• Chapter 6


    Shockers


    Scarlet’s P.O.V.


    “I’m worried about Char.” I say as I walk on the benches lining up on the side of the street downtown. Lance walks beside me, making sure I don’t fall. While we’ve all been over protective of my little sister lately, Lance has also made time to be the same about me. Weird, right?

    “She’s gonna be fine.” He replies, carefully examining where I put my feet, then leaning forward a bit when I jump to the next bench, as if I was going to fall.

    “But she’s been acting really weird lately.” I pause for a second, then continue, “What do you think they mean by marked?”

    “I honestly don’t know…” His voice wanders, deep in thought, and I watch him as I walk. It’s just then I notice how beautiful his creamy, chocolate brown eyes are--wait WHAT THE HELL!!? I have no interest in Lance what-so-ever!!

    But as I’m thinking this I’m staring hard at his face, paying no attention to where I’m going. Suddenly, when I put my right foot out to keep walking on the bench, it falls through thin air, and I soon find myself being launched face-first into the ground--and these benches are hella tall.

    Two arms appear out of nowhere and catch me when I’m about one inch from the ground. I’m turned around in that person’s arms, and I’m staring into Lance’s eyes as he holds me and whispers, “Are you alright?”

    I can’t find my voice as my gaze locks with his, but then, looking away, I’m able to clear my voice like an idiot and reply, “Yeah, fine.” He helps me up and we continue walking--this time, with me on the ground. “Thanks.”

    “No prob, Bob.” I roll my eyes as his goofy/retarded side kicks in. “Well, maybe Charlotte is actually, like….a pureblood vampire or something!! And she’s not even your real sister because when she was younger her dad died protecting her and her mom sacrificed herself to turn her into human and erase her memories and--”

    “You’re watching too much Vampire Knight, Lance.” We both laugh as we turn the corner onto the street where the Hathaway Mansion sits, and soon we see Keaton desperately running towards us.

    “Keaton, you alright?” I ask as he makes it in front of us and bends down to rest his palms against his knees.

    “Charlotte….isn’t….there….” He manages to reply between gasps of breath.

    “WHAT!?” Lance and I shout, shocked. We exchange a glance and I add, “Well where is she!?”

    “Don’t know…that’s why….I ran….to see you..”

    “Oh my God…” I mutter to myself, “This is unbelievable.”

    “Alright, uh, Keaton, you take north and south sides of town! I’ll take east and west!” Lance orders.

    “And what do I do!?” I command him to tell me the answer.

    “You stay here in case she comes back.”

    “WELL GO FIND MY SISTER!!” I nervously chew on my fingernails as I watch their retreating backs until they vanish into the afternoon fog.

    Where could she be?


    Chapter 7


    Help


    Charlotte’s P.O.V.


    I casually walk across the bare, green landscape, as the wind starts to scream at me again. This time, I’m not as phased. I’ve found out that it isn’t screaming at me, it’s just screaming something important at me…but what, I have no clue.

    I climb up a tall tree and sit on the top branch, the jade green leaves offering me protection. Sitting with my legs dangling over it and my hands gripping onto the edge, I look out for who I was trying to find, having a feeling they would be here.

    And soon enough, Kaden came into view.

    He slowly starts to walk by the tree, and suddenly, out of nowhere, he looks up into the tree as he reaches his hand down to his belt, taking out a gun hidden by his black hoodie and pointing it up in my direction.

    “I had a feeling you would be here.” I smile and leap from the tree, landing perfectly on the ground.

    He still has the gun pointed at me as he replies, “What do you want?”

    I gracefully walk forward and use the tip of my finger to push the gun downwards while saying, “Put that thing away. You could hurt somebody with it.”

    “That’s sort of the point.” He mutters in response as he cautiously puts it back in his belt.
    Ignoring the comment, I turn and start to walk and tell him, “Come, walk with me.”

    He hesitates a moment, and then sprints forward to keep up with my long, graceful strides. “What do you want?” He repeats, this time more forward and commanding.

    “Why do you think I want something? Can’t a friend just hang out with another friend every--

    “I’m not the friend, Evergreen.” He suddenly grabs my arm and shoves me against a tree. Glaring at me, he leans closer, then growls through his teeth, “I’m the enemy.”

    The wind gets louder, and it‘s as if it‘s screaming in protest. After a moment, I respond “And you expect me to believe that?”

    “Yes, yes I do. Why else would you think we have guns pointed at each other all the time.”

    He pauses, and then continues. “That reminds me, why did you leap in front of me?”

    To tell the truth, I didn’t really know. But all of a sudden, it comes loud and clear in my head, and I respond, “So you’d owe me. Actually, I do want something.” I push his arm away and then walk by him as I continue, “I want you to tell me why you’re here. I want you to tell me what you mean by marked. I want you to teach me how to fight.”

    He glares at me as he admits, “You play a mean game, Charlotte Evergreen.”

    “So we’ll start tomorrow? Say, around midnight?”

    “If you can get away.” He gestures forward and I turn my head to see Keaton running forward.

    “Charlotte! Why did you leave!? Why did you come here!?” I don’t respond, worried that he’ll see Kaden as he draws nearer. But all Keaton does when he reaches me is hug me tight, then whispers in my ear, “You had me scared to death.”

    “I’m fine, Keaton.” I assure him. He pulls back, looks at me for a moment, and then grabs my hand and starts to lead me back to the house. And as he’s doing so, I turn my head back towards Kaden’s direction, only to find that he’s gone.