Taint (Formerly Claimed) Dark Midnight 1

Chapter 38

Double update again.  I'm exhausted from dealing with people, and I just ruined my freshly painted nails.  :(  So if there are mistakes I missed in this chapter, or something doesn't make sense, that's what I'm blaming it on.  

As always point them out to me, blah blah blah.  Btw if you haven't voted for a cover (on chap 35) DO SO, so then you can't complain about the cover I use, mkay?

I already had this chapter written, so I just edited it today and I have ALMOST all of the story written.  So if you want more...

You know what to do.  

I'll try to edit it over again in a few to fix a few things, so if you see anything wrong please let me know.  

-Nikki

Chapter 38

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Despite the fact that Eliot didn’t seem too fond of Sage and Hazel, all three move in eerie sync that could only have come from years of living together.

Like a wolf pack. 

Suddenly, Sage took off through the trees in the direction of the house, with Hazel following close behind.  Miriam could only scramble along, as Eliot took her wrist without a word and headed after them. 

The three of them moved in step with each other, with Sage in the lead and Hazel keeping pace through the shadows slightly off to the side.  The formation reminded her of the symmetrical ‘v’ a flock of geese formed as they cut through the sky.

Only a lot more lethal. 

“Over here,” Sage said as they approached the grove surrounding their set of houses. 

“Stay back,” Eliot warned, letting her hand go to follow Sage into the shadows. 

Miriam hesitated.  Her boots crunched over the snow as she considered obeying.  Now didn’t exactly seem like the best time to grow a backbone, but…

Wooooaaaoo.

Another howl cut through the darkness—much closer than before—and terror made up her mind for her. 

Her hair whipped out like a cape as she tore through the trees in the direction Eliot had gone.  She could see anything—even the moonlight seemed to have faded away.  But she could hear, and she knew she was close when her ears caught Hazel’s high-pitched voice mutter a grim, “Oh dear.  This certainly ruins our vacation, doesn’t it?”

“Shut up.”  Eliot’s tone was just as uneasy.  “Go and scout the perimeter.  They can’t have gotten too far.”

“On it,” Sage grumbled.

“And you; keep Miriam away.  I don’t want her to see this…”

“Ugh,” Hazel whined.  “Of course, Sage gets the fun job while I get stuck babysitting the—”

“Go!”

Miriam through her hand out in front of her, feeling her way through the thick trees.  She was close—she could see pieces of the grove, bathed in a soft glow as the moon reappeared through a screen of clouds.

Twisting around a hanging branch, she stumbled forward and out of the woods.  Eliot stood near the grove’s center, crouched over a dark sharp lying over the snow.

She headed toward him, but she’d barely gone a step before a pale figure appeared to block her way.

“Hello!” Hazel chirped.  “Beautiful night for a stroll, isn’t it?”  The girl maneuvered her lacy parasol to conveniently block Eliot, and whatever he stood over, from view.