Fan Fiction ❯ The Ties That Bind ❯ Mall Rats ( Chapter 4 )

Chapter 4 - Mall Rats

"You want fries with that?" asked the bored voice of the clerk behind the counter of the burger joint that was located in the food court of one more nameless mall in a long stretch. He had stopped trying to flirt with the beauty that was ordering when she had proven to be as hopeless as any other chick to most pimpled, freckled teenage males who desired them.

"But of course. Give me the combo, make the drink a mountain dew," Semanche said softly, really hating the fact she had been forced to stop for food here instead of at a better restaurant. However, beggars can't be choosers when you are running for your life.

She smiled tightly, paid the poor boy and took her food to one of the cookie cutter type of tables and chairs that lined the food court. Southern California malls were havens of coolness and food in the sweltering heat of the landscape at this time of year. They offered a pleasant refuge from shopping and life in general that few places could match outside of Wal-Mart.

She could feel him coming like death's shadow, homing in on her very blood like a hound to the scent. Knowing her brother as well as she did, he would not stop until one or both of them was dead, regardless of the fact that what he was doing was wrong. Semanche had a few guesses as to why the Council wanted her dead and none of them comforting at all. She very much doubted that they had enlightened Crispin on exactly why he had been given orders to kill his own sister. What little information she had gleaned before fleeing for her life pointed to the fact they had labeled her one of the Forsaken and sent the best they had to track her.

Any other time, she would have been flattered that they thought her dangerous enough to send Crispin after her. Any other time that she wasn't facing oblivion at the hands of her own brother. The cooling fries and sloppy burger dried on her tongue at the vein of her thoughts. There had been a time when the world had made sense, back before her entire family had been turned upside down by events beyond their very control.

Father, why did you have to leave us? Why? If you had stayed, Cris and Bas wouldn't have called blood rights. Mother would still be herself. Lyona would still live. None of this would have happened. Father, we need you.

Such pleas and thoughts were fruitless and besides that ruining her appetite. Wallowing in self-pity and regret for what might have been was unbecoming in a Knight of her caliber and training as she had been taught through various hard earned lessons. Crispin would have her hide if he could see her now, sitting and sipping on mountain dew out of a Styrofoam cup and crying out to a father that had disappeared long ago. Ironically, Semanche was very glad that her brother was not here yet.

Quietly, she stared around at the shoppers that were eating and laughing near to where she was sitting, lost amidst her own thoughts. Lightly, she nibbled at a cube of ice that had managed to pull itself up through the straw and simply considered those around her. Never before had she quite realized how set apart she was from the innocents she had sworn her life to protect. Even if she had never entered the Knight's training, she would have always been different from all of them, simply by virtue of the blood she carried within her. Semanche had once wondered what it would be like to be one of the ignorant and to have no knowledge of her own heritage or the true histories of the ages of man. A life in bliss where everything and everyone she met was normal and mundanely regular.

It would have killed her.

Such a life was not something she wanted, not even being in the precarious situation she found herself within now. Twirling the edges of a napkin, she sighed quietly and let her mind range out in search of any sign that her brother was closing upon her. She sensed him still at a great distance, allowing her to relax for a moment. Coming to this mall had strained the very limits of her long distance shifting abilities.

Shifting was the term her Trainers had loosely applied to every form of instantaneous traveling. It was the basic ability to shift from one point of space to another point with a thought, instantly allowing the magic user to move their body or inanimate objects between those points. Miscalculations of shifting had lead to accidents of all ranges that did not bear repeating. Basic magical abilities were a requirement for any Knight, no matter where they were to be stationed or what their primary duties were to be outside of the Hunt and the Peace.

The Hunt referred to tracking down and destroying any creatures of magic, rogue magic users or Forsaken that threatened the Peace of the world. The Peace was also an archaic law that made it forbidden for a Knight to reveal themselves or their extraordinary, supernatural abilities to any of the innocent outside of certain provided for situations. The Peace was another reason that Semanche was keeping to public places full of the unknowing. Not even her brother would defile the Peace to kill her, though he would do anything in his power to drag her away from that dubious safety.

Too late, she realized that she could no longer sense Crispin's presence, even at a far distance. It could mean that he was masking himself from her or that he was in the process of shifting to a new location, perhaps even near to where she was. No matter the reason, she had dallied too long in this place. She rose, turning to deposit her trash within the provided bin and head through the mall. Semanche stole glances over the curve of her shoulder as she flowed gracefully through the crowds of people that were window shopping or simply passing the time with friends and family.

She blended right into the press of people clad as she was in a pair of faded jeans that were just the color of her eyes and an off the shoulder purple shirt that flared around the soft curves of her waist. Fashionable it may have appeared but she had donned it in the haste of departure with little concern in the way of style. Her shoulder blades were literally twitching from the constant motions of her head to peer behind her and all around her. At least now she knew what a hunted lion felt like when the hunters were close upon its tail. In her case, it would be the fox and the hounds, only no hound she knew of could track as well as her brother. Damn him and her luck.

Why won't he listen to reason? He must know that I would never become one of the Forsaken. By all that's holy, he trained me and our parents raised me better than to be a Code Breaker. I do not expect mercy from him but he will listen to me before we dance one last time. I will die well, if nothing else. I cannot kill my own blood, though I know he can. The Knight of the Stars has all the feeling found within those celestial bodies, while the Knight of the Wood has all of the wild heart found within the shelter of forest and glen. If only I could show him my domain…

Her thoughts were cut short at a light tapping upon her shoulder that caused her to flinch and sigh resignedly. The end had found her quicker than she thought and she would dance with her brethren sooner than she could have imagined. No regrets, though it would not be her that was haunted and harmed the most by her death. Crispin and Bastian would suffer the most for it.

"So, I have found you at least, little starling," came a soft voice that caused her to turn with a start, even as the cold lump of dread settled deeper into the pit of her stomach if such a thing were possible.

Perhaps the stars did have a sense of humor and she might just survive the night after all.

Fat chance.