Disclaimer: Okay so the plotline is mine and i may add some characters that are purley from me along the way too, but other than that, everything else is from the wonderful LJ Smith =D This one is pretty long, took me a day and a half to make it, enjoy!!!! O and thx 4 all the supportive reviews, made my day!! :) RATE/REVIEW/FAVE pls!!!!!! :}
Chapter 1
Caw! Caw!Caw!
"Shut up!" Mary-Lynette yelled at the black form above her. It was the first time she's ever lost her temper with an animal before, but this particular bird was dangerously close to getting a stick pelted at it.
The jet-black shadow was perched on a branch a few feet from her, watching her with onyx colored eyes. Mary-Lynette didn't know why, but she had this paranoid feeling that it was watching her, but what did she know? She wasn't an expert on creepy birds, and besides she had other problems at hand. The spruce wasn't as easy to climb as she thought; she'd been dropping from branch to branch for the last fifteen minutes. If she kept going this slow she'd be caught for sure, a scenario Mary-Lynette really wanted to avoid.
Caw! Caw! Caw!
Mary-Lynette surveyed her surroundings, ignoring the irritating sound. The branches near her were all too thin to hold both her weight and her bag's, so she looked farther down, and found the perfect landing. Carefully, she edged her foot off her current resting spot. And then she fell.
Or rather, dropped, down to her destination, another branch. She landed cleanly, expertly; you'd think Mary-Lynette had been doing this her whole life. She lifted herself and her bag on to her new branch, and, thankfully, it didn't even creak on its newfound load. When she got into an arguably comfy sitting position Mary-Lynette looked around her surroundings again. And found her in a slight problem.
Caw! Caw! Caw!
The branches were too thin again, so she looked farther. Still nothing. One branch, just one more branch and she'll be close enough to the ground to jump. Her eyes traveled further down, and found a promising bough, but…
Caw! Caw! Caw!
With resigned frustration, Mary-Lynette tested her weight on her current branch. She shifted a bit then looked back down on her next target, a bough twice the size of her body. It looked good enough; the only problem was the drop, nine feet at least. She might be able to make it but it'd hurt. A lot. A couple of prickling branches stood between her and her goal, if she jumped there was no doubt she would get scraped and cut. Sure, she had a first aid kit in her backpa— an idea hit her full force.
Caw!
Of course! Why hadn't she thought of it before? Stupid, stupid, stupid. Mary-Lynette cautiously shrugged off her backpack, praying that it was in there. She unzipped the main compartment, grabbed her mini-flashlight from her jean pocket and began rummaging through her supplies.
The miniscule light was enough to see everything in a 3-feet radius clearly and, although Mary-Lynette's main focus was to find a certain item, a part of her brain couldn't resist double-checking her situation. A collection of branches and leaves surrounded her completely, some crooked and thin, others thick and stiff. Other than that she saw nothing, not even the misty fog of the coming morning. It must be pretty thick,she thought. That assumption should have helped her; it meant that no one outside would see the tiny glow her flashlight gave off. She wasn't claustrophobic, that was Mark, so why did she feel so paranoid being surrounded?
Creepy crawlies climbed on to her jeans, some even clung to her black jacket while she continued looking. She shifted through food carriers, pencils, and other necessities when she found it. Mentally, Mary-Lynette gave herself a hearty pat in the back for remembering to bring it. A three-foot, heavily knotted rope.
Flashlight placed casually between her teeth, Mary-Lynette got to work. Her hands were practically a blur as she attempted to tie a navy-worth knot. It was when she was testing her newly made bow when she realized the problem. It wouldn't reach the branch. There would be at least a distance of six feet when she reaches the end of the rope. She immediately shrugged off the worry, she'd be able to make a six-foot drop, considering the other drops she made and, as for the rope, she'd just get another one the first chance she gets.
When she made sure the knot was tight enough, Mary-Lynette rubbed her hands together, clung to the rope, and let her feet slip from under her. As she started to climb down Mary-Lynette couldn't suppress the twinge of irony. And Rapunzel climbed down from the imprisoned tower to save her Prince Charming. She bit back a giggle.
Moments later she could feel the end of the rope between her two feet; she lowered herself the rest of the way and felt open air between her legs. She chanced a look down. Then she smiled. A six-foot drop, she was right about that but she hadn't calculated her height. With her 5"4' height the drop wasn't even a foot. Easy-peasy, she thought. Mary-Lynette looked back down to recalculate the drop and decided on her strategy, she would just swing a bit to get her feet out f the way and then she'd let go. She'd free-fall with her hands ready, and then she would grab the branch and use the momentum to finally get to the ground. Mary-Lynette let herself glow with the pride of a job well-done for a moment, and then she let go of the rope, expecting to feel the rough wood beneath her feet.
But then she missed.
It happened in slow motion for her, like in those cheesy action movies Mark always watched. Mary-Lynette felt the wind rush up on her and felt her hands cup in preparation. She felt her backpack jump with the pressure and her legs going numb with exertion, she even felt the sting of a lucky fork cutting her right arm, but what she didn't feel was the branch she was aiming for. With horror-filled eyes she watched the branch fly by; her hands missing the target by mere inches. And then she was falling.
Somehow, she twisted herself in the air, an instinct perhaps, and landed butt-first on Claudine's soft flower beds. Thank god they weren't roses, Mary-Lynette thought dazedly. Claudine, didn't like roses, she always said they were dangerous for their thorns. She praised the Lord for her step-mom's overactive caution. The soil and plants were moist with morning dew and her hindquarters hurt like hell but otherwise, it was comfy. Mary-Lynette could sleep like this. With her head resting on her bulky backpack and her feet lounging on a couple of daisies, plus it was still dark enough that no passer-by would notice her there. The fall had taken quite a lot, if not all, of her energy and Mary-Lynette felt that she deserved to entitle herself to a quick rest. She'd just close her eyes for a minute… just a minute…
"And just what do you think you're doing?"
The nagging question came from a few feet away, coming down on her bliss filled moment like freezing water. It sounded soft and dispassionate, almost uncaring, but Mary-Lynette knew enough of that voice to hear the deadly suspicion and burning curiosity hidden behind it. Mary-Lynette shut her eyes tighter; hoping with everything she's got that the eerily familiar voice would just go away, all she wanted was sleep.
"Mary-Lynette Carter," the voice said, still soft. Mary-Lynette didn't hear any footsteps, but she was sure the voice was closer now. "Don't make me drag the answers out of you; you know how much I enjoy that."
When she didn't reply, Mary-Lynette heard the voice sigh and back away. "All right then Mare, have it your way. But the sun's coming up soon and I bet Claudine is going to wonder what happened to her gardenias." The sound of jeans scraping the soil entered Mary-Lynette's brain and then she felt another person sit down beside her, regardless of the mushy dirt. That should have given her some clue on who the person was but she was just so darn tired… she felt her consciousness slipping…
Caw! Caw! Caw!
What's that? Mary-Lynette's sleep induced brain thought.
Caw! Caw! Caw!
Shut it up… please…
Caw!
Sounds like a raven… she thought. Raven… branch… falling…
Mary-Lynette's brain snapped back to reality. She remembered everything now, but… What had happened then? Were any of her limbs broken? How long was she out? Well, there was one way to find out. Slowly, she opened her eyes, afraid of what she might find, maybe a pool of blood from a gash the tree had given her from her fall, or worse. Claudine asking what happened to her precious flowers.
Mary-Lynette felt an odd pressure on her shoulders. "Are you awake now?"
Someone was grabbing her, shaking her actually, if she wasn't so dazed Mary-Lynette would have been able to figure out who it was. It was on the tip of her tongue. Abruptly, her eyes lost the remaining fogginess of slumber and she found herself staring into fierce, impatient, hawk-like eyes.
"Kestrel?" she mumbled and then she put in a little more annoyance in her voice, Kestrel's hold really did hurt. "What are you doing?"
The beautiful, yellow-eyed vampire stopped shaking her immediately and settled back onto her lounging position opposite of Mary-Lynette. "Good morning to you too, sunshine."
Dimly, Mary-Lynette realized that they weren't on the flower beds anymore; they were at the sisters' place. There was the familiar old-fashioned furniture and floorboard, even the odd mixed smell of oatmeal cookies and goat was pungent. Mary-Lynette also realized that she was laying down on the floral-printed couch, with Kestrel on the matching armchair beside her, newspaper in one hand and a pencil in the other. Still a bit dazed, it took her a few moments to let Kestrel's sarcastic remark set in.
"Did you say it was morning?" she asked. If it was morning, then Mary-Lynette was in trouble. Everything that she did so far would have been for nothing. Mary-Lynette shut her eyes; she'd have to do it all over again tonight. Maybe she should wake up earlier this time, and bring more rope and—
"The sun's shining isn't it?" Kestrel's tone was lilting, trying to tease the answers out of Mary-Lynette's mind, no doubt.
"How—how long was I out?"
"About an hour or two." Kestrel shrugged her perfectly tanned shoulders. "I didn't think counting minutes mattered as much as getting you someplace warm and cozy" Another shrug. "Thought that would deserve a thank-you or something."
Mary-Lynette sighed. She didn't have time for this right now; she had to figure out if she had enough time to continue her plans. But first—
"Sorry Kestrel, but I— I have to go back to—um—Mark." The couch groaned as she prepared to get up. "He has a—um—doctor's appointment today, and we really shouldn't be late."
Kestrel didn't even look up from the article. "Mark's out on a morning walk with Jade. He seemed just fine a few minutes ago."
"Oh…" Mary-Lynette settled back down on the sofa. Crap... if Mark had seen her... then, what now?
Then, as if reading her mind, Kestrel responded. "Don't worry he didn't see you, I put you in the upstairs bedroom when he came over, Rowan doesn't know either, she's been out hunting. Jade saw you though, but she was too busy playing with Tiggy to mention it to your brother or my other sister." Golden eyes filled with deadly amusement met hers. "Does that deserve a thank-you?"
A more genuine smile lit up Mary-Lynette's face. Her plan could still work.
"Thank you Kestrel, really. But I do have to go." Mary-Lynette felt cold wood beneath her sneakers. "Good bye."
She made it all the way to the doorway when Kestrel's voice rang out, bemused yet passive at the same time. "Aren't you forgetting something?"
Confused, Mary-Lynette turned back, and saw Kestrel lightly fingering her brown, grungy backpack. When she didn't say anything Kestrel rolled her eyes and pointed with her pencil. "Just thought you might need it for, you know whatever it is you're doing."
"Um… I uh—thanks" Mary-Lynette made her way towards the blond 18 year old as carefully as she would have if she was approaching a land mine. This was probably more dangerous. It was just as she was shrugging on her bag when Kestrel tore off a big piece of the newspaper.
"Here." She said. Mary-Lynette just stared at the piece of paper dumbfounded. That earned another annoyed sigh from Kestrel.
"Damn it Mare, I'm getting tired of doing all the talking here. Now take it." She practically shoved the paper into Mary-Lynette's hand. When she opened it she found a hastily written, yet still elegant, list of directions and phone numbers. There had to be at least a hundred addresses in this. And here she thought Kestrel was just reading the comics.
"What—what's this?"
"It's the places you should check out and the people you should call if you're in trouble." She turned the newspaper page to the crossword puzzle. "I circled the places where Ash might be staying, there's about a dozen Circle Daybreak facilities nation-wide. Maybe more." A pause and then she looked up. "But you don't even know what that is do you?"
Mary-Lynette managed a weak "No."
"It's an organization that helps people like you, you know, with the soulmate thing. That and something about saving the world, I'm not that close to it so I don't know much about it. I mean I don't have a soulmate like you do, do I?" Was it just Mary-Lynette or did she see something like longing in those liquid caramel eyes? It was gone before she could grab a hold of it, the indifferent look was back.
"Anyways, the locations are all there and you should try calling the numbers if you need any help. There's Lord Thierry, Lady Hannah, even some of our relatives are on there, I'm sure they wouldn't mind giving you some favors." Kestrel tapped the end of the pencil to her left cheek. "You wouldn't happen to know a 9-letter word for 'invent' would you? It's the last word I need for this stupid cross— WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"
Mary-Lynette didn't know Kestrel could screech that high, she barley screeched at all, but then again she was also sure that Kestrel never got a bear hug. Not even Jade would be so careless, what Mary-Lynette was doing was practically suicide. But she didn't care. She couldn't thank Kestrel enough for this.
"Thank you, thank you so much Kestrel!" Mary-Lynette ignored the first surprisingly weak attempts to pry her off. "You don't know how much this means. I—if there's anything that I can do—"
"Three things." Kestrel said. It was also a first for Mary-Lynette to hear her sound so uncomfortable. One last vampire-tug was enough to escape Mary-Lynette's surprise attack, and then Kestrel held up her index finger. "One, never do that again."
"Understood."
"Two, make sure you keep in touch and call as soon as you get a lead on your stray soulmate."
"Agreed."
"And three," Kestrel paused, three fingers wiggling in the air, molten gold eyes meeting Mary-Lynette's with reluctant respect and worry. "Be careful, all right? Because if you get hurt in any way Ash will--and you better believe me when I tell you this--he will personally kick mine and my sisters' asses for not protecting you and, in turn, I will kick yours."
Mary-Lynette was on the verge of tears. She wasn't one to cry over sappy stuff like this, but to see Kestrel actually care and still have enough energy to threaten her, well, it was enough for a full-blown breakdown.
"I have no doubt you will, Kestrel."
"What—?" Kestrel stared at the crystal drops in Mary-Lynette's eyes with bewilderment. "You're not—you're not crying are you?"
Mary-Lynette reached up to wipe away any trace of her tears. "No."
A sigh. "Don't worry, kid, you'll be fine. You're a smart girl Mare, I'm sure you'll be able to find that sleaze ball of a brother o' mine." She turned back her ocher eyes to the unfinished crossword puzzle. "9 letter word for 'invent'… hmm…"
That was probably the closest thing to 'good-bye' Mary-Lynette would ever get from Kestrel. She figured it was time to leave. But then she remembered.
"Kestrel? One more thing... What are you going to tell the others?" If Kestrel told them the truth all hell would break loose, Rowan would scold Kestrel for being so irresponsible, Jade would be depressed from being left out, and Mark would probably have an asthmatic attack. But if she didn't tell them and say that Mary-Lynette Carter, princess of practicality, just disappeared then they wouldn't possibly believe it.
She didn't glance up from the puzzle. "Don't worry, I'll think of something."
"But you're going to have to formulate a plan soon I mean—"
"'Formulate'! That's it!" Kestrel scribbled on the paper. "Another puzzle solved." Then she looked up and smiled. She actually smiled. "And I told you, Mare, you worry too much. I got it." She nodded towards the door. "Now go on. Ash is waiting."
That last sentence was enough to have Mary-Lynette sprint towards the door, backpack in tow. She gave one last thank-you glance to Kestrel and jogged down the porch steps, and then she turned towards the path that'll take her to her first destination, the airport. And then she'd be on her way to the most bolded address on the list. Las Vegas, Nevada.
And for once, she didn't look back.
Meanwhile in one of the tall trees behind her, unknown to Mary-Lynette, an inky form detached itself from the rest of the shadows and ruffled its feathers. In an instant the raven was soaring into the sky, deadly and majestic all at once, watching the dark-haired girl with vigilant, obsidian eyes.
Like it? Love it? Hate it? TELL ME IN A REVIEW!!!! I'm almost done with seventh grade and summer's coming so i should be able to complete this. :} hurray!!!