Guardian of Atlantis (The Children of Atlantis) (10 page)

So where was her mom staying and why? Raven knew no one was in the bedroom next to hers. That left only the attic and the small guest room above the garage. “The room above the garage has its own bathroom,” Raven said aloud.

She ran out of the room, grabbing her bag as she went down the stairs. She raced into the kitchen and skidded to a stop.

“Going somewhere?” Jay, the Hellhound from school, stood in the middle of the kitchen. His massive
size blocked the back door
.

“How did you get in here? The door was locked.” Fear rippled through Raven. She couldn’t even think of one thing she could use as a
weapon.

“Sure about that?” Jay sneered at her. “And here I thought you were just being hospitable. You know. An open door policy or something
like
that.”

“Wow! You actually know a big word? And here I thought you were all muscles and absolutely no brains.” The words flew out of Raven’s mouth.

Jay growled. “I’ve been here all day with nothing but rabbit food in the refrigerator. I eat rabbits, not rabbit food. I’m starving!”

Raven’s heart banged against her ribcage. She swallowed, letting the information sink in. “If you’re that hungry, why didn’t you go get a burger or something? It’s kind of stupid staying here with no food when you’re starving.” She took a baby step backwards hoping it wouldn’t look too obvious.

“And miss your sunny company?” Jay’s lips curled up at the corner. “I’m going to have a very good supper.” His arms dropped to his sides. His chest rumbled with growls, as he slowly
stalked toward her. He stopped. “Stupid? Did you call me stupid?” His hands curled into fists.

“I didn’t say you were stupid.”

Jay’s face turned several shades of red. “No one calls me stupid,” he said in a lower tone followed by a really low, throaty growl.

“I didn’t call you stupid.” Raven said a little louder.

“No.
One.
Calls.
Me. Stupid.”
He crouched down. His eyes turned red.

Raven rolled her eyes. “I think I
should’ve called you a moron because you’re
acting like one.”

“What?”

“Or imbecile?
Maybe juvenile delinquent since you broke into the house.” Raven couldn’t stop herself.

“I’m not a criminal. The door was open,” Jay snarled. “And I’m not stupid. You’re so
gonna
pay.” Jay leaped forward with the eased agility of someone much smaller. His hands stretched out in front of him.

A scream ripped from Raven’s throat. Jay’s hands were no longer human hands. Now covered with fur, they were larger, longer than normal human hands. The fingertips ended in wicked looking black claws that gleamed in the fluorescent kitchen light.

His lips were pulled back in a snarl. Two huge fangs—much larger than a wolf—dominated his mouth. A strange gravelly noise came from him.

Raven heard bones pop and snap. She watched in slow motion, the bones and muscles shift and grow. The skin of his face expanded to match the new bone structure. Coarse brown fur sprouted, completely covering the pink skin of the snout now dominating his face. More sharp, pointed teeth joined the fangs hanging out of Jay’s muzzle. The smell of rotten eggs filled the air, and caused her to gag.

Mid-leap, Jay arched. His entire new body directed straight at her.

Raven closed her eyes. Throwing her hands up in front of her, she braced herself for the impact, expecting to feel the searing pain of the razor sharp claws ripping through her flesh or the crunch of her bones crushing under the massive body of the three hundred plus pound Hellhound.

Fear rippled through her
, almost covering the warm tingling vibration humming through her body and into her hands

With death seconds away,
Raven
tensed.

She held her breath.

And waited.

Claws never ripped through her flesh. The bone crushing weight never landed on her.

Instead, Raven flew against the far wall. The air knocked out of her lungs. Wood splintered. Pieces of drywall and wood rained down on her head. Stunned, Raven laid there for several minutes while her b
rain processed what going on
. She inhaled, filling her lungs back up with oxygen even though it hurt to do so. Feeling returned to her left shoulder. The sharp pain brought tears to her eyes.

She opened her eyes and blinked.

Several more pieces of drywall fell with loud THUNKS.

Raven flinched.

Broken boards hung at odd angles, outlining the circular hole in the wall between the hallway and the kitchen. A white wire twitched and crackled. Broken glass, chunks of drywall and splinters of board littered the floors in both room.

Raven looked through the
huge
hole.

The remains of the kitchen table and chairs were scattered around Jay, who was back in his human form. Bits of food and broken dishes covered the floor and Jay.

Raven crawled to her feet. Her legs trembled under the w
eight. She
grabbed the wall behind her
. Her whole body quivered. She
took a deep breath, and immediately regretted it. Waves of pain vibrated through her body along with something else.

Something strange.

Something she didn’t comprehend.

Something
having
to do with the fact she had been thrown through a wall.

From the wreckage of the kitchen table, Jay groaned.

Raven stepped through
the hole. Her legs trembled, but she stayed on her feet and took another step forward.
Her foot bumped something. She
looked down. A splash of bright pink caught her attention. Amid the rubble sat the pretty wrapped birthday gift, completely unharmed. She stare
d at it for a few seconds. She smiled,
bent down
,
and picked it up. Pulling the end of the pink ribbon, the bow untied. The ribbon slipped from the package. Raven let it drop to the floor. She tore the green wrapping pap
er off the box, and let it join the ribbon
.

The box weighed almost nothing.  She chewed on her bottom lip, as she debated whether or not she should open the white box. Curiosity won. Raven pulled off the lid. She closed her eyes, and snorted as she shook her head. Giggles erupted from her. She took the old key out and dr
opped the empty box
. It bounced a couple of times before it came to a rest next to the discarded ribbon and paper. “What the heck does this go to?” she asked herself.

The tinkle of glass drew Raven’s attention away from the key.

“What did you do to me?” Jay rolled over onto her back.

Raven kicked his foot.

Jay yelped in pain.

“That’s what you get for messing with me. Next time it’ll be worse.” She hoped she sounded tough. She kicked his foot again.

Jay yelped again and tried moving away but his movements only caused an eruption of groans from him.

Raven hurt, but Jay acted like he was dying. She watched his face change colors with each movement he made and wondered how he had been thrown there. She really didn’t want to stick around to find out either, especially with him being a really big Hellhound who wanted her dead.

She
spotted her book bag on the other side of Jay. Watching him carefully, she stepped around him and picked up it up. She chewed her bottom lip. Raven thought about the things she
needed to do. Finding a safe place was definitely priority, but where was the question. Who could she trust? And she had to find her mom. At that moment her dad’s journals weren’t exactly a priority. She slipped the key into her pocket.

Lost in her thoughts, Raven forgot about Jay until his growls filled the kitchen.

Self-preservation kicked in. Raven moved away, from Jay, but not fast enough. A huge hand wrapped around her right ankle, claws slowly em
erged from the fingertips. She
jerked her foot, but Jay’s grasp only tightened.

“You’re not getting away from me that easily,” he growled. He yanked her leg o
ut from under her, sending her
crashing to the floor.

Still hurting from her trip through the wall, Raven laid on her back stunned and gasping for air.

Jay climbed out of the rubble, shaking the bits of food and broken glass off of his huge frame.

Raven’s eyes widened to the size of saucers. She rolled over to h
er stomach, desperately scooted
away from him as fast as she could.

“Come back here!” Jay grabbed her foot and pulled her back toward him.

Raven screamed.
             

Jay’s sharp claws sliced through her jeans, straight into her flesh. He flipped her over onto her back. “I’ll enjoy watching life leave your eyes as I squeeze your scrawny neck.” He laughed.
“Poor, stupid Ethan.
What was he thinking, claiming a pathetic little human like you? Your death will destroy him. The pack’s mine. Ethan’s so dead. He’s too soft.
Too worried about harming humans.
You can’t worry about weak, pathetic humans and lead the pack.” His eyes gleamed with anticipation.

Fear fueled by anger surged through Raven’s muscles. She kicked at Jay’s hand with all the strength she could muster. The first kick didn’t do anything. The second kick only made Jay tighten his grip, digging his claws deeper into her calf muscle.

He laughed.

Something snapped in Raven. She aimed her next kick at his face. Her boot made contact. Raven heard a sickening crunch, but she ignored it, knowing it would be her downfall if she thought about
what she was doing to him. She
pulled her foot back. Blood poured from Jay’s nose.

He howled with pain. “You little—”

Raven kicked him in the face again, preventing him from finishing his sentence. “Don’t call me names!” she yelled. Another wave of anger surged through Raven fueling her strength.

Growls spewed from Jay. He tightened his grip on Raven’s leg. His claws dug through her flesh and into the bone.

Raven kicked again, aiming for Jay’s nose. “Let.” She kicked again. “Go.”

Jay took another kick to the face.

“Of.”

Kick.

“My.”

Kick.

“Leg.”

The last kick loosened Jay’s grip, giving Raven the opportunity she needed. She pulled her leg out of his claws. Raven ignored the wave of raw fire shooting through her leg as she scrambled out of Jay’s reach and struggled to her feet.

Jay cradled his injured face. “You’ll pay
for this.” H
e pushed himself up.

Ignoring the pain and blood flowing out of her
leg, Raven grabbed a large ceramic
cookie jar from the kitchen counter. She chunked it as hard as she could at Jay’s head. Upon impact, the cookie jar shattered into a dozen pieces. With a grunt, Jay
fell
face down into the shattered remains of the kitchen table. Blood trickled down the side of his face from a cut somewhere on his scalp and mixed with the bloody remains of his nose.

Picking up her bag, Raven limped to the back door. Each step sent excruciating pain up her leg. At the door, she glanced at Jay.
“Stupid mutt!
Next time pick on someone your own size.” Raven limped out of the house, closing the door behind her.

She paused at the edge of the porch scanning the yard. Dark shadows filled every corner, but the darkest shadows lurked in the woods at the edge of the backyard. Using the handrail as a crutch, Raven limped down the steps, knowing she couldn’t stay at there, not with a crazy, blood-thirsty Hellhound inside.

“So much for the safety of home,” she barely whispered. She had t
o find where her mom had the job interview and where she was now
. “What do I do?” she asked no one in particular.

“Give me the key codes to Atlantis.” Out of the shadows of the house stepped Meritus Myers. Dressed in what looked like leather pants and jacket, she cradled her sword in her arms in a way she could have it ready for battle in seconds. Her dark hair whipped around her face.

Raven’s eyes widened.
“Just freaking great!
Tonight is not a good night for a home visit. The kitchen’s a bit messy. So why don’t you come back another day.
Preferably sometime next year.”
Raven made a shooing gesture with her hands.

The woman chuckled. “You’re a mouthy little thing, aren’t you?”

“I aim to please.” Raven sneered. “But really, I can’t help you. I’ve got a full plate right now. Pet problems, if you know what I mean.”

“I’ll leave you to your pet problems, but not until I get the key codes.” Meritus pointed her sword at Raven.

Raven’s sneer disappeared. “Are you deaf? Or do you just have selective hearing? I told you this morning, I don’t have the key codes. I don’t even know what you’re talking about.” She crossed her arms. “So you need to go find someone else to pick on.”