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Chapter 36: Fake Fuzzies
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The True Nature Series Chapter 37: Shadows
I EXPECTED ZANDER TO at least put up a fight, something. "Okay," he said, staring at the ground for a moment before smiling complacently at me. "I didn't mean to make you think there was more going on. I mean, I just want to get a good grade on the report and everyone said you were the smartest in the class."I frowned, not appreciating the way he was spinning this. I wasn't stupid. He had been flirting. Whether it reflected his real feelings or not was a different matter. "Fine," I said, a little curtly. I tried to tone down my irritation, reminding myself that I was on a mission to discover what he knew about Mom. "Let's meet in the library to work on it next time."He studied me for a long moment, and I thought I saw a flash of pain, but it could have been a reflection of the sun. "Okay," he agreed with a nod.My heart started shredding as I watched him walk away. I had agonized for hours wondering how to confront him about it. I mean, how do you say "let's just be friends" t
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
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The True Nature Series Chapter 230: The Promise
ZANDER WAS STILL GROGGY, and I helped him lean up against the railing of the general store. I wanted to stay with him, but another problem had cropped up. Polaris was trying to move Dad, and Knox wouldn't let them. No one wanted to risk getting close to his teeth and I feared they might try to drug him or something worse. I sighed and pushed myself up."I'll be right back," I told Zander.I headed across the road and carefully approached the growling Knox. "Hey there, buddy," I said in a soothing voice. "You still have me, remember?" I reached out my hand, letting it hang in the air like Dad had taught me the first time Knox and I had met. Knox's ears flattened, and he whined as he pressed his nose into my fingers. If dogs cried, I'd say Knox was crying now. His eyes looked sticky wet. I ran a hand down his neck, coaxing him off Dad's body and toward me. With a hand on his collar, I eased the two of us several feet away, allowing the others to move Dad. When his limp head dropped t
The True Nature Series Chapter 229: Picking Up the Pieces
BOTH POLARIS AND THE Efotis arrived within minutes of each other. The folks from Polaris had found several locals disabled or dead outside the park, as well as two empty police cars. Someone must have called the authorities about the gunshots or the helicopters. Others had probably been curious enough to investigate the noise themselves. The Nasaru had silenced them before they could see anything. With heavy faces, Polaris began searching the perimeter for more victims and loading up bodies on stretchers to take them away. When the Efotis arrived, Caroline rushed up to me, her eyes wide and desperate. She grabbed me and hugged me like she was never letting go. Despite my reluctance to admit she was my mother, I found her arms comforting. It just felt right. Thaddeus stood as still and straight as a fencepost watching us with soft but wary eyes. I completely understood. My reintroduction to Caroline had been rocky. In fact, it had been like meeting her for the first time, because I'
The True Nature Series Chapter 228: Of One Mind
THADDIE AND I JUMPED away from each other, our eyes wide as saucers. "Shanna!" I breathed out in surprise. But her voice had faded away. "What the heck?" Once again, I'd lost my connection to her."Your eyes turned blue," said Thaddeus with surprise. "Does that happen often? Was that our sister?"I pressed my lips together, frustrated that we'd been so close to talking to her. "Yes, it was Shanna. But she's gone now. Dang it." He opened his mouth to say something else, but I beat him to it. "Wait. Did you just say my eyes turned blue?" "Yes," he answered, looking at me strangely.I thought my eyes had done that before, too, when I'd heard a strange voice. But at the time, I'd convinced myself that it was my imagination. Did this happen every time she talked to me? I held out my hands to Thaddeus, hoping that together we could bring her back. He looked at my outstretched arms with confusion."Just testing a theory," I said. "Take my hands. Maybe we need to be in physical conta
The True Nature Series Chapter 227: Retreat
"THADDIE!" I choked out."You know him?" asked Maverick in surprise.I huffed out a deep breath as we heaved another dead body off his wing."Yes," I said, giving him a watery smile. "He's my brother."Maverick stared at me slack-jawed. After tonight I didn't think anything could surprise him. "You're kidding," he muttered."Yeah, I was going to tell you about him. Turns out, the other sharum guy was my biological father. Is," I corrected, reminding myself that if they took him, he must still be alive."The other guy with Dr. Frankler?""Yeah, I know," I nodded. "Just when you thought it couldn't get any weirder."Maverick grunted an agreement.I examined Thaddie, who still struggled with consciousness. "Let's carry him to a brighter area. It will be easier to help him there."Together, we maneuvered him onto Maverick's back. Amid grunts and gasps, he carried Thaddie to the center of the main street and set him down near Zander, who was still unconscious and oblivious to the
The True Nature Series Chapter 226: The Aftermath
I GAVE MAVERICK A wan smile. "There're gone," I sighed, standing up to move wearily to the next body. Kneeling by the woman from Polaris, I gently closed her eyes. There was no fixing her. The other Polaris soldiers were no better. The rest were Gerard's men. My heart pounded, knowing I'd have to face my dad's body now. I dragged myself to my feet and looked toward Dad. A furry head rested on top of his chest. I ran over to them, wondering how Knox could still be alive, not to mention how he had moved. As I dropped next to them, Knox whined softly. I bent over to press my head against his. "Oh, Knox. You're okay," I wept, running my hands along his fur. Blood matted in several spots, but I couldn't find any injuries. Shaking my head at the miracle, I hugged him. "I know, boy," I crooned. "Dad isn't ... he's not waking up. But you still have me." Knox's tail pounded on the dirt, but he remained pressed against Dad.I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked up to see Maverick. "I'm
The True Nature Series Chapter 225: Just Like Dante
THE CIRCLE OF SOLDIERS tightened around us, drawing my attention away from my disappearing friends. Zander pulled me to his back, spinning us around as we faced their weapons. It quickly became clear that even with our abilities, we wouldn't be able to overpower them. "Tru," Zander said, mind-speaking. "This is going to hurt, but you can heal yourself. Protect your head." "What?" I barely had a chance to gasp before he grabbed me, lifted me up in the air, and threw me over the heads of the soldiers. I cleared them by at least five meters and landed in a dense thicket near the line of trees. Branches jabbed me, cutting my skin and shredding my already ruined dress.I groaned. What the heck did Zander think he was doing? I started to crawl out of the bushes and yelped when I felt a sharp pain in one hand. It felt wrong, like broken wrong. Looking up, I saw a few of the soldiers peel away from the circle around Zander and head toward me. "Run!" Zander yelled in my mind.The path
The True Nature Series Chapter 224: From the Frying Pan ...
I GASPED, RECOGNIZING Gerard's creepy grin. "No! It can't be!"He laughed, throwing back his head and clasping his hands together. "You've done me a favor, my dear. I may have lost my mate." A fleeting look of sorrow crossed his face. "Trust me, you'll pay for that. But now I have an even more powerful aramusatu, one that will link you and me together forever." He laughed again, and then held out his hand. "Join me, Tru. You belong with your family."I gagged and stepped away. Had I only made things worse by killing Gerard? "No!" I yelled. I felt the world caving in as Wynona's words flitted through my mind. She's a soul jumper. At that time, she'd meant Ruthie. But apparently, she wasn't the only one. Somehow, Gerard Hughes's spirit had taken over Peter's body. I had a feeling that I'd just leaped from the frying pan into the fire."What happened to Peter?" Gerard's eyes swirled, shifting to yellow slits. He squeezed them shut and shook his head. When he opened his eyes, they w
The True Nature Series Chapter 223: Backfire
OBVIOUSLY, I WAS A healer. But I was definitely no savior. But what about destroyer?The thought of that destiny had filled me with dread before, but now I wanted it so badly that everything but my enemy faded away. I wished I could channel my healing ability into a weapon. Then it struck me. If I could heal wounds why couldn't I un-heal them? I stared at my hands, wondering if it was possible. A dark feeling swirled inside me, like attempting such a thing was straight up wrong, but as Gerard stepped closer to Ruthie, and as Zander continued to bleed out, I knew I had to do something. With shaking hands, I laid Dad's head on the ground. It was too late for him but I might be able to help the others. A fiery rage whipped up inside of me and my eyes locked onto Gerard. He wore a demented look of his own as he considered the chaos around us. I took off toward him. When I was almost upon him, he saw me and pulled out his gun. I plowed forward anyway and tackled him, sending the weapon f
The True Nature Series Chapter 222: Inconceivable Choice
I YANKED AWAY FROM the guard holding me and ran back to Zander, who gasped, "I'll be fine, Tru. Go to him." I knew he meant my dad and that he'd realized the same thing I had. Ignoring the guns pointed at me, I rushed toward Dad and Knox. Donavitch was grinning at me, clearly enjoying my terror, and Knox was barking out a warning to Mrs. Taylor as she pointed her gun at Dad. "Look out, Dad!" He looked from me to Mrs. Taylor and flinched when he saw the gun pointing at him. "No, Eleria!" yelled Mr. Taylor.Crack!In the blink of an eye, two bodies fell to the ground. At the last second, Mr. Taylor had raced after his wife and thrown his body in front of my dad. They both went down. I fell to the ground next to Dad, frantically searching for his wound. A bright red stain in the center of his blue flannel shirt expanded to the size of my hand within seconds. Had the bullet gone through Mr. Taylor and Dad? Of course! The gun had been loaded with cutters, the Nasaru's usemi-killin
