Author's Note: Thank to those who are reading this, but don't forget to hit the little review button, it doesn't take too much effort. Now things are strtign to come to end in this. ONly two chapters after this, and then I have the sequel getting ready to go. So feel free to let me know if I should stop or not.
Big thanks to macrauchenia for being a great beta!
I don't own the FAYZ
Chapter 7
Jace spun Crissy into his arms as they both fell onto his bed, a smile pulling across his face as he tugged her closer to kiss her firmly. She laughed as they hit the bed.
"Tomorrow I'm not opening up the casino," Jace told his girlfriend. "I'll have a full watch set up around the house and you and me will eat 'til we're bursting. We can cook up that rabbit over some hot coals, shred up some food. We'll eat good, babe, I promise."
"Oh you're going to spoil me now?" Crissy teased as her blond hair fell on to the pillow at her back.
"You know it, babe. That Kris came through and paid me off pretty well. Some real meat will be good and worth the trouble he caused me." Jace fell off to the side of her, letting her rest her head on his shoulder.
"That little rabbit will make quite a night for us tomorrow, I'll promise you that." Crissy leaned up over Jace before her lips came crashing down onto his.
~x~X~x~
Will silently watched one of the guards surrounding Jace's house. There were only two boys watching the house with baseball bats in hand. The other guards all slept in the house out back. He couldn't let this happen to poor Max. It would take too long to prepare an animal for food, Will had thought about that before, so Jace wouldn't have it cooked today and he wouldn't want to share with anyone. A few pieces might be thrown out to the guards but that would be it.
He carefully crawled on his belly until he was just below the window before sliding the glass pane up out of his way. Will crawled through window and started to step through the house but the floor boards squeaked with each step. The house seemed much quieter when it was filled with loud people. Now that it was empty, the house screamed with every step.
Will heard laughing and giggling coming from a room down the hall. He guessed that it was Jace and the blond snake Crissy.
He hurried down to the back of the house, trying to stay silent. He found a closet full of boxes and there was a larger plastic box on the floor with holes punched into it. Will opened and found a little white rabbit happily hopping in it.
Will glanced over his shoulder, closed the plastic tub and ran for the window. In his rush a lamp crashed to floor and made Will fall to floor too.
"What the hell?" someone yelled from down the hall and Will's face paled. He jumped out the window and took off running down the street.
"Get that kid!" one of the guards called out by the Door.
"You! Go get the others," Jace demanded but Will didn't stand around to see who he was talking to. He ran.
Will's legs pumped hard as his sneakers slapped the ground and he was thankful for his years playing baseball. He had no idea where he was going to go, but with a rabbit in a box under one arm, no ideas in his head, and several armed boys chasing him, he ran.
~x~X~x~
Kris stumbled along the road. He couldn't believe that Will sold him out like that. Kris had risked his own skin when he was in boiling water already with Jace when Will needed help. Kris snorted and kicked a rock down the empty street. He thought it was good thing Will had that dumb rabbit. Kris might have traded it for more, but he wanted Ace to take it and cut it up and serve it to his little puppy dog, Will. That would show the stuck up jerk, Kris thought.
Then Kris' ears perked up when he heard shouting.
"Over there!" Kris knew that voice; it was Ace.
"You sure? We don't want to lose him." That was a calmer voice, Dwight.
"Of course I'm sure," Ace snapped. "Now get your guys and get over there.
Kris silently laughed to himself. It was about time someone else got the beat down from those guys. The footsteps were starting to get fainter, moving away from him. It sounded like someone was running towards him but he wasn't sure. That's when it hit him.
A sandy haired boy dressed in a baseball player's helmet and cleats ran straight into him, the bat the other boy had been carrying clattered to the ground making a huge noise.
Kris shoved Will off, adding a kick to the shoulder for good measure.
Will's hard green eyes saw who he ran into a crazed look crossed into his eyes as he grabbed his bat and scrambled to his feet. "Kris, you idiot I told you to run the other direction, now they'll find both of us!" Will said much louder than necessary.
"Will, you ass!" Kris shoved at him. "Now—"
"They're this way. It's Will and that scumbag Kris!" Dwight yelled and the footsteps started to get louder.
Will smirked. "You better run Kristos Meth. They catch you; you might not be able to take another step in your life." Will took off running towards the highway.
Kris stood there, dumb struck. What else could he do? Betrayed by the same guy twice. Kris had every intention of playing Will's little game too. "Will, go towards the highway, you could hide up there!" He hoped his voice carried back to Dwight and Jace.
Kris took off running. He might be forgiven for being framed if he helped them catch up to Will, and if not he just make sure they could find their way to Will.
If Kris was going down, he was going to see Will go down too.
~x~X~x~
Aerik had finally gotten Demi to sleep near the fire that Athene had built. He hadn't seen his sister; the most he heard was the occasional log falling or the sound of wood cutting. Nikki had finally returned to camp and she remained silent as she stared into the fire and nibbling on the cooked fish wrapped in a cabbage leaf.
"She was scared at first," Aerik told the girl. "She was really scared; she thought she was going to end up like that Orc guy."
Nikki looked up at him, confused at first and then she nodded. "He's really creepy. It wouldn't be so bad to look at him if he was all rock, but to think there's a human under it all…" She shivered.
"Well, Athene is human under it. It's just like an extra layer of protection."
"What is it that she has anyway? Rocks? Or…or...what?"
Aerik shrugged. "We're not really sure. We think they're like scales, we thought it was like finger nails at first because it started by spreading up from nails. Then it covered the palms on her hands." Aerik rubbed his hands together, thinking of his sister's transformation. "Then as the days went by it grew up her arms, getting thicker and stronger and spikier. Then one day we were building the harness for our trailer and we were using an electric buzz saw. I slipped and it went right across her hand. I freaked out, I thought I had just killed my sister, but her scales and shot up, thicker than ever and they went clear up her arms to her shoulders. They were really weird that time, but the saw didn't leave a mark on her and they wouldn't go right back down like before." Aerik looked up and saw that Nikki had gone pale.
"She couldn't hold them out?" Nikki asked.
Aerik shook his head. "Maybe for a minute or two, but that was it. That time though, they wouldn't go back. She yelled and threw stuff. Angry at her arms, at me, at everything really. She tried to cut them off with a hack saw but it just made them sharper. She pulled at them and tried prying them off, it was awful, and she made herself bleed where she cut at them where they met her skin at the shoulder. But the more upset she got the higher they grew. She started to cry and tell me she didn't want to be like Orc. I don't remember how long she cried but finally they started to go away. When she finally calmed down, they were gone."
"Is it like that all the time?" Nikki looked at Aerik; he could see that she was starting to understand it was something Athene couldn't control. "Does it take forever for them to go away?"
"No, Athene has gotten really good at controlling them. She can only cover her hands, or her finger tips if she wants, and they spread all the way up to her shoulders. If she had known they would have frightened you she would have started small just to explain, not gone full lizard girl on you." Aerik chuckled trying to make Nikki smile.
"I'm really sorry about that; I don't hate the freaks, really. It just kind of scares me you know, it's hard getting used to." Nikki scooted a little closer Aerik so that their shoulders were touching,
"It's fine. Now we've just got to get her to understand that."
"Should we go look for her?"
Aerik laughed. "No, she'll work all night and we might walk under a falling tree, it would be best if we just follow the trail of chopped wood in the morning, I can pull if you and Demi load. Then we can head back into town early."
Another crash echoed through the woods, Nikki jumped at the sound. "I will apologize in the morning though."
"I'm sure she would appreciate it." Aerik looked over at the distraught girl next to him and carefully placed his arm around her shoulders, holding his breath waiting for her reaction. Nikki didn't pull away; she relaxed into his embrace and let him hold her. Aerik let out the breath he was holding.
"You know, if you don't mind all the weird stuff about me, we could be a…well an us," he said really quietly, so quietly that he wasn't sure she heard him.
There was a pause, not long, but enough to awkward. Nikki looked at him, her eyes questioning him, it was a look he didn't see on her face very often, she was unsure. "Are you asking me to be your girlfriend?"
Aerik's mouth went dry as he looked Nikki right in the eye. He didn't know what she would say if he told her yes. He just knew he really liked having her around, and he liked spending time with her. If her being his girlfriend was what it took to keep the feeling he got when she was around, then that's exactly what he wanted. Aerik realized his hand shook slightly, but he nodded. "Yes."
A small curve formed on Nikki's lips. "I'd like that a lot," she told him in the orange firelight. She leaned in to carefully place her lips against Aerik's.
As Athene thundered through the woods, considering the possible end of a friendship, back at camp there was the chance of a new beginning.
