C h a p t e r E l e v e n
S u n d o w n
The nurses in the hospital thought that it was some kind of a miracle. When they inspected Beth the next morning, they found that all the internal damage had been healed. All that remained outside was a nasty-looking scab. They were going to keep her for some further observations—and, Beth sneered, no doubt to prod her with needles and things to figure out how she had healed so fast—but she kept fighting to return to school. She had already missed a week, and she feared that if she missed more, she'd never be able to catch up.
After some initial hesitation, the nurses allowed her to return to school. Kotori as well. They both showed up during their third period, and Beth was a little surprised to see that Cain wasn't there. She also found that she was a little disappointed. Even though she hadn't admitted it to herself, she had been looking forward to seeing him as much as he had her.
It was on their lunch break that she felt him approaching the school. Beth's head at once shot up, her green eyes shining. Then she felt his emotions through their connection and felt simply terrible. Something was wrong. She could feel his sadness. It was almost overwhelming. Beth excused herself from the lunch table and headed outside to meet him.
He was in the forest beyond the track field. She knew that he was waiting for her, and she was actually worried why. Coupled with the sadness she felt emanating from him, she was seized by the most incongruous theories. What if something had happened to Mac? She knew that she shouldn't care, but she did.
She found him sitting on a rock. He was in the body that he wore for school, but he didn't seem to fit into it well. His shirt wasn't buttoned properly and his jeans were ripped. He looked like a punk—and one who didn't seem to mind the faint chill in the air. Bethany finished pulling on her thin mittens to keep the cool fall air from stealing the warmth in her fingertips.
Kaneonuskatew looked like crap. There were bags under his eyes and a pale, thin line around his lips. His eyes were bloodshot. It came as a surprise to Beth that Cain was even possible of looking like crap. From the moment he'd woken up he'd always looked so confident, and held-together, and perfect. He slowly uncurled from the rock, moving with the same gracefulness that she'd always seen in him. He was aware of every muscle in his body, it seemed, and how to use it to make his movements look like art in motion. Surprisingly, it made her feel at ease. At least some things were consistent with Cain.
"What's the matter?"
He took a deep breath and then his words seemed to fail. He paused considerately. "I couldn't sleep last night. I finished reading the textbook. It was not enough information. I gathered more books and used the computer Mac and Emile showed me how to use. I was awake until the dawn reading, and even then I failed to understand. I do not think I will ever be able to understand it… the Holocaust. There is so much hatred in this world, all simply based upon skin color or religion. It doesn't even take into account if they are human, or vampire, or witch, or other. And this is the kind of war that Mackenzie would have me start. I do not want this war."
"I don't want a war either, Cain," she said softly, a little uncertain of where he was going.
Slowly, a smile pulled at his lips. "I know you do not. That is why I came to you. I… I no longer wish to be with Mackenzie and his friends. I don't want to be a part of their group if it means a war like the ones I read about. I refuse to make myself into the next Adolf Hitler."
Her heart leapt in her chest. She tried her best to remain rational. "What about Fala? She won't like that news."
"I will deal with Fala when the time comes. Fala is irrational and mad. She needs to be put down quickly and quietly." His hands tightened. "Bethany… talk to the Daybreakers, will you? You and Mac have made it clear that they consider me their enemy. I no longer wish to be their enemy. I wish to be their ally, although I think I am still too unfamiliar with the world to want to be one of them. Please, speak to them on my behalf. If they still wish for me to be put to sleep, I will run away."
The pounding of joyous heart suddenly turned into a panic. She couldn't imagine him running away—oh! Damn this connection between them. She rushed to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Don't run. I'll talk to them, I will! I'll make them understand, Cain."
"Fear not, Bethany. If I did run, I would hide, but I would always be close to you. Perhaps I would remain in this body, and grow up with you. You could teach me more about this world, and I would always be here to protect you."
"I'm not scared," she lied. It was hard to lie with the relief flooding through her. Slowly, her other arm snaked up so that she could hug him. She pressed herself against him, trying to comfort him, wanting to share her joy with him… joy she was scared of showing that to him. Brave, stoic Cain! Could he even handle her smiling or laughing or hanging off of him like this? His arms slowly wrapped back around her. Yes, yes, apparently he could deal with her hugging him.
"You're not a bad person. You're not a killer, not like that," she said, her voice muffled by his shirt. She felt his nose in her hair, his breath sinking between the thin strands to warm her neck. He held her closer. He would fool himself into thinking that she was right simply because she believed it.
Both of them were so busy trying to understand and contend with the sudden unbalancing change in their relationship they never noticed when Kotori's face paled in hurt and she turned away, back to the school, Beth's forgotten lunch bag still in her hand… or when Fala turned in the other direction, leaving a half-consumed body in her wake.
Beth walked back to the cafeteria a short while later. She'd decided with Cain that it would be best if he stayed at home that day. Already she was trying to figure out how to tell Daybreak that they had a goddamn dragon that wanted to defect to their side. She was sure it would be easy as pie…
Yes, Nicolas. My blood woke him up. Then we found out he was my Soulmate. Then he slowly developed this tiny bit of a crush on me—why? No, I never thought to ask why. It's the same why I began to care for him no matter how hard I thought of him as my enemy. I saw some qualities in him that I liked. Anyway, he wants to defect to Daybreak because he's afraid of becoming the next Hitler. May we invite him to our next tea and crumpets meeting so he can learn about our organization? Eating humans?... Um… yeah. About that…
His diet was probably the only thing that would come between Cain and Daybreak. That was one hurdle that she didn't know how to get around. She saw Kotori look up from their table. Their eyes met across the caf and Kotori suddenly looked away, heading quickly to the washroom. Concerned, Beth picked up speed and followed her. She burst through the bathroom door with such speed that the blue metal door bounced off the opposite wall.
"Kotori!" Turning the corner, Beth found the washroom thankfully deserted with the exception of Kotori leaning over one of the sinks. Tears rolled down her best friend's cheeks. Beth ran to put her arms around her friend. "Kotori what's…"
SLAP!
It took Bethany a moment to realize what had just happened. Kotori had hit her. Kotori had never hit Bethany, not since the very first day they had met. Just the knowledge that Kotori had done it made tears start to form in Beth's eyes. The slap had hurt, yes, but it was the principal behind it that had hurt more. She was staring in the mirror. She could see Kotori's handprint on her cheek. And in the reflection of the bathroom mirror, she could see Kotori trying to dry her cheeks from her tears.
"I'm so sorry, Beth, I'm so sorry," she wept.
"What did you do that for?"
She sniffled loudly, turning around to face her friend again. Kotori's broken arm was still in a sling, but her free hand was still rubbing her cheeks. "You didn't tell me… why didn't you tell me? You're my best friend! I feel so stupid! There I was, pouring my heart out to you, telling you all my problems, and you didn't even have the decency to say that you were in the same boat… that you had found your Soulmate, too."
For a split second Beth could have sworn that her heart had stopped beating. She went very still. "How… how did you know?"
"I saw you and Cain hugging out in the woods. I should have seen it earlier, I suppose. You never would have let a boy get that close to you without good reason. And the way that he looked at you… God! I was such an idiot. There I was making a fool of myself and telling you how you two should hook up and all the time you knew what he was to you, but you just let me carry on… I laid my heart bare for you and all I asked was that you do the same! That's what friend do, Bethany!"
She winced at hearing her full name. She struggled to find words, reaching for her friend. Kotori's good hand pushed her away with enough force that she struck the wall behind her before she gained her balance. The world felt dizzy; nothing was where it was supposed to be. "Kotori, please! You don't understand! There were… circumstances!"
"What? You mean like the fact that Cain's a dragon?" She watched as Beth's face went deadly white. Her green eyes stood out blazingly in the contrast. Kotori turned away, unable to look Beth in the eye. "Yeah. I got that part, too, thanks." Her mouth pulled into a deep frown that marred her pretty face. "That was the reason why you didn't want to tell me, wasn't it? Because he's a goddamn dragon it makes him our enemy."
Beth nodded. She was too afraid to speak incase it came out as a sob. In turn, Kotori's disgust only deepened, but she was the one who sobbed. Kotori's good hand punched a metal door to a bathroom stall so hard it left behind imprints of her knuckles.
"I'm your best friend, Beth! You could have told me! You know that I would have taken your side? Do you really think that I would have tried to peel you and Cain apart if you told me about him when I had just found my Soulmate and I would have understood the pain of separation? Do you think I would have let Daybreak take Cain from you? Do you?!"
She wanted to lie; oh goddess, how badly she wanted to lie! Her dark hair fell over her face as she slowly nodded, feeling herself crumbling against Kotori's justified anger.
"I never would have done that!" she snapped, the last word coming out as a sob.
"I'm so sorry, Kotori! I was just so scared! Sacred of everything... I didn't know who to trust or believe anymore!"
"You wanted me to turn him in," Kotori said, turning away from Beth and drying her tears again. She was breathing deeply, trying to regain control of herself. Slowly, her voice became calm and level again. She avoided looking at Beth; avoided the sight of those green eyes turned almost aqua in tears, her ruddy cheeks stained, and her dark, lean hair hanging limply over her heart-shaped face. If ever there was a time when Kotori could see the Nightworlder in Bethany, it was when her friend cried. "But I didn't. I turned you in, instead."
"M... me?"
"Yes. You lied to us. Again and again over this past week, you lied to us. You lied to us about Cain. How many lies did you tell us, Beth? You're a traitor. You can't think rationally when your enemy is your Soulmate."
"He's not my enemy anymore! He wants to defect!"
Kotori spun on her heel. "And what if he's just using your connection to manipulate you? What then, Beth? If Cain's honest, fine. But the mater is that you still betrayed us. I called Nick and explained everything. He's on his way to pick you up. I'm to escort you downstairs in ten minutes."
"Kotori?"
"He'll pick you up and drive you to the headquarters."
"Kotori!"
"There, you'll be put on trial." Kotori reached into her knapsack, laying against the wall of the bathroom, and handed it to Beth. "You have enough time to call Eliza and tell her that you're going to be late for supper. Then we're going to meet Nick downstairs. If a teacher asks you what's wrong or why you're leaving early, it's because you have food poisoning. Understood?"
Beth was sobbing. "Don't do this, Kotori..."
Her friend was still pale and shaking. She licked her lips before slowly answering. "I'm sorry, Beth. I'm a Daybreaker... I'm the Soulmate of a Daybreaker... I follow rules. You broke the rules. I'm sure I wouldn't be doing this if I wasn't so mad with you right now, but I just can't seem to think of anything else. You didn't just break the rules, Beth. You betrayed me... and so now I'm doing the same."
She grabbed her bag and hoisted it over her bad shoulder. Her good hand grabbed Beth's arm, keeping a tight grip on her so she couldn't make a run for it. "Hopefully you'll forgive me soon, Beth. Cain is still safe. I just told Nick of the relationship between you two. You're going in for witholding information and fraternizing with the enemy. Cain will still be safe."
"Not for much longer! Don't you see, Kotori? I would have told them if I could trust them. Duncan and the others are so obsessed with the idea of stopping Cain that they're going to use me as bait to capture or kill him. Someone is going to end up dead in all this, Kotori!"
Her friend's eyes were inhumanly cold. The only other person Beth had ever seen wearing that same expression was Kaneonuskatew. "Then so be it."
True to Kotori's words, Nick's white car pulled up in front of the school only a few minutes later. Usually Nick would hop out, a boundless sea of energy when Kotori was around. Instead he just sat in his front seat, wearing an expression that almost looked like a sulk. Wearily making her way to the car, Beth climbed into the vacant front seat. Kotori was staying at school to finish the day. It was with a dismal heart that Beth realized she was actually jealous of her friend for being able to stay at school. At least if Kotori were ever to be kicked out of Daybreak she could still pass the year. Beth was beginning to think she'd missed so many classes that she'd never pass high school.
They began driving. Nick's mouth was in a tight line, his knuckles white as he gripped the steering wheel. Even his normally styled hair was messy in his anger. Finally, after what seemed like whatever, Nick spoke. "I can't believe you lied to us."
"You would have done the same thing for Kotori had you been in my shoes." Beth pulled away from the window to glance in the back seat. A filled canvas back was spread out across the back seat. She arched an eyebrow. "What the hell did she call you in the middle of doing? Buying potatoes?"
"It's none of your business," he snapped.
Nick rarely snapped. The sound made Beth jump back into her seat, her eyes on the road ahead of them. Shame colored her cheeks and she stared out the window again. She didn't like it when Nick was angry. She could feel tears sting her eyes. Why was she crying so much lately? Then she could feel it—a sudden warmth spreading between her legs. Beth froze in the car. Dear heavenly goddess… No. Not now. She couldn't stand it now. The tears started running, pushed over the edge by the embarrassment of having her period start while she was on her way to an inquisition.
"Oh, don't cry." His voice was a hiss and from the corner of her vision Beth could see Nick roll his eyes in exasperation. "Don't you dare start to cry. There's no reason to cry!" Nick shook his head, staring at the road. "I can't stand it when you humans cry. You're all watery and slobbery and I can't stand it. You have no right to cry you… you little tramp!"
Beth felt like she had been slapped. She couldn't have heard correctly! Nick being snappy was one thing—and understandable—being called a tramp was another matter entirely. "Wh… what?"
"You heard me! You had everything; you got everything! All I had were lies. He lied to me, and I was stupid enough to let myself be swayed by his words and his pretty face. I should have known that I couldn't have trusted him. He called me Queen, promised me power, but all he wanted was you." He went around a corner so fast he nearly side-swiped a red pickup truck. The red truck blared its horn, but Nick just kept speeding. "Now he thinks he has you but he's wrong. Now I have you."
He glanced at her, grinning wickedly. Beth realizes then that the face was a mask. It was perfect, but it wasn't Nicolas. Beth cursed herself; she should have picked up on it earlier! Looking closer, knowing what she was looking for, she could see two small, delicate horns hiding amongst Nick's flaming red hair. Her voice came out in a squeak.
"Drop the disguise, Fala. I can't stand to see you behind Nick's face."
"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" Her smile turned sweet. "Don't you want to know where we're going? Don't you know what I'm going to do with you and Gawain?"
"Gawain?" Slowly, Beth glanced over her shoulder at the burlap sack. She stared at it in a new light. Gawain was stuffed into that sack, unconscious. What had Fala done to knock him out and get him into a burlap sack? She frowned, turning back to Fala. "I don't need to ask. I know where you're taking us. You're going to make Gawain wake the other dragons."
Fala smiled through Nick's face. "Yes. At least Kaneonuskatew didn't fall for a dumb human, I'll give you that. But I am only going to awake the other red dragons, like myself. I'll kill the others as they wake up. Kaneonuskatew was willing to kill me. I'm not nearly so kind. I'm going to make him suffer."
Beth's lips parted softly as she tried to stifle the panic in her heart. Fala was talking about genocide! "You're going to kill off his entire family?"
"I'm actually doing that for my family, to protect our interests. No, I'm going to leave him alive and break him in the deepest, most intimate way I can. I'm going to kill you."
Beth felt a scream rising in her throat, pumped their by her heart. She could feel rumbling in the car, so strong it made the glass behind her head vibrate. The sound was coming from Fala. The teenager struggled to control her scream; it wouldn't do any good. No one would hear who would be in a position to help her. The car was passing under a sign which read 'now leaving Victoria' as Bethany watched black lightning leap across Fala's skin, such a dark shade of red that it resembled the color of old blood.
She reached down inside herself. The rumbling was pounding in her ears. She plummeted down inside herself, straining for the cord inside of herself that tied her to Kaneonuskatew. Her mental shields were crackling under the rumbling sound. Darkness was swallowing her thoughts. She could see Fala's mouth opening, her maw filled with red-blood-lightning. Beth reached the cord, feeling it shake with excitement as she drew near, as if it were a thing alive. She packed all the power and strength she could find as the world caved into the black thoughtlessness. She wasn't even sure if her thought had gone out as she was enveloped in it, and even the cord of her innermost being slipped from her hands into the pitch black nothingness.
Fala pulled over the car as soon as she was free of the city. There was a scenic lookout just outside of town. She parked the car in the area with the densest cover and then dragged the two bodies and supplies out of the car. She'd need to act quickly. There was a possibility that the abomination had gotten a call out to her Soulmate for help and there was no way for Fala to know about it. It would take too long to drive to the mountains.
She stripped off her clothes, tossing them into the back seat. The keys she hid under the frame of the care. Then she began to change her shape. Her neck grew longer. Her jaw jutted out, sharp teeth pointing out from under her lips here and there. She became bigger—a lot bigger. Her hands became three-clawed hands. Her feet went from five-toed to three. Her shoulder bones rearranged themselves as large, leathery wings grew from her back. Her skin cracked as it turned into scales, darkening into a beautiful ruby-red color.
From behind her another car drove up to enjoy the late fall colors, saw the dragon, and crashed into a tree. Fala could hear the humans inside the smoking car screaming. She snarled at them and opened her mouth, shooting down a ball of fire at the car. It erupted into flames and silenced their screams. Fala's headache lessened without their pitiful cries around to bother her.
Flying to the dragons would be much quicker. She flapped her wings, hovering awkwardly as one claw scooped up Gawain and the other scooped up the girl. She grabbed the sack of equipment with her hands and then beat her wings quickly, taking her up into the sky.
Who knew? If she timed it right, maybe Kaneonuskatew would arrive one second too late to be able to stop it.
Wouldn't that be priceless!
To be continued...