by K T Kaye
“Oh I’ve never wanted to be captain, so I’ve never done the captain’s exam. I probably wouldn’t have passed even if I had done it, I’ve failed my broom flying exam sixteen times!”
“Sixteen times!”
“Hey! Flying on a broomstick isn’t easy!”
Jason laughed, “How long has Angel been captain then?”
“Err, about three years. Yeah it must be about that. She did six months training then went into Wildfire Squad, then to Lightning and then she did her captain training, yeah so it must be about three years.”
“Did you all go into other squads before going into Lightning Squad?”
“Yeah you see, Alpha, Lightning and Thunder are the top squads, so trainees can’t be put straight into them. Trainees get put into another active squad then are transferred into Alpha or Lightning or Thunder if they’re skilled enough. Unless you’re the Master of Darkness, of course, then you just skip training all together and get thrown into one of the top squads despite the fact you have no skills at all!” Fern mocked.
“Hey! That’s, I didn’t ask to be put in this squad, and I have skills!”
“Yeah, name one?” Before Jason could think of an answer, the pair had arrived back at the Lightning Squad house. Fern opened the door and they went inside. They found Roger and Ethan with the other members of Lightning Squad in the operations room, where Alexander was explaining some new security measures that were being put into place. Fern barged into the room, interrupting Alexander mid-way through a sentence.
“Fern, you’re late and Jason, shouldn’t you be in the hospital wing, your shift isn’t over yet,” Alexander uttered annoyed.
“Roger, Ethan you need to go to the hospital wing,” Fern announced, ignoring the vampire. “Angel has collapsed, and your dad is here. The healers reckon she got hit by a spell during her fight with Mr Jet’s followers and is only now suffering the effects of it. She’s unconscious.”
Before Fern could say anymore, Ethan and Roger ran out of the room.
“If her dad has been called, is she…?” Elsa started to ask.
“She’s not going to die,” Fern explained, “Their dad was already coming to the base. Angel just happened to collapse on the same day.”
“What kind of spell was she hit with?” Danny asked.
“I don’t know, I wasn’t there.”
“What are the effects of the spell?”
“Err, I don’t know. I just know that it made her collapse.”
“Looks like you’re going to be captain again, Alex,” Clover smirked, “The lock up and now the hospital wing, it doesn’t seem like Angel is fit for duty.”
“I’m sure Angel will be back to full health in no time,” Alexander reassured, “Now as I was saying, because of the recent attacks…”
“But until Angel gets better, you will be captain again, right?”
“There’s only one captain of Lightning Squad and that’s Angel,” Fern snapped.
“Who isn’t ‘fit for duty’ right now, but then has she ever been fit for duty?”
“That’s enough,” Alexander snapped, “I’m sure that, as soon as she wakes up, Angel will be returning as captain. I know the last few days have been very stressful for all of you, but this is not the time for us to be arguing and turning on each other. I won’t hear any more on this subject. Is that clear?”
“Yes sir,” the squad muttered in unison.
“Let’s take a break,” Alexander ordered, “Come back in ten minutes.”
With that Lightning Squad, apart from Araminta, slowly left the room. Araminta stood up and walked up to Alexander.
“Is it time for me to check in?”
“Yes,” Araminta pulled out a small electronic tablet from her pocket. She held the tablet up to Alexander’s face. A blue light scanned his face causing the tablet screen to turn green, “Okay. You’re clear. Your next check in is at midnight, don’t miss it.”
“I won’t,” Alexander muttered, “I don’t know why you keep doing this, you’re not going to find anything.”
“I’m just doing what I’ve been ordered to do.”
“I know, doesn’t mean I can’t moan about it. Do you know anything about what’s happened to Angel?”
“No, however if David is here, you should keep away from the hospital wing. It’d be best if you two didn’t run into each other.”
* * * * *
Angel’s eyes flickered open. She was in a hospital bed, she quickly realised, and there were four nervous looking werewolves staring down at her.
“Pops, why are you here?” Angel muttered.
“How are you feeling?” David asked.
“Alright. I guess. My head hurts.”
“Skyjack reckons that you collapsed because of a delayed reaction to a spell, from when you fought with Mr Jet’s followers,” Jackson explained.
‘That’s the cover story, so play along with it,’ David whispered through the wolf bond.
“Oh, right, yeah that makes sense,” Angel uttered aloud before asking through the bond, ‘I wasn’t hit with a spell when I fought with Mr Jet’s followers. Why are you talking through the wolf bond?’
‘We can’t risk being overheard,’ David explained.
Before Angel could ask why, Roger suddenly exclaimed aloud, “You’ve been unconscious for six hours, we were starting to get worried.”
‘What happened?’ David asked through the wolf bond, ‘Jackson has shown us those visions you were having…what happened to you?’
‘I’m not sure. I was watching Paris get questioned when I started feeling weird then I started having these strange visions, which you’ve seen. At first, I only saw them briefly, but then the visions kept repeating and I couldn’t stop them. I remember running out of the room and trying to walk down the corridor. It was really hard to breathe and move, it was like I was stuck in quicksand.’
“Skyjack said the spell really messed with your brain,” Ethan stated aloud.
“You’re going to have to stay in the hospital wing for a day or so. Just so that Rowan can make sure that the spell didn’t cause any other damage,” David said aloud, he then continued through the bond, ‘I think, actually after seeing your visions we all think that, those visions might be memories.’
‘How is that possible? I thought that the curse would prevent me from ever remembering anything. I thought I would have to try and get the curse removed.’
‘Maybe because of what the Pied Piper showed you, your brain is starting to fight against the curse,’ Roger suggested.
‘It makes sense, but if what happened in those visions is true then…then…’
‘Then you were tortured at some point during your childhood,’ David finished the sentence.
Angel looked down at the numbers that were burnt onto her arm, ‘Do you think that I got those when I was tortured?’
‘They might be…an experiment number…’ David thought, the thought was meant to be a private one but because he was part of the wolf bond the others overheard.
‘What do you mean?’
‘I wasn’t meant to share that, don’t worry about it yet, that’s something I need to look in to.’
‘Why are we talking through the wolf bond? You never said why.’
‘Because you remembering, that needs to remain a secret. You can’t mention it aloud. I can’t explain to you in detail yet. Once I find everything out for certain, I promise I will tell you but for now you just need to trust me. Never mention the fact that you’ve remembered part of your past to anyone. It could put you in danger.’
‘Danger? Why? Pops what is...Can you guys feel that?
‘Someone’s trying to listen into our wolf bond!’ Everyone leave the bond and close your minds. We’ll have to discuss this some other time.’ They all left the bond and closed their minds. For a moment, they all stayed silent as each of them tried to sense where the intruder was.
“That’s funny,” Angel muttered aloud, “I thought I heard
someone.”
“As did I,” Roger said carefully, “It was probably just a healer passing by.”
“How come you’re here?” Angel asked David, “I thought you were visiting next week.”
“I was already in Transylvania when Jackson called me and said you were ill, so I thought I’d move my visit forward,” David explained.
“Ah that makes sense. I’m glad to see you, sorry to have worried you.”
“Not at all, it’s good to see that you’re starting to feel better.”
“Jackson what happened with Paris? Did they get anything out of him?”
“I don’t know,” Jackson admitted, “No one has told me.”
“Ah okay.” Angel fell into silence. Her brain was working overtime trying to process the fact that at some point during her childhood she had been tortured. She couldn’t settle her emotions. She was angry. Angry that some unknown person had tortured her. Angry at herself for remembering something so painful. Angry at herself for not remembering more. Angel was upset. Upset at the fact someone had tortured her. Upset that her childhood had been so horrific. Upset that she had been put through so much pain. Angel was also curious. She wanted to know more. She wanted to know why. Why she had been tortured and why remembering put her in danger. She wanted to remember everything but at the same time she hoped that she never remembered anything else. Angel wanted to cry. She wanted to scream and shout. But she couldn’t. She couldn’t do anything because some unknown force, for some unknown reason, was watching her. Angel had so many questions she wanted to ask. Why had she been tortured? Who were her birth parents and why did they let that happen? Why would remembering put her in danger? How had she escaped? Why had she arrived in the Night forest? Why did the witch call her Samantha? Was that her name? Who was the man in the Piper’s memory? Angel had called her father to answer some of these questions but now he wouldn’t be able to, because the answers couldn’t be spoken aloud, nor could they be said in the wolf bond. So Angel was left without any answers, without an outlet to express her conflicting emotions, left to bottle up her feelings and to carry on as if nothing was wrong.
“You okay?” Roger asked.
“Yeah,” Angel lied, “Just tired and hungry.”
“I was waiting for you to say that,” David smiled, “Whenever you’re upset or angry, you always want food.”
“She always wants food no matter what she’s feeling,” Ethan joked, “What do you want to eat?”
“Food,” Angel said simply.
“What kind of food?”
“The edible kind.”
“Sounds like I’ve come at the perfect time,” Rowan smiled as she entered the room, holding two bags filled with food, “I also brought you a change of clothes.”
“Ah yeah, I forgot I threw up a bit on these,” Angel muttered sheepishly.
“No wonder you smell,” Jackson joked.
“Hey! Patient! Don’t bully me today!” Angel pulled the curtain around her bed and changed quickly. Rowan handed them each a container full of food. There was silence as the Nights devoured their dinner. The quiet was filled by the heavy feeling of uneasiness. Angel wasn’t the only one tormented by the vast amount of unanswered questions, her brothers were feeling just as angry. They wanted to protect their sister; protect her from the memories, from the past and from the unknown force that lurked in the shadows. They wanted to kill the people who had harmed her; rip them to pieces and make them pay for their crimes. But they couldn’t do that, for they didn’t even know who they were angry at.
“How are you feeling Angel?” Rowan asked, breaking the tense silence.
“Alright. Any change with Sophie?”
“Sophie is recovering nicely. Hopefully we’ll be able to discharge her soon.”
“That’s good news,” Angel turned to Ethan and Roger, “Has Alex explained the new security measures to the squad yet?”
“He was doing that when we got the news about you,” Ethan said, his mouth filled with food, “I imagine he continued after we left.”
“You’ve only just woke up and you’re already thinking of work,” David shook his head.
“I’m just thinking about my squad. I’ve only just got back as captain.”
“Alex can take care of things,” Roger reassured.
“I know he can, but he hates it. And the squad hate it when he’s in charge of training. Alex is my vice-captain.”
“Ah the vampire?” Angel nodded then David continued, “You seem to get along with him well.”
“I do. We work well together.”
“I see,” then David asked, “How long has the Master of Darkness been at the base?”
“Oh, did you meet him? Jason hasn’t been here long, about a month,” Angel added, “He’s nice enough. A bit useless. He grew up in the human world so he’s a bit of a pathetic Master of Darkness.”
“Jason is great!” Roger smiled, “Me and Ethan are good mates with him. But yeah let’s just say it’s sometimes very hard to believe that he’s the most powerful man on the planet.”
“Hey, you know what I’ve just realised,” Ethan exclaimed, “That this is the first meal we’ve all had together as a family since Rowan and Jack got married.”
“Oh yeah!” Jackson exclaimed, “If only Tobias was here!”
“He would just bring down the mood.”
“Have you told your parents about the marriage yet?” David asked Rowan.
“I told them yesterday,” Rowan sighed, “It didn’t go down well.”
“Just give them some were-maids then they’ll forgive you,” Roger joked.
“Some what?”
“If you and Jackson have kids then we’re going to refer to them as were-maids.”
“You’re not calling my kids that,” Jackson protested.
“Were-maids is a cute name,” David interjected, “I want a reasonably large litter of were-maid grandchildren and it’d be nice to gets some before I reach five-hundred.”
“Pops,” Jackson groaned.
“Well Jack, you’re going to have to be the one to give me grandkids seeing as I’m unlikely to see any from the rest of you! You three can’t even manage to get dates!”
“That’s not, well, it’s kind of true,” Roger reluctantly admitted.
“Hey me and Roger aren’t as bad as Angel. At least we’ve dated in the past, Angel has never dated anybody!” Ethan exclaimed.
“That’s, yeah well hey you can’t pick on me today, I’m ill!” Angel protested. The Night family laughed. The family joked and talked for most of the night. The subject of Angel’s memories wasn’t spoken of. As Angel looked round at her family laughing and smiling together, she realised how lucky she was that David had found her that day in the forest. If he hadn’t, Angel dreaded to imagine what her life might have been like. When the other Nights finally fell asleep, Angel remained awake.
She whispered to herself, “So I was tortured, as a kid, I was tortured. Then I must have escaped. Escaped into the Night forest, where I killed a human child, tried to kill myself and then was cursed. This is so messed up!”
Angel hid her face in her hands and cried.
20
‘No one touches Angel’s Sword’
The next morning Angel woke to the sound of David speaking. She opened her eyes to see him talking on the phone. The rest of the Night family were still asleep. Roger was curled up on the floor by Angel’s bed, whilst Ethan slept across two chairs. Rowan and Jackson were asleep on one of the spare hospital beds.
“Yes, Edwin, yes I know this is a hard subject for you but you’re the only one who can confirm it. Yes, yes, I know he could, but I haven’t got time to go to China and find him. Yes. I know. This isn’t easy for me either. At eleven? Ah, no, no, I’ll be there. Thank you, Edwin,” David hung up the phone, and turned to face Angel, realising she was awake he smiled, “Morning pup, how are you feeling?”
“Better. Who were you on the phone to?”
“An old acq
uaintance of mine, he wanted to meet with me today to discuss something.”
“Is it something to do with me?” David didn’t answer. “Are you going to meet him today?”
“I don’t want to leave you.”
“Go. I’m more than capable of looking after myself, and if I ever become incapable, I’ve got these idiots to take care of me. So don’t worry and go to your meeting…but next time I come home, you better tell me everything. Danny?” Angel exclaimed in surprise as Danny entered the hospital wing.
“Angel, you alright?” Danny asked.
“Yes, what are you doing here?”
“It’s my turn to guard Sophie. I wasn’t sure if your brothers were planning to stay here during the day, so I thought I’d come and check.”
“Oh, this is Danny. He’s a friend of mine and a member of my squad,” Angel explained to David.
“Is this your…?” Angel nodded, “Ah, nice to meet you sir.” Danny bowed his head politely.
“You have the same scent too, how interesting,” David mumbled, “Ah I’m sorry, I tend to think aloud, it’s a bad habit of mine.”
“Your daughter does the same. Angel, are you going to be here all day?”
“It’ll depend on whether the healers let me go, for now Danny, just go back to the house, when I leave, I’ll call you,” Angel promised.
“I’ll get going then, it was nice to put a face to the name sir,” Danny bowed his head to David before leaving the hospital wing.
“Who just spoke? Hmmm, what time is it?” Roger mumbled. He had just woken up; his hair was messy, and he looked half asleep.
“Time you got up! I need to leave in a bit,” David laughed.
“You’re leaving? Already? Ethan. Ethan!” Roger hissed trying to wake his brother up. Angel picked up an empty water bottle, that had been on the table next to her bed and threw it. The bottle hit Ethan’s nose.
“What the…? Who?” Ethan stuttered as he woke up, stunned.
“Oi, sleeping beauty, get up! Pops has to go,” Angel smiled.
“Who just threw this at me?” Ethan asked. Roger pointed at Angel, who pointed back at her brother, “Pops, which of them threw this at me?”