I landed hard on a cold leafy ground. I was lying in the middle of a forest. Great. I was flat on my back, having lost my balance and fallen.
“Let me help you up,” Mitchell’s soft voice spoke from above me. He was still standing.
“Don’t touch her!” Edward snarled. He was also standing. Was I the only one that fell?
Cold hands helped me to my feet. Edward looked me up and down, obviously checking for any damage.
“Are you ok?” he whispered. “You’re not hurt?”
“I’m fine,” I assured him. “Or I will be in just a second.”
I turned around and glared at Mitchell. This boy or whatever he was, standing in front of me was not who I thought he was. Although I had only met him twice, I thought he was my friend. But then I find out that he had only spoken to me because he and some other guy wanted to kill me. This was all a plan to kill Charlie and me. Well, I wouldn’t let them. Neither him or that Loren was getting near Charlie.
Mitchell was watching me warily, unsure of what I was thinking or going to do. I walked up to him and punched him as hard as I could. He staggered back and fell over. His head smacked off the ground.
“WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?” I shouted at him. “WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU? WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING HERE?”
Mitchell sat up, blood streaming down his face but he didn’t hold his nose. He let the blood pour from his nose, he didn’t attempt to stop it.
“I deserved that,” he said thickly through the blood.
“Answer my questions!”
He stared up at me and his once bright blue eyes were now faded and tired. I almost felt sorry for punching him but I forced myself to look away from his eyes. They were dangerous.
“I am Mitchell de la Russo,” he said. “I am a Jenzi being and I am here to take revenge on Charles Swan by first killing you and then killing him.”
Edward snarled and bent into his hunting crouch. I stared at Mitchell, stunned that he had actually told me the truth.
Mitchell continued. “You asked me what is going on and what is going on is that I don’t want to kill you. You or Charlie. I promised him that I would protect you and a Jenzi can never break a promise.”
“But what about Charlie?” I asked. “You’ve left him there alone with Loren. I thought he was your friend.”
“How do you know that?” His eyes were clouded with confusion.
“I read your mind. You were thinking about the last time you met Charlie and the promise you made to him. He said that you and him were friends yet you left him there alone to deal with Loren.”
“My father, Loren, is harmless,” Mitchell scoffed. “He couldn’t hurt a fly if he wanted to.”
Now I was confused.
“Loren has no abilities?” Edward’s snarl had become a shocked question. “None at all? How can that be?”
Mitchell laughed. “Michaela’s great grandmother, Alexandra, captured his abilities. Loren was an evil and sadistic man when he was younger. He abused his abilities and Alexandra had every right to take them away. She was very powerful.”
“Go grandma,” I muttered under my breath.
“So Charlie is perfectly safe?” Edward asked. “He will not get hurt or be killed?”
“Not unless Loren uses human weapons,” Mitchell shrugged.
“You’re only here because he needs someone with abilities to kill us? You don’t actually want to kill me?”
Mitchell didn’t answer.
“You wanted to kill me?” My voice was barely a whisper. I had never met anyone who had planned to kill me. Sure, there was the newborn but he only wanted to kill me because I was food to him. Mitchell just wanted to kill me because of something that Charlie done. Yes, I understand that Charlie killed Mitchell’s sister and I don’t wholeheartedly agree that that was the best way to stop her but I had nothing to do with it. Why pick on me?
“It was a way of revenge,” Mitchell said, slowly. “We would kidnap you, scare the hell out of Charlie. Torture you too, just to get at Charlie. When he would try and find you, to save you, we know he will give his life up for you and that is when we would kill you. Just before we kill him.”
“Why aren’t you going to kill me?”
“I am not like my father. He wants to wipe out the entire human and Azdi race. He wants the Jenzis to be in total control. He wants to torture and kill you and Charlie but I don’t. I have no abilities that could harm anyone. The only reason I wanted to mesmerize people was to help. If I could mesmerize a serial killer to stop him from murdering innocent humans I could do a world of good. No more unnecessary deaths.”
“That’s what you were doing to Kayla,” Edward said. “You were mesmerizing her so you could control her. Lure her to her death.”
“Charlie and I, we were going to change everything,” Mitchell spoke, quietly. “We were going to break this feud between the Jenzis and Azdis. We were going to show everyone that we could live in peace. But then Arianna, the stupid girl, found out about our plan. She was going to set Charlie up. She tortured the humans, killed them. The death toll went up too high and the humans noticed. Charlie had to stop her, it was his purpose. But she refused to stop and challenged Charlie to a fight. I don’t think that she aiming to kill herself, just to get injured and show Loren and paint Charlie in a bad light. But she went too far and Charlie killed her.”
“Kayla, I don’t think he’s a bad person,” Edward spoke low in my ear. “Loren has manipulated him and made him like this.”
“Charlie gave up his abilities to save you.” Mitchell continued. “We wouldn’t be able to find him because we track people by their abilities. It was only recently that our trackers picked him up and then Loren plotted his revenge again.”
“Where are we, Mitchell?” I asked, looking around. “I know we’re in a forest but where?”
“Just across from your house,” Mitchell answered, sheepishly. “I’m not very good at on the spot shimmering.”
I smiled at him, feeling very bad. It wasn’t his fault, not really. Loren had indeed manipulated him and filled his head with evil. Without Charlie, Mitchell was like a lost child.
“How’s your nose?” I asked. It wasn’t bleeding anymore and he hadn’t paid any attention to it. He had just left it to bleed.
“It’s going to heal soon,” Mitchell said, casually. “Nothing to worry about.”
Kayla, you aren’t seriously feeling sorry for him?
I looked back at Edward who still had that fury in his eyes, especially reserved for Mitchell.
It’s not his fault Edward. If Charlie can trust him, then we can.
Fine, but it doesn’t mean I like him.
I smiled at him to show that I appreciated it.
“Loren will have left by now,” Mitchell said. “If you want to go back and see Charlie. He’ll think if I’ve taken you and Edward to some undetectable place.”
“You’ll come with us,” I said. “I think you and Charlie will need to talk.”
I held out my hand and helped him to stand up. He held onto my hand and I read his mind.
“We’ll walk if that’s ok. I’m not too keen on the shimmering thing.”