Ridley perched herself up on the sill of the large window in her room. The early fall breeze blowing through her long blonde hair. Her journal resting on her knees as she wrote. The sun shining down on her face.
"Ridley?" Isabelle's voice flowed across the room. She slipped through the half-cracked door and moved toward Ridley and the window. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah." Ridley closed her brown leather journal and set it aside. "I'm just thinking," she told her with a smile. "But hey, do you think I could show you something?"
Isabelle had become such a fixture in Ridley's life once Roslyn left and she felt now that she could completely trust her. Though she could quite possibly be wrong, she didn't care. She was done living in this limbo of fear and confusion. She planned to hold the people that cared about her close instead of pushing them away or running from them.
Isabelle nodded in response, moving closer to take a seat at the desk. She watched Ridley intently. "You can trust me," she said sincerely.
Ridley took a deep breath in before flicking her wrist causing the flames to surface through her fingertips. She played with them in front of Isabelle, distorting them into different intensities and heights. Her eyes stayed focused on her hands, too nervous to look at Isabelle's shocked face. Then she flicked her wrist again and the flames disappeared.
The sight before her amazed her. Isabelle looked up at Ridley wide-eyed. "How did you do that? Can you do anything else?"
The questions sounded through Ridley's ears. She could tell that Isabelle wasn't afraid of her or freaked out by her odd ability which put her at ease. She motioned Isabelle to come closer to the window, telling her to look down.
Isabelle did as Ridley told her to do. She was more curious than anything which quickly shifted to nervousness being so close to the drop of the window. It was quite high up, the guest rooms sitting on the fifth and sixth floors. Anyone falling from one of their windows would surely die on impact.
Ridley could sense Isabelle's slight tension building. She twisted her body around, swinging her legs out into the open air of the open window.
"Ridley, are you crazy?" Isabelle gripped her arm. "The fall would kill you."
Ridley shook her head, moving her arm out of Isabelle's grasp. "No," she said. "It would kill you." And then she pushed herself outward, falling from the bedroom window as Isabelle looked on horrified.
Her bare feet landed hard on the courtyard grounds that set underneath her window, her body perfectly upright. When she looked up to wave to Isabelle, there was no one there. "Where did she go?" She said quietly to herself as she walked toward the doors the led back inside.
Isabelle barged through them before she reached the stairs. "You are okay!?" Her voice was loud and filled with fear. She was out of breath and panting in front of Ridley.
Ridley laughed as she ushered her to sit down on the steps. "I am fine," she explained to Isabelle. "I wanted to show you some of these things, then I wanted to tell you what happened at the cemetery."
Isabelle was silent as she tried to catch her breath.
"Izzy," Ridley said, taking hold of her hand. "I am different."
Pandemonium was packed full with the usual mix of mundanes and Downworlders. Downworlders that watched closely as the two daughters of the Nephilim made their way through the crowd alone. They ignored it as they pushed through to the side of the dance floor and took over an emptying table from a group of Nixies.
Isabelle, clad in a skin-tight black and silver dress and her favorite thigh-high boots, looked over at Ridley. "Jace is going to be pissed," she yelled over the music to her with a devious smile. Her eyes keeping watch around them before locking eyes on a someone across the club.
Ridley shrugged her shoulders and look down at her left hand where the beautiful Tiffany ring sat in its rightful place. She pulled at the hem of her close-fitting black lace dress, adjusting it slightly around her tone thighs. She knew Jace would be mad, but she had to do this and she was glad that Isabelle had agreed to come with her. Not that Isabelle would put up a fight to go out.
She noticed that Isabelle's eyes had shifted. "Isabelle," she said loudly, waving a hand in front of her face. She followed her gaze to the opposite side of the club to the balcony. Her skin crawled at the sight of what Isabelle had been so focused on.
Jonathan.
She was right. This was exactly the place to come to bait him out of hiding. And there he was, right there staring down at the girls.
Isabelle turned her eyes away and looked back at Ridley. "Who is that?"
Ridley ignored her question, moving away from the table crossing the dance floor toward the stairs to the upper balcony. Isabelle gawked after her before falling in behind. Together, they walked up the stairs, making their way to him.
It was quieter upstairs due to the fact that is was enclosed with large glass windows that cut out a bit of the blaring music. Jonathan stood in the same place he had been when they spotted him. His face remaining stoic as he turned to them. "Don't you ladies look nice," his voice was thick, it causing Ridley's stomach to turn.
Isabelle smiled at him and thanked him flirtaciously. Ridley watched her as she sauntered over to him, striking up a conversation and captivating his attention. Or so Isabelle thought. As she jabbered on with him, he turned to give Ridley an evil wink.
Ridley stood by the window, keeping a close eye on the two beside her. She swore to herself that if he did anything to hurt Isabelle, she would kill him right there where he stood. But he seemed to be the perfect gentleman at the moment, shocking her slightly.
Then she could feel him clawing his way into her head, speaking to her. Unwillingly, she let him push through, his words filling her mind. You were stupid for coming here, his voice told her.
"Get out of my head!" She yelled at him, pushing Isabelle to the side. "Don't mess with her."
Isabelle just stood back and stared at the mess that began to unfold in front of her, suddenly realizing that this guy was not who she thought he was. Then it hit her. He was the one from the club that night, the one who took Ridley to Green-Wood. She stayed still and silent as her whip proceeded to unwind from her arm.
Jonathan turned to Ridley, his lips curving at the sides into an evil smirk. "My father sent me here for you." He reached out his hands for her, but before he could reach her something sparked between them causing him to pull them back in and screech in pain. He shifted his eyes to Isabelle who stood glaring at him, whip in hand. "You bitch."
Ridley retreated to Isabelle's side and together they ran down the stairs toward the doors of the club with Jonathan hot on their heels. They made their way out to the street, heading for the curb and running across to the other side. Isabelle looked back to see Jonathan following them, jumping from car to car. Ridley took hold of her hand and they ran faster out of the site of the Downworlders outside of the club.
"He is too fast," Isabelle yelled to her as they continued to move down a side street. "We aren't going to be able to outrun him."
Ridley looked back and told her to call Jace. But when she turned back to look where she was headed, Jonathan was standing in front of her. Without being able to stop in time, she plowed right into him. Into his strong arms. He latched one around her tightly as he pulled a syringe from his jacket and jammed it into her neck. Her eyes went wide with pain and he let her drop to the ground as she lost control of her body.
His eyes shifted to Isabelle who was staring at him, phone in one hand and whip in the other. He stalked towards her as she put the phone back in its pocket, zipping her jacket up. "I am not afraid of you, you cowardly boy. Can't even stand to fight us," she teased him strongly as she flung her whip at him.
It cracked and sliced through the skin of his upper arm. But it didn't phase him. He kept moving toward her, much faster now. She pulled the whip back and flung it at him again. To her horror, he caught it in his hand and ripped her down, dragging her to him. "Tell that boy of hers that the wedding is off," he said before his fist delivered a devastating blow her head, knocking her lifeless body to the sidewalk.
Ridley stared at Isabelle's unconscious body beside her, not able to move or speak. She watched as Jonathan picked up her left hand, waving her ringed finger in her face. "Do you really think your little boy toy will come for you?" He laughed and threw her over his shoulder, leaving Isabelle alone on the sidewalk.
