Dawn

Silver hair covered a desk as the bell rang. For Arwen, the bell meant nap-time. And that is just what the wolf-girl was doing: napping. Since her hair was on the desk, Arwen’s dark T-shirt and baggy jeans were clearly visible. Her pretty face was hidden by her arms and hair. Though her face was pretty, her clothes hid scars that would make people wonder quite a few things.

In the lecture hall, seven rows and five columns of tables sat two students side-by-side in an auditorium-like fashion so the tables in the back row was higher up than the teacher and his desk. There were three seats open. One open seat was to Arwen’s left, who sat at the table that was in the dead center of the room. The second was behind her. The last was in the second row near a boy who was doing his calculus homework, which was due the next hour.

The teacher started his lecture, taking a ruler as he walked up and down the rows. The boy doing his homework would have gotten it taken away if the staff member hadn’t seen Arwen sleeping. He went up to her table and smacked it with the ruler. She jumped up and the teacher barked, “No sleeping in class.” She sank back down and rested her chin on her arms.

Halfway through the lesson, the principal stepped into the room and to the teacher with two girls trailing him. “I am sorry to interrupt, but you have two new students. I am escorting them to make sure they didn’t get lost.” He turned from the teacher to the tables of students. “Class, this is Miss Rose and Isabella Daerhart.” The two girls smiled at the class, making every boy present sit up and do whatever it took to see the twins.

Arwen’s ears perked up when she heard they had two new girls. She sighed. ‘Not again,’ was her only thought. To Arwen, new students were just plain annoying.

Rose was the older of the two, and a fox. Her brown eyes scanned the room, already selecting the seat beside the boy who could only stare at the twins and ignore what was to be turned in next hour. She had on a white pair of capris and a sleeveless pale pink shirt. Locks of her red-orange hair were braided back, letting others sway like her fox’s tail.

Isabella, more commonly known as Bells, had her hip out a little, her excuse being her “heavy” books. She had purposely left her messenger bag in her locker so she could catch boys’ eyes. Her glossy black tail twitched as she glanced at her prey. Her panther ears didn’t move. She had on a black mini skirt that didn’t make it to the middle of her thigh, which was as high as her fingertips would allow, according to the school dress code, and a white beater under a purple tang top. She and Rose had fought for ten minutes that morning over what to do with her hair. It had ended up simply brushed because they ran out of time to do more.

The younger one was who had caught most of the boy’s eyes because she was a dancer and her curves were much more distinct. Every move she made was graceful, even the shift of her books to her other hip as the teacher went to his desk to correct his attendance sheet. He needed to mark the twins as present rather than absent.

“Well, ladies,” the teacher said once the correction was made, “you may pick from the remaining seats. Thank you, principal, for bringing them here.” Rose took a seat next to the boy she had targeted earlier, leaving Isabella to sit beside or behind Arwen. Bells took the opportunity to give a pout and decided whether to sit next to the kinda cute boy or Arwen. She chose to tease the boys and sit beside Arwen.

Bells took careful care to make sure the teacher wasn’t looking so she could sway her hips as she walked slowly to her seat. Once seated, she turned to Arwen and smiled. “Hi, I’m Bells.” Arwen ignored her and closed her eyes, trying to sleep. The black eyes narrowed, ‘Rude much,’ she thought and turned her head to pay attention.

Arwen’s twin brother, Ulric came in ten minutes later. His black hair was damp from the showers, and dripping a little. His Manchester United jersey was loose on his human body. Bells watched him carefully so she seemed to not be interested. Her target was now chosen. ‘He’s by far the hottest guy at the school!’ She licked her lips on the inside.

“Sorry I’m late, what with practice and all.” He handed his note to the teacher and took his seat behind Arwen, noticing Rose and Bells. ‘Wow, where have they been all year?’

Rose turned around and made a face at Bells, who just smiled sweetly. The older one pouted on the inside. ‘Damn, she gets to sit in front of the hot guy.’ Bells then waved at her sister, trying not to laugh, but catching Ulric’s eye.

He leaned forward to Bells and tapped her shoulder. The half-panther turned to her target and returned his smile. “I’m Ulric. I haven’t seen you in class before.”

“I’m Isabella. This is my first day here.”

Arwen was gagging in her mind so she leaned back in her chair and grinned. “You reek.”

His head turned to his sister. ‘Thanks for killing the moment,’ he thought angrily as Bells pulled a notebook out of her stack and started writing. “Shut up. I know.” Arwen put the chair back on all four legs before the teacher noticed.

Bells wrote notes and personal comments on what the teacher was saying, even though she had amazing remembrance skills. She didn’t look back once at the boy behind her so he would watch for her to do so.

The bell rang and Arwen sighed, relieved. The class emptied, the two set of twins remaining. Rose and Bells needed to get some papers from the teacher while Ulric had to turn in his homework from the day before. He had a game then and missed the class.

As the twin girls waited, Rose sat in a chair while Bells was on the table. She had positioned her body so Ulric couldn’t manage to take his eyes off of her. They chatted quietly about their next classes.

He finally snapped out of his trance and went to the source. “Hey Bells, do you like sports by any chance?”

She turned her head to him and gave him a smile. “Love them. Except the French soccer team is my favorite.” She pointed at his jersey. “They may not be the best, but I’m a fan.”

“They’re actually my favorite too.” ‘Even before you came around,’ he added in his head. “But I need to show everyone that all soccer teams are better than the rest.”

She raised one of her slender eyebrows. “People need convincing? Back in my hometown, we had block parties for all the soccer teams. Everyone went, even if they didn’t like the team. Soccer ruled over that town.”

Rose took the papers from the teacher, hers and her sister’s. Bells meowed sharply when her tail was pulled by her sister. “Come o-o-on kitten, you talk too much. We gotta get to class.”

“Impatient,” she grumbled as Rose pulled her from the room.

Rose’s tail swished as they stopped in the hall. “I am as patient as they come.”

Arwen growled softly. “I hate cats.”

Her brother sighed and handed the teacher his work. “Why can’t you be calm like everyone else? And I’m not letting you skip either! Now come on or we’ll be late!” He grabbed Arwen’s hand and pulled her into the hall where Rose and Bells were looking from the map to their schedules. He didn’t notice, too worried about getting to the other side of the building in time for the bell, except for a side thought. ‘I wanted to invite her to the game tomorrow.’

“That was one bitch of a move!” Bells hissed when the two disappeared around the corner.

“I know, but I had to. He’s hot, Bells. Like, amazingly cute, hot. You’ll probably have girls clawing your eyes out. You know how it is.”

“If you didn’t notice, thorn-fingers, he was kinda holding that girl’s hand.” Bells’s ears sagged down in her sadness and her tail stopped moving. “He’s taken.”

“Pshh, you’re over exaggerating it. The popular guys do stuff like that all the time with just friends. Now, get to choir. It’s on the other side of the school.”

Bells smiled and ran, her agility being the only thing getting her there as the bell rang. When Bells got into the room, she saw Ulric and stopped breathing for a second; surprised he was in her class. Then she coughed and panted some more.

“You’re Isabella Daerhart, aren’t you?” the teacher asked.

“Yeah … that’s … me…” she panted. ‘Man, can’t give me one moment to catch my breath. Well, it was half my fault.’

“Please sit.” He waved an arm to the seats.

She spotted an open seat right next to Ulric. Bells caught her breath and walked calmly over to the seat beside Ulric. “May I?”

“Of course.” ‘I wonder how many other classes I have with her. This day keeps getting better.’

“Thanks,” Bells smiled and sat down. ‘Time to sing!’

He looked closer at her face. “You alright? Your face is pale.”

“I’m probably still tired from running across the school.”

“You sure that’s all?”

“Yeah. I’m used to singing and dancing, not sprinting.” Bells closed her eyes and breathed in. ‘Just like you’re about to sing, Bells. In, out, in out. There, much better!’

He put his hand on her forehead. “You feel a little warm.”

“I feel perfect.” She swayed a little in her seat. ‘Ooh! His wrist is warm. It’s making me dizzy. No! No fainting!’ She moved her head so the heat from Ulric’s wrist was no longer flowing into her body.

He stood up. “Sir, I’m going to take Isabella to the nurse. She feels like she has a fever.” The teacher nodded and scribbled a note for Ulric to take.

“I-I…” Bells stammered.

He took her arm and led her outside of the classroom, grabbing the pass as he passed the teacher. “You’re going to the nurse, alright?”

“S-sure…” ‘Fine, but we’re doing this my way.’ Her knees buckled when she willed it.

Ulric picked her up. “Yeah, you’re most definitely going to the nurse’s.”

As Arwen was sneaking down the halls to get out of school, someone licked their lips and watched. ‘She’s coming right to me. Good. She’ll be a lovely addition to us.’ “Hey there,” he said and grabbed her collar. He held her against a locker, giving her his devil’s grin. “Hey.”

Arwen was so startled that she didn’t know how to react. Her hands, as a reflex, went to try and pry his fingers from her neck. It didn’t work. “Who are you and what do you want?”

He shrugged. “I'm just looking for strong people to join a little group.”

“What kind of group?”

“A group of people who really should be in charge of everyone else.”

She put her hand on his wrist. “Well, here’s what I think.” She started to bend his hand backwards.

He let go of her. “Well, if you change your mind, I’ll be watching. Make up your mind fast.”

“Or what?”

“I just hate waiting, is all.”

“How can I trust you when you just shoved me up against a locker?”

“How can I trust that you will not turn around and tell someone about us?”

“I don’t even know anything about your group or who you are, so how can I tell someone if I don’t know?” Her ears perked up, being cautious since she did know nothing about him or his group.

“People tend to find ways. I wouldn’t tell anyone if I was you. Think on it a little. I’ll be back to get your answer.” He ran away too fast for Arwen to see.

She went on her way again, chewing on the inside of her cheek. That is when she saw Ulric. “Hey, you never skip,” she called to him, unaware of the struggling Bells in his arms.

“I wasn’t.” He kept walking to Arwen. “However, you are.”

‘I need to direct this another way…’ Arwen grinned as she saw Bells. ‘Perfect!’ “Awww, isn’t that cute?”

The half-panther was still wiggling; making Ulric put all his strength into not dropping her. “Please tell him I’m fine!” she pleaded. ‘Odd, are they or… Ooh! I hate high school!’

“Well, since he’s taking you to the nurse’s office, I’ll walk with ya.” ‘Even though I was going to sneak out of school.’ “And I’m not going to tell him you’re fine because you look paler than paper.”

Bells groaned. “I wanna go back to class. I wanna sing!” She put on an adorable kitten pout with her lower lip stuck out a little, wide eyes, and ears lay against her head.

Arwen leaned over and flicked her nose. “Give it a rest.”

She meowed and rubbed her poor nose. ‘Bitch! Don’t flick my nose!’

Ulric moved Bells away from his sister. “Arwen, be nice to her. And you! You’re going to the nurse’s office, so quit complaining.”

“Fine.” Bells relaxed a little in his arms and stopped moving. However, Ulric and Arwen’s relationship still threw her off though. Ulric and Arwen started walking again. ‘They must be related. Maybe brother and sister. Man! His sister! She’s so bad that I don’t think I even like him anymore!’

When they got to the office, Ulric laid Bells on a paper covered bed. “Stay here while I get the nurse.” He glared at Arwen, “And you don’t teach her any of your bad habits.”

Arwen rolled her eyes and watched him leave. “Finally.” She looked at the window and went to it.

“Umm … err … I have a question…” the girl on the bed said quietly, slowly kicking her feet.

Arwen was half paying attention to her, more intent on escaping. “What is it?”

“W-what is your connection with Ulric?”

She looked at Bells, her attention fully focused on her now. “Why do you want to know that?”

“J-just wondering.” ‘It feels like she’s gonna bite my head off.’

She glared at her. “Why do you want to know?”

Bells grabbed her legs and held them to her chest, almost scared Arwen would tear them off. Her tail whisked slowly back and forth on her feet. “I-I just w-wanted to know,” she half whined.

“But why?”

“B-because I’m a cat.” ‘I think curiosity really did kill the cat.’

She glared at Bells, letting her fangs show a bit. “Tell me the truth before I bite you,” she growled.

“EEK!” ‘I knew it! She’s a psycho killer!’ Bells jumped up, trying to get as far from Arwen as the bed would allow. “Because I kinda like him. OK!? Don’t bite me!”

“I’m not going to bite you.” She shrugged. “Just an empty threat. And you might want to—”

Ulric came back with the nurse. Bells sat back down. “This is the girl I was talking about and I need to get back to class.”

Arwen threw a paper at Bells. She then jumped out the first story window and started to run before her brother could grab her.

Bells shoved the paper in her pocket, wishing she had her purse to put it into instead of having a wad of paper sticking out of her pants. “I feel fine, I swear!” She shot a glare at the boy.

“If the nurse says you’re fine, then come back to class.” He left to return to the choir room.

The nurse walked over to her. She was a small, thin woman with crazily colored hair that had all the colors from red to yellow. She had two antennae that sprouted from opposite sides of her forehead. To Bells, it was clear she was a half-butterfly. “You might want to listen to him. You’re very pale. You could pass as a snowflake with that shade.” She started her inspection of Bells. “If you can, avoid hanging out with Arwen. She may have good grades, but she has a bad attitude and is horrible to control. Not only that, every time I see her, I get a whiff of blood. I don’t like it.”

“What about Ulric? He doesn’t seem all that bad.”

The nurse put a thermometer to Bells’s ear. “He’s a good kid. Much different from his older sister. He has perfect grades, is the superstar of the school, you know?” She looked at the measurement. “Well, you’re starting to get a fever. You are a transfer student, yes?”

“Yes, from the east coast. Why would that be a concern?” Bells said politely, despite her fouling mood.

“It’s a big space from there to here. There may be some illnesses that you are simply not immune to.” She wrote a note. “Give this to your parents and go to the doctor if you feel any worse. You should go home.”

“Alrighty then.” She stood up and almost fell into a chair. ‘Man, I want to go back to class. I want to go sing! Plus I’m not gonna walk home without Rose.’ “Could you some how get my sister? She’s the only way I can get home.”

“I’ll send someone to get her. What’s her name?”

“Rose Daerhart.”

The nurse left. Rose came in a half hour later. The messenger had been slow and the teacher had refused for a while to let him in. Bells was still in the chair and had thrown Arwen’s note out that had said We’re twins. I’m the older one. Arwen and Ulric DeLeon.

“I’m sick, apparently,” Bells muttered.

She put her hands on her hips. “You most definitely are! My God, sis! You’re whiter than snow!”

“I need to get my stuff from the choir room. It’s just down two halls.” Rose thought about what Bells said, deciding whether to just take her home, but eventually reached out and helped her up. The bell rang to switch classes as they left the nurse’s.

When they got to the room, Rose waited outside while Bells took a peek inside. Ulric was there, and singing. She sneaked inside and gathered her things, not even registering in either the teacher or Ulric’s minds as being present. She sat down and listened for a moment. ‘He has the most amazing voice in the world! Man, it makes mine sound like claws on a chalkboard!’

He stopped when he saw some of his buddies come in from the football team. “Hey guys.”

One went up and gave Ulric a high five. “Hey! What’s going on?”

“Not much, but what’re you guys doing here?”

Bells took in a breath, a plan molding in her mind. ‘OK, I will need all my strength for this. Rose may have to carry me home.’ She walked steadily, and with a lot of energy from her hips, down to where the boys were. She cut on the outside of them, making sure Ulric was furthest from her. “Bye Ulric. Thanks for everything today!” She spun around and ducked out of the room as fast as she could.

The boys stared after her, drooling over their departed guest. “Ulric!” one of the boys clapped him on the back. “You need to introduce us to that one! Who is she? She’s into athletes, right?”

He pushed the guy lightly. “You wish you could get a girl like that. Her name’s Bells. I carried her to the nurse’s today.”

“I hate you! She’s too good for even you.”

The twin girls walked away from the door as soon as Bells got out. They got home with only a few stumbles by the panther. Their parents were home. They had said they wouldn’t be home until late, but the girls knew better. “MOM! DAD! IF YOU’RE HERE, WE’RE BACK!!” Rose shouted.

Their mom came out of the kitchen. “Hey, how was your first day of school?”

“Apparently I’m sick.” Bells started fishing in her purse for the note.

“Love sick.”

“Shush! I have a note.” Rose rocked her arms so it looked like she was holding a baby as Bells pulled the note out.

“Rose,” her mother warned. “Make any new friends?” she asked while taking the slip of paper.

Bells put her hand over Rose’s mouth. “Just a wolf-girl named Arwen and her brother. I think you need to sign or something.”

“I’ll sign it later. Dinner’s not ready yet. Try to unpack some more.” She walked back into the kitchen.

“OK Mom,” the younger daughter responded.

“See ya!” The two went upstairs to unpack a little. “Bells and Ulric sittin’ in a tree…”

“Ooh!” She took a pillow, went into Rose’s room, and threw it at her sister. “Rose, you can not sing!” Rose shrugged and Bells went back into her room, with the pillow.

An hour later, their father walked into the house. “I’m home!” he called.

“DAD!” Bells jumped up from her boxes and ran downstairs. She tumbled into his arms from moving too quickly.

He laughed and hugged his daughter as Rose came down. “Hey!”

“How was work, Dad?”

“I think it was worth the move. I’m sorry for having to transfer you two though.”

“It’s fine. However, I was taken to the nurse’s and she said I’m sick.”

“Really?” He kissed her on her forehead. “Hope you feel better.” The smell from the kitchen wandered to the two half-panthers. “And whatever your mom is cooking smells delicious.”

“Mmhmm. It always does!”

Rose smiled and squeezed between her father and twin. “Hey, hypothetically, what if I told you I had a boyfriend?” Bells glared at her for asking that.

“You know the rules. You have to bring him over for us to meet. Then we’d make a decision on if you could see him. Why?”

“I was just asking.” She walked away to help her mom with the rest of dinner.

He looked at Bells. “I wonder what that was about.”

She shrugged. “Some guy at school.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

“Yes really.”

He shook his head. “Bells, don’t tease this one too bad, OK? Remember what happened last time?”

She gave him a weak smile. “It was just a tour dancer. I’ll never see him again.”

Her father crossed his arms. “Just know what goes around comes back around. You keep breaking hearts and yours is gonna get it too.”

Bells hung her head, not quite caring about what her father said. “Alright, not too bad.”

“Good girl,” he squeezed her in a one-armed hug.

“Dinner’s ready!” Rose called to them.
---
At her house, Arwen had fallen asleep on her homework that was scattered over her bed. She woke up around midnight. She stretched and sat up. She was in the basement, which was basically her room. The walls were painted black. Her drawers, sheets, and even her lights matched the walls, giving the space a dungeon-feel to it. The black tinted lights were dim, meaning the room was almost pitch black.

There was a chuckle beside Arwen’s ear. “Hello sleepy.” His weight disappeared from the bed before she could turn.

Her ears perked up and she started to look around. ‘Where … how … how’d the hell did he get into the house, let alone my room?!’

“Wondering how I got in?” the boy from before asked. “That was only too easy.”

She stood up, still in her half form. “What do you want?” Her voice gave no hint of her small amount of fear that was growing steadily.

“The same thing I wanted last time: an answer.”

“You haven’t even told me what it’s about.” She was still looking around, trying to figure out where he was, and if there was anyone with him.

“We want to make ourselves as strong as we can. No limitations. Come on, don’t you want that?”

“Yeah … but…”

“But what?”

“What exactly does that mean?”

“It means we can do what we need to get stronger with no one to hold us back.”

“I still don’t get what you guys do, plus why would you want a teenager in your gang?”

He laughed. “I am a teenager.” He saw her text books on the bed. He picked one up and flipped through the pages. “Why do you care to learn this? It will be old news in a couple years.” He dropped it on another and moved away.

“Why do you care?”

“Just a friendly warning. I was stupid enough to waste my time learning it. It is irrelevant to the world.”

“OK, fine. Let’s say I refuse your offer, what will you do to me?”

“That is still being decided since most of the group does not think you will join. We will most likely kill you.”

She chewed on her lip for a minute. “Just out of curiosity, you didn’t come here alone, did you?”

“I am strong enough to move alone if I wish.”

“Then, if you’re alone, what makes you think you can kill me?”

“I never said yes or no to your question. How do you know I’m alone? How do you know if there's someone else here?”

“All I asked was if you were alone.”

“And I didn’t give you a proper answer. I may be alone, I may not be. We’re interested because we can make you more powerful. You aren’t a threat besides you knowing about us.”

“I don’t even know that much about you guys.”

“You know we exist. That in and of itself is enough.”

She shrugged. “Well, I still don’t have an answer for you.” ‘I need to keep getting information from him. I don’t like the idea of this group.’

He growled. “You are driving me insane with the fact that you cannot say a simple yes or no!”

“And you are driving me crazy by not giving me more information.”

“If we release information, you may become a threat.”

“Aren’t I already a threat?”

“One that can be easily eliminated.”

“So, what’s the big deal if you tell me some more?”

“I don’t feel like it.”

“And I don’t feel like giving you an answer.”

He scowled in the dark. “You know I am going to take that as a ‘no’?”

She shrugged. “Whatever.”

“It’s your funeral, kid.”

Her arms folded across her chest. “Try me.”

He chuckled. “I’ll be back in the morning to kill you. Until then.”

“Good luck trying to find me.”

This made him full-out laugh. “Not find you. That’s a good one. Might as well get my scent and just follow me around.”

Arwen sniffed the air, only to smell herself and no one else. ‘What?! He has no scent!’ “I have your scent memorized.”

He chuckled again. “You are too weak to be able to sense us. You are very easy to read, like a book. I can tell exactly what you are thinking.”

She bit her lip, shocked. ‘I don’t even know where he is and he can read me?’

“Did I prick a point of curiosity?”

“Maybe.”

“I told you, you’re as easy to read as a book.” He chuckled again and left.
After he left, she kicked the books off her bed. “Damn, damn, damn, damn, DAMN!”
---
The boy who had just talked to Arwen stood in the hallway outside of Bells’s and Rose’s doors ten minutes later. There was a short woman with him that had a hooked nose. Her rust and brown hair was pulled away from her small face. She handed him a paper bag and pointed to the twin’s parents’ bedroom.

He took out a wet washcloth and put it over his nose and mouth. Whatever was in the bag, he clearly did not want to inhale. He then went into the parents’ room with the bag and dumped the teal powder on their heads. He waited a moment then jumped on the foot of the bed. The couple didn’t move more than the extreme bouncing of the mattress. He smiled under the cloth and went back to the woman.

She took the bag and put it in a pouch on her hip. “Good job, Keith. The girl Isabella is in the room to your left. You take her. And be careful. The Lord said she was dangerous.”

“Master Halyin, then why don’t you take her?”

“Because you wanted a challenge,” she snapped. With that, she turned and entered Rose’s room.

Keith ground his teeth together and put the washcloth in his pocket. “I want your Handprint so badly,” he hissed as he shut Bells’s door. She rolled over and moaned in her sleep. He walked slowly and quietly over to her bed.

Bells had pushed all her blankets down to the edge of the bed and was now on her right side. One arm was lazily lying on her stomach while the one closer to the mattress was simply beside her. Her knees were barely bent and black hair spread over the remaining part of the pillow. She had on a thin white tang top that showed below her diaphragm and gray pair of short shorts. “Ooh,” his words were barely audible to even himself, “she is as hot as the pictures downstairs show.”

He knelt beside her low bed, which was a single mattress without a frame. She had a very small smile on her face, which disappeared when Keith touched her cheek. Not only did she scream, but Keith was also punched square on the nose. He hit her dresser that was a yard away, and against the wall. She stood up, fists raised. “Who are you!?”

Keith stood up straight and rubbed his bleeding nose. “Damn, Isabella! You can really punch.”

“I asked a question!”

“Shit, ouch.” He tipped his head back. “My name is Keith.”

“Tell me why you’re here or I’ll break your jaw!” She swayed back and forth on the balls of her feet, ready to punch again. She was more than ready to throw Keith out her window.

“Bells!” Rose yelled as she ran into the room, Halyin close behind her. The woman flicked the lights on. Bells took Rose’s arm and swung her safely behind herself. “Aren’t I supposed to protect you?”

Halyin laughed when she saw Keith. “I told you to be careful. What did you do?”

“He didn’t keep his hands to himself,” Bells informed her icily.

“I touched your cheek! You make it sound like I molested you.” He snapped back.

“If you had stayed away, you wouldn’t have a bleeding nose.” His Master handed him a cloth. He took it and sniffed it. The bleeding stopped immediately and he wiped the blood away.

“What did you do to our parents!?” Bells screamed.

“Who said we did anything to them?” Halyin asked innocently.

“Because they should have heard me scream when I punched him! They should have run in here! What did you do!?”

Keith chuckled. “We just gave them some heavy sleeping powder. They’re fine. It’ll wear off in an hour.”

She grabbed his wrist and they fell to the ground. Bells settled for kicking him since he was holding her wrists. “I am going to make sure you never laugh again!”

“Enough of this!” Halyin roared. She pulled Bells off of Keith and held her. “We only did it so they would not have to worry about you two. We wanted to speak with you two and you two alone. Please, Isabella, Keith is too mouthy sometimes. Forgive him.”

She turned her head away from him. “I’ll never forgive him. I don’t like him.”

“You’re ugly anyway.” He lied.

Halyin raised both eyebrows, unable to lift just one. “You were drooling over her pictures downstairs, Keith, so don’t lie so bluntly.” Bells gave a small laugh and put a smug smile on her face. “If you don’t mind though, I have a proposal for you both.”

“I don’t accept,” Bells told her. “If he has anything to do with it, I’m out.”

“Funny,” Keith chuckled and pulled a knife out of his belt, “because not accepting gets you killed.” He ran the tip an inch in length across the gap of skin shown between her shorts and top. Bells winced and tried to move away. Halyin kept her still, even when Keith slowly licked blood off the cut.

“Leave her!” Rose attempted to kick Keith, but he grabbed her leg and tripped her.

He looked down at her. “That’s not polite. We just want you two to join a little group.”

She looked at her little sister. “If I agree to join and Bells speaks of this to no one, will you promise not to touch her or the rest of my family?”

Halyin grinned. “None of us will touch your family so long as you stay with us.”