Fairytales

Chapter 20

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Sorry this one took so long! Things have gotten  a little crazy around here, but I'll do my best to keep up with! Please comment and let me know what you think so far!

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Despite everything,  joy bubbled up in my chest. He was here. He was alive. I wanted to bask in the relief and giddiness of it all but Jack's deep laugh cooled the warmth of the moment faster than if we'd doused it in liquid nitrogen.

"What do you know," he said, "the fledgling has a heart after all." His eyes glowing bright red in the dim sunlight, Jack leaned to the side, just enough so that he could see me. Chase, whose back muscles were clearly visible underneath the fitted black t-shirt he wore, tensed.

"You've been busy haven't you, boy?" Jack continued, looking back at Chase with an arrogant smirk. "We thought you'd run away, didn't think you'd get a head start on all the fun."

Carmen, looking just a little worse for wear from her tumble, strutted up the hill to stand by her brother. Her expression was murderous.

"Damia." Chase's voice was different somehow, deeper, more like a growl than a voice. I suppressed a shiver. "When I say so, I need you to run. Run as fast as you can. Get as far away from here as possible."

I looked up at him. The little bit of light escaping through the clouds glinted off his black hair, which had grown more than it should have since the last time I'd seen him. There really was something different about him, something that went far beyond even his voice. His arms and the back of his neck, the only part of him I could see, was vibrant, as if someone had stuck a light bulb underneath his skin. Rage flowed off of him in waves, rage and power like I'd never seen before. It was almost...scary. Never before in my life had I been scared of Chase.

Jack and Carmen on the other hand...

"Oh, do try it." Carmen giggled again, the sound conflicting with the dangerous look in her eyes. "I love a good game of cat and mouse."

Chase ignored her. "Damia. Can you do that?"

I wished I could have said yes. I really do. But my throat was too dry to say a word, my legs too weak to even push myself up. I curled my fingers into the damp grass, feeling my nails scrape against hard-packed dirt. This wasn't fear making me weak. I'd long since gone numb, right about the time Chase appeared. This was something else. Something Chase didn't seem to know about.

"Damia."

"Uh oh." Carmen turned towards me. "Guess not."

She ran towards me so fast that I'd have missed it if I'd blinked. As it was, I mostly only saw a blur. Chase's arm shot out, hitting her right in the stomach and pushing her back and away from me, though not before her long nails scrapped across his side. She caught herself and spun on him, snarling through those pointed teeth.

Chase faced her, ignoring the blood that seeped onto the torn pieces of his shirt from the gash in his side . His voice, when he spoke, was barely intelligible, garbled through a vicious growl. "Stay. Back."

Jack, who I'd consciously decided not to forget about this time, took advantage of Carmen's distraction and ran towards him.

"Chase!"

There was an explosion, bringing with it a shock of electricity that shot through my veins. Jack fell backwards, thrown aside by the force of the attack. He was alive but whatever he'd been hit with had hurt.

Carmen looked around frantically, fingers outstretched in front of her like claws. The warm air felt electric with anticipation, enough so that even the birds, who seemed to be in constant chatter this time of year, had gone eerily silent. Her eyes caught on something and she snarled again, bending at the waist as if she were a cat about to pounce. "Witch. This is no business of yours."