Snow Day: The Losing
"What?!" Mac snarled, grabbing Hawkes by his collar threateningly. "If you're messing with me you'll regret it."
"I'm not. Aiden said she and Stella were talking when three people came out of the forest and took her." Hawkes responded calmly. He gently lowered the older man's hands from his throat. "Would you believe it if she told you herself?"
Mac held only a blank stare and a tiny frown. Hawkes chuckled and took out his scalpel/wand. He tapped Aiden on the head and stepped back, signaling Mac to approach her. "Aiden?"
"You dumb-ass!!"
Mac blinked. Had Aiden just yelled at him without even opening her mouth? How was that even possible? "Excuse me?"
"You're the jerk that's causin' her all these problems! She thinks she's in love with you and now she's been taken, and what're you doin'?! Sittin' on your drunken ass back at your fancy castle surrounded by flousies!"
Mac stifled a protest in realizing the horse was in fact very right. Her voice was strong and sharp, and even had an accent like Danny's.
"If anything happens to her I'll kick you so hard your head'll snap off like a dandelion's."
"Okay, come on." He nodded seriously. "May I...?"
"Ugh...I guess so." She rolled her eyes, and head, but turned to let him onto her back nonetheless. He got on easily but made her shift a little. "God, you're so much heavier than Stella! Carrying her's like nothin', carryin' you's like...a barrel."
"Angell, go back to the palace and tell Danny, Lindsay and Adam to stay there." Mac directed, ignoring Aiden's remark and taking her reins.
"I'll be back." Jess nodded before taking off. With one strong flap of her winds she took off, leaving a strong wind in her wake that rustled the leaves and grass again.
"Aiden are you sure that's where they took her?" Mac frowned.
"I'm damn sure!"
"Alright. Hawkes, go ahead and see if she's alright, we'll meet you there." Mac ordered.
"Yes, sir." Hawkes nodded before snapping his fingers and vanishing in a puff of smoke.
"Alright, Aiden, let's go get our girl."
Stella was woken by a bucket, slipping off the shelf above her and falling onto her head with a solid clang. It hurt her head less than her ears as the sound continued to echo in her mind. "Hello?"
"She's awake." A (unfortunately) familiar voice said.
"Peyton?" Stella called, still a bit stunned.
"What?!" She snapped back, her British accent as thick as ever.
"Gee, I was just wondering why I seem to be locked in a small basement, but sorry to bug you!" Stella snapped back, slamming her hand on the door.
"You're in a basement, under the trap door, in St. Basil's."
"The secret door in the hall, or in my room?" Stella growled.
"We need you out of the way." A new voice said icily.
"Who are you?" Stella asked.
"I'm Gillian, and I'm here to make sure you do not ever see Mac Taylor ever again."
"And...why?" Stella continued.
"Because you and he are worse for each other than a duck and...something that eats a duck."
"What an analogy...and why are you judging my love life anyway?"
"Miss Peyton and Miss Quinn told me how you muscled your way between them and Prince Mac. They hired me to keep you out of the picture a least until everyone forgets you and won't notice you're gone."
"Peyton and Quinn?! You know they're absolute bitches right?"
"Hey! We're still here!" They both shouted.
"Yeah, I know." Stella snickered to herself. "People are going to notice I'm gone! My friends, for instance. Mac will notice too!"
"Not if he's preoccupied."
"Preoccupied with what?" Stella asked suspiciously, feeling the heat of jealousy bubble through her. She could see all those bimbos from the ball grabbing his arms-and it made her furious!
"One Miss Jordan Gates."
Mac's mind wasn't focused on the trees that raced past his vision as he sped down the wide path on Aiden's back. He wasn't concentrating on the steady thump of her hooves on the solid earth below. He was only thinking of Stella.
"Hey, what's-yer-name."
"Mac, thank you, and what?" He murmured.
"If they're planning to hide her at St. Basil's why would they take her tonight, and how did they know where she was?"
"Your guess is as good as mine, really. I guess they knew somehow she was going." He said with his eyes still trained on the road ahead. Coming out of the forest he could see the large stone mansion come over a hill. "Who are these people and why would they take Stella?"
"Your guess is as good as mine. When I find them I'm gonna do such screwed up things to them!"
"Easy girl, let's just find them first."
"Who the hell is Jordan Gates?!" Stella shouted.
"She's from Manhattan, like me." Gillian said. "She likes him."
"Of coarse. Everyone likes Mac." Stella grumbled unhappily, still angry and a tad jealous. Granted she couldn't blame them, but that was completely beside the point! "Though obviously he doesn't like her!"
"He will. He liked you as the mysterious Cinderella, didn't he? I saw him follow you, or her, out. It would seem he's less faithful to you than you think." Gillian taunted Stella, shamelessly bending things to her will. She was being paid, and a small part of her liked him too. Damn that man was popular!
"Oh just shut up and go back to my witch-step-sisters." Stella huffed, crossing her arms.
"Oh, someone's jealous that the man thought to love her is off surrounded by beautiful women and enjoying himself."
"Shut up!" Stella snarled at Gillian vehemently. Yes, she was jealous, no, she didn't want to listen to her, but what bothered her most was... her own doubt. She and Mac had been walking on eggshells in terms of their relationship, and how it was on the fine line of true friends and soul mates. So far, it'd had perfect balance, but now, it was shaking because she was shaking. How could she be sure of anything anymore?
"I've got somewhere I need to be." Gillian's words smirked.
"Oh, not you too!" Stella
"Which reminds me, Jane Parsons, Ella McBride, your stepsisters; every woman at that ball is after him...possibly some men too, now that I think about it."
"I'll bet you a year's worth of sugar cubes right now that Peyton and Quinn are behind this."
"I know, I can't think of anyone besides them, but how would they do it? I met Quinn and Peyton briefly, once, and they...well, they weren't the brightest fireflies." He murmured.
"You got that right. Which reminds me, when we find Stell, you and I need to have a talk about you keepin' her happy. I know she really likes you, but I feel it only fair to tell you that if you ever do anything to upset her I'll head butt you so hard your brain'll pop out the other end."
"Duly noted." He smirked wryly. Aiden stormed down the path and rammed the doors head first. She skidded to a stop on the marble floor that was now scratched and chipped irreparably. Luckily, no one was there. "Alright, where you could you hide a grown woman in here?"
"I don't know. Better start looking."
"I'll go this way." Mac pointed. Aiden simply nodded and headed in the other direction.
"Angell, what's going on?" Lindsay asked, seeing her new magical friend come in for a landing on the stoop of the palace.
"Lindsay, get inside!" Angell said quickly, sweeping her friend in by the shoulders. Once inside she continued to guide her younger friend by the shoulders, deeper and deeper into the palace until they came to the main inner corridor, leading to his office, Claire's room, the Royal Staff's wing, and back the way they came, from the ballroom.
"Angell, what's wrong?" Lindsay asked worriedly.
"I saw some group of weirdos headed this way. They're in a car, heading here, and I saw them with guns." Angell breathed, checking around her suspiciously.
"Guns?" Lindsay asked with raised eyebrows.
"Yeah, I don't have time to explain. Here." Angell pulled something out of a black leather holder on her hip. It was dark, made of metal, made clinks and clacks as it moved and was rather scary looking to Linds. "This is a glock. I get it because I'm a guardian angel. Flack has one too, because he's a police officer."
"So what should we do?" Lindsay asked seriously.
"I need you to get all of the guests out of here. I'll keep them outside for as long as I can. Get whoever you can and hide somewhere safe." The two friends nodded and split up, Lindsay, dashing back to the ballroom and Angell, jumping out of the window.
Lindsay tried to remain calm but she'd never really been in such a situation. Nothing so dangerous. 'Calm down Lindsay, you have a job to do; protect these people! Be strong, Cowgirl, for Danny!'
Angell slipped out to the front courtyard, her gun at the ready, listening to her heels on the lush grass below her quick steps. 'Dammit. What the hell are they trying to pull?! If only I'd stayed with Stell...'
'Damn.'
"Excuse me! May I have everyone's attention please?!" Lindsay called from atop the stair case, though she didn't receive what she was looking for. Irately, she tried a different approach. "Heeeeey!!"
Everyone looked up.
"You don't have to go home, but you gotta get your drunk asses up outta here, so move it!" She roared, leaning over the railing and pointing to the large front doors. "Now people-now! Move it!"
Grumbles and drunken sputters were heard throughout the room as those who could walk made their way out and those who couldn't were dragged out. Lindsay watched them go with a serious frown, running to the main doors and pushing them closed after they'd filtered out. It took a bit of effort, but with good ol' determination and a sweet tackle, she got them closed.
"Whoa! What do they feed you at Montana Ranch?"
"Danny!" Lindsay spun on her heel-literally-and let relief wash over her face. She rushed up to him, putting a hand on his arm. "Danny, something's wrong. Angell told me there's a group of people coming with...guns."
"A what-now?" He squinted.
"Never mind, the point is we're in danger. Angell's gone to check it out. Until then I've evacuated the guests but we should go somewhere safe." She explained.
"Danny! Lindsay! What's going on?!" Adam called, running to them from the other end of the hall.
"Come on!" Lindsay pulled Danny behind her by the hand and ran towards Adam. She whizzed past him, barely grabbing a hold of his shirt collar as they kept running. "Adam! This way!"
"O-okay, but what's happening? Everyone's gone!" He stuttered.
"Some women are coming to the palace." She said breathlessly.
"So then...why are we running away?" He blinked.
"Angell said they had guns." She turned slightly before looking ahead again just in time to round the corner on a dime. She skidded around, using all of her agility to regain her footing on her heel sandals. Danny slipped behind her though was somehow pulled along by her surprisingly strong grip. Adam, held captive in her other hand, was hop-skipping after them.
"Guns?!" Adam asked worriedly. "Oh-no! No, no, no, this is bad!""Guns, bad. Got it."
"Flack!" Angell noticed a charcoal black goat come trotting through the woods. It trotted through, shaking the twigs out of his fuzz to come to her side. Smoke erupted from under his hooves, masking him for a moment before Flack emerged. She smiled.
"Hey, I needed some air." He smiled warmly at her. He saw her piece in her hands and drew his own. "What's going on?"
"Long story short; Stella's been kidnaped, Aiden, Mac and Hawkes are going after her, Lindsay, Danny and Adam are inside, and you and I have a job to do." She said seriously, but with determination.
"That was short?" He joked, pulling the clip.
"I saw a group of people in a car. They're all definitely from Manhattan. I recognized Jordan Gates and Gillian Whitford from our sector. They're leading the little gang, and I also saw Drew Bedford, Brenden Walsh, Sebastian Diakos and George Kolovos, all with nine mils." Angell said in a hushed tone, watching the last few people vacate the palace grounds. "No doubt they're here to kill."
"Who?"