SCHOOLS ALMOST OUT! at least for me this is my last week hahaha suckers! anyway, im glad ya liked chapter nine I hope the flashback part wasn't corny, and when liz was "asleep" she was actually in the realm of the dead and her dead lover guided her back to life while telling her what she was and how the protector needed her, just telling you cuz that tidbit was important, and she was not hallucinating or anything, alright. Here's chapter ten, double digits baby!

Ch.10 The Capture of the Watcher

Kel jabbed her spaghetti with her fork, not really interested in food anymore. All of her squad was avoiding each other, as they'd all taken to blaming themselves for the "incident" or blaming others. She sat isolated in the HQ cafeteria, but she was fine with it. She was after all first and foremost a loner and an independent person, she needed no one to entertain her, the meatball on her plate was fine. She exhaled slowly; knowing that was completely untrue and she missed both of her sarcastic friends dearly. But she didn't want company at the moment, and in a way was glad that Neal wasn't there, because she knew he'd remind her of Liz. She stabbed the meatball particularly hard when she thought of Liz. She wasn't angry at all with the girl, just with the situation she'd gotten herself into. In a way she understood why she'd run, but they she did not. Sure, she'd been kissed before, but she wasn't a slut. And she would never be able to understand what was going through the girls head because a: she just wasn't Liz, b: she'd never been in love before, and c: she'd never known anyone that had died. She had seen people being shot and the other ordinary things you saw when you were a TPD officer, but she hadn't known those people, she didn't have a connection with them. The closest thing to losing anyone was having Liz become missing.

She growled in frustration, no matter what she did, her thoughts always came back to horrific images of Liz being tortured, or somehow becoming insane and evil, foaming at the mouth. She shook her head, maybe Liz's paranoia had finally rubbed off on her, even if they'd only known each other for a few months.

The bench across from her groaned and she looked up. She nearly jumped at the sight of Cleon and Merric, both redheads grinning happily down at her. Try as she might, she couldn't put her familiar mask on to hide her distress. Instantly Cleon frowned, Kel always thought he had some weird empathy thing. "She's only been gone two months, and she's already found more interesting friends."

"Shut up," she said, knowing that he was joking about how she was here all alone. "I just felt like being alone."

Merric nodded while Kel finally lifted her gaze from the meatball she'd been staring at for the past half hour. Her hazel eyes wandered the cafeteria and her distress returned when she saw Joren, all alone in the corner at the back of the hall staring amusedly in her direction. She looked around, yup paranoia, she thought, as she'd been checking to see if he decided to pull a Dom or Wolset and play a prank on her. She let out a shaky breath, feeling it safe and looked back at Merric. Then she looked at Cleon. She tried to hold in her laughter, but couldn't. Both of their faces were a brighter red then their hair and when she looked at their arms she saw the same piercing red as well.

Cleon looked at his lobster arms and shrugged, causing him to wince from the pain of moving. Merric frowned over at Kel, who was now practically lying on the table being unable to contain her laughter.

Neal knelt in an alleyway, he was sure him and Owen were on to something. As faint as it was his green eyes had found the remains of blood trailing on the street to an alleyway. The street had been the last place her locator reported back to Commander Wyldon. But he also had the help of magic and a keen nose. Owen scraped at the remains of what was a puddle of blood, not looking too jolly for once. "Neal?" he said jabbing furiously at the alley floor.

"Hmm?" Neal asked, investigating the area in the scant moonlight.

"How old is this?" he gestured to the puddle.

Neal took long strides over to his partner and best friend. He knelt and held his hand out over the pool of old blood. Green light shimmered around his hand and Owen stared in awe, even if he'd seen this happen many a time before. Neal looked up, no expression clear on his face. "It's nearly a week old, and it's definitely a female."

Owen nodded and pulled on some gloves so that they could put the puddle of blood into a vile where they'd send it to Wyldon who would then have a team of scientists poke at it in the laboratory. From there they'd be able to identify the person if it was Elizabeth.

Owen corked the vile and slipped it into his jacket pocket; he was about to jump up and pop the creak in his neck when he felt cold metal against his temple. He froze. He knew exactly what it was. Someone was pointing a gun at his head.

Liz plopped her things into the trunk of the car Commander Wyldon was allowing her to borrow. She was to leave and go back home. She was angry; she had to find the Healer and the Protector. But a part of her was saying it was just a dream, it was just a crazy imagination concocted in her mind when she was recovering from being shot twice. She rubbed the now scab on her shoulder, it was rather gross, and she was glad that she wore a sweatshirt over it so she couldn't look at it. And whenever she wore thin shirts you could make it out. It looked like a huge bruise but it was really a gigantic scab that in Liz's opinion, might be taking over her body.

She closed the trunk and entered the Jeep Liberty's driver seat. She took one last glance at Healer Johnson, who was sending her off, as well as Commander Raoul himself. He'd asked her over and over again to join the Own, but she declined. She of course wanted to say yes, but something said no. She looked up at the thought. She knew the person saying no repetitively at joining the Own was Jack, her Guardian he had called himself in her dream.

She turned the ignition on and gave a quick wave before driving through Fort Giantkiller's Gates. She drove down the highway, on her way to home. She had not the slightest inclination of what she was going to do, or how she was going to explain to her parents that she was after all a traitor. She'd just have to butter that part up, as well as being shot twice. Her mother would indeed go ballistic. She prayed that they wouldn't try to get her to help with the family business, the restaurant chain called Peterson's, but knew in the end she would work there until she could think of another occupation.

After a horrible ten hour drive and many pit stops to either relieve herself or put more gas in the car she arrived at 2742 Glen Road. Home or at least home to Liz. She hopped out of the Jeep and grabbed her duffle bag from the back. She walked slowly, taking in the familiar scent of the garden her mother had always labored over obsessively. She shook her head, it was some strange thing the entire women on her mother's side were obsessed with and she was glad she didn't receive that gene.

She rang the doorbell. She could hear commotion inside, and winced. It was Friday afternoon now, the day each week when every member of the Peterson family would clamber over to her mother and father's house, as was tradition since God knows when. She chewed on the inside of her cheek, thoughtfully. And the door swung open, causing her to sway as her right calf was still a bit wobbly. Before her stood her sister-in-law, tummy round as she was in the middle of her first pregnancy. Claire, as was her name, blanched and her jaw dropped. Liz shook her head and made to leave, but felt the older woman grasp her shoulder, which caused her to jump and call out an infamous, "GAH!" She rubbed her shoulder and clenched her jaw in pain. Some people, she thought while being met up with a room full of mostly redheads, are just way too touchy.

There had been music and chatting and laughter, but it all stopped as Liz entered the room. She was known as the member of the Peterson clan that wasn't fond of get togethers but they also knew she was TPD first class officer member and was never around because of work.

She dropped her bag slowly and swallowed hard before saying the two words that she hated above all at the moment and the words her parents had been dying to hear since she'd joined "that awful academy". She closed her eyes, "I'm home."

A woman in her late forties, the ends of her red locks turning grey rushed towards her daughter with tears in her eyes. She was about to envelope her one and only daughter in her arms, but stopped in her tracks. Liz stood, one arm held aloft. But what frightened Mrs. Peterson more was the fact that instead of seeing the amber eyes of her daughter she saw black, all black where her pupils and iris' should be. And when you looked into her eyes, you didn't see your tiny reflection of yourself, but it seemed you saw everything at once. The entire party froze once again in fright. Matt, Liz's oldest brother and husband to Claire took a frightened step towards his youngest sibling. He touched her stone still hand and jerked his own back instantly. Her skin burned as if he was touching a burner on a stove or the side of a fresh off the burner pain. He held his burning hand tenderly and walked purposely away from his now frightening sister.

Then there was a bang on the door and the Peterson family jumped once again scarred. There was another bang and the oaken door fell to the floor off its hinges. Around twenty men, all dressed in black, ran into the hall of the house. They were all armed with various pistols and aimed them at each member. The leader of the group walked towards the stone still woman in the middle and smiled, the boss would indeed be pleased. For he and his group of men had finally found the Watcher before the sum Tortallians could, and the best part was the Tortalls had had her all along, they just didn't notice. Now the boss' plans would never fail, as they now had the eye of the world as their Seer had said.

He grabbed the woman and with the help of another man, as her legs wouldn't bend they carried her from the panicking family and into their van. The man, know as Stenman by all grinned wolfishly down at his captor, this part was terribly easy. Soon he would get his own lands, as Maggur had promised him. The woman's eyes were black all over and Stenman looked away from her gaze, knowing full well what was happening with her. At the moment she was in death, seeing something only the Watcher, as she was could see. He grinned, Maggur would be even more pleased, as she would already have some insight information to give once they arrived at their base some miles from the border in Scanra, and from there he would go along with the Watcher to his boss' palace by helicopter.

Kel jerked up at the TV screen from the book she was reading in her dorm. She blinked. This didn't make sense at all. Liz was supposed to be lost in Scanra, not have been kidnapped from her home in Danbury. And what was even fishier was the fact that the news team wasn't even supposed to know of Liz's disappearance in Scanra. But what made everything worse was the fact that the reporters were stated that two TPD officers had disappeared in Scanra as well, and they'd been looking for Liz. Kel felt her stomach drop as the reporter announced the names of both men, Owen Jesslaw and Neal Queenscove. She couldn't believe not only was Liz now captured instead of missing from her own home, but her other two best friends were now missing in enemy country. She turned the TV off for she couldn't stand it any longer.

She ran down the hall and the stairs till she arrived in front of Dom's own door room. She was about to knock but instead the door opened up right as she stood before the door. Dom's eyes were wide and he was gripping the door, his knuckles white. "I don't care what the Stump says, we're going after them."

Kel nodded and entered Dom's room to help him pack. She knew the Stump would give in, seeing both of them packed and ready as he would need officers to investigate the disappearance of the last two he'd sent looking for another missing officer. And Kel didn't really give a damn what he thought now anyways, instead of just one missing best friend, she now had three, and something told her they were all linked together. Sure, Liz had run because she was kissed by Lerant, but there just had to be something that happened. Someone in Scanra was taking delight in his or her capture of three Tortall officers, even if one was now fired. And Kel wouldn't give up until the pieces started falling into place. She shook her head, she'd never heard that saying before, and the words oddly didn't sound like hers at all. But she did like the saying, and the voice was familiar. Kel stopped stuffing Dom's shirts into his duffle bag, her eyes wide. She was hearing voices in her head, alright one voice. And the voice was laughing, yet angry as it spoke. Kel knew of only one person who spoke in such a way at times, and that person was Liz.

HAHAHAHAHA! I think that may have been one of my better chapters I do say so myself. And since I only have five more days of school, you know what that means, the chapters will be even longer and come more quickly, YEAH!

Review and tell me if you like where this is going, or not, even though you should. and no, kel is not going insane, it's part of the story, you'll understand in the next chapter, but till then,

much love,

redpheonix