Sequel: Red Ink, White Feather ›
A Modern Myth
Chapter 1
I was a little less happy than usual as we walked back to the bus. Normally I would just be exhausted after a concert, but Frank had been extremely careful to obliterate my best drumset, so we would have to spend an extra day or two waiting to leave for our next venue while the tech crew fixed what they could and replaced everything else.
“I still can’t believe you did that,” Gerard said, laughing. I rolled my eyes.
“It was an accident,” Frank said for the hundredth time.
“Yeah, you ‘accidentally’ jumped off the amp and shoved the drums halfway across the stage,” Mikey added.
I sighed, distancing myself from them a little more. I knew Frank wasn’t happy about destroying my drums; he had pulled ridiculous stunts like that before. I just wished I didn’t have to be the victim.
The snap of a breaking tree branch caught my attention, and I simply raised my eyes toward the sound rather than show the guys just how worried I was. It was night now, the time of day when I started worrying about them the most. This was precisely why. Someone was hiding in the tree next to our bus.
I stayed as casual as I could, leaning against the side of the vehicle and drawing a pack of cigarettes from my pocket. The rest of them stepped inside, muttering about how I was just moping while Frank continued apologizing. I waited until the door had closed behind them before pulling the mask over my head and dropping my jacket to the ground.
“What are you doing here?” I asked quietly, now looking up at the place where I knew the assassin was hiding.
“I’m on a mission,” he answered, landing in front of me with only a hush of wind, “and you’re preventing me from accomplishing it.”
“There’s nothing you need to take care of here.” I heard the familiar sound of metal sliding against a casing and drew my own two swords just as quickly. Truthfully, I didn’t want to hurt him. The Order was already hesitant about someone like me being what I was; if I took down one of our own, they would kill me without a second thought. But I had already promised myself I wouldn’t let anything happen to my friends. I knew it was probably a mistake, but we had been through too much together. I couldn’t let them get hurt.
“I have no vendetta against you,” he said calmly. “But you should know better than to obstruct another’s assignment.”
I slashed the air with one sword in a wide stroke, mainly to see what he would do. He jumped high to avoid it, and I heard him land silently on top of the bus. I climbed up the side as well, keeping my steps as quiet as I could. If anything caught the guys’ attention, I would have to explain myself, and that was something I wasn’t allowed to do.
Two throwing knives whistled through the air. I let one clatter to the asphalt and caught the other with the tip of one sword to send it flying back at him. He deftly snatched it out of its path with two fingers. My eyes had finally adjusted to the darkness, and I saw that his hands were only partially wrapped in black cloth, exposing pale fingers with black-painted nails. I took note of this and crossed the swords in front of me, blades flattened against each other instead of directed at him. A defensive motion.
“Giving up so soon?”
“I won’t hurt you if you don’t hurt my friends,” I said placidly, managing to retain my anger. He bowed his head for a moment, then leapt off the roof of the bus and disappeared. Returning my swords to their hidden sheaths, I took a few seconds to slow my breathing and heart rate back to normal, then jumped down to the ground and pocketed the short knife, planning to examine it later and see if I knew who had made it. I pushed my mask back over my head and ran a hand through my hair to straighten it out a little before grabbing my jacket and heading back inside.
“Hey, I’m making cookies,” Ray said brightly. I gave a small smile.
“You guys do the craziest things when I’m not here to keep you in line.”
Lighthearted as I was trying to be, I knew I would have to talk to Ray once the rest of the guys were asleep. Someone was after at least one of them, and I had to find out why before anyone got hurt.
“I still can’t believe you did that,” Gerard said, laughing. I rolled my eyes.
“It was an accident,” Frank said for the hundredth time.
“Yeah, you ‘accidentally’ jumped off the amp and shoved the drums halfway across the stage,” Mikey added.
I sighed, distancing myself from them a little more. I knew Frank wasn’t happy about destroying my drums; he had pulled ridiculous stunts like that before. I just wished I didn’t have to be the victim.
The snap of a breaking tree branch caught my attention, and I simply raised my eyes toward the sound rather than show the guys just how worried I was. It was night now, the time of day when I started worrying about them the most. This was precisely why. Someone was hiding in the tree next to our bus.
I stayed as casual as I could, leaning against the side of the vehicle and drawing a pack of cigarettes from my pocket. The rest of them stepped inside, muttering about how I was just moping while Frank continued apologizing. I waited until the door had closed behind them before pulling the mask over my head and dropping my jacket to the ground.
“What are you doing here?” I asked quietly, now looking up at the place where I knew the assassin was hiding.
“I’m on a mission,” he answered, landing in front of me with only a hush of wind, “and you’re preventing me from accomplishing it.”
“There’s nothing you need to take care of here.” I heard the familiar sound of metal sliding against a casing and drew my own two swords just as quickly. Truthfully, I didn’t want to hurt him. The Order was already hesitant about someone like me being what I was; if I took down one of our own, they would kill me without a second thought. But I had already promised myself I wouldn’t let anything happen to my friends. I knew it was probably a mistake, but we had been through too much together. I couldn’t let them get hurt.
“I have no vendetta against you,” he said calmly. “But you should know better than to obstruct another’s assignment.”
I slashed the air with one sword in a wide stroke, mainly to see what he would do. He jumped high to avoid it, and I heard him land silently on top of the bus. I climbed up the side as well, keeping my steps as quiet as I could. If anything caught the guys’ attention, I would have to explain myself, and that was something I wasn’t allowed to do.
Two throwing knives whistled through the air. I let one clatter to the asphalt and caught the other with the tip of one sword to send it flying back at him. He deftly snatched it out of its path with two fingers. My eyes had finally adjusted to the darkness, and I saw that his hands were only partially wrapped in black cloth, exposing pale fingers with black-painted nails. I took note of this and crossed the swords in front of me, blades flattened against each other instead of directed at him. A defensive motion.
“Giving up so soon?”
“I won’t hurt you if you don’t hurt my friends,” I said placidly, managing to retain my anger. He bowed his head for a moment, then leapt off the roof of the bus and disappeared. Returning my swords to their hidden sheaths, I took a few seconds to slow my breathing and heart rate back to normal, then jumped down to the ground and pocketed the short knife, planning to examine it later and see if I knew who had made it. I pushed my mask back over my head and ran a hand through my hair to straighten it out a little before grabbing my jacket and heading back inside.
“Hey, I’m making cookies,” Ray said brightly. I gave a small smile.
“You guys do the craziest things when I’m not here to keep you in line.”
Lighthearted as I was trying to be, I knew I would have to talk to Ray once the rest of the guys were asleep. Someone was after at least one of them, and I had to find out why before anyone got hurt.