I took my time in the shower, relaxing in the steaming water as my hair soaked in my favorite Pink Coral Flower and White Nectarine conditioner that gave me a mental picture of an undiscovered citrus fruit with a warm spice to it. I love that smell by the way, it just smelled like me. My clothes, by pillows, everything had that warm citrusy tint to it.
After I towel dried and ran a comb through my waist length curls I walked over to the closet that I had hung up all of my clothes in after tripping over them. I felt like dressing dark today, since outside was still dark with black thunder clouds. I dressed to reflect the weather outside or my current mood and sadly, I had a lot of black in my closet. My poor little home town was usually in a seemingly never-ending torrent of rain and snow.
When I stepped into the bathroom to put on a little bit of mascara (I usually never wear makeup, Risa had told me that I didn't need to with my creamy skin and long lashes) I was wearing a black tank top with a silver raven in the middle, a pair of dark blue boot-cut jeans, my black and silver studded belt, and the boots that Baine had given me.
I grinned. All I would have to do to look like I was in a screamo band was put on some heavy black eyeliner and dye my hair black. But that wasn't going to happen. I love my hair. It's long and curly and I hate even trimming more than a coupe inches off of it to kill off the dead ends.
Curious why Baine had wanted to meet me in the lobby urgently enough to leave a note I walked downstairs. I expected to see him on one of the couches again with one of his buddies like last time when he'd told me to come down, but when I got there the room was empty.
Well that sucks. Where downstairs was I supposed to meet him? I don't want to go wandering around without knowing where to go. But just as I thought that I heard the unmistakable black silk that was Baine's voice cutting off a raised voice that I'd never heard before.
Now who would argue with Baine? I frowned and started in the general direction that I had heard the voices. I went down the short hall and out into the entrance hall silently, listening for any other sounds that would lead me to them. I heard something that was off to the left from the front door, down another short hallway that led to what I took to the living room.
There was a huge flatscreen TV on the wall and a comfy looking wrap around couch in front of it, with a coffee table set with polished green marble between them. There was a door on the right side of the room that was open just a crack. The voices were coming from the room beyond that.
"I just wanted to know why I could smell something new around here," the unknown voice was saying in a defensive tone.
I could picture Baine narrowing his eyes. "What you smell is an eighteen year old girl that is almost more stubborn than you are."
The other man laughed and I crept closer to the door and peered though the crack. Baine was standing with his back to me but I could see the unknown one quite clearly. He was shorter than Baine by two or three inches, but still taller than me. He had brown hair and green eyes and a dark tan and I would have pegged him for a hottie surfer boy any day.
"I'd never thought I would see the day that you were into teenagers," he said with another chuckle. "Who is she? I want to meet her."
"Her name is Aly Ellidyr. Does that ring a bell?"
The moment my name rolled out of Baine's mouth the other man's mouth dropped open slightly. "So what they were saying about Terisa and her husband wasn't just a rumor then?" He paused while Baine shook his head and then continued. "Why are you involved? I understand saving the girl, but why keep her? Why not send her to the council for protection?"
"I can protect her better than the council any day and you know it," Baine scoffed. His arrogance knows no bounds, I swear.
"You have another reason for it, Dimitri. Don't think I can't see that."
Baine had another reason to keep me here? How could this new, cute, mystery guy know that when I didn't?
I heard Baine let out a breath. "You don't understand Josh." Baine's arm moved to his shoulder for a moment and then dropped, and surfer boy's mouth parted again.
"But I thought that you wouldn't—" Josh stopped altogether, running out of words.
"Neither did I," Baine spoke quietly. "But what happens, happens. I have no control over it anymore. Not that I'm happy about it. I trust you with this, Josh, and no one else. But it isn't the only reason. I made a promise to Quin and Cassidy. I promised that I would keep her safe. I was the only one they knew they could trust."
Like the last time, my parents' names were a shock to me. But this time there was a whole new meaning behind the creepiness. The fact that Baine had promised to take care of me meant that he was older than I thought. That information would have been outright scary if I hadn't recently been introduced to a whole other world occupied by Faerys and leprechauns. But… I had thought he was hot —heck I still did— and he could be sixty.
In front of me Josh's face turned soft and he put a hand on Baine's shoulder. "Your secret is safe with me, I promise. But how can you be sure that the girl's family's personal assassinator won't peg you as a target?"
Baine laughed coldly, sending shivers down my spine. "For them to make me a target would be a death wish." There was that giant ego again. I rolled my eyes. "They know how resourceful I am. I would track down their first attempt and go on from there. It would be too much of a risk for them."
I saw the strategy in this. But how could he be so sure that they wouldn't? Someone had already gone after me with him there, so wouldn't it be practically the same situation? Baine had tracked down the wolf that had escaped already and had a name. Maybe they had just—
"They underestimated me," Baine finished my thought, "and it's going to cost them, I will make sure of it. They will cover up their tracks like they have been for the past hundred years. So we are going to treat this like a chess game."
As Baine said this he turned around and I darted out of the room. But I had a feeling that they had heard me, being Sentinels and all, and I really didn't want Baine to know that I'd just heard that conversation. If I showed up near enough they would just ting it was a mistake in their hearing or something and I could pull it off. So just as they came through the door I stepped into the living room.
"There you are," I said, acting exasperated. "I've been looking for you since I got out of the shower. I'm hungry, I couldn't find the kitchen." I figured that this was a good bluff, unless he did his telepathy thing.
But I could see a glint of suspicion in his eyes. I realized that I was getting better at reading him. But now wasn't the time for that. I kept my face transfixed in a cocky stare that only a teenager can pull off and concentrated on waffles. Now if he did read my mind my thoughts would fit with my bluff.
The guy called Josh looked at me for a moment, one brow raised and a light grin on his face, and then turned to Baine. "Well it looks like you've even started training her," he said in a light, mocking tone. "She's getting the hang of manipulating telepathy already."
Ah ha, so I was correct. My waffle thing had changed the mindreading. But they could still tell that I was lying. Baine's face was back to blank again and he looked from Josh to me. Dang it, I hated it severely when I couldn't read him!
Josh laughed. "It takes years to be able to read him, kid. Trust me."
"Who are you?" I asked. How did he know Baine? And how in the world was he on friendly terms with him? I couldn't stand the man myself, although I wouldn't be pegged as a very tolerant person my any of my closest friends either…
"Josh Evans," he said and held out a hand. "I've known Baine for forever."
I walked closer and shook his hand. He was big too. Shish, are all of Baine's friends twice my size? "Okay, I'm Aly," I said looking up.
"Great to meet you, Aly." Then to Baine he said, "She could have been Quin's twin sister."
"But she moves like Cassidy," Baine said.
That hit me like a kick in the gut. I'd only ever seen pictures of my parents. I never got to see how they acted or did things. I mentally teared up at the lost memories that I could have right now if they hadn't been killed. But the seductiveness that was hidden behind Baine's seemingly agreeing tone that Josh was totally oblivious to startled me.
Josh nodded. "I need to get back to Lilly, I told her that I would only be on break for an hour. Can you believe that she said that she'd pay me half day today if I was late?" He sounded irritated.
"Goodbye, Josh," Baine said.
The two men shook hands and Josh nodded a goodbye to me and left.
It wasn't until after the front door shut that Baine spoke. "Put on a jacket and meet me at the car."
It seemed weird to me that he was treating me like I'd lived here for months rather than days. In my town, a host would usually go with you to get your things and not make you walk all by yourself in an unfamiliar house while they got a head start on things. Obviously Baine wasn't from there.
Five minutes later —after I trudged up three flights of stairs (irritated at myself for not getting a jacket in the first place because it was obviously raining outside), found a jacket that matched my attire, and then walked back down the stairs— I walked out the front door to the waiting car.
"Where are we going?" I asked as I shut the door of his amazing car behind me.
Baine ignored me —something that I would have to accept, but never like— and drove the car down the long driveway. He answered me after he drove through the gate and out onto the road.
"Josh gave me some information about one of my… hobbies, you could say. And it tied into his job, so he asked me to take care of it for him so he wouldn't get fired at his human job."
"He has a human job?" What is that about?
"It is a cover. He keeps watch over the Humans on their side and makes sure that no Magi cross over in his area, and if they do he kills them."
I shivered at the coldness in his voice. Totally remorseless. "Why can't you just put them back on the Magi side?" I asked. Was it all about killing for them? If it was then I wasn't sure that I wanted to be a part of this.
"If we sent them back they would tell others how they found a way across the Spell and we would have a huge problem on our hands," Baine said.
I looked at the dash. That made sense. Killing them was really the only option. Because you can't send them back, and you can't just leave them in the Human Realm. "So how is Josh's job tied to your hobby?" I asked. Thinking of Baine as a guy with a hobby seemed to diminish his huge manly ego. What was his hobby anyway?
"I like to… collect ancient objects and artifacts," he said. "Josh has a problem with a vampire that found out a way to cheat the spell with an extremely complex counter spell that he created and put into an amulet. I want that amulet and Josh wants the vampire dead."
"So you're taking me with you to go kill a vampire?" I asked. I couldn't decide whether that was awesome or scary. A pissed off vampire isn't something to be messing around with, but I had a feeling that it was something that Baine did on a regular basis, and after watching him kill a giant wolf and knowing that he had gone after that wolf's pack and killed all of them aswell on top of killing a dementor I was sure that a vampire wasn't going to be a problem.
Baine nodded. "You are going to find the amulet."
"I would be okay with that if I knew what it looks like." What I was thinking and what I said were two different things. I was thinking that I might have been okay if he had asked me to help in the first place.
"It looks like an amulet," he said simply.
I sighed and rolled my eyes. "Why do I have to look for it?"
"Because it is between that or finding and killing the vampire yourself."
"Fine. I'll find your stupid amulet," I muttered. "Why do you want it anyway?"
"Would you risk having a transportation device to cheat the spell floating around the world unprotected?"
That made sense. "Okay, okay I get it. I'll get the amulet, you get the vamp." I had a feeling that this was going to be an interesting trip.
Man, my life is turning upside down and inside out. Taylor and Andi would have been thrilled if I had told them about all of this. They would be the only ones thrilled though. Everyone else would have either thought I had totally gone off the deep end, or that I was joking around. I'd never had many close relations until I met Andi and she introduced me to Taylor.
"People think that I'm weird because they can feel that I'm not human, right?" I asked Baine, not bothering to hide the bitterness in my voice and kept my eyes on the people milling around on the rain slicked sidewalks as we got to the center of town.
I saw Baine look at me out of the corner of my eye, but I didn't try to see what he was feeling. I kept my focus outside. This is a touchy subject for me. I'd not had many friends all through school, end I felt even worse when I would catch guys saying that I was hot, but I was too weird to go out with.
"Humans can feel things that aren't their kind," he said. "That's why they get the feeling of unease in dark forests and cemeteries. It is because they can feel our kind through the Spell. Some of them are closer to it than others. Psychics and Wickens are the closest. The most knowledgeable of them know about the separation of the world and they keep the records of the Humans past."
I nodded in understanding. That was interesting. But I was more interested in what I heard after that. Or rather, what I hadn't heard. I heard Baine's voice, but his mouth wasn't moving and I almost did a double take, until I remembered that I was in a world where magic really did exist, along with telepathy.
Why is she easier to talk to than other people? I always say too much. If this keeps up I'll end up telling her about the whole history of the World.
Well that was going to take some time getting used to. Hearing Baine's thoughts? For however brief of a time that I'd heard his mind before it was abruptly cut off, I'd heard some information worth knowing.
I was easy to talk to? Well I had some charisma, I guess. But I couldn't imagine Baine ever saying too much. It was usually not enough. And how could he possibly know the while history of the world? And why could I not read his thoughts all of the time like he could mine?
In the corner of my mind I saw irritation flash across Baine's face, followed by a mischievous glint in his eyes. "That would be because you don't guard your thoughts all of the time," he said. "And I do."
Show off. He'd been doing it for how many years, and I'd only even know about this world for what, three days? But I'd read a series that had a similar ability in it, and it sounded just like this, so would I be able to block someone reading my mind in that same way?
I imagined a black emptiness, like space, and let my mind feel around. Every living mind was a home. Some were impenetrable fortresses, like Baine's who was surrounded by a dome of steel and was radiating some kind of masculine energy that made me realize that not only was he strong physically, but mentally aswell. Some were as weak as the house made of hey from the story The Three Little Pigs. Who is the Big Bad Wolf in this situation?
I looked over to Baine. He was, obviously. His shield was the only one that was actually radiating an aura that seemed to say, "Come any closer and you're dead."
I made a mental note to not mess with his mind on purpose and looked at my own shield. It was pathetic. It was about as protective as wet paper. I imagined it as a dome, like Baine's only mine was much cooler. It was made of sapphire dragon scales, exactly like in the book Eragon, by Christopher Paolini. It was the best armor that I could think of, and only another dragon's claws or teeth could penetrate it. On that thought, I added a second layer of protection as precaution on the outside of my dragon scale wall. I doubt that anyone could bring a dragon into the mind realm, but who knows? Until recently, I didn't know that dementors existed. I made my second layer into mithril, a material mined by the dwarves and made into armor aswell. It was as light as a feather, and as hard as dragon scales. Anyone who knew about the series The Lord of the Rings in the Magi world would know about this and know that if you hit hard enough, it could leave a bruise.
I had a reason for crafting my little creation as I did. Just in case someone in the magical realm did know about that series, they would know the weakness, but I doubted that they would be expecting a second layer of real dragon scales that wouldn't leave a mark.
I frowned to myself. I really did read too much. Sooner or later I was going to start making little Elvin warriors with magical weapons to protect the perimeter.
"Do not think down on your little creation," Baine said. "It is good. Better than any amateur Sentinel I have ever seen."
"It's obviously not," I said, irritated. "You can still hear what I'm thinking."
He shook his head. "You may be a Scorpio, but you don't act like one."
"Huh?" What was he talking about, bringing astrological signs into this?
"Have you ever taken a Zodiac quiz before, Ms. Ellidyr?" he asked.
"Once. I thought it was stupid because it didn't say that I was a Scorpio. But I know I don't act like one," I told him. I was really irritated about that. It was yet another thing that was just wrong with me. I would love to be like any other normal Scorpio, to be feisty and womanly and strong at the same time. But no, the description that I got from the quiz was that I was more of a loner. I lived inside of my mind and was self-critical, but on the good side I was very precise about everything and good at seeing details. I was Virgo.
Next to me, Baine nodded. "There is a reason for that, don't think it's your fault."
"What? How could you possibly know the reason why I have a different personality than what I'm supposed to? How is that even possible?" What am I thinking? How many times was I going to forget that this was a world where leprechauns existed?
Baine took his eyes off of the road and looked at me and I panicked as a sharp corner came along. But the car continued smoothly. "You wouldn't understand right now, even if I told you," he said.
Apparently the underestimation of teenagers didn't differ between Realms. Why couldn't someone just explain everything to me without judgment? I was smarter than the average eighteen year old, really.
"And if I were to explain it to you right now we would miss the change to kill the vampire," he continued.
I checked my mental shield. It was still up and as solid as it had been when I created it only moments ago. How in the world was he still reading my mind? Or was it because I wasn't as Virgo as I thought and my thoughts were all over my face.
"Don't worry, Ms. Ellidyr," he said. "No one will be able to read you. I am very gifted at reading people." He turned his attention back to the road.
I shot him an annoyed look and stared out the rain slicked window. I was glad that other people weren't going to be able to read me, but it irked me immensely that Baine could. What if someone else had the gift for reading people? How was I supposed to guard agenst that?
I realized that I was getting paranoid. Like I thought that everyone was agenst me or something. It wasn't until later that I would learn that this was how life was in the real world. You were either used, or the user.
* * *
It turned out that the place we were vampire hunting was near a large park at the edge of the city. It was a beautiful park, with short cut grass and even an old fashioned stone fountain topped with cupids in the center. As we walked past it I watched drops of rain break the surface of the pool and saw a few coins at the bottom.
We walked to the edge of the park and beyond toward a literal wall of ancient trees. I both felt and saw the boundary line that separated the park and the forest. The grass was growing tall and there was a different air hovering past the cracked sidewalk. It felt old. Very old. Full of –
I stopped my analysis of the place and shook my head. I had just started quoting Legolas' lines from the Lord of the Rings when he, Aragorn, and Gimli entered Fangorn Forrest. Man, I really did read too much.
But I couldn't believe that I had judged this place so quickly. I hadn't seen anything creepy or bad about it so far.
"Okay, I know that you brought me along to look for the amulet, but what exactly is the situation?" I asked. It would be nice if I knew what to expect. "Where am I supposed to look for this amulet? I don't think that the vamp would have a convenient box that he keeps it in that would be sitting on a shelf somewhere out here in the middle of a forest."
"You would be surprised how many things can be hiding in plain sight, Ms. Ellidyr," Baine answered.
"Do you really have to call me by my last name?" I asked. "The formalness is annoying. I am staying in your house, after all."
The look he gave me couldn't have said 'no' any better. "The only other thing I can think of calling you would be Kid, since you are one. But I think that would be a downgrade, don't you?"
"Can't you just call me Aly like everyone else?" I asked, irritated.
"No," he said conversationally.
I threw him a cold look, my mouth open for a snippy comment, but I stopped. I heard something. It was a steady, pulsating beat. Like a bass. Then I heard a guitar. What the heck? Who would be playing music out here in the middle of a forest? There was something else too. It sounded like a screaming crowd at a concert.
"Why is there a concert in the middle of a forest?" I asked. "Do you think that the vampire is here and going to feed?"
The bass got louder and I felt the ground vibrate through the souls on my boots. "It is how he draws his meal," Baine answered, taking my wrist and pulling me off in a certain direction, through a wall of hedges.
I felt as if I had dived into the river Styx, a sea of undead spirits. But these ones were living. There was no doubt about that. I could hear their heavy breathing and feel the heat radiating from their bodies. But it sure looked like I was surrounded by the dead. Every person there was dressed in the present day goth/emo style. Black, blood red, and dark purple were the colors that made up everyone's clothing. Of course it wasn't that that bothered me. I mean, I was wearing close to the same thing at the moment and I hadn't planned on coming to this metal concert. What bothered me was that every person was supporting at least ten piercings on their faces and it made me wonder if they had got in a major fishing accident or something and it creeped me out to no end. The screaming coming from the giant amps that surrounded the crowd made it hard to hear myself think.
Baine pulled me along through the punk-rock dressed teens toward what looked like a makeshift stage. On it were five of the freakiest looking people that I'd ever seen. I saw green, blue, yellow, and purple Mohawks and crimson tipped jet black hair. That was what caught my eye, the red tipped hair on the lead singer. He was dressed in black jeans, black boots, and a black t-shirt. He had a gruff charm about him that was thick and magnetic. And he was pretty muscular. But it wasn't the suggested and usual look at me I'm ripped muscular. It was more of a scary, look at me I can rip your head off with one hand tied behind my back muscular.
I looked from the lead singer to Baine. He was studying the whole band with an interest. Then he looked over the crowd towards a chain link fence and then down to me. "The lead singer is the vampire," he said. "I am going to have to wait for the band to take a break before I kill him, or the crowd will panic."
By the way they were dressed I wouldn't be surprised if they couldn't get scared. "What do you want me to do?"
"Past that fence and through the trees a few yards is where the band's bus is parked. Go look through it, the amulet is surely there somewhere."
I glanced at the fence and then back at him. "Is there any chance that I can wait for you to kill him and we can look for the amulet together?" I hate doing things by myself. I was better when I had another person to do things with.
The look he gave me was a 'no' again.
"Right, I thought not. Okay well…" I took a deep breath and then turned around and marched off through the crowd. I felt like a total loner, but I guess that I need to get used to it. I doubted that Baine was going to baby me through anything in this world and I didn't expect him to. I was strong. I didn't need any help anyway.
I followed the flow of the crowd towards the front of the stage, oddly enough it seemed to thin out. With less people I could work my way over to the fence easier than I could if I had gone straight.
But somehow I ended up right in front of the stage, staring up at the vampire and his mesmerizing voice. I hadn't really listened to it before because I had been worried about what we were here for… what had we been here for anyway? Who had I come with?
A black fog seemed to encompass my brain, cutting off my thoughts as I stared up at those black eyes that contrasted beautifully agenst pale skin. It was like staring into the abyss. But then I was faced with a problem. The abyss stared back.
I should be afraid. I should be looking away and continuing with… something. What was I supposed to be doing? Not listening to one of my favorite kinds of music that was being turned into some kind of desirable beat by a very seductive voice. Not thinking about how the music made my blood rush and my chest burn. All I could see was the black as pitch eyes of the vampire—
Vampire!
What was I thinking?!
I looked away from the unnatural black eyes and shook my head. Everything was clear to me then. What I had come here for and what kind of danger I had just put myself in. I feel it now, the magic behind the words in the song. The music was meant to attract, meant to seduce. This vampire must not have only had an appetite for blood. I realized that about eighty-five percent of the crowd was girls.
Without another look up at the Magi, I continued my path for the fence. The whole way I was careful to keep myself grounded, thinking about things other than the music, which I found difficult. I am used to handing my mind over to the music when I want to forget something. But now I had to force myself to think about everything and keep my mind off of the music.
It was a relief when I reached the fence. I wasn't surprised why I had always naturally hated big crowds. Too much movement, I felt like I was drowning in people. They were all breathing my air, and they were in my space bubble. I hate it when people get too close to me.
Baine said that the bus was parked a few yards through the trees. I just need to go back around the fence and sneak off into the trees. Hoping that there wasn't any security around the vehicle that Baine might have forgotten to mention, I followed the fence line back a short way and found a gate. I slid the chain from around the pole and slipped through.
I doubted that anyone noticed. They were all too grossly engrossed with the vampire's song. I shut the gate behind me, just in case, and walked away from the blaring music into the forest again. I was irritated with myself that I would let myself get caught in the vampire's spell, even if it was for a short amount of time. I was stronger than that.
I was even more irritated at Baine for dragging me into the crowd in the first place. Why couldn't he have told me to go this way before drowning me in the river of undead? It was his fault that I was faced with the situation in the first place.
If he tried to deny that, I'd kill him, I thought as I cautiously approached the rock bands tour bus. It reflected their music. It was black splattered in dark red paint that looked even more like blood with the rain running down the sides, with a very detailed skull with fangs and bat's wings.
When I saw that there was no one around, I snickered at the irony. Vampire fangs and bat wings on the band's insignia. I wondered what the actual name of the band was.
The door of the driver's side opened easily and I was surprised that I wasn't going to have to break any windows. I figured that it was going to be locked and that my combat boots were going to be tested as safety glass breakers.
The inside of the bus was no different than any other band's bus that I'd seen on one of the only television channels that I watched. There was a booth and table on one side and a miniature kitchen on the other, and further back there were a couple of bunks, a bathroom door, and a black wall with a small TV on it.
There was nothing that seemed out of the ordinary, oddly enough. I frowned. The vampire would surely have to keep his junk somewhere around with him. I began my search, first opening all of the drawers in the kitchen area, then looking inside of the refrigerator. I looked under the booth's cushions and under the table. I looked in all five bunks. I even checked around for secret hidden compartments. I found nothing.
I leaned agenst the table and looked around. Where else was there to hide an amulet? I didn't even know what size this thing was so that I could shorten the list of possibilities of places that it could be hidden.
What was it that Baine had said? Hidden in plain sight. Would the vamp really have done that? I doubted it, but it was better than any other idea that I had right now. I walked to the back of the bus and looked around as if I were just a normal person checking out my favorite band's tour bus.
Something caught my eye. Something that seemed to pulse with energy. I don't know how to describe the sight, but I could feel the magic, just as I had heard it woven into the song. It was in the steering wheel. I moved closer and looked at the center where the horn should have been.
Instead of the Ford logo that should have been there, there was a cross. I almost snickered again. How ironic was that? In most myths, vampires were driven off my by crosses. This one wasn't like the little delicate cross that Risa always wore. This one had to be at least four inches long.
I looked closer and saw a seam. Well, at least I knew that I had found the amulet, not just some fancy steering wheel decoration. I plucked the object out of the wheel and along with it came a sturdy looking chain.
The sound of it dropping to hit the edge of the steering wheel made me freeze in alarm, and made me painfully aware that there was no longer a rhythmic bass playing anymore. Shoot, I needed to leave. I was so toast if I got caught. I wound up the chain and slipped the amulet into my pocket and was sliding into the driver's seat to climb out, I heard something else.
It sounded like a puppies whine, and the adorable sound drew the full attention of Angel Aly. I took my hand off of the door handle and got back out of the seat and listened more closely. I could hear it again, a faint high pitched sound.
I followed it to the very back of the bus and I checked through and under all of the bunks again. Who would hide a pet in their bunk? But again, I found nothing.
Irritated, I stood back up and frowned at the wall. The noise seemed to be coming from there, but how was that possible? I had already ruled out the possibility of the sound echoing from somewhere, I mean I had already looked through the whole bus when I was searching for the amulet.
There was nothing on the wall but the TV. It was a flatscreen; I noted when I looked to the side of it. I saw that it wasn't firmly fixed to the wall either. That was strange, I personally, would have secured my TV to the wall if I was going to be driving around all of the time because eventually the vibrations of the vehicle would make it fall off of any stand or hook.
I heard the whine again. Man I really didn't have time to be doing this. If my next idea didn't work then I was going to have to leave without the poor little creature. I pushed my fingers into the gap between the TV and the wall and pulled, not trying to be careful. The vampire was going to be dead. He didn't need a TV.
It came off of the wall easier than I expected, but it was heavier that I thought it would be, and I didn't catch it in time before it fell on my foot. I swallowed a silent yell. Holy mother fudging cow! I thought flatscreens were supposed to be lighter!
I bit my tongue and moved the TV off to the side and leaned it agenst one of the bunks. What I found in the space behind the TV made me forget all about my foot. It was a cage built into the wall. And inside of it was one of the most interesting creatures that I had seen yet.
It was a shape shifter. As I watched, it morphed from a little chocolate Labrador puppy to a lion cub. I noted that it was staying around the same size so that the collar around its neck could fit. It pawed at the bars.
"Oh aren't you just the cutest thing!" I said quietly and reached for the cage door.
"Yes, I am, but have you looked in the mirror recently?" said a seductive voice from behind me.
I spun around instantly. Leaning agenst the table in the same position that I had been only minutes ago, was the vampire. Shoulder length black hair tipped in crimson, pale skin, dark eyes, it was a wonder that no one else had thought he was of another world. Of course all of the teens that listened to the music would have been entranced and not had another thought beyond getting laid.
"Fudge," I muttered under my breath. This does not look good. How in the world was I going to get out of this? Where was Baine? The vamp was supposed to be dead! "I'm sorry. I was only helping out a friend with a bet. She was supposed to bring back a souvenir from your bus and she was too chicken to do it so I did it instead." My words came out in a rush.
"And you thought that our little family pet would be a good souvenir?" the vampire asked.
I opened my mouth, shut it, and then opened it again. "Yes, my friend loves cats and a lion cub is pretty wicked." I just have to make him think that I'm another one of his little fans. Then maybe he'll let me go without any suspicions. But if he knew that I knew what he was… well than I was screwed and the whole plan was toast. Because he would leave the city and Baine would have to go track him down again.
Unexpectedly, he smiled. I saw the sharp canine teeth felt my blood run cold. "I guess that I could let you have him. But it would have to be an exchange."
Seriously? He would give the shape shifting pet to a Human?! Well, given the fact that he thought I was one. Every bone in my body felt as if that was wrong, a dangerous thing to do, to let the Humans get riled up over magic creatures. I had the sudden urge to tell this creep that it would be agenst the rules and if this would have been a test he would have failed miserably.
"Really?" I asked, trying to look astonished. "What do I have to do?" I was going to get this little shape shifter whether he liked it or not. Some small part in the back of my head was saying get it safe, away from the Human world. It was like Baine had said earlier. I didn't want a magical amulet out there floating around, and I didn't want a Magi animal out there either. It could be a problem. I would have to find something to do with it because it would be agenst every single part of my girlish side. It wasn't any danger to me -that I know of- so there is no point in killing it.
"Nothing really," the vamp answered, coming closer. "Only give me a look at your beautiful neck."
I locked my jaw to keep it from falling open. He wanted a look at my neck? He couldn't have told me more subtly that he wanted to drink my blood. What was I supposed to say to that? I really didn't want to abandon the poor little creature. But I supposed that I could come back and get it after this guy was dead. That is, if Baine managed to get over here to kill him.
The tone in his voice was seductive, like the music, but this time I was aware of it and spoke instead of standing there gaping at his black eyes like an idiot. I was not going to get spelled this time. I was stronger than that.
"Actually," I said, moving towards the front of the tour bus, "I think I'll just go. I don't want to bother you after an amazing show and it's not like she is going to die from losing a bet. Besides, I'll be able to tell her that I met you and ooh! Maybe you can give me your autograph or something that way I have proof." I was babbling. But it was the only thing that I could think of as I moved towards the exit. I had to keep his eyes away from the steering wheel. I would not only be toast, I would be toast burnt so badly that it turned to ash with one touch if he found out that I had the amulet.
"Oh you can't leave yet," he said, moving toward me. "You know my reputation. You are too pretty to just let you go."
I opened my mouth, intent on babbling some more to distract him, but his words tripped me up. This guy had a reputation? How long had he been in the Human world?
I think he took my hesitation as the indecision of a young teen who knows what she wants but isn't supposed to have it. Because one moment he was standing agenst the table and the next he was pushing me up agenst the wall, smelling the blood rushing through my veins.
I all but screamed. This was the worst position I could ever be in. Where was Baine? This wouldn't be happening if he had done his job! "Your reputation is one that I tend to stay away from," I snapped, pushing back.
He grinned and I saw that his canine teeth were sharp. Anticipation shone in his eyes. "I don't think so. I saw you when you were up agenst the stage. I watched you go through the fence and sneak off through the trees. You were with a man, not any of your friends. I smelled you the moment you crossed through the hedges."
My mouth dropped open. As my aunt would say every so often, bloody hell! He'd seen me with Baine? He'd smelled me when I came through the hedges? I know he was a vampire, but seriously? Why me?
"What I should be asking right now," he continued, "is where is your man?"
I had a serious urge to yell at the top of my lungs that Baine was in no way my man. But it wasn't the fact that I was in serious trouble with a vampire squishing me up agenst the wall at the moment that kept me from doing it. It was that small part in the back of my brain that had awakened last night. This was a bad time to start thinking about that. I focused my attention on my dilemma.
"I'm sure that he is waiting for me right now as a matter of fact," I said and I started to slip by him and head for the door.
"Not so fast," he grabbed the opening of my jacket where I hadn't zipped it up and left it just below my breasts. "I'm sure that he wouldn't mind if you spent a little quality time with the lead singer of your favorite band."
Oh my God! This showed me a hundred times over that it didn't matter whether it was Magi or Human, men are all the same! Especially the creepers. Where the heck is Baine? I had been keeping up my mental shield, had actually forgotten about it for a moment, and had an idea. I slammed it down as fast as I could and screamed, Dimitri Baine, get over here now!
I felt oddly exposed and put my guard back up, praying that he heard me. I was going to kill him if he let me die now! On top of being scared out of my mind, I was utterly pissed at him. How hard was it to keep track of a vampire, really? Baine had skills from what I had seen. What could be keeping him this long?
I had a sudden, worried thought. He had said that he wasn't just going to let me die. And he had a knack for showing up just in time, but I thought this was cutting it too close. Was he held up? Had something gone wrong? Had something happened to him?
I realized that I might really be on my own here and jerked away from the vamp. The faster I got away from him the better. But all I managed to do was be nearly strangled by my own jacket, the left side fell away from my shoulder and was actually snapped in the opposite direction from the force of my pull.
Big mistake that was. The moment he saw the Sentinel mark on my shoulder he hissed, the air in the vehicle seeming to turn darker. "You're Magi," he said as if clarifying some thought he might have had. Then I saw his canines extend in a feral, mocking grin, and he lunged for my neck.
I squeezed my eyes shut expecting to feel the bite, but what happened was quite different. I heard the sound of metal being torn and shattering glass and felt myself falling. I opened my eyes with a short shriek before I hit the tiled and floor of the tour bus.
I looked up to see Baine stepping in through a hole in the side of the bus and standing between the vampire and me. "I am going to get tired of saving your pretty little ass, kid," Baine said, pulling out that lethal sword of his.
I almost didn't answer, I was too shaken. But I recovered quickly. "Well it's a good thing that you made a promise to keep me alive, huh?" I snapped back, overlooking the new nickname.
"You?" the vampire hissed and the air got even darker. I got up and looked around Baine's huge figure that filled up the short hall. The vampire's eyes weren't black anymore. They were red. It was everything that all of the bad vampire films had shown. The transformation into the creature form.
I shivered. It was scary to say the least. The skin peeled and split open with a tearing sound that made me want to gag. The bone structure reformed, growing bigger and wings split from its back covered dripping in blood and slime. The facial features were morphed into a combination of a bat and a human. The jaw and mouth remained almost the same, except without lips, but the nose was split and bat like, along with its eyes. The ears grew nearly four pointy inches and the claws on its long, grey fingers curved dangerously.
I was left with my mouth hanging open standing limply agenst the wall where the little shape shifting creature's cage was inserted into. There was no way that any horror or vampire movie could come up with something as real as that.
In front of me Baine was the first one to make a move. He lunged toward the huge creature with a force that rocked the vehicle so hard that I hit the back of my head agents the wall.
When my head snapped back and my eyes focused again I found the vampire's hands around Baine's right arm. Shit, I thought. He finally met his match. But damn, I was wrong. Without hesitation he spun around and drove his left elbow into the creature's rib cage and if I wasn't mistaken, it actually sunk into the creature's rib cage.
The sound that the vampire let out was so high pitched and loud that I clapped my hands over my ears and staggered to my knees. I could swear that my ears were bleeding and when it was over everything was muffled for a moment.
But it didn't slow Baine down a single bit. He ducked his head and wrenched his sword arm out of the vampire's grasp while it was weakened, straight towards its throat. I closed my eyes. I had no desire to see what happened next. What I heard was enough.
There was the beginning of that high pitched scream again, but it was cut off by a gurgling, bubbly sound. I heard a grunt and then the sound of flesh being chopped and bone cracking. Then there was a small fleshy thud, followed by a larger one.
I swallowed and took a shaky breath before I looked up to see Baine breathing hard, pulling a lighter out of his pocket and as I expected, the vampire's body laying bloody at his feet, starting to deteriorate already, but slower than the wolf had.
I shivered violently and stood up. "You're going to blow up the bus if you set that on fire," I said, my voice hoarse.
He looked at me. "That's the point."
I blinked comprehendingly and then turned around and opened the cage that the shape shifting Magi animal was in. It leapt out almost gratefully into my arms. It was so adorable, I thought, but I didn't feel any of the happiness or warmth that you got when you saw something that cute. I felt like I was a robot, emotionless. I get like that when I go through something that stuns me. It's like I bury myself deep inside of my brain and my body keeps functioning to do what it is supposed to do.
I turned back around to find Baine watching me with disbelief, anger, and worry. I stared at him blankly. Out of the mix, worry showed through more so than the others.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
I nodded. Yes, I was fine. I wasn't hurt, just shaken to a level that I needed to stop and think over before I could calm down and actually deal with. I didn't expect him to understand that, so I took his meaning literally.
He watched me for another moment and then his eyes went to the creature in my arms. The little thing was in the shape of a lion cub again and clawing at the collar around its neck. I ignored the sudden understanding and anger that went over his face again and was happy that he kept his mouth shut. He must have guessed that I had found the little creature and that was somehow the reason that the vampire had caught up with me.
I don't know what I would have done if he had said something about it at that moment. There were two main possibilities. I would have either started crying my eyes out because I was scared out of my mind, or gotten extremely pissed at him and gone off on a ranting about how he had no right to talk about me wasting time when he should have killed the vampire first off and if he would have done that then I wouldn't have been faced with a huge problem and been scared out of my mind and then almost raped/eaten by a fudging vampire!
"Did you find the amulet?" he asked.
"It was in the steering wheel," I said and pulled it out of my pocket.
He nodded once, worry stirring in his eyes again. I assumed it was over the complete and utterly emotionless tone of voice I was using. It was a whole other side of me that people didn't like.
"Keep it for now. And give up on the blank act, it doesn't suit you." Oddly enough, he was being serious, as if he didn't like it when I went totally emotionless.
"Do you think you can go wait over by the trees?" he went on. This time he used a tone that I hadn't heard before. It was like he was being careful, like he was trying to talk a mental patient out of suicide.
I gave him a look that clearly said I'm not that stupid, and walked out of the vehicle through the hole that Baine had turned into a door. Did he think I could wait by the trees, I thought sourly. What, just because I wasn't showing any emotion like he did to me all of the time meant that I was suddenly unstable or something? Did he think that for some reason I was going to just be able to first nearly be killed by a dementor, then find out my aunt and uncle are abducted, then nearly be killed by a giant wolf, then nearly get fed off of by a vampire, then watch it transform to a horrifying degree, and then watch him kill it almost as horrifyingly all in under a short four days? At some point any normal person was going to crack and freak out or, like me, shut down and re-boot like a computer so that I could process the information and still manage to keep my sanity.
The little creature morphed in my arms as I leaned up agenst a tree and stared blankly at the ground, trying to sort through what had just happened and file it away along with the rest of this new and crazy stuff. I looked down to see a little black kitten with stunningly green eyes looking up at me.
I saw a kind of emotion in those eyes, like the creature was sentient, and it looked like gratitude. It was so adorable that I smiled faintly. I was happy that I had gone back for this little guy, even though it had got me in a world of trouble. Because I had a feeling that if I hadn't I still would have been caught by that vamp and Baine still would have killed it and I still would have been burying myself. But thanks to this little guy, I couldn't be totally emotionless for however long a time that I would usually be after something like this happened. Normally when it was something this bad like finding out about the details of my parents' death I would have been in this state, no emotion at all, for three or four days before I finally came out of it.
But there was no way that I couldn't feel at least a little happy around this thing. I felt attached for some reason, as if I had just bought a new pet. I actually regretted that I was still detached from my body though. I just couldn't take my mind off of what I just saw. It would take me a day at the very least if I really forced myself to see the brighter side of things and kept from thinking about all of the possibilities of what could have happened if Baine hadn't shown up and so on. But I would have to do a lot of forcing.
In front of me I saw Baine walk out of the hole in the side of the bus and about three seconds later it blew up. Seeing Baine walking that way and watching the explosion go off behind him sure was something. It highlighted his chiseled features and defined his body to exact definition. Damn he was everything that my dream Man was. Note the capital M. he wasn't just a boy, or a guy. He was a Man.
Well there was another thing that would take my mind off of what had just happened, Devil Aly thought in a seductive tone. I shoved that thought to the back of my head. I wasn't going to start fantasizing about Dimitri Baine just to get out of an unhealthy mental state. I was simply stating facts.
He paused when he reached the tree that I was standing next to and looked me over.
"I told you, I'm fine," I said. I could read the worry in his eyes as easy as reading a third grade book. I realized that in this state of mind I could read him better. It was either that, or he was feeling so strongly that it showed through his normally blank reserve.
He shook his head. "No you're not. I can't feel your mind anywhere. You've completely disappeared."
I looked down at myself pointedly and then back up to him. "Good. Then maybe I won't be found by anything else that wants me dead," I said flatly.
He gave me a look. "That isn't what I was talking about and you know it."
I shrugged indifferently. "It doesn't matter. I just need time to think it over, alright?" When he didn't answer I went on. "I promise. Just a day. Maybe I can sleep it off."
It didn't change his outlook on me whatsoever. He looked into my eyes and I into his for almost a minute and then I spoke, tired on the analytical gaze he was looking at me with. He'd already looked through me and gotten a good idea of how I acted. Now he was just going to have to find out the other things that I did without trying to read me.
"We should probably go. Someone was bound to have noticed that explosion," I said and then turned to walk off back in the general direction of the park.
I felt Baine's hand on my shoulder then, and he pulled me back and turned me around to face him.
"I told you I'm—" but my words were cut off when his lips met mine.
I wanted to melt. My whole body relaxed from the tension that it had been in and I hopelessly leaned into him, lips parting beneath his, fire coursing through my veins and my Sentinel mark burning. And then it was over.
He leaned back and looked into my eyes… and then left. He just walked off in the direction that I had been heading to only seconds ago. I stood there, breathless and staring at the burning scraps of the tour bus. Great, now on top of being freaked out I was totally confused, not only over why the heck he'd just kissed me, but my feelings about it. Damn it, my life was so much easier before I met him!
I felt his hand around my arm and he pulled me along through the trees. I barely registered the fact that I was moving because I was so immersed in my thoughts.
"You orbed," he said suddenly.
"Yeah," I said absently. I was in no mood for a conversation, I wasn't really even aware that I'd answered him. This was something that I had forgotten about. My sudden movement from being squished up agenst the wall by that vampire, to falling from ceiling height onto the floor as Baine made a new door for that bus.
"How?" he asked.
I frowned. That was a good question. Then I shrugged. "I figured that you would know that." After all, he was the one who figured that I could orb in the first place.
"I do know. But the question is could you do it again?"
"Oh. Well then no. I have no idea. One moment I was there the next I was falling on the floor." I tried to recall that exact moment, to remember my thoughts, but all I did was close my eyes and waited for my throat to be torn open.
"Think about it. Let me know what you come up with," he said, giving up any attempts at conversation with me.
Good. I didn't really want to talk right now anyway. Because every time I heard his voice I kept thinking about what it would sound like if he was whispering in my ear and kissing me again…
I shook my head violently. No, that was not a good path to be drifting off down right now. Who cares if he'd just kissed me. I climbed into the car and the little creature shifted into a blue healer puppy and started scratching at its collar again.
I'd had a pet once, when I was little. She was a black lab and her name was Ebony. But she got old and passed away. I remembered how she loved it when I scratched under her collar, she wore it all the time and it got annoying and would lay with me on the floor for an hour at least and just let me scratch under her collar.
I did the same here to this creature and it completely relaxed on my lap with its tongue lolling out of its mouth a little bit. I grinned and twisted the collar around to see if there were any tags on it. Did Magi animals even need shots?
I assumed not when I found only one golden tag attached to the black collar. It was the name tag.
"His name is Fang," I said absently. That was interesting name. I wondered if he could turn into anything besides a cat or dog. The collar probably kept him from turning into anything larger than it would permit. That would be useful for going out in public or something. It was even adjustable in size.
I returned to scratching under the collar and stared out the window. The clouds were dark. I was surprised to find that it was four o' clock. It must have taken a while for the drive all of the way across the city, plus the distance between Baine's mansion and any civilization for miles.
"It's a familiar," Baine said a few minutes later.
"You mean like a witches pet?" I asked, catching on.
He nodded. "They don't have to eat, but they do like to. The usual favorite is any kind of citrus fruit. It doesn't cost much. I suppose I could buy it until you get a job."
"Wait, are you saying that I can keep him?" I asked.
"He's gotten as attached to you as you are to him. I would hate to see you cry if I didn't let you," his voice was totally unemotional, but I could tell he was doing this for a reason. Was he trying to make me happy? He'd said the emotionless gig didn't fit me too well, and I was still pretty blank, but when he'd kissed me it had woke me up a little. What that the only reason that he'd done it? I shrugged that thought off. At the moment, he was saying yes to letting me keep the cutest little animal that I'd ever see in my life.
"Really?" I said, sounding like a kid that got to open a present the day before Christmas. Wow, who knew that so small a thing could make such a difference? In my excitement I had totally forgotten about the past few hours. It seemed to be exactly what Baine had been aiming for, because he smiled a genuine grin that wasn't full of any sarcastic or fake emotion.
I stared, wide eyed. My earlier thoughts came back to me now, the feeling of those sensual lips agenst mine made my blood boil again.
I blinked and shook my head again and looked at Fang. I am not falling for Dimitri Baine, I am not falling for Dimitri Baine, I repeated to myself over and over. It took a while to convince myself totally and unquestioningly of the fact. I finally stopped when we reached the gate of the house.
Two hours later.
Dear Diary,
I went through an interesting day today.
I met another one of Baine's friends, his name is Josh Evans. He seems nice enough and said that he's known Baine for forever.
Baine also took me with him to kill a vampire today. That vampire turned out to be the lead singer of a band and was mesmerizing people with magic woven into their music. I got the amulet that Baine asked for though, and after almost getting forced to lose my virginity to a vampire and then watching it turn into its Other Form (description totally horror movie worthy) and then watching Baine kill it and having my mind shut down there for a while, I handed it over to him.
I found out how to Orb. Well… almost anyway. I did it, but I have no clue how. Baine is being a subborn jerk and is making me think about it before he gives me the answer. Grr.
I also got a pet today. His name is Fang, he is a Familiar. Baine has told me a little about them and I'm assuming that there is a book on them somewhere in that huge library that is next door to my room. He is my new buddy now, and totally adorable! From what I've seen so far he can only turn into felines and canines. Why I don't specify any kinds is because I think that he can get into bigger ones when he isn't wearing his collar. He really likes me, I think it's because I took him out of that horrible cage trapped behind a TV. I love him!
And the last thing that I shall mention… Baine kissed me today. I don't know what to think about that. The feeling of it was just so right. It made me feel alive and warm and if I go on I will be in danger of running downstairs right now and returning it. But he drives me insane! I don't know what to do! Grr again. *Sigh* maybe God will grant me a miracle and I won't ever have to decide.
~Hopelessly Confused (Aly)
I put my notebook and pen into the drawer that I decided I'd keep it in and sighed. I should have written about that last subject first. Now it was on my mind again. I walked over to the bed where I'd put Fang and taken off his collar.
I told him to go no bigger than a baby of anything on my bed, I didn't want to break it and who knows what he can turn into? Surprisingly, he understood. It was as I had thought earlier in the forest. He was sentient. At the moment he was a little kitten with tiger stripes and golden eyes.
I was happy that I was able to process things faster now. I hate those times when I locked myself up and threw away the key, because when I was done I would look back and see how cold that I'd been and regret things I'd said and done.
I realized that all I needed to do was force the information into my brain and look at the bright side of things.
I picked up Fang and crawled under my blankets and then placed him on the pillow next to my head. He curled up in a little ball and fell sound asleep. It wasn't much time later that I followed suit, trying and failing miserably to keep my mind off of that kiss.