off to fight it without me!” Anne shouts into the phone to my horror. “Got smashed into three different brick walls. It was frickin’ awesome.”
“Anne,” I hiss, sighing dramatically as I put my ear to the phone once more.
“Can we pretend you didn’t hear that part?” I ask, “By any chance?” I add desperately.
“No, we cannot,” he says simply. To my surprise, he doesn’t sound upset, just shocked.
“You alright?” he asks worriedly.
“Yeah, I’m missing out on school tomorrow though, I won’t be able to get out of bed any time soon. But it’s alright. I’m not that badly hurt, just heaps of burns and bruises,” I assure.
“Right.” I can tell by the tone in his voice that he’s upset, no matter how well he hides it.
“You’re not going to yell at me?” I ask cautiously.
“No,” he decides slowly.
Some sound comes from the background, making me cringe at the ugly noise. Waiting for Gabe to stop moving, I look at Anne. She’s already drifted off, lying diagonally. When the sound stops, I ready myself to ask the same question that I’ve been asking for the last seven nights.
“Gabe, when are you coming home?”
“Honestly, I don’t know. Unfortunately, I don’t think it will be for a while,” he answers.
Gee, this guy doesn’t sugar coat anything. Not once have I gotten an answer that’s not completely honest. Not once have I gotten an answer that’s something like: soon, or I think I’ll be there tomorrow night, Di. Nope. Not from Gabe.
“Hey, but I really want to be there with all you guys,” Gabe assures.
“Don’t stress. You need to be in Maline,” I answer.
“Yeah,” he sighs dramatically. “Di, come to Maline this weekend,” he requests. Not a question.
“Can’t. I’m on call till they say I’m not,” I say sadly.
“Right, yeah,” he sighs, unable to keep the disappointment from his voice, “Listen, Di, you had a really big night, so I hear. I should let you get some sleep,” he says apologetically.
Yawning regretfully, I nod. “What time is it?”
“Eleven,” he replies softly. “Go to sleep, Reeds.”
“Okay, goodnight Gabe,” I say, smiling.
“Sleep tight, beautiful.”
The line clicks off, and I’m left feeling light yet sore. Looking back at Anne, I see her eyes cracked open, watching me as I slip back under the covers.
“What?” I ask, turning out the lamp.
“You two… need to DTR,” she says, shaking her head.
“What does that mean?” I ask frustratedly.
“Determine the relationship,” she explains.
“Oh… Good night, Anne,” I say, turning over, closing my eyes.
“Don’t hate me. I’m just giving valuable info here,” she says defensively.
“Valuable info, my butt,” I mutter.
I fall asleep to the sound of soft laughter from my obnoxiously annoying best friend.
* * *
“You know, I was having a really good Thursday,” I complain unprofessionally as I walk into the shopping mall to confront the grey wolf. “Smashed my geograp
hy test and made it through a whole phone call without fighting with the guy I really like. I know, a miracle. And somehow, none of my subjects today required me to do homework.
I was just about to watch my favourite movie when the Sanctuary called me and said I had to bring in a wolf. You chose tonight of all nights to go shopping?”
Removing my staff from the inside pocket of my coat, I extend the two blades, readying myself into the invisible stance, ready for an attack.
Averting my eyes elsewhere, I hear the sickening sounds of the wolf morphing, turning, transforming.
“Now, you really look like one of them.” I turn my attention back to the newly changed human, realising that I recognise the voice from somewhere, before looking away again.
Tee-Ly-Ren stands a few metres away from me, naked. Hearing the soft patter of feet against the tiles and the clanking of clothes’ racks, I turn around again. She is now in a short, sun-yellow dress that hugs her curves evenly. She smiled wickedly, tucking a piece of purple hair behind her ear.
“Yellow isn’t really your colour,” I say flatly.
“Really?” she asks in a shrill voice. “I think it matches my purple streak, you know, opposite colours are the new trend.”
Her grey hair falls loosely. The purple sliver bringing attention to her swirling eyes. They’re a mix between grey, black and green, always changing, so I can’t really tell what colour they are.
“Hey,” she says, dragging it out. “Where is Max?”
“Max?” I mutter under my breath.
Remembering that I once told her that Gabe’s name is Max, I scramble for an excuse. “None of your business,” I snap, a bit disturbed by the fact she remembers him.
“Oh, protective, aren’t you?” she says slyly.
“Come on, why don’t you just tell me what you’re here to do, so I can stop you before you start?” I say playfully, pulling a fake smile.
Tee-Ly-Ren shrugs, readying herself to fight. “I wasn’t doing anything bad,” she comments.
“No?” I say eyebrow raised.
“Nope, just looking around the neighbourhood for a place to hide the book,” she says casually. “Did you know that there’s a spell that can turn off gravity? Oh, there’s another one that disables magical powers and abilities for about ten minutes. Awesome.”