by R. Mason
“Then let’s hope we’re not wrong.”
Amethyst nodded. She tried to shake away the thoughts of him sobbing in his room, and turned around to where Faye had put her pen and pad of paper. They would wait a few minutes, and if he didn’t come back down, and if they had to plan this alone, then that’s what they would do.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Dylan had come back downstairs, and he was all business. There was no emotion in his eyes as he suggested backups to what they originally thought of. What they ended up with was pretty much the same as what they were going to do in the first place, but with more weight on Faye’s shoulders to follow her instincts. Amethyst had faith in her. She knew what to do on other full moons, so this one didn’t have to be so different.
After an hour of planning, Harper came back, and Faye quickly scrambled to put her papers away in her bag. Harper didn’t seem to notice, dropping the things he had bought down on the counter
Dylan seemed fine. His eyes weren’t red anymore, and he had a huge grin on his face when he greeted Harper.
He didn’t look at Amethyst or Faye, and hadn’t the entire time they were alone, but Amethyst decided to ignore it.
In the end, near midnight, they had a good plan. It would work if Harper wasn’t working with Kamini. Then, if he was, Amethyst and Faye’s plan was burning a hole in the latter’s bag. It was just about waiting now.
They got some pizza, watched a movie none of them paid attention to, then went to sleep in the living room, unable to go into separate rooms if this was the last night any of them would see each other.
Amethyst wanted to see her mum, tell her goodbye, or that she loved her. She couldn’t go home, though. If she did, she was scared that she would never leave. There was no going back now.
In the morning, Amethyst woke up first, her skin already crawling from the impending full moon. She looked down and saw Faye asleep on the floor beside the sofa, her hand resting next to where Amethyst’s was hanging down. For a moment, Amethyst wondered if they fell asleep holding hands, or found them at some point during the night.
Faye looked peaceful, her fringe falling to one side, and most of the hair from her bun having fallen out during the night, and spread across her pillow and face. She made little noises in her sleep, like she kept forgetting how to breath. It would have been so easy to press a kiss to her temple. It could have been interpreted as friendly, if the girl woke up before Amethyst could get away.
Instead, Amethyst tucked some hair behind Faye’s ear, and quickly snapped her hand away when the she snuffled slightly. She didn’t wake up though.
Relieved, Amethyst sat up and took in the room. Dylan was curled up in a ball on an armchair, his head lolling to one side, drool down his cheek. Amethyst wrinkled her nose.
He reminded her of Ash in a way. Sloppy, relaxed, and just like a puppy. Being reminded of her friend made Amethyst’s stomach hurt. She might never see him again. It was something she had to come to terms with. She could never see anyone again, apart from these three. Her mum, Ash, Yeva. Even if Amethyst somehow managed to save them from Kamini, she might not be able to save herself. Not when it came down to it.
She knew that if it meant saving them, she would happily die. Amethyst would walk into death’s arms, smiling, knowing that she did something good in a life of constant neutral decisions.
Amethyst got up quietly, so as to not disturb Faye’s sleep. Looking over to where Harper had been sleeping last night, she saw an empty space. All the thoughts that went whirling through her head in that moment could have been summed up with one word.
“Shit.”
Amethyst dropped her blanket and ran to the front door. She looked out of the front and saw that Volkov’s car was still there, parked wonkily on the curb.
Frowning, she ran to the kitchen, ignoring the beads that hit her in the face. There, at the stove, was Harper. His T Shirt was loose, and he was swinging his hips to the radio, care free.
“Crap,” He jumped when Amethyst came in, “Hey,” He smiled at her easily, but she didn’t reply, “How do you like your eggs?”
“I don’t,” Amethyst replied, “Bacon?”
“Sure,” Harper laughed, “There should be some in the fridge. Bottom shelf.”
“Wow,” Amethyst walked over and found it where he said it would be, “You really would think you live here.”
“I might as well do, with the amount of time I spent here during high school.”
“Not anymore?” Amethyst dropped the pack of bacon unceremoniously by the stove, and narrowed her eyes at Harper profile. He was unaffected, and kept swinging his hips while answering.
“University has me busy,” He shrugged, “There should be scissors in the drawer you’re leaning on, if you want to open the bacon. There’s room in the pan.”
It wasn’t the answer Amethyst wanted, but she didn’t know what she was expecting. Was he going to say something like ‘Funny story actually, I started working with that psychopath that wants to kill everyone’ over breakfast? Probably not. That didn’t mean it wasn’t true though.
They moved around the kitchen in silence.
Amethyst leant on the side as the bacon sizzled, and Harper carried on dancing and humming along to the horrible repetitive songs playing on the radio. It could have been domestic, or even romantic, if Amethyst didn’t have the feeling of impending doom in her gut.
It was always the same feeling the morning of a full moon. Restlessness. That was the only thing unique about it. Otherwise she would’ve blamed it on PMT. Getting easily annoyed, cramps, and cravings for things she wasn’t meant to eat, all wrapped up with the bow that was incapacitating sadness, just sounded like a period.
The only difference was the crippling restlessness.
All Amethyst wanted to do was run and leap and chase. It was probably the wolf in her, but it also felt like when you were a kid and knew you were going to the playground. She was practically fizzing out of her skin with the anticipation of running wild. Except instead of swings and slides, it was trees and dead rabbits.
Not exactly what you’d call a healthy evening.
There was always the feeling of guilt too. Except, that had nothing to do with lycanthropy. That was because of Faye.
Poor, beautiful Faye, who had to hurt herself to get Amethyst to not hurt others. God knows how she did it, but she did. She had to. They still had no idea what would happen if she didn’t. Neither of them had any idea how any of this worked. It was the blind leading the blind. Hope leading hope.
Eventually the others woke up, and Harper and Amethyst were broken out of their comfortable bubble of silence. Unfortunately, everyone being up meant everyone. That became clear when Leon strolled into the kitchen with the world’s worst bed head.
“Morning all,” He said casually, as if he wasn’t technically in the enemy’s territory, “Got any cereal?”
“The cupboard by the fridge,” Harper grumbled, not looking at the other boy. Leon seemed unfazed, simply grabbing the box from where he was told and opening practically every cupboard looking for a bowl.
“I hope some of that bacon is for me,” Dylan rubbed his eyes as he walked into the kitchen too, “I’m starving.”
“Plenty,” Harper replied with a smile, “Amethyst has first dibs, though.”
“It’s fine, I don’t mind waiting.”
“Nah,” Dylan patted her back, “You’re the guest,” He seemed to remember yesterday, then, and quickly removed his hand, frowning, “You’re still alive?”
Amethyst nearly reeled back, surprised by how abruptly he had started hating her, until Leon scoffed.
“Why, did you put something in the basement to kill me?”
“No,” Dylan sighed, “But I was praying all night.”
“Looks like God does love the gays after all, then,” Leon winked, picking up his bowl of milk-less cereal. He walked out of the kitchen after that, and everyone stayed in silence until the basement door slammed clo
sed.
“I hate him,” Dylan said, but Amethyst wasn’t convinced. He had a light pink tinge to the top of his cheeks.
“You’re the one that invited him to live here,” Harper reminded him with a raised eyebrow, and Dylan held a hand to his chest, mock offended.
“For the cause,” He said meaningfully, then inhaled through his nose, groaning dramatically, “God, why is the smell of bacon so much better than the taste.”
“Because life sucks,” Faye’s voice came from behind them, and she came to Amethyst’s side, resting her head on her shoulder, “I don’t want to be awake. Why are you guys so loud?”
“Because life sucks,” Amethyst replied mockingly, resting her head on top of Faye’s, “You want some bacon?”
“No, thanks,” Faye yawned, “But I’ll have some eggs.”
Her eyes were drooping, and the peace from sleep hadn’t completely left her. Amethyst wished it never left her. But today was the full moon. Today was the day they were confronting Kamini, and either this would all be over, or their lives would be. Either way, there would be no peace for any of them until tomorrow.
“Eggs, coming right up,” Harper served up the eggs and bacon that were already cooking, and handed one plate to Amethyst and one to Dylan, “Cutlery is in the same place as the scissors.”
“I know where my own damn cutlery is, dude,” Dylan hip checked him as he went to the drawer, and Amethyst watched the interaction with narrowed eyes. Could someone with bad intentions still be kind? Could he be on their side? There was no way to know without actually asking him. Amethyst took the fork Dylan offered her and tried not to think about it.
They had a plan, no matter how stupid it was, and had to go through with it. Amethyst just wasn’t sure how she would react if it went smoothly, or if she was right about Harper.
“Ugh,” Faye complained when Amethyst moved her shoulder, “What are you doing?”
“Moving,” Amethyst answered sarcastically, “And you’re going to have to too. Up and at ‘em, baby, your eggs are nearly ready.”
“Did you just-” Faye’s eyes were suddenly wide.
“Baby?” Dylan repeated incredulously before Faye could, “Did you just call Faye ‘baby’?”
“Shut up,” Amethyst grumbled, stuffing a piece of bacon in her mouth and ignoring her own blush.
Baby.
God, she needed a cup of coffee if this was what sleep deprivation did to her.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
“I still don’t like this,” Faye said, wiping the berries over her arms. They smelt so strong to Amethyst now, that she couldn’t smell Faye anymore. It was kind of the point, but it was still unsettling.
“No one does,” Amethyst squished some berries between her hands and wiped then either side of Faye’s face. It would’ve been funny in any other context, “We’re not doing it because we want to.”
“You’re not safe.”
“Neither are you,” Amethyst raised her eyebrows, and Faye sighed, defeated.
The forest was silent apart from their chatter, and because it was still daylight it wasn’t as scary as it would be later. This was the first part of the plan. The plan everyone knew.
Hide Faye. There was a little alcove of trees in this part of the wood, and Faye would be completely hidden from sight. Along with the berries, no one should know she was there. The heartbeat was another story. They had to soundproof the alcove.
Layers upon layers of leaves and branches were build up around each other. Even if it didn’t completely block her heartbeat and breathing, it would muffle it. Kamini would have had to strain to hear it. If Amethyst was drawing her attention enough, though, she wouldn’t want to. That was her job. Really, she was bait.
Dylan and Harper were only included in the set up. They couldn’t be there later, when the whole thing was going down. Not only would it give away the trap, but it was the full moon. Harper would need to be somewhere calm, and Dylan wouldn’t be safe. If Faye couldn’t calm Amethyst down enough, she wouldn’t be safe either. There was no other option for her, though. She was in it whether they wanted her to be or not.
Once the alcove had been deemed appropriately soundproofed, it was time to say goodbye. Faye was shaking. Her face was covered in berry juice, and so were her clothes. It wasn’t an ideal state to be in when left alone.
“Hey,” Amethyst drew the girl’s attention away from what was about to happen, “I’ll see you soon, okay?”
“Okay,” Faye bit her lip, “I’m scared, Ace.”
“I know. I am too,” Amethyst took her hand and held it tight, “It’s going to be fine. We’re going to get through this.”
“Yeah,” Faye nodded, “Yeah, of course we are.”
“And when we’re done, we can go back to mine and build the biggest fort. There can be a moat, a tower, anything you want.”
“And pizza?”
“All the pizza.”
Dylan and Harper were waiting just outside, and Amethyst knew they wouldn’t be able to hear them now. She leaned forward, and tried to get rid of the thoughts of kissing away Faye’s fear.
“Remember what needs to happen if this goes wrong,” She whispered into the air between them, and Faye nodded quickly, her eyes wide.
“I remember,” She said, “I listen for you, and come out to help you get back to yourself. Then I let you handle it.”
“Promise you won’t try be a hero?”
“What, like you are?”
“Faye.”
“I promise,” Faye swallowed, and it was so loud in the silence of the alcove. The thoughts of kissing her came again, but Amethyst held back. She leaned away again and squeezed Faye’s hand.
“I’ll see you later,” She went to leave, but Faye tugged on her hand and pulled her back down.
“Wait,” She said, a flicker of determination crossing her features.
“What is it?”
Before Amethyst could say anything else, Faye was kissing her. It wasn’t sweet, there weren’t fireworks, and time didn’t stop. It was just Amethyst and Faye, closer, saying goodbye for what might be the last time. Just as Amethyst had gained the composure to kiss back, Faye was pulling away.
“Don’t die before I can do that again.”
“Okay,” Amethyst replied immediately, her head fuzzy. She couldn’t stop herself from glancing down at Faye’s lips, “Okay.”
“Go be a hero.”
“Okay,” It seemed to be the only word in Amethyst’s vocabulary anymore. With one last squeeze, Faye let go of Amethyst’s hand, and Amethyst was leaving.
She met up with the other two, and brushed her fingers against her lips. Did that really just happen?
“Are you okay?” Dylan frowned at her, and she tried to school her expression. God knows what she must’ve looked like. Harper was next to him, distracted. He kept looking at the alcove, then around the forest. He was memorising where it was, probably. Whether it was because he wanted to get back to her if things got rough, or if he was preparing to tell Kamini, Amethyst didn’t know.
“Yeah,” Amethyst let her hand swing by her side and led the way out of the forest, “Let’s go kill ourselves’ a werewolf.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
DYLAN
To say that Dylan was nervous was a damn understatement. He paced in front of Harper for a good ten minutes before the guy said something.
“You’re going to wear a hole into the floor,” He said calmly, leant against his car with his arms crossed. Well, no, it wasn’t his car. It was Volkov’s car. Volkov, whom they hadn’t seen since the first time when Amethyst nearly had a panic attack.
“No, I won’t,” He stopped pacing and turned to face Harper. If he was on their side, which he was, then he could answer Dylan’s questions, right? “You said Volkov said he was going to look after Faye. That he’d texted you.”
“Yeah,” Harper seemed surprised at the sudden segue, “and?”
“We didn’t see him when we went f
or research, and you’ve had his car this entire time,” Dylan gestured at the car, narrowing his eyes against the sun, “Where is he? What is he doing? How long has he been gone?”
“You’re so jumpy,” Harper scoffed, “How much caffeine have you had today?”
“Not a lot,” Dylan crossed his arms, “Why aren’t you answering my questions?”
“Because I don’t know the answers. Volkov gave me this car once you two had left that first time, and he asked me not to tell you he had gone away when we went back the next time. I don’t know where he’s gone,” Harper explained, and if the sun weren’t in his damn eyes Dylan might have been able to tell if his eyebrow twitched like it did when he was lying, “Happy?”
“Not really,” Dylan sighed, “We’re still waiting for Amethyst to tell us whether she’s dead or not.”
“We have to trust she’s doing to right thing,” Harper said, “Do you trust she’s doing the right thing?”
“I trust Amethyst, yeah,” Dylan put a hand over his eyebrows and tried to see what expression was on Harper’s face, “That was cryptic as hell. You okay?”
“You trust me, right? That I’d do the right thing if it came down to it?”
“Harper-”
“Do you trust me?”
“You’re starting to worry me now,” Dylan laughed slightly, and Harper was walking towards him. He tried to resist the urge to take a step back, “Harper?”
“You’re going to trust me,” Harper held Dylan’s shoulders, and blocked out the sun with his head, so Dylan could finally see how serious he looked, “And you’re going to come with me.”
“I trust you,” Dylan said, uncertain “I do, but- but go with you where? We’re meant to wait here, for Amethyst.”
“Amethyst doesn’t matter,” Harper shook him, “You do.”
“Harper, you’re scaring me-”
“I’m sorry, Dylan.”
“Sorry? Sorry for what?”
