Arianna Rose: The Arrival (Part 4) (16 page)

Dane stopped dancin
g and looked at them with childlike wonder.  “What?” he asked.  “What’s so funny?”

Neither Arianna nor Beth could answer.  They were doubled over
with laughter.  Above the gasps and giggles, she heard Jason say to his brother, “Nothing, man. It’s cool.”

“So the A-bomb is coming?” Dane asked and called her an annoying nickname he had coined after hearing of her showdown with Desmond. 

“Hey!” Arianna choked out a protest.  Visions of Dane with floppy ears and a tail clutching a giant leg and pumping away softened the edges of her annoyance and kept her from forming an entire sentence.  She nodded to affirm she was going.

Dane shook his head and stopped
showing off once he’d apparently realized he was no longer the center of attention.  Arianna dabbed her wet eyes with the back of her sleeve.  “Oh man,” she breathed.  Her abdominal muscles ached as well as her cheeks.  “I guess you can count me in.  I can’t believe I am agreeing to go.” She rolled her eyes and wondered what she was committing to. 

“Don’t worry, we’ll go easy on you,” Dane patted her arm lightly.  “A little beer, a little pool, we’ll see what happens from there.”

“Whatever you say, Dane,” she said and gave him a light shove. 

“That’s right!” he said and was suddenly revitalized.  “Race you back,” he smiled and tore off toward the camp.

Arianna watched him go.  Jason sidled up next to her.  “How long before he realizes she’s not behind him?” he asked Beth.

“With Dane, it might not be until he’s standing on the steps of his cabin
,” she said and closed her eyes while nodding. 

“Thank goodness he’s pretty,” Jason said.

Beth paused a moment then laughed again.  “He is, isn’t he,” Beth agreed.

Arianna felt uncomfortable mocking Dane too much.  His loyalty during the hours after Desmond’s infidelity was revealed
had been unparalleled.  She had a sneaking suspicion he had orchestrated the rally of defense that was offered to her.

Desmond and Amitt had left just a day after their confrontation
, and Arianna was thankful for the overwhelming, unanimous support she’d received from the camp.  They’d shunned Desmond and Amitt in the hours before the elders politely invited them to get their asses off the property.  Dane had been the most vocal during their period of condemnation and was rumored to have encouraged the others to assemble in the clearing with lighted torches, pitchforks and small stones.  Clearly, he had a more medieval idea in mind for their send-off.  According to Jason, the response to Dane’s request had been a difficult one to witness.  Arianna appreciated his enthusiasm, nevertheless, and would have liked to have seen his imagined scenario come to fruition.  It did not, of course.  Desmond and Amitt left and hadn’t been seen since.  Arianna imagined they were living their happily-ever-after, the incestuous kind, not the fairytale kind, somewhere far away.

Regardless of where they were and what they were doing, Arianna was grateful for Dane’s allegiance. 
And for that reason, she forced her already-exhausted muscles to life and took off after him. 

“Arianna, don’t egg him on!” Beth called out then howled with laughter again.  But the sound grew faint as cooler air rushed into Arianna’s lungs.  She pumped her arms and pushed her legs to their limits, gaining ground faster than she ever dreamed possible.  She’d gained considerable strength and stamina, and in a short time. 

Thin pine branches lashed at her legs and a few whipped her in the face as she raced through the forest.  When Dane’s broad back was in her sights he turned and did a double take.  She did not know who was more surprised by her speed, him or her.  She paced him, her newly minted competitive streak sparking alive.

“Ah hell no!” he grunted and propelled himself forward. 

Arianna slowed her pace for a split-second and an idea dawned on her.  She stopped abruptly and closed her eyes.  She envisioned Dane’s cabin and more specifically, her standing in front of it.  The air around her shimmied for a moment and resembled heat radiating off pavement on a scorching summer day.  It pulsed, a brilliant shade of blue, briefly then she felt herself fade.  She materialized at Dane’s doorstep and just in time to see him blazing through the brush and nearing the clearing.  She leaned against his door and forced a bored expression on her face. 

He burst through the bushes, panting and sweaty, and his eyes widened.  “Cheater!” he yelled good-naturedly.  “You are a cheating cheater!  I can’t believe it.”

“Aw mama, come on,” she mimicked his word choice and speech pattern.  “Don’t be a hater.”

His lips twisted to one side and his eyes were slits.  “Hate the game
, not the player,” she ribbed him and he smiled, wide and genuine. 

“All right, all right, you got me,” he conceded.  “Now move out of the way
, woman.  I need to get inside and make myself pretty.”

Typically she would have locked horns with him for calling her
woman
, but Arianna was too busy biting her lower lip to keep from laughing at the comment Jason had made minutes earlier. 

He looked at her quizzically and held her gaze for a beat.  His eyes sank to her mouth and examined her lip between her teeth before returning to her eyes.  A strange expression clouded his features and Arianna arched a defiant eyebrow at him.  The haze lifted and he drawled, “See you in a bit, A-bomb,”
and bounded inside his cabin.  She smirked and shook her head before making her way to her cabin. 

Two hours and a quick nap later, Arianna felt as if her belly were filled with
a swarm of bees buzzing at once.  She’d showered and dried her hair, applied makeup and was now faced with the off-putting task of inspecting her sad wardrobe.  She did not have a ton of clothes to choose from and started first with her favorite pair of weathered motorcycle boots which she promptly paired with a sundress that still had tags on it.  The material was soft and silky and skimmed her body in all the right places.  Not that it mattered.  She wasn’t dressing up for anyone.  Still, she did not hate what she saw in the mirror, which was a small victory given the nasty string of incidents recently.  She grabbed a cropped denim jacket from her duffle bag and slung it over her arm then headed for the door. 

As her
fingertips grazed the doorknob, doubt seized her.  Her hand began to tremble and her stomach roiled anxiously.  What was she doing?  She wasn’t up for a night out.  She glanced down at her dress, a feminine number she’d bought with Desmond in mind, and the sudden urge to run back inside and yank it from her body goaded her.  “What was I thinking?” she muttered aloud.  Why she’d agreed to go out with Beth, her brothers and a few others was beyond her.  She’d caved to peer-pressure; an unprecedented occurrence she’d never dreamed would happen.  She’d actually surrendered to juvenile taunting that had included being called “lame.”  She took a second look at her sundress.  Desmond would have loved it, though she didn’t fill it out the way Amitt would have. 

Amitt.  Just thinking her name sent Arianna’s heart falling to her feet
like a boulder.  She turned and gripped the hem of the lightweight fabric and was about to yank it up over her head, but stopped when she heard Dane’s loud voice in the clearing, laughing and chatting.  She peeked out her window and saw him standing with Lance, Ewan and Clint, all high-ranking students from the camp.  She also saw that Jason and Beth were approaching their group.

Arianna
swallowed hard and let go of the edging.  She took a deep breath and pushed back her misgivings and profound sadness inasmuch as she could and stepped out of her cabin.  The sun had fully set hours earlier.  Day had surrendered to night and stars twinkled like brilliant jewels overhead.  The woods hummed all around her as if the forest had come to life, abounding with the hoots and calls of nocturnal predators that had awakened and sought a meal to devour. 

“There she is,
finally
,” Dane boomed.  He stood in front of a small, faux-lantern light mounted outside one of the cabins and she saw that he wore relaxed-fit jeans and a fitted T-shirt.  It was odd to see him out of his typical baggy clothing.  A fit physique had come out of hiding.  “We thought you were punking out on us.”

“No we didn’t,” Beth said as she joined the group.  “I didn’t, at least,” she added quickly.  She then sniffed the air
and crinkled her nose.  “Okay, who dumped, like, a bottle of cologne on himself?”

No one answered at first, but Arianna noticed that Dane took a small step back, away from Beth.

“Okay, no one will cop to it,” she said and pursed her lips.   She started smelling all the guys that were gathered.

“All right!  Fine!  It’s me, okay!”  Dane admitted.  “Jeez!  Can’t a guy smell good for the ladies?”

Even though it was dark and Arianna could not see Beth roll her eyes at her brother, she swore she could feel it happening.  “Dressed up and smelling like a male escort, I guess you really are on the prowl tonight,” Beth said.

“You know it!  Bring on the girls!” he said and pumped his hips.

“Whatever, you’re so gross,” Beth mumbled. 

“Oh so it’s okay for Arianna to get all dolled up, but not me?” he replied. 

“What the hell do I have to do with any of this?” Arianna asked heatedly but did not wait for an answer.  “And for the record, I am not dolled up.”  Her cheeks blazed at the implication. 

“Can we go already?”
Jason said with a hint of annoyance.

A few comments flew between the other guys that had gathered, mostly agreeing with Jason that they would rather leave than stand around listening to Beth and Dane bicker.  Fortunately, neither Beth nor Dane was interested in pursuing their spat and they sifted into a nearby town.

The trainees did not possess powers that had matured enough to allow them to sift, so the three of them had linked hands with Beth, Jason and Dane.  Not one of them had seemed comfortable making eye contact with Arianna, let alone touching her.  She hoped that a small block of time spent away from the compound would loosen them up. 

They arrived in front of a squat stucco-faced structure. 
Faint music seeped from it and the windows glowed warmly.  A moment of panic made Arianna want to sift right back to her cabin and forget all about bars and music and people in general.  But Beth, as if sensing her dread, nudged Arianna’s arm with her shoulder.  When her gaze went to the bump, they were met with Beth’s large, dark eyes.  Her friend did not say a word.  She did not need to.  She pleaded with her eyes for Arianna to relax, to try to have a good time.  Arianna blew a tiny breath of air out and followed Jason as he led the way, opening the door and stepping inside. 

The aroma of fried food and liquor greeted her immediately, along with a few leering stares that were quickly reverted back to whatever they’d been looking at moments earlier when Dane, for reasons that were unclear, placed himself between Arianna and Beth and draped an arm across their shoulders. 

“Come on, Dane,” Beth whispered.  “What if I am looking for love tonight, too?”  She shrugged his arm off her shoulder. 

Dane’s
other arm dropped immediately and his features turned to granite.  He growled. 

“I’m not a little girl anymore, in case you haven’t noticed.  I have boobies and everything.”  Beth smiled sweetly. 

Dane’s cheeks turned bright red.  He opened his mouth to say something, but Jason turned and spoke first.  “I don’t know about you guys, but I’m starving.  Why don’t we get some food then shoot some pool?”

“Sounds good to me,” Arianna said. 

Beth agreed, as did Lance, Ewan and Clint.  Dane motioned with a tip of his head and they moved toward an empty booth at the rear of the bar and near the pool table.  As soon as they were seated, a bubbly blonde wearing a skintight tank top and short shorts visited their table.  She introduced herself as Brittany and snapped her gum frequently as they ordered their food.  Arianna had expected Dane to hit on her, or flirt playfully as the other guys with them did, but he did not.  He didn’t seem interested in the least, in fact, not even when Brittany made a point of leaning and placing her ample bosom directly in front of his face when she reached to get the empty napkin holder on their table. 

Arianna wasn’t the only one to notice his disinterest in the attractive waitress.  Jason commented as soon as Brittany was out of earshot.  “Dude, what is wrong with you?  That girl is smokin’ hot and she’s into you.  And you ignored her.” 

Lance, Ewan and Clint looked among each other then nodded.  Beth folded her arms on the table and buried her head in them.  Dane hesitated a moment and fidgeted in his seat.  He did not look up right away and seemed to be riveted by the skin on the side of his fingernail as he continued to pick at it. 

“Dane,” Jason asked loudly.  “Are you gonna talk to her?”

“Maybe,” Dane answered with disinterest. 

“Maybe,” Jason echoed in disbelief. 

Realizing Dane was in need of saving, Arianna said, “They have a jukebox.”  She pointed to the far corner opposite their booth.  “I haven’t seen one of those in ages.  Let’s go see what songs they have.” She tapped Dane and tugged his wrist.  He slid from the booth at her urging and walked beside her as they made their way across the bar. 

“Thanks,” he said when they stood in front of the coin-operated machine.

She did not look away from the discs inside but felt his eyes on her.  “For what?” she said coolly. 

“You know, the whole Brittany thing back there.”

“No problem,” she replied and paused.  “She is cute though, right?” she asked casually as she scanned the titles. 

“I don’t know,” he answered and dug through his front pant
s pocket.  Coins jangled.  He held out a handful to her.  “I don’t really like blondes,” he added softly when she turned toward his outthrust hand.  His eyes were fixed on hers for the briefest of moments.  “So, what do they have here?” he asked and nudged her aside.  “Outta my way, woman.  I don’t want you putting on any crappy love songs or angry chick music.”

Arianna huffed and flung her hands up.  “Excuse you,” she grumbled. 

After Dane made his selections and let her pick three measly songs, they returned to the table.  Brittany had brought a pitcher of beer and informed them their burgers were on their way. 

Once the food arrived, the group chatted, ate and drank.  When they’d finished and plates had been cleared, they shot a few games of pool.  Arianna was amazed when she glanced at the clock mounted above the bar and realized two hours had passed.  Two hour
s that she had not been miserable.  Two hours she had not thought about Desmond.  She was actually enjoying herself, a feat she thought herself incapable of.  She and Beth had just sat back down at the booth they’d eaten at when Jason’s voice sounded over the music.

“
Come on, we’re going to play another game,” Jason called to her and Beth. 

“I think I’m going to sit this one out,” Beth replied
and waved her hand at him.

“Me too,” Arianna agreed.

“Suit yourselves,” Jason said and turned to Dane, Lance, Ewan and Clint.

“Yeah, I think I’m done, too,” Dane said and started walking his pool cue to the rack mounted on the wall.  Jason began lacing into him verbally about
Brittany again.  That topic quickly yielded his choice to sit with the girls rather than play pool. 

“Okay, they are officially giving me a headache,” Beth said as she stood and grabbed her glass of beer from the table.  “I’m going to sit at the bar.  Care to join me?”

“Sure,” Arianna replied.  She clutched her beer in her hand and scooted to the edge of the seat.  But when she tried to stand, her legs, feeling unnaturally weak and heavy, collapsed beneath her, as if they could not bear her weight.  Her backside returned to the padded bench seat with a
thud
. 

“Arianna,”
Beth turned and said.  She noticed that Beth stumbled a bit when she’d spun.  Arianna tried to focus on her friend, but her vision became blurry. 

“I-I don’t feel so good,”
Arianna said. 

“Are you okay?” Jason’s voice sounded
distant, as if it echoed through a tunnel, but she could see that he’d slid into the booth and sat across from her. 

“What happened, A-Bomb, you got wasted by accident or something?” Dane asked
and plopped down beside her.

“I don’t get wasted,” Arianna replied
and noticed that her voice had thickened.  “I only drink beer once in a while because I like the way it tastes,” She closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose, not bothering to reprimand him for calling her A-Bomb.  She did not have the energy  “Something is wrong.”

“I don’t feel right either,” Beth said and Arianna could make out that her hand was at her forehead. 

Though her vision was blurry and her body felt weak, her instinct remained sharp.  Awareness prickled up her spine.  Her eyes scanned the room, sweeping the faces of the people present.  All were fuzzy and indistinct.  Still, intuition guided her to the bar area. She could not be sure, but she believed the bartender watched her and her friends, as well as the few patrons who’d remained and now milled about shiftily. She felt his eyes on her, felt the weight of his stare.

“What is it?” Dane’s concerned voice was at her ear. 

“The bartender,” she murmured and felt her limbs leaden further.  She narrowed her eyes and focused on his face, straining the meager strength that emptied fast. He moved toward them.

Dark eye
brows, arced and pointed like sharpened scythes, nearly collided as the barkeep approached, glaring.  He smiled malevolently and revealed a mouthful of small, pointed teeth.  “I guess the Sola is not immune to the essence of belladonna mixed with a special concoction my ancestors passed down from generation to generation called Hellfire,” he roared unexpectedly, the sound of his voice filling the space.  “No, you’re not, are you, you traitorous bitch!”

His words seemed to hang in the air for a few seconds too long, as if delayed by some unknown force that halted all activity in the room. 
The bar hummed and crackled with hostile energy. 

Dane shouted words in her defense, swearing at the bartender as he stood.  But
his legs crumpled from under him.  He cried out in frustration as he found his limbs as useless as Arianna’s.  The bartender’s laughter rolled through the room like thunder.  Beth attempted to move toward her brother, but her legs refused to cooperate and dragged, uncoordinated and heavy.  She clutched the pool table for support and barely held herself upright.  Jason made an effort to spring from his seat but his movements were labored as well, his body unsteady.

“What the hell is happening?” Arianna panicked and saw that Lance, Ewan and Clint
struggled to stay on their feet.

The bartender’s laughter stopped abruptly.  Three dark and hulking forms stole toward her and her friends.  “Come now, Sola! You are not
that
naïve, are you?” Another vile fit of glee beset him.  When he’d finished, he said, “My friends and I are assassins of the Dark Order, a brotherhood dedicated to upholding the fate of our kind, the truth.”

“Fuck you!” Dane spat and succeeded at lifting his shoulders off the floor. 
Arianna’s vision fluctuated between razor-sharp precision and indistinctness.  The moment she heard Dane’s voice, her head had snapped in the direction of the sound and she’d been able to see the luminescent sheen of sweat that covered him as he fought to position his upper body upright.  One of the men, whom she now saw clearly, descended on Dane. 

“No!” she cried out and hoisted her wrist, exerting every ounce of strength she had.  Heated anger
flared within and her insides began to tremble.  Her vision became veiled in crimson and the air became laden with the sour stench of sweat, grease and alcohol.  Blistering fury welled inside her and yearned for release.  She hefted her fingers, aiming them at the man advancing on Dane.  But the tremendous effort yielded just a small dribble of fire from her fingertips that fizzled instantly.

Seeing her inability to defend Dane, the bartender erupted again.  “The all-powerful Sola, ladies and gentlemen!” he jeered.  The remaining two men moved with lightning-fast
speed and were upon Lance, Ewan and Clint before they could move their sluggish legs.  Arianna watched in horror as pale-yellow streaks of fire tore from their fingers and hurled toward the trainees. 

“No!” she heard herself shriek, but it sounded as if she were
submerged beneath fathoms of water.  Her words were muddled and the evening she’d been enjoying with friends transformed into a nightmare. 

Flames lapped their bodies before swelling and engulfing them fully.  Dane and Jason shouted words that were inaudible over the sound of blood rushing behind her ears and Beth cried out in horror.  Three glowing bodies crumbled
to the floor, consumed by fire so hot, they were reduced to ashes seconds later. 

“Cowards!” Arianna heard Jason say, his voice cracking with emotion.  “You have to drug us to win!  You fight without honor!”

“Honor?” the bartender sneered.  “You, a defender of the ultimate traitor, dare speak of honor?”  An evil chuckled passed through his lips.  “You are undeserving of honor, and you will not receive an honorable death!”  He stepped away from the bar and crossed the room, looming before Arianna, Beth, Dane and Jason.  “But before we kill you, you can watch her die.” He pointed a finger at Arianna, and her pulse rate thumped faster, racing dangerously fast.  She did not fear death, but did fear for her friends.  Her soul would suffer eternally knowing that four more people she loved would die as a result of knowing her. 

“Please, don’t kill them.  Kill me, but spare them.  I beg you,” she began.