We're coming to a close. Only a few chapters left! Anyways, enjoy! Please favorite, follow, and review!
Disclaimer: All characters belong to Kelley Armstrong
Chapter 11
Chloe's P.O.V.
The cold air hit me and I tried not to stagger backwards. We had minor weapons, food, and clothes, but the clothes did not shelter us from the wind. We also had a piece of paper, with names of all the people in the Kingdom Saunders and Kingdom Bae who were spies and secretly worked for Edison.
I recognized some of the names on the list, as did Tori and Simon, but Derek just shrugged, muttering about he doesn't keep track of names. We couldn't go back to our Kingdoms, not with the spies searching for us there, we would have to go somewhere else.
After many moments of debating, we agreed to go to Kingdom Lyle, it was close by. Derek looked as though he was going to disagree, but he closed his mouth and said nothing, which I was thankful for, but a little worried about. He had been on edge the whole time we had been here. He didn't want to tell me what happened to him, and I was nearly positive that he wasn't going to tell me, but he was quickly recovering, he was able to walk by himself.
When we finally were able to sneak out of window I was ready to collapse. I was exhausted and wanted nothing more than to curl up into a ball and be dead to the world for a few hours. That ended once I took one step outside. Snow, everywhere, it littered across the ground, blowing harshly in my face, stinging my eyes, nose, and cheeks. It wasn't a beautiful white snow; it was harsh in the air, and mushed under our feet. My toes were going numb in the oversized boots I was wearing and Derek rushed us along, herding us to the woods in front of us.
I reluctantly trudged forward, swallowing my complaints. Tori and Simon didn't bother, cursing at the weather, their wet clothes, Edison for taking us, and Derek for wanting us to take a shortcut through the woods. After what felt like decades, we made it to the woods, and I practically fell against a large tree that blocking our access to the snow.
"What's next?" Simon asked, looking at Derek.
He grunted a response that no one understood.
"Sorry, big guy, you need to learn how to form words. We don't understand anything that you growl at us," Tori said, annoyed with Derek's lack of instruction.
Derek scowled at her, one that I had seen often. "I suppose, we continue deeper into the forest. Once they realize that we're gone, they'll send people out looking for us. We need to be as far away as possible by that time."
"Can we just rest here for ten minutes?" I asked quietly at Derek.
His set jaw slackened, and nodded slightly, "Only ten minutes, then we're leaving."
I couldn't even muster a nod as I relaxed and snuggled closer to the tree, trying to get comfortable. Within seconds, I was asleep. I woke to Derek hissing in my ear for me to wake up.
"I let you sleep for twenty minutes, but we need to get a move on. Get up," He whispered, nudging me before going to wake up Tori and Simon.
Many protests later, we were walking through the woods, well, most of us. I was practically falling over every twig in my path. Derek had to grab my hand several times just to keep me balanced, causing my face to redden. He didn't seem to take much notice though, and continued rushing everyone along.
"Simon, who were you with when you got taken?" Derek asked curiously.
"I was with my girlf-," He stopped and glanced at me sheepishly, "A maid, Amber. I don't remember everything, just that she pressed something into my neck and I awoke in Edison."
Tori spun around and looked at him, "He was going to say girlfriend! He's seeing someone and yet you two are supposed to get married in two months!"
"Tori, I doubt he looks forward to our wedding. He has every right to see whoever he wants." I said to both of them with a shrug.
Tori looked at me smugly, "That means you can be in a relationship with whoever you want as well."
I frowned at her but nodded none the less. I didn't understand what she was saying exactly until her eyes flitted towards Derek and then back to be. My cheeks turned a furious and very unflattering shade of red as I gave her a pointed look. If Derek noticed, he didn't let on and continued to us push closer to our destination.
I looked at Liz, who walked lazily next to me, every once in a while sending small smiles at me, which I returned, but I saw the sadness on her face when she thought I wasn't looking. The once cheerful, energetic Liz looked drained and miserable. I didn't know what to do, so I just dropped my gaze.
Eventually we came across a small clearing that was far enough away from Edison that Derek allowed us to rest at. He would never admit it, but he was clearly not comfortable, and so much movement caused him at least a little pain. Derek sat down against a tree and scratched his arm, looking distressed. I was about to question him, but my eyes fluttered closed for what felt like a few seconds. The next thing I knew I was being shaken awake.
I peered at Derek, who was hovering over me with an apprehensive expression on his face. Sunlight filtered through the leaves on the trees, forming a halo-like light around Derek's head. Derek leaned forward, and my heart thumped loudly in my chest, but he whispered in my ear not to panic and to get up. I frowned at whatever thought that had formed in my head and followed his instructions and cautiously got up with assistance, his hand lightly gripping on my arm.
I was about to ask his what was going on until I saw it. A dead possum was staring blankly at me and Derek. Tori, Liz, and Simon were still curled up and asleep and didn't notice the poor creature I had raised. It whimpered and he hesitated before moving a rotten leg, filled with maggots, towards us. Panic whirled through my head, but I knew it couldn't hurt us. It looked afraid, not angry. But I was angry, angry with myself for raising that animal.
"Just do what you did last time," Derek murmured in my ear, trying not to startle me or the possum.
"I-I don't know how," I whispered back to him, trying to rack my brain of what I did before.
"You did it before. Just remember," He said, tracing circles on the small of my back reassuringly. It wasn't calming though, it just sent my heart into overdrive.
I tried to focus as best as I could and closed my eyes. I pictured to possum and mentally gave it a shove. He fell back, but it wasn't enough. I tried some more, but each time I failed. I opened my eyes, the animal was so close, and all the fear in his eyes disappeared as he looked at Simon and Tori, approaching them. I closed my eyes again, and push so hard, telling him to stay away from my friends.
I heard a thunk and my eyes flew open. Derek let out a sigh of relief and patted me on the back. The possum was sent back, I didn't know where I pushed him to, but that didn't matter at the moment. I took a shaky breath and looked away from the dead animal and back to Derek.
He eyed me, not with disgust, but with something else. I stared, not knowing what that look meant, but he looked away from me and back to our sleeping friends.
"We-we should wake them," I said, voice wavering.
He just nodded and turned his attention back to them. He told them that we can to steer out quickly, that Edison would be sure to be looking for us; we all agreed and walked towards the main road.
Derek spotted a very large carriage come to a slow halt. Derek told us that he would ask the driver where he was going, and we would jump into the back of the carriage. Tori immediately agreed and Liz followed her, but Simon seemed to think we would get caught. Simon doubted Derek's social skills, as did I, but no one was really searching for Derek compared to Simon and I, so we agreed.
"We have to hurry," Simon whispered as the five of us slinked closer to the carriage. The carriage was quite large and plain, a simple box shape with no intricate designs. I assumed it was a storage carriage by the sheer size and the multiple horses leading in. The driver sat up front, drinking some water and eating an apple.
Derek walked up to him causally enough, asking innocently for directions. He almost even smiled and nodded, but I was rushed onto the back before I could see anymore of what was going on.
The carriage stank, we seemed to be hauling used horse supplies, but the hay was comfy enough to sit on. I watched the door nervously, afraid it would burst open and the driver would scream at us angrily and contact Edison. But that never happened, Derek silently sneaked through and told us we were heading in the direction of Lyle, but we'd have to switch carriages every few hours. I nodded.
We did switch rides, Derek would talk to the driver and Simon, Tori, Liz, and I would hop into the back, later followed by Derek. Liz didn't complain, she didn't really speak, just smiled at me every once in a while. Simon kept the complaints to a minimum and he and I made small talk. He seemed nice enough and he had a good sense of humor. I thought that maybe we could become great friends, but I wished that we didn't have an arranged marriage. Derek sat and watched, occasionally talking quietly to us. Night fell quickly and I soon fell into a dreamless sleep.
I heard my name being whispered quietly and I rolled over, opening my eyes slightly, but only seeing darkness. I sat up, afraid that we had been caught or I raised the dead, but I saw familiar green eyes staring back at me.
"I-I have to get off," Derek said, voice straining to get the words out. I inched closer to him and felt the heat radiating off him before I could even touch him. I then placed my hand on his forehead, it was burning hot.
"You have a fever, Derek. We can't get off now, don't be foolish, you need to rest."
He just watched me, and it all clicked. He was going to Change, Change into a werewolf, and he wanted to let me know.
"I'm coming with you, then," I said quickly and sent him a look, telling him that there was no arguing with my decision. He only nodded, looking defeated as he mumbled something sounding like a 'thanks'.
I rushed over to Liz, and then thinking better of it woke Tori up. I told her that we would meet up with them at Lyle. I wasn't sure she heard me properly, but she waved me off and fell to the ground to sleep some more.
I glanced at Derek one more time, and I opened to door to the carriage and jumped out with him following behind me.
Hey! Okay, I finished planning out what's going on for the remaining few chapters, but I am open up to suggestions. We are going to have some more action and romance oriented scenes soon! Please favorite, follow, and review!
Also, I am feeling slightly discouraged with my other story. I practically have no views. It's that bad. I would really appreciate it. I'm going to focus more on my other story than this one, but please read it. My friend and I made up everything: The plot, characters, scenery, EVERYTHING! So please read that! Thanks!
