Fate's Path

I moved quickly among the burning trees. So far, I hated this part of the forest the most. Of course, when I reached the part that was no longer on fire, I slowed down considerably. Responsum practically had to run to keep up through the fire, and when I slowed, he was annoyed.

“Remind me why Connor made me go on this ridiculous journey with you? It looks like you can handle yourself.” He grumbled and I let out a big breath of air.

“He’s just paranoid. He thinks I am going to give my life to save Chris.” I don’t look behind me but I can tell he has stopped moving. When he realized I wasn’t stopping to wait for him, he scurried to catch up.

“Would you? Give your life I mean.” Responsum peeked around a tree at me. He sounded fascinated with the fact that I would lay down my life for another. I hesitated, maybe I was going crazy? Maybe he was just doing research, but he sounded... sad.

I fully stopped and turned to look him in the eyes. He squeaked, and I had to suppress the laugh that bubbled up inside me. “Of course I would. What does it matter to you?”

Responsum cleared his throat. “Nothing! I was just asking a question!” He put his hands up in defense but his eyes still spoke of sadness.

I got up in his face and almost stabbed his eye with my finger. He let out a yelp. “Your name should have been Interrogantem! ‘Questioner’, for the amount of questions you ask!” I snapped, and his eyes widened in fear.

“I’m sorry! I just don’t know how you can be so open about your feelings! You love your brother, I love my son.” He let out a long (overly dramatic) sigh. “I would do anything for Connor, or Demon- or even Angel! I just don’t know how to show him that!” I slowly started to pull back from him, curiosity flowing from me. “Can you help me?”

I blinked rapidly, trying to see if I had heard right. “Help? Help with what?”

He groaned and straightened his back. Responsum pushed passed me and started along the path again. “Never mind. Forget it!”

I chased after him. When he was behind me, he seemed slow. Now I realized he actually takes long strides, and was almost out of sight. I finally caught him, grabbing his shoulder, and forced him to face me. “I didn’t say 'no'! I just wanted to know what you need help with.” I was surprised that I even wanted to help. I mean, this was the demon who poisoned me. I should hate him, but I don’t. If anything, I pity the poor demon. Helping him with whatever it was he needed help with, would be a sure-fire way of saying thank you! (For everything except the poison!)

“You’re gonna laugh.”

“No, I’m not! I promise!” I know, this is a common thing said in movies that roughly translates to ‘I will burst out into laughter the second you finish the sentence’.

He narrows his eyes at me and I hold of three fingers, symbol of a Girl Scout. Something of which, I was not. Responsum seemed to accept it. “I want your help with Connor. With knowing how to make him like me as his father. He really doesn’t like me!” Responsum buried his face in his palms. Guess what I did? I did exactly what everybody thought I would do: I burst out into laughter.

He shoots me a glare that makes me think of the line, ‘if looks could kill’. “I’m sorry!” I flash over to where he has stormed off. “I can help. But may I offer some advice?” He raised his eyebrows and I continue. “You can’t make him like you. Connor is like most boys that grew up without their father. He wants to know that you care. You have to show him you care. For starters, not poisoning one of his best friends would be good.”

He flinched. “I am not well versed in the ways of meeting new people. I am sorry for poisoning you.” My eyes widened.

“Holy shit. The amazing 'Answerer' apologized to someone as lowly as me?” My voice is dripping with sarcasm and it is now that I realize he doesn’t look like a father. He looks too young to have a son. It’s as if his features completely changed again. He is about as tall as me now, with black tussled hair and pale skin to match his pitch black eyes. If I didn’t know them, I would say him and Demon were almost twins. It is a truly uncanny resemblance.

“You are so rude, you know that?” He snarled, and I put a hand to my heart as if I was actually offended.

“Well, you have multi-personality disorder!” I returned the snarl before my eye caught on something behind him, passed the trees. He went to say something back to me in retaliation, but I covered his open mouth with my hand and brought a finger to my lips. He snapped his mouth shut so I retracted my hand. I slid the bag off my shoulders and pulled out the map. I briskly tore off a corner and laid it in my palm, then mumbled, “We found something.” And blew softly so the paper disappeared. I did the same with another one. They both disappeared so I started toward the building in the distance. I paused when we were barely hidden behind the tree line. Responsum tried to ask me something but I punched his arm and he shut up.

My eyelids fluttered closed as I listened. Trees rustling in the wind, a type of bird squawking, and-

“Responsum, he’s in there!” I say in a hushed yell. “Chris!” When I yelled his name, the sound carried and bounced off walls, echoing through the wind. “Chris!” I screamed, my voice filling with desperation and need.

“Piper!” Responsum snapped, this time he was the one to clasp him hand over my mouth, his arm pinning my arms to my side as I tried to struggle. “I know you want to get your brother, but I also know that Connor would never forgive me if I let you get yourself hurt! We wait for them.” His voice was strong and I relented.

“Chris,” I sobbed, growing weak and falling to my knees when he released me. “I’m coming. I’m coming for you. And I will kill anyone who dares to get in my way.” Responsum takes a nervous step back and I smile at him. “Not you. Obviously. If I hurt you, where would we have to stay?” He catches on to my joking tone and laughs.

“Good point.” He sat down on a broken log and I looked back at the map. Two blinking red dots were moving towards us fast.

“Responsum? What are these?” I pointed to the dots, following each with my fingers.

“Ah. Your friends are running. But we already have a team. They are merely backup.” His voice made me shiver, it sounded like it had when he gave me an answer the first hour we had met. Before the poison.

“A team?” I gave him a quizzical look. When he met my gaze, his eyes were white.

“Indeed. The Questioner, The Rescuer, and The Tortured.” I winced at the word ‘tortured’. The questioner has to be Responsum, the rescuer must be me, and that means the tortured must be Chris.

“Oh, Chris.” I slid to my knees once again, holding the map to my chest. I heard it crinkle under my hands, and reminded me of old times at the school: making paper planes, writing, and studying with Chris. I wanted to cry. I needed to. But the tears wouldn’t come. “The tortured. I can’t protect anyone.”

His eyes cleared up as he looked at me. Responsum seemed to ponder this for a long moment. The silence stretched on before his voice finally broke it. “That’s not true. You have protected my son, and your little friend.” I know he was trying to make me feel better and I must admit, for a demon, he did a genuinely good job.

“But they aren’t my only friends. Chris is being tortured as we speak. My 'little friend' had been tortured and carved into. My friend Lucinda was stabbed by an asshole from school. My newest friend Julian had his arm snapped in half and beaten the shit out of because a Theiomorph snuck into Lucinda’s body. Now, look me in the eyes and tell me I can protect my friends.” My tone had a bite to it as I cursed at myself. I can’t protect anyone! I can’t even cry! I pulled my knees closer to my chest, listening to the strangely calming sound of crinkling paper. I stared at a leaf drifting in the wind.

Responsum snapped his fingers and my head automatically turned so our eyes met. “You are trying. That is all that matters. You can protect them.” His voice was confident in its words. He reminded me of Connor. They both have a calm presence. However, while Connor looks young and active, Responsum has wisdom around his eyes and a smile that has seen far more than even a normal demon.

I forced a smile but for some reason no one ever believes my fake smile. He raised an eyebrow and I sighed. “It defeats some of the purpose of saying it, if I told you to do so.”

He laughed and I thought how this was the first time I had heard him actually laugh. “Then why did you ask me to?”

“I don’t know! It sounded cool at the time!” I whined though I knew he had a point. I let myself become calm and stretched my legs out in front of me. I could almost feel my muscles relax. Then I noticed the blinking red dots getting closer and brighter. “How in the hell are they almost here?” I asked noting that my friends can’t move that fast.

“Oh, did I forget to mention? The corners are enchanted to temporarily allow the holders, Connor and Kiera in this case, to move a lot quicker than normal.” He plucked a berry off the bush beside him and examined it. He deemed it useful and proceeded to pick and store more in his satchel. I wanted to point out that they would probably get crushed on the way but then I realized he probably had magic to take care of that too.

I rolled my eyes, stood, and dusted myself off. “Piper!” I swiveled to see Connor and Kiera running hand in hand, their dogs close behind. I smiled as they tackled me in a hug. “Thank you Piper!”

I pulled away from them with a look of confusion on my face. “For what?”

It was Responsum who responded. “For not getting yourself hurt.” Kiera nodded quickly in response to what he said. I bent down to pet both dogs’ heads, whispering praises to them for keeping my friends safe.

My gaze flickered between Responsum and Connor and Kiera then back to Connor. “It was thanks to your father, here. I was ready to break the door down and attack, but he held me back.” I smiled at Connor and he watched closely as I traveled my eyes from Responsum to him. Realization dawned on his face. The realization that Responsum did it for him.

“Thank you for stopping her... Father.” Connor smiled when Responsum’s face lit up and he hit my arm lightly with excitement. I had to bite my tongue to not laugh. Responsum’s excited expression turned to shock when Kiera hugged him for the second time that day. She whispered a soft, “Thank you” to him and he smiled, patting the top of her head, ruffling her pixie cut hair. I took this moment to give Seymour a good belly rub. Gideon whined so I moved to pat him on the head and scratch behind his ear.

“Now that that has been taken care of, I have a plan!” I turned to Responsum as Kiera stepped back to stand by Connor again.

“You have a plan?” I asked the proud-looking Answerer.

He glared at me. “Yes. I have a plan. Connor and Kiera will act as backup. If things go south then, and only then, can you two enter the building. Piper and I will go in and get Chris from where he is on the second floor. Second door on the left. Our combined powers are probably enough to take down the building. Well, my powers are. Her’s are dull.” I glared at him. Low. Fucking. Blow. He didn’t seem to notice my glare as he proceeded with the plan. “There appears to be about twenty guys and one really bad guy. I can take out the twenty guys easily but the other one may be a little trickier. If he decides to fight you.” I stared at him dumbfounded. I had glanced back at the three story tall old warehouse looking building, with metal walls that appeared as if someone had beaten the shine out of them. I couldn’t see anyone. I could hear a lot of breathing but there was no one outside.

I kept my mouth shut about it. “Okay! Let’s go!” I stomped towards the building but, once more, someone held me back. I growled and turned around. To my shock, Connor pulled me into his arms. I yelped in surprise as his lips crashed against mine. The kiss was sweet, like those maraschino cherries. It ended too soon for my liking, though. When he pulled away, my hands were on his chest and his were around my waist. I looked up at him. A devilish smile played on his lips. “What? Wait. Did Demon tell you?” Nerves bit at me and the heel of my foot started to tap against a stick on the ground, making a ticking noise.

Connor winked but his voice sounded completely ‘innocent’. “I don’t know what you are talking about.” He slid away from me and joined the giggling chipper girl. Kiera smacked his arm and continued giggling, her face flushing as she teased him.

“Piper, are you coming?” Responsum’s voice came from behind me and I spun to see him already past the trees and standing by a wall of the building. “The door is over here, not in his mou-“ My eyes went wide.

“I’m coming!” I squeaked, and waved at Kiera and Connor before hurrying to meet up with him. He held the panel of wall back and I got in easily, with him close behind. There were probably twenty guys in here, Responsum and I were hidden behind rows of rotting boxes. Some guys closest to us were screwing around. “I can’t believe I am about to try this,” I barely whispered as I slowly raised my hand toward them. Energy courses through me and...-

Nothing happens. Nada. Zilch. I glance back at Responsum who is trying hard not to laugh. I want to say something else, but Responsum shoots up, standing so fast I think he will fall over. But he doesn’t, he just puts his hands up, drawing the attention of many of the guys. They all point their weapons at him. Lasers are beaming out of their guns, transfixing on their target. I look at Responsum’s chest, expecting it to be littered with red dots. It’s not, somehow. I seem to catch of before they do because the guns start to fire.

“Shit!” I duck away from him, but he does not fall. He doesn’t even flinched. His eyes are closed, and he seems to be absorbing the blast of the bullets. I gasp and push myself further from him. I scan the room and it takes me a moment to realize what he is doing. A door hangs open near us, stairs are visible on the other side. Second floor, second door on the left. I repeat Responsum’s words as I dart to the door. A couple guys notice me, but it’s like a chain reaction. I was frozen, petrified in fear as twenty guns turned to me. “Piper!” I hear before a single gunshot. A searing pain erupts in my shoulder. I had to resist screaming. I braved myself for the pain that I knew should come but instead a shadow looms over me. “Piper, run! The other men have been dealt with. You only have their boss to face!” When I hesitated, Responsum yelled, “Piper! Go!” The bullet, now embedded in my arm helped to shake me of my fear and his voice made me launch to my feet and run. I tripped as I got through the door, slamming my hurt arm into a hard metal stair. I let out a cry of pain but pushed myself with every ounce of strength in me. The bullet hurt a lot more than I knew it should. Why does this hurt so bad? And why does this pain feel familiar? I managed to drag myself to the second floor before forcing myself to stand. I leaned against the wall and used my still working hand to push myself along. ‘Second door on left.’ I counted the doors and barely was able to push myself down the hall to the door with a number two on it. There were only four doors on this floor total, that I could see, and they were all spaced far from each other. I cursed when I finally got there and pushed the door part of the way open. I saw was the form of a man’s back. The light from the red sky shined at just the right angle so his orange-ish hair looked like it was on fire. He wore a large brown jacket that fit his broad shoulders perfectly.

“The sky is beautiful, isn’t it, Piper?” He said in a voice like the calming waves of the ocean. I clenched my jaw. I was about to ask him where my brother was when I heard the weak voice.

“P-P-Piper?” It was quiet followed by many whimpers. My entire body froze, I didn’t register the pain in my shoulder. I could feel the pulsing of my heart but it was soon joined by another rapid heartbeat. My lip trembled as I slowly inched towards the door and shoved it open the rest of the way. I saw him and my eyes filled with tears. Chris frowned at me from where he was in a wooden chair. “D-don’t c-c-cry,” his stuttering was bad. My eyes scoured his broken body. I could barely recognize him for how bad he was beaten. His cheek was cut deep and swelling, it would be a scar to match the one our mother gave me. I reached forward and brushed some of his black-stained hair out of his face. His right eye was bruised, a cut split his left eyebrow. Various other scars and scratches decorated his face, and arms. His sweatshirt was torn in several places and one sleeve was torn off. Chris had a narrow but deep cut on his collarbone. Dried, ebony-colored blood covered almost every inch of his exposed skin.

His rainbow eyes met mine and I let the tears stream free. “Oh, Rainbow Eyes. What would I do without you?” I pressed my hand to the back of his head and leaned down to hug him close to me. I pulled away, biting my lip in pain, and quickly cutting the ropes on his hands then his feet. I grabbed my shoulder and turned to face the guy still standing by the window. He had been watching me with a smirk.

“What a sweet moment. Shared between siblings.” He smiled a wicked smile then said, “Too bad it can’t last.” His face was shadowed so I could only see his fiery hair, huge demonic smile, and glowing red eyes. I hissed. My own eyes were flaring a bright red and a few strands of hair fell into my eyes. Something pulsed inside me, and it wasn’t my heart or the burning blood in my veins.

“Who are you?” I demanded to know but Chris’ hand in mine made my voice waver.

“Piper,” he started but paused to cough. I saw black drip onto the ground and sneaked a quick look at Chris. Black blood fell out of the corner of his mouth. I forced myself to look at his bright rainbow-colored eyes. “Don’t mess with him. He is powerful. Too powerful.” His eyes held the same fear as his voice.

“To answer your question, Miss Kuro, my name is Max. Max Le Rogue.” He drew my attention again, acting as if Chris hadn’t spoken. I stepped closer to Max but Chris’ weak grip on my hand stopped me. “I have no intention of hurting you. At least not yet. I merely wanted to lure you here. To see you.”

“See me? You act as if you know me.” I squeezed Chris’ hand and felt myself relaxing. Max just smiled.

“I must be going. Just know, I have never stopping thinking about you. Not in a hundred years.” He spoke it with a completely honest tone. I basically blinked and he was gone.