by Rue Volley
“What should I do?” Mia asked him.
“Those bastards put me in here to feed, Mia; it is you or me now,” he said, as blood trickled from his mouth.
Mia looked at the door and shook her head.
“No way. You wouldn’t and I wouldn’t, so let’s get a plan together,” she said.
Bailey laughed and turned his head to look at her.
“Mia… if you had only been older, I would have been able to love you,” he said.
Mia bit her lip and stood up over him.
“Don’t do that, Bailey; you are talking like there is an ending,” she said to him.
Bailey grinned and Mia looked at the blood on his teeth.
“They only need one of us. They will take whichever one is the strongest; this is the way that rogues operate. You have not experienced it because I have kept you away from it,” Bailey said.
Mia flashed to the door and leaned her ear against it.
She closed her eyes and let her mind relax, trying to hear outside the door.
“I can’t hear anything,” Mia whispered.
Bailey laughed and then coughed.
“You won’t; they won’t talk about anything, Mia… knowing that one of us will try to listen.”
Mia turned to him and placed her hands on her hips.
“Listen to me Bailey, you will get up and help me get out of here,” she said.
Bailey looked at her and grinned.
“You should eat me,” he said.
“Ha! You wish,” she said.
Bailey raised his eyebrows to her.
Mia bit her lip and shrugged her shoulders.
“I feel older,” she said.
Bailey pushed himself up on his elbows and stared at her.
“You kinda look older too,” he said.
Mia looked down at the dress that she had woken up in and smiled.
“It is the dress; someone put it on me after they whacked me in the head,” she said.
“Well, I like it. It is much better than the boy stuff you usually wear.”
Mia tilted her head at him.
“How bad is it?” she asked him, as she glanced at his stomach.
Bailey looked down and grimaced, as he touched the bloodstained spot on his shirt.
“Pretty shitty; Clytie stabbed me with my blade. That bitch is crazy.”
Mia laughed.
“You think?” she asked him.
Bailey looked at her and nervously grinned at her.
“Listen… Mia, I am sorry. I was just ah…frustrated. I had not been with anyone for so long.”
“You could have waited for me… but no, you just had to hump on some old nag,” she said, as she walked to the window and looked out at the scenery going by.
“Jealous?” Bailey asked her.
Mia flashed back to him and knocked him on his back, placing her hand on his throat.
“You ever do anything like that again, and I will eat you and the girl,” she said.
Bailey stared at her and felt a vibration well up in his hands.
He had never seen Mia so in charge of herself and in turn, in charge of him.
“When did you become this?” he asked.
Mia let his throat go and stood up over him.
“I... I don’t know; I woke up feeling weird,” she said.
Bailey looked her over and spotted a bite mark on her collarbone.
He leaned up and hissed, as he touched his stomach.
“Someone bit you!” he said, as he stared at it.
Mia shook her head.
“I don’t remember anyone biting me,” she said.
“Who was it? Was it that boy who runs things here?” he asked her.
Mia laughed and shook her head at him.
“So what if he did,” Mia said.
“Oh… okay,” Bailey said, as he rolled on his side and forced himself up on his knees.
Mia stepped back and watched him as he struggled to stand. He pushed on the floor and then straightened his back, standing there in front of her. Mia crossed her arms on her chest and looked at him being all pissy about something that may or may not have happened.
“Oh, now you can stand...? I thought that you were ‘dying’?” she asked him.
Bailey looked at her and grinned.
“I am going to kick his ass. I know what he did,” he said.
Mia crinkled her eyebrows.
“What?” she asked him.
“He bit you… causing aging… It may not be apparent now, but your body will catch up to it. It is a trick that some rogues are able to do. I never was able to, but obviously, that dickhead has figured out how to do it. He bit you, making you not only stronger but also accelerating your growth to 21,” he said.
Mia looked down at her small frame and shook her head.
“I don’t even have boobies, come on!” she said.
Bailey grinned.
“Oh but you will. It will probably only be a day or so before your body matures, and during that time, your mind will continue to grow also.”
Mia sighed and looked at his stomach.
“Well, that is neat, but you have a gaping hole in your stomach, and we have to get it patched up ASAP,” she said.
Bailey looked at it and shrugged his shoulders.
“I can make it,” he said.
“Uh huh,” Mia said, as she laughed. “So, now you are ready to fight.”
Bailey walked slowly to the table against the window and sat down, still wincing from the growing pain in his gut.
“Hell yea! I mean, I am so gonna be there when you get all… ah... you know,” he said.
“Oh! You mean when I grow up...? Like I would even care that you notice,” she said.
Bailey lowered his head, and then looked up at her with a strange look on his face. One she had never seen from him before.
“I want to be your first, Mia… and now that the opportunity is going to happen; I am so gonna be there for it.”
“Ha...! Really? Like I would let you even get that close to me! You should have thought about that before you rolled around with that crazy bitch,” Mia said.
“Mia… please, it was a mistake; we all make them,” he said.
Mia bit her lip and shook her head ‘no’ after she thought about it for a moment.
“No… we will get the hell out of here, and then we go separate ways, Bailey,” she said.
Baileys grin faded and he tilted his head.
“No way,” he said.
“Oh, yes way,” she said, as she walked towards him and leaned down to look at his stomach.
She hit his hand, and he moved it out of the way.
“Let me see,” she said.
She lifted his shirt and pierced her lips, as she looked at the damage.
“Oh, this is gross,” she said.
Bailey reached up and touched her cheek.
“It has always been you,” he whispered.
Mia laughed and turned her head, as she stared at the hole.
“This is going to take more than a glowing hand.”
Bailey touched her hair, and Mia hit his hand.
He pulled it back and shook it.
“That stung,” he said.
Mia smiled and glanced at him.
“Good,” she said.
Bailey leaned back when Mia traced the hole in his stomach, and he hissed.
“You don’t have to play with it,” he said.
Mia looked up at him.
“Oh shut up, you baby. I am feeling it, to see how bad it is.”
“It is pretty bad,” he said.
Mia laughed.
“Oh, you think?” she asked him sarcastically.
Bailey smiled, and Mia looked at him.
“Why are you staring at me?” she said.
“Just because,” he said.
“Well, stop it… You will get used to my face, and then you will cry like a girl when I leave,” she said.
“I will w
in you,” he whispered.
“Oh okay, Romeo… you go ahead and keep telling yourself that.”
Mia stood up and looked at the door.
“We have to get off this train. Someone has to know how to fix you up, and I think I know who,” she said.
Bailey looked at her.
“Who would that be?”
“That protector, who is like a wizard… who hangs with Rue Volley,” she said.
“Theodore Barrington...? No way will he help us, no way.”
Mia looked back at him.
“He will if we join them, you ass,” she said.
“No… no way. Lord Caine will hunt us down and eat us,” he said.
Mia shook her head at him.
“Lord Caine can’t even kill them, Bailey; there is something special about all of them and you know it.”
“Yea, they are freaks of nature,” he muttered.
“Oh! Then what does that make us?” she asked him.
She turned back, as she heard the door start to open.
Bailey threw himself on the floor, facedown, and Mia flashed to him and bit his shoulder. He groaned, but in a good way. She hit him on the back of the head, and he laughed under his breath. A tall boy walked in, and Mia looked up at him, with blood on her face.
“Good, Blake will be pleased that you are eating,” he said to her.
Mia stood up and kicked Bailey in the side.
“I would have preferred something that tasted better,” she said, as she wiped her mouth.
“Come,” the boy said.
Mia glanced down at Bailey, and the boy stepped towards her.
“Do not worry; your meal will remain here for you to snack on later.”
Mia bit her lip and looked back at him.
“Okay,” she said, as the boy turned and started to walk out the door.
Mia looked back at Bailey and whispered.
“I will be back; don’t die on me.”
Bailey moved a little, and she turned and followed the boy, closing the door behind her.
***
Josh, Sam, and Kai woke on the forest floor. Josh was gripping his blades in his hands, and Sam sat up quickly and looked around, as a piece of popcorn fell out of her mouth. Kai rubbed his head, and the popcorn bag fell from his lap. He looked around the forest.
“What the hell just happened?” he asked.
Josh flashed to his feet and scanned the forest.
“Rue!” he yelled out.
No one answered.
He looked at Sam with a confused look on his face.
Sam stood up quickly and looked around too.
“This is bad,” she said.
Josh tilted his head, as he thought he heard something to the right, and flashed in that direction.
“Josh!” Sam yelled, as she started to follow him.
She broke through a clearing and skidded to a stop, as Josh stood there with his blades tilted in his hands. Lizzy was squatting by the creek, slowly dipping her hand in, pulling a small amount up to her mouth. Sam flashed to Josh’s side, and he raised his blade, blocking her from moving any further.
“Don’t,” he said.
Sam looked at him and then back at Lizzy. She rose up slowly and turned to them, as she wiped her mouth and ‘mmm’d’. Josh stood perfectly still, preparing his mind for anything.
“Oh… hello,” she said.
Sam tilted her head.
“You are the palm reader,” she said.
Lizzy nodded her head ‘yes’, and then took a step towards them.
Sam stepped back, as Kai flashed up and looked at all of them.
“Who are you?” he asked.
Lizzy’s eyes flashed to him.
“Oh, now that is a loaded question,” she said.
Kai tilted his head, and Josh tightened his grip on his blades.
Lizzy’s eyes wandered to his two glowing blades in his hands.
“I would suggest that you practice being nice,” she said to him.
Josh grinned and pushed his foot to the side, slightly turning his body.
“I am serious, unless you have no interest in seeing Rue again,” she said.
Josh sighed and lowered his head.
“Tell me what you are; you could at least do that,” Josh said.
“Oh, I am nothing and yet everything… rolled into one,” she said.
Sam stepped towards her.
“We don’t have time for your bullshit,” she said.
Lizzy looked at her and grinned.
“Oh… the legendary Samantha Barrington. I will admit that I would have much rather met you under better circumstances, but you see… I am on a mission, and my master is quite the pushy one,” she said.
“Who would that be?” Sam asked her.
Lizzy laughed.
“Oh my, you are good at getting right to the point, all you Barrington’s seem to be that way. Well, my master is one of great beauty and terrible impatience. When he wants something, he simply expects it to be done on time,” she said.
“Stop talking in riddles or I will tear you apart,” Josh said.
Lizzy looked at him and grinned.
“Joshua Barrington, what a special beast you are. No pity, a perfect understanding of pride and vanity, and the lack of morality when it comes to the bedroom. I will tell you; I would love to have you,” Lizzy said.
Josh laughed.
“Right… thanks, but no thanks.”
Lizzy clicked her tongue and stared him down.
“You are kidding me; I mean, look at me! What boy would not want to get all sweaty on this meat sack,” she said.
Josh pushed his foot back and pulled one blade out in front of him.
“Demon,” Josh whispered.
Sam pulled her blades, and Kai stood there, eating popcorn again.
Sam hit the bag in his hand, and it dropped, spilling the popcorn out of it.
“Nice!” Kai said, as Sam glared at him.
“This isn’t a freakin’ movie Kai!” she said.
Lizzy laughed and listened to the two of them.
“Oh, how I would have wished for things to be different; I really would have. I think that you would all be so enjoyable to watch… but no,” she said, as she flicked her hand at Josh.
He groaned and fell to one knee, slamming his blade into the ground as the other one fell sideways on the ground. Sam cried out and lunged towards him. Lizzy looked at her and shook her finger back and forth slowly.
“Ah ah ah,” she said, as she twisted her hands into a fist.
Sam fell grabbing her stomach.
Kai looked down at her and back up at Lizzy.
“I got nothing to say; I am just standing here,” he said.
Lizzy grinned and twisted her neck, cracking it.
She straightened up and grinned at him.
“Nice try, but you are just as dangerous as your sister,” she said, as she pulled both her hands downward.
Kai fell to his knees and cried out, as he felt like nails were digging into his shoulders.
Josh looked up at her with sweat on his forehead.
“Why?” he asked her.
Lizzy smiled.
“Because you creatures need to be reminded that there are greater forces than yourselves at play on this ugly plain,” she said.
“I have no quarrel with you,” he said.
Lizzy flashed to him and squatted down in front of him, pushing his hair out of his face.
“Oh, look at that face! My god, you are a beautiful thing to look at,” she said.
Josh crinkled his nose, as he smelled something rancid.
She tilted her head at him.
“I must have shit myself… my bad,” he said, as he grinned back at her.
Lizzy stood up quickly and placed her hands on her hips. She kicked him in the face, and he fell onto his back, his blades left behind. He started to laugh, as he spit blood out of his mouth, and she stepped up and straddled him. She squatted
down and sat on him, grinding her hips against him. He gritted his teeth and stared at her.
“So funny you are, as to point out my smell…” she hissed.
Lizzy moved slowly, grinding against him.
Josh shook his head.
“You are doing nothing for me, honey,” he said.
Lizzy looked down and reached under her, grabbing his crotch.
“Oh… hey, what the fuck?” he asked her.
Lizzy leaned up and smiled in his face.
He turned his head, as she stuck out her tongue and licked his cheek, leaving saliva behind.
“Ewww,” Josh said, as he looked over at Sam.
She had rolled on her side, still holding her stomach.
Lizzy looked over at her and grinned.
“Would you like to see if it makes you squirm when your brother fucks me?” she asked her.
Sam laughed.
“Ummm, thanks… but no, you crazy bitch,” she said, as she gritted her teeth.
Lizzy sat up straight on Josh and dug her nails into his chest, ripping the material on his shirt.
“Too bad, I figured that you would be game for some perversion,” Lizzy said.
Kai raised his hand like he was in class, and Lizzy looked at him.
“What is it?” Lizzy asked.
“I gotta pee,” Kai said.
Lizzy laughed and pushed herself up, tearing some of Josh’s shirt with her and dropping it on the ground.
“This is not a field trip you idiot; this is an assassination,” she said.
“Well, do me a favor… you badass, since you seem to have the upper hand, tell me what you did with Rue,” Josh said, as he held back crying out from the unbearable pain in his body that Lizzy was causing.
“Oh… she is playing,” Lizzy said.
Josh laughed and she tilted her head.
“Anyone else would be unconscious at this point; I have snakes in your stomach right now… biting you and filling you with their venom.”
“Yea… I guessed that, nice touch,” Josh said, as he rolled on his side and tried to push himself up.
Lizzy stepped back and stared at him.
He shuddered, as the snakes continued to strike at his insides, and he stumbled to his feet and shook his hands out.
“What are you doing?” she asked him.
He looked up at her and grinned.
“I asked you a question, and since I am on my way to memory, you might as well tell me,” he said.
She crossed her arms on her chest and smiled.