by Tara Chau
"Okay," I say, giving in to my tiredness.
Giving an observing Ronnie a quick hug, I leave through the back door and walk straight into my room via the veranda. Plopping down on my bed, I scream into one of my pillows, grateful for the noise signum burnt into my door. When my mattress stoops to the right of me, I don't react.
“What if I was a demon?” Gabe asks, “You would be dead by now.”
“I knew it was you,” I grumble.
“What if it wasn’t?” he prods.
Raising my head from the pillow, I open my eyes and stare hard at him.
"I know you didn't get him," Gabe says, brushing away a piece of my hair from my eyes.
The fact that Gabe somehow already knows what has happened washes straight over my head as a new clash of emotions filled my brain. "I don't know how it happened!" I say, tears framing my eyes. I'm about to have a mental breakdown. Great. "We had him! Lucien was in cuffs, Ty had him…" I've started to blabber; I'm sitting up now and waving my arms around. "He just smiled and went, poof! Then reappeared metres away.”
I look up at Gabe, who is just sitting cross-legged in front of me, watching me like I'm a fascinating movie. I struggle to keep my breathing under control, so I don't start to hyperventilate.
"God, Gabe, he said that he would have to start making me listen. What does that mean?" I ask, squeezing my eyes closed to block the tears.
Gabe tenderly wipes my tears away with his thumb but doesn't say anything. I open my eyes to see his serious face. His hair has grown longer, close to halfway down his neck, not styled, unlike Ty's, just casually ruffled. Gabe's ember eyes shine with hidden anger, fear, and love. Does Gabe love me? The thought makes me stop short, my tears stop, and a small wobbly uncertain pout takes its place.
Gabe smiles reassuringly, drawing me into a tight hug.
“Do you love me?” I whisper, so quietly that I doubt even his trained ears can pick it up, so quiet even I doubt I said it out loud.
I feel Gabe's breathing stop for a millisecond then resume. He probably thought he misheard. Part of me wants to know. The other half dreads the answer. If he tells me, once the words are spoken, he'll never be able to change his mind and take them back.
“We will get him… even if we need to bring in extra help,” he realises.
Taking a very deep breath, I pull away from his embrace and smile brightly, earning a very suspicious look from Gabe. I fall backward and close my eyes, ready for sleep to pull me under.
“Good night,” I murmur.
“Di,” he says, tugging me back up to sit.
“What now?” I whine.
“Go eat something, Reeds,” he says, pushing me off the bed with a thump.
I mumble my annoyance as I drag my feet out of my room. When I emerge and see my dad sitting on the couch with a bowl of soup, I realise how hungry I really am. I hate it when Gabe’s right.
“Hey stranger,” he smiles when he spots me watching him from the kitchen.
"Hey, Dad, any of that soup left?" I ask.
“Sure, it’s in a pot on the stove, my own special concoction,” he says proudly.
"Thanks, Dad," I say, giving him one last smile, and I’m going to study look before walking back into my room with the steaming bowl of potato, carrot, and pumpkin soup.
I close the door and rest the dish on one of my books, turning to a sleeping Gabe. I stifle a laugh as I jump on top of him, letting myself release a loud boo! He startles, swearing as he looks around in confusion, grabbing hold of my waist and dragging me under him once he realises what I did. A squeal escapes my lips as he starts to tickle me.
“Stop it, stop it,” I laugh uncontrollably.
“Say sorry,” he yells over the top of my giggles.
“Never!” I scream dramatically.
Gabe switches from tickling my stomach to under my arms, my laughter doubles. “Okay! I’m sorry,” I yield.
Gabe stops with a deep laugh as I draw in a deep breath.
“You’re so mean,” I comment.
"Well then, don't do that," he says, still sitting on top of me.
We stare at each other for a few moments, content to just watch as the other breaths.
“I have to eat my dinner,” I say, breaking out of my trance and pointing to the bowl.
“Okay,” he says with a smile, not moving an inch.
"That's code for 'get off me, please,'" I say.
“I know.”
Gabe leans down to kiss me. I kiss him back, but once he's distracted, I roll him over so I'm on top.
“Ha!” I grin, scrambling off before he can drag me back.
Gabe sits up with a huff, looking at me, unable to keep the longing from his eyes. Taking a few spoons of the warm soup, I relish in the taste. It's good. I'm not surprised. Handing the dish to Gabe, I let him try some. He takes two spoons and nods, taking three more.
“Hey!” I protest, reaching to take it back.
By the time he hands it over, it’s already half done. Glaring at him, I get up to go fill up my bowl.
“Hungry?” Dad asks, looking up from stirring the nearly empty pot.
“Yeah,” I admit, “any left?”
Dad spoons me the leftover, taking his filled-up bowl back to the couch.
"Good night, Dad!" I yell, walking down the hall into my room.
It only takes three minutes for Gabe and me to finish off the soup. I place the bowl on my desk and flop down satisfied on my bed.
"I'm going to sleep now. Good night kiss?" I say lazily, pushing myself up close next to Gabe.
Gabe lifts my chin with his finger and presses his lips to mine softly, pressing deeper with each passing second. Gabe props himself onto one elbow, so he's leaning over the top of me, lips moving against mine. I curse my tiredness as a yawn separates us. Gabe chuckles softly, lying back down, stroking my cheek.
“Good night, beautiful,” he whispers.
“Are you going to stay tonight?” I ask hopefully.
“No, sorry. I have some stuff to do at the Sanctuary,” he says regretfully.
I nod, almost too sleepy to make a vocal reply. “Good night,” Is all I can manage before I’m drifting in the cool blackness of my own quiet thoughts.
The street is dark as the clouds have just come out, covering the warm setting sun. Strolling down the road, I wait for the sun to disappear completely and the moon to rise. I have no idea why we have to patrol when it’s not even the night yet.
"Because Lucien is unpredictable, and he has half of the Shifters under his huge foot,” Gabe says, walking on the opposite side of the road, somehow reading my mind.
“Arghh.” I vent.
I see Gabe roll his eyes and stick my tongue out at him. “Stop it,” he hisses, “people aren’t supposed to know we’re together.”
"Well, they do see us talking.” I point out, just as I say it, I remember that others can’t hear nearly as well as us. We’re speaking in normal voices, yet we can hear each other from opposite sides of the road. Wait…
“Hey Gabe, does it look like we’re talking to ourselves?” I ask hesitantly.
“Yes, deal with it.” He says, looking around the streets professionally.
"Can you two shut up?" Jess seethes, "You guys are impossible. How do you ever get anything done?"
Remembering that Jess is patrolling with us, I take a quick glance behind me, seeing her walking smoothly a few metres from me.
"What are we supposed to do?" I whine. It's been weeks since I've been on patrol. I'd forgotten how boring it is.
"Look out for anything suspicious. You also have to be quiet to hear anything-"
“Suspicious,” I finish Gabe’s annoyed explanation. “I know that, but can we not patrol the gelato shop?”
"No, you know we can't. You've done this hundreds of times. How are you so bad at it?" Gabe grumbles.
“I was being sarcastic," I say.
; “Shut. Up.” Jess emphasises.
“Sorry.” Gabe and I say in unison.
We continue to walk around aimlessly for a while, stopping every now and then to rest. The sunsets quickly, and soon the shadows dance across the concrete, drawing out the restless Shifters. Even on a Thursday night, the streets are still full of people, whether they are looking around at the shops that stay open longer, eating at restaurants, or simply walking and talking with friends.
“There’s too much street light here. We should check the smaller back roads," Jess suggests.
Gabe and I nod our agreement as we all come together to scour the dark back lanes. It takes less than five minutes for us to hear a cry, human. Gabe glances at me, then to Jess before we all dash down the next street, only to stop short.
Two people are here, but they aren't the ones who need help. It seems like the demon needs it. A person in a hoddie thrusts his sword at the Polexn, scraping a long deep cut along its muzzle. It roars angrily and dives at the person. He drops to the ground skilfully, sliding between its legs. The other person turns to look at us. She is young…she…I know her! The man, I can't see his face, yells a warning as the Polexn demon pounces and swipes a blow across her stomach. The girl gives out a cry of pain, going ridged, falling stiffly to the ground, Jess darting quickly to pull her out of the way. The man jumps at least five metres in the air, landing in front of me. He pushes me away as the Polexn prowls towards us.
The demon pounces, drawing out its razor claws. The man throws himself against me, sending us both onto the hard ground, narrowly missing its claws. Quickly we both jump up as the Polexn stalks towards us. Where is Gabe? The man again pushes me behind him, a deep growl comes from his chest, challenging the beast. Slowly I draw out my staff, pressing the button to extend the blades. The demon dog reacts straight away, jumping at me.
Suddenly, Gabe drops from the sky, grabbing hold of its muzzle, squeezing his finger into the wound, and tackling it to the ground. He strains to keep it down while the other guy raised his sword over his head to strike it. Suddenly the demon's eyes glow. It rears up, sending Gabe flying into the brick wall of the ally. The man stumbles back from the furious thing. A high-pitch screech emanates from its throat, making all of us cringe and cover our ears desperately. Taking the distraction, it lunges at the two of us. I shove the guy violently out of the way with one hand, thrusting my right hand out to stop the beast in mid-air. From the corner of my eye, I see the man stand up in shock, letting himself drop his sword to his side. I smile. I'll never get tired of showing my powers to others.
I close my fist and let the thing fall down onto my raised blade, skewering it through the gut. Black ichor drips down my blade and onto my hand, burning me slightly. It squirms for a few seconds, letting out shrieks of agony and rage before lying limp on the tip of my weapon.
My arms shake from the intense weight, twice the size of a Grate-Dane, remember? Dropping my staff to the ground, I jerk my blade from its body, whipping it on the beast's dry and weirdly soft short fur. Gabe stirs in the corner before getting up, blinking away whatever nausea he had.
Gabe walks over and stands behind me, looking down at the demon with impression. Turning around, I wipe both my hands on Gabe’s coat, the relief instant. Gabe shoves me away with an annoyed glance before we both walk over to the panting girl.
Kneeling down next to Jess, who is sitting with the girl's head in her lap, I look at her face properly, drawing her hair aside. It’s Nyx. The girl that Lucien tried to kill but couldn’t, she’s been away for so long I admittedly forgot about her. The man she is with runs over, sitting down next to Jess, placing a strong hand on Nyx’s shoulder.
"How are you?" His voice is smooth and low. It echoes through me in thunderous waves.
I look down at her. She's shivering and clutching her side where I can see red and black blood oozing from her fingers-Infected.
“She’ll have to come back with us," I say, surprised when neither Gabe nor Jess object. I look up at the man.
"No, she'll be fine. I'll just stitch it back together.” He answers. He sounds scared. It is then I realised how young he sounds, maybe not much older than us three.
I pucker my lips and blow an exhale, creating a slight gust of wind, making the man's hood fall down. I'm shocked; I can see Jess staring at him as well. He looks barely a year older than me. He has short dark brown hair. It's easily noticed that he’s chopped it himself. He has light grey eyes that almost look like cloudy white, framed with long dark eyelashes.
His lips are devoid of colour, like he's really cold. The boy shifts uncomfortably with the sudden attention. The loose hoodie he wears does nothing to hide the muscle underneath. His face is set in a serious yet nervous structure. If he smiles, I'm sure he will be very good-looking. Right now, however, his features seem almost as cruel as the demons.
“What’s your name?” I ask, breaking the silence.
“None of your concern.” He snaps.
“Hey, we’re trying to help you.” I retort.
“We don’t need your help.” He says, lifting Nyx into his arms, standing.
“I know her,” I say, pointing at Nyx. "Her name’s Nyx. She used to be in my class before she was attacked,” This stops him.
“She never wants to tell me about how she got here, so you should probably shut up,” he says quietly.
I start walking towards him. "I'm telling you that it would be better for us to take her. She's infected. You need a real healer."
“You can come with us. But she’ll still be safe if you don’t,” Gabe inputs, his voice strangely stiff and emotionless.
“Come, please,” Jess adds.
He seems to consider this for a second, eyes darting from her to us. I can see he’s about to decline when Nyx starts to thrash. He tries wildly to hold her still, wrapping one of his arms around her upper body, pinning her own arms to her sides, but nothing stops her.
“She needs help,” I yell desperately.
“Okay-okay,” he says, eyes full of concern and horror.
We all dash onto the main square, Jess barking orders into her phone. We all race to a less crowded street, filing into the black van that skids around the corner a minute later. Gabe takes the front seat, me and Jess and middle, leaving the guy and Nyx to occupy the back. Looking behind me, I see the boy looking down at her with concern. What is their story?
We arrive at the Sanctuary within minutes, rushing Nyx through and into the lift without being hassled by Dante, surprisingly. Running down the halls, we guide them to the infirmary, meeting Astrid by the door.
All of us usher Nyx to one of the beds, Jess and I helping Astrid find all the things needed to fix up the still jostling Nyx. After we find everything and Astrid is ready to start, she shoes us all out. It takes about ten minutes to convince the boy to come out and wait with us while Astrid works. Once we're all seated in the waiting area, I look across at him.
“What’s your name?” I repeat.
“I told you, that’s none-”
"We're doing all this for you; you shouldn't even be here. You owe us a least a few answers concerning who you are and how you and Nyx ended up doing this,” I yell, frustrated.
“You better listen to her, man,” Gabe advises.
The guy sighs heavily, looking between the three of us.
“Chax, my name is Chax Grey.”
Makes sense; his greyish eyes might be a family thing.
“How old are you?” I ask curiously.
“Twenty this year,” he answers grudgingly.
Both me and Jess gape. Twenty? He only looks eighteen.
“How did you and Nyx end up together?” Jess asks.
“We’re not together,” he says defensively.
"Not what she meant. How did you and Nyx end up fighting together?" I clarify patiently.
"Um, I found her two months ago all bloodied up. She said she'd seen the most absurd things that
shouldn't even be real. I didn't want her telling anyone, and she was too weak to be left alone. She recovered freakishly fast and refused to go back to her family or school. She wanted me to train her,” he says, looking off at something unclear to us three.
“How do you know about all this?” I ask.
“He’s a Grey,” Gabe says like it explains everything, his voice heavy and guarded.
“And?” I prod.
“She knows nothing,” Chax sneers at me.
Gabe ignores Chax, looking at me. "The Greys are an old family of strong Protectors who also fought in the old war,” Gabe explains stiffly.
“That’s good?” I ask.
“It was… until they went and Switched,” Gabe says scornfully.
“Switched?” I ask.
“They joined the Shifters,” he says, finally looking at Chax. "It was a slow process. Only a few of the family members Switched at first; sometimes, it took some of the family dozens of years to cross. But the Greys are the only family to ever completely switch in all of history."
“They’re strong, also allies with the Jones family,” Jess whispers, realising it for the first time herself.
“Were,” Gabe clarifies harshly.
Looking over at Chax, I look into his eyes. Blank, they tell me nothing of what he’s feeling or thinking.
“Aren’t you going to ask what our names are?” I ask him.
"I don't need to,” he answers plainly.
“How?” I ask.
“Because I already know you,” he says softly.
“Di-” Jess starts.
"No, I want to hear it from him. How do you already know us? Are you working for Lucien? Is that how?" I ask, his face instantly sours.
“I know him.” Chax nods subtly at Gabe.
Gabe stiffens physically and inhales sharply, looking closely at Chax with narrowed eyes. I can see the wheels in his head turning, the thoughts and realisations crashing into his mind one after another. All this showing through the tiniest gaps in his stone mask.
“X,” Gabe breathes, standing up.
“No one’s called me that in a long, long time,” Chax smiles slightly.