Part-Time Pegacorn

Soot

We stumble out of the smoke. I want to collapse to the ground and hack up the smoke lining the inside of my throat, but of course that won't make any difference.

The chef and the waiter who had been trapped amongst the flames are right beside us. The fact that they're free from the fire causes them to put on a burst of speed and join the closest group of people. Fire engines and ambulences with blindingly bright flashing lights fill the parking lot. Paramedics find the chef and waiter to check for any injuries. Unfortunately, there are two paramedicsa making a beeline towards us right now.

My hand is still locked with Diesel's as he says, "It's best that we go."

He leads me through the crowd and away from any paramedics heading for us. I'm afraid someone in the crowd will stop us, but we manage to slip out of sight before anyone notices.

Our hands don't leave each other until we're back in the main hotel building. My throat and lungs are filled with the wretched stench of smoke and ash. Diesel decides to take the stairs so that we might avoid more people. Right before we start up the first stairsteps, I stop and start coughing.

"Are you alright?" He asks placing a hand on my shoulder.

We're both covered in soot and ash. His face is smudged and his clothes are two shades darker than they were before. I'm sure I appear the same. My boyfriend looks as if his pegacorn side is showing through, but that shows how much ash is covering his arms, legs, and face. In a way the soot gives him an attractive rugged demeanor.

I swallow and straighten up taking a breath, "I'm fine-"

Suddenly, an arm wraps around my throat and pulls me backwards harshly. Something cold and sharp presses against my neck. My hands grab the arm around my throat.

"Don't move." A man whispers directly into my ear.

Diesel's eyes widen in front of me and anger covers his face as he starts in my direction.

The man growls, "Stay where you are, boy, or your girlfriend gets it."

Diesel's fists clench together till his knuckles are white. His face is bombarded with emotions one after another.

The man who has a hold on me continues on, "I have a message from my boss. He says that this hotel shouldn't be considered a safe haven. You're in danger no matter where you are. If we lit the fire in the restaurant, we can do worse to this hotel."

My eyes are still locked with Diesel's. A thought enters my mind, and I don't consider whether it's safe or if it will cause me to be sliced across the throat when I carry it out.

My elbow jabs the man in the torso. He grunts. I take the opportunity to grab his arm and pull it off with shifter strength providing me power. Quickly, I kick out behind me before he can get his grip again. The strong hit makes me stumble backwards.

My instincts urge me to morph into a griffin and teach this man a real lesson, but I hold back knowing how uncertain this area is. Passerbyes could appear at a moment's notice.

Diesel is right by my side in a flash. I give him a nod then we both turn back to the man. Our stances are ready this time. There isn't much space here at the bottom of the stairwell but it'll have to do.

"My boss wants you to stay out of his way or get yourself killed and dumped into the ocean. Anyways, that's all I have to say for now." He starts to turn away with a mailcious smile crossing his round face.

"You are not going anywhere." Diesel tells him darkly. The way he speaks the words sends a shiver up my spine.

Malevolently, the man looks back at us, "Oh, really?"

His hand reaches down toward a device on his belt. A second later his finger flips a switch, and a high pitched noise explodes though the air.

Diesel and I both cringe as we grab the closest object to brace ourselves against, the handrailing. The noise stabs our eardrums like knives. Both of my hands cover my ears, but the noise isn't muffled much. When the sound eventually fades, it's due to the fact that the man has left.

Panting, I say to Diesel, "What was that?"

"I don't know. Are you alright, Olivia?" He replies.

Blinking I respond to him, "I'll be fine. You?"

My boyfriend nods.

By this time I realize that we're shouting in an attempt to hear the other. My ears still ring slightly from the pain.

"We need to find the others and tell them what just happened." I grab his arm and go up the stairs, not without a quick glance backwards to check for anyone who may have seen what just occured.

________________________________

"This isn't good news. Not only that, you ran straight towards that fire. The whole thing was a setup." Garret growls.

"We know that, but at least we saved those two people." I retort with rasp fron my smoke stained throat.

He sighs and softens his tone, "Yes, and I'm proud that you two did that. Though now we're faced with the fact that staying here never even was safe, and they have some type of sound machine that hurts your ears."

Ash comes walking up at this moment, "Hey, if that noise hurt your ears then how come it didn't hurt that man's ears."

We turn to Mr.Wilks to see what he'll say. Luckily, the professor has an answer.

"The sound is at a frequency that only shifters can hear. Sensitive hearing isn't always a good thing to have. Diesel and Olivia heard the noise but the man was human and was therefore unaffected."

Felicity, my 'too-smart-for-her-age' sister, adds in, "They'll be using this as a weapon now. Only Ash and Syraj will be the ones safe from it."

Syraj puts his hands into his jean pockets, "That's not the only thing they'll be using against you guys. All shifter senses are highly sensitive and they know how to use that against you. Your eyes? They'll use bright light to blind you. Your sense of smell? They'll use a gas that could take your breath away like ammonia but doesn't affect a human. Keep in mind that I was going to be trained to hunt shifters. I have an idea of the way their tactics work."

"Can I just add in the fact that this man who approached Olivia and Diesel threatened us? That's our current issue." Ash points out, bringing us back to the main conversation at hand.

We all go into silence at the thought. Being told to leave the hotel, the one place we considered to be a safe and neutral place, gives us nowhere else to go. Mr.Wilks house is still a red zone. Moving to another hotel means nothing. The threat would remain the same.

"Wait," I light up, "if we leave the hotel they'll think we went back home. Mr.Wilks, you said you had a boat. Could it house all of us for a night?"

He smiles, "There's plenty of room aboard."

Everyone starts to nod. They're catching on to my idea. Diesel who still hasn't cleaned off the layers of soot gives me a warming smile.

That familiar, gushy feeling from when Diesel was still my crush falls over me at the sight of his smile.

This has turned out to be in our advantage. Our enemy will think we have retreated, but it will be quite the opposite.