Chapter Two TIC

Tosh squinted her eyes in the dark trying to look into the pit for Shade and…she? Who was she? Tosh decided to go down into the pit. She jumped down and slid on the side of the pit surfer style. At the end she bounced on her feet to get a good landing at the bottom. Rani and Haley followed suit sliding to the bottom. Tosh and the girls walked in a V formation to Shade who was checking a girl's pulse. The light around this part was extremely bright.
"Gosh, I thought it was supposed to be night time." Haley remarked looking around at the giant perfectly rounded earth indentation, trying to find the night sky out of the smog of light.
"I know this is all so odd. People don't just fall from the sky like stars." Rani replied. She thought for a moment thinking back on some of the stories she heard as a child. "Maybe she's a star…" Rani implied looking at the girl's body. Tosh studied the light rays closely trying to figure out where it was all coming from. She soon realized that the light was coming from the girl.
"Maybe she is a star," Tosh said in astonishment, "the light is coming off of her body," she added. They all looked down at the girl's body to see the light. Shade pulled away and shook his head.
"A dead star, there's no heart beat." Shade said standing up and dusting off his knees. The team looked down at the supposed dead girl. Her white hair spreading around her like a halo, and the choppy bangs that fitted her face perfectly. She was curled up in a ball as if asleep rather than dead.
Haley cocked her head to the side and stared at the girl.
"Hmmm…that's too bad. We could have been great friends." Haley said putting her hands on her waist. They all turned around about to leave when they noticed she was waking up. There was a light moan that came from her mouth as she moved. The team stared at her in amazement.
"Ummm…Hello?" Tosh said moving closer and sitting by the girl's body. The rest of the team came close by but stood wary of the girl. The girl quickly awoke gasping for air for only a moment. She looked around her and then calmed herself.
"Are you okay?" Shade asked kneeling by her now. She tilted her head to the side as if he were speaking gibberish to her. In fact in her mind it did sound like gibberish. Groggy and muted gibberish.
"Yeah are you okay?" Rani asked. The girl turned to see who was talking when she saw Rani right up in her face, which made them both jump back.
"It's okay we won't hurt you." Tosh said gently placing a hand on her shoulder. The girl relaxed again. She felt that she was safe now.
"I'm Haley," Haley said hyper as always. This made the girl smile.
"Well that was the stu-" Shade began to say.
"I'm Alexandra," The girl said to Haley pointing to herself by gently placing her hand on her chest. Then she looked over at Shade. "And that wasn't a stupid thing to say. If she hadn't introduced herself I still would have heard you guys in gibberish and I never would have learned your language." Alexandra said sitting herself up Indian style. Tosh was still sitting behind her and was tempted to play with her hair. Alexandra laughed. "You can play with my hair if you want." She said with a smile. Tosh's eyes widened and she changed her mind about playing with her hair…for the moment.
"So Alexandra," Shade began to say.
"I prefer Alex," Alex said with a smile.
"Okay Alex…What brought you here? Exactly?" Shade asked. Alex began to laugh.
"I'm here on business, and you four are my associates." She said smiling and clapping her hands together.
"Business associates?" Tosh asked so confused her hair turned pink, which made Alex giggle.
"Yes my morphing friend, Associates." This made Tosh blush in embarrassment as she changed her hair back to its normal color.
"Well what kind of business are you here for?" Shade asked crossing his arms allowing Rudy to crawl into his lap.
"How does saving the world sound?" Alex asked looking at Shade, "I'm one of the protective angels for Earth and it ends up something's going to drive Earth down into chaos very soon." This made Shade's eyes widen.
"Chaos eh?" Tosh asked. The word making Shade squirm.
"Yes it will engulf the world into eternal darkness, cold, and hatred…for the humans that survive." Alex added, "This whole world as we know it would be- DRAGON!!!" She yelled cutting herself off scrambling to Rudy who was resting on Shade's lap.
"Wait! He only likes," Shade began to say but Alex got Rudy, scooped him onto her lap and she was tickling him before Shade could finish his sentence. Rudy made sounds of which Shade had never heard from the dragon. It was a mix between a giggle, a snort and a hiss. "Me…what are you doing to him?" Shade asked as the strange noise persisted.
"Tickling him," She said with a giggle, "He seems to like it." She said looking up at Shade with burning bright green eyes. Shade felt lost for a minute, almost hypnotized. Alex felt a sudden awkward tightening in her stomach as she looked at Shade which made her quickly turn back to Rudy.
"Hey Alex?…" Rani said who hadn't really talked the whole time.
"Yes Rani?"
"Well…I was wondering if I knew you?" Rani asked. Alex stopped tickling Rudy and let him rest on her lap, while she pet him and played with his small horns.
"I don't know, do you know me?" Alex asked with a smile. Rani looked up to the sky for remembrance, then she smiled.
"Yeah. You're the voice that told me to meet these guys." Rani smiled at her own realization. Alex smiled with Rani and nodded.
"Wait! Wait. Wait, one minute," Shade said, "If you were the one in our heads," he said pointing between himself and Rani, "Then why didn't you know our language?" Alex sighed and handed Rudy to Shade. Rudy grunted when being moved.
"You see, I was speaking and searching through your subconscious mind, well all of your mind actually. Your brain actually works in the language that I normally speak which is then converted to a language you could understand. I need someone to introduce themselves to me to speak the language you're speaking now."  She said shrugging. Rudy climbed out of Shade's arms half asleep and crawled across the black soiled ground to Alex, whom allowed him to clamber back up into her lap.
"Oh." Shade said turning slightly away from Alex.
"Well you guys I'm pretty tired. Falling and burning in the atmosphere is tiring." Alex yawned, "Would anybody like to accompany me to a hotel?" Alex asked standing up and brushing the soil off of her butt. The girls immediately jumped up and Rudy flew onto her shoulder. The girls laughed except for Alex who was focused on Shade. Alex looked at Shade who seemed grouchy. "Shade will you please accompany us to the hotel?" Shade glared up at Alex and shook his head.
"No."
"Please?" Alex asked. Shade remained sitting with his back turned to her, "Why are you so angry with me?"
"I don't even know, I just feel like we shouldn't even know each other right now." Shade said his back still turned to Alex. Her shoulders slumped and then she took a deep breath.
I know what you are Shade.
Oh really? Shade thought back at her snarling.
Yes, and you and I were born as enemies. Fate brings everyone together for reasons. We need to figure out what's going on with ours. Then shade heard a strange voice in his mind that was more definite than Alex' voice.
Listen to her Shade. She knows what she's talking about. She has experienced it all before. Who was that? Shade asked in his mind.
You should know, I accompanied you through everything. I kept myself small so you could handle carrying me. You even hatched me yourself. You know very well who I am. The strong and strange voice turned familiar.
Rudy? Shade asked.
Yes, this girl was born your mortal enemy. But now she is here to be a friend. Trust her as I have. Alex smiled at Rudy and patted his head. Shade rolled his eyes and smiled, standing up after the brain speech. He followed Alex to the hotel with the rest of the girls.
The team, now completed, walked up to the only hotel in town. It was built like a cabin and inside was warm and cozy like one as well. When the team walked in the heat from the room made them remove their jackets. They held onto them as Alex talked to the clerk. The clerk was a short, round, and balding man. His suit was brown and had a few faded pinstripes on it.
"Hello, how may I help you?" The clerk asked. His voice was nasally as if he had a cold.
"Hello to you too, my name is Alexandra. I was hoping to get a room to use for a while." Alex said, and while doing so she searched for a weak spot in his mind.
"How long is a while?" The man asked. Alex leaned in to get a better look at his name tag, spending time to find the weak spot. Her eyes lit up when she found it. Her fingers got a numb sensation as she held the clerks mind captive to hypnotize him.
"Well Sheldon, we will be staying here for a while." Alex said, "You will give us the room and we will pay it when we leave. You will also give us unlimited room and pool service. Everything will be paid in cash in the end." Alex said as the man stood behind the counter in a stupor.
"Yes Miss Alex." He said reaching in for a key.
"Thank you so much Sheldon." she said taking the key then taking out a blank sheet of paper and handing it to the man which turned it into a fifty dollar bill. He awoke from his trance. "Thank you so much for your service Sheldon." Sheldon stared at her in confusion, and then shrugged.
"You're welcome…I guess." He said pocketing the fifty. Alex smiled and called the team to go upstairs. The team had been looking in the gift shop while Alex "persuaded" the man at the counter. They walked through a hallway and up some stairs to their room. The room number was twenty-three which was written in gold letters that were nailed to the door. Alex slid in the key and turned it and the team followed her inside. There was a double bed, a couch, and a lazy boy. They all stared at each other.
"Well first things first, we need to figure out who's sleeping where." Alex said crossing her arms mad at herself for not getting a room with more beds.
"I call the couch!" Tosh immediately yelled. The team looked at her like she was a freak in the circus. "What it's more comfortable." Tosh said raising her arms in question. Everyone rolled their eyes and looked at the room.
"I don't sleep so I'll take the lazy-boy," Haley said sliding through the group to the chair. Tosh followed her but went to the sofa and lied down her head on the arm of one end and her feet reaching the other.
"I don't need sleep so…I'll hang out with Haley." Rani said sitting in the large lazy-boy.
"Alright your pick Alex." Shade said shrugging Rudy lying on his head.
"No you go get the bed." Alex said moving her hands to gesture Shade to the bed.
"No, I won't get any sleep. I'm used to the hard ground, I'm not going to be able to sleep on something soft like that. So go for it." Alex raised her hands in surrender and walked to the closet and pulled out five large quilts and a small fleece blanket. She plopped two quilts on the ground where Shade would sleep, threw one quilt at Tosh who caught the large thing in one hand unfolding it and plopping it on herself. Alex threw the last two blankets on the littlest girls of the group. They looked at her confused.
"For you in case you get cold." Alex said climbing up on the bed. She kicked off her boots and threw them by the lamp. Haley rolled her eyes throwing her blanket at Rani. Alex threw her jacket at her shoes revealing a white wife beater tank top and a rose mark that was just darker than her natural skin tone on her upper arm. Shade looked up at her from his bed on the floor.
"Nice tat." He said Rudy licking his face.
"It's not a tattoo." Alex said smiling when Rudy flew up onto the bed and curled up by her side like a cat.
"Really? What is it then?" Tosh asked putting down a pocket sized book she was reading.
"It's my birthmark," Alex said, "all angels have a birthmark of a life form on each planet that they will serve. What is shown on the tattoo is what is only native to the planet and no other. Roses are an Earth specialty." Alex added. Tosh nodded in comprehension.
"I wish I had a cool birthmark. All I have is a dark brown blob on my back." Shade said. Alex giggled her green eyes seeming to get brighter, the white glow around her gone. Rudy yawned next to her his little teeth like porcelain in the lamps light. Alex lay down next to him, petting him and slowly drifting to sleep. Shade lay on the ground and looked up at Tosh who was absorbed in her book. "What book is that?" Shade asked. Tosh looked up unwillingly at Shade.
"I'm reading the final book in the Seasons Saga." Tosh replied.
"Well obviously but what's it called." Shade asked.
"It's called Fall's Agony." Tosh replied. Shade nodded and looked at the two girls just talking about all that has happened so far.
"So what type of fairy are you?" Haley asked Rani.
"Oh I'm a blood fairy." Rani replied then pointing at her teeth.
"What's a blood fairy?" Shade asked.
"A blood fairy is half vampire and half fairy." Rani replied throwing her jacket to the floor showing off a long sleeved gypsy styled shirt. Shade nodded and lied down on the floor and fell asleep.

The time is now midnight and the room is asleep except for little Rudy. He woke to the sound of his new friend moaning as if in pain and kicking him off the bed. Rudy shook his small head dazed from the impact and flew up to look over the bed to see what was wrong with Alex. Her hair covering her face that was obviously in pain. Her hands gripping and releasing the blankets as if trying to get a good hold to not slip off. Rudy was worried about the new friend he could actually talk to. He spiraled down to the floor with a light thunk on Shade's chest. Shade rolled over making Rudy slide off of his chest.
"Rudy, go to sleep." Shade said gripping his pillow. Rudy wasn't going to give up. He had to help Alex. So he grabbed onto the caller of Shade's shirt and tugged. "Rudy knock it off!" Shade said grabbing the little dragon by his stomach. Then he heard Alex. "Aw ef my life!" he exclaimed. He got up and turned on the light. The girls woke up.
"What the heck Sha-" Tosh started to say.
"It's Alex, she's in trouble." Shade said hopping onto the bed. Tosh joined him.
"Look out guys!" Haley said she lifted her hand to her mouth and blew. A butterfly formed from her skin and left a hole from where it came. "Go!" She told the butterfly which landed on Alex's head.
"What the heck are you doing?" Shade asked looking at Haley.
"I'm trying to invade her mind to see what's going on." Haley said lifting the hand the butterfly formed from and covered one of her eyes. She closed her eyes and focused then opened her eyes which were now a dull white. She stood there for a moment then she came back to life her eyes back to blue and Alex still writhing like mad.
"Her mind is barriered! I can't get through to any of her thoughts!" The butterfly flew back to her palm.
"Crap!" Shade said patting Alex's cheek in attempts to wake her. She pulled her arm back and punched him in the face. Shade fell to the ground by the foot of the bed. Tosh pulled a wand out of her pocket and waved it over Alex's head. Making Alex sit up. Her eyes flew open, but they weren't her eyes. They were almost black rather than the energetic green they usually were. She turned and faced Tosh. Tosh dropped the wand in fear which made Alex go back to her normal state. Finally Rani took some water from a vase that was on an end table by the couch and fit it over her hands like watery gloves. She placed her hands over Alex's eyes and watched as the water spread creating a mask that covered her eyes and forehead. Alex's body relaxed and she stopped thrashing about.
Shade got up from the floor and rubbed his jaw resting his arms on the bed.
"God that girl can pack a punch." He said.
"I wonder what that was about." Tosh asked, then she looked at Haley, "Do you have any ideas?" Haley shook her head.
"I got into your's and Shade's dreams but I couldn't get into her's." Haley said.
"Hmmm…" Tosh said.
"Wait, you were spying on our dreams?" Shade asked.
"Yeah," Haley said chipper.
"Tell us them then."
"Ok. Tosh's was weird. It was all black and I could hear screaming and that was it. Then yours was just random. It had this German dude looking around saying 'We must follow the macaroni tracks to find him!' and that was basically it." Rani sat on the bed watching the water mask that she now froze to keep in place.
"So what happens when that thing melts?" Shade asked Rani. Rani stayed focused on the mask.
"She wakes up, that's why it's so thin." She said, the mask starting to dissolve. Rani stood up off the bed and watched. The mask was completely melted within a minute and Alex woke as if she couldn't breathe. She gasped for air and felt around her throat, then she sighed with relief and looked around the room to see everyone up.
"What's up guys?" Alex said stretching. They all just stared at her. "What?…do I have drool?" She asked feeling her mouth.
"You were…having a nightmare…" Shade said.
"Oh…right…" Alex said rubbing the back of her head.
"Do you mind telling us what went on?" Tosh asked. Alex smiled and curled up on the bed.
"What's today?" Alex asked. Haley pulled out her cell phone and flipped it open.
"December eleventh." Haley said. Alex moaned in her pillow.
"You'll find out tomorrow." Alex said turning off the lamp by her bed to go back to sleep. Shade turned on the lamp.
"You're not going back to sleep! We don't want to try to wake you up again." Shade said. Alex rolled over and glared at him.
"Fine. What are we going to do then? Hmm?" Alex asked crossing her arms while lying on the bed. Rani smiled.
"Well we could go to a very special place of mine." Rani said. They all nodded in agreement and walked out of the hotel room Alex locking the door behind them.