Guardians: The Triplex Part 18

"You saw my gla.s.ses and thought I was a prude."

"Um...you are."

"No, I'm not."

"What's the craziest thing you've ever done?"

"You mean beside this?"

"This doesn't count."

"I broke my ex-boyfriend out of Bliss."

"You dated an ex-con!"

"Yeah."

"And you broke him out?"

"Yes."

"h.e.l.l, nah. I'm gonna need more."

"All Angels weren't good guys. I didn't know that at the time."

"What happened?"

"He injured a human. He swears it was by mistake. Anyway, the Council felt he would be better off going to Bliss for a few months. I read up on Bliss and found pa.s.sageways in from the floor plans and I helped him escape. The Council found out, sent the guy back to Bliss, and they Grounded me to Earth for six months."

"You were lucky. It could have been much worse. What happened to the guy?"

"He got out a few months later and dumped me. Said he wanted someone more...Angel-like."

"What the h.e.l.l does that mean?"

"He went after some Para chick. She had an amazing inner glow, never read a book in her life, and had a free love policy."

"Oh."

"I don't get it. You guys are Angels; how come all of you are jerks?" she asks sincerely.

"As Angels, we are capable of an extraordinary amount of love and charity. But we don't always reach our potential."

"Tell me about it."

"Did you love him?"

"I was starting to."

"Look, I came at you wrong back at the diner. I should have been more...ya know."

"It's okay. I still would have turned you down." She smiles playfully. He smiles back at her.

"Can you take this stone thing off my wrist please, it's turning green," he complains.

"Ha,ha, funny."

"No, I mean it. All the stone are green now," Jay says, holding out his hand.

"That can't be," she exclaims, as she studies it.

"Why? What does that-"

She leaps up from the ma.s.sive stone she was sitting on and kisses Jay. At first he pulls his hand away as if to say "I'm not doing anything but kissing back." Soon though, his hands are through her hair and down her lower back.

Like Jay, I'm shocked. I cover my mouth with my hand to hide my goofy smiles. She just stood up and kissed him. It reminds me of when Marcus and I were in the car and I kissed him. It caused a lot of drama. I mean a lot. But honestly, I would do it again a thousand times just to feel his lips on mine.

Okay, Emmy. Let's put that thought in the "things to never say in front of Ameana" box and close it up.

"What just happened?" Jay asks, baffled.

"I lied before. The Truth Stone picks up two emotions. Desire and Regret. In order for all the Truth Stones to turn to green, it means you regretted every desire you had since you put it on."

"You lied to me?"

"Yeah, I just never thought it would turn green."

"It's cool. Just keep doing what you did before."

"You mean this," she reaches over and kisses him again. Her hair is now illuminated. I love when Angels get a hicky. It still trips me out that it reflects in their hair. She pulls away. He comes in for yet another kiss.

"Hey, you don't have a thing for Paras do you?" Isabelle asked.

"No, but I got a soft spot for law breakers." Her laughter fills the air. I clear my throat before they can start kissing again.

"Oh, hey, Emmy," Jay says awkwardly.

"Hi," I say, sounding very much like a bratty little sister who caught her brother making out with his girl.

"Um...I'm, we were just, um..."

"Hey, is it me, or is it really bright out here? Some of us are absolutely glowing," I tease. Jay takes off after me and chases me around.

Suddenly we hear Rio a few yards away.

"We're saving the world here guys, you might want to lower the purple Wave count!"

The growl sounds as if it came from h.e.l.l itself. I look up to the ceiling of the cave. I tell myself it's in my head. Then I look around and every single being in the cave is on high alert. There's a silence in the air and it's pregnant with fear.

We wait.

"It's a Cray," Ameana whispers, with a slight tremble in her voice.

Ameana's trembling? This is so not good.

"What's a Cray?" I whisper.

"It's just one," Marcus says hopefully.

"No, there's a cl.u.s.ter out there and they're coming," Tony replies.

"Every growl accounts for a Cray. So far, there's only one out there," Miku says.

"What's a Cray?" I ask again.

"We should move," Wolf says.

"If they aren't on to us now, they will be once we start running. The best thing to do is stay still. Like Marcus said," Jay says.

"All of us put together should be able to handle a Cray," Isabelle says, mostly trying to convince herself.

"d.a.m.n it guys, what the h.e.l.l is a Cray?" I ask, not for the first time.

"A beast that lives to hunt and feed. It's Lucy's oldest creation. It can't be killed," Rio explains.

"Does it want confessions like the Pity Snake?"

"No," Miku says regretfully.

"Then what does it want?"

"Flesh"

I really, really need to remember to stop asking questions...

"They can't see us," Tony says.

"No, but they can smell us,"

Another growl makes it's way into the night sky.

"That's two," Rio reports.

Suddenly the single growls give way to a chorus.

"It's a cl.u.s.ter, we gotta move!" Marcus orders.

Everyone darts out of the cave and heads outside. The team tries to take to the air but a swarm of Fire Swans hovering above make it impossible to take off. Marcus instructs us to head towards the castle. He grabs my hand and we take off at top speed into the thick of the forest.

It is then that I get my first look at the Cray. They're so horrifying they stop me dead in my tracks. I tell myself that I can't just stand here and wait for the beasts to attack me. I tell myself this is stupid and I need to run. But no part of my body would listen to me.

The Cray towers over me. It looks like an enraged bull cross-bred with a demon. The blood from his last meal drips from his fangs and down on to his blue-black skin. There's some kind of left-over body part sliding down his long claws. I look harder and make out teeth and what was once an eyeball.

Dear Omnis...

The Cray growls loudly and bares all his fangs. I'm shaking before the beast. All efforts to move are in vain. I stand there frozen before him. In a few seconds it will be my eyeb.a.l.l.s sliding down his claws, my teeth.

Dear Omnis...

I've seen this in movies before. I would yell at the screen and tell the stupid girl to run. What I didn't know at the time was that the girl in the movie is

telling her body to run but the body has a mind of its own.

"EMMY MOVE!!!" I hear Marcus but I can't get my body to comply. The Cray cuts through the air with his claws. I see them coming toward me but there is some kind of disconnect between my brain and my muscles. I can't even close my eyes because like the rest of me, my eyelids are frozen.

Run, stupid girl, run...

Marcus swoops in just in time to push me out of the way but not in time to save himself. The Cray knocks him down to the ground and strikes him with his claws. I watch in horror as four long, deep gashes form across Marcus's chest. A silver substance quickly springs from the wound.

My Angel is bleeding...

"Marcus!" I shout.

"I'm fine, go!" he shouts.

I don't move until I see that he's well enough to get up from the ground. Then and only then do I take off. I want to stop and help when I see Jay trying to fend off two Crays.

"Emmy, go!" Jay says, as if he could read my mind. I force myself to take off further into the woods. I'm so far in now that I can't hear the battle raging on behind me. The entire forest is on mute.

I creep through the forest scared to death that I'm not alone. Something moves to the right of me. I turn quickly but don't see anything. Something moves to the left of me. I turn and again there is nothing there.

I hear something crack beneath me. I look down, it's only a branch. Relief washes over me. I remind myself to breathe. Before I can make it to the next tree I see them - three Crays marching straight for me.

They sniff the air and with a series of grunts they seem to agree that I'm nearby. I quickly pull back before they can spot me. There's a small opening under a bed of earth, it's only a few yards away. It's big enough for me to fit into but too small for them to follow me.

Can I make it to the opening before they spot me?

I lean against the tree and listen for their footsteps. I don't hear anything. If I'm going to try for the opening, now is the time. I decide to make a break for it on the count of three.