Chapter 3

 

Blaise sighed. This was boring. Why was she always the one to have to watch out for Jade and the others? She didn't even like Jade; it was just her duty to protect her.

"What's do damn special about her anyway?" she growled. "What's so special that she attracts everyone to her? Hell, even Francesca likes her!" She smoothed back her long bangs.

Blaise Harker was just as pretty as Jade, at least that's what she thought. She had long black hair trailing down her back, bangs flowing to her shoulders, very smooth, straight, and silky. Her skin was soft and dark, and her eyes were a feirce golden color. She had a dark, mysterious look, and loved to wear red.

Yes, she was just as beautiful as the special girl, maybe more. "Then why do Timmy and Gabriel like her better?" she wondered. Then she sighed. "Gabriel. . . ."

That's what made her most upset. Gabriel liked Jade. Blaise didn't understand it. She was just like him; dark, cool, and mysterious. Quiet. But Jade. . . . no, she was special. She was powerful. "Damn that little bitch," she hissed.

"Little bitch, eh?"

She whirled around, startled. Then she scowled. "You."

Nicholas smirked. "You sound like me almost. . . . except I don't have a passion for Gabriel."

Blaise folded her arms. "Just what the hell are you getting at?" This guy was actually OK in Blaise's opinion. But still. . . .

"Join Stokar and get the revenge on Jade as you wish," Nicholas smiled coldly.

"But Gabriel. . . ."

"Forget him. What's more important, watching Jade win him or killing her?"

Blaise tilted her head and gave a faint smile in response.



Jade smoothed back Gabriel's hair. "He'll be fine," she'd assured the others. "Just unconcious right now."

"Did you tell Blaise?" Francesca asked.

"Hey, where is Blaise, anyway?" Timmy wondered.

Joshua humphed. "She was s'pposed to be watchin' for ya, but she ran off. Lil' bitch . . . nev'r liked 'er 'nyways. Too jealous."

Joshua was their leader, tall, light brown hair, hazel eyes, and twenty-three. In short, he was a good leader and refused to take shit from anyone.

Jade frowned slightly. First the Stokars, then Gabriel's injury, now Blaise's dissappearance . . . something wasn't right.

Gabriel groaned suddenly, startling them. Joshua scowled and left the room. "Make sure ya'll git some sl'p, hear? Gots a mission tomorra."

"Yes, boss," Timmy said mockingly. Jade grinned.

"You. Bi boy. Shu'up and mind your own bus'ness, hear?" Joshua growled. When Timmy gave him a mock salute, he ignored it and went to bed, slamming his door.

"Someone needs a spankin' from 'is Momma," Timmy snickered, mimicking Joshua's accent.

Jade smirked. "And someone else needs to stay away from his boss' porn magazines. That is why he's so pissed, you know," she added.

Timmy licked his lips. "Maybe, but they were . . . how can I say this . . . tasty."

Jade laughed and punched him lightly on the shoulder. "Masturbating freak."

"Naw. I like sex better. You get more out of it." Timmy's grinning face dissappeared when he felt her giving him a long stare. "What?"

Jade's cheeks flushed a light pink. "Nothing. Nevermind."

Francesca burst in just then, interrupting Timmy's questioning to her strange behavior. "Hey, you two, Joshua's right. We really need sleep. In the morning we'll do out mission and look for Blaise."

Jade stood and stretched. "Sorry. Did we wake you up?"

The blond girl waved a hand. "It's okay. But we do need some sleep."

"Mm. . . ." Jade hadn't taken her eyes off Timmy for the past couple seconds.

A frantic look crossed Francesca's face momentarily, and she straightened it and gently shoved Jade to her room. "Come on, let's let the guys sleep."

Jade smiled and waved. "'Night Tim. Sweet dreams." Francesca nodded to Timmy and went to her own room.

Jade slipped off her blue silk shirt and tossed it on the floor. "I wish I could live a normal life," she whispered bitterly. She unbuttoned her skirt and threw it on the floor. "A normal life with school, family, and a boyfriend," she continued wistfully.

A full-body mirror was next to her bed. When Jade looked into it, she winced. A cute teen girl winced back at her, tangles of bright red curls flowing down her shoulders, sad green eyes with an eternal sparked one usually mistaked for mischeif, when it was truly only the spark of her inner power. Pale skin that almost never saw the sun's bright, joyful rays.

"If I could have one thing, what would it be?" she wondered, climbing into her bed half-naked.

She knew there were so many things she was jealous of everyone else having. Francesca, Blaise, Gabriel, and Timmy went to school. But she couldn't. Joshua said it was too dangerous; Stokar spies or maybe even children of Stokar soldiers would recognize her.

A family. No one she knew had that. Joshua's had been killed in a fire accident just years before, and he knew now other blood relatives. Francesca had run away for her friends and family had been ashamed of her attraction of the same sex. Timmy and Gabriel claimed they had been orphaned for as long as they could remember.

Jade's own family had died protecting her from Stokar soldiers that had attacked on her sixth birthday. Her father had been killed first; shot through the heart with a pistol. Her mother had told Jade's sister, Crystal, to get Jade away, then had also been shot when she refused to say where Jade and Crsytal had gone.

Now Crystal was different. She had been a special girl, too. Jade's twin sister. She had looked exactly like Jade, except with curly hair a few shades darker than Jade's and a few freckles dotting her nose. They shared the same power of healing, but Crystal had obeyed her father's demands in hiding her powers, so she had had no problem with the kids at school.

But that had been a mistake. Because Crystal hadn't practiced her powers, she had died. She had tried to her best avail to attack the Stokars, but she only killed off a small number of them before becoming exhausted and fainting.

Jade remembered screaming. She remembered running to her sister and not being able to reach her in time. A Stokar soldier had gotten to Crystal first, drawn a sword, and plunged it through Crystal's weak and frail chest, driving it through her heart and blood spilling everywhere.

Little Jade had been shocked, and started sobbing immeditaly.



~ "Crystal!" she cried, hot tears streaming down her face.

"Quiet, brat! Just give up, come with us, and you won't be killed." a Stokar Jade recognized as Nicholas' father had hissed.

"You killed Crystal!" she screamed. A silver fiery aura blasted up around her, blinding her friend's father. "You killed Crystal!" she kept yelling, and another burst of silver fire flared up around her.

"Holy mother of-"

The soldier didn't get to finish, because Jade had pulled clecnhed fists back, her almond-shaped green eyes narrowing. "Tsunami. . . .!" she yelled, her voice echoing around her. The aura died down, but silver electricity crackled in her small fists. "Chi!" She shot her hands out, palms forward, and a single silver bolt slammed into Nisholas' father, tearing a huge, bloody hole in his chest, just missing the heart.

Feeling extremely pissed, little Jade did something horrifyingly disgusting. She walked right up to the dead man, reached into his chest, and ripped out his heart. It pulsed in her small hand, the beats slowly dying down.

A Stokar screamed like a woman. Jade glared at him, and he picked up his pistol and shot himself in the head.

His teamates looked on in horror. They looked at Jade, and - deciding they'd rather die then face their boss - followed suit.

Little Jade looked at the heart in her hand, her world coming back into focus. She shuddered violently and dropped the heart, fresh blood sticky on her fingers. "No. . . ." she whispered. She started sobbing and ran off her find her best friend Nicholas. ~



Jade felt the same shiver of horror wash over her. "How could I have done that?" she whispered. But her mind was too foggy to think of an answer, the dark shadows of long-needed rest took over her mind and she fell asleep.