Long Day (Chapter 5)

Katrina's had a long day.

“You have got to be kidding me.” I was having a bad day. I’d talked to Max, fought Nateri, and I think I was a little sick from something I ate. And now, here was this b***h telling me ‘my foolish ways had sealed fate’? I really didn’t want to do this.

“I assure you, this is no kidding matter. Now that you’ve made contact with those vile Stregans, the prophecy will have been come to life.” The woman’s blond hair and sharp face annoyed me, especially with that patronizing tone.

“Prophecy? Seriously, you should have a better story than that!” Jack didn’t believe them. That was good, it meant I wasn’t totally crazy, yet.

“Give it to them, Marcus.”

A big brawny man stepped forward, still perfectly straight and hands behind his back. When he opened his mouth, the woman hissed, “Not here, you fool.”

She nodded towards my house and I suddenly remembered who’d been presumably out like a light through all of this. I didn’t want these people anywhere near Emma, especially if they were crazy, or dangerous, like Nateri. I stepped in front of Hulk Hogan junior and squared my jaw. “No.”

“Say it out here, you’re not going anywhere until you tell me what the Hell you’re talking about.” HHJ just rolled his eyes and made to move me out of the way, but Jack stood next and slightly behind me.

I was confused by the slight shift in his eyes and I realized that Junior was afraid. Afraid of Jack? But why? This at-least-200-pound-guy could easily squash us both. What reason did he have to be afraid?

“Make a move buddy, my friend here has been practicing Fruit Ninja it seems and could kick your a*s.”

“For God’s sake! Fine, if you want to jeopardize even more than you already have then hear it out here. But we have business to attend to so hurry. The f**k. Up!” Ooh, kitty got claws.  

Hulk Jr. cleared his throat and opened his mouth. I was shocked as his lips barely moved but his voice rang out clear as a bell.

“Two shall rise and One shall fall,
Lie, Truth, and Need will answer the call,
Together they will stand tall,
Against the darkness that rules them all.

Between the morals a war shall rage,
Freeing power from her cage,
Darkness will fall with each turning page,
Destroying even the greatest mage”

Wow, how f*****g cliché is this? Some guy just recited a prophecy to me, after a supernatural being (I’m sure of it) tried to kill me. This was not Spiderman, I had no great power, and my only responsibility was Emma. Next thing I knew, I’d either fall in love with Max or Jack.

I glanced nervously at my best friend.

“Who are you guys?” Jack asked, awe coloring his voice.

The lady stepped up to point and Junior and another skinnier, lankier guy fell back to her flanks. She lifted her chin to us. “We are the Counsel. I am Gale, head chancellor. These are the Attenants, Marcus and Charles.”

“Okay, Gale, what does this ‘prophecy’ have anything to do with us? We’re just normal teenagers.” I was afraid of how her hard eyes softened a bit.

“Normal, I’m afraid not,” she laughed gently. “You are not by any standards ‘normal’. Hasn’t your encounter proved that to you?”

I glared at her, even though inside it felt like small pieces of me, starting from the bottom up, were chipping off, forever lost to space. Was this what coma patients felt like? Like there was nothing stopping this from not being a figment of my imagination. For all I knew, I’d fallen asleep with Jack on the couch.

But I knew enough of lies and truth to know that this was real. I still didn’t get how Jack, Emma, or I fit into all of this. I said as much. “How do you know we’re not normal? That the prophecy refers to us?”

Her eyes became ice again. “We know. That is all you need. Now, you’ll all need to come with us. This structure is no longer safe now that the Stregans are able to locate and enter. We’ll take you back to Garule, you should be safe there for now.”

“What?” Jack coughed.

“We can’t just leave!” I protested.  I couldn’t just leave Emma here! I’d probably end up in some kind of  federal trouble.

“Oh yes, you can! Do you think that the Stregans are above going after your families?” I felt helpless. I didn’t know what to do. She leaned closer to me, “You are nothing to them. Nothing but an obstacle. They will not hesitate.”

I still stood obstinately, crossing my arms. Gale sneered at me and smiled vindictively. “Take her.”

Marcus stepped forward, and Charles hesitated. He reluctantly grabbed my arm and pulled. I struggled and Marcus squeezed my other arm harder. “Ow!”

“Let. Her Go!” Jack snarled. He cocked back his arm to punch one of them, but his fist slowly opened. His palm began to shine, or more like glow. It was lighter than everything around us. I watched, fascinated as all three backtracked away from the glow. “Arghh!”

Despite the sex noise Jack made, this was a very serious act. Gale let out a groan of dissatisfaction as she crumpled to the ground, solid rays of light hitting her skin. Marcus looked terrified as he followed suit. Jack grabbed his hand to stop it from hitting me. His breath was jagged as he relaxed. Charles had hid behind me, so he was safe.

“What the hell?”

“I…I don’t know! I was just, and they, and you! Wha…?” Jack seemed confused and scared. I hated seeing him this way.

I turned around to face Charles. “What was that Charles?”

“Charlie,” he stuttered.

“Charlie?” There were too many things on my mind to process what was being said.

“It’s my name. And I’m a probie, all I know is that we were sent to collect you.” He seemed kind of scared and I guess it was warranted, since his comrades were lying on the ground unconsious.

“Collect who?”
“The fulfillers of the prophecy, I guess. And I think they wanted the little girl, too. I don’t know what for, though.”

Panic raced through me. So they knew about Emma. That meant she wasn’t safe either. “S**t.”

“Kat, calm down. We just need to lie low here for a few days.“ Jack had finally spoken and he guessed my inner turmoil that was rising to panic attack.

“Jack, we’re not safe here! Both of them can get to us! We…we need to run!” I knew I was right. I didn’t have a bad feeling at least.  

“Run where?” He was humoring me, I knew, but I was determined.

“Away from here. Maybe we can get help?” I was desperate and I could feel it. Jack looked indecisive and I sighed, looking him in the eye. “Jack, trust me…but if you can’t…I-I’ll understand.”

I could see the struggle on his face. I decided that he didn’t need this, and besides, he was better off without me. I turned away to go pack. I had only taken three steps when Jack called out, “Katrina! Wait!”

I turned around, careful not to betray my hope. “Yeah?”

He looked at me with reluctant eyes. “You’re sure?”

“I’m sure,” I nodded, smiling slightly.

“Then let’s get this show on the road,” he grumbled, smiling the tiniest bit.

Author's Note

Gale is modeled after the one and only Nan Flanagan from one of my favorite TV shows-True Blood. Check her out...even if she did get staked last season: http://trueblood.wikia.com/wiki/Nan_Flanagan

Reviews

[Jordan's Back]

This is cool too :)

[Sophie]

"Not good at funny"???? NOT GOOD AT FUNNY?! I was like, rolling around on the floor at "ooh, kitty got claws"
Great chapter.
And what the hell? Why am I the only one who sucks BALLS at prophecies?