(A/N: SUPRISE! An early update! :-) My sister, Heather and I felt so inspired by how many reads we got in a week that we finished it for you guys tonight! Please be sure to vote, comment and share! Any suggestions are welcome and if we use one of your suggestions, we'll dedicate the chapter your suggestion is in to you. We hope you enjoy the chapter as much as we enjoyed writing it.)
Chapter 4
*Sage’s P.O.V.*
I wonder where the fuck Jade went? I pull out my phone and try to call. Of course she doesn’t answer. Where is Dominic? “Damn it.” I mumble to myself. If he scared her off I’m going to be highly pissed! I feel uneasy as I focus on her to try and find out where she ran off to. It’s hard to concentrate with everybody talking and the loud music that plays over the speakers. I run towards the bathroom where it’s quiet. As I’m running down the hall and pass the storage room, I get a strange feeling. I stop and put my hand on the door and I can see what happened between Jade and Dominic. That bastard! I quicken my pace towards the bathroom. Everything is in slow motion as I think to myself, ‘She doesn’t know who she is yet. He has to take his time.’ He probably doesn’t know that she has no idea what she is.
I run in the bathroom and close the door. It’s much quieter in here. I concentrate, trying to find her. Ah, she’s heading home. I can feel what she’s feeling. She’s scared. I do just as she did. I run past all of our family and friends out the door and try to find my car. “Shit!” I say out loud. I run back inside and get Tobias’s keys and tell him “We gotta go! Jade is scared and driving home. Something happened between her and Dominic and she doesn’t understand what’s going on.” Without another word, he follows me outside to his car and we speed off to my parent’s house.
We arrive at the driveway and her car is there. We run inside to find her sitting on the couch. She looks at me with a tear streaked face.
“Oh sweety.” I say as I run and wrap my arms around her.
“Sage, what’s happening to me?”
I just stay quiet as she sobs in my arms. I look up at Tobias as he’s making his way over to us and sits down behind me. I ask Jade, “What happened tonight?”
“Something happened between me and Dominic.”
“What?”
“I let him…we…” She stutters. “We kissed and I let him do things. It made me feel things that I don’t understand. I don’t understand why I even let him do it. I don’t even know him!”
“Did it feel wrong?”
“No. That’s the problem. It didn’t feel wrong. I actually….” She looks up at me shyly and whispers, “I actually liked it….a lot.”
I hug her tightly and say, “It’s going to be alright babe.”
She gets up with a sigh and says, “I’m going to change into my pajamas.”
*Jade’s P.O.V.*
I sit on my bed, now in night clothes. Something is different about me. Somehow I feel different inside and I don’t really understand why. I walk into the living room going to talk to Sage, only she’s not there. Nobody is. As midnight draws closer and the moon rises higher in the night sky, I feel something pulling me towards the woods outside of our house. I walk outside and towards the woods. It’s like I’m in a trance of some sort. My bare feet feel the warm ground and the grass between my toes. I feel at one with my surroundings.
When I enter the woods, I feel strange eyes watching me. I feel safe with these unknown eyes on me, as if whoever was watching me would somehow protect me. Is this normal? As I get further I see a light ahead and I hear chanting. As I get closer I realize I know those voices. The trees part into a large circle and I see a huge fire burning. There are people dancing around the flame and my heart stops. It’s my mother and sisters. What the hell are they doing out here? And why the heck are they dancing around a fire?
They all turn in unison and look at me. My mother steps forward, “Jade, we’ve been waiting for you sweety.”
“What the hell is going on?” I say, with a little fear in my voice. Why are they acting like this?
“We have some things to explain.” Sage says, looking over her shoulder as a strange woman steps out of the woods.
She’s beautiful but she looks older than my mom. She has long brown hair and dark eyes and she’s wearing a beautiful purple silk robe. She looks at me with fascination in her eyes. “Amazing.” She gently whispers.
I back up a little bit. This is freaking me out way too much.
“Uh…what’s going on?” I look at Sage with wide eyes.
“I’m a Crone, Jade.” The unknown woman says.
“What’s a Crone?”
“A very powerful witch. I guess you could call me the mother of all witches.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, a witch? Are you fu…” Sage throws a hand over my mouth, muffling my words.
“You must not disrespect her, Jade!”
“No, it’s alright. She doesn’t understand yet.” The Crone says.
“Understand what?”
“What you are, Jade.”
“W-What do you mean, ‘what I am’?”
“Well my sweet, you’re the hybrid.”
“Hybrid of what?”
“We’ll get to that shortly. Come, sit. Let’s talk.”
I walk past the ‘Crone’, as she called herself, my legs trembling and I sit on the ground. I can’t help but feel a little curious as to what they have to say about me and a little nervous. What does she mean a ‘hybrid’? Why is she so fascinated with me?
My mother walks over and sits beside me and my sisters and the Crone follow her, sitting down and forming a circle around the fire. The Crone grabs something out of a pouch and throws it in the fire. The flames flare and then die down to where we can see each other. As I look at my mom and sisters I stop and stare at Sage, my sister and my best friend. I can’t help but think of all the great times we’ve shared and how well she knows me. She gives me an encouraging smile and nods her head as if to tell me everything is going to be okay. I relax a little. I didn’t even realize just how tense I was.
The Crone starts in on her story. “Many years ago there was a seer, much like your sister, Sage. She had a vision that the hybrid would come and change our lives either for the better or worse. Unite our people with the humans or cause the demise of all our kind, ‘The Dark Ones’ as the humans call us. Without us the trees wouldn’t sing their beautiful song as they sway in the breeze. The grass wouldn’t dance in the wind. The beautiful sun wouldn’t rise and the moon couldn’t live. We are the keepers of our Mother, the earth. The world as you and I and the humans know it would cease to exist without us.”
“So what does that have to do with me?” I say as I stare in wonder at her, enchanted by her words.
“It has everything to do with you.” She looks at me in awe. “You, my dear, are that hybrid.”
“What exactly am I then?”
“You are not only a witch but also a wolf.” She says it as if it should be obvious.
I knot my hands together as I stare at them nervously. “It can’t be. This is some joke that I am the butt of.” I mumble to myself. I try to convince myself that it’s not true. But deep down I know what she has told me is very true. I think I’ve always known. That’s why I’ve always felt out of place. Different.
I look at the Crone and say “Are you sure I am the one?” I pray silently that she says no. But I know what she is going to say before the words escape her mouth.
“Yes Jade, I know it is you.”
“So if we’re witches and my mom is a witch. Does that mean my dad, Aurillio, is a wolf?” I look at my mom as a tear slips from her eye.
“No, Jade. Your dad is a vampire.” My mom says as more tears flow down her face.
“Then how am I…” I look at her confused.
“I was raped by a wolf and got pregnant with you.” She bluntly states.
Tears start to flow from my eyes as I realize that my dad isn’t my true father. Why did she not tell me this before?
As if Sage read my mind she says “Because it just wasn’t the right time.”
“How did you?”
“That’s another power of Sage’s. She can read thoughts. She can also feel what people are feeling and see what others see.” The Crone says.
“That’s how I knew you were at mom and dad’s tonight.” Sage adds.
I stand up, angry. “You couldn’t have told me this before?!”
“Please, sit down. We still have a lot to tell you.” Sage says.
“No! I’m done listening to this. I’m done listening to some woman I don’t even know!” I yell at all of them.
“Fine, listen to me then, Jade.” My mom says desperately.
I stand in the same place, unwilling to sit down. “I’m listening.”
“This is why we tried to raise you the way we did, hoping the legend wouldn’t come true and that you would be normal. Well, as normal as a witch could be. We didn’t think you’d also take on the wolf gene as well. But when you woke up this morning, we could all sense it in you. Then we knew the old folk tale was true. We didn’t want it to happen because in our world, someone that is both a witch and a wolf is an abomination.”
“So, you’re calling me an abomination?” I suddenly feel furious and ashamed.
“No sweety. That’s not what I meant.”
“You know, I’ve had just about enough of this bullshit.” I say as I start walking off.
“Please, don’t leave, Jade.” I hear Sage plea from behind me.
“No, let her go. He will find her and protect her.” I hear the Crone add as I start to run into the woods.
I’m running as fast as I can. I can feel my lungs burning with exhaustion and my legs start to feel weak.
I feel as if I’ve been running for hours but it’s actually only been about 20 minutes. I feel like I am running in circles. I don’t know how far I have ran or where I am. As fear strikes me I feel strong hands grab me as I scream as loud as I can. Then I suddenly I feel the bark of a tree digging into my back. I’m terrified until I look up and I’m staring into Dominic’s beautiful brown eyes.
(A/N: Sorry about the cliff hanger guys. ;) Ok, not really. The next chapter shall be GOOD ;). Tee-hee. Again vote, share, comment. Thank you for reading!)
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