Blood of The Beast: Revelations

Cluck

Madeon- No Fear No More

Scylla: 

    It's been a long time since I've been out training on the field. With Astra's team out on patrol, I have extra coverage on the opposite side of the territory. She's heavily guarded, not that she needs it this close to the full moon. 

    "Mom?" I looked back at Naloc and Evan. Who are both glaring at Hunter. 

    "What?" I asked. 

    "Is it safe for him to be here with us?" Evan asked pointing at Hunter. 

    "Perfectly," I waved him off. 

    "I don't trust him," 

    "I don't care. This isn't an optional exercise. This is a do as I say and shut the hell up kind of thing," they both looked towards the school and let out identical heavy sighs. 

    "What are we doing at the school?" Naloc asked, changing the subject. 

    "This is where Astra was attacked the first time. This is also on neutral ground. I brought the three of you here because we're leaving. Not you guys, the adults," I clarified. This caught Hunter's attention. I can feel the beast in him stirring. He's overprotective. She's going to find that infuriating. I know Alastair does. 

    "All of you?" Naloc asked. 

    "Yes, We've traced these things far north, towards the Canadian borders," I let out a heavy sigh. "We've been training for three weeks now and until you all have your next power surge, there isn't much else I can teach you. That includes you, Hunter. You have the hang of most things because you have the experience," 

    "I don't understand what's happening," Evan groaned. 

    "She has a mole in her circle," Hunter rolled his eyes. "She brought us here because this is human territory and it's not easy to get in here to spy on anyone. She's not saying this directly because it bugs her but they're following a dead end so that whoever wants the girl dead will show themselves. We're the bait. We do this to thin out the weak," 

    "You're putting Astra in danger?" Naloc asked. 

    "Are you saying that you can't handle this?" I asked. 

    "I can handle it but-" 

    "There are no butts," Hunter cut him off. "If we can prevent an outbreak we have to take any opportunity we have. The odds of this working really aren't that high, but I think we can work with what we have," 

    "What is Astra working on?" Evan asked. 

    "I think whoever is trying to get to her has someone working for them. Someone we know. Which is why I asked Aeneas to stay with her. The rest of the team can be compromised," 

    "What?" Evan growled. 

    "Astra can take care of herself. Aeneas is proficient in ripping people's heads off, right of their shoulders in one shot. She's fine," Hunter scoffed at the two of them. 

    "I've seen Aeneas do that in some of the surveillance videos when we were getting intel on you guys," I nodded. 

    "Really?" he asked looking me over. "Do you still have them?" 

    "Sure, I'll email them to you," 

    "What?" Evan shook his head looking between the two of us. 

    "What?" I asked. 

    "Excuse my outburst, Lady Scylla but I don't understand your behavior. You are literally the coldest person I know, no offense. How is it that you're so easy going with this guy," Evan pointed at Hunter. Hunter laughed. 

    "The fact that you don't understand why makes this so much better," Hunter smirked. He took a deep breath. "I can pick up the scents that don't belong," 

    "How do you know which ones do and which ones don't?" Naloc asked. 

    "The school has hundreds of students. Mostly humans. There are eight, maybe nine scents that belong to shifters, and four that smell like plastic. It's a very distinct smell. I've come across it before," 

    "Where?" I asked. 

    "Near a place named Hound Mountain," 

    "Wait, you can pick up the scent of Jackals?" I asked, looking back at him. 

    "You can't?" 

    "No, I mean I was able to before I turned but I can't now. My senses are wired differently. I'm a different kind of predator," 

    "That sucks," he batted his eyes as if something were bothering him. "I was under the impression that becoming a vampire heightened your senses. Not diminished them," 

    "It depends on the person," I motioned him to continue. 

    "What do you mean? Like their preference or..?" he led us down into the basement. I can smell it down here. He looked back at me and smirked. "If you can't smell that, I'm going to be very disappointed," 

    "I smell it. Don't get snippy with me, pup," I rolled my eyes. 

    "What is that?" Naloc asked covering his nose. 

    "They were down here for a long time. They waited," I moved around the room using my heightened eyesight. It only got worse in my awakening. 

    "What was heightened for you?" Hunter asked. 

    "My eyesight. I have a theory about becoming a vampire. My thing is revealing things even if they'll hurt. The truth is always better. I see things most miss. Since I was a kid. See?" I turned to look at him. 

    My eyes are glowing white with the electrical essence I can pull in from the air around us. I can't create it like Astra or Naloc but I can manipulate it. Use it to my advantage. I can also use it as a sort of UV light. I traced the steps to the back of the room. They waited for a long time behind the stacks of old desks. They were let in. This just adds to my theory. 

    "You don't look happy," Hunter stated. 

    "She's not. Our security is compromised," Naloc sighed. "We officially can't trust anyone around us," 

    "Right," I agreed. Someone let those things come in. Someone close.

    "How do you know it's your security?" Hunter asked. "What do you think they wanted by attacking the school? How do you know they weren't after the girl from the start?" 

    "Because they were already walking around when she arrived. They don't look like they were looking for anything in particular. They wanted our attention and attacking the school is worse than hitting the main house. It shows that they know something not even most of our pack members do. Alastair and my father thought it would humble Astra and Naloc if they went to public school. I grew up on tutors so, a lot of the pack members thought I shared the curtsey since they are like me," 

    "First," Hunter looked my son dead in the eyes. "I don't think it worked," 

    "No, it didn't. I'd tear you in f*****g half if you weren't my sister's b***h," Naloc bit out angrily. "I have people around me who would gladly do it for free," 

    "Second," Hunter smirked. "What was the message?" 

    "The true Werewolf Queen is making herself known," I answered.

    "Not Evie, correct?" he looked at Evan. 

    "She's the Vampire Queen. If it came down to it, I'd take the throne," Evan scoffed. 

    "No, you're not the heir. She is," I corrected. "Just because she's mated to the vampire King doesn't mean that her status would change," 

    "It would change," he scoffed. 

    I didn't argue with him. If B let the girl train she'd be unstoppable. She's like me before I became a vampire. This boy is much like his father. Arrogance takes over and there's nothing and no one who can change his mind until it's beaten into him. I personally don't want to be the one to do it, but my best guess is that Hunter is just itching to do it for us all. 

    "So, is it off the table that it would be the twins of the former King?" Hunter asked. Evan responded with a growl. 

    "Yeah, if there would be foul play, it would be Agathos or Alastair," I smiled at them. 

    "Dad?" Naloc asked. 

    "Yeah, you may not know this, son. But your father is a jackass when it comes to following Agathos's orders. Should Agathos get bored all he has to do is snap his fingers and your father and his brother will pounce," 

    "You sound resentful," Hunter chuckled. 

    "I am," I smirked in his direction. "The Rogue King shouldn't be a henchman to anyone even if the boss is the most bearable Vampire Prince in existence," 

    "Nice," Hunter smiled to himself. 

    "What?" Evan asked. 

    "I'm not the only one who noticed that the other members of the Malacoda family are entitled and ass holes," he rolled his eyes. 

    I laughed making my son and his friend glared at me. This is working out better than I thought. By showing Hunter a different kind of attention, the boys will try harder to get the same equal treatment. That or at some point they're going to stop competing against one another and work together to try and kill Hunter. Both outcomes are welcomed. 

    "Alright, now for the question at hand. How do you know about Hound Mountain?" I asked. 

    "My father would take us there for night training. To help us see better in the dark," he answered. I stopped as the three of them walked ahead. They paused and looked back at me. 

    "Did it work? Did you see them?" I asked. 

    My senses are all going haywire. My breath is getting hard to take in and my eyes are watering. I remember the first time I saw those things. I was scared but I didn't show it because of the circumstance of our arrival. I can't imagine what it would have done to me had Alastair not been there. If I had come across those things as a little girl.

    "It did," he confirmed. I went over to him and placed my hand on his head. 

    "That man was monster, Hunter. No one will blame you for taking all of them out. I'd help and I know a little girl would love to rip them all apart for what they did to you and your siblings. The world would be better off without him in it," 

    "I'm not strong enough for that yet," he looked down at the floor. He placed his hand over his chest. 

    "Let me see," I demanded. I pulled his hand away and lifted his shirt. On his chest is the brand of the rejected. "I can remove it," 

    "What?" he looked up at me so fast my heart clenched tightly. "How?" 

    "Like this," Naloc came over to us. He placed his hand on Hunter's chest. "It'll hurt a little," 

    "What's a little?" Hunter asked. 

    Naloc laughed and released his electric ability just over the lifted scar tissue. Hunter cleared his throat as the charge removed the lifted skin and helped his skin heal smoothly. When it was done, Naloc stepped back and looked over at me. He understands why I treat the boy differently now. He nodded at me and walked away. Hunter is looking at his bare chest with a small smile on his lips. I've never seen that smile on him before. She's going to like it. 

    "Thank you," he called out over his shoulder. 

    "Don't mention it. To anyone," Naloc called back. 

    "Nice and smooth now. We should get back," I motioned him to follow Naloc and Evan. 

    I looked back at the room knowing the spare scent inside of the room. I doubt she knew what she was doing but someone made her do it and I need to figure out exactly who it was. Riley isn't the kind of girl that can easily take control of any situation. Rip and Reg have babied her. After all, she wasn't supposed to take the lead as the youngest of four. 

----

Hunter: 

    It's gone. I was nine years old when I was branded as one of the reject experiments. To have it gone as if it's never been there feels a lot like taking a part of me back. I had contemplated carving it out but when it came to it, I couldn't do it. I didn't want to make the reminder worse.

    "Alright, you have two minutes to complete the exercise. Go," Alastair ordered. Astra was standing at the bottom of the staircase. In a blink of an eye, she disappeared. 

    "f**k," I whispered. 

    "She could be faster if she wanted," Alastair made me look over at him. 

    "Faster?" I asked. 

    "Yeah, she has a thing about f*****g chickens," 

    "A thing?" 

    "She's kind of scared of them. When she was two a flock of chickens chased her around the university parking lot. I have a video," 

    He pulled out his phone and offered it to me. There she is. Tiny Astra Malacoda trying to run away from a flock of chickens. I smiled when ran towards Alastair and jumped into his arms. He kicked his leg out and half the chickens were obliterated. She then started crying because he killed them. 

    "I'm not going to lie, Mr. Malacoda. The first half was adorable," 

    "Yeah, Scylla should have stopped recording there," he smirked. 

    "There," Astra appeared with three dead chickens and dropped them on the floor in front of us, "You showed him the video?" 

    "What video?" I asked before he could answer. I looked over at him expectantly. 

    "Do you want me to show him the video?" Alastair asked her. 

    "What video?" I asked again. 

    "No, there's no video," she dismissed the whole thing. 

    "You failed," Alastair instantly changed the subject. 

    "I'm not going to kill Cluck, dad," she scoffed. 

    "Astra-" 

    "She's my chicken, okay? I'm not going to kill her," she shouted and rushed inside the house, smacking her shoulder against his hard enough to make him stumble. 

    "Cluck?" I asked. 

    "Yeah, a couple of years ago she figured if she could make friends with at least one she'd stop being scared of them. She raised Cluck. I've never seen a f*****g chicken play fetch before. She snuck into Naloc's room a couple of weeks ago and messed up his PC and we asked Astra to get rid of it. I thought she wouldn't recognize her," 

    "Sounds personal, sir. I'll leave you to it," I smirked. He sighed and walked inside. 

    That is the cutest story I've ever heard. It gives me a new perspective on her. She feels real emotions just like the rest of us. What makes her the way she is though? Why is her aggression so strong? Why do they all think the world is beneath them? Don't they understand that as far as everyone is concerned, we're all alive?

    "You look happy," I stopped before rushing up the stairs of the house Scylla had given us. 

    "Mom," I greeted her, going into the living room. "I didn't sense you in here," 

    "Oh, I forget that I'm doing it but I hide my aura. A trick I used when I didn't want to be found by my masters," she's crocheting something. She set down the needles and the yarn to give me her full attention. "How was training with the Queen?" 

    "It's mostly training for her pups, but she did give me a gift," I smiled placing my hand on my chest. "She removed it," 

    "What?" she got up and came over to me. I took my shirt off to show her that it's just my skin there. No marks, no pain. Just my skin. She smiled at me, placing her hand there. 

    "Did you thank her?" she asked. 

    "In word only. For now," I nodded. A knock made us both turn towards the door. 

    "I'm not here," Aeneas shouted from upstairs. 

    I laughed going over to the door. I pulled it open to see her standing there. Her eyes landed on my bare chest. I hadn't noticed before but her eyes aren't silver. They're a pale green almost jade. They began to fade to silver as her eyes remained on my chest. She then shook her head and looked away. 

    "Uh, is Aeneas here?" she asked clearing her throat.

    "Yeah," I nodded. "Neas, the princess is here to see you," 

    "I told you I wasn't here," he called back before rushing down the stairs. "Now what?" 

    "Hey," I smacked his arm. 

    "Did you mean when you said you owed me one?" she asked. 

    "Yes," he sighed reluctantly. 

    "Okay, I need a big favor. My dad wants to kill my baby and I really need a place for her to crash until I convince him otherwise," 

    "Your baby?" he asked. I pressed my lips together knowing that she's brought the f*****g chicken here. 

    "Her name is Cluck. She's a really good girl, she just hates my brother because he used to smack me over the head. I swear she's super adorable to have around,"     

    "Okay," Aeneas chuckled. "What is it?" 

    "A chicken," I answered. I've never seen such cute puppy eyes from anyone before and it kind of hurts that it's not directed at me. 

    "Please, she's only two," even her voice is soft and alluring. 

    "A chicken though? Not a kitty or puppy?" Aeneas asked. "Let's see," 

    "Okay," she beamed and turned around to the Ashton Martin DBX parked in front of our house. 

    She popped the trunk open. Inside there's a bunch of equipment and I'm guessing it's stuff for the f*****g chicken to be comfortable. She pulled out a small pet carrier. She placed it on the floor and opened the little door. Out came Cluck. The tiny bird has the whitest feathers ever. There's no other color along the hen's body. Her beak is yellow, the little thing on her head is red, and it's eyes are red. Around her chicken body is a bright red harness, I knelt down in front of it to see its tag. It reads, CLUCK and on the back, it has Astra's name on it along with her phone number. 

    "She's potty trained. I can come over after training to clean her litter box and feed her. She also likes to be walked. Loves scratchies and cuddling. She had her own room in my walk-in closet but my dad doesn't want her in the house after what she did to Naloc's PC. Please?" there are the puppy eyes again. 

    "We have a spare room," my mom smiled going over to the little chicken. She picked the bird up the way one does to a cat or a small dog. 

    "I'll help set her up," I offered. The smile on her face lit up more than it had for him. For a moment she forgot I wasn't wearing a shirt and she jumped into my arms. 

    "Thank you, thank you, thank you," she laughed before the feeling of our bond set in. We both pulled away from one another a little shocked. "I'm sorry," she pulled herself together. "You should put-" a low growl vibrated inside of her chest. "Put a shirt on,"

    "Right," I walked back inside and pulled my shirt off the couch, and slipped it on. 

    I let her walk up the stairs with my mother who has the biggest smile on her face. I walked out to help with her stupid chicken's things. Aeneas laughed before handing me what I think is a small heated chicken coupe. 

    "By the way, this is the cutest s**t that's ever happened to us. EVER," Aeneas called from the car as I walked back inside. We put all the things into the room. 

    "Thank you for this," she finally spoke to me. I looked around to see that my mom and Aeneas has left us alone. 

    "You're welcome," I shrugged. I sat on the bed while I watched her set up Cluck's things around the room. Cluck came over to me and sat down next to my thigh. It cooed. 

    "She wants you to pet her," she giggled. 

    "Okay," I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. I have to be gentle. I don't want to hurt it. I scratched the bird's tiny chin. The little bird closed it's eyes enjoying it. I chuckled. 

    "She likes you," Astra smiled. In less than fifteen minutes, the room was ready for the damned bird. As if knowing, Cluck got up and ran around the room before going into the small heated coupe. "Don't move the dial this is the perfect temperature for her. It helps with the eggs," 

    "Is she going to be a mom?" I asked.

    "Oh no. She's too young for that. Maybe next year," she shook her head. "But she still lays eggs. They're really good," 

    "Right," I laughed. 

    "You think this is dumb, huh?" she asked reaching for her bird. She pet it along it's body. The bird shivered and wanted more. 

    "No, it's just unexpected," 

    "You really think that little of us?" she asked getting off her knees. "Did Naloc help with that?" she asked pointing at my chest. She had noticed it. "I would have helped. I wanted to, but I didn't know how to bring it up without coming off as nosy. My family thinks I stick my nose in places I shouldn't," 

    "He helped me," I nodded placing my hand over the spot. 

    "I can take this one-off," she pointed at my arm. My serial number. 

    "Yeah?" I extended my arm out. 

    "It'll hurt a little more than the scar. I have to go really deep," she motioned me to sit down. I put my arm in her small hand. She covered the tattoo with her other hand. "Take a deep breath," 

    "Okay," I did as she asked. 

    I groaned when the stinging began. I looked up at her. Her eyes began to glow white. Her skin around her hands and up her forearms turned almost paperwhite. She looked up at me when it was done. Her features all turned back into their natural shades. Even her eyes are green again. She looked away and stood up cutting my connection to her. Does it bother her or does she think it bothers me?

    "Thank you," I said tucking my arm away. 

    "You didn't even look at it," she whispered. I didn't say anything. "I should go. She should be fine the rest of the day and all night. I'll come by in the morning before my first class," 

    "Wait," I reached for her before she left. Why is it so hard to say goodbye right now? "I can feed her in the morning if you want?" 

    "Really?" she asked. "Just a cup of this," she pointed at the sack of feed we had brought in. "Don't leave it exposed. She'll make a massive mess," 

    "Okay, I can do that. Do you give her tap water...?" 

    "No, she prefers purified water from the springs behind our house. I can't ask you to get-" 

    "I can get it," I shook my head. She laughed. 

    "I'm kidding," she smirked. I looked over at her with a playful glare. 

    "You got me," I laughed. She smiled. 

    "I know. Tap water is fine. I take it my mom talked to you guys already?" 

    "Are you okay with their plan?" I asked. 

    "Yes, it's the only one we can come up with right now. We have to find a way to prevent an outbreak. Besides, I'm not going to be easy to kill," 

    "No, not while I can help it," I agreed. She smiled but didn't meet my eyes. 

    "Right," she sighed and began to walk away. I stopped her again. 

    "Was it something I said?" I asked. 

    "I don't know," she answered honestly. "Sometimes you make me feel like you'd rather die than be with me. Then you do this. I don't know what to make of you and it's very frustrating," 

    "We can be friends for now, can't we?" I asked. She scoffed. Her expression and even her eyes are now blank. Guarded. 

    "No, we can't. That's the last thing I would ever want from you," she turned away and this time I didn't stop her. 

    "You were doing great," Aeneas sighed when the front door slammed shut. "Brightside, you're a daddy now," 

    "Shut up," I growled at him. He went over to the chicken and started making clucking noises at it. The chicken flapped her wings and rushed out of the den before hiding behind me. 

    "Yeah, traitor. Go to your daddy," he rubbed his arm where the hen had scratched him. 

    "Good girl," I patted her back. As I made my way back down the stairs, she followed me.     

    "I've never seen a chicken take to being a pet before," my mom laughed. "That girl is a born tyrant,"