♦September's POV♦
"I don't know why I feel like Arianna is onto me." I whisper to Selena after catching Arianna's watchful eyes for what seemed like the hundredth time.
"Then maybe she is." She decided, snuggling closer to Dane who was giving her a piggy back ride to the basement.
"Real helpful, twin sister." I say sarcastically.
"Vampire right?" A soft voice asks behind me.
"Yeah, you?" I ask quite eager to know.
"Can't you guess?" She teases in that exotic accent of hers - and did I mention softly.
"I'm totally blank." I admit sheepishly.
We reach the basement and for all my prodding Nadia refused to give up her identity.
"Watch your step Lucy." Travon warns her, guarding her like an egg.
"I wasn't counting but throughout the length of the short trip to the basement, you've said that a lot. I mean, I just went to the restroom not the blasted ICU." She sasses him, wrenching her hand from his.
"Are you accusing me of being clingy?" He spits in disbelief.
"Oh Travon," Lucinda coos. "Of course I'm accusing you of being clingy." She snaps.
"No way, you guys shouldn't even think about it." Dane interrupts, halting their quickly escalating argument.
"It feels like Jumanji in here." Arianna whispers.
"You wish." Cameron tells her - we had a while to bond and we did so pretty hard.
"Well if you guys want to leave this place, you'd better get started." Cyril says, unveiling a throne and getting comfortable - it's an actual throne.
"Wait a moment." Selena plants herself in front of him. "Why did Axel call you name?" She asks slowing, eyes gleaming.
"Ow! Selena, that hurts." Cyril whispers tightly, wincing.
"Why?" She growls.
"Fine. Ow! Ow! I got detention too." Cyril confesses, sighing out when she stops manipulating him.
"This basement is a huge mess." Cameron complains.
He's right though, there's barely enough room to place our feet.
After working steadily for a few hours most of the clutter is gone.
"You are way stronger than I expected." Lucy says, eyeing Selena and I.
"It's no big deal." I shrug my frail shoulder.
"Plus you don't even sound tired, what do you have? Supernatural abilities." She pants out, leaning heavily on what looks like a huge pile of bones.
Everyone held their breaths.
"What's wrong?" Lucinda asks, sensing it immediately. "Did I say something wrong? Are you guys anti DC?"
"No you said nothing wrong." I babble quickly.
"Then you don't mind getting me that cushion." She requests shyly pointing to a bright, fluffy thing that sat atop a pile of mean looking wardrobes that looked like they acted in 'The Lion, the Witch and Wardrobe.' - what the hell are doing in a school anyway?
"Um, sure." I murmur hesitantly, I just made friends with Nadia and I definitely not going to let more of my friends think me weak.
With this conviction I start up the wardrobes, ignoring the horror filled expressions on everyone's face.
When I get to the top, I reach out to grab a cushion only for the wardrobe pile to fall apart underneath me. Squealing, I curl into a ball, expecting to be crushed into pieces.
I pry open my tightly shut eyes when I don't feel any crushing to see Zach cradling me like a glass bowl and my heart skip a couple beats. Cameron, Cyril and Selena help to put the wardrobes back.
I sense more than hear the starting of Cameron's low growl, the over protective snit. We are supposed to be friends but he somehow morphed into my dad and bodyguard all in one person.
I totally plan to ignore him, heavens knows when I'll get this opportunity again but he only growls louder. Silver eyes boring holes into me. I reluctantly leave Zach's hold and rush over to him before he grows fangs.
"Here's your cushion." I mumble to Lucinda.
"Thanks." She chuckles awkwardly.
"You're welcome."
"Aaaaaaagh!" Nadia let out a short scream, which is pretty loud by the way.
"What's wrong?" Everybody chorused.
"I felt the ground move under me." She informs us, spreading her arms out wide for traction.
We all stare at her like her hair changed colors.
"I'm dead serious..." She starts to say when the ground rumbles.
Muffled cursing, everyone grabbing onto something for support, staring with mixed excitement and horror as the middle of the basement floor opened up.
"September!" Cyril, Cameron and Selena yells my name at the same time over the loud noise.
"What?" I bite out.
"Are you okay?" Cameron asks.
"I'm not a bloody chiillddd.... Aaaaaaargh!" I end on a scream as something grabs my legs and starts to pull me.
"I'm sorry about this Travon." Zach apologizes - what is he doing when I'm about to die? I note that my legs have started disappearing through the newly created hole.
A muffled squeal and the thing let's go, Selena pulls me up and out.
"You were saying?" Cyril asks - 'the asshat'
"I heard that." He replies out loud and I stick my tongue at him.
"What just happened?" Lucinda questions, trying to disentangle herself from Travon, as if his mere presence distracted her. "Zach just threw a fireball, he made with his bare hands." She accuses with wide eyes.
"It's actually not fire, its called magical resonance." Ciaran cuts in smugly, Lucy just stares blankly at him trying very hard not to lose her mind.
"And we have a winner." Selena says drily.
"You know I actually thought he was going to sit this one out." Cameron comments.
"We all did." Dane adds.
"You guys realize I'm right he... Watch out!" Ciaran suddenly yells, pushing Nadia out of the way of a nasty looking black ball.
He screams as the ball creates a hole in his chest.
"You talk too much." A guttural voice taunts from the depths of the hole, dragging our attention back to the shadows.
"How could we have forgotten about the elephant in the room?" Dane asks a tad too dramatically.
"And how long have you been waiting to use that line?" Cameron asks him.
"Quite sometime now." He humors the werewolf. "Unfortunately, we don't have any fat frien..."
A high piercing shriek tears through the air, throwing us back against the debris of the basement, obliterating the dark lump that threw the magic at Ciaran.
"Oh that's what she is." I mutter in realization. "A Banshee."
"Obviously." Selena drawls.
"Go away."
"I wish you would." She tells me seriously and I realize I have no way of defending myself.
"You can't keep on protecting me, I have to take care of myself eventually."
"I know."
"Lucinda, stay behind me no matter what happens, don't leave my side." Travon says gravely.
"You never use my full name." She observes frantically.
"That's how serious it is and I'm sorry for everything." He apologizes quietly, transforming. He crouches low, still looking human but ethereal and obviously inhuman.
The rest get ready if as a large amount of solid shadows crawl out. We unconsciously form groups, Nadia and Travon on one side, Lucinda crouching over Ciaran behind them. Zach and Arianna levitate over to them. The usual trio protecting me.
♦Lucinda's POV♦
"Christ," I curse, holding Ciaran's cold hand. "I've been living a lie."
"That makes two." He grunts.
'He's alive!'
"You're alive!" I repeat happily out loud.
"I heard you the first time."
"You what? My god!" I gasp out, a little more than overwhelmed. "Now could you tell me what the hell is happening?" I ask him nervously, pushing my glasses upward.
"I wish I knew." He sighs, closing his eyes tiredly. "I fucking wish I knew."
♦Nadia's POV♦
'He took a bullet for me.' I chant mentally as I kick away a shadow and scream the head off another. 'He really took a bullet for me' I repeat, unable to help myself.
'Say it one more time and you get a bullet from me.' I hear Cyril's voice in my head.
'I can't help it, nobody ever does nice things for the new girl and I've always been the new girl as far back as I can remember.'
'Well, welcome to club,' He drawls, sending another shadow into mental agony.
'Are we really doing this? Having this conversation right in the middle of fight?' I ask him, dragging a shadow that got too close Ciaran, 'My Ciaran.'
'I heard that, he's my friend you can't just own him.'
'We'll see.' I tell him ominously. 'By Jove! Is that me?'
'It is. You? I like you, now duck.' He orders.
"What?" I mumble out loud.
'Just duck.' He repeats.
"Okay." I squat, feeling something brush past my head, I look back to see Cyril rip out the neck of a shadow that was about to get me.
"You, I like you too." I tell him. It's nice to finally fit in even if it was with a bunch of crazy people.
♦Cameron's POV♦
"I'm the king of wolves, oh oh ooh. Check it out..."
"Cameron, that's a barbie song." September interrupts me.
"No it's not." I argue.
"It's too."
"Septe," I say by way of conversation. "These guys are too easy to kill.".
"That's supposed to be a good thing right?" She asks, constantly moving behind, Selena Cyril and I.
"I suppose, I'm just suspicious." I admit, rushing after a shadow that went after September, more quickly followed. "I'm over here dumbasses!" I growl loudly but they just keep chasing after her.
"Leave my sister alooooonnneeeee!!!" Selena screams and I wince, my over sensitive ears pick every frequency and it's not funny.
She rips some apart and more falls in pain but they just keep going after Septe.
One holds her captive and begins to mutter something, I try to drag it away but another shadow grabs my leg and I go down. I kick it into the dark hole and quickly look up only to see Zach with her in a shield.
I curse inaudibly, getting up. "He didn't need to be in there with her, holding her." I mutter darkly.
'Tell me about it.' Cyril comments in my head.
Without September attracting all of the attention we attack without holding back and soon the last shadow is tossed into the hole and Arianna seals.
♦September's POV♦
"Oh! I'm fatigued." Arianna sighs dramatically.
"Me too." Dane says affectedly, falling down on the huge checkered blanket that she had magicked up, narrowly missing Selena.
"You are so lucky." She grumbled narrowing her eyes, her fangs pouring out of her mouth.
"Tell me somebody thought about food." Cameron pleads, morphing back into a big, tired, panting wolf and curls around me who found a quiet place to settle down on said blanket.
'You have got to be kidding me' I complain, I'd just escaped from Zach managing to lose only a couple heartbeats, not to mention the obvious fact that Cameron is trying to keep me from Zach.
"You are hot!" I push at his limp body.
This only encourages him to spread out, stretching all over me, trapping me.
"Give up Ember, you know he won't budge." Dane tells me, ending my futile struggles.
"Thanks man." Ciaran handshakes Zach, using his hold to sit up.
"Anytime." He murmurs done with healing the burn. "There was a lot of dark energy in there." He shudders visibly. "Probably why you couldn't heal fast enough."
"Any idea who those guys were?" Travon asks cuddling a quiet Lucy.
"No."
"Nah."
"Not at all." Series of negative responses greeted him.
More importantly, why they were all after September." Zach says what must have been going through everybody's mind.
"I have absolutely no idea." I mutter absently, running my hands through Cameron's fur. "I mean, I'm the weakest, maybe they were all going for easy targets."
"Then what about Ciaran and I, we would have been the obvious choices." Lucinda points out.
I shrug, "I wonder what they would need me for then." Adjusting to the heat pouring of Cameron's huge body in waves, I lean into him, enjoying the sauna like effects of his body heat.