Disclaimer:First off: NO OWNERSHIP…
Second: ha… ten days since last update?.... man, I am just plain horrible aren't I? For punishment I allow anybody to tell me off in a REVIEW… go ahead, burn me. I deserve it. :{
Third: Special thx to Untamed Rose for 100th review :] *applause as confetti drops along with a promising piñata* WEE!!! 100 Reviews!!! I'm so happy. XD
Fourth: I'm going to stop babbling so u could read… Enjoy!!!
Chapter 10
Not thinking about what she was doing, Mary-Lynette dove towards Lady Hannah. A single, straight leap had her in front of the dazed girl, fully prepared to shield her from the millions of crystalline shards that were flying out.
Hannah's arms, sporting a few cuts, were trying to cover her face. She looked at Mare with slightly widened gray eyes.
"Mary-Lynette?"
Mare motioned for her to get behind her back.
The floor-to-ceiling window was now shattered, and once the rain of glass was over, Mary-Lynette knew why.
She heard Lady Hannah breathe out "Oh, goddess." behind her as the woman straightened.
Yes, a woman. How she jumped through a two-story window, Mare had no idea. She was probably in her early twenties, with auburn hair cut in uneven lines across her shoulders. Her burgundy sweatshirt and beige khakis were pierced by dozens of stray glass pieces, drawing out miniscule beads of blood. And, although Mare was sure all those cuts stung, the woman laughed as she looked around the room.
"Funny how easy that was, eh?" She spoke with a slight British accent. "A few jumps on the right branches and you've got an ambush." She flipped her russet hair as her hands went to her hips. If her clothes weren't already ripped, Mary-Lynette would have thought she was posing for Vogue.
Lonan, the only one with enough animosity to get over the shock, cut to the chase. "Who the hell are you?"
She looked him up and down. "My dear boy, I'm no one you need to know. But she," She jabbed a finger over her shoulder, towards Mare and Hannah. "would do well to refer to me as her captor."
Minsi spoke up. "Over our dead bodies."
The woman tilted her head, pretending to think about the offer. "Well… if you insist."
That was when she vanished.
No, really. The place where she was standing now had no sign of her, at least, for a second and a half. Then another body appeared.
Cat, was Mary-Lynette's first thought. Before she could think anymore, the thing straightened, revealing that it was in fact an auburn she-puma. Her fur shone red in the glowing sunset, and with her ears pricked and eyes shining green with expectation, she looked absolutely stunning. But, beautiful or not, Mary-Lynette wasn't interested at all about the thing's appearances.
She was interested in what it was holding.
The woman must have pulled it out of her pocket in the last moment, before she shifted, because between her teeth was something Mary-Lynette's only seen in the movies, she had to do a double-take just to make sure she wasn't just seeing things.
She wasn't. The ticking was enough to reassure that.
A time bomb.
The puma looked like she smiled, and with her evergreen eyes shining, she tossed her head aside so the bomb was sent across the hall. It squeezed through the banisters and dropped to the first floor with a short thud.
With the bomb out of the cat's mouth, Mary-Lynette could easily see the sharp edges of inch-thick teeth in between her lips. She purred as she saw how stricken they all were.
And then she pounced.
Towards Mary-Lynette.
Somehow, Mare managed to shove Hannah farther behind her back while simultaneously retrieving her dagger from her bag's side pocket. She pointed it at the great cat as she landed in front of her. The puma hissed in frustration. She couldn't talk in this form, but it didn't make a difference. Mary-Lynette could see her message from the impatient pine-green eyes.
Drop it, unless you want me to kill you.
She kept the dagger steady.
With a flick of her tail, the puma pounced once more, heading in for the kill.
Or, she would have, if a certain caramel wolf didn't tackle it mid-jump.
The two animals rolled in one giant ball of fur before crashing into the wall. The puma took the brunt of the impact, but Minsi was limping when she got up. Both of them started circling each other. A clash of the predators.
Watching them snarl and growl at each other, Mary-Lynette noticed just how small Minsi was compared to the mountain cat. If it came to strength and blows, Minsi wouldn't have much of a chance.
But Minsi's brave stand had given everybody else a second to recuperate. A second that had Nissa and Galen flying down the stairs to retrieve the bomb, much to Mary-Lynette's relief, and that had Lonan and James gather enough bearings to jump into the fight. Mary-Lynette had planned on joining in when Hannah abruptly yanked her arm in the other direction.
"What are you doing?"
"Keeping you away from the fight."
"Why?"
"Because they can handle themselves. Now stop struggling." Mare stopped her squirming, Lady Hannah's tone was as gentle as ever but the voice of authority was nearly unmistakable, and if she was being honest with herself, Mary-Lynette was sort of glad that she didn't have to fight.
They were backed up against the stair railings now, a few feet away from the action.
Mare could see what Hannah was saying. They were trained. The three were boxing the cat expertly, preventing any form of escape. Mary-Lynette regarded them with grudging respect. Now why couldn't she be like that? James and Lonan were barely breaking a sweat over this. Even Minsi, hurt and small, was still fighting.
The sun-blazed wolf was having trouble by the looks of it, though; her fur was ripped and disheveled, with splatters of the familiar red liquid that Mary-Lynette hoped was the puma's. The cat was just as worse, a fact that had Mare let out a sigh of relief.
"James," Lonan said, his tone only slightly breathless. "go help the others, we'll handle the rest."
After a brief glance James reluctantly nodded and backed out slowly, giving Lonan and Minsi time to adjust their forms and keep the mountain cat trapped. Then James turned around and sprinted down the stairs.
Good, Mary-Lynette thought. They should be done soon—
It's funny how that was what she was thinking when the other windows exploded.
Mare looked over her shoulder.
There were two more windows downstairs, the kinds people gaze through. Sure, most humans could've probably squeezed through there easily and fully-grown adults might have to exert some effort in climbing through it, but they'd still be able to make it. Now, what Mary-Lynette didn't get was how two super-sized werewolves fit, that was just mind-boggling.
Two werewolves for each window. Four in all.
And they were headed for the three Daybreakers.
The three have been hysterically trying to diffuse the bomb, and seeing their frenzied and nervous expressions, Mary-Lynette could tell they hadn't succeeded. As if she could feel Mare's eyes on her, Nissa looked up. Her expression was just as Mary-Lynette described, pinched with uncertainty. She mouthed two words.
Five minutes.
Before Mare could react, Hannah was shouting.
"Galen!"
The golden haired boy had cut off one of the wolves', trying to buy Nissa some more time to destroy the bomb. Another wolf was closing in on him and James was too busy with the other two to be of any help. They'd all be surrounded in no time.
"Why doesn't Galen shift?" Mare asked.
"It takes a full second to change—"
"And he'll be open for attack in that second, wouldn't he?" Of course, a technicality. Nothing comes without a price.
"Exactly."
It turned out Galen didn't need to shift, using his brain he dove to his right, narrowly missing both of the coming attacker's claws. Yes, his left shoulder hit the wall with an odd ga-thump, but his other hand was free to look around the desk to his right. A second later and he found what he was looking for.
The werewolves closed in, both looking ravished and triumphant at the same time.
One of them, a male with fur the color of muddy brown, padded up and snarled at Galen. And then it grinned, bunching his muscles for the final attack, victory plain on his face.
Until Galen plunged a letter opener into the back of his skull.
A silver letter opener. And it hit the wolf right on the top of his head. It fell down without a sound and Galen had a minute to recuperate, the other wolf looked way beyond disbelief. When the minute was over, the wolf lunged as Galen barely dodged the snapping teeth, knocking over a bookcase in his wake.
The fight began again.
Mary-Lynette huffed out a short breath. Five minutes, Nissa had said. It wasn't her best field of experience, but Mary-Lynette had a science experiment about them (blew up most of her classroom) and knew enough about explosives to know how a time bomb works. The thing had three parts: the explosive charge, the timer, and the detonator. The detonator had, apparently, already been activated, which means that the explosive charge will accumulate into a real explosion, depending on when the timer ends. And, judging by the size of that thing, its charge was about ten times bigger than her project's.
Which means it could blow this place sky high.
They had to get rid of it soon, the question was: how?
That was when Mary-Lynette got an idea.
She was about to tell Hannah, when a loud whimper cut through her plan.
Both girls turned back in time to see Minsi getting thrown aside, human and bleeding from head to toe. The puma had used the wolf distraction to its advantage very wisely, Minsi was out cold.
Lonan looked both surprised and infuriated, so he lost all of his self-control, assuming he even had any, and dove for the thing's throat. The cat saw it coming and dodged, tail and ears flicking in bemused triumph. Lonan's usually elegant body flew over the amber-furred creature and crashed into a bookcase. Books fell over him in an avalanche, and by the time they stopped, his body was just as motionless as Minsi's.
No one was left to stop the puma from springing forward to the two other girls.
And neither girl had time to react.
Mary-Lynette used the last second to move Hannah to her back. If anyone was getting clawed, it'd be her. She raised her arms outwards to protect Hannah, no matter which side the she-cat attacked in.
She closed her eyes, awaiting the dreaded, sharpened claws.
It never came.
In an incredible stroke of luck, the puma had aimed at Mary-Lynette's right side, trying to get to Hannah, but it just so happened that before she could, Mare's hand had flown out at just the right moment to stop her. And that hand just so happened to hold her silver dagger.
Just like with Jeremy, she could feel her dagger slice through the cat's ribs.
"Goddess," Hannah breathed.
The cat disappeared again, only to be replaced by a horrifyingly pale human body. Mary-Lynette held the woman at a safe angle and eased the dagger out, careful as to not do any more damage.
"Well done dear," she choked. "Now I see why they were interested in you." She gave a gurgle as a trickle of blood colored her mouth.
"What's your name?" Hannah bent over to stroke the woman's hair. Mary-Lynette was fighting her own tears. What have I done? Yes, she had tried to kill them but how could Mary-Lynette herself do the killing? She had summoned death and claimed a life on accident. Again.
There was no turning back after this.
A winded chuckle escaped the woman's now-blue lips.
"Bit too late for introductions don't you think sweetheart?"
Hannah didn't hesitate. "I need it for your funeral."
She said it so casually, still gentle even though she herself was fighting tears, that the woman's eyes actually sparked to life and then blinked, maybe for the last time.
"Well, what have I got to lose?" She muttered to herself, then she looked Hannah straight in the eyes almost longingly, regretfully. Like she knew she made a mistake in choosing sides.
"Leola Croan. My name's Leola Croan."
"Goddess," Hannah began. "Guide her soul to the otherworld..."
Leola chuckled, the sound turning to a horrible wrench, and then she closed her eyes.
"Good luck living through the apocalypse…"
And then she died.
Her wild evergreen eyes were replaced by a cheap, glazed look. And Leola's whole body was as pale as a wax doll's, a stark contrast from the crimson river pouring from the dagger's blow, Mary-Lynette's blow. Hannah finished her blessing before getting up.
"We have to go help."
Mary-Lynette was already on the move, determined to keep the tears away. It was time to fight.
She made her way towards the railings.
"No, I have to help. You have to stay here and wake those two up." She motioned towards Minsi and Lonan.
"But the bomb—"
"Especially Lonan, you have to wake up Lonan."
Mary-Lynette placed her foot on top of the banisters and, gaining her footing, lifted her other foot. She balanced herself. One wrong move and she'd be a pancake on the first-floor.
"Mary-Lynette—"
"We have two minutes."
Then Mary-Lynette did something she never thought she'd do in her life.
She jumped off.
Sarah was dreaming again.
She knew because she was watching the Golden Gate Bridge collapse into the San Francisco Bay.
That wasn't the only reason she knew, the main one, the one that had her fighting to wake up, was the feeling of intrusion. Someone, or something, was in her head again.
Silver mist swirled around her denim jeans and teal shirt, the exact outfit she was wearing when she was awake. And, she didn't know how but she knew where she was in the city. Sarah was on the Marin Headlands, a hilly area just north of San Francisco and immediately across the famous American landmark.
And she was watching its destruction.
Even without binoculars or super-human eyesight, she knew what was going on. She has had this kind of dream at least a dozen times, in a dozen different places, and they were all the same.
Blood.
Murderers killing victims.
A game of pure carnage.
She knew it was day, late-afternoon, but the sun was nowhere to be seen. Typical. All of her dreams were in the dark. Dreams because these were normal for her, nightmares were the ones when she knew the person receiving death's unforgiving embrace.
Thankfully, mercifully, this wasn't a nightmare. She didn't know a single person in the millions dying today.
Because that's what was happening. Innocent people were dying out there, either by the dragon's Power or the swish of its tail, sending many cars, with people still inside them, down to the 8 °C water. If they don't die of the 86 miles p/h impact, which is often fatal in itself, they'll either die of drowning in the rush of the current or by hypothermia.
Of course, even if they don't get thrown overboard, there were a lot of Night People more than happy to finish them off. Shapeshifters, lamia, witches, werewolves. A whole squadron bent on destroying every human being in the area, and no one could stop them.
So that's what Sarah was doing, watching hell break loose.
Until the voice appeared.
One maiden is all the darkness shall need…
Oh god. Not again.
To counter the four of blue Power…
No.
Her sacrifice shall help everyone be freed…
Get away from me...
Will she lose to win the final hour?
Sarah's hands went up to grasp her head, trying to get the words out of it. No use. The voice kept repeating it. It wasn't hostile, merely knowing. A woman. That was all Sarah could conclude. A woman's voice that never ceased to astound her. It always used a gentle tone, yes, but every saying was packed with foreboding that had Sarah terrified of the future. But she was always lucky, she never remembered these dreams. She only recalled each and every dream when she was in one.
This was the first time she's heard this one, though. Usually it was about a dragon destroying another city, or maybe a treachery of some sort. Never before has a maiden been mentioned.
Sarah sat on the dewy hill, rocking her body back and forth in an effort to keep the melodious voice away when she heard a crash.
The bridge had finally collapsed.
The dragon had probably gotten tired with playing with its food. So it did what she had known it would do from the beginning. It sliced the bridge in half, sending everyone, even the Night People, down to meet their watery doom.
The bridge pieces followed shortly, hitting the water with a sound explicitly close to thunder.
Sarah stared, without flinching, as sobs welled inside her chest.
So many people… she thought
Will die in the future's wake. The voice continued. Only a chosen few shall survive the plague of the Apocalypse.
With the bridge's combined weight and height of 746 ft. the water below couldn't stand any more pressure. A tidal wave was in the making.
Sarah watched as the water began to boil with the pressure, she watched as it began to rise well over the hill she was on.
The voice inside of her repeated its divination.
Will she lose to win the final hour?
The tidal wave struck out and the last thing Sarah felt was the salty tang of the sea washing her away from her dream of the unknown.
Then Sarah woke up.
Jo had been sleeping very soundly, like a baby actually, when she heard a gasp behind her. The blondie—Sarah as she's supposed to be called—was awake, looking more like a 'princess in peril' now than ever before.
Her sunny hair was sticking up in most places, damp with sweat Jo guessed. Her aquamarine eyes were wider than usual, it's a wonder the rest of her face wasn't covered by them.
For a second, Jo considered feigning sleep. No one else looked like they heard the princess's disturbance. Rashel and Keller were sleeping side-by-side on the carpet and Daphne was hogging a plushy armchair, with Jo on the other one. All of them were still fully and deeply asleep. None of them was selfish enough to sleep on the bed, not even Jo, so no one did.
The boys had insisted that the girls get the only bedroom in the jet, and Jo knew that all of them were asleep in the main room as well. Last she saw them, Kierlan was turning on the leather recliner, trying to find a good position, Phil was already zonked out on the other recliner, Mal was arguing (emotionlessly, if that was even possible) with Quinn as to who should get the couch (both insisting the other should, of course) and Ash was still unresponsive. Still is, Jo had no doubt.
She envied them all.
Why does she have to get stuck with Sleeping Beauty over there?
But, trying to be the person she desperately wanted to be, Jo got up and crossed the room to go comfort the heavy breathing beach-blonde.
"Hey," she whispered. "what's up, blondie?"
Sarah was clutching on to the blanket for dear life. She gave no indication of hearing Jo's attempt at a friendly greeting.
"Sarah?"
The wide, teal eyes met hers.
"Sarah?" Jo was really concerned now, an emotion she barely had. "Are you okay?"
"Oh, God."
The girl got up, slipping through the blanket and revealing the same clothes Jo had first seen her in. The three: Mal, Kierlan, and her, didn't bring any extra clothes for the unexpected trip so they were stuck with the same outfit for a good 24-hours more. Jo, on the other hand, was wearing a deep violet shirt and some gray shorts, normal sleepwear for her.
Speaking of her shirt, Sarah was gripping it as hard as her fragile hands would allow her.
"Jo…"
Jo's head only reached up to Sarah's chin, not unusual because she was pretty used to being short due to the fact that she barely passed 5"2, but Jo was sure that if it came to a panic attack with blondie over here, she'd be able to restrain her delicate form long enough for the others to wake up.
"I… I see it…"
What? Jo struggled to regain her usual sarcastic bravado.
"Sarah, I'm serious. You better not be screwing with me here."
Even as she said it Jo highly doubted Sarah was kidding, just by the look the girl had. It was like they were back in the clearing, when Sarah had sleep-walked. She had the same out-of-body look in her eyes, like it wasn't even her doing what she was doing. Plus, Jo didn't know many people who would wake up in the middle of the night just to make some sick prank. Herself excluded, of course.
"Sarah?"
"Jo…"
That was when it happened.
Sarah's eyelids dropped as a soft sigh escaped her lips. Slowly, her grip relaxed on Jo's collar and instead rested on her shoulders. Her breath came out nice and even as her eyes half-opened, revealing two pearl-shaped, blue-green jewels. Sarah was staring at something only she could see.
Gently, her index finger rose to point at the black hardwood desk next to the couch. A stack of papers were laid out along with a couple of writing utensils that were meant for standard use. Not taking her eyes off of Sarah, Jo hesitantly backed up and lifted a sheet of the wispy material while grabbing a pen with her other hand.
"Is this what you want?" She waved both of her hands. Sarah didn't move an inch, just held open her hand.
Jo bit her lip. "Fine. Take it." She shoved both items into the girl's hand, unsure of what would happen next.
Sarah looked down with the same clouded teal eyes and started writing.
The sound of pen scrawling against the paper was the only thing that interrupted the sleepy silence that held the rest of the tenants. The room was so comfy and hotel-like Jo didn't even feel like they were on an 80 mph plane, and everyone was still sleeping as soundly as before, the occasional snore and sigh ensured that.
It wasn't until Jo looked down at herself that she realized she was brushing her left wrist. The wrist that held her charm bracelet. The metallic feel under her fingers did more than soothe her; it reminded her of why she was in this organization in the first place.
She could feel herself getting drawn back into her memories… the times when she didn't have to worry about who or what she was, when she had a normal life… but this bracelet not only brought good memories, it brought back everything she went through too. All of her memories, every one of them, were intertwined with this charm bracelet; there was a charm for each major event in her life...
Jo's eyes were glazing over, getting lost in her own personal world as the memories came flooding back. She would have drowned in them if Sarah hadn't tapped her on the shoulder.
She placed the paper in Jo's hand.
The sheet had been written on with clear, cursive writing, way more legible than her own. There were four lines on it. Four lines that had Jo swallowing.
"What… what's this?"
She hadn't really expected an answer from the walking dead here, but she got one anyway.
"Your future."
Both Sarah's neck and eyelids dropped then and Jo had to rely on her trained reflexes to catch the girl's falling body.
"Of course," she muttered as she gingerly placed Sarah back on the couch. "Of course I'll be the one this happens to. It's always me."
Sarah's head piped up as Jo released her. She blinked. "What…" she yawned. "What happened?" Her innocent eyes zeroed in on the piece of paper Jo was cradling.
"What's that?"
She doesn't remember. That much was clear. The only question was: To lie or not to lie?
Before she could answer her own question, she heard the rustling of blankets. Rashel and Keller were instantly alert. Daphne tried, and failed, to stick her head up. She was still drooling on her pillow.
"Jo?" Keller's flailing hair obscured any trace of her expression. "Sarah? What are you two doing up?"
Well. At least it helped answer her question. Jo pulled on a mask of indifference and used her quick tongue to her advantage. Sarah, or anybody else, didn't even notice her hesitation.
"I've been working on a few new spells." She did her best to put in a few tinges of annoyance in her act, and a pout didn't hurt either. "Those psychos back in Boston were like freaking mind readers. I gotta be prepared." She tossed her hair to the side, showing her deep violet pupil. Jo wasn't stupid; she knew the effect it had on people. Now to just narrow the eyes a little and give a small smirk…
"Don't you approve?"
Both girls blinked, Rashel narrowed her eyes. At first, Jo thought that she would suspect something, but then she just yawned and propped her head on the pillow.
"Okay, whatever."
Keller just grunted then fell back on the carpet.
Jo turned to Sarah. She was already asleep.
Her smirk became more genuine.
Jo let her hair fall back as she waited out the next minutes. When she was sure everyone was asleep she made her way back to the armchair she temporarily called 'bed'. There, when she got into a comfortable position, she took a deep breath and re-read Sarah's note.
And read it again. And again.
A short breath escaped her. "Man, this bites."
Author's Note:
Cliffhanger… evil but keeps the audience hooked for more… :}
Well? Wat'd u think? REVIEW, and I'll be happy as can be. =} Don't REVIEW and I might delay the story…. JK I won't do that, not even if this story's neglected, forgotten, UN-REVIEWED… well I'll feel bad, sure, but this story will still continue.
Which brings me to the bad news:
I'm going on vacation. Out of country. For the whole of August.
If I'm lucky, I'll have decent internet connection where I'm going, if not…
Well, we'll just see won't we? :{ REVIEW pls. and thx 4 listening/reading. :]