Ben and Max did as what they were told ,and headed their way back to the woods. Their father was right behind them. Suddenly, Max heard a gunshot and both him and his brother whipped around.
Their father stood there frozen to the spot with blood slowly covering his white shirt. . He slowly looks up at them, before hitting the ground.
"Father!" Max screamed.
Ben stood in shock, then immediately pulling himself out as he saw more villagers with rifles aiming right at them.
"Max, run!"
The both of them ran as fast as they could, dodging the bullets as they went.
Max couldn't think...he couldn't process what was happening...it all happened too fast!
"Wait, where's Zack?"
"I'm here!" His friend cried as he ran from a tree and made their way towards them.
Max and him embraced. "I'm glad you're alright!"
The gunshots continued. Ben pushed them. "We've got to keep going!"
.....................................................
Shadow had his head buried in his arms as he sat at the table, as Thunderbolt....or.....Matthew was retelling the story of their adventures for what reason? He didn't know, but it was sure annoying.
"And then....and then that was when Shadow taught me and my friends how to live as wolves! It was so cool! Oh and when we reached the edge of the valley - "
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Suddenly, Shadow heard hard, continuous knocks on the door, and he got up while the bored girls shot their heads up from the table, looking at the door too.
To protect himself, he pulled out a firewood poker and gripped it hard in his hand as he slowly reached for the handle and swung it open.
There stood Max, Ben and Zackary.
"Wh- what are you guys doing here? What's wrong?"
Matthew stood up, shaking in a panic. "Wh- what's going on? Are we busted?"
"No!" Max exclaimed. "But WE are!" He pointed to him, Zack and Ben. The boys explained their story to them, all of them were in shock, as much shock as Shadow and his family were in.
"Oh my god!" Shadow said. He turned his head to the girls. Valerian folded her arms and she stared at the floor. "You guys aren't safe here."
Everyone turned to look at her in disbelief.
"Look, they're going to figure this out eventually, I'm sorry, but I think it's best if you find a place to live in the woods.
"SERIOUSLY VALERIAN? You're ditching us too?"
"It's not my choice!" She retorted. "It's just what needs to be done.
Shadow went over to his sister, then looks back at her. "I'm not leaving my sister again, I've already make that mistake once, that will be the last time I leave her!" He shouted. Valerian stopped him as she held her hand up to him. "Shadow, you're more like us than them. You're safer with us, but, we need to find a new place to go anyway, so I think it's best we leave together."
"What?" Rose exclaimed.
"What are you talking about?" Shadow yelled.
"We may be in a secluded area, but we are still in the Village. They don't know who we really are, us witches. If they knew, we would've been staked a long time ago. That's why I told you, Shadow, if you were to ever go to the Village, hide the magic, ESPECIALLY when it comes to your magic. They don't allow witches inside their town.
"So, they already know where you live, but you hide your powers and -"
"That's why I have this place protected. For you guys, it was too keep you invisible. For us, it's to keep people from seeing us as any different than them. Now we don't have a choice, since you guys are here now. It's not safe."
"They haven't seen us change!" Max retorted.
"No, but they know that something supernatural happened to you because of how long you were in the woods. Max, how long are the men supposed to hunt?"
Max sighed, she's got a point. "An hour or two a day, no more than that." He told her straightforwardly.
Valerian nodded. "That's right."
Zackary interrupted her before she could say anything else. "So where are we supposed to go?"
Valerian grinned at them as an idea popped in her head. "I know just the location."