"Step aside. We need to get her medical attention, and if you're
standing in the way, you are ending her life and pissing me off, now
get...out...of...the...way."
I looked at Jake and saw that he had a look of pure hatred on his face. His bright green eyes were burning with hatred and he was clutching Wraith even tighter. It looked as if Damon was going to fight, but suddenly, Jake threw his arm back and punched him in the nose. Damon gloved hands flew up to his face as Jake waved his hand at him. Damon was visibly swept off the floor and slammed into the wall. Jake clenched his jaw and began walking outside. When he got there, he tossed a set of keys to the guy who Wraith had jumped in front of.
"You can ride, follow us back on her bike. We'll get you fixed up at the manor."
He then carried Wraith to the hummer, opened the passenger door and set her down before smoking to the drivers seat like he had done before. Paul and I were barely in the car before he pulled away. He drove like a maniac and amazingly got back to the house with the weapon room within ten minutes. He opened the gate, got Wraith out of the car, and ran into the house. The second he got into the main hall, he began yelling.
"Mae! Jack! Help me! Wraith is hurt, she needs to be healed!"
There was a double dose of smoke as an elderly couple poofed in front of us. The man took Wraith from Jake's arms and then smoked again. The woman turned to Jake.
"Who are these people? Tell me what happened."
Jake began to explain what had happened at the warehouse, and then he began to point at all of us.
"These people are Suze, Paul and...Artemis."
I stood flabbergasted...and then remembered that he could do the whole poof thing and he threw Damon with his mind, so he must be Akashic as well...Well, there are a lot more of them than I thought. The woman, Mae I was assuming, turned to me and smiled a little bit.
"Hello, I believe that Ly went to your house the other day."
I nodded and then saw Jake looking desperately up the left stairway. Mae saw this and gave a heartwarming smile.
"You may go to her. Do not bother Jack, do not attempt to heal her. We have not fully taught you that skill yet."
Jake gave a small nod and disappeared up the stairs. Mae turned back to us and began to motion us around the fountain, and to a wrought iron door that was set at the center of the two stairs. She pushed us through it and we entered an amazingly large room. The walls were a crimson red with gold accents, and the couches were big and black. There was a black throne-like loveseat that Mae sat in. Paul, Artemis and I sat on the black couch in front of her. We just sat like that for about ten minutes, and then Jake appeared on the couch next to me, which only scared me a little, I swear...Shut up. He put his elbow on the armrest and cupped his forehead in his palm.
"She isn't looking all that good Mae, I'm going to sit with her tonight. Now, what are we going to do with him?"
With those last words, he jerked his white blonde head towards Artemis. Mae chuckled at his antagonistic behavior.
"He can stay in one of the guest rooms as long as he wants."
Artemis beamed at her and then slumped on the seat with his eyes closed. I heard Jake groan. "Oh great, he's passed out. I'll take him to the dark room in the west wing, all right Mae?"
Mae smiled at him as Jake reached behind me and Paul, grabbed Artemis' shoulder, and they both disappeared. Mae then turned to us.
"Suze, Paul, I believe you should head home now. You have means of transportation, don't you?"
"Yes. Suze will ride home with me."
I glanced at Paul, he was smirking at me. How dare he assume that I would ride home wit...oh crap...I have no other way to get home. I was trying to contemplate how far I would have to walk to get home when Mae interrupted me.
"Susannah, if you need it, Jake will get you home. He needs to get away from the house more anyway."
I nodded enthusiastically, not caring that Mae had probably read my mind to realize how much I needed a different way home. Precisely when I was rejoicing on how wonderful Mae is, Jake once again scared the living shit out of me by appearing on the couch next to me with no prior warning. When I had stopped hyperventilating, Jake had obviously either read my mind as well or had a psychic conversation with Mae because he simply turned to me and said,
"We should go now, It's getting kind of late."
I heard Paul huff, but I didn't care as I followed Jake out to the Hummer. He opened the door for me, poofed into the drivers side, and then took off. He never asked where to go, so I assumed that he had already pried that information from my brain. While we were driving, my mind finally clicked on something.
"Jake, you look like you're Wraith's age, why don't you go to our school?"
Jake chuckled and made a left turn.
'I do now. I can't risk Damon sending another note like that and getting her off, I almost lost her today. Plus, she'll be needing help with her new injuries..."
I stopped dwelling on the 'I almost lost her' part of his speech and grabbed on to the last statement.
"I thought there was only the, ya know...arrow thing."
He shook his head and stopped at a red light.
"Damon apparently got playful. There's extensive bruising on her stomach, back, ribs and around her neck. He always does this to her..."
the light turned green and he put the pedal to the metal.
"What do you mean, he always does this? Has he beaten her up before?"
"When she left him and he killed that guy who asked her out, she went to him on a guilt trip, trying to revenge the guy. He did even worse, she was in a coma for two weeks. That's was the first time we moved, This was last year...we moved to the manor a little over three weeks ago, it's all done up with barrier spells, wards, protection...the works, so he can't get to her, but if he can make her come to him..."
We were getting very close to my house by now. I looked at Jake and saw that he had a very sad look on his face.
"He says that he loves her, yet he finds no guilt in hurting her...that's not love...that's something sick and twisted and wrong..."
"You love her though, don't you."
I almost got whiplash as his foot twitched on the brakes. He turned to face me.
"Is it really that obvious?"
"It is when you talk like that about her."
He let out a large sigh and pointed to the backseat.
"I have your clothes and things back there, I'm pretty sure that your parents would be shocked to find you in that."
I looked down to see my legs clad in skintight V.P. I gave a bashful grin and climbed into the backseat to change. I peeled off the bodysuit, pulled on my white jeans and blue top, grabbed my sandals, and then climbed back up front. Jake was musing with his elbow against the window and his head cupped in his hand. I stared pointedly at him for about ten seconds before he twitched a little bit, sat up straight and continued to drive. We reached my house about five minutes later. I hopped out, waved goodbye, and walked inside, forgetting about the predicament that I was in.
"SUSIE! Get in here now!"
I hurried to the kitchen to find mom sitting at the table, with Father Dom.
"What are you doing here!"
He shifted uncomfortably and looked down.
"Your behavior at school worried me and quite a few other teachers Susannah, I was simply discussing with your mother... "
"YOU CUT SCHOOL!"
I my head to face mom, she was silently, or not so silently, fuming.
"What on earth drove you to cut school! Why would you do such a thing?"
"Mom, I was helping Wraith..."
"What kind of help does she need? Seeing how fast she can go in her hummer? Hmmmm? I ought to..."
"MOM! Someone sent her a disgusting note! Some sick creep sent a single rose with a card that blamed her for the death of an old friend...asked if she heard the screaming ..."
Mom turned white and just stared at me.
"Someone did what? What are you talking about?"
"Wraith had an old friend who was found murdered last year. Today, a delivery guy came with a single rose and a note that said that it was her fault he was dead and asking if she could hear him screaming. She ran out and I went with her, she really needed a friend, I didn't want to leave her alone."
I looked at Jake and saw that he had a look of pure hatred on his face. His bright green eyes were burning with hatred and he was clutching Wraith even tighter. It looked as if Damon was going to fight, but suddenly, Jake threw his arm back and punched him in the nose. Damon gloved hands flew up to his face as Jake waved his hand at him. Damon was visibly swept off the floor and slammed into the wall. Jake clenched his jaw and began walking outside. When he got there, he tossed a set of keys to the guy who Wraith had jumped in front of.
"You can ride, follow us back on her bike. We'll get you fixed up at the manor."
He then carried Wraith to the hummer, opened the passenger door and set her down before smoking to the drivers seat like he had done before. Paul and I were barely in the car before he pulled away. He drove like a maniac and amazingly got back to the house with the weapon room within ten minutes. He opened the gate, got Wraith out of the car, and ran into the house. The second he got into the main hall, he began yelling.
"Mae! Jack! Help me! Wraith is hurt, she needs to be healed!"
There was a double dose of smoke as an elderly couple poofed in front of us. The man took Wraith from Jake's arms and then smoked again. The woman turned to Jake.
"Who are these people? Tell me what happened."
Jake began to explain what had happened at the warehouse, and then he began to point at all of us.
"These people are Suze, Paul and...Artemis."
I stood flabbergasted...and then remembered that he could do the whole poof thing and he threw Damon with his mind, so he must be Akashic as well...Well, there are a lot more of them than I thought. The woman, Mae I was assuming, turned to me and smiled a little bit.
"Hello, I believe that Ly went to your house the other day."
I nodded and then saw Jake looking desperately up the left stairway. Mae saw this and gave a heartwarming smile.
"You may go to her. Do not bother Jack, do not attempt to heal her. We have not fully taught you that skill yet."
Jake gave a small nod and disappeared up the stairs. Mae turned back to us and began to motion us around the fountain, and to a wrought iron door that was set at the center of the two stairs. She pushed us through it and we entered an amazingly large room. The walls were a crimson red with gold accents, and the couches were big and black. There was a black throne-like loveseat that Mae sat in. Paul, Artemis and I sat on the black couch in front of her. We just sat like that for about ten minutes, and then Jake appeared on the couch next to me, which only scared me a little, I swear...Shut up. He put his elbow on the armrest and cupped his forehead in his palm.
"She isn't looking all that good Mae, I'm going to sit with her tonight. Now, what are we going to do with him?"
With those last words, he jerked his white blonde head towards Artemis. Mae chuckled at his antagonistic behavior.
"He can stay in one of the guest rooms as long as he wants."
Artemis beamed at her and then slumped on the seat with his eyes closed. I heard Jake groan. "Oh great, he's passed out. I'll take him to the dark room in the west wing, all right Mae?"
Mae smiled at him as Jake reached behind me and Paul, grabbed Artemis' shoulder, and they both disappeared. Mae then turned to us.
"Suze, Paul, I believe you should head home now. You have means of transportation, don't you?"
"Yes. Suze will ride home with me."
I glanced at Paul, he was smirking at me. How dare he assume that I would ride home wit...oh crap...I have no other way to get home. I was trying to contemplate how far I would have to walk to get home when Mae interrupted me.
"Susannah, if you need it, Jake will get you home. He needs to get away from the house more anyway."
I nodded enthusiastically, not caring that Mae had probably read my mind to realize how much I needed a different way home. Precisely when I was rejoicing on how wonderful Mae is, Jake once again scared the living shit out of me by appearing on the couch next to me with no prior warning. When I had stopped hyperventilating, Jake had obviously either read my mind as well or had a psychic conversation with Mae because he simply turned to me and said,
"We should go now, It's getting kind of late."
I heard Paul huff, but I didn't care as I followed Jake out to the Hummer. He opened the door for me, poofed into the drivers side, and then took off. He never asked where to go, so I assumed that he had already pried that information from my brain. While we were driving, my mind finally clicked on something.
"Jake, you look like you're Wraith's age, why don't you go to our school?"
Jake chuckled and made a left turn.
'I do now. I can't risk Damon sending another note like that and getting her off, I almost lost her today. Plus, she'll be needing help with her new injuries..."
I stopped dwelling on the 'I almost lost her' part of his speech and grabbed on to the last statement.
"I thought there was only the, ya know...arrow thing."
He shook his head and stopped at a red light.
"Damon apparently got playful. There's extensive bruising on her stomach, back, ribs and around her neck. He always does this to her..."
the light turned green and he put the pedal to the metal.
"What do you mean, he always does this? Has he beaten her up before?"
"When she left him and he killed that guy who asked her out, she went to him on a guilt trip, trying to revenge the guy. He did even worse, she was in a coma for two weeks. That's was the first time we moved, This was last year...we moved to the manor a little over three weeks ago, it's all done up with barrier spells, wards, protection...the works, so he can't get to her, but if he can make her come to him..."
We were getting very close to my house by now. I looked at Jake and saw that he had a very sad look on his face.
"He says that he loves her, yet he finds no guilt in hurting her...that's not love...that's something sick and twisted and wrong..."
"You love her though, don't you."
I almost got whiplash as his foot twitched on the brakes. He turned to face me.
"Is it really that obvious?"
"It is when you talk like that about her."
He let out a large sigh and pointed to the backseat.
"I have your clothes and things back there, I'm pretty sure that your parents would be shocked to find you in that."
I looked down to see my legs clad in skintight V.P. I gave a bashful grin and climbed into the backseat to change. I peeled off the bodysuit, pulled on my white jeans and blue top, grabbed my sandals, and then climbed back up front. Jake was musing with his elbow against the window and his head cupped in his hand. I stared pointedly at him for about ten seconds before he twitched a little bit, sat up straight and continued to drive. We reached my house about five minutes later. I hopped out, waved goodbye, and walked inside, forgetting about the predicament that I was in.
"SUSIE! Get in here now!"
I hurried to the kitchen to find mom sitting at the table, with Father Dom.
"What are you doing here!"
He shifted uncomfortably and looked down.
"Your behavior at school worried me and quite a few other teachers Susannah, I was simply discussing with your mother... "
"YOU CUT SCHOOL!"
I my head to face mom, she was silently, or not so silently, fuming.
"What on earth drove you to cut school! Why would you do such a thing?"
"Mom, I was helping Wraith..."
"What kind of help does she need? Seeing how fast she can go in her hummer? Hmmmm? I ought to..."
"MOM! Someone sent her a disgusting note! Some sick creep sent a single rose with a card that blamed her for the death of an old friend...asked if she heard the screaming ..."
Mom turned white and just stared at me.
"Someone did what? What are you talking about?"
"Wraith had an old friend who was found murdered last year. Today, a delivery guy came with a single rose and a note that said that it was her fault he was dead and asking if she could hear him screaming. She ran out and I went with her, she really needed a friend, I didn't want to leave her alone."