Biting the Hand that Feeds
ZOKAY. This kind of goes with my other story (The Animal I Have Become), but it only mentions it once in Derek's First Friend. She's the girl who was his first friend, in third grade. Well, the fates seemed to have wanted them to stay friends through their lives, because they met several other times until the whole Edison Group thing. The whole story is most likely going to be in third person, because it's easier when there are multiple people to tell a story about if you have it like that. I think. Tell me, and maybe I'll change it to something else! ^-^
You're keeping in step
In the line
Got your chin held high and you feel just fine
Cause you do
What you're told
But inside your heart it is black and it's hollow and it's cold
Just how deep do you believe?
Will you bite the hand that feeds?
Will you chew until it bleeds?
Can you get up off your knees?
Are you brave enough to see?
Do you want to change it?
What if this whole crusade's
A charade
And behind it all there's a price to be paid
For the blood
On which we dine
Justified in the name of the holy and the divine
Just how deep do you believe?
Will you bite the hand that feeds?
Will you chew until it bleeds?
Can you get up off your knees?
Are you brave enough to see?
Do you want to change it?
So naive
I keep holding on to what I want to believe
I can see
But I keep holding on and on and on and on
[8X]
Will you bite the hand that feeds you?
Will you stay down on your knees?
Chapter One - Flash backs
7th grade
Derek was walking to class, alone, when the scent wafted through the air. It wasn't a bad scent, a dangerous scent, or even an alarming one. It was a gently familiar scent that made him straighten up. He glanced around; he was sure the hallway was empty. But, no, he heard someone walking, straight toward him.
"Hi." Someone said as they tried to move around him.
"Alyssa." Derek said, on instinct. When the girl stopped, "Alyssa Cook." She turned slowly back, looking at him. He knew he'd gotten taller since the last time she saw him (fourth grade, in the middle of the year before he moved away), but not too much was different. Alyssa dropped her bag and took a running leap at him. The wolf cringed back, but Derek accepted the hug with a bit of awkward confusion.
"Derek!" She seemed to know, on some odd level, that he wasn't going by Souza anymore. This was dangerous, Derek knew, but somewhere deep inside, this was also nice. That someone from the past was here.
"You recognize me?"
"How could I mistake those eyes for anyone else?" She teased, pulling back. "Did you just move here?" Derek scrutinized her, searching for any tell-tale signs that she was still undergoing the same abuse she had been in third grade. For fourth grade it seemed to have stopped, but there are many parts of the body that could be bruised, hidden under a shirt or jacket.
"Yeah, my brother and my dad and I just moved here. When did you move here?" She gave a giddy laugh.
"We moved here a month ago." So they weren't following.
"Cool. Um…what class do you have right now?" He didn't know what to say. When they were eight and nine, that part had been very easy; all they had to do was run around all day. Now, in Junior High, they actually had to work all day. Very confusing.
"I have to go to literature." She wrinkled her nose, but smiled anyways, her caramel eyes twinkling. Derek noted her split lip and the way she was favoring her left side.
"What happened to your ribs?" he asked as they walked.
"You didn't tell me where you were going." she said, ignoring his question as she had the first time they had met. He stared at her.
"I'm going to Lit, with Mrs. Miller." Derek sighed, glancing at her.
"Aw, I have Mr. Johnson. Too bad- maybe we'll get lunch together."
"Maybe. What lunch period do you have?" It was strange, talking like this, as if he usually had friends. Which he didn't, because no one really spoke to him.
"I have third lunch."
Derek let out a surprised (and pleased) sound. "Me too. I guess… I won't be sitting by myself."
Alyssa frowned as they started walking again. "Why doesn't Simon sit with you?"
"He does- I just like to let him sit with his friends. We sit together our first day; he could sit with us…?"
"Sure." She smiled, gave him another side hug, and ran into her class room.
Derek was actually looking forward to lunch. Simon had met him halfway there, and they were walking together. They were walking from building B, though, so they had to cross the front of the building to get to the cafeteria. Derek could smell Alyssa's friendly scent in the air and he glanced around. There was a crowd on the side walk. And Alyssa was in the center.
"Hey, Simon…why don't you go get our lunch? I'll…I'll go see what's up." He said, shaking his hair out of his eyes. Simon grinned and jogged off, meeting up with some preppy blonde girl.
"Hey, Derek, look!" A guy from his 3rd hour class said. "This girl- a guy pulled up in some black car, and he got out. She went up to him, and he said something- I think they were arguing. Well he kicked her ass!" He hissed, shaking his head. "That ain't right." He shook his head.
"You're right; it's not." Derek replied softly, going towards Alyssa to check the damage.
9th Grade
"Maybe this will be our last first day of school." Simon said optimistically. Derek shook his head, sighing. He was almost six foot two, and the growth spurt came full with a facial break out and muscles he hadn't had not too long ago. He had to work out constantly, and always run; otherwise he'd get muscle cramps because he hadn't stretched them out.
"See you later." Derek muttered as he headed to his class. He slid in just as the bell rang and the teacher nodded that she had him on her roster. They were calmer when he was sitting down.
"You must be Derek Brown; right?"
"Yes, that's me." His voice had changed too; it was really deep and he knew it was a low rumble.
"Welcome to Chemistry, Derek. Your lab partner is supposed to be here- her mother called and said she'd be late…" the flighty little teacher flitted over to the other students, taking roll, introducing Derek- people cringed or shrank back – and taking up the previous nights' homework. Derek sat there quietly, looking off into space.
"Hello." The voice was, once again, unmistakable, and so was the scent. Derek stiffened. Now would be the time that he knew she was definitely a threat, and that she was following them. Or maybe her parents –if you could call that filthy trash of a man a parent –were the threats. Alyssa Cook was back.
"Alyssa, again?" He asked as she sat down. Alyssa jumped and looked at him. For the first time since Derek had had his growth spurt, the person looking at him didn't show revulsion, fear, or disgust. She stared for a moment with recognition shining in her caramel eyes and finally her shell-pink lips split into a wide smile.
"Derek; we meet again. The fates must think we're supposed to be friends. We wouldn't keep meeting like this otherwise! Don't worry- I'm not following you, honest. We move a lot, too." She grinned again, putting her things onto the table.
"You're in Chemistry?" That was all he could manage, still staring at her.
"Yeah- I'm very good at sciences; Literature, too. For some reason, though I'm really good at science, I can't do math." She shrugged and showed her Algebra 1 book. He grinned a little.
"So…uh…" He couldn't think of anything to say –he wasn't one for idle chit-chat, but he wanted to say something to Alyssa, his first and only friend.
"You have got to be starving. They don't give you much for lunch." She shook her head. "I work in the kitchen; they pay me, so don't laugh. Why don't you come over to the back door and I can give you some extra food... I've done that for my friends ever since I started in this town last year."
"Okay." He mumbled, and then examined her again. She had make-up on her throat- he could smell it- and it was probably covering bruises. "How's your dad been?" he asked.
She glanced down. "Derek, I'm in high school now, and I really don't want to lie to you, and I can't ignore the question, so why don't we just drop it?" she whispered.
Derek swallowed hard. "Sorry."
Simon met Derek for lunch. He got a table and dropped their things there and they got in line, waiting for food. And, of course, Alyssa was right; they didn't serve nearly enough for Derek to really get full. So in the middle of lunch, he went to the back door and knocked twice. He peaked in and saw Alyssa dancing around with a curly haired red head, with towels in her hands. She grabbed a pan and dried it, then put it up before she saw him.
"Derek!" She shrieked, then toed a big bag full of a lot of different things. Including fruits and other things that Simon would probably like and be able to eat. "Here, some stuff in there is good for Simon." He stared at her. "I knew he has diabetes, I just didn't know if he wanted me to know, so I didn't say anything. In seventh grade, I saw him shoving the package into his backpack." She shrugged. Derek still looked surprised, so she went on. "My cousin has the same thing-y." She smiled.
"Thanks, Alyssa."
"No problem." She glanced over her shoulder, gasped, and started shooing him towards the door. "Quick, Gretchen is coming!" She giggled.
The rest of the year went like that, until one day Derek saw Alyssa walking in the opposite direction of the school. She had a black eye and the whole left side of her face was bruised. She didn't show up again after that.
Chapter One: Part Two - The Army. Present time. Safe house.
AN: this isn't what I think will happen in TR. I just want to write what would be cool in an AU after Chapter three okay? Also, I adore OC's, so if you don't, don't make mean comments. What you put in, you get out, so keep that in mind. Thanks, -Izzy.
They'd only been here for a few days, but already Andrew was in constant motion, making calls, inviting important people, telling other people certain things. Everyone just sort of watched in awe, unsure of what to do with themselves besides watch and relax just a tiny bit- it was working, fractionally. Derek still seemed edgy, to Chloe. Simon was relaxed as ever. He actually seemed to have a mellow personality when not in mortal danger. Tori was unbristeling, especially because they could take showers every day.
"Breakfast!" Andrew announced loudly. Chloe stretched her back and started walking down the hall way. She'd already been awake, so she had already brushed her teeth, but she waited until after breakfast to take her shower.
"Morning." She smiled at Simon, flushed a little when he grinned back, and wiggled her fingers in a friendly way towards Derek, who grunted and started chugging orange juice like he was dehydrated. Tori was last to make it down, flitting in a way that said she was on one of her 'diet days'. She ate a piece of toast, then claimed the shower first. Andrew set toast, eggs- scrambled and otherwise-, juices and milks, fruits and cereals, down on the table. Chloe raised her eye brows. He hadn't cooked the whole time they were there. She wasn't sure he knew how to cook. But here was the-
"Andrew, I know for a fact that you haven't cooked in your entire life. Is this poisoned?" Simon joked, poking the eggs with a fork. Chloe waited, looking toward Derek. He took a tiny, instinctive sniff, then took some of the food and started eating. Simon took that as his cue and loaded up. Chloe got what she normally would've gotten- about two forks of eggs, maybe three, a piece of toast, an apple- for Simon's benefit, so he wasn't eating that alone- and some apple juice.
"No; mostly because I didn't cook it." That had a nasty effect on the whole place. Derek froze, staring at the food in front of him as if it'd bitten his tongue. Chloe froze mid bite, and Simon put his fork down carefully.
"Who did?" Derek asked quite calmly. Chloe took note of how his voice, much like his face, was changing. Again, probably.
"A friend…" The three kids stared, tensed, Derek the most. He had I knew it written all over his face. "She's not a-"
Derek jumped up and was around the table, in front of Simon and Chloe when someone walked in the room. He was half crouched, growling a little. At the sight of a short woman with brown/blonde hair, standing at 5'4, he relaxed a fraction of an inch. She smiled up at Derek, but he saw the flash of startled fear.
"You must be, um, Derek." She said, swallowing hard.
"Who are you?" He skipped the pleasantries, as he was known to do, oddly enough. Chloe smiled a little wryly.
"I'm Danny, Danielle Kristy." She smiled a little more now. "And this is my daughter, Claire." A brunette about an inch shorter than her peaked around her mother, smiled at them and bounced over to Chloe.
"Hi."
"Um, hi. I'm Chloe." She said, smiling wider when she didn't stutter.
"I'm a witch and half a demon. Exustio, really. You're a necromancer. I can sense it. You've got this really pretty purple-pink aura."
"Claire." Danny sighed, shaking her head. Claire had red streaks in her hair, which made Chloe's mood lower just a tiny notch. Derek seemed to notice at the same time she did, because he sighed harshly and looked away.
"You're blonde." Chloe jumped and blinked a little.
"What?"
"Your hair- it doesn't look dyed, but a girl can just tell, you know? You're blonde." Derek sighed again but didn't relax his stance. He was clearly still on the defensive; Simon was relaxed again.
"Should we get back to eating?" He asked, glancing at his plate.
"Yes, because after breakfast you're all going to meet everyone. The adults were the ones I needed, but they brought their kids, too. It was an emergency situation, and this safe house is the biggest. So here we are."
"So that means we actually have some s-sort of plan to r-rescue everyone?" Chloe asked, sitting down on Derek's right and Simon's left. Claire sat across from them and started eating. Her eyes were a strange red-brown, her skin a lightly tanned colour. She was about 16, maybe 15 and some change. Chloe was the youngest at the table, again.
"Okay, guys. Danny is a witch, and one of my best friends. Hey, did you ever hear back from Zoë and Brandon? Or Amy? Cause we both know who wears the pants with her and Joey." They let out a laugh and headed towards the living room, talking about people Chloe hadn't heard of, ever.
"Hey, Andrew, do you know where-" a tall girl came into the room, stunning them to silence. Well, at least it silenced the three original kids. Claire jumped up and squealed.
"Nikki!" She shrieked. The newest girl was at least 5'8 with long, delicate and graceful limbs; she had amber skin and green eyes that tilted up in an exotic –Egyptian –way. Her hair was long- to her hips- and thick and black. She looked like a witch, truthfully, wearing dark eyeliner and a long robe of royal purple.
"Hey, Claire. Mom and Dad are out there with your mom. They had to bring Brett and Ryan, little twits." She turned to Derek, her eyes sliding from him, to Chloe, to Simon, then back to him. "You're defensive. Stop growling at me, Fido. I'm not a threat." She had a pretty voice, one that sounded like melting honey, smooth, flow-y, slightly thick. She flicked her wrist at Derek, who was still tensed up. Chloe knew it was all of these scents, different people, new people, and it was making him nervous. She pushed her knee against his for a second in reassurance. He glanced at her, then back at Nikki.
"I'm Nikki Nakia. Yeah, it's Egyptian. Not that my first name is, but it's sort of like my family name, so..." She shrugged a shoulder and took the long robe off. She was wearing dark beige shorts and a long sleeved black shirt.
"What's with the robe?" Simon asked, slightly miffed by fact that this girl was two inches taller than him (though he was growing a little more). She was gorgeous in an unapproachable way. And she was giving the air of aloofness.
"I was doing my Winter Solstice ritual with a quick, coven-less circle. Who would've thought that I would find a human coven of pagan's who don't even know I'm an actual witch! Not that the magick that they do isn't real, it's just that mine is more fast acting." She grinned.
"Oh. You're Pagan?" Simon asked, surprised for some reason. It was fitting, with her looks.
"Yes, do you have a problem with that?" Her cat's eyes narrowed at him. Chloe jumped in.
"No, of course not. Anyways, um, why don't you, uh, have breakfast with us?" she asked, smiling a little. She blushed when Simon touched her hand lightly. Claire nodded happily.
"Yes, join us, Nikki. We have enough food. Mom made it all, not Andrew, so you don't have to worry."
"Eh, Mom and Dad already tried to feed me- I'm not hungry. I'm going to go practice some spells. Ancient ones. You want to try it, spell-caster?" she tossed at Simon as she walked away. Chloe sighed, relaxing a little. Derek didn't. He just shovelled his food down his throat, and went upstairs to shower... Or at least get ready to. Chloe could still hear the shower running with Tori in it.
After everyone was nice and showered, dressed, and fully awake, Andrew led them into another room that they'd dubbed the "parlor room". It was filled with old books and movies. The living room was in another room, so they really had no other thing to call it. Derek and Simon stood on either side of Chloe, and Tori was next to Simon, and they both kept shifting uneasily.
"All right. I'm going to introduce you guys to the people that are going to help us, and then their kids. After introductions, us adults are going to tell all of the teens what they're helping us with."
"It's a raid." Derek leant down and whispered while Andrew walked away to get the adults. Chloe looked up at him, tilting her head to the side. His pulse quickened at the expression of pure trust, and he had to look away.
"What did you hear?"
"They're planning a raid- to the Edison Group; they also plan on leaving us here. We have to find a way to convince them to take us with them."
"Why?" Chloe watched his face get grim, mouth twisting to an unhappy frown.
"Because, they plan on just going in, searching for my dad, then lighting the place up!" Her face paled and Derek had to put two fingers under her elbow to make sure she didn't fall over.
"B-but they- they c-can't do that! It's n-not fair! M-my aunt and-and R-R-Rae!" She thought about it… "And wh-what if there a-are other k-k-kids in there?"
"That's why we have to get them to take us with." Not that he cares about Lauren, Rae, or those other kids. He just wants to double check for his father. He thinks he can find him way better than they can. And maybe he can… Chloe thought with a twinge of sadness, realizing that she was getting used to him being nicer, changing. Sure, his face had cleared up, but maybe…maybe his personality was still the same; getting worse? No, she wouldn't believe that.
She's probably thinking that I don't care about her aunt, Derek thought with a sigh, and it's not really fair; I was making an effort to be nice. Not that I care about that backstabbing bi- well, anyways…I want to help her... for Chloe.
"Anyways…we really have to go." That moment was when approximately fourteen adults walked into the room.
"Okay. Starting from the right…That's Tori, Simon, Chloe, and Derek." Andrew introduced. They all looked at Tori, smiled; Simon, smiled, assessing him; Chloe, made "awe" faces, then smiled and assessed her; Derek, their eyes tightened, muscles tensed, and forced smiles. Chloe got defensive. She didn't like them already. Simon didn't either, but Tori thought that maybe they were smart - she didn't know how strong Derek was- didn't care, really –but she did know that he was really strong, and that he was probably dangerous.
"Alright, this is Zoë and Brandon Murdock. They're…"
"I'm a half-demon, and so is Brandon," Zoë said, tossing her black hair. It was just below her shoulders, though she was pale. "I'm Exustio, and Brandon is Agio," Brandon, who had dusty brown hair, smiled and spoke up.
"And our daughter is…" he bit his lip and glanced at Andrew, who swore.
"I forgot! Well, Chloe is a necromancer, Tori is a…witch, Simon is a sorcerer, and Derek is a werewolf," he said this hesitantly. Derek tensed up. Chloe was unhappy, but smiled anyways. She even shifted a little closer to Derek, to show he wasn't dangerous.
"Well our daughter Alex is a necromancer, because of our genes combined." Brandon said, smiling. It lit up his eyes.
"This is Amy and Joey Moore."
"I'm a witch." Amy said, smiling serenely. Her hair was a soft gold, falling to her shoulders. Joey was dirty blond, and he had green eyes, a dark outline of gray around his irises.
"I'm human, but I'm an expert fighter." Joey said with a grin. Derek snorted. Joey didn't seem to think the same way the other supernaturals did, considering he was about the same height as Derek, though not quite as bulky. "Well I am. I've trained. That's why I'm here: to train everyone else."
"Right." Derek didn't care. He just wanted to skip the introductions, though he already felt less indifferent towards Joey Moore; mainly because he didn't flinch back from him, just like Simon, Chloe, and Dad - his pack.
"And this is Lisa and Steve Nakia." Lisa was clearly Nikki's mother - she had the same dark hair, tilting eyes, and same almost-smiling lips. She had amber skin, just like Nikki, and she was extremely tall, probably the same height as the young witch. Steve, on the other hand, had a mix of blond and brown hair, with a sun tan and blue eyes; he was about 6 feet 2 inches tall. He was compact, with tight, wiry muscles, and he had a mischievous smile.
"I'm a witch, and my husband is a male witch." Simon snorted a laugh. "Don't laugh, young sorcerer; he knows more spells than you do and you're still in the starting level."
Tori let out a sputtering laugh, which earned her a death look.
"It's alright. My momma was a witch, so I turned out that way." Steve said with a slight country drawl. It fit him. He looked like he'd look good on a horse, a tractor, or a truck, then turn around and work in an office building. Maybe that was the point.
The adults that had already been introduced (Zoë, Brandon, Amy, Joey, Steve, and Lisa) moved to the side and sat around, talking to each other, probably assessing the children.
"This is Samuel and Jaycee Ramirez. Sam's a sorcerer and Jaycee is a human; another type of fighter to teach us." Andrew smiled. Chloe smiled at Jaycee, knowing that this must be strange to her. Or, at least, thinking that. Jaycee was taking it in stride.
"My son is an excellent sorcerer. Maybe he and Simon could practice together?" Samuel looked at Simon.
"Yeah, sure. Cool." He said in his easy going voice. He was an outgoing person; filled with charisma that his brother lacked.
"That would be wonderful. I'm sure you and Cole are on the same level…Cole's 17, but that's okay. He's…he's sort of quiet, but that's alright. I'm sure you'll get along." Jaycee seemed only too happy to be getting along with everyone. Chloe wondered if that meant she knew that these supernaturals were all very strong; physically or powerfully. They moved to the other side of the room.
"You already know Danny Kristy." She smirked at them as she made her way towards Jaycee. They started speaking excitedly with Lisa and Steve.
"This is Andrea and Andy Price." Andy had a stock of caramel hair that was slightly wavy and shaggy, unkempt in a way that told Chloe immediately that he was on the run just like they had been. "It took me forever to track them down."
"We were in Georgia." Andrea explained. She had dark hair, tied up in a high ponytail; she was wearing a jogging suit. "The Edison Group is after us, as well. So we've been sort of on the go. I'm a human, but I'll be your weapons master, so don't underestimate me." She pulled up one sweat pant leg and exposed a holster holding a small lady's gun. She dropped it again at Chloe's expression.
"It's alright, sweetheart. None of us will get hurt." Andy said; he had gentle gray eyes. Simon spoke up.
"Shaman." He said this instantly, staring at him. Andy dimpled up, smiling widely.
"Yes." He stared for a moment. "Have you never met a shaman, son?" He was a friendly person, and he was extremely open. "If not, I'll have to show you kids what I can do."
"What can you do?" Derek asked, clearing his throat. Chloe glanced up at him, shifted closer, and held herself still. He smelled like Irish Springs soap.
"I can heal, that's the most important thing. I can heal most things, that is. Paper cuts and you should see me with those finger nail cuts!" Andrea laughed at her husband's joke. "I can heal most gaping wounds, actually, as long as there's no poison left, no bullet, no other thing resting in there. I can also heal most bones, as long as it's not shattered." Derek nodded thoughtfully. "Do you approve, jeune loupe?" Derek shrugged, though Chloe could tell that he didn't know the man had said 'young wolf'.
"This is Benjamin," Andrew pointed to a man with dark hair and eyes, clearly of Hispanic decent. "He prefers I don't use his last name."
"Hello," he murmured. Simon grinned.
"Sorcerer! I'm getting good at this." The way he said it made Chloe think of a little kid, acting as if everything was a game. She shook her head, scolding herself for such mean thoughts. Benjamin nodded with a slight smile.
"Yes, you are." With that he moved over to the other adults.
"Martin and Kendra Hall." Martin didn't say anything, instead staring at them with dark eyes, looking in the other direction.
"Hello; yes, Simon, I am a witch. I'm also very good at precognition." She winked a silvery eye at him and gestured to the front door. A stomp of feet; loud, booted feet. Nikki lead the pack of at least nine other kids, not counting herself. Andrew sighed.
"These are the kids. Nikki, you do the introductions; we have to prepare." He shook his head and wandered to the other adults. The teens waited quietly while the adults drained out of the room to the basement.
"Alright. This little 5'2 girl with the spiky black hair is Alex Murdock." Nikki pointed to the pale girl. The girl that was a necromancer, just like Chloe. She stepped forward.
"Hi." She was shy, obvious in the way she held herself. "Nice to meet you all." She didn't look at Derek; she did smile at Chloe, as if she recognized her as one of her own kind.
"Then the girl about Simon's height is Bekah Moore." Bekah had golden blonde hair that fell in gentle waves below her shoulders. Her eyes were a light, gentle green with lightly tanned skin. She walked right up to Derek and stared up at him, right into his eyes. She didn't open her mouth, not once, but Derek nodded as if answering a question. Chloe stared at him, questioning with her eyes. He held a hand out, telling her to wait. Bekah moved to Chloe, staring down at her with her eyes very intent and clear.
"Hello, Chloe. I'm Bekah. It's a pleasure meeting you. You are…a necromancer? A powerful one that just discovered her powers. I'm happy you're learning. I'm sorry I can't speak aloud- I was born mute, but with the ability to speak with my mind. I can also read minds, and sometimes control minds. I always ask, though."
Chloe gaped at the girl, looking immediately (and rudely) to her mouth. The pink lips turned up in a sweet smile.
"Yeah, I figured it was self explanatory." Nikki laughed, a smooth sound. "And that dude, the one with that mess of black hair and those dark eyes; he's Cole Ramirez. We're the same age, almost like brother and sister. He's a bit paler than me, though." Cole grunted at her, but didn't speak. "Right. Those little twins over there, that's Brett and Ryan. Don't ask me which is which, they're the only ones who can tell you." She rolled her eyes. "Actually, there's a sign to tell, but you can only tell if they're smiling. Ryan's dimple is on the left and Brett's is on the right." Simon laughed a little; Tori rolled her eyes.
"Hey, guys." The twins said in unison, stepping forward. "We're spell-casters." The twins had dark brown eyes with brown hair to match- their hair had blond mixed in, though, making it lighter. They were Simon's height with very light olive skin. Chloe thought their smiles were cute; mischievous, but cute. And she saw the dimples that Nikki was talking about. Brett was standing nearest to her, and Ryan closer to Tori.
"We're fifteen. How old are…you?" They threw their arms around Chloe's shoulders, squishing her between them. She laughed; they were adorably playful.
"I just turned fifteen, as well." Derek let out a grumble and started walking away, when something strange happened. He stopped mid-step, nose titled to the air. Suddenly his whole body tensed and shifted to a semi-crouch, and there were two different toned growls filling the room. Chloe shook the twins off and glanced at Nikki; she hit herself in the forehead.
"That's Marshall. Boys, you need to cut it out! Rover, Fido, shut it right this instant! Or I'll make you!" She shouted, then mumbled under her breath. Chloe stepped towards Derek, trying to make sure he didn't jump at anyone. She couldn't see anyone else.
"Look, you guys know Claire, and that's Racheal Price, Andrea and Andy's daughter. She's a shaman as well. That's Tim, Benjamin's son. Adopted, of course. Look at the kid." Nikki was rushing through introductions, her hands moving in strange motions as Derek growled louder. Suddenly he straightened up and shut his eyes. "That, the guy you hear growling, is Marshall King. He's, um, he's eighteen…and he's a werewolf, just like Derek." The silence grew into an awkward one, making everyone tense and look at each other. "But he's not…not really ever been much tro-"
"Stop defending me, Nikki." A tall, lean boy with thick, rich brown hair came from the shadows of the entry hall. He was at least six two with chocolate eyes and healthily tanned skin. He was definitely muscular, in the wiry way. "We'll just have to avoid each other until we're done with this." Marshall stared into Derek's now-open eyes. Clearly Nikki had used a spell, but what kind was that? Simon asked his question aloud.
"What kind of spell did you use to make Derek cool it?" Derek glowered at him.
"It was a Sensory Blocking spell. Cut off his hearing, scenting, and his sight. I mean, he couldn't even move. I love that spell."
"Where did you learn that?" She stared at him for a moment, pity in her eyes.
"You're still in the apprentice level, aren't you? Well later on, you'll be able to write your own spells. Plus, that one takes a lot of practice. You might want to just use binding if you don't want Fido to get into a fight. It's not like it's his fault either. If he feels his pack is threatened, then he'll attack. It seems that he's just like Rover, though. A lone wolf, in certain ways. He has no werewolf pack, but he sees other humans as his pack. Just like Marshall." She shrugged. Derek stared for a moment.
"You're right." He didn't seem to have heard anything Nikki said, instead looking at Bekah. "We'll just have to avoid talking to each other. It's not like either of us have this claimed as territory." He mumbled. Then, as he was heading towards the stairs, he glanced at Chloe. She swallowed and shrugged. Did he want her to follow him or what? She was confused now. So he just walked upstairs and left Chloe with Alex and the others.
"Hey." Alex said again, a little less shyly now. "I guess you know I'm like you, right?"
"Could you sense it?" Chloe asked, totally serious. Alex let out a peal of high soprano laughter. Chloe flushed.
"You're funny. No, Nikki told me."
"O-oh. Y-yeah, no-no one really t-tells me tha-that I'm funny." She said nervously, red as the evening sun. Alex peered at her, then her face turned red, only it was a light blush, not quite as red as Chloe's.
"I'm sorry- I actually thought you were joking. We can't really sense each other, but sometimes it's easier to notice people that can do the same things as you." She pulled on her choker, which was simply black lace, and that seemed to calm her down. A little. Chloe touched her necklace very gently, but didn't draw any attention to it. Nikki walked to the middle of the group of teens and held her hand up high, drawing attention to herself.
"Alright, people. I have a big announcement." They all turned. It was clear that Nikki was a true leader, someone people could look to. "These little adults, they plan on raiding that Edison group thing and leaving us here alone. Now we have one of two choices. One, we let them leave us here while they go do all the fun stuff. Sure, we could throw a party-" at this some one added "with who" in a disgruntled voice and someone else said "your mother, that's who!", "-and drink and smoke and do what they expect us to do, or…Two. We could convince them to let us go with them. There are the same amount of adults as there are kids."
"Nope." Brett said.
"Fifteen adults." Ryan agreed.
"And fourteen kids." The twins said this last in unison.
"Well, smartasses, Andrew doesn't count as a full adult, and Fido counts as one and a half." Nikki spat. "So there are fourteen and a half on either side. Now stuff it!" It was clear they knew each other well. Simon grinned at the twins, who each gave each gestured towards her- they were casting spells on Nikki. It was too bad, really, that the girl was 17 and really experienced. The spell was to make her fall; she deflected it with a flick of her wrist, not even paying attention. The boys sighed sadly.
"Anyways. All in favor of getting our lazy teen asses up those stairs and actually taking action, follow me. All in favor of playing Frat boys and Sorority girls, go find yourself some booze and get on with it." Nikki flicked her wrist again, took Chloe's arm and Racheal's arm. She linked their arms together with Alex's and pushed Bekah with them. Marshall watched as they walked upstairs.
"Nikki…" he sighed, shaking his head at the girl.
"What?"
"You couldn't just tell me there was another guy in here? Wolf, I mean? No, you had to let us find out the hard way." He shook his head again, trying to shake off the irritation. He'd known Nikki even before his parents died; they were best friends. Nikki looked ready to burst.
"Look, M. You gotta learn to roll with it. You're both lone wolves; it's not like you have to defend something here. D has to deal with two out of his pack of three. So just play nice. I forgot, okay?" The last she ended very softly, as if embarrassed. "I've been forgetting things a lot lately."
"Why? What do you think is wrong?" He'd always viewed her as the little sister he lost; she was only a year younger than him, but still…
"That Tori girl has the same aura as the woman who cursed me. Maybe they're related? Not that that means anything nowadays, but still…" She shook her head and started up the stairs. Predictably, they were the only two left in the living room. Marshall followed slowly, carefully; he sniffed, getting used to Derek's scent, so that he wouldn't accidentally attack him if there was another werewolf around. Or maybe so that he could find him easily. Who really knew? Marshall just let his wolf side take over when he was confronted. It was easier that way.
"What do you think we're meeting about?" Tori asked as she and Chloe went to their room. The others were meeting in the guest rooms so that they could pick where they'd be staying. The adults got rooms downstairs, so they could have advanced warning if anything were to happen.
"I…honestly don't know." She shrugged, shaking her hair. It was nearly back to the original colour, with a tiny bit of black still tinting it. Every time someone commented on it, Derek would look away pointedly. She understood that he hadn't really thought about the effects except that it would make her look different and that's all he'd cared about at the time. She also understood that he hadn't picked it to be mean or hostile- it wasn't personality. "Maybe they want to see if we can get in on the raid, even though I doubt any of those parents downstairs are going to let us." Tori rolled her eyes and scoffed at her.
"You, Chloe Saunders, are a baby! Honestly! Just because someone tells you to do something doesn't mean you have to listen! What if you'd listened when all those people who are coming after us yelled "Stop"? You'd be stuck in that place, that's what!"
She sneered at Chloe, who smiled at the brunette, a movie coming to mind, of course.
"But that would make me just like Ella, and really, if your hair was longer, you could play her better than I could. You'd be prettier, though." Tori tilted her head, then crossed her eyes and stuck her tongue out at her. They both burst out laughing; they stopped when a knock came to the door. Simon poked his head in.
"Yo, we're all gonna meet in the room at the end of the hall, okay? It's the biggest with three beds- well, a bed and a bunk bed. Nikki and the twins are staying there. Let's go!" Once again, Chloe guiltily thought of an eager child, and shook the thought from her mind as she followed Simon. Tori followed sulkily, but with an expression on her face that said she was totally thinking about something else.
It was painfully obvious that the other kids knew each other. Racheal was lying with her head on Alex's knees; Alex was leaning her back against Cole's, who was talking quietly to Bekah; Tim was watching them with a curious expression while Claire chatted away to Nikki; the twins immediately joined them. Marshall was in the back corner by a window, and Derek was by the door. Two escape routes so no fights would ensue. Chloe stood dutifully by Derek's side, figuring that if lines were to be drawn, her side wouldn't be confused. Simon edged into the middle, and Tori stood with Chloe.
The good thing about these teenagers- clearly outcasts- was that they were very accepting. They relaxed and brought everyone into the conversation. Bekah was enjoyed this. She could hold more than one conversation at once. So while Cole described to her his newest spell accomplishment, she spoke to Chloe and nudged her into a conversation with Alex and Racheal. Racheal seemed more likely to get along with Tori, though, so Bekah quickly changed directions, letting Tori know she was not excluded.
"Still." Cole mumbled, staring over her head. She gave him a questioning look, not answering his non-question. "They're still…never mind." He mumbled. Cole didn't open up very often, so when he tried, it was better to listen. She gave him a gentle mind nudge, something he was used to and promptly ignored.
"Alright. We have got to have a plan, my friends." Nikki sat on the queen sized bed and crossed her legs, as graceful as any feline. Bekah told her to be careful, these new kids were skittish, and not to rush into anything. She gave just the slightest nod to show she understood completely. Marshall was always like that. She saw him give a tiny grimace in the corner and took a deep breath of the outside air.
"Do we even know their plan?" Brett asked, for once being serious about something. His brother nodded.
"We should know their plan first."
"Their plan is to leave us here to go look for Mr. Bae, and to burn the place to ashes if they don't find him. In my humble opinion, I think that plan is bad. In my not-so-humble opinion, that plan sucks ass," she said, glancing around. No one moved, seemingly not understanding what she was saying. Bekah told her they didn't understand why she didn't like this simple plan. She sighed in exasperation. Chloe, the shy necromancer, stepped up.
"I don't really like that plan either. My aunt is locked up in there, along with…a friend." She spoke clearly, though it was hard to keep her stutter in check. "And I would really like to make sure they got out safely." Murmured agreements, but still not complete, dawning understanding; Bekah was getting impatient.
"Tell them, now, Nichole!" She said, pushing a little. Nikki gave a tiny jump, and scowled at her. Nikki was the only one with enough magic power to keep Bekah from really controlling her mind, but that didn't mean she couldn't feel when she tried. "I'm sorry…" She spoke guiltily, letting her know it was an accident.
"The problem is that there are a lot of other kids, experiments, locked up there. Trapped. And our parents are going to leave them to die. Not that they want to, but because they have to search for the most important one, Mr. Bae. I'm good with that, really, but all of their time will be spent on that task. With all of us there, powerful kids of our own generation, well, we could be a lot of help."
Cole spoke loudly for the first time. "You want us to play super heroes, Nikki?" His brown eyes stared at her as if she was crazy. "You want us to risk our lives for some other kids whose parents don't want 'em anyways?" Chloe looked at him, horrified, and Simon shot the kid a dirty look. Bekah was grinning, though, because Cole…Cole just had a way with words. "Damn straight, I'm in." He said this all in a complete monotone, no inflection, no emotion, simple, straight words.
"Good. Now we just have to convince them of that." Derek sighed loudly at Nikki, who shot to her feet immediately. "Got something to say, Fido?" She wasn't insulting him; that was her way of giving special attention and affection to werewolves, giving them dog nicknames. She liked the way they realized it wasn't an insult, either, like "wolf-boy" or "fur ball" or something else like that. She liked the way their eyes sharpened, as if seeing if it was a joke. Sometimes Bekah hated being able to read minds, but it was her only way to get things out, and if she wanted to say something, she had to say it.
"No. Just that these adults aren't going to let their Princes and Princesses out, let alone to that place." The other kids threw up protests; Racheal stood immediately, her long caramel coloured hair in a feathery ponytail.
"Excuse me? No one calls me princess!" She snapped. Racheal was the sporty one of the group, always jogging, always toning herself. At the moment she was wearing a baby blue jogging suit, just like her mother. "I can handle myself."
"Yeah." Derek snorted, clearly stating he didn't believe it. "What I'm saying is that we have to give them reason to let us come." They all tilted their heads, even Marshall. Derek's green eyes landed on Bekah, who understood immediately, but prompted him to say it out loud. "We have to…train. They're already well trained, obviously, in all the things they'll need. But us? We aren't. So if we give them the idea that we're willing to train to come, they'll let us. Maybe. And if Bekah plants that thought in their head…"
Simon grinned wickedly."Oh, yeah. But we also have to make them think that they plan on us dropping the training and our arguments and just giving up." Chloe started to speak up, after him.
"Chances are, they will think that, anyways. And there's another problem. Time. It'll take a lot of time, just to train us the way they want us to. And I'm sure Bekah won't be comfortable with making them think that we'd already trained, because that's an outright lie. Right?" Bekah nodded, falling into her own swirling thoughts. Alex hesitated.
"Well…I know something." Tim nodded.
"Me too." Claire nudged Alex, who started to speak first.
"Okay…we do need to be prepared, to go into this place, right?" Collective nods. "Well I think we actually should train. Like, whatever they think is useful, we should do it. It will take a lot of time, but…"
"But we can convince them of letting us do each training course for only two weeks instead of four. I've gone through military training before." Tim said, making Chloe tilt her head. The boy was about 6'0 with a buzz cut of dusty brown hair. He was lanky, though, not giving off the impression of Army Man.
"How many training courses are there?" Simon asked edgily. He saw now that the more time they took, the less time he had to get his father. Bekah now saw her chance.
"I'll monitor the Edison Group; make sure they don't kill anyone. I can do it, but it'll wear me out. So I can't go through the training. But I will, anyways. I just won't talk. I'll monitor them, making sure they aren't killing. Just to keep everyone alive until we can get there."
"And I can cast protection spells on the people there, just in case." Nikki said, already mumbling and flicking her wrists. Cole nodded and closed his eyes, repeating whatever Nikki was saying. Claire sighed.
"I can't do anything helpful."
"You're more helpful in the battle, rather than the preparation for it." Nikki said distractedly.
"So this…is what we're going to do?" Marshall stood up, stretched, and opened his mouth.
"Good plan. Bekah, don't wear yourself out too much. If you're getting too tired, we'll get all the spell casters and have them do more while you rest up. Same goes with you, Nikki, because I know how you are. Alex, why don't you ask your spirit guide to watch over them too, making sure they don't kill anyone and that this stuff is working?" Alex nodded, quickly turning to talk to a man that Chloe hadn't seen before. She quickly darted to Alex's side.
"Hi, Ray." Alex whispered. "This is Chloe. She's like me, only stronger."
"Yes, I can see her aura pulsing. Hello, Chloe."
"All necromancers get a spirit guide, who was a necromancer in their lives and is now here to guide us. Well, we should, but if you don't know about what you are, I guess it's not as, um, you know, normal." She murmured.
"Oh." Chloe murmured, and looked away. "Okay. So what now?" Alex relayed the plan to Ray, who quickly nodded and disappeared. "Do séances work?" She blurted suddenly. Alex giggled cautiously.
"Not really. With us they might, but we don't need all that stuff for show. We're just good like that." She smiled a dimpled grin, making Chloe grin back.
Racheal observed very quietly. Unlike herself, but she still did. It was so unreal, a bunch of teenagers sitting up here and making plans like adults. Adults who so doubted them; the adults who expected them to accept everything and just go have fun. Likely! Not. Maybe it was because they knew that's what the parents wanted that they had to come with; spite was a big thing in a teenagers mind. They loved it. Racheal knew; she did too. She absolutely adored being spiteful, when the situation demanded it.
"Racheal?" Cole lightly touched her shoulder, appearing behind her as he often did. At least, with her. Racheal was above average height, for a woman at least, but Cole was 5'11, so she had nothing on him. His messy hair was constantly like that, unruly, as if he had never seen a brush in his life. Sadly, he couldn't help it, so it was always a fight with his parents.
"Yeah?" She knew he didn't talk to much of anyone, so it made her happy that he spoke to her.
"I'm a little worried about this plan." His voice was flat as it always was, because Cole didn't like to show emotions. Something happened to him, she knew, when he was little, and that made him really good at closing himself off to others, made him good at bottling up any sort of emotions.
"What's wrong with it?"
"What if we can't get through the training? What if we can't handle it?"
"We can. We're tougher than we look."
"Or what if someone gets hurt during this raid?"
"We'll all be looking after each other, so that won't happen. That's the beauty of it, of course. Because there will be so many of us, it'll be hardly any danger at all." She saw annoyance cross his face, before it was wiped clear.
"Do you purposely act stupid or is this a common thing for you?" he snarled, then walked away. Racheal watched him, highly stung. They'd been friends for a long time- as long as Nikki and Marshall- and Cole barely ever got mad at her. Bekah gave her a gentle mind nudge, reminding her that Cole was going through some home problems. Racheal waved her off.
"They're thinking of leaving now. They came prepared." Marshall said, listening intently. Derek nodded.
"They're already half way out the door." The kids looked at each other; time to go. Chloe walked with Tori, Simon, and Derek. Alex walked a tiny bit ahead of them, with Claire and Nikki- Nikki was a little bit ahead of everyone, the leader. Racheal and Tori were talking quietly, and Tim was talking to Bekah. Marshall hung back with Brett and Ryan, shaking his head disapprovingly, but with a smile softly tugging on his lips.
Sure enough, the adults were waiting down stairs, nearly out the door, listening to orders of Andrew's. The teenagers raced them to the yard, where everyone was suddenly gathered. The adults tilted their heads.
"What are you doing?" Lisa asked, hands on her hips.
"That's our question." Nikki shot, obviously not afraid of her mother. Chloe shrank back, Derek put his hand on the middle of her back, bracing her. Simon touched her hand, but didn't hold it.
"What?"
"You weren't going to tell us about this?" She asked, very seriously. "You were just going to let us stay here while you got into a dangerous situation and got to play Superman or Batman? Not even close to fair!"
"Excuse us?" One of the women called. Andy stepped up.
"They know about the raid. It's too late to try to deny it, Andrea."
"Racheal Price, you get your ass over here, right now!" Andrea snapped, ignoring her husband. Racheal's chin jerked up, and she looked a little surprised.
"Listen to what Nikki has to say." Her mother raised her eyebrows.
"We want to go with you. We're willing to prepare in any way you think we should. We're willing to do it, really. Please?" Nikki met each adults' eye, staring them down, willing them to believe what she was saying.
"Fine." Andrew said, grinning around the group. "We'll let you come with, but you have to go through a nine week training period."
"What?!" They yelled in unison, Marshall and Derek's voices the most audible.
"Nine weeks. I'm sorry, but it'll take that long to get you all ready." He said, shaking his head. Nikki leveled all the kids with a steady look; it simply said "go with it".
"Fine."
"Fine?"
"Fine, we'll do it." She snapped. Andrew turned and Derek heard clearly what he said.
"They'll never finish with it. They'll give up half way through. We'll just have to get them to." They nodded collectively while Derek snarled. Chloe made a noise. His mind and face blanked as he realized one thing. If they went along with this plan, this very dangerous and fatal plan…Chloe would be going straight to the place where they kept him as a child; Chloe and Simon. How could he let them do that? Chloe, so tiny, going into what was almost a war? And Simon, his brother…How can one choose to let his brother go to war?
He had to talk them out of it during the training.
"Nine weeks!" Andrew said with a smile. "Two for each thing, then the last week is a week for stealth training!"
"It's on." The date was September 15, meaning training would end November 15th.
Lovely.
Like? Don't like? Please, all the feed back you can give me! Please leave reviews, they make me a lil' more confident. Anyways. I hope you did like it. I love the characters very much because they're my friends, literally. Ask any of them- you'll find them on my myspace. So don't diss any of them. Diss my OOC ness, diss the adults, diss the song, diss the story line, just not the peeps, please.