by Rue Volley
“Shit,” Johnathan said, as he looked back and spotted the book on the floor.
He ran to it and opened it up, leafing through the first few pages. He settled on a page that looked old and weathered and leaned in, trying to read it… but it was in a language that he had never seen. He shook his head and slammed the book shut just as he looked up, and Lizzy stood in his face with a grin on her face.
“She is home now,” she said.
Johnathan sucked in his breath and stepped back from her.
“For crap sake, Lizzy, don’t pull that ninja shit on me!” he said, as he took a breath and felt his heart skip a beat in his chest.
Lizzy looked at his chest and smiled.
“Your heart has the funniest little ‘blup blup’ that it does when you get excited,” she said.
Johnathan shook his head at her.
“Is she really home?” he asked.
“Uh huh… now…”
Lizzy pulled out the blade and smiled at him.
“We need to get some blood,” she said.
Johnathan gritted his teeth and stared at the metal of the blade.
“So… listen, I ah… I don’t think that I am cool with the whole ‘feasting on bones’ stuff.”
Lizzy tilted her head.
“Do you want to me to grab Brooke back up and make a stew?” she asked.
“You wouldn’t.”
“I so would; I am hungry,” she said.
“Lizzy… I don’t know what Jonah did to you, but he is different now,” Johnathan said.
“Evil is as evil does,” she said.
Johnathan stared at her pretty green eyes and shook his head.
“I so want to go back, I really do… but he is a friend to me,” Johnathan said.
“Well, perhaps you would like for me to snatch up Rue and bring her here?” Lizzy said.
Johnathan felt his hands tingle, and he looked at her, for the first time with anger.
“You wouldn’t dare,” he said.
“Oh, that I would; you know that I can see your thoughts. So you need to decide to give me Jonah, or we sit here forever. I assure you that you have only seen my good side… not the bad yet,” she said.
“Right,” he said.
“You test me?” she asked, as she smiled at him.
“Perhaps I should go and get Rue, or Theodore or Sam... Right now,” she said.
“Stop,” Johnathan said, as he started to realize that this argument was pointless. “Fine, Lizzy… take us back. I will vouch for you,” he truly hating himself for saying it.
Lizzy started to laugh so hard she doubled over and held her side.
Johnathan tilted his head and stared at her.
“What is so funny?” he said, as he gritted his teeth.
“You… you are. Your humanity is a weakness. Humans are evil, Johnathan. It is not the protector blood in you that brings you three steps closer to being a demon; it is your human blood that taints you,” she said.
“I don’t believe that,” he said.
She looked around and smiled.
“Well… none of this matters,” she said.
Johnathan looked at her and held his hands up in the air.
“Why not?” he asked her, about at his end with her games.
Lizzy leaned in and smiled a wicked grin at him.
“You won’t remember anything of this... I just wanted to see if you would agree to it,” she whispered to him.
“What?” he asked in a panic.
Lizzy grabbed his face, and smoke rolled from her hand, engulfing his head. Her eyes rolled to black, as his body trembled, and she sucked every bit of his memory of their conversation, Brooke, and the boy they had eaten together. She took him all the way back to the moment he had come to her, and he dropped to his knees, as she opened her mouth and breathed it all in… all his fear and pain, all his doubt, all his insecurity… all his dark thoughts.
She tilted her head back and cried out, as she felt it fill her to the point of euphoria. She shook her head, and her skin became pale. She bit into her lip, and the black blood ran down her chin.
“Oh… you are something quite special,” she said, as she took a breath in and let his head go.
Johnathan dropped to the ground with a thud and rolled on his side.
Lizzy leaned over him and blew on him slowly.
She stopped and whispered.
“Return.”
She dropped onto him and hugged him, as they both started to fade. She pulled her blade and cut his wrist, placing it in her mouth. She shuddered, as she drank his blood, and they faded completely from sight.
***
Mia woke up, rocking back and forth on the train. She opened her eyes slowly, and then blinked quickly, like an animal would as it studies its unfamiliar surroundings. She heard a throat clear and turned on the bed quickly to see a boy, sitting in the corner, with his hands resting on his knees.
“So… little one, why is it that you wander this wretched earth alone?” he asked her.
Mia rubbed the side of her head and hissed, as she rediscovered the bump from the blow to her head.
“I… I ah, I just wanted to find others like me. I get lonely,” she said.
“Ah, I see,” the boy said, as he stared at her and then glanced to the window as the scenery went by.
He looked back at her and grinned, showing his teeth, all white and kinda wicked... sharpened in points. Mia adjusted herself on the bed and looked down at her hands.
“Who is your master?” the boy asked her.
Mia looked up at him, and he sat on the edge of her bed.
She never even heard or felt him move, and she flinched a little.
“I, ah… I don’t know,” she said.
The boy tilted his head and grinned at her.
“Lying will not help your predicament here,” he said to her.
“What predicament?” she asked him.
The boy leaned towards her and placed his cold hand on hers.
“The other rogues would like to eat you,” he whispered.
Mia shook her head and pulled her hand out from under his.
“Eat me...? That is crazy,” she said.
“Why yes,” the boy stood up and flashed to the window.
“Some here find children simply too much of a temptation; I am surprised that they brought you to me… instead of killing you on sight.”
“I… I only wanted to be with my own,” Mia said.
The boy looked at her and grinned.
“You are a good little liar… Mia,” he said.
“What...? No,” Mia said, as she started to shake her head.
The boy flashed to the bed and leaned her back, as he smelled her and closed his eyes. He opened them up, and Mia turned her head, as he hovered right at her face. She could feel his breath on her skin. It caused a shiver to run up her spine.
“Mia… where is your Bailey?” he asked her.
She looked at him and bit her lip.
“I ummm, I don’t know,” she said, as she realized that this rogue was far from stupid.
He obviously was a master here and had somehow figured out who she was.
“Oh, come now. A minion always knows where her master is,” he said to her.
“I am not a ‘minion’,” Mia said, as she started to get irritated.
The boy laughed and tilted his head.
“You are feisty for one so young, pity that I did not change you myself,” he said.
Mia sat very still, as she stared at him. He was beyond pretty, and he smelled like flowers that had been freshly cut. This was something that she was sure came in handy when he lured his food into the train.
“I, ah… I need help,” Mia said in a small voice.
The boy looked at her and smiled.
“Oh, do we?” he said.
Mia looked up at him and tried to smile, and he tilted his head at her.
“Did we lose track of our master...? Or did we get
jilted?” he asked her.
Mia crossed her arms on her chest and crinkled her eyebrows.
“Bailey does not look at me that way,” she said.
“Oh, but you wish that he did, correct?” he asked her.
“I… I love Bailey; he is all I have,” Mia said, as she started to look upset.
“Oh, don’t,” the boy said, as he walked back to the bed and sat down next to her. He tapped her on the leg, and she looked at him.
“I am a good hunter, and even a better prey,” she said to him.
“Oh, I can see that… You are quite pretty, although a bit young.”
Mia stared at him.
“I am fourteen… I am not a child,” she said all defiant.
The boy laughed out loud and looked at her.
“Oh my… a whole fourteen?” he asked her.
“Yes,” Mia said, as she looked down.
“Well, Mia… I have use for you, so in that I will let you live,” he said.
Mia looked up at him and grinned.
“Really...? You will help me?” she asked him.
“As you will do for me… You see, I have a little thing I need for you to work on, and if you succeed… I will insure that Bailey will be with you forever,” he said to her.
“What do you want me to do?” Mia asked, as she sat up straight and looked all happy.
“I need you to befriend someone for me,” he said to her.
“Who?” she asked.
“Rue Volley.”
“I met her!” Mia said all excited.
“I know that you did… at the carnival, correct?” he asked.
“Yea… yea!” Mia said. “Lord Caine likes her.”
“I know he does. He has an unhealthy obsession with her, but it is not for Lord Caine that I seek her out,” he said.
“Oh,” Mia said. “Well, Lord Caine sent us out to find her… along with another girl.”
“Who does he seek now?” the boy asked her.
“Clytie… that old hag,” Mia said, as she once again crossed her arms on her chest.
The boy stood up and stared down at her.
“Clytie?” he asked.
Mia looked up at him and shook her head.
“Yea… we were supposed to kill her but no! Bailey liked her, and next thing I know, they were…ummmm, they were in the camp and…” Mia said, as she clinched her fists tightly.
The boy looked at her and watched her fidget with her hands.
“Love is a curious thing. You do not choose it… it seeks you out,” he said to her.
Mia looked up at him.
“You love Rue Volley?” Mia asked him.
He took a breath, sat back down on the bed, and stared at her.
“It would seem that she left an impression on me that was stronger than I expected,” he said.
“Huh,” Mia said.
He tilted his head at her.
“Why do you react that way?” he asked her.
Mia shrugged her shoulders and smiled.
“I don’t know… I guess that I am just shocked that a rogue master is able to ‘love’… I didn’t expect you to be nice,” she said.
He smiled at her and shook his head ‘no’.
“Oh, I am not always nice,” he whispered to her.
Mia leaned in and looked at him.
“I think that you are,” she said.
They both turned, as the door opened, and a girl stepped in and stared at the two of them.
“The rogue has been found… at the bottom of a lake,” she said.
Mia looked at him and back to the girl.
“Is he alive?” he asked.
The girl nodded.
“Alive, but not so pretty,” she said.
The boy looked back at Mia and grinned.
“Well, seems that I have other business to attend to. We will talk later. I want you to eat, and then tomorrow we will discuss your mission,” he said.
Mia looked at him as he stood up.
He leaned in and whispered to the girl who had entered the room.
She looked at Mia and grinned.
“Want to go on a hunt?” she asked her.
Mia nodded and looked at the boy.
“Who are you?” Mia asked.
The boy smiled at her, and his expression softened.
“My name is Blake, Mia… this is Tyla; she will lead you to food.”
“Okay,” Mia said, looking at Tyla.
“Blake?” Mia said, as he stepped to the door.
He turned back to her.
“Thanks… for being ah…” Mia said.
Blake looked at Tyla and straightened up.
“Eat,” he said, as he left the room.
Chapter 10
Put Your Pants Back On
Every year Halloween was a big freakin’ deal in the Volley home. My Mom loved Halloween, and in turn, so do I. It is the one day of the year that everyone dresses up all fun and freaky, and it gives the people who feel like (for the lack of a better word) ‘Freaks’, to blend right in. We all get to play on an even playing field that day. It seems that all the stuffy people even joined in, so the weird looks fade away, and everyone just wants to have fun.
I always thought it was a child’s holiday.
A day to collect way too much candy, and then binge on it until you felt lethargic. I never went to any Halloween parties; I always sat on our front porch, with a huge bowl of candy lying in wait for the children to come and ‘trick or treat’ me. Kai, on the other hand, always had a date and went to some party that he asked me to attend every year, but I declined.
After handing out the sugar fix to the kids, I would always snuggle down and watch old monster movies. Then at some point, Sara would show up, all giddy and looking fabulous… going on about how she had wished that I had been there to see what ‘he’ or ‘she’ was wearing and who looked hot and who couldn’t look hot if they had been hit upside the head with hot. I always laughed and listened to her. I kinda lived that part of Halloween through her, and over the years, it became a normal part of our routine.
I sit there on my bed and stared out the window, glancing at my old monster movie calendar on my lap and back out my window… Watching my trees lose a few more discolored leaves. I turned my attention back to the calendar on my lap and looked at the date on it, grinning. Tomorrow was Halloween, and for the first time, I wanted to go out and celebrate it, like I had been asked too so many times before… even though it was just Kai and Sara who’d asked every year.
I looked up when I caught a shadow in my doorway and grinned at Josh, who stood there looking all too pretty to be with me. I looked back at the calendar, and then I grinned super big and held it up to him.
“Guess what tomorrow is?” I asked him.
He tilted his head and stared at the calendar.
“All Hallows Eve?” he asked.
“Yep,” I said, as I placed the calendar down on the bed and stood up.
I walked to my closet and started to look through it.
Josh stepped in and watched me.
“What are you thinking?” he asked me.
I grinned, as I leafed through my clothes, and then I glanced at him.
“We are going to go out,” I said.
Josh crossed his arms on his chest and stared at me.
“Ummm, really?” he asked me.
“Yep,” I said again, like nothing else was going on.
Josh stepped towards me and let his arms relax.
“Don’t you think that hanging here would be safer?” he asked.
I looked at him and sighed.
He rubbed his neck and grinned, as he looked at the floor.
“Okay… fine,” he said.
“Really?” I said.
He looked up at me. I swear to God I could have jumped on him… but I was soooo not going too. Josh and I had a weird thing going on. I guess you could call it a break in the passion department… although I wish it wasn’t like that.
“Well, if I say ‘No’ it will turn into ‘Yes’ anyway,” he said.
“Huh,” I said, as I looked back at my closet and continued to rummage through it.
“Huh, what?” he asked me.
I smiled at him, as I pulled out a costume that I had on reserve… a ‘ring master’ coat I had picked up… Well, Sara picked it up for me; I am sure in the hopes that someday I would wear it. I held the red and black coat up to me and played with the tails on it. It had a slight girl look to it, I guess, but not overly sexy. Sara had found it while she was out one day and had to buy it for me. I had never worn it out, although I did try it on in my room in private. Josh tilted his head and had a weird look on his face.
“What?” I said, as I looked at him.
“Umm, I don’t know. I think it’s kinda boyish… don’t you?” he said.
I tilted my head at him. “It is a badass coat… I can make it work.”
“Sure,” he said.
I dropped the coat on my bed and turned to him.
“You just wait… you’ll see; you have no idea what vision I have for it,” I said.
He laughed and walked to the door.
“What are you going to be?” I asked him.
Josh turned back to me and smiled.
“Me… is there anything cooler than that?” he asked me.
I shook my head and turned around to look at the coat on my bed.
“Sure… whatever,” I said.
He stood there, and I had sucked him in with that.
“What...? I mean, I will put on my battle gear and ‘bam’; I am the coolest boy in town,” he said.
“Sure… sounds good,” I said without looking at him.
Josh stood there and bit his lip, as he looked around the room.
“Why do you say it like that?” he asked me.
I looked back at him and grinned.
“Oh… I just thought that maybe you would step out of your comfort zone and dress up… for once,” I said.
“For once?” he asked me, as he looked at his clothes.
“Yea, Josh… I mean come on! It’s Halloween, you can be whatever you want to be,” I said to him.
Josh held his hands up and waved them over himself.
“Who wouldn’t want to be what I am?” he asked me.
“Oh yea… like the world is like…‘Oh my God! A protector!’” I said, as I laughed at him.