Knight's Haven

I stood frozen in my place for a while after Jace walked off. The shock was holding me there, staring at where he had disappeared in the woods. Time wasn't exactly high on my list of worries, I must've been there for ten- fifteen minutes before I bothered to snap out of this state of paralysis, hearing the engine of a car. Out there, even if it wasn't too far into the woods yet, it was quiet. The only other sound was that of the wind blowing through leaves. A car engine was an easy sound to pick out.

It cut out a not too long after, and though I still had my back turned to the source, I could tell it was pretty damn close. Not too far behind me. Skylar. There was no way this could be someone else. There was the sound of a car door, opening and closing. Footsteps slowly coming up behind me. Then another door. Jace had only mentioned Skylar, I hadn't expected anyone else to be showing up. For just a moment, I had a small hope that maybe this was random. However, like everything else that day, that small bit of hope was shattered.

Before I knew what was happening I was on the ground. There was a guy above me, pinning my wrists to the dirt with a grip that tightened every time I tried to get my arms away from him. He looked like your average college football player. The cocky look about him, good looking enough to at least be slightly above average, tan with the kind of bright blue eyes that could stand out from across the room. Dark wavy hair hung down, almost hitting my face as he was hovering above me. This situation didn't last too long before the collar of his shirt tightened around his neck and he was pulled off. It was just enough time for me to decide that this guy is definitely not the type of person you'd want to piss off.

Well, the that took his place standing over me was worse. It sounds weird to say, she was much smaller, skinnier, not much muscle on her bones. But she had control over the guy. The minute she gave the word, he would attack. She had dark skin, curly hair tied back away from her face, and the type of brown eyes that could pierce into you soul. "I doubt this guy is much of a threat to us."

I got back to my feet looking around at the people who had presumably come to attack me. There was a third person, still standing by the silver jeep that they had come from. Her back was turned to me, so all I could see of her was the bright red hair and the glint of light hitting the cell phone she was holding to her ear. "So should I be assuming one of you is Skylar?"

The first girl nodded, looking me over like she needed to confirm that I wasn't dangerous. As if I could do much damage with her attack dog on standby right next to me. "That would be me. And you're Addison. I see Jace has mentioned me."

I managed a small smile, just trying to ease the tension. If it worked, I couldn't tell. "Well he didn't have much to say that was actually nice. He seems to be under the impression that you want to kill him. You aren't going to kill us, are you?"

Skylar sighed, her expression changing to something seeming more frustrated than anything else. "Well I hate to break it to you, but your friend is a bit messed up in the head these days. I have no intention of killing anyone. I'm here to stop him. So, where the hell is he?"

I could feel a pang of pain at the words. Right, just a small friendly reminder that he left me behind. There's nothing like being ditched by your friend t brighten your day. I shook my head, looking back down at my hands. "Gone. He told me not to follow. So I guess that makes me your decoy."

She raised her eyebrows, actually seeming surprised by the fact that they would only be finding me there. "Oh. So he's left you here for me to kill? I mean if that's what he thinks I really want to do-"

"I'll stop you right there. I'd really rather not think about it. What exactly are you trying to stop him from doing?"

"You really don't know, do you?" Skylar sighed. "He wants to expose Haven to the rest of the world. One thing most people all agree on is that different sucks, so just imagine what that could do."

I frowned, honestly trying to picture it, but I was still having a hard time believing that I wasn't in the middle of a fever dream.

Skylar rolled her eyes. "Look Addison, I'm sure you're an okay guy, but I don't have the patience to hold your hand through all of this, and you're in this now. He's your friend, you're going to be sticking with us."

Well, to say that came as a surprise would be an understatement. Thirty minutes ago I thought it was possible this girl may kill me, and now she was pulling me into this, on her side. "Look, I'm not supposed to be here. I start college in a month, I have a life-" the look on her face clearly stated that she didn't care. She wasn't giving me a choice.

"We all have a life. We didn't just wake up one day and decide to chase some idiot trying to destroy peace for hundreds of people. He didn't give us a choice, I'm not giving you one either. You're his friend, right? If anyone is going to know how to handle him, it's you."

We were interrupted as the red haired girl came over. She has one of those faces that seems familiar. Perfectly braided hair, symmetrical face right down to the spray of freckles across her nose. And when she smiled, it was one of those billboard perfect smiles. Her smile faded fast as she looked back at Skylar with her wide eyes.

"What's the word, Beth?" Skylar nodded down at the phone the girl held.

"Ethan found some of the books you mentioned. They said they were heading to Emily's, that we should just meet them there."

Skylar nodded, letting out a sigh. "Alright, yeah. Emily's it is. I would've hoped to keep her out of the entire situation."

After completely ignoring me for that little discussion, she turned to look at me again, a slight smile on her face. "Alright Addison, if you're going to be stuck with us I suppose I should at the very least give some introductions. Ginger here is Elisabeth, the brute is Macaulay. Teddy bear, really. You'll have to wait until we get to Emily's to meet Ethan and Noah. It isn't too far from here."

I nodded, getting the feeling this was her best attempt at being polite right now. She didn't exactly strike me as the polite type anyway, more brutal honesty. When Skylar started walking I followed, watching as Macaulay slowed down to fall into step with me. "You'll get used to Sky. She's changed a lot since she started getting into the witchcraft business, she's gotten to serious, but she's good people."

I looked back to meet his eyes. "I suppose you're going to be keeping an eye on me for a while. No way Skylar will be letting me run off. Not that I would, I'd end up lost anyway. Don't go trying too hard Macaulay."

He let out a small laugh, shaking his head. "Alright you got me. But I know this can be pretty overwhelming, so I figured I could be here to make it at least slightly easier. And please, call me Mack."