Immortals (ON HOLD)

Chapter 11

Dimitri

            I had managed to sneak back around to the front of Ariel’s house, and I drove home quickly. I couldn’t believe she had actually tried to punch me!!  Kat and Chris were becoming increasingly annoying in my head, and I took out my earpiece to allow myself to think. Tomorrow, I planned on sending Leikos back into the forest, so she would follow him for a while before I actually met up with her. I wasn’t sure if she should know where our headquarters was, and debated on tranquilizing her. I figured that wouldn’t end well, but I’d ask the others when I got home. I laughed in frustration a few minutes later. Ariel was a weird girl. She was cold, then slightly warm, then completely freezing. I never knew someone so guarded before. I mean…she had told me about being adopted, but I’m sure it was because she was trying to get a conversation going. She definitely wasn’t looking for pity, and I recalled the brief look of understanding, relief, and what I thought was happiness flash in her eyes when I told her that I had been adopted too.

Which was true…I had been an orphan, and the wolves found me and brought me to the Guardians. Emrick became like a father to me, and the others were like siblings. Well…Darien and Geoffrey were more like uncles. I pulled into our garage and made my way inside, going through our virtually empty house and down to the main hall. Chris and Kat glared at me, wearing the same expression. “Relax, guys. I told you I was disconnecting.” “But…you don’t do that!!” Kat shouted, throwing her hands into the air. “Yeah! What if something would’ve happened to your stupid ass on the way home??!” Chris sided, rolling around on his computer chair. I sighed, shaking my head. “Alright, I’m sorry. Anyway, I’m debating on how to talk to her tomorrow…” “Yeah, we heard the fight,” Kat began, looking over at Chris. He just rubbed his hands together mischievously. “I just want to meet her!” I punched him, but he rolled away just before my fist met his shoulder. “Anyway…”  I continued, glaring at him. “I…I’m wondering if I should tranquilize her before bringing her here. If she knows where our headquarters are and decides not to join us, she could be a liability…” Kat made a face, but understood where I was coming from. Chris shrugged, considering the idea.

I recognized Scarlet’s presence a moment later, and turned to see her in the doorway. “I think that’s the best idea you’ve had all day…” she murmured, nodding her approval. “I was thinking that she would follow Leikos for a while, and then I’d meet up with her. I’m not sure how to trank her yet, though…” I admitted, looking to the others for ideas. We all sat contemplating for a few minutes, until Emrick’s presence made the four of us tingle at the same time. We all turned toward him, and he smiled at our teamwork. “I heard your idea as I was passing by, Dimitri. It sounds promising, and I’m glad you were thinking about the safety of our kind. Perhaps you could take another member with you; they are here to help, after all.” I nodded, looking at Scarlet. She was the only one who wouldn’t make a big deal out of meeting Ariel, and I saw her eyes brighten slightly, though her composure remained the same. “Thanks Emrick…” I murmured, the four of us dipping our heads to him before he whisked himself away. “So…you up for it, Scarlet?” She nodded, and Chris frowned. “Why aren’t you bringing me??! I’m the one whose amazing with guns!” “Because you’d try to seduce her before anything else,” I growled.

"And who says I need a gun? I can just take the dart and stick it in her neck,” Scarlet added, and I whirled to face her. “What?!! But…what if you hurt her?” She eyed me, one eyebrow raised. “It’s been a while since you’ve dealt with humans…or have been one yourself. They’re really fragile, and bruise pretty easy.” “I can manage my own strength,” she spat, her temper disappearing as quickly as it had come. “What time are we leaving?” “I’d say around 9:00-ish. I dunno what time she normally wakes up, and this might give us some time to scope the area for the thing that tried to attack her,” I explained, pulling my thermos from my pocket and taking a sip. She nodded, calm and collected as usual. We left the audio studio after that, and sat in the main hall. Ursula and Seff were sleeping soundly, and Ursula perked up at Scarlet’s arrival. She padded over to her, crimson and rust-colored pelt shining from the dull light of the chandelier overhead. Scarlet’s mouth curved up into a smile as she crouched to pet the wolf, who was much like her in personality.

Scarlet was really the only one who had control over Ursula, and the only Immortal she wanted to pet her. The wolves had preferences…or favorite Immortals. I, for example, was probably Tasha’s favorite. Lupa really liked Emrick, but was easily persuaded by anyone willing to pet her long enough. No wolf really took to Chris, since he wasn’t exactly a “dog person”. He didn’t mind them, but he didn’t love them, either. They felt the same toward him, and I didn’t blame them. Conwenna really liked Kat, who was ecstatic over the fact that she was going to have her puppies any day, now. Altogether, we had fourteen wolves, and the added number of Conwenna’s puppies only made Emrick happier. He loved the wolves, and we needed them. They helped to find new Immortals and bring them to us, as well as fight alongside us. They were bigger, stronger, and lived longer than regular wolves, sometimes with strange colored fur. Seff didn’t so much as open his eyes at our arrival, and I sat down in one of the darker red chairs. “This sucks. As hot as this new girl’s gonna’ be, I don’t feel like training her…” Chris grumbled, flopping into the chair beside me. Kat shrugged, smiling. “I think it’ll be fun. We haven’t had a new recruit in a while, and with most of our unit being wiped out, we need her. Besides, there’s too much testosterone in here for me. We definitely need to estrogenize this place up.”

The four of us laughed, talking in the main hall for at least another hour. One by one we started going to bed, me and Kat the last ones. She pet Seff even though he was sleeping, but turned to me before I went to my room. “Don’t lose your head on this…okay?” I furrowed my eyebrows, tired and confused. “What are you talking about, Kat?” “I can sense this whole thing with Ariel has you in a tizzy…just, keep your cool.” “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I growled, stalking to my room. I changed and brushed my teeth, rolling my eyes as I sensed Tasha’s ball of uncontrollable energy. She leapt off of the bed to meet me, wagging her tail, which meant her whole rear-end was moving. I smiled, but pushed past her to get to my bed. She hopped up with me, flopping down right beside me with a sigh. We were nose to nose, and she stuck her tongue out to lick me. Tasha was a bit over-protective of me, which was weird, since she was still so young. She especially got jealous when Kat or Scarlet got in her way. I ran my hand along her back, scratching her behind her ears. “Even though the new girl is kinda’ moody, I need you to be nice to her…okay?” I asked. Tasha’s blue eyes twinkled, and I knew she had no intention of behaving. I rolled my eyes. “At least try to be good.” She licked my nose again, and I laughed, throwing my arm around her. I fell asleep shortly afterward, the thought of telling Ariel about Immortals scaring me half to death.