Delude

I frowned at Noah. “She’s back? But I thought you sent her somewhere she couldn’t come back from.” I didn’t like the sound of this at all.

“I thought so too,” Noah replied as he sat on the edge of the bed. He looked at Nixon wearily. “How are you doing, my friend? You look a little better than when I last saw you.”

“I’m not your friend,” Nixon snarled, sitting up. “Let us go.”

“I’ll ask you to be a little nicer to me since I saved your girlfriend’s life,” Noah muttered. “I can’t let you go yet, Nixon. You are valuable to me.”

“Where is Jade?” I asked, hoping to steer the conversation in another direction. Before Noah could reply, however, I received the answer.

The room seemed to tremble from her violate anger. I could feel her wrath as if it had come down the hall at an alarming rate and slammed into the door, threatening to break it open. Her voice broke the quiet of the house.

“WHERE IS THAT BITCH? I’M GOING TO KILL HER FOR BREAKING MY NOSE!”

I flinched and listened closely. They weren’t far from where we sat.

“I think you need to calm down,” said another voice quietly. “It won’t do you any good to get worked up like this.”

“You know what?” Jade’s voice was a low hiss. “I think you need to shut up, Abby. Why don’t you go back to Evan and tell him how you lost not only Noah, but the two he needs?”

“I did not lose anyone,” the other girl said. “Noah is free to do whatever he wants.”

“Does that include helping her?” Jade snapped.

Something crashed into the wall of the house. I figured it was her fist. I looked at Noah and he nodded.

“She normally isn’t like this,” I told him.

He smiled faintly, his honey-colored eyes cool. “She is still getting used to being on our side. It’s making her angrier because she doesn’t understand still.”

“What does Evan want with me?” I asked, lowering my voice, afraid Jade would acquire some sort of supersonic hearing at any time.

“He knows what you are.” It wasn’t Noah that spoke, but Nixon, his breathing slow. “He wants you to complete his collection.”

I turned my head and blinked at him, but didn’t reply. I didn’t know what to say. What would he want me for? I didn’t understand. I wasn’t special, at least not by my own standards. But apparently I was to all of these people.

“His collection?” I said feebly. “I don’t--”

“That’s enough,” Noah said, his tone harsh as he looked over at Nixon. “You’re frightening her.”

As an awkward silence settled around us, there was a tapping on the door. No one moved a muscle.

“Here kitty,” murmured the person on the other side. They were quiet for a moment and then, “If you don’t come out I’m going to slit your lover’s throat, and I’m not bluffing this time.”

Nixon reached for my hand but I stopped him by getting up. He looked horrified as I went to the door and turned the knob. No use hiding anymore. I needed to face who she was now, whether I liked it or not. The door swung open and Jade glared at me, her blonde hair tied up, and her lips curved into a cruel smile.

“I’m going to finish what I started,” she said. “Then I’m going to kill everyone you care about.”

Just like before, she dematerialized right before my eyes, and when she reappeared, gripping my wrists, I shot forward and slammed my forehead into hers. She let me go automatically, stumbled back and grabbed her head.

I lunged at her, hitting the floor and skidding into the door frame. I tried to catch my breath and stood up, looking around.

“Where are you?” I called. “Don’t be a coward, Jade. Fight me.”

Before I could move, something smashed into me, knocking me off balance. I staggered into the wall and something happened. I listened carefully through the silence and heard it; a shuffle. All of the anger I was feeling had finally taken its toll on me and I reached out blindly and struck her.

Jade screamed and fell to the floor, fully visible now.

“Your trick doesn’t work on me anymore,” I said, gasping from the blow I had received. I advanced on her, gripped her arm and dislocated her shoulder.

She screamed, her eyes turning dark, but before she could do anything we heard a voice behind us. It spoke a language neither of us knew. My knees buckled suddenly and I fell too, slamming my face on something hard enough to knock me out. Pain I had never felt slithered through me and I saw droplets of blood hit the floor.

Evan crouched over me, a small smile on his lips, and his hand going for my throat. “This was too easy,” he said. “I thought you were worth more, Casey, I really did. But you’re just a dumb little girl who got involved in the wrong thing.”