Chapter Two
What Is Happening?
The sky was black and the stars were hid behind grey clouds that were going to be bringing more rain their way. Trees swayed from side-to-side in the midnight breeze and three teenagers were lazing about on the grass, slowly chatting about their day at school. It was so mundane that no one would have assumed they were anything other than average teenagers who had snuck out past curfew.
"When are you going to tell her?" Geoff asked, trying to pinpoint the stars through, not taking his eyes off the darkness. It was calming for him.
"I don't think I can," Duncan replied, rolling over onto his stomach beside the bench Geoff was lying on. Duncan was still pissed that Courtney had broken up with him, but he hadn't told the other's that yet. "I was there when it all happened. I can't tell her a thing. It's to protect her. She needs to be protected from this," he waved around without purpose. "All of this..."
"She deserves to know the truth," Bridgette told Duncan, thinking about her best friend who was being kept in he dark. Ever since Bridgette had found out seven years ago she had wanted nothing more than to tell her best friend. Before Duncan had a chance to answer, the goth girl jumped down from a nearby tree, yelling at the punk- as usual.
"It doesn't matter anymore does it, Duncan?" Duncan hopped to his feet with the swift flick of the wind to face the angered girl. He knew what was going to come next.
"Stop reading my head, Gwen." He growled at her, eyes tinting a deep ruby color. Gwen knew Duncan hated it when she interfered with his brain, so she only did it more often.
"Back up!" Bridgette said, pushing in between the two. "What's happened?" She asked, always being the peacemaker when these two started fighting. Gwen, after staring at the punk for a few more moments, turned her head and laughed. It came out as a shrill shriek more than a laugh. Gwen was angry.
"Duncan and Courtney are no more," she announced. Duncan death glared his supposed best friend harshly. And if they hadn't been best friends for almost a hundred years-and the fact that he had changed greatly since they had met-he would have ripped her throat out there and then.
"What did you do?" Geoff asked, swinging his legs over the side of the bench, but not getting any closer to either of them. If one pounced the other Geoff did not want to be caught in the middle- Geoff learnt that the hard way.
"She didn't want me to keep anymore secrets, but I have to." Duncan said, knowing that they already knew the last part. It had been all the group had discussed for the past fortnight at these nightly meetings they had. It wasn't that anything in particular had sparked the topic, but once someone had brought it up, it was hard to get rid of. None of them liked having to lie to Courtney as often as they did. They tried their best to keep it all at bay and just be themselves, but that proved to be troublesome-especially hose less experience with lying to get close to people.
As much as Bridgette wanted Courtney to know, she still whispered, "You can't expose us for what we are."
"And what are we?" He asked, looking up to view his friends. "FREAKS IS WHAT WE ARE!" He screamed, his eyes lighting up red and throwing his fist into the trunk of a tree. It left an impressive dent.
"Cool it," Gwen told him, aiding him in pulling his arm away from the tree. She had seen him like this countless times over the course of their friendship. It wasn't rare for Duncan to loose his calm, but ever since Courtney had noticed him, he found himself doing it less and less. The others found that Courtney was a good thing in Duncan's life.
"Duncan, you need to control your anger." Geoff explained, patting his best friend on the back. "We can't risk getting caught." The delinquent knew they couldn't get caught. He knew Gwen was right, he had to cool down. But thinking of Courtney and how much he had fallen for her over the past three years brought up his temper when he knew she now wanted nothing to do with him. It was harder to protect her when she didn't know of him. It could be done; Duncan had done it over the years she had been growing up. But now he was used to having Courtney by his side at all times.
Before the four teen's knew it, a big ball of brown fur was running towards them. They knew better than to be scared of Trent in his wolf form, but it was still an odd sight to see for anyone who wasn't them. As he reached the group he transformed back into his human skin and landed on two feet instead of four.
"Guys," he panted breathlessly. "We have a problem." The other's already knew the problem. They had first hand experience in what was going on in town.
"We didn't ask for this, but we need to make sure that we lay low." Bridgette advised. She was the newest member of their clan, but she was definitely wise and had learnt a lot from them in the past few years.
Gwen let out a high pitched scream, her eyes glowing red, just like Duncan's had not that long ago. Trent wrapped his comforting arms around her small frame. He always knew how to hold her just right. "You have to watch your eyes." He whispered in her ear. The other's ignored Gwen's little break down, they were used to it. Gwen was an angry person when she wasn't in control of a situation. Trent, however, always knew just how to handle her.
"We need to figure out how we're gonna hide it this time." Geoff announced, always knowing what needed to be done and never beating around the bush. He knew how to take charge in situations.
"I can't believe this is happening again," Bridgette cried. Geoff wrapped his arm around her shoulder to comfort her. Duncan watched enviously, wanting to be able to wrap his own arms around his own girlfriend, but he couldn't since he didn't have one anymore.
"It's Taylor, she's brought them all back with her." He told them. "I told you she was going to be trouble for us all, and lo and behold-"
"It doesn't matter how its happening." Trent said, releasing Gwen from his grips while cutting off Duncan. Trent was quite fond of Taylor, though she didn't return the same affections. He had missed her in her time away from the group. "It's just-it is happening again." Duncan wasn't having any of that though. His eyes lit up again and he grabbed Trent by the collar.
"Okay, listen, wolf boy!" Duncan spat at him. "I was just getting used to a normal life again and now this shit has happened!" Instead of trying, and failing (they were both quite strong), to pull the two boys apart, Gwen tried to tempt Duncan.
"I'm going for a hunt," she spoke with a whisper in his ear. "Coming, Duncan?" Trent and Duncan stared deep into each other's eyes, until Duncan pushed him away. Trent wasn't scared of Duncan. He was aggressive, but harmless to the people he cared for. This group of dysfunctional lunatics were the closest thing he had to a family while he was in Muskoka and not his hometown.
"Yeah." The punk and the goth were gone with the blink of an eye.
"What's got him worked up?" Trent asked, once he thought the two were out of ear reach, rubbing his neck to ease the pain. It wasn't the first time Duncan had had Trent shoved against a tree by his collar, and it was certainly not going to be the last. The two were always butting heads over one thing or another, that was just the way they had always been.
"Courtney finished with him for keeping secrets." Bridgette informed him while Geoff let out a sigh. It was hard keeping this group together sometimes. Sometimes it was hard for them because they had been around each other for a long time now. But they were the only people they had to depend on, the only people who knew what each of them were struggling with. Especially with the Trackers all over town now.
The news had reached the group a few days earlier. Trackers were starting to search Muskoka for people like them. Though it wasn't the first time, Geoff was sure he hadn't seen so many in one place in his lifetime, and especially in such a small town like Muskoka. The group had to be more careful now than ever. Getting caught by a Tracker was a penalty of death for their kind.
"He'll have to tell her," he told the remaining two.
"Geoff, he can't. What if she tells?" Trent asked, worried that he would be exposed for who he really was. "Plus, Nigel would never allow it. He brought Courtney here to protect her from that life, remember?
"Who'll believe her?" The cowboy answered. "Who'll believe her if she tells?" He swallowed hard. He couldn't say anything against Nigel Black's concerns. The overprotective father wasn't going to let his baby girl know the truth before she turned eighteen years old. At the age of eighteen Courtney would be allowed to know because things wouldn't be so bad for her then. But it was an off-limits conversation to let her know the truth at all, and Nigel Black was determined to keep it that way.
Duncan steadied himself on the branch before tapping on the open window, "Hey, Princess." He said, making the girl jump in her seat. When she realized who it was she scowled to herself. Duncan was the last person Courtney wanted to see right now. But she knew he had a habit of climbing the tree outside her window just to annoy her.
"What do you want Duncan?" She moaned, slinking over to he windowsill where Duncan was resting his arms. It wasn't hard to climb the tree to her bedroom, she did it many times when her father wouldn't let her out. But the fact that he thought he could just weasel his way back into arms not even a full day after she had broke up with him made Courtney want to hurt him.
"I wanna talk." He told her, as if it wasn't obvious enough. The CIT sighed. She didn't want to talk to him.
"I thought I made it pretty clear earlier, I want nothing to do with you." Courtney went to shut her windows, but Duncan pushed them back. He wasn't going to let his girl get away from him so easily. He was prepared to do whatever it takes to get her to trust him again. He had spent too much time of his life getting to know her to let it get thrown away like this. This wasn't just about his job anymore: Duncan was in love with Courtney.
"I want to give us another chance," he told her.
"That's not your decision, it's mine."
"So, what have you decided?" He pestered, hoping she would find him cute and take him back with loving arms. Of course, he knew that was the longest shot he could take.
"Goodbye, Duncan." This time, when Courtney pulled the windows closed, Duncan moved away. Letting her lock him out of her life. He loved Courtney Black more than he had ever loved a human being before, but he could tell when she needed some space. The great thing about being so knowledgeable was knowing when to quit.
"Why don't you tell her the truth?" Taylor asked. When Duncan looked down he found his annoying cousin leaning against the bark. Duncan let out a snarl, showing how much he detested her.
"Get out of here, Taylor!" He yelled quietly, not wanting to alert Courtney or her father. "You've caused enough trouble!" Taylor didn't seem phased by Duncan's accusation, maybe because she knew it was true. Taylor has brought the Trackers back with her, just like he had told the others. It was an accidental thing, they had simply followed her when she'd arrived in Muskoka a few days ago. Duncan had hoped they'd follow her home, too, but Taylor wasn't leaving.
"I've seen it." She replied. Duncan death glared his cousin and jumped from the tree to the floor, landing on his feet with grace in front of Taylor. He gave her a rough shove against the tree, not wanting to mess around when it came to her.
"You couldn't have, it's not gonna happen." He informed Taylor, knowing he was right about this. Courtney really did not want anything to do with him. Even if he did tell her the truth, she was more than likely to run screaming in the opposite direction to him.
"She will take you back, I know she will." Taylor ignored everything Duncan was firing at her, she didn't seem to care what he was saying. She was used to him not liking her, so this was nothing new.
"You can't be trusted!" Duncan shouted. "This is all happening because of you." At that, the punk walked away from his cousin, leaving her standing-smirking-on Courtney's lawn. Taylor was a handful at the best of times, but there was just something off about her that Duncan couldn't stand to be around.
A/N: This has been the longest week of my life.
No, seriously. All I have wanted to do all week is post this and AGH. Frustration.
But I refuse to change the update schedule. For this story, at least. I need the time I'm using to update this story to edit the rest. I'm almost done with chapter one of Real Life (the story after this one), so it's gonna be a while for me to finish that story and the rest.
And a BIG thank you to my three AMAZING reviewers!
Lepope1234, AHRedDeath and Badass Courtney.
Usually I'd answer the reviews here, but I'm too lazy. And there wasn't much to say except that I'm glad y'all are enjoying this so far!
See ya next week :D
Thanks for reading, please review (:
Love ChloeRhiannonX
