Chapter 18

You Should Be Dancing

She didn't dare look back. She kept flying a far distance but she made sure to stay in the darkness as she flew. She kept flying until she was fully out of breath and when she was she landed on top of one of the buildings. She slowly breathed and was trying to calm down but she didn't feel calm.

How could she let her anger snap? She tried and she tried but she knew she couldn't hide it anymore. Now her friends knew she could burst into flames when she got angry and now she felt foolish for letting it happen. What did they think of her now? Did they now think of her as a demon like the other animals did?

She clutched her head as she paced back and forth. She couldn't stop thinking about their reactions. The way they looked at her was like they were seeing a whole new stranger in front of their eyes. She couldn't stand that fact. She felt like disappearing from this world now.

After a while of pacing, she then sat down with her head down and her ears flat on her head as she heard the sounds of honking in the streets below her but it didn't comfort her. She hugged her knees as she felt the wind blow in her direction but she didn't mind how cold it felt. All she could do was sit in silence and think about what just happened.

Then she heard a whoosh and she heard someone get next to her and when she looked up to see who it was she saw it was Holden. Kassidy was surprised to see him here after what just happened. Holden was looking at her concerned but shocked at the same time. "Hey."

Kassidy looked down guilty. "You don't have to try and be nice to me. Whatever negative comments you got in that little mind of yours you can just say them right now…"

She didn't have to look to know what Holden was doing because she could tell that he was now sitting next to her. "I just came here to see if you were alright."

Kassidy felt more surprised but she didn't look at Holden. "Why? Aren't you scared of what I did back there?"

"Well… I was but that doesn't mean I want to stay away from you."

There was then a moment of silence and Kassidy thought that this was awkward. She didn't know what to say no matter what she tried to think of. She kept staring down though and didn't want to look at Holden.

"So…" Holden said breaking the silence. "Is this is why you keep taking deep breaths a lot?"

Kassidy knew that Holden actually knew but she decided to answer anyways. "Yeah…"

"Why didn't you say anything about it?"

"I just… I just didn't want to scare you guys and I was afraid that if you guys knew you guys would look at me like I'm a…"

She didn't want to say what some of those animals have been calling her. Couldn't they see that she was no threat? She obviously knew that some wouldn't believe her. Brutus didn't see that, Bathsheba didn't see that, the three Graywings didn't see that, and neither did the pigeons. How many more did she need to try to convince that she was no threat?

"When you were yelling at Shade… you mentioned your parents," Holden said. "You barely mention them." Kassidy breathed and still didn't look at Holden. "You wanna talk about it?"

"It's… it's complicated," Kassidy said.

"You can tell me. I mean I told you about my Mom… please?"

Kassidy sighed and knew she should get even with Holden since he told her about his Mom. She didn't want to but she knew she had to. "I didn't always live in Canada… I used to live in America in the state of Ohio with my parents. My parents were the best and since I was their only child I was pretty much spoiled a lot." Kassidy smiled weakly at the good memories with her parents. "They taught me a lot like how to be a witch and I'd want to learn something new from them a lot." Kassidy's smile then went down. "But they never got the chance to finish teaching me how to be a witch."

Kassidy could feel Holden's eyes staring at her and she tried not to look. She hugged her knees tighter. "One day we were leaving a bookstore and I bought a book I so badly wanted to buy for a long time and as my Dad pulled out of the bookstore something went wrong with the breaks. My Dad passed a red light when he was trying to step on the breaks but they wouldn't work and we were approaching another traffic light and the breaks still didn't work. Then this huge truck was driving forward and then the next thing I know I wake up in a hospital bed. I saw a doctor looking down at me and when I asked about my parents he told me… they didn't make it."

Kassidy then felt tears pour down her face as she remembered hearing her parents have passed away. She hated to cry at any point. She especially hated to cry in front of other people.

"Kass… are you crying?" Holden asked.

"No…" Kassidy tried to hide her face as she wiped away her tears. "I just got something in my eye…"

It was, of course, a lie. She thought crying never solved anyone's problems but here she was on a building right now weeping. She then knew though that it was better to let things out rather than keeping them to yourself.

"Come on." Holden took off and Kassidy looked at him confused as he started to fly somewhere.

Kassidy took off and started to follow him in the city. "Where are we going?"

Holden smiled at her. "You'll see."

Goth was finishing down a rat he caught earlier on the rooftops of the city and Throbb was looking around him. As Goth finished his rat he began to think about the bats Martin mentioned. Martin gave them descriptions of what they looked like and Goth thought it wouldn't be hard to find them. Three of them were Silverwings while one of them was a Brightwing. All they had to do was find their scents and see if what they looked like matched the description Martin said.

Goth then began to wipe his mouth and as he did he felt Throbb tapping his shoulder. "Goth, look."

Goth looked at Throbb and he was pointing at something and when Goth looked to where Throbb was pointing he saw two bats flying by them. He stepped closer to the rooftop to look at the bats more closely and he saw that both of them were Silverwings. He couldn't fully catch a glimpse of what they looked like but he thought that maybe these were two of the Silverwings that Martin mentioned and if he was right he didn't want to lose them. Goth spread opened his huge wings and then he took off and Throbb trailed right behind and then they started to follow the two Silverwings in silence.

Holden kept leading the way to somewhere but Kassidy kept silent and let him lead her to where they were going. They flew in the darkness and kept out of the lights. They were lucky enough they hadn't run into any pigeons and it was definitely a good thing.

As they kept flying, Kassidy then started to hear some music sounding in the distance and it was pretty catchy. As the music got louder she then saw people on a building rooftop and what she saw was a party. People were in some pretty good outfits and they were dancing. She saw that these people were having the best times of their lives.

Holden landed on a building that was a little higher up from the party and Kassidy landed next to him and they watched the party. Kassidy then looked at Holden. "How'd you know about this place?"

Holden smiled at Kassidy. "I was hunting when I found it and boy I was excited when I saw they were having a party here."

"So why'd you bring me here?"

"To have some fun, you need to take your mind off this whole situation and I think some dancing ought to cheer you up."

Kassidy crossed her arms. "I don't dance in front of anyone."

Holden laughed. "Well since you're going to help me with my school work I'm going to help you have some fun. Just ignore what's around you and don't be a party pooper."

Holden then started to dance to the beat. Kassidy watched as Holden was dancing and she hated to admit it but he was a pretty good dancer. He was dancing these crazy moves that looked pretty complicated but he made it look easy. She thought he must've known a lot of moves because he was like Michael Jackson.

Holden looked at Kassidy as he was dancing. "Come on, get in the groove! Dance like you mean it!"

Kassidy still didn't get into it and she kept on watching Holden. She didn't like to dance in front of people and it made her feel insecure like when she went to a wedding on her Mom's side of the family. She remembered when her Mom urged her to come dance with her but she really didn't want to but her Mom found a way to make her come dance with her and boy was she embarrassed when she was dancing with her Mom. Even though it was embarrassing back then for her she now thought it was hilarious.

"Nice dancing, Silverwing," Holden stopped dancing to the sound of a masculine voice and he and Kassidy looked up to see two bats their age gliding above them with smiles on their faces. "I like the way you move, bro."

"Uh…thanks, man," Holden said smiling at them.

The two bats then landed near them. One was a male while the other was a female. The male bat had brown hair in dreadlocks, a bronze mane, yellow eyes, and he was a slate gray color. He had a silver earring in his ear and a gold chain around his neck and he looked like one of those rappers. The female bat next to him had long seaweed green hair in dreadlocks like him, a moss green mane, yellow eyes, and was a jade color. She had a few piercings in her ears and they were in silver and gold colors. Kassidy then noticed that they both had silver bands on their forearms like Marina.

When Kassidy got a better look at them she could tell that the male was a Graywing and how she could tell was obviously the wings. She looked at the female and she could probably guess that she was a Greenwing. She didn't know if she got that right but she was pretty sure she was right.

"My name's Sekani," the male bat said, "and I'm a Graywing." He then gestured to his friend. "And this is Jade, she's a Greenwing."

Called it, Kassidy thought.

"Cool meeting you, bro," Holden said. "I'm Holden," he then gestured to Kassidy, "and this is Kassidy but she goes for Kass for short."

Sekani and Jade looked at Kassidy and their eyes widened. Kassidy sighed in frustration and waited for those two to get on with saying those things the animals have been saying to her. "Sekani," the female named Jade said, "she looks awesome!"

Kassidy looked at Jade surprised and did not expect her to say that. "R-Really?"

"Yeah, girl, you totally look like Joan Jett."

Kassidy was surprised that Jade even knew who Joan Jett was. "You know who Joan Jett is?"

"Yeah, we know all of her songs. We were in an enclosure since we were pups and when we were pups we were given these bands." Jade showed her band to Kassidy. "As we were living in our enclosure we were learning about these humans and it's crazy to think about but we've learned a lot from them."

"I can tell."

"So how do you know about Joan Jett?" Sekani asked.

Kassidy and Holden looked at each other and they then looked back at Sekani and Jade. Kassidy thought they looked friendly enough since they didn't judge her. She also thought they looked pretty cool. "Funny you should ask that because… we're actually humans."

Sekani and Jade looked at each other and then they started to laugh. "Seriously-" Sekani continued to laugh, "how do you know about her?"

Kassidy sighed. "Well, I guess I better prove to you guys that we're humans."

Kassidy lifted her hand out and as she did she concentrated on making a bright orb in her hand getting all the details right and as soon as she did a bright orb formed in her hand like she was holding the sun and this made Sekani and Jade gasp. She then demolished the orb and as she did she could hear Holden laughing. Sekani and Jade looked shocked but they didn't fly off.

Sekani and Jade got closer to Kassidy. "That was… awesome!" Sekani said and he and Jade started to smile. "You have magic!"

"She sure does, bro," Holden said. "We're humans like she said."

"We want the full story on how you two are humans," Jade said. "Start from the beginning."

Kassidy and Holden looked at each other and then looked back at Sekani and Jade and they started to tell them the full story and as they were telling the story Sekani and Jade were in awe. They told them about the car crash, the transformation, looking at the sun, the burning of Tree Haven, the migration, how they got separated from the colony, and much more. They asked them some questions and Kassidy and Holden answered them the best they could. Kassidy and Holden also asked Sekani and Jade some questions as well and Sekani and Jade didn't hesitate to answer their questions. They found out that Sekani and Jade grew up without parents but they grew up together and they were the best of friends. It was sad to Kassidy that Sekani and Jade didn't know about their parents but they seemed to be fine.

They also found out that Sekani and Jade were released from their enclosure some time ago in the spring and when they were they were traveling from place to place to find a colony to join but whenever they found a colony the colony they found would neglect them or drive them off because of their bands. Since then they decided to be independent and not worry about being in a colony. They decided that they wanted to be the independent fun bats and have the best times of their lives.

"Wow that's something," Holden said.

"Yeah, but you guys were pretty brave to look at the sun," Sekani said. "It's stupid though that those birds think that it was you and your colony that killed those pigeons. I don't believe that you guys are killer bats."

"Thanks," Kassidy said, "but the weird thing is that a couple of pigeons said that they saw giant bats."

Jade got confused. "Giant bats? That's impossible, how do those pigeons know they saw giant bats? Are they sure it wasn't just their imaginations?"

"That's the problem though, I'm not sure if I should believe them or not. You should've seen the fear in their eyes. Whatever they saw must've scared them. The only guesses I can make are either they saw an animal that looked like a bat or like you said it was just their imaginations."

"Well whatever the case the birds have gone crazy," Sekani said. "I think this may be the first time we had talks like this with anyone."

"Yeah, it's been mostly the same thing with me," Kassidy said. "A lot have criticized me because I'm a witch and because I'm gothic."

"I don't know about you girl but them animals got the wrong idea about you like they got the wrong idea about us," Jade said. "The world is full of rude animals."

Another song then started to play at the party and it had a nice beat to it. Holden then whooped. "This is my jam."

Holden then started to dance and as he did, Sekani and Jade whooped for him. "Holden's the bat!" Sekani shouted and then he and Jade started to dance.

Kassidy watched as the three of them were dancing and they were laughing as they were dancing. Holden then looked at Kassidy. "Come on, it's fun!"

Jade looked at Kassidy. "Come on girl!" Jade then grabbed Kassidy's hand and then pulled her and then she started to dance again as Kassidy looked at her. "You should be dancing!"

Kassidy smiled weakly and she couldn't believe she was about to do this. If Holden wanted her to have fun then she didn't want to disappoint him. She then started to tap her foot and then she slowly started to dance and then she started to dance crazily. She heard Holden, Sekani, and Jade whoop for her as she danced and they all laughed.

"Yeah, girl," Jade said. "That's what I'm talking about!"

"Yeah, Kass," Holden said. "You're dancing!"

"You're on fire, Kass!" Sekani said.

They continued to dance and Kassidy couldn't believe that this was actually fun. This might be the best party she ever danced in. Her worries faded and she kept on dancing. She was smiling and as she was smiling she began to glow. Holden, Sekani, and Jade stopped dancing and looked at her. Kassidy noticed it and stopped smiling. The glow on her then faded.

"My bad," Kassidy said.

The three of them then smiled at Kassidy. "No need to say that, girl," Jade said. "I think you're just having too much fun." They all then laughed. "It's pretty cool though that you can do that."

"When I smile too much I glow like this."

They all then continued to dance and after a while they then called it a night and flew into the city and they chatted and laughed more. Kassidy offered these two to come with them but they politely refused and said that there was much more they wanted to see. They reminded Kassidy of that movie Aladdin with that one scene where Aladdin and Jasmine were exploring different places on the magic carpet. She thought that Sekani and Jade would be a nice couple.

"Well it was great knowing you guys," Sekani said.

"You guys sure you don't want to come with us?" Kassidy asked. "I'm sure Frieda would offer to let you guys join the colony."

"Nah, that's okay. Maybe another time though."

"Yeah, but maybe we'll see each other soon," Jade said.

"Well if you guys insist," Holden said.

"Good luck."

"Same with you guys," Kassidy said. Sekani and Jade then flew off into the night and Kassidy and Holden started to make their way back to the cathedral. Kassidy then smiled weakly at Holden. "Hey, thanks. You were right, I needed that."

Holden looked at Kassidy and laughed. "Told you didn't I?"

"Yup, you told me."

They continued to fly for the cathedral until they heard cooing behind them. Kassidy and Holden's eyes were widened. "Please tell me it's not what I think it is…" Holden said nervously.

Kassidy and Holden looked behind them and they gasped when they saw three pigeons following them and they looked angry. Kassidy cussed and she and Holden flew faster into the city. She was having too much fun that she didn't even think about flying in the darkness. "Don't let them escape," one of the pigeons shouted.

Kassidy looked back at the pigeons and then she looked down at the cars that were driving in the street. She knew this was going to be suicide but she knew she had to distract the pigeons somehow without harming them with her magic. She then looked at Holden. "Holden, get back to the cathedral, I'll hold off the pigeons."

Holden looked at her shocked. "Are you crazy?"

"Just go!"

Without arguing Holden flew ahead of Kassidy and as he did, Kassidy stopped in midflight in front of the pigeons and then she flew up and flew around them in circles and then the pigeons started to chase her. Kassidy beat her wings as fast as she could and then she dove for the streets. She sped past cars and as she did she could feel her heart racing and she hoped she wouldn't get smashed by one of these vehicles. She could hear the pigeons' angry cooing as she kept flying and in a fast move, she dove downwards more and was now flying under the vehicles and as she did she noticed that one of the pigeons slammed right onto the front window of one of the vehicles but the other two pigeons kept chasing her. She focused on not getting hit by anything and then in the right timing she veered to the right and kept flying and she looked behind her to see that the pigeons were still following her.

Kassidy cursed and she tried to think of a better idea but it was hard for her to think since she was about to get caught by those pigeons. She tried not to let it bother her and she kept flying. She then saw a building somewhat far from her but this gave her an interesting idea. She looked back at the pigeons and then she picked up her speed and she flew very fast and only kept her eyes on the building. She kept her breathing and heartbeats steady and if she timed it correctly she'd be able to get rid of them.

She kept flying and flying until in the right timing she landed on the building and then she jumped off it and did a backward flip in the sky and as she did the pigeons sped by her fast and then the pigeons smashed onto the building. Kassidy then regained her flight and as she did she saw the pigeons slowly slide down the building and without wasting any time she began to make her way back to the cathedral without looking back. It was exhilarating what she just did but she smiled on the inside and focused on getting back to the cathedral.

Goth and Throbb followed the female Silverwing and then they saw her enter through the mouth of a beast that they never have seen before. They roosted on a nearby building and stared at the beast that stood atop of this mysterious building of the humans'. Goth thought this thing couldn't be alive if that Silverwing entered through it. He then thought it must be some sort of secret hideout for her and her friends. There was no way though that they would enter through that beast because they couldn't fit through.

He then thought about the Silverwing female and he and Throbb were impressed by what she did to get away from those pigeons. There was so much determination in her that he didn't even see any fear in her eyes. She didn't even have to use magic to get away from the pigeons.

They managed to catch the Silverwings' names, Holden and Kassidy. Goth repeated the name Kassidy in his head and to him, it was a very nice name for a female bat like her. They didn't catch a lot of conversation those two were having with two other bats because of the very loud noises coming from those pesky humans and their pesky machines but they thought they heard something about humans and such. But that really didn't matter but what mattered was now they knew where those four bats were hiding. However he couldn't get over the female bat named Kassidy, the drawings on her were quite interesting to him, to say the least and that thing around her neck looked interesting as well. Her hair was the bloodiest red as if she was actually bleeding from the head and everything about her made her look like a dark angel.

Goth and Throbb were watching her, Holden, and their new so-called friends "dancing" a while ago and as they did they saw Kassidy glowing like a star and it made Goth want to gasp but he found that his voice was stuck in his throat. The way she glowed could only make Goth keep staring at her in awe as if he was staring at a goddess. Her smile though was very radiant and it was rather very nice and her eyes were as blue as the ocean. He couldn't believe he was thinking this but it was true.

She was beautiful.

He then shook his head and growled under his breath. No! He thought. She must've done some sort of spell to make me think this! Stop thinking about her!

But he couldn't because she only came into his mind. Goth was glad that Throbb didn't notice because he didn't even want to talk about what he was thinking. He then thought he must've been overreacting because Martin did tell them that she wasn't really experienced enough with magic so maybe she didn't do some sort of spell to make Goth think this. He just didn't know but was it really a bad thing he was thinking about this?

"Well done looks like you found where they were hiding," Goth and Throbb jumped to the sound of Martin and they turned around to see Martin and Dianna.

Goth was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't even hear them coming. "How'd you find us?"

Martin chuckled. "I always have my ways of finding anyone. Plus I've got eyes, ears, and a nose let's not forget."

Goth felt like an idiot for even asking that question. Of course, it was their senses, thinking about that witch probably messed up his brain somewhat.

"I want bats," Throbb said.

"And you'll get your bats," Martin said. "But not just yet."

"When though?"

"When the timing is right."

Dianna smirked at her husband. "I think they'll be in for a big surprise when they get to meet us."

Martin smirked at his wife. "Indeed they will, dear and it'll be a surprise they'll never forget."

Goth looked back at the beast and waited for all four of the bats to come out and when they did he'd be ready.

A/N- Well that takes care of chapter 18 and to be honest I had a lot of fun writing this one. I wanted to focus on Kassidy and Holden bonding more and what better way of bonding than dancing? I chose You Should Be Dancing for this chapter title because for one: there's dancing and two: the song You Should Be Dancing by Bee Gees inspired me to call it this title and as I was listening to it I could see Kassidy, Holden, Sekani, and Jade dancing to it. Also Joan Jett has some really good songs and if you haven't listened to her music then I recommend you go check them out.

Also, Sekani and Jade will be back soon so be ready when they come back. That's all I wanted to say and chapter 19 will be here soon.