Hallows: The Golden Viper

I Can Sense You Want To Be Alone

Lupe Fiasco ft. Mathew Santos- Shining Down

Decarious

Lucien Daniels is a weird dude.

The two of us have been trying to track the fake reaper b***h that's trying to go after B.B. This crazy ass Russian woman is talking to Trey Goodwill and Chavela Jimenez. Ro's mama. The two of us have been sitting here since we excused ourselves after dinner.

Lucien's eyes are pitch black as he leans back against my passenger seat. I can see his birds outside moving around every time he whispers a chess position. We've been out here rotating for days. We want to get one of B.B.'s little microchips on one of the witches without them knowing but like us, with all the hunters around, they all go out in witch squads.

"What are you thinking about?" Lucien asks when his eyes go back to normal. It's a little passed one A.M.

"B.B.," I answer honestly. He looks over at me. "I'm thinking we let her come do whatever it is she wants to do with Tecia. Get them moving or something. This waiting around s**t is not good enough,"

"I think so too," he agrees. "But getting Vic and Car to agree is a whole different story. Not to mention what happened tonight with Del,"

"I don't get Del," I admit.

"She's not complicated," he smirks. "Taking care of B.B. started before she was even born. Dante gave up a lot for her and she was always f*****g special. Ever since I can remember we were taught to protect our reaper because our reaper was different from others.

"So, Del and Carson grew up with that mentality. Protect B.B. at all costs. I was there with them but while they were plotting and making sure that nothing came near the house, I was there with her, and now that she's stepping out of the house. They don't know what to do.

"And also, B.B. has changed so much. So f*****g much. She wasn't always like this. She was sweet and loving. She wanted to inspire unity and love," he rolls his eyes. "Don't get me wrong, it's always been there. The devious gleam in her eyes. The wicked little smiles. It's everything else that she suppressed because her parents taught her to try and be normal that is throwing them off. They're not used to her thinking for herself. They miss how easy it was to get her to stay home.

"Personally, I f*****g love this B.B.," he laughs. "The way people listen to her. How she smiles. It's like she knows the secret to life and she's trying to share it with us but she doesn't know how to word it. And instead, she's trying to show us but we're too dumb to see the bigger picture still,"

"You are so obsessed," I shake my head.

"Come on, bro. You are not sitting there judging me for being in love with her. Aren't you?" he asks.

I don't answer his question and I see it on his face. It bothers him that I can't admit to it out loud. I've never said it to her. I've never even thought about it. She just became a part of my life and I accepted it. s**t, she's exposed me to things I've never come across. I ain't ever been in love before but I never imagined it would be like this.

"You see that?" I ask him when Mrs. Jimenez comes out of Trey's apartment building.

The woman is dressed in black flowy pants with a white button-up and a long coat over her shoulders. She doesn't look like she cares if she's spotted and that makes her dangerous. As she crosses the empty street a low flutter of crows surrounds her and she disappears.

"Jimenez has two crow parents? I thought B.B. said she was a viper," I say.

"Her dad said she was a viper," he sighs and sits back. "None of us are going to be able to get in there without a good excuse,"

"You know who's really good at making excuses?" I ask.

"Carson," he says at the same time I say B.B. "You're right but this is a Fallen situation. Not a B.B. one,"

"Yeah, but if we get Carson in there, he's going to throw down. We don't want that. Not while he's also talking to Belecov," I shake my head.

"f**k," he sighs and sits back. He starts the car up and pulls out of the parking space. "This is ridiculous. I don't understand why we can't settle this the easy way,"

"You mean just kill one another?" I ask.

"Exactly," he nods.

"A lot of people can die, my guy," I remind him.

"Why don't you want to admit you love her?" he asks. "Is it because she's white?"

"What?" I laugh. This motherfucker is always bringing up the fact that I'm f*****g black. I want throat check his ass back to his roots. Stupid ass white boy.

"You've never had a real girlfriend before have you?"

"I've had girlfriends," I roll my eyes. Always got my ass beat because of them.

"Not like this one,"

"I doubt any of us have had a girl like this one. It just seems so-"

"Unreal?" he offers.

"Yeah,"

"Well, you can summon darklings with a simple command and you can guide bullets to hit their mark every time. That seems a lot more unreal than her,"

"Why is it important to you for me to admit it?" I ask.

"I don't care if you admit it or not. I don't think she cares either. It shows. I think it's important for you to admit it to yourself. It's liberating. I don't know what Car and San are teaching you but showing emotion doesn't make you weak,"

"What are you up to, Hashtag?" I roll my eyes.

"Don't call me that. I will fill this tiny lawn mower with f*****g birds," he threatens. "Whatever, man. I'm just making conversation. Take it personally or don't," he opens the window and takes his seatbelt off. "Let me ask you something,"

"Fine,"

"Do you think you'll come back after the Summer?" he asks. I glance over at him shifting gears. "It takes two weeks for her essence to leave our system. You'll be free to do whatever you want. Free to be with your daddy," he mocks. "None of us would look for you. You'd just be another memory,"

He doesn't let me answer. He pulls himself out of the window and disappears with only the sound of the crow's wings fluttering left behind. I raise the window and head home for the night. My dad is sitting in the dining room when I place my keys in the bowl by the front door. He looks good. Healthier. I remember the night he was cleared of the tumors at his check-up. B.B. looked me dead in the eyes and told me I owe her nothing and then disappeared for a couple of days. No calls, no texts, and no sign of her being creepy around my school. I was the one that looked for her.

"Sit down," my father calls out when I head toward the stairs. I spin back around and walk over to the table.

"How are you feeling?" I ask him. He looks me over and places an envelope in front of me. When I reach for it he places his hand on it to stop me.

"How is B.B. doing with Dante and Ashley back?" he asks.

"They're all always at each other's throats but they seem good," I shrug.

"I haven't seen her creeping around for you," he clears his throat. "Everything all right?"

"Yeah, she's just got a lot going on. The hunters want her bad," I nod taking my hand back.

"This came in the mail," he says and slides the envelope over to me.

I turn it around to find the Hellbourne Academy logo stamped on it. I open to find it's an invitation to their gifted engineering program. A scholarship offer and the official application. I slide it back to him and get up to go up to my room.

"No, thanks," I say.

"Dec," he calls after me. I stop in front of the stairs. "I didn't dismiss you,"

"Can we talk about this later?"

"No," he sighs. "Take a seat, Decarious,"

He never calls me by my full name and when he does, that s**t sends a cold chill down my back, and not in the good way when B.B. does it. I turn back around and take a seat in the chair across from him.

"You didn't want me to be around her before. Remember that? Now you want me to spend the next year with them?"

"Dec, you've got an opportunity here. One I never had. I've never had a stone I was bound to. I never had backup like this. I was never looked after. My father raised me this way. I know I've always kept you away from others and I know you can take care of yourself. If this is something you want, I'm not going to stop you. I'm not going to pull you away from it. You can make your own choices now. You have to fight for what you want,"

"She's got five others," I shrug. "It is fun being around them but I don't know if that's something I want. Just because I'm okay with this now doesn't mean I will be tomorrow. She knows that. I'm learning a lot from them and I am grateful for everything she's done for me, but this is my life. I want to see things through, my way, and right now, everything is on her. I don't know if I want to stay in one place and be at war for the rest of it,"

"All right," he nods. "The choice is yours. There ain't nothing wrong with making a home even if you are going to be moving around. But it is an option,"

When I open the door to my room, B.B. is asleep on my bed. My body responds to hers immediately. I go over to my desk and take my shoes off. I'd been working on the upgrade for my dashboard for a while but I've had some missing parts. I sit back a little annoyed that she f*****g finished it for me. Even more that she placed everything back into its rightful place knowing that I don't like leaving s**t out.

This f*****g girl is starting to get under my skin. Even with her essence inside of me, I can't bring myself to feel what she does. Why does she even f*****g feel all of that for me? I've done nothing but cause her problems since coming into her life. She's got five other dudes who can literally lay the entire world at her feet. I can hit a target with a bullet and make evil undead spirits pop up.

"You're back," I turn my gaming chair to see her sitting up.

"Does anyone know you're here?" I ask her.

"You know I'm here," she shrugs. "I just wanted to say, hey,"

"Hey," I greet her. She looks me over and nods as she scoots to the bottom of the bed and starts to put her shoes on. "You're not staying?"

"I want to but I sense you're not in the mood for company," she looks up at me as she ties her laces. She stands and looks over at my desk. "I'm sorry I touched your stuff. I didn't think it would be a big deal,"

"You aren't going out there alone," I stop her.

"Lucien's outside," she tucks her hands into her hoodie.

"Stay," I reach out to the door and will it shut. I know she likes when I use my powers for her. "How long have you been here?"

"Since after dinner," she drops onto my bed with a bounce but she doesn't take her shoes off. "I took a nap. It's kind of peaceful here. No one's died in this house,"

"I like it even more now," I smile and turn back to my desk. I start up my laptop. "How was your day?"

"School was good. I'm preparing one of my robot prototypes for the science fair next year. I kind of have to dumb it down a little so I can get an internship at New Haven Tech,"

"Why do you want to work there? I thought you were going to make your own thing," I glance back at her. She's looking down at her lap while she fiddles with the zipper on her hoodie.

"I should go," she gets up. "I should talk to Delilah anyway,"

"B.B.," I reach for her when she gets to the door.

"I meant it, Dec. I meant when I said you don't owe me anything," she looks back at me and I can tell I'm hurting her feelings. "I like you. I get that you're not exactly the trusting type. So, I'm just going to save my breath and-" she reaches for her earlobe and plays with the little stud earring she's wearing. "You know where to find me,"

"B.B.," I push the door shut. "I don't want you to go,"

"But you don't want me to stay either," she says stepping away from me. "I don't know how to deal with you. Every time I try to get closer you put up this big ass f*****g barrier between us. If you don't want to be here, say that. I'm not going to force you to stay or be with me. But stop playing with me. With all of us because I'm not the only one that wants you here,"

She shoves me and pries the door open despite my hold on it. I let her go this time. I'm not exactly sure what I want to say to her or why it affects me so much to see her upset like that. I shut the door and go back to my desk. I start putting everything in a box so I can go down to the garage.

"Hey, I just saw-" Dad opens the door. "Did you just kick her out so you can work on your car?"

"No," I answer and go past him.

"Decarious," he calls out my name and I stop before going down the stairs.

"It's none of your business, man," I look back at him. "Whatever happens between B.B. and me is between B.B. and me,"

"Okay," he nods. "I might be overstepping a boundary here, but maybe don't make the girl being hunted by literally every bad thing this world has to offer cry. Especially if she can take it. She's a girl right now, but one day she'll be a woman and she's going to figure out that she doesn't need anyone to save her,"