Chapter 22 ~ Barry
I could tell that Chloe was in a playful mood. She had run up in front of Nicole as a bear, and I began to smile.
Then she let out a roar as a glowing orange spot grew on her side. I turned to see Liam with a pleased expression adorning his face. He smiled as he lifted his hand with another ball of fire, and Chloe began to cautiously back away.
"No Liam! Stop!" I shouted, but it was too late. The ball of light flew through the air and hit her in the back as she ran into the shelter of the forest. I ran after her, my feet pounding on the soft dirt. I couldn't catch her. I gave up and began to walk back to where we were before.
And Liam had fled the scene. Lizzie didn't seem to care, as she was directing her attention to a butterfly that was perched on her finger.
I went and sat down on a rock that was in the shade of a tree. I ran a hand through my hair and looked at Lizzie.
"Where did Liam run off to?"
She turned to look at me, and hefted her hand with the butterfly in my direction, and I looked over my shoulder to see where she was pointing. But it was just open land.
I turned back to Lizzie who was rolling her eyes.
"What?"
"He is right here." She said matter-of-factly.
"Chloe shifted him?"
She nodded, and I walked over to where she sat.
"Could I talk to him?" I asked. I felt the connection to Liam establish, and I immediately took action.
"Liam, what is freaking wrong with you?!"
"Dude, I'm sorry. I just thought Nicole was being attacked, like she had said something to offend the bear or something; 'cause it's Nicole. I hope I didn't hurt her, where did that person go off to? I hope that Chloe isn't mad at me. I also hope that those wounds didn't hurt. That's too bad."
"You're sick! I can't believe you! You are more concerned for Nicole than for the person you actually hurt! I don't even know where Chloe is, even less if she is okay!"
"Lizzie, can I talk to..." I inquired.
"Yep."
"Can you get her to shift Liam..."
"Yep."
In a second, I was talking to Chloe.
"Chloe?" I only got silence as a response, "Chloe, I know you can hear me. Liam didn't mean what he did. He didn't realize it was you. I need to tell you..."
I didn't finish speaking as the connection cut off. I knew that part of that wasn't true, Liam apparently didn't care. I would need to tell Chloe that something later.
"Lizzie, what happened?"
"She isn't conscious. There isn't anything I can do about that." She said with a shrug.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw Nicole was walking out of the woods, and came to sit beside me.
"I couldn't find her. Wherever she went, she is well hidden."
"She can hide when she wants to," I mumbled.
Lizzie walked over and set Liam on my knee, and sat back at where she was reading.
"Care to tell me how one can fly?" He inquired thoughtfully.
"No Liam! You set my girlfriend on fire! I am really worried about her more than the fact you can fly! I can't even understand how you are thinking like this right now!"
Liam opened and closed his wings rapidly, and began to ascend into the air, and stared me in the face.
I smacked him out of the air, to have him land back on my leg.
Nicole began to talk with a series of strange noises that were obviously directed at Liam, and he seemed to almost shrivel up from where he stood.
"What did you say?" I asked wearily.
"That he's being a spoiled little self-centered jerk, among other things."
That caused me to smile, and I sat back in an awkward silence. I closed my eyes as I relaxed, until a bird flew down and landed on my shoulder.
I turned my head to look at the bird. It must have been Chloe. I was about to say something when she let out a screech at Liam. It made my ears ring, but I was just happy to know she was okay.
She fluffed herself up before sitting down on my shoulder to relax. I guess she just needed a little alone time.
I ran my fingers down her soft back, and she ruffled her feathers, causing me to stop.
Now it was time for Liam.
I directed my attention to Liam, "Pineapple."
Why did Chloe need to make such a silly name for it?
After I realized that I did not want Liam to shift in my lap, I set him on the ground. Chloe shifted him back after I had done so.
What Chloe did almost made me laugh, but I didn't want to show it. I looked at her so she would fix the tail she had given Liam, and I wasn't even sure if Liam noticed her do it.
He came up to Chloe and walked off with her out of earshot.
"What's new with you?" I asked Nicole politely.
"Nothing much, I am still sopping wet, got attacked by a bear, you know; the usual, fun life I live."
"You should probably go home and change."
"No shirt, Sherlock! How did you ever come to that conclusion?" She shouted as she began to trudge back to her house.
Liam walked back over with Chloe, and set her in my lap before walking to sit underneath a tree a distance away, obviously deep in thought.
Chloe nestled herself into me before becoming an orange tabby. She walked in a circle, and sat down. But she kept moving in my lap, obviously uncomfortable in some way.
"Are you okay?" I asked. Was it something I did that was making her uncomfortable?
She stopped moving and looked up at me, looking like she had just got caught in a lie. She let out a purr, and rubbed against my side, and I thought little of it. That was just her way of saying she was fine.
But something was wrong. She was trying to hide something.
"No, you're not," I began, and then a thought occurred to me, "Where are you hurt?"
She looked down and started to nibble at her paw, and I stared her down in hopes that she would show me, although I had no idea how she could hide them.
For a moment I saw large black blisters form over Chloe's back, and she shuddered. I stared at them, and I had no idea what to do. But Chloe somehow hid them once more, although I didn't understand the point.
She stared up at me happily, and her tail slowly but slightly moved in a fake pleasure.
"Lizzie, could you please share with me some of the pain that she is going through?" It was a part of Lizzie's Gift that we had found a while back, and the capabilities of hers were endless.
"Sure."
A wave of heat and pain rolled through me, and I was unprepared for it.
"You didn't tell me it hurt that much," I scolded. I looked at Lizzie, and I guessed that she was sharing some of the pain.
I set to drawing a first aid kit and medical supplies for Chloe, and she craned her neck to look, and a flash of hot pain burst through me at her movement. I paused my drawing and looked to Lizzie.
"Could you please give me more of her pain? As much as you can."
"Barry, I'm not going to give you all of it. But I will give you more."
The burning increased drastically, and I took in a deep breath as I tried to get used to it.
Chloe continued to fidget, and it only made things more painful.
"Stop moving. You're just going to hurt yourself more." I said while finishing the drawing.
I blew across the paper, and set to bandaging Chloe up.
"Show me your burns."
Her wounds became visible once more, and I began to tend to them. I had learned over time how to do such things, it was just something that happened. Even if it was incredibly hard to hurt oneself.
When I finished I called out to Lizzie, "You can stop now."
Chloe quivered in my lap, and all I could do was touch her head gently. It made me feel helpless. But I didn't want to overexert Lizzie by sharing the pain.
"Well, I guess that you can't shift without ruining your bandages, sorry." Why did I do it like that? It would have been better to do it in her normal form, but I just wasn't smart enough to think of that.
Chloe dozed off in my arms, and I sat in silence with her soft breaths far and in between.
Lizzie, Nicole, and Liam said that they would meet up at my house for some food. I promised that I would be there shortly, and relaxed once they were out of sight.
"Chloe, I'm so sorry that I am not what you deserve. I wish I could give you so much more than what I can. I promise I will do everything I can to make you happy."
I sighed as Chloe slumbered. There really was so much I wanted to say, but I never knew when to.
I ruffled Chloe's fur and whispered in her ear, "Wake up, Chloe. Let's go home."
She slowly woke up, and I walked back to the house to have Lizzie greet us at the door. We walked inside, and I set Chloe down at the table as Lizzie and Nicole set up the table.
Lizzie was nice enough to bring out a bowl of milk for Chloe, which she slowly drank. I was able to grab her back left paw, and rubbed the soft fur covering it. She didn't seem to care or notice, so I continued doing it.
Once all the food was out, I set to eating the chicken and salad Lizzie had prepared.
The room was quiet, and Liam was playing with his food absentmindedly with an uncomfortable look on his face.
Chloe looked up at Nicole, and meowed at her. Nicole gave her signature giggle, which I knew was not going to be good.
Nicole got up and left the room, and came back with a spotted cat. Chloe and Nicole exchanged some words, and soon Chloe was simply talking to the new cat.
The duo walked to the edge of the table, and I could tell that Chloe was about to jump. I grabbed her before she could begin to leave the table, causing her to yelp.
I set her down softly, and the two cats left the room. I guessed that they headed to Chloe's room, and there was an awkward moment where no one even moved.
I looked towards Liam, "After tonight, I never want to see you again."
I heard everyone take in a sharp breath, but I just locked eyes with Liam.
"If that is what you think is best, then fine." He responded calmly.
We continued to eat as if nothing had happened, and at a point Liam simply got up and left without another word.
"Chloe wants to talk to you." Lizzie stated.
"Okay, thanks."
"What is it?" I asked with a certain edge that I didn't mean to use.
"Well, can I shift? Just into a human?"
"Fine. But I am going to bandage you up again, but you will shift back into an animal. It limits your movements so you don't hurt yourself more, and plus, you look so cute."
What was I saying? What was wrong with me? Just moments ago I was insulting myself for having her shift, and now I was encouraging it!
"Thank you." She whispered before fading away from my mind.
What was she planning? I was hoping is wasn't something crazy.
"So what was that cat's name?" I asked Nicole.
"Jessie, and she can be one party animal if she wants to." She responded.
Conversation grew in mere minutes, and I was starting to feel happy again.
Shortly after, Chloe walked in with the Jessie in her arms. Chloe set her on the table, and the feline commenced to jumping at Nicole and shifting into a girl that leaned her chair back, completely startling Nicole in the process.
Definitely something crazy.
Bạn đang đọc truyện trên: Truyen247.Pro