Note: Very long chapter, so I divided it into two parts.. However, books one and two are now, finally, finished. Keep checking back for updates on 3-4, and thanks everybody for your reviews and support!
Chapter Song: Sanctuary - Utada Hikaru
Chapter XXVII
It felt like midnight when Ariel woke up, suddenly jolting awake. It was so quiet outside, it was like she could hear her heartbeat.
In you and I there's a new land,
Angels in flight
My sanctuary, my sanctuary, yeah
Where fears and lies melt away
Music inside
What's left of me
What's left of me now
She looked down at Darren, who was fast asleep. His face looked lifeless, but his stomach rose slowly, then gently fell, over and over again.
"Darren?" Ariel whispered, softly touching his arm. He just slightly rolled over. She decided not to wake him up.
A chill went down her spine. She breathed in the cold night air and looked around, her stomach jumpy. When she gazed down at the Cirque Du Freak, it didn't look like home at the very moment- but more like some eerie circus you would see in a horror movie.
I watch you fast asleep,
All I fear means nothing
The feeling of sleep had slipped away, and even though she had tried to grasp it, it had slipped through her fingers. Ariel didn't feel slightly drowsy, and she decided it was due to the fact that she felt.. Watched, or just some uncanny feeling that gave her goose bumps.
Ariel stood, slowly kicking her legs to work out the kinks- one at a time- then jumped down the short hill.
Her spine trembled one more, causing her to wrap her arms around each other as she walked. Once she got to the cirque, Ariel was about to see if Evra was awake, when she heard a growl from behind her. It was a shattering, ferocious snarl that caused her heart to jump up into her throat.
When she turned around, she found herself face to face with the wolf-man. She was struck with fear, first examining the hairy arm he had in his mouth, then his red, piercing eyes. Suddenly, Ariel felt fingers wrapped around her wrists. She turned her head to the side to see Valinty, clinging to her.
In you and I there's a new land,
Angels in flight
My sanctuary, my sanctuary, yeah
Where fears and lies melt away
Music inside
What's left of me
What's left of me
The wolf-man lowered his head, then leaped, dropping the arm that was in his mouth. Ariel could see that it wasn't her life that was in danger, but Valinty's.
The little girl ran away from them, too fast for Ariel, who had turned on her right heel and reached her hand out for Valinty, but fell on her side as the wolf-man chased after her.
Ariel pushed herself up off the ground, and bolted after them. She followed through the woods that surrounded the Cirque, down a path surrounded by trees, and to the junk yard.
Her arms being scratched to ribbons by thorns? No big.
Her lungs aching for air? She could deal. The only thing that mattered to Ariel was Valinty being safe, and at the moment- that was not so.
She stopped when arriving at the yard, her eye's darting around for any sign of Valinty, or the wolf-man.
The funny thing about facing imminent death is that it really snaps everything into perspective. Take right now, for instance.
My heart's a battleground
Ariel jumped onto a beaten old, rusty car and jumped down, so she was hidden behind the car's doors that were leaning up against a garbage disposal.
She landed next to Valinty, who sat, hiding, her whole body, shaking. Slowly, Ariel peered past the side of the dump to see if the coast was clear. When she looked, she caught her breath, because she could see the wolf-man on all fours, looking around for them.
"Valinty.."
"Yeah?" She asked, her voice shaking and barely a whisper.
"Run, when I say so, alright? I'll run for the wolf-man, you get away."
"But-"
"No buts," Ariel said. Valinty slowly nodded, and got ready.
"One for the money.." Ariel whispered, not taking her eyes from the beast. "Two for the show.."
Ariel didn't stay longer to see if Valinty did run or not, because she immediately jumped out into the open to meet the wolf-man.
"Run!" She screamed to Valinty.
Then skidded to a stop.
He was gone.
Oh shit, oh shit, oh-
Ariel heard Valinty cry out from behind her. She spun around and flew over Valinty's head, meeting the claws of the wolf-man that were meant for the little girl.
You show me how to see,
That nothing is whole and nothing is broken,