by Rue Volley
Josh stood up straight and looked at Theo.
“Not cool.”
“Well… now she will be missing her cat; that alone will cause doubt,” Theo said.
“Oh, okay… so the fact that it died is a good thing?” Josh asked.
The cat started to melt into the floor, and they all stepped back, as it bubbled and started to smoke. The burning hair stench filled the air.
“Alrighty then,” Theo said, as he walked back to the stove and pulled the pot from it.
Josh turned and stared at him and the pot.
“Are you sure that you got the mix right on the demon stew there?”
Theo sighed and placed the pot on the counter.
“That I am certain.”
“Are you sure of that? I mean, I am standing here over bubbling kitty.”
Theo grinned.
“If there is one thing that I am certain of, it is my ability to whip up a tonic.”
Josh looked at Sam and shook his head.
“You drink it first,” he said.
Sam placed her hands on her hips and glanced at the cat mess on the floor.
“You do it,” she said.
“Oh for craps sake… here,” Kai said, as he blew past both of them and grabbed a glass.
He dipped it in the pot and pulled it out.
He crinkled his nose, and then pinched it with his fingers.
“Here’s to nothing,” he said, as he placed it to his mouth and swallowed, choking it down.
Sam reached towards him and stopped when he leaned over.
He dropped the glass, grabbing at his stomach.
“Oh shit,” Kai muttered.
Sam looked at Theo in a panic. Theo held his hand up and glanced at Kai. Kai reached back and grabbed the counter. He dug his nails into it, and then hurled on the floor. Sam stepped back and looked at Josh. Kai shook his head and spit on the floor. He started to breathe harder, and then he slowly raised his head, his hair falling in his face, and let his eyes settle on Sam.
“Hello,” he whispered.
Sam tilted her head and then looked at Theo.
Kai stood up straight and let his teeth show.
“I am starving… Wanna go to the bedroom?” he asked.
Sam bit her lip.
“Ummm, Theo?” she asked.
Theo grinned and looked at Kai.
“You will find that going rogue is an interesting state of being,” he said.
Kai laughed and looked at Sam.
“I am going to tear you up,” he said.
Sam swallowed and looked at the pot.
“Give me a glass, quickly,” she said.
Theo pulled another glass out, and then grabbed three more.
“It is time that we take this journey together… It is my hope that we…”
Josh flashed to the pot and so did Sam. They both scooped up the churning mixture and drank it down quickly, both leaning over and grabbing at their stomachs.
“Well… I guess there is no need to have a moment here… since we all are so rude,” he said.
Lily grinned and picked up her glass.
She looked at Theo, and they both dipped it into the pot.
They clinked their glasses together… a cryptic toast.
“Too salvation,” Theo said.
Lily grinned and looked at the glass.
“Too survival,” she whispered, as she placed it to her lips and swallowed quickly, not spilling a drop of it.
***
I looked back, as I thought I heard my cat meow… but it sounded more like a quick meow that a cat does when they get frightened. I looked at my Dad and tapped him on the shoulder.
“You can put me down,” I said, as I laughed.
Dad lowered me down and smiled in my face.
“Sorry, Ruebear… soon you will off to college, and the little things will become harder to do.”
“What like picking me up randomly and hugging me?” I asked him.
“Everything really… I will miss it all, honey.”
I smiled at him, knowing that he would… or did, or does.
Sara popped in the front door and grinned.
“Time to shop!” she yelled out.
Dad looked at me and placed his hand on my face.
He pulled out a credit card and placed it in my hand.
I looked at it and shook my head.
“Get whatever you want,” he said.
I looked at him and bit my lip.
“Really?” I asked him.
He smiled and turned me, pushing me towards the door. I stopped and glanced back at the kitchen. I shook off the weird feeling that I had and followed Sara out, determined to find something to wear tonight… something memorable and hopefully not too expensive… or I guess that I shouldn’t worry about that.
Dad said “whatever”, which was just bizarre in too many ways.
Chapter 15
Mia
Clytie stood on main street in Calvary… staring at the people walking around. She sighed and started to walk. She looked up at the banner stretched across the street overhead and smiled.
“Happy Hallows Eve.”
She looked back at the people, crossing the street and sighed.
“Well, at least these creatures got the name right,” she said.
She continued to walk until she noticed a boy, looking at her. She had stumbled across a hiker and killed her, stealing her clothing. The top was too tight, and the hiking shorts too short. She looked down and then back up at the boy, grinning. Realizing that he was enjoying the view. She turned and bent over, tying the lace on her borrowed boot. The boy tilted his head and bit his lip, as he looked at her. Clytie peeked back at him and smiled. She looked back down at her boot and whispered.
“Come to me.”
The boy cracked his fingers and started to walk towards her. Stopping right behind her and still staring at the view. Clytie turned and then stood up, straightening her back, as she moved her hair over her shoulder, and looked him up and down.
“Well, hello,” she said.
As soon as the boy heard her voice, he felt his heartbeat speed up and started to sweat a little. Clytie grinned and looked at his face. He took a breath and swallowed hard, as he felt his body tense up.
“Hi… hi, you been hiking?” he asked.
Clytie looked down at what she was wearing and looked back up at him.
“You are quite the genius,” she said.
“Well, you are wearing the new 214 series in hiking boots. They are really the bomb. I want some, but I have to save up some more money before I can get em,” he said.
Clytie looked down at her boots and then back up into his eyes.
“You didn’t walk up to me because I am wearing these boots,” she said.
“Oh! But I did! You see, I am a hiker too. I love it. You… you are not from Calvary, are you?” he asked her.
Clytie bit her lip and leaned up in his ear.
“No… that I am not,” she whispered.
He blinked and smiled at her, as she stepped back and looked down at his crotch. He looked down and grinned.
“Is my fly open...? I always forget,” he said.
Clytie looked up at him.
“You are too slow,” she said.
He started to follow her, as she walked past him and continued to look around the street. He jogged up behind her and rubbed his hair.
“I would be happy to give you a tour,” he said.
She turned back to him and placed her hand on her hip.
“What makes you think that I would want that?” she said.
She turned and started to walk.
“There is a party tonight!” he yelled out, as she continued to walk.
“It is at the Graph house… it is the biggest party of the year!” he yelled.
Clytie stopped and turned back to him, walking slowly.
He watched her and raised his eyebrows, as she stopped right in his face and leaned forward.
&
nbsp; “The Graph house?” she asked.
“Yea… Yea...! They have never had a Halloween party there before. Everyone is all excited about it.”
Clytie looked into his eyes and narrowed hers.
“Are you asking me to be your date to this?” she asked, as she smelled him and he kinda squirmed.
“I… I would love to take you there.”
“Mmm,” she said, as she looked at his lips.
“And what is the theme?” she asked him.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out his invitation. He placed it in front of his face and started to read over it. She snatched it from him and looked at it. Clytie started to laugh and then looked at him.
“Vintage with a spooky twist… of course,” she said, as she handed the invitation back to him. “Oh and look, Lizzy is co-hosting it, how sweet.”
He looked at the invitation and at her, as she started to walk.
“Did you want to go?” he yelled out to her.
“Come on… show me where to shop,” Clytie said, as he started to run after her and grin.
***
Mia sat in a cabin with a lot of candles burning and tapped her fingers on her knees while she waited. The boy had led her to the other end of the train and left her there… to sit in the candle lit room alone wondering what Blake wanted from her, really. She looked up when the door opened, and he walked in, slightly grinning at her and then closing the door behind him. She shifted on the side of the bed, and then realized that sitting on the bed was probably a bad idea. She should have taken a seat at the table along the wall and avoided giving any impression as to what she thought she had been summoned for. Blake looked at her and smiled.
“The bed is much more comfortable than the booth,” he said.
She glanced at it and stood up.
“I have slept on the ground; a wooden booth isn’t going to bother me.”
“Please… Mia, sit back down. I didn’t come here to harass you about your choice of seating,” he said.
She sat back down slowly and looked at him. He was quite handsome, in a pretty boy way. She found herself thinking about that too much and looked at her hands. Blake watched her and sat down on the bed next to her and turned to face her.
“Mia, we seem to have a problem,” he said.
Mia looked at him and tried to control her heart rate. She hoped that no one had gone into the cabin after her and stabbed Bailey to death and ate him. That would be the suck icing on a suck day. She kept her eyes locked on his and waited for him to elaborate on whatever it was that he felt compelled to discuss with her.
“The problem is, we rogues have been scattered for centuries, and I feel that it is time to collect them all together and become a force of unimaginable power,” he said.
Mia tilted her head at him and crinkled her eyebrows.
“You want an army… for what reason?” she asked.
“Oh, I want more than that. I want power. I want to take Valon,” he said.
Mia raised her eyebrows and stared at the candles burning around the room.
“Valon… well that is easy enough,” she said, as she laughed.
Blake looked at her face from the side and raised his hand, touching her chin and turning her face back to look at him.
“Mia… we are protectors, the strongest of the two breeds… it is almost impossible to kill us. We are virtually untraceable, and we can create more… it kind of takes the need for the creator out of the equation,” he said.
“Oh my god, you want to raise the tree and burn it, don’t you?” she asked him.
“I want to watch it turned to dust,” he said.
Mia sat there and sighed.
“That is a suicide mission. Valon is protected by the guard, and not to mention, a new Lord who should at this point be fully up and running,” she said.
“Oh, you mean Caine...? Oh no, he is not the true Lord of Valon,” he said.
Mia looked at him and tilted her head.
“I don’t follow you,” she said.
“Well,” Blake said, as he stood up and walked over to large candle burning and placed his hand over it, waving it back and forth.
Mia could smell his flesh start to burn and crinkled her nose.
“I would guess that you have simply been left out of the rumors; therefore, I will enlighten you as to the true reality of the situation. You see Caine had a son.”
Mia looked at him and shrugged her shoulders.
“We all know that, a son with protector blood and human… I would think that his power would be limited.”
Blake looked at her and smiled.
“He is much more than that. You see Caine called upon the unlikeliest of allies to create Johnathan; he reached out to Aiwass,” he said.
Mia stood up and looked at him.
“Caine summoned a demon?” she asked.
“Oh, that he did, and not only did he summon him, but he asked for his help… to create a beast… for Caine wanted change and thought that by creating a protector with the power of a demon, he would be able to breed this boy to create the perfect machine… one that would result in the death of all rogues and place humans in the stables, as the protectors in Valon believe should be done anyway. They just allow the humans there and on this planet to roam around freely for now. Caine’s true intention was to be at the forefront when the final battle between protectors and humans began.”
“The final battle?” Mia asked him.
Blake turned and smiled at her.
“Caine is a fool… a foolish creature in a long line of foolish creatures. Demons do not offer favors without asking for something in return.”
“Well, what did Aiwass ask for?”
“To kill the creator.”
Mia stood there and stared at him, not knowing what to say.
“You see, the creator walks among us now, Mia, in the flesh. No one has been able to track him or her down though, but Aiwass is a guard… the one true guardian to the underworld. He is here to kill our creator, and in turn try… to turn us into slaves. Those of us left standing after the creator falls will either be turned or we will perish… So you see Caine, out of his lust for power, has in turn damned us all.”
Mia stood there and felt like she was becoming smaller with each word that he said. She had no idea that the circumstances were so dire, nor did she even imagine that this rogue… who seemed to be a simple master on this train had so much information as to what was really going on.
“Well, that sucks,” she said.
Blake looked at her and grinned.
“So you see life is over as we know it, Mia. Now, it is a race to see who can find the creator first… us or the demon.”
“Well, I don’t even know where to look,” Mia said.
Blake waved his hand, and the door opened up.
A girl walked in and looked at him and then at Mia.
“This is Chloe. She will get you dressed, and then I need for you to take a message to Valon, to Lord Caine,” he said.
Mia looked at her and back at him.
“I don’t want to go to Valon; they will try to kill me there,” she said.
“Possibly, but not before you take this to Caine and toss it through the gate.”
Blake pulled out a book and held it out in front of him.
Mia looked at it and tilted her head.
“You want me to fight through protector guards, roaming rogues, and whatever demons already crawl around to throw a book at Caine?” she said.
A boy came in, dragging Bailey with him. He dropped Bailey on the floor, and Mia cried out, dropping down next to him. She rolled him over and looked at his face. His eyes were closed, and his breathing shallow. Mia looked up at Blake and gritted her teeth.
“What did you do?” she asked him.
“Oh, he will be fine, as long as you do as I ask of you. You see Mia, you are young… but you will learn that life is a series of trades… You take this book to Caine, and Bailey gets
better. You do not, and not only will I feast on him… but I will strip the meat from your bones and feast on your delicate flesh also.” he said.
Mia bit her lip and looked down at Bailey.
She hesitated, as tears started to cloud her eyes.
She looked back up at Blake and tried to swallow.
“Fine… give me the stupid book.”
Blake started to hand it to her, and then he stopped.
“You need to understand that with this book, Lord Caine will understand what it is that he must do… It is of the utmost importance that you reach him and give it to him,” Blake said.
Mia stood up and snatched the book from his hand.
Blake stood there and grinned at her.
“I understand the word ‘important’… I also understand the word ‘dick’.”
Blake laughed and looked at the girl.
“Get her dressed and fed. She will need to be strong enough to carry.”
Mia looked at him and tilted her head.
The book started to vibrate in her hand, and her fingers started to feel numb.
She started to drop it, and Blake caught it and looked up at her.
“You need to be weary of the power you wield, Mia… this is a book of great importance.”
“It is a book that feels like an energy sucker,” she said.
“It does feed… It is old, and it was written by the hand of the creator.”
Mia looked at it in his hand and then back at him.
“Ummm, okay,” Mia said.
“That is the attitude, Mia. Now go with Chloe and she will get you ready.”
Mia looked at her and then at Bailey on the floor.
“What promise do I have that if I do this, Bailey will live?” she asked.
“None of us will live if you don’t, Mia… so worrying about one rogue is useless.”
Mia sighed and looked at the book in his hand.
“You bit me on purpose; what did you do to me?” she asked him.
“I made you strong, and you will age, Mia… but beyond 21.”
“Oh…that is just great, really…glad you did that!”
Blake stepped up to her, and she had to look up at him, as he loomed over her.
“Mia, there is no time for sarcasm… You need to make it to Valon.”
“Well, I don’t understand why I have to do this, and I really don’t get why you want Caine to have something that can help him.”