Chapter 22: Promises and Lost Relations

Symbols flared from the center of the hypersigil, and a new glowing line snaked from the nexus to the duality glyph. Lady Zamora extended a single finger and followed the fiery tendril through the intersecting patterns, interpreting the design.

"He cleaves the afterworlds," she murmured to herself. "Splitting Heaven and Hell. The two Nephilim confront him. Purgatory calls." She counted the ticks on the line, picked up her phone, and dialed.

"My lady," Tombspawn's cold voice answered. "What news do you bring?"

"The epiphany draws near," she reported. "And will reach the apex on Sunday. Will you be ready for him then?"

She heard Tombspawn relay a question to someone else. "Will the weapon be ready by Sunday?" his muffled voice asked.

There was an even quieter response invoking the word "testing." He returned to the phone. "It is my intention," he answered. "But I may need you to hold him until Monday."

"As I agreed, I shall hold his insight until you are ready for him."

"Thank you my lady."

"But know that I will not refund your money if he dies this weekend."

There was a pause.

"Is he in danger?" he asked.

"He confronts an angel and a demon in pursuit of the next transformation. They may try to kill him. He may try to kill them."

"I see. What are his chances?"

"That is not for me to know. That is for him to decide. I can only tell you the path, not how far he will travel upon it."

"Is there anything you can do to help him?"

"If I interfere, the path is broken."

He paused. "So we can only wait to hear what happens?"

"Do not worry. He has been given the tools he needs by his guardians. He should succeed."

"So you believe he will be able to kill this angel and demon?"

Lady Zamora watched the glowing hypersigil on her table. "Either way, if he kills one or one kills him, the path is destroyed. I will keep you informed." And she hung up.

Tombspawn closed the phone and thought. "The time draws near," he announced to the others.

Armory smiled, and continued working on the weapon. Adamantine lifted her leg back onto the workbench and picked up the belt-sander. "Can I continue?" she asked.

"If you wish."

She turned on the belt-sander and ran it over her leg. And as the screeching, ripping sandpaper worked on the nearly invulnerable hairs, Tombspawn walked to a table, extracted a small plastic bag, and then stood before a mirror. Ada watched him curiously as he opened the bag and poured the meager contents into his hand.

She recognized the bag. It was the one that originally contained the blood-caked cell phone. The small chips of Joey Harper's dried blood fell into his hand, and he lifted his hand upward. She turned off the belt-sander.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

He tipped his head backwards and dropped his jaw open. Then he poured the dried blood into his mouth. Muscle sat in the far corner, normally silent, but he stirred and growled as the hissing sound emerged from his master. A sickly green energy wafted from Tombspawn's body, drifting off his head and dripping down his arms. Cracking, shifting sounds emerged from his body.

"He will be leaving his guardians soon," Tombspawn said. He lowered his head and turned towards Adamantine. She watched in a combination of fascination and horror as she saw his nose straightening and shifting, and his cheekbones lifting. "He will need someone to go to."

His face changed and shifted, becoming more and more like someone she knew.

Thursday morning.

Giggles. Whispers. Glances of curiosity and outright stares of pure voyeurism. As Joey stood at his locker organizing his books for the day, he could just feel everyone's eyes on him. The news had broken about the double date, and of Jeff finally asking Sarah out. Now it was his turn, and every other kid in the school knew about it, and was watching him. Oh sure, they would quickly avert their eyes or give him awkward grins when he looked around, but he could feel their eyes constantly on him. The hairs on the back of his head would just bristle when they watched him.

Down the hallway, he could see Sarah and Jeff as they talked and joked with each other. Sarah just beamed with delight in Jeff's presence, but Jeff didn't appear to match her enthusiasm. His face would switch between smiles and frowns of concern. He seemed to alternate between bouts of happiness and confusion.

Simon came up to Joey's side and leaned on his crutches. "Jeff looks a little..." He paused as he searched for the best word. "Uncertain," he settled on. "Idiot," he muttered under his breath.

Joey shrugged. "Give him some time. This is new for him." He looked across the hallway towards the two, and his eyes met with Jeff's. Jeff gave him a weak smile and turned his attention back to Sarah and whatever it was she was saying to him. "He's not used to not being around his sister. This is good for him."

"Speaking of, where is she?" Simon asked.

He scanned around looking for Lynne. The hallway was filled with kids, all bustling and chatting when they weren't directly staring at him. Kaelyn, Raquel, and Willow stood in one group that had been eying him a lot. The cat-girl's eyes narrowed on him hungrily and her tail twitched as he saw her. Her long ears swiveled towards him, and he quickly averted his eyes and looked in another direction.

"No idea," he concluded. "She must still be in the dorms."

Simon raised his eyebrows. "Well, that's a first, one coming down without the other. So! Everyone else is wondering, so I'll ask. You gonna ask her out today?"

Joey took a deep breath, and he felt a cold shiver run down his spine. He could feel the eyes of several dozen people watching him, and he often wondered if he had developed from years of hiding on the streets some special sixth sense for knowing if someone was looking at him. So just being in the hallway with so many girls staring him, waiting for his next move, was unnerving. "I ... I don't know now."

"What do you mean?"

Joey sighed. "Well, you know I wanted to yesterday, but then when I saw her and she was ... you know ... It just kind of freaked me out."

"You having second thoughts?"

He shrugged. "Kinda."

Simon sighed. "Look. Don't let that bother you. It's nothing. And she knows you're gonna ask her, so you might as well do it. If you don't, you'll just insult her."

Joey nodded. "Yeah."

"So you gonna ask her out?"

Joey inhaled. I..." he started, but that's as far as he got. His instincts screamed, like he was being hunted.

He quickly turned and saw Kaelyn, the Australian cat-girl approaching him. Actually, she wasn't so much approaching him as stalking him. Her shoulders rolled in tight backward circles with each step, twisting her upthrust chest with each sensuous stride. Her long tail swished and snaked behind her, whipped about by her curvy hips. But her eyes bored straight into him. Joey's spine tingled.

"Ey' mate," she said as she reached him. She leaned on one wide hip and flipped her long dark hair back with a swish of her tail.

He swallowed, and Simon took a cautious step back, either to avoid contact with a wild animal or to get a better look at her fine ass. Or both. "Oh. Hi Kaelyn," Joey managed. "'Sup?"

She swiveled her head and torso around, taking in the scene, which gave him a moment to check out her body. Tight muscles and tendons wrapped her slender, flexible frame. Long white-tipped bluish-black hair whipped about, and rounded breasts jiggled. She returned to scrutinizing him. "So. I hear you're having second thoughts about Lynne?"

Joey blinked. "Um ... What?"

"Good ears," she explained, pointing to them.

He glanced at her large furry cat-ears. "Oh. Well, maybe. I don't..."

She shifted on her hips. "So I've still got a chance?"

Joey frowned and squinted at the girl. "A chance? For what?"

She pounced him. No warning, she literally pounced him, pushing both hands into his chest and slamming him against the lockers. Kids yelped and jumped back in shock as he hit the metal doors. She knocked the breath out of him, and as Joey struggled to keep his balance, Kaelyn pressed her full, scrumptious body up against his, and slipped her hands up around his head. He could feel her claws dig into his scalp. Her legs spread wide as she straddled one thigh, and her tail whipped around the other leg.

"Kaelyn! What are you doing?" he protested.

She didn't answer at first. She just started purring, loudly, straight into his body. He could feel the deep thrumming vibrations coming through her warm, pert breasts and into his chest. And as jaws dropped and lungs gasped all around them, she snuggled up to him, undulating and stretching her tight body against his.

"I was thinking you and I call in sick and go party somewhere private," she whispered, and she batted her big beautiful gold eyes at him, and her white-capped ears swiveled open towards him. As Joey squirmed under her full-frontal assault, she dropped one hand down to his butt and gave him a healthy squeeze on one cheek, causing him to jump. "Why don't you show me what it is you did to pull Sarah out of her shell? Maybe you could pull me out of mine?"

The gasps around him turned to giggles. Everyone in the hallway was watching them now, and everyone was enjoying the show. Somebody in the crowd let out a "Go Joey!" which solicited a round of chuckles.

Joey grabbed her hands and tried pulling them away, and when that didn't work he tried pushing her back off him, but couldn't really budge her one way or the other. Despite her short size, Kaelyn was much stronger and heavier than him. He remembered something he heard about her increased bone and muscle density that explained the strength, but those thoughts were quickly pushed out of his head by his awakening libido. Her warm body and soft breasts rubbed into his chest, and she openly rocked her hot groin into his thigh. Then she grinned at him, which scared the shit out of him. Her fangs were thin and pointed, and probably sharper than the claws which were currently poking into his butt cheek.

"Um..." He gave Simon a quick glance, pleading for help. "Simon? Help?"

Simon was grinning, obviously enjoying Joey's predicament. "Um ... Bad kitty? Down?" he said half-heartedly.

"Not the kind of help I was looking for!" He returned his attention to the hybrid feline who was currently purring and pawing him and wiping her face on his chest, and he tried once again to pry her fingers loose from his body. "Look, um Kaelyn. I ... Wow, you're strong. Listen, I'm flattered, and I'm sure you're a great girl and I'm sure it'll be fun and all..."

"Bloody fun!" she said proudly.

"Yeah, that's the thing I'm really worried about," Joey said, trying to squirm free and get some distance from her claws and fangs, and failing miserably at both, much to everyone else's amusement. He tried pushing the girl off him. "Kaelynn, look. Thanks, but I'm not YEEOOW!" He yelped because her tail had slipped up between his legs and nearly gave him a prostate exam. He bucked his hips towards her, trying to avoid her probing appendage.

The crowd was now laughing, and Joey gave Jeff a begging stare. "Can somebody help me?"

"Do what?" Jeff said, enjoying the sight.

Raquel sighed and stepped forward. She struck an attitude pose. "GIRL! Whatchu doin' humping that white boy in the halls like that? That's nasty!"

The cat-girl turned and glared at her friend. Her throat rumbled in a low territorial growl.

"Oh, don't chu give me that, Toonces," Raquel scolded back. "You know you broke the rules,"

"Bugger off, bitch!" Kaelyn screeched.

Raquel was unmoved, and she shifted on her hips and reached for her bag. "Oh, don't chu go there! You asked for it now," she said, and she reached into her bag and pulled out a gun.

Joey went cold. And for one brief tenth of a second, his already adrenaline-fueled imagination suddenly went into overdrive. "A GUN! WHY THE HELL DID SHE BRING A GUN TO SCHOOL? HOW DID SHE GET IT IN HERE? WHY IS SHE POINTING IT AT ME? I'M NOT DOING ANYTHING! HELP!" He nearly shrieked in terror.

It was only after all of these thoughts managed to push all the way through his brain, down his spine, and into his bladder that he remembered that guns aren't made of transparent orange plastic, nor do they have water sloshing around inside them. Raquel pumped the trigger.

<Squirt><Squirt><Squirt><Squirt>

"MREEOOWW!" Kaelyn leaped off of Joey in a desperate attempt to avoid the spraying water, and as the entire hallway erupted in shrieking laughter, the cat-girl launched herself up on top of the lockers and bounded across them. She curled, turned, and snarled at Raquel, and then started licking her arm, cleaning the water off.

Raquel lifted the squirt gun and held it pointed at the ceiling, doing her best Cleopatra Jones victory pose. She smirked and called out to the cat-girl. "That's right, girl! Back off! And don't let me catch you vulching him from up there either! I WILL put you in the Cone of Shame!" And as the entire hallway erupted into applause and laughter, she batted them all away. "Yeah, yeah. Show's over! Nothing to see here. Move on."

She strode over to Joey. "You okay?" she asked him with genuine concern.

Joey rubbed his thigh from where Kaelyn pushed her entire body-weight on when leaping from him. "Yeah. Ow! Thanks. I think she nearly broke my leg there."

"Seriously?"

He tested his leg. "I'm fine, but I'm going to have a hell of a bruise."

Raquel flipped the water pistol around and handed it to him. "Here. You better keep this with you. Lock and load. She may be on you again."

"Why?" he said, taking the water pistol. "Is she in heat or something?"

"Nah. If she were she'd be howlin' and tearin' up the walls. No, she just be protectin' her interests." Raquel glared at Kaelyn.

Joey glanced back at the cat-girl and then back at Raquel. Raquel's patchwork face always startled him. "What do you mean, her interests? Did she like, claim me?"

Raquel shrugged. "Maybe. Don't know. All I know is she's just got ten bucks on Halloween." Joey frowned in bafflement for a moment and looked around. He caught a glimpse of Sarah and remembered her telling him that the girls were placing bets on when he would ask Lynne out. It all then made sense to him.

"Oh," he said. "Thanks."

She shrugged again. "Don't mention it." She scowled at him. "Now you just go do what you think you have to do," she said critically, and she strode off.

Joey frowned and watched her as Raquel walked away. "What do you suppose she meant by that?" he asked Simon. He turned to his friend, but Simon was still giggling at him.

"Dude! You should have seen your face! She was all over you, and you were all ... Ahh, and Ugh, and Err!"

"And you just stood there! Some wingman you are!" He pocketed the squirt gun.

"Hey! The wingman's job is to get the girl ON you, not off you. And besides, she's over two hundred pounds and she has claws. What was I supposed to do?"

As Joey shook his head and rubbed his thigh, Sarah came up, dragging Jeff with her. "You okay?" she asked.

"Yeah. Do you know any healing spells?"

"No, but I can get you some aspirin. You need some?"

He tested his leg. "I think I'll be okay."

Simon was still snickering, and Sarah gave him a dirty look, and then a swat on the arm. "Stop giggling at him! He could have been hurt!" And as Simon shamefully tried to contain himself, she turned to Jeff. "And you! Why didn't you help him?"

"Me?" Jeff asked.

"Yeah! She's not too heavy for you. You could have lifted her off him."

Jeff suddenly found himself being stared at very critically by three of his friends, and he faltered for a moment, his eyes darting back and forth among them all. "I can't do that!" he blurted.

Sarah glared at him. "Yes you can! I've seen what you can do."

"Yeah, Jeff," Joey said. "Why did you just stand there?"

Jeff shifted on his legs. "Okay, yeah. I could have lifted her, but that would have just made things worse." They didn't appear immediately convinced, so he continued. "Look, you all don't have TK. You don't know what it does to people when they're suddenly lifted by something they can't see. They panic. They..." He gestured, clawing the air with his hands. "I've seen it a lot. They grab onto whatever they can reach and hold on to it as hard as they can. It's not conscious, it's instinctive." He gave Joey a serious look. "She had her claws in you, and the only thing holding her back from hurting you was her own calmness. If I made her panic, she would have just ripped you open without thinking about it."

Joey gave that a moment of imagination, and shuddered. "Good call," he said. He saw Kaelyn on top of the lockers, and she winked at him.

Jeff frowned. "Is there something going on between you two that I need to know about?" he asked.

Joey shook his head, shuddering again. "No. She's just going to lose the bet if I ask Lynne out before Halloween."

Jeff gaped. "There are bets?" He turned to Sarah for confirmation. "Did you know about this?" She shrugged and nodded. "Are you in on this bet?"

"Not any more," Sarah said. "I lost weeks ago." As Jeff stood there, stunned and processing this, Sarah poked Joey in the chest. "So I think you should take this as a sign. You need to ask her out before some other girl puts the moves on you."

Simon spoke up. "I'll run defence for you. I'll just need two hundred dollars in small bills and a bag of catnip."

"You better be joking," Sarah said to Simon. "She will eat you alive."

"What a way to go!" Simon replied, smiling.

"You made a BET?" Jeff said again to Sarah, still stuck on the idea.

Sarah gave Jeff a double-take. "We're way past that. Catch up with us." She turned to Joey. "So. Today is the day. As soon as you see her, you ask her out, okay?" She looked back at Jeff. "Where is your sister anyway?"

Jeff blinked in confusion. "I um..."

Sarah groaned. "Never mind. I'll find her." And she strode off down the hallway.

As the three boys watched the albino girl strut down the hall, Joey saw Jeff's puzzled face. "Dude," Joey said to the big guy. "You know she really likes you for your body. And I mean that in the worst possible way."

"Huh?" Jeff asked.

Simon slapped him on the back. "Exactly."

As Sarah strode down the hallway, Jeff watched her, stammering to himself. "I um ... Oh god. I..."

Joey eyed his friend. He could see the A.D.D. confusion flaring in him. "You okay, man?" He appeared to be panicking.

The big musician snapped his head back and forth between Joey and Sarah. "Yeah I..." But that was as far as he got when Joey saw the doorway to the far stairwell open, and Lynne cautiously emerged. Sarah was only halfway down the hall, and when she saw Lynne she stopped and gestured to Joey. "Now!" she mouthed at him.

Chills ran down Joey's back as he saw Lynne, and it didn't take long for the others in the hall to notice her too. Conversations dropped in expectations, and eyes watched. Lynne wasn't walking down the hall. She simply waited at the far end next to the door, holding her hands clasped together.

Her dark eyes met his from the distance, and she shyly smiled at him. Joey knew in an instant what was happening. She was waiting for him.

Simon had noticed, and he turned to Joey. "You need a wingman?"

It was odd, Joey realized. It was the moment he was dreading, the moment for him to ask Lynne out, and it was the worst possible situation. It was in front of everyone. There would be no privacy; half of the school was watching him. His heart pounded hard in his chest in terror, and his mouth went dry, and yet for the first time he felt an odd calmness from the situation. There was a lightness in his body, a drawing sensation, as if the world centered on her, as if he could simply lift his feet from the ground and fall, and he would land at her feet. "No," he answered his friend. "I think I've got this."

He started to move, but Simon stopped him. "Give me the gun, and I'll keep you covered," he said gravely.

Joey frowned, and remembered the squirt-gun in his pocket. He handed it to Simon, and he started walking towards her.

He passed the girls and boys in the school, all of them watching him earnestly. He could hear whispers and gasps, and the occasional word of encouragement from an onlooker or a squeal of excitement from someone holding in their breath with anticipation. But his eyes were locked on her. They never left her. Lynne's dark eyes pierced into him from the distance, her long brown hair enraptured him, and her pink lips curled into a slight smile. He passed Sarah who gave him a simple "Go to her, Joey," as he walked by.

Lynne's beauty enchanted him, far more than the first time when he had met her back in the summer. She was irresistible, stunning, and gorgeous. Her dark brown eyes mesmerized him, her creamy skin tantalized him. Her long wavy chocolate brown hair spilled over her soft shoulders and shined in the light. She wore a tight white T-shirt that stretched snugly over her full breasts, emphasizing them, and a loose blue jeans jacket over that. He walked without thinking, just following his body towards her.

He reached her. "Hi."

She gave him a shy but warm smile. "Hi" she said back softly.

It was odd, because even though there was a part of his mind that just wanted to run screaming in terror, he felt rooted in front of her, like he had belonged there all of his life. The peculiar calmness in his body fought against the shivers in his spine and stomach, and against his heart which was now hammering in his chest.

"I um..." he started. She raised an eyebrow expectantly. "Okay, so like ... I wanted to um ... ask you..."

"Yes," she answered.

"I mean..." He swallowed and shook. He could smell her sweet scent and feel her body heat so close to him. "I wanted to talk to you. But..." She frowned, and he glanced back down the hallway. There were only about thirty kids watching in rapt attention as he tried to ask Lynne out. He turned back to her. "I wanted to talk to you, but in private?"

Lynne paused on this, gave an understanding nod, and glanced at all of the kids in the hall watching them. She rolled her tongue in her cheek as she considered them. "I don't think..." she said carefully, returning her gaze to him, "that is at all possible in this school."

He thought about it, and glanced at the door to the stairwell, realizing that all they had to do was walk through that door and they would have some measure of privacy, and some intimacy. All he had to do was open that door and guide her through, and they would be cut off from all of the prying eyes and listening ears. And he wanted to go there, but as he looked at it, the door just seemed to repel him. He didn't think it was right, didn't want to take the few extra steps it would take to get some seclusion. She was right. Privacy in this school was not an option. Even the so-called privacy rooms really didn't offer privacy. Well, actually they did, he realized, but he didn't want to contradict her.

She watched him, waiting, and he nodded in agreement. "Yeah. You're right," he said.

"So you wanted to ask me something?" she prompted him. Her beautiful eyes stared deep into him.