So Sacrifice Yourself, and Let Me Have What's Left

The guys all gave us strange looks at the way we were acting. Zacky wasn’t talking to me after what Matt had said. I could tell that he realized that it was best not to further our friendship. I was crushed at that thought. I now knew why I didn’t open up to people, because they were only going to crush me in the end. It only took me one night and morning for me to learn this lesson the hard way. I wasn’t blaming Matt for bringing it up, for I knew something bad would happen if he didn’t. We would’ve gotten closer, a lot closer, Gena would’ve found out, and one of us—whether it would’ve been me or Gena—would’ve gotten hurt either way. I suppose it was for the best that we went back to the way we were not two days ago.

Johnny noticed these changes the most. He looked happy to see me getting out of Zacky’s car, thinking that he had done something right. He did, sort of, but he didn’t think that it would end like this. He kept on giving me confused looks at how Zacky and I weren’t talking, despite the fact that he had taken me here. I would shrug at him, and he understood that I either didn’t want to talk about it, or it would be too complicated for him to completely understand.

“Ugh, I’m so bored!” Jimmy exclaimed, throwing his bag of chips in the air, and yet he didn’t spill any of the chips.

The entire room was quiet, for each of the guys were wondering what was up with me and Zacky. I saw that Jimmy wasn’t someone who liked to be in quiet places, that I could tell from how loud his voice was when it broke the eerie silence that filled the entire living room of Brian’s house.

“Maybe we should play a game.” Matt suggested. He had sat down beside me on the couch after he noticed something weird was going on between me and Zacky. He was definitely the most logical one out of all of the guys. Zacky was sitting on the other side of the couch, for it was the kind of couch that wrapped around in a right angle. I would catch myself staring at him every once in a while, but, at the same time, I would catch him looking right back at me.

“Like what?” Brian asked. I was surprised that even Brian acted like he cared about how Zacky and I weren’t talking to each other. He didn’t seem like someone who cared much about people and their feelings.

“How about Dare?” Jimmy smirked, and everyone rolled their eyes as they groaned.

“What’s that?” I asked Matt, wondering why Jimmy’s suggestion sounded slightly scary at how everyone reacted.

“He means Truth or Dare, but no one ever picks Truth, so we just changed it to Dare.” Matt stated, sighing slightly as everyone agreed eventually. I realized that this must be the kind of game to play if you really got bored. Perhaps that’s why we’re playing it.

I looked at Zacky, and he didn’t seem so affected by it. He probably would play this just to get his mind off of what Matt had said. I knew that it troubled him at how right his brother was. Maybe Zacky did want to be my friend, but he knew he had pushed it too far, meaning we could never even be something as innocent as friends. My heart sank at the thought.

Everyone began to play the game and, I’ll have to admit, it was pretty funny at the dares everyone was suggesting. Jimmy dared Brian to run across the neighborhood naked, which he did. I know it’s wrong to say, but I didn’t mind watching it. Brian does have a pretty nice body. I smirked slightly at the memory. Brian dared Johnny to walk over to his neighbors house and ask for a bra, which, poor Johnny, had to do. I felt so bad for him asking Brian’s neighbor—who was a model, as Brian told me—for a bra that he could use. The neighbor, who I’m guessing felt bad for Johnny, considering he was probably stuttering up a storm, actually lent him one. We all almost died from laughter at that one. Johnny dared Matt to call a random number and tell the person who answered if they wanted a sexy pizza dance. I wasn’t sure what kind of dance that was, but it sounded pretty funny. I was happy no one had picked me yet, but I had a feeling it was coming.

“Candace.” Matt smirked, looking at me, causing everyone else to smirk and look at me as well. Well, except Zacky.

I stared at Matt with a worried expression on my face. I was the only girl here, so God only knows what he would dare me to do. I watched as Matt thought of what to do, and all of the sudden everyone’s smirks grew, which was strange. I saw Zacky stiffen over Matt’s shoulder, and he slowly looked at the back of Matt’s head, eyes wide. Matt looked at me, and I knew he had come up with something and, for some reason, something told me everyone else knew what he was going to dare me to do.

“I dare you to…” Matt started. He looked at Zacky, whose eyes were still wide. “Straddle Zacky and makeout with him for ten minutes.” He looked at me, and the smirk grew upon his lips at the sight of my face which, I’m sure, was priceless. My eyes were wide, my mouth was dropped, and my breathing had stopped. I couldn’t believe what Matt had dared me to do. There was no way that Zacky was actually going to let me do that to him. “Touching is required. “Matt finished. He then roughly pushed me off the part of the couch I was sitting on and onto the part to where I was sitting right next to Zacky.

“Now get to it!” Brian laughed, watching as Zacky and I stirred uneasily in our seats.

I felt uncomfortable with them watching me, but I knew they had to, or else they wouldn’t be so sure if Zacky and I had really…well, you know. I looked at Zacky, and he was looking at me. I shrugged, and he nodded. We both knew that we couldn’t get out of this one.

Thankfully I had been kissed before, I may have been drunk at the time, but I remembered what to do. I slowly sat up on my knees, facing the side of Zacky and draped one leg over both of his. I sat down on his lap, facing him, as I straddled him just like Matt had told me to. My breathing became uneven as I awkwardly stared at Zacky as he stared at me back. Neither one of us was sure of how to do this, but we were going to give it a try. Everything was quiet in Brian’s living room as I placed my shaking hands on Zacky’s forearms, his hands on my thighs. I knew he didn’t want to do this, but I had been dreaming about this since the minute I met him, so of course I was more than ready. Not only did he have a girlfriend, but she wasn’t here, making this a way of cheating.

I moved my head a bit, leaning in, and he did the same. I closed my eyes when I saw his begin to close as well, and soon enough I felt something cold press against my sensitive lips. I jumped at the electricity that stung my lips from the feel of Zacky’s plush lips press against mine, earning a few chuckles from the guys that were still watching us. This was definitely the most awkward way to kiss someone, but, to be honest, I didn’t care. I was kissing the god. I thought that maybe I was going to have to deepen this kiss, but something happened. I felt Zacky’s lips around my lower lip, my lips hugged his upper lip as I moved my fingertips up his forearms, giving him Goosebumps, and holding his neck. Zacky moved from wrapping his lips around my lower lip to my upper lip, and I felt his cold lip rings in between both of my lips. We did this a few more times, and then I felt Zacky’s tongue tracing my lower lip, asking for entrance. I knew that this was apart of the dare, but there was a part of me that wanted to believe that Zacky was doing this all on his own. He had to be, because this was my dare, he didn’t have to do anything, just as long as I was kissing him. I parted my lips slightly, and I felt Zacky’s tongue slip in, circling my tongue as it entered his mouth as well. I felt one arm wrap around my waist, the other finding its hand to grab my ass. I held his neck tighter as our tongues circled around each other before entering our own mouths to wrap our lips around one another’s. We repeated this again, only I thought of doing something different. I pressed my tongue against the roof of Zacky’s mouth, and a low growl shook his throat, causing my cheeks to redden and hear laughing come from the guys. We ignored them as Zacky bit my lower lip, causing me to giggle—which was something I had never done before—and press my lips against his once more.

“Okay, screw ten minutes, that’s enough. I don’t wanna see Zacky hard.” Matt laughed, causing Zacky to pull away from me, which was something I could tell he didn’t want to do.
I bit my lower lip and got off of him, making my way back to my previous seat beside Matt, earning strange looks from everyone. I knew that they thought that me makingout with Zacky would resolve whatever problems were between us. But, as far as I know, that only made it worse.

“Damn, Ace, when I get drunk again I’m coming to you!” Jimmy laughed, stuffing more chips into his mouth. I thought that’s what I heard when I heard a crunching noise come from behind me while I was kissing Zacky.

My brows furrowed slightly at what Jimmy had said. “What’d you call me?” I asked, my ears burning at how breathless I sounded from the kiss I had shared with the god.

“Ace,” Jimmy shrugged. “Your name’s too long.” Everyone agreed, and I could tell that the name had stuck.

I couldn’t believe it. Was that a nickname? Did that actually happen to me? It may sound stupid to others that I’m freaking out at the fact that someone had given me a nickname, but this had never happened before. Of course I’m going to be happy about it.

At that moment, I had friends.

--

“Are you taking me home?” I asked quietly, not so sure if he would want to be in the same car as me or not.

Zacky shrugged, looking at me. “Might as well.” He said after we had both said our goodbyes to all of the guys.

I nodded, following him out of Brian’s house. The warm California sun was now setting against the horizon of the beach that outlined the world as I followed Zacky to his car, not saying one word. I knew that it would be better if I didn’t bring it up, because I had a feeling that he didn’t want to talk about it. We were going to forget that little dare Matt made us, or should I say, me, do.

The ride home was nothing but silent. I had felt awkward before, but not so much to where I wanted to say something just to break this silence. I sighed uneasily, looking out the window as Zacky pulled into our neighborhood. I watched as the houses increased in size, meaning we were close to our homes. I felt bad about not saying no to Matt’s dare, and I could only imagine how Zacky felt. He had a girlfriend, who was much prettier, more perfect, more everything than I could ever hope to be, and he probably fucked up his relationship by kissing me. But he didn’t have to, he could’ve said no, which is what most taken guys should do, but he didn’t say no, he let me kiss him, and he kissed back. He was the one who deepened the kiss. He was the one who let both of us get carried away. And that growl, I bit my lip at the thought of what that could’ve meant.

“Are you just gonna stay in here for the night?” Zacky asked, knocking me back into reality.

I looked at him, and then realized we were parked in his driveway. I looked at my house and saw that Cynthia and Devin were home, and they had bought a new car just like Danielle had said. I knew that this meant that I had to leave Zacky, which was probably for the best. He needed the time to think things through. I felt bad that not only was he going to have to hear his parents fight, but he was going to have to think about what he had done. I knew that it was best not to say anything to him in a time like this. I got out of his car and made my way towards my house. I heard him doing the same, and I felt the urge to look back at him, but I wasn’t going to. That would only make things worse.

“Candace Rae Owens! Where the hell have you been?” Cynthia’s shrill voice screeched as I walked through the front door.

I was a bit shocked that Cynthia actually sounded worried about me. I looked to see her and Devin standing in front of me. Cynthia had her arms crossed with her hip pointing out as she tapped her foot violently onto the ground with Devin shaking his head side to side at me, telling me that I was in for it.

“We come home to have Danielle and Leana tell us that you went off with that Baker boy to God knows where? Do you realize how worried we all were?” Devin yelled, clearly irritated at the fact that they had to worry about the likes of me.

This was the first time they actually yelled at me. I guess because this was the first time I had ever left without them knowing, even though Leana did it all the time. I know that they thought I was too much of a whimp to just leave this place. I don’t know why Devin made Zacky sound like a criminal or something, either. It wasn’t like they actually knew each other.
“I was just with a few friends.” I muttered. Normally I would’ve been happy to call the guys my friends, but, considering I was in trouble, I wasn’t as ecstatic as I normally would’ve been.
“Maybe we shouldn’t have let you go over there in the first place. The minute I saw that Brian boy I knew he was trouble.” Cynthia bitched. I hated the fact that she was calling Brian trouble, true he really was, but I didn’t want her knowing that.

“But don’t you want me to have friends?” I asked, looking up at the ones who raised me. I was hoping that they wouldn’t make me leave the only people I had actually liked and called them my only friends I think I’ve ever had.

“We do, Candace, believe me.” Devin said in a bit softer tone. I had seen this routine plenty of times. He was going to try to be calm so I would believe him and not be friends with the guys. “But maybe you shouldn’t be friends with them. They’re bad news.”

“Especially Zachary,” Cynthia eyed me suspiciously. I had a feeling that she didn’t like Zacky just because he was the nicest to me. “You don’t know what kind of family he has, Candace.”

Of course Cynthia had to find out about Zacky’s family. She is the nosiest person I think I’ve ever met. I could see her running around, asking everyone about the Baker family. I may have not known about them, but I knew Cynthia was going to tell me even if I didn’t care enough to know or not.

“His father is a drunk, and he cheats on his mother constantly. Do you really want that, Candace?” Cynthia asked, knowing that I knew that drinking and cheating usually ran in the family. That made me think of how Leana cheats on all of her boyfriends. Maybe that ran in her Dad’s side of the family. I smirked at Devin, even though he didn’t see it. “His mother is just about the worst out of all of them. She usually sleeps with every man she sees. I’m not surprised that Zachary looks like that. His lips are pierced, Candace! Do you really want to kiss that?” she asked in a disgusted tone.

“Well, just so you know, I did kiss him today, Cynthia.” I spat, earning a look of shock come from both Cynthia and Devin. “And I nearly had a fucking orgasm from the way it felt!” I had a feeling that saying something sexual would get Cynthia to lose it. Well, it made someone lose it, alright.

“What the fuck were you doing kissing him?!” Devin yelled, his eyes wide. I was shocked that Devin seemed surprised by what I had said about kissing Zacky.

“He’s nothing but trash, Candace!” Cynthia screeched. “He’ll just use you for sex! And how dare you talk like that in front of us!”

I knew what she was talking about, and I really couldn’t help myself. “You’re just jealous because you’ve never had one!”

It all happened so fast. All I can remember was Cynthia’s face after I had told her that, the rest is sort of a blur. I remember feeling something hard press against my temple, causing my vision to blur slightly and fall to the ground, but I knew what had happened. I couldn’t believe Devin had punched me.

“You little slut!” he yelled, lifting his fist over his head, intending to slam it once more against my head. “You don’t know what the fuck you’re saying! I can’t wait for you to fucking die and burn in hell!”

Not so sure of what I was doing, I lifted my right arm to defend myself, exposing my wrist to both of them. Cynthia and Devin both froze at what they saw. I wasn’t sure what made them do that, but it was better than having Devin punch me.

“What the hell is that doing there?!” Cynthia screamed, pointing at my exposed wrist. Devin was speechless, but I could see something building up in his eyes, making me slightly afraid, meaning I couldn’t get up on my feet.

“What the fuck are you doing with this?!” Devin yelled, grabbing my right wrist violently and shoving it in my face. I could see my mysterious tattoo, and that’s all I thought of it. I thought that they were freaking out because it was a tattoo. Maybe it would’ve helped if I knew of how wrong I was at the time. “Well?” Devin urged.

“I…I don’t…know…” I whispered, knowing it was best not to pester Devin or else receive yet another punch from him. Not only was the pulse in my left wrist growing, but I felt the pulse of pain come from my temple of where Devin had hit me. “It just came…out of nowhere…”

“I remember the day the wind changed course...” Cynthia whispered, her face going from shock to astonishment. “We were too happy to think that you could be the child.” She looked at Devin, who was looking at me like he was ready to kill me, which I feared he was.

I was wondering what she was talking about, and why she was talking like that. What did she mean ‘the wind changed course’? I stared at Cynthia with confusion, and then stared at Devin with fear.

“Well, little bitch.” Devin mumbled through clenched teeth, tightly gripping my right wrist, which made me wince at the pain. “You shouldn’t have said those last words, or else maybe I would’ve thought about saving your ass.” He smirked.

I watched as he lifted his hand, now balled into a fist, over his head, slamming it down against my cheek. I cried out in pain, and looked at Cynthia. But she just stood there, and I knew she wasn’t going to save me.

“Perhaps we should take her to the Council.” Cynthia suggested quietly after she saw my look of confusion and worry. She didn’t try to get Devin to stop, and she continued to watch as Devin punched me once more, this time in my eye.

“No! This little whore is the reason why this goddamn war is going on! If we kill her then this madness will stop!” Devin yelled, grabbing a hold of my hair and using it so he had every excuse to punch my face.

I saw death rolling in my eyes as confusion and pain swept all over my body. What nonsense what Devin talking about? What war? There was no war going on right now that would include me. Why were they so mad at me? I knew I was a good for nothing, but that didn’t mean they had to kill me. I wanted someone to save me. I needed it. I didn’t want to die without knowing who I really was. I had to see Zacky one more time before I finally met my grandfather in hell.

“Leave her the fuck alone!” a familiar voice growled, and I was thinking that God was going to save me in the only way He knew how.

The blur began again as I watched an amber dog tackle Devin onto the ground. I watched as Cynthia tried to get the amber dog off of Devin, but then she screamed, and I saw blood pouring out of her collarbone. Danielle and Leana screamed as they saw their mother bleeding, and rushed over to help her. I now saw the amber dog attacking a gray dog that was much bigger than the amber dog. I wasn’t sure what was going on. I was nothing but confused as the gray dog twitched uncontrollably, a puddle of blood forming around him, and then the dog lay motionless. Danielle, Leana, and Cynthia screamed in unison as they watched the amber dog get off of the now bloody and possibly dead gray dog and limp over to me. My eyes were wide as I looked into the most beautiful and sparkling jade green eyes I had ever seen. They were familiar, too familiar. This couldn’t be happening. These kinds of things didn’t exist. These kinds of things only happen in movies.

The amber dog nudged his bloody nose against me, pushing me a bit as I watched Cynthia, Leana, and Danielle try to help the gray dog. I knew that I had to leave now, or else they would come after me. Something told me that this is what the amber dog was trying to tell me, and I staggered to my feet as the amber dog walked out of what was once a peaceful house. I followed behind the amber dog, not even bothering to close the door. The amber dog looked at me, and nodded his head. He wanted me to follow him. I nodded, and then the dog took off into the woods that I was terrified of. I could tell that the dog knew I hated forests, but I had to follow him. I ran, trying to keep up with the amber dog, as my eyes darted everywhere once I had entered the woods. Nothing had ever been so frightening to me than the woods, which was strange, considering the unknown blood that ran through my veins should’ve been fearless when it came to the lush forests like the one I was running through now.

The amber dog stopped, and so did I, waiting for what he was going to do next. The dog looked at me, and I had a feeling of what he was trying to say. He didn’t want me to follow him. I nodded, not so sure of why he didn’t want me to follow him when I didn’t even know where I was. The amber dog walked out of sight into a clutter of trees, and I waited, a bit afraid of what was going on.

I began to shake at what I had just seen. But not for the reason you’re thinking, oh no. True, it did disturb me that the amber dog had pretty much slaughtered the gray dog, who I’m guessing is Devin, but something else happened. The minute I smelled Cynthia’s blood, my gums began to throb. I felt like I was thirsty, only it was more like an addiction to heroin. I had smelled blood before, but I never felt thirsty to drink it. But, then again, the only blood I had ever smelled was my own. I had never smelled another’s human blood before. I remembered the smell, and my gums began to throb, aching at the longing to drink that blood. I shook my head, trying to get these urges to leave my body. I wasn’t sure what was going on with me. Maybe I wasn’t crazy. Maybe I was a cannibal.

I felt a sudden gust of wind circled around me as the leaves rustled together in an unknown harmony. I shuddered a bit at the wind and the sick thoughts running through my head at the smell of Cynthia’s blood. I jumped slightly when I saw a figure walk out of the clutter of trees the amber dog had walked into. I was surprised to see Zacky standing there, fully clothed, but his body was banged up in different places, his lip and nose bleeding, and I could see a bruise forming around his right eye.

“Oh my God…” I whispered at the sight of him. I knew that Zacky was the amber dog, he just had to be. But, what convinced him to save me? I thought he was mad at me?

“Devin can really put up a fight.” Zacky chuckled, wiping a bit of blood on his lower lip with the back of his hand. “But age has definitely gotten the best of him.” he said, looking back at me.

“Zacky…” I whispered, trying to think of the words to say. “Why did you…where did you…?” No luck there.

“I was going to apologize for the way I was acting.” Zacky shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck like a little kid as he looked at me from the distance that was between us. “And then I saw Devin hit you, and, I don’t know…something went off inside of me. I felt like I had to protect you.” he admitted.

“Is he…?” I didn’t need to finish my words. Zacky knew exactly what I was talking about.
Zacky looked at me shamefully, which was all the answer I needed, but he said something anyway. “Well, why don’t you think about it?” he asked, causing my brows to furrow as I gave him a confused look. “Just do it.” he said, which was all I needed to hear.

I began to think back to the house that was once so beautiful to me. Now I saw it as the place of murder. I thought of Cynthia and how wounded she was, and how Danielle and Leana screamed as they tried to help their mother. My eyes widened as I heard their voices.

“Mom, is Dad…?” Danielle asked softly. I couldn’t see her, but I could tell she was crying.
“I’m afraid so, Danielle.” Cynthia replied. I could tell that she, too, had been crying up a storm as well.

“How the hell did this happen?” Leana exclaimed. I was confused as to why I could hear their voices when they weren’t the Perfect Ones. I knew that because Cynthia was among their voices, which was a new one for me. I stared at Zacky with confusion, but he nodded, telling me to keep doing whatever it was that I was doing.

“I don’t know, Leana.” Cynthia whispered. “But, there is something I have to tell you, both of you.”

“What’s she saying?” I heard Zacky ask. I looked up at him, and saw that he had a wondering expression upon his perfect face.

“I’m getting there…” I mumbled, but I knew he heard me as I continued to listen to what Cynthia was going to tell her daughters, which, for some reason, I thought included me.

“You are to never speak of Candace again. She was never your sister, you never knew her, and neither one of you was here when this happened.” Cynthia said sternly, and I could tell she had gestured towards Devin’s lifeless body. “We may move back to McKinley, if that is what you two wish.”

“No, I like it here, Mom.” Danielle protested, and Leana agreed by saying something about Jimmy. My eyes widened at the thought of one of my friends being my ex-sister’s boyfriend.
Cynthia sighed. “Alright, but don’t be surprised if the war ends up migrating towards here.”

Danielle and Leana understood, but I was left confused. So they knew about this war Devin was talking about and I was still left in the dark? What is going on here? I knew about the Lycans and the Kingdom, but that didn’t mean anything to me at that particular moment.

“Why would it?” Leana asked, clearly confused why this ‘war’ they were talking about would come somewhere as peaceful as Huntington Beach, California.

Cynthia was quiet for a moment, which made me a bit worried at what she was going to say. “You two both know of The Forbidden One?” they may have not said anything, but I could tell Danielle and Leana nodded. “The most dangerous Hybrid to ever live?” Again, the sisters nodded, but my brows furrowed at what Cynthia had said. “Well, my dear daughters, believe it or not, but Candace is The Forbidden One.” I heard Danielle and Leana gasp, which only meant bad news. I didn’t want to hear any more of this conversation, even though I was now left with about a thousand questions, but each of them led to the same one.

“What’s ‘The Forbidden One’?” I let the thought slip out of my lips.

“Is that what Cynthia called you?” Zacky asked, staring at me intently. I nodded, and Zacky quickly walked over to me. “We have to leave.” He said coldly, causing me to get even more confused. “All of your questions will be answered if you follow me.” he didn’t even wait for me to say anything. Zacky quickly grabbed my hand and took off further into the woods, with me running behind him, still confused as the blur swept over me once more.

I used to have a somewhat normal life, what was becoming of it?