Update! Whoo! Wasn't certain I'd get this out today, since in the last week, my ma had a motorcycle accident [she's fine, her bike...not so much], and an older guy I know just died so I had to go to the calling hours for that...I've had my three bad things happen, I'm done! *washes hands*
Anyway...not much going on this chapter, admittedly more of a filler than anything substantial, because I didn't want to leave you guys with nothing. Stuff will happen soon, I promise!
Azkadellio-It might ^w^ Heh, Jade's a pistol, she's gonna give Thomas hell before long.
Masterkungfu2013-Wouldn't you like to know?
ScottyBgood-We'll find Thomas' secret in a while, and he's got some doozies. Jade's abilities are going to prove rather useful in future chapters, that's all I'm going to say. Hahah, I know, but let's pretend everyone doesn't really think anything of it.
T0ran-Nope, so it's going to be interesting to see what happens after she meets it. Thanks for the reminder, I actually sort of forgot about them. Unintentional, but they're just flat charactrs who are there to kind of prod our cast along. I did add them again this chapter, and I'll try to keep them in every now and again.
Read on!
Long, thin, angry red marks webbed out from the length of his spine and pulsed with his heartbeat. They itched and ached and pricked painfully underneath his skin, making him roll his shoulders again and eye the shirt in his hands. He balled the fabric up and threw it across the room, wincing as the movement aggravated the pulsing lines and pinpricks of pain flared across his shoulder.
Jade cradled her jaw tenderly and flexed it experimentally after the door slammed shut. She shut her eyes as dull points of pain pulsed slowly and laid back on her bed. Something shuffled quietly by the door and she wearily opened one eye. "What the hell!-"
Jade's voice left her and she bolted up on her bed as she gaped at the creature shuffling quietly in the corner behind her door. It twitched back at the sound of her voice and the long, pencil thin quills, pale yellow and tipped with rust, that lined its head and the length of its spine down its long tail rattled together. It slowly extended one long, claw tipped paw and took a wavering step toward her.
When she continued to gape in disbelief, it took another step and slowly unbent it's rear legs to stand on them. It towered above her, head bent so the quills filling the dome of its skull barely brushed her ceiling. They rattled quietly with each step it took toward her and Jade was frozen as she stared into its gold eyes. The creature lowered itself so its head was level with hers and one clawed paw reached out to touch her jaw. She swallowed and the claw tip slipped to her throat, the point pressed lightly to her jugular. Jade made no movement, staring into its eyes and resisting the urge to sidle backward.
The creature's pointed nose twitched and its mouth opened, revealing small blunt teeth and sharp canines. "Protect mistress..." Jade gasped and twitched back and the creature mirrored her, flinching away before reaching out slowly again to touch her face.
"You..." Jade's breath washed across the pad of the creature's paw as it slowly traced her jaw, slowing over the faint bruises appearing. "You can talk? What are you?"
Gold eyes met hers and the soft fur covering it's front and legs moved with each breath they took. "Protect mistress...keep safe..." Its quiet voice tickled her ear and a lower registered voice rumbled protectively in her mind. Jade blinked and stared at the creature, its soft, richly brown and downy furred face filling her sight as it leaned in. Its mouth opened again and its tongue slicked over the bruises of her jaw. The pain pulsed slowly and faded and Jade felt the skin, pushing lightly.
"Wow..." The creature blinked slowly and an animalistic smile bared small teeth. "Thank you, I think." The creature backed away toward the light of her window and Jade leaned toward it. "You're protecting me?" It nodded and the leg that hit the sunlight became translucent.
"How? Where did you come from?" The creature continued to back into the light and became see through, but its still solid foreleg lifted and a claw pointed at her. "Me?" Jade breathed out softly. A quilled head nodded and the creature backed completely into the sunlight, becoming hazy and indistinct.
Jade lifted herself off her bed and approached the swiftly disappearing apparition. "Thank you for protecting me." It smiled toothily before it disappeared completely into motes of dust and several quills dropped to the floorboards. Jade stooped to pick them up and stared at the long length of the hollow tubes. Pale yellow and light, they seemed useless until she realized it felt like there was something in the rust red ends.
She upended one of the quills and pressed the dark tip lightly to the pad of her finger. She hissed and shook her hand as pain flared along the digit and stared at the quill balefully. A clear, viscous liquid seeped from the tip and Jade wiped it on her dress before wrapping the quills in cloth and setting them, liquid filled tips up, in her bag.
Beck appeared on Jade's front step with a smile on his face as the servant let him in and went to find her. She came around the corner and smiled distractedly at him, absently taking his arm as they walked outside. They turned away from town and walked down a well tread path through the trees and Beck noticed how Jade's eyes seemed far away. "Hey, what's going on? You all right?"
Jade walked a couple steps ahead of him and stopped, cupping her elbows in her palms. "Yeah, I just...I can't wait to get out of there, you know?" She threw a forced smile over her shoulder and Beck set his hand on her arm.
"You can talk to me, I won't mind listening."
"It's nothing, forget about it." Jade shrugged his hand off and stepped away. When she looked at him, her face was carefully neutral and her shoulders had squared. "So, what are we doing out here?"
Beck let her draw the conversation away from herself and stuck his hands in his pockets. "Well, I thought you might like getting away from your father today, and I thought I'd give you an update on my end of things." He ambled down the path and Jade walked beside him. "I got some of my things out and put them in my apartment. Your bags are up there too, in a pile by the door so we don't get confused.
"I've been helping Lane organize his papers for the past few days, and he gave me today off. Between sneaking my stuff out, helping him, and taking you out, this past week has been ridiculous." He ran his fingers through his hair and Jade noticed just how tired he looked. Dark shadows under his eyes and unusually tousled hair disrupted his normally put together facade and she felt a little guilty.
Jade ducked her head and bumped his arm with her shoulder gently. "Hey, I can take care of myself. I'm a big girl. You can just go and laze about in your fancy new digs while I wander around the woods by myself and get mauled by a bear." Jade leaned dramatically against a tree, fanning herself and laughing as Beck slapped his palm against his face.
He chuckled wryly and leaned against the trunk beside her. "That'd be a shame, what would I ever do without you to make fun of me?"
"Probably cry."
She stuck her tongue out at him and Beck laughed again, shrugging noncommittally. "I admit nothing. But seriously, I need sleep. You don't mind if I go back to Lane's, do you? I'll keep you company if you want-"
"No, go get your beauty sleep, you baby." Jade waved him off and smiled when his brow arched. "I know how to entertain myself, Beck. Besides...I've got someone to talk to." Beck smiled knowingly and waved as he walked off, leaving Jade to her thoughts. She wandered down the path toward the road and walked toward the hill outside of town. As she walked up the hill, Jade chewed on her lip and her eyebrows drew together anxiously.
Her steps slowed as she walked along the narrow path toward Sikowitz's house and she almost turned back but the house came into sight and she saw a flash of red before she was tackled by Cat and held tightly in her arms. "Jade, I'm so happy you're here! I didn't think you were going to show up, you kept changing your mind and it was making me dizzy." Cat smiled up at her and Jade smiled back without thinking.
"I thought I should see you guys, ya know...catch up?" The excuse sounded weak even to her own ears and Cat looked at her coyly.
"Tori's been waiting for you to come by the past few days. She misses you."
The simple statement caught Jade off guard and she withdrew as far as Cat would let her. Her surprisingly strong grip kept Jade from fully retreating and the redhead peered up at Jade through her eyelashes. "Come inside, Jade! We've got so much to talk about!" Cat led Jade inside the house by her hand and she sat at the table in the kitchen.
Jade looked around and tried to avoid Cat's gaze. "Where's everyone else?"
"Oh, I sent them out today. I wanted to talk to you myself before you saw them." Cat's eyes pinned Jade to her seat and she squirmed uncomfortably while the redhead stared her down. "Why haven't you been around this past week, Jade?"
"I've had things to do."
Jade crossed her arms defensively and looked away from Cat's piercing gaze. "Really? Too many things to even stop by for a couple minutes and say hi? Tori's been trying to find you, but it seems you've been absent from everywhere this week." Cat's voice was admonishing and Jade felt the guilt dig deeper.
"You're not my mother, I don't have to explain myself to you." She snarled in reflex and immediately felt worse when Cat flinched back.
Her brown eyes narrowed and Jade, for the first time ever, felt intimidated by the redhead. Cat frowned and set her elbows on the table so she could lean in closer to Jade. "No, but I am your friend. At least, I consider you a friend of mine, and friends don't disappear like you have recently. Friends usually have the courtesy to tell each other that they have things going on and ask for help, or at least tell them they're all right.
"We want to help you, Jade. And you don't have to tell us everything by any means, but I thought we were all close enough that you could trust us with some of your problems. Tori, especially. She likes you a lot, you know?" The abrupt segue threw Jade off balance and she jerked her head up to look at Cat, who just smiled benignly at the acknowledgment of her words. "She keeps trying to get close to you, and sometimes you let her, but other times you just...shut her out."
"Why would she want to get close to me? I'm not someone she should want to get to know. I'm a-"
"What, a bad person? You're not as scary or mean as you think you are, Jade. I think..." Cat's face scrunched up adorably in thought and Jade smiled a bit despite herself. "I think you're scared, and trying to protect yourself, more than anything."
"I am not sca-"
"Everyone gets scared; it's what makes us human. It's not a bad thing, being scared of something doesn't make you weak. Can't you see that, Jade? Sometimes, the things we're most scared of are what we want the most."
Jade sat back in her seat and the air rushed out of her like someone had punched her in the gut. She blinked at Cat, who was humming quietly and twirling a piece of hair around her finger as she stared back at her. "Cat...I don't...understand, these feelings I have."
"Maybe you're not supposed to right now."
"But I don't like this, this not knowing! I hate not understanding my own feelings, and the fact that they're about yo-"
Jade's mouth snapped shut with an audible clack of teeth and Cat leaned forward in interest. "About what?"
"Nothing, nothing, forget it."
"Jaaadie, c'mon, tell me!" Cat wheedled in a sing song voice and Jade shook her head stubbornly.
"I'm not discussing this with you. End of story."
"Well, maybe you'll talk about it with Tori, then."
"Nope, there's no way I'm talking to Tori about my feelings when she's the-dammit, Cat!"
Cat giggled and Jade scowled at her. The redhead sobered quickly and reached across the table to set her hand on Jade's forearm. "Don't keep shutting her out, Jade. She does care for you a lot, and I promised to be nice, but I will hurt you if you do anything to Tori." Jade swallowed at the look on Cat's face and stiffened when she stood from the table.
Cat smiled brightly and offered Jade her hand, dragging her onto the front porch. "If you were wondering, Tori went to see Uncle Jason and Aunt Molly in town, because I know she hasn't seen them since you came back." Cat shoved Jade lightly down the steps and waved from the porch. "Go talk to her, Jade! You might be surprised at what she has to say! Their house is down the road, the third on the left." Smiling enigmatically, Cat giggled and went back inside, leaving Jade to shake her head and walk back down the path to the road. She sighed and scratched her head as she walked onto the rutted road and headed down the hill toward town.
Tori knocked on the door and tucked her hair nervously behind her ear. The hinge creaked as it opened and she barely had time to realize someone was coming through the door before she had been lifted bodily off the ground and into muscled arms. "Tori, my girl, it's good to see you! Where have you been hiding, I thought I was going to have to brave the woods to find you again!"
Tori wrapped her arms around Jason's neck and buried her faced against the collar of his button up. He smelled of sawdust and dirt and his rumbling laugh echoed against her ear and she smiled widely. "Tío! I'm sorry, there's been so much going on this summer and I haven't been able to get around to see you and Tia and I feel really, really-"
"Whoa, girl, slow your horses." Jason laughed and set Tori back on her feet so they could go inside. They sat at the table in the sunlit kitchen and Jason smiled at her over a plate of food. "Don't worry, I figured something had caught your eye. I understand."
"But I shouldn't have left you both alone for so long. I should have made time for you both."
Tori frowned and Jason pointed his fork at her. "You're making time now, aren't you? Coming to see us, even though I bet you've got somewhere to be. Relax, Tori, we really don't mind. You're growing up, things are going to take your attention away from your family. As long as you don't forget about us, everything will be fine." He grinned and took a bite of his food and Tori smiled back, relaxing in her seat.
"I couldn't forget either of you. Where is Tia, anyway?"
"She went into town to get some cloth, I ripped another pair of pants at the mill the other day. She actually threatened to make me sew my own pants the next time I tear them, so I'd best be careful. Last time I tried to mend my clothes, I ended up pricking my fingers and managed to sew the shirt I was trying to fix to my pants. Molly had to cut me loose and wouldn't let me live it down for the next year." Jason rolled his eyes good naturedly and Tori laughed.
He waved at the stove top and told Tori to fix herself a plate. As they ate, Tori shared some of the past couple months' goings on with Jason and he listened. "It sounds like you've had quite the time since this girl came back into your life. Are you sure you should continue seeing her? She seems like the kind to drag you into trouble you won't be able to get out of, Tori."
The fork in Tori's hand paused midway to her mouth and she stared incredulously at the man sitting across the table from her. "No, Jade's the kind to protect me if I get into trouble, and would be the first one to pull me up if I needed it," she said heatedly. Jason held his hands up to placate the brunette and Tori sighed heavily before resettling into her seat. She stabbed at her food in irritation and grumbled under her breath.
"Hey, I didn't mean any offense. It just sounds like you're getting in over your head, and I don't want to see you hurt, sweetheart."
Her eyes softened and Tori sighed. "I know, it's just...I'm worried something's going to happen soon. I've just got that feeling, you know?"
"Well, if anyone can deal with the unexpected and come out standing, it's you, Tori. Don't doubt yourself." Jason smiled and took their empty plates, setting them on the counter.
Tori set her cheek in her palm and nodded. "I try not to, but sometimes..." Tori paused when someone knocked on the door and Jason excused himself. He came back with a bemused look on his face and stood aside in the door to let the visitor in. "Jade? What are you doing here?" Tori gaped and then tamed her expression into wary watchfulness and Thomas quirked his eyebrow as he stood behind Jade.
She played with the skirt of her dress and cautiously met Tori's eyes. "I...came to find you." Jade swallowed and Tori tilted her head to the side.
"Oh? What for?"
There was a challenge in amber eyes and Jade gritted her teeth. "May I speak with you outside?"
"No, whatever you have to say to me can be said in front of Tio, too."
Jason cleared his throat and both girls looked over at him. "I'll just...be outside. Take your time, and say goodbye before you leave." He escaped out the door and Jade felt Tori's eyes burning into the side of her head. She kept her gaze on the counter to the left heard Tori sigh.
"Jade...what are you doing here?"
"I came to find you."
"So you've said." Jade glanced over and saw Tori cradling her head in her palm, steadily staring back at her with a blank gaze. "What did you want?"
Jade sat slowly in the vacated seat and her nail dug into a small groove on the table. "I wanted to...to apologize. I shouldn't have said what I did to you, at the shop...and I shouldn't have avoided you after, either. I'm sorry." She felt more than saw Tori's hand move across the table to halt her hand and encase it warmly.
"Jade? Look at me?" She slowly lifted her eyes and met Tori's. They were warm and compassionate and Jade felt her heart stutter before it began beating quicker. The hand in her lap trembled and heat rushed up her neck to rest warmly under her cheeks. She could feel the power in her chest tumbling over itself eagerly and took a breath to fortify herself. "It's alright, Andre was fooling around and I didn't realize it until you were already outside. But why did you stay away?"
"I...didn't know what to tell you, I guess. I'm not good at saying...nice things." Jade made a face and Tori smiled.
"No, but that's what I like about you. You don't sugarcoat everything, you just say it like it is." Her grip tightened before she released Jade's hand and Tori stood. She offered her hand to Jade to take and they walked onto the front porch where Jason was sitting on the stoop. "Tío? Me and Jade have to go, but I promise to visit again soon, okay?"
Jason looked up at them, studying them, before smiling and standing. He enveloped Tori in a hug and smiled warmly at Jade, offering his hand to shake. "Miss Jade, it was...interesting. Come by with Tori sometime, we'll talk." Jade nodded uncertainly and Tori dragged her off the steps.
"Bye, Tío!" They walked down the street and Jade fought back the fluttering sensation in her belly as Tori continued to hold her hand. They rounded a bend in the road and left the sight of the last houses, and Jade noticed Tori's gait slow. "Jade? Where are we going?"
"I thought you knew."
"No, I just wanted to walk with you."
The blush was barely noticeable on Tori's skin and Jade smirked. "Oh? You wanted to get me alone, is that it? Miss Tori, I'm shocked at your audacity!"
Tori stuck her tongue and they stopped on the edge of the road. "I'm a risk taker, what can I say?"
"Well, what risk are you taking, bringing me out here all by our lonesome?" Jade grinned and Tori narrowed her eyes. She stepped boldly forward and Jade backtracked, eyes widening. A smile worked its way onto Tori's lips and she took another half step forward that Jade mirrored in reverse.
"What's wrong, Jade? You seem a little nervous." She took a half step to the left and then walked forward several steps and Jade retreated quickly, glancing between her and her quickly narrowing area of escape.
"I'm not nervous, why should I be?" She shot back, eyes widening as her palms pressed against the rough bark of a tree.
"That's a good question." Tori closed the distance between them and nonchalantly braced one of her hands against the tree beside Jade's head. "Is something making you nervous?" She leaned in closer and her other hand gently closed around Jade's bicep.
Tori whispered into the space between them, breath wafting across Jade's cheek, "Do I make you nervous?" She looked into wide blue-green eyes and smiled roguishly. Jade's breath came quickly, puffing across Tori's chin, and she could see her pulse beating wildly at her throat. Tori bent and pressed a kiss to her cheek, dangerously close to the corner of her lips, and took a step away from Jade.
Her own pulse hammered in her chest and the power under her skin thrummed excitedly. Tori pressed her hand to her breast, over the tattoo, and watched Jade sway, fingers dug into the bark of the tree like she would blow away if she let go.
"Tori?-I...why'd you..."
"I gotta keep you on your toes somehow, West." Tori smirked and Jade visibly swallowed. "It's only a bit of friendly teasing anyway, right?"