Take Me Down

12

At some point, I had fallen asleep and I woke up in a van. It appeared that we were on a highway, going who knows where. Ethan was in the front driving; I didn't recognize the area we were coming into. Claudius sat with his legs crossed, and he had been letting me use his legs as a pillow. I sat up fast, my head beginning to spin. Claudius moved towards me to comfort me, and turned and I hissed at him, baring fangs. He held up his hands, pushing himself away from me with his legs. I shook my head, putting my hands on my forehead, rubbing my temples.

"Sorry, didn't mean to hiss at you... Thank you." I said, then looked at Ethan who watched me for a moment through the rear view mirror, then went back to watching the road. I laid back down comfortably against the wall back wall of the van, placing a hand behind my head to keep it from knocking if we hit a bump.

"Where are we going?" I questioned and Claudius looked at the road, then looked back to me.

"A small town near my castle," Claudius said. He then let out a long sigh, continuing.

"We would be going to Ethan's pack or my castle, but they're not safe right now." Claudius said, then hissed. He seemed upset he couldn't go back. I looked at his finger and noticed he had a sun ring on, which meant the sun wouldn't effectively hurt as much anymore. I wondered where he got it when I looked back at Ethan. He shook his head, and I nodded in understanding.

"What small town?" I questioned, when a sign showed up in the distance.

Middlebury  4 was on the sign and I looked at Ethan confused. I had never heard of the small town before and wasn't even sure if it existed.

"How long was I out?" I questioned, and Claudius shook his head.

"Four days. I was starting to wonder if you'd ever wake up." Claudius said and I shook my head, confused. It now made sense how he had acquired a sun ring; they could have stopped at any point in time to get one and I wouldn't have known. It really didn't matter though, he had one now and he would be fine. I went back to my own concerns.

"How did I pass out?" I questioned, and both of them shrugged.

"It just kinda happened," Ethan stated, and I glanced at him through the mirror once again.

Ten minutes later, we arrived at the small town of Middlebury, somewhere in Vermont. I looked around as we entered the small town. A large brick church stood tall on the edge of town and Claudius hissed.

"Stupid humans. Believing in non-existent things." He said, and I laughed at his remark.

"That's why they're human," I said and Ethan smiled as we pulled up to a motel. I got out of the back of the van and looked around. A few motorbikes were in the parking lot and I smiled. Two men were sitting outside smoking and Claudius wrapped his arm around my waist.

I laughed at him, grabbing the attention of the two men. He kissed my cheek and we headed into the main office of the motel.

"Room for three. Two beds." Claudius said, taking out his credit card. Ethan smiled and touched my cheek with his index finger. The lady at the desk followed his finger down my cheek with her eyes. A man out of the back office came out and looked between me and the two men.

"Miss, are you alright? Do you know these men?" He questioned, snapping the other lady out of her drooling state over Ethan and Claudius.

"I'm fine, sir." I said, smiling up at him. I leaned my head onto Claudius' shoulder and rubbed my hand slowly up and down his chest.

Claudius smiled down at me and paid the man for a room. The lady from behind the desk handed him a key and a small card with her phone number on it. He winked at her and we left the office. We went to the room, the bikers gone from sight. Ethan opened the door, and we went in, shutting and locking the door behind us. I went over to shut the old grey curtains and dropped the dumb white drunk act. I looked around the room, taking in our small sleeping area for the night.

The two beds were maybe twin beds and were covered with old maroon coloured covers. I rubbed my hands together and smiled at the boys.

"Nicely done boys," I said, and they smiled. I sat down on the bed closest to the window and Claudius and Ethan looked between each other. Ethan sat down on the other bed and Claudius sat down on mine.

"Nah," I said, then shoved him hard off the bed. He hit the ground, almost as if taken off guard as he stood up quickly and brushed it off. Ethan laughed hard, when I heard a tap on the glass window. I rolled off the bed, landing in between the two beds, and shifted into a tiger cub. Ethan went over to the window and opened the curtains, looking out to see the bikers from earlier, with more of them along this time. Ethan opened the door and they walked inside. I watched from under the bed as the men took in the room, seemingly looking for something, or someone.

"What are you doing in our town?" A man with a white beard questioned, and I shifted back to normal, rolling under the bed. A biker moved to where I had just been and sat down on the bed. I watched as Ethan and Claudius stood there ground as the bikers entered the room. One walked over to the bathroom in the corner of the room and I could hear the shower curtains move briskly.

"We're just passing through sir." Ethan stated, then the rest of the men searching the room.

"Where's that pretty thing you were with before? We haven't seen her leave so she has to be in here." A tall man with an ugly scar across his face said, then I shifted under the bed into an anaconda. My body spiralled down as it lengthened, my teeth combining into two very large fangs as my face slimmed down. I hit the side of the bed with my tail, drawing their attention to me. I looked up at Claudius and his eyes flashed.

"Well well well. Trying to hide are we?" Scarface said, then bent down as I hissed out, flashing my fangs.

"SHIT SNAKE!" He yelled, running away from the bed and out of the door. I quickly slithered forwards, and the men went crazy, running out the door, scared shitless.

Ethan closed the door and laughed.

"That was great Amanda." He said and I shifted back, smiling. I stood up and bowed, Claudius' face shifted slightly. He stood abruptly, grabbing me by the waist and dragging me towards the side door which led into another room. Ethan followed quickly, when our room's door was busted inwards.

"Think you're so funny now kids? When we find that little bitch of yours she's all ours!" They yelled and I squirmed in Claudius' arms. He covered my mouth with his other hand, and I wanted to growl and kick the shit out of the bikers. We left the other room, thankfully vacant and went into another one, not so vacant.

Three men, not human, looked at us as we entered their room. Two of them stood slowly, seeing my distress as I flailed in Claudius' hold. I bit him and he hissed at me as I growled back at him. The three men watched as I growled at Claudius. I stopped, finally taking a look back at them. They were playing cards, and the one who remained seated caught my eye.

"Uh, hi." I said quietly and the one who held my eye contact stood up. He sniffed the air and smiled. I sniffed the air as well, then looked at Ethan. He walked forwards when there was a bang on the door. I ran towards the three men and held onto the one who had held my eye contact earlier. Claudius jumped up and held onto the roof. Ethan skid under the bed as the door opened, and the bikers entered.

"Hello, boys. That there girlie belongs to us here bikers. So hand her over." Scarface said, and I held onto the boy harder.

"What do you want with my sister?" The one questioned and the men chuckled.

"Your sister's been a bad bad girl, hanging around with some sick boys who recently disappeared. We just want to talk to her." The bearded one said, and the other four laughed. I clutched tightly to the man I was with, possibly leaving nail marks in his arms. I was trying to hold back my attacking them, knowing it wouldn't end up so well for them. I also knew that I couldn't reveal myself to these strangers who might be looking for me as well for the reward.

"No." One of the other men said, then launched forwards at them, taking them off guard. He sliced the one man in half with a sword of fire that came out of nowhere, burning his remains on contact. The rest of the men ran outside, and I looked at the man I was clutching onto. He was looking down at me, wonder in his eyes.

"What are you?" He questioned in a soft voice, and I just pushed my head against his chest, taking in his scent. I had a small inkling that he was my mate. I touched his hand and knew right away that he was.