Dogs of War Episode 5 (3 page)

“Start running and just jump in. it’s better that way, I promise.” She watched his head bob back under the water and decided that he must be right.

Taking a few steps back, and then a few more, and then a few more, she worked up her courage.

Deciding it was now or never she began running and screaming, waiting until the last second before she broke the water to take a deep breath of air.

She plunged into the murky depths. The bright blue she’d seen from above was almost black from below. And cold was not the word to describe the painful feel of the water on her body. She immediately started kicking, needing air so she could scream some explicative that would indicate how truly cold she was.

She swam up, the water getting lighter and lighter as she went until she knew she was about to break the surface, about to take a breath of air and yell at Cord. She already had some words picked out for him when she hit a wall. Something invisible was blocking her from swimming up. Her hands splayed against it, solid and cold like ice, but completely invisible. She swam over a few feet and the same thing happened. She tried the other side, and again was met with the same solid surface.

Sidney began to panic. Her mind screaming out for Cord, she beat on the barrier that was keeping her under, pounded on it until she started feeling weak. No matter how hard she pummeled her fists against it, it wouldn’t break or even bend. Her mind raced for a solution even as her body began to tire. She knew if she didn’t find a way out that she was going to give up. She didn’t have a choice, her body wasn’t going to let her fight much longer. She wouldn’t be able to demand that her lungs not inhale. Already they burned, begging her to suck in something to appease their ache.

She stopped beating the hard wall that kept her from the air she so desperately needed, giving in to the inevitable. What a strange way to die, locked underwater by something she couldn’t see. She looked at her hands, they were cut and bruised, and then let them float to the side. She looked around at her final resting place, at least it was beautiful, the last place she’d see.  The light coming in from above made the currants underwater shimmer, like a child had sprinkled a bottle of iridescent glitter over the water.

The light was getting darker and she knew she was about to pass out. Strangely she didn’t feel panicked anymore, this wasn’t so bad.  And then a form swam up out of the darkness and swirled around her. It looked alien, snake-like, but large. Almost as large as Sidney.

It coiled around her body, its face coming inches from hers. The panic returned.

“Why are you here?” The sound of its voice slid through the water like oil, slick and menacing.

Sidney shook her head, how did it to expect her to speak?

It seemed to sniff her, its face, coming even closer. Its features were so dark she almost couldn’t see it. It was like staring into a void, except for the eyes, they burned bright turquoise, almost like underwater fire, swirling with sparks of blue flame.

“Human, why are you here? This is not your place.”

I DON’T KNOW, she screamed within herself. I DON’T KNOW!

The creature held one hand-like appendage up to her face, covering her from forehead to chin and immersing her in darkness.

“Speak,” it demanded.

Sidney opened her mouth, powerless to do otherwise, expecting water to rush in and end this vision, instead air filled her lungs with welcome relief. She gasped again and again, the creature seemed content to let her catch her breath.  Finally she spoke, “I was here to learn about water magic, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to trespass if I’m not allowed here.”

“Magic, human? You can do no magic.”

“That’s what I TOLD them!” If she weren’t in water she was sure there would be tears streaming down her face, “I TOLD them that I was just an average person but they insisted and now I’m drowning and my brain is making last minute horrible hallucinations as my oxygen runs out.”

She gurgled out the last few words as the thing removed its hand. It seemed to consider her, to sniff at her again through a slit in its onyx  face.

“Not human. Witch, but blocked,” it uncoiled from around her, letting her arms and legs move freely again. “Do not come back here until you’ve healed yourself.” It swam away, looking back over its shoulder to level a final warning, “or I will kill you.

Rough hands grabbed Sidney pulling her out of the water and onto the shore, where sunlight and air greeted her like old friends. She gulped the air like she’d never breathed before and it tasted like heaven. The pain in her chest loosened and her vision gradually cleared, letting her see a frantic Cord above her. He was saying something but she couldn’t hear anything over the ringing in her ears.

She put her hand up to his mouth to stop whatever he was saying. She had something she wanted to say to him instead, her voice felt gravelly, her throat swollen and sore.

“Next time, we go to the pool.”

Red paced the small kitchen of his new apartment. He’d sent Morgan over to Glory’s, indefinitely. He didn’t know when he’d be getting back from Asheville, and even then, he didn’t know how long this job as President would last. He hoped not long. He was tired as fuck, of everything. He and Morgan needed a new start. Until then Glory and Morgan’s grandparents could take care of her, hell, they’d done it up until the last month or so. A little longer wouldn’t hurt. Just until he could get out and get them settled. No Dogs, no Three Rivers, and no fucking Sidney.

He didn’t have time to think about her and her lies. He had to plan. He wanted everything to go perfectly so there wouldn’t be any questions when he came back. But he needed back up. Trainz was old but he’d been the muscle for the Dogs for years before Red had even been born. He might be past his prime, but let him shift and he was still dangerous as fuck. Not to mention he had Big Dog and BillCo there, and they sure as shit wouldn’t just let him waltz in and kill them all without a fight.

He needed Donny-O. His oldest and closest friend, but he didn’t know if he could trust him anymore. It seemed like every time something came up that he needed to keep quiet, Donny-O turned around and told Demon or somebody about it. He needed someone who he knew without a shadow of a doubt was loyal and who could also keep a secret. He ticked off each of the guys in turn but couldn’t come up with one he was one hundred percent sure of. Then it hit him.

Tinker. Tinker probably held more loyalty towards him than he did the rest of the group. It was Red who’d given him a second chance after all. It was Red who hadn’t killed him and had allowed Sidney to heal him… with magic. But he wasn’t thinking about that. He also wasn’t going to think of the wounded look on her face when he’d left. An act, that’s all it was. Witches were liars from the very core of their beings. They couldn’t help it, it was a way of life for them. Taking things that wasn’t theirs, making people feel things they didn’t really feel, causing pain and heartbreak every where they went. It was just in their shitty nature. Sidney couldn’t help be what she was, a user, but Red didn’t have to let himself be sucked in by her. No matter how good of an actress she was.

Oh and she’d been good. Those soft eyes looking at him like he was perfect, like she’d never want to look at anyone else, like he mattered to her. All an act. He didn’t know why she’d chosen him as a victim and he didn’t care, he wouldn’t be a part of it. He slammed his beer on the table a little too hard and it cracked, the golden brown liquid seeping down the bottle to pool on the table. That was enough thinking about Sidney, he scolded himself. She wasn’t worth all this.

He picked up his phone to see if he’d programmed Tinker’s number in there, and was relieved to find he had. After a brief conversation, Tinker was a man of few words, they’d come to an agreement. He’d do this for Red if Red patched him in as a full member of the Dogs. Conveniently, he’d just become president, and while there would be a vote, not many would vote against someone the president wanted to be patched in. It was bad mojo.

Yes, Tinker was his man. And he’d take Squirt and Squint too, just as cover. He’d leave them outside and they could corroborate his story of hearing a fight. And there would be a fight, but no simple death during a fight was going to kill Big Dog, he deserved much much worse. And he was going to get it.

Sidney lay on her couch.  Not watching TV. Not reading a book. Not day dreaming about winning the lottery. She just lay there.

Or that’s what she was trying to do. No matter how hard she tried to push every thought out, her mind tumbling over and over everything. With so much crap going on it was hard to pick a situation to agonize over. As soon as she made herself stop thinking about one thing, another popped up to take its place.

She couldn’t even deal with what had happened at the lake, she would wait until someone got around to explaining it to her. And that didn’t seem like it was going to happen anytime soon. She’d been dropped off at her house and told to rest. Which was what she was doing even though she wasn’t tired.

Instead she lay there thinking about Red. She hadn’t cried since right after he left. She knew there was some problem with him that was causing him to react this way. Some history that made him distrust her simply for who she was. It couldn’t be just some stupid laws written in a book. Surely he wasn’t a religious fanatic, or at least he hadn’t seemed to be. He hadn’t mentioned that book of laws to her once, and if it was that important to him he would have said something.

It was weird that neither the shifters nor the witches cared about mixing with humans. It was like humans were the universal breeding partners. Too bad she wasn’t human.

Sidney shook her head. That sounded crazy. Not human, blocked witch. She rolled her eyes. This was too much for a person to be expected to handle. She was going to break into a thousand pieces of madness one of these days. And it wouldn’t be a false alarm like it had been when Red revealed himself. It was going to be a full blown mental meltdown. And she was going to enjoy it. They’d give her the good meds, a nice padded room to bounce around in, and a comfy jacket that’d keep her warm with the constant hug she’d be giving herself. Yes, she was going to enjoy her trip to cuckooville.

She rolled over to her side and stared out the window with dry blank eyes.

She didn’t want to be confused or hurt or angry or sad or scared anymore. She wanted to live a normal life where she worked as a vet and felt insecure about how people felt about her. She was even starting to miss being ignored by her family.

But it was easy to say that now, before she’d seen every thing clearly she’d been a wreck of childhood baggage and insecurities.

But at least she’d still had Red.

She closed her eyes and let her mind go back and play over the brief time they’d had together. Reliving the feel of his arms around her, the way he’d looked at her, the way she’d felt lying in bed with him at night. She could almost feel the phantom touch of his kiss on her neck as she thought about it and it made her feel even more empty and alone that it wasn’t real.

She’d even loved him when she’d thought he was an overgrown domesticated house wolf.  She’d run her hands through his fur and felt like she’d met a kindred, someone she could tell all her worries to who would love her without judgment. And when she’d found out he was a shifter, she’d put that aside and loved him regardless, and he hadn’t been able to do the same for her.

Couldn’t he see that she was exactly the same person as she’d been before she found out she was a witch? Well, maybe not exactly the same. She felt stronger, more sure of herself, less like a broken toy from the dollar store that had been set aside by every single person she’d ever loved. But those changes were good, they made her a better person. She wanted to share that new better person with Red, but because of his unreasonable objection to what she was, he was going to miss out.

And that’s what it was, unreasonable. How could a logical person in this day and age be such a bigot based on someone’s circumstances of birth. Red wouldn’t have reacted that way if he’d found out she’d been born poor in a trailer park, or if she were a mixed ethnicity, so why react so poorly because she just happened to be a witch? It was illogical and down right… racist.

Sidney sat up on the couch, pushing her hair back and out of her face with both hands. That’s exactly what it was, racist and stupid. How dare he judge her for something she had no control over? How dare he say that she should get an abortion if she got pregnant because her child would be an ‘abomination’. How dare he treat her less than because she was different than him.

The more she thought about it the angrier she got. And the angrier she got the more she felt the need to say a few things to Red’s face. She got up off the couch and started cleaning, throwing a discarded shirt towards the laundry bin, shoving an empty bag into the trash, slamming her purse into the side chair.

On second thought, she picked up her purse. No, she wasn’t going to stay at home and waste this energy on an already mostly clean house. She was going to go use it. To tell Red exactly what she thought of him.

***

Sidney made a sharp turn into the Dogs clubhouse parking lot, gravel flying and tires squealing in the most satisfying way. She stopped on the brakes, not bothering to find a space to park in, just pulling up close to the door. She didn’t have time for parking, she had words to say.

She slammed the Jeep’s door and strode into the club, fully intending to slam that door behind her too.

But instead of a room full of guys playing pool and drinking beer, she found Glory and Morgan sitting on the rug in front of the fireplace playing with Barbie dolls.

“Sidney!” Morgan screamed and jumped to her feet, running and launching herself into Sidney’s arms. “Where have you been? I missed you.”

All of the anger went out of her in an instant, “I’ve missed you too, silly. What have you been doing?” Her heart wrenched in her body as she held the small form, the chubby little arms wrapping around her neck. She really had missed her. Not a day had gone by that she hadn’t thought about that smile and those long blonde curls and the guilt she’d ignored surfaced that she hadn’t made more of an effort to see her.

“Me and Glory is playing Barbie, you come play too!” Morgan grabbed her hand and marched her over to the rug where Glory sat, big hair, full make up, and skin tight pants, with a little blonde doll in her hands.

“Are,” Sidney corrected.

“Are what?” Morgan asked.

“You and Glory are playing Barbie, not is playing.”

“Oh, okay,” she said handing a mini-skirt and high heel wearing doll that looked more like a stripper to Sidney than something a five year old should be playing with. “This is you. Your name is Purplina.”

“Purplina?” She glanced at Glory, wondering if Red had told her anything about what had happened between them. Glory smiled at her and gave her a shoulder shrug. Sidney didn’t know what that meant.

“Have you seen Red around,” she asked. As glad as she was to see Morgan, she didn’t want her anywhere around when she confronted Red about his ridiculous attitude.

“No, he dropped Little Bit here off with me and told me to take her over to Jim’s when I got tired of her,” Glory, looked down at Morgan with eyes full, “which isn’t going to happen any time soon.”

“Any idea of where he went?” Sidney really wanted to get this over while she still had a spark of anger lighting her up.

“Honey, you learn not to ask questions when your husband and your son run with the Dogs. You don’t need that kind of worry in your life. Gives you wrinkles, instead you sit with your granddaughter and play Barbie and pray everything turns out alright.” She tweaked Morgan’s nose, “And it usually does.”

That didn’t sound like something Sidney would ever be able to do, but she chose not to say that out loud. She didn’t want Glory thinking she couldn’t handle being with someone in the Club.

She looked down at Morgan who was busy working a pair of pants on to a doll, her little tongue between her lips, concentrating on her task, “Well then, mind if I play with y’all while I wait for him.”

“Purplina is going to take a nap right now. But you can make me some macaroni and cheese.” Morgan gave her her best grin and Sidney couldn’t resist.

She laughed, “Let me go look in the kitchen, and if they’ve got the stuff, I’ll make it.”

“Make enough for my Glory too, she’ll love it!”

***

Sidney spent the better part of two hours sitting with Glory and Morgan, playing dolls, eating a makeshift version of mac and cheese, and she’d almost given up on Red making an appearance at the clubhouse that day. The sun was already setting low on the horizon and no one who’d come in so far had seen him.

She was about to make her excuses when she saw Glory stiffen where she sat, her eyes toward the door.

In walked Demon, arrogant swagger carrying him forward, as if he owned everything in sight. His black hair and black clothes just added to the aura of sex and power that seemed to radiate from him wherever he went. There was no mistaking the danger and appeal of this man, even if he was a jackass.

He came to stand within inches of her, but his eyes hadn’t left Morgan. “God she looks just like her,” his words were low, she wasn’t sure if anyone else was meant to hear them.

“Come on Morgan, get your things together, it’s time to go home.”

“Nice to see you Glory,” he smirked in the older woman’s direction. “You look… well.”

Glory didn’t say a word to him, just continued to help Morgan pack up her toys in a little cartoon castle covered suitcase.

“We’ll see you later Sidney,” Glory said as she picked up Morgan and slung her on her hip.

“Bye bye Sidney, I love you!” Morgan leaned out of Glory’s arms and gave Sidney a big wet kiss on the cheek.

“I love you too, I’ll come visit soon.”

She watched the pair walk out the door and turned to Demon.

“Well that was awkward,”

“Tell me something I don’t know.” He turned and walked towards the bar, the arrogance and anger practically jumping off of him.

Sidney followed behind, “Have you seen Red today.”

“Nope,” he grabbed a beer out of the fridge behind the bar and held one up to her, “Want one?”

“No thanks. So what was all that about with Glory?”

“Ancient history.” He didn’t seem like he wanted to comment further so she changed the subject.

“Who does she look just like,” Demon just stared at her, “Morgan, when you walked in you said, ‘God she looks just like her.’ Who is her?”

“Her mother, who did you think I was talking about Brittney Spears?” Demon jumped over the bar instead of going around it like a normal person. God he was infuriating.

“But who was she?”

Demon’s eyes clouded, “That’s one you’re going to have to ask Red about, darlin’. What he does or doesn’t tell you isn’t any of my business.”

“Well Red isn’t exactly here at the moment, is he? And he’s such a talker, I’m sure he’ll just tell me all about it next time I see him.”

“Not my problem, sugar.”

She looked at Demon through the slits of her narrowed eyes.  She had the inexplicable urge to slap him, instead she decided to leave.

“Fine, whatever.” She turned to go get her purse, she obviously wasn’t going to get any answers or even basic civil conversation out of him, so why stick around. No wonder Glory had high tailed it out of there when he walked in. He was like… people repellant no matter how good he looked in those fitted jeans and tight black shirt.

“I heard about you and Red,” he said from behind her.

She stopped and faced him, “And what did he tell you?”

“That you’re a,” he looked both ways as if making sure the coast was clear, then cupped his hands around his mouth and loudly whispered, “witch.”

She held her head up defiantly, “And what’s wrong with that? I have just as much right to exist as any of you shifters do. I shouldn’t be discriminated against because of the circumstances of my birth. And I am the same person now that I was before he found out,” she lowered her voice in case there actually were others listening, “what I am.”

He held his hands up in front of him, “Sister, you are preaching to the choir. But none of the guys around here are going to feel that way.”

“Yeah, I heard about your stupid book. What does it say, ‘Thou shalt not like witches and shall do everything in your power to make them feel like shit”?”