Chapter 20: Mornings in the Underground

I felt the sun begin to warm my skin and nuzzled further into Logan’s chest as his arms wrapped around me and held me close. It has been a month since war was declared but yet here we were, sleeping in a big comfy bed with nothing even planned for the day a head. I struggled at first to come to terms with the prospect of a coming war, I didn’t want people to die for me and I would rather give myself over to Peter and play the dutiful wife if it meant that I got to save the lives of those I love. Marco had assured me that this war was a long time coming, that I was simply the “match to the leaking petrol tank”.

Logan and I had gotten closer since that day, we spent the better part of the day together and after the cold nights had me shivering I soon found myself in his bed each and every night, enjoying the comfort and warmth I felt just by being next to him. Logan groaned a little as he began to rouse. He moved me over to the side as he started to sit up in the bed, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and stretching out his muscles like he does every other morning.

“You awake?” He questioned in the husky tone that he has when he first wakes.

“Mhm” I mumbled as I pulled the pillow closer to me and hugged it like it was a teddy.

“Use your Words Britney.” He chuckled as he leaned down and kissed my bare shoulder blade that was poking out of the blanket.

“Mhm.” I said again, this time with a smile.

Logan moved the blanket until he pulled me closer to him and flipped me over until I was on my back while he hovered just over me. “You don’t play fare.” I giggled as he started to place kisses along my jaw and down along my neck.

“Rise and shine you two!” Marco yelled as he banged open the door making Logan and I spring apart under the covers and a blush take hold of my cheeks. I quickly gripped the covers and pulled them up over my body for no reason at all really, I was wearing track pants and a two sizes to big t-shirt with another layer underneath so it’s not like he could see anything.

Marco did this often. I think partly because he was enjoying the company of his brother and… well… whatever I was to him, and partly because he knows we both hated it. Marco grinned at the both of us as he made his way through the room and sat down on the edge of the bed, watching his brother with an amused smile as he climbed out of bed and made his way over to the bathroom – muttering all the while.

“Marco!” I scolded him as I gave him my best, you’re in trouble glare and pout.

“Naw, your too cute when you’re mad little Brit.” He spoke to me like I was a three year old as he leaned in and tried to ruffle my hair.

“Stop it!” I pulled back but it was too late. I looked like I had a family of birds nesting in my hair.

Logan came out of the bathroom dressed in fresh clothes and his hair slightly dripping wet – no doubt form when he shoved his head in the sink to wake himself up, another habit of his that I found entertaining. Still muttering about how annoying Marco was I watched as Logan waked out, held my gaze for only a moment before turning a death defying glare on his big brother. Marco’s smile only widened. Walking over to Marco Logan grabbed his brother by the scruff of his shirt and began pulling him out of the room while Marco waved me goodbye as he stumbled being half dragged.

I didn’t really know how I got here and even when I spend time to reflect on the last two months of my life I can’t help the shudder of sadness that washes over me. I often wonder about Danni back home, wondered what my parents were doing and if they have noticed me missing by now – I was almost sure of it – but I didn’t really know how to deal with it. I felt happy being here with Logan but I felt like there was this dark cloud looming above me ready to rain down and drench me in the flood.

I had asked if I could return home but the answer I received stopped me from ever asking again;

“If you go back home, they will find you and bring you back.” Logan told me with a pained look in eyes as he cupped my face gently. I knew he would let me go if I asked and he would have taken me home if only it were safe.

“Plus they’ll probably kill everyone you know and love just to get their point across” Marco quickly added as he turned his knife over in his hands.

“Marco!” Logan yelled at his brother.

“What you know it’s true!”

I watched Logan carefully. “Is it?” I wanted to know.

The saddened look in his eyes told me it was indeed the truth, every word.

I pulled myself over to the bathroom as I shook myself of those memories. Didn’t want to be sad today. Quickly brushed the tangles from my normally bright white golden hair – although it seemed darker of late – and pinched my checks under the pink colour flooded my face and warmed my cheeks. Everything was so different, even me, I was different. Pulling my hair into a high bun on the top of my hair I washed my face roughly and slipped into my black skinny jeans and short pink top that hung off my shoulders before finding my boots.

Taking one finally look in the mirror I tucked the medallion that I still wore around my neck – the one that Marco had given to me to give to Logan – making sure that it wasn’t visible. I had kept the necklace that the stranger in the alleyway gave me but I never wore it, instead it stayed hidden in the back of my bedside draw so that no one would come across it. There was something about the crystal that had me hypnotized but I still thought better of wearing – how was I supposed to explain where it come from without anyone thinking it was just… odd?

I walked out of the room and down the hall, past the number of creatures I would once consider odd but now I considered them friends, even the fairy that once tried to kill me – her name was Eliza, she is about three-hundred years old, or so I’ve exterminated since she never actually gave me a number. Eliza and a vampire named Dustan were responsible for me when Logan wasn’t around, that meant that they accompanied me when I went for a walk outside and for my education. They have been teaching me about their past, the Volucris and now at my request my self-defence classes – which basically involved me falling on my butt and Eliza and Dustan trying out new ways of putting me on my butt, some of which had me tripping over my own feet.

“Morning trouble.” Dustan greeted me as he draped his arm over my shoulder and pulled me into a side hug. I had expected a lot from Dustan when I first met him, I thought he would be pale white, cold, have fangs, want to suck my blood and possibly even to blow up in the sun but sadly I was disappointed. He has no fangs – that you can see – his skin is as white as a pale human being and just looks like he doesn’t get outside much while he doesn’t actually need to drink blood every day and when he does he goes… missing? For a week or two. From what Logan had told me a vampire as old as Dustan have to drink blood once a month or so and when he does it isn’t pretty, their face shifts and becomes almost unrecognizable while the hunger frenzy lasts up to a week, during this time he returns to the ’Vampire caves’ just below where we were now.

“I’m not trouble.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“She’s only trouble to herself. Now can we get started, the quicker this is over the quicker I can leave the punie little human.” Eliza buttered in as she walked into the room, her beauty making heads turn.

“Excuse me! Standing right here!”

She turned to face me, her expression set in stone and blank of emotion. “Yes. I can see that.”

I rolled my eyes and followed them into the room that they used for my training. Eliza took up her spot and faced me while Dustan positioned my hands in the defensive position in front of my face and moved my legs until he was satisfied with my stance. Punch after punch and kick after kick, Eliza used me as her personal punching bag while I attempted and failed to block her.

“Help.” I whined as I struggled to pull myself up off the ground for the final time.

“You need to keep your hands up Britney.” She told me as she helped me up because Dustan had left to get a bottle of water.

“I did.” Well kind of.

“No. you didn’t.”

“Didn’t you have plans?” I questioned to move her off the topic of my failed self-defence attempts. People made it look so easy in the movies, and here I was thinking that with a little training I could round house kick my enemies into a window and watch them fall through it, but no, it wasn’t that easy.

“Yes. I did.” She seemed a bit taken aback for a moment before she recollected herself and started off towards the door. “Did you want to come?” She asked me as she turned back around.

I smiled at the offer. She was the closest thing to a friend I had here – which was sad by anyone else’s standards – and our relationship was nothing more than her baby sitting me and me stabbing her not too long ago. “Sure!” I beamed at her and quickly ran the couple of metres so that I was at her side and falling into a quick step beside her.

“Where are we going?”

“Oh no you don’t. No questions.”

“Why not?” It appears everyone hated my questions these days.

“You have issues girl.”

“What are you talking about?” I frowned and looked down as I stepped over the large crack in the pavement.

“No questions!”

“But…”

“Shush.” She cut me off and silenced me.

“But…”

“Uh. Zip it.” She gave me a quick glare that sent a shiver up my spine. Believe it or not, this was considered nice behaviour by a fairy.

I sighed deeply and rolled my eyes as we made our way out of the large building and through the town of creatures. I still didn’t know this place so well and they didn’t exactly have a map but I was beginning to recognize certain sections and the different portals. I knew of the one that lead to the sewers, the abandoned train station and a few others taking you to London, and other countries – not that they told me which one lead back home.

We turned a corner and I recognized a portal hidden in the tapestry that hung from the wall. To the naked eye it would appear you just walked behind the material and ran into the wall behind it but the slight shimmering with the small symbols on the material told me better of it.

“Where are we going?” I asked again as we came to a stop.

“To see an old friend, I need just need to pick something up, I’ll be really quick I swear.” She told me as she stepped through and I watched her body disappear into the darkness, almost like her body moulded it’s self into the material before disappearing completely.

I shuddered. No matter how many times I watch that happen I will never get used to it.

Shaking my head I took a leap of faith and stepped forward letting the sudden light headiness and cold darkness wrap around me and gush like a tornado, dragging me with such force through the unearthly rip in the earth until I landed on my hands and knees with a loud thud, gasping for air.

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I know it’s been a long time! And I am sorry for that. Uni is taking up more time then I first thought and I’ve had a bit of writer’s block with this story, I know how I want it too end but not how to get it there so bear with me.

Thank you all for reading!

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