Okay, I'm back. I hope you're all ready for another chapter. That last one was a cliffy. A major cliffy. I hope you're all excited to see what happens next. So, read 'NeoFlock' and 'Deadline' by Talon666 and 'Dark Blue' and 'Maximum Ride: Wings vs. Wands' by Madeline Cullen. Okay, let's get this party started already.
"What?!" I asked incredulously. Wasn't it enough that I just found out my best friend was a mutant? Why did he have to want to kill me too? As if my life wasn't bad enough.
Skye was in a protective stance, his eyes glued to Cory, who was still smirking. "You're not going to touch her." Skye growled.
Cory laughed, taking a step toward us. "Oh, I'm so scared of the big bad wolf." He laughed harder at his joke. "What Skye? Gonna morph?"
Skye growled angrily and let go of my arm. "No. I don't need to be an Eraser to take care of you!" he yelled.
"What's going on?" Jewel asked from behind us.
We all turned to look at her confused face. Her eyes flashed from me, to Skye, to Cory and suddenly she understood. She walked beside me, glaring hard at my so called best friend.
Cory nodded. "I was just about to ask where little Jewel was." he said, smiling at her.
"Shut up." I told him angrily. "Look, you want me? Come get me." I said. "Just leave Jewel alone."
Cory smirked when he noticed I hadn't said anything about Skye. "Actually, my orders are to kill you and Jewel and then drag Skye back to the Director." he informed me.
"And how do you plan to do that?" Skye asked, standing in front of me. "You touch them and I'll rip you apart."
Cory clenched his teeth, his angry eyes glued to Skye. "I believe I was talking to Melody." He looked at me, smiling. "I'm sure you have a lot of questions for me, Mel."
I nodded. "Yeah, I do." I told him. "Tell me why I shouldn't rip you apart myself." Like I needed Skye to protect me. I could take care of myself just fine.
He smiled that charming smile of his. "Because Mel, you don't understand. I've been your best friend for so long. None of this makes any sense. You always thought I was normal. You're confused."
He knew me way too well. Guess that was my own stupid fault for letting him get so close. "Start talking." I growled.
He nodded. "Okay." He bit his lip, thinking. "I was born to be a Tracker." he explained. "That's how I found you. My job from the time I was very small was to spy on you and feed information about you to the Director so she would know exactly what she was dealing with."
That explained what he had been doing in Memphis and how Willow had found us. I mentally slapped myself for thinking that had all been merely a huge coincidence. It was so obvious now that I thought about it.
"So, I take it you were the one who found out where I was living." I said, angry for being so stupid.
He chuckled, shaking his head. "No. I was too young then. Someone else broke into Dr. Martinez's house when you were a baby. They're the reason the School knew you existed. Thanks to your parents fake names, they were able to track you down when your parents bought your new house."
I took in a breath. That made sense. The Director had went to school with my parents when they were younger. All my life, I thought we were safe. I never understood my parents paranoia. Not even they were careful enough.
Cory smiled as he saw the gears turning in my head. "Now you're wondering why I haven't killed you yet."
All I could do was nod slowly. I couldn't believe what I had just heard, but it all made perfect sense. The Director had wanted Cory to get close to me so it would be easier for him to watch me. That was why he had been my friend. The crush thing had been a lie. He pretended so maybe I would get even closer to him. His mother had also been fake. She was probably a whitecoat. All those times I went over to his house. If I had known then… what?
Cory reached in his pants pocket and pulled out nothing. He began reaching inside every pocket, pulling the lining out so I could see. There was nothing. He had no weapons. Just a bunch of lint.
He grinned. "The Director gave me a gun. I ditched it as soon as I was far away from the School. I tracked you down because I wanna help you."
"Why should she trust you?" Jewel asked, crossing her arms. "You've been lying to her for years. Why should she believe you this time?"
"Yeah, why should I?" I asked cautiously. I couldn't trust him anymore than I could trust Skye. I didn't know what to do.
"I'm the reason they didn't kidnap you sooner." Cory said, carefully walking towards me with his eyes locked on Skye. "If I stopped feeding them information about you, they would've taken you earlier. I protected you Mel. I protected you for as long as I could."
I sighed heavily. "That may be true, but you lied to me Cory. You lied to me everyday that I knew you. I thought you were normal."
Cory frowned. "Yeah, but you lied to me too Melody. It's the same thing."
That was true. Except for one tiny thing. "But you knew what I was. I had no clue what you were."
He smirked. "Yeah, but you didn't know that I knew. So, technically it was the same thing. All to protect ourselves."
I looked around the forest. Skye looked angry, Jewel looked lost, and Cory looked confident that I would let him stay. I had let Skye after all. What was I going to do? What did I want to do? What would my parents tell me?
Listen to your heart Mel. It'll guide you. Angel's words echoed loudly through my brain.
I put my hand to my forehead. I could feel a massive headache coming on fast. It was my decision. I was the leader. Everyone had to listen to what I said without any argument or complaints. No pressure though.
I sighed heavily. "Okay Cory. You can stay." I quickly looked up. Cory looked happy, Jewel still looked confused, and Skye looked pissed. Oh well. He'd just have to deal with it.
"I knew you'd let me Mel." Cory said smugly. I knew he was rubbing it in Skye's face.
"Hold up." I said before anyone could start gloating or complaining. "I don't trust you anymore than I trust Skye. I can't. You lied to me for almost nine years."
Cory nodded. "Understandable. I'm okay with that."
Skye glared at me, hard. "Why are you letting him stay?" Jewel nodded in agreement with him.
I sighed again. "Because I let you." I turned back to Cory. "Now, I'm leader. You have to listen to me. Whatever I say, you do."
Cory put his hand to his forehead and saluted me. "Aye aye Captain. Whatever you say, I do."
I had to try not to giggle when he did that. I had forgotten how funny he could be. "Right. First order of business." I said. "Bed. I'm on watch."
Skye opened his mouth to protest, but I put up my hand. "No. You and Cory aren't ever on watch duty. Just me and Jewel. I can't trust the two of you not to do something sinister while I'm sleeping."
Cory nodded and Skye just grunted in annoyance. He was seriously mad at me, but there was nothing to be done about that. It was his own fault in the first place. My trust was a hard thing to gain back once it was lost. He and Cory had both screwed up.
Jewel went back to her sleeping spot with no protest. I walked over to the log with my backpack and Cory frowned at me.
Skye, however, shook his head. "Of course. I knew you would blog about this." he said, irritated. "Just leave me out of it okay Princess." He stalked over to the place I had been sleeping and laid down.
Cory looked over at me, smirking. "Trouble in paradise, eh?" he asked happily.
I glared at him, pulling out the laptop. "Just shut up and go to sleep." I told him. "That's an order."
He smiled at me. "Whatever you say, I do." he told me, walking off. He grabbed himself a spot and laid down, turned on his side to where he could see me, and shut his eyes.
I rolled my eyes and sighed. Great. Now I had two people to keep tabs on. Two people I used to trust with my life. The computer warmed up and I began to type. That's what I needed to do. Venting my feelings would relax me. I hoped.
That was certainly not the longest chapter ever. Not by my normal standards anyways. I tried though, I really did. So, what do you think about Mel letting Cory stay? Wise idea or not? I know you all really want Mel and Skye to get back together. However, this story isn't over just yet. Keep reading. Maybe they will. Updating soon. See ya. Oh, and check the blog. Link's on my profile.
