Chapter Three

Her hands moved to her ears to block out the silence ringing through her head. Images flashed in front of her mind's eye, dark images full of death and blood, anger and evil.

Chapter Three

 

"How ya feelin', Love?"

A.J. turned her head as she walked out of the school building, smiling at the blond vampire leaning against the brick wall. "What are you doing here?" She asked, and then added, "And sober?"

The Brit chuckled, kicked off of the wall, and slung his arm around her shoulders. "I just came to see how me favorite lit'l furball was doin'," he answered. His expression became more serious as he asked, "So...?"

A.J. frowned, knowing what he was referring to, and sighed. "I'm fine. I told you- it was just a nightmare."

"One that's been 'appening every night and effecting you on into the day." Simon replied. "Don't think I 'aven't noticed, Love."

"Noticed what?" A.J. put her hands on her hips.

Simon frowned at her, concern coloring his expression. "Noticed you. You're not-"

"Simon!" Izzy shouted, waving to the couple from the steps of the school. She walked over, followed by Erik and Colin. "Are you coming to the park too?"

"Errr... huh?" Simon asked, blinking. He looked down at A.J., but she stubbornly had her head turned away.

"Iz wants to have a picnic." Erik rolled his eyes. "She's dragged us all into it."

Izzy elbowed him hard. "You're the one that brought it up, Erik."

Simon chuckled at them. "I'll be there." He smiled at them and then frowned when he saw Kai and Xander coming out of the school. Simon stood up straight, taking his arm off of A.J.'s shoulders.

Kai noticed the motion and glared at the vampire.

"Relax, Pup. I ain't stealin' your prett'y, lit'l bird." Simon sneered and looked away.

Kai, a bit confused by the foreign term, just ignored the vampire.

"I'll bring the grill," Colin answered to a conversation Xander and Kai had missed. "And the hamburgers."

"I'm sure I can find something to bring." Erik shrugged.

"I call the drinks!" Simon shouted, throwing his hand up. A.J. pulled his hand back down.

"No, you don't." She rolled her eyes. "We are all still minors. I will bring the drinks."

Xander snickered at Simon's pout. "I'll bring the chips."

Kai raised an eyebrow. "And where are you going to get them?"

Xander grinned at him. "From yer house, o'course."

Kai rolled his eyes.

Once the plan had been set that everyone would meet at the park in an hour, the group dispersed, leaving A.J. and Simon behind. The vampire looped his arm through A.J.'s and began leading her off of the schoolgrounds.

"How'd school go?" He asked as they walked. Too many people out today. They would have to actually walk home.

A.J. shrugged. "As boring as ever."

"Nothing new happen?"

"Well..." she paused. "I tackled Dash Baxter." She snickered.

Simon chuckled. "And why would you do that?"

"'Cause he deserved it." She shrugged.

"You shouldn't have such a temperament, Young One. It could get you into trouble."

A.J. gasped and stumbled. Simon caught her.

"What?" He asked quickly.

Her eyes were wide, but she shook her head. "It's... nothing."

"It's bloody well not nothing," Simon griped.

"Drop it." A.J. growled.

"Feisty today, aren't we?"

She gasped again and brought her hands up to her head. "Stop it!" She shouted.

"Stop what?" Simon shouted back, looking around. They were beginning to draw attention. He grabbed her by the elbow and hurried her along into the nearest cover of trees.

A.J. shook her head. Darkness began encroaching on her vision, so she shut her eyes tightly. She didn't pay attention to Simon, who had her pressed up against a tree trunk and his hands on her shoulders, trying to speak to her. A.J.'s hands moved to her ears to block out the silence ringing through her head. Images flashed in front of her mind's eye, dark images full of death and blood, anger and evil. The images began flashing through her mind so quickly that she didn't have time to tell what was going on in each one. Faster and faster the dark visions moved until, finally, there was nothing but blackness.

A.J. screamed and fell to her knees, opening her eyes wide and gasping.

"What the bloody hell?!" Simon cried, crouching in front of her. "What 'appened?!"

She focused more on calming her breathing than listening to him. She saw that her arms were trembling and she tried to make them stop, but she couldn't. The adrenaline was rushing through her body too quickly now.

"A.J., answer me." Simon pulled her chin up to look at him. "What 'appened?"

She stared at him, unable to think straight- her mind still trying to make sense of all the images. She shook her head slightly and opened her mouth to respond when a heaviness fell upon her heart. She gasped again, clutching at her chest. She felt as if a load had just been dropped ontop of her. She could feel shadows creeping toward her, as if they were alive.

"Simon..." she whispered.

He held her by the shoulders, his expression one of worry and shock. "What's wrong, Love?" He asked quietly.

"Something..." A.J. shook her head, not sure how to put her feelings into words. "Something's going to happen."

"What?"

"I don't know..." she took in a shuddering breath. "Something bad. Something... evil."

"What do you mean, something evil?" Simon whispered, bending down to her eye-level.

A.J.'s eyes were glassy as she shook her head. "I... don't know. But I can feel it. Something's not right."

Simon's eyebrows furrowed. "Are you sure you're not just still being effected by your nightmares?"

A.J. ran her fingers through her hair. "I... I don't know. I just feel..." She shook her head. "Actually, I'm not sure what I feel. Creeped out, I guess."

Simon helped her stand up. "Can you walk home?"

She made a face. "Of course I can."

"Well, I didn't know if you were planning on 'aving another fainting spell, is all." He tossed back. "Don't want that to 'appen."

"I'll be fine." She took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I don't know what that was, but it's gone now."

"You sure?"

"Yes." A.J. smiled at him. "Go join the others at the park. I'll run home and grab the drinks."

Simon made a face.

A.J. put a hand on his shoulder. "Please? I think I need some alone time right now. My head still feels funny." She rubbed her forehead. "I'll be right there, I promise."

Simon sighed. "All right. But you better call me if anything 'appens, understand?" He asked.

"You got it," she smiled and he watched, hesitantly, as she walked away.

~~~

A.J. took the short path home. She was already running late to join up with her friends and she really didn't want to be alone that much anyway. She had just wanted to sort things out, but since she had left Simon, the ominous feeling in the back of her mind was growing more intense. As she ran down the dirt road that led to her farmhouse, she couldn't keep her mind away from what had happened just minutes earlier with Simon. Why would her nightmares keep haunting her into the day? And why the sudden black-out?

She shook her head. She didn't want to be alone with her thoughts anymore, especially since they kept creeping back to those foreign, dark images she had seen. She tried to think of something else, anything else, but her mind couldn't help but wander.

She threw open the kitchen door to her house, ran to the pantry and grabbed a 2-liter of Coke before running back out, slamming the door on her way. She wanted to get back to the others. The shadowy, creepy feeling was beginning to crawl back into her conscience. It felt as if someone was watching her, although she could neither see nor hear nor even smell anyone around for at least a mile.

She decided to take an even shorter route this time and cut through the woods. A.J. dashed around trees and raced past the small animals of the forest, headed toward the park.

She gasped when a fallen branch caught her foot and she stumbled forward, face-planting into the ground with the Coke bottle rolling out of her hands.

"Ow..." she grumbled, pushing herself up on her elbows so that she could wipe off her face with her hand. A memory of her nightmare flashed in front of her eyes and she gasped, rolling onto her back. She looked down and sighed with relief when she saw that it really was a branch that had caught her foot. She stood up and swiped the bottle off of the ground. "Great. Now it's going to explode if I open it." She grumbled, grimacing at the shaken-up liquid.

A.J. dusted off her pants, mumbling something about watching where she was going, and sighed. She was about to take a step forward when a dark cloud of smokey shadow exploded out of thin air in front of her.

The wolfa yelped and stumbled backward, falling on her rear. Her emerald eyes were wide as she stared at the dark, swirling cloud in front of her. The shadowy substance eventually disappeared in a flash of light that resembled a lightning strike, revealing the tall figure in the midst of it.

Cold, dead eyes glared at A.J. from their sunken position in his stone-grey face. His lips pulled back in a snarl to show his long, razor-sharp teeth. He spoke in a hiss, "Young One."

"What the hell are you doing here?!" She screamed, scrambling backward, away from him.

"Stop." The order was spoken softly by Anubis as he walked purposely toward her. He grabbed her shirt and lifted her up by it, the rage-filled snarl still planted on his face. "You really have done it now."

She glared back at him, her own fangs revealed as she growled. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Anubis' coal-colored eyes flashed with anger. "I don't know why such a pathetic being would be of any interest to..." he trailed off, dropping her onto the ground.

A.J. winced when she hit wrong and her knee popped. She pushed it back into place before leaping to her feet again, prepared to attack him if necessary.

But the white-haired fallen angel simply turned away from her, running his fingers through his hair and then tightening his hand into a fist. "This is ridiculous! I cannot believe he's making me do this!"

A.J.'s guarded expression became slightly confused. She relaxed her defensive position and tilted her head. "What are you... talking about?" She asked. "Who are you talking about?"

"I have done absolutely nothing!" Anubis roared, marching back to her. "It's all your fault! I have merely done my duty, but you..." His eyes were so wild with rage that A.J. froze in place, shocked and confused. He couldn't seem to complete his sentence. "You're coming with me!" He grabbed her by the shirt again as a column of dark, purple-tinged shadow encompassed him.

"W-What?" A.J. shrieked, struggling to get away. The shadow was already starting to surround her. "Where are we going?"

Anubis' expression didn't change as he growled in response, "The Underworld."

Author's Note

I didn't really like this chapter. It was used mainly for just filler to connect the parts of the plot together. At least I got to use Simon again. 8D

A.J., Simon, Anubis, etc. (c) Tomatowolf

Kai, Xander (c) Howla

Izzy, Colin (c) MikeyCam

Erik (c) Triloge

Guys In White, Dash Baxter, Lancer, Casper High, related characters and places (c) Butch Hartman