But Love Is Overrated Anyways

Chapter 18: But It Wasn't

Next Chapter coming promptly! I currently publish all of my phanfics on my tumblr @dansphlevels. Check it out!

Dan couldn't sleep.

He should have been able to. He hadn't slept the night before because he was too busy helping Phil practice controlling his fire powers, which of course, had gone horribly wrong. They ran from the fires, Dan went back for Phil, they got back to safety and just had enough time to eat and bathe before Mandy freaked and insisted they had to go. Something in the forest had stifled the fire, and whatever it was, it was bad enough to send Mandy, who was able to be both defensive and offensive, with her force fields and archery, into a panic.

They kept going for the rest of the day, then made camp for the night. It was only for six hours, then they were getting up again and continuing to run. It was the perfect time for Dan to get back up to 100%.

But he couldn't.

Normally, if Dan was this sleep deprived, exhausted, and emotional, his powers would reflect it. He longed for the frost traveling up the sides of the tent, the feel of the cold cover his body like a duvet of chill. No matter how cold it got, it never bothered him.

Finally, he gave up tossing and turning and grabbed his crowbar from where it lay beside him, carefully crawling over Phil and out of the tent.

"I'll watch," he promised Seth, who nodded and went back to his tent. Dan patrolled the camp, twirling the crowbar around absently. He may not have had control of his powers, but he certainly wasn't defenseless.

Out of the corner of his eye, there was flicker of purple. Dan slowly crept forwards, his crowbar gripped in one hand. As he came forward, the purple flickered again, over the corner of Mandy and Jordan's tent.

Dan watched as it disappeared again. A needle fell from a pine tree and bounced off of the force field with such force that it shot into a nearby tree, embedding itself in the bark.

Dan picked up a pinecone from the ground, examining it before tossing it so it would land on the top of the tent. As soon as it made contact it shot into the sky, hurtling back towards the tent and hitting the force field again at an angle, hurtling away from the camp and out of sight.

The tent flap was quickly unzipped, and Mandy appeared from inside in a near panic, a journal and pencil in hand. She tried to conceal her fear but didn't do a very good job. "What's wrong?"

Her face was tinted slightly purple from the force field. "Nothing," Dan answered, keeping his voice down. "Do you always sleep with a forcefield on?"

Jordan snored, and they both looked over at her. "Let's take a walk," Mandy suggested.

She got her shoes on, dropped the force field, and slung her bow over her back. "It's cold," she noted as they started walking the perimeter of the camp.

"I didn't notice."

"Yeah? You think your powers might be coming back?"

"It's none of your business."

She cracked a smile. "There he is. I was wondering when you were going to drop the act."

"What act?"

"All of the niceties. Phil might buy it, but I don't."

Dan didn't argue. He adjusted his grip on the crowbar, lightly swinging it as they walked. The dull black metal didn't reflect much light, yet still gleamed dangerously.

He looked over, only to realize Mandy was watching it too. She glanced up, catching his gaze. "Do you think Phil would think differently if he knew what you'd done?"

"I did what I had to."

"You didn't have to do anything but run. Dan, you literally bludgeoned four humans to death. I think that's something Phil would care about."

"Yeah, well, he's not my keeper."

Mandy snorted. "You should've seen him when you collapsed on that river bank. He was a mess."

They turned, keeping an eye on the trees to their left.

"I don't like trees," Dan announced, changing topics. "I always think somethings hiding in them."

She shrugged. "We're the ones who are hiding in them tonight."

"From whatever's chasing us," Dan recalled. "Which you still haven't told me about." Mandy didn't respond. "Do you always sleep with the forcefield, or only tonight?"

Mandy bit her lip. "When I was on my own, I couldn't control my forcefields very well. They usually just popped up whenever I felt threatened, and they never lasted very long. They get stronger over time, and with practice."

"You're welcome for almost dying," Dan interjected helpfully. "You got lots of practice."

"Yeah. And a few other times, when I had to sleep with the force field on, for... other reasons."

"You mean whatever's chasing us. It was chasing you?"

"It caught me." Mandy had the perfect poker face. The only thing that gave her away was the slight sniffles. "Don't tell the others. But... I was part of a camp before this one."

Dan stopped walking, looking at her in disbelief. "Other mutants?" She nodded. "Where are they now? We could find them, gain numbers, figure out a better way-"

"They're dead," Mandy interrupted. "I'm the only one who made it out." She leaned against a tree, looking up at the sky. The moonlight hit her face perfectly, illuminating the freckles and smudged dirt that covered her skin, the eyebags. She looked exhausted.

Dan noticed a flickering in the sky, a little dart of purple. "You're trying to make a force field around the camp," he realized.

Mandy nodded grimly. "It's not working. I can get one up, but only for a few moments. I just wish-" she froze, her mouth wide open as if the breath had been sucked from her throat. Then her hands went up to her neck like she was trying to pry invisible hands off, gasping for a breath that wasn't there.

"Mandy? Mandy, what's wrong?"

She collapsed onto her knees, inhaling deeply as the air returned.

"Mandy?"

"We have to go," she coughed, her entire body shaking. A force field appeared around her and disappeared just as quickly. "Now."

——-

It was, perhaps, the third time in the past two days they had thought that they were safe, only to have to pack up and run at a moments notice. But this time, no one, not even PJ, complained.

The tents were down in record time, packs on, and they were running through the foliage. They were no pack of wolves, they were a pack of deer, and they were being hunted.

Seth and Jordan lead the group, the younger inexperienced mutants following right behind them. In the harsh light, they looked taller, stronger, the fear maturing them in seconds. PJ ran at the back of the group with Mandy, Dan and Phil.

"What happened?" He asked, but Dan had no explanation. "Mandy, you have to tell us! We need to know what we're up against!"

"We just have to get away!" She insisted.

"Is it a monster? A demon?"

They were still running, but all of a sudden it was as if the volume had been turned down. They crashed over the forest floor, snapping twigs and crinkling pine needles, but Dan didn't hear any of it. All he heard was her voice, soft as it broke halfway through, "No, she's not a demon. She's one of us."