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Tainted Love
Part One- Malicious Intent
Author's note: Thanks to all who review me, I'd be e-mailing all who asked, but I'm rather shy. Heh. We're 80% done with part one! Yay! (btw: Musette!? From Cerulean Sins? I LOVE YOU!!!) And I'd like to shout-out to my new muse: Hamster With Four Names, he's my new hamster, and he's my new muse. So yay!!
Chapter 8
Maddy took another nervous hit off her inhaler. Of course something like this would happen to her. Of course she couldn't just have a normal life. She looked up at the pale moonlight filtering through the trees of Central Park. She was supposed to be meeting everyone there; she bit her lip slightly, taking another step forward. She hated standing on the grass, because it would grow around her feet, almost to her knees, only when she took another step would the grass go down again.
It was annoying, to say the least. She knelt next to a tree that had ivy growing up the trunk and held her hand out. A new sprig of ivy grew towards her, curling around her hand and wrist. It was cool, she'd give this whole thing that, but why did it mean that she'd make a good meal for a crazy vampire? She'd known these people for two days.
"Madeline?" A voice caught Maddy off-guard, and she stumbled over. She couldn't see that well in the darkness, but this person could. The crunching of leaves mirrored the harsh beating of her heart as she waited her copper colored eyes wide. She pushed her glasses farther up her nose. Maddy breathed a huge sigh of relief when Anthony "Racetrack" Higgins walked out of the shadows.
"R-r-r-r-race?" She asked quietly. He gave her a gentle smile.
"Yeah, how long have ya been here?" Racetrack asked, Maddy noted a distinct change in his attitude. He was sadder, and just a little ticked off.
"Wh-what's wr-r-rong?"
"Nothin'.no one else is here yet?" She shook her head.
"N-n-no."
"Oh." He sat down beside her, lighting a cigar. Maddy took another hit off her inhaler, shaking slightly.
"S-s-s-so.how d-d-did you g-g-get into this whole...th-thing?" She asked, breaking the silence. Racetrack looked at her out of the corner of his eyes.
"Whaddya mean?"
"W-w-w-with the vampire's and s-s-stuff." Racetrack smirked a little bit, jamming his hand in his pocket.
"Well, dat's a sorta long story, but Ah'll tell ya dis," he took his hand out of his pocket, showing her a worn, ancient looking pack of cards. "Dis..kinda was my downfall."
"C-c-c-cards?"
"Gamblin', I don't do that stuff no more."
"That's g-g-g-good.."
"Oh.what a touching little conversation." Maddy and Racetrack looked up to see Jack, Les, and the auburn haired girl making their way down the pathway to them. Les smirked at Racetrack, who looked at the girl.
"I see ya found Nicole Vitale," he remarked. Les's expression didn't change. Racetrack took a crumpled piece of paper out of his pocket and tossed it to Jack. The girl looked down at her folded hands, biting her lip, and cutting herself on her fangs. She made a little sound of surprise as the cut quickly healed. Les put a tiny hand on her elbow.
"It's alright, Aura, there is nothing to be ashamed of." Jack unrolled the crumpled paper and looked at the missing person's flyer.
"You would worry about this," Jack said, a grin twisting his lips. Maddy took another hit off her inhaler, third time in the night.
"Cat an' Gee are gunna be here soon, Gee hates your kind anyways." Racetrack began, Jack snickered.
'Oh really, I find that funny, aren't we your kind too?"
Maddy watched this little exchange with a look of outright fear. What was going on? What did they mean? She was about to speak up when Gee and Cat finally decided to make an appearance.
"Anthony, Jack.who are these people?" Gee said, her challenging blue eyes flicking from Aura to Les. It was weird, the little boy had that Vampiric aura around him.maybe he was a servant.
"This is Les and Aura," Jack said. "This is Aura's second day as a vampire." Gee's eyes flashed with something that was close to anger, but not quite.
"You sired this girl?"
"Congrats, you figured it out." Jack's smug smirk didn't last for long though, Gee slapped it off his face. Cat, Racetrack, Aura, Maddy, and Les watched with mixed reactions as Jack pinned her against the tree. Gee seethed, her eyes had bled to a feral amber yellow, wolf's eyes.
"You sired her!? Under my nose!?" Jack noted her sharpening teeth, and her already thick blue streaked hair getting thicker. She scratched at him, her nails definitely growing into claws.
"Control yourself!" He growled. "If you shift here, we'll be in serious trouble, you got that? Do you really want to go padding into David's place as a wolf?"
Cat leaned over to Racetrack. "It's not the full moon though," she whispered.
"She can change anytime she wants," he replied.
"Oh."
Gee finally calmed down, her claw-like fingers going back to normal, only her wolfish eyes stayed. "That's the last one you'll sire, Jack Kelly. The last one." Jack smirked, unpinning her and letting her go.
"Whatever you wish," he replied, the smug grin coming back to his face.
David yawned idly, covering his mouth politely with his hand. This was taking too long, he was bored. His blue eyes trailed over Mush's broken body. This had taken a lot out of him, this whole torture business, especially since the victim could keep healing himself. This whole thing made him tired, all he had wanted to really do was meet Jack again.and have some nice Necromancer blood. They had promised him that.
Mush bit back another scream as he attempted to move. After being burned, skewered, cut, slashed, bitten, and who knew what else, he was amazed that his insanity kept in tact. He squeezed his eyes shut, Jack would come for him soon. He could feel it. He was sorry for failing Racetrack, he really was..
"Oh, they're coming," David said, as though he had read Mush's thoughts. "To bargain for you, I don't understand why." David calmly glided over to him, before kicking him expertly in the ribs. Mush cried out, this was almost too much for him to bear, but it wasn't all the same.
"Jack can just make another one, and another one, he cares not for such things like this. Someone else is making him come for you, it's probably Racetrack, the little bleeding heart humanitarian." David tossed his head in disgust. "You are all cattle. That's it!"
Mush looked up at David through a haze of blood. "That's why."
"What!? I thought I ripped your throat out hours ago, shouldn't your vocal chords be damaged still?"
They were, Mush's voice came out raspy, painful sounded, but he still spoke.
"That's why no one likes you, no one cares for you.you think too."
David kicked Mush's arms out from under him, causing the poor boy to go crashing to the floor. Before he could get back up again, David place his foot on the back of his neck. "What was that, human?" He said, spitting the word "human" out like a dirty word.
"You think too much like He did.that's why they killed him, remember?"
David was horrified, with a cry of anger, he kicked Mush in the head, sending the boy into blissful unconsciousness.
Cat looked warily at Jack as they walked. He was a vampire, a male vampire; could he have killed her father? That would also mean he was going to fall for her, or something like that. There was no real attraction between her and Jack, none really. Her mind drifted to Racetrack, what about him? There was something between them, no question, but Racetrack was just one of Jack's blood slaves, he wasn't capable of doing such things.he was such a nice boy too.
Spot. Cat couldn't believe that she didn't see this before. What about Spot? He had gone missing shortly after her real powers manifested. They obviously had something at that party.she could vaguely remember. Had he gotten scared when he found out what she could really do? Hopefully he would never come back again. She breathed a sigh of relief. She wanted to think that once they got Mush from David, this would all be over, but she had a feeling that it was pretty much just the beginning.
What a cliché. She rolled her eyes, when suddenly something cold passed through her, she cried out. Jack and Racetrack looked over to her in unison. Cat's violet black eyes were wide, as her eyes darted to the side.
They were walking next to a graveyard. Racetrack sighed a little in relief, she was just sensing the dead. He made his way over to her, his brown eyes full of concern. Taking her arm, he forced her to look at him. She was scared, he could feel it. This wasn't good, considering she was the stronger of the two mages. They needed her to steady Maddy, just in case the poor earth mage got scared again, David wouldn't be too pleased if his place was overrun with blossoms and vines and that sort of thing. The gardener was still working on de-weeding the school.
"We hafta walk through da graveyard," he said to her. "Can you cut ya powah back?" Her eyes got even wider as they looked over the graves.
"I don't know. I can't concentrate." The voices, not coming when called, ran through her head, telling her horrible secrets she didn't want to hear, only to be forgotten when the voice moved on. Her power was building, enlivened by the dead, she cried out once more, just wanting to sweet release of her power. Les' lamplike eyes went wide, he could feel it too.
"Jack, Jack!" He clutched Aura's arm. "Make her stop!" For the first time in a long time, Les just looked like a scared, worried kid. Jack hated this part, just because he was the oldest, why did everyone rely on him to get the job done? Cat was still freaking out, what an obnoxious obstacle. Of course he couldn't trust this motley crew to get to David with no problem.
Cat pulled away from Racetrack, stumbling over a short tombstone and landing on the ground. Just that was enough to sent her power crashing outward, and into the ground. Maddy's wide eyes got even wider, with her powers tied into life; she felt it before anyone else. Cat shivered, what just happened? She had felt the distinct discharge of her power.Gee smelled the air, her amber wolves' eyes growing wide as well.
"Cat." Racetrack said slowly. "What did you do?" The girl didn't even have to say anything however, because the almost wet sound of breaking earth filled the air. Jack went instantly on guard, brown drowning his pupils, making him look almost blind. He bared his fangs, this was NOT going to be good! Les, cling to Aura, who had no idea what was going on. Cat looked helplessly around; unaware of what she had just did.
Until, of course, the hand burst through the ground beneath her, grabbing her ankle. She screamed just as Gee let out a howl.
"Regina! Don't you-" Jack was cut off as Gee collapsed underneath shifting limbs. He rubbed at his temples.long night. He watched stoically as clothes were ripped, and fur flowed like water. Pretty soon a she wolf rolled on her back, getting onto her paws. Her black lips peeled back in a growl, and Jack followed what she was looking at.
There they stood, some completely fresh corpses, other barely kept together skeletons.they made a crude circle around Cat, she had called them. A hand still grabbed her ankle, long nails digging so hard she knew it drew blood. Blood was what they wanted, what all undead wanted. Wolf Gee howled, lunging at the nearest zombie, the thing didn't turn until she clamped down hard on its arm. It let out a wordless wail, flailing its arm and sending Gee flying. The wolf hit a tombstone.then lay still.
Les hid behind Aura, who still had no idea what to do. She looked at Jack, he would know, but Jack was still rubbing his temples, unsure himself. Racetrack tried to push through the zombies to get to Cat, but it was too hard. They would have to fight them, how wonderful. He took a deep breath, how could he do this without showing Cat what he was? Did it matter anymore? She wouldn't mind.right? Racetrack didn't want to think about that now.
Fire. Fire would chase the zombies away.but where would he get fire? He searched his pocket for a lighter, finding nothing. He glanced at Maddy.why couldn't she be a fire mage? Of course not.
The circle of zombies was stirring, without a master, they would go nuts. Cat had no control over her power; no way could she be a master. Racetrack wracked his brain for an idea.
Jack beat him to it. "Madeline." The girl looked up from where she was taking frantic hits from her inhaler. "Can you wrap them all in vines?" Maddy took a deep breath. Could she? She took a deep breath; both Cat and Gee were pretty much out of commission. ho could steady her?
Someone took her hand; she looked down to see Les, his childlike face earnest.
"You can do this," he said quietly. She was unnerved; this little boy's hand was so cold. She nodded, turning her eyes back to the ring of zombies. She stood very still, calling her power from within. She could feel the earth tingle to life beneath her, with her mind she could plant the seeds to anything she called forth from this fertile ground.
She let go of Les' hand, kneeling down and digging her fingers into the earth. She stood back up with a clump of wet earth in her hand. Inhaling the sweet aroma, she threw it to the ground, opening her eyes, which turned a forest green. She flung her hand out towards the ring of zombies, pulling the earth with her.pulling what she wanted with her.
Bursting through the wet soil, just as the zombies had, came the dark vines, twisting around them, covering them. They struggled, making more disturbing unnerving screams. Maddy exhaled, her eyes still retaining the green, instead of her normal copper. Cat tried to get her ankle out of the zombie's death grip, but only succeeded in ripping her skin more viciously. Jack looked at her with something close to pity.
"Race," he said. "Go check on Gee." Although Racetrack wanted to see if Cat was all right, he nodded, practically sprinting to where the wolf.no, not a wolf...a human, lay still.
He ignored her obvious nakedness, taking off his duster and draping it over her. He had a feeling she might shift during the night.but he didn't think like this. Usually lycanthropes only shift back to normal after they are seriously injured.or dead.
"Gee, you are NOT dead, ah'll tell ya dat!" Sure, he had a way of fixing her.but he didn't want to do that. not to Gee. He could feel a pulse, but it wasn't that strong. She was seriously injured, almost too much for her fast healing to even know where to start.
"Let me help her." A small voice said behind him. Suddenly, Aura was kneeling right next to him, a switchblade in her hand.
"Whattaya doin'?" He asked. She gave a small smile, cutting her palm open. Dark red blood sparkled in the moonlight, dripping onto Gee's pale skin.
"You know." He grabbed her wrist.
"I don't want ya too. You're too young." Her jade green eyes twinkled a little bit as she picked up Gee's limp hand. The blade cut quickly, and soon the two hands were joined together. Racetrack squeezed his eyes shut. Gee would not be happy.
"Come on you," Jack said gently, kneeling down to break the fingers of the corpse that held her bloody ankle. She whimpered, attempting to pull away from him. He just shook his head, a small smile playing on his lips.
"Listen, I'm not going to hurt you," he told her. She looked less than convinced. Her ankle was free, and Jack gave a sigh.
"'Thanks, Jack,' I swear, I get no gratitude around here." Cat eyes now shifted to the struggling zombies.
"What about them?" She asked.
"Do you have a lighter?"
"Matches."
"Perfect." He looked down t her bloody ankle. "First, we have to fix this.don't worry, I'm not marking you or anything. I'm not mixing enough blood."
He bit his finger, rubbing a little of his own blood into her cut. She shrieked, pulling away from him.
"STOP!" Her breath came faster, obviously in more pain than she started. "It burns." Jack raised an eyebrow at this. If it were anyone else, he would assume that this was a blood slave. When a person is made a blood slave, all other vampire blood besides that of his master burns, it's a sign of ownership.
She wasn't anyone's slave, he practically knew for a fact.right? He tried to remember her blood, it tasted familiar, but he always assumed that was because it had that taint of death. He helped her to her feet then, pulling her close, attempting to get into her mind.
Cat pulled away, disgusted. "Leave me alone!" She obviously assumed that Jack had purposely hurt her, how sad. He shook his head as he helped her limp out of the odd circle. He handed her off to Maddy.
"Matches?" She wordlessly dug into her pocket, producing a small packet of matches. He took them, looking at Maddy.
"Make the vines die." Her green eyes widened slightly, then she nodded. Holding her hands out in front of her, she drew that power back in, and the vines began to dry out, tightening around the zombies, they screeched some more. Jack strolled over to the nearest vine covered zombie and lit a match.
Racetrack and Aura managed to get Gee to her feet enough so that Jack could carry her. She was healing pretty fast, but going into human form so quickly had drained most of her energy. Cat leaned on Racetrack for support, Les walked close to Maddy, enthralled by her power. Silhouetted by the bonfire Jack had created, they walked through the graveyard, pretty much emptied out by the necromancy provided by Cat.
"Do you think anyone will notice?" Les asked, his wide eyes watching the smoke curl into the air.
"Nah." Jack replied.
Cat practically clung to Racetrack as they entered the dark, abandoned warehouse. How come all vampires had to live somewhere spooky? She just didn't understand it. Her hand found Racetrack's, and gave it a gentle squeeze. He smile slightly, before looking at the figured wrapped in shadow.
"You're late." `
Tainted Love
Part One- Malicious Intent
Author's note: Thanks to all who review me, I'd be e-mailing all who asked, but I'm rather shy. Heh. We're 80% done with part one! Yay! (btw: Musette!? From Cerulean Sins? I LOVE YOU!!!) And I'd like to shout-out to my new muse: Hamster With Four Names, he's my new hamster, and he's my new muse. So yay!!
Chapter 8
Maddy took another nervous hit off her inhaler. Of course something like this would happen to her. Of course she couldn't just have a normal life. She looked up at the pale moonlight filtering through the trees of Central Park. She was supposed to be meeting everyone there; she bit her lip slightly, taking another step forward. She hated standing on the grass, because it would grow around her feet, almost to her knees, only when she took another step would the grass go down again.
It was annoying, to say the least. She knelt next to a tree that had ivy growing up the trunk and held her hand out. A new sprig of ivy grew towards her, curling around her hand and wrist. It was cool, she'd give this whole thing that, but why did it mean that she'd make a good meal for a crazy vampire? She'd known these people for two days.
"Madeline?" A voice caught Maddy off-guard, and she stumbled over. She couldn't see that well in the darkness, but this person could. The crunching of leaves mirrored the harsh beating of her heart as she waited her copper colored eyes wide. She pushed her glasses farther up her nose. Maddy breathed a huge sigh of relief when Anthony "Racetrack" Higgins walked out of the shadows.
"R-r-r-r-race?" She asked quietly. He gave her a gentle smile.
"Yeah, how long have ya been here?" Racetrack asked, Maddy noted a distinct change in his attitude. He was sadder, and just a little ticked off.
"Wh-what's wr-r-rong?"
"Nothin'.no one else is here yet?" She shook her head.
"N-n-no."
"Oh." He sat down beside her, lighting a cigar. Maddy took another hit off her inhaler, shaking slightly.
"S-s-s-so.how d-d-did you g-g-get into this whole...th-thing?" She asked, breaking the silence. Racetrack looked at her out of the corner of his eyes.
"Whaddya mean?"
"W-w-w-with the vampire's and s-s-stuff." Racetrack smirked a little bit, jamming his hand in his pocket.
"Well, dat's a sorta long story, but Ah'll tell ya dis," he took his hand out of his pocket, showing her a worn, ancient looking pack of cards. "Dis..kinda was my downfall."
"C-c-c-cards?"
"Gamblin', I don't do that stuff no more."
"That's g-g-g-good.."
"Oh.what a touching little conversation." Maddy and Racetrack looked up to see Jack, Les, and the auburn haired girl making their way down the pathway to them. Les smirked at Racetrack, who looked at the girl.
"I see ya found Nicole Vitale," he remarked. Les's expression didn't change. Racetrack took a crumpled piece of paper out of his pocket and tossed it to Jack. The girl looked down at her folded hands, biting her lip, and cutting herself on her fangs. She made a little sound of surprise as the cut quickly healed. Les put a tiny hand on her elbow.
"It's alright, Aura, there is nothing to be ashamed of." Jack unrolled the crumpled paper and looked at the missing person's flyer.
"You would worry about this," Jack said, a grin twisting his lips. Maddy took another hit off her inhaler, third time in the night.
"Cat an' Gee are gunna be here soon, Gee hates your kind anyways." Racetrack began, Jack snickered.
'Oh really, I find that funny, aren't we your kind too?"
Maddy watched this little exchange with a look of outright fear. What was going on? What did they mean? She was about to speak up when Gee and Cat finally decided to make an appearance.
"Anthony, Jack.who are these people?" Gee said, her challenging blue eyes flicking from Aura to Les. It was weird, the little boy had that Vampiric aura around him.maybe he was a servant.
"This is Les and Aura," Jack said. "This is Aura's second day as a vampire." Gee's eyes flashed with something that was close to anger, but not quite.
"You sired this girl?"
"Congrats, you figured it out." Jack's smug smirk didn't last for long though, Gee slapped it off his face. Cat, Racetrack, Aura, Maddy, and Les watched with mixed reactions as Jack pinned her against the tree. Gee seethed, her eyes had bled to a feral amber yellow, wolf's eyes.
"You sired her!? Under my nose!?" Jack noted her sharpening teeth, and her already thick blue streaked hair getting thicker. She scratched at him, her nails definitely growing into claws.
"Control yourself!" He growled. "If you shift here, we'll be in serious trouble, you got that? Do you really want to go padding into David's place as a wolf?"
Cat leaned over to Racetrack. "It's not the full moon though," she whispered.
"She can change anytime she wants," he replied.
"Oh."
Gee finally calmed down, her claw-like fingers going back to normal, only her wolfish eyes stayed. "That's the last one you'll sire, Jack Kelly. The last one." Jack smirked, unpinning her and letting her go.
"Whatever you wish," he replied, the smug grin coming back to his face.
David yawned idly, covering his mouth politely with his hand. This was taking too long, he was bored. His blue eyes trailed over Mush's broken body. This had taken a lot out of him, this whole torture business, especially since the victim could keep healing himself. This whole thing made him tired, all he had wanted to really do was meet Jack again.and have some nice Necromancer blood. They had promised him that.
Mush bit back another scream as he attempted to move. After being burned, skewered, cut, slashed, bitten, and who knew what else, he was amazed that his insanity kept in tact. He squeezed his eyes shut, Jack would come for him soon. He could feel it. He was sorry for failing Racetrack, he really was..
"Oh, they're coming," David said, as though he had read Mush's thoughts. "To bargain for you, I don't understand why." David calmly glided over to him, before kicking him expertly in the ribs. Mush cried out, this was almost too much for him to bear, but it wasn't all the same.
"Jack can just make another one, and another one, he cares not for such things like this. Someone else is making him come for you, it's probably Racetrack, the little bleeding heart humanitarian." David tossed his head in disgust. "You are all cattle. That's it!"
Mush looked up at David through a haze of blood. "That's why."
"What!? I thought I ripped your throat out hours ago, shouldn't your vocal chords be damaged still?"
They were, Mush's voice came out raspy, painful sounded, but he still spoke.
"That's why no one likes you, no one cares for you.you think too."
David kicked Mush's arms out from under him, causing the poor boy to go crashing to the floor. Before he could get back up again, David place his foot on the back of his neck. "What was that, human?" He said, spitting the word "human" out like a dirty word.
"You think too much like He did.that's why they killed him, remember?"
David was horrified, with a cry of anger, he kicked Mush in the head, sending the boy into blissful unconsciousness.
Cat looked warily at Jack as they walked. He was a vampire, a male vampire; could he have killed her father? That would also mean he was going to fall for her, or something like that. There was no real attraction between her and Jack, none really. Her mind drifted to Racetrack, what about him? There was something between them, no question, but Racetrack was just one of Jack's blood slaves, he wasn't capable of doing such things.he was such a nice boy too.
Spot. Cat couldn't believe that she didn't see this before. What about Spot? He had gone missing shortly after her real powers manifested. They obviously had something at that party.she could vaguely remember. Had he gotten scared when he found out what she could really do? Hopefully he would never come back again. She breathed a sigh of relief. She wanted to think that once they got Mush from David, this would all be over, but she had a feeling that it was pretty much just the beginning.
What a cliché. She rolled her eyes, when suddenly something cold passed through her, she cried out. Jack and Racetrack looked over to her in unison. Cat's violet black eyes were wide, as her eyes darted to the side.
They were walking next to a graveyard. Racetrack sighed a little in relief, she was just sensing the dead. He made his way over to her, his brown eyes full of concern. Taking her arm, he forced her to look at him. She was scared, he could feel it. This wasn't good, considering she was the stronger of the two mages. They needed her to steady Maddy, just in case the poor earth mage got scared again, David wouldn't be too pleased if his place was overrun with blossoms and vines and that sort of thing. The gardener was still working on de-weeding the school.
"We hafta walk through da graveyard," he said to her. "Can you cut ya powah back?" Her eyes got even wider as they looked over the graves.
"I don't know. I can't concentrate." The voices, not coming when called, ran through her head, telling her horrible secrets she didn't want to hear, only to be forgotten when the voice moved on. Her power was building, enlivened by the dead, she cried out once more, just wanting to sweet release of her power. Les' lamplike eyes went wide, he could feel it too.
"Jack, Jack!" He clutched Aura's arm. "Make her stop!" For the first time in a long time, Les just looked like a scared, worried kid. Jack hated this part, just because he was the oldest, why did everyone rely on him to get the job done? Cat was still freaking out, what an obnoxious obstacle. Of course he couldn't trust this motley crew to get to David with no problem.
Cat pulled away from Racetrack, stumbling over a short tombstone and landing on the ground. Just that was enough to sent her power crashing outward, and into the ground. Maddy's wide eyes got even wider, with her powers tied into life; she felt it before anyone else. Cat shivered, what just happened? She had felt the distinct discharge of her power.Gee smelled the air, her amber wolves' eyes growing wide as well.
"Cat." Racetrack said slowly. "What did you do?" The girl didn't even have to say anything however, because the almost wet sound of breaking earth filled the air. Jack went instantly on guard, brown drowning his pupils, making him look almost blind. He bared his fangs, this was NOT going to be good! Les, cling to Aura, who had no idea what was going on. Cat looked helplessly around; unaware of what she had just did.
Until, of course, the hand burst through the ground beneath her, grabbing her ankle. She screamed just as Gee let out a howl.
"Regina! Don't you-" Jack was cut off as Gee collapsed underneath shifting limbs. He rubbed at his temples.long night. He watched stoically as clothes were ripped, and fur flowed like water. Pretty soon a she wolf rolled on her back, getting onto her paws. Her black lips peeled back in a growl, and Jack followed what she was looking at.
There they stood, some completely fresh corpses, other barely kept together skeletons.they made a crude circle around Cat, she had called them. A hand still grabbed her ankle, long nails digging so hard she knew it drew blood. Blood was what they wanted, what all undead wanted. Wolf Gee howled, lunging at the nearest zombie, the thing didn't turn until she clamped down hard on its arm. It let out a wordless wail, flailing its arm and sending Gee flying. The wolf hit a tombstone.then lay still.
Les hid behind Aura, who still had no idea what to do. She looked at Jack, he would know, but Jack was still rubbing his temples, unsure himself. Racetrack tried to push through the zombies to get to Cat, but it was too hard. They would have to fight them, how wonderful. He took a deep breath, how could he do this without showing Cat what he was? Did it matter anymore? She wouldn't mind.right? Racetrack didn't want to think about that now.
Fire. Fire would chase the zombies away.but where would he get fire? He searched his pocket for a lighter, finding nothing. He glanced at Maddy.why couldn't she be a fire mage? Of course not.
The circle of zombies was stirring, without a master, they would go nuts. Cat had no control over her power; no way could she be a master. Racetrack wracked his brain for an idea.
Jack beat him to it. "Madeline." The girl looked up from where she was taking frantic hits from her inhaler. "Can you wrap them all in vines?" Maddy took a deep breath. Could she? She took a deep breath; both Cat and Gee were pretty much out of commission. ho could steady her?
Someone took her hand; she looked down to see Les, his childlike face earnest.
"You can do this," he said quietly. She was unnerved; this little boy's hand was so cold. She nodded, turning her eyes back to the ring of zombies. She stood very still, calling her power from within. She could feel the earth tingle to life beneath her, with her mind she could plant the seeds to anything she called forth from this fertile ground.
She let go of Les' hand, kneeling down and digging her fingers into the earth. She stood back up with a clump of wet earth in her hand. Inhaling the sweet aroma, she threw it to the ground, opening her eyes, which turned a forest green. She flung her hand out towards the ring of zombies, pulling the earth with her.pulling what she wanted with her.
Bursting through the wet soil, just as the zombies had, came the dark vines, twisting around them, covering them. They struggled, making more disturbing unnerving screams. Maddy exhaled, her eyes still retaining the green, instead of her normal copper. Cat tried to get her ankle out of the zombie's death grip, but only succeeded in ripping her skin more viciously. Jack looked at her with something close to pity.
"Race," he said. "Go check on Gee." Although Racetrack wanted to see if Cat was all right, he nodded, practically sprinting to where the wolf.no, not a wolf...a human, lay still.
He ignored her obvious nakedness, taking off his duster and draping it over her. He had a feeling she might shift during the night.but he didn't think like this. Usually lycanthropes only shift back to normal after they are seriously injured.or dead.
"Gee, you are NOT dead, ah'll tell ya dat!" Sure, he had a way of fixing her.but he didn't want to do that. not to Gee. He could feel a pulse, but it wasn't that strong. She was seriously injured, almost too much for her fast healing to even know where to start.
"Let me help her." A small voice said behind him. Suddenly, Aura was kneeling right next to him, a switchblade in her hand.
"Whattaya doin'?" He asked. She gave a small smile, cutting her palm open. Dark red blood sparkled in the moonlight, dripping onto Gee's pale skin.
"You know." He grabbed her wrist.
"I don't want ya too. You're too young." Her jade green eyes twinkled a little bit as she picked up Gee's limp hand. The blade cut quickly, and soon the two hands were joined together. Racetrack squeezed his eyes shut. Gee would not be happy.
"Come on you," Jack said gently, kneeling down to break the fingers of the corpse that held her bloody ankle. She whimpered, attempting to pull away from him. He just shook his head, a small smile playing on his lips.
"Listen, I'm not going to hurt you," he told her. She looked less than convinced. Her ankle was free, and Jack gave a sigh.
"'Thanks, Jack,' I swear, I get no gratitude around here." Cat eyes now shifted to the struggling zombies.
"What about them?" She asked.
"Do you have a lighter?"
"Matches."
"Perfect." He looked down t her bloody ankle. "First, we have to fix this.don't worry, I'm not marking you or anything. I'm not mixing enough blood."
He bit his finger, rubbing a little of his own blood into her cut. She shrieked, pulling away from him.
"STOP!" Her breath came faster, obviously in more pain than she started. "It burns." Jack raised an eyebrow at this. If it were anyone else, he would assume that this was a blood slave. When a person is made a blood slave, all other vampire blood besides that of his master burns, it's a sign of ownership.
She wasn't anyone's slave, he practically knew for a fact.right? He tried to remember her blood, it tasted familiar, but he always assumed that was because it had that taint of death. He helped her to her feet then, pulling her close, attempting to get into her mind.
Cat pulled away, disgusted. "Leave me alone!" She obviously assumed that Jack had purposely hurt her, how sad. He shook his head as he helped her limp out of the odd circle. He handed her off to Maddy.
"Matches?" She wordlessly dug into her pocket, producing a small packet of matches. He took them, looking at Maddy.
"Make the vines die." Her green eyes widened slightly, then she nodded. Holding her hands out in front of her, she drew that power back in, and the vines began to dry out, tightening around the zombies, they screeched some more. Jack strolled over to the nearest vine covered zombie and lit a match.
Racetrack and Aura managed to get Gee to her feet enough so that Jack could carry her. She was healing pretty fast, but going into human form so quickly had drained most of her energy. Cat leaned on Racetrack for support, Les walked close to Maddy, enthralled by her power. Silhouetted by the bonfire Jack had created, they walked through the graveyard, pretty much emptied out by the necromancy provided by Cat.
"Do you think anyone will notice?" Les asked, his wide eyes watching the smoke curl into the air.
"Nah." Jack replied.
Cat practically clung to Racetrack as they entered the dark, abandoned warehouse. How come all vampires had to live somewhere spooky? She just didn't understand it. Her hand found Racetrack's, and gave it a gentle squeeze. He smile slightly, before looking at the figured wrapped in shadow.
"You're late." `