Part Four: Confidence

Chapter Ten: The Confidant

Auriella gave Blaze a final hug, fearful of the dark look in her friend's eye. Of course, the little cheerleading firebug had only hugged Blaze ten times that morning, so it was understandable. Blaze really couldn't be angry at Ella though. She had made her worry, and Ella was too cute for that. She was the picture of cheerleader: perfect blonde hair, wide blue eyes, tan skin, fit body, perky personality. It was an amusing thing to realize that her and Torrence were best friends, and had been since the kiddie days.

Torrence, Auriella, and Blaze spent the whole morning together, but neither of them talked too much. They mentioned the Blaze/Conrad/Hailley mess, but Blaze couldn't express her fears. She couldn't push her doubts and terrors onto the other Daughters of the Moon, just in case she was correct.

She had to tell someone, though. So, here she was, sitting with her other best friend now, ready to spill her guts.

Erik smiled at her, his lip ring glinting in the light. She smiled back, loving the brightness in his turquoise eyes as he smiled. Why couldn't she like Erik? It could have made life simple, easy. A pale hand ran through dyed black hair as he waited for her to begin.

"So…" He said.

"So…" She repeated, grinning nervously.

"What's up, Blaze? You said it was urgent," Erik prompted, watching her with interest.

She nodded, chewing on her lip. "Yeah. I just don't know how to tell you."

"That's easy. Just do it."

Blaze took a deep breath. "I'm a goddess," she just said, trying to keep it as much to the point as she could.

"And I work for demons," Erik replied, laughing.

"No! I'm serious! You see this?" She pulled out her amulet, which seemed permanently broken because it was always glowing and thrumming against her chest now, which was why she was also keeping it hidden. "This signifies that I am a daughter of the moon goddess, Selene. I have a power. I can stop time! There is an evil in the world called the Atrox. And another evil faction called the Infidi. And we, as Daughters of the Moon, have to stop them!"

"We? There are more of you?"

"Yes!"

Erik laughed, patting her on the back of her hand. "Blaze, what kind of drugs are you taking, because I want some."

"Oh, Erik, I'm serious. I just found out that I'm also a Pandora Daughter and that Conrad is my Pandora's Box and that I may have ended the Daughters just by kissing him!" She explained in one huge breath—and sentence.

She buried her head in her arms, no longer able to hold herself up anymore. Erik watched her oddly, as if sizing her up now.

"Conrad Killingsworth? That idiot surfer?" He asked, pure disgust clear on his face. "How'd you become associated with him?"

"His mom," she whined.

"You think you destroyed these daughters?"

"Yes. Hailley hates m because she thinks she loves Conrad. I've created a rift."

"How will this affect you if you were attacked by this 'evil being'?" Erik continued to prod, massaging his chin in deep thought.

Blaze lifted her head a bit, looking at him with one eye open. "I don't want to know, homey. I don' wanna know."

He reached across the table, fingering her braids delicately. "Babe, I think you need to get high. You're hallucinating without the drug." He wore a pity smile, and she couldn't blame him for it. At least he wasn't calling up any near by mental institutions.

"Erik," she cried. She didn't know how to prove it to him. Except to give him a headache, and that really proved nothing.

"I am a goddess, Erik! An honest-to-God goddess. I love it. And I'm a daughter of the first woman. I'm not crazy, and I'm not on drugs."

"You're being serious?" Erik asked, sitting back in his chair.

"Dead. I'm a Daughter of the Moon. So is Hailley, Torrence, and Auriella," Blaze explained, relief settling through her as Erik seemed to realize she was telling the truth.

"Erik, hey," a girl greeted, walking up on the two of them. She threw a dirty look at Blaze before kissing Erik's white cheek.

"Jezzie, I always thought you were nocturnal," Erik teased.

Blaze watched their banter in wonder. For the first time, she took in her surroundings. When she had called Erik up, he asked her to meet him here, giving only an address. It was actually a bit skeezy, with its dim lighting, dark walls, and lack of people. But it did have the privacy Blaze had been asking for.

Jezzie gave Blaze a final look, letting her eyes fall to her exposed moon amulet. "Well, I'll let you get back to your friend, Erik. Will you be joining us later?" She directed the question towards Blaze.

All of a sudden, Blaze felt uneasy. There was something wrong with this girl, and sad to say, with her oldest friend, too. Automatically, she locked down her thoughts, knowing she was in enemy territory. Erik's joke earlier about working for demons wasn't really a joke. Her moon amulet wasn't broken; she was just so caught up in her drama that she probably didn't notice that she had shadow stalkers. And now Erik…

Her question for now was were they Atrox or Infidi?

"Sure. Sounds fun," Blaze choked out, forcing a wide grin onto her mouth. Jezzie gave a snide smile in return before walking away.

"She's one of those new friends I was telling you about," Erik explained after the girl had left. "It's be really cool if you did start hanging out with us. We don't have petty jealousy, like your friends."

Liar, she thought, letting the word whisper across her mind to make sure she was right. He perked up an eyebrow at something as soon as she slipped up, and now she knew she really had to be careful.

"Everyone gets jealous, Erik. It's nature," she commented, shrugging her shoulders casually. There had to be a way out, some way she could weasel through the cracks of this tainted place. Or at least get warning out to her friends. But she wasn't sure how.

"Oh!" She exclaimed, digging her cell phone out of her pocket.

"What is it?" Erik asked, eyeing her carefully.

"I just got a text." She hadn't, but she needed to send a message out, needed to get help desperately.

"Oh, come on. Answer it later. You never have time for me," Erik whined, pleading like a child.

Her fingers kept clicking away. "Just this one—Hey!" As quick as she was typing, Erik's ring-clad fingers were quicker. He plucked her cell phone from her hand, growling at the half-written message.

"So, my new friends frighten you, Blaze?"

"You're on the wrong side, Erik! Whoever you've aligned yourself with, they are evil!" Blaze yelled, jumping up from her seat. "They will destroy you as quick as me."

"No," he replied with force," they won't. I will be honored among the Atrox, my master, for handing over the time goddess."

Next Up: Uh-oh. Poor Blaze, stuck in a Follower hangout, with no one to help her. And it seems Erik is losing his mind over Blaze. How will she fair, learning the truth of Erik and her own self?