Strings of Fate

52- Fight and flight I'm crying again. | don’t know what else to do. | think | need to talk to Megan. Megan! Is she okay? | was so busy out here | forgot that she’s literally calling off her own wedding. | wipe away my tears, open the door and slip inside. What's waiting foris so much worse than | could have imagined. At the end of the aisle, Megan and Tristan are staring each other down. They are equal in dominance and neither of them is budging. Tristan’s face is ugly and twisted with anger and hatred, his hands are shifted into claws he is gripping Megan's arm in a way that has to hurt. Darrien is standing next to Megan. He also seems to be frozen, stuck. in the battle for dominance. Tristan must actually be as dominant as Megan and Darrien if they are all stopped like this.

Apparently, these battles aren't just a two person thing. Well that’s useful information | suppose.

“You BI TCH!” Tristan screams. Everyone else in the room seems frozen, not able to move under the waves of power coming from the three Shifters at the front of the room. Tristant keeps yelling.

“One more day! All you had to do was say yes this one last tand | would have had everything! Your perfect brother would encounter an ‘unfortunate’ accident, courtesy of my friends, and once we took over | would arrange something similar for you. Then | would be free to be with the woman | actually love. Do you know what torture it has been for me, pretending to care about you? Pretending to be your Prince Charming and listen to all your petty little complaints and constant chattering. It’s been hell! And now, you've gone and ruined EVERYTHING!” His grip on her arm tightens and a drop of blood rolls down her elbow. Darrien roars in anger and my vision flashes red. How. Dare.

He. Without hesitating | make my way down the aisle, only stopping a few steps from them. When | speak, my words are a command and | don’t think my voice has ever sounded so cold as it does right now.

“Let her go Tristan. Now.” His eyes flick over to mine and his eyes widen. He holds my stare for one second, two, three. He begins shaking before his eyes finally drop to the floor. His grip on Megan's arm slackens and she yanks it away. His act of submission, looking down, is enough to release Darrien and Megan from the battle they found themselves in. Darrien doesn’t hesitate. He shifts into a huge cat. A jaguar | think? | did a bit of research on big cats when | first met Megan and Bellamy. He leaps between Megan and Tristan, the growl coming from him is enough to makeshiver, even though | know he won't hurt me. Tristan responds slower, but he shifts too, he turns into a lion, although he looks smaller than Darrien. Tristan lunges, but at the last moment changes direction, towards Megan. Darrien 1/4 52- Fight and flight roars and in a flash, he is holding Tristan in his teeth. Tristan pulls away and they begin fighting in earnest.

Megan looks horrified, I'm sure my reaction is similar. It’s not until Tristan flings Darrien into the crowd that | pull myself together. People are terrified, | can see it on their faces. Still, no one seems to be moving. Why? For the first time, | becproperly aware of the waves of power coming from the fighting cats. Everyone here is being smothered by it, exceptapparently. Not knowing what else to do | scream at them all.

“Get out of here! Go, run, find Bellamy!” It's like | hit play in the middle of a slasher movie. Suddenly they are all up and running, screaming and panicking. | can hear a child crying and watch as his mother drags him from the room. | turn back to the fight and am surprised to find it’s almost over. Darrien who was fighting defensively before is now giving it his all. | suppose, even in this state, he worries about everyone. Now all his focus is on Tristan and Megan who at spoint while | wasn’t looking, shifted. She’s a black panther just like her: brother of course. There is a pitiful whine as Darrien pins Tristan to the ground. He has clearly won. Tristan is submitting.

Darrien releases him before he kills him and turns to check on Megan. | scream as Tristan leaps up and goes for Darrien’s back, not as injured as he pretended to be. | shouldn't have worried. In a moment Megan dashes forward and intercepts him. The two of them tumble forward in a blur that | can barely keep track of. Then everything goes quiet and they stop. Megan is standing on top of Tristan, her claws are covered in blood and Tristan isn’t moving. Upon closer inspection | can see that his throat is cut. He is definitely dead. | think | might be sick. | stare in shock. Megan shifts back to herself and grabs a white tablecloth from nearby and wraps it around herself. Her hands and face are splattered with blood. Darrien also shifts back and without pausing grabs Megan and pulls her into a tight hug. She seems shocked. Darrien looks relieved, like he had the biggest scare of his life, which he probably did when Megan threw herself between them. Megan eventually pulls away and | can see that he is reluctant to release her. Her face is flushed red and she grabs another of the tablecloths which are, luckily, on just about every surface and hands it to him. Darrien wraps it around his hips to cover himself which is a relief tobecause | am really not comfortable with all the nudity. I still haven't moved. Megan notices and steps towards me. She suddenly seems aware of all the blood covering her and pauses her approach.

“Ryann? Are you okay?” She asks hesitantly. | shake my head, still frozen to the spot.

“What can | do?” She asks gently. | shrug. | can’t stop staring at where Tristan is lying there. He is still a Lion, | guess he isn’t going to turn back now that he’s dead. | can’t seem to drag. my eyes away. Megan steps between us blocking my vision and suddenly | can move again. It throw myself into her arms. I'm shaking and she strokes my hair, trying to calm me. | can 2/4 32 right and light hear Darrien moving and when | finally pull away from her, | can see that he has used yet another of these seemingly endless strips of white decorative fabric to cover Tristan. Still, | can see the blood seeping through.

Megan seems to be in shock, just like me. Darrien touches. her arm to get her attention. He's hovering close to her and the concern on his face is so clear. In fact, all his feelings are written on his face right now. If Megan hadn’t noticed how he felt earlier there is no way she could miss it now. | can see doubt in her eyes. She glances atnervously. | give her an encouraging smile.

“You can always trust him to keep you safe.” | whisper to her as | pull her in for another quick hug. Darrien grins atas Megan raises an eyebrow. He grabs her hand and she lets him hold it. She must be able to tell, as | can, that Darrien needs to be holding her hand right now, if only to reassure himself that she’s okay. | think she needs the contact as well, even if she isn’t sure how to feel about his affections. We all flinch as Bellamy bursts into the room, a little late | suppose. He clearly ran here, but it must have taken the other Shifters a minute or two to find him, or maybe it took him a minute or two to calm them enough to figure out what was going on. That seems more likely. His shoulders rise and fall as his breaths cheavy from his running. His eyes scan the room. First his eyes find mine. Then move to Megan. His expression darkens as he sees the blood covering his sister. His eyes flash to where Tristan lies. | can hear Megan whisper behind me.

“I trust your power, so you should too.” In that moment | know, without a doubt that she is right. | take a step towards Bellamy. Then another. He watcheswarily as | approach. Finally, | am within arms reach of him and...

| don’t know what to say. | don’t know how to say it, how to make him understand. | remember the day he tested my magic, how | helped him understand my magic and suddenly | know what | need to do. | grab his hand and pull him towards the door. He doesn’t resist as | lead him outside. I'm pretty sure his brain is still trying to catch up on what is going on. He follows as | lead him away from the hall, away from everything, until we reach that little cemetery.