Lena Matthews
"Where are you girls heading?" I had never spoken to the new security guard before, but I already felt bitter about her taking Makaya's place.
"Atalka Trail." Kiara answered before I could say anything. "We're looking for a werewolf. Court's orders."
The new security guard nodded casually and opened the gate, no additional questions asked.
"I never thought that would be something I'd actually say," said Kiara, whispering excitedly. "It feels silly, doesn't it?"
"Yeah, really silly." I replied flatly. I leaned back in my seat, ready to scream in frustration. "I still can't believe I have to do this."
"I'm sorry they don't trust you," said Kiara.
"The thing is, they really shouldn't." I admitted.
"Why not?" Kiara asked as she pulled the car forward. The sun had set, blanketing everything in darkness. I could feel an uneasiness settle in the pit of my stomach.
"You know, funny thing." I said, deflecting from my earlier comment, "Jacob came by today."
"Mm hm." said Kiara, unfazed by the news. "How was it?"
I crossed my arms sternly. "Is there something you're not telling me, Kiara? How did Jacob know my address?"
"I thought we were talking about how I'm not supposed to trust you." said Kiara, blocking me from interrogating her any further.
"We're here." I announced, spotting the parking lot in the distance. Desperate for some air, I leapt out of the car as soon as Kiara parked. It was freezing outside, but at least it wasn't suffocating. I quickly put on some gloves and grabbed one of the flashlights that Kiara had brought for us. "Are you ready?" I asked.
"Okay!" said Kiara, switching right back to her happy demeanor. She quickly grabbed a flashlight and shut the car door.
My phone buzzed with a notification from an unknown number. I frowned as I tried to open the text message.
I hope you don't mind that Aurelie gave me your number. I know that this is coming out of nowhere, but I wanted to ask you out. Are you free tomorrow? - Jacob
A normal person would scream their head off at this point, but that wasn't my instant reaction. I stared at my phone, uncertain if I was seeing it right.
"What?" Kiara asked, seeing my expression. She snatched my phone from me and gasped. "Oh, you are totally free tomorrow!"
"Give me that!" I demanded. "I don't even know him!"
"Isn't that the point of dating: getting to know the person?" Kiara asked, holding the phone just out of my reach.
"Kiara, what are you trying to do?" I asked.
"I'm trying to get you to have a little bit of fun." Kiara responded. "Look, this night is about to suck, so might as well balance it out." She smiled enthusiastically. "You know I'm right."
"Okay, you're right! Happy?" I asked. I could hear a distinct whoosh sound, telling me that Kiara had just sent Jacob a reply on my behalf.
"Yep. Very happy." Kiara confirmed, handing the phone back. "Before you blow up on me, remember that I'm going into the middle of the woods in the dark for you."
The venomous words that I had prepared in my head died instantly. I wasn't going to drive away the only help I could get. "I hope the wolf eats you." I still muttered under my breath half-heartedly.
"Well, at least that means we found them." Kiara replied pleasantly. "After you."
"Thanks." I responded. I slowly walked to the entrance of the trail, Kiara right behind. Despite my flashlight, I could barely make out the predefined path in the dark. After taking a deep breath, I took the first few steps onto the trail. Last time, it felt like the wilderness had weaved around me in a terrifying cage. But this time, the trees felt like a large shield, protecting me from the dangers that lurked nearby.
"What do you remember from that night?" Kiara asked. She was still hanging behind me, but refused to admit that she was scared.
"I remember hearing water. I was all dazed and upset since Rowan had just died and... I remember seeing a girl. She was Forbidden too, but I'm still not sure if it was real." I replied.
"You never mentioned this to anyone?" Kiara asked.
"Not exactly. I was a little more preoccupied with the whole finding-out-vampires-were-real thing." I explained.
"Fair." said Kiara. "Discovering the Forbidden was a shock for me too, but no one was there to hold my hand through it."
"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked, bristled.
"Nothing against you. I just wish there were more places like this. I know that Atalka is all obsessed with its rules, but sometimes that's what you need when your life changes so dramatically. No one was guiding me, and I was just free to act on every instinct that came my way." Kiara elaborated. "I was lost, and it wasn't until my parents found me and brought me back that I realized everything that I'd done."
"What did you do, exactly?" I asked. Kiara didn't respond, and I didn't feel safe enough to ask again. My mind drifted a bit as I searched for any sign of a giant creature stalking around somewhere. The woods were convoluted, and it would take some kind of magic to search the entire place in one night. "Wait! I have an idea!" I announced.
I stepped a few paces off of the defined trail and removed one of my gloves. I placed my hand on a tree, and felt my mind tumble into the forest's consciousness. I wasn't sure what I was looking for, but I could feel something. It wasn't quite a pulse, but a strange vibration that warned me about a large, living being nearby. I pulled myself back into my body and lost my balance. It wasn't until I hit my head on the ground that I felt anchored in my body again.
"What exactly did you-"
"That way." I announced, standing back up. "There's something. I felt it."
Kiara didn't need much convincing about my hunch. She skipped directly behind me, whistling a strange tune.
"Can you shut up?" I asked.
Kiara didn't say anything, but her music stopped abruptly. I felt bad for yelling at her, but I was stressed. The idea of facing the werewolf's bright yellow eyes and sharp teeth again was terrifying.
"Hey Ivy?"
"No, you can't sing a song." I answered preemptively.
"Is that the girl?" Kiara asked, surprising me. She pointed to a figure in the woods. "She looks pretty real to me."
"Yeah, that's her." I dropped my voice to a whisper, afraid I was going to startle her. The girl was meditating peacefully, just like last time. I walked closer to see if I could get her to wake up. This time, I decided against touching her. Instead, I sat directly across from her.
"Hey, you have a really bad habit of doing this." I said aloud.
"Ivy..." said Kiara.
I ignored Kiara, and waved my hand in front of the girl's face. She didn't respond. "Hello?" I asked loudly. "I need you to wake up."
"Ivy!"
"What?" I snapped back. I turned around to see what Kiara was freaking out about. "Oh no." I muttered.
Kiara yanked me off the ground harshly. Her gaze was locked on the wolf, which looked just as frightening as before. It's yellow eyes were targeting Kiara right now, and its ears were pulled back in preparation to strike.
"Ivy, back up." Kiara hissed. "I have a plan. It's probably not going to work, but I'm going to try it anyway."
"What?" I hissed back. Both of us were slowly inching backwards as the wolf circled us.
Kiara grabbed her flashlight and tossed it as far as she could. "Fetch!" she yelled.
"I tried that and it didn't-" In the split moment that the wolf turned to follow the flashlight, Kiara swirled her hands above her in a quick, calculated movement. I looked up and noticed dark masses swirling above the spindly branches. Clouds.
"How the-" Kiara slammed her hands onto the ground, and a giant bolt of lightning struck the tree in front of us. The flash momentarily blinded me before transforming into violently orange flames, engulfing the tree. The wolf jumped in a panic before completely blinking out of sight, like a glitch being deleted. At the same time, the meditating girl jolted awake as thunder echoed loud enough to shake my entire body.
"What the hell?" The meditating girl asked. She held a hand up to shield herself from the heat of the fire.
My breaths started getting shallow as I realized that I was getting hot. I quickly removed my jacket, but nothing was helping. Kiara was repeating the same motion as she did before, but gentler this time. Rain started to sprinkle all around us before gathering in a smaller and smaller area. The tinier its coverage got, the more concentrated the precipitation became. Eventually, it was a single fountain of water that extinguished the tree.
As the flames died, the rain vanished with it. "Okay, I think I-" Kiara promptly passed out after her staggering display. I stared at her in complete shock. I didn't remember reading anything about encantados being able to control weather.
"Okay." said the girl, who was wide awake at this point. She had her phone flashlight on, and was pointing it directly at me. "Who are you, who is she, and what is going on?"
"Who are you?" I asked. "Why are you in the middle of the woods?"
"I asked first!" the girl argued.
"Maybe don't yell in case the wolf comes back!" I snapped in response.
"I am the wolf you idiot!" the girl exclaimed. "Now who are you, and what are you doing here?"
Ignoring the girl, I walked over to make sure that Kiara was okay. She was breathing just fine, but I didn't blame her for passing out. As soon as I knew she would be okay, I turned my attention back to the stranger. "I'm Ivy, and this is Kiara. We were sent to find you, I guess."
"I'm Aaliyah." said the girl, her arms still crossed in distrust. She tapped her foot for a few moments before glancing at Kiara sympathetically. "Do you need help?" She asked, in a tone that told me she was regretting the words as she said them.
It took the two of us a while to get a very weak, but somehow very optimistic Kiara back to the parking lot. I dumped her in the backseat of the car before fishing out a couple blankets for Aaliyah and I.
"Thanks," said Aaliyah quietly. She was only dressed in a white nightgown, and shivered the entire walk back. I had ditched my jacket somewhere in the woods, and was seriously regretting it now.
"Do you want to get in the car?" I asked. "I can turn on the heat."
"I don't know you." said Aaliyah. She glanced at the car skeptically.
"If we were going to attack you or something, we would have done it by now." I assured her.
"One second," said Aaliyah. She pulled out her phone and quickly dialed a number. "Jerome?" she asked. "Yes. Atalka Trail. Right now." I could hear a voice respond, but couldn't make out the exact words. "Yes, now. Because I said so." Another pause. "I need a witness in case this white girl tries to kill me."
I couldn't help scoffing at the last comment.
"What?" Aaliyah asked. "I just watched your friend summon a storm. I am not going to wait around to see what you can do." She tossed her cornrows off of her shoulder, allowing the Forbidden brand on her collarbone to be fully visible.
"I don't think you get it. We're on the same side here." I insisted. I pulled my sleeve down and showed Aaliyah my matching mark. Aaliyah stared at it intensely.
Bright headlights entered the parking lot, distracting both of us. "You got it fixed!" Aaliyah yelled enthusiastically to the driver, who I recognized as the same person I had talked to at Monty's. He knew me as Lena Matthews, an agent, while Aaliyah knew me as Ivy, a Forbidden. This was about to be fun.
"This better be good," said Jerome, climbing out of his newly repaired truck.
Now that Jerome was here to bear witness to my theoretical homicidal spree, Aaliyah was a lot more comfortable getting in Kiara's car. I sat in the driver's seat with Aaliyah taking shotgun. Jerome was stuck in the back with Kiara, who was now loopy enough to believe that Jerome was a snuggle buddy. Jerome was doing his best to keep Kiara away, but it was proving difficult. By some miracle, he hadn't recognized me from Monty's yet.
"Okay." I announced. "Are you okay if I talk about the Forbidden in front of him?" I tilted my head to Jerome.
"What are the Forbidden?" Aaliyah asked.
"You don't know?" I asked, genuinely confused. "It's everyone with the mark." I gestured around my neck, where Aaliyah's Forbidden brand was.
"I'm guessing her too?" Aaliyah asked, looking at Kiara. Jerome had found a couple more blankets, and was using it to shield himself from Kiara's unwelcome advances.
"Her too." I agreed.
"So why were you guys looking for me?" Aaliyah asked.
"Long story short, a lot of things rely on me presenting a werewolf to the Forbidden Court next week." I explained.
"Sucks for you, considering I'm not a werewolf." said Aaliyah offhandedly.
"You're not?" I asked.
"Why are we talking about werewolves?" Jerome asked at the same time.
"I'm not sure what I am, but it's not that. The wolf is something I can summon sometimes. I'm not sure what happened, but there was a massacre around here a while ago. I can connect with the spirits of the people that were killed." Aaliyah explained.
"So that's why you were meditating." I realized.
"Look, Jerome and I were attacked by this thing a couple months ago. Ever since, I've been out here surveying the area around the gate. I'm trying to keep everyone safe." said Aaliyah.
"Okay, I'm a little lost." Jerome admitted. "That wolf was you?"
"You're welcome," said Aaliyah. She turned back to me. "Why should I help you?"
"The cold woman. That's what attacked you, right?" I asked. "You're not alone. She killed Flora Delaney, Rowan Peterson, and Joshua Rodriguez. I'm just trying to stop her. But first, I need to make sure I'm on Atalka's good side. I can't do that if-"
"She killed Josh?" Aaliyah asked. From the way her voice quivered, I could tell he meant something to her.
"Yeah. They said he was shot, but the autopsy said hypothermia." I confirmed. I turned to look at Jerome, but his face was still frozen in shock from the first reveal.
"So the gate covered it up," said Aaliyah angrily. She closed her eyes and took a shuddering breath. When she spoke again, her voice was calm. "What makes you think you can get this thing?"
"If I don't, some bad things could happen to a lot of people, and that includes me now. I'd consider myself motivated." I answered. "If you care about this Josh guy, I promise that I'm your best chance at justice."
Aaliyah tapped her fingers on the dashboard, deep in thought. "I'll help you." She announced finally. "What do you want me to do?"
A/N: Well this is one crazy alliance! I am so excited to see Aaliyah and Jerome's stories play a more direct role in main plot! Also Jerome doesn't seem to remember Lena from Monty's... weird. And finally, it seems like Kiara decided that it was time to play cupid lol. There are a lot of moving pieces, but only 12 chapters left!
QOTD: Thoughts on having Aaliyah and Jerome team up with Lena?