Ooga!!

Hi again!! Thank you for the comments, they'er like the best fuel sorce in the world, and thank you for taking the time to read this!! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Travis the lawyer: -slightly creeped out at how good of a mood I'm in-

Kayka-chan: -smiles-

Travis the lawyer: Um... Did you buy the Darkest Powers from her or something?

Kayka-chan: Nope. I still don't own it.

Travis the lawyer: ... Stop being happy. It's weird.

Kayka-chan: Hey! I'm always happy!

Travis the lawyer: Right.

Foolish

Chapter Fourteen

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Don't fall too deep
Into the death trap
There is nothing to gain
And everything to lose


----XX----

"Why does he keep laughing every time he looks at us?" Chloe whispered to Derek, cupping her hand to her mouth and shooting a paranoid look over at the crow. Derek shrugged his shoulders and gently kept a fearful hand on Chloe's elbow as she quickly stepped over a raised tree branch. He had tried to stop following the crow after he realized how stupid it was to up and follow some random talking bird, but when they tried to go a different way the crow would make a loud racket and swoop down on them, herding them in the other direction.

"I don't know." Derek mumbled, keeping his eyes trained on the crow, swooping and curling around the twisted branches of the trees. He landed on one and looked at them, once again causing him to burst into seemingly uncontrollable laughter as he resumed his guiding.

They were getting into a wilder and older part of the forest. The trees seemed unrealistically menacing and large, casting such large shadows that only straggling beams of light would shine through like small spotlights. The wolf was wary, very, very wary, and Derek's muscles had been in a constant tested state as a result of that. His gaze kept alternating between Chloe and the Crow, instincts battling and not knowing who to watch more closely.

Derek was violent jerked back to reality when he slipped on some wet rock and started to slide down the hill that had appeared in front of him. He cursed violently and dug his fingers into the gravel around him, ignoring the stinging, and trying to stop his self from sliding into the raging river at the bottom of the hill. He skidded to a stop but didn't move for fear of falling into the water. The crow landed next to his hand and began to peck at his fingers.

"Knock it off!" Derek growled at the bird. He jumped back and fluttered his wings indignantly.

"No! Let go!" He cawed at him. "River! Go!" Derek stared at him. The bird was completely crazy. The river was obviously too strong for anyone to swim in it and there was probably a silt bottom to it, making it impossible to stand up and wade across.

"Hell no." Derek responded dryly and with as much finality as he could muster. The crow cawed wordlessly and loudly, taking flight and heading for Chloe who was standing up and looking down at him with relived eyes. Derek was also somewhat relived that he hadn't taken her down with him, but that feeling lasted for a total of six seconds before it was replaced with anger and surprise. The crow flew over behind Chloe and rammed into her as hard as it's little body could, knocking himself to the ground in a heap as Chloe screeched and tumbled down the hill and straight into the river. Derek didn't stop to think how bad it was to go into the river at the moment and he pulled his finger out of the grass and gravel, sliding down after her and into the water with a splash.

Water surrounded him, dark, swirling, and freezing. His whole body was under the water and air exited his mouth in a torrent of bubbles that swirled around his sight and were drug away by the current. He was being tossed, head over heel making it impossible to find which way was up. He had swallowed a good gulp of the water on his initial entry and he could feel it clogging up his windpipe. His lungs clenched and burned as they fought for air.

Even though all of this was happening, he found that he could think clearly. He knew that he had to get to the surface because he needed to breathe, he knew that if he was having a hard time than Chloe was in even more danger than he was and he needed to get to her, and he knew that he was going to strangle the crow once he got out of here.

He kicked experimentally and twisted his head around, opening his eyes under the water and trying to find the surface. There was a light off to the side and his head turned towards it, almost in slow motion due to the friction of the water. He changed direction and kicked his way up to the surface quickly. He broke through the water and took in a huge breath of air. Derek bobbed along with the current, looking around for Chloe and trying to keep his head above the water at the same time.

The crow swooped down in front of him and cawed in his face. Derek snarled at him. The crow ignored this and flew over a few paces and hovered above the water, its wings working hard. He cawed a bit and looked down before looking back over at Derek.

"Chloe!" He cawed. Derek completely forgot his anger at the crow when he mentioned her name. Derek looked where the crow was trying to get him to look before looking back up at the crow stupidly. The wolf began to freak out, trying to reason that his mate hadn't drowned yet.

"She's there?" He croaked out, his throat pained from the water he swallowed. The crow cawed loudly and flailed wildly. Derek took that as a yes and began to pull his self through the water in that direction. The wolf yipped urgently, hurrying him on. Derek swam his way over to her and reached his hands down, feeling for her. He nearly jumped out of his skin when his fingers brushed something that felt like human hair, but he quickly recovered and dove under, grabbing onto Chloe and yanking her back up again.

She chocked and gagged and gasped and clung to him like her life depended on it, which, in all honesty, it probably did. The crow cawed again and Derek jerked his head in the direction of the sound, seeing him hopping up and down excitedly on the opposite side of the river. Derek grit his teeth and tightened his hold on Chloe before he gave some vicious kicks that brought him to the river's edge.

He heaved him and Chloe out of the water and laid Chloe down looking her over for any signs of damage. She was hacking up half of the water she inhaled and she was clearly shaken up, but other than that she seemed to be fine. The wolf whined in relief and Derek had to agree. He flopped onto his butt and breathed shakily. He watched her as she tried to roll herself over and sit up. He stood up and stood above her in case she fell over.

"Are you okay?" He asked her. She coughed again and gagged a bit before she slumped over. Derek bent forward and snatched her around the waist before she could make contact with the ground. He flinched when her freezing and wet fingers snapped up to grab onto his hands. She leaned her head back into his chest and looked up at him through stringy wet hair and tear filled eyes.

"Th-thank-k yo-ou." She stuttered out, her teeth clicking together as she practically convulsed from the cold. He pulled her closer and hoped that what little body heat he had left helped her out. The leather jacket and pants were soaking wet and freezing, in even more danger of falling off than before now that they were heavy saturated with water. The crow swooped over and landed in front of them. Derek growled at him and pulled Chloe as close to him as he dared.

"Good! Come! Close!" The offensive bird squawked at them. Derek snorted and held Chloe up while she got her footing before releasing her, but keeping her close nonetheless.

"Right. How about not?" He snapped at the bird. The crow shot up into the air and squawked loudly.

"No! Come! Close!"

"Shut up!" Derek yelled at him. "Why the hell should we…" he trailed off as more than one familiar scent tickled his nose. He froze and turned his head in the direction they were coming from, inhaling deeply and closing his eyes.

Simon!

His eyes snapped back open and he began to jog off in the direction of the scent. Chloe yelled for him and the wolf snapped at him to stop. Derek complied, slowing to a stop and turning to look back at her stumbling up after him. She when she was next to him, she looked up into his eyes.

"What's up?" She questioned.

"I caught Simon's scent." He mumbled looking away from her and scanning the trees. He was there. Derek could smell him, plain as day. The breezed kicked up a few more scents and Derek drank them in eagerly. Tori, Andrew, and Lillian. "Andrew, Tori, and Lillian are with him." Chloe had brightened up at the mention of Simon and now she was positively glowing.

"Are you sure? We found them?" She said, looking between him and the tree line quickly.

"I think so." He answered. A whistle broke through the air at the same time the crow swooped over top of them, heading for its source. Derek knew that whistle. He smiled and turned to Chloe, nodding, before he stuck his fingers in his mouth and whistled back. Chloe smiled. "Let's go." He said and began to jog for the trees. Chloe ran next to him and when they got closer, Simon stepped out of the shadows and waved.

"There you guys are." He said grinning like a maniac when they stopped in front of him. Derek felt like a huge weight had been lifted off of his chest and it was easier to breathe again. His eyes quickly adjusted to the sudden loss of sunlight and he could see Andrew sitting by a tree with Lillian, who still had yet to become conscious, in his lap. Tori was off to the side a ways leaning against a different tree with her arms crossed in front of her chest. As far as Derek could tell, the worst of the injuries were a couple of bruises and scrapes.

"How long have you guys been here?" Derek asked, looking back down at Simon. He blinked and frowned in thought.

"Not too long. Andrew's been here for a while, but Tori and I found him when we almost fell in the river." Simon looked them up and down before snickering. "Looks like you were the one to fall in the river." Derek snorted.

"Yeah, well, our guide was faulty. He pretty much pushed us in." He explained with a venomous tone to his voice. Simon laughed and cocked an eyebrow.

"You had a guide?" He asked.

"Hardly. All he did was fly in front of us, laugh, and push us into a river." Derek grumbled, looking around for the crow, when he noticed that Chloe wasn't standing next to him anymore. He spotted her bent at the waist in front of Andrew and looking down at Lillian worriedly while Andrew explained what happened to them.

"I… have no idea what you're talking about. Where's your clothes by the way?" Simon asked again, gesturing to the leather jacket. Derek rolled his eyes.

"Later." He promised. Simon nodded, smiling again, before he walked away. Derek allowed a small frown to reach his face. Something was off about Simon. Something wasn't quite right…

There was a loud caw from above and Derek jerked his head up to see the crow pretty much shooting his self at him like a missile. The wolf growled and Derek swore, as he tried to step out of the way but the bird followed, herding him. A hissing sound was heard and a slinky black cat bounded off of Derek's back and latched itself onto the bird's wing. Derek flinched when the cat dug its claws into his back to get leverage but then he watched the scene unfold.

He realized that he knew that cat. It was Lust. She was hissing and clawing feathers out of the bird furiously as the crow spiraled to the ground with a few frantic calls. Chloe ran over to the spectacle and watched, not really sure what to do. As soon as the pair hit the ground an explosion of sorts occurred and smoke obscured any vision of the two that Derek had.

The smoke cleared and there stood Lust, crouched over with her fingers curled into claws, flashing off her long fingernails dangerously, and a tall man with dark black hair and a twitchy disposition. Chloe gaped at the sight and stumbled back. The man saw this and turned to lunge at her. Lust yowled and intercepted him, leaping on top of him and slashing her nails across his face.

"Derek!" She called desperately as she struggled to keep the man under her. "Get away! It's a trap!" Derek, of course, stood there, not really registering what she said until he noticed that Simon, Tori, Andrew, and Lillian were somehow wrong. He knew then. They were trapped in a spell. The wolf howled in anger.

"Shit!" Derek spat out as he ran around the fighting pair and grabbed onto Chloe, pulling her into the forest at a fast run. He heard the hounds again, barking and chasing them. There was snapping of twigs all around them and Derek knew that they were surrounded by enemies. Part of him wanted to stand and fight. The other half knew that Chloe wouldn't stand a chance and that he had to get her somewhere safe.

Chloe was having a hard time keeping up with him, but he didn't let go of her arm, desperate to keep her moving. The wolf was urging him on, telling him that if he stopped, there was no hope at all. Then the blond witch from before stepped in front of his path and he growled as he pushed Chloe into the nearest bush.

"Pity you found out about my crow. He was doing so well, too. Well, goodnight!" She said in a lilting tone before she raised her hands up and he felt like he was being electrocuted. The wolf whined and he grunted as he slipped to the ground and blacked out to the sounds of Chloe's screams.

I know, I know! It's short! I'm sorry!!

But I got pie this weekend!! I was good!

Review please!