Chapter 5 is here! Please enjoy, review, don't flame etc. I like to see my little traffic stat number go up!
Disclaimer: I don't own the DP characters, as much as I want to, even if they're a bit ooc. They belong to Kelley Armstrong; please don't sue me for borrowing them!
"Charlie!" called Nigel from somewhere to the left, the direction of his office. His voice was faint, even to my ears; there was no way Rickie had heard him. I paused in our sparring, causing Rickie to knock me down and pin me.
"Let's go, they're here," I told him. He looked down at me as though I was loony. I sighed in an exasperated manner; you'd think after living with me for four months he'd know that I've got superhuman senses. Apparently not, though.
"Werewolf, right here!" I reminded him. He looked down sheepishly. He mumbled 'sorry' and helped me up, grabbing our suitcases as we left the room. We'd packed our stuff and were ready to go.
As we walked down the hall, I heard a ruckus. Not normal; this place is normally quieter than a grave (again, just an expression; badly timed, but whatever). There was arguing, between a boy and a girl by the sound of it, and at least two other people breathing. A man was talking angrily to Nigel. Stopping to take a deep breath, I pulled the door open and walked into a room full of people.
In the corner was a tall, bitchy looking girl with black hair and, even though I couldn't give a damn, a good sense of fashion. She was arguing with an obviously Korean boy with natural blonde hair. They both smelled of Spellcasters. Whispering quietly in the corner were two surprisingly similar women; an older lady and a young girl, who looked no more than twelve but smelt to be about fifteen. The lady reeked of human, a scent that hasn't been around me in since I left my mum, and the young girl smelt of Necromancer. And wolf. Something in the wolf scent screamed that she was already claimed; a wolf's mate, not an actual wolf.
Standing in the same place as I had been when I'd first been told of the Edison Group, speaking with Nigel just as I had, was a tall Asian man, the blonde boy's father I think, who also smelled of strongly of Spellcaster. They were arguing over whether Rickie and I would be safe. Hey, we can take care of ourselves, Nigel I silently berated him. I know, but we never know what might happen came Rickie's voice, causing me to nearly jump. I glared at him, and he shrugged. We'd figured out that the telepathy thing was only between us; which confirmed my suspicions from the first night.
But there was no wolf in sight. I drew in a long, subtle breath through my nose, opening my mouth slightly so that I could take in more of the scents around me. There. I found it. It was drifting from a corner away from everyone else, but close to the Necromancer and the human.
I shifted my gaze, and found my amber eyes held by a vivid, forest green. A distant memory resurfaced, of four young boys, three with green eyes, one with bright green. The others shunned the green-eyed one, so he learnt to read and entertain himself on his own. Then one of the nurses was mauled and I was moved in with… I couldn't remember. I never saw my pack again.
The spark of recognition fired through my mind again. Derek whispered Ethel quietly.
"Derek," I repeated, incredibly quiet, noticing the slight tilt of his head as he caught his name.
"Charlotte," he whispered in return. He remembered. Rickie cocked his head, eyes flickering between the two of us, confused. He clearly hadn't been told about the pack-bonds that last for a lifetime. I smiled slightly.
"It's Charlie," I whispered. Rickie looked at me strangely.
"Are you talking to Ethel?" he asked, confusion clear. A snort from the corner, quiet and quickly smothered, told me that Derek found Rickie's naivety incredibly amusing.
"No, I'm talking to him," I told him, gesturing to Derek across the room. Rickie's vampire eyes pierced the gloom easily, but he still didn't catch on.
"How can he hear you?" he asked. I sighed, again, at how clueless he could be.
"Same way I can hear him," I told him. Finally, the little lamp lit in his head.
"ohhh…" he said.
"No shit, Sherlock," I muttered sarcastically.
"Dad," Derek called out to the male Spellcaster arguing with Nigel, who looked up from the debate.
"What, Derek?" he asked, still a little… tense from arguing with Nigel. The vampire lord could be awfully hard-headed. I am too; sue me for being hypocritical.
"They arrived about six minutes ago," he said boredly, as though he'd rather be outside. I had to agree; living here for four months, I only spent my sleeping and eating hours in here.
The male Spellcaster looked rather embarrassed. Probably because he had been losing the dispute. He looked over at us, smiling warmly.
"Welcome to our mismatched family," he greeted. I rolled my eyes. Pack, not family; there're wolves here I corrected in my head.
"We'll be leaving now, Nosferatu," said the blonde human from the corner stiffly. She didn't like it here; vampires and wolves made her nervous. I smirked; she was gonna have a lot of issues with this pack if she didn't get used to it.
"Thank-you for carrying her bags, young man; you may leave now," she said to Rickie. At this point I just had to burst out laughing. Really? I mean, really? I'm a wolf; we don't need someone to carry our stuff for us! When my fit was over, I had to wipe a tear from my eye.
"Rickie's not carrying my bags for me; he's coming with us!" I said, falling into another fit of giggles. Soon, Rickie joined in, and then the blonde Spellcaster boy and the black-haired Spellcaster girl. The Necromancer girl looked torn between laughter and concern for the woman's ego. A faint pink blush spread over her face.
"Kit, I though two dangerous supernaturals was already more than enough, and now you want to add a third?" she said quietly, addressing the tall Asian who had been arguing with Nigel.
"I can assure you," said Nigel coldly, "that neither of these children are dangerous; the worst that could happen is Charlie losing her incredibly short temper," he stated.
"Hey!" I protested. He smiled at me mischievously.
"Well, it's true; you're almost as hard-headed as I am, and a ginger," he said teasingly.
"And what, may I ask, do you have against gingers?" I asked in a dangerously quiet voice.
"Nothing," he said quickly.
"Good, that's what I thought," I said, smirking smugly.
"As entertaining as this is," said the dark-haired Spellcaster girl, an annoyed tone creeping into her voice. "I'd like to leave before EG get a trace on us. We can do intros back at the safehouse," she said, impatient to get going.
"Alright," I said, not nastily or anything. "just give us a sec; Rickie's been here for years and Nigel's been a sort of stand in dad for me when… never mind…" I said, deciding at the last moment to not tell them. Derek raised an eyebrow, which I just shrugged at and turned to Nigel.
"Thanks, Nigel… for… everything, I guess," I said quietly; only Nigel, Rickie and Derek heard. He nodded, smiling a small but warm, genuine smile. Rickie didn't say anything, just shook his hand a looked into his eyes, giving another of those smiles. Then, without really thinking about it, I launched myself forward and latched onto Nigel like I did on the first day. Tears started forming in my eyes.
"Goodbye, Nigel," I said, so that not even Derek's ears would hear. He hugged me back, like he was giving up his own daughter.
"I'll see you again eventually, Charlie," he promised me, pulling away and smiling that dazzling smile that had his eyes sparkling and his laugh lines showing deeply. I smiled at him before letting go.
"Ready to go?" asked the tall Asian Spellcaster, who had been addressed as Kit. I nodded, and Rickie answered aloud for both of us. Off we went. I turned around and watched the one place I'd felt truly at home disappear into the distance.
Good? I sure hope so… are you enjoying my edits? (or just the fic in general if this is your first time here)
Please review; it makes me happy :)
~PiptheSnake~