Four Horsemen

by Katie Dunn

  “Why are you frowning?” a deep voice said in my ear.

  I jumped, nearly cracking my head on the person and turned to the owner of the voice. I hit Liam on the arm for scaring me, but he only chuckled and captured my hand, then guided me to the kitchen.

  “You’re going to help me make dinner,” he said. I raised an eyebrow even though he couldn’t see it since he was in front of me. “Oh, I am, am I?”

  He turned and sighed, looking up at the ceiling as if exasperated then he looked back at me with raised eyebrows and false sincerity. “Phi? Can you please help me make dinner?”

  One side of my mouth pulled up at his attempt at good manners and humility. “Well, since you asked so nicely, sure.”

  “Good.” He dropped the false politeness and turned around to pull out pots and pans. “Get the ingredients for spaghetti.”

  I rolled my eyes at his bossy tone but smiled and did as he ordered. We worked together to make enough food for five people including grating cheese and baking garlic bread. When it was all done, we set it out on the table and called everyone to the kitchen.

  Trevor came in almost immediately as if he had been standing by the kitchen waiting for us to call him. He was always on board to eat although his vegetarian choices made us have to keep the meat separate from the noodles. Shawna and Kaden came in next and I was perturbed to see Kaden standing so close to her. Shawna leaned back into him a little and I narrowed my eyes at her letting her know I noticed. She shrugged at me and sat down, looking over the dishes we prepared. Once everyone was seated, we dug in.

  It was nice to sit at the table together, not as supernatural people, but as friends and have a good meal. Shawna being there made me a bit nervous and I kept glancing at the others wondering if they would figure out that she was a Templar, but nothing happened. I started to relax and smile more, happy that I could take a break from training and just enjoy the night.

  After everyone was full, I stood up and touched my nose. “Nose goes on dishes,” I announced. I did not want to wash them since I cooked and thought this would be a fun way to force someone else to do it.

  Shawna, Kaden, and Liam immediately touched their noses and smiled at the silly game. Trevor was a second too late and we all burst into laughter at his loss.

  “Thanks Trevor,” Kaden said, getting up from the table and handing his plate over to Trevor.

  Trevor snatched it and grumbled while he collected the other dishes. I left Trevor to clean up and followed the others to the living room, wondering what movie they planned on watching. I expected something scary, with action, or at the very least rated R. The guys just seemed like the kind of people that would enjoy those movies. Instead when I walked into the living room, I saw Frozen queued up.

  I stared in shock at the TV then glanced at the others wondering if they were serious. That’s when I noticed the arguing. Kaden wrestled with Shawna on the couch, trying to get the remote from her while shouting about her terrible movie choices. She argued back by singing the main song in Frozen, Let It Go. Liam stood by with crossed arms, and a small smile, watching the fight that was happening on the couch. I shared a look of amusement with him then went over to break up the fight. I managed to get the remote away from Shawna and jumped back before either of them could snatch it from me. I pointed at them and raised my eyebrows in warning.

  Once I knew they were calm, though I had to squeeze my lips together to hold in my laughter at their messy state, I said, “Ok, how about we vote on what to watch?”

  Shawna bit her bottom lip to stop smiling and glanced at Kaden who glared at the TV. “I vote Frozen,” she said.

  “I am not watching Frozen,” Kaden responded, crossing his arms in finality. He fought a smile that threatened to disrupt his grumpy face letting me know he was not actually mad and actually found the whole situation amusing.

  I shook my head at them and looked to Liam. “What do you want to watch?”

  Liam shrugged a shoulder, “I don’t care.”

  I shrugged back and held up the remote to press play though I knew Liam would stop me. I was just trying to mess with him and Kaden. “Then I guess we will watch Frozen.”

  “Whoa, wait, no. Not that.” Liam stepped toward me and held out a hand to stop me from pressing play.

  Shawna burst into laughter on the couch. Trevor came in and looked at all of us and frowned. “What’s going on?” He walked over to Kaden and plopped onto the end of the couch.

  “We are trying to find a movie to watch,” Kaden explained.

  Trevor looked at the TV and his eyes widened when he saw it was Frozen. “You guys didn’t choose that, did you?”

  That caused everyone to laugh but Trevor only looked at us with more confusion which made me laugh so hard I had tears running down my face.

  “Give me that,” Liam grumbled when his laughter died down and took the remote from my hands. I was too weak from laughing to resist so I let him have it.

  He went to the search menu and put in a different title. When Kaden and Trevor saw what he was searching for they voiced their support. I rolled my eyes and went to sit on the floor in front of Shawna’s legs, since the couch had no more open spots.

  When Liam pressed play on the Fast and the Furious he came to sit beside me and nudged my shoulder with his. I looked up at him and my breath caught at the genuine smile on his face. He had not smiled like that in a while and I was suddenly grateful Kaden had put this together, even if it was spur of the moment.

  It was nice for us to all have a night of no worries and just hang out together as friends.

  Chapter 17

  We ended up watching the sequel afterwards and it was nearly midnight by the time the second movie ended. Shawna, Kaden and Trevor passed out on the couch with Shawna’s head leaning against Kaden’s shoulder. Liam and I had gone to our rooms afterward leaving the three of them there.

  When I went downstairs the next morning, Shawna was gone, and Kaden cuddled Trevor’s arm. I took out my phone and quickly snapped a picture of them, wanting to use it later to tease them. Once I got the picture, I texted it to Shawna then asked her where she went. While I waited for her reply, I quietly made my way to the kitchen to find something to eat. Thankfully it was the weekend, so I did not need to rush to class.

  My phone buzzed with a notification. I checked it and smiled at her laughing emoji. Then she said that she went home to prepare for tonight. That made my smile die instantly. Dang, I had almost forgotten about the meeting. I needed to tell the guys about it. I sent a text reminding her to get me a wig then put my phone down to make us all some breakfast.

  “What is that delicious smell?” I heard Trevor ask from behind me.

  I chuckled and moved aside so he could see what I was making. Bacon sizzled in a pan while chocolate chip pancakes cooked in another. Trevor inhaled and hummed in approval, although I knew he wouldn’t eat the bacon. He moved to a cabinet and started pulling out plates for all of us. Kaden joined us a few minutes later, his hair looking rumpled, but it only made him look cuter. If Shawna were here, she probably would have been eyeing him hungrily. I laughed to myself at the thought.

  “What’s so funny?” Kaden asked, coming to stand behind me and peer over my shoulder at the food.

  I didn’t want to tell him about my thoughts, instead I pulled out my phone and brought up the picture of him cuddling Trevor’s arm. I held it up over my head so he could see it while I flipped pancakes with my other hand. I fought a grin when he snatched the phone from me and shouted in dismay.

  “What is it?” I heard Trevor ask.

  I still didn’t turn around, trying even harder to hold in my laughter. I cracked some eggs in another pan and looked over the bacon, but Trevor’s shocked gasp nearly undid me. I snickered, not able to hold in my amusement completely but reigned it in just as fast.

  “Dude, what were you doing?” Trevor asked. I heard a thwack and Kaden grumbled.

  Kaden showed up in my line of sight holdin
g my phone with one hand and his head that Trevor must have hit with the other. “No one else sees this, understand?”

  I gave him a fake apologetic look. “Oops, I kinda already showed Shawna.”

  Kaden’s cheeks turned red. “You did what?” He sighed and rubbed his forehead, grumbling. Then he put my phone on the counter and walked away.

  “Breakfast is ready!” I announced.

  The three of us ate silently at the table, Kaden occasionally shooting me a dark look which only made me smile wide in return. Liam came into the kitchen when we were wrapping up our meal. I pointed to the stove to show him there was some left. He nodded and quietly plated some food, and sat down to eat, sticking with the silent atmosphere by not saying a word.

  I collected our plates and set them in the sink when everyone was completely finished. I quickly turned back to the table and opened my mouth to stop them from leaving so I could tell them about the Templar meeting tonight, but the words got stuck in my throat. If I told them I was going then they would probably throw me in a closet again to stop me. If we were going to learn anything firsthand, then someone needed to be there, and I had already decided that someone would be me. If I somehow convinced them to let me go then they would insist on joining me. That would be terrible because they would find out the identity of my informant.

  I glanced at Liam knowing he would be furious when he found out later, but I closed my mouth anyway and decided not to tell them. I could explain afterwards and hopefully they won’t be as mad when I bring back useful information. In order to be prepared tonight, I needed weapons and information about the Templars. Kaden probably had both.

  I changed gears and headed towards the stairs, calling over my shoulder to Kaden, “I’m going to get some books from your room.” I didn’t wait for a response.

  In Kaden’s room, I went straight to the bookcase about Death and pulled a couple promising books out. I really wanted to know if I could isolate certain diseases when I used my talent. Not that I would use them on innocent people but being knowledgeable about an apocalyptic level power would be useful. I wandered around the room looking for books about the Templars but as time went on, I got more and more frustrated that I couldn’t find any.

  “Looking for anything specific?” Kaden asked from the doorway.

  I jumped a little and glared at him for scaring me. “Knock next time,” I grumbled.

  Kaden smirked. “This is my room.” He walked farther into the room and looked over the books I already pulled from the shelves.

  I looked around, remembering it was indeed his room, and nodded. “Right, sorry.” I went back to the shelf and ran my fingers over titles. “Do you have anything about the Templars?”

  I turned to look at Kaden when he moved across the room to another bookshelf. “Sorta, I have information on the Inquisition and Popes but nothing specific about the Order of Templars. They are super secretive.” He pulled one book from the War section and one from the Conquest section then laid them on top of my pile of books I gathered. “Anything else?”

  “Nope, thanks.” I quickly gathered the five books and rushed to my room, eager to start researching.

  Something buzzed near my head. When I ignored it, the buzzing started again. Groaning, I opened my eyes and peeled my cheek away from the page in the book I rested it on after many hours of reading. The buzzing happened again and this time I recognized it as my phone with an incoming call. The caller ID showed Shawna’s name and I was instantly wide awake. I scrambled for the phone and pressed answer before she gave up.

  “Hello?” My voice came out groggy, so I cleared my throat and tried again. “Shawna?”

  “Girl, I was about to go without you,” she said exasperated.

  “Sorry.” I pulled the phone back from my ear enough to see the time then put it back. “Wow, it’s nearly six already. Are you on your way over?”

  There was a pause. “Yes,” she said reluctantly, “Even though, I don’t think you should go.”

  “See you soon,” I said, ignoring her latter comment.

  I hung up and put the book away that I had been reading and ended up falling asleep on. I tugged on a leather jacket with inside pockets and put boots on. I looked like a badass but the real reason I wore those was for extra hiding places. I tucked a pocketknife in my jeans pocket, a small dagger in each boot, and a can of pepper spray and brass knuckles in my inside jacket pockets. If I could have carried my scythe somehow without it being seen I would have brought that too since I was pretty good at using it now that I had training with it. I tied my dark hair back so that the wig could be placed on my head easier. Once I felt ready, I went downstairs. I still didn’t know what I was going to tell the guys about where I was going but I would wing it.

  I almost made it to the door before Liam’s voice called out stopping me in my tracks. “Where are you going?”

  I slowly turned around and plastered a bright, hopefully innocent, smile on my face. “Out.”

  He raised an eyebrow at my answer and crossed his arms waiting for me to elaborate. I nodded and looked around, trying to avoid eye contact and fiddled with my bracelet. It was a standoff now of who could stay silent the longest. However, I didn’t have time for that.

  I broke the silence after a minute. “Well, good talk. Bye.” I turned and opened the door, but a strong arm suddenly appeared, blocking my way.

  “Where are you going?” he repeated.

  Thankfully, Shawna showed up on the front porch with a grocery bag in one hand, acting as the perfect distraction. “Shawna!” I darted under his arm and reached out to my ex-roommate.

  “Uh, hi,” she said, glancing from me to Liam then frowned at me in curiosity.

  Liam stepped out onto the porch and crossed his arms, eyeing both of us suspiciously.

  A lie sprung to mind and I went with it, hoping it would work. It worked in books and movies so it must be true. Right? “Shawna was bringing me, um, some uh,” I lowered my voice to a whisper, “lady supplies. If you know what I mean.”

  If I wasn’t trying so hard to act truthful, I would have cracked up at the blush that colored Liam’s cheeks. The big, bad Horseman was embarrassed by some lady things. Just what I wanted but I didn’t expect it to actually work. I raised my eyebrows at Shawna, silently urging her to play along.

  “Uh, yeah, I got’em right here.” Shawna raised the bag in the air.

  Liam looked at the bag and blushed harder. He cleared his throat and looked anywhere but us or the bag. “Well, I guess I will leave you to it.” He quickly made his escape back into the house.

  Once I knew he was gone and couldn’t hear us I snatched the bag from Shawna. “Hurry, let’s go before he checks on me.”

  We hurried from the porch and I let her lead the way. As we walked, I pulled out a short blonde wig from the bag. “Blonde? Really?”

  Shawna snorted a laugh, “I didn’t expect you to be picky about a wig.”

  I stuck my tongue out causing her to laugh then put the wig on over my dark hair. The important thing was to hide my white streaks of hair because that drew too much attention.

  “I also have something else for you.”

  I looked at her curiously wondering what else she had gotten. As long as it helped me go unnoticed, I was on board. She grabbed the bag from me and pulled out a container of…something. I honestly had no idea what I was looking at.

  “They’re contacts,” Shawna explained after I stared at the thing blankly.

  “Pshh, I don’t need contacts, I have great vision.” I shooed away the container in her hand.

  She held them out to me, shaking them a little to get me to take them. “They’re color contacts. Brown to be exact. The idea is to hide your white streaks and pale eyes. Those are too unique to go unnoticed.”

  “Ah, smart!” I took them and opened the container where two brown lenses laid. “How do I put them in?”

  Shawna showed me and soon I had brown eyes and short blonde hair. I didn’t
feel any different, but Shawna’s thumbs up told me I looked different. Good, now time to crash a meeting.

  The community center where the meeting would be held looked so innocent. I was pretty sure I had passed by it a few times, but never did I realize Templars congregated there.

  Shawna pushed me behind her, so I was mostly hidden, and we snuck inside, skirting along the edge until we took some seats in the back. No one gave us a second look, but I continued to hold my breath until we were seated. There were already thirty or so others in attendance and I took a good look at each of their faces, trying to memorize them for the future.

  Shawna leaned over so she could speak without being heard by the others. “The meeting should start soon.” She nodded to a group of people at the front of the room. “Those three up there are the leaders of the Templars in Pennsylvania.” She nodded to a group sitting a couple rows in front of us. “And those four are the last Penn State Templars. Well, besides me.”

  I stared at the Penn State Templars, although I could only see the backs of their heads at the moment. I had killed one of them and felt horrible about it, even though she instigated the fight. They probably were not too happy about it either way. Maybe one of them was the framer. My eyes zeroed in on one individual and my breath caught. It was the blonde Templar from the library. I had completely forgotten about him. I shrunk down in my seat a little more, not wanting to draw his attention. If there was a chance, he would be the only one to recognize me other than Shawna.

  Shawna saw where my eyes had landed and whispered, “That is the brother of the Templar that you, um, killed.”

  My head spun around to stare at her with shock. He was the brother of the girl I killed? Great, now he had even more of a reason to hurt me. Oh my goodness! What if he was the framer? He was my number one suspect now, so I had to figure out a way to find out more about him. I started to ask about him when the leaders of the Pennsylvania Templars called for our attention. I shut my mouth and looked to the front where the three leaders sat at a head table.