Stone Cold

35

We are still about three hours from Shane's location and it's already midnight. Ace pulls up to a practically abandoned motel and parks. 

"We need to sleep tonight. As far as they're concerned, your father is still hunting you." He says and I nod as we climb out.

"They'll be fine for one night. You're still bleeding and I'm exhausted. We'll be of no use if we can hardly stand." He says.

"I understand." I say and he nods.

We walk over to a motel room and he bends down and unlocks the door with a pin. I hear a click then the door slowly opens. I follow in behind him and flick on the lights. He shuts and locks the door and I walk over to the bathroom. I breathe heavy suddenly falling against the door and I look down wide eyed as my hand starts to shake again. 

"Neveah?" He asks and I turn to face him hiding my hand.

"Yeah?" I ask

"Are you okay?"

"Fine, just want to get this blood off me." I say and he looks at me as if he doesn't believe it but he doesn't fight me on it either.

"Okay." He says then backs up. I shut the door with my good hand then spin pressing my back to it. I look down as my hand continues to shake and my vision starts to blur then refocus then change color. I turn on the shower water then fall against the bathroom sink and look into the mirror.

Black to gold. My eyes continue to flicker. 

~~

"He should be back by now!" She exclaims punching the wall.

"Guess he wasn't smart enough for your daughter." I spit and she spins smacking me across the face. I spit blood from my mouth then turn back to look at her.

"Shut up." She growls but I just sit there with a smirk. She starts to pace and I look over at Jason. He's been unusually quiet. My hand starts to shake again and I look down and clench my fist. Jason sees it though. She shoves open the door and walks out slamming it shut behind her. I hiss as my hand continues to shake. Jason reaches toward me and grabs my hand.

"It's your connection. Control's slipping." He says

"Who's control?" I hiss

"Neveah's. She's not with you anymore, there's a strain on your connection.  It started with the tattoo, then to the images, then feelings of betrayal. She's been pulling away for a long time. This is just the first time she's actually been away. Her powers are enhancing but it's too much for her to handle alone. The longer you're apart the more she'll slip." My other hand now starts to shake and I grind my teeth together.

"You two need to get back together. You need to get the connection back or it's game over wether my dad has found her yet or not." 

~~

Both my hands continue to shake and I fall to my knees covering my head.

"Neveah!" I shoot my magic blindly at the voice. 

"Shit." He hisses 

The pain slowly eases and I breathe heavy as everything vanishes. The door opens again and I look up as Ace carefully makes his way over to me. I throw my hand up to tell him to stop and he slows holding his hands above his head.

"Neveah. It's okay." He says and I nod slowly pushing to my feet.

"It's over. Whatever that was is over." I say and he relaxes lowering his hands.

"And do you have any idea what that was?" He asks and I shake my head.

"No, I- I think it's my connection." I say staring down at my hands.

"You need to sleep, then we need to get you back to Shane." He says and I nod.

"Yeah. Shane." I say and he nods walking over to the shower to turn off the water. I continue to stare at my hands not understanding what's happening. 

"Hey. Let me get this blood off." I say and he looks over at me.

"You sure you're okay?" He asks turning the water back on.

"Yeah, I'm okay." I say and he nods

"Alright, I'll be out in the room if you need me."

"Thanks." I say then he leaves. I pull my clothes off and my ponytail out then step into the shower. The warm water runs over me and I lean my head back and take a deep breath. I feel the blood get washed from me then I slightly scrub the rest off. I clean my right arm off then pause seeing a smudge. I scrub at it and freeze as it reappears. 

"What the-

I scrub at it again but this time it doesn't vanish at all. I turn my arm over and my heart stops as the snake begins to appear.

Oh shit...

~~~~