Wild Fire by Heather Glidewell
CHAPTER TWENTY
Demon Twins
One would think that after my parents stepped in that things would get better between the four of us. Instead things went from bad to worse. They did their best to keep their cool when my parents were around but if they weren’t the two of them were cold, cruel and increasingly violent. The day after the talk I was walking up the stairs when I was hit by something hard, when I looked down there was a rock on the floor below. It seemed to disappear as I watched it hit the ground. When I looked back up Helen was standing on the banister her arms crossed a satisfied look on her face.
On the second day I was running the water for a bath after a long time in the field. As I put my feet into the hot water it turned to blood. I squealed and pulled my foot out of the water hearing laughter coming from the hallway. I had to be careful when bathing from then on in fear of being covered in blood. I didn’t care, weak or not, it was still unpleasant.
On the third day someone replaced my cereal with sand and mixed in bits of glass. I was lucky I noticed the moment I poured it, if I had been half asleep I would have cut the hell out of my mouth. When I went upstairs to change clothes there was a massive flood in my closet and all my clothing was soaked. With a little help from Krista I cleared all of it up. Then as I was walking down the stairs Rose pushed by me and knocked me over the railing sending me tumbling to the ground. Thankfully I was able to twist and land on my feet. She looked displeased as she exited the room.
Now here we were on day four and I was watching my back with every turn. I didn’t know what they were going to do next. I also didn’t understand why they were doing it. Krista just shook her head when I asked her. Said that she got nothing when she talked to them. They had found a way to mask their thoughts, and it was extremely effective.
I made it from my bedroom to the kitchen without being attacked and then again outside. Something was up when I felt two hands push me from behind. When I swung around both of them were standing behind me with intense looks on their faces. Helen had her pitchfork in her hand and Rose had her new double ended spear. They were expecting a fight.
“I’m not doing this.” I said sternly as I looked between the two of them.
“Not doing what?” Rose asked frowning.
“I’m not going to do any of this. I don’t know what your problems are with me but I’m not going to play this game.” I put my hands up and turned to walk away.
“Do you always walk away from your fights?” Helen spit.
“Actually I was once told that I was too quick to dive into them without knowing my opponent. I know you guys and I know that you don’t want to do this. I know that it’s the blood in you that is causing these issues.” I looked down, I couldn’t believe I just quoted Xic.
“You think you know everything.” Rose’s voice was harsh and I couldn’t believe the undertone that it had.
“What the hell is going on?” Adam yelled running out the back door and jumping between us.
“Nothing.” Rose said sweetly putting the spear behind her as if she wasn’t planning on attacking me with it.
“What the hell is wrong with you? When it’s you and me you are the same girl I met in Dallas but the moment you walk out the door you become this whole other person. I don’t know which one is the real you.” Adam looked angry and his protective nature had kicked in. He was my Protector after all.
“I just can’t take much more of her goodiness. She does nothing wrong and everyone worships the ground she walks on.” Rose shrugged. For some reason it seemed Adam was bringing out a part of her I had not met. A scared, insecure girl.
“Dawn has made more mistakes then I can count. The thing is she is always willing to ante up to them. This is just crap Rose. Dawn risked her life to make sure you were safe. Do you not realize that if she hadn’t come in when she did both of us would be dead?” He looked back at me and whispered an apology.
“We would not be dead. I would have been able to get us out of there.” Rose hissed meaning it more towards me than him.
“No Rose we wouldn’t. Do you know what John does to Wardens? Did hearing that he killed Krista and nearly killed Dawn not ring any bells? He would have killed you and just for fun killed me to make a point.” Adam sighed. “I’m done dealing with this get your act together or I’m gone.” He threatened and I felt my heart fall. No, the reason for me having his memories erased was so that he could be with her without thinking of me. If he left her now all that work would be for nothing.
“What?” She pouted.
“Get balanced. I’m just heeding a warning about shifting sides. If you shift too far to one extreme you will die because your blood is meant to be balanced. That is what Dawn has done. Loosing Wesley finally put her in place.” Adam turned around. “Your people are waiting for you in the field. I suggest going now I don’t know how much longer I can give this speech.” He nodded at me.
“Yeah ok.” I said softly walking away from the scene. He was saving my hide. I didn’t want to do it, I wanted to stay there with him just in case. I knew that they wouldn’t hurt him. Rose had an affection towards him that none of us understood and Helen was just, well Helen.
I was met half way by Krista a worried look on her face. She touched my hair, lifted my arms, and checked me for cuts. When she felt relieved that nothing had happened she wrapped me in a large hug. For someone that doesn’t like to be touched I was getting used to all the hugging.
“Thank God they didn’t do it.” She sighed grabbing my face. “The things I saw in their heads were so wicked.”
“Adam broke in and told them to get balanced. I don’t know what we can do to help them. Even though we have been this our whole lives you and I are the only ones that seem to have grasped the need for both bloodlines.” I mumbled looking off towards my field. I could hear the clanging of weapons meaning that Shawn and Minerva had begun battle training.
“Why did Adam get involved?” She asked me her eyes were so blue they were almost gray.
“My parents let it slip when we got back from Dallas that he was supposed to be my Protector.” I shrugged biting my lip.
“They really don’t think you are ever going to get married then.” She laughed. “My mom threatened to do that with me and I had to plead with her not to. I want to find love on my own terms not have an arranged marriage in order to breed.”
“What are you talking about?” I suppose I had never been told what the real duties of a Protector. I always thought they were just that, meant to protect me from a harm that I could not escape from on my own.
“Nothing.” She sealed her lips. She looked behind her and sighed. “I should probably get back to them.” She turned around and hurried away. I was left with the feeling that I was going to have to have a talk with my parents over what they were thinking when they asked for Adam to be ascended.
I shook my head and turned towards the clangs, walking briskly I made it there in no time at all. Shawn heaved a sigh of relief up on seeing me. He must have been listening in on what they were saying.
“How’s everything going?” I asked trying to sound casual when inside I was a mess.
“Great, your parents came through with all the weapons so we have them working with their partners.” Shawn said pointing towards the robotic movements of the newbies.
“That’s amazing. I wasn’t expecting anything for a few weeks.” I slid my sword from its holster and smiled. Having my blade in my hand put my nerves at ease.
“I was worried.” He said quietly so that nobody but me could hear.
“Trust me so was I.” I breathed. “Thank God for Adam.”
“He’s really growing into his role. I’m proud of him for that.” Shawn shrugged before walking off and talking to Minerva. She nodded a few times before pulling her weapon from her side and taking her stance.
I stood there and watched everyone. They were committed to lea
rning that was for sure. If the others were practicing this hard then there would be no worries when it came to a battle.
I thought of Wesley alone in Miranda’s camp being guarded by the Queen’s lap dogs. I was also worried because I had not seen Peter since Dallas. We had been here long enough for him to come back with news from Wesley. I remembered he had said if I ever needed him all I had to do was call.
Peter if you can hear me can you meet me tonight in my room? I need to speak with you. I waited a few moments thinking he was like Shawn and would telepathically get back to me. I received no response. The only way I was going to know if he got the message was tonight when I walked into my room. Either he would be there or he wouldn’t.
Demon Twins
One would think that after my parents stepped in that things would get better between the four of us. Instead things went from bad to worse. They did their best to keep their cool when my parents were around but if they weren’t the two of them were cold, cruel and increasingly violent. The day after the talk I was walking up the stairs when I was hit by something hard, when I looked down there was a rock on the floor below. It seemed to disappear as I watched it hit the ground. When I looked back up Helen was standing on the banister her arms crossed a satisfied look on her face.
On the second day I was running the water for a bath after a long time in the field. As I put my feet into the hot water it turned to blood. I squealed and pulled my foot out of the water hearing laughter coming from the hallway. I had to be careful when bathing from then on in fear of being covered in blood. I didn’t care, weak or not, it was still unpleasant.
On the third day someone replaced my cereal with sand and mixed in bits of glass. I was lucky I noticed the moment I poured it, if I had been half asleep I would have cut the hell out of my mouth. When I went upstairs to change clothes there was a massive flood in my closet and all my clothing was soaked. With a little help from Krista I cleared all of it up. Then as I was walking down the stairs Rose pushed by me and knocked me over the railing sending me tumbling to the ground. Thankfully I was able to twist and land on my feet. She looked displeased as she exited the room.
Now here we were on day four and I was watching my back with every turn. I didn’t know what they were going to do next. I also didn’t understand why they were doing it. Krista just shook her head when I asked her. Said that she got nothing when she talked to them. They had found a way to mask their thoughts, and it was extremely effective.
I made it from my bedroom to the kitchen without being attacked and then again outside. Something was up when I felt two hands push me from behind. When I swung around both of them were standing behind me with intense looks on their faces. Helen had her pitchfork in her hand and Rose had her new double ended spear. They were expecting a fight.
“I’m not doing this.” I said sternly as I looked between the two of them.
“Not doing what?” Rose asked frowning.
“I’m not going to do any of this. I don’t know what your problems are with me but I’m not going to play this game.” I put my hands up and turned to walk away.
“Do you always walk away from your fights?” Helen spit.
“Actually I was once told that I was too quick to dive into them without knowing my opponent. I know you guys and I know that you don’t want to do this. I know that it’s the blood in you that is causing these issues.” I looked down, I couldn’t believe I just quoted Xic.
“You think you know everything.” Rose’s voice was harsh and I couldn’t believe the undertone that it had.
“What the hell is going on?” Adam yelled running out the back door and jumping between us.
“Nothing.” Rose said sweetly putting the spear behind her as if she wasn’t planning on attacking me with it.
“What the hell is wrong with you? When it’s you and me you are the same girl I met in Dallas but the moment you walk out the door you become this whole other person. I don’t know which one is the real you.” Adam looked angry and his protective nature had kicked in. He was my Protector after all.
“I just can’t take much more of her goodiness. She does nothing wrong and everyone worships the ground she walks on.” Rose shrugged. For some reason it seemed Adam was bringing out a part of her I had not met. A scared, insecure girl.
“Dawn has made more mistakes then I can count. The thing is she is always willing to ante up to them. This is just crap Rose. Dawn risked her life to make sure you were safe. Do you not realize that if she hadn’t come in when she did both of us would be dead?” He looked back at me and whispered an apology.
“We would not be dead. I would have been able to get us out of there.” Rose hissed meaning it more towards me than him.
“No Rose we wouldn’t. Do you know what John does to Wardens? Did hearing that he killed Krista and nearly killed Dawn not ring any bells? He would have killed you and just for fun killed me to make a point.” Adam sighed. “I’m done dealing with this get your act together or I’m gone.” He threatened and I felt my heart fall. No, the reason for me having his memories erased was so that he could be with her without thinking of me. If he left her now all that work would be for nothing.
“What?” She pouted.
“Get balanced. I’m just heeding a warning about shifting sides. If you shift too far to one extreme you will die because your blood is meant to be balanced. That is what Dawn has done. Loosing Wesley finally put her in place.” Adam turned around. “Your people are waiting for you in the field. I suggest going now I don’t know how much longer I can give this speech.” He nodded at me.
“Yeah ok.” I said softly walking away from the scene. He was saving my hide. I didn’t want to do it, I wanted to stay there with him just in case. I knew that they wouldn’t hurt him. Rose had an affection towards him that none of us understood and Helen was just, well Helen.
I was met half way by Krista a worried look on her face. She touched my hair, lifted my arms, and checked me for cuts. When she felt relieved that nothing had happened she wrapped me in a large hug. For someone that doesn’t like to be touched I was getting used to all the hugging.
“Thank God they didn’t do it.” She sighed grabbing my face. “The things I saw in their heads were so wicked.”
“Adam broke in and told them to get balanced. I don’t know what we can do to help them. Even though we have been this our whole lives you and I are the only ones that seem to have grasped the need for both bloodlines.” I mumbled looking off towards my field. I could hear the clanging of weapons meaning that Shawn and Minerva had begun battle training.
“Why did Adam get involved?” She asked me her eyes were so blue they were almost gray.
“My parents let it slip when we got back from Dallas that he was supposed to be my Protector.” I shrugged biting my lip.
“They really don’t think you are ever going to get married then.” She laughed. “My mom threatened to do that with me and I had to plead with her not to. I want to find love on my own terms not have an arranged marriage in order to breed.”
“What are you talking about?” I suppose I had never been told what the real duties of a Protector. I always thought they were just that, meant to protect me from a harm that I could not escape from on my own.
“Nothing.” She sealed her lips. She looked behind her and sighed. “I should probably get back to them.” She turned around and hurried away. I was left with the feeling that I was going to have to have a talk with my parents over what they were thinking when they asked for Adam to be ascended.
I shook my head and turned towards the clangs, walking briskly I made it there in no time at all. Shawn heaved a sigh of relief up on seeing me. He must have been listening in on what they were saying.
“How’s everything going?” I asked trying to sound casual when inside I was a mess.
“Great, your parents came through with all the weapons so we have them working with their partners.” Shawn said pointing towards the robotic movements of the newbies.
“That’s amazing. I wasn’t expecting anything for a few weeks.” I slid my sword from its holster and smiled. Having my blade in my hand put my nerves at ease.
“I was worried.” He said quietly so that nobody but me could hear.
“Trust me so was I.” I breathed. “Thank God for Adam.”
“He’s really growing into his role. I’m proud of him for that.” Shawn shrugged before walking off and talking to Minerva. She nodded a few times before pulling her weapon from her side and taking her stance.
I stood there and watched everyone. They were committed to lea
I thought of Wesley alone in Miranda’s camp being guarded by the Queen’s lap dogs. I was also worried because I had not seen Peter since Dallas. We had been here long enough for him to come back with news from Wesley. I remembered he had said if I ever needed him all I had to do was call.
Peter if you can hear me can you meet me tonight in my room? I need to speak with you. I waited a few moments thinking he was like Shawn and would telepathically get back to me. I received no response. The only way I was going to know if he got the message was tonight when I walked into my room. Either he would be there or he wouldn’t.