The Bellwood Breed

The Bellwood Breed-40

Riley's POV

I felt my cheek, could this be real? Was I actually alive? I had to be dreaming. I was just with my mother wasn't I? Had I dreamt that all? Everything in my brain was fuzzy.

My body felt light and airy, I was calm inside, a peace that I had never felt before lingering. I blinked a few times, still trying to understand why I felt so weird, so different.

I was just beginning to examine my self when a burning sensation in my hand caused me to yelp out in surprise, my necklace that I hadn't even realized I was holding, falling to the ground. I looked at the palm of my hand as a symbol I had never seen before burned its self in to my skin, fading away shortly after. Well that was odd.

"What...just...happened?" Even my voice felt strange. As I looked around at all my friends, I realized everything...everything seemed different. It was sharper, brighter even. I felt like I had a new outlook on the world. There was a tingling sensation prickling on the surface of my skin, it was like an itch I couldn't scratch, only it made me slightly edgy. "Do you guys feel that?" I breathed.

"Did she just..." Blythe started.

Ryder nodded. "She just became one of us." His eyes were rimmed in red, but he was smiling.

They were all quiet. Did he mean that I had just chosen sides? Is that why I felt so different? So light, so at ease?

I was still completely confused. One, at the fact that I was alive, and two, how had I become I Whitelighter? I mean of course I wanted to be one, but what about the Darklighter in me? Wasn't I supposed to choose? Whatever it was that just happened, I was glad it did, I was alive, and I was a Whitelighter!

"Avery!" I finally broke out of my initial awe and surprise and ran right to him, throwing my arms around his neck and hugging him half to death. Okay, so maybe not to death, that was the last thing I wanted to think about.

"Riley!" He buried his face in my hair, breathing me in as he held me close to him. I couldn't help but cry. "I thought I lost you." He sniffed.

I pulled back to wipe at my tears. "I thought I lost you too."

He looked me directly in the eyes, brushing the hair back from my face. "Riley what on earth were you thinking?" He said quietly as his eyes searched mine.

I knew exactly what he was referring too. "Avery, I couldn't just let you die like that, you had to live. They needed you."

"So you sacrificed your self for me?" Tears sprung to his eyes. "Riley, I died for you for a reason, I was more then willing to lay down my life for you. I needed you to see that-"

"I know, and I did. You were right, about everything." I said quietly as I continued to look into his eyes. "If it weren't for you, I would have went dark." My voice was barely above a whisper.

He pressed his lips to mine gently. "And somehow we're both still here."

I shook my head in awe. "I don't know how or why, but yes...we are."

He hugged me closer to him, pressing his lips to my forehead. "We have a lot of truths to unfold."

******

To say we were all worn out would have been a huge understatement. They called in other high ranking Whitelighters to come in and scout the rest of the place out. I wasn't sure what they did with Andrew's body, and I didn't want to know.

But I still needed answers we all did. The eight of us sat around watching three Darklighters intently. We knew they were Andrew's main puppets, they had to know more then enough.

I know understood why the others strongly disliked being around Darklighters, the feeling they gave you was one I couldn't explain, but it made me restless.

"We have orders to dispose of you unless you comply with us, so I suggest you start talking." Ryder's voice was hard and cold.

I still didn't know what was wrong with him, he was acting really strange, he wouldn't so much as even look at me. I could feel the anxiety practically rolling off of him. The fact that he was ignoring me actually hurt, and I didn't know why.

"There's nothing to tell." A red headed girl with heavy eye-liner and thick mascara responded. She sat bound with her hands behind her back. Anything they tried to do would be counteracted by the cuffs, they neutralized everything.

"Let's start with why Andrew wanted Riley." Avery said in a low voice.

"Alec." She corrected with a hard glare. The two had a stare down until she finally looked away, gritting her teeth and swallowing hard.

"We can make this easy, or we can make this hard, whichever you chose." Ryder crossed his arms over his chest, his muscles flexing. My mouth went dry as I watched him. Why was I suddenly so attracted to him?

"You're Whitelighters, you aren't going to hurt us." She said smugly.

"Don't mistake our leniency for weakness, we are just in everything we do." He challenged. The girl's eyes glazed over momentarily. "My patience is thinning." He warned. The three continued to sit there, unspeaking with smug grins on their faces. Moments went by and still no one said anything, it was unnervingly quiet. "Answer me!" He suddenly roared, causing us all to jump.

I somehow felt him on the verge of snapping, he was waning thin. Just as he brought his fist back, I caught it. "Ryder." I said gently. He was on edge and had almost acted out of anger. His eyes were crazed before the fell on mine, melting into something softer. I gave him a small reassuring smile.

He took a deep breath and walked away. I chewed my bottom lip before turning back towards the three Darklighters.

I stood in front of the red headed girl who seemed to be controlling the group, crouching down in front of her, I smiled. "Maybe you've got the wrong impression." She scoffed, rolling her eyes. "I don't think you understand just how dire your circumstances are right now." I said calmly. "We only wish to help you, we're trying to save you, because right now, you're in hot water with our people, so I wouldn't risk it." She looked me in the eyes. "So, help us help you. Tell us what we need to know, and you'll get off with a much lighter sentence. Otherwise..." I shrugged. "Let's just say that some of the Elders aren't as understanding when it comes to dealing with you all."

They looked between each other before red head's shoulders finally sagged. "What do you want to know?" She spat.

I turned on me heel and went to stand at Avery's side again. They all looked at me in wonderment before Ryder finally stepped forward, his composer back in place.

"Answer the question. What did he want with Riley?" He crossed his arms.

"What do we all want with her?" She retorted. "The same thing you want." Her smile made my stomach turn.

"And what might that be?" He breathed.

The girl's eyes trailed to mine, sending shivers down my spine as she began to speak. "Her child."