Chapter 37: The Procession

Despite the bumpy ride to where ever we were headed and the constant murmurs of the rest of the gang, it was incredibly comfortable leaning into Fang's shoulder that I ended up dozing off. I didn't get far though. I was in limbo between a state of awareness and blissful slumber when something in the back of my mind told me that we had stopped moving. My eyes slowly opened and I pushed myself away from Fang, who willingly let me go just in case he needed his hands free. The others were alert as well; I could see them all counting the seconds as we heard movement outside of the van.

"Come up with anything other than playing it safe?" Iggy chanced to murmur.

"Nope," was my quick reply.

Gazzy frowned. "That's so boring."

The van doors flew open and we were immediately bathed in moonlight. I scowled at the figure that jumped in and almost skipped to my cage.

"Having fun?" asked Alyssa.

"Oh, most definitely. I mean, I've been trapped in a cage before, but this one just tops it," I replied. She frowned at me; obviously she didn't like my sarcasm.

"Let me give you a word of advice," she said as she slowly squatted down on her heels in front of me, as if she was explaining to a small child that it was doing something wrong. "You may think you're being cute and funny, but keep in mind…the moment that Jake is finished with you, and that should be fairly quickly…you are mine." She emphasized this last word, her tone and the spark in her eyes taking on something cynical in its midst.

A shiver through my spine began to make itself known, but I held it back. She seemed to soak up fear from her adversaries, and I refused to give her the satisfaction of letting her revile in mine as well. I let my face take in a look of shock and a small amount of pity as I carefully thought out my next lines to dish out to her.

"Oh…well, this is awkward…I thought you knew…" I said, astonished. All eyes were on me, curious to see where I was going with this.

"Know what?" asked Alyssa as she rolled her eyes, probably scoffing at the idea that I would know something that she didn't. I looked at her apologetically with a small wry smile on my face.

"I'm so sorry but…I don't like girls in that way…"

It was Iggy and Gazzy who had first began to snicker and now, after holding back the escaping air from behind their hands, they released it in a loud burst, which was soon drowned out by the joining of everyone's laughter.

All except the fiery creature standing in front of me.

Her eyes were now definitely sparking, and she could have been a miniature Medusa if her milk-chocolate like tendrils of hair stood on end like real snakes.

"You little piece of-"

"Alyssa!" called a voice from the opening of the truck. Alyssa turned toward the sound, snarling as she did so in outrage to face an Eraser who seemed like he would rather be anywhere but there.

"What?" she demanded, her voice bordering on something like a screech. The Eraser stiffened, then retained a rigid composure, as if he was a high ranking general reporting some news to another.

"He knows you're here, and he's getting restless."

"He's a big boy, he can wait a little-"

"He wants to see them now." I couldn't see her face, but I could tell by the small veins that were popping up in the wrists of her tightly closed fists that she didn't take kindly to people bossing her around. Nor did she seem to like the fact that her authority was uprooted right in front of her captives.

Iggy and Gazzy still snickered behind their hands at the unfolding scene. I shot them a look of warning. Play time was over the moment that I had uttered the joke; Alyssa had gotten serious and I didn't want anyone to lose their lives right there and then. Gazzy took the hint and settled down with much difficulty. Iggy seemed to sense the change in atmosphere faster than Gazzy and managed to silence himself. Nudge also understood and sat quietly in her cage, while Total wriggled in his bag.

Alyssa finally turned toward us, her blood lust-filled eyes grazing over everyone, but of course finally resting on me. This girl obviously had it out for me, and I tried not to break eye contact with her and keep my heart from stopping out of sheer terror. It was as if she was trying to bore not just one hole, but multiple holes through my skull at the same time. I just couldn't understand why. She could easily take me down with her skills, so what was with the animosity? Maybe she just didn't like the idea of being the delivery woman...who knows. I tried not to think about it too much and focused on keeping the defiance pasted on my face.

First one to look away loses... I thought to myself. It was an intense five seconds, but I knew that I had claimed victory when she clenched her small fists one last time before inhaling once and turning to look back at the Eraser. I smirked as my heart resumed its normal pace. Ember 1, Alyssa 0. Sweet.

"Take them out of the cages. I want them blindfolded, their hands tied and at least 3 men on each of their asses at all times until we get there. I want there to be absolutely no mistakes. Do I make myself clear?" demanded Alyssa. Her voice, so childlike with a hint of innocence, sounded odd and unusual taking on a tone of a dictator. It was just as scary to see her get her way.

"Crystal," responded the Eraser before he turned around and began barking orders to the lingering Erasers and Flyboys.

"And don't even think about escaping," stated Alyssa as she returned her attention back to us. "If I see any of you so much as twitch towards what you believe to be a potential escape route, I will kill you were you stand." It was then that I realized that she was staring directly at me while she said these last words as if it wasn't a threat to us as a group, but a promise to me as an individual.

Maybe because I was the only one that she considered as a threat.

I gave her a cordial smile, just to tic her off. "Wouldn't dream of it."

O::O::O::O::O::O

"Is this really necessary? I mean, I'm already blind, in case you didn't realize," complained Iggy from somewhere behind me as we trudged along where ever the hell we were.

I scoffed. I still found it a little over the top that they had toppled our cages over like garbage cans to get us out and roughly tied our hands behind our backs, even though we clearly weren't struggling.

Well, unless you count Gazzy biting one of them on their hands, Nudge kicking another in the shins and Total yelling a string of profanities as he wriggled around in his bag.

"To them, this is completely essential. Someone probably didn't do their research properly, so they aren't exactly sure what kind of powers you're harboring, Iggy. Or maybe they think we're sadistic like them and put something in your eyes to make you see. Either way, they aren't taking any chances. Isn't that right, Alyssa?"

I knew that Iggy was somewhere behind me from the direction that his voice came from, so I said this loud enough that I knew Iggy and Alyssa could hear, mainly because I couldn't pinpoint where either of them were. Even with my uncanny sense of direction and my sensitive ears, the walls of this humongous place was throwing me off. Damn, if this is what Iggy goes through, then it must suck big time, I thought as I waited patiently for Alyssa to respond. I knew she would. She was one of those people that couldn't keep her mouth shut once she was addressed in any other way other than the respect and fear that she demanded.

Of course, she didn't disappoint. Moments later, I picked up the sound of her swift, light, dainty footsteps against what I presumed to be some sort of tile floor. It actually sounded like she was skipping towards me in an almost carefree, rhythmic way. A mental reminder of her speed in the forest flashed through my mind, and I immediately connected that to the speed that she was walking to now. Does she always walk that fast? Or maybe I should say skipping...just like the child that she is. But why can I hear her steps now? Is it the echoes of this place, or has the loss of my eyes heightened my hearing? Interesting...I must remember this sound for later...

But now that I could actually hear her as she made her way back to me, I began to grow impatient. We were still walking forward, so why hadn't she reached me yet? Or the better question: why was she so far ahead in the first place? Maybe she was afraid that I would kick her in the ass or something. By the time that she had actually reached me, I was fighting back a smirk.

"What are you smiling about?" asked Alyssa as she took a spot next to me and kept up with my pace; two of her footsteps for one of mine. I held back a chuckle.

"Nothing, just having some funny thoughts," I replied.

"There should be nothing funny in this situation." I could hear the anger seeping through her child like voice. She didn't like the fact that I wasn't cowering in fear of her.

"Well obviously we have completely different views on what's funny, because I think this whole blindfold-handcuff setup you got going on here is freaking hilarious. If we wanted to leave, we would have left already." Alyssa's footsteps came to a stop and my cuffed hands were abruptly yanked by what sounded like chains, which also brought me to a halt. "Oh, you have us chained as well! So medieval. I must applaud you for your originality when I get the use of my hands back." I heard more clinking of chains behind me as well, along with the ceasing of footsteps which I presumed were the rest of the flock. So they're keeping us equidistant from each other...they really know how to destroy any type of opportunities.

She walked in front of me with slow, deliberate steps, and I could hear the calm before the flash flood in them. "You think you're so smart, don't you."

"Eh, I'm pretty average, I guess."

"...That was a rhetorical question."

"Oh, it was? My bad. Guess I'm not that smart after all," I replied, shrugging. There was silence soon after, and I immediately began to question whether I had gone too far with my "pissing Alyssa off" antics. Maybe she'll actually take out that harpoon of hers and beat me silly with it... But she resumed talking, letting out no more than a hiss so that only I could hear her malicious tone.

"You may talk a big game, but keep in mind that as of right now, I have the advantage here. So it would be wise of you to not tick me off. Not unless you want my hand to "accidentally" slip and stab each and every one of your friends right through their heads with this knife." Alyssa grabbed my shirt collar and yanked my face down, placing the cool metal of the weapon in question to my cheek and caressing it across my skin. "Understand?"

The expression on my face neither changed to a scowl nor to worry; my small smirk remained prominent on my lips. I could feel her insatiable urge to dig the knife right through my flesh, to decimate my face and torture my body in the most brutal way imaginable. But she couldn't; her fingers trembled because she was so close, and yet Jake's demands were absolute, unquestionable, and ones that should not be disobeyed. That was why my smirk stayed; I still had the upper hand. No matter what she said, she couldn't hurt me, and she probably knew that I would put myself in her path if she even attempted to hurt the others.

"Absolutely," was my answer, and her sharp exhale of breath sounded so disgusted with my complacent tone that she released my shirt collar and turn away. Her feet hit the ground with unnecessary force as she walked away, making it sound as if she had turned into a little girl throwing a tantrum. I straightened up, cracking my back along the way. Well, she did have a weapon, but it wasn't the harpoon, thank goodness...

"Leo!" called back Alyssa in my direction. She obviously wasn't talking to me, so I assumed she was addressing the Eraser that was beside me. "Watch her carefully."

"Yes ma'am," was the reply, and I recognized the voice to belong to that Eraser with the general-like air to him. It was only then that my expression turned sour.

Damn it all, why did I have to get stuck with him as my watchdog?

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Author's Note: Hey everyone! Sorry for the kind of late update, but 'tis the season for Christmas! (Along with college applications and exams and presents, etc...). But anyway, just to let you know that this is NOT where I wanted to end this chapter, but when I saw how long it was already, I said, "...Yeah, I'm done". So you're getting this scene (that was supposed to be one major chapter) in installments (3 mini chapters...if you want to consider this mini...). Consider this your first installment.

But on the plus side, you get more chapters to read. (Aren't you lucky!) :3 So consider this your Christmas gift from me and enjoy your installment chapters!

P.S. The next one should be coming before New Years. Gotta start off your new year with an epic chapter. ^^

P.P.S. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all! Go stuff your faces and get fat! :D