Monster

by Yolanda Olson

  Even though I knew he wouldn’t hurt me, my survival instinct kicked in and I got to my feet. I turned and ran as fast as I could letting the rage that was building inside take over.

  I saw the trees in front of me and grinned. Being able to take to the trees when I needed to was a strong point for me. Thankfully, there were a lot of trees surrounding the scene of the last showdown.

  I thought differently about it though. I hadn't been back in so long and what were the chances that the trees were still up? I decided, instead, to stay on the level ground and attempt to outrun Drake and his clones.

  I stopped running.

  I stood there waiting and patient for the wall of death and destruction to reach me. I kept my face carefully bland as Drake approached. I was going to throw him off completely by what I was going to do and I knew it. Inside I was laughing, on the outside I was calm.

  As they ran closer, I watched as he started to switch positions with his clones in an attempt to confuse me. But my new eyes processed things a lot faster and better than my previous monster eyes. He wasn’t going to fool me.

  I waited until they got within ten feet of me, then I made my move. I took a deep breath and ran straight for Drake. I almost laughed at the look on his face when he realized that he hadn’t been able to trick me.

  Mustering all the new strength that I could, I threw myself at him, grabbing him firmly around his waist and tossing us both far into the lake. When I ran for the trees I had seen the lake still shimmering in the moonlight to my right.

  He let out a confused cry as we sailed through the air. I took a deep breath at the last moment before we broke the surface of the lake and started to sink to the bottom.

  Something I should’ve told him.

  Dead things don’t usually float.

  I kept myself wrapped around his body holding onto him as tightly as I could while he struggled against me.

  Drake, in his panic, had forgotten that he didn’t need air to survive like I did. It was enough to know that he was ensnared that made him crazy.

  It also proved a point to me.

  If I could get myself wrapped around Skiles and somehow get him near a body of water, I’d be able to drown us both.

  Of course, unless the battlefield suddenly had a dam surrounding it and a torrential downpour came down, that wasn’t going to be very likely.

  Oh well.

  At least I knew that I had more than one option.

  I let him go of him and swam back to the surface. When I broke through I bobbed there patiently waiting for Drake to follow.

  I laughed when I saw the frantic look on his face.

  “Are you crazy, kid? You could’ve killed me!”

  “No. I couldn’t have. You don’t need air to survive. Your lungs don’t work, ergo you can’t possibly drown. I on the other hand can. I was just trying out a strategy in case I got Skiles near a body of water somehow,” I explained with a shrug.

  “But if he needs to be able to breathe don’t you?” he asked sitting on the edge of the lake.

  I nodded and laid my damp body down on the bank.

  I let my feet linger in the water as I attempted to regain control of my breathing.

  I turned my head to face him.

  He was staring thoughtfully at me as if trying to figure out why I would do something so crazy. When my intentions finally hit him, his face took on the most animated expression of shock I had ever seen.

  “No Finnegan. No way,” he said protested.

  “It’s not up to you Drake,” I replied breezily.

  “It may not be up to me but you’re my friend and I’m not going to let you do that to yourself,” he said, shaking his head vehemently.

  “Drake, don’t think about that. If you do your head won’t be in the right place. We’ve only got three days to go. I need you mentally and physically in the right place.”

  “I’m telling Cody.”

  I laughed. Somehow he thought that telling on me would stop me. I mean if he told Cody it would make it a lot more difficult but it certainly wouldn’t stop me.

  I wonder if he’s even going to show up.

  “I don’t think Cody is going to be there honestly. Look, the point of this whole thing isn’t to kill Skiles and walk away happy. The only thing I’ve wanted this whole time is to die. That’s what will truly make me happy. Of course I will be taking Skiles into the darkness with me, but I can’t walk around like this. It isn’t fair. I hate it and I refuse to have to walk the earth like this. I’ll miss all of you so much that I’m sure I won’t be able to stand it. I hope none of you forget me and I’ll do my best to not forget any of you when I go. I’ll even try to barter something to be able to keep some kind of memory of each and every one of you. You guys made my second life worth living, now it’s time to end it.”

  “First of all, I know he’ll be there,” Drake started in a quiet tone. “Second of all, don’t think I won’t take out Skiles the first chance I get. Third of all, there’s nothing to barter because you’re not going to die. End of story.”

  I sat up and held myself up with my elbows. I’d never seen Drake look so serious and sad at the same time. It was comforting to know that I would be missed but he wasn’t going to stop me from doing something I needed to do. No one was.

  “Well,” I said pushing myself to my feet, “I think it’s time that we take cover for the day. Looks like the sun will be out soon and I don’t want you charred to a crisp.”

  I knew it wouldn’t happen. Kaeden told me the sun couldn’t hurt them, but because I didn’t know if Drake knew this or not, I planned to maintain the ruse.

  “Okay, but since we’ve still got time I say we move closer to the showdown spot. I’d feel better knowing that we won’t have to go that far in the end,” he replied.

  I nodded.

  He did have a point after all.

  Looping my arm through his, we walked quietly past Mirror Lake on our way to where I knew this was going to end. Through my constant memory struggle, I was almost positive that this was the Quiet Place that Paige had talked about.

  We crossed the state line into what I prayed would be my final resting state in the matter of an hour. We were walking pretty fast. I knew that I’d need to be able to rest before everything happened if I wanted to be in top shape.

  I looked up at the sign.

  Welcome to Colorful Colorado!

  I cringed.

  If only the humans knew I was going to ‘color’ their state with blood, they’d stop me at the state line.

  “You coming, kid?”

  I snapped out of my daze. I saw Drake standing on the other side of the sign staring at me curiously. I opened my mouth to answer him when suddenly his eyes took on the onyx color of an angry vampire.

  He rushed past me.

  I heard his grunt as he collided with something.

  I turned and saw that he had an enormous dog on its back.

  Before our eyes, the dog quickly shifted into a human.

  “Charlie?” I asked.

  “Yes! Get him off of me!”

  I ran over and pulled Drake off. His eyes went back to their normal color and he grinned.

  “Sorry about that. You seemed aggressive and I wasn’t sure if this was another one of Dyson’s tricks.”

  “Well it’s not,” she said giving him a shove.

  I reached down and helped her off the ground.

  She grinned at me. “You are one tough cookie to track down!”

  “Yeah well I like to keep ‘em guessing,” I said laughing.

  Standing up she brushed her clothes off, then adjusted her hat.

  I like that hat. I’ll have to see if she will let me model it before I die.

  She put her hands on her hips and grinned. She glanced around a little. Her eyes seemed to land on Drake again and she raised her eyebrows.

  “I thought he was the enemy.”

  “Yep, that’s me! You’re worst nightmare and deadliest enemy,�
�� he said blowing on his nails.

  “Cut it out,” I said laughing.

  He grinned at me then turned his attention to Charlie.

  “So. A dog huh?”

  “Yeah. It was her boyfriend’s idea. It was actually smart if you think about it. Dogs have a keen sense of smell; it was easy to pick up her scent. And, um, the reason you felt the aggression on me was because I picked up your scent too and I remembered it from Kaeden’s house. I thought Finn might be in trouble.”

  Drake walked over to her and clapped her on the back. “Don’t worry about it. I would’ve done the same thing.”

  She smiled up at him and they shook hands.

  Looks like they’re okay now.

  “How are Cody and Kaeden?” I asked her as we started to walk again.

  “Kaeden’s fine. He knows that you can handle yourself and he’s the one that figured out that Drake here, only wanted to help. Cody on the other hand, almost lost his mind trying to figure out where you went and why you left again. I told him to stop smothering you and maybe you’d stick around,” she said with a mischievous grin.

  Drake doubled over with laughter and even I had to laugh at that. While it was true that Cody could be overbearing at times with his displays of affection, when he wasn’t around, I really did miss him.

  “I’ll be that didn’t sit in well,” Drake said with a grin.

  “Of course not,” she replied with a laugh, “he got mad. His eyes turned devilish and Kaeden wedged himself between us to make sure that he wouldn’t kill me. It was actually pretty funny because after that I couldn’t say two words without his eyes going from normal to evil.”

  I grinned. Cody was so sensitive when it came to me. I guess in a way that’s a good thing.

  I looked up and saw that the moon was starting to wane.

  “Kick it up guys, I want to get to Crystal Mill before the sun is completely up. We can get a good night’s rest there and then tomorrow night I want to start some skirmishes.”

  “You sound like Kaeden,” Drake groaned.

  We all laughed.

  I started to run at my breakneck speed.

  Drake’s eyes became onyx and he ran as swiftly as the wind would blow.

  Charlie shook her head and shifted into the fastest land animal, a cheetah.

  Together, the three of us raced for the abandoned town.

  27. One Last Surprise

  (Day 28)

  Go away, I shouted mentally at the person knocking on the door.

  Of course the chances that whoever was knocking was human was actually pretty slim since they were all too scared to venture into this place after dark. With the exception of the occasional paranormal investigator, this place was a good spot to hide in.

  Not to mention that it was that much closer to where I needed to be in two days.

  Two days.

  I sat up and shook the sleep from my head.

  I couldn’t believe it was that close.

  That close to the end and I still wanted to die.

  I still wanted this to end the same way it did when I woke up in the cemetery the day Skiles had abandoned me.

  Bang! Bang! Bang!

  “GO AWAY!” I screamed.

  “Finnegan, it’s me.”

  Word sure travels fast.

  I got up and walked over to the door of my new “room”.

  Pulling it open slightly, I peeked half of my face out and saw Kaeden looking down at me with a smile.

  Looks like he climbed the mill.

  “When you hide, you hide, don’t you?” he said with a chuckle.

  I grinned and pulled the door open the rest of the way. I reached up, pulled him in, and gave him a big hug. He laughed and returned it. I felt his hand smoothing out my hair.

  I looked up at him sharply, slapping his hand away.

  “What? You’ve got bed hair,” he replied laughing.

  I felt the embarrassment taking over me as I ran back into the dark room and started to frantically smooth out my hair.

  When I was sure that my hair was fine, I took a deep breath, and squared my shoulders.

  I walked purposefully back to the door where he was leaning in and smiling and went back to my hug. Laughing again, he picked me up off the floor and squeezed me against him.

  “Can you guys stop hugging long enough to come out here?” Drake called.

  I peeked over Kaeden’s shoulder and saw him and Charlie watching us. Drake had his familiar grin, but Charlie looked slightly unhappy.

  “You okay?” I asked giving Kaeden a gentle shove.

  “Hm? Me? Yeah I’m great,” she replied forcing a smile.

  I know that look, I thought with a small smile. That was the same look all the girls gave me at the amusement park the day I was with Skiles and he changed me.

  It was the look of envy.

  She likes him.

  I finally found something to add to my list of good deeds before I died. Try and get those two together.

  I walked past Kaeden, climbed down the ladder, and headed over to Drake. Giving me a big smile he turned and pointed to a window of the abandoned home to the right of us.

  I looked up and let out a happy cry when I saw Remy and Ryker sitting in the window waving back at me.

  “The whole band’s almost back together!” I yelled happily.

  “Almost,” Kaeden said, “I still have no clue where Cody is.”

  “He’s not coming,” I said waving it off.

  “What!”

  It seemed like every last one of them let out that shout at the exact same moment.

  “I knew he wasn’t coming. Chill out guys, I’m okay with it. We can do this without him. I mean think about it. We’ve got a lot that they don’t have. We have Charlie; who can compare to her? She can take any form she wants!” Charlie smiled modestly and I saw her face flush red. I couldn’t help but smile when Kaeden put his hand on her shoulder and smiled. “We’ve got the world’s first vampire, here people.

  Imagine the strength in having been around thousands of years. Not only that, he’s so intelligent it makes me jealous.” I made a face at him and he laughed. “Then there’s Drake. None of them can come close to doing anything like him. He’s fast, he’s an amazing team player, and ...” I trailed off and looked at him. Giving everyone a big smile, he multiplied a legion of clones. “Exactly,” I said chuckling. I glanced up at the window at Remy. “How can we lose with such an amazing gypsy on our side? Not only is she amazing with her whip, she can hurl incantations strong enough to hurt Cody. That’s something to be reckoned with.” She smiled and glanced at Ryker who was looking at her proudly. “And who can forget the great King Ryker?” He looked down at me and waved his hand as if trying to get me not to compliment him. “Not gonna happen Ryker, you deserve to be noticed as well. As a human Ryker was the strongest on this planet; no one could compare to his strength or size. His heart is as big as his body and he would die before letting harm come to his people. And even know, being a monster like me, he still won’t let harm come to them. And I envy that Ryker. I will admit that I envy that,” I finished softly.

  I felt Drake’s arm around my shoulder. Ryker disappeared from the window. I looked up at Remy through misty eyes and turned away from everyone.

  Suddenly I was engulfed in Ryker’s arms. He was actually hugging me, which was something he had been worried about before. I hugged him back and forced my tears away. Now was not the time to be like this. Now was the time to be a warrior because even though Ryker was king of the gypsies, I was the leader of this pack of monsters.

  I looked up at him and sniffled. He smiled and took a step back. Then he looked at Remy who had come out of the house. She shook her head slightly and he sighed.

  I glanced up at him again and noticed that he looked uneasy.

  “What?” I asked.

  “Nothing,” he said clearing his throat.

  “No way. No secrets, we’re a team,” I declared shaking my head.

>   “I just don’t think now is a good time,” he replied shifting uncomfortably on his feet.

  “Ryker. Tell me.”

  I felt like I was speaking to a child. It was like pulling teeth to get him to even look at me now and I knew that it was Remy that was making sure he didn’t say anything.

  “Give us a second,” I said to her.

  “No. I can’t. I know what he’s going to say. You’re not ready to hear it,” she said stubbornly.

  “Remy when have I ever asked you for anything?”

  Whoa. I sound like Cody.

  “Never,” she said softly. “But I can’t let him tell you right now.”

  “I understand,” I said.

  Then in an instant I grabbed Ryker by his vest collar and slammed him with all my might into the gravel below us. I put my hands on either side of his head and turned to look at her.

  “Either let him tell me or watch him die,” I growled.

  She immediately unraveled her bullwhip and pulled her arm back. I glanced down at Ryker and gave him a quick wink to let him know that he wasn’t in danger.

  In the two seconds it took me to look back to Remy, Kaeden had her restrained. I bit back a grin when I saw the look of mock boredom he gave me.

  I turned my attention back to him again. “Tell her if you want to die or not.”

  “Remy. I know I am not the same, but let me live. I must help Finnegan survive,” he pleaded with her.

  I swallowed a giggle and he shifted underneath me slightly to keep me serious.

  “Tell her then. But Finnegan, I warned you,” she said sadly.

  Kaeden released her but didn’t move from her side. I guessed that it was in case he wanted to be able to easily restrain her again.

  I stood up and pulled Ryker to his feet. I stepped back and looked up at him expectantly.

  “Looks like a party.”

  My body turned to ice.

  I closed my eyes tightly for a moment. I was shaking so violently that I didn’t know if I was going to be able to see straight.

  “Finn?” Drake’s voice sounded far away.

  I felt Ryker’s strong arms around me steadying me on my feet.

  I felt faint.