-Arch-
Once the school was over, we decided to follow Oliver home. I was a little surprised since it was Jaden's idea, but we all agreed we needed to make sure Oliver got home safely. Everyone at school knew now that he was hanging out with us. The Black Thorns knew he was hanging out with us. That thought got Jaden pretty anxious when it occurred to him.
I couldn't help but agree with his worries. I was still bombarded with warnings left and right, so I couldn't even tell when he was in real danger. We were all in danger all the time, if my warnings were right.
And... I never told anyone, but... being close to Oliver was horrible for me.
It was not him that caused it, though. He was not dangerous at all, but the warnings grew a lot stronger whenever I was near him. I was nauseous, covered in cold sweat and shivering when he was close to me.
We were supposed to go for a run after Oliver was safely at home, but soon later, he stepped back out. I wasn't sure if he could feel us close by or if it was just a coincidence, so we decided to continue following him. It seemed like he wasn't aware of us until a bit later, when he suddenly stepped into the forest, walking straight to us.
It was normal for him to be able to feel Jaden close by, but I wasn't so sure about Tilly or me. We were connected with Jaden, yes, but I still found it a little odd.
And all those things I learned about him during lunch... Jaden should have told us Oliver could hear his voice when he was shot. He never told us how Oliver found out about us. Hearing someone's thoughts miles away was something no one could do. No one in the new world. I didn't know much about old worlds, but if someone could hear thoughts miles away, it had to be one of them.
But the problem was that Oliver was only a sixteen-year-old human. Old worlds were thousands of years old. Amnesia was out of the question since he became Jaden's mate on his sixteenth birthday – the moon goddess knew he was sixteen, and she was an old world herself.
So... what kind of creature could hear someone's thoughts miles away?
I looked at Oliver, when he tried to break up Tilly and Jaden, who were fighting over a stick. When his words were ignored, he sighed heavily and went to get a new one.
"Tilly! You can have this one – that's Jaden's. Tilly? Look! Look what I got...!"
I would've laughed when she ran after the stick Oliver tossed for her if I'd been in my human form. She had found it hilarious when we saw Jaden playing fetch with Oliver for the first time. I couldn't really blame her – hunting was in our blood. Oliver threw the other stick for Jaden while Tilly was bringing hers back to him.
No one. That was the answer I was looking for. All the mind readers needed to be right next to their target, or even touch them to be able to hear their thoughts.
I let out a deep breath when I finally accepted what it meant. He asked me about Echoes. Without that fact I probably wouldn't have connected the dots. Everything made sense because of it. I just... it wasn't easy to sink in. The truth about Oliver.
"Okay guys – I need to give you code names," Oliver spoke suddenly, interrupting me in my thoughts. "And since none of you can stop me now..." he trailed off with a smirk. "Jaden is Wolfie."
Oh, Jaden was enjoying this. We had given him such a hard time about his nicknames, and we all knew Oliver wouldn't give us better names.
Oliver turned to look at me, rubbing his chin like he was thinking really hard. "How about Brownie? Since your fur is brown," he finally said.
I let out a deep sigh, pinning my ears back. Brownie. How was Brownie any better than Muffins!? I knew Jaden would've laughed if wolves could do that.
Ugh...
Before Oliver turned to even look at Tilly, she was already trying to sneak behind a big tree, her tail between her legs and ears pointing back, like it could somehow protect her from getting her new name.
"And for you..." Oliver trailed off when he turned to look for her. "Aw come on! I can't use your real names in case someone hears us!"
Tilly peered at him behind the tree, keeping her head down.
"Fluffy," Oliver said after a moment. Tilly growled at him. "But your fur is so soft!" Oliver said, holding back his laugh.
This kid was having too much fun at our expense.
We stayed in the forest for an hour, just walking around or playing in the snow. Oliver seemed really happy to have company. He was laughing a lot, but I believed it was obvious for us all that he was carrying a lot of sadness in him. It was visible in his eyes when he thought no one was looking. I believed it was the kind of sadness that couldn't be easily erased.
At some point, Tilly and Jaden were wrestling in the snow, and Oliver watched them with a small smile on his face, but he looked sad. I walked to him, ignoring the nauseous feeling that grew stronger, and touched his hand with my nose, making him jump lightly.
"You scared me," he chuckled and ruffled my fur gently. "So, you're the quiet type, huh?"
Compared to Jade and Tilly, yes.
"How's it going?" he asked. I wagged my tail as a reply. "That's good to hear," he smiled, scratching me behind my ears.
He really was a sweet kid. He didn't deserve the life he'd been living. I wanted to tell him that he had nothing to worry about anymore. Tilly was right, he was one of us now. Even Jaden had finally stopped being such a drama queen about it. Oliver had won him over already.
I wanted to tell him that we would find out who was tormenting him. I wanted to be absolutely sure about my theory before telling anyone about it, but I knew I was right about him, and what was going on with him.
The one who was scaring him shitless wasn't Nick, and it wasn't a spell that prevented him from talking about whatever he needed to tell us. It was something much worse.
And it was what made me so nauseous around him.
*****
Later that night, when I was reading a book about Echoes in my room, I heard my father coming home. I hid the book under a pile of homework I couldn't focus on, and went to greet him. I saw my parents talking about the day in cheery tones, moving into the living room.
"Joseph – how was your day?" Dad asked me, sitting down on the couch while Mom went to continue preparing our dinner. My dad was a big man – just like everyone in my family – so the couch under him creaked loudly when he sat down.
"It was... okay," I sat down on a chair opposite of him.
"There's something bothering you," he said with a frown.
I took a deep breath. "I have a riddle for you," I said, and he laughed lightly.
"You know your mom is better at riddles, boy," he said. "But shoot."
"All right. What kind of creature can't be seen, heard, or smelled, but can still be sensed close by?"
My dad thought about it for a moment. "There's a couple of them – you need to be more specific."
"It can go inside someone," I said carefully. "And control the body."
His frown grew deeper. "That's a terrible riddle," he said slowly.
"All right – I have another one," I said. "What creature looks and smells like a human, but isn't a human at all?"
My father looked at me for a moment, before he sighed. "Joseph..."
"All right, a third one then. What kind of creature can hear Echoes?" I asked, staring at him straight in the eye.
My father didn't say anything in a moment, but then he stood up. I got up as well when he walked to me, and placed his hands on my shoulders.
"You're asking questions you shouldn't be asking, son" he said quietly.
"They're just riddles," I said just as quietly, and he scoffed at me in amusement.
"You're a smart kid. Smarter than most. I know you've got it all figured out by now, and I trust you won't speak of it to anyone else," he said in a questioning manner.
"I won't. But what am I supposed to do?" I asked.
"We're the Archers. We are the guardians of the Blue Moon. We've always been, and always will be," he said sternly. "That's what you'll do. Guard."
"Yes, sir," I nodded.
"Good," he said and sighed. "Do Jaden and Tilly know?"
"Not yet," I said.
"Aye," he nodded slowly. "Make sure it stays between you three. As far as everyone's concerned, their kind has left this town long time ago. A few of us made a promise years ago, and we will keep that promise, you hear me?"
"Yes, father," I nodded. "No one else will know."
"Good," he said, patting my shoulder. "You weren't supposed to know yet, but sometimes our goddess has her own plans. You keep their secret safe, you hear me?"
"Yes," I nodded again, and I didn't even need to ask what he meant by that. We all knew the stories, after all.
"I suppose you want to go see your friends now," Dad said and stepped back. "Don't stay up too late."
"Sure," I said, and went to put some warmer clothes on.
It was only ten minutes later, when I stopped in front of Jaden's house, and knocked on the door. It was Jaden himself who opened it.
"I thought you were busy with your homework," he said, speaking the last word like it was a curse.
I gave him a stern look. "I know what Oliver is."
-Oliver-
I arrived at school early in the next morning. Jaden and his friends weren't there yet, but it wasn't a surprise to me. I was feeling happy and excited to see them again, and I hoped Jaden hadn't changed his mind about having me around.
Since I had plenty of time before the first class would start, I decided to go see if the library was open already. I had started reading werewolf books again. For some reason. Sadly, it was still closed. I stared at the door for a moment, trying to decide what to do to pass some time, when I suddenly felt something behind me. Something bad.
Something really bad.
"Long time no see, rat."
Someone grabbed me from behind, turned me around, and slammed me against the wall so hard all the air was forced out of my lungs. I could only stare up at the mean eyes that were glaring back at me.
Jack!
"And here I thought you were complete waste of time, but look at you," he grinned, pressing me harder against the wall. "You've made new friends."
Jaden!
"H-He's n-not my friend!" I gasped.
"No," he said, peering at my chest. "No... He's more than that," he let out a blood-chilling laugh.
"Get off me!" I tried to yell, but my words were merely a whisper.
"Now now, don't be rude – I'm just taking what I came here for," he said, landing his hand on my chest. "Oh, yes... With this, I don't need to find that stupid cabin anymore..."
I looked down at his hand, and saw something black oozing out of it, like dark mist or... shadowy fingers. Suddenly, I felt like I was suffocating. I was in pain on the inside, just beneath where he was touching me. I could hear a wolf, screaming in pain...
And then, something bright and blue flashed between us, almost blinding me. Jack fell down on his knees, cursing loudly and holding his hand. His skin was red, like someone had poured boiling water on it.
RUN OLIVER!
And I did. I didn't know the voice that yelled at me somewhere inside me, but I ran, and I could hear Jack coming after me, cursing me in his rage.
And he wasn't alone. I couldn't see or hear anyone, but I knew he wasn't alone.