White Rabbit

Chapter 3: Dangerous Beauty

JACE

Misa and I walk around the market and continue to buy supplies, and even though I keep insisting on carrying the bags, Misa won't let me.

"If we're both carrying bags it'll be harder for us to be prepared if something happens, and if you just carry all the bags, well, you know you're a better shot than me," Misa says.

"Misa," I glance over at her pointedly, "Seriously?"

"Seriously, Jace," Misa smiles and I sigh.

The two of us continue walking through the market place until someone accidentally bumps into me near the ammunition booth.

"Sorry," I apologize and turn to look at the person.

My eyes widen in surprise when I notice it's a girl with dark blue hair and brown eyes who's wearing white shorts with those loops that criss-cross in the back and are attached at the front, black thigh-high tights, white ankle-high boots, a black shirt, and a dark blue jacket. She watches me with a cautious expression and she seems on edge as she passes by without a word.

"That was weird," Misa raises her eyebrows in surprise.

"Yeah..." I mutter as I watch the girl make her way through the crowd in a hurried manner.

We finally reach the ammunition booth and when we do I jump in surprise whenever Aether throws an arm around my shoulders and appears next to me.

"Aether!" Misa scolds.

"Hey there!" Aether beams and chuckles, "I didn't scare ya, did I?"

"A little bit," I sigh and look at the blond haired boy next to me.

"Ah, come on," Aether smirks, "I was just giving you practice for those monsters."

Misa scowls and I sigh whenever Aether moves away from me and slams his hands down on the booth table as his brown eyes scan the rows of ammunition. Aether is a nineteen year old who works for White Rabbit. Misa and I have known him ever since we were both little. He's probably another one of the most praised in the organization due to his hatred for those that White Rabbit hunts.

"So," Aether says to the shop keeper as he holds up his pistol and examines a box of bullets, "Do you think that --"

He gets cut off by a loud explosion coming from city hall, the sky lighting up with bursts of orange and yellow as pieces of the building fly everywhere.

"Shit!" Aether exclaims as he turns towards the building, which is a few miles away, and puts ammunition into his pistol, "Again?"

"Aether! Wait!" Misa shouts after Aether, who runs off towards city hall.

Suddenly, the building in front of us erupts into flames on the very top floor and Misa places our bags down on the ground, grabbing her pistols.

"I'll go!" Misa shouts, "Stay here!"

"Misa, wait --"

I trail off whenever I notice a magenta haired girl with red eyes wearing a white jacket with dark blue trim on it standing in the middle of the street, her eyes focused on the top of the building and a scowl making its way on her face. Suddenly, her eyes drift over to me and I slowly reach for my gun in my jacket, but before I even have time to get it out she's already standing in front of me. My eyes widen in surprise whenever she pushes me backwards into the nearest alleyway and pins me against the wall, holding a blade to my throat.

"You work for White Rabbit," She says and narrows her eyes at me, "Don't you?"

"You're supernatural, aren't you?" I counter and her eyes widen slightly.

"Answer my question!" She snaps.

"Did you do that?" I ask and gesture towards the building engulfed in flames with my eyes.

"I don't believe in doing that," She scowls, "Never hurt anyone for your own selfish reasons, because then you're just as bad as the ones who hurt you.

"Then what are you doing?" I raise a brow in curiosity.

"Hunting those who hunt us. Getting justice for the innocent. You want to know what I believe? I'll tell you what I believe. Humans. They're the real monsters, not us, but only the ones who hurt us, ridicule us, because not everyone is bad, and you should never group everyone together," The girl says, "They judge us, judge, judge, judge. And yet, I don't care what they think, they mean nothing to me. I just want them to stop hurting us just because they think it's okay!"

I stare at the dangerous beauty before me and her eyes search mine as if she's analyzing every part of me, trying to see into the very depths of my soul and all of my darkest secrets. And for some reason, I want her to. I just wonder what happened to her to make her this way, because to me it seems that she's endured a lot more than most supernatural in order for her to feel this way, this strongly, this passionate about her cause.

The sound of gunshots rings out in the air and she glances over to the side, watching as people run around in a panic through the market. As I continue to watch her I know that I have to tell her something in order to make her trust me, and I have to do it fast. And while it may seem like my best option to lie, I feel like that with her it would be the worst thing to do, so I won't.

"I don't work for White Rabbit, but my father does and I'm being expected to. And even still, something inside of me disagrees with that."

She looks back at me and narrows her eyes before slowly moving the blade away from my throat.

"You look familiar," She says as her red eyes bore into my blue ones, "Who are you?"

"Jace," I clear my throat and watch her nervously, "Jace Athens."

"You're Daylen's son," Her eyes widen in surprise and to my surprise she grabs my wrist and takes off in a run, making me follow behind her.

"Wait, I can't just --"

She glances over her shoulder at me and scowls.

"Either you come with me or you die," She snaps.

"Well," I mutter as I glance back over my shoulder at the burning building, "That settles that, then."

I just wonder what she wants with me. And better yet, who is she?