I see Nix in black dress pants and a button up whiter shirt. His thick hair is slicked back and when he looks at me, he runs his hand through it. I walk down the stairs towards him.
"Wow Chara, you look absolutely stunning!"
"Thank you, Nix. You look handsome as well," he blushes.
"Come on, we need to head out," he takes my hand.
"Where are we going?"
"You will see soon enough, now come on."
We walk out of the front door and he continues to walk. We come across a big building that has strobe lights coming out of the windows from inside. Let's hope all goes well tonight.
"I love the converse by the way," Nix says after looking at my shoes and I blush.
"I can't walk in heels," I reply.
"That's okay, I love the converse. They suit you," he smiles, and I smile back.
We walk up the front steps to the huge door. Nix reaches out and turns the handle. We walk into an open room with a bar, snacks, music, and lights. I look at all the people and I know all of them. I can't believe Talia went through the trouble to invite all my friends. Brett was in my power practice class last year and I helped him with his powers. John, Callum, and Peter are the three I met at the tournament last year, Peter is one of the Di's at the school. Then we have Lucy, the other Di, Pera and Rex are from the supernatural animal training class. Ryan and Luke are form the Riverwood pack and Layla is Ryan's mate. Then there is Carly, Brett's younger sister that I have only met a few times, but she is so nice. I look to my right and see Jason, Talia, Lina, Mikhail, Jared, and Killian talking amongst each other. Some tears come to my eyes, I can't believe she did this for me, no one has done anything like this for me before. Nix seems to notice my watery eyes.
"Are you okay?" he asks, worry in his tone.
"Yes, I am perfectly fine, I just can't believe Talia did this for me."
"Well, let's go see them and have some fun before we head out."
"Head out?"
"Yes we will stya for an hour, but then we have somewhere to be."
I give him a questioning look, but he just grins and walks over to our friends pulling me along by my hand.
"Happy Birthday!" they all say in sync as they turn to face Nix and me.
"Thank you, guys, and thank you Talia for setting this all up. It is amazing!"
"You're very welcome Chara, I knew you probably wouldn't want a bunch of strangers here, so I made sure to only invite your friends. It really helped to have Nix and Jason around, they told me who you are friends with."
"Thank you, guys," I say to Jason and Nix, "I am going to go say hi to the others, I will see you in a bit."
They all nod in agreement and Nix asks if I want him to come. I tell him that he can only if he wants to and he grabs my hand, interlocking our fingers, and I take him over to the first group; John, Callum, and Peter.
"Hey guys," I greet.
They all wish me a happy birthday and I thank them.
"So, did the principal end up making an assembly?" I ask.
"He did, but since you weren't there, he wouldn't say anything. Do you want to tell us? You don't have to if you don't want to though," John replies.
"I don't mind, I just want you guys to keep this to the people in this room because I trust all of you, okay?" they all nod, "Good, I am Chara Shade, Goddess of Sinalo."
Their jaws all drop, "Awesome! I got to battle a goddess!" Peter exclaims making us all laugh.
"Yeah, you did," I chuckle.
We talk a bit longer and they ask some questions about myself to which I answer honestly. Soon I say my goodbyes and make my way over to Lucy, Brett, and Carly.
"Kate!" Brett smiles and gives me a hug.
Nix growls and I shoot him an annoyed look to which he mouths sorry.
"Hi Brett, how are you?"
"Great! I am getting better with my powers, and I have figured out how to make a shield with my telekinesis like you can, but I can't hold it for very long yet."
"That's awesome Brett, I am very proud of you. How are you Carly? I don't think you ever told me what powers you have."
"Oh, can control the earth element. What about you?"
"I have many powers, I am a goddess actually," all of them look shocked, "sorry I didn't tell you guys before, but I wanted to keep it a secret as long as possible."
"That's okay, what are you the goddess of?" Lucy questions.
"Sinalo, my name is actually Chara," all of their facial expressions return back to their previously shocked ones.
"My brother was taught to use his powers by a goddess?" I nod in response, "Cool!"
I laugh and Brett speaks up, "that is why I am so strong with my powers now."
I look at him with curiosity, "what do you mean?"
"Well, when a god or goddess teaches you how to use your power, especially if they have the same one, you become extremely good at your power. The person that was taught will be stronger than another person with the same power."
"I didn't know that, but I am happy it was you that I taught. I know you will use your powers for the better."
"Thank you, that means a lot. Knowing this I will push myself more while practicing since I know I can take it."
"Come on Chara, we need to go and talk to the others because we must leave soon."
I nod to Nix and say goodbye to Brett, Carly, and Lucy. We walk over to Pera and Rex who were grabbing some chips, I see Louise and Bomber, their bonded, playing around beside them.
"Hello Pera and Rex, how are you?"
"Kate! We're good, how about you? How does it feel to be eighteen?" Rex asks.
"Pretty good, I found my mate here," I say patting Nix on the chest, "you should probably call me Chara though, that is my real name."
"As in THE Chara, from the prophecy?" Pera asks and I nod in response.
That's amazing!" Rex exclaims, "Also, congrats on finding your mate!"
"Thank you, Rex, how's Bomber and Louise?" I see Nix has a confused look on his face from the corner of my eye.
"They are great, and they are getting better. Louise is working on her telekinesis now; we are really bonding."
"Bomber and I are working on his transformations right now, we almost have it, but we are becoming really good friends."
"That's awesome, I wish you both luck."
"Thank you, did you hear what happened to Kat?" Pera questions and I shake my head no, "Flame left her because Kat never treated her right."
"When did this happen?" I called it, knew this would happen.
"Just today, apparently Flame is on the search for a new bonded," Pera replies.
"I hope Flame does better than her last choice."
"Me too, Flame deserves better," Rex adds.
"I am sorry to interrupt, but who is Louise, Bomber, and Flame?" Nix asks, confused.
"Oh, Louise is bonded to Pera, she is right over there with Bomber," I point beside the table that the snacks are on, "Flame is or I guess was Kat's bonded, but Kat was so mean to Flame and always ordered Flame around that Flame left Kat in search of another person to bond with."
"Oh, what's a bonded?"
"You know Zane?" he nods, "He is my bonded, so it is a similar idea."
"Oh okay, what's the difference?" Nix asks, curious.
"Well, Nix is a pure chimera, Louise is a unicorn, Bomber is an amphibious chimera, and Flame is a phoenix. Oh, Killian also has a bonded named Ryder, he is a bird chimera."
"That's so cool!" he exclaims, and we all laugh.
"We should go say hi to the rest, I will see you guys later I hope."
I crouch down to Louise and Bomber to make a link, 'I hope you guys are well and I am sure Pera and Rex will treat you right. Good luck on advancing and mastering your skills.'
'Thank you, Chara,' Bomber says.
'We really appreciate it!' Louise adds.
'Did you guys always know who I was?' I ask the two.
'Yes; however, we are not a loud to say anything to anyone until you tell them. All supernatural animals know about you and we can sense your power as well,' Louise explains.
'Well, thank you for choosing these guys as your bonded, you make great pairs.'
They nod and I drop the link. They look all excited and start jumping around the place. I stand back up chuckling.
"Everything alright?" Nix asks.
"Yes, they are great bonded, treat them well," I tell Pera and Rex.
They look shocked for a moment and then nod. Nix and I make our way over to Luke, Ryan, and Layla. Jason has also found his way over to them.
"Chara!" Layla shouts and runs up to me, giving me a big hug.
"Hey Layla, what's up?"
"Well, it's pretty boring hanging out with these guys, I need a girl to talk to."
"Hey!" Ryan says sounding hurt.
"Come on Babe, I need girl time," she says rolling her eyes.
"Well, sorry to disappoint, but Nix is taking me somewhere and I have to leave soon. Why don't I introduce you to Talia and Lina, they are great."
"The demons?" she quivers.
"Yes, they are very nice and not at all how you would think, right Jason?"
Layla looks to Jason and he says, "definitely, they are great people. Come on, I will introduce you because Nix and Chara has to leave now," he looks at his watch.
Nix looks at his and tells me he is right, and we must get going. I say my goodbye's and we leave the building. I can't stop wondering what we are doing, but I know there is no point in asking since I know he won't tell. We walk through the forest until we come up to a town. We walk down the street until we come up to a nice restaurant, we walk in and the hostess takes us up to the rooftop patio to a table. From here we can see the beautiful sunset, the sky is filled with oranges, reds, and yellows as if it is on fire. The waitress comes up to us.
"Hello, welcome to Lakeside Restaurant. I am Rachel and I will be your waitress this evening. What can I get you two to drink?"
"I will have a glass of water please," I say.
"The same for me," Nix says.
"I will be right back with those," the waitress walks off.
"It's beautiful here Nix, thank you for bringing me here."
"It is my pleasure."
"The view is beautiful," I say looking at the sunset.
"It really is," he says looking at me.
I blush, "that is so cheesy Nix."
"It made you blush though."
I roll my eyes, still blushing, "did not."
"Sure, what are you going to have?"
"I am not sure, what about you?"
"I am thinking their striploin steak with a caesar salad."
"Sounds good, I think I will have the chicken caesar salad."
Soon the waitress comes back with the glasses at water and asks what we would like to eat. We tell her out orders and sets off to place them. Nix and I just talk to get to know one another while we wait for the food to come. We finish eating and Nix pays the check and he says he has somewhere else to take me. I expect him to take me to the movies or some cliché spot like that, but to my surprise we leave town and walk into the forest. Once we walk a few minutes into the forest Nix stops and turns to face me with a smile.
"What?" I ask with a smile on my face.
"Want to go on a run?"
I can tell by his grin that he means to run in our wolf forms. I nod, smiling and he begins to shift and I transform as well. Mine doesn't take as long since I don't have to shift my bones and the magic does everything for me. I stand there watching him and when he is done, he is a pitch-black fur that is dark as a starless sky. He is a foot or so shorter than me.
'Hey shorty,' I laugh.
'I am not short, you are just huge,' he growls.
'Keep telling yourself that,' I lick his face and run at full speed through the forest. He runs after me but can't catch up.
'Having trouble keeping up back there, Nix?'
'No,' he denies.
'Sure you aren't, why don't you come run next to me then?'
'I like it back here, that's why.'
I laugh and I slow down to his pace.
'What is that marking on your fur?' Nix asks.
'It is a symbol of me accepting my destiny, I have it tattooed over my ribs.'
'Cool, I always wanted to get a tattoo, but I haven't had time yet.'
'I think you should get one, you would look super-hot.'
He looks at me, 'I guess I will get one as soon as I can in that case.'
I chuckle.
'Are you ready to search for your dad tomorrow?'
'I don't know, I hope I can find him. He has tried to contact me before. He told me to leave Cade, to trust Zane, and to get away from the danger when I got in a car crash. I am still fuzzy on how I got out of that one,' I say, I also don't know what happened with Zane, I should probably ask him that.
'You got in a car crash?'
'Yeah, on my way to New York, something stopped me because it was like I hit an invisible rock wall in the middle of the street. I bet it was Altair.'
'I still can't believe he is trying to kill you when his father doesn't want you harmed. I can't understand that.'
'I know it's weird, but Aluca doesn't have any part in it, I don't know why, but I trust him.
I will trust your gut on that one since I haven't really met him.'
We run in silence for a bit and I subconsciously run to the waterfall I was at with Nix, Jason, and Zane a while ago.
I look to Nix and ask him, 'can you let Lupus take control for a bit? I want to talk with him as well.'
'Sure.'
I soon see Nix's wolf eyes flash yellow telling me Lupus is in control.
'Hey Lupus, how are you?'
'Amazing, thank you for telling Nix to let me out. He never lets that happen because he is afraid I will kill someone.'
I chuckle, 'well, I am sure you won't kill me.
Never in a million years. Want to go for a swim?'
I don't bother answering, I just jump in. I have never swam in anything other than in my human form before and it feels weird. I swim to the edge and hop out. I shift back into my human form and take off my clothes except for my underwear and bra. I jump back in. I turn around to see Nix back in his human for, with only his boxers on. I see his eyes shine yellow when the moonlight hits them telling me it is still Lupus. He cannonballs in, splashing me.
He comes up behind me and gives me a hug, 'I am going to give Nix back now. I hope I get to talk to you again soon.'
'Goodbye Lupus.'
"Hey love, was Lupus nice to you?"
"Yes, he was, can you not see or hear what happens when he takes control?"
"He blocks me out every time, so I don't know what happens. That is why I don't let him out often."
I nod in understanding. His arms tighten around my waist and I put my head back onto his shoulder. All of a sudden Nix goes underwater, pulling me down with him. I decide to try out a new power of breathing underwater. I close my eyes to focus on breathing in the water and breathing the water out of my lungs. I feel my magic work and I open my eyes. Nix lets go of my waist and I turn to face him while breathing in the water. He seems to panic for a minute, but then realizes that I can breathe underwater.
'You are amazing,' he says in my head. I am confused because I didn't make a link.
'How did you just talk to me, I didn't make a link?'
'It's the bond, you can hear my thoughts and sometimes I can hear yours. We have our own link that is open unless you turn it off.'
'Oh, I guess I have a lot to learn about this bond thing.'
I see Nix needing to go up for air, but I feel like I can share my magic with him. I swim forward so I am closer to his and I put my hands in his. I feel the sparks from his touch, but then I also feel my magic going to Nix. His eyes open widen, I am guessing he is confused.
'You can breathe now,' I tell him.
He opens his mouth and breathes in the water, a shocked look spreads across his face.
'This is awesome!' He smiles.
'I think this is another part of the bond, it is different because I am not a wolf like you.'
'So, does this mean you can share your powers with me?'
'I think so, it will probably wear off eventually or I can stop sharing it with you. I can feel something like a string in my mind that if I pull it, it will stop sharing the power with you. I can't do this with anyone else I don't think.'
'Cool!'
We swim around a bit more and then we hop out and dress ourselves. We decide to walk back, in our human forms, to the pack house. We take our sweet time back to the house and we pass some of the wolves on guard on the way. They greet us by bowing their heads in respect due to Nix being there. We eventually make it back and I head off to my room to change into my PJ's. I am tired from the amazing events of my birthday. There is a knock at my door, and I head over to it while Zane just lay there on the floor. I open the door to reveal Nix on the other side.
"Hey, Chara…um, would you want to…uh..." he stutters.
"Come on in Nix," I step out of the way.
He walks in and I walk over to my bed laying down in it under the soft, warm covers. I shiver a bit until I feel Nix's warm chest against my back, and his strong arms around my waist. I soon fall into a deep sleep.
I wake up to Nix landing a kiss on my forehead causing me to look over at him.
"Morning love, we must get packing to leave," he says in a hushed tone.
"Mmhmm," I groan, not wanting to get out of bed.
"Come on sleepyhead. I will go make you breakfast if you pack."
"I am pretty much packed; I haven't unpacked all my clothes from my duffle bag because I knew we were leaving today. You need to go pack. I will get up in a minute."
"Okay, I will see you in a bit."
He walks out of my room and shuts the door. I groan at the thought of having to leave the comfy bed, but I know I have to get ready. I stretch my limbs and sit up on the edge of the bed. I yawn and stand up, wiping the sleep from my eyes. I walk into the bathroom and brush my teeth, then I throw on a pair of black leggings, a baggy dark grey sweater, and my converse. I walk downstairs with my duffle bag in hand dropping it off at the door with Daniel's bag. I meet Daniel in the kitchen, and I look at the time. Its freaking six in the morning. No wonder I am so tired.
"Why so early?" I ask myself.
"Oh, it's not that bad," Daniel smiles.
"Easy for you to say, you always get up this early."
"True. Do you want a bagel?"
"Is that even a question?"
He just smiles and hands me a toasted bagel with butter on it. I finish half of the bagel as Nix walks into the kitchen and takes my other half.
"Hey! Nix, what the duck?"
"What the duck?" he asks, mouth full of bagel.
"Yes, what the duck are you doing? That's my breakfast."
"Well, not anymore it isn't."
I just roll my eyes and I drink my cup of coffee Daniel passes me. I nod in thanks and take a big gulp trying to wake myself up.
"Thirsty?" Nix asks me.
"No, tired."
Soon we finish eating our food and drinking our coffee. We then make our way to Daniel's car and I hop in the front with Daniel.
"Where to first?" I ask Daniel, wondering where we look for the gate to Valanter.
"We are going to go see me friend, he is a god that is around our age. He may know where to find Noc."
"Why him?"
"His power is locating people and places. If anyone can find where Valanter is, it would be him."
I stare out the window thinking, I really hope I can find my dad; I have so many questions. I hear static on the radio and jerk up looking at the screen in the car. Zane seems to notice my uneasiness and looks at me as if asking if I am alright. I just bring my finger to my lips to tell him to remain silent. I focus my attention on the sound of static and hear the man's voice from the radio when I was driving with Zane to New York.
"Chara, you cannot go to the other gods asking for help. There will be signs as to where to find me, trust yourself. I love you," just like that the static left and was replaced by music once again.
I turn to the back seat where Zane is sitting staring at me intently.
'My dad contacted me again.'
'Really? What did he say? He seems to only appear when it is absolutely necessary.'
'I know, he said we cannot trust other gods and cannot ask them for help. I have to look for signs that will lead me to where I can find him.'
'Well that makes things a whole lot harder.'
'I know right. I hope this will work out and I can find him before it's too late.'
'Me too.'
"Daniel?"
"Yes Chara?"
"We can't ask any of the gods to help us."
He turns to look at me briefly, "what do you mean we can't?"
"I mean we cannot ask them for help, you have to trust me. We have to find another way."
He sighs, "okay, I trust you. I have no clue what to do now though."
I think and then grab my backpack pulling out a map I got from Realia. I open it and see a blue line begin to glow; I follow it from where we are to where it ends. It ends in a place called Paleric. I am confused as to where this place is, it is obvious that this isn't a normal map.
"Daniel, we should go to Paleric, have you heard of it?"
His eyes widen at the name of the town, "I don't think we should go there. How do you even know that name?" he looks scared.
"The map is saying we should go there, we have to go. What's so bad about it?"
"It is the city of Laren. Laren are magic folk that control shadows and death. They are extremely dangerous and don't like others who are not Laren."
"We have to go, trust me Daniel."
He sighs, "I don't think we can all get in, you have to have the same powers to enter the town. I will not let you go in alone."
"Well, Zane has the same powers so he can come with me. I need to go okay? Please."
"Fine," Daniel grunts.
"No," Nix growls.
"Excuse me?"
"No, you will not go alone where you can't be protected."
I glare at Nix, "for your information, if you couldn't already tell, I am quite capable of taking care of myself and if I get into trouble, I have Zane with me."
Zane nods in agreement and Nix just huffs and looks out the window.
'No point in arguing when you know you are going to lose,' I tell Zane.
He laughs, 'very true. Defeated!'
I laugh at his remark.
The drive is pretty long to get to Paleric. I take the time to talk to Zane to explain how to use his shadow powers.
'Okay Zane, you focus on the dark areas around you, on your own shadow, or the darkness you can create with your body. You must pull the shadows into the shape you wish it to form and move its limbs.'
Zane nods and focuses on the shadows in the car. I see them begin to move to the middle of the backseat. It forms a human-like structure and Zane brings the hand up to wave at me to which I chuckle. He then moves its hand over to touch Nix's face who is still staring out the window at this point. Nix jumps and turns to face the dark figure. He looks terrified and then growls loud warning the figure to leave. I begin laughing hysterically at Nix's cluelessness. He looks over to me confused.
"Zane is just practicing, it's alright."
The shadow waves to Nix as he looks back to face it. Slowly Zane lets the shadow figure disappear into the shadows once again. I smile and congratulate Zane. When Daniel pulls over after a little while to fill up his gas tank and grab some coffee for everyone, Zane and I focus on the power of Death. I have only tried this once and it was on a plant. We both practice on the surrounding plants.
'Okay, we will start with death and then we can work on life as well to restore the plants.'
'Okay, what do we do first?'
'Close your eyes and feel the energy of life flowing through yourself. Then, feel it flowing through the flower in front of you. Once you feel that, imagine the energy flowing from the flower to you, soak it up so to speak.'
Both Zane and I do this together, I try to hold my eyes open and concentrate which has been much easier the more I practice. I soak up all of the energy from the flower as I watch it slowly die and lose its colour. I look over to Zane and at first nothing was happening. Then the flower slowly wilts away, being drained of its life. He opens his eyes looking happy that he did it. I then explain to him that the power of life is similar, and you must imagine giving the energy of life back to the flower, see it bloom and thrive with colour. We both complete the task quickly and soon we have to go meet back up with the others at the car.
I sit down in the back seat this time with Zane and Nix sits in the front. I sip my coffee slowly trying to prolong its delicious taste. After I finally finish my coffee, I pull out my book of supernatural creatures. I look for Laren, and about halfway through the book I find the page on them. It says what Daniel mentioned about their powers and then I find out their appearance. Crap! Why didn't Daniel mention they have deep blue hair and bright blue eyes. Now I have to work on that and make Zane's fur coat the same. I touch the picture of the Laren and imagine my hair taking the colour of its hair. I feel my magic working and look at my hair; it is a beautiful shade of deep blue. I then look at the eye colour and focus on changing that. I feel as if it worked and I turn to Zane.
'Are my eyes and odd, bright shade of blue?
Yes, why did you do that?'
I turn the book so he can see, 'I think you should change into your wolf when we get there and then I will change your fur and eye colour.'
'Okay, that is a good plan.'
After a couple more hours, Daniel pulls over at a fast food restaurant called Kali. I get a crispy chicken wrap with fries, and I buy Zane some fries. Daniel gets a chicken burger with fries and Nix gets a cheeseburger with fries. We eat as we continue to drive, I glace at the map and see that we are only twenty minutes away from Paleric. We stop in the forest and we all exit the car. Zane shifts into his wolf and I place my hands on his fur changing it to the same colour as my hair. I walk around to his face and place my hands on either side of his eyes changing them to a bright blue that seems to glow slightly. I turn back to face Nix and Daniel who look stunned and Daniel looks a little scared.
"It's only us Daniel, don't worry," I reassure him.
"I know, I just haven't had good experiences with Laren. Be careful, call if you need us."
I nod and walk over to Nix and give him a hug, "Be careful," he whispers in my ear.
"I will don't worry and don't do anything rash."
"No promises."
I just shake my head slightly with a small smile. We release out embrace and Nix kisses me on the forehead. I then begin to walk in the direction of the gates. Once they are in view, I see two guards standing outside, guarding them. They have dark blue hair and bright blue eyes. Zane and I make out way over to them.
"Who are you and what are you doing here?" one man asks, sternly.
"My name is Tara, and this is my chimera Luke. We wish to pass these gates into Paleric for shelter for a few nights until we need to continue on."
They look from me to Zane and then back to me, the other man speaks up, "Show us proof of your powers and then you may pass."
I put my arm out to the side and pull a shadow person out from in the treeline. It walks over to us and holds out its hand to shake the guard's hand. Hesitantly, he takes it and looks surprised while shaking it. I then make the shadow walk back into the shadows and disappear. I then sweep my hands down from in front of me and out to my sides making all the grass in the area die. They look taken aback by this. They then do something that surprises the hell out of me. They bow their heads and keep their gazes to the ground.
"I am honoured to be in the presence of a great master. It is a great honour to meet you," one says.
"It truly is," the other guard adds.
I look to Zane, confused. He looks back at me the same way. I look back towards the guards.
"May we pass now?"
"Of course, Master of Laren. May you enjoy your stay here."
They both open the door; Zane and I walk through confidently and they close the gates behind us. I turn to look at Zane as we walk.
'What the hell is a master of Laren?'
'I have no clue, maybe when we find a place to stay, you can look more into that book.'
'Maybe it mentions something.'
'Good idea.'
We walk farther through the forest until a clearing where a small village is located. There are many people roaming the streets and we get some stares as we walk by, some seem to cower in fear when they see Zane. We come to an inn and walk up to the front desk.
"Hello, welcome to Paleric Inn, how can I help you?" he says looking at his computer.
"Hi, I need a room for two nights."
He looks up from his computer to look at me and then over to Zane. His eyes widen.
"O-of c-course," he stutters.
"Thank you," I say as I take the key from his trembling hand.
Zane and I walk upstairs and into room 207 where there is a nice sized queen bed. I sit down and Zane lays down on the floor beside the bed. I reach into my backpack and pull out the book on other supernatural creatures and their powers. It says that Laren Masters are very powerful and advanced Laren that have a great magnitude of power. Some are fearful of the masters because of the power they hold, and it is also rare for a Laren Master to have a bonded. Makes sense as to why some of the people in town acted the way they did and why the guy downstairs was so nervous.
'It says that Laren Masters have incredible power and it is rare for one to have a bonded.'
'Makes sense, unfortunately that will make us stick out in public even more.'
'What's done, is done.'
Soon we drift off to sleep in the quiet little town. When morning comes Zane and I wake up to the sun shining in the windows. I get off the bed and head into the bathroom where I am relived to find that my appearance if holding up. I look back to where Zane is yawning and see his appearance hasn't changed either. I get dressed into my black ripped jeans, royal blue crop top, and my favourite black leather jacket. Zane and I walk downstairs to the lobby of the Inn where the man at the front desk keeps his head down when he sees that it is us. We walk out the door as the bell on it rings, announcing that we are leaving the Inn, and we walk out onto the sidewalk.
Everyone around us seems to try to not look our way to ensure we will not talk with them. We continue to walk until I notice someone is following us, Zane can sense it as well. Once we reach the town border into the woods, we walk in. we go until the town is just out of sight and wait for the stalker to show themselves. After a minute of waiting and knowing they are out there I call out to them.
"I know you are there, what do you want?" I snap.