Chapter 11: Normal (Sort of)

It seemed to be a colder walk than usual on the way home, and snow began to fall down. It was just a little into November, and here they were having snow. That's one good thing, she figured; she'd always loved the sight of snow.

Her mind ran back to all Chris had said, about his feelings for her, about the Halls, and about Jeremy. It blew her mind, to say the least... she had never expected Chris, of all people... But then, she was mainly just sad for him. She knew she didn't feel the same way.

She groaned aloud as she began to examine her own feelings. Jeremy was still there, slowly pushing Josh to the furthest ends of her mind, and now Chris as well. He seemed to grow in her respect, not shrink, despite all she knew and all she'd heard. And he still felt... just right. Like he was the one she was supposed to actually love and marry... but she didn't feel that strongly about it. She just had a crush, an unbelievable, totally random crush. But... it seeemed to be getting stronger every minute.

Just as she reached her home the Halls had been helping Jeremy inside her house, and he was remarkably pale. His chest heaved like he was dying, and a good portion of his body was bandaged up to prevent more bleeding as he walked. He also seemed to be walking funny, in that he sort of bent forward when he walked. As she walked up to the front step and helped him inside, she saw his fingernails had grown again, and he was shameful of it.

She told the Halls she could help him from there, and they left; Mrs. Hall, however, started to walk away, down the sidewalk as if to Chris' house. Mr. Hall returned to their own home, shutting the door soundly. This left Amanda and Jeremy alone, and both found their hearts fluttering. "Are you feeling better?" she asked, placing a hand on his back. He winced, and she removed it quickly. "Sore?" He nodded, wordless. His hands shaky, he gripped her shoulder, brushing a bit of hair from her eyes with his other hand. "J-Jeremy?"

"What happened at the park," he began, even his voice sounding pale, "I... I'm sorry. But I... I didn't mean to..."

"To what?"

"To... fight," he said. "I know it was stupid, and... senseless, and... strange..."

"Understatement," she added, smiling to indicate a joke. But he didn't smile back.

"I... I'm gonna have to leave soon, Amanda," he stated sadly, pausing to breathe. "I don't want to. I mean, you've taken more care of me than I've ever received. Ever since..." He stopped again. His eyes had wandered to his fingernails, some of which were somehow sharpening into points now. He felt some of his teeth take a different shape as well, and one hand went to feel his mouth and face. Now that he was fooling around with it, Amanda noticed something.

"Your face is different," she said, tilting her head to look at it differently. "It's... it's longer." Her eyes were wide now, as were his, as he tried to massage cramping hands, and rough black pads formed on his palms. His breaths came in rapid and frightened succession, and he began to back toward the bedroom where he had been staying the past week. The door was open, and he could see now just a smoldering plant where the burning flame had been, and his eyes widened further.

"It went out," he said simply, suddenly clutching his head. His stomach turned as he fell to his knees, Amanda kneeling there beside him. She was gently rubbing his back, and his spine began to contort around. She jumped back when she noticed a more rigid backbone begin to appear, as well as something showed up behind him. His skin had a light green tinge to it as his fur returned, and his legs began to shrink until they were proportional with his old body.

Amanda backed away in fear when she saw Jeremy's - Will's - tail, and forced herself to stay there and watch as her crush's hands and feet began to painfully change. His hands extended, thumbs pulling away from the rest of his fingers, and his feet began to fan out, weight being shifted to his toes instead of an entire foot. For a moment it seemed he was finished, and she tried to approach again, but he let out a loud yelp, covered his face with his paws, and suffered through his mouth and nose extending outward in a dog's muzzle. His ears lengthened as well, and the rest of his body began to alter. Finally he laid there, sides moving up and down slowly in tired gasps, his eyes closed and the fur beneath them wet. Reluctantly, she came forward, gently resting her hand on the Gelert's neck. "Jeremy...?" Her voice trembled as she moved her hand over his body, or what wasn't covered by the human clothes he still wore. His fur was rough as sandpaper, she noticed. "Jeremy, are you okay?"

He whined, eyes opening slowly to see her. They looked exactly the same, the only things left from the transformation, it seemed. Then he spoke, which sent her back again. "I... I'm fine. But... why are you still..." He struggled to his feet, a little awkward since he hadn't used them in this way for quite a while, and set his claws in the hardwood floor so he wouldn't slide around. He stared at her, amazed that she was still there to see him in this state. "You are... you're still here."

She was going to ask, "Why wouldn't I be?", but realized a very good reason she normally wouldn't be there. But something kept her close, and something told him to stay there as well. What frightened him, though, was that the feelings he'd developed for her - as he'd been told by the Halls, it would die out when he returned to normal - had almost increased, just by seeing her remain. He had to leave, to make the slow, gradual love for her die...

"Go get Mr. Hall," he said, backing up until he was up against a chair. "I don't..."

Amanda obeyed, out of pure fear of the entire situation. Although, what could he do? It's not like they could just work up a spell to make Amanda forget... No, he was sure they couldn't. None of them could do anything for this... except maybe Chris...

Mr. Hall bolted into the house suddenly, Amanda following behind him. He stopped in his tracks when he saw Jeremy, and a half-smile came across his face. "You... you really are back." Mark's voice was hushed, but Amanda heard.

"What? What do you mean, he's back? Tell me!" She finally stood in front of Mr. Hall, who simply brushed her aside and knelt down in front of Jeremy on his knees, in some sort of courtly bow. Amanda just stared. "What's... what's going on here? What are you?"

Jeremy glanced up, now ignoring Mark's proclamations of how he would serve him until his death, and the like. His eyes met Amanda's, and he shuddered. "I... Mark, could you... leave us alone? Or... help me out?"

"Help...?" For a moment he was blank, but the man eventually stood, took Jeremy by his foreleg, and yanked him upward. Though he yelped, he soon found Mark's magic had worked; he was in the form of the human he'd been, but still was Gelert. He'd shape-shifted, thanks to a boost from Mr. Hall.

Amanda backed away, scared of what was happening. Jeremy tried to approach her, in the same way she had approached him only minutes before. Being near the door, she began to back toward it as he kept stepping forward. "Amanda... Amanda, please. It's me. Jeremy..."

"Get away from me," she gasped, finding herself on her own front step, snow still falling. Mr. Hall stared confusedly at the snow, before heading toward the door to leave her home. She moved aside, though shouted, "And you stay away, too!" in warning. Typical human reaction, Jeremy thought. She was scared... scared to death of him. Him.

"Amanda!" he barked, before managing to convince her to come inside. It took plenty of negotiating, but soon the two were on the living room couch, she being silent and he trying to explain. "I'm... no, I'm not human. I'm a... I'm a Gelert..." He proceeded to go through everything he felt necessary, and she continued to stare the entire time. When he finished, more silence followed. Finally, she asked, "The Halls? Chris?"

Reluctantly, he nodded. "Yeah. They are." More silence. "Amanda, I'm sorry, but that's just how it is. I... I'm so sorry about hiding this from you. I had to. They had to." She wasn't even looking at him now. He tried to come closer to her on the couch, and found himself close enough to where she could feel his breath on her neck. "Amanda," he whispered, genuine sincerity in his voice, "I'm sorry. I wouldn't hurt you for the world."

"Which one?" she asked curtly, sniffling a little. "Today sucks!" she exclaimed suddenly, finally breaking down into tears. "I was attacked by some monster, I found out one of my best friends likes me, I feel so bad because I didn't know he liked me, and then I find out he's one of these things. My neighbors are, too, and everyone I know..." She stopped a moment, not allowing herself to go further. She couldn't describe the last part to him.

Jeremy looked away, ashamed. "Chris?" he questioned quietly, and she nodded. "I've known him since I was a kid, actually." He couldn't help but smile a little. "He hasn't changed, far as I can tell..." He perked up, hearing loud woman's bawling coming from outside. "Mrs. Hall," he murmured, getting up and walking outside. He saw her, bustling down the sidewalk, crying like an injured baby, screaming incoherantly. Amanda had stood and followed, and he let her through to see.

Finally her words became clear, and both Jeremy and Amanda's blood ran cold. "Christopher is dead! He's dead! The Lieutenant is dead!"

-------------------

"Oh my God," Amanda squeaked, her legs giving out from underneath her. Jeremy caught her quickly, holding her closely as she cried into his chest. She didn't care about what happened just then; Mrs. Hall had said Chris was dead. That was enough. "Oh my God..."

"Shh," Jeremy whispered, beginning to bring her back inside. As he rested his face in her hair, he breathed her scent in, only to find himself deeper into his problem. "Shh, quieten down. It's okay. It's..." His chest was becoming damp, as she'd let loose the tears. His heart ached for her, and the loss of a friend. Before long he found a tear or two leaving his own eyes, and he was sobbing a little as well. "Everything's..."

Mr. Hall suddenly barged in, Mrs. Hall behind him, bearing a small note the latter had found next to his corpse. "You have returned just in time, my lord," he said, flaunting the letter and holding it toward him. Amanda's arms tightened around his body, and Jeremy struggled to take it from him. He slowly opened it, and, after a bit of trouble, read the words.

"Cerberu is gone, but you have unleashed the true beast," he read aloud, and felt Amanda shiver, "You and your human lover will suffer. You and all of your stupid friends will suffer. You should have seen the look on the lieutenant's face when he saw that dagger. Now he suffered. You shall as well." He released the paper, and it fell to the ground. "Mark, no. I can't right now..."

"You must!" Mr. Hall pushed, staring as Amanda finally broke loose to reveal the wet spot on the chest area of his shirt. She was red-eyed, face still moist with tears. "You must, to avenge his death! Jackson and Bethany are on their way..."

"Wait, who?" Amanda spluttered, sniffing again. "Jackson and Bethany...?"

"They are of us as well," Mrs. Hall said, and she began crying again. "Oh dear, please..."

"Why?!" she fretted, losing it. "Why do they have to be part of this too? Who is Jackson, anyway?"

"Gary," Jeremy murmured in answer, and she lost it all over again. He tried to comfort her, to help her with it, but she threw away his hand when he took hers. "Amanda, please. We're sorry for hiding it from you." He leaned in, hoping she wouldn't push him back. "If they aren't, I am."

No one spoke for a while, and Jeremy and Amanda had found themselves on the couch, the former still whispering quietly to her. Finally she wiped the tears from her eyes, and let loose a bitter attack on Jeremy. "You lied. You all lied to me. What, is it fun where you come from to mess with people like this? My best friend is dead, the rest of them aren't human, and you..." Her voice trailed off again, and she looked to Mr. and Mrs. Hall. "Could you... leave for a while?" They didn't respond to her right away; instead they looked to Jeremy questioningly, and he nodded, and they left, with the reassurance of "I'll be fine" from him.

"Now," he murmured, allowing her to come closer than she had been, "what is it?"

"I started realizing," she answered, her voice still trembling from all her bawling, "after the thing in the park, that... I think... I... I like you, if you know what I mean. As in... like you. I don't know why, but... I do." She looked to Jeremy, to see what he thought, and saw his look of astonishment. For a moment he was speechless, but then he smiled.

"I... like you too," he said, having to breathe a little between words. For a moment, everything else just faded out, and it was just the two of them. His eyes met hers, and they were lost in each other. Amanda admired the royal, other-worldly gaze and posture he had, and the handsome face that had come from such a bitter state. His arms, no longer as weak as they had been, since his regaining of strength, and his smile, which still owned larger canines than most... his eyes, that so transfixed her and held her under their imperative stare.

Amanda wasn't the only one admiring. Jeremy was still lost in the softness of her skin, which he felt as his hand held hers now. Her finely made-up face, even though a bit of eyeliner was runny from her tears, just amazed him. He had no idea a human could be so... well, now he'd have to say beautiful. Not to mention how small she felt compared to him. Something he felt he could break by just touching had fascinated him to no end. He was almost willing to confess his desire to kiss her, but knew she would object.

Would she? She'd just said she liked him, in the way he liked her. Still, it might've been too fast. It might've been too much... then he suddenly remembered, as her scent came to him again, that it wouldn't even work out. It was impossible. "We... we can't..." he murmured aloud, as he thought it.

"Can't what?" she asked, her eyes finally looking away. She bravely touched his hand with her free one, and his other hand caught it.

"Can't... you know... date," he stammered, his own gaze leaving her. "I mean, I'm not... and you are..." She caught his meaning, and shook her head.

"I know," she said, reminding him of what she'd just witnessed. "But... I still feel like... like I should be with you. I don't know why." She leaned on his shoulder, and they were closer than ever. She could feel his breath on the back of her neck and hear his heart beating in his chest; she couldn't help but notice how different a heartbeat it was, how it sounded different, how it felt different when she let her head fall on his chest. A heartbeat like that couldn't come from this world.

Suddenly a thought came, and she burst into tears again. "Chris would know why. He always knew why, or how, or when. Jeremy, why did he die?" A pang of guilt ran through her as she recalled what had happened just a few minutes earlier. "Was it... because of me?"

"I don't think he would kill himself over you, if that's what you're thinking," he said, rubbing her arm. "No, judging from that note..." His voice trailed away, and she looked up through tearstained eyes, a questioning look in them. He had to tell her the rest. "Judging from the note, He... Henry got to him." She asked who that was, and he tried to explain. He tried to tell her about the family schism that had occured, sending himself out into the wilderness to fend for himself and his potentially dark-influenced brother to hunt him down. That was all he wanted to speak of at the moment.

"He has scouts everywhere," he finished, as he felt Amanda twitch with a cold chill. "One of them... must have found Chris."

"Oh my God," she stuttered suddenly, "What if I led them to him?! What would they want with him?" More explanations ensued, though not very accurate. All he could tell her was that he was a Lutari, like he himself was a Gelert, that served the government and had abilities none of the other side had. All he could think of was that he'd been singled out as the main threat.

"And he died before I could..." She stopped, more tears and crying taking the words' place. "I should've stayed to talk to him. I should've..."

"What, and you die with him?" he asked, half angrily. "Amanda, you wouldn't be able to stop them. If he couldn't, then you certainly can't. Humans don't exactly have the strength or power needed by themselves..."

"You did," she pointed out, not totally aware that he was halfway changed back when he'd fought with Cerberu. "You stood up to that thing in the park. You fought with it. You almost... maybe could have beat it."

"That was because I was almost back to normal," he said, before going through another explanation to tell her of the potion he'd been forced to drink, and that the beast that had administered it had been slain in the park. After that, she seemed blown away. "I know, this is a lot to take in one night, but... you sort of have to."

"None of this is possible," she murmured, shaking her head. "I mean... it can't be. You're... too unbelievable. This whole thing is. I mean, it can't be..."

Jeremy couldn't help but laugh. "I'm guessing you read nonfiction books?" She playfully shoved his arm, but nodded nonetheless. "See, those'll rot out your mind. Can't always have true stories. Sometimes you just have to... you just have to take a leap. It's not always something that can be explained by reasoning and stuff like that. I mean, can your reason explain me?"

"Unless I'm crazy, no," she said jokingly. "Reason can't really explain any of this..."

"There you go." His smile was wide, and, though the canines seemed to overlap their opposite rows of teeth, he looked pretty much like a normal person. Her heart leaped when he lifted her hand to his mouth, and he gently kissed her fingers. He even swallowed nervously when she let his other hand brush her hair behind her ears and leaned in. But instead of their lips meeting, their foreheads did, and they just stayed there. Finally, though, they found themselves together in a nervous kiss.

It was Jeremy, however, that broke it first, the sudden realization of what was happening kicking in. He suddenly broke away, scrambling as far away from Amanda as he could on the couch. "No, I can't. I just can't... I can't..."

Heartbroken, Amanda tried to come closer to him again. "Jeremy? What's wrong?" He hastily stood up now, turning and walking toward the door. He was stopped, however, when Mr. Hall, Gary, and Bethany burst inside. Both of them were caught, and Jeremy began to appear frightened.

"What is it?" he asked quietly. Mr. Hall sighed a little as he stared at them both, and his hands fingered a small letter left in Chris' home in his pocket.

"We must go now," he said, glancing now at Amanda. "Time is running out."

Jeremy stared at him blankly. "G-go? Why? Why do we have to..." Just as his voice died, Bethany pushed him aside to run inside, falling down on the couch with Amanda and embracing her in a tight hug. Tears were now falling from her eyes, and this brought Amanda to tears.

"I'm so sorry!" she whined, tears flowing like nothing else. "We should've told you! I'm so sorry! I wanted to tell you... But I knew we had to..."

Amanda cried as well, though her heart was still in pieces thanks to Jeremy's strange reaction. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry too." She wiped her eyes as they released each other, and they tried to talk while Mr. Hall, Gary, and Jeremy discussed what was going on.

"I heard you have to go," Amanda said, after she finally got through some of the crying. "Why?"

"It's... It's about why he's here." She pointed to Jeremy, who still had his back turned. "See, there was a deal made, a couple days ago. Our side would fight against Henry's - he's... he's Jeremy's brother - in a big battle, and whoever won would... win." She wiped one last forming tear from her eye, moving a bit of her hair behind her ear. "And since Chris was killed..." She choked up again, but kept speaking. "Since he... isn't here, we have to hurry. They're thinning us out."

"So, you mean, like... a war?" she questioned, a nervous squeak in her voice. Bethany nodded, and bit her lip when she saw her worriedly glance toward Jeremy. "And he'll be on the front lines." Reluctantly, she nodded. "I... I should go with him."

"What?! No!" Bethany chided, voice louder than intended. Still, she hurriedly tried to explain to her the dangers, but for some reason Amanda was oblivious. All she could think of was Jeremy getting hurt... and that even shocked her. "What could possibly make you think you need to be there?"

"I don't know," she admitted, shaking her head and returning her eyes to Bethy. "I just feel like I should be there. I mean... Bethy, we kissed!" Her voice had lowered to a whisper, as if they were gossiping, and Bethany suddenly shrieked happily, and then returned to a sullen mood.

"It's great, Mandy," she said, her eyes darting between her and Jeremy, "but... you shouldn't. You really shouldn't. Something could happen, and... he's not human, Amanda." She sounded defeated as she came with the last resort, and found herself to be.

"I don't care, to be honest," she answered, sighing. "I don't know why, but... I just feel like he's... he's the right person."

"But what about Josh?"

"I don't care about him. He's a cocky son-of-a... you know... anyway."

"Wow," she said at last, resigned. "I didn't think you'd be that... that set in it." She sat up, hands on her knees. "Pack up something then. I'll beg Mr. Hall." Resolute, both girls stood, though parted to do other things. Amanda went to pack a few clothes and such, and Bethy pleaded with Mr. Hall to allow her to come. Jeremy helped in this, but it seemed he wouldn't budge.

"It is dangerous," he said sternly, glaring at Jeremy. "You have heard what I told you. You know what will happen if you two continue to see each other."

"Who says they're gonna see each other?" Gary piped in, supportive of his two friends. "I mean, they c'n be in th' same place 'n not be tagether. It jus' ain't right ta seperate 'em like 'at. Ya heard whut 'e said, an'way. They kissed, man!"

"Another reason they should be parted," he said still. "Trouble comes for reckless lovers. It has been true in all history, and it will be true for this day. Please, Sir, do not make it harder than it already is. We need your whole mind and body for us and our purpose, not for you to be flirting with a human girl you've only known a week!"

"I won't flirt with her!" Jeremy said in a hushed shout, struggling to keep his voice low. "I... I won't. She wouldn't... she..." He stopped when he saw that she'd came up beside him, taken his hand in hers, and clung tightly. "You... you're going?"

"I have to, I think," she said, smiling. Her eyes were still rimmed with red from her tears, and her other hand kept brushing a few strays away, a small gym bag slung over her shoulder full of things she needed to have. She almost felt she was going camping. She glanced to Mr. Hall, who sighed in defeat.

"Very well," the man murmured, running a hand through his thinning hair, "let us go. The quicker we're gone, the better." They started to walk away, but both Amanda and Mrs. Hall bode them wait so that they could lock up their homes, Mrs. Hall never to return to it, Amanda with every intention of coming back... hopefully with Jeremy in tow.

She pocketed the house keys, while Mrs. Hall hid theirs beneath a small welcome mat on their front step. Things would be forever different, she knew, now that she was coming with other-worldly creatures to some medieval battle an entire world away. It would be even stranger to be alongside a man she found herself growing increasingly fond of. Speaking of, Jeremy fell in step with her, and their hands clasped together again. Jeremy had said he wouldn't flirt, but there wasn't much flirting to be done. He felt he'd practically won her already. That wasn't to say they weren't going to see each other a lot while they were there; in fact, he was going to try to make sure they saw each other at least once each day.

"Should... should we make it official?" he whispered when he was certain the Halls, Bethany, and Jackson (we'll use his true name now) couldn't hear, "I mean... I guess... would you like to..." He stopped speaking, just continuing on walking. Fortunately, Amanda squeezed his hand to make sure he knew she understood, and she nodded when he looked down. Both smiled; so they were secretly dating now. This should be interesting.


Erilis: Oh, now this should be good. -nodnod-

Diego: Wow, that was a long... long chapter. o.O