Chapter 26

Broken Friendship

"Kass, slow down!"

Kassidy kept flying and didn't look at Marina as she was trying to catch up to her. Her mind was focused on only the fact that Martin knew all along the plan she and Marina had. Not only that she worried that he now knew that she and Holden were humans. Did he actually know?

Marina was then flying next to Kassidy and Kassidy still didn't look at her. "For the love of Nocturna, you're fast." Kassidy ignored what Marina said. "Kass, can you look at me?"

Kassidy sighed and she used her eyes to look at Marina. "I need to be alone right now."

"Look, I know you're still angry and I know you're still shocked that Martin knew all along our plan and I am too. But maybe you shouldn't have gone all out with your words towards them."

Kassidy's brow was furrowed. "It's not my fault they only care about themselves. I just couldn't take it anymore; I can't even take more of Martin. That guy has been snooping in on us and that tells me that neither he nor the other three giant bats can be trusted. You know it's true."

Marina was about to say something but a voice intervened, "Guys!" Kassidy and Marina heard Shade and they looked behind them to see the boys and they were huffing and puffing as they were flying. They had their eyes narrowed at the girls. "You wanna explain to us what the heck that was all about?"

"And why should we?" Kassidy asked bitterly. "You wouldn't even understand."

Then in a blink of an eye, Shade flew airborne in front of the girls to stop them. Kassidy and Marina were surprised and Kassidy even thought that this might've been the fastest that Shade ever flown. Holden was airborne as well behind the girls.

"We need to talk," Shade said.

"There's nothing to-"

"Yes, there is!" Shade said loudly when he cut Kassidy's sentence off. Shade had never yelled at her before and this was the first time. "I wanna talk about this right now so let's roost!"

"Yeah, I wanna talk about this as well," Holden said, "because this is getting ridiculous."

Kassidy and Marina looked at each other and they both sighed. They both knew that they weren't going to get out of this. Even if they tried to keep telling the boys that they didn't want to talk about it they would still keep telling them that they wanted to talk about it.

The girls dove to the nearest tree branch and then they landed on it and hung upside-down. The boys then roosted next to them upside-down as they still had their brows furrowed. The four of them just kept staring at each other for a while.

"Was it true what Martin said?" Shade asked breaking the silence.

Kassidy started to rub her temples. She just wanted to be alone but it was clear that she wasn't going to get it at this moment. However, it would've been a good time to do the sight-seeing spell but if she even said she wanted to do it right now she knew that the boys would've declined. She thought about doing it but it was clear that this was much more important than her spell.

"Yeah, it's true," Kassidy said.

"Damn it, guys. Why didn't you tell us?"

"You see, this here, this is the reason why we didn't tell you two because we knew what your reactions would've been like. You two had your heads up in the clouds while Marina and I could already see that there is something suspicious about them."

Shade crossed his arms. "You know what I think? You're just jealous that Martin is more advanced at magic than you are."

Kassidy bared her teeth at Shade and she couldn't believe what he was saying right now. "You think this is about jealousy? I'm not jealous, I'm angry at Martin because that guy has crossed the line too many times."

"For Christ's sake, Kass," Holden said bitterly. "Why do you have to make things complicated? You're like the new version of the Queen of Hearts!"

Holden was next to Kassidy so it wasn't hard for Kassidy to put her face near his as they glared at each other. "Oh, is this coming out of someone who had to get his ass saved a lot like I don't know one, two, three, four times? That's pretty much you being a damsel in distress!"

"Well sorry, I'm not advanced at flying like you are! You think you're the only one that has to deal with people getting saved a lot? Get over yourself, we've all been there!"

"Oh, hey, you want these spit droplets back or are they for me to keep?" Kassidy said as she could feel Holden's spit on her.

"Sorry, I was trying to scare off that mosquito that was on you," Holden said sarcastically. "Oh, it was just blemish, never mind."

"I'm hoping its cancer. I'm dying for it to get out."

"Oh, if you die can I have all of your nothing?"

Kassidy could feel her hands turn into fists and the fire inside her was starting to form slowly as if it was dying to get out of her for good. If she were to transform into a wild beast because of her anger she'd probably be the dragon because fire and dragons pretty much mixed together, but some dragons could breathe out other things and not fire. Kassidy could picture herself of what she'd look like if she did transform into one but she did not want to focus on fire and dragons. All she could focus on was this here argument with Holden.

Shade and Marina could only stare at Kassidy and Holden with their eyes widened as the two went at each other. Once again they were caught in the middle of Kassidy and Holden's nasty arguments.

"What do you mean if I die?" Kassidy said in an icy tone. "I've been dead since the moment I had to be your tutor."

"Well then maybe you shouldn't have been my tutor in the first place!" Holden shouted.

Kassidy could not have agreed more with him. "You're right, maybe I shouldn't have been your tutor, 'cause then I wouldn't be in this situation with you!" The flames spread all over Kassidy's body.

"Wait, what're you guys talking about?" Shade asked confused.

Kassidy and Holden stopped glaring at each other and they looked at Shade and Marina and they were looking at them confused. The flames demolished on Kassidy as she had the palm of her hand on her forehead. She knew that Shade and Marina didn't know about the true relationship between her and Holden and she knew that it was now or never. She couldn't stand this anymore.

"You guys wanna know something?" Kassidy asked. "In our human forms we were never friends, far from it. The only reason why were together was because we had no choice. I had to help Holden with his things-which I never wanted to do-because he was failing miserably. If I never had to do that I would've been at home right now with my family. But no, I wasn't there for them because now they're kidnapped and I could've been there to save them but because I wasn't I had to help Holden with his crap."

Shade and Marina looked from Kassidy and Holden a few times with their eyes still widened. Kassidy wouldn't take back what she said because what she said was true. She wished she never took Principal Chester's offer of helping Holden. She wished she didn't go help Holden with his homework and studying at the coffee shop. She wished she could've kept her secret of being a witch from Holden. She wished the car crash never happened.

She wished she never met Holden Brooks.

"I… I don't know how to feel about this," Marina said.

"You don't have to feel anything for this," Kassidy said. "But you might want to feel something for what I'm about to tell you guys." She then took a deep breath and was prepared to break the news about the giant bats to the three of them. "Guys… Martin, Dianna, Goth, Throbb, and their kind-the Vampyrum Specrtums-they'll eat a lot of different types of meat. They'll even eat bats."

Marina looked shocked with what Kassidy said and she also had a look of fear in her eyes. However, to the girls' surprise, the boys started to laugh hysterically. Kassidy couldn't believe them. They were laughing about what she said.

"Okay, that's a good one," Holden said.

"Guys, it's not funny," Kassidy snapped. "It's true though, these bats will eat anything that's moving and living, including bats."

"Kass, you're just trying to scare us just so we can ditch our friends," Shade said.

Kassidy looked at Shade with her teeth bared. "They're not our friends, Shade. I think they're using us just so we can lead them to the colony just so they can eat every last one of them, including us. Where the hell were you and Holden when Martin said he knew Marina and I were doing some spying? He was pretty much spying on us as well. He had no right to do that."

"Like you guys had no right to spy as well?" Holden said. "Maybe he had a good reason to peep in on you and Marina because you guys just can't stand the fact that we're traveling with those four."

Marina scowled at Holden. "Oh, so Martin can peep in on us but we can't? Are you even hearing yourself? Why can't you and Shade come to realize that they can't be trusted? Why can't you take what Kassidy says seriously?"

"Why can't you and Kassidy be friends with them?" Shade snapped. "If any case, you two are tearing this group apart."

Kassidy and Marina were shocked by what Shade said. Hearing this from Shade only made Kassidy angrier. She was now equally mad at Holden and Shade. It wasn't her and Marina that was tearing this group apart. It was the giant bats that were.

Kassidy bared her teeth at Shade once again. "Well, if we're tearing this group apart then I don't see why we should be friends with you or Holden anymore."

"Exactly, you two have done nothing but yell at us and agree with what they say, they're not as nice as you think they are," Marina said bitterly. "I'm done being your friend, Shade and Holden."

Holden and Shade looked at each other but then they looked back at the girls with their eyes narrowed. "Fine by us," Shade said.

"Yeah, and the sooner this is over the sooner I won't have to worry about you two getting on my nerves a lot," Holden said.

Kassidy looked at Holden. "We get on your nerves?" Kassidy then crossed her arms. "How about the fact that you've been getting on everyone's nerves lately? Because you never know when to shut up when you know that what you're about to say is going to be stupid."

"At least I don't have to worry about spells and all that other witchcraft crap you have because then at least I wouldn't be judged by a lot."

Kassidy bared her teeth angrily once again. "At least I've had accomplishments. What have you ever done to accomplish something? I'll tell you what, nothing!" Kassidy then swung upwards and Marina did the same thing. "I'm starting to see why you would think your Dad and brother would be disappointed in you and I think you're right because you only care about partying as your Mom did."

Kassidy flew off back the way she came and Marina followed her. She didn't look back at either Holden nor Shade.

He was shocked with what Kassidy said but this angered him. He was furious that Kassidy even mentioned the woman that he used to look up to. Kassidy comparing him to his Mom made him want to yell in rage. That woman meant nothing to him anymore.

Holden never wanted to lay eyes on Kassidy Kimler ever again. He never wanted to talk to her again. It was the same for Marina.

"Come on, Holden," Shade said. "Let's go back."

Holden simply just sighed and nodded and they released their grips from their roost and flew back the way they came. He didn't want to fly in the same direction the girls were going but he knew that they were stuck with them one way or another until they could actually go their separate ways. He was at least glad he still had Shade and all four of his giant bat buddies.

As they were flying, Holden saw Goth and Throbb up ahead. He noticed that Goth was eating something but he couldn't tell what he was eating from a far distance and whatever it was that Goth was eating was obviously making Throbb hungry. He then saw Throbb getting Goth's attention and when he did, Goth snarled at Throbb as if he was trying to steal his food. Throbb was pointing towards the four of them and when he did Goth saw them and he stood up and used the back of his foot to push his meal into the bushes. Holden assumed that Goth didn't want them to see the gory scene that was happening.

Holden and Shade landed near Goth and Throbb but the girls landed a farther distance away from them and when they did, Goth was wiping the blood that was on his muzzle off of him. The brothers looked from the boys to the girls as they had smiles on their faces. "Hola, amigos," Goth said.

Holden and Shade were scowling at the girls and the girls were scowling at them back and neither one of them looked at Goth nor Throbb. They just kept staring.

Goth and Throbb's smiles no longer looked bright but instead, they looked like fake smiles. "Is everything alright?"

Marina looked at Kassidy. "Come on, Kass. Let's just go, it's not worth it."

Kassidy looked at Marina and she nodded. "Couldn't have agreed more."

The girls spread opened their wings and they lifted from the ground and started to fly away. Holden then decided to say one last thing to them. "Hey, guys, wait!" Kassidy and Marina stopped in their tracks and they looked at Holden with their brows furrowed. "You almost left without this." He then lifted his hand and he tried to flip them off.

It was hard to do that, considering he only had four fingers and not five and Shade, Goth, Throbb, and Marina were looking at him confused but Holden could clearly tell that Kassidy knew what he was trying to do and she bared her teeth at him. "Screw you, Holden!" Kassidy then landed on a tree branch and she lifted both of her hands towards Holden and she double flipped Holden off. Holden hated to admit it but he thought she did the flipping off better than he did. Kassidy then flew back up into the sky with Marina and then they flew off and disappeared out of sight.

Holden and Shade looked at the brothers and their smiles disappeared. All Holden could see was surprise and confusion. "Is there something going on, amigos?" Goth asked.

Shade had his arms crossed. "You could say that we're no longer friends with them."

"Oh… well, I'm sorry about that."

"Eh, they probably weren't even our friends to begin with," Holden said.

Shade looked around him confused. "Where's Martin and Dianna?"

"That I'm not sure," Goth said as he looked to the sky. "The last time we saw of them was where we were all roosting."

"You think we should look for them?" Holden asked.

"I wouldn't worry about them, Holden." Goth then looked directly at Holden. "I'm sure they'll be back soon, they're probably still hunting or doing some other things at the moment. They're smart enough to not be caught." Goth then looked at Shade. "Shade, I think it would be a great time for you to pull up your sound map again so we can see if we can narrow in on your colony."

Holden and Shade looked at each other but Holden tried to smile. "Might not be a bad idea."

Shade looked at Goth, as did Holden and when Holden looked at Goth and Throbb, he noticed something strange in their smiles. The way they looked at them somehow was making Holden unsettle. He didn't know what it was but there was just something about the way they looked at them that didn't seem right.

"Okay," Shade said. He then turned around and he placed a claw on his temple as he was concentrating on the sound map.

Goth wrapped his wings around himself like it was a cape and he looked back at Holden. "So amigo, might I ask what that whole thing was about that you and Kass were doing?"

Holden looked back at Goth. "Trust me, man. You don't want to know what that whole thing was about. Quite frankly, I don't think anyone would."

Shade eventually turned around to look at the three of them after the grunting and mumbles of pain that Holden was hearing from him. "There might be a way but I'm not sure if it'll work."

"Well, as long as we can find your colony I'm sure nothing will go wrong," Goth said.

Holden then noticed that Throbb was staring at something. He looked to where Throbb was looking but all he saw were the dense bushes. Holden furrowed his brow confused and he looked back at Throbb. "Hey, Throbb."

"Huh?" Throbb stopped looking at the bushes and he looked at Holden.

"What're you staring at?"

Throbb looked lost like he was a child looking for his Mother. He just stared at Holden dumbfounded like Holden told him a new word. "Uh… I was…" Throbb looked back at the bushes and then he looked back at Holden. "I was just admiring the leaves here on these bushes. They look… tasty."

Goth looked at Throbb weirded out. Holden kind of didn't blame Goth because Throbb always looked like he was hungry for meat. He didn't expect Throbb to say he thought the leaves looked tasty.

Holden looked at Shade and Shade just shrugged his shoulders. Holden then looked back at Throbb. "You going to try them then? It can't hurt to give it a little taste." Throbb looked at Goth as if to ask what he should do. Goth didn't show any signs of what Throbb should do. "Come on, Throbb. Who knows? You might like them."

Throbb looked back at the bushes and he was rubbing his neck. Holden could tell that Throbb didn't look comfortable with trying herbs.

"Throbb, if Holden here insists you try the leaves then try the leaves," Goth said with a smile but Holden could see it was an annoyed smile.

Throbb looked at Goth a little nervous but he then looked at Holden with an uncomfortable smile and he slowly advanced towards the bushes. When he got close enough to them he slowly grabbed a hand full of leaves. He looked at the three of them and Holden and Shade gave him their best smiles while Goth looked like he was getting fed up with him. Throbb then gulped and he closed his eyes and he opened his mouth and started to eat the leaves.

Holden then saw Throbb open his eyes and he thought his eyes were going to pop out of his sockets because Holden saw that Throbb looked like he wanted to throw up. But Throbb slowly began to chew and Holden could hear some disgust noises coming out of Throbb. Throbb managed to look at the three of them and gave them a weak smile. Eventually, Throbb managed to swallow down the leaves. Holden thought that it was really uncomfortable when he was watching Throbb eat the leaves.

Goth looked at Holden and Shade and he placed his hands on their shoulders and they started to walk. "I think you two should do some more hunting, just in case."

"But shouldn't we wait for-"

"I'll tell the others that you two were still hunting if they get back," Goth said, cutting off Shade. "You'll thank me for this, now go hunt."

Goth turned away from the boys and walked away. The boys looked at each other confused but they didn't say a word as they flew off the ground to do some hunting. Holden didn't know if it was him but to him it looked like Goth was trying to make them scram. Holden then remembered that Goth was still eating a dead animal.

Holden then thought it might've been a good time for him to try to catch some hard insects. He did need some practice with his hunting. Plus he wanted to prove to Kassidy that he could hunt like the others. He would show her that she was wrong about his hunting skills.

He watched as Shade and Holden flew off to do some hunting. Goth thought that it was too close of a call for them to figure out that they ate bats. Throbb was so close of giving away their cover and Goth would've strangled him if Shade and Holden found the dead bat in the bushes.

When the boys were gone from Goth's sight, he walked back over to the bushes to where he hid the Brightwing carcass. He got on his knees and pulled the body out of the bushes. The rib cages were shown clearly and its eyes were still opened. The odor coming from the bat could only satisfy Goth as he wanted to eat the rest of it.

Flies were starting to land on the carcass and Goth growled getting annoyed with the buzzing. He swatted away a few flies and the last thing he wanted was to have a mix of meat and flies to eat. Eventually, he managed to get rid of a few flies and only a couple remained.

Goth was about to eat the carcass but he stopped when he saw Throbb still standing there looking at his catch. He furrowed his brow at him. "Why are you still here?" Throbb looked at Goth and didn't say a word as he looked at him a little skittish. Goth rolled his eyes, got up, and walked over to Throbb so he could stand over him. "Do yourself a favor and go hunt if you're that desperate for food or I will make you eat more of the leaves on those bushes. Go!"

Throbb wasted no time and flew off from the ground as fast as he could with him clearly knowing that Goth was not kidding. He was always aggressive.

Satisfied that there was no one left to bother him, Goth lowered himself near the carcass and ripped shreds of flesh from it and continued to eat.

Another day had passed and they were still trying to find the towers of fire but there were no signs of it. The journey couldn't have been more angering to Shade, Holden, Kassidy, and Marina then it already was. Holden and Shade haven't spoken or even looked at Kassidy and Marina for a while now and Kassidy and Marina haven't done the same thing either with them. They were staying as far as they could away from each other and it was about as good enough as it could get for now.

Shade and Holden were hunting together in a different part of the forest and they did the best they could to get in as much food in their system as possible. Shade could tell that Holden was getting a little better in hunting but he still couldn't catch the harder ones just yet. Shade wished he wasn't about the size of a mouse because then he might've been able to help Holden more with hunting down some insects.

Before they went hunting, the group had agreed that they would meet each other as soon as possible so they could get to the towers of fire faster. It was especially good enough for Shade, Holden, Kassidy, and Marina.

Shade then thought of something that was kind of disturbing him yesterday. He noticed that while they migrating that Throbb was looking at him, Holden, Kassidy, and Marina in a very hungry way. Shade didn't know if it was his imagination or not but he didn't want Throbb to suspect something so he looked away. He then thought about what Kassidy said about the giant bats eating other bats and he thought that was just crazy. He didn't understand why giant bats like them would want to eat other bats. Something in the back of his head was giving him doubts, like it was trying to tell him to wake up and that Kassidy was right and he needed to escape right now.

Shade shook his head. No, he thought, Kassidy's the liar, not the giant bats.

However, the more he thought about it the more he began to not believe his own words. Kassidy was the smartest bat/human that Shade ever came across. Whatever she said it was basically true. He then began to wonder if what Kassidy said about the giant bats were true.

"Smalls, you okay?" Holden asked.

Shade snapped out of his thoughts and he looked at Holden with a weak smile. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"You don't look fine. You look like you woke up on the wrong side of the roost." Holden then smiled as he used his shoulder to nudge Shade. "Come on, you can tell me. After all, I ain't a stranger."

Shade's smile went down and he sighed. "Do you think Kassidy might be right?"

Holden's smile went down. "What? That Martin, Dianna, Goth, and Throbb might be bat murderers? Oh, boy, don't tell me you now suddenly agree with her."

"I haven't agreed with her, it's just… I don't know I think Kassidy's words just got in my head."

"Well, let's just hurry up and get more food so we can be done with it."

Shade nodded and they continued to hunt but Shade really couldn't concentrate on the hunting. All he could think about was Kassidy and Marina's words when he and Holden were arguing with them.

As they were flying, Shade felt Holden nudge him again and Shade looked to him and he saw that he was staring at something. "Shade, is that Throbb over there?"

Shade looked to where Holden was looking and Holden was right. Throbb was in the branches of an oak and he was hunched over, his back to them. He heard Throbb chewing and he could only guess that it was Throbb's catch he was eating. Shade was happy enough to have giant bats in their group but he had repugnance whenever he saw one of them eating raw flesh.

"Yeah, it's him," Shade said.

"We should probably leave him alone then," Holden said. "He probably doesn't like to be bothered when it comes to eating."

Shade was about to turn around with Holden but he then noticed something. He carefully landed on the ground behind a tree quietly without Throbb hearing but close enough to see what he thought he saw. He placed his hands on the tree and looked from behind it and he saw some sort of lifeless wing. He thought it was an owl wing but when he used his echo vision on it he was horrified to see that it was not an owl wing. He thought he was going to faint.

There were no feathers on that wing.

It was an orange color and it was leathery, with ridges of long fingers beneath the surface.

Throbb was eating a Brightwing bat that looked like Marina's wing.

Shade saw Holden land next to him behind the tree he was looking out from behind and Holden looked to where Shade was looking confused. "Shade, what're you-" Before Holden could finish, his eyes widened and he started to gasp. Before he could gasp any further, Shade immediately covered his mouth.

The boys looked back to Throbb and the lifeless wing petrified and Shade hoped that Throbb didn't hear Holden. But to his fear, he saw Throbb turn towards them and before he could see them, the boys got behind the tree and they dared not to breathe a single breath when they knew that their lives were in danger.

A/N- Another chapter down and I am so glad. Not much to say but the next chapter might be out shortly so have a nice day.