š²šA Howl In The Nightš²š
š¹She’s Mineš¹
š¼From Novel r0m@nƧĀ£š¼
šChapter 20š
p@rty Time
“Just go ahead and try,” I laugh, “try and steal me from him.”
I point as a huffing and puffing Xavier stands in the doorway. He is staring at our linked hands with ba-rely veiled disgust. I sm-irk, willing to pl@ya little game of my own.
“I thought you were gone for the day!” I exclaim, ripping my hands from his with so much f0rƧĀ£ that I nearly spin, and rushing to him, “I’m so glad you’re back!” I give him one of his own bone-crushing hvgs, and out of the corner of my eye, I see him slightly wince. “Act lovey-dovey,” I hiss in his ear whilst delving for a k!sson his nĀ£Ā¢k. It burns when I tĀ©uƧh him with my softl-ips, tingling with pas-sion that is about to break from its collar. Xavier is bewildered for a minute, then he joins in, his arms wra-pping around my form. For a minute, there is no place I would rather be. I subconsciously close my eyes, drowning in his intoxicating aroma…
“I know you guys are faking,” Ian says confidently.
“What are you talking about?” I ask, pu-lling away from Xavier so I can see Ian’s smug face. The curtain is closed, and the critic isn’t satisfied.
He grins knowingly, “you don’t do anything that regular couples would. You’ve fooled the rest of the school, but not me. I see how you rip your hand from Xavier in the hallways. I know that you don’t love him.”
I look from Ian to Xavier, alarmed. I rush to him, hvgging him ti-ghtly. I should become an actress.
“Why would you say that?” I rant, “that is so mean!” I shoot Ian a death glare, and for a moment, Ian seems unsettled. And for another second, in the safety of his warm hands, I am unsettled too.
Maybe I have been lying to myself all this time.
Away from the eyes of our audience, practically buried in each other’s arms, Xavier shoots me a wi-nk. I roll my eyes, and the forbidden question flits out of my head like a stray thought, re-ady to return at a later d@tĀ£. A d@tĀ£ I am definitely not waiting for.
“Okay then,” Ian shrugs, “if you hate me so much, then we can just be friends first.” He grins mischievously, “I know, sooner or later, you will be falling for my irresistible charm. I did save you, you know.”
“Save you?” Xavier asks suspiciously, narrowing his beautiful eyes, “from what?” The animal in him seems to rise, and for a second I spy the wolf in him, baring his teeth at the intruder.
Ian’s perfectly shaped mouth twists into a sm-irk. “Sidney, well, was having one of her bad days,” he hints, leading Xavier to the obvious. He turns to me, utmost concern carved in his features.
“What did she do to you?” he asks with probing eyes that look into my soul.
“Nothing,” I lower my eyes, ashamed that I couldn’t have taken care of it myself. Ashamed that once again, someone had to save me.
Anger builds up in him, clouding his handsome features. “Tell me.” For a second, I can s-en-se his ancient, yet perfectly preserved mind, superior in almost every way as he speaks to Ian.
“Don’t get angry with him!” I yell, running between them, “I will tell you myself.”
My breaths are heavy as Xavier finally turns to me, the anger dissipated from his face. However, some bafflement is still in his expression. Why would I save Ian from his wrath? I don’t know for sure myself. “What happened, Mona?” he questions me softly, gently.
I am nearly choking the sĀ£ntences out, for it is my failure. I do not want Ian to tell, for Xavier will kill him, whereas he will only be disappointed in me if myl-ips form the words. But I don’t want him to be disappointed. I want him to be proud.
“They bullied me,” I look to the floor, staring at the floor, “because I am different. Because you talk to me.” Silence sizzles throu-gh the air, thoughts lingering on the ti-p of my ton-gue. “Because suddenly I have everything they have ever wanted,” I whisper, concluding my insight. Xavier’s eyebrows rise slightly, and he chuckles.
“Jealousy, huh?” I stare at his face, contorted with amusement. He doesn’t even seem serious. “So what did they do to bully you?”
“They were about to cut her with a knife,” Ian cuts in; “they alre-ady sl@pped her and bruised her with their words.” I marvel over Ian’s thoughtful diction. They bruised me with words… nothing suits the impact better.
Xavier straightens, the laughter vanishing from him as quic-kly as a stray thought. “Sidney sl@pped Mona?” his words are full of caution and worry, “did she draw blood?”
“Of course she did,” Ian shrugs, “you know how she likes to wear a ton of rings.”
His face is now robotic. “How fast did it heal?”
“About thirty seconds,” I say quic-kly, “they called me a monster.” Memories rise in my mind, most of which I can ba-rely bear to remember.
Xavier doesn’t even look at me, staring at Ian. “Mona, go home. Wes is checking you out. I will join you later.”
“What?” I stare at his deathly serious face with unrestrained worry. Suddenly it seems as if the happiness is su-cked from the room, Xavier walking closer to Ian with measured footsteps.
“Go home,” he growls at me, and I literally jump back. I am not fond of this side of him… it is as if Xavier morphs into someone I do not know at times like this. quic-kly I race out the door and into the hallway, bringing the door to a gentle halt behind me. The last glimpse I snag of them is when they are inches ap@rt, Xavier demanding something from Ian with surprising f0rƧĀ£. What is he planning? Why did their discovery of my quic-k healing change his attitude so much?
I f0rƧĀ£ myself to trust him, walking down the hallway slowly. de-ep in thought, I wonder what exactly Xavier wanted to talk to Ian about. Everything seems so mysterious now, cloaked in secrecy.
Everything went throu-gh a complete and total change, a 180 degree turn of behavior in that extremely h0t clas-sroom. Why did he sĀ£nd me away?
A golden vision troops to meet me just as the bell rings, people coming out of the clas-srooms and almost completely stĀ©pping at the sight. Such beautiful, shiny gold hair… not one person has hair even close to that color in the entire school. Even Sidney’s voluptuous blond hair pales in comparison to this man.
I sigh as Wes waves at me, knowing exactly what will come next.
Great. Another round of whispers to pas-s among my clas-smates.
“Mona!” he calls, as if waving isn’t enough, “we have to go!” He finally reaches me, putting his handsome face near my ear. Shivers run up and down my arm as he tĀ©uƧhes my arm. “We captured the Shifter, and you nee-d to get there to coax it out as soon as possible.”
People are edging closer to the rays of sunshine reflecting off his hair with eyes of wonder. Many more are staring at me with viciously envious eyes. They must be wondering why I am suddenly talking to all these beautiful guys.
I’m still wondering that too.
I allow Wes to drag me to the door, pas-sing the tons of silent, staring people that would probably love to chop me in half right now. His hand feels so warm, but doesn’t burn me like Xavier’s tĀ©uƧh does. They are both incredibly handsome, yet each of them feels so different.
Right before he whisks me outside, the door where I just exited swings open and two beautiful guys step out. One has dizzyingly blue eyes, while the other outshines him with eyes of emeralds and azure hair that glitters in the sunlight. Each move the blue-haired man makes is graceful and smooth, his bĀ©dy flawless. Some eyes are immediately magnetized to this new entrance.
Sidney appears in the hallway, walking as if she is about to faint. Cloudiness is in her eyes, and she almost stumbles down the walkway when she sees my face. However, she quic-kly turns from me and rights herself, heading to Ian as he waves her over. She transforms into the beauty queen she is right before our eyes, fluttering her eyelashes at Xavier as she starts to talk to him. And Xavier begins to truly talk back.
I can see the corner of his mouth turn up in a flir-tatious sm-irk, watching the way he fli-pped his head back in a sĀ£dƻƧt!velaugh. Those actions used to be mine and mine only… why is he using them on Sidney? Strange, curious jealousy floods throu-gh me at the sight, and I quic-kly shake my head. I can’t be affected by Xavier. I don’t love someone like him, so it shouldn’t matter to me.
But then why does it hurt?
Wes practically drags me into the bright outdoors, my eyes unable to tear away from Xavier on their own. He smiles as I blink once, twice… trying to banish the image of him from my vision.
“Looks like someone is lovestruck…” Wes says laughingly, patting me on the shoulder, “I knew this would happen.”
“I don’t LOVE HIM!” I angrily punch Wes in the arm, and he jokingly staggers backwards.
“Itās okay, Mona,” he tries to comfort me, “you guys are fated to be together anyways. Why are you so opposed to the idea that you might be in love with him?”
I freeze, my mind hovering over that one question.
“Because I don’t like him,” I cross my arms, trying to hide my discomfort.
“Yes, you do,” he slings one handsome arm over my shoulder, “don’t lie to your best friend.”
“Who’s that?” I finally crack a smile, all the while pu-lling away from his friendly gesture. “I don’t have a best friend.”
“That hurts, Mona,” Wes holds his stomach as if I had stabbe-d him, “that hurts real bad.” He stumbles to the ground, gro-an ing so strangely that it actually looks like he’s laughing…
I giggle along with him, pu-lling him up. We begin to walk again, this time a little more relaxed, my mind relieved of worrying about Xavier. Wes might as well be my best friend, because I have practically no one else. No girls want to talk to me, so many being envious, yet horrified over what they had seen today. A hole is in the pit of my stomach now as I realize I don’t have a single friend that is a girl.
Crawling onto Wes’s back, I hold on as he zooms into the forest. It is almost as if we disappear, only a whisper of reality as we whisk throu-gh the trees like a Shifter would. I feel weightless, as if I am flying as we travel. I will never forget this feeling… though it is not quite the same as the time when Xavier was the one beneath me. Whenever Xavier is the one carrying me, I can feel the pounding of his heartbeat, the warmness exploding between us like fire.
Suddenly we halt, and I find myself in the middle of a vast clearing in the forest. I soon recognize it to be the backyard at the mansion, one so large that it would easily swallow five football fields. The rich, enhanced air of the garden wafts to our nostrils, the sky clear and blue. I twist my head to look up at it, up at the sparse birds fluttering throu-gh the horizon like little, lost children.
But then, to contrast with the innocence, fiery hell was peering with eyes of red into my soul. This time the possessed one is a woman, beautiful and elegant with ebony hair and creamy white skin. However, she is writhing about in agony, and my heart suddenly aches for her. Just a few days before, I would have been jealous of her for being so beautiful. Now I know what a curse it can be.
Cuts stretch across her arms like veins, dark red blood oozing forth like lava from the depths of the earth. Both of them are being held down by Ray and Yi, her long nails scratching at their skin. It is quite strange to see, their arm constantly drawing forth blood then retreating as the wounds heal almost as quic-kly as they appear. But the pain is still there… every time she pierces their flesh, a wince comes forth on the corner of theirl-ips. A smile stretches across her flu-shed cheeks, one corrupted by malice and mischief. Such a pretty monster.
I walk up to her, bending to look at her eyes closely. There is even more redness than the other boy I healed, so red that I am convinced she had been possessed for a very long time. “She was a bad one?” I ask them wonderingly.
“Terrible,” Wes gro-an s, “She had alre-ady killed thirty people by the time we even reached her.”
“It might be better just to kill her,” Ray says softly, “she’s wanted everywhere. She will probably be on death row in a couple weeks.”
Anger builds up in me, combined with horror and pure disgust. “It’s not HER,” I say sharply, “it is the Shifter inside her. Why should we kill her for something that isn’t her fault?”
I lean over her, watching her form in the green gras-s. My f!nger trembles slightly as I place it on her forehead, shaking even more as I am immediately enveloped in voices. These voices are very weak and the boom of the overwhelming drum is drowning out everything. I can’t even hear her voice, only s-en-se her tiny protest as it drowns in the depths of torture.
How can I help her, who is so lost?
Suddenly I feel a terrible pain in my hand, and I jĀ£rk it away. Red smears across the ti-p, a throb in my index f!nger growing. I g@sp as I realize she had bitten me, a bit of her blood on the end of her tooth. She is staring at me with real hate, a cackle emitting from herl-ips. quic-kly I wipe my hand on my shi-t and with a newfound determination, plop my entire hand on her forehead. I will not lose to this.
I search for the presĀ£nce, amplifying her with all my might. All my strength, all my hope is poured into her, trying to help the one oppressed. Funny how the one hateful action fuels my drive towards the Shifter’s demise.
A pair of hands seize me right before I fall into the darkness, no energy left. The draining of my f0rƧĀ£ ceases, and I land into a warm embr@ce. Almost immediately the energy returns, fulfilled as peace comes. quic-kly my eyes fly open, and I find myself to be near Wes, his eyes of concern. “You did it again,” he smiles weakly, “she is saved.”
I cannot move, for if I do, I will faint. Everything right now seems so dark, so weary. I hate this feeling I have right after helping the monsters, the feeling of complete and total helplessness. I always, at times like this, see my father with his eyes of red stare into my soul, cackling as he stabs a knife into my heart.
Reality dances a little further, a hairsbre-adth away from my grasp. Everything becomes woozy, and I become aware that this is the end. Sleep has come to take me, and the death is on its heels. My father is chuckling as the blood seeps from my wound. This is what I get for trying to fight against the Shifters. I am too weak…
Maybe it would be best to close my eyes for a while.
T B C