Love Comes In Many Dangerous Forms

Blaine had emerged from the cover of my shadow, and bolted towards the dying man and seeped into his body.

Thutmose let go of my leg, and Zach tugged me away from him immediately. And his body was convulsing rapidly, and his eyes rolled into the back of his head. And Blaine emerged from the deceased body; he seemed frantic as he hurtled towards me, and disappeared into my skin.

I didn’t faint this time, thankfully. But it still felt odd nonetheless. I managed to stay upright, though my knees buckled under me. Zach had a firm grip on my waist, in case I did fall.

I was aware of everything around me, more aware than I have ever been. All my senses were sharpened, I could taste the newly spread dew that rested on the dead leafs on my tongue. I could see every crease that was engraved into the aged wood of an old oak tree. Zach’s hand wasn’t cold anymore, not at all. It was if all of my body heat had just washed off me immediately, but I didn’t feel cold. I could hear Aidan’s quite breathing, and his heartbeat drummed in my ears. All of them scared me, but not as much as the smell did.

The most amazing scent I have ever smelled entered my nose. My mouth watered at imaging the taste. It was so… overpowering, all I could think about was the scent. And it was radiating from the gouge in Thutmose’s throat. And Zach’s arm suddenly was the only thing that kept me from going towards the alluring scent.

And then my lips moved without my telling them too, “It’s my brother,” Blaine’s worried tone was infused into my voice.

The boys looked confused, “Blaine?” Zach spoke.

“Yes,” he confirmed, rushing his words so fast that they almost merged together, “Cassiel is fine, she’s here. She can hear everything.”

What are you talking about ‘It’s my brother’? I asked.

“My brother is here,” he answered my question immediately. “He has Tristan and Athen.”

I felt like someone had just tased me, I turned cold, and Shane looked like he felt the same thing.

“Wh-,” Shane couldn’t finish his sentence.

“He’s leading you to him,” Blaine explained.

“Why?” Zach frowned.

“He wants Cassiel, I don’t know why, the wolf was dead before I could find that out,” Blaine forced my lips to turn down as well.

“Like hell he’ll take her,” Zach growled, his eyes narrowed in anger.

“My brother is very persistent, Zach,” Blaine warned. “He gets what he wants, no exceptions.”

“He won’t get Cassiel,” Shane vowed, his mouth set in a tight line.

Blaine sounded doubtful, “Alright, but the wolves were his ‘slaves’ in a way. They do whatever he wants, that’s why they had her. They were going to kill you three, and take her to him. I don’t doubt that he has more of them.”

Where are they? Where’s my brother? I shouted at him, worried.

“My brother has Tristan and your father in one of his hideaways.”

“But I thought you knew where they were?” Shane frowned.

“I did, they were both at an auction house in Bronx; they were supposed to go up for auction until next week. But my brother somehow bought them,” he explained.

Where’s the hideout?

“He has them underground, in the heart of the city. There is a sinkhole nearby that is the doorway to the tunnels, but it will take us a few days to get through the labyrinth he has created.”

I felt a shiver go down my spine as he mentioned ‘underground’.

I can’t go down there, I told him quietly.

Why not? he asked me.

I’m afraid of the dark, I answered, feeling ashamed of my silly phobia.

“What is she saying?” Shane questioned.

“She’s… afraid of the dark,” Blaine frowned.

“That’s right,” Zach sighed. “She has anxiety attacks whenever she’s in the dark.”

Colton lowered his head in confusion.

“But she’s fine outside at night,” Shane objected.

“Partial darkness, she can deal with,” Zach narrowed his eyes at him. “It’s complete darkness she’s terrified of. She was kept in the dark for nearly two years and the only light she saw was the fire the guards burned her with.”

I cringed, he was right.

“What about the flashlights?” Shane suggested, slightly put off by Zach’s comment. He opened one of the carryon bags. But when he found a flashlight, he pressed the button, it did not light.

He frowned, “The batteries are dead,” he looked through the bag and tried another flashlight, again nothing happened, soon all of them were dead. “They’re not working.”

“Dammit,” Blaine sighed. “He must’ve been here.”

“What do you mean?” Zach’s eyebrows pulled together in confusion.

“My brother steals energy from whatever he can, like all demons. We can steal energy from whatever we can, if there isn’t a food source nearby. That’s why your batteries are dead.”

“How can we not smell him?” Shane asked as he threw the bag on the ground in frustration.

“He’s part demon,” Blaine told him calmly, which made it much more intimating. “He is in control of all of your senses. He can make you see, feel, taste, smell, and hear anything he wants you too, and in this case, he doesn’t want you to smell him.”

“Damn,” Zach hissed.

“Back to our previous problem, Colton? Would you mind letting Cassiel ride on your back?”

He shook his large head, he was fine with it.

“Why can’t I carry her?” Zach glared at Colton.

“Your skin is ice cold,” Blaine reminded him calmly, “I don’t think she’ll feel comfortable having not only cold air around her, but ice pressed against her skin as well.”

I still have to go in the dark.

“Do you have any matches?” Blaine frowned, busy with his own silent thoughts.

“Yeah, why?” Shane answered as Blaine walked me over to the carriage, and opened the bright yellow first-aid kit.

He picked up the matches, and walked over to a nearby tree, leaving Shane’s question unanswered. He snapped off a short, but thick branch with ease.

How much do you like this dress? He asked me.

I hate it, I answered truthfully. I hated all my clothes, especially the dresses.

Good.

He ripped a thick piece of the bottom off of it, and wrapped the fabric securely around the thickest part of the branch. With his free hand, he struck the match across the rough strip on the box, and set the cloth on fire.

“There you go,” he handed the torch to Shane, smiling slightly in satisfactory.

What about Aidan?

He can come with us, I suppose.

Then he left and he returned standing next to me.

And I couldn’t smell the sweet scent anymore, only the rusty aroma of the blood. And all my senses dulled down back to normal. I rubbed my head; he leaving gave me a slight headache in the back of my skull.

“Welcome back?” Shane greeted uncertainly, like I would fall unconscious at any moment.

“Hey,” I groaned, letting my hands fall in defeat, my headache intensified.

“You okay?” Zach asked reaching for my arm.

“I’m fine,” I glared at him slightly, backing away from his reach, “I’m not baby.”

He sighed and let his arm drop.

I walked over to Aidan and ran my fingers through his ebony black mane. I smiled slightly as his large head nudged me slightly. I reached into the bag that was attached to his saddle, and gave him a small sugar cube, “Good horse.” I walked over to the carriage, and packed a couple of more blood transfusions and food bags into Aidan’s bag. I scratched behind his ear while I untied his reins from the branch and turned to Blaine, “Lead the way.”

And he did, I led Aidan, gently tugging on his reins as we walked over the leaf imbedded ground. I could hear the boys’ quite footfalls behind me as we walked towards the fallen city.