This is my Demon-Angel Story. It's still a work in progress, and it's pretty long, so I apologize. The grammar is probably bad, so I'm sorry for that too. Please forgive me and take it for what it is anyway. Thanks!
Sweat dripped down the Angel’s face, her eyes narrowed to keep the moisture out of them. Three inches. That’s all it would take: three inches. Possibly four, and he would be dead. The Demon’s vivid green eyes glared balefully back at her. He lay on the ground, his back pressed up against the grass, his chest heaving. The faint moonlight making his eyes shine out like beckons, the vivid green standing against his bloodshot whites. That was the mark. The outside sign that he wasn’t human. He was something lesser. Something sinister and evil.
A demon.
She could do it. She could kill him. She knew she could. He was in her power. He deserved it. He had killed Layn, killed her like it had been nothing. He was a demon, a monster. The sharp point of her blade rested directly over his heart. All she had to do was push down. Her left hand gripped the flat of the blade, holding it steady. It would be her first kill. The first time she sliced through flesh and claimed a life as her own.
The Demon’s baleful glare once again drew her gaze. The bitterness and hatred showing through. The fate of the fallen, and something else. . . Something barely noticeable. His eyes screamed. He didn’t have a wound on his body, but his eyes screamed in pain. What was wrong with him? He hurt. . .he suffered.
The Angel’s hand slipped, and her thumb touched his skin- the shirt having burned away from the power of her blade-and felt the sticky, wet substance stroke her finger.
Three inches, maybe four, and that substance would flow freely.
Blood.
With a shriek, the Angel leaped backwards, ramming against the alley wall. In an instant, the Demon was up. He glanced at her only once-the gaze full of hate and something new. . . fear. Then he vanished.
***
Lynn paced the hallways restlessly. Janet walked beside her, laughingly telling her all about the day before. Lynn smiled and laughed, but wasn’t really paying attention.
She had been so close! What other mission was she serving then to rid this world from as many demons as physically possible? And yet she had felt pity, and let him get away. As though he had a soul. As if he deserved her pity. . .
But those green eyes. . .those painful green eyes. . .
“Look at Jerren today,” Janet commented, breaking through Lynn’s thoughts “He looks kind of down.” Lynn felt a small twinge of concern, the same pang she felt whenever anyone was in pain. She looked across the room and located the boy, sitting at a small, dismal table in the corner of the commons room. He wore a baggy grey shirt and flannel pants. His skin bleached of color, his hair arranged in disarray. Lynn bit her lip and felt a rush of sympathy. She began to walk forward, when a new thought snuck into her brain.
Why was he wearing those clothes? Was he trying to commit social suicide? All she had to do to ruin this kid’s life forever was whisper a few words to Janet. She would carry them to the other girls, who would carry them to others. He would be destroyed, with only a few well placed words. It would be almost too easy. . .. .
Lynn shook her head angrily, slapping her forehead and closing her eyes. What was wrong with her?! She was an ANGEL!
“Yeah, he looks sad,” she told Janet softly, “And lonely.”
“Lonely?”
“Go talk to him, you’re the one who’s good with words.”
“Yeah, cause you’re no good at all,” She laughed, then glanced over at the boy, her smile fading. “I think I will,” she murmured, “He looks so sad. . .” within moments, she was standing by the boy, opening her mouth to speak. Lynn smiled. That was what she was here for. To help people.
The day continued, and Lynn’s mood went from bad to worse. Thoughts. . .images and ideas plagued her. Things that were NOT angelic. Trip him and he’ll hit her. . . say this and she’ll go home crying. . . sneer at them when they walk by, make them wonder what they did wrong. . . She barely avoided them. Her mission was to help the humans around her, not tear them down more then they already did themselves. What was wrong with her? She’d bitten her tongue so many times it felt swollen, some of the human friends she’d acquired were noticing something was wrong, but she brushed them off. What was she going to tell them? I’m sorry, it’s just that I’m an angel sent to protect you guys, and right now I feel like doing the opposite.
Like make your lives miserable?
“Well that was a brilliant move,” Sarcasm dripped from the boy’s tone like soupy rainwater. Laughter resounded through the hallways. Lynn opened her eyes, she’d been trying to block out the thoughts and images, not even realizing where she was going. Now she was at the edge of a small crowd; all clustered around an attractive junior. His back was to her, but his voice made her angry, “Are you really going to go out with her? She looks like a maggot.”
“It’s a girls choice. . .”
“Turn her down, she’s disgusting.”
“Yeah Eric, She’s gross!” The other sheep-like humans jumped at the chance to suck up to the popular boy. Why did being beautiful give you permission to be a jerk? Lynn scowled, the poor boy who was being picked on was new to the school. Didn’t know the social status’s or whatever cruel chaste system this rotten hole had for its members. For the first time all day, Lynn felt her angelic righteousness return to her, and she pushed her way through the crowd.
“You could ask Ashley,” the popular boy was saying, his face in thoughtful contemplation “She’ll strip her shirt if you so much as look at her sideways. . . “
”You’re a jerk,” Lynn snapped. Utter silence. The crowd all turned toward her, and the boy slowly turned toward her, “Don’t you have something better to do then prove that you’re a prick?”.
“OOOh!” Some boys chanted, “Little prissy’s going to tell us what to think and say?”
“Maybe she wouldn’t stand so straight if we took the stick out of her. . .”
The junior cocked his head at her, grinning the devil’s smile. Lynn gasped and leaped backwards, knocking into the people behind her. Vivid green eyes that nearly burned. The whites blood-shot, until they didn’t look white at all.
Demon. He grinned wider when he saw the recognition flicker in her face, “Hey Angel,” he taunted, “Did you miss me?” The other boy’s laughed, not realizing how serious he was. Lynn stared, shocked, before regaining her composure.
“I don’t suppose we can take this outside?” she hissed through clenched teeth. The Demon grinned at the humans around him, who were all laughing foolishly. They had no idea who this boy was. And she doubted they would care if they did.
“Sure,” he smirked. She spun on her heel and marched out, praying his desire to put a knife between her shoulder blades would be quelled by the fact that it would be witnessed by several high school students. He threw his cronies a look and they stayed back.
Lynn led them through the halls and into the back, there were no security camera’s in this part of the school, as she knew from her several scouting trips. As soon as the door closed behind them, she spun, gripping the boy’s shirt and slamming him against the wall. He moved faster then lightning, twisting out of her grip and grabbing her wrists, pinning them behind her before she could struggle free. She tried to kick him, but he blocked it with his knee. He laughed, his voice echoing against the school walls; then shoved her away. He leaned against the wall lazily, gazing down at her smugly.
“I should have killed you when I had the chance!” Lynn snarled, pushing herself up from the dirt.
“Yes you should have,” he said rolling his eyes in an exaggerated motion, “Has anyone told you, you’re a moron? Or are all Angel’s as completely incompetent as you are?”
“I could kill you now,” Lynn growled, her teeth clenched.
“Good.”
Lynn grabbed her blade, resting and compacted at her belt. It didn’t look like much at first glance, just a silver canister she could have been wearing for a fashion statement. It had small ruins etched into the sides, flowing and twisting like flowers. But both the Angel and Demon both knew that when held properly, it would twist and elongate into a brilliant weapon.
Lynn yanked the weapon free, twisting it the way she’d been taught. Sharp pain shot though her fingers and up her wrist, digging and shocking her very bones. The scream jumped from her throat before she could stop it and the weapon dropped uselessly to the ground, smoking slightly. Lynn didn’t pick it up, just stared at it.
“Oh yes, very effective.” The Demon drawled. Lynn didn’t answer, “You know what’s going on, don’t you Angel?” The Angel looked up from her weapon, her face draining of blood. “You’re falling.”
“F-falling?” she whispered, her voice catching.
“Y-yes.” he mocked.
“Why?”Lynn chocked out. Falling? NO! It wasn’t possible. Why would she fall? Fall from heaven, fall from grace, fall from being an Angel? No, it wasn’t possible. Lynn shook her head, trying to stop the horror and panic from crawling up her skin and settling into her muscles and joints until she froze completely, “Why am I falling?” She lurched forward, griping his shirt. He snarled and tried to jerk free, but she held on tightly, “Why?! What did I do wrong?!”
“What do you think?!” he shouted, gripping her hands and trying to pull them free, “You spared a Demon! Did you honestly think you could gain forgiveness from that?” Lynn fell to her knees, his shirt fabric still clenched tightly in her fists. .
“It was an accident,” the words were nearly unintelligible.
“Don’t lie to yourself.” The demon snarled, with a sudden fury he ripped her hands free from him, tossing her aside, “It was pity. I don’t want, or need, anyone’s pity. Let alone yours. Demons are demons for a reason, you had no right to spare my life. What is wrong with you?!” With one hard yank, he pulled her to her feet, his fingers white where he gripped her upper arm, “Do you even realize what you’ve done?”
“It was you’re eyes,” she whispered. Falling. . .falling. . . to fall was the worst punishment there was. You became weaker, became foolish. It was almost like becoming a human. She wouldn’t be able to communicate with the others anymore. . .wouldn’t be able to see their faces without shielding her face from their glory. “You seemed so. . .” it felt foolish now. Foolish and sinful, what she had done. She had spared one of the hellspawn. One of the creatures that had been trying to destroy the world since it had began. How was it possible that she had thought she’d seen remorse in his horrible bloodshot demon eyes? “I’m falling. . .” she whispered, but something didn’t make sense. . . “Why are you here? Are you offering yourself to me? Do you really want to die?”
He snorted, his face thick with disgust, “No, I don’t want to die, Angel. I just don’t want your pity binding me. Because now I have to do something incredibly distasteful.”
“What’s that?” Lynn hurriedly whipped her eyes, she hadn’t even realized she was crying in front of this monster.
“I have to help you keep your grace.”
***
Alaric. He’d been known by many names of course, but that was the one he remembered the most. Alaric, a Demon no one wanted around. Not that most people wanted demons around anyway. He hated his name. The humans called him Alex, and he preferred it. It was simple, mundane. Nobody expected to get their heart ripped out by Alex.
Though what people expected and what actually happened was usually very different.
The Angel was still trying to come to grips with what was happening to her. Alex scowled and turned away from the beautiful red-head. Her blue angel eyes were still wet, though she was trying desperately to stop the flood of tears. Typical of Angels, weak, unable to stop a show of weakness. That was the first lesson he’d learned, it had been beaten into him by his beastly brother.
The pain was finally receding, now that he stood next to the bloody bird girl. Her pity, her mercy that allowed him to retain his life, had formed a bond between the two. She’d spared him, so it was his “responsibility” to help her. Of course, the bond used torturous pain to pull the Demon back to his charge. If he even thought about leaving her, the pain rippled through his body.
“Are you just going to sit there all day?” he growled, the annoyance so thick in his voice he was surprised she could recognize any of the words.
“Sorry,” she muttered, she was still dazed, she probably didn’t even register that she had just apologized to her worst enemy. The silver in the white’s of her eyes flashed with sunlight as she lifted her head, gazing up at him. “Where are we going to go?”
Alex snorted, “I have no idea.”
“An Angel Sanctuary?” she whispered, thinking. Alex hissed softly through his teeth.
“If Angel’s were the only thing that could help you girl, a Demon wouldn’t be needed to bring your grace back.” It was true. Alex knew very little about an Angel’s grace or how they obtained and kept it. He didn’t believe in that heavenly god crap. There had to be some other source of power they used. And it had to be linked with his own, or the bond wouldn’t have been formed.
“Then we should just walk,” Lynn whispered, “And go wherever it leads us.” Alex scowled. But what else could they do? Maybe the Angel had better instincts about this then he did. He just wanted to get the annoying task over with as quickly as possible. Then he could kill the girl without feeling like his cells were being torn to shreds.
Alex cracked another smile, thinking about it. He would save her, then kill her, and maybe she would even go to hell. Seemed like a fun ride to him.
Lynn had her eyes closed, walking with a sure step that betrayed her otherworldliness. She was very beautiful, with her long red hair and angelic figure, but Alex had learned long ago not to judge from appearances. She had nearly killed him after all. He had just finished off her partner and hadn’t seen her until it was to late. And now he was here.
Alex swore. His frustration and anger building up until the word formed and fell through his lips. He hoped it would take a little of the annoyance and pain with it. Lynn stopped in her tracks, turned and slapped him.
“How dare you?” she hissed, Alex rubbed his jaw.
“Why not?”
“Do you not realize you are in the presence of. . .”
“A falling Angel?” he sneered. She turned away, and when she spoke her words were softer then they’d been before.
“I’m falling Alex,” she whispered, “Is it so wrong to try and avoid falling faster?”
“Do you think it will rub off on you?” he taunted, “Make you want to be more like me?”
”Just. . .don’t,” she sighed.
“I’ll try. I sure wouldn’t want to be damned myself.” She turned away, ignoring the comment; something Alex thought was a shame. He’d found the joke very funny.
Soon they were traveling through main street. The cars whizzed by, honking their horns erratically, some of the drivers screaming profanities that made Lynn flinch. The smell of fast food was heavy on the air along with the pungent smell of gasoline and body odor.
“Are you getting any epiphanies yet girl?”
“There has to be a way,” she murmured.
“Sure there is.”
“Do you have an idea?”
“Nope.”
Lynn scowled, “You’re no help at all.”
“Sure I am, my mere presence has kept off at least seven different attacks on you.”
Lynn jumped slightly, looking surprised, “What?”
“You’re a weakened Angel. Use your brain and do the math.”
“Demons were trailing me?”
“Anyone with fangs would love to get them sunk into that pretty neck of yours.”
“Wonderful.” Lynn buried her face in her hands for a moment, rubbing it wearily, “Just. . . wonderful.”
“Have you ever thought of just letting yourself fall? Just letting it happen?” Alex cocked his head, raising an eyebrow. Lynn frowned at him.
“Why would I do that? I want to be good. I want to be an Angel.”
“Do you? Do you really?” They locked eyes. Blood-shot green eyes locked on blue silver streaked ones.
“Yes,” Lynn said firmly, “I really do.” Alex smiled slightly, a small smile, like he knew something she didn’t.
“Then let’s get going,”
They continued on. Heading nowhere. Making no headway. Lynn was lost in thought, her brow scrunched in concentration. Alex wondered how hard she had to fight against the impulses to do wrong things. It was hard, thinking things that were contrary to what you’d been taught. He wondered how long she’d fare.
They’d been walking all day. The sun was setting behind the tall buildings and lighting them all to brilliant shades of orange and red. The city looked like it was on fire.
“Alaric.” the word trickled down Alex’s spine, chilling his bones. It was deep and penetrating, rumbling in the evening air. Alex felt his back stiffen and he turned toward the sound. At first, it was nothing but shadows. But as Alex watched, the shadows solidified, taking a form and mass. He was tall, broad shouldered and black haired. He didn’t look anything like Alex, who was fair haired, spiny and thin. But the two held an unmistakable resemblance in their blood-shot green eyes. The shadows fell around the newcomer like a cloak. Like protection.
“Gereic.” Alex whispered. Lynn turned her blue eyes to him, and recognized the tone of voice. Alex was afraid. No, more than afraid. He was petrified. More figures were pulling themselves from the shadows between the buildings. They were in an alleyway, hidden from the rest of the world. Alex tried to back into a wall, keep all of the enemies in He reached out a hand and gripped Lynn’s forearm, pulling her with him. “You can’t fight them,” he whispered to her, his voice tight, teeth on edge, “Especially without your weapon.”
Gereic smiled at the small demon, “Alaric, it has been too long.”
“Not long enough,” Alex responded grimly. Gereic laughed, his dark head thrown back and shaking with mirth. Alex grit his teeth, wishing he could spit at the man. Gereic took another step forward, Alex wanted to step back away from him, but his back was already to the wall.
“I have to wonder, why is the girl still alive?” Gereic shook his head in mock sorrow, “You’ve been with her all day.”
“Because I can’t kill her.” Alex growled, his eyes flickering to the other demons surrounding them. On a normal day, he wouldn’t have given them a second thought. They were low levels, barely more then cronies. But with Gereic here. . .
“Can’t you?” the greater demon murmured. Alex flinched. “I know your skills boy. You’ve been to the deepest pit, a little pain shouldn’t bother you.”
“I don’t do pain anymore,”
“Oh really?” Gereic laughed, “You don’t do pain? Are you a Demon or not boy? There’s no way for you not do have pain. Our entire existence is pain! Are you trying to repent? Trying to heal the wound from all those years ago? You think helping this. . . flying rodent will help you forgive yourself?” Lynn gripped Alex’s arm. He was grateful for the contact, though he would never admit it. “The easiest way to save her Alaric, is to kill her. You know this.”
“Shut up.”
“It won’t be hard.” Gereic’s voice turned smooth and persuasive.
“Leave him alone,” Lynn growled, “You’re evil words mean nothing here.”
“She can’t fall if she’s dead.”
“No,” Alex was shocked when the word broke through his lips. What was he doing? A trickle of blood flowed across his palm from where his nails had dug into the skin. His entire body was shaking. He locked eyes with the greater Demon, challenging him with his gaze, “No,” he repeated.
“Do you want her to heal you?” Gereic actually took a step back in surprise, “Do you really think what you feel is able to be healed by an Angel? You’re wounds go deeper then physical boy. Her kiss will do nothing for you.” Alex didn’t answer. He didn’t do anything, “The Kiss of an Angel would destroy you boy, no matter what healing properties it contains.”
“What do you mean?” It was Lynn who spoke. Her voice was strong, but Alex could hear the effort of maintaining that strength. Gereic turned to look at her for the first time. Her blue eyes glared into his green ones. Lynn raised her head proudly, expression defiant, eyes unblinking. They stared at each other for a moment, and Alex felt slightly proud of the girl. It was rare that someone could hold a greater demon’s gaze.
“The touch of an angel raises things,” Gereic said finally, his gaze still holding hers, “It you kissed him, he would raise above a demon.” Alex flinched back. “And I will not allow that to happen. Some part of him wants it, he wants to be free from the chains of Hell.” Gereic shifted his gaze back to Alex, who stared back defiantly, “But it won’t happen. Not to him. Not to my little brother.”
“Little brother?” Alex whispered, “Little brother? Since when have you been sentimental Gereic?” his voice burned with derision.
“Kill her,” Gereic commanded. ,
“No,”
“I wasn’t talking to you.” The demons behind their master snarled, then leapt forward. Lynn screamed, dropping to the ground and using both feet to knock one of the demons back. Alex leapt forward, his scythe appearing and elongating in his hand. He brought it around, slicing through one of the many black little monsters. They were like sludge, a mass of moving barely beasts, they had a vague human form, but were wavy, like the form wasn’t all there. Lynn came to her feet, shaking. Alex could read the expression on her face. She was defenseless, she needed a weapon.
Another demon rushed them. Alex leaped into the air, driving his feet into its face. It was like jumping into jello. The form held against his weight, but it gave slightly. Alex shoved it to the ground, his scythe slicing through the flesh easily. He spun, blocking the strike from on of the other creatures. A large sweep of the weapon knocked down three other opponents, sending them flying in different directions. Sickly green blood leaked from the black bodies. He glanced frantically back at Lynn, but she seemed to be holding her own.
The angel’s fist flashed through the air, shoving the demon’s nose into his brain. She spun and high kicked another one in the chest. She moved so fast, it was as if she flew through her moves. It wasn’t long before her fists were slick with the green blood of lesser demons.
Alex heard his name whispered, and he only had a second to whirl around before his brother stabbed at him. Their blades locked, and the greater demon smiled down at his brother. Alex wrenched his scythe free, whirled it and cut sideways. Gereic blocked it and shoved Alex down. He rolled as fast as he could, but his brother’s blade still sliced through the thin skin of his arm. Alex cried out, holding the limb to his chest, clutching his only weapon with the other.
“Alex!?” Lynn yelled, but he didn’t look at her. The greater demon advanced, and it was all he could do to keep his brother from ripping his flesh to tiny chunks of raw meat. He spun and ducked, trying to get to the offensive, but was always forced to defend himself. The singing blades rang through the alley, filling the night air with their cries. Gereic laughed, and Alex knew that he wasn’t even trying.
“I don’t want to kill you Alaric,” he said, Alex spun his blade and tried to slice off Gereic’s head, but the Demon easily avoided the blow, “I want to save you.”
“From what?!” Alex snarled, his arms and body shook, partly from fury, partly from exhaustion, “From an angel? Because she can do so much damage.”
Gereic’s eyes flashed dangerously, “She will take your. . .”
“Soul?” Alex barked out a laugh, “My soul is gone!” his scythe flashed, brought up before Gereic realized what he was doing. It sliced through the tender skin on the Greater Demon’s ear, causing him to cry out in pain. Gereic’s eyes began to burn, and Alex could see his small reflection staring back at him. His brother’s control finally broke, and he began to really attack. He moved so fast, Alex didn’t even see the blow coming. One moment they stood facing each other, Gereic’s ear bleeding slightly, his weapon gleaming in the faint light. The next second, Alex screamed in pain.
Gereic shoved his blade straight through his brother’s stomach. The sickening crunch of flesh and sinew being ripped apart snapped through the alleyway. Alex’s eyes widened in horror. Lynn cried out in horror, staring at the blood covered tip of the blade.
The one poking out of Alex’s back.
With deliberate slowness, Gereic twisted the blade; flexing his grip to extend the excess blades into either side. They shot out, snapping through his ribs and extending out of him like a cross. Someone screamed his name, but Alex could only feel pain, white hot and never ending. The blades retracted, and he fell to the ground.
***
Lynn screamed when Alex fell, nearly missing the blow that was aimed at her head. She ducked, feeling as it whizzed by her. She struck out, and he was knocked flying. She couldn’t seem to tear her eyes away from Alex’s motionless body. A thousand emotions ran through her. Demon’s were evil. It was a horrible act that she had spared one, but Alex had refused to kill her. Alex had saved her life. If he hadn’t been there, she would already be dead.
Lynn jumped into the air, using all the strength her angelic body could lend to her. She landed beside Alex’s body, crouched low as though she could protect him from the wounds that spilled blood all over the ground. Gereic laughed at her, drawing back his blade. Lynn narrowed her eyes, her teeth bared in a snarl. Pain ripped through her back, the muscles screaming as the bindings came loose after years of confinement. She stretched the muscles she’d been unable to use for years.
“No,” Gereic whispered in shock, taking a step back, “You’re too young,” Fifteen foot wings burst from her back. They slammed into Gereic’s chest, his eyes widening in surprise as he was knocked flying. Lynn’s arms wrapped around Alex, gathering him to her the best she could. His blood washed over her hands like a waterfall, sticking between her fingers and making her grip slippery and loose. She tightened it as best she could, then forced herself straight up and into the air. Her wings strove forth powerfully, bringing them height. Alex’s dead weight was dragging her down, but Lynn continued to force herself higher.
Her arms and back burned with the effort, her eyes streamed tears of pain that the wind snatched away. She flew for as long as she was physically able, until finally dropping to the ground in exhaustion. The demons were far behind them. She laid Alex down gently, lowering his head onto the floor carefully. He still bled, and if he’d been human, he would have been dead. Even by demon standards, it was a miracle he was still alive. Gereic hadn’t pierced his heart. Slashing through his middle section and missing the important organ entirely. Had it been on purpose? Even as he was driven to a rage, did he have compassion on his brother?
Could demons have compassion?
Sweat dripped down Lynn’s neck, dampening the back of her ruined shirt as she tried desperately to stop the flow of blood. Alex groaned and she touched his face. It was cold to her fingers.
“What. . .”
”Hush,” Lynn whispered, “You’re hurt.” Something caught in her throat, forcing her to look away from the boy’s face.
“Wonderful.” Even half dead, his voice held a fair amount of sarcasm. She lifted his head and set it in her lap, trying to figure out a way to make him more comfortable. He gasped, groaning in pain. Do you want her to heal you? Gereic’s voice whispered in the back of her mind. She didn’t understand what he’d been talking about at the time. Some wound, some feeling of remorse Alex had been feeling? He was a demon, could he feel remorse?
But she was an Angel. Her kiss had the power to heal, a gift from heaven. Could she heal him? Should she heal him? She was falling because she had spared him once, was it possible that there would be no hope for her at all if she spared him again? And what if the kiss destroyed him anyway? Was it worth the risk? Was it wrong to save a life, even if it was a demon’s?
She couldn’t think, couldn’t concentrate. Alex’s breath was becoming shorter, shallower. Lynn’s own breathing quickened in panic. He had saved her life. If he hadn’t been there, she would have died. Was it wrong? Would it kill him? Would she be doomed forever?
“Lynn?” his voice was quiet.
“Yes?” The word came out as a sob.
“Thank you.” His eyes closed, and a small smile played on his pain stricken face, “I never would have wanted to die anywhere near my brother.” Lynn’s heart throbbed, was it wrong? Her soft hands gently turned his face until he was looking at her. His eyes opened and he stared at her, realization dawning on his face, “No,” he whispered.
“I won’t let you die.”
“No!” But Lynn ignored him and gently pressed her lips to his. Alex was too weak to struggle, and Lynn wrapped her arms around his head, pressing him to her. She could feel the energy transferring, leaving her and seeping into the dying body of the Demon. She felt her grace really begin to slip from her, sending her down further and further. When he was healed, would she even be an Angel anymore? Alex lifted his hand, touching her cheek with the bloodied limb. It rested there for a moment, too weak to move, then the strength returned to him and he shoved her away. Lynn fell back, gasping. She felt heavy, weighed down like she’d gained a hundred pounds. Alex was on his feet, glaring down at her.
“What’s wrong with you!?” he shouted, and Lynn jumped at the unexpected noise, “I’m a demon!”
“You’re not like other demons,” she said, “You’re. . .”
“Just as evil as the rest of them! Why won’t you let me die?! Why can’t you act like an angel? Why do I have to be left with the only angel in the entire realm who wouldn’t kill me if she had the chance?”
“Why do you want to die?”
“I don’t!” Lynn came to her feet, striding toward him, she reached to touch his face, but he flinched back, “I’m a demon!” Lynn could see herself reflected clearly in his eyes. The vivid green eyes that haunted her nightmares. The reds seemed more swollen then usual, and something else. . . Lynn gently turned his face toward the light, and watched as the light reflected off tiny strands of silver.
“No,” she whispered, “You’re not.” Alex shoved her away. He leaped backwards, staring at his hands. He had seen his reflection in the Angel’s eyes. He had seen the change. He gripped his hair with both hands, looked up at her only once more, then fled.
She could never make him Rise.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Leah (II)
Part II of Leah's Story
I was well aware that Jenz cared about me. I didn’t understand it, or really have a clue about how it happened considering the amount of trouble I had been for him, but he cared about me anyway.
I did not know that he cared about me enough to keep me right next to him that night while we all tried to get a few hours sleep. His arm was wrapped around me, his heat keeping the night chill away. I curled up next to him, trying to ignore the aches and pains that riddled all along my body. I also tried to ignore the feeling of his eyes upon me.
Nobody wanted the dragon boy anywhere near our camp, but he had refused to leave. Faye had been about to run him through when he’d reminded them that if he died, then I would die too. Faye looked like that might have given her extra incentive, but one look in Jenz’s direction ended it. The dragon would stay, as far away as possible, but he would stay.
He’d stared at me the entire night. I felt examined and exposed. But I was also strangely defiant. I didn’t want to let him know that he was getting to me.
“You shouldn’t be afraid of me,” Daryl called softly. I stiffened, curling up closer to Jenz. “I won’t hurt you.”
My arm throbbed in a steady reminder. Yeah right he wouldn’t hurt me.
“You interest me,” he continued, “You’re not like the others.” Well that was obvious. The other’s carried themselves with a grace that betrayed just how dangerous they were. They walked with confidence and straight backs, they knew they would be able to take whatever came. I had no such assurances.
And yet I had decided to follow anyway. . .
“Are you never going to speak to me?”
“You’ll wake the others up,” I grumbled into Jenz’s shirt.
“They’re very tired. No we won’t.” A hand brushed my shoulder. I flinched and pulled away, looking up for the first time. He was there, of course. His hand stretched out to help me to my feet. “I can explain if you want,” he said, “I promise we won’t leave beyond the firelight.” curiosity burned in the back of my throat. I knew what Jenz would say. He would kill me for even thinking about leaving the crook of his arm. But he was asleep. . . and. . .
“I won’t explain to anyone else,” Daryl whispered, “It’ll just be a few moments.” I slowly unwound myself from Jenz’s side. It was very cold without him.
“What do you want with me?” I said coldly, trying to keep my expression void. He chuckled and began to walk, not too far, but a little ways away from the campsite. I cautiously followed. Screaming at myself that I was being stupid, but I couldn’t help myself.
I was just so tired of being left out of the loop. I was the weak one, the weak link, the person that wasn’t supposed to be there. I was only a human, and a fool human at that. I was no use to anybody and I was a useless addition to the group.
I’m not being self critical, bagging myself to make me feel better if someone happened to give me a compliment. I’d heard them all say it. I’d heard Faye snarl the worlds at Jenz under her breath, even Pheobe glared at me when she thought Jenz wasn’t looking. It was annoying, being the only one who didn’t belong.
Maybe I was selfish and stupid enough to want something to be about me for a change. It was ridiculous, but there you are. Sometimes you can’t help what you feel, even if you know what you feel is ridiculous.
Daryl turned to me, his coal like eyes winking in the night sky, “You’re a human,” he said softly.
“And here I thought I was a squirrel.”
He smiled, his eyes still sparkling in excitement. “I haven’t seen a human in my entire lifetime. Neither have any of the others. You’re blood. . .your flesh. It’s so weak, so refreshing. I’ve never tasted anything like it. And then you’re will. . . you truly are human. You’re desire to live is so very strong.” I almost laughed. My desire to live? If I’d had one of those I would not have been stupid enough to be here now.
Why was it that no matter what I told myself, I couldn’t regret the decision I’d made to come? Everything was so confusing. My emotions clashed against each other, raging in my stomach. I closed my eyes and breathed in slowly, trying to force myself to stay calm.
“This isn’t a place where humans are normally,” I finally said, “How do you even know what I am?”
“I saw it in your mind.” Great. Just bloody brilliant. I glared at him.
“Stay out of my head,” I growled.
“I can’t. You see, you’ve done something that I’ve only ever heard of being done in legends. You’re will, it’s enslaved me. I’m yours. And you’re mine. If I die, my poison will filter through you and destroy you. And yet. . .” he grinned, “You’ll live as long as I want you to.”
“Why don’t you kill me and get it over with?”
“Because I want you alive for now. I want you here, I want to train with you, to become powerful when I finally get to eat you and consume your strength. Do not fear, I promise it will be painless.”
“Are you kidding me?” I snarled. He was threatening to kill and eat me! “That’s what this is all about? Get away from me,” I turned back to the campsite, my hands in fists. It seemed obvious now. I wasn’t going to be some dragon’s pet before he decided I was better suited for dinner.
“Leah, stop,” Daryl called, grabbing my arm. I tried to jerk away from him, but his grip was solid. I snarled in frustration, I couldn’t even free myself!
“Let go of me,” I hissed.
“Or what?” Daryl snarled back, “What could you possibly do to me? I can see it in your mind. You’re hopeless, completely useless to the group and to their mission. With me, you might actually be of some worth.”
“Shut up,”
“You know it’s true. Just train with me, discover how to use my skills. You won’t slow them down anymore, you won’t be baggage. I’ll babysit you so they won’t have to.”
“Shut UP!” I yelled, finally jerking my arm free. Instantly, the others stirred. Jenz was up and alert in moments, his eyes zeroing in on us, and then he was there. A knife appeared in his hand, as quickly as he had moved across the desert sand. The blade pressed flat against Daryl’s throat, but the dragon boy didn’t even look phased.
“You know she’ll die,” he said softly to Jenz, “If you kill me.”
“Who ever said I was going to kill you?” Jenz whispered back, then sliced the knife across the creature’s collarbone. Daryl hissed in shock, jerking backwards. Black blood oozed out of the wound staining the white shirt he’d been wearing. He swore viciously, his black eyes sparkling in the faint light. Jenz turned to me, his eyes angry. I swallowed and looked away. He opened his mouth but was interrupted.
“Could you guys keep it down?” Caleb asked, his voice irritated, “Some of us would like to sleep for a few hours.” Jenz scowled, then nodded, his face weary. Andof course I felt bad all over again. They hardly ever slept, and when they did it was often uneasy and light. Now not only was I wasting their waking hours, but I was interrupting their sleeping hours as well.
Figures.
“Come on, Lee,” Jenz sighed, “You need to sleep too.” Dang right I needed to sleep. I wasn’t like them, able to go off two and a half hours for days at a time. That was one of the big reasons I only slowed them down. I could try to stay on my feet and keep walking after nearly forty eight hours of travel and little to no food, but eventually I always collapsed, and then we’d have to stop. I hated that. Why couldn’t I be useful?
Was Daryl right? Could I be more useful if I trained with him? No. . . that was stupid. Besides, Jenz would never allow it. His favorite word was ‘no’. He didn’t let me do undangerous things, let alone play with dragons.
“Goodnight Leah,” Daryl whispered, “Think about what I said,” Jenz shot him a look, then glanced down at me. I didn’t look at him, I didn’t want to. He never answered my questions, why should I answer his?
Was it immature, the fact that I was so petty and self centered?
Yes, yes it was. I didn’t care enough at the moment though, I was too tired. I laid down next to the fire, hoping Jenz would lie down next to me. He didn’t, but I wasn’t too surprised. The boy could be a little bipolar.
I turned away from the light of the fire, my face hidden from the group. I was hoping that if my eyes acted up and started leaking unwanted tears that they at least wouldn’t see.
Unfortunately the only direction I could look was directly toward Daryl.
***
“Are you ready to move yet?” Faye asked angrily, I ignored her. That was usually the best policy in regards to Faye. It throughly ticked her off, but since she hated me anyway, I might as well get some revenge by ignoring her. The sun was only barely beginning to crest over the desert horizon, shining brilliantly already. Everyone was packing up camp, scattering the fire and hiding any and all evidence that we had ever been there.
I should have been helping, but the process was hampered by the fact that my feet were bleeding. Heavily. Blast.
The blisters that had been forming over the past few days had finally decided they’d had enough. They’d burst during the night, and a few of them looked infected. How was I going to keep up now? I grit my teeth, forcing myself not to think the swear words that wanted to leak out of me. I wasn’t going to swear.
I mostly didn’t want to swear just because the others did it all the time. If I didn’t swear, then maybe that was one thing I could be better then them at.
The ONLY thing I could be better then them that.
Faye crouched down next to me, her face in a scowl. She inspected the injuries with a practiced eye-how often did she get blisters? The woman was indestructible!- Her eyebrows drew down even further over her eyes. “You are not going to be able to keep up on those,” she sighed, sounding resigned, “Why on Earth did you follow us?” her words were like a slap.
“Doesn’t really matter, since we’re not on Earth, now does it?” I whispered the words. I was a push over, but sometimes I couldn’t help my mouth. She just glared and stood up, turning toward Jenz.
“You’re whore is broken again,” she complained, pointing to me, “You’d better fix it fast or we really will have to leave her.”
Jenz frowned, moving toward us. I felt a moment of panic, I was so tired of feeling weak in front of Jenz. It would be nice, if just once, I was able to do something that would maybe gain back a little respect. But no, my feet had to blister out.
“How long have you had those blisters?” he demanded. I bit my lip.
“I dunno. . .a few days?” I hedged. They’d been there nearly since the first few days, but there was no way I was going to tell him that.
“How long?”
“Can’t I just get a bandage and keep going? I’m fine.” Please, please, let me be fine. We couldn’t be delayed anymore. And no matter how fond of me Jenz was, if it came down to it, he would choose their mission over me. He had no choice.
Not that I even knew what the PURPOSE of the mission was, or what he was supposed to do. But whatever. I breathed slowly through my nose, trying to stay calm and not let the frustration seep out of me. I didn’t need them knowing that I was just as annoyed at my situation as they were. They didn’t need another reason to criticize me.
“We could drag her,” Pheobe suggested. Her light red-brown hair was pulled back in a pony tail, it was shorter then Miriah’s, but still beautiful and well kept. Despite having been traveling for who knew how long.
How did they do that?
All of Jenz’s group looked prim and fresh, despite only having snagged maybe three hours of sleep. I knew I looked like I had spent the past five days traveling in a desert at break neck paces trying to keep up with a bunch of superhumans.
Oh wait. . .
Don’t swear, I silently begged, please don’t swear.
“I can walk,” I said, pushing my feet under me, pain shot through them, I needed my socks. Ignore it, ignore it, ignore it, I silently pled with myself, trying to pull the scraps of cloth over the bloody stumps. Ew.
“We need to wrap them Leah,” Jenz said dryly. I stuck my tongue out at him.
“Hold still,” Caleb sighed, bringing over some cloth. I reluctantly held my feet out to him. He dropped to his knees and began bandaging them up quickly. At least he didn’t gloat too much. Maybe they were all just bored, and it was a fun game to play, “pick on Leah”.
“You people still here?” a now familiar irritating voice drifted over to us. I was sure my face was going to get stuck in a scowl like Faye’s. Daryl walked over with a strut. He looked like the others, prim and ready for a long day. He glanced at me and laughed. “What did you do to your feet, girl?”
“Shut up.” those words seemed to be said a lot around here.
“Sure thing,” he laughed, looking at the others.
“Is he really coming with us?” Miriah sighed, “he’s irritating.”
“I have ears,” he pointed out.
“I don’t speak to animals.”
Daryl grinned, his teeth looking rather sharp in the morning light, “Do you scream at them?”
“Enough,” Jenz ordered, “We’ve wasted enough time already.” I tried to hold back a flinch. Don’t take it personally, I ordered myself. I just had to do the best I could. . . even if that wasn’t nearly good enough.
“She can’t walk on those feet,” Daryl remarked. Jenz threw him a look.
“She’s going to have to,” he sighed, “We can’t stop now.” Caleb finished bandaging them up and I slipped my socks over the top. I tried to breath through my nose and keep the grimace off my face when I put my worn sneakers back on and stood. This was a hundred times worse then band camp.
And trust me, that was impressive.
I took a few hesitant steps, feeling the blood squish in my bandages. This was going to be a long day.
“I could carry her,” Daryl said conversationally, “She could ride on my back,”
“Stop talking like I can’t understand you,” I hissed through clenched teeth. Clenched teeth only because if they hadn’t been I would have been crying, “I can walk just fine.”
“Well oh fearless leader? Are you going to let the poor, fragile human break herself trying to prove she’s not a poor, fragile human?” If I’d had a rock, I would have chucked it at the dragon boy.
“Leah. . .” Jenz sighed, shaking his head. Why didn’t that boy ever get jealous? He was a man of practicality I guessed. He’d probably let someone take full advantage of me if there was a good enough reason for it. His rules were a little different then mine. Curse him.
“Course, I wouldn’t be carrying her on the ground,” Daryl grinned. Jenz’s eyes widened, but I looked up.
“Do you mean. . .flying?” I asked, trying to keep the sudden interest out of my voice. Daryl grinned at me.
“No,” Jenz said instantly.
“I wanna fly,” Miriah said absently.
“It’s really not that much fun,” Pheobe told her.
“No,” Jenz repeated, “There is no way,”
“Why not Jenz? It can’t hurt,” Faye said looking up at the clear sky, “It would get her out of our hair for a while.” I decided to ignore that comment. Flying on the back of a dragon?! Part of me wanted to be strong and prove that I could go on just like all of them, but the more realistic part (yes, I do have one, I just don’t listen to it often) knew that I wouldn’t last an hour, let alone twenty. I needed a break and I might as well fly on the back of a freaking Dragon while I did it!
“Please Jenz?” I tried to not beg, but that’s probably what I was doing, “I don’t want to slow you guys down anymore.”
“You’ll fall,” he said simply, looking directly at me. I opened my mouth to deny it, then closed it. With my luck, I probably would.
“I’m not going to let her fall,” Daryl said in annoyance, “Have some faith.”
“In you? Why should I?” Jenz frowned, I knew he was warring with the risks of me falling vs. the risks of me slowing them down. And the fact that I might actually have fun while being on the back of a dragon. He was always anti-me doing anything enjoyable. He thought it would make me think that his world wasn’t horrible.
And there were horrible things about it, but as far as I was concerned, his world totally rocked mine.
“There’s no other choice,” Zack suddenly spoke up. His black hair was ruffled, and it still looked fantastic. He pulled his pack over one shoulder, stretching lazily, “Sorry mate, but that’s just the way it is. Let her do something entertaining for a change.” Yay Zack!
Jenz obviously didn’t like it, but like the other’s had already said, there was no other choice. Daryl walked over to me and gripped my elbow. I scowled at him, but he ignored me.
“Hold on tight girlie.” he whispered in my ear. I tried to jerk free, but he took off running.
PAIN!
My feet! They moved without me fully realizing what I was doing. Daryl was running so fast I couldn’t help but try to keep up. I was sure my feet were about to fly off and be left in the desert dust when he jumped into the air.
I felt a surge of muscles in the hand gripping my forearm. I was thrown up into the air, his hand releasing me as I soared above him. For a moment I was horror struck, feeling my stomach flapping around my ears, and then I landed.
On the back of a great big black and red beast.
Daryl had transformed in less then a second, I was seated on his neck, resting between the neck and the shoulder ridge that was a dragon’s only real vulnerable point. I noticed there was a faint reddish mark along his chest, and I had to smile. Dragon’s may heal fast, but Jenz had still left a mark.
Now that I was actually up in the air, my pained feet were forgotten as I felt a momentary feeling of utter panic when I looked below me and saw just how high we already were.
“Oh crap,” I whispered, “Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap.” We were high. Really, really high.
Enjoying yourself?
“Stay out of my head!” I yelled, but my words were whipped away in the wind. A low rumble spread through his neck vibrating my entire body. I glared when I realized he was laughing at me. It was going to be a long day.
His body jerked and pulsed with powerful muscles as his strong wings beat the air, pushing us onward. I felt like that at any moment I was going to fly off, unseated by an unsteady current. But after a while I felt more secure. It even felt natural.
Way below us, on the desert floor, the others were running. Really running. It was only then that I realized just how much they had been forced to hold back when I’d been with them. “How fast are they going?” I whispered.
At least forty five miles per hour, Daryl responded in my head. I swallowed. The fastest I could run was nine, maybe ten. And then only for a short distance. I leaned my head against Daryl’s neck, feeling the rough scales against my forehead. My feet were buzzing, revealing in the fact that they weren’t being forced to hold my weight. Daryl didn’t say anything as I cried. I didn’t care if he thought I was weak, he was a random dragon that was hoping to eat me by the time this was over. I almost expected him to try and comfort me, but then I realized that in the few hours that I had known him, he had never lied to me.
Trying to comfort me by saying I wasn’t as useless as I felt would be a lie.
I was well aware that Jenz cared about me. I didn’t understand it, or really have a clue about how it happened considering the amount of trouble I had been for him, but he cared about me anyway.
I did not know that he cared about me enough to keep me right next to him that night while we all tried to get a few hours sleep. His arm was wrapped around me, his heat keeping the night chill away. I curled up next to him, trying to ignore the aches and pains that riddled all along my body. I also tried to ignore the feeling of his eyes upon me.
Nobody wanted the dragon boy anywhere near our camp, but he had refused to leave. Faye had been about to run him through when he’d reminded them that if he died, then I would die too. Faye looked like that might have given her extra incentive, but one look in Jenz’s direction ended it. The dragon would stay, as far away as possible, but he would stay.
He’d stared at me the entire night. I felt examined and exposed. But I was also strangely defiant. I didn’t want to let him know that he was getting to me.
“You shouldn’t be afraid of me,” Daryl called softly. I stiffened, curling up closer to Jenz. “I won’t hurt you.”
My arm throbbed in a steady reminder. Yeah right he wouldn’t hurt me.
“You interest me,” he continued, “You’re not like the others.” Well that was obvious. The other’s carried themselves with a grace that betrayed just how dangerous they were. They walked with confidence and straight backs, they knew they would be able to take whatever came. I had no such assurances.
And yet I had decided to follow anyway. . .
“Are you never going to speak to me?”
“You’ll wake the others up,” I grumbled into Jenz’s shirt.
“They’re very tired. No we won’t.” A hand brushed my shoulder. I flinched and pulled away, looking up for the first time. He was there, of course. His hand stretched out to help me to my feet. “I can explain if you want,” he said, “I promise we won’t leave beyond the firelight.” curiosity burned in the back of my throat. I knew what Jenz would say. He would kill me for even thinking about leaving the crook of his arm. But he was asleep. . . and. . .
“I won’t explain to anyone else,” Daryl whispered, “It’ll just be a few moments.” I slowly unwound myself from Jenz’s side. It was very cold without him.
“What do you want with me?” I said coldly, trying to keep my expression void. He chuckled and began to walk, not too far, but a little ways away from the campsite. I cautiously followed. Screaming at myself that I was being stupid, but I couldn’t help myself.
I was just so tired of being left out of the loop. I was the weak one, the weak link, the person that wasn’t supposed to be there. I was only a human, and a fool human at that. I was no use to anybody and I was a useless addition to the group.
I’m not being self critical, bagging myself to make me feel better if someone happened to give me a compliment. I’d heard them all say it. I’d heard Faye snarl the worlds at Jenz under her breath, even Pheobe glared at me when she thought Jenz wasn’t looking. It was annoying, being the only one who didn’t belong.
Maybe I was selfish and stupid enough to want something to be about me for a change. It was ridiculous, but there you are. Sometimes you can’t help what you feel, even if you know what you feel is ridiculous.
Daryl turned to me, his coal like eyes winking in the night sky, “You’re a human,” he said softly.
“And here I thought I was a squirrel.”
He smiled, his eyes still sparkling in excitement. “I haven’t seen a human in my entire lifetime. Neither have any of the others. You’re blood. . .your flesh. It’s so weak, so refreshing. I’ve never tasted anything like it. And then you’re will. . . you truly are human. You’re desire to live is so very strong.” I almost laughed. My desire to live? If I’d had one of those I would not have been stupid enough to be here now.
Why was it that no matter what I told myself, I couldn’t regret the decision I’d made to come? Everything was so confusing. My emotions clashed against each other, raging in my stomach. I closed my eyes and breathed in slowly, trying to force myself to stay calm.
“This isn’t a place where humans are normally,” I finally said, “How do you even know what I am?”
“I saw it in your mind.” Great. Just bloody brilliant. I glared at him.
“Stay out of my head,” I growled.
“I can’t. You see, you’ve done something that I’ve only ever heard of being done in legends. You’re will, it’s enslaved me. I’m yours. And you’re mine. If I die, my poison will filter through you and destroy you. And yet. . .” he grinned, “You’ll live as long as I want you to.”
“Why don’t you kill me and get it over with?”
“Because I want you alive for now. I want you here, I want to train with you, to become powerful when I finally get to eat you and consume your strength. Do not fear, I promise it will be painless.”
“Are you kidding me?” I snarled. He was threatening to kill and eat me! “That’s what this is all about? Get away from me,” I turned back to the campsite, my hands in fists. It seemed obvious now. I wasn’t going to be some dragon’s pet before he decided I was better suited for dinner.
“Leah, stop,” Daryl called, grabbing my arm. I tried to jerk away from him, but his grip was solid. I snarled in frustration, I couldn’t even free myself!
“Let go of me,” I hissed.
“Or what?” Daryl snarled back, “What could you possibly do to me? I can see it in your mind. You’re hopeless, completely useless to the group and to their mission. With me, you might actually be of some worth.”
“Shut up,”
“You know it’s true. Just train with me, discover how to use my skills. You won’t slow them down anymore, you won’t be baggage. I’ll babysit you so they won’t have to.”
“Shut UP!” I yelled, finally jerking my arm free. Instantly, the others stirred. Jenz was up and alert in moments, his eyes zeroing in on us, and then he was there. A knife appeared in his hand, as quickly as he had moved across the desert sand. The blade pressed flat against Daryl’s throat, but the dragon boy didn’t even look phased.
“You know she’ll die,” he said softly to Jenz, “If you kill me.”
“Who ever said I was going to kill you?” Jenz whispered back, then sliced the knife across the creature’s collarbone. Daryl hissed in shock, jerking backwards. Black blood oozed out of the wound staining the white shirt he’d been wearing. He swore viciously, his black eyes sparkling in the faint light. Jenz turned to me, his eyes angry. I swallowed and looked away. He opened his mouth but was interrupted.
“Could you guys keep it down?” Caleb asked, his voice irritated, “Some of us would like to sleep for a few hours.” Jenz scowled, then nodded, his face weary. Andof course I felt bad all over again. They hardly ever slept, and when they did it was often uneasy and light. Now not only was I wasting their waking hours, but I was interrupting their sleeping hours as well.
Figures.
“Come on, Lee,” Jenz sighed, “You need to sleep too.” Dang right I needed to sleep. I wasn’t like them, able to go off two and a half hours for days at a time. That was one of the big reasons I only slowed them down. I could try to stay on my feet and keep walking after nearly forty eight hours of travel and little to no food, but eventually I always collapsed, and then we’d have to stop. I hated that. Why couldn’t I be useful?
Was Daryl right? Could I be more useful if I trained with him? No. . . that was stupid. Besides, Jenz would never allow it. His favorite word was ‘no’. He didn’t let me do undangerous things, let alone play with dragons.
“Goodnight Leah,” Daryl whispered, “Think about what I said,” Jenz shot him a look, then glanced down at me. I didn’t look at him, I didn’t want to. He never answered my questions, why should I answer his?
Was it immature, the fact that I was so petty and self centered?
Yes, yes it was. I didn’t care enough at the moment though, I was too tired. I laid down next to the fire, hoping Jenz would lie down next to me. He didn’t, but I wasn’t too surprised. The boy could be a little bipolar.
I turned away from the light of the fire, my face hidden from the group. I was hoping that if my eyes acted up and started leaking unwanted tears that they at least wouldn’t see.
Unfortunately the only direction I could look was directly toward Daryl.
***
“Are you ready to move yet?” Faye asked angrily, I ignored her. That was usually the best policy in regards to Faye. It throughly ticked her off, but since she hated me anyway, I might as well get some revenge by ignoring her. The sun was only barely beginning to crest over the desert horizon, shining brilliantly already. Everyone was packing up camp, scattering the fire and hiding any and all evidence that we had ever been there.
I should have been helping, but the process was hampered by the fact that my feet were bleeding. Heavily. Blast.
The blisters that had been forming over the past few days had finally decided they’d had enough. They’d burst during the night, and a few of them looked infected. How was I going to keep up now? I grit my teeth, forcing myself not to think the swear words that wanted to leak out of me. I wasn’t going to swear.
I mostly didn’t want to swear just because the others did it all the time. If I didn’t swear, then maybe that was one thing I could be better then them at.
The ONLY thing I could be better then them that.
Faye crouched down next to me, her face in a scowl. She inspected the injuries with a practiced eye-how often did she get blisters? The woman was indestructible!- Her eyebrows drew down even further over her eyes. “You are not going to be able to keep up on those,” she sighed, sounding resigned, “Why on Earth did you follow us?” her words were like a slap.
“Doesn’t really matter, since we’re not on Earth, now does it?” I whispered the words. I was a push over, but sometimes I couldn’t help my mouth. She just glared and stood up, turning toward Jenz.
“You’re whore is broken again,” she complained, pointing to me, “You’d better fix it fast or we really will have to leave her.”
Jenz frowned, moving toward us. I felt a moment of panic, I was so tired of feeling weak in front of Jenz. It would be nice, if just once, I was able to do something that would maybe gain back a little respect. But no, my feet had to blister out.
“How long have you had those blisters?” he demanded. I bit my lip.
“I dunno. . .a few days?” I hedged. They’d been there nearly since the first few days, but there was no way I was going to tell him that.
“How long?”
“Can’t I just get a bandage and keep going? I’m fine.” Please, please, let me be fine. We couldn’t be delayed anymore. And no matter how fond of me Jenz was, if it came down to it, he would choose their mission over me. He had no choice.
Not that I even knew what the PURPOSE of the mission was, or what he was supposed to do. But whatever. I breathed slowly through my nose, trying to stay calm and not let the frustration seep out of me. I didn’t need them knowing that I was just as annoyed at my situation as they were. They didn’t need another reason to criticize me.
“We could drag her,” Pheobe suggested. Her light red-brown hair was pulled back in a pony tail, it was shorter then Miriah’s, but still beautiful and well kept. Despite having been traveling for who knew how long.
How did they do that?
All of Jenz’s group looked prim and fresh, despite only having snagged maybe three hours of sleep. I knew I looked like I had spent the past five days traveling in a desert at break neck paces trying to keep up with a bunch of superhumans.
Oh wait. . .
Don’t swear, I silently begged, please don’t swear.
“I can walk,” I said, pushing my feet under me, pain shot through them, I needed my socks. Ignore it, ignore it, ignore it, I silently pled with myself, trying to pull the scraps of cloth over the bloody stumps. Ew.
“We need to wrap them Leah,” Jenz said dryly. I stuck my tongue out at him.
“Hold still,” Caleb sighed, bringing over some cloth. I reluctantly held my feet out to him. He dropped to his knees and began bandaging them up quickly. At least he didn’t gloat too much. Maybe they were all just bored, and it was a fun game to play, “pick on Leah”.
“You people still here?” a now familiar irritating voice drifted over to us. I was sure my face was going to get stuck in a scowl like Faye’s. Daryl walked over with a strut. He looked like the others, prim and ready for a long day. He glanced at me and laughed. “What did you do to your feet, girl?”
“Shut up.” those words seemed to be said a lot around here.
“Sure thing,” he laughed, looking at the others.
“Is he really coming with us?” Miriah sighed, “he’s irritating.”
“I have ears,” he pointed out.
“I don’t speak to animals.”
Daryl grinned, his teeth looking rather sharp in the morning light, “Do you scream at them?”
“Enough,” Jenz ordered, “We’ve wasted enough time already.” I tried to hold back a flinch. Don’t take it personally, I ordered myself. I just had to do the best I could. . . even if that wasn’t nearly good enough.
“She can’t walk on those feet,” Daryl remarked. Jenz threw him a look.
“She’s going to have to,” he sighed, “We can’t stop now.” Caleb finished bandaging them up and I slipped my socks over the top. I tried to breath through my nose and keep the grimace off my face when I put my worn sneakers back on and stood. This was a hundred times worse then band camp.
And trust me, that was impressive.
I took a few hesitant steps, feeling the blood squish in my bandages. This was going to be a long day.
“I could carry her,” Daryl said conversationally, “She could ride on my back,”
“Stop talking like I can’t understand you,” I hissed through clenched teeth. Clenched teeth only because if they hadn’t been I would have been crying, “I can walk just fine.”
“Well oh fearless leader? Are you going to let the poor, fragile human break herself trying to prove she’s not a poor, fragile human?” If I’d had a rock, I would have chucked it at the dragon boy.
“Leah. . .” Jenz sighed, shaking his head. Why didn’t that boy ever get jealous? He was a man of practicality I guessed. He’d probably let someone take full advantage of me if there was a good enough reason for it. His rules were a little different then mine. Curse him.
“Course, I wouldn’t be carrying her on the ground,” Daryl grinned. Jenz’s eyes widened, but I looked up.
“Do you mean. . .flying?” I asked, trying to keep the sudden interest out of my voice. Daryl grinned at me.
“No,” Jenz said instantly.
“I wanna fly,” Miriah said absently.
“It’s really not that much fun,” Pheobe told her.
“No,” Jenz repeated, “There is no way,”
“Why not Jenz? It can’t hurt,” Faye said looking up at the clear sky, “It would get her out of our hair for a while.” I decided to ignore that comment. Flying on the back of a dragon?! Part of me wanted to be strong and prove that I could go on just like all of them, but the more realistic part (yes, I do have one, I just don’t listen to it often) knew that I wouldn’t last an hour, let alone twenty. I needed a break and I might as well fly on the back of a freaking Dragon while I did it!
“Please Jenz?” I tried to not beg, but that’s probably what I was doing, “I don’t want to slow you guys down anymore.”
“You’ll fall,” he said simply, looking directly at me. I opened my mouth to deny it, then closed it. With my luck, I probably would.
“I’m not going to let her fall,” Daryl said in annoyance, “Have some faith.”
“In you? Why should I?” Jenz frowned, I knew he was warring with the risks of me falling vs. the risks of me slowing them down. And the fact that I might actually have fun while being on the back of a dragon. He was always anti-me doing anything enjoyable. He thought it would make me think that his world wasn’t horrible.
And there were horrible things about it, but as far as I was concerned, his world totally rocked mine.
“There’s no other choice,” Zack suddenly spoke up. His black hair was ruffled, and it still looked fantastic. He pulled his pack over one shoulder, stretching lazily, “Sorry mate, but that’s just the way it is. Let her do something entertaining for a change.” Yay Zack!
Jenz obviously didn’t like it, but like the other’s had already said, there was no other choice. Daryl walked over to me and gripped my elbow. I scowled at him, but he ignored me.
“Hold on tight girlie.” he whispered in my ear. I tried to jerk free, but he took off running.
PAIN!
My feet! They moved without me fully realizing what I was doing. Daryl was running so fast I couldn’t help but try to keep up. I was sure my feet were about to fly off and be left in the desert dust when he jumped into the air.
I felt a surge of muscles in the hand gripping my forearm. I was thrown up into the air, his hand releasing me as I soared above him. For a moment I was horror struck, feeling my stomach flapping around my ears, and then I landed.
On the back of a great big black and red beast.
Daryl had transformed in less then a second, I was seated on his neck, resting between the neck and the shoulder ridge that was a dragon’s only real vulnerable point. I noticed there was a faint reddish mark along his chest, and I had to smile. Dragon’s may heal fast, but Jenz had still left a mark.
Now that I was actually up in the air, my pained feet were forgotten as I felt a momentary feeling of utter panic when I looked below me and saw just how high we already were.
“Oh crap,” I whispered, “Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap.” We were high. Really, really high.
Enjoying yourself?
“Stay out of my head!” I yelled, but my words were whipped away in the wind. A low rumble spread through his neck vibrating my entire body. I glared when I realized he was laughing at me. It was going to be a long day.
His body jerked and pulsed with powerful muscles as his strong wings beat the air, pushing us onward. I felt like that at any moment I was going to fly off, unseated by an unsteady current. But after a while I felt more secure. It even felt natural.
Way below us, on the desert floor, the others were running. Really running. It was only then that I realized just how much they had been forced to hold back when I’d been with them. “How fast are they going?” I whispered.
At least forty five miles per hour, Daryl responded in my head. I swallowed. The fastest I could run was nine, maybe ten. And then only for a short distance. I leaned my head against Daryl’s neck, feeling the rough scales against my forehead. My feet were buzzing, revealing in the fact that they weren’t being forced to hold my weight. Daryl didn’t say anything as I cried. I didn’t care if he thought I was weak, he was a random dragon that was hoping to eat me by the time this was over. I almost expected him to try and comfort me, but then I realized that in the few hours that I had known him, he had never lied to me.
Trying to comfort me by saying I wasn’t as useless as I felt would be a lie.
Leah's Story
The first bit of a story I am currently writing. It started out as just a short story for my Creative Writing Class. Now I want to continue it.
“Leah, No!” Jenz leapt forward but was instantly blasted backwards by the powerful thrust of a dragon wing. I tried to stay calm, tried to keep the blood from pumping through my veins and drowning out everything but the sound of the creature’s breath in my face.
How was I supposed to get out of this?! If only I wasn’t so stupid! Jenz tried to come at me again, but there were more of them. Dozens of the creatures were flying through the air, chasing down the others. They of course immediately went on the defensive. I could see Miriah whip her hands out and shove a ball of energy directly into heart of one of the beasts. Zack simply vanished, reappearing on a dragon’s back and thrusting his sword into the unprotected ridge between its neck and shoulder blade. It screamed in agony, dropping from the sky and crashing into the thick desert dust.
Everyone was fighting for their lives. Jenz was fighting three of them at once, moving faster and with more precision than I had ever seen in another human being.
But then, Jenz wasn’t exactly [I]human.[/I]
“Okay,” I whispered to myself, licking my dry lips, “Okay. . .” why wasn’t I dead? The beast was just staring at me. Huge brown eyes that reflected my entire upper body. It was actually one of the smaller beasts, only about the size of a killer whale. The deep red of the setting sun was absorbed in its black scales, the heat radiating off it in waves. I backed up slowly, trying to decide what to do. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Caleb get thrown into the air, Pheobe launched herself after him and caught him before he slammed into the ground. The fight was getting heated. Even Jenz’s group couldn’t contend against so many of the creatures.
Were we all going to die tonight?
“Jenz!” Faye screamed. My head whipped around, startled by the urgency in her voice. The sudden movement made the dragon start, swinging a long, sharp talon at me. I screamed as it connected with my shoulder, sending me flying. I couldn’t see what Jenz or Faye were doing. The coarse, dry sand pressed up against my back, grinding into my skin. We were going to die. After everything that had happened. After I had followed Jenz, followed him until I had found the others and then continued to follow them until I’d accidentally fallen into this world. This totally messed up world. Now they were stuck with me. Jenz had been so furious. . . Funny that it was his furious face that I pictured, instead of the caring one. I guess I didn’t want to think of him when he looked at me tenderly. I wanted to think of him angry, because when he was angry he could get out of any situation.
Except the ones I put him in.
The beast placed its talon on my chest, digging the nails into my skin. A cry of agony escaped my lips as I felt the blood begin to flow. I wasn’t even strong enough to keep my own screams inside me. Why had I ever thought that I was strong or able enough to come into this world with Jenz? He’d been right all along. I’d just been so determined to show him that I wasn’t useless.
And yet here I was.
“Do it,” I growled. The dragon’s face was inches from my own. Its hot breath drying out my skin and making my hair fly. I could see myself in its eyes. I looked very small. “Come on!” I yelled, “Do it!” The dragon snorted. Its claw pulled back, red blotches of blood on the nails. I gasped for breath, staring at it in shock. But I didn’t break eye contact.
Why was I so angry? The beast held my gaze, shaking its face back and forth. Ignoring the pain, I pushed myself up, first into a sitting position, then slowly to my feet. The dragon took a step back.
Why was it scared of me? I didn’t have any powers. Unlike Jenz, Miriah, Zack, Caleb, Pheobe, and Faye, I didn’t have any abilities. I didn’t have powers that would make this great beast back away. And yet it did.
Maybe there was a way for me to be useful.
I stepped forward, still staring it in the eye, “Why are you afraid?” I whispered. It snorted again.
“Leah!” The dragon reached out its snout. I held out my hand. “DON’T!!”
Four inch long fangs sunk into my arm. Thick gooey saliva dripped into the wound, drenching it and engulfing it in fire. I opened my mouth to scream, but couldn’t get out a sound. My gaze was locked with that of the dragon. [I]You can’t beat me,[/I] it seemed to be thinking.
“Watch me,” I tried to speak through clenched teeth, my eyes watering around the pain. “Just you watch me!” My other hand whipped out, gripping the dragon’s upper jaw and pulled. My strength wasn’t nearly enough of course, but the creature’s eyes widened at the sudden resistence. I twisted, shoving the free elbow directly into the monster’s eye.
This time the scream wasn’t my own.
***
“Shut up Faye,”
“Weren’t we just talking last night about how we wanted to get rid of her?”
“I wasn’t talking about leaving her to the buzzards.”
“She’s not going to survive, Jenz, you know that.”
“I said [I]shut up.[/I]” Everything hurt. My arm was throbbing and my head felt like it had just had a run in with a sledgehammer. Someone had me pulled into their lap, a hand was stroking my sweat covered forehead. My eyes fluttered open, feeling heavy and sticky. “Leah?” Jenz whispered, whipping some of the sweat out from under my swollen eyes.
“Jenz?” And then I could see him. His gray-blue eyes looked over me cautiously, lingering on the thick blood-stained bandage around my arm. “What happened?”
“You attacked the dragon with your bare hands you. . .” he grit his teeth and looked away. Obviously unable to find a word bad enough for what I was.
“And then?” my throat felt raspy.
“And then a giant white light surrounded you and you passed out. The dragon flew away and the others started chasing it.” His arms tightened around me, the memory obviously stressing him. He worried so much. . .
“What about the others?” I asked, suddenly panicked, “Are they okay?” I remembered Faye’s agonized cry, “Is Faye okay?” He snorted.
“They’re all fine. The only one who came off with anything more than a scratch is you.” He glared at me, “Do you believe me now? Do you believe that you should have [I]never, ever[/I] come here?!” I looked away.
I wasn’t even sure entirely where “here” was. I knew we weren’t on Earth anymore, at least not in the strictest sense. I also knew that Jenz was supposed to do something here that could possibly end with his death, and there was no way I was going to let that happen. He was probably beating himself up over ever having told me anything, considering that it led to me being here. But I was glad he had. It would have been so much worse if I’d been sitting at home wondering where he was and if he was okay. I hated that, it was pure agony.
But then again, so was my arm. That stung really badly too.
“Oy,” Miriah called, I jerked my neck, almost cricking it. It was only then that I even registered my surroundings. It was night, we were still in the desert and everyone but Jenz and I were gathered around a small glowing fire. Miriah had long red hair, hair that was currently pulled back in a pony tail, an annoyed expression on her freckled, green eyed face. “Your whore awake Jenz?” Jenz chucked a knife at her. It missed, though barely.
“Nice shot,” Zack said in appreciation. Jenz grunted. Faye looked over at us, and I felt myself stiffen under her gaze. She had brown hair with piercing, seeking blue eyes. I tried to untangle myself from Jenz, but he just pushed me down.
“Don’t move,” he said quietly, “You’ll only hurt yourself worse.” No more than Faye would. I knew that she felt like they would move faster and more efficiently if I wasn’t with them. She thought I was a waste of time, effort, resources, and that I always needed a baby sitter.
I only wished she was wrong.
A dull throbbing was beginning in my left temple. I rubbed it, silently praying that the headache would go away. In response, the pain spread across my forehead and into the other side of my head as well. I groaned, pressing the heels of my hands into my eyes.
“What’s wrong?” Jenz spoke quietly, but his voice sounded like a million drums pounding on my skull. [I]Where are you?[/I]
“What?” I asked groggily. Red pulses were shooting through my brain. Someone was trying to crush my skull with something large and heavy. I pushed against it with my hands, as though that would keep it from shattering into a million pieces. [I]I’m looking for you, where are you? [/I]
“Leah? Are you okay?” [I]Where are you?![/I]
“My. . .My Head!” I yelled, my own voice shattering the darkness and increasing the thumpings in my mind. “Oh bloody. . .” I tried to keep myself from cursing. There you are. The pain vanished. My mind became blank, like a sheet of paper. Everything froze over and cooled, it was only then that I realized I’d been shaking.
“Leave her alone, she’ll get over it,” Caleb smiled at me as I raised my eyes. I wasn’t sure what to make of him. He just never made himself front and center usually.
“Leah?” Jenz’s voice was tight, but controlled. He was always in control. I sighed, shaking my head.
“Sorry. . .” I began, “I don’t. . .”
“So you’re Leah.” It was a new voice. A voice that was smooth, but harsh at the same time. A figure stood at the edge of the fire light. He had shaggy black hair and deep eyes, in the faint light they looked black. He was tall, lithe and dangerous looking. Without thinking, I bolted upright, feeling my pulse thud in my ears. Jenz was up in an instant. He grabbed my arm, partially to keep me from falling over, and partially so he could pull me behind him protectively.
“Who are you?” he growled.
“I don’t need to talk to you, boy,” the newcomer growled, “Everyone else on this forsaken blanket may be whispering your name, but you are none of my concern.”
“What?”
“Surely you’ve heard it? The chosen one, the ruler, the savior and guardian,” the boy snorted, “They say you’ll save this world even though you couldn’t save your own.” Jenz’s teeth clenched. He reached for his knives, obviously ready to lob them through the newcomers throat.
“Don’t!” I cried, gripping his wrists. Everyone looked at me in surprise. I gulped, unable to explain my sudden exclamation. “Uh. . .I’m. . .” Why did I care if he killed the stranger?
Because despite everything, I was still human and the thought of killing in cold blood was wrong. Why was it that here that made me the freak?
“Yeah, you might not want to kill me, chosen boy,” startlingly white teeth flashed across the space between us, “You kill me and she’ll follow soon enough.”
“What do you want with Leah?” Jenz hissed.
“I’m going to take her away from you,” the stranger said simply, “She’s mine.” Five heads snapped from the stranger to Jenz and back again. Jenz’s face had gone very hard.
“Who are you?” I snapped, before Jenz could open his mouth.
“I’m Daryl.” the boy replied, looking at me. For the first time, his near black eyes seemed to soften as he looked at me. Which made me bare my teeth and glare. Who did this creep think he was? “I’m the dragon who sank his teeth into your arm and claimed your life with my venom.”
“Leah, No!” Jenz leapt forward but was instantly blasted backwards by the powerful thrust of a dragon wing. I tried to stay calm, tried to keep the blood from pumping through my veins and drowning out everything but the sound of the creature’s breath in my face.
How was I supposed to get out of this?! If only I wasn’t so stupid! Jenz tried to come at me again, but there were more of them. Dozens of the creatures were flying through the air, chasing down the others. They of course immediately went on the defensive. I could see Miriah whip her hands out and shove a ball of energy directly into heart of one of the beasts. Zack simply vanished, reappearing on a dragon’s back and thrusting his sword into the unprotected ridge between its neck and shoulder blade. It screamed in agony, dropping from the sky and crashing into the thick desert dust.
Everyone was fighting for their lives. Jenz was fighting three of them at once, moving faster and with more precision than I had ever seen in another human being.
But then, Jenz wasn’t exactly [I]human.[/I]
“Okay,” I whispered to myself, licking my dry lips, “Okay. . .” why wasn’t I dead? The beast was just staring at me. Huge brown eyes that reflected my entire upper body. It was actually one of the smaller beasts, only about the size of a killer whale. The deep red of the setting sun was absorbed in its black scales, the heat radiating off it in waves. I backed up slowly, trying to decide what to do. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Caleb get thrown into the air, Pheobe launched herself after him and caught him before he slammed into the ground. The fight was getting heated. Even Jenz’s group couldn’t contend against so many of the creatures.
Were we all going to die tonight?
“Jenz!” Faye screamed. My head whipped around, startled by the urgency in her voice. The sudden movement made the dragon start, swinging a long, sharp talon at me. I screamed as it connected with my shoulder, sending me flying. I couldn’t see what Jenz or Faye were doing. The coarse, dry sand pressed up against my back, grinding into my skin. We were going to die. After everything that had happened. After I had followed Jenz, followed him until I had found the others and then continued to follow them until I’d accidentally fallen into this world. This totally messed up world. Now they were stuck with me. Jenz had been so furious. . . Funny that it was his furious face that I pictured, instead of the caring one. I guess I didn’t want to think of him when he looked at me tenderly. I wanted to think of him angry, because when he was angry he could get out of any situation.
Except the ones I put him in.
The beast placed its talon on my chest, digging the nails into my skin. A cry of agony escaped my lips as I felt the blood begin to flow. I wasn’t even strong enough to keep my own screams inside me. Why had I ever thought that I was strong or able enough to come into this world with Jenz? He’d been right all along. I’d just been so determined to show him that I wasn’t useless.
And yet here I was.
“Do it,” I growled. The dragon’s face was inches from my own. Its hot breath drying out my skin and making my hair fly. I could see myself in its eyes. I looked very small. “Come on!” I yelled, “Do it!” The dragon snorted. Its claw pulled back, red blotches of blood on the nails. I gasped for breath, staring at it in shock. But I didn’t break eye contact.
Why was I so angry? The beast held my gaze, shaking its face back and forth. Ignoring the pain, I pushed myself up, first into a sitting position, then slowly to my feet. The dragon took a step back.
Why was it scared of me? I didn’t have any powers. Unlike Jenz, Miriah, Zack, Caleb, Pheobe, and Faye, I didn’t have any abilities. I didn’t have powers that would make this great beast back away. And yet it did.
Maybe there was a way for me to be useful.
I stepped forward, still staring it in the eye, “Why are you afraid?” I whispered. It snorted again.
“Leah!” The dragon reached out its snout. I held out my hand. “DON’T!!”
Four inch long fangs sunk into my arm. Thick gooey saliva dripped into the wound, drenching it and engulfing it in fire. I opened my mouth to scream, but couldn’t get out a sound. My gaze was locked with that of the dragon. [I]You can’t beat me,[/I] it seemed to be thinking.
“Watch me,” I tried to speak through clenched teeth, my eyes watering around the pain. “Just you watch me!” My other hand whipped out, gripping the dragon’s upper jaw and pulled. My strength wasn’t nearly enough of course, but the creature’s eyes widened at the sudden resistence. I twisted, shoving the free elbow directly into the monster’s eye.
This time the scream wasn’t my own.
***
“Shut up Faye,”
“Weren’t we just talking last night about how we wanted to get rid of her?”
“I wasn’t talking about leaving her to the buzzards.”
“She’s not going to survive, Jenz, you know that.”
“I said [I]shut up.[/I]” Everything hurt. My arm was throbbing and my head felt like it had just had a run in with a sledgehammer. Someone had me pulled into their lap, a hand was stroking my sweat covered forehead. My eyes fluttered open, feeling heavy and sticky. “Leah?” Jenz whispered, whipping some of the sweat out from under my swollen eyes.
“Jenz?” And then I could see him. His gray-blue eyes looked over me cautiously, lingering on the thick blood-stained bandage around my arm. “What happened?”
“You attacked the dragon with your bare hands you. . .” he grit his teeth and looked away. Obviously unable to find a word bad enough for what I was.
“And then?” my throat felt raspy.
“And then a giant white light surrounded you and you passed out. The dragon flew away and the others started chasing it.” His arms tightened around me, the memory obviously stressing him. He worried so much. . .
“What about the others?” I asked, suddenly panicked, “Are they okay?” I remembered Faye’s agonized cry, “Is Faye okay?” He snorted.
“They’re all fine. The only one who came off with anything more than a scratch is you.” He glared at me, “Do you believe me now? Do you believe that you should have [I]never, ever[/I] come here?!” I looked away.
I wasn’t even sure entirely where “here” was. I knew we weren’t on Earth anymore, at least not in the strictest sense. I also knew that Jenz was supposed to do something here that could possibly end with his death, and there was no way I was going to let that happen. He was probably beating himself up over ever having told me anything, considering that it led to me being here. But I was glad he had. It would have been so much worse if I’d been sitting at home wondering where he was and if he was okay. I hated that, it was pure agony.
But then again, so was my arm. That stung really badly too.
“Oy,” Miriah called, I jerked my neck, almost cricking it. It was only then that I even registered my surroundings. It was night, we were still in the desert and everyone but Jenz and I were gathered around a small glowing fire. Miriah had long red hair, hair that was currently pulled back in a pony tail, an annoyed expression on her freckled, green eyed face. “Your whore awake Jenz?” Jenz chucked a knife at her. It missed, though barely.
“Nice shot,” Zack said in appreciation. Jenz grunted. Faye looked over at us, and I felt myself stiffen under her gaze. She had brown hair with piercing, seeking blue eyes. I tried to untangle myself from Jenz, but he just pushed me down.
“Don’t move,” he said quietly, “You’ll only hurt yourself worse.” No more than Faye would. I knew that she felt like they would move faster and more efficiently if I wasn’t with them. She thought I was a waste of time, effort, resources, and that I always needed a baby sitter.
I only wished she was wrong.
A dull throbbing was beginning in my left temple. I rubbed it, silently praying that the headache would go away. In response, the pain spread across my forehead and into the other side of my head as well. I groaned, pressing the heels of my hands into my eyes.
“What’s wrong?” Jenz spoke quietly, but his voice sounded like a million drums pounding on my skull. [I]Where are you?[/I]
“What?” I asked groggily. Red pulses were shooting through my brain. Someone was trying to crush my skull with something large and heavy. I pushed against it with my hands, as though that would keep it from shattering into a million pieces. [I]I’m looking for you, where are you? [/I]
“Leah? Are you okay?” [I]Where are you?![/I]
“My. . .My Head!” I yelled, my own voice shattering the darkness and increasing the thumpings in my mind. “Oh bloody. . .” I tried to keep myself from cursing. There you are. The pain vanished. My mind became blank, like a sheet of paper. Everything froze over and cooled, it was only then that I realized I’d been shaking.
“Leave her alone, she’ll get over it,” Caleb smiled at me as I raised my eyes. I wasn’t sure what to make of him. He just never made himself front and center usually.
“Leah?” Jenz’s voice was tight, but controlled. He was always in control. I sighed, shaking my head.
“Sorry. . .” I began, “I don’t. . .”
“So you’re Leah.” It was a new voice. A voice that was smooth, but harsh at the same time. A figure stood at the edge of the fire light. He had shaggy black hair and deep eyes, in the faint light they looked black. He was tall, lithe and dangerous looking. Without thinking, I bolted upright, feeling my pulse thud in my ears. Jenz was up in an instant. He grabbed my arm, partially to keep me from falling over, and partially so he could pull me behind him protectively.
“Who are you?” he growled.
“I don’t need to talk to you, boy,” the newcomer growled, “Everyone else on this forsaken blanket may be whispering your name, but you are none of my concern.”
“What?”
“Surely you’ve heard it? The chosen one, the ruler, the savior and guardian,” the boy snorted, “They say you’ll save this world even though you couldn’t save your own.” Jenz’s teeth clenched. He reached for his knives, obviously ready to lob them through the newcomers throat.
“Don’t!” I cried, gripping his wrists. Everyone looked at me in surprise. I gulped, unable to explain my sudden exclamation. “Uh. . .I’m. . .” Why did I care if he killed the stranger?
Because despite everything, I was still human and the thought of killing in cold blood was wrong. Why was it that here that made me the freak?
“Yeah, you might not want to kill me, chosen boy,” startlingly white teeth flashed across the space between us, “You kill me and she’ll follow soon enough.”
“What do you want with Leah?” Jenz hissed.
“I’m going to take her away from you,” the stranger said simply, “She’s mine.” Five heads snapped from the stranger to Jenz and back again. Jenz’s face had gone very hard.
“Who are you?” I snapped, before Jenz could open his mouth.
“I’m Daryl.” the boy replied, looking at me. For the first time, his near black eyes seemed to soften as he looked at me. Which made me bare my teeth and glare. Who did this creep think he was? “I’m the dragon who sank his teeth into your arm and claimed your life with my venom.”
A New Beginning!
Okay, so I am starting this blog to tell stories. It will be a story-telling blog, where I can finally allow the voices in my head (no I'm not crazy, just an author) to tell their stories. I wanted to start this up so I could get in the habit of forcing myself to keep to a writing schedule. Hopefully, a new story or a new chapter will appear on this blog every two weeks. I'm excited to get started! So sit back, and I hope you enjoy the ride.
~Victoria Baker
~Victoria Baker
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