Date: 2-15-17

Chapter 8: Half Truths and Full On Lies

When Jerica got home from the party she got ready for bed quickly. Thunder was rumbling outside as she grabbed her phone to plug it in. As she bent down and reached forward, her fingertips brushed against the outlet.

It shocked Jerica and the last thing she heard before going unconscious was a scream and lightning striking something in the distance.

~*~

Lena wakes up on the ground, soaking wet from the rain that's still coming down unyieldingly. She sits up and glances around in a daze, shaking from the cold and the shock. She remembered the lightning.

Ivie lies unmoving under a tree as her sister gets up on shaky legs. Lena slowly but surely walks over to Ivie and drops down beside her. A small green bug is crawling along Ivie's arm, so Lena brushes it off.

Lena shakes Ivie to wake her, causing her to let out a soft groan of pain. Lena helps pull her to a sitting position against the tree. It provides some cover so they're no longer getting rained on. It doesn't help much because both of them are completely soaked.

Lena practically drags her older sister to the car. Lena wrestles with the keys and finally gets them in. She drives home very slowly, trying to be extra cautious.

On the way to their house, Ivie wakes up almost completely. "Did we get hit by lightning?" Ivie asks in a sleepy tone.

Lena nods, not taking her eyes off the road. Lena is no longer shaky, she actually feels energized. Like a charged battery.

"Isn't that impossible? No human can survive a lightning strike." Ivie points out. Her sister shrugs and shuffles in her seat, starting to feel restless.

"How do you feel, Ivie?" Lena asks, risking a glance back at her. She's sinking down in the backseat.

"Eh, I'm okay I guess." Ivie responds unenthusiastically. "What about you?" She slurs her words. Lena decides it's safe to talk freely with Ivie because she probably won't remember this later.

"I actually feel great!" Lena sees out of the mirror that Ivie is giving her a weird look. Lena quickly jumps to explaining.

"When the lightning hit me, I never felt it leave. I feel super energized, like the electricity never left my veins!" Lena's become excited so she quiets down a bit.

"That's not possible." Ivie says condescendingly. She doesn't apologize, so Lena knows that she's really out of it.

They arrive home just then, and as soon as they enter their house, their parents lecture them on being late. It turns out that they were lying unconscious for over an hour after being struck by lightning.

~*~

Lucas is jerked awake by a scream that cuts off sharply. He runs upstairs and bursts into Jerica's bedroom and sees her lying on the ground.

He runs over and shakes his younger sister, telling her to wake up. Mason rushes in and hovers behind him, trying to figure out what happened.

Jerica opens her eyes and jerks away from Lucas. "What are you doing?" She asks him angrily.

Lucas leans away from Jerica to give her some space. "I was just coming to see if you were okay. I heard you scream." He explains, confused about what's going on.

Jerica moves to stand up, so Lucas grabs her arm for support. "Sorry, I think the wall shocked me." Jerica no longer sounds hurt, although Lucas is still concerned because the girl never says sorry.

"The wall is attacking you?" Mason is stunned, not joking at all.

"No, I meant the outlet shocked me. Duh." Jerica sneers at him. If Lucas had said something stupid like that, Jerica would've called him names and made fun of him for a week.

"Go back to bed. Both of you." Jerica scowls and gives them a pointed look.

Lucas walks out like Jerica told him to. If she doesn't want to talk, then he wouldn't make her. He keeps secrets of his own.

Mason hesitates before he goes. "Are you sure you're okay?" Jerica nods so that Mason follows his brother out the door.

~*~

Lucas wakes up late the next day feeling good. His heart isn't beating too fast, he's not breathing weird, and he doesn't feel claustrophobic. He was secretly worried all of that would come back in the morning.

While Lucas is getting dressed he smiles to himself. "Maybe today will be okay." He tells himself. "Maybe I'll feel completely normal today." Lucas grins wider until he hears Jerica talking.

Lucas frowns and listens closely, sitting down on his bed. He can hear Jerica and Lena upstairs.

"Are you sure you're okay Lena? I don't want you to drop dead on me. Why didn't you go to the hospital?" Jerica demands to know.

There's a weird kind of crackle sound before Lena answers. It sounds like the noise phones make during calls sometimes.

"Because I'm fine! Really."  She answers a bit snappily.

"Fine. I'm going to make lunch. We're talking soon though." Jerica says before she hangs up on Lena.

Lucas rushes downstairs and starts making food. Jerica always hogs the kitchen. He wouldn't be able to eat for at least another half hour if Jerica's planning on making something. Plus he wants to ask about Lena.

Jerica comes into the kitchen a few minutes later. "Oh. Hey, Lucas. What're you making?" Jerica asks, practically begging for some.

"Soup. For Mason. He's still not feeling well." Lucas doesn't know how Mason is feeling, but he decides it'd be good to bring him soup anyway.

Jerica frowns but doesn't say anything. She's not big on sympathy, if you haven't noticed.

Lucas finishes making the soup and takes a bowl to his twin's room. Mason is awake when he arrives, so he gratefully takes the soup.

Mason is wearing his sleep shorts and Lucas notices something is off.

"Your scratches are completely healed." Lucas says in a monotone, unsure of how to feel. Mason puts his spoon down and sets the bowl on his dresser.

Mason glares at him for a full minute and Lucas stares right back, even though he's confused on why Mason's angry at him.

Lucas suddenly relaxes with a smile. "You're not asking the questions. You're not surprised or shocked. You haven't demanded I go to a doctor. Which means..."

Mason leans forward excitedly. "Yours healed too?" Lucas shakes his head no in response. Lucas actually hasn't checked in a while because it hasn't been hurting.

Mason and Lucas have another staredown. Mason's angry at Lucas again. He's wondering why Lucas isn't saying anything and if he's lying.

Lucas leaves the room to escape the tension, suddenly needing to know what happened to Lena. He wants to know if she's safe.

Lucas goes back downstairs to confront Jerica, seeing her sitting on the couch on her phone without the TV on. "What's wrong with Lena?" He is in a no-nonsense mood, holding up a hand when Jerica opens her mouth.

"Don't ask me how I know. I listened outside your door this morning for a minute to see if you were okay." The lie comes out easily and Lucas doesn't take the time to wonder why he needed to lie about his "special hearing."

Jerica frowns in disapproval but answers his question. "Lena got hit by lightning last night. But she's fine." Jerica must realize that she's being semi-nice because she adds, "Why don't you ask her yourself?"

"Don't you have her number?" Jerica asks with a hint of something off in her voice.

Lucas nods once. "Yeah, because you don't answer your phone when you go to her house." He answers, letting his unhappiness slip into his words.

She gives him a devilish smile. "That's because I don't want to talk to you."

Lucas gets angry at the fact that she's seemingly unconcerned that Lena was hurt. "Shouldn't you be worried about Lena? That lightning could've killed her!" He realizes his heart is speeding up and he breathes deeper to slow it down.

Jerica picks at her nails and replies nonchalantly. "That wolf could've killed you and Mason."

He crosses his arms and gives her a stern look. "But it didn't." Lucas replays what he said in his head and realizes something. Why didn't the wolf kill them?

"Exactly! It didn't kill her. She's fine. Why would I have to worry?" Jerica asks with a small smile. He's suddenly fed up with Jerica's uncaring attitude.

Lucas turns without a word and walks away. "Wait, Lucas! I have something to tell you!" He ignores Jerica and keeps on walking through the hallway, going out the back door because he's scared of what he would do if he stayed.

He's shaking, he's so angry.

Lucas stops outside the house suddenly when he hears what Jerica says quietly to herself. "Fine. I guess I won't tell you that you need to be careful because tonight is the full moon and the wolf might come back to finish you off."