Nine Lives of Chloe King: A Rough Draft Continuation

Chapter 20

"-And you're sure that this is where he'll be?" I questioned Alek warily, as I crouched low beside him behind a concrete ally wall. There was a piece of well-chewed, grey gum shoved in to a crack in the wall by my head. Whether the gum had always been grey or not was a mystery. I brushed my bangs back behind my ear and swooped my hair up in to a protected bun.

"Ya," Alek grunted shortly, not focusing on me but on the empty strip of road that was littered with potholes and trash and god knows what. Sigh, downtown San Fran.

I had a strong urge to hold my nose closed to hide the throw-up smell that wafted like a homeless man's perfume. No offense homeless people, I disclaimed to myself defensively. The least the Order could do was send Zane somewhere fresher smelling . . .I inwardly rolled my eyes.

I guess my face portrayed mild concern though when Alek glanced my way because he pivoted on the balls of his feet to face me and said with slight misunderstanding, "it'll be fine. I have a plan."

"And we're not allowed to know this plan?" I replied skeptically, deciding to screw it all and plop my butt down on to the cobble stoned ground. Eh, it was chilly against my yoga pants, and potentially full of historical sketchiness, but I was about to probably get myself killed so what the hell!

Alek's eyes met mine for a brief, Trust Me, moment. "Yep," he said descriptively.

And then as soon as the contact made way, it was finished and Alek's body was once again turned away from me and grew as rigid as the wall I willed myself not to lean on. What had gotten in to him? Seriously, I felt like I had been thrust in to middle school again, or a Twilight movie in which I was forced picked to be Kristen Stewart. I knew he was all in to the "hide-my-emotions-because-it's-dramatic-and-seems-like-a-smart-idea-but-really-isn't" façade, but come on; we had been through so much, why put up the dukes now?

I sat dormant for a while as Alek continued to study the vacant outside hall, waiting for god knows what to move, and a bored idea snuck in to my mind. I slipped Valentina's phone out of the small front pocket of my backpack that leaned against the wall, making me look like a freshly inspired back packer, and tried to gather the dying sun's final reflection before the polluted orange and purples disintegrated for the night. It took some shifting, but the screen on my phone eventually produced a ray of dim light for which I directed toward the back of Alek's neck.

I giggled like a fool, probably so anxious about the situation that I lost my mind for a moment.

"What are you doing?" Alek asked, clasping his hand around his neck in confusion. The light melted on to his hand, but his skin remained pale white in the street light glow.

I sighed and shoved the phone back in to my pocket.

"Just checking to see whether or not you sparkle," I said casually.

"What?" His face twisted with utter bewilderment.

"You've never seen Twi-" I began to ask.

"SHHH!" Alek's hands clamped over my mouth with a surprising intensity.

He looked over his shoulder and searched the foggy air for anything suspicious.

We waited as the fog did- quiet and hidden within a group.

All that I could hear was silence, and the faint breaths Alek carefully managed.

But I knew better than to question what Alek had heard, or allow myself to get distracted by the warmth of his breathing.

"I thought I heard a door shut," Alek supplied after another few moments pause, as he released his hold on me.

"You prob-" I started, but I was interrupted by a heavy creaking noise. The sound, though seemingly near, appeared to be muffled by the fog.

"You did," I finished quietly, as the echo continued on and on until it faded in to a dim whisper. I make way to unfold myself from a crouch but Alek's fingers gripped around my forearm and asked me to sit back down.

"Alek come on, what are you doing?" I whispered in exasperation, not willing to sit back down, but too cautious to straighten all the way up. So there I was, stuck, halfway bent with my eyes bearing down in to Alek's as if I could find an answer to his weirdness.

"We're going to get Zane and kill that fucker, that's all the matters," Alek replied harshly.

I took a step back and straightened up. "Whoa! Alek where did that come from? I mean I would love this threat gone too and live happily ever after with the mi and humans living in eternal peace and harmony and shit but 'Kill that fucker?'. With your accent that was actually really scary." I took another step back and shook my head. "Crappola."

Alek didn't respond. He just continued to look outward, away from me, determined to quench his blood lust. He scrutinized the hazy alley before us, and appeared to be mumbling numbers to himself as if he were counting down to something.

"Alek," I started, clearly frightened by his lunacy. I mean, above us there did appear to be a full moon somewhere, but Alek wasn't some Crazy inspired to do evil by moonbeam. He wasn't! But I did feel like, as the night wore on, he grew worse and worse with anxiety.

"Ale-" I tried again, but I was interrupted by his sudden jerk in motion. He leapt from his crouch with the help of the wall, and began to trudge down the alley in a sprint, for which his entire body pounded with such an ominous force that I was put in to a daze and forgot to follow him. He lunged for the closing metal door that had been recently swung open without my realizing it, and I broke out of my stupor as his hands collided with the cool of the heavy opening. I raced after him, making sure to ignore the sudden burning in my stomach as my feet skidded across the asphalt.

"HEY!" I yelped, but Alek was already on the other side of the metal shield. One of his hands reached out towards me and grabbed my shirt like I was a puppy being grabbed by the scruff. He dragged me in to the building, and, with quiet precision, inched the door closed without a sound before I could punch him.

Allof a sudden there was just us in a large, dimly lit room. And I didn't know whomthe heck this Alek was that I was about to go in to battle with