Chapter Twelve: A Knock-Out Time

We reached the estate in only a few minutes longer, and all made sure that we looked presentable. I put on some sunglasses and Skylar a worn leather collar and harness. The others just smoothed out their clothes, ran their fingers through their hair, and hoped for the best.

After walking up a fairly long path to reach the door, Kaliyan rang the bell. A maid came to the door in seconds. “Hello, and welcome to the home of Mr. Donovan,” she said politely. “What is your business here, if I may ask?”

Resisting the urge to push past her and go, ‘No, you may not ask,’ I smiled shyly back. “We heard that Mr. Donovan was in need of some workers, and since no one would return our messages, we decided to pay him a visit, if that’s alright.”

“Oh, I see,” the maid responded. “Well, please come in, but leave the dog outside.”

“We can’t leave Bandit outside, ma’am,” Kaliyan protested, making up a name on the spot. “He’s her guide dog…she’s significantly sight impaired, and can’t get around in an unfamiliar place without him. It’s very important that he be with us.”

Sighing, the maid ran a hand over her face. “Alright,” she assented finally. “Just make sure there are no ‘presents’ left for Mr. Donovan.”

“Of course we will. He may have only been trained recently, but that just means that his teachings are fresh in his mind, not that he’s a badly behaved dog. Come on, Teresa,” Kaliyan replied, then grabbed my left hand—the one not holding Skylar’s harness—and dragged me into the building. Felix followed.

As we walked, I milled over the name of the land owner. It seemed familiar for some reason, as if I’d heard the name before. I just couldn’t shake the feeling that, in the near past, I’d heard the name, from someone that was a stranger before then.

“Wait here,” the maid said, stopping suddenly. Without my realizing it, we’d arrived in a long corridor, specifically at a tall wooden door, which the maid was opening. “I’ll be back in a moment. I’m just going to ask Mr. Donovan for an audience with you.”

We all nodded, and she disappeared through the door.

A few moments later, she reappeared and shrugged. “He requested that one of the current workers show you around, but I’m quite busy at the moment, so I’ll fetch one of the field workers to take you on a tour of some sort. We can always use some extra hands around here, so I’d wager that you’re hired. Congratulations. Now, off to find one of the workers…Marco, perhaps…”

She bustled down the hall ahead of us, and our group quickly followed. Soon, Skylar said, and I had a feeling that the comment was only for me. I’ll run soon. Resist for a few seconds, then just let the harness slip from your grip and I’ll run…I can smell the plants from here. Okay?

I nodded, just barely moving my head, but I could feel him relax—he’d heard.

After walking for a while longer, the maid stopped and yelled, “Marco!” Soon, a tall, brawny man drove up in a tractor.

“You called me?”

The maid sighed. “Yes, Marco, I called you. These kids here just came for—”

“Came for jobs, didn’t they? And I’m the one that’s got to tour them and train them and all that,” Marco cut in tiredly. “Yeah, alright, I’ll do it.” He jumped off the tractor and glanced once at Skylar, then at the maid, then at Felix, Kaliyan, and I, in turn. “Well, let’s go.”

Afterwards, I can’t tell you that I learned a thing besides the fact that Skylar is fast. And I don’t mean, like, as fast as a wolf. I mean about triple that, with an extra burst of speed now and again. And then you have me, who has an almost 10-minute mile.

Guess who had the lead in our little fake-chase?

When I finally caught up to him, in a field of vine-like plants—veneno—I stumbled to a halt and picked a few, studying the blood-red berries that grew along the stems. They certainly looked poisonous, but I trusted Dr. Kingston enough to stick them in my bag, sticking the grapes that I’d had in there previously in the ground; I knew that they wouldn’t have fallen for my empty bag suddenly filling up.

I wandered around a little, taking in the scenery—it really was beautiful here, if you ignored all the poisonous berries and everything. Just as I was walking around a rather large tree, I felt the air move a little behind me, and a shadow suddenly fell over me. I whipped around to see Zane, leaning casually against the trunk of the tree, a wide leer on his face.

He was sporting a skin-tight black shirt and loose khaki cargos—a pretty casual outfit, but somehow it made my heart leap in my chest, especially after I realized that it was my first time seeing him in critical daylight. His blonde hair was shaggy, and fell haphazardly in his face, partly obscuring his eyes, which were a plain hazel-blue that still made me jittery.

“Well,” he drawled, “I was looking for the mutt, but it looks like I found his plaything instead.” As he spoke, he was moving lithely towards me, and before I knew it he was standing not a foot away, the leer still prominent on his face.

I swallowed a nervous squeak. “What’re you doing here?”

Zane chuckled quietly and moved up a little more, slinging his arm companionably over my shoulder and shrugging, all in one motion. “I live here, don’t I?” he asked rhetorically. At my surprised reaction, he continued, “Yeah, I do.” Suddenly his expression turned from amiable to uncertain, tinged with bitterness. “I really wish I didn’t have to do this, doll, but I do, so just hold still.”

He took a deep breath, then sucker punched me. “It’ll be over in no time,” he whispered as I sank to my knees, watching everything fade to black.

--

When I slowly came to, I felt a sharp stab of pain in the back of my head, but took a deep breath and tried to ignore it. I then opened my eyes, which seemed to be a fairly remarkable feat, all things considering; my gaze immediately settled on the concerned, boyish face that was hovering above my own.

I took a few moments to study the face, and the young man that it belonged to. He looked to be in his high teens, maybe 18 or 19, and had disheveled black hair and a deeply tanned face—if I’d had to guess, I’d have said that he looked Native American.

When I tuned back in, I saw that his face had suddenly split by a relieved smile when he noticed that my eyes were open. “Thank goodness, you’re conscious,” he whispered. “I was beginning to think that you’d never come to, after how hard Blondie hit you…”

I swallowed. “Who are you?” I asked, curious, my voice croaky but at normal volume. “And who’s ‘Blondie’?” I added, although I had an idea.

The young man’s face became worried again as he pressed his hand over my mouth, looking frantically to both sides before letting up on the pressure and hissing, “Keep quiet, or someone will notice us.” Then, after a few more glances to the sides, he answered, “I’m Chaska, and ‘Blondie’ is Zane, the one who knocked you out. I’m really sorry about that, by the way.”

Nodding, I replied, “It’s okay; you don’t need to be sorry. I mean, it’s not like it was your fault or anything.” I laughed lightheartedly, then hesitantly fingered the back of my head. “How did you find me, anyway? I was in a corner of this garden when—” Suddenly my eyes widened. “Where’s Skylar? Where are my other friends? They—”

Chaska blinked, and interrupted. “I found you because I was tending that particular garden at the time, and saw Blondie—er, Zane—hit you. I just waited for a while, then came up and tried to help. I’ve been waiting for you to wake up ever since. I’ll take you to your friends now—they’re not far.”

I rubbed my eyes and sat up, hearing—not to mention feeling—my joints pop and crack, aching a little from the awkward position I’d been in; I’d been propped up against the tree, and the curved surface had made my back curve with it, making for serious pain there.

“Skylar’s…my dog,” I answered at last. “I didn’t see him anywhere, so I was just sort of worried about him. It’s okay, though; he’ll be back.”

The slightly relieved look that was still lingering on Chaska’s face slowly made way for a concerned, almost wary, one as he nodded slowly and stood up. “Can you walk?” he asked me; I nodded, and immediately stood up as well. It was my head that hurt, not my legs.

Chaska, still looking concerned, nodded approvingly and began walking, one hand loosely grasping mine as he led me back to the building. “Just play along,” he whispered to me, his breath tickling my ear. When he straightened, I noticed that he was wearing the uniform of one of Mr. Donovan’s workers.

A couple of brawny men passed to our left, and the red-haired one, on the left, raised a questioning eyebrow when he saw me.

Chaska rolled his eyes. “She wasn’t wearing her uniform—she’s in training to be a maid. I doubt that she’ll get hired now, though.” I tried to look sheepish, and the two men laughed good-naturedly, winking at me as they passed, and didn’t pay us another thought.

I was steered a little further, before being led into a lengthy hallway, where Chaska kicked open a door on the left and led me inside, where I discovered two separate rooms, with a bunk bed each. We entered the one labeled ‘boys,’ and I soon found Felix talking to another boy.

Felix looked up abruptly, looking alarmed. “Oh, it’s you,” he said, sounding immensely relieved.

Chapter Eleven: Electrified

After we’d packed our meager possessions into some old backpacks that Dr. Kingston had had, we said our goodbyes to him. They weren’t all that emotional, of course; the doctor simply gave us a few awkward pats on the back, waved, and we were gone. Still, I felt as if I was leaving somewhere that’d been a home to me, however short a time we’d stayed there.

We walked for a while, then went to sleep. (I'm writing this later. So there.)

I was awoken by a sharp crackling of twigs, and my eyes flew open when a dark shadow fell over me, seconds later. All I could see were two bluish-hazel eyes and a few strands of sandy blonde hair, but I knew who I was looking at. He was the man who I’d seen a few nights before. “Why are you here, um…?” I asked, my quiet voice coming out raspy from fear and disuse.

“It’s Zane,” he whispered, the sound as quiet as the wind around us, “and…no reason. I just wanted to perform a little…experiment.” Then he did something that completely and utterly shocked me: he leaned down a little and kissed me.

The moment his lips touched mine, I was frozen. The world, even time itself, stopped cold for a few moments, as did my heart. I closed my eyes tightly, a little uneasy of his eyes, which were boring into mine.

The gesture started as a simple kiss, an uncomplicated touching of one pair of lips to another, and yet it electrified me like I’d never been electrified before, my heart thumping so wildly against my ribcage that I was sure he could hear.

“Stop!” I moaned, but the protest was muffled by Zane’s lips as he pressed them more firmly onto mine, his hand reaching up to tangle in my hair. His other hand was wrapped firmly around my waist, forcing my hips against his.

I felt his smile against my mouth as he answered my outcry with a simple, “No,” his breath mingling with my own in a way that wasn’t entirely uncomfortable. He pulled me closer and closer to him, until my entire body was touching his, warming it.

Then he held me tightly in the one-sided embrace, his lips moving gently against mine; quietly commanding, as if he was reminding me that he was in control here, was stronger than me. He didn’t open my lips, though, and for that I was glad; at least he knew enough not to go that far.

The kiss was extremely uncomfortable, even a little frightening—he was supposed to be evil, after all—and my mind and heart were racing…but it wasn’t all from fear. Why am I almost enjoying this? I asked myself, then answered my own question. He’s an excellent kisser, I noted, making up for my…inexperience…also, from the few limited glances that I’ve caught, he’s really cute…but still. I shouldn’t like this, I should hate it. He’s the bad guy; get a hold of yourself…

Suddenly I felt something pressing into my stomach, pulling me away from Zane, and soon air, cool to me although quite warm in reality, rushed into the place where Zane’s extremely warm body had been. Between Zane and I stood a very angry-looking Skylar; his hackles were raised, and his fangs were glinting whitely in the moonlight as he growled.

Don’t touch her, he commanded Zane, who looked amused and surprised at the same time. Then he turned to me, looking fatherly although wolfy, and asked, Are you alright? You didn’t start that, did you? Ugh, I hope you didn’t…

I shook my head firmly. “Absolutely not,” I said. “It was terrible, but I’m physically fine, if a little mentally scarred…but no worries.”

There was no response besides a strained smile and a relieved nod as Skylar turned back around to look at Zane…or that was the purpose, anyway; Zane was nowhere to be seen, which made Skylar growl again.

“It’ll be okay, Skylar, don’t worry,” I assured him. “I’m sure he just ran off…I won’t let him do that again, I swear.”

Skylar sighed. Why didn’t you call for help? he asked me, then realization dawned on his face as he added, You couldn’t, could you?

“Nope. He jumped me in my sleep, and when I tried to yell he just—just smothered it with his mouth, I guess.” I paused, then continued. “I kind of wonder why he did it. Maybe he was just trying to throw me off, confuse me; make me second-guess my judgment that he’s the ‘bad guy,’ but maybe…maybe he really likes me.”

Don’t get your hopes up, Skylar responded with a smirk; I could tell that he thought I was joking. Anyway, you’d better get some rest, m’dear…you obviously haven’t gotten much so far tonight.

I blinked. What had he just called me? “Um, okay, Skylar; I’ll get some sleep…but first of all, why’d you call me ‘m’dear’? I…”

There was a glint of white as my comrade flashed a wide smile, then silently turned around and went back to his sleeping bag, on which he curled up. Then, before I could say another word, his breathing slowed and became even; he was asleep.

“I’ve always wondered how people do that,” I muttered to myself, climbing into my own sleeping bag and lying down. “I mean, the average person is supposed to fall asleep in 7 minutes, but some can just close their eyes, and—bang—they’re out cold.”

Then I sighed deeply and shut my eyes, hoping that I could do as Skylar did and fall back asleep in seconds.

Sadly, my wish came true.

“Well, m’dear, I guess this is goodbye.”

I’m startled awake by a wolf that looks—and sounds—startlingly like Skylar…but it can’t be him, because Skylar would never take that pose in front of me. He’s standing in a way very similar to the way that he stood in front of Zane earlier, a threatening stance that sends chills down my spine.

“Felix is already dead, and soon you will be, too. Don’t worry, I’ll make it swift.”

Even worse than these words is the sound of the endearment that he said.

Then, suddenly, he pounces, pinning me to the ground, one paw on my stomach as he leans in, jaws open. I feel his breath on my face, and I know that he’s planning to kill me, for whatever reason he may have. This really is goodbye.

There’s a movement, and unexpectedly his weight is off my stomach and Zane is standing in front of me, a gun pointed at Skylar, who now looks afraid and small. I sit up and watch, as if in slow motion, Zane pull the trigger on the gun.

Without thinking I throw myself in the way of the bullet.

I feel an intense pain wrack my body, but I can pinpoint the most painful area: my chest. Blood is pouring from a gaping hole there, where the bullet intended for Skylar has pierced me. The end really is coming, just not at the hand of Skylar.

Instead, it’s at the hand of my almost-savior, Zane.

“Thank you for everything,” I whisper to…to who? Is it to Skylar or Zane, or maybe both or neither? Perhaps I’ll never know.

Perhaps I’ll never see either of them again.

To my intense surprise, my eyes opened to a glorious morning, the sun streaming down from the heavens as if to welcome me back from the dead. “She’s awake!” chimed a voice from my right; it sounded like Kaliyan. Where was she when I died? I wondered.

I pulled myself to a seated position, then blinked at what I saw. Skylar and Felix were peacefully eating their breakfast of crackers and jam, and Felix was jabbering aimlessly on about a dream he’d had the night before about finding a stray dog.

A dream, I thought, mentally slapping myself. Of course it was a dream. Skylar wouldn’t kill me. I shook my head at my idiocy, then pulled myself over to where the crackers were, slathering some mashed-up strawberries onto it and taking a bite. “So how did you all sleep?” I asked.

“Great!” Felix answered. “I had this amazing dream about finding this dog, and when I brought it home, my dad let me keep it. Usually he would’ve just yelled at me and thrown it out on the street, but this time, since it was a dream and all, he smiled and said it was real cute. He even made up Teresa’s room for it, and made Teresa move in with Peter forever, so…”

I let him jabber on, mentally going over the scene from last night. Why had Zane kissed me? Why was he following us? Why did he tell me his name? Why on Earth did he have to be so cute, and such a good kisser, when I know that he’s on the so-called ‘dark side’?

There were so many questions, and so little time to get them answered.