Beep Beep Beep!
Cornelia's alarm clock rings at 7'o'clock sharp. The blonde groggily blinks her eyes several times before she sits up and rubs the sleep from them. With one hand, she pulls the covers back and unfolds her lithe young body, yawning as she sets her feet in the waiting slippers. She slowly raises herself to her feet and begins to shuffle towards the door; she reaches it and rests her hand on the knob. She knows what is waiting for her on the other side; she knows that this door is all that separates her from the daily morning fight with her sister and the age old challenge of convincing her mother to give her a ride to school so that she can avoid the school bus and That-slightly-weird-boy-named-Arnie who always tries to sit with her.
But mostly, she knows that beyond the door is Will.
-----
Irma pulls her hand away from her alarm clock and back under the blanket to join the rest of her body. She knows that it will go off again in a matter of minutes, but she just can't bring herself to face the day just yet. Besides, pressing the snooze button is something like a ritual for her. Sleeping late is one thing Irma knows she is guilty of; and because The Sheffield Institute just has to start so early, it is also an immediate problem. Irma knows that she has five minutes to…well…snooze before her alarm begins to beep again. She knows that, five minutes after that, if she is still in bed, her mother will send her father or…shudder…Christopher to wake her up. But these thoughts do not concern Irma, for she is not ready to get out of bed. She is not ready to face the day.
She is not ready to face Will.
-----
Hay Lin begins to stir at 7:15, as she has for the past year and a half; she delights as a light breeze blows in her window, gently tickling her skin and causing the wind chime at the foot of her bed to tinkle ever so slightly, reminding Hay Lin of her grandmother. She reluctantly pushes herself up and yawns, stretching her arms up over her head, working out the kinks a long night has caused. She swings her feet over the edge of her bed and slides them into her slippers, which are, of course, traditional Chinese wood. She makes her way over to her door, sliding it open and preceding to the bathroom. A few minutes later, she is taking a shower, letting the hot water cascade over her. Although she will never admit it, part of Hay Lin wishes that she had been chosen by Water instead of her own carefree element. She knows that her bubbly personality was what attracted Air to her, and she is grateful, but she wishes that she was more outspoken, like the Mistress of Water herself. Hay Lin wants to be able to speak her mind. Hay Lin wants to be able to break apart her identity of the quiet Asian girl.
Hay Lin wants to be able to understand Will.
-----
In the hospital, Taranee sleeps on. Waking up early is something she has never been able to do. And without an alarm clock, she doesn't even stir as her friends all rise and begin to ready themselves for school. She rolls over as the sun raises itself over the apartment buildings across the street, flooding into her room, illuminating stark white walls, crisp white bed sheets, various machines, an IV drip that had provided her with fluids when she had first been admitted, and a table covered in presents from her friends. These include, among other things, flowers from Cornelia, one of Hay Lin's many stuffed aliens, and a plethora of balloons, with such titles as "Get well soon" and "It's a Girl!" from Irma. In her bed, Taranee suddenly cries out, her fists clenching and her breath beginning to shorten. However, she immediately begins to calm as she feels a familiar hand on her forehead. It is Peter, who has volunteered to stay with his sister through the night. He watches as she calms beneath his touch. He watches as she unconsciously raises her hand to grasp his. He watches as her mouth forms a small smile. Peter does not believe that his sister fell out of a tree, which is the story that Irma is telling everyone. Peter wants to know what is making her cry out in her sleep.
Peter wants to talk to Will.
-----
The Sheffield Institute…lunch time
"Oh, I miss hospital food." grumbled Irma as she rolled a meatball across her plate. "At least if it makes you sick, you're in the right place. Here, you're out of luck."
"We do have a school nurse, you know." interjected Cornelia, a carton of milk halfway to her lips. She took a slip, swallowed and lowered it before continuing. "Besides, you were there for, like, one day. How could you develop a taste for it over the nasty school food you've been eating for years now?"
Irma stuffed the meatball into her mouth. "Eathy. Hothpital food athually hath tathte." She said around her food. She chewed and swallowed and said "Besides, someone had to save Taranee from the horrors of undercooked meat."
"It's a hospital, Irma. They're not going to undercook their meat." sighed Cornelia. Across the table, Irma stuck out her tongue and blew a raspberry in the blonde's direction. Said blonde rolled her eyes. "Great. Very mature of you."
"Guys…" started Hay Lin, but Irma cut her off.
"Not now, Hay Hay. I'm defending myself over here…" the brunette halted mid-sentence when Hay Lin grabbed her shoulder. The Air Guardian pointed towards the door.
"GUYS! Isn't that Will?"
Sure enough, there stood Will, red hair and all. With a simple "We need to talk to her", Cornelia stood up, raised her arm and shouted "Will!" across the cafeteria. Will glanced around for a few seconds before she recognized the blonde and began to walk towards her. Almost immediately, Cornelia noticed that something was very wrong with Will. Their "fearless leader", as Irma called her, seemed to be having a hard time keeping her balance; as they watched, Will actually walked straight into a chair and fell over. The redhead landed on her stomach, but instead of cursing and getting back up as she normally would, she turned herself over and began to laugh. The three Guardians watched as a giggling Will slowly got to her feet, and immediately stumbled into a group of people and fell down again. One of the boys she had run into, a guy named Alan, reached his hand down to help her up. Will took his hand, giggling, allowing herself to be pulled to her feet. She brushed a strand of hair out of her face and staggered off towards her friends. Will stumbled a few more feet before Cornelia, who knew exactly what was wrong with her, walked over and grabbed her. Will let out a laugh and, putting her arm around her friend, began to lean heavily on her. This did not, however, improve her balance in any way; while Cornelia was walking straight, Will kept trying to veer off in a different direction.
Having a policeman for a father, Irma was also very aware of the situation Will was in. And so, when Hay Lin leaned in and asked "Is Will drunk?", Irma was able to clarify the matter. What puzzled Irma was why Will would even consider getting drunk, much less coming to school in that condition. Her thoughts were broken by a loud "HI IRMA! HI HAY LIN!" which emanated from their inebriated leader. Irma nervously looked around; several people around them were staring right at them, a few of whom were talking in hushed voices. Will and Cornelia reached the table and, with some difficulties, Will managed to sit down.
"Will, we need to talk." started Cornelia. Will just nodded, a silly grin plastered on her face. Cornelia leaned in and spoke in a hushed voice.
"Will, are you drunk?" Unfortunately, Will didn't share Cornelia's view on talking softly.
"Why are you (hic) talking like that, Corny?" she asked, laughing. "Did shomeone (hic) die?"
"Yeah" muttered Irma "Whatever respect we had for you."
Will shifted her gaze towards Irma. "Hey, whatsh with the long fashe, Irma?" she slurred, attempting to place her hand on Irma's shoulder. She missed, which caused her momentum to propel her out of her chair and straight onto Irma's lap. Will giggled again and slid onto the floor. By now most of the cafeteria had put a hold on their own conversations and were watching the intoxicated redhead. Will fell back on the floor and began to roll around, letting out bursts of laughter. Slowly, the buzz of conversation filled the room again, except people were talking about one thing.
-----
Later at Simultech, the phone is ringing. Susan Vandom, whose secretary is at lunch, answers it herself…
"Hello, Simultech. Susan Vandom speaking."
"Hi Sue. Do you have a minute?"
Susan smiles; she knows that it's unprofessional, but she needs a break from her work. And since Amanda is at lunch…
"I'm glad you called, Dean, but shouldn't you be in class right now?"
"Well, there's been an incident…"
Susan listens as her boyfriend relates the story to her. When it is over, she attempts to hang up the phone, but her hand is shaking so much that she ends up knocking the receiver to the floor. She hastily grabs her coat and keys, leaving papers scattered around her desk. She knows her boss is due to call her, but she doesn't care.
She rushes out of the office, only pausing to scribble a note for her secretary.
-----
Meanwhile, on Metaworld…
In a cave on the outskirts of Meridian, Nerissa was pacing. Around her, the Knights of Destruction attended to their various needs: Khor was gorging himself on something that had, until recently, been alive; Shagon was standing a few feet away watching his friend eat while Ember and Tridart were sparring. Because Nerissa had forbidden them from using their powers, they were forced to stick to their weapons: a trident and double headed axe respectively. Of course, because the two Knights were capable of flight, the sparring match was anything but uninteresting.
A fifth figure was present in the cave, the person responsible for finally defeating the hated Guardians. It was true, Nerissa told herself, that he had not actually "defeated" the Guardians to the fullest definition of the word, but he had come closer than any of her Knights. Not only was he one of the more powerful beings that she had encountered, but he had certain…capabilities that she could use against her enemies.
'For a price' Nerissa reminded herself. The man before her was none other than one of the surviving Cranal, an increasingly rare humanoid race that had dared to challenge Kandrakar itself years ago, and had nearly succeeded. Nerissa would have liked to credit herself with their defeat; but it was before even her time. Still, she was a Guardian, and without the Guardians of that era, the Council would have fallen. True, the powers of the Oracle were great, but even he had nearly been overcome.
In an incident that had come to be known as the Cranalic War, the Cranal openly rebelled against the Infinite Fortress of Kandrakar. The Oracle, appalled at the needless bloodshed that resulted, tried to reason with the savage people. But his plea fell on deaf ears, and it was with a heavy heart that he ordered the formation of the Great Hunt, an undertaking with one purpose: to destroy the Cranal forever. Legions of White Heralds and, occasionally, the respective Guardians of the era hunted the Cranal to a scant few individuals. One such named individual, named A'k'sl, managed to evade the agents of Kandrakar until the fateful day when Prince Phobos of Meridian rose to power and decided to try his hand at overthrowing Kandrakar. And so the Council's eyes were drawn away from the most powerful of the remaining Cranal; who faded into the background. Until now.
And so, here was A'k'sl himself, lying by the fire in a cave on Metaworld, pretending to care as Nerissa relayed her instructions to him. Gone were the times when he could live in the wilderness and kill for his food. With humans constantly expanding into the wildlands, he knew that it was just a matter of time before he came across one while in his…Beast form, as he liked to think of it…and he knew that he would kill that human, and then the humans would chase him relentlessly. It was a simple matter to outthink a group of farmers with pitchforks and torches, but today's humans with their guns and forensics were a completely different matter. In an attempt to live among them, he offered up the one thing he did have: his skills as a tracker. After a few months he had developed a reputation as one of the best, a 'man' who could find anyone, anywhere, at anytime.
Being as old as several dynasties, A'k'sl, or Axel, as he was known to his human acquaintances, had of course heard of the former Guardian Nerissa. Despite being on the run from Kandrakar, whom he still believed to be hot on his trail, Axel still found the time to travel across the universe. On one such visit to Metaworld, he heard whispers of Nerissa's escape and the fact that she was, in fact, on planet. It was almost laughably easy to track her; the scent of magic leading him right to her. Though he had no special love for even an ex-Guardian, she did offer his best chance of launching a successful revenge against the Infinite Fortress.
And already his luck was turning, for two days after he had joined Nerissa, the current Guardians had shown up. After forbidding him to kill any of them, Nerissa had turned him loose. It took tremendous self control to overcome his bloodthirsty nature, and to force himself to remain in his human form. He had settled for striking one girl in the chest and head and snapping the arm of another before the Keeper of the Heart had yelled for her Guardians to retreat.
Although the majority of a Cranal's magic is used to transform, they use a small portion of it to increase their speed, sometimes to a staggering extent. After years of experimenting, A'k'sl had developed a way to travel a moderate distance in a deceivingly short amount of time. He had dubbed his ability blinking and quickly learned to use it as a means of attack, blinking straight into his opponent. He had used this technique to attack the Guardians, dispatching two before they could make a move.
"Axel!"
A'k'sl opened one eye, hoping to spy whomever was shouting at him. Nerissa was standing in front of him, her staff held in one hand, the other clutching a map. A'k'sl slowly rose to his feet. Nerissa extended her hand.
"This is a map of Heatherfield, the city where the Guardians reside. Follow them. I want to know where they live, where they go, who they associate with. Feel free to add your own…special touch."
A'k'sl grinned, showing slightly elongated incisors. Nerissa opened a fold with a wave of her staff. A'k'sl stuffed the map into the front pocket of his jeans, picked up the jacket that he had been lying on, draped it over his shoulders and began to walk towards the fold.
"Axel…" A'k'sl turned towards the sorceress again. "I prefer scared to dead. If possible."
A'k'sl nodded.
If possible.
-----
As evening approaches, we find the Guardians relaxing at a familiar location. It is the restaurant Golden, a favorite haunt of theirs. Today, three of the five girls sit together, ice cream sundaes in front of them. They have met here to finally discuss the looming threat of Nerissa, if they can cease fighting amongst themselves…
" – and all I said was I thought that you and Martin would a cute couple."
Irma slammed her fist down on the table; across from her, Cornelia's sundae exploded, covering the blonde Guardian with a layer of vanilla ice cream. Irma added insult to injury by leaning across the table, wiping her finger against Cornelia's cheek, licking off the collected ice cream and shooting a nasty glare at her.
"And I say that you'd look good as a snowman."
Cornelia responded by grabbing the maraschino cherry from what remained of her sundae, setting it in her spoon and launching it at Irma catapult style. Said cherry bonked the brunette on the nose and fell to the table. Irma raised a hand to her nose, as if in disbelief of what had just happened. Cornelia pointed a finger at her.
"That's MS. Snowman to you!" she managed to get out before bursting out laughing. Hay Lin and Irma exchanged looks. Cornelia Hale had been showered with ice cream…and was laughing? True, she did take a retaliatory strike, but still there should have been some exclamation about hair or clothes. Both Guardians let out nervous chuckles; after all, this just had to be trap. And so when Cornelia raised her hands, Irma recoiled instantly and hid behind Hay Lin.
"Don'tkillmeitwasjustaprankI'msorry!"
Cornelia paused, a napkin halfway to her face. She nodded at Irma before proceeding to clean her face. Irma slowly emerged, mostly because Hay Lin pulled, none too gently, the Water Guardian from behind her back. Irma took the hint and scooted over, throwing Cornelia a confused look.
"Despite your best efforts, you failed to get ice cream on my clothes or in the majority of my hair, so I'm letting you live."
Irma let out a breath that she wasn't aware that she had been holding and wiped an imaginary drop of sweat from her brow. She opened her mouth to thank the Earth Guardian, but Cornelia held up hand. Irma promptly shut her mouth…and then opened it again to take a large bite of her sundae.
-----
And now a new player enters the game: the Cranal A'k'sl. He watched the girls from the shadows as they entered Golden, and now enters himself…not to engage…Nerissa warned him not to attack the young Guardians…and even if she hadn't, A'k'sl never attacked his victim on the first day. He was a hunter by nature, and to hunt successfully meant to adhere to a strict routine. The first act of any good hunter was to identify a target; in this case, his targets have been selected for him.
Step two is to trail the victim…see where they go; when and with whom. Maybe Nerissa knew more about his trade than she let on, because his natural process coincided with her orders.
And, finally, the third step was the kill. The key was to be waiting in the one place where the victim would eventually need to go. A'k'sl for example, was partial to an arboreal setting. There was something classic about stalking your victim through a forest. Of course, this had been far easier when most humans lived in the countryside. Still, there were a good number who loved to hike; and, thanks to A'k'sl, it turned out to be a deadly passion.
The myth of the werewolf has been alive for centuries; some speculate it was used to explain serial killings in less rational times. Others stuck to the belief that, because wolf attacks were a common occurrence in Europe, the image of the wolf was projected onto stories of evil shapeshifters.
Incidentally, the creatures that the Cranal evolved from looked very much like the extinct dire wolves of earth. Formidable as they were, they made up the bottom of the food chain on their homeworld. Thus, they learned the values of banding together to protect themselves. As millennia went by, their evolution began to produce a more humanoid Cranal, but still possessing several primal qualities. Fifty years before the Cranalic War, their evolution began to slow, leaving the Cranal almost indistinguishable from a human.
But as they grew smarter, the Cranal grew weaker. They began to feel fear; but a fear merged with hope, for they soon learned how to manipulate the trace amounts of magic present on their world. This magic allowed them to, over time, take on their ancestral beast-like form, with a few distinct changes. The Cranal rapidly moved up the food chain, and even more rapidly eradicated the dominant predators on their world.
This ability would eventually lead to the werewolf myth on Earth.
-----
A'k'sl glanced around the restaurant; the door he had just came through was situated at a corner of the building, giving him a complete view of the patrons. And there they were, sitting at a booth at the front of the establishment. A'k'sl made his way, slowly, so not to spook them, across the restaurant, keeping them fixated in the corner of his eye. As he passed their table, he sounded a low growl in the back of his throat. The subtle sound was a trait that had evolved with his people. As they began to gain the upper hand on their larger predators, they found more and more that they enjoyed a good hunt more than anything.
When a Cranal uttered a Calling, it was mainly to inform his pack that a victim had been chosen. It also served to alert the target to the hunters. As their quarry, even the larger predators, learned to associate the noise with being chased and killed, they would, understandably, push their limits when trying to escape, indirectly providing the Cranal with the sport that they craved over anything else.
A'k'sl had been alone for many, many years, but he still liked to sound his own Calling from time to time when he selected his victim. Even know it was inaudible to most humans, he relished the rare moments when his victims heard the sound. Because humans evolved from lesser animals that were much lower on their respective food chains, one of their greatest fears is to be eaten alive. Hearing the low growl brought this fear to the surface, and A'k'sl loved seeing the fear and panic in his victims eyes.
And so A'k'sl smiled inside when the smaller girl with her hair in two long braids glanced around fearfully, once even meeting his eyes. He felt an even large surge of glee as he saw he scoot closer to her friend, obviously an unconscious wish for protection. As he drew level with their table, he turned his head and smiled at them…
He saw the confusion in the eyes of the blonde girl, fear in the eyes of the little Asian girl, and open defiance in the blue eyes of the last one, who placed her hand protectively on the shoulder of her friend. This simple gesture only served to make A'k'sl's smile grow by a couple of molars.
Let the hunt begin.
A/N Alright, so he is my third attempt of the second chapter. I just didn't like how I ended it last time (this chapter I meant) so I changed it. I hope you all don't mind too much.
Please enjoy, and review if you feel so inclinded.