Malicious Tales

Chapter 3

Malice awoke with a pounding headache. She sat up, clutching her head in her hands, inspecting her surroundings. She was sitting in the bed of what appeared to be an old camper van. The curtains were shut, but she could tell it was dark outside. Salem was in cat form, curled up at her feet, purring softly. Smiling, she patted him lightly on the head and got up quietly, not wanting to wake him. On the other side of the van, Fallon was asleep on the small couch, her head on Felix’s lap.

    “Glad to see you’re awake, Mallie. You gave me quite the scare this morning,” he said, smiling slightly as he stroked Fallon’s curls.

    “Well that fight probably could have been avoided, if someone hadn’t started acting up,” Malice said, glaring at the little girl who currently had an expression that said butter wouldn’t melt.

    “Malice..”

    “No, Felix. She needs to wake up and realise that the world doesn’t revolve around tantrums and porcelain dolls! We could have been killed because of her childishness!” Malice hissed.

    “She is a child!”

    “This is no life for a kid,” said Malice, before spinning on her heels and going out the door of the camper van, choosing to stand in the cold night. She ignored the tears that stung her eyes, frowning at the trees in front of her. She didn’t argue with Felix often. He was her best friend, her ally, her second in command, always there to back her up on everything, except when it came to Fallon. She had showed up four years ago, when Felix had found her running from a Vampyre in Paris, and since then, he had turned into her guardian angel almost, much to Malice’s dismay. After all, Felix and Malice had been together from day one almost. The twelve year old Necromancer had been living in the dungeon of Ruin Castle thanks to her father, Lord Ruin, who had thrown her in there so he couldn’t disgrace him with her existence. Felix had been in the cell next to her, the only difference being that he was meant for Death Row. Together, the two had managed to take down the guards and they escaped the castle and the Moon world that the Fallen resided in. The arrival of Salem four years later hadn’t changed anything between them. It was just Fallon that caused problems in Malice’s opinion.

    A small cough interrupted her mental ranting, and Malice looked up to see her half-brother awaiting her attention once more. The elder Necromancer wasn’t smirking, or trying to goad her, which was entirely unlike him. In fact, if Malice didn’t know better, she’d say Synister looked almost.. concerned.

    “I heard you ran into some Risen today, Malice. I trust you all came out unscathed?” he said in a nonchalant way.

    “Mostly. I wasn’t aware you cared, Syn.”

    “Is that what you think? I’m hurt, truly,” said Synister, the smirk returning slightly towards the end of his sentence, but disappearing again as he continued, “I also heard that you went supernova. Set quite the blaze in a London restaurant too. Don’t get me wrong, that’s all well and good, and well done for staying alive this long, but if you keep this up, you’ll be found again in days. You attract far too much attention.”

    “It’s attention or death.”

    “One in the same”

    The two Necromancers sighed in unison, each as stubborn as the other. There was a long, severely awkward silence, as they both tried to figure out what to say, to figure out what the other was thinking.

    “Look..”

    “Listen..”

    They both started at the same time, then stopped, in the hope that the other would continue talking. There was another pause.

    “Malice. I’m not sure you realise the risks I take in order to warn you every time the Fallen are coming. Every time you make a scene, it makes my position a lot more difficult. There’s only so much I can do for you and your half-breeds,” Synister explained slowly, fidgeting uncharacteristically.

    Malice smiled softly. Her half-brother may act pompous most of the time, and could be quite pretentious, but Malice would never deny that without him, she and the others would be in a lot more trouble than they were.

    “Syn..”

    “Nope. Shut up. You know I hate sentimentality, and so do you, so just don’t go there!” exclaimed Synister, waving his hands at her a horrified expression on his face. Malice tried to keep a straight face, but she just couldn’t do it, laughing at her half-brother’s expense, while he pretended to sulk.

    Their playful banter was interrupted by the arrival of a small tabby cat, who strode up to Malice, curling around her leg, and glaring slightly at Synister.

    “Hello, Salem, did you want something?” sighed Malice. Salem looked up at her with the most innocent face he could muster, and got only an eye roll in return.

    “It appears I must go, Malice. Hopefully, I won’t have to see you soon. Farewell,” said Synister, a slight tone of disgust in his voice. He gave one last smile to Malice and a sneer towards Salem, before he disappeared into the shadows once more.

    “Was that really necessary, Salem?” asked Malice, slightly disappointed that her half-brother had left. Salem turned back to his human form, folding his arms across his chest.

    “Hey, don’t go blaming me, Mallie. I’m looking out for you here,” he whined. Rolling her eyes again, Malice turned to go back into the camper van, leaving Salem on his own again.

    Felix was still on the couch with Fallon. He hadn’t moved since the little argument with Malice. He had looked like he was asleep, but really he had been listening to Malice and her brother. When she came back in, he pretended to awake with a start, ever crafty as he was. Malice paused in front of him, scratching at her arm in a nervous kind of tick.

    “Felix, I’m sorry. I was stressed, I shouldn’t have-”

    “Be quiet. I understand, okay? We’re all under pressure, and having to use all that power must have taken a lot out of you. So just forget about it, alright?” explained Felix, and Malice could tell he was smiling behind his scarf. Grinning back at him, she went to sit down on the opposite side top Fallon, resting her head on his shoulder as he put his arm around her.

    “I’m still sorry,” she muttered.

    “Shush.”

    Malice chuckled, letting her eyes close. It seemed like years since they had left Dublin, though it was only a couple of days, but this van seemed just as comfortable as any apartment. Speaking of which..

    “Felix, where the hell did this van come from?” asked Malice, a slightly confused expression on her face.

    “Well, you see, you and Salem, were out cold, and there was no way that Fallon and I could carry two of  you. I mean, Salem’s a lot heavier than he looks, and those boots of yours kept whacking me in the chest with every step in a highly painful way, so we had to find a better way. Apparently luck was with us for a little while, because next thing I know, this nosey ass family pull up in this van and run off towards the restaurant. Bloody idiots left the keys in the ignition and everything. So I took the opportunity and the van,” Felix explained with a gleeful spite in his eye. Malice stared at him incredulously.

    “I had expected you to tell me it was a hit and run job, or you broke into it and ended up in a marvellous car chase or something. Jeez, Felix, that’s a crap story altogether,” she chuckled while Felix frowned at her.

    “I’d like to see you try to drive this thing, smart ass,” he said, “and I know you can’t see it, but I’m pouting beneath my scarf right now.”

    “I apologise for insulting your honour good sir knight, I truly do, now quit pouting beneath scarves and get some sleep,” Malice teased, before ruffling the half-Faerie’s hair and heading back to her bed.