by Shelly Crane
“So now you changed your eyes color too,” she mused to herself. “Where’s Eli?” she asked her voice sweet. “Did he get tired of you already?”
“He didn’t want to run into you,” I said and smirked to goad her. It worked as she then took to yelling instead of sweet talk.
“You’re ruining your senior year! It’s not like we’re Juniors and you can just make it all better next year. You’re tanking your reputation!”
“Are you for real right now?” My voice was shrill and confused.
“Of course I’m serious. Do you think your parents would be proud of you right now?” she asked and though all the breath left my body as if she punched me in the gut, I still saw her show coming into play. She twirled a lock of hair between her fingers and scratched the toe of her shoe on the pavement as Mike and Sarah stood behind her, watching as always. “All this; missing school, worrying the Pastor and his family with your erratic behavior, and this unfortunate business with poor Tate. He needed you, Clara. He’s hurting right now and you just threw him away because he made a few mistakes. We’re all just human, but that apparently isn’t good enough for you.”
I felt my eyes pop out but I held it together. Mostly.
“After everything you did to me, you think I’m going to fall for that act?”
She looked back at Sarah and they shared a sympathetic glance at my expense. Then she looked back to me and said, “Deflection of responsibility is one of the steps of denial, I’m pretty sure.”
“Yeah, but you skipped a few,” I spouted back sarcastically. “Tate was my business and it was my decision how to handle it, not yours. Just because you screwed him behind my back doesn’t mean that you had a say in our relationship.”
Sarah’s eyes went wide for a second. Mike just laughed. He loved conflict and goading, no matter where it was directed.
“Why don’t you just go public with that, Clara!” she yelled and then took a small step forward, visibly calming. “Besides, it’s your boyfriend’s responsibility to be faithful to you. I didn’t make him cheat, I was just the means. He used me too, you know.”
“And now you want my sympathy?”
“I miss you. We used to be friends.”
“Before you slept with my boyfriend! No, scratch that. Way before that did you stop being my friend. I can’t even remember when the last time you were actually my friend was. Probably in seventh grade, before you got your boobs.” Patrick and Mike burst out laughing as Dee gasped and covered her chest in instinct. “But then you became a royal witch. You think you can do whatever you want to whoever you want and it’s all ok just because you are who you are and your purpose is the only one that matters. That doesn’t make you special, it makes you a terrorist.”
She began to boil, I could see it, and the others had long since stopped laughing. I was hitting a nerve now, and I wasn’t about to stop.
“And yes, it was Tate’s responsibility to not cheat on me. But it was your responsibility to be my friend the way you say you are. And friends don’t sleep with each other’s boyfriends and friends don’t pour chili on the heads of guys that our friends have secret crushes on.”
Sarah’s mouth opened but she kept silent as she glanced at Patrick and flushed bright enough to see in the dark. I glanced at him to apologize bringing up the chili thing but he was looking at Sarah with a little smile. OK… moving on.
“You were never my friend. Stop being a pretender, Deidre. You’re a nasty witch, just own it. Let’s go,” I told Pat and Ariel, who had stayed strangely silent the whole time.
Patrick waved to Sarah who pressed her lips to stop a smile and waved her fingers discreetly at him before turning to a fuming Dee. She marched towards us.
“You don’t get to walk off like that! I haven’t had my say yet!”
“I’m done with it.”
“But Tate will be here soon. He was supposed to meet us. Don’t you want to see him or are you too guilt ridden to see the hurt you put on his face?”
I turned, rolling my eyes, and as if fate was playing a lead role in the Broadway production that was the night so far, Tate was there already. He was standing against the spinning paint booth and he wasn’t alone. Megan was grinding against him in a way that should be private and not seen with eyes that could sizzle into oblivion for it. He wasn’t exactly fighting her off, given by the hands on her butt and the way his lips were giving her neck a massive hickey that would be impossible to cover up the next day.
Deidre saw at the same time I did and yelled at him.
“Tate!”
He jerked his attention towards us and pushed Megan off, who straightened up and tried to appear normal as she flounced towards Dee.
“Dee-“ he started but then saw me and he really did look guilty. It was ridiculous. He wanted me back but couldn’t stop making out with the school easies! “Clara,” he sighed. “I didn’t think I’d see you here.”
I chuckled and glanced back at Dee.
“Oh, yeah, he’s really hurting. And he’s all yours.”
I looped my arms through Pat and Ariel’s once again and kept walking amid their yells and fighting behind us.
“Good work, Hopkins,” Patrick praised. “Nicely done.”
“Yeah, seriously,” Ariel agreed. “That was better than watching the Rocky Horror Picture Show.”
I laughed, though I had no idea what she was talking about, and took another sip of my soda but almost choked on it when I saw someone in front of us that I hadn’t expected.
“Clara,” Mara sang. I stared in silent disbelief. Eli’s sister was still here? Why? “Hi, there.”
“What are you still doing here?” I asked and came forward a little to stand in front of Pat and Ariel. It was weird how I had become some kind of protector for them. “Why aren’t you with the tramp?” I sneered and she slapped the soda from my hand to the pavement. “Hey!”
“I suggest your friends run along and play unless you want them to join us.” She gave a cursory glance to Ariel but lingered on Pat. “Mm. He’s pretty yummy.”
I turned to them as I said, “Go ahead and get in line for the Ferris Wheel, why don’t you? I’ll be there in a minute.”
“Are you ok here?” Pat asked.
“Yeah, just an old…friend. I’ll be done in no time.”
He nodded and they walked away as I turned back to her.
“Does Angelina know you’re still here?”
“Stupid feeler. You have no idea how big this is. This is not about some age old squabble between my brother and Angelina. This is about this,” she said and grabbed my wrist, but very gently. I saw our wrists were connected by the string. “You’re bound to him and you sealed both of your fates.”
“He left,” I said steadily, proud of my composure. “He spent the night with Angelina. I told him to go away and he did.”
“Wow. You really think we’re stupid don’t you? Surely Elijah can’t be this stupid too. He had to know the Horde didn’t leave.”
“They didn’t?” I said and couldn’t hide my fear any longer. The proof was when her lips opened and her tongue snaked out to lick them. ”Why not?”
“Because they knew he was lying. And now here’s the proof.”
“You’re going to turn us into the Horde?” I asked and racked my brain for a plan.
“I won’t have to.” She grabbed my sleeve and turned me to face the back of the building we were next to. There stood Hatch. “Not only are they here, but I’m one of them,” she whispered into my ear from behind.
“You work for the Horde to kill your own kind. Charming,” I said and let the sarcasm wash over me to keep away the shivers of fright.
“Clara, I presume,” Hatch said.
Twenty
I had to do something, had to get them to believe me. I broke down and cried a little, which wasn’t too hard given the circumstances.
“He cheated on me. I thought we had something, but I guess not,” I croaked and peeked to see if h
e was buying it. I couldn’t tell.
“We know he left town, this isn’t about that.” He crossed his arms. “Binding yourself to a demon,” he mused and whistled, “not too smart in my book. And he left you here, alone. So what does that say about him, huh? You thought you could wrangle an already tame demon, but even with all Eli’s faults, he still couldn’t be the human you wanted him to be, huh?”
“I don’t care. I’m glad he’s gone.”
“Well, you see, you know about us. I warned him that humans who knew about us were to be executed.”
I was beginning to wonder the same things he was. How could Eli leave if he knew the Horde didn’t let humans go who knew about them? It had seemed strange last night in the Reverie too, how Eli was so nonchalant about it when I said someone was following me. It confused me but after everything we’d been through so far, I refused to give up faith in him.
He moved with a swiftness that I missed until it was too late. He jerked my arm in his grasp and Mara’s arm snapped out in front of me. They stared at each other and she removed her arm and muttered a ‘sorry’ as she looked at the ground.
He started to pull me towards the woods at the end of the pavement. I jerked against him but he tsked me.
“Uh, uh, uh.” He pointed to the other end of the lot, to where Patrick and Ariel were standing. They were laughing and talking, completely oblivious as he threw popcorn at her that there was a Devourer behind them. I watched as Ariel’s face changed from one of laughter to one of horror. She even grasped Patrick’s collar as she looked around. He was confused but held onto her.
Hatch looked back at me with a knowing look. He’d won and he knew it.
“Come with me quietly or Demarcus will torture her until she never comes back from it.”
What could I do? I went with him.
I walked in between Mara and Hatch to a group of five Devourers about twenty feet into the woods. The grass was long, up to my thighs, and it scared me to walk in it in the dark. Although, with my new vision my sight was better, I still couldn’t see my feet.
“So Mara was right. He did leave her here,” one of them said.
“Yep. Let’s take care of this quickly,” Hatch answered.
But I wasn’t going down without a fight. I turned to Mara.
“How can you betray your brother like this?” I asked loudly and they laughed even louder, except Mara who continued to stare at me as if I were disgusting.
“How do you think she got into the Horde?” one of the men said but Hatch snapped at him.
“Be quiet!” He looked at me and cocked his head. “Mara, I wish you could do it. That would put the final stake in Eli, but I know the bond won’t let you.”
“I wish it were so too,” she spat out her words and looked at me. “Please get rid of her so I don’t have this disgusting thing wrapped around my wrist anymore.”
Hatch nodded and said to her, ”We’ll put your mark on her for you. Eli will know without a doubt that he is denounced and an abomination to our kind and better hope that we never find his traitorous hide again. Demarcus,” he called to someone behind Mara. The one that had messed with Ariel was back so at least they were safe. “Hold Mara back.”
Mara actually grinned and let him grab her arms from behind. I knew what was coming. They were restraining her so her instincts wouldn’t kick in through the bond and she couldn’t save me. One the other men came forward without any further hesitation and yanked my hair to pull my neck back. I saw Mara jolt but Demarcus held her tight. Before anything else could happen a flash of white caught my vision off to the side. I heard Hatch yell and curse before the Devourer let my head go. I stepped back but we all stood still and watched as the grass around us moved in trails but there wasn’t anything there to see. Another one of the Horde men yelled and went down into the grass. Then another. I waited for it to take me and grab me too. Whatever it was, was apparently strong enough or dangerous enough to take down a big Devourer.
When Hatch groaned I looked over at him and watched as he strained and fought against his legs. They buckled under him and he fell into the grass.
What in the….
I walked cautiously to Hatch and peeked at him through the fallen grass. He was completely still, eyes wide open…and they were black; completely, disturbingly, wholly black and bottomless. Then I heard a commotion off to the side but before I could see behind me, I was yanked down and dragged through the grass by my arm over my head.
I wanted to scream but for some reason, my vocal cords were frozen, in fear I guessed. It felt like I was dragged forever before it finally stopped abruptly. I lay in the grass, the sky above me. The stars and moon were shining through the canopy of the trees and in any other setting it would have been beautiful. And then a pair of beady eyes were above me too. I gasped and tried to scramble back, but it stopped me with a hand on my arm. It was surprisingly strong.
“Be still, feeler,” it hissed in a high pitched and scratchy voice. “Those thieves will kill you if they find you. Be still and wait for the traitor if you know what’s good for you.”
I looked at it, or um, him. He was about as tall as my thigh with a white bohemian looking shirt on with his white pants and bare dirty feet. His eyes were beady and black. His hair was red and scraggily on the sides with none on the top at all and his skin had a greenish hue to the pale look of him. I had no idea what he was, so I asked him.
“What are you?” I whispered.
“Be quiet you stupid girl!” he hissed loudly through a mouth that was covered in blue goo. Devourer blood, I realized. His sharp little teeth were covered in blue too. “What will it matter if you find out what I am if you are dead!”
“Sorry,” I grumbled and that earned me a glare. At least I think it was a glare. His eyes were impossibly small.
So I lay silently and listened with a gangly miniature monster holding me down with his arm. I stiffened hearing the noises off in the distance, grunting and huffing. Then my heart stopped beating when I heard a voice I knew - Eli. And he was yelling.
I pushed the creature away and took off running. I heard him behind me, hissing and calling me names, but I kept running. I had told Eli that I wasn’t into playing hero but apparently, for him, I was.
I arrived on the scene to see no one there but Mara and Eli. He has his arm wrapped around her neck from behind and there were several patches of grass around them that were depressed and indented so I knew there was a body there. I swallowed and focused on Eli, who had just now seen me. He first looked ecstatic at seeing me, then turned angry; the veins in his neck blue and raised.
“I told you to keep her away from this, Bengal!” he growled at me. I was confused but looked beside me to see he was growling at the little person.
“She’s stubborn and stupid,” he said. “What did you expect me to do?”
“I expected you to do what we agreed upon.”
“Never do deals with a Goblin. Didn’t your mother every teach you that?” the little person sneered at Eli.
“Did your mother tell you to never cross a Devourer?” Eli rebutted.
“No, my mother said to bite first and ask questions later.”
Eli sighed and gripped Mara tighter as she tried to twist away. I started to ask what was going on but she elbowed him in the stomach and bent under his arm. She grabbed his head, bringing his face down to her knee. I started to scream but the Goblin…Gnome…thing grabbed my hand jerking me to the ground and putting his scaly dry hand over my mouth.
“Stupid girl. Don’t alert the humans with your high pitched screams.”
I looked at him in disbelief and then back to Eli as he slammed her to the ground by a hand around her throat. But she didn’t stay down long. She jumped up with a quick move back to her feet and then jabbed a blow to his neck with the back of her fist. I cringed, covering my face and turned away. I turned back just in time to see him as he grabbed her head from behind. He met my eyes from across the expanse and grimaced.<
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“Look away, Clara.”
I obeyed with the quickness and through my squeezed shut eyes I still heard the crack of her neck and then the rustle of grass. I opened them to see him watching me but he didn’t move towards me. I wanted to run to him but I felt vulnerable and strange. The way he was looking at me…I realized he was waiting to see my reaction to what he’d done; my reaction to the monster he thought he was.
So I ran to him. His face released all the tension, the blue veins on his neck and arms settled back into his skin and he opened the circle of his arms up to me. I collided with him and felt him lift my feet from the ground as he plunged his face into my neck and hair.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m sorry you had to see that.”