Shadow Warriors | Book One

Wade is not a Masquerade

Chapter 1 2

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Macy

MACY BLINKED OWLISHLY. "Wait.. I've seen you before!" She exclaimed, and before she knew it, her entire face had heated, her cheeks turning as red and bright as her hair. Oh yes, she definitely knew him. She inwardly groaned.

How had she not realized before? Wade Marshall, the quiet, nerdy, unknown kid at LoLotus Valley Middle School. But Macy knew him. Oh, she knew him alright.

Some time, in the last year or so, she and her best friend Lizzy Caddel stalked him for an entire month. Following him after classes, sneaking behind him in the cafeteria, they had even memorized where he lived! Macy had only found it a teensy bit creepy.

Unfortunately, after their other good good friend, Max Peterson started being nosy about it, Liz had completely and utterly abandoned her. It had been the ultimate betrayal! Without Liz, she only lasted another week, before the whole spy thing got too problematic, meaning that she had almost been caught by him six times. Or was it seven? It was all very demotivating, so she gave up, and had reluctantly abandoned her mission.

Still, whenever she saw him, her eyes would follow him until he was out of sight. Wade didn't know who she was, and for some reason, it made it all the more embarrassing. She couldn't very well talk to Sophie about it, could she? No, her sister would probably ridicule her and call her a creep. Which, now that she thought about it, seemed like an accurate adjective when describing her.

Back to the topic at hand, Macy shifted nervously, hoping Wade didn't recognize her. Fortunately, Wade didn't seem to recall her. "You do?" He asked curiously, taking a careful step forward.

Macy's mouth went dry. What should she say? 'No go to hell stranger?' or 'Yes I do, I stalked you don't you remember?' Finally she settled on: "Yeah, uh... You go to LoLotus Valley Middle School, right?"

Wade looked surprised, his dark eyebrows raised. His brown eyes had gone wide. "Yeah, but how do you know that?" Macy blushed, and before she could answer, Sophie intervened.

"She also goes to L.L.V," She replied.

A look of understanding flashed across Wade's face. Macy felt her face burn with embarrassment again, ducking her head. Curse her red-headed genes! And why was she even blushing? She had no reason to blush! Stop this right now! She commanded herself in her head. Right now!

Wade smiled at them shyly and Macy found herself smiling back. What the heck was wrong with her?

Sophie side eyed her, and all traces of Macy's lingering blush faded. She glared at her sister, and then looked at Wade, rolling her eyes.

"Anyways," Sophie said awkwardly. Macy ignored her, stepping towards Wade. "How did you do that?" She marveled, looking at the place where the fire had been, moments ago.

Wade blinked. "I actually have no idea." He mused.

Suddenly, Macy noticed something shining red under the thin fabric of Wade's black shirt. She pointed to it.

"What's that?"

Wade's eyes widened. "You mean my-" He pointed to his chest. Macy rolled her eyes, the tips of her ears going pink. "No, not that, you idiot," She pointed to the thin, silver chain around his neck, which disappeared under his shirt.

"That,"

"Oh," Wade looked around quickly, as if looking for someone who might be watching them, but the dark street was completely empty, the street shadowed in darkness. He pulled on the chain, and with it, a glorious red ruby, which was glowing a fierce, bright red in the afternoon light.

Sophie and Macy's mouths dropped open at the same time.

Sophie let out something that was half a squeal, and half a sob. It was a painful thing to listen to. Macy glared at her, angry that her sister had caused her to hear such an revolting sound. How was her sister popular again?

Like, ok, the gem was cool, but it wasn't that cool. Sure it may be worth a couple million dollars, which could probably be used to bribe your aunt into getting you that new thousand dollar soccer net that your parents refused to get you... But it wasn't that big of a deal.

Macy looked at Sophie, seeing the hungry look of longing in her eyes. Rolling her eyes, Macy stepped in front of her, snapping her fingers and bringing her sister out of her reverie.

"What?! No, I'm not stealing the ruby, you're stealing it!" Sophie immediately cried, looking around frantically.

Macy stifled a laugh.. "No ones accusing you of that?" Wade said, giving Sophie a confused look. Then, he turned to Macy, mouthing (which Macy assumed, she wasn't that good at lip reading yet), Is she always like this? Macy grinned. She already liked him.

She nodded her head vigorously, just as Sophie glared at the two of them. "I am not always like this, you jerk!" She exclaimed. Well, Macy didn't know her sister could read lips. Interesting. Sophie huffed angrily, crossing her arms. "Boys," she muttered, then, looking at Macy, added under her breath, "And sisters," Macy shrugged.

She looked curiously at Wade. "Where did you get that?" She asked, tilting her head. Her pink lips turned upwards as she leaned forwards on her toes, looking at the ruby curiously, and her baby green eyes shone excitedly.

Wade's nude colored mouth quirked up at the edges in a teasing smile. Macy narrowed her eyes. "Tell me, or I'll drop kick it into The Idnhem Rewot," She threatened seriously.

"You should listen to her," Sophie suggested. "She'll actually do it," She added, eyeing her wrist, where a beautiful pearl bracelet had once sat. Macy had thrown it into The Citnalta the previous summer. Macy grinned. "Already forgot about your diamond earrings?" She smiled deviously. She had thrown those into The Anneh Gorge the same summer.

Sophie glared at her. Macy knew that losing her two favorite pieces of jewelry was not a happy memory for her. Even Macy being grounded for two months hadn't been enough for her half sister, while it had been torture for Macy. Of course, Sophie had suggested dropping Macy into the cliff, but her mother and step father had disagreed.

Macy, content with seeing her sister upset again, turned back to Wade.

She smiled, and then leaned in close, and then expertly twirled the knife around her fingers. It had taken her months to be able to do that with a baton, and even more time with a knife, but eventually, after many cuts, she had gotten it. It was the perfect trick to threaten someone, when your threat wasn't actually real.

Wade gulped. Macy grinned evilly.

"I found it on my windowsill two days ago," He said nervously.

Macy nodded. She paused for a moment, watching Wade fiddle with the chain and then quickly looked around. Then she hurried back to Sophie. Her red ponytail swung as she ran back to her older sister. "Sophie, I think we should interrogate this boy somewhere private," She told her quietly.

Sophie nodded in agreement. "Yes, my friend Liliana's family has an apartment in Suffex Condos, and I know where the extra key is. It's not far, we can stay there for now and get rested before continuing to look for mom."

Macy nodded, and then stalked back over to Wade. "Get moving, pretty boy! We're leaving,"