Monster

by Yolanda Olson

  “Right, dolly?” Cody asked.

  “I’m sorry. What?” I replied snapping my attention back to them.

  “I was saying that we could all move to St. Petersburg or just vacation there when the summer months show up. I mean no one here needs to be in cold weather more than you and the temperature change wouldn’t really bother anyone but the gypsies, but I’m sure they can weave some kind of thick quilts to keep them warm. I don’t know, it’s just a thought,” he said shrugging.

  “A really weird, out of nowhere kind of thought,” I answered.

  “Yeah but think of all of the stuff there is to see there! You could see the Winter Palace and then we can scoot over to see the Kremlin. I mean there’s a lot to see there. I know you’ve always wanted to see some kind of pretty structure and architecture and they have a lot. I mean we don’t have to go there, but it’s one of the easier places for you to be in. That’s all I care about.”

  “Sometimes I think you care a little too much, Code,” I said as we rounded Kaeden’s street.

  “No way. I think I don’t care enough to be honest but I’m trying not to smother you all the time,” he said with a laugh.

  “Looks like you’re losing that battle,” Kaeden said giving us a pointed look. The three of us laughed as we headed up the driveway.

  “It’s about time,” Charlie called off the front porch. She had been sitting on one of the railings talking to Ryker who was seated in a wicker chair next to her.

  “Sorry. You know how it is hanging out with Finn. Something always tries to kill you,” Cody called back making everyone laugh again. “Say, what do you think of the North Pole?”

  The confused look on Charlie’s face made us all laugh again. It was like having the world’s greatest inside joke. Kaeden climbed the stairs first and asked Ryker to join him in the house. Ryker nodded and followed him into the house after giving me a friendly wave and a smile. Charlie sat on the railing still looking completely confused. Cody gave me a kiss on the cheek and disappeared into the house.

  “What was that all about?” she asked me curiously.

  “Oh. That’s just Cody being his super overprotective self,” I said waving my hand dismissively.

  “Mm,” she said with a smirk. “Oh hey, I almost forgot. Some guy came by last night after you guys left. Drake actually wound up leaving with him. He was overly excited to see him, so I figured he must’ve known him. I didn’t catch his name.”

  “What did he look like?” It had to be Ken, I thought excitedly.

  “The only thing that stood out to me were his eyes. They were almost purple and the prettiest thing I’ve seen in long time,” she said wistfully.

  “Was he ... with anyone else? Or did he come alone?” I asked with a shaky voice.

  “No he was definitely alone. You okay? You look like you’re about to pass out or something.”

  “Yeah, I’m fine,” I replied.

  My knees for some reason felt wobbly and I had to hold on to the banister. I set myself on the stairs and glanced out into the darkness. Maxwell had come to Kaeden’s house and taken Drake back with him. I didn’t know where Max was staying, none of us did, so it’s not like I’d be able to hunt them down and see if Ken was there. Or even make sure that Drake was okay.

  Of course he’s okay. He’s with Max and that means that he’s with Ken too. Those three are tight and they look out for each other.

  But even though I talked it out in my mind, I still couldn’t shake the feeling that something might be wrong.

  Ryker’s booming laugh from deep inside the house interrupted my thoughts. Charlie jumped and had to steady herself on the railing to keep from falling off.

  Then we looked at each other and walked into the house. Kaeden was standing against one of the walls in the waiting room; a leg propped up against it and his arms crossed casually over his chest. An amused smile was playing across his lips.

  Ryker was sitting in an antique wooden chair with velvet cushions that made him look even more kingly. Cody was on the floor with his legs stretched out in front him and he held himself up with his hands. He had that boyish grin on his face.

  “What did we miss?” I asked casually.

  Charlie stopped for a moment to take everyone in. When no one answered right away, she rolled her eyes and walked out of the room. I started to follow her thinking that there was suddenly a secret boys club, when Ryker caught me by the arm and pulled me back into the room.

  “Stay. Speak with us, Finnegan,” he said with a kind smile.

  “Stop sounding so proper. You make me feel like I should be bowing every time I see you,” I replied.

  Ryker laughed again and shook his head, “No. That’s not necessary. I don’t even have my people do that, but if it makes you feel better, I’ll try to act more like a commoner.” Normally I would’ve taken something like that personally, but his genuine smile told me that he didn’t mean anything by it.

  Patting him on his broad shoulders I suddenly went in for a sneak attack of a hug that seemed to shock him. Cody laughed. Kaeden laughed too. Ryker on the other hand seemed to have stiffened up in my arms not knowing what to do. So in an exaggerated motion, I leaned down and grabbed his left arm and put it around my waist, then I shimmied until his right arm caught on to the left arm and eventually joined together to give me a hug back. When I was finally satisfied with his half decent attempt at a hug, I dropped my arms and released him.

  “That’s called a hug. Common people do that a lot. Get used to it,” I teased.

  Laughing uneasily he looked at Cody, “I hope that didn’t offend you.”

  “Why would it offend me? It’s just a hug,” he responded with a shrug.

  “It’s different with gypsies,” he said still looking uncomfortable. “You don’t touch another man’s wife or betrothed or anything. Not without his permission and it can never be more than a handshake.”

  “Well out here in the real world, it’s okay. The only thing you can’t do to my woman is kiss her and anything that goes above that. And no wandering hands. And ... well. Just don’t touch her. At all,” Cody finished thoughtfully.

  Ryker’s face flushed with further embarrassment. Cody couldn’t hold in his laughter in though. I picked up the first thing I could find and chucked it at him which he easily dodged.

  “Oh leave him alone,” I said.

  “Sorry,” Cody said still laughing. “I’m just kidding.”

  “You get used to it,” Kaeden said with a smile.

  “Anyway, what’s with the pow wow?” I asked looking at each of them in turn.

  Now it was Cody’s turn to look uncomfortable. He looked at Kaeden who was looking at him expectantly and then at Ryker who was watching my face carefully.

  Something was up and nobody seemed to want to tell me what it was.

  “Hello?” I asked waving my arms in the air.

  Cody cleared his throat, “So dolly, I was thinking. Maybe until this comes to a head I should put you somewhere.”

  “I told you that I’m not moving or going anywhere,” I said putting my hands on my hips.

  “We all agree that it’s for the best,” Kaeden said.

  “The best of what? You think Skiles won’t find me wherever you put me? You think his stupid little tricks are contained to this part of the world? No. It doesn’t matter where I am, he’ll find me or send his stupid little minion bastards to find me. I’d rather stay where I know my surroundings and where I’m comfortable.”

  “This isn’t up for debate, Finn,” Cody said in a serious tone. “You can’t get hurt before this happens.”

  “Right I forgot,” I said slapping my forehead, “I was born with stitches holding my face and leg together. I forgot that I was born with a strong deadly reaction to the sun. Wow, if only I had sat down and put this all into prospective earlier, we wouldn’t be standing here with me ready to kick your asses! What was I thinking?”

  There was an uncomfortable silence that follow
ed my sarcastic outburst. Mostly angry, but definitely uncomfortable. Cody got to his feet and crossed the room to stand an inch away from me. Slowly and deliberately, he leaned his face down in front of mine until I could feel his breath on my face. We locked eyes and I saw the blue serpent crashing into the ocean in them.

  “Do not argue with me, Finnegan. You are leaving and I don’t want to hear any more about it,” he said in a low voice.

  I shoved him back as hard as I could and he stumbled and fell to the floor in surprise. In an instant he was back up on his feet, with anger raging from his body like a tidal wave. I took a step back and readied myself for anything that might happen. Apparently he hadn’t gotten control of his anger in this state after all.

  Ryker came and stood in between us. Since I only came up to the middle of his back I was able to see every muscle in his body tense up.

  “Leave her to me and my people,” he said holding a hand up to Cody. “Our lands are well protected and she can’t get into trouble there. No one and nothing will be able to cross onto our land without being detected first.”

  “The point is to get her away from Devils Lake,” Cody replied not tearing his gaze from me. I couldn’t see him obviously, but it felt like he was looking at me through Ryker’s massive chest.

  “It’s better for her to stay here and be surrounded by those who know what is going on instead of being tossed into an unknown location with no one to help if she needs it,” Ryker argued.

  “This doesn’t concern you,” Cody shouted at him.

  “Actually it concerns all of us,” Kaeden finally intervened stepping off of the wall. “What happens to Finnegan in the end will affect us too, not just you Cody.

  You need to realize that. We all care about her too.”

  “Not like I do,” he said.

  “And I understand that. Ryker understands that. We all do, but you can’t toss her into a strange place because you think it will protect her. It won’t,” Kae responded reasonably.

  “Then what do you think we should do with her? How do you think we should keep her safe?”

  “Let Ryker take her. Skiles would never think to send his ‘surprises’ to the gypsy camp. I guarantee he’d never expect us to give Finnegan to the humans,” he said with a sly grin.

  “That’s actually true,” I said quietly to myself.

  “What?” Ryker asked turning slightly to look down at me.

  “Well, think about it,” I said feeling myself getting excited. “One way or another I’ve been surrounded by monsters. No offense guys. But because I’m constantly with you guys, he’d never think to look for me out in the open. I mean the only time he saw Ryker was once at the fairgrounds, I bet he doesn’t even know what he looks like anymore. This’ll work!”

  I looked around Ryker’s broad body and studied Cody. His eyes were still demonic but he seemed to be considering it. I knew just how to push him over the edge.

  “Cody he’ll be looking for my scent. He won’t be able to pick it up with the humans surrounding me. They’re all different so it’ll be a myriad of scents he’ll be wading through to find me. Cody, trust me on this. It will work,” I said finally stepping around Ryker and taking his hands in mine.

  He let out a sigh and his eyes returned to normal. “Dolly if this doesn’t work and something happens to you,” he stopped for a moment. “I ... I won’t be able to control my anger. I won’t try too. I’ll make everyone involved pay for what happens to you and I’ll kill whoever is in my way. Don’t do it. Not until I’m sure that you’ll be safe there.”

  I felt myself starting to get annoyed. I couldn’t believe that he was still that worried about me. I figured I’d proved to him over and over that I was able to handle myself. There would only be one way to prove to him that I would be fine with Ryker and I knew what it was.

  “Could you come with me for a moment?” I asked tapping Ryker on his arm. “The two of you stay here. We’ll be right back.”

  Standing up, Ryker followed me into the spacious kitchen area of Kaeden's new home. I looked around to make sure that no one was listening to us and then I motioned for him to wait in the kitchen. I walked out a different door, following the sounds of Remy and Charlie's voices. They were sitting in a room with Brian who was still restrained. I smirked at him, then asked Charlie to follow me back into the kitchen area.

  I was excited. I had the world's best idea running through my head right now and I was hoping that they would go along with it. I knew that Charlie would, but I wasn't so sure about Ryker.

  “Okay, I need your help,” I whispered to both of them.

  “What is it?” Charlie asked curiously.

  “Well, Ryker I just need you to take me to the gypsy camp. Charlie, I need something more complicated from you.” I took a deep breath and crossed my fingers. “I need you to morph into me and hang out with Cody and Kaeden. I need them to think that I'm still here.”

  They exchanged glances and looked back at me. Since neither of them answered, I knew that I was stuck here at Kae's new place and there would be no way to save everyone I wanted to save. I sighed and looked back toward the door.

  Kae and Cody were still engulfed in a conversation.

  “How about I do you one better?” Charlie asked finally breaking the silence.

  I looked at her and saw a sly grin on her face. She took a deep breath. Ryker and I watched as her body started to shift quickly. Within seconds I found myself staring into the half burned face of Ava. Ryker jumped in shock and I stared at her in awe.

  “Think about it. This will definitely keep them busy enough for you to do what you have to do,” she said in Ava's voice.

  Involuntarily, I shuddered. I felt like it really was Ava in the room. I considered her plan for a moment, then shook my head.

  “It would never work.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because Cody or Kae would come looking for me to make sure that she hadn't gotten me or something,” I said shrugging.

  “Well, how about this?” Ryker started. “Charlie, you turn into Finnegan and head off toward the trees, then when you get in there change to Ava. That will keep them preoccupied and thinking that Ava somehow managed to get her in there.

  They'll spend the rest of their time looking for her.”

  “Sounds good to me,” Charlie said, suddenly speaking in my voice.

  I turned to look at her and saw that she had morphed into an exact carbon copy of me. The same dead blue eyes, the same sullen expression, the same long black hair, and the same stitches on the face. I grinned.

  “If I didn't know any better you could definitely be my twin!”

  She laughed. Then as Ryker and I watched, she headed to the backdoor and waved at us. We watched her draw in a deep breath, then she let out a terror filled scream, and took off like a shot around the front of the house.

  I stood there with bated breath, wondering if Cody and Kaeden would fall for it. But I didn't have to wait long, I heard Kaeden shout my name and heard their running footsteps as they flew out the door. Ryker grabbed my hand, pulling me out the backdoor. Together, we ran as quickly as we could into the trees. It seemed way too easy for some reason and that was bothering me. Why had they so carelessly taken off after me? Maybe they were slipping. Regardless, I did what I needed to do to be able to get out of there. And once I got far enough into the trees, I’d lose Ryker too.

  “Wait,” he suddenly whispered.

  He crouched low behind one of nature’s giants and pulled me down to the ground behind him. I watched as he glanced around one of the trees. Something deep in the wooded area was bothering him even though he was fighting the urge to show it. Luckily, even though he wasn’t much for expressing himself through words, his face always told his story.

  As his frown deepened, he pushed me even further behind him. The look of concentration on his face was clear; he was obviously listening to something that I wasn’t able to hear yet.

  “Ryker, what are we
doing?” I asked him in a whisper.

  Turning slightly he put a finger to his lips, then turned his attention back to the dense area that he was scanning so cautiously. I shifted behind him and he turned to look at me. Obviously this was supposed to be a sit-still-and-don’t-move kind of thing and I was a very fidgety person. I smiled sheepishly, willing myself to stay in one place.

  Finally he turned and looked out toward the trees again. My leg twitched. I hoped he didn’t notice, because I didn’t want another look from him. I sighed quietly and waited.

  My arm itched. I wanted to move to scratch it, but that was the hand Ryker was holding. I forced myself to think of something else. I thought about how the trees, when I’m not in them, have little squirrels that run in and out of them. How they have cute little birds that make nests and hatch their eggs with brand new babies inside. I thought about how a bunny might hop past everything on its way home.

  The itching grew more insistent. I turned my head slightly and blew out a puff of air, hoping to calm the itching for now. That didn’t help. I pulled slightly at Ryker’s hand, but he didn’t let go, squeezing my hand tighter instead.

  Closing my eyes, I clenched my teeth together. I bet that rainbows can break a path through these trees. I bet its so pretty here in the rain and it must smell so nice afterwards. I bet that when the sun breaks through the trees it looks like a light show for the animals.

  I yanked my hand out of Ryker’s and gave my arm a much needed, long scratch. I caught him off guard and he almost fell forward. I didn’t care. I scratched faster and harder. In fact I scratched so hard, that I felt little chunks of flesh under my fingernails forcing me to stop.

  I was panting and I didn’t even realize it. I looked up at Ryker who was giving me a curious, wide-eyed stare. I smiled weakly at him then I turned my arm slightly so I could see the damage that I had done. To my surprise, I could only see faint scratching marks, like a human would. Shrugging I sat down and placed my back against the tree.

  Maybe my luck was finally turning around.