Love Comes In Many Dangerous Forms

Protect

I took a deep breath, my chest was aching again as I tried to make sense of the message, “What does it mean?”

“I have no idea,” she sighed. “I thought that you would know.”

I shook my head both answering her and attempting to shake the warning from my thoughts, but I had no success, “But I have a feeling that Elizabeth does.”

“She would be our best bet,” Zach commented.

“I’ll ask her when she gets back,” I stood up, my eyes were sore and my body ached wanting to rest, but sleeping was the last thing on my mind. “Can I have Jimmy?”

Audrey nodded, handing him over to me carefully so the shift wouldn’t wake him. His Head lulled as she set him into my embrace.

“You two should go rest, we have a lot to do tomorrow,” I told them, my throat tightened at the end.

Audrey touched my arm lightly, “Are you sure?”

I nodded and she let out a heavy sigh but left nonetheless.

But Zach stayed, unmoving, “I’m not sleeping while he’s out there.”

“Blaine said he wouldn’t attack again tonight, and I believe him. And we have Tristan, Vera, Blaine, Elizabeth and Shane all here, we’ll be fine. I’ll come get you if I need you,” I told him, shifting my weight onto my right foot.

“I’m not going to sleep,” he leaned back, his fingers circled around the curve of the counter’s edge.

“Alright,” I fiddled with the end of one still damp lock of my hair. “Vera and Tristan are in the ball room.”

“What about you?” he asked, his grip on the counter’s edge tightened slightly.

“I have Shane,” I walked over to the rusting door. “I’ll be fine; I’ll come find you if anything happens.”

I wasn’t sure if I heard him right but I thought he said, “It’s always about him, isn’t it?”

He walked out the door before I could ask him what he said.

I followed him out the door frowning as I looked around but he was nowhere to be seen. But further down the hallway I saw Shane leaning against the wall. Carly was half asleep, her head straightened as she caught herself closing her eyes.

“Hey,” I breathed as I approached them.

He nodded in acknowledgement; his eyes were staring straight ahead not focusing on anything.

I hesitated, gnawing on my bottom lip nervously, “We need to talk.”

“About what?” he asked me, his voice was flat.

“You,” I answered him simply, feeling Jimmy shift his head on my shoulder.

He let out a breath that I noticed that he had been holding in, “Alright.”

I spun on my heel walking down the hall, my eyes darting to the shadows and making sure they weren’t moving. I felt my throat tighten and my mouth run dry as I opened the heavy door to the sitting room. I held in a breath as I cautiously looked around the dimly lit room and released it when I saw nothing out of place. I walked in and lied Jimmy down on the couch; I saw Shane copy my movements and set Carly down across from Jimmy. I reached for the throw blanket and tucked it around their small forms before turning to the man next to me.

“You’re changing,” I wrapped my arms around my waist as I felt a shutter run down my spine when I spoke those words.

He only stared at me; his face was wiped of all emotion, “No I’m not.”

I frowned at him, “Shane look at your arm.”

He shook his head at me; his mouth was set into a tight line. I narrowed my eyes at him, grabbing his left hand and jerked his sleeve back exposing his wrist. I pulled it closer and notice the dark uneven lines standing out on his pale skin. I traced the inside of his wrist, biting my lip, “It’s going to be okay, you know?”

He looked at me, his green eyes tightened in confusion, “What?”

“You’re going to be okay,” I blinked at him, dropping his hand and started fiddling with the hem of my blood stained nightgown.

“Cassie,” he ran his hand down his face, his fingers were stiff as they raked down his cheek. “It’s not me I’m worried about.”

“Is it you’re dad? He’s not in any danger, he’s not after him,” I rubbed the back of my neck, wincing as my fingers ran over the slightly raised skin of the scars.

He closed his eyes and a frustrated groan left his lips, “Please don’t mention him, either of them.”

“Alright,” I bit down on my lip. “Could you at least tell me what’s bothering you?”

He looked at me then. I saw something in his eyes flash but it was gone before I could figure out what it was. I allowed my eyes to trail down his face until they reached his lips. I felt something in the pit of my stomach stir as he drew a deep breath and spoke, “I’m changing.”

I waited patiently, twisting and folding my fingers together trying to occupy them so I wouldn’t reach out to hold his hand, “And?”

“Blaine said you only had…” his voice trailed off.

“A month left,” I finished the sentence for him; those words left a bad taste in my mouth.

He only nodded, avoiding eye contact.

“I don’t understand,” I finally confessed after a moment.

I saw his eyes close and he brought his hand to his face, pinching the bridge of his nose, “I’m going to be asleep while you have to face dea-” his voice caught and he let out a frustrated sigh.

I shook my head at him, “You don’t know that.”

“Yes I do, Cassiel,” his head snapped towards me, his green eyes were filled with anger. “It lasts about a month and a half.”

“For most immortals, it may not be that way for you. Zach’s transition only lasted a week and five days, it depends on the person,” I told him honestly.

“But what if mine lasts longer?” His voice had a bitter edge to it.

“You’re going to drive yourself insane with these ‘What if’s. I’ll be right there next to you the whole time, I promise,” I vowed, knowing good and well that I may have to break that promise.

“Cassie I-” he started but Lucy’s growling cut him off.
I looked over to see Lucy by the window, her paws scratching at the glass. But as I approached her she started barking furiously, but it wasn’t at me, it was at whatever was out the window.

I pulled back the curtain; my heartbeat was pounding in my chest expecting him to be there. But there was nothing but the trees surrounding the outer wall and the pale moon shining over the top of the Godforsaken wall that kept me prisoner.

“What is it?” I heard Shane ask, standing right behind me.

“Nothing,” I turned to look at him, but as soon as I did there was a loud crack echoing throughout the room. I jumped, startled at the sound, knocking into Shane.

“Cassie?” Shane reached out, steading me as he examined my face worriedly. “What is it?”

I ignored his question, “What was that?” I asked, trying to restart my heart.

He looked over to the window the same time I did. I noticed that there was a crack in the glass that webbed out, most of the breakage was in the center. Then I saw two beady black eyes glaring back at me, the mouth of its beak was converted into a taunting smirk, but then I blinked and it was gone.

“It was just a stupid bird,” he smiled slightly, looking down at me.

But I knew better, and that was not just any bird.

I drew in a deep breath looking over at Jimmy – he was still resting peacefully despite what just happened. His mouth was parted into a small lopsided ‘o’, his eyes were closed occasionally twitch signaling that he was dreaming; his blonde hair fell in his face effortlessly. He was the picture of innocence and everything good in my life.

But that image was corrupted into something else entirely when I thought of the twenty-seven dead bodies in the ballroom. If anyone found out what happened tonight and reported it, everybody including the innocent boy that was sleeping on the couch would be held responsible.

I let my eyes flicker towards the window again starring past the broken glass and the horrid wall to see the waves of the Atlantic glittering in the moonlight. Then an idea sparked in my mind, and I knew what I needed to do.

I opened my mouth to speak but I heard knocking against the door frame. I turned to see Tristan standing outside the room, his eyes were bloodshot and I could make out the faint red tearstains that trailed down his face.

“Hey,” I gave him a small smile of reassurance.

“I want to talk to Shane,” he responded, letting no emotion seep into his voice.

I nodded, not understanding but told them, “I’ll go find Vera, could you watch Jimmy for me? Please?”

I saw Shane nod once and I turned towards my brother. I rested my hand on his shoulder for a moment as I slipped out of the room, in a small gesture to somehow comfort him. I walked down the hallway, almost robotically walking towards the ballroom with no intention of going inside. But I prayed that Vera as alone and Zach didn’t take my advice to stay with her. Because I knew there was no way in hell that he was going to let me do what I was about to do.

***

(Shane P.O.V.)

“What did you want to talk to me about?” I asked, slightly anxious to get back to Cassiel.

“Well, I actually wanted to ask you something,” his light flashed for a second, much like his sister’s did when she wanted to know something. Determination.

I waited.

“I’ve only been here a few days now and I’m trying to figure out what the hell is going on. And nobody is really telling me anything, so I thought you could tell me,” he started.

“I think you should talk to Cassiel about that, it’s not my place to tell,” I told him, trying to walk past him but he blocked the way his hands were clenched into tight fists. His eyes trailed over to the sofa and I mine followed to land on Carly who was still sleeping peacefully.

“This is your sister,” he said, not a question but a statement.

“Yeah.”

“Carly, right?” he didn’t wait for me to respond. “What if she was in Cassie’s position, what would you do?”

I saw his point, but I knew that I couldn’t answer all of his questions.

“Please, I lost most of my family just a few hours ago after I just got them back. Cassiel is the only thing I have left now. I need to know what’s going so I can protect her.”

Now why the hell did he have to make me feel guilty? Didn’t I get enough guilt from his sister?

I ran my hand down my face, curling my fingers so that my fingers dug into my skin.

I gave up, “Fine, what do you want to know?”
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Hola!
Hopefully you guys aren't too mad at me. If you are, I'm really sorry but I have been planning. And it is awesome, trust me. Now what exactly am I planning for LCIMDF? That is for me to know and you to find out in 3-5 chapters! I'm evil, I know xD
Now here comes the questions. Where did Captain Jackass *cough-cough* Athen *cough-cough* go? What is Cassie going to do? And what do you think is going to happen overall?
NOW ANSWER THEM! Please? :)
Chapter dedications: sporteegurl, HoneyDew, Mister.E...Y? (Go read her story, it's awesome)
Now I'm going to go and try to finish OLND and SS chapters and untangle the Christmas light knots from hell.
LOVE YA!!!