To Mai Surprise

Disclaimer: I do not own The Nine Lives of Chloe King, nor do I profit from any of my stories.

Chapter 4

I spun around with my claws out, only to be surrounded by the arms of my would-be attacker. A hand gently lifted my chin up, and I froze. Before I knew it, soft lips covered mine. My heart stopped. I opened my eyes, and then pushed him away.

I gasped.

"Alek?"

In a panic, I screamed, pushed him away, and ran. Without my cat-like coordination, I would have tripped as I ran down the stairs.

Suddenly, Jasmine was in front of me. She pulled me down, making me sit on the stairs. "Chloe, we heard you scream. What happened?" She looked over at Mimi, and said "was it Alek? What did he do?" Anger brewed in her eyes.

"I'm so sorry; I shouldn't have let him get close to me. Please don't be mad, I feel bad enough without your help." I said, tears streaming down my face.

Jasmine's gaze softened. "Chloe, what happened?"

"He hugged me, and I let him hug me. Then, he kissed me! I just froze up! I'm sorry!" I wailed. Jasmine put her arm around me.

"Hey, it'll be okay," Mimi moved to sit next to me.

"No! He's going to die! Why did I let him kiss me! Dammit!" I started hiccupping through my sobs. "It was my first kiss! This is the worst thing that's ever happened to me!"

With another sob, I buried my head in my hands.

Walking down the stairs, I heard voices. Chloe was hysterical. God no... I know I can be a cocky bastard, but it was just a kiss. Apparently her first kiss... Wow. Rejection hurts.

"I know I should have asked first, but you don't have to be so harsh..." I said, my joking tone barely masking how dejected I felt. "Look, we can forget this ever happened."

I started to walk away, disappointed. Well, now I know what they mean by 'you always want what can't have.'

I had only made it a few steps when I heard, "No! Alek, wait!" I shook my head and kept walking. A small hand pulled on my wrist. "Wait! Please," Chloe sounded desperate.

Turning around, I refused to meet her eyes. "Haven't you done enough?"

She pulled on my arm. "Look at me!" Reluctantly, I looked up. Though it was almost completely dark, I could see her bright blue eyes shine with unshed tears.

His chocolate brown eyes suddenly swirled with gold. As he looked at me, I saw his pupils had turned into thin black slits. How could this be possible? As this sight of golden chocolate burned into my memory, I gave in to every impulse.

I threw myself at Alek, my arms wrapping around his neck, my lips on his. He stiffened for a second, and then slowly rested his arms around my waist. He held me and every residual fear, worry, and nervousness melted away.

He gently nipped my bottom lip; my eyes flew open. I allowed him to deepen our kiss, closing my eyes as I surrendered any ounce of control I had managed to hold on to. My inexperience was the last thing on my mind. Alek was gentle with me; our kiss was filled with both passion and patience.

Alek easily lifted me up off my feet, pulling away from our kiss to bury his face in my hair. "I have waited two years for this moment." He mumbled. His breath in my ear made my heart skip a beat.

I felt like my heart was beating so loud and so fast that the whole world would hear it. Well, at least Chloe probably could. The rapid speed my heart was beating would have been embarrassing, but I could hear Chloe's heartbeat going just as fast.

Suddenly, I heard a phone ring somewhere behind me. Setting Chloe on the ground, I turned around. It was the other girl, "Mini" or something.

"Where are you?"

"Coit tower, why?"

"Get away. Police reports are coming in; there has been a robbery at an electronics store. The report says it was a group of kids, the cops might think it's you guys."

Mimi looked up. "You guys got all that?" She said, waiting until we all nodded. "Okay, so dad, what's next?" she said into the phone.

"Meet at Valentina's. Make sure you're not seen." The line went dead.

Jasmine grabbed Chloe and took off toward the park exit. The gate was locked, Jasmine reached forward. Her fingernails grew into full-on claws; she used her index finger to pick the padlock. She then pushed through the gate and took off, Chloe and Mimi right behind her.

Confused, I decided that questions can wait until the girls finally stop running. I followed the three girls down alleyways and behind buildings. Police sirens sounded in the background.

Chloe looked around, and then said "I don't think we're being followed." She looked at Jasmine, and then at me.

"Okay, will one of you please tell me what's going on?" I was tired of running.

Jasmine stepped forward. "We're so sorry. There are people who usually talk you through this. This isn't how it's normally done."

What the...? "What's done?" I asked.

"Contact. You transformation was so fast..." Chloe said. She seemed nervous.

"You were born near Novorossiysk, in Russia, right?" Jasmine asked me, something told me she already knew the answer to that...

"Yes but, how did you know that?" These three were getting more suspicious by the minute.

"Not here, we should probably keep moving. Come on." Chloe timidly grabbed my hand, trying to pull me down the street.

"Oh no, no, no, no, no." I stopped her. "I'm not going anywhere with you until I get some answers." Getting irritated, I said, "what's going on with you? Why did you push me away? Why were you crying? What's up with the fingernails on you girls? What's going on?"

Jasmine sighed. "We'll answer all your questions, I promise."

"Well here's one: what the hell are you?" I practically yelled.

Mimi looked at me, and said "You mean, 'what the hell are we?'" I sat down on the curb; this really is one hell of a night.

"We are Mai," Chloe said quietly. My gaze shifted to her. She had yet to release her grip on my hand. I pulled on her arm, causing her to stumble. Jasmine and Mimi sat down on the curb next to me as Chloe went to sit on my other side.

Her hand wasn't really enough, not for me. As Chloe bent over to sit to my right, I gave her hand a sharp tug towards me. She stumbled again, but this time I grabbed her and pulled her into my lap. Chloe inhaled sharply. She looked cold so I wrapped her in my arms, and then looked up at Jasmine expectantly. Now that we were all comfortable, it was time to get on with this insane explanation.

Jasmine spoke first. "Mai. Descendents of an ancient and sacred race. Not completely human, not completely god. The offspring of the goddess Bastet, the most powerful of all the goddesses." I looked at her skeptically. Bastet?

"There was a time when we were revered. We advised pharaohs, Mai and humans have a special relationship. We were their sworn protectors." Jasmine continued.

"But then we had a bit of a falling out." Chloe interrupted. "I guess you could say, we got tired of taking orders." She grimaced.

"We broke our sacred bond," Jasmine insisted.

Mimi rolled her eyes, saying, "that's one interpretation..."

Chloe shivered and looked at me. "But we've been hunted for generations."

Jasmine shrugged. "She's being slightly dramatic."

I shook my head. "This truly makes no sense," I grumbled.

Jasmine smirked. "Deep down you know it's true. You always knew you were different," she joked. Then her expression turned serious. "I know this is hard to accept, but this is who you are."

Chloe glared at me, turning in my lap to look me in the eye. "I could kick your ass. Now do you regret being a jerk to me?"

"No," I replied. She sat up straighter to meet my gaze.

"Isn't your girlfriend going to be mad that we kissed?" she asked suspiciously.

"So none of your business," I laughed. "But no, I don't have a girlfriend. I am perfectly and entirely yours."

Chloe lightly punched my shoulder, muttering something about dealing with "cocky bastards."

Jasmine laughed. "Today at school, when you almost kissed Chloe, I swear I almost had a heart attack," she said.

I looked at her, wondering what's wrong with kissing Chloe. Jasmine only sighed. "Mai and humans don't really mix well."

Chloe nodded, her hair swaying against my shoulder. "I guess you could call it a curse. We can't be..." she blushed.

"Intimate." Jasmine finished for her. "Sometimes something even as small as a kiss…"

So Chloe had been avoiding me because of some sacred rule? That's ridiculous. "What happens if we kiss?" I asked, my words were joking but I was actually curious.

Chloe frowned. "Depends on the kiss…" she said.

"Paralysis, death, sometimes paralysis then death…." Jasmine said. "But don't worry, not for the Mai. Just for the… human."

Chloe had been avoiding me because… because kissing me could get me killed? All this time I thought something was wrong with me… Turns out, there had been. I looked at the girl trapped in my arms. "So that's why you were crying before? Why you pushed me away?" She nodded. "You thought you were going to kill me?" Chloe nodded then started to cry again.

I looked up at Jasmine and Mimi, wondering what I should do. I have never been good with crying girls; I just can't handle them.

"Maybe we should go back to Jasmine and Chloe's place?" Mimi suggested, helpfully. I looked at my watch. It was only 9 o'clock. I had two hours before I needed to get home to Mum.

So, what do you think? It's another long chapter, you guys are lucky that it's my senior year and I don't have a life. However, I would love any feedback you can give me. Please review, even if you hate it! If I get enough of reviews, I will update soon. "Soon" as in maybe tomorrow or later this week, as opposed to next week sometime.