The Five [ON HOLD]

˚CHAPTER FOUR˚

The towering creature returned shortly, balancing a tray of tall, sleek glasses. For the first time, he breezed over the threshold and right over to the table. Scarlett watched hopefully as the robed beast bent down and placed one of the tall glasses in front of each of the teenagers and sat the leftover cup towards the empty chair. Once he had finished, he bowed slightly and said, "This will relieve you of your ill side effects. Drink up." Then he left in silence.

The scent of the steam that rose up from the dark glass reminded Scarlett of something between the smell of ginger ale and the taste of cola. She glanced around at her "teammates" (she might as well get used to calling them that) who were swishing the liquid and sniffing it in doubt. She shrugged and decided to be the first one to take a sip, reasoning that its heat would at least chase her chills away. Her fingers traced the outside of the warm glass before she brought it up to her lips and tilted the end upwards.

A delightful, sweet taste filled her mouth as she sipped the thick liquid. She felt warmth trickle down her bones until she was no longer cold and sore, but warm and relaxed. Scarlett set the glass on the table and licked her lips with pleasure. She gave a nod to her teammates, who were looking at her with wide, asking eyes.

"It's wonderful. And I feel so much better now," she told them, reclining back in her chair as she glanced around the oval table.

She watched them all give their glasses doubtful looks. The twins exchanged glances and both braced themselves before they took a quick swig of the liquid. Scarlett could tell the exact moment the fluid hit their tongues because they both visibly relaxed and took another, slower drink from the glass.

Sage just glared wearily at the glass in front of him. Scarlett watched him shudder and turn away from it, curling back up in his chair. She frowned and mentally sighed.

"Sage," she said softly. "Take a sip of it, please. Just one. I promise it will make you feel better."

Sage briefly looked at her before sighing. He uncoiled himself slowly and reached for the still steaming glass. She could see his arm quake as he brought the cup up to his nose, taking a quick whiff of it. It took him a while, but he finally took a very slow, gentle gulp from the sleek glass.

"Do you feel better?" Scarlett asked, hoping she didn't sound triumphant.

Sage gently nodded.

"Good," she said, but she was interrupted by one of the twins.

"Someone's coming!" Marcus called, pointing.

Everyone quickly turned in their seats, eyes directed toward the lone standing doorway at the front of the room. Scarlett nervously ran her fingers around the warm glass rim, sending her glance back and forth between the azure waters through the window and the empty hallway beyond Sage's shoulder.

Who could her last teammate be?

Then, a pretty faced girl with fear in her eyes and exhaustion on her face came into view, her shoulder-length chestnut hair swishing the sides her round face as she followed mindlessly behind the towering, dark-robed beast. Everyone melted back into their seats, satisfied that the girl was no one familiar. That is, everyone except Scarlett.

She rose to her feet so fast that she didn't even realize she was standing until her chair fell backward with a loud bam!

The dark haired girl lifted her eyes up and quickly scanned the room, her eyes growing wide as she noted each face around the table. It took Scarlett only a few seconds to rush around the table and tackle the short-haired girl in a hug.

"Whoa!" the girl cried, barely catching her balance before trying to wriggle out of the smothering hug. "Grace, chill!"

Scarlett Grace backed off a little bit, but still kept the girl's hands in her own.