Golden Eeper

Chapter Six:

Favors

"I've gotta go," Jase said, hiding his grimace when he looked toward his partner. He didn't want to be there and, thankfully, Grant had requested his presence, so now he could leave.

"Aw," his lover said with a pout, and looked up at Jase with hungry eyes. "Where're ya goin'?"

"Grant needs to talk to me about something," Jase answered, sitting on the edge of the bed to pull his jeans on.

"Oh. Well…Do I get a kiss before you go?"

Jase turned around after he stood to look at the male form sprawled across the bed, barely hidden by the sheets. He leant over the mattress and gave him a quick kiss, but his lover linked his fingers behind his head and gave him a passionate kiss that Jase did

not

want.

Pulling away, he told him, "Alright, I've got to go, really. I'm supposed to meet Grant

before

dinner. If duty doesn't call, I'll save you seat, Finn."

Finn smiled up at him, and then closed his eyes to take a short nap as Jase left.

Jase knew he was running late, and while no one was really punctual around there, he still liked to be on time.

Damn… Fucking Finn… I really don't understand

why

I have to sleep with

him

… this had better pay off in the end.

Jase was thinking so hard that he didn't hear her approach him until she was right in front of him.

"JESUS–" he started, but stopped himself when he saw who it was. "What do you want,

now?

" he asked the pesky woman.

"

Well

…" she said, leading him forward, "I know why Grant needs you and in result, I need a little favor."

Jase glared down at her, but before he could tell her where to shove her little favor, she continued, whispering, "I want you to only bring back the man. You can burn the women…do whatever you feel like. They're not needed anymore."

He was confused, but when recognition dawned on his face as he followed her hush-hush tone. "Did you get this cleared first?"

She gave him a look that screamed 'Of course.'

"And I should do this because…?" he continued.

"Because Master says that he doesn't need the man. So, I figured I could have some fun him with to mess with that bitch's heart. And since she came out perfectly, he doesn't need those extra sluts anymore."

"Why can't Collin just plop him down in the woods like he did with Charamaine?"

"Because Collin didn't do that. Master sent someone else to take care of her–and him–

after he got a little…carried away…"

Jase sighed, thinking of how much more difficult his mission was going to become. "And if I don't come through with your

favor

?" he asked her.

"Then Master will have someone take care of you."

___

Grant looked through the door in the kitchen to see Charamaine laughing at something Rage had said. She held her stomach while she laughed and closed her mouth as not to be too loud. Her eyes sparkled and she was positively glowing. Rage, as if sensing his stare, spun around to face her older brother and smirked. When Charamaine finally gained some composure, she looked up at Rage and followed her new friend's line of vision.

When their eyes met, she was the only thing he saw. Everything seemed to float away as he stared at her.

I feel like I'm in some cheesy romance novel

, he joked to himself.

Charamaine turned her head away from him and an appealing blush stole across her cheekbones. When she and Rage faced each other, they were both sent into bursts of giggles all over again. Grant smiled, watching them, and decided that if Jase didn't come in the next five seconds…

"Hey, sorry, man," the voice started behind him.

Damn

, Grant thought as he took one last glance at her.

"I know I'm late. Sorry, I was held up…"

Grant sighed and turned around. He supposed that Jase was an okay-looking guy, but since Grant preferred the opposed sex,

Charamaine in particular,

he wouldn't really know. Jase's hair was a muddy brown and, where Grant's just reached his shoulders, his was cropped close to his head. Of all of his father's pack members, Grant figured Jase was the closest in height to him.

"It's alright; I just need to ask you a favor," Grant started, waiting for Jase's nod to continue. "Okay, so I need you to go to this address," he pulled a sheet of paper from his back jean pocket, "and see who's there."

As Grant said this, a woman walked past them, making him wave Jase out of the building to a more private area. "There should be several women in the basement and there might be a man. They'll most likely be locked up, so do anything and everything you can to rescue them. The man is extremely important; if you can only get to one, make sure it's him. If there is a man who goes by the name Collin at the residence, I want you to take care of him…understand?"

Jase assured him that he'd do everything in his power to retrieve the man and, if possible, the women. Grant told him to leave immediately and he sped off into the forest.

___

May took in the giant Hall she was currently in. It was made to look like a traditional log cabin…only much,

much

bigger. Oh, and there was a state-of-the-art chef's kitchen through the double doors. There were six sturdy wood tables seating fifteen each, and Grant had told her that this wasn't even all of their community.

"How long did it take to build this place?" she asked him. They were sitting so close, their arms rubbed against each other with every move. She told herself it was because she was still afraid of the other males, which was true, but she really liked the closeness she shared with Grant regardless.

"Not long," he replied between bites of homemade fried chicken. "A couple of months at the most."

He was so nonchalant about his answer, she thought he was teasing her, but after looking up at him, she saw he was not.

This place is

enormous

! That's totally impossible… right?

Bewildered, she stuttered, "Pft-only…wait… a—a couple of months…that isn't." Seeing as she wasn't getting anywhere, she simply asked him, "But

how

?"

"We just have a lot of…man…power," he said, chuckling at his own private joke.

"Wait, whoa, hold up.

You

built this?"

"Well," he grinned, "not just

me

, more like

us

."

May took the time to actually look around at all of the people gathered. There were probably an equal amount of men and women, give or take a few, but all of the men were extremely…well built.

But not overly so… it just looks sort of natural on them. Like they're born with it…

May let her train of thought run off, vocalizing it with a tiny, "Hmmph."

"Is this her?" she heard a deep voice ask from behind her. She stiffened and Grant's hand shot out to soothe her.

"Yes," he responded. "Charamaine, this is Orion. Orion, Charamaine."

May was able to see that he gestured back and forth between her and some unknown character. Since Grant obviously knew the man, she tried to relax and turned around with a forced smile.

A small, strangled cry was torn from her throat as he gazed into the warm, emerald eyes of the tall, blonde-haired stranger.

___

Grant turned his panic-stricken eyes from the shaking woman beside him up to Orion, who stood stock-still and looked utterly confused, and then back down to Charamaine.

"What's wrong, Chara-baby?" he asked her softly, not wanting to call any attention to her. He saw her silent tears and growled, looking up menacingly at Orion.

"Hey, I didn't do

anything

!" Orion exclaimed, puzzled by her reaction to him, and pushed his golden curls out of his eyes.

"Shhh," Grant continued to comfort her with soothing words and gentle rubs near her shoulder blades. "What's wrong, Charamaine? What happened?" he repeated.

"H-he," she started, though her was voice broken by her sobs. "Eh…E-Emmett." She looked up at Orion through tearstained lashes, her pale eyes wide with confusion.

It all clicked in Grant's head; he figured that Orion must resemble her friend, Emmett. He could see why this would upset her and he hoped that Jase would bring him back.

"I know, sweetie, I know," he told Charamaine while hugging her lean form to him. "It's okay. Relax. I sent someone to get him for you. Don't worry. It's alright. It'll all be alright."

"Euhh, what?" Orion asked, frustrated with being the third wheel in the exchange.

Grant's patient eyes flickered up to Orion and relayed the information into his head.

"Ohh," Orion said, clearly unsure what to do next, "should I… come back… another time?"

Nothing was said between the three of them, all that was heard was Charamaine's gasping as her breathing slowly returned to normal.

"N-no, no," she said, looking up at Orion. "Stay, please. I… I'm sorry. You just look like someone I kn-new." She stuttered on that last word, but then closed her eyes and focused.

They all waited until she opened her eyes and they'd returned back to their normal, pale blue color from the eerie almost-white shade they turned when she was upset. "I'm Charamaine Hale," she said, her hand extended out.

"Charamaine." Orion smiled happily at her and took her hand. "Orion," he said pointing to himself, "at your service."

"Are you done eating, Charamaine?" Grant asked her, wanting to proceed.

"Oh!" she exclaimed. "Why, yes. Thank you."

Grant made a signal with his fingers and a boy came over to take their plates.

"Oh, you don't have to—," she started.

"It's alright, Miss," said the boy, who was no more than fourteen or fifteen years of age.

Grant thanked the boy, Lukha, and sent him on his way. He could tell that Charamaine was uncomfortable with this, so he reassured her it was okay. He stood up gracefully and pulled out Charamaine's chair to help her up.

"We're going to see if Orion can tell us where your wings came from," he told her as he took her hand and they followed Orion out of the Dining Hall.

___

May liked Orion. Not as much as Emmett or…Grant. She smiled at that. She thought that Orion was just a very enjoyable person to be around.

They were in his little office. Well, little may not have been the appropriate word. It seemed to her like everything there was above average. The walls were lined with bookshelves, which were, in turn, filled to the brim with every type of book. There was everything from the Qur'an to the Bible, Astronomic Encyclopedias to Quantum Physics 101.

May had always loved to read; give her a good novel and she'd finish it in one day flat. She let go of Grant's warm hand to walk along the shelves, running her fingers across the hundreds upon thousands of spines. When she got to a particularly old set behind Orion's desk, he was suddenly next to her.

"Those are very old, be careful, please," he told her, watching her every move.

One of the aged books caught her eye: it was a faded cream color with flowing red letters along the spine.

Ορνις λόγος: La Connaissance d'Oiseau

, it read.

Bird knowledge?

she wondered.

"Ah, what a keen eye, that's the one we need," Orion praised as he carefully took the aging book and placed it on his fine, dark-wood desk.

"

Bird knowledge

?" she asked aloud this time.

Both Grant and Orion looked up at her with surprised eyes. "You read Greek?" Grant asked her.

And at the same time Orion answered her, "Yes, ornithology."

"No," she responded shyly, "French… Is that what the other phrase says as well?" May was eager to change the subject

"Yes,

ornis logos

," Grant answered offhandedly, still curious. "Are you fluent in French?"

"Well, yes. It's my first language… I'm just accustomed to speaking English, so I do it more often."

"Hale doesn't sound like a very French last name," Orion joked.

"That's because it isn't my last name," May replied, then sighed. She might as well…

"My father was French…His English was horrid; so we spoke in French at home to make everything easier. Excluding Poppa, we were all fluent in English as well, so when he left our transition was simple. I never use my last name, LeCorbeiller, unless I have to. I just use my middle name, Hale, in its place."

___

"Garbage can?" Orion questioned, mostly to himself.

No, you idiot, that's la corbeille.

Grant put the thought into Orion's head and chuckled.

Orion was oddly intrigued by this new information. "But Charamaine and Hale are not French names. Grant tells me your sister is named Rikita? That's not French either, I suppose…"

"No," Charamaine said, as if she'd talked about this hundreds of times. "My mother wasn't French. To be honest, I'm not exactly sure

what

she was… it never bothered me. I'll ask her for you when I talk to her again." She smiled as she ended, seemingly elated at the very thought of talking to her mother. After a moment of reflection from all of them, Orion broke the silence.

"Alright, enough chitchat—time to get to work!" Orion was excited to research more about the pale puzzle before him.

He quickly pulled out his luxurious leather seat and sat down. Orion pried the ancient text open with anxious fingers, looking for something.

"Ah, the Aves!" Orion said gleefully and looked up to Charamaine. "Err-the ornithological index of sorts."

He reached into a large drawer in his desk, took out his black reading classes and began to recite: "

Archaeopteryx lithographica

, Caudipteryx,

Confuciusornis

, Dromaeosaurid, Jeholornis prima, Jixiangornis orientalis, Phalacrocorax auritus,

Protoavis texensis

, Rahonavis

Shenzhouraptor sinensis…

"

"Why is the index in English?" Charamaine asked, looking to Orion.

"It's not. I just figured it would help if you recognized anything," he answered, and then went back to reading.

"So do you all speak Greek here?"

Grant turned to the source of the melodic voice next to him. "Yes, at the very least."

Charamaine looked at him with questions in her eyes, urging him to continue. "Well, we've had a lot of free time—" He was interrupted by Orion's snort of amusement and he glared at the blonde man until he went back to work, continuing his scan through the book.

"Anyway," Grant started again. "So with the extra time we either build things," he gestured around him to the grand walls of Orion's study, "or pick up new hobbies. Most of us choose to learn another language."

"Why?" she asked him, obviously not understanding how one person could have

so

much time on their hands.

"Because a lot of them are easy to pick up…Finn and I use our own language, a mix of Ancient Greek, Irish Gaelic, Burmese, Quechua, Latin, and a little

Náhuatl

, when we're conversing in private." Grant gave her a crooked smile, remembering the innocence of their childhood.

Charamaine just stared at him with wide eyes, but before she could respond, Orion finally stopped listing the ornithological index.

"

Et voilá

!" Orion grinned widely. "Look, look. See?" He eagerly, but carefully, pushed the book across the table to them. Grant looked at it without surprise, but he heard a shocked gasp come from Charamaine.

___

Who would've ever thought that angels existed? Angels. Yep. People with big, white, feathered wings floating around in the sky…little Cherubs flying through the clouds. Not me, that's for sure. But of all the places for them to be listed… they're in an ancient ornithology book?

May was totally confused. A million thoughts running through her head as she looked down at the page again.

She didn't know what

φτερωτός ανθρώπινος: άγγελος

meant, but she knew what

Humain ailé: ange

said…

winged human…angel…

"

Fterotos anthropinos: agkelos.

" May heard Grant say this next to her, but she was focused on the picture in the book.

There, right smack-dab in the middle of the book, was a picture of her. She was standing on a cliff that overlooked…nothing…yet the picture still oozed peace and serenity. Her long, silvery-blonde hair blew away from her face in the wind. She stood tall and regally, her eyes closed in meditation, her palms lifted up to heavens, her wings flared out behind her.

Only

,

no, that's not right…my wings… they're not white, they're black.

As if to check, she spread out her wings and wrapped them around herself so she could see them.

After a moment of silence, she asked them, "What is this? What do we do now?"

"Now, my dear," answered Orion, "we read."

___

The house reeked of death and decay. Even up on the main floors, the odor still permeated the air. The stairs to the basement creaked and moaned under his heavy feet. The rancid smell became worse the lower he went, but he had to do this. He didn't want to end up like them.

Reaching the bottom step, Jase was afraid to turn on the light. He was unnerved by what he might see, but–closing his eyes–he flipped the switch. Jase breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that all of the doors were closed; but his relief was short-lived once he realized he'd have to go through each one now to get to the man.

Holding his breath, Jase kicked open the first door and almost vomited. He now understood what she meant by "carried away."

Stepping over the remains of…something… he moved further into the room to check for survivors. Seeing as there weren't any, he darted out of the room and closed the door. Inhaling deeply, he repeated this until he made it to the last door, killing any females who somehow stayed alive. He made himself feel better by telling himself that they probably wouldn't have lived much longer anyway.

Barging through the last door, he saw it wasn't as bad as the rest, but it was still like a page torn from a murderer's book of nightmares. The dark walls were adorned with splattered blood, the red liquid in pools on the floor. Jase's vision was heightened compared to the average human, but even he couldn't see past a couple of feet in this absolute darkness. His hand trailed along the dark wall and he flipped the switch, unprepared for the onslaught of screams that would follow.

___

"I knew it," Grant said to Charamaine, who was walking next to him on their way back to his cabin.

"Knew what?"

"That you're an angel."

He heard her scoff and he looked down at her. "I am nothing like that, in case you haven't noticed," she said, moving away from him to encompass herself with her giant, black wings.

"Well, maybe you'll molt or something and they'll turn white."

She chuckled. "Better yet they could just molt…then disappear completely."

Grant sighed and pulled her back to him. "But if that happened, you'd never be able to feel this," he said as he took one hand and gently caressed her feathers.

He heard Charamaine as she closed her eyes and released a sound somewhere between and sigh and a moan. Grant was pleased, knowing he could affect her this way.

"Oh yeah?" she challenged, re-opening her eyes. "Well if I

didn't

have them, then I could do this…without bending over."

She stopped him and spun around so her back was to his front, bent over and grinded her shapely ass against his rapidly growing erection. Grant's chest rumbled and a growl ripped free. Charamaine chuckled and rose back up, turning so she was facing him. Grant wrapped his arms around her as she rested her head on his chest. He bent down and put his head on hers, inhaling her arousing scent.