100 Years to Live (Completed)

Chapter 18 : Betrayed

We all just stood there for the longest time. Everyone was waiting for someone to make the first move.

The werewolves and the vampires, all ready to pounce, stood out on the field at a halt waiting for any command to go. My family and friends looked at me with disbelief. The sorcerers stood in front of their house, prepared to take on the world. And I stood not where should, but where I knew was the right place to be.

I was hoping we would all continue standing and glaring until Benjy came back. Then they would all see I was right and they were wrong and they would take the potion and we would all be saved.

But we are talking about a cross-town trek here. Benjy was only gone for 5 minutes, he couldn't have even made it to my neighborhood yet, when the silent stand-and-glare was over.

"Noelle…" Garret called. He moved to the front of the pack so he was only a few feet away from me. "Noelle, what do you think you are doing?"

I replied in the earnest voice I could muster. "I'm saving you."

Garret looked at me with his ever-tired, solemn eyes and shook his head.

Clarence and Ethan were marching up as well. "Noelle, why are you with him?"

I looked to my left where Jonah was now standing. He half grinned and nodded, taking Clarence's rude remark as a greeting.

"You're on the wrong side," Clarence said. "Please, Noelle. Please just come…"

"No." The whole field got awfully quiet.

"Move out of the way," Ethan ordered, with a sound of both despair and finality in his voice.

I stepped forward and spread my arms, symbolically shielding Jonah, Sarah, and Pete behind me. "If you want to harm them," I said, "then I am not going anywhere."

Garret, Clarence, and Ethan all had the same troubled expression. My father, my boyfriend, and my best friend were all torn between the anger to attack the magical ones and the fear of hurting me along the way. Because they couldn't find the heart to possibly hurt me. They love me. It's cruel, I know, but it's the one thing I can hold above them.

The field of vampires and werewolves broke into conversation voicing the conflict I was causing. Hey, it's just my tactic to stall!

"Hurry up, Benjy," I muttered under my breath.

"Yeah, seriously," Jonah agreed.

--

15 minutes later, Benjy still hadn't returned, which is expectable since he has to give the curing potion to every sick victim. Hopefully, he listened and gave the potion to Natalie first and not to Amy.

Garret, Clarence, and Ethan were now talking with Penelope and the rest of the pack was getting antsy. The moon over head was so near the sun. It's a life and death moment.

Then my three men were walking back to me. "Yes?" I asked.

"You aren't going to move?" Garret asked again.

"Nope."

"Then I guess we have to move you ourselves."

"Wh—" But before I could finish, Ethan and Clarence had grabbed and were attempting to carry me off. I saw Garret signal everyone else and they started moving towards the sorcerers. "NO!!!" I did not come all this way to be dragged off like some pawn, I am here to fight.

Panic-stricken, Jonah reached out and grabbed one of my flailing arms. He tried to pull me back to him while Ethan and Clarence yanked me the other way. Now I was literally a tug-of-war rope.