Before I have the chance to react to how I feel about being this close to our enemy and the possible downfall of each of us, I am being flung through the woods at top speed. I gasp and feel the wind be knocked out of me, the trees whirling past me as a mesh of green. I try to look around to figure out who's causing me to move this fast and all I see is a nice ass.
"DAMON! PUT ME DOWN!" I scream on the top of my lungs, as my mind catches up to my body. All that this does is make Damon hold on tighter, for the fear that I'll begin to fight him. I give up and let him carry me away to wherever we're going, I look to the side and see that Ben is on Kat's back and are cruising right next to us. It's kind of weird to see Ben on the back of a girl… he notices this and flips me off with a teasing smirk.
As odd as it feels to be flipped off, I throw my head back and laugh out loud at it just because I've seen so many terrible things and I can't help but remember a time when seeing the birdie was one of the worst things. It used to offend me, set me off of the rails. Too much of my innocence is gone now for silly things such as that.
"I think it's safe to stop now." Kat says and we stop moving. I scramble down from the awkward positioning of Damon, trying to not let him help me. I want no reason for him to believe that I have a soft spot for him still, despite the fact that it is present. "That was close…"
"Guys, I think that I should go back there…" I announce, only to receive the most glares of confusion I think I've ever gotten at one time before. I look over at Ben first, knowing that he's the weakest to my charms out of the group of them. I try to send him a message of what my plan is. He appears to receive my idea and perks up a little bit and nods his head.
"Are you insane?" Damon bursts without any reservation, anger spread evenly over his face. "Those people want to kill us and you want to go back there alone!"
"Let her go." Ben pleads my case the best he can without disclosing the information.
"You can shut up!" Damon snaps at Ben, his vampire face crackling under his eyes. He's losing control… I take this chance to begin to go back towards the camp we had stumbled upon not that long ago. I don't make it ten feet away before Damon is in front of me once more, barricading my path. His face looks lethal as he glares at me in confusion. "Where do you think you're going?"
"I have a plan Damon! Don't be so over protective, I can do this!" I puff out my chest and announce, through with letting him push me around so easily. I am a strong woman and he will give me the respect that I desire. He is not dominant over me, whatever he may think. His eyes show the fear that if he lets me go that it may be the last time he will ever see me. "Just let me go…please…" I drop my voice to a softer tone, hoping that may have a different effect.
"I can't…I just…I can't lose you…not again…"
"You don't get to make that decision anymore Damon. You lost any say in what I do when you abandoned me, unconscious, in a vacant basement. You didn't make any effort to contact me, you just disappeared. You cannot expect to have any power over me now, let me go." My tone becomes harsh and I watch him flinch at each sharp word. He tries to mask his pain from my speech with anger but I know better.
"I won't let you go." He reaches over and grips my arm to keep me from moving. The moment that his hand makes contact I feel myself explode from the anger, HOW DARE HE! I smack him as hard as I can with my free hand, leaving a nice pink handprint on his cheek. He stares down at me frozen in shock that I just hit him, his eyes flashing back and forth between normal and red. He's fighting to keep control and losing.
"Let go of me right now or God so help me!" I growl, ripping my arm from his loosened grip. "Go home Damon! I can take care of myself now, I don't need your assistance. We'll talk about this if and when I get home."
"If." He scoffs as he runs his hand through his hair. This is hard for him, I can tell. I try to soften up a little as I walk over to Ben and give him a hug.
"Thank you so much for everything that you've taught me." I mutter into his ear, feeling Damon bore his evil glare into my back from the rabid jealousy coursing through him.
"I've…I've barely even gotten started…" Ben mumbles bashfully, trying to avoid the scrutinizing stare of Damon. "Come home and I'll finish teaching yah." I smile at him and nod, hoping that my plan will work, and I'll have the chance to actually learn the rest of the tricks that I'm capable of. Next I approach Katherine who is staring at me with a veil of indifference. I ignore the façade and hug her tightly, knowing that even though she's not hugging back, she wants to.
"It's hard to believe that I used to hate you…" I admit, pulling out of the hug and staring her directly in the eyes. She stares back, desperately trying to hold her emotions back because I can tell that she's fighting tears. "Katherine…thank you."
"Be careful Emma, I don't know what life would be like without you there to keep things interesting."
"You…you called me Emma…" I point out in astonishment. She's never called me anything but human from the moment she met me and hearing her call me something else feels gratifying. She shrugs it off like no big deal, holding back as usual.
"Emma…don't do this." Damon seethes between his teeth as I pass him, without a glance nor word in his direction. After getting a few steps away from them I whirl around to give them their only directions. "Kat, Ben, make sure Damon gets home safe and sound. I would hate for everything I'm doing to be a waste."
"Emma…" Damon calls out, grabbing my wrist again only this time with more gentility than last time. He really doesn't want me to go, does he? I look up into his beautiful ocean eyes, praying that I have the strength to stand against him still. "Emma." He states my name again in a soft whisper, tears welling up in his eyes. "I'm so sorry. About everything, about turning my back on you in the vacation house, for feeding off of you, for abandoning you when you needed me the most, for expecting to be welcomed back with open arms, for everything. I'm just sorry." His words cradled in sincerity, I feel it in my gut that he's not just saying it to get me to stay, he really means it. I feel like I've just been punched in the stomach as I look up into the face of the man I loved. Of the man that I still do love. Of the man I will most honestly love forever.
"No Damon, I'm sorry." I respond and that's all I give him because at that moment I turn on my heels and walk away from the three of them, to my possible death for all that I know. I chose that moment and those words because a second longer and I would have caved into his whim and gone home with him but, not yet. There is just one last thing I need to do in order to confirm our security.
I'm walking directly into the belly of the beast.
It doesn't take me long to stumble upon the camp once again, to my great surprise. We must not have gone as far away as I had originally believed. The tents are much nicer than anything that we had on our trekking mission. All of their equipment looks nice and well taken care of, as do the people and I'm pushed into further surprise. The people that we've been running from look like baby sitters, kind next door neighbors, or school teachers. This entire time I've been picturing ruthless and mean people who wear leather jackets and have five o'clock shadow. One of the women is wearing a baby pink cardigan for crying out loud! Not ANYWHERE near what I was expecting.
"Halt your work!" A man's voice comes from a tall crimson tent in the center of the camp. As if they were on a remote control, every person drops what they're doing and faces the tent. In every direction they stand, waiting for command. Then I know that this man must be the leader of their group. This must be the man that used to be second in command before Damon killed their last leader. This is the man that is after Damon.
As if I was just hit by a bus my whole body suddenly jolts in pain. My limbs feel as though they are being torn off of my body as I flop to the ground, trying to control my flailing limbs. I try to center my thoughts and use my psychic energies to blockade their effect on me. I do not doubt for a second that they either saw me coming or sensed me coming, they are an army of powerful psychics after all. I squirm under their control and through the haze of the ringing in the ears I hear the rushed foot falls over crunching leaves as the clan surrounds my agonized body.
"Who is she?" A far away voice of a woman questions aloud.
There is a deafening silence that follows until another voice chimes, "I can't get into her head…"
I feel someone push my shoulder over so that I'm facing up towards them, I can barely keep my vision straight as I continue to work to grasp onto something inside of myself. I'm not sure what I'm reaching for but it just seems instinctual to do so. I see a tall, twenty-something handsome man with more of the look I was expecting suddenly lean over the top of my sprawled body and peering down at me with a curious and defensive gaze.
"She's a Reeves psychic…" The man's deep husky voice trails in astonishment. "Put her out…" He says in a shaky voice, walking away from me. I find the strength to follow him with my eyes as he walks away, he stops and looks over his shoulder, down at me then back at the crowd of people. "If you can that is…" An amused smirk reaches his lips, reminding me of certain person's own signature smirk. No one's can beat Damon's, not even this guy.
Something strikes the top of my head and that is the last thing I think of before I go out.
In all of the movies when a person begins to come to its slow and things blur in and out little by little before they are conscious enough to respond to people beckoning to them. I've gone through it before, I know how it feels, it's extremely frustrating to start. Not this time though. One second I'm out cold, nothing there but an infinite darkness and suddenly, I'm sitting up erect and huffing in and out rapidly as if I had just ran a mile.
"Ms. Reeves…are you alright?" A gentle voice coos next to me with the gentleness of a birdsong. I dart my eyes over to her frantically as I begin to catch my breath once more. The girl looks a few years younger than myself, her red hair cascading over her shoulders, and her green eyes glimmering at me as if she were looking at a hero or a famous person. I cough out a few times to make sure I am before I nod back at her, checking myself back over.
I'm on a cot with linens clinging to a crappy mattress. There is nothing restraining me and if anything, it looks as if I was taken very good care of while I was knocked out. Relief washes over me as I realize more and more that I was not killed on the spot by the Slayers. Something seems odd though, but I can't put my finger on it…
"If you're okay then you must go and visit Mr. Till…" The girl soothes, placing a freckly hand on my shoulder and helping me to stand. "Sorry that we had to knock you out…it was a safety issue I promise." I don't say anything, I just stare down at her a little more than confused by all of this. The little girl doesn't seem fazed by my odd behavior and keeps leading my along through the camp, towards the big red tent that caught my eye when I first laid my eyes on the camp. She pulls aside the tent door flap and leads me inside. The man that I saw before passing out is sitting at a small desk in the far corner of the small area, writing something down. "Mr. Till…"
The man at the table lifts his gaze up to the two of us and his mouth opens with a wordless welcome. He nods his head and tells her to leave, requesting to be left alone with me at this moment.
"Do you know who you are?" The man asks, packing his papers up and approaching me. I don't answer him because I'm so confused. Of course I know who I am…that's an odd question…but there is something else that has been bothering me ever since I got myself stuck here.
"Of course I do…a better question is how do you know?"
"Emma, Emma, Emma…" The man laughs while pacing in front of me, like a lion taunting his prey. "I'm not dim, I realize that you know your name and parsonage. What I was inquiring was if you realize how powerful you are and can be?"
"Yes." I seethe, an uncomfortable air hangs around me as I stare this man down. He has short dark hair, including the dark stubble that coats his chin and upper lip. His eyes are light golden brown, almost like the color of dirty blond hair. It looks slightly odd, the two clashing shades but, it makes him intriguing to look at. There is a visible tattoo rung around his wrist, it looks like barbed wire.
"Do you?" He asks again, beginning to circle me with a sinister grin that sets my teeth on edge. "Emma Reeves, I personally believe that you are clueless because if you had even an inkling than you would not be concealing it from me. You would know precisely what I am talking about and you would be proud of it because with that knowledge, you have the upper hand."
"What are you talking about?" My breath hitches in my throat as I stare at the man before me, his last name being Till if I recall correctly. It also is freaking me out to no end how he seems to know more about me than I know about myself. Does he know that I am across enemy lines right now, trying to do what I think is best for me and for everyone? The way he's stalking around me like I'm some sort of ritual fire is frightening. "Of course, why should you tell me? As you said, my knowledge of whatever it is would give me the upper hand. Why would you want to help me in any sort of way?"
"You mistake me Emma. I am not trying to kill you, we are not enemies but allies. You are the very staple of myself and every other psychic that walks the present earth."
"Excuse me?"
"I know it sounds crazy, but it is true." The man begins walking backwards towards the desk he was bent over when I came in. "Do you know about the originals?"
"Of course I do Till!" I call him only by his last name, being that is all I know. I keep my voice harsh, reminding him that even though he claims to be a friend that I am not foolish enough to put my trust into the hands of a complete stranger. "They are the families that were originally cursed into our beings. Vampires, werewolves, witches, and psychics. Don't think that I would not read up on the history of my own people, no matter how little time I've known of it. Of course, you know that I'm barely trained. Don't you?" Intense eyes stare at each other as we face one another. The looks couldn't necessarily be called glares because there is not hate behind them, only resent.
"You don't know the name of the original Psychic, do you?"
"No…" I sheepishly admit, realizing that I've just had my own snarking words spit back at me.
"Her name was Alexandria Reeves."
My head begins to spin and my heart pounds even harder than ever. I try to take a deep breath and relax at this new nugget of information. The room begins to sway like the heat that waves off of a flame, heating the tent to a fever pitch, and distorting my vision. "You mean to say that I am an original psychic?"
"Don't get too conceited, you're related to her, there's a difference. You're not as powerful as she was but you have power that the average psychic could only dream of. You had no idea of course, being that you father never told you about your genetic relic."
"My father knew?" My head shoots up and I stare at Till with glimmering eyes. "He knew that I was to become a psychic when I got older?"
"Knew? He's one himself. He thought that divorcing your mother would save you from this world, he was wrong. It's in your nature to be attracted to the supernatural, it was only a matter of time before nature would take its course. Most psychics can avoid their powers if desired. For you that is nearly impossible, you are too powerful, too different to whisk away your powers."
"You mean to say that he still loves my mom?"
"Probably always will but he cares too much for you to let that get in the way."
"You talk as if you know him."
"Knew him, actually. He was a member of the Slayers, in secret of course. Your mother never knew about your powers or his. That all changed when you were born. He began questioning our motives and he ran away, haven't seen him since."
Not thinking that I can take any more surprises, I start for the door. I was wrong to come here, I should have kept my distance, it's not safe for me here, and it's not safe for me anywhere. I reach for the cloth flap of the tent when I feel an iron hand clasp over my shoulder, holding me back. I look up into the strange eyes of this man that I call Till.
"Who are you?" I find myself asking before I can stop.
"Zechariah Till, nice to meet you."
"I wish I could say the same." I gasp.
"This is your tent. Mine is the black one right next door. Welcome to headquarters Emma, your initiation will be at dawn."
"Initiation?"
"Of course, you're one of us now. It's always destined to be this way." Zech smiles at me before he ducks out of the tent, leaving me with my own thoughts.
What have I gotten myself into?
Hey, is ANYONE reading this? I'm just curious because hell if I'd know because no one is reviewing. I know that I should be doing this for myself, which I am don't mistake me, but I will not post another chapter until I get at least two reviews per chapter. Alright…the story line is really heating up isn't it? :D