Tinted Lenses: Julian (chapter final)

I stared at my plate ahead of me, wondering if I could shove down this food in the face of my wood-be stalker… or, whoever the fuck was ogling me from behind to pick up the roll of silverware so I could poke at it with my fork.

“Don’t taunt the food.” I heard one of the twin’s say. I wasn’t sure which one, but I felt one corner of my mouth twitch up.

“Make me, Mom,” I shot back. I wanted to say more, but I couldn’t conjure forward any better of a response before I finally sat up, leaning forward to shove the fork into the shelled pasta then lifted it to my mouth. First bite went in as smooth as rock candy on the tongue. I chewed it tentatively, pushed it to one side of my mouth and started to stuff my face with another before making a choking cough that turned into a gag.

I tried to push past it, figuring it was just the texture, and continue on. Again, I attempted another swallow. This time… I wretched. The audible noise that fizzled out from between my lips as I tried to hold them tightly together won out, and I grabbed a napkin from the centerpiece to spit it all out.

“Told you,” Topher reminded me.

I wish I could have told him off, but I was still too busy tasting the napkin, and likely eating it as I wiped my tongue.

“Should have just taken our advice,” Mik lamented as he leaned forward to casually continue eating and I turned for the drink. Topher sat forward, but not faster than Mik who was pushing it out of reach and my hands barely slid across the cold class, nearly landing in my plate.

“Give me it!”

“Nah man, that’s just going to make it ten times worse.”

I was almost in tears, wanting relief, and I reached for it again to no avail. It felt like torture, but I knew in the back of my mind, this was likely the best choice. God, I hated it though! After a moment longer of agony, my voice slowly started to rake hoarsely through my throat as I felt the nagging Hunger hit harder. My hand seized the cloth over my chest and I tried to fight back, keeping my mind intact as it all sank in.

I didn’t realize that I’d fallen over, my leg curling up awkwardly against the footboard of the seat as the other struck Mik.

“Hey, chill out-” Topher warned.

“Fuck!” I screamed, my voice raw. I felt like I was losing it. Dammit! I shouldn’t have ate something this afternoon! I should have choked down a pack, something! It was so late. Too fucking late, and I almost gave a strangled yelp for one of them to stop me before the crowding black around my vision came surging forward as I heard the tableware clatter roughly.

Someone snagged a hold of my arm, dragging me out of the seat, another hand hefted me upright by the collar of my shirt in a death grip and I couldn’t tell if it was both of them or one of them, but the whole restaurant flipped upside down like someone had thrown me, and the force felt like I was going fast enough that I was going to impact something before the blaring lights blazed in glorious painful stars of white and warm ambers before black washed over me, and I sucked in another breath noisily.

“Move him out from under your arm and pick his ass up, he’s not going to stand on his own,” Topher’s voice bled in.

I moaned out a response, instead of actually articulating some sort of audible word as I felt my body ragdoll over someone’s backside, my arm tagging sharply forward and down before the tension eased and I felt my feet drag slowly from the ground until they were dangling.

“Get a move on,” Topher’s voice said, sounding urgent.

Was I supposed to be running?

“Is she gaining?”

“Fuck yes she’s gaining! Quit looking back!” he snapped. “Walk faster.”

“I am walking faster!” Mik snapped back, and I felt the smooth ride start to become more jostled, and my throat welled tightly.

I think I’m going to hurl. My eyes rolled, barely able to take in my surroundings anymore before Mik cursed.

“She’s gaining! Go right! Go right!” Topher urged. “Wait, no– left!”

And my body jostled, almost nearly sliding forward into what felt like me very nearly getting pitched forward. I didn’t think I could handle much more. I wanted to beg them to stop, the Hunger aching and gnawing at my insides as I tried to force myself to regulate my breathing, but I was losing it again. “Nooo….” I ached out, but my subconscious was doing all the articulating, not my brain.

“Shut up, Julian!” Mik rasped. “Shut- FUCK!”

“Finally,” a female voice firmed. “You can stop hiding.”

“You’re not supposed to be here,” Mik said hoarsely.

“Says who?” she asked.

“It’s not your territory.” Topher affirmed.

“And he doesn’t belong here,” she pointed.

“He’s part of Red’s Coven, so you can kindly fuck off.”

“I wouldn’t get that tone with me,” she warned.

I could hear Mik growling under his breath, and the rumble of his voice reverberated through me as I pinched my eyes shut.

“Leave him alone,” Topher growled. “Fucking old hag.”

She clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth. “You really feel bolstered right now, being in territory, thinking I’m just going to simply let you go.”

“If you start shit, there’ll be shit, whether we win or lose that fight won’t matter for the amount of shit you’ll stir up. Fuck. Off. Amelia.” Topher growled.

“He’s my grandson, I have a right to get to know him.”

“The fuck you do!” Mik told her.

I winced. Dammit. Of all the people— It had to be her. My mom warned me about this, that when it came time for me to be mindful of my surroundings, to not go around at night. I’d been so thoughtless and careless today, on more than one occasion, that I couldn’t even remember if I’d properly masked my hair from its usual color. My stomach twisted wildly, and I knew that this was going to be an even worse night with this situation until I heard a holler that sounded almost like a bark. I peeled open my eyes in time to see Topher shift, jumping at Amelia as she disappeared from my sight momentarily. If it weren’t for the white, I wouldn’t have been able to trace her as she landed neatly on top of the dumpster a few feet from us as Topher hit the wall where she had been moments ago. He turned on her, but didn’t advance, growling sharply as his midnight black fur covered the muzzle of his face nicely, only allowing the white of his teeth to shine through between his blackened gums.

“Red’s already on his way,” Topher warned her. “Leave.”

“I think I can count time effectively,” Amelia sighed, tossing her hands up. “Though, I’m not afraid to get a little dirty. Don’t worry, I won’t kill you.”

“She can’t be serious,” Mik rumbled under her breath.

“She is,” Topher hissed out between his teeth, sounding more irritated that I remembered him ever being. The black mass that I could barely comprehend was him crossing those few feet in mere steps, slamming into the dumpster before he was picking it up to throw it while she was still on it. Her balance teetered, but I could tell from the look on her face… She was enjoying this.

“Always aggressive before investigative!” she laughed, pushing off the top of the dumpster as it twisted in the air, turning upside down to crash into a wall, taking a huge chunk out of it.

My eyes slowly tried to trail up, but I couldn’t track her much further since my body refused to comply, but I could hear her laughing and shivers racked me. What did she want with me? Was I going to get kidnapped?

“Well, tell you what– You tell my great granddaughter that she has a deal to uphold,” she told us, her voice distant but somewhat sounding like it was coming from above.

“And you run to Red, tell him that I came, and that I am demanding my Coven be restored as it was because he’s breaking his own rules.”

“Like Hell!” Mik shot, his voice echoing through the alley.

“I’m not going to stop,” Amelia told them, “but I’ll retire for tonight.”

When the tension in Mik eased, I almost passed out. “Fuh-hu…” I whimpered, completely starved.

“Yeah,” Mik rasped. “I know.”

“Is he still conscious?” Topher asked, slowly coming back over.

“I think so.”

I wanted to answer them, but my body felt heavy. I could feel myself slipping out of it, and my eyes watered as I tried to stuff back the whimper building in my chest before my eyes closed for the final time.