The Hidden Gemstone

Chapter: 27

Xander froze, his Oreo midway to his mouth, his expression suddenly pale. Okay, that might not have been the best way to break the news. I continued, trying to get him to relax, "But she's fine. I mean, your other sister took care of the wounds." He relaxed ever so slightly, but not enough to take another bite of his cookie. "That's not the point, though. The people we were fighting, the ones who shot Alex..." I looked at River. "They were looking for you."

She paled, the color leaving her face so rapidly that within a second, she looked paper-white. I made a mental note to never sign myself up for breaking bad news to people. Especially these two.

"What do you mean? How many people were there?" Xander asked.

"Two, a man and a woman. As for your first question, I don't think I could be any clearer," I said. He deadpanned.

River tried to recover from her shock as she said, "My father's looking for me." She seemed to be running through possibilities in her mind. "I have to leave."

"What?!" Xander said like it was the most bizarre thing he'd ever heard. "River, are you crazy?"

"If I don't leave, we'll both die," River snapped. "I know my father. He has links, he has people. He could get all the weapons and people he needs, and he'll find me-"

"Then file a case against him!" Xander yelled.

"I can't!" River shouted, equally loudly. My eyes darted between the two of them, trying to figure out a way to stop their argument, but they didn't leave any room for a third person to speak. "He'll come up with every fake excuse you've ever heard, he'll convince them that he isn't guilty. He'll blame me, he'll tell them I'm crazy!"

"River, there are scars all over your body!" Xander yelled, and that seemed to grab River's attention. She stared at him for a moment as if wondering how he knew that before setting her jaw and defensively pulling the sleeves of her sweater further down her arms. As she did so, I caught a glimpse of a faded scar just above her wrist. It didn't look like it was the result of a knife, but rather something smaller but equally sharp.

Like a piece of broken glass.

I didn't have enough time to examine it before she covered it with her sleeve though. I looked up at her as Xander spoke, "You have all the evidence you need."

"You don't understand, Xander." She looked at him, her eyes filling with unshed tears. "You don't know his games. So just stay out of it." She swallowed hard. "I'm not letting anyone else die for me."

With that, she got up from her stool and stormed back to her room, slamming the door behind her. As I stared after her, I could only think of one thing.

She was too young to be that broken.

I turned back to Xander whose expression seemed distant, similar to that of Alex's when she was thinking hard. I didn't realize how much he resembled his sister until now. Although they both had different eye colors, the rest of their features were almost entirely the same.

"Don't let her leave," I told Xander. "And don't take this to the authorities either. Alex wanted you both to know this so you could keep your guard up. I've seen the man and woman during a fight; they're skilled. But you both are smart."

Xander snorted at that. "Tell that to Miss Straight A's," he murmured under his breath.

I ignored his comment and continued, "If they do attack, find a way out of the house as soon as you can because sticking around would be the dumbest thing you guys could do. You can't fight them, so don't test your fate."

"Yeah, thanks for the vote of confidence," he said, scoffing. I narrowed my eyes at him. Not many dared to be that relaxed around supernatural species, and Xander's boldness to be that sarcastic just proved he was related to Alex.