-Ruarc Brennan-
I was dealing with three children, that was my only summary after we spent fifteen minutes walking to where I last sensed Quan. We were only a few streets away from the police station, which I could tell made Aubrey and Sara uncomfortable.
"Are you sure it was here?" Sara asked for the thirteenth time. "I can't get a lot here."
I nodded my head and crossed my arms. "It was exactly here. I could show you our office if I have to." I probably looked like a big child myself, but at least I didn't argue and yell like Fewesi and Cappi had been doing. I felt sorry for pulling Fewesi away from her sleep, but she insisted that she wanted to make sure Quan was safe.
"I don't know if there's anything you could do in there," I admitted. Nature witches relied on natural things, such as plants, in order to learn things from the environment. Sara had once described it as though she had a strong intuitive feeling, which is why nature witches needed to study, or the feelings could be misinterpreted. Sara's teacher moved away a month after I moved onto the street, but he was a very kind gentleman. Sara's parents had no interest in nature magic, and thus entrusted the man with tutoring her.
"You'd be surprised what I can do," Sara stated and lifted her chin. "I'm assuming there's paper in your office, that could help. I'm sure there's wooden desks in there too." She counted on her fingers as she listed the natural materials that were used in the office.
"Alright," I said with defeat. "I'll take you." I spun on my heels to look at Aubrey, Fewesi, and Cappi. "No arguing, no running, and no creeping out those who work there."
Cappi huffed. "So, no fun it is."
I nodded and waited for the others to agree. When they did, I led the way to my office building, with a shrinking ball of hope in my chest.
We didn't make it to the office, instead Sara stopped halfway there and knelt on the ground. I couldn't tell what had caught her attention, as I was standing just behind her.
"What is she-?" I began to ask, but was roughly elbowed in the ribs by Aubrey, who glared at me.
"She's doing what you asked her to, dumbo." Aubrey huffed and pulled on my arm.
On the ground was a very lonely, and half-dead, dandelion. It barely had any of its petals, which I doubted were actually called petals, still intact. It was dropping and looked as sad as I felt.
"Can she really get loads of information from such a sick plant?" Cappi asked. Their voice was filled with that child-like innocence that I was annoyed by and so jealous of.
I moved to correct them about the plant dying, and not really being sick, but I didn't have the heart. I didn't really know what to do with myself as I stood awkwardly beside her, catching the eyes of those who passed and gave us strange looks. Some of them must have known about the supernatural, as they didn't even look at us twice.
"Ruarc," Sara said suddenly, startling me away from my thoughts. "You have to find him, now."
My heart began to beat quicker, which wasn't a good thing for vampires. "What's wrong?" I asked frantically. "What did you see? Or hear, whatever?" I hated the fact that I was becoming this frantic over a man I had met about a week ago. I was getting so worried about a man who hated my guts.
"Ruarc, now. You've got to find him," Sara continued. "It doesn't matter what I saw, but you have to hurry." She reached up and placed a finger between my brows.
"Sar, what are you doing?" Aubrey asked, unidentifiable emotions filling her expression.
"Follow your instincts, we'll go with you. But we're not going to get involved in the real danger." Sara's hands were shaking. It could've been from the cold, but I assumed it was because of nerves, which wasn't a good sign.
"Okay," I said without really comprehending it. "Okay," I repeated. I turned to Cappi, Fewesi, and Aubrey. "Are you coming too?"
Cappi and Fewesi shared a silent conversation, as they often did, before nodding.
"Sara, are you sure about this?" Aubrey asked slowly. "We don't have to go after him. He is nothing to us."
I ignored the fire that ignited in my heart when her words reached my ears. He may not have been important to them, but for some strange reason, he was important to me. I could imagine him scowling at me, maybe even hitting me upside the head, if he saw how uptight this was making me.
Sara just nodded firmly, determination in her eyes.
"Alright," Aubrey said and squared her shoulders. "Lead the way, lover-boy."
I ignored the name and let my instincts take over. I wondered why Sara didn't lead the way if she knew where Quan was, but questioning magic, again, wasn't a good idea.
I didn't like the powerful force which was driving me towards a random direction. I trusted Sara, but this kind of magic was something I had experience with, very negative experiences with.
It was as though my feet had a mind of their own as I darted down streets and rushed past pedestrians. I had almost walked straight into a car or two on the way, needing to be pulled back by Fewesi before I caused any real damage.
We were no longer in Alchgrove when I started to slow down. The large buildings had been replaced by green trees, and those green trees had been replaced with strange red trees.
"How could someone do something like this?" Sara asked with tears in her eyes. "Poor plants."
I tried to focus on where we were going, but my feet had come to a halt. There wasn't anything drawing me in any direction. "Where is he?" I inquired. "The spell's stopped."
Aubrey, who now had an arm around Sara, sent me a glare. "Shut up Ruarc. You're upsetting her."
I sighed, these two could act like enemies one day, and the next they could be thick as thieves. "Sorry, but I'd like to know the whole reason why we're out here." I didn't like my tone, but my patience was about to snap.
Cappi walked in front of me, following the path we were on. "Isn't it obvious? The trees are blocked with magic," they said, as though that explained everything.
"If nature is tempered with, nature witches lose some of their powers," Fewesi explained.
Aubrey turned to her with a furrowed brow. "And how would you know that?" *She put one hand on her hip, the other was still around Sara.
Fewesi smirked before following Cappi. "I work in a bar, we hear things."
I jogged to catch up with them. "So, nature witch's magic isn't very useful in a place where there isn't much nature around?" I asked rhetorically. "We could assume that the person knows a lot about nature magic."
"It is the most used type of magic, idiot," Aubrey commented. "I'd protect my house from nature magic too, if I had kidnapped a witch."
Sara looked hesitant to continue being under Aubrey's arm.
A rustle came from beside me, causing me to freeze. I couldn't sense anyone here, save for the five of us, so any movement was a reason for alarm.
The red leaves were parted as something darted out of it. I narrowed my eyes and focused on the creature, which looked like a mix of a cat and a monkey. It had pointed ears and claws, but it stood on two legs and had a large skull.
"What the hell," Fewesi muttered under her breath. I wasn't sure if she could see the details of the creature, as it was moving very quickly, but it must've been a peculiar sight.
The creature seemed to be minding its own business and had the attention span of a three-year-old. It moved from leaf, to bush, to leaf, to tree, before its eyes locked on me. It emitted a high-pitched screech, which pierced my ears and made my skull vibrate, before pouncing on me.
I easily swiped at it, pushing it towards a tree-trunk, which it began to climb.
"Back up," I told the group, not letting my eyes move from the creature.
The thing was above us, peering over a branch with deep blue eyes. That was one of the core signs of magic, often magic which shouldn't be practised. I didn't know a lot about the laws and taboos of the witches, but I did know some magic was welcomed more than others. Such as clairvoyant witches being highly rare and disapproved of.
"That's not normal, that's not natural," Sara kept repeating to herself. I would've hissed at her to shut up, if I hadn't known that she was a nature witch, and thus has no power over this being.
"We're not backing up," Cappi pointed out. Their voice was quiet and shook, probably from nerves. "We were told to back up, and we're not backing up."
"Because it'll jump for us as soon as we move," Aubrey replied. "Let me get at it." Her voice was almost pleading.
"No," I denied. "I think I have a plan." A plan which I doubted would work in any way, shape, or form. It was worth a shot. If it failed, then I'd let Aubrey have as much fun as she wanted. This creature was a simple guard, after all. It didn't act as aggressive as I would've thought.
"Whatever it is, do it quickly," Fewesi told me. She had resorted to using a flat tone, one which was nearly emotionless.
I stepped closer to the tree, not missing Cappi's hand skimming against the end of my coat to pull me back. I tried to find some sort of sense between the creature's blue eyes, searching for something to cling to and control. It wasn't difficult to cling onto their actions and motivations, which changed every time their eyes moved to something else. It was a lot easier to control animals than it was to control humans. It entirely depended on the creature's intelligence and common sense, which this creature lacked.
"Take us home," I told it sternly.
In a flash, it turned on the tree and sprinted in the opposite direction.
"That was your plan? That was your plan?" Cappi repeated several times in a whisper. "You've just told it to take you straight to the enemy's lair!"
"I think that was the point," Aubrey told them before following me, chasing the creature as it swung and danced through the trees.
"We're following a gremlin to our doom," Cappi said dramatically.
"Hurry up," I called behind me.
The creature slowed down around five minutes later, stumbling rather than walking towards a small cottage. It was made of mostly wood, with only one window that had been boarded up. Spiders and ants crawled across the surface, completely ignoring any outside forces.
"Is this a good idea?" Fewesi whispered. "That place is small; they probably know we're here by now."
I nodded my head and resisted the urge to sigh. "You're right, but what chance do we have?"
"None," Aubrey responded. "But that doesn't mean that we have to take the obvious way in."
I scoffed. "Who said anything about the obvious way in?" I was being too snarky for my own good, but I didn't care about manners right now. "Wouldn't be able to get in the front door anyway, but I take any open window as an invitation."
"What if there aren't any windows that are open?" Cappi inquired.
Bless their innocent soul.
I ignored them and creeped forward, taking a step each time the creature moved in hopes that they would cover the sound of my footsteps, and those of my companions.
Vampire footsteps were generally light, along with Cappi's- I still hadn't figured out that kind of creature they were, but I hadn't given up hope-, which fared well for us. Fewesi and Sara were a little louder, but Aubrey made me freeze every time she took a step. Werewolves were used to bounding forward using four legs, not creeping using two. I made a mental note to discuss this with her at some point, when we were all safe.
Around the back of the house was n better-ff. There were piles of brown leaves, which looked far too convenient to be accidental. I eyed it wearily, expecting something else to jump out and swipe at me.
"Why-" Sara began to ask, choking back a sob.
"Shh," I shushed her and held up a finger. I could hear some mumbling, very familiar mumbling. I couldn't understand what words were being uttered, but the mumbling itself made hope bloom in my chest.
"That's him," Aubrey whispered. Her expression had become serious. "I'll go thr-"
I cut her off with a stern glance. I didn't want anyone to hear what we were doing, or else that would entirely defeat the purpose of sneaking around.
How do I even know Quan is in danger? He could've come here on his own accord, meeting up with some very peculiar and protective witch friends. Cappi and Fewesi's panic and eagerness to help had convinced me that there was something terribly wrong, and it felt horrible, but I hoped that they were wrong.
Even I couldn't shake the feeling that Quan was acting strange, even though we knew each other for about a week.
I shook my head and backed up, facing the window which was open just a crack. I tried to control my breathing, before sprinting and running up the wall. I was stationary in the air for a few seconds, which were painfully long, before my hands rested on the windowsill.
I was lucky that the window opened inwards, so I didn't cause it to slam shut when my hands made contact with rusted wood.
The muttering stopped, as did any noise which came from the room on the other side of the window. Fear slid into my heart, and I forced myself to look into the window.
The room was bare, save for a single chair. The walls were a peeling, dirty, brown colour, and the door which was on the wall opposite me had several locks built into it.
The one thing that caught my attention though, was who was sitting in the chair.
With a black cloth around his head, what looked like a blanket draped around their shoulders, and three belts tightly wrapped around his arms, binding his arms to his torso, was Quan.
His hair had been pulled out of its ponytail and fell around his shoulders, with knots and tats visible, as though he had been dragged by his long hair. The only part of him which was visible were his full, pink lips.
I pushed the window open further, making sure to wrap my hand in my coat before doing so. I then pulled myself further into the room. I checked just underneath the window, before placing my feet on the cracked floorboards.
Quan's fast breathing hitched, and he shrunk further into the chair. The slightest of whimpers escaped his lips, and his entire body shook.
This isn't the Quan that I know, and it made my heart ache to see him like this. He was petrified, and I didn't know how I was going to help him out of here.
"Quan?" I whispered as softly as I could. He made no acknowledgement. "Quan?" I said a little louder, but still no response.
I tiptoed around him and found an awfully simple knot in the back of his blindfold. I held back a scoff and began to untie it, but it never came loose. In fact, the more I tried, the less success I had with it.
When Quan let out a hiss of pain, I knew to stop and assess the situation more. The fabric which was tied around his head had gotten so tight that it would barely budge. Quan shook more, he couldn't even move his arms or legs. I wasn't sure if he knew that it was me.
I tried to remove the belts from around him, but that caused the same reaction, along with the addition of the metal buckles burning up and causing blisters to form on my fingertips. I didn't care too much about that, but I wasn't sure if Quan could feel the heat as well.
I couldn't show him that it was me, because I couldn't touch him. I was too frightened to speak any louder, in case somebody was hiding in the house. I turned to look out the window again, only for the group to be staring up at me. I shrugged my shoulders and sighed, before pointing downwards and placing an exaggerated questioning look on my face.
The four of them exchanged glances before Cappi creeped along the side of the house, returning a minute later with a disheartened expression and a shrug.
I bit my lip and turned back to Quan.
There was only one thing I could do to calm Quan down, and that might result in him hating me, despising me. At least it would help me get him home safely.
I gently rested my hands on his shoulders, which tensed as soon as I made contact with him. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before placing my lips on his.