Here you go!

Chapter 9

Isabel

Everybody watches Matt and Neriah fight Lathenia; some of the more cowardly Order members are biting their nails in fear. I've never seen my brother fight before, and I must say that he's pretty good. It goes on the same way for about an hour, with Neriah standing in the back shooting lightning bolts and Matt up there hitting Lathenia full on. Finally, Lathenia grows tired from all the blows she's taken, and falls down. Matt takes the opportunity to hold her down while Ethan passes him a dagger.

"Any last words?" he asks, rather cliché like.

Seeing as how Matt's foot is on her stomach for leverage and to keep her from getting up, Lathenia can barely breathe, let alone say anything, but she surprises us all by saying, very clearly, "You should be proud of yourselves, all nine of you. I honestly didn't expect you to beat me and my army, but here you are. I don't envy anyone why tries anything on you in the future. I know that this sounds weird coming from me, but I hope that you all do well-in whatever comes your way." As she says these last words, I swear that she looks directly at me. But then Matt stabs her, and it's all over.

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As the nine of us walk back to Angel Falls, I discuss my party plans with Jimmy and Matt. Matt and I tell Jimmy what happened with Mom, and he agrees that she should be there, if only to be with me and meet Arkarian, since she's already given me her present.

Soon, everybody joins the conversation, and we're all talking about party games and other activities, what kind of pop, how long it should last, and, most importantly, what kind of cake.

Knowing Jimmy, he'll probably get the people at the cake store to put something special on the cake, so I tell him that no matter what it has to be one of those vanilla ice cream cakes with fudge and brownie crumbs in the center. Everyone laughs at the forcefulness of my statement, and I join in as well.

Arkarian is the only one not joining the rest of us in our conversation, and for some reason, he's staying at the back of the group. Rochelle comes over to me, and sees me glancing back at Arkarian.

"When are you going to tell him?" she asks me in a whisper.

I think about it for a while. "I don't know," I reply honestly.

She frowns. "You'll have to say something soon! I mean, you're like a month into this now, aren't you?"

"Two, actually," I correct her.

She waves a hand dismissively. "Whatever. The point is, it's going to start showing soon, and I think you'd be better off telling him before he finds out on his own. It would mean more to him."

I nod to show that I understand. Just then, I see the sign welcoming us to Angel Falls. As soon as we pass it, I feel a sense of warm security wash over me.

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I wake up the next morning with a feeling of nervousness and excitement. I throw the blankets off myself and run to my closet, where I take out my mom's present to me; a deep scarlet dress. It's strapless and skin-tight – at least, the top part is. The top meets the bottom in a V-shape, the skirt then flowing in ripples down to the floor. I put that on and then slip my new pair of red high heels on my feet.

I brush my long brown hair out, piling it on top of my head in an elegant bun, and then place a golden tiara on. Thick, red lipstick goes on my lips and black mascara on my eyelashes that curls them beautifully. I put on my golden necklace with a heart shaped pendant and matching earrings, and after checking myself in the mirror, I walk downstairs. Mom meets me at the bottom of the stairs, gasping softly and hugging me.

"Oh, Isabel!" she exclaims, "You look beautiful! So grown up, too!" Tears form in her eyes.

"Thanks, Mom. Oh, and thanks for the dress, too."

She hugs me tighter. "My little baby's all grown up now!" she sobs. Jimmy comes over to comfort her.

"There, there, Coral. It's okay."

Matt walks past them with an amused look on his face. "Wow, Mom didn't get this emotional on my 18th!" he exclaims.

I smirk. "Probably because I'm the youngest, and now I'm an adult. So unless she has another, Mom technically has no kids left, only two young adults."

He looks at me. "She's right, though," he says. "You do look beautiful."

I hug him. "Thanks," I whisper.

"No prob. Its completely true."

Once Mom has calmed down, the four of us walk outside into the backyard to start setting up for the party.

After it's all set up, Matt and Jimmy go out to get "only the cake", while Mom and I start cooking and baking. It's only 10:00, and the party doesn't start until 11:30, but it takes us the better part of an hour to get it all, if you count all the giggling and talking as well as the time it took for the cookies and other snacks. The party will go for exactly 12 hours, from 11:30 am to 11:30 pm, so we'll need lots of snacks.

It obviously takes a whole hour just to buy a cake, because Matt and Jimmy get home right when the last snacks come out of the oven.

"Oh, good, you boys are back," Mom says. "Now you can help us bring the food out."

As we do so, I can't help but think that this is going to be one hell of a party.

Okay, I'm going to have to post the next two chapters tomorrow, cuz I've gotta get to bed soon. It's getting late. But I promise that this fic will be done by tomorrow, and I'll hopefully start typing out the second one as well. Peace out!