Underground Angels

Chapter Twenty-Three | Lola Gets Nasty

Chapter Twenty-Three

Lola gets Nasty

 

                           Snow was falling lazily outside of the large tent, hardly noticeable in the dark. You could feel it though, closing you in and creating drifts around the tents.

“Is he going to be okay?” Lola asked, and it was the first time Noel had seen her look anything but angry.

“I think so,” said a boy “You could help though, Lola, you’re an Apollo kid too.”

She shrugged “Nah, I’ll stick with my arrows, thanks.”

The boy grinned “Sure thing sis, but watch him for a few minutes? I need to get some more heating packs from the truck.”

Nodding, Lola moved to sit beside his bed. “What do you think did this, Constantine?”

From a corner of the tent Constantine stood very still, arms crossed and lips pressed together tightly. “An animal, a big one I’m guessing.” He said quietly, dark eyes watching Gabriel’s unconscious form like a hawk.

“Gabriel can defend himself against an animal.” Argued Stephan, who was pacing the short expanse of the tent, “No way he’d get bitten unless something put him off his guard. And why the hell did he leave the boundary?”

“Maybe he was dragged there?” Noel offered shyly, and all three turned to look at her in surprise.

“That actually makes sense,” Constantine moved forward. “If it was something that took Gabriel off his guard then it may have dragged him through the barrier and left him by the stream for…something else.”

“Something else?” asked Noel “What kind of something else?”

“Why would you care?” Lola said icily “You barely even know Gabriel. Actually, I think you should leave.”

Noel’s eyes widened and she took a step back, wringing her mittens in her hands. “Um, I’d rather stay.”

Standing, Lola looked very scary – even scarier than when Gabriel had cornered Noel in the janitors closet back in November. “I said, I think you should leave.”

Noel began to hiccup, and Lola sneered “You have no right to be here,” she shouted “It’s not like you’re anything special, I mean – look at you!”

“Lola!” cried Constantine, but he stood where he was. Obviously he was scared of his cousin, too.

“Shut up, Constantine!” Lola spat over her shoulder “Do you even know why the hell Gabriel brought her here?”

“Well, I –”

“You should go.” Turning back to Noel, Lola crossed her arms “Go back to your little Canadian town, no one wants you here.”