FULL NOVELXO Chapter 9
LUDI
I pace outside the door where I can hear Lora singing a song to herself. Erin is giving me a worried look. Grayson’s talking to Dad about the books. He wants to know why they’re so depressing.
I want to know what’s happened to Lora, and why she’s acting so feverish and loopy. It could be a disguise, a ruse. But she wouldn’t do that to me, would she?
“Calm down, Ludi,” Erin says in a reassuring voice. “I’m sure she’s fine.”
“I’m not,” I grumble.
“You need something to do,” Erin says. “Maybe you should read that chapter she wanted you to. We’ll need all the preparation we can get if we’re going to steal a car.”
“We’re actually going to do it?” I ask. “Steal a car?”
“Your sister hasn’t been wrong yet, including Loopy Lora.” Erin smiles. “Should I go get it?”
I shake my head. “No. I can’t focus on anything unless it’s worrying or trying to help Lora. She could just have a fever, but we don’t get sick easy, and she was fine until we started talking in the kitchen.”
Erin nods and turns around. “I’ll get you something to do.”
I resume my pacing. Erin’s a great friend, and I would never trade her for anything in the world. But I don’t think anything could distract me from Lora’s state. Could this have something to do with her destiny as a demon? I sincerely hoped not. I should be able to save her. I have to save her.
I sit down on a chair in a corner and dump my head into my hands. A potential demon-angel war. A best friend half-centaur that can’t shift. A normal kid. Stealing from my parents to escape what is pretty much house arrest. And Lora’s demonic future. It’s too much, all of it. I can’t handle it all. I wish I had someone I could just give the angel’s warning to. So that they could fix the war and I would only have to worry about Lora. We wouldn’t have to escape, and once she’s back to normal she’d help Erin shift.
But how am I supposed to help her? Clearly, her loopiness isn’t a good sign. She could be life threatening sick.
I raise my head and lower my arms just before Erin drops a book on my lap. I yelp with pain - it’s a heavy book.
Erin’s face is red, her hair is messy and her eyes are bright. “Biggest book about hybrids I could find!” She says excitedly. “And Grayson’s nearly finished with your Dad, so I’m assuming he can come and help. And your mom’s almost home, too.”
“Thanks a lot, Kitty Erin.” I say Grayson’s nickname for her. She blushes.
“No problem, spawn of a demon and an angel.”
I laugh, and read the cover of the book. Hybrid Slaves - What You Need To Know. “Lora was reading this yesterday, I think. It might have something in it.” I flip open the cover and begin to read.
Hybrids are very odd beings. They’re always born as twins. If you get a demon and an angel hybrid (yes, those exist - Angels and demons have fallen in love. Unlike Devils and Angels, it is very much possible), the two souls of the parents cannot mix. Therefore, one child shall become an angel, and the other shall become a demon. This is true for all hybrids. Because of this, soul trading was very popular. One would simply trade his/her soul. Say, again, an angel and demon hybrid. You don’t want any of your children to follow in your footsteps, so you’d trade your demon/angel soul for an angel/demon’s soul. This was very painful and not to mention expensive, so the treatment went out a few centuries ago.
How To Tell What Hybrid Is Following In Your Footsteps
If you’re a loving parent of a hybrid, shame on you for not choosing to marry a member of your species. But this chapter is for you because my boss is paying me fifty gems for every chapter, so I’ll cram in some useless stuff. Pay attention to your hybrid’s actions. Most often, the demonic child (again, Angels and demons) will have insecurity, and will be quick to anger, as opposed to the angelic child’s calm manner. The child’s spirituality could be identified through gender. Such as, the male most often follows his dad’s footsteps, and the female follows her mother’s footsteps. Females following their fathers are incredibly rare, and I don’t think you’ll have to worry about that. But if you really want to know (again, I’m getting paid for this so I’ll stuff some useless things in it), look for any unnatural symptoms. Let’s return to our example - Angels and demons. The female hybrid often becomes the angelic one, because most often her mother is the angel, but if you find your female hybrid is getting feverish or loopy, you may want to check her wings. If her wings are turning darker, you may have the rare female demon. I want to say this, also - if you’re upset that your daughter will become evil, get over it quickly, because once these symptoms have developed with her, there’s no turning back and saving her. You now have an evil female child.
Enjoy.
I look up from the book, cold shock freezing my insides. Lora’s not deadly sick.
She’s becoming a demon already.
“Are you positive?” Grayson asks.
“Read it yourself, she’s becoming eviler the more she stays in that room and sings to herself!” I shove the book into his face.
“Calm down, Ludi - we’re worried for Lora too!” Erin puts a hand on my arm, which instantly relaxes me.
“Thanks, but the more time we waste, the more Lora becomes evil. I hoped I could save her, but I went through the book and it has nothing to say about how to save her! The dude’s getting paid for every word apparently but he doesn’t put in a cure or a saviour for her!” I slam the book down and read the author’s name. “Stupid Reirruc Nosidam!”
“Reirruc didn’t put in a cure because there wasn’t one…” Erin says lightly. “Ludi, I’m so sorry…”
“Let’s go get your dad, Ludi.” Grayson says, walking out.
“No!” I grab his arm. “No, this could be essential to the plan. If he knows what state Lora’s in, he won’t let us outside and we can’t escape. And maybe if we get to the Angels, they’ll help her. They’re all good, they must have some good energy or something to use on her.”
“I think we should get your dad,” Erin says quietly. “He’ll know what to do-”
“No.” I say firmly. “He can’t know. We have to stick to the plan. Lora - Lora would have wanted us to escape. Even loopy Lora.”
I feel sick when I realize I’m talking about Lora in the past tense, like she’s dead. I can’t let Lora die. She won’t die.
“Forget tuesday.” I say. “We’ve been good enough. We’re escaping. Tonight.”
“Hey Mr. Crous!” Erin says happily.
Dad laughs. “Call me Joe, Erin.”
“Okay, Joe!” Erin grins.
We’re hiding behind the kitchen wall. Grayson’s got the goats in his hand. I’ve got Lora’s in mine.
“You know, it’s a really sunny day out today,” Erin says.
“That it is,” Dad nods.
“I was wondering if I could maybe go outside today? With Grayson? We wouldn’t go far, of course. We’d stay on the driveway. We just - it’s been a while since we’ve been outside and…” Erin looks down.
You’re a killer actor Erin!
“Of course… if I came out with you…” Dad puts a hand on her shoulder. “I understand this has been hard on you two. It’s not fair you’ ve been taken away from your family. I’ll get a jacket.”
I pull Lora to safety as Dad walks outside. A moment after the door closes on Erin and Grayson, ”
This is going better than I imagined it would, I think excitedly.
“Thank you, Mr. Crou- Joe, sorry.” Erin grins and walks out.
I take the goats from Grayson’s hand and pull them out of sight as Dad and Erin walk out, Grayson following. I pass the goats back to Grayson when Dad’s not looking.
A moment after they close the door, I hear a yelp and Erin’s voice saying “Get them, Joe!”
I pull Lora outside and we run into the car. I see Dad chasing after the goats.
Grayson slams his foot on the gas pedal and we speed off. I turn around and watch as Dad catches the ropes, turns and sees the car driving away. He yells something I can’t hear, and I feel guilt and fear mix in my stomach.
‘’Ludi?”
I jump and stare at Lora. She’s staring ahead creepily.
“Ludi, I don’t feel so good…” She says slowly. “Where’s Dad…?”
I slump back in my seat. “Lora’s getting worse, Erin,” I say, tapping her head in the seat ahead of me.
Erin turns and looks at me, biting her lip. “I know… We’re going to have to go fast.”
“How do we even get to the Angels?” Grayson asks from the front.
“I don’t know,” Erin admits. “We could ask around…”
I raise an eyebrow and she giggles. “Alright, not my best idea.”
“Cold here…” Lora whispers. “I’m really hot.”
I squeeze her arm. We’ll save you, Lora. You watch. Stay the same. Don’t become evil. We can do it, you’ll see.
“Look!” Erin points out the window. “Grayson, pull over!”
Grayson pulls over and rolls down his window. “Oh, wow…”
I roll down the window and gasp. On the sandy, dead grass of a field is an alarming sight. The grass is scorched black, and it still smokes. There’s a few white feathers on the ground. One of them is on fire.
Erin’s hands fly to her mouth.
“Who did this?” Grayson asks, horrified.
I clench my jaw and climb out.
“Ludi, it’s not safe-” Erin begins, but Grayson is already following me. She groans and follows us out.
I feel the grass. It’s like charcoal, and it blackens my fingers. “Something burned here,” I say.
“No kidding,” Grayson stares at it.
“I was trying to do that line in movies where the main character says something dramatic!” I roll my eyes at him.
“Oh, so sorry. Cameras, did you get that? Let’s get Ludi’s makeup fixed, he looks like a clown.” Grayson yells to thin air. He looks down and grins at me.
I roll my eyes again.
“But what could have burned here? It couldn’t be a small field fire, it looks too deliberate.” Erin stares at it, her jaw clenching.
“And what’s with the white feathers?” Grayson asks.
“White feathers, deliberate fire…” I slowly look up at them both. They inhale sharply.
“You don’t mean - this was a demon’s fault?” Erin’s hands fly to her mouth again.
“A demon fought an angel here…” Grayson picks up a white feather and flinches. “Poor angel.”
“Looks more like a Angel’s feathers,” I say. “The edges are sharper -looking.”
There’s screaming behind us. I spin around and see who screamed. Lora is in the air, reaching for me as Uncle Salan flies her away, an evil grin on his face.
“LORA!” I race after them, my hybrid form bursting out. “LORA! LET HER GO, SALAN! LET HER GO!”
Erin’s hand grabs my tail and yanks me down just before a fireball is shot right at me, scorching my left wing to a crisp. I yell in pain and fear and Erin and Grayson hold me up.
“LORA!” I scream.
“LUDI!” She screams back, just before Salan dives to the ground and sinks through it, like jello.
I yank myself out of Erin and Grayson’s grip, and stagger to the spot she disappeared. I collapse onto it, my hands pounding it as if I can sink through it, too.
“Lora!” I sob to the grass. “Lora, come back! I need you!”