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Chapter 37: Shadows
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The True Nature Series Chapter 38: The Real Zander
RUTHIE LOOKED EXTRA FINE this morning when she picked me up. Her energy seemed to reach and attach itself to me, giving me a much-needed buzz. I smiled at her as she cheerfully explained her plan to nudge Val into inviting her to Homecoming."Did you ask your dad to pick you up from school today?" She asked. "Because I don't want to leave you stranded.""Oh, yeah, he's picking me up." I laughed. "I wouldn't dare mess with Operation Homecoming!" She giggled at the name I had given her scheme.After everyone had left the night before, Ruthie called me to discuss how she would manipulate things the next day with Val, starting with looking as hot as possible. She was going to pull him aside for a private lunch, which would just happen to be under a homecoming sign, which would make it simple to bring up the topic of who was going with whom, which would inevitably cause her to speculate on who she might go with, dropping a few names and batting her long black eyelashes. If he didn't ask
The True Nature Series Chapter 39: Game Changer
"NOW?" I YELPED. "ARE you crazy? We are going to get caught!" I'd never skipped school before, much to Ruthie's chagrin. She would have loved a partner in crime.Zander just clenched his jaw and propelled us both down the sidewalk behind the school."This is important," he said, looking around a corner before pulling me across the gap between buildings. We were still a good distance from the parking lot, where he seemed to be dragging me. Just then, a door opened behind us, and a voice bellowed, "Hey!" It was Mr. Dean, the football coach and biology teacher. His voice was loud and booming. "What do you two think you are doing?" Zander stopped with a large sigh and a muttered "Great!" He turned toward me and our eyes connected. Suddenly, his went wide, as if he'd just had an idea to get us out of trouble. I hoped it was a good one. He leaned in and whispered, "Do you think you can convince him to forget about us?" His eyebrows lifted when he said "convince.""What?" I whispered
The True Nature Series Chapter 40: Gotcha
I AWOKE TO THE smell of pine and ashes. And, the mother of all headaches. I tried to bring my hands to my head, but they were being held in place. I opened my eyes to find my wrists tied with rope to the leg of a wooden chair. I yanked uselessly. What the ...? Where was I? Blinking back my confusion, I sat up to assess my surroundings.The small room couldn't have been more than twenty to thirty square feet. The ceiling was made of bare, wooden beams, the walls knotty wood planks. Across the room stood a brown sofa with an end table and lamp. The sound of running water slipped out the bottom of a door next to it. My breath hitched. Who was that? A few scenes from different horror movies crossed my mind as I sped up my perusal of the room, looking for escape routes or possible weapons. Off to my right lay a small, faded kitchen with an old refrigerator, microwave, and sink. Rustic cupboards hung above a short counter. On the other side of me sat a wood stove. The door to this cozy esta
The True Nature Series Chapter 41: Rainbows and Unicorns
"OKAY, START TALKING."Dante had kindly untied me long enough to use the bathroom. Inside, I'd found nothing remotely useful as a weapon other than shampoo and soap. I imagined squirting the soap all over the floor and him slipping on it and breaking his neck, which kind of made me feel a little better. But eventually I returned to the room, where he politely held out the chair for me to seat myself before retying one wrist to the back of it. My skin was already turning red."I'm not sure where to start, honestly." He leaned back into the sofa, a thin laptop next to him."What did you mean by who I really am?"He smirked. "I told you at school. You are 'idimmu.'" "Yeah, what's that? I thought you called me a 'dummy.'"He laughed. "No. I-dim-mu. That's what you are. You're not human like you've been pretending to be so far. It's time to embrace your true nature, girl."All the insecurities I'd felt over the years came to the surface. I'd been right all along. "But what's the dif
The True Nature Series Chapter 42: Purebreeds
DANTE POINTED TO A couple of wolves fighting. "Those are usemi. Also known as werewolves or lycans. There's a lot of myth and lore about them, some true, some not. The bare bones version is that they are real, but very rare. I don't know how far back they go, but I do know that their population has been dwindling. If humans knew of them, they'd put them on the endangered species list. Akharu, too."He pointed to another picture. A black-haired man with glowing red eyes bared his teeth ferociously. His shoulders were wide and curved, his fingers curled. He looked like a cross between a big hissing cat at the zoo and a lean version of the Incredible Hulk, except he wasn't green."That's Donavitch, also known to many as son of a--""I get it, thanks.""Well. No one messes with him to his face.""How did you get these pictures?""Oh, from the different Nasaru bases around the world. Nasaru is kind of the ruling party for all these creatures, really old, run by sethians, the third anc
The True Nature Series Chapter 43: Pitiful
WITH ONE SHOVE I was weightless for a few seconds before falling through a dark hole and landing so very, very wrong. One ankle folded under me like a napkin, causing me to wrench back, smacking an elbow on the cement floor. The heavy wooden chair landed beside me, breaking apart, but not before smacking me in the hip. My elbow throbbed. It was the mother of all funny bone injuries. I felt sure that my arm was never going to straighten again and that a bone may have penetrated my skin. The pain stole my breath far too long, and then I was gasping and coughing from lack of air and excruciating agony. I tried not to move, because the tiniest shift in my position made the contents of my stomach rise up."Oh, dear," said a sickly sweet voice above me. Light from the room above surrounded me. Looking up, I could see Dante's dark silhouette. "Did you hurt yourself?" he mocked. "Sorry about that. At least it will keep you from trying to escape." He snapped his fingers. "Oh, right! You can he
The True Nature Series Chapter 44: True Nature
DANTE PAUSED BEFORE SQUATTING back down to find me with the flashlight. I squinted against its brightness."Aw, did you miss me already?" He turned off the flashlight and set it on the floor next to him."Tell me more about what I am," I croaked. He had called it my "true nature" before. I'd always thought that referred to the type of person you were, not what kind of being you were. Did an animal act solely based on its biological makeup or on something else I couldn't name, maybe its soul? Personality? Was it a mix of them all? Was a being's true nature a combination of all these things? It didn't seem fair to lump a person's true nature in one category. To me, the true nature of a being was as unique as a fingerprint."Sure, Tru. I wonder which one it is? Your father or mother?""What about them?""Was it your father or mother that spawned you? You know, which one of them was akharu or usemi?""Easy. Neither." What was he talking about?Dante tilted his head back and cawed
The True Nature Series Chapter 45: Revelation
THANKS TO MY NIGHT vision, I could easily locate the sleeping bag. It smelled like it had been down there for 50 years, but it was warmer than the stone floor. I climbed in as best as I could, the pain and nausea exhausting me by the time I finished. Without meaning to, I closed my eyes and let reality slip away.**Ruthie screamed near the school parking lot."Tru Lee Parker! You better get your butt over here right now!"Phoebe snickered next to her. "Is that seriously her middle name?"Impatiently, Ruthie snapped back, "Why would I make up a name like that? Where is she?" She glanced at her cell phone. "She didn't text me and she isn't answering her phone. I'm supposed to meet Val at Yogurt Heaven in thirty minutes!""So that's why you're so grumpy."Ruthie just glared at her, hands on her hips."Hey, it's not my fault you're late for your 'whatever thing' with Val," said Phoebe. "Isaac has been looking for her for the past hour, too. He's been all over the school and even w
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