The lights were beautiful in so many ways. Emma didn't even want to look up at the sky like she usually does when the world around her seemed to fall apart. All she wanted to do was ride the giant ferris wheel.
She jumped up and down in line, considering pushing everyone out of her way so she could get to the front. Ava laughed and Tyson smiled, the lights reflecting off his eyes. Emma had figured out that she didn't have feelings for Tyson, she just cared about him and she knew he would be a good friend. Emma clapped her hands and looked behind her, studying the many stands.
Her eyes caught one. The sign read: Make a Hoop, Get a Fish. Her hand flew up and pointed to it. "I want a fish!" she squealed. Ava followed her gaze and she saw the fish.
"Goldfish from here always die, Emma," Tyson said, laughing. Ava glared at him.
"We can get you one. Just, they don't have that long of a life span," she said, turning back to her. Emma rolled her eyes. Ava just said exactly what Tyson said but she just sugar coated it.
"I don't care if it dies. I just want a memory," Emma said, sighing. Tyson stepped out and looked up the line.
"We still got quite a bit of people until we get up there but if we leave, we won't get our spot back so, you're gonna have to choose," he pointed at the fish with one hand and the ferris wheel with the other, "Emma Livingston, door one or door two?" he deepened his voice.
Ava covered her laugh with a cough and looked at Emma. She smiled and answered, "I pick...door one. We can come back to the ferris wheel later." Emma stepped out of the long line and followed Tyson, through the crowd, to the stand.
"I remember when I got my first fish from here," Tyson called back and Ava smacked her forehead, obviously not liking where this conversation was going.
"What happened to it?" Emma asked, smiling slyly.
"No. How about we talk about cotton candy or how I'm apparently a demon or... anything but that," Ava threw her hands in the air. How she's a demon? Emma would have to revisit that later.
"No, I am very curious now," Emma said, looking back at Tyson.
"Well, I won it when I was eleven years old and named it Sammy. I brought it straight to Ava's house because I was so excited to have actually won one," he stopped and laughed when Ava plugged her ears and started to whistle. "When I got there, Ava freaked out and threw it outside. I saved it though. But no, Ava wasn't done yet." he laughed again and Ava rolled her eyes.
They had reached the stand and there were only a few people in line, maybe five minutes and they would be able to get up front.
"I kept it at her house, since my mom didn't like fish and she refused to buy food for it," Tyson said, his eyes starting to gloss over with tears. He blinked quickly a couple times and then started again, "It was in the living room and she dumped it on the floor, bringing her dog in and saying that he had done it." Tyson said.
"He did do it!" Ava said, listening again, "I swear I saw him try to eat the fish."
"He wouldn't have gotten the fish if you didn't dump the fish tank over in the first place," Tyson argued.
"Hey, hey. I want to hear the rest of the story," Emma said, gaining both there attention.
"Anyways, she would try anything to kill the poor thing since her mom would save it almost every time. Except the day that she had to work overtime," Tyson added dramatically, "She took the whole bowl and ran down to the park. There is that small pond there and she dumped it in and when she got home, she trailed water out of the house and told her mom that the fish had 'escaped'," Tyson made quotation marks in the air with his fingers.
"That was the worst lie of my life," Ava said, smiling at Tyson, "But, I did accomplish what I had tried to accomplish for a few weeks at least."
"It had been at your house for three days," Tyson laughed.
"Ava," Emma put her hand to her chest in fake shock, "I had no idea you were such an animal hater. You might not be able to date a wolf," Emma turned to Tyson and whispered, "She might throw you in a pond." Ava rolled her eyes and pushed Emma forward.
"Win us a goldfish, Emma," she laughed and Emma turned around. They were at the front of the line now.
There were three basketball hoops nailed into the back wall and under them were a huge tank of goldfish. Emma thought they would be in tiny bags or something. She retrieved the ball from the short bearded man, handing him a few tickets.
Emma stood in front of them, getting ready to shoot when something hit her. She didn't know how to shoot.
"Umm," Emma turned back around to Ava and Tyson.
Ava nudged Tyson with her elbow and he rolled his eyes and walked to her side, taking the ball out of her hand. "BEEF," he said, demonstrating, "Balance, eye, elbow, follow through," he set his feet and leveled his elbow in a 90 degree angle and shot, flicking his wrist downward when he let go. Emma's eyes followed the ball as it made it in the hoop. A siren went off and confetti flew out of the sides.
The man, behind the stand, huffed and grabbed a net from the side, preparing a fish. Emma laughed and hugged Tyson.
"Can't breath," he rasped, patting her back. She laughed and pulled back, letting him get air.
"Sorry," she said and grabbed the small bag, with a tiny goldfish in it, from the man, sending him a sweet smile.
"What are you gonna name it?" Ava asked as they walked over to the small bench off to the side. Emma sat on it and raised the bag to eye level, watching it swim in circles.
"I don't know," Emma admitted, "Any recommendations?" she smiled and looked up at them.
"Not Sammy," Tyson said, sitting beside Emma, "I'm starting to think the reason Ava didn't like my fish was because of his name." Emma laughed and Ava rolled her eyes, sitting on the other side of her.
"Okay, so how about... Sunny?" Ava asked, staring at the small fish. Emma laughed. Sunny wasn't that good of a name for the fish of a Night Child but, whatever.
"Sunny it is," Emma said, setting the bag in her lap and looking out over the carnival. She had tried her first cotton candy here and it had been amazing. The last few hours had been amazing. Speaking of... "What time is it?" Emma asked, still looking over the carnival.
Tyson pulled out his phone and turned it on, the light brightening his face, "It's almost nine thirty," he said and sighed. They were going to head back at ten, hopefully they would have enough time for the transformation.
"Okay, then, we have enough time to talk about how Ava is apparently a demon," Emma copied her words, turning towards her. Ava bit her lip nervously and looked at Tyson over Emma.
"Oh, um, I figured out recently that I was injected with a demon's blood that died recently. So, that's how I am so powerful and how I am the first female wolf born." she said, a little to fast.
"Ava," Tyson warned. Emma turned to him but her was looking at Ava seriously, like he was telling her something important.
"She has the right to know," Ava said, gesturing to Emma. Tyson rolled his eyes and stood up, walking away. "I also recently figured out the I am rightfully the alpha of the Chicago lycanthrope pack." Emma was listening but not really processing anything. If Ava was part demon then that means she isn't all earth. That means she has the potential to overcome the corruption.
"Ava!" Emma yelled excitedly, jumping to her feet. Ava stood up so fast it was a blur, reaching over her shoulder but dropping it with nothing. It was like she was about to grab a weapon. Emma narrowed her eyes but brushed it off, "You're part demon!" she yelled. Ava's eyes widened and she clapped her hand over Emma's mouth.
"Jesus Christ. Go ahead and tell the world," she murmured sarcastically, removing her hand. "And so what if I'm part demon. What does that have to do with anything?"
"It means that you're not all earth. You can become a lux tenebris and overcome the corruption," she lowered her voice.
"But what if I don't want to be a lux tenebris? What if I don't want to be limited to that magick?" she countered.
"Ava, would you rather be corrupted and end up going crazy or become a lux tenebris and still do magick and still be normal?" she asked.
"Fine, but-" she was cut off when she looked over Emma's shoulder. Emma whirled around and saw Tyson, racing to them.
"Do you feel anything, Emma?" he asked, holding his phone in his hand and looking at her with widened eyes. Now that she thought about it, it felt like her left shoulder blade was slowly burning and it kind of smelled a little off.
"Umm, my back hurts," she decided to just tell them that. The smell might just be normal carnival smells. Emma was wearing a open-backed, short black dress with a leather jacket thrown over it.
She slipped it off and turned around, facing away from Ava and Tyson. She heard Ava suck in a breath and then Tyson's finger traced a mark on her back.
"It's like a burn," Ava said and Tyson's fingers left her skin.
"We need to get her back to the penthouses," he said, "Now." They raced her to the car, running across the parking lot and almost getting hit by more than one car. Once they got to the car, Tyson shoved Emma in and peeled out of the parking lot. Ava's door wasn't even shut all the way. She slammed it shut and turned to Tyson.
"You're gonna get us killed!" she said and she wasn't playing or anything, she was serious. Her eyes watched the front window and Emma started to feel the burning more and more. It burned hotter and Emma remembered something. It was one of her best nights but one thing stuck out.
She remembered the first night that her and Seth had went to the wine cellar. He was afraid to hurt her but Emma insisted that it didn't matter, she trusted him. "I know you," she had said. Seth looked up at her from the small chair and then suddenly he stood up.
"Do you?" he had asked. He was at the other side of the room in a split second. His hand laid on the stone cap over the fire place, his fingers gripping the sides. And then he broke it off. He broke it like it was just a piece of dried pasta. It was easy for him. And then he was in front of her again. "Do you know my strength?" he had said. Even when his eyes turned black and his teeth grew into fangs, Emma didn't flinch. "Do you know my thirst?" he had said. Then he took a step back, his eyes going back to normal. He unbuttoned his white button down shirt and turned around, his bare back facing Emma. But it wasn't bare. There was a huge black crescent on his left shoulder blade, like a burn, she had thought. "Do you know my monster?"
The crescent. That was what was forming. A burn mark. That was the pain, the burning, it was the transformation of the crescent. Emma looked out the window and realized they had slowed down but the huge skyscraper was towering above them now. Emma shuddered at what was to happen. She would see the sun again, Ava would help her, but she felt like the sunset was her good bye and she hadn't even paid any attention to it.
The car jerked to a stop, throwing Emma's head forward. She looked up and Tyson was already out of the car, opening the door for Emma. Ava jumped out and waited at the front of the car, her black hair whipping around her from the wind.
"Get her inside. Get her to Seth," Emma was lifted out of the car and pushed to Ava. She barely knew what was going on. She could hear something, a beating. Like a heartbeat. And the smell had gotten stronger.
"What about you?" Ava called back, grabbing Emma's wrist and dragging her to the building. Tyson opened the car door and jumped inside.
"I'll be as fast as I can," he yelled over the purr of the engine. He backed up and drove off. Emma turned back around and sucked in a breath when she saw Seth waiting by the door. Ava pushed her into his arms and the sweet smell got overwhelming, Emma pulled back.
"What is that smell?" she asked, scrunching her nose. Seth opened his mouth to speak but Emma screamed out in pain, falling to her knees. It felt like her head was going to explode and her heart felt as if it was slowly stopping its gentle beating.
"We have to get her inside," Seth said and then pulled Emma into his arms, starting to walk through the door. The lounge looked the same, everything looked the same, except for the red haze that was starting to cloud her vision. She didn't even have the strength to scream or writhe in pain anymore. She just laid motionless in Seth's arms. Maybe if she didn't move, the pain would stop by itself.
They were in the elevator and Seth jammed a number over and over. Like it wasn't fast enough for him. "Come on, come on," he whispered and then the door slid shut and he sighed. He kept whispering stuff to her but Emma couldn't hear it, it was drowned out by the ringing in her ears.
The elevator door slid open and Emma smelled that sweet smell again. She wanted to follow it. She wanted it in any way possible. They stepped out into an open room. No windows, no pictures, nothing. The walls were just blank and the only thing in the room were the four large freezers. The red haze was darker around the freezers and she started to scramble out of Seth's grasp but he was too strong for her.
"Please," Emma moaned, "I need it." she had her eyes closed, afraid of the haze and what it did to her. Her fingers dug into Seth's forearm, drawing blood, but he didn't seem to notice. He turned around and whispered something to Ava. Emma opened her eyes and her tears started to flow down her cheeks. This wasn't how Emma expected things to be.
The door to the elevator slid open and Tyson stepped out, running to Ava. Ava's eyes were closed but she nodded in greeting to Tyson. She was whispering something under her breath. Words. Emma knew she should be listening to what she was saying, but, she didn't care. All she cared about was whether she was going to survive or not. She let out hysterical laugh at her thoughts. No, she wouldn't survive. Not exactly.
Seth slowly lowered her to the ground in front of the three of them and she instantly felt the slight pressure of a spell. What was Ava doing? Emma turned her head to Ava and her eyes were open now, and glowing. Her beautiful blue-green eyes glowed like a light house over the bay. Emma saw how her eyes were filled with guilt and knew that Ava was doing something that Emma wouldn't like. She shook her head at her and a single tear slid down Ava's cheek but she chanted three more words, "Numquam moveri te" Never move thee. Emma translated. She was putting a spell on her so she couldn't move. But why?
A horrible pain shot up her spin and seemed to ring through her head, transferring to her upper jaw and she felt a horrible pain. She screamed and her hands shot up to hold both sides of her head, to keep it from splitting apart, she told herself. She realized with a start that it wasn't a spell to paralyze her, it was a spell to keep her in place. Like the one she put on her mother but, except, she couldn't get out.
Emma banged her fist into the invisible wall and reveled in the pain. It was her only outing to the unbearable pain she kept trying to block out. The pain felt like it lasted forever but when Emma looked up at Seth he said, "Five minutes, darling," and looked down. Emma knew that a Night Child transformation could go on for a few days but she also knew that she wouldn't stand for that. It would end soon, she kept telling herself.
Soon.