Hi there! Writer's block sucks…Feels like my brain cells are dying and totally out of inspiration. Well, glad that's over now..sort of..
Thanks to all who reviewed :D
Disclaimer: I don't own Night World, that's why it says L.J Smith instead of my name on the cover of the book. :p
Enjoy!
"Are you sure about this?"
The six-year-old Jez, holding hands with Morgead stood in front of a huge pile of scrap metal, as tall as a three story building. Her red flaming hair was messy as always—a perfect match with the messy metal scrap yard in front of them. It was almost ten feet tall—piled up with wasted and abandoned metal objects—broken TVs, washing machines, cars broken down in pieces, twisted in different shapes, metal wires sticking out in different directions. The whole place was a wreck, yet also inspiring—in a surreal way. What Jez loved about it was how unexpected it can be. What lies beyond the wasted nature, and what possibilities it buries beneath. It was the beauty of the wasted—and a child's imagination. Another reason for Jez to come here, it was totally isolated, set beside an abandoned wharf, and it was a great place to explore.
Metal wasn't lethal to vampires, unlike wood. The scrap yard to Jez was a total safe and danger-free playground. It wasn't as fun as playing in the forest, where wood lies everywhere, but it was equally challenging. Plus, she's been here a couple times, but she was alone—now she had Morgead, she wanted to show him the place too.
"This is going to be fun!" Jez exclaimed, her silvery-blue eyes flashing with excitement and challenge.
"You call everything fun, Jez." Morgead said, an edge of suspicion still lingering in his tune.
"Well then, it's challenging."
"It's a wasted scrap yard." He insisted.
"It's a boring place and there's absolutely nothing exciting about this place. Does that make you happy now?" Jez said, scowling now.
"That sounds more like it." Morgead replied, crossing his arms in front of his chest.
"You have a mind older than Uncle Bracken sometimes." She mumbled. Morgead shot her a look at the mention at her uncle's name. She wasn't sure what it was, but it almost seemed like he envied her.
Jez sighed. "C'mon," she said, "lemme show you how boring this place is." She started for the nearest piece of scrap beside her. She was vaguely aware that Morgead, with a wicked smile on his face, was not following her. Instead, he was backing up. Before she went so far, Morgead stepped on before her in a flash, and, with a perfect back flip, he landed just in front of her.
"Sure you will!" He snickered as he jumped further up, kicking out any obstacles in the way as he dashed to the top of the scrap pile.
"Hey, you!" Jez shouted as she caught up with him, pushing past a wasted fridge and a rusty bike, stepping from pieces to pieces soundlessly. Morgead was already on the top of the pile, smiling slyly as he watched Jez. At the final takeoff, she stepped on the hood of a rusty car, hard, and lunged herself into the air. As a lamia child, even at the age of six, she quickly rotated her body in mid-air and did an impressive double flip that would've made a human professional athlete weep. She landed a few feet away from where Morgead is standing, head high up.
"You think you're the only one who can do tricks?" She asked, smiling smugly, feeling proud of herself.
"Oh, I sure do, Jezebel." Morgead shouted back. Ever since he found out Jez's full name was Jezebel, and the more important fact, Jez hated it when people call her by that, he'd do that to annoy her. And it was annoying. Well, just, annoying.
"Prove it, Morgy!" she shouted back.
"Sure, Jezebel."
"Stop calling me that!"
"I understand, Jezebel."
Jez sucked a deep breath to calm herself down.
"You know what, Morgy?" she said sweetly.
"What is it, Jezebel?" Morgead said innocently. His emerald green eyes blazing in the dim light, staring at her blankly, as if he really didn't know what was wrong with calling her "Jezebel". But his smile gave away everything; he was beaming, clearly enjoying himself.
"I'll give you five seconds to run." Jez said in a menacing tune, glaring at him.
Morgead stopped beaming, He hesitated for a moment. Then, in a very serious tune, he said, "That's a very big mistake, Jezebel, if I were you, I'd give two seconds." And vanished as he finished the sentence like a flash of light, running where, she had no idea.
She followed the general direction where he had gone, stepping over the rusty ruins in the cool night air. It was quiet—the only noises were her own foot steps, the sound of the crickets singing, and occasionally the hoot of an owl. She didn't except Morgead to run—so fast. She dashed around the scrap yard, trying to find any signs of Morgead—hiding behind a scrap pile, inside a broken-down-car, anywhere.
Morgead? She tried to communicate telepathically, an ability she and Morgead learnt a few months ago.
There was no answer to her telepathic call. She began to worry.
Morgead? She called again, more urgently this time.
Silence.
Yes?
Just as she was relieved that he had stopped calling her by –you-know-what, he added, Jezebel?
She decided to ignore it. Where are you? She asked.
There was another pause. You have to find me yourself. He said, We're playing the game you told me about yesterday.
What?
Hide-and-seek.
That's not how you play it! We're playing tag.
What's that?
It's another game. First you come out and let me chase you. If I get you—
Then I get to chase you right?
No. You get what you deserve for calling me—
Jezebel?
Oh, shut up, I'm gonna—
Kill you?
Morgead!
Yes, Jez?
If you don't come out right now, I'm leaving! She snapped.
No. He said stubbornly.
She turned instantly as a sound was made behind her. A broken piece of metal tumbled down the scrap pile, bouncing off into the water with a splash. When she looked more closely, she found that there was a gap formed in the middle of all the scrap, like the mouth of the scrap metal mountain, opening wide—and that was where the noise had come from.
I knew it. I knew he's not smart enough to find somewhere less conspicuous to hide…
I heard that, Morgead interrupted mentally, and I'm not there.
…And also a bad liar. Jez finished her thought, ignoring Morgead's claims.
I'm not lying. He said briskly.
Then, if it's not you in there, what made it fall?
Gravity. You know, the force that makes things fall to the centre of the Earth…
Jez rolled her eyes even though she knew he couldn't see her. She still didn't believe him, not until she checks it out herself. It was almost dawn. As quietly as she can, she started for the hole made in the pile, carefully avoiding anything that would register the sign of her approaching. She was quiet and quick, sightless like a swordfish darting through water, something any normal kid couldn't possibly do. Well, she's not a normal kid. She's Jez Redfern.
She knelt soundlessly beside the hole, where twisted metal braches stuck out irregularly, and waited. Morgead was quiet, and there was no sound coming from the hole either. She waited for another few seconds for something to happen…but nothing did. As carefully as she can, she peered into the hole.
And found herself staring into a pair of green eyes.
She hadn't realized she'd been holding her breath, but her eyes widened.
Morgead? She said without thinking.
Then she instantly regret having said that. Morgead's eyes were emerald green, but the eyes she was staring into were not. Yellowish-green, defiantly the eyes of –
Before she could finish the thought, the green eyes moved as its owner decided it was in no mood for a staring competition. It made a sharp hissing noise and leaped out of the hole gracefully where it probably decided to stay before the intruder had come. The black cat stared at Jez briefly and dashed away, thrashing through the scrap piles as Jez cursed and groaned in frustration. She kicked at a broken piece of metal sculpture at her feet, sending it flying.
"Jez?" A worried voice asked. "Jez, are you mad?"
She then realized that it was no longer a mental voice inside her head. She whirled around and saw Morgead standing in front of her, dripping wet. His damp hair stuck against his pale skin like dark seaweed, the tip of it still dripping water.
Jez wrinkled her nose and said, "You smell like fish."
"I was hiding under—"
"Don't tell me!" She shouted.
"What?" Morgead frowned, baffled. His cloths were all wet, the fabric of his shirt clung tightly to his body, but he barely seemed to notice.
"You're not supposed to come out. We're playing hide and seek, remember?"
"But you'd never find me if I didn't." Morgead explained patiently, putting his hand in his pocket. "Because you thought I was in that hole, but I wasn't."
"Yes I would've found you." Jez argued, crossing her arms in front of her chest."I was just checking that hole for fun."
"Give up, Jez." Morgead said smugly, "You know you would have never found where I was hiding."
"No." Jez said stubbornly. "I will not give up, because if I do, I will lose, and you will win. I would've found you anyway, I was already figuring out—"
"You wouldn't have." Morgead insisted.
"Yes I would've."
"No you wouldn't have. You still don't know where I hid."
"I do!"
"No you don't."
"So where was I?"
Jez glanced at his still wet cloths and the abandoned wharf nearby.
"You were somewhere in the water. You cheated!"
"What? No I didn't."
"Yes, you did."
"I didn't."
"You. Did." She said as she launched at Morgead, who was taken completely by surprise, knocking him to the ground. She was surprised when Morgead did nothing to retaliate. Instead, he said softly with awe, "Jez, look."
Jez was in genuine puzzlement at first, only realizing what Morgead was talking about when she raised and saw the brightened horizon: the sunrise.
A single streak of golden sunlight leaped out from the horizon, breaking the dawn as it lit the sky up with light, bleaching out the morning stars. Slowly, another streak of sunlight struck as the sun rose higher, and the sky was no longer purple nor pink, but orange. More sunlight came pouring out, escaping, like water leaking through the gaps from clasped hands. The night was ending, and day was coming.
Jez and Morgead, sitting side by side, holding hands, watched as the sun rose and night disappear.
Morgead, cloths dried by now, was thinking of a picture he'd seen of two people holding hands, watching the sunrise as they are now.
"Oh! Now that it's daytime, I can show you the thing called ice cream…" Jez remembered, completely forgetting about their game of hide and seek.
Aw. They're just perfect for each other : )
I wasn't sure how old can vampire children can communicate telepathically…I thought maybe I should've made them older, then I thought one age difference doesn't make much different… well, you get my point…
Like it? Suggestions and ideas? Constructive criticisms are welcome. Review please! :D