Shadow (Paused and Undergoing MAJOR Editing)

Chapter Ten

Stefan

Shadow looks at Wittnor dead in the eye, but falters. She doesn't want to believe it. He starts to stutter. "You-what- you believe them? Shadow, you've known me for years!" Shadow seems frozen, as if trying to hold on to the hope that it was just a mistake.

"Well. Wittnor. Who are you?" Chinglar asks. He swiftly adds, "And don't lie. I can tell you're planning to." Wittnor freezes. I think about what he's going to say. Will he deny it?

"I - Of course not! That's an unfair accusation!" The others have come and started to crowd Wittnor. Chinglar glares at them.

"Give him some space!" he barks. "We can give him his fair hearing. Though I think I know how this will end," the chingle adds. Wittnor's mouth hangs open.

"Wittnor?" I ask. "Just answer the question and we'll believe you. Who are you?" I repeat.

Wittnor looks at all of us, straightens his back, and says, "I'm not who you thought you knew."

Shadow's skin turns an even paler tone, somehow, and Chinglar hisses at him, striding closer to Wittnor.

"If you were trying to kill us, you're not welcome here! We let you into our group - and now you tried to betray us? You're a Leapor. Go! Now!" he says, his eyes flashing ominously. He swishes his wolf tail and flattens his ears. "Or we'll have to act with force." Wittnor clenches his jaw, and suddenly, his whole facade changes. Whatever fear he had displayed is quickly replaced with cold-set arrogance, and he sneers at us.

"Oh, I'll go," he promises. "But you should think about how easily Chinglar took over this. He's a born leader... and that might drive him to take over you. He's who you should be afraid of. But... I'm not leaving here without what I have to deliver."

Wittnor turns around and begins to strut away, and I feel my shoulders relax. I turn to Shadow, ready for what we should do next, when Wittnor suddenly whirls around, something dark flashing in his eyes. Durpner tries to catch him, and Shadow tries to trip him, but he's too quick. Almost instantaneously, his arms are around me, and I feel sickening dread as I realize what he's going to do next. The last thing I see is Shadow's anguished face as Wittnor leaps me away.

* * *

The first thing I feel is pain shooting up my spine as I attempt to move my head. My view is blocked by a rag the colour of blood. I sigh. Everything is red nowadays. Why not turquoise? I actually like turquoise. Whatever. I try to rip it off with my claw-nails, only to find that I have handcuffs. Hmm. This is quite the predicament. "Wittnor?" I ask groggily.

A voice that definitely wasn't Wittnor answers me.

"What do you want, little half-demon?" The voice seems outlandish. I try to protest.

"I'm fully demon! I was just born in the human lands," I protest, my voice sounding kind of... proud? "Though I do think that we demons could be a bit nicer. Um. You know what? We could be a lot nicer."

I snap my mouth shut as my captor - or whoever they are - laughs. They sound young, but I can't tell very well. Maybe they can let me escape?

"Uh... Hello? Mr. Captor? Can you let me free?" I try.

"Ha! First, I'm a girl." I open my mouth to correct myself, and she quickly presses her finger to my lips, making me do the fish face. "Second, I'm not Ms. or Mrs. Echo. Please don't call me that. It's stupid." Hmm. So her name is Echo. "Third. We're in High Cliff already... The demon capital. It's. Um. Dangerous is an understatement. I mean, Rose got stabbed in the arm last week because she didn't like coffee! Who does that? Like, what the friendly elf says does not result in chicken soup. Wait, no. You don't know that proverb. Uh... The sleepy chicken gets the food?"