Deadly Night Shade

Chapter 19

Chapter nineteen

It was snowing. Again, as in all my other dreams, I was Night Shade and my sword held a comfortable weight in my hand. I walked forward, my bare feet, sinking into the powdery white snow and I heard something. The figures of Jess and the Crimson Knight materialised in front of me and they were talking.

“I know what you did!” she yelled, her anger, touched by grief. “Look,” he said back softly, “I had to become this, for us,” “WHAT US!” she recoiled her voice reaching screeching, “we never had anything, and you and I both know that.”

“I could kill you right now if I wanted to,” he threatened, his voice low. “Yes,” she started, “But you won’t, you’re too much of a coward,” “but he will,” a laughing voice came out of the trees after this was said.

Cartwheeling out of the trees came Aly, dressed as Silhouette, her whip clipped to her silver belt. She flashed her dazzling smile at the Crimson knight and shot a glare at Jess, “Three against one Jess,” she said, as Ash came out of the trees, holding Aly’s hand.

Jess eyed them angrily, “What?” she asked, her eyes flaring red, “I thought you two were enemies, now you’re here like you’re the best friends in the world!” her voice was low and angry.

Aly laughed, “It’s called acting, honey, look it up,” the girls glared at each other, a rivalry obvious.

The image shifted into that of four flaming figures, a purple panther, a red griffin, a yellow eagle and a blue Pegasus. I stumbled back and a growling roar erupted around me, “Night Shade,” “Fury Moon,” “Flaming Heart,” “Distant Sun.” A shiver went down my spine when Distant Sun was said.

The red and purple flames leapt up and began to swirl, creating a red and purple vortex. The same happened with the yellow and blue and the two vortexes’ swirled in opposite directions, a whirlwind picking up in the clearing.

“He is not who he says he is,” a deep and epic voice echoed through the clearing and the image of the vortexes flickered and faded away, leaving the stunned images of Fury Moon and myself.

We looked at each other, but somehow I knew she wasn’t a part of my dream. We walked slowly towards each other and stared at each other, stopping when we were a metre apart.

“Who’s he?” Jess asked, the stunned expression on her face fading slightly. I shrugged and looked at her. “So… telepathy and dream sharing?” I asked, slightly confused.

Jess nodded, “I guess so,” she said. A blood curdling scream came from the trees and it was so sudden and terrifying that I woke up, sweating and scared in my bed.

***

I looked frantically around my room and saw nothing to be afraid of. I sighed deeply and sat up on my bed. Secret sat on the end of my bed in her cat form. I leant over and stroked her silky fur and she looked up.

“What is the matter Mistress?” she asked, her golden eyes shining innocently. I sighed, “he is not who he says he is,” I said softly, closing my eyes. She tilted her head to the side and looked at me confused. I open my eyes and look at her, “I heard it in a dream,” I sighed tiredly.

Secret walked up to me and settled in my lap. “You will understand it in due time,” she said, purring. I noticed now that she still resembled her panther form with an uncanny likeness, and I knew that she was the same.

I started to stroke her fur and the door opened. My heart silently leapt as Shadow walked into the room and I smiled at him, staring into his deep brown eyes. Secret leaped off my lap and stalked out of the room.

“Hey,” I said, as he sat next to me on the bed. “Hi,” he replied softly, his lips curving at the ends into a smile. “Where have you been?” he asked.

Oh, I just made a blood pact with hatred, received magical powers and found out my long lost friend is to fight alongside me in the battle for dominion over the world, “Nowhere interesting,” I said with a small smile. Something in my gut told me that I shouldn’t tell him just yet. I had no clue why.

He smiled back and looked deep into my eyes. “I haven’t seen you in so long, I had forgotten how beautiful you are,” he said, his voice soft.

His eyes flared gold for just a second and I gave a surprised look before shaking my head and looking at Shadow. He breathed a sigh and looked away from me. “What?” I asked, and placed my hand on his cheek and turned his head to face me.

He stayed silent and just stared at me. It was now that I realised that his statuesque bronzed body was not covered, as he had no shirt on.

He raised an eyebrow when he saw me looking at his chest and I slowly looked away, trying to get the picture out of my mind. He laughed softly and put his finger under my chin and tilted my head so that I was looking at him.

He smiled his irresistible smile and wrapped his arms around me. I hugged him back and let the warmth of his skin flow into my body. I rested my head softly on his shoulder, facing his neck and we just sat there for a while, enjoying each other’s company.

I looked up at him and our lips met. I closed my eyes and continued to kiss him, wrapping my arms around his neck, his around my waist.

Slowly, he leant me over, brushing his hand softly against my cheek, “Oh Please God NO!”

“JESS?” I yelled in my head. I became awkwardly stiff and Shadow pulled away confusedly, “What did I do?” he asked. “Claire? Really? This is what you do in your spare time?” “What? NO!” I said, the expression on my face changing to that of complete confusion, “Trust me Shadow,” I said, “It’s not you.”

“Why were you listening in like that?” I mentally asked, annoyed and frustrated, “I couldn’t help it,” she replied, “you were thinking damn loud,”  I groaned, Shadow, staring at me like I was insane. “Sorry,” I said, kissing him quickly on the lips and pushing him out of my room, closing the door.

“Where are you?” I asked, wondering what type of distance the telepathy could cover, maybe fifty metres or something like that, “I’m at Jason's house,” I shuddered at the name, but realised, that Jason's house, if I remembered correctly, was at least two kilometres away. “Why are you at Jason's house?” I asked and there was a long pause, “No reason.”

I sighed, “Is Jason there?” I asked squeezing my eyes shut. “No,” she said, and I believed her but I didn’t know why it bothered me as much as it did.

I opened my eyes and Jess said, “while you were kissing…whoever you were kissing, I could feel it, I guess our bond is closer than we initially thought.”

A knock came at my bedroom door and Shadow walked in. he looked at me curiously and I quickly said goodbye to Jess. “What just happened?” he asked, a smile touched his lips. I smiled awkwardly and said, “I actually have no idea.”

He laughed and picked me up as if I were his bride and he kissed me, this time, I hoped that Jess wasn’t watching.

As the girl and the boy shared their moment in privacy, she couldn’t help but dwell on the fact that there was a bond between her and her friend that could not be explained and there was an unspoken, hidden fear in the back of her mind that when the storm would come, she would not be ready.