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  “Don’t worry, Mom said it was cool. We needed a day off.”

  I stared at her, trying pick my jaw up from the floor. “What?” She laughed again and continued down the hall, calling back over her shoulder,

  “Get dressed. Lunch is ready downstairs.”

  I stumbled back into my room, showered, brushed my teeth and got dressed. Our Mother didn’t give us “days off”. Something was up, and I was going to find out what.

  Before I left my room, I stopped to look at myself in the mirror. My black eye was getting better. Today it was just a yellowish color and the swelling was almost completely gone.

  It always amazed me how quickly I seemed to heal from my injuries. I shrugged this off, preparing myself to go find out what was going on here. Even if I had to demand answers; which was never easy with my Mother.

  I walked into the kitchen to find Nelly and my Mother sitting at the table, eating sandwiches. Nelly smiled and handed me a plate loaded with sandwiches and fresh fruit. My mother glanced up and then turned her attention back to her food. I sat down at the table.

  We ate in silence for a few moments, with me chewing with just a little too much vigor, before I decided I couldn’t wait any longer. “Does someone want to explain to me what’s going on?” I asked, clenching and unclenching my teeth.

  The two exchanged a look that once again gave me the feeling that they were hiding something from me. Understandably, my irritation grew.

  Nelly spoke first. “I just had a feeling we should stay home today.” When I just stared at her, she added, “I just… I just felt like it was important for us to stay home today.” I struggled to maintain my cool. “Okay…”

  This got no response from either of them. I hated being left out, and I felt my mood grow darker and darker. Clenching my jaws, I forcibly brought my attention back to my food. Then, rather abruptly, I decided I couldn’t take it anymore. They were going to start explaining. I was going to see to it. Consequences be damned. Anger surged through me, and I swear I could feel the strength of it in my bones.

  “Alright,” I said, as calmly as I could manage. “What the hell is going on? What aren’t you telling me?” I switched my gaze slowly back and forth between them. They flinched every time I met their eyes. I didn’t blame them. I was starting to scare myself.

  Seeing them cringe diffused my temper a little, though. I didn’t ever want them to be afraid of me. Especially not Nelly, though I doubted my Mother was afraid, I’d probably just surprised her.

  I looked down to see that my fists were clenched. What was wrong with me?

  Why was I so angry lately? I lowered my voice and looked at Nelly. “Look, I’m sorry. I… I’m not sure what’s wrong with me. But I do know that there’s something you’re not telling me. What is such a big secret that you can’t trust me with it?” Again, Nelly and my Mother exchanged a look that seemed to speak legions. And, again, I got no response.

  I threw my hands up, all that anger rushing back into me. “Fine,” I said, shoving my chair back and standing to leave the kitchen. I had to get away from them before I really lost it.

  I took two steps before my Mother stopped me. “Alexa,” she said.

  I turned back to face her, not caring that I was openly scowling. Like I said, consequences be damned.

  “It’s for the best, I promise you,” my Mother continued. Her voice was surprisingly gentle, and when I opened my mouth to protest, she held up a hand. “No, I know you don’t believe me, but I swear to you that it’s better this way. Even if you don’t trust me, I know you trust her.” She nodded toward Nelly. “Please, sit down. I have something for you.” I hesitated before moving. This had to be some kind of trick. My Mother never

  “had something for me”. Unless you counted a punch to the face.

  Noticing my delay, my Mother stood up. Subconsciously, I shifted my right leg back, so that I was standing in a fighting position. My Mother chuckled. “Fine. Just stay there. I’ll be right back.”

  She left the kitchen, and I looked over at Nelly. She was staring down at her hands, pointedly avoiding my gaze. I sighed and relaxed my stance. “Nell, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. I’m just frustrated, and I can’t help but feel like there’s something-“

  “Here.” My Mother walked back into the kitchen and held out something wrapped in cloth.

  Weary, I took the gift and ran my fingers over the velvet encasing it. It was a deep crimson, and it held something heavy. “What is it?”

  “Open it.”

  I slowly unwrapped the cloth, revealing a silver, oval, handle-thingy. It looked like the grip of a sword. It was brilliantly shiny and had some sort of floral design wrapping all the way around it. It was beautiful. I ran my fingers along the design, all earlier thoughts of anger forgotten.

  “Um, thank you.”

  My Mother just nodded. I looked back over at Nelly to see that she was staring wide-eyed at my strange gift. I gripped it in my hand and felt a strange peace wash over me. The vines and flowers carved into it seemed to wrap around my fingers in an embrace, leaving a smooth cool surface for a grip. I wasn’t sure what the thing was, but I felt as though I had just been handed something very important.

  Wrapping it back up in the velvet cloth, I took my seat at the table. Suddenly, I felt like everything was going to be okay. I decided to put off my questions for later. Everything was going to be okay.

  Or so I’d thought.

  Chapter 9

  I spent the rest of the day doing nothing. Well, not nothing, but pretty close. My Mother said that we didn’t need to practice today. She didn’t even make Nelly and me go on a run. So, I hung out with the two of them, doing normal things.

  We watched a couple of movies, I did a little reading, and just enjoyed their company; even my Mother’s. I put away my worries over returning to school and everything else that seemed to be happening to me lately.

  Nelly and I were sitting in my room after dinner. I spent most of my time at home alone or with Nelly (or “preparing” with my Mother), plus she was the only person I really had to talk to.

  “Oh, yeah,” Nelly said. “I never got a chance to thank you for what you did with Riley.”

  I gave a half smile. I hadn’t expected her to thank me for that. In fact, I’d thought she might be mad at me for hurting someone so badly because Nelly was just a gentle person. I should have known she would understand, even if I didn’t understand it myself.

  There was a sincere look in her hazel eyes. “So, thank you. I appreciate what you did.”

  I gave another halfhearted smile. “What else would I have done?” She started to say something else, but I held up my hand, cutting her short.

  “Shh,” I whispered.

  I had heard something outside the open window near my bed. I hadn’t closed it because I wasn’t going to sleep just yet. Maybe it was just Jackson again, coming over to “check on” me. Still, I had to be sure. For whatever reason, my hackles had gone up as soon as I’d heard that indistinguishable noise outside of my window.

  I stood up slowly, pulling Nelly along with me. “Go to the living room with Mom,” I whispered.

  I’m not sure what my face looked like, but it must have looked serious because she immediately obeyed. I walked over to my dresser, keeping my gaze locked on the window.

  Picking up the gift from my Mother, I slowly removed its velvet cloth. I wasn’t sure why, but I was just suddenly drawn to it; like I needed to pick it up.

  I stared down at it and was momentarily distracted from the window. I looked back up to see that someone, or rather something had entered while I’d been distracted.

  It resembled a woman, except it wasn’t a woman at all. As soon as I set eyes on her, I knew something was very wrong. Alarm bells sounded off inside my head, and it took me a minute to interpret the message. This thing standing in front of me was here to kill. Not sure how I knew, but I did. The look in her almost human eyes was one I knew all too well. A predato
r’s regard. I recognized it undoubtedly. It was there every time I looked in the mirror.

  There were no whites to her eyes, just a deep, gleaming black; like polished marble. Her skin was a translucent white, and I could see what looked like red veins in her hands and on her neck. Other than that, she looked like any other woman, save for the fact that she had an extraordinarily beautiful face. I felt like I could get lost in her black eyes and fall out in a different universe.

  I shook my head hard, trying to clear what suddenly felt like muddled thoughts, and dragged my eyes away from the woman’s face. This took more effort than it should have. I don’t remember doing it, but I was already in a fighter’s stance, and I clenched my fists tight in anticipation.

  I felt a cold and tingling sensation rush up my arm, and that’s when she opened her mouth and hissed. It was the same sound I’d heard earlier, just before I’d sent Nelly from the room. It was a vile sound. Goose bumps broke out across my skin and my chest constricted slightly. I hated that sound. I wanted to stop it.

  But something other than that unbearable noise had caught my attention. In opening her mouth, lips pulling back in a manner too wide to be human, she’d revealed multiple rows of razor sharp teeth. A hissing shark, I thought. Then: What does that make me?

  She lunged for me before I could process anything else. I tried to duck out of her way, but she was fast, and I ended up getting slammed against the wall, nearly causing me to drop what was in my hand. The wind was knocked out of me, but it was a feeling I was quite accustomed to, and I brought my knee up hard and slammed it into her stomach.

  She didn’t even flinch.

  In a blink my hands were pinned to the wall. Oh, shit. Not good.

  The thought might have made me laugh had fear not seized my vocals. I bucked in wild desperation, but she was as moveable as a brick building.

  At that point raw panic threatened to overcome me.

  Her chalk-white exquisite face hovered before mine, burning cold breath searing my skin. As I stared into those endless black eyes, I became too scared to move.

  Until she opened her mouth to speak, once again revealing those very sharp looking teeth.

  “You’ve got ssssweet blood,” she hissed. “I can ssssmell it-” I head butted her.

  I hadn’t known what else to do, but it occurred to me that if I didn’t do something, and fast, she was going to kill me. Kill or be killed. The thought came to me calmly.

  My survival instincts kicked in and I slammed my foot into her stomach with all my strength, forcing her back several feet.

  She let out an ear-piercing shriek, and I involuntarily brought my hands up to cover my ears. As I did this I felt something cold and smooth brush my right ear. I looked at my hand to see that I was still holding my Mother’s gift. It had produced a long blade earlier and I guess my mind had just skipped over its importance in my haste to get the shark off of me.

  This glance left me vulnerable though, and she lunged for me again, but this time she wasn’t fast enough. I side-stepped her attack and spun around fast, putting as much force into my swing as I could manage. I aimed for the neck. At the time, I hadn’t thought about it, but I realized later that that was what I’d been taught to do.

  The blade got stuck about midway through her neck, and she was shrieking so loudly I was sure I was going to lose my hearing. Black liquid stampeded out of her wound, landing on my face and hands. I yanked the sword back out and swung it again, completely decapitating her. She fell silent.

  I simply fell to my hands and knees. I had never been in shock before, but I was pretty sure this was it. Everything seemed to slow down, and I couldn’t even really process what had just happened. It was all just a blur. A strong surge of what felt like pure energy ripped through me, so potent I almost vomited. I realized then that I was trembling.

  Then my body went completely rigid.

  Because that’s when I heard Nelly scream.

  Chapter 10

  I jumped up so fast that I dropped my weapon. My stomach dropped too.

  Scooping up the sword, I raced out of my bedroom and down the hall. Cold sweat broke over me. My heart thundered in my chest, and every instinct in my body told me to run in the opposite direction. I wanted to go sit in a closet and curl up into a ball, but No, I had to find Nelly.

  When I reached the living room, a silent scream ripped up my throat. Pieces of broken furniture were everywhere, and it looked like a small tornado had hit the inside of the room. My Mother had a silver sword too, and she was currently fending off two more monsters.

  Nelly was huddled in a corner with another one closing in on her.

  It was all so surreal, so much to take in. It was like I had walked onto the set of some horror movie and forgotten my next line. Only, this was no movie. I was rooted to where I stood. I couldn’t move, couldn’t react. Until my Mother snapped me back to grim reality.

  “Little help here, Lex?” she said. She was calm and focused, and I knew that she was in warrior mode now. She was also losing her battle.

  Talking to me had made the creature that was approaching Nelly stop and turn around to face me. By this point, I was already charging toward her, my body insisting I do what my brain couldn’t seem to figure out. Before we could collide, I brought my sword up swiftly between us, slicing her body in a vertical line. That horrible black blood spilled out, sprays and rivers of darkness gushing to open air. The creature shrieked that ear-piercing sound and I used the time to spin around and throw all of my weight into my next swing. My blade went through her neck without any hesitation. I didn’t think I could replicate that move if I tried.

  Another surge of energy racked me. I rocked back on my heels and my eyelids fluttered. It was a magnificent feeling; a terrifyingly awful, magnificent feeling that ended much too quickly for my approval. By the time I regained control over myself, I saw that my Mother had taken down one of her attackers, shifting the odds in her favor. I moved to help her, but she gritted out, “No! Get Nelly out of here!”

  I hesitated, I was confident my Mother could handle her opponent but what if more showed up?

  As if right on cue, three more creatures came through the open doorway. Again, they were all women, or I guess female would be a more accurate word.

  “Alexa! Get. Her. Out. Of. Here.” My Mother had decapitated her attacker and was now standing in between the three new ones and Nelly and I.

  Again, I hesitated. I could help her, I knew I could. But could I do that and protect Nelly at the same time? I had no idea. However, I did know I had very little time to decide.

  My Mother met my eyes for only the briefest of moments, but a whole conversation seemed to pass between us. Everything that she’d ever taught or told me came slamming back into me, with a force that almost made me dizzy. This was Nelly we were talking about. My little sister. My little sister’s life on the line. Really, there was no choice at all.

  I picked up two heavy bookends that were sitting on the mantel beside me. Then, I threw them as hard as I could at the bay window behind where Nelly was standing. She ducked, even though they weren’t going to hit her, and I rushed over and jerked her up to her feet. A couple of strong kicks at the glass made a hole large enough for us to squeeze through one at a time.

  I shoved Nelly through and glanced back at my Mother, who was gallantly managing to keep all three creatures from reaching us. The way she fought was amazing, the most deadly, beautiful thing I had ever seen. Her blade sliced through the air with the precision of a well-oiled machine. That’s when two more creatures rushed in, coming from seemingly nowhere.

  My heart stopped. My Mother was good, but I doubted even she could take on five of them at once. A jumble of options came tumbling through my mind as I stood there, trying to decide what to do.

  I could send Nelly ahead of me, and help my Mother fight, but that would leave Nelly unprotected. And I was unsure if she even knew where to go, though I was sure that if she encountered one of thos
e creatures by herself, her chances of surviving were pretty much zero.

  I could keep her here with me and help my Mother fight, but again, that would put Nelly at risk.

  Or, I could run. I could take Nelly and run.

  I made my decision less than a heartbeat later. I only hoped I was making the right one.

  Hopping out of the window, I found Nelly waiting for me. The sky spat thin bullets of rain and the wind whipped her hair around her face like a topless car. Her hazel eyes were round and filled with shock, but there was also understanding in them. I’d made the decision, and she trusted me, though it must have been heartbreaking for her too.

  So, for the second time in just as many days, I breathed, “Run, Nell. We have to run.”

  Once again, we did.

  Chapter 11

  We raced through the forest, making enough noise to rival a stampede. At least, that’s what it felt like. I cringed at the sound of every crushed leaf and snapped twig. The rain and wind had me blinking my eyes and gritting my teeth. I had never been so afraid in my entire life.

  My fear allowed my body to run, but it seized my mind so that I couldn’t really think any coherent thoughts beyond: run, run, RUN. Nelly was running right in front of me, and we stumbled into each other a few times, scraping our skin in various places as we smashed through the trees.

  I’m not sure how long we had been running. It felt like hours, although it couldn’t be that long because we hadn’t yet reached our destination, when I heard it.

  A low hissing sound and the crunch of leaves as something approached us.

  Something that was approaching us fast.

  I barely had time process these thoughts before it tackled me. I hit the ground hard enough for my vision to go blurry. Pain shot through my head. For the second time that night, raw, unadulterated panic threatened to seize control.

  The creature that had knocked me down was still on top of me. I could smell her sugary rotting smell so strongly that bile elevated in my throat. I swung my fists as hard and as fast as I could. It was like trying to shake off an enormous insect; that same feeling you get when a wasp lands on your hand. Only this was that feeling amplified by a million. I couldn’t get her off of me fast enough.