Disclaimer: South isn't mine.

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EDITED
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AUTHOR'S NOTE: Soo. I'm cutting out a few things, like the oh-so-almighty prophecy. I mean, now, it sounds very stupid. Then again, so does an alien "Spencer Carlin."...I regret nothing.

Chapter Three : Animal I Have Become (Part II)

(Spencer POV)

"Who's her, exactly?"

Noah's mouth opens, closes. Silence.

"Words, Noah," Spencer nearly growls, too confused for patience. "Use. Them."

"The girl you've been hanging out with at university," Noah finally utters, leveling a grave stare that she feels in her bones."The brunette who has a daughter?"

Spencer steps back, stunned. As the words ran over and over again in her head, images of Ashley's smiling face are all she's seeing. Her hands are shaking, civil grey eyes darkening into black. "Tell me you're joking," She demands, fear seeping into her words. "Please."

"We've been watching you, for awhile now." Noah stands under her intense gaze, keeping his distance. "A few weeks after you left, I appointed a seer, to watch out for you in his premonitions. If anything bad was coming your way, it'd come across his radar. He'd warn us. Well, last night, he saw something bad coming."

In her head, Spencer's focus is still on Ashley's face as she stares into the skyline. This wasn't what she needed to hear.
"What's happens to Ashley?"

"In his premonition," He recalls, his eyes burning into the back of her head too long for her liking. "She's dying...and you, you're watching it happen."

Spencer's eyes are darting from the floor back up to his, accusing, angry.
"No. You're wrong." Desperation washes over her, her back slapping against the brick wall behind her. "Please, be wrong."

But Noah's honest eyes prove otherwise, and Spencer feels the urge to scream. For a painful amount of time, he stares at the unreadable expression painting my features, concentrating hard on the thumping in my chest. She may have been immortal, but she could still pass out.

He's stepping towards her now, hands out. "We were there too, Spencer, Warryn and I, and our soldiers. We were fighting something, he couldn't see. The seer, he—there was blood and Ashley's hanging from air, and this demon was—"

Demon. Spencer's head tilts at the word, suddenly seeing crimson.
"A demon knows I'm alive."

"Apparently." Noah ignores her glare.

"All these years...I thought I was being so careful," She's whispering out loud, and then she feels a painful stab of regret. "—to get to me, using someone I care about as bait. But why her? I've only known Ashley for a few weeks, she doesn't deserve—Dammit, Noah, she's done nothing wrong. She's just a human!"

"That very well may be on the outside," Noah retorts, lost in thought. "Tell me you haven't felt it, that subtle difference that sets her apart from them. She's human, but she's also gifted. Must've had a half-breed parent down the line for this to have happened, but it is very real. Whoever this is that's planning on attacking her to get to you must know it as well. It's only adding fuel to the fire. The second best thing for a demon to feed on instead of gifted power is a half-breed."

"What am I supposed to do now?" She asks, pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration. "I cannot protect her without exposure."

"I don't think you have a choice anymore," He murmurs, close enough to lay a comforting hand on her shoulder. Begrudgingly, Spencer turned to face him with black eyes, ignoring how weak the tears in them made her look. "Besides, if I'm right about your friend, you've got nothing to lose. Now. I promised I would watch over you, and I'm not going back on that promise any time soon. So, I'm going to stay here in the city until both of you are safe. I'll contact you soon, I promise."

Spencer looks away, past the ledge, and at the ground below. She breathes in and out, letting the humid air of the coming storm dance inside her lungs. When she closes her eyes, the brunette's there once again. "I have to go to her," Spencer tells him. "I need to see that she's safe."

Stepping up, onto the ledge, she gives him one last glance before leaping into the darkness.

Once she makes it to Ashley's apartment on the far side of town, the storm had already arrived, sending coils of thunder, lightning, and flooding rains throughout the city. Being that Ashley and Spencer had only been acquainted with each other for mere weeks, Spencer knew how creepy it would look showing up unannounced at her apartment. Thankfully, earlier that day, she'd acquired Ashley's bag she'd forgotten in one of her classes from a professor. It proved to be the perfect excuse to see that she wasn't in any danger.

Ashley Davies answers her door after just two knocks, tired, and oddly unaffected by the raging storm outside.
"Skipper? It's late, what are you—"

The blonde quickly scrambles to retrieve the bag cradled against her chest underneath her coat. "Professor Gean, found this in Sociology today, I told him I'd return it. Figured you'd need to scram some more before his exam tomorrow."

"Oh, thanks! I completely forgot," She gasps, flustered in embarrassment. Once she takes the personal item, Spencer notices her eyeing her rain-soaked clothing. "Jesus, Skip, you're soaked! Get in here, at least until the rain lets up."

"What? No, I'm fine, just wet," She stammers, ignoring the vulgarity of her statement. "My apartment isn't too far—" But before she could finish, Ashley's arm is on hers, pulling Spencer into the warm apartment.

"Take it off."

Spencer blushes, Ashley's blunt words taking her by surprise even though they were innocent in intention.
"Okay, but I really think you should buy me dinner first."

"Shut up, I meant your coat, Skip." Ashley's laughing, eyes rolling adorably. Spencer reluctantly shrugs off the garment, handing it over to Ashley who runs off to put it in the dryer. "Aiden should be here soon, he went to get some flashlights from the general store. This storm's supposed to get a lot worse really fast."

The blonde stiffened, feeling the odd twinge of—jealousy? She brushed it off, thinking rationally again. "I don't want to intrude—"

Ashley's expression twists. "What? You won't be. Aiden will totally understand." A phone rings near the brunette, startling Spencer. "Speaking of, it's him." She watches intently as Ashley talked to her boyfriend, noticing the shift in the brunette's demeanor throughout the conversation. A tension Spencer couldn't ignore. "It's okay, I understand, Aid...No, go help your mother, Aiden. Sophie and I'll be okay here...Yes, I know...Okay, love you too. Bye."

"Family emergency," She's telling her, the calm lightness in her voice gone now. Spencer's brows furrow as she eyed the brunette, finding herself wanting that lightness back; make her happy again. Ashley's staring at her now, hitting her again. "Stop looking at me like that. I'm okay, really."

"Can't help it, you're quite intriguing," Spencer whispers honestly, truly enamored by that fact. Eyes continue to travel along the girl's striking facial structure, studying the strange expressions there.

"Please, you're more mysterious that both of us combined," Ashley denies, lips curving into her own unique, crooked smile that Spencer never got tired of witnessing. Spencer smiles triumphantly herself upon seeing this, feeling oddly warm. It's in this moment that Spencer starts feeling guilty for the second time, for whatever reason, she hadn't realized yet.

It was only when the cries of Sophie in her room seconds later that the two finally broke their gaze. Ashley's giving her an apologetic smile and sprints off, disappearing for three minutes. Spencer uses this time to mentally sweep the apartment in her mind until she's sure there's absolutely no sign of any unwanted intruders. By the time Ashley's returned to the living room, Spencer is there waiting patiently.

"Sorry about that," She apologizes, softly. "The storm woke her, but it's under control now."

"I think I should go," Spencer blurts out, feeling herself frown at the words. She steps toward the direction of Ashley's dryer, but the brunette is stopping her.

"Wait, Skip," She's pleading, fingers gripping her forearm. The blonde notes her pulse quickening at the touch, as well as Ashley's. "It doesn't look like it's letting up any time soon, and I'd feel really bad letting you go. So, I was thinking, you could just sleep on the couch until morning since it's so late."

"I don't have a choice, do I?" Spencer questions, smiling as the girl shook her head. "Alright, I'll stay. Stop you're pouting, Davies."

Ashley beams, much to Spencer's delight, setting off to fetch her some clean pajamas and covers. Spencer doesn't sleep at all the rest of the night, and well into the next morning, her mind too anxious to rest. Once she hears the brunette starting to stir in her sleep, Spencer slips out quietly, and out of the apartment.

(Ashley POV)

As I sat there, reading under my usual tree in the middle of central park, my mind couldn't seem to focus. Although it was early in the morning—which I preferred, considering it was less populated—I just could shake this weird feeling tugging at my gut since I'd woken up. Spencer had left before I could catch her that morning, which, yes, bummed me out, but I doubted that was the source of it.

Straining myself, I tried to quell the loud pinging of everyone's thoughts meshing together in my head all of a sudden. I breathed in a deep breath, trying to focus. Just weeks after I'd had Sophie, I found that if I focused hard enough while I listening to the voices, I could see images; people talking in short bursts as they appeared in my head. Quickly, one voice stood out above the rest, seeming to be whispering something rushed, like a chant of some kind. But what crept me out most of all, was that it felt too close to me. Paranoid, I shifted around, surveying my surroundings. To no avail, I couldn't find the source of the muttering. I started to feel uneven turning in my stomach the as the whispers racing faster and faster in my head.

"Hey, Davies!"

I jerked myself away from the chanting, recognizing Kyla's voice shouting in my direction. Of course, she was meeting me today. To hang out. Normal things. Thankfully, as she got closer, her thoughts were more mundane and normal.

"Hey, Ky," I greeted as she sits down next to me. "So, you want to walk somewhere, or are you planning to watch me read all day."

"Walking's cool, gotta work off that Chinese food somehow," She jokes, halfheartedly. Minutes into our walk, the climate of her thoughts shifts dramatically. "So, hey, have you seen Skip around lately? I haven't seen her in a few days, and with last night's storm, I'm all worried she's floating in the river."

I laughed. "No need, Kyla. I saw her last night, so, I'm fairly certain she's still with us."

"You saw Skip, where?"

"She, uhm, stayed at my apartment last night, actually," Ashley replied, annoyed at her own rambling. "She came over to give me my bag, and I didn't want to make her go back in that. So, she slept on the couch. Left pretty early though..."

"Interesting." Kyla only smirks, giving me a weird look. "That lion's got a heart of gold, I swear, always showing up when you need her. She's wicked fast for a blonde."

An hour into our walk, Kyla has to tend to a nerd who she had appointed to do her Lit essay, leaving me to myself. I decided to take a run to the pond at the far end of the park which left me exhausted, so, I'd sat down on a nearby bench to catch my breath. Thankfully, there hadn't been anyone around me to witness what happens next.

Soon, I'd started to feel that familiar uneasiness in my stomach, along with a string of flashing images that seemed to be forcing themselves into my head. Despite trying to ignore them, all I could see on the inside of my eyelids were these two glowing, red eyes. Beyond scared, I pressed my fingers against my temple, forcing myself out of my own head. It was then that I'd noticed I wasn't alone on the bench. With a hand to my chest, I caught my breath, startled at the surprise.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," the young man beside me apologized. "I'm terribly sorry for my rudeness, I should've made note of myself."

From the look of his attire, a sleek black suit and red tie, whoever he was, I didn't feel threatened at first. I'd planned to respond politely to the stranger, but once I'd caught his eyes, everything vanished. Because this stranger had a pair of unusual dark, red eyes that seemed to be trained on me with grave interest. My stomach turns. "No. Uhm. It's okay. I just have to stop my heart from beating so fast, is all."

That can be arranged.
I inwardly cringed at the thought, realizing it to be the same rushed voice whisper I'd overheard earlier. Peeling myself away from his alluring gaze, I'd scooted away from him until I was standing.

"Please, sit," he urged, sweetly. As if I had no control of my legs, I watched in horror as I stepped closer to him, settling myself down on the bench once more. Seconds later, the feeling had completely gone from the neck down, along with my voice. With tears welling in my eyes, I forced them anywhere but into his, concentrating as hard as I could to regain myself before I fainted from fright.

"You heard me earlier, that's no good," He's murmuring, thinking aloud, as he lent into me. A sickly smile touches his lips. "You see, I wasn't expecting you to be so advanced. My mistake."

Seeing as I couldn't respond to him, the man lets out an impatient breath, and touches the base of my neck with his cold, pale fingers.

"No screaming, or I'll break your neck," He warns, looking into my eyes long enough to make his point clear. "Now, let's not get too ahead of ourselves. We haven't had a proper introduction, after all."

Straining my neck, my eyes struggled to narrow into his. My better judgment told me not to scream, seeing as if he could paralyze me without touching me; I wouldn't doubt his previous threat. "What do you want from me?"

"Smart choice," He approves, keeping up his grin. His fingers start trailing down and down, stopping at my thigh. "Mmm. But that's not the right question, dear."

Anger flares up in my chest at the invasion of personal space, but I quash it down.
"Humor me then."

"Oh, how I wish I could've seen that sarcasm sooner!" The thing laughs, clicking his tongue, before leaning back against the bench. "Do you know how hard it is to find a person you can't sense? It's like finding a fly in a swamp. You're special, I'll give you that. But so am I, Miss Davies." Before I could even contemplate that last sentence, the thing's head is tilting to the side; sniffing the air around us.

"She's come sooner than I expected," He gasps, rising to his feet. "Where are you? Show yourself!"

Quiet, cautious whispers are echoing from the shadows, pulling me away from the monster keeping me bound on the bench. My eyes flickered around me, trying to find the origin of the voice, before realizing the whispers were thoughts. The whispers sharpened, focused and determined which struck a chord in my head. Whoever this was, I'd heard their voice before. I listened harder. Her voice. She was speaking to me and me alone. She was telling me to close my eyes.

The man turns abruptly, red eyes burning into mine fiercely. In seconds, his body is on me, pulling me up effortlessly into the air by my throat. I craned my neck, forcing myself to look into the bright blue sky above me, not into anything red.

Close your eyes! Ashley, trust me, please.
Without thinking, I obeyed her, slamming my eyes closed as the air around us changed dramatically.

Within seconds, I felt myself being pushed back by something strong, and away from the thing's grasp. My back hits the grass violently, snapping my neck backwards, and banging my head against the hard surface with as much force to nearly render me unconscious. I spent the following minutes limp, almost too afraid to open my eyes against the pain. After my ears registered several booming crashes and screams, I'd felt something warm wrapping around my waist.

"Hold onto me."

R&R.