I blinked and something really weird was going on. I wasn't in those musty tunnels anymore. I was in the middle of a huge open field with the grass caressing me as I laid numbly on my back staring at the bright blue sky with wispy white clouds. I could hear tree leaves rustling together.
I sat up and saw a man sitting on a rock staring off toward the horizon. He was russet skinned and part of his head was shaven. What little black hair he had had two feathers braided on the crown of his head. He was mostly naked with a loincloth around his hips covering his vitals and moccasins on his feet.
He turned around and looked at me. His dark eyes held hatred and distrust, above all detachment. He obviously didn't want me to be here.
"You're safe now, he's stopped calling you. Go back." He said in a deep voice.
"Safe from what?" I asked.
"Go back."
My eyes narrowed a bit. I mean, I was raised to respect your elders, but this guy was starting to tick me off a bit. I didn't know him and I don't think he knows me, although I'm starting think he might, and that gave him no right to boss me around and I was sick of being in the dark.
"Why am I in danger?" I asked. I stood up on shaky legs.
"You're father has been freed." He said.
I blinked. "I don't know my father." Something felt like it was crawling along the bottom of my stomach. Some part of me did know and it wasn't going to admit it.
"I'm not talking about your father from this life, but your first father, the father of your spirit." He snapped.
Someone evidently got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.
"What are you talking about?" I didn't like being yelled at and usually responded by yelling at the yeller.
He stood up and drew himself to full height. I straight my spine and glared at him.
"Arrogant and defiant as your father." He spat. "I don't know why Nyx bothers."
"Who is my father?" I shouted at him.
"Raven."
I blinked. I wasn't in the field anymore, but in the tunnels, in a kitchen I believe. I mean, there was a fridge and some counters, pretty kitchen-aney to me. I was sitting in a chair and one the blonde fledglings was couched down in front of me. The black one was pulling a water bottle out of the fridge.
"Thank God, you're all right."
"Like we need to deal with an unconsciousness girl on top of a Stevie Rae being shish kabobed."
My body felt like lead and there was a buzzing feeling traveling through my body. I pulled off my jacket and hat.
"Sure, passing out is all right." I told her. My stomach wobbled and I was scared I was going to puke. I just hoped that I didn't go projectile on the blonde in front of me.
"Actually passing out, or fainting, is your body fixing some sort of problem, like loss of air, low blood sugar, or extreme mental fatigue." The sweet looking boy with brown eyes said.
"Damian, you're getting on my-" The blonde started.
"Damn last nerve." The black girl finished. She reached over and handed me the water bottle.
My stomach still rippled with nausea. But I took it anyway.
"Thanks." I pressed it against my head hoping it would help.
"Sophie was right, you do smell weird." The black girl said.
My throat tightened. That made me uneasy.
"Maybe it was something I ate." I mumbled.
Damian blinked.
"I read somewhere that certain foods can change the scent and taste of body fluids." I said. "Or maybe I saw it on YouTube."
I opened the bottle and sipped the ice-cold liquid.
"How's…um" I couldn't remember the girl's name. I knew it was a little unusual. "Stevie Rae?" I asked.
"Darius and Zoey are working on her now." A boy standing next to Damian said. He began rummaging through fridge looking for food. Another black girl with half her hair geometric cut and the other bright orange came over and sniffed the air around me.
"You do smell weird." She said.
"I've been told that multiple times." I said almost snappily.
Her eyes narrowed at me. "Don't get snappy with me."
"Well, sorry, I've just seen something that completely freaked me out, fainted for seemingly no reason, and I keep getting told I don't smell right." I bite out.
"No need to bite heads off." She grumbled before leaving.
The boy looked nervously at me. I rubbed my head. I took a deep breath.
"Come on we need to get blood for Stevie Rae." The other black girl said.
The blonde glanced at me. "You should come. Zoey's probably going draw up a plan and you'll need to be there so we can get you home." She seemed wary like she was afraid I was going to bite her head too.
I followed them down the tunnels to a dead end with a checkered blanket. They drew it back.
"Okay. Awkward."
"Seriously. Could have gone my whole life without seeing that."
I tried to peer inside, but there were too many people. I leaned against the tunnel wall and sipped my water.
A fledgling with a red crescent on her forehead brushed past me.
I didn't like her, but it wasn't like with the Priestess. She was evil, just a bitch.
"Omigod! Imprinted! Really!" The boy yelled.
I looked over and tried to peer in.
"Well, spank me and call me your baby!" The black girl said.
"Make that a double spanking, Twin." The blonde said.
I slipped in and stood in a corner.
The mountain was sitting on a cot with Aphrodite, the red vamprye who I think was Stevie Rae. Zoey was standing near them. She glanced over at me.
Stevie Rae and Aphrodite began arguing. I rubbed my head.
"Would you guys please stop?" I asked them.
"Are you feeling all right?" The mountain asked.
"I'd feel better if people would quite yelling." I said.
The two girls looked a bit guilty.
"I'd watched out, the girl's got bite." The black girl from before said.
"I'm sorry about snapping at you earlier." I said.
She shrugged. "We're all stressed. Of course you know nothing and that makes it even worse."
"Why did you bring a human with you anyway?" The bitch asked.
"Like we were going to leave her there!" Aphrodite snapped.
"I doubt she'd taste good, she smells…strange." The bitch said.
I glared at her. She backed up.
"Stop it!" Zoey snapped.
"Me-ow? Mer-row!"
I saw a lithe black shape slipped through people's legs and began twining around my legs.
"Hey!" I reached down and picked her up. "What are doing here?" I stroked her and she purred.
"You have a cat?" The bitch asked.
"Why do you sound surprised?" I asked. "A lot of people have cats for pets."
"Not ones who will face an ice storm." Zoey said. "You're not a witch are you?"
"Don't know." I said. "I'm adopted remember? And neither of my adoptive parents show signs of witchery."
"You're adopted?" Damian asked.
I nodded.
"Well?" Aphrodite asked. "Don't you know anything about you're birth parents."
"My adoptive parents don't want me to know anything and I can't find out myself until I'm eighteen." I said.
"That sucks." Jack said.
"Well anyway." Stevie Rae said. "This is Zoey, Damian, Erin." She pointed to the blonde. "Shaunee" she pointed to the black girl. "Aphrodite y'all know. Darius." He was the mountain. "Erik." The hot vamprye. "Jack." The boy. "Venus." The bitch. "Elliot." A carrot-head boy, who looked like on of those lazy, video gaming slackers. "Montoya." He was a nice looking Hispanic guy with a lot of piercings. "Shannoncompton. Sophie. Dallas. Anthony, who we just call Ant." I could see why, he was a tiny little kid. "Johnny B." Who was a massive guy. "Gerarty and Kramisha." Kramisha was the black girl I snapped at before. "And Raven."
Some eyes flickered over to me.
"Is your hair and eyes naturally colored?" Shaunee asked.
I nodded.
"What's your cat's name?" Jack asked sweetly.
"Snap." She purred happily in my arms.
"I've got sandwiches." Jack said. "So we have p.b. and j., bologna, and processed American cheese slices." His face twisted up like he hated cheese. "And my personal gourmet Top Chef concoction: mayonnaise, peanut butter, and lettuce on wheat bread."
"That's different." I said. I took a bologna sandwich. Snap perked up at the smell of bologna. I tore off a piece and gave it to her.
Someone passed over chips and I nommed on those.
"Meow!" She complained as soon she was finished.
"Dear God." I gave her another piece. "Fatso." But I affectionately scratched her on the butt.
"Why were you at the ceremony?" Damian asked.
"Brian invited me." I said.
"Oh, you're that Raven!" Jack said. "Brian constantly talks about you."
I smiled. "I kinda of figured he did." Snap reached up and tore a thin slice of bologna out of my sandwich.
"So, you two are still friends?" Zoey asked.
I nodded. "Despite what my mom tries to do." I sucked the cheese dust off my fingers. Snap started licking the dust off my other hand.
"You're mom's not big on vampryes I take it." Damian said.
"Nope. Her brain would explode if she knew were I was right now. I'm going need help coming up with a story to give her so she won't chain me in the basement." I wiped my fingers with a napkin and tickled Snap's ears. She purred loudly.
"Tell me what you know of the creature that rose from the earth and the bird beings that followed him." Darius said, effectively killing the happy, full stomach mood by remind us the world was going apocalypse on us.
Of course, I was pretty curious about the angel guy and those bird things too.
"Sadly, we don't know as much about him as I wish we did, and what we do know comes from my grandma." Zoey swallowed. "Grandma's in a coma, so she can't help us right now."
"Oh, Z! I'm so sorry! What happened?" Stevie Rae said touching her arm. She was looking a hell of a lot better now that she was de-shish kabobed.
"The official version is she was in a car accident. The truth is that the accident was caused by the Raven Mockers because she knew too much about them." Zoey said.
"Raven Mockers-those are the beings that came out of the earth after the winged man appeared?" Darius said.
Zoey nodded. I felt chilled to the bone.
"They're his children-what happened after he raped the women of my grandma's people more than a thousand years ago. When Kalona broke out of the ground their bodies were returned to them."
Kalona. Why did that tickle a memory?
"Ancient one sleeping, waiting to arise.
When earth's power bleeds sacred red
The mark strikes true; Queen Tsi Sgili will devise
He shall be washed from his entombing bed
Through the hand of the dead he is free
Terrible beauty, monstrous sight
Ruled again they shall be
Women shall kneel to his dark might
Kalona's song sounds sweet
As we slaughter with cold heat." Aphrodite said.
"Wow! Well done, you!" Jack said. He clapped his hands it brought a smile to my face. He was such a sweet kid.
She nodded. "Thank you…Thank you…It was nothing. Really." She then tipped back the wine bottle.
"Kalona is the ancient one, but that doesn't explain what type of being he is."
"He looked like an angel to me." I said.
"That's what grandma said he was like." Zoey said.
She then explained that a group of Wise Woman she called Ghigua made a maiden out of dirt to trap the Immortal.
"That's why we here." I said. "He fears being underground."
Zoey nodded.
The High Priestess I had seen was called Neferet and even Zoey voiced how wrong she was. The boy with her was called James Stark and he had a gift that he never missed when he shot an arrow.
"Hang on, that reminds me." Damian said. "I definitely noticed how almost everyone acted awestruck and even a little disoriented when Kalona appeared."
I blinked. I didn't feel any of that. I wanted to flee and maybe one second I wanted to join him, when he called for his children.
"What about you Raven?" Darius asked.
I shrugged. "I don't remember feeling any sort of draw. There was something wrong with Neferet and then I started worrying that Brian wasn't react to me."
Aphrodite's eyes narrowed at me.
They started talking about the red fledglings, but I was too tried to pay attention. I yawned.
"I vote for bedtime." I said. I swallowed another yawn building up in my throat.
"Shouldn't we get you home?" Erik asked.
"I'm already in homogeneous trouble. There's no reason for you guys to risk your necks for me to end up grounded." I yawned again. Stupid bird.
Stevie Rae tossed me a sleeping bag and a pillow as she told the blue fledglings where the bathrooms were.
"Nala!"
A little, well she would be little if it wasn't for her chubby belly, orange cat hopped onto Stevie Rae's pillow. She glanced at my black cat. Both queens had a stare down before Nala squeezed and laid her head down on her paws. I slid under the sleeping bag and laid my head on my pillow. Snap curled up next to my stomach. I stroked her and she purred loudly.
I blinked slowly…and then I was out.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
JEFF BRIDGES!
If you don't get it check out LITERAL Tron Legacy Trailer Parody on YouTube. It's funny also the Harry Potter Literal trailer by the same person cuz it's funny too. Why should you? Because it's funny and laughing is a good way to burn calories. Not that calling you readers overweight, but I guess it just makes laughing an added bonus besides helping people relax and it makes me feel good inside to share laughs especially with you guys who are reviewing and making feel good about my writing. XD
So, thank you much if you read this and reviewed. If you only read, well fine, but it doesn't make too inclined to keep writing if no one seems to like it. So, heart you who do review, love you bunches! Star