Immortals (ON HOLD)

Chapter 20

Ariel

            “Ariel!!” Emrick called, shaking me gently. I opened my eyes, blinking a few times. I smirked at him, crossing my arms. “See? I told you I could do it. I can meditate anywhere, anytime.” He sighed, moving back a few inches. “Yes, it’s very impressive…” “How long was I out??” “I let you go for a few hours.” “And was it hard to wake me?” “No…I only shook you once.” I grinned, and he sighed again. “Where are the others? Still interrogating Kellan?” “Scarlet is…the others have taken a break.” “Dimitri actually interrogated him??” I asked, able to picture him angry and violent. “Yes. It didn’t really help much, and Scarlet’s thinking of resorting to human blood…” I widened my eyes, and Emrick explained. “We would never kill anyone…we…have a few blood bags in storage for these sorts of occasions.” “I could always go in there…he seemed to like me.” He looked doubtful, and I rolled my eyes. “Kat said she’d put in a good word for me about spy work…Dimitri did, too. Why can’t I learn to interrogate while I’m at it?? I like being a jack of all trades…” “You’ll have to ask Scarlet. I don’t want you in there, but if you really want to...” I shrugged, petting Leikos, who had never left my side. “Are you going to start training me in martial arts? I imagined myself as human…and Dimitri was there. And before that, I imagined me, Leikos, Dimitri, Conwenna, and four of her puppies, all moving and stuff.”

“Really??” “Yeah! It was pretty cool. Don’t ask me why Dimitri keeps popping into my meditation…I have no idea. I was thinking about Chris and Kat and Scarlet, but…I dunno. They didn’t appear.” “Interesting…” Emrick looked thoughtful, and my hopes were high. “Please?? I won’t complain…a lot. I really want to do this. I want to be an Immortal. It’s my responsibility, and if my parents did it, than so can I.” He smiled at me fondly, eyes warm. “Besides. If Chris can be a Guardian, I can.” He laughed, helping me to my feet. Leikos smiled up at me, and I brushed his fur from my clothes. “Alright. We’ll start on Friday, when you come over.” I did a victory dance, feeling no shame. Hey, if I was going to be hanging around here, they were bound to see some pretty terrible dances. He laughed and walked down the hall with Lupa at his heels, and I swore he could vanish into thin air. I looked at Leikos happily, dancing around him in a circle. He barked playfully, and after a few minutes, I wondered where the hell Chris, Kat and Dimitri were. I shook the thought, running toward the interrogation room. When I got to the door, I froze. “Crap. I can’t remember the code…” I whispered, looking down at Leikos. He sat down, looking up at me. I closed my eyes and thought back, reliving the memory. I pushed the anger I had been feeling aside, and the scene seemed to play in slow motion. I had never deciphered a memory quite like this before, but I had to forget about my fascination as I watched Dimitri’s hand knock on the door.

One normal knock, four quick ones, a slight pause, three more quick ones, pause, and two other quick knocks. I took a deep breath, repeating the action. Scarlet opened the door with more force than necessary, looking completely surprised to see me. “What are you doing here?!? How do you know the code??” “I remembered Dimitri doing it. And I’m here to help.” She snorted, and I pushed past her into the room. Leikos looked after me until the door closed, and I imagined he would go back to the main hall to lay down. “Why were you so surprised to see me? Didn’t you sense me?” I asked, looking around. It was just like the interrogation rooms at police stations. There was a large window where we could see Kellan, but he couldn’t see us. His face was bruised, and blood dripped down his mouth and onto his shirt, cuts stretching along his cheek. “I’m kinda’ distracted, so I wasn’t paying attention. Besides, you do the knock better than Chris, so I figured you were Kat or Dimitri.” I nodded, eyes stilled fixed on Kellan. “Jesus, what the hell did you do to him??” I asked, turning to her. She shrugged, looking at him, too.

“What we needed to. It hasn’t gotten us anywhere.” “Can he hear us? And see us?” “He might hear us slightly, yes. But this glass is specially designed so supernatural beings can’t see through it, and the walls in the interrogation room are highly sound proof. Only beings in a really close range would hear anything, and by close, I mean on the premises.” I nodded again, taking a deep breath. “I think I can help you. And I want to,” I murmured. She smirked, crossing her arms. “Oh really? Why do you think he’ll talk to you??” “I have human blood. And he seemed to like me earlier. Give me a few things to beat him with, or do the beating yourself, if you prefer.” She hummed a laugh, looking me over. “Ya’ know, I’m kinda’ starting to like you.” I smiled, hoping I didn’t look too childish. “Thanks. Now, are you gonna’ let me help?” I asked, and she nodded, opening the second door for me. She didn’t go in with me, and I was a little hesitant. Kellan’s head snapped up at what I imagined was my scent, and he smirked, despite his bruised face. “Well, well, well. They sent a human in to do their work for them…” I shrugged, sitting in the empty chair that was placed in front of him. “Yeah…I’m special that way. I’m apparently wanted all over. From here, at the Guardians, to you vampires, and I guess someone named Raksha. I’ve never been so popular before! It’s kinda’ nice…” I teased, watching as his eyes widened.