§ Camp Clearlake § Book 2: Lycanthropy

''So your saying i'm immature?'' Chole said looking at Drake for sympathy.

"No," Jake said softly. As Blaze disappeared, he dashed over to the place where Blaze had stood a moment before. "No, no, no, no, NO!" He shouted, clenching his fistfuls of his hair. "Why am I so stupid?!" he cried angrily.
He'd loved Blaze for so long, he'd finally gotten her, and now, he'd lost her..

Fawn smiled happily. "A candle light dinner over the sunset? Couldn't be more perfect," Fawn leaned contently on Xander.

Ivy laughed again, without any humor. "This is crazy. And- and are siblings mages too?"

"I think this whole fight is quite immature, and I agree with Willa in the fact that you both should shut the fuck up," Drake put out.

Blaze sobbed as she ran through the forest towards Stain's tree, hoping he would be there to console her, or even just that nature would be there to comfort her that the world had not just ended. She ran around the corner and stopped short with a wet hiccup when she spotted Stain with Ivy and realized that Stain's shield was down.
"Finally tell her?" said Blaze, tears streaming down her face. Stain looked up, alarmed at the sound of Blaze's quaky voice and ran to her, enveloping her in his arms. "What's wrong?" he asked.
"I-I-I j-just broke up w-wi-wi-wi-with Jake," sobbed Blaze.
"What?" Stain exclaimed. "Why?!"

Alexander grinned. "It's only perfect because of you," he said, kissing her forehead gently.

Ivy blinked; everything was happening so fast. "What's happened?" she asked, putting her problem aside in order to try in comfort Blaze. She hated when people were upset.

Jake flopped back onto his bed, trying to think of something to do. Should he go after her? Go after her later? Go home?


"I could say the same thing," Fawn asked, grinning at him.

"Well you know how I cheated and I thought he didn't? It turns out he did and he was hiding it from me... I don't know how to trust him anymore, so I decided to break my own heart before he broke it himself," Blaze sniffled, but another wave of tears came on.

Alexander kissed her gently. "Your table, madame?" he grinned, showing her to her seat.

Ivy felt bad. She hated sob stories. "Oh, it's okay," she said comfortingly. "Things will get better. You'll move on,"

Jake decided to wait a bit, then try and find her. She may have cooled off some.

Fawn smiled. "Why, certainly."

"I can't move on. I love him and he loves me, and we're made for each other. We complete each other, and without him I'm broken."

Alexander kissed the top of her head gently as she sat and then went around to sit across from her. "And what would the lovely lady like for dinner?"

"Then what are you going to do?" Ivy asked softly.

Jake closed his eyes, thinking of the right time to approach Blaze.

"Hmm... Is there any limit to what there is?"

"I don't know," Blaze said, biting her lip and sniffling.
Stain hugged her more tightly. "Playing with fire will probably help. At least it will be a channel for your anger."

"Are there limits to magic?"

Ivy blinked. "Playing with fire? Won't you get burned?"

Fawn laughed. "I guess not. Anyways, spaghetti sounds really good right now."

Blaze laughed without mirth. "I guess Stain hasn't explained much of our magic to you, darling." She let her shield drop so Ivy could see her runes, and then turned to face the open space before them. She took a deep breath, and then blew a stream of fire from her mouth. It twisted like a snake and transformed to a roaring lion, which tore a fiery girl looking suspiciously like Violet to bits. The body parts melded into grass which grew to hideous bushes, which the lion, which was now a raging inferno monster, devoured alive.

"Spaghetti it is, then," smiled Alexander, conjuring two plates of spaghetti before them.

''I will not until i win this arguement'' Chole said.

Ivy felt a little light headed at Blaze's show. It was all happening so fast. "That was... pretty awesome... in an almost scary way. But, do all mages have powers like Blazes'?"

Fawn breathed in the scent. "Yum!" she exclaimed happily.

"How old are you, anyway? You're acting like such a baby. Can we not just move on?" Willa groaned.

In an instant, the fiery mass before them died, leaving a single flame which Blaze bounced in her palm like one might bounce a tennis ball on a racket. She turned back to Ivy. "Oh, no. I'm gifted." She glanced at Stain. "How much have you told her?"
"Basically only what we are, where we live, and I gave her a demonstration to prove it."
Blaze stepped over to Ivy. "See these runes?" She pointed to the intricate tattoo-like black markings all over her body with her free hand. "We get one for every black magic, or evil magic, spell we do. I don't know how Stain has made us out to be, but we're not fairies like the alleged Edward Cullen. We're dangerous. We're killers. We'd do anything for a price. So sweetie, if you want to run, now's your chance. We can clear your memory, and you can go back to living a normal life. Or you can stick around to take an eternal walk on the dark side."
"Blaze!" Stain exclaimed furiously. "Are you trying to scare her?!"
"I just want her to know the reality. No one should choose something when they don't know what they're getting themselves into."

Alexander smiled at her. "You're so cute."

Ivy shook her head. It was all so crazy.. "What do you mean, for a price? You kill people for money?"

Fawn smirked. "Oh, I know," she said, laughing. She took a bite of the spaghetti. Delicious.

''Your the one who just continues it and anyway if you don't stop and annoying me then i'll get my big brother on.....'' Chole stopped and burst into tears her big brother used to care for her and spend time with her and ever since she died all of that had me swept away.

"Money, power, services in return," said Blaze. "We're basically the bounty hunters of the magical world. The black market. We're a conspiracy of vampires who pushed magic to its limits, who aren't afraid to do things others might find... shall we say, immoral."
Stain slapped his hand to his face. "Blaze, you're making it sound like a bad thing..." he groaned.
"It's not. Not to us, anyway," Blaze shrugged, pulling a knife out of her boot at random and twisting it through her fingers without sustaining a scratch. "However, Ivy, you might not be cut from the same cloth."

Alexander began to eat as well, watching the candles burn.

"If you're crying about this stupid fight, I swear," said Willa, but her tone was gentle.

Ivy took in everything that had happened in the last few minutes in awe. "So... if I become a mage, would I have to be a bountyhunter too?"

"This is delicious," Fawn said again, watching the candles as well.

"You'd be forced to, yes, by the Council. But a lot of missions are really simple... for example, I spent ninety years at a beautiful camp for the undead, Camp Clearlake, with my best friend who is now my boyfriend." Blaze smiled encouragingly. "And I hope you're not a vegetarian, because you will have to hunt animals and drink their blood."

"Thank you. I do enjoy cooking... you can't just make things appear out of midair, of course. You have to know what goes into it and how to prepare it first."

Ivy blinked. "Well, if I were to spend my time on a camp, I would change right away... but other than that... I think I'm staying human for a while."

"Really?" Fawn asked, "how do you prepare it?"

Blaze eyed Stain. "Well, I'm just going to leave you two alone to discuss why that's a problem... I'll be off trying to decided what to do with my broken love life if you need me." Without another word, Blaze disappeared.

"The normal way of preparing spaghetti," Alexander laughed. "Flour, water, salt. Crushed tomatoes, sugar, salt, and seasonings. Pot, boiling water."

Ivy stared at the spot that Blaze had been a moment before. "Um... okay..."

Fawn smiled, nodding. "Either way, it's the best I've ever had."

''No it's not that it's just.............'' she stopped and started crying all over again.

"The thing is," Stain sighed, "because we've told you about us, it's now or never. Either I change you now or I clear your memory and you'll never see or hear of me again."

"Thank you," Alexander smiled. "I'm glad."

Willa stared at her, waiting for an explanation.

''It's just my brother used to look out for me and spend time with me until i died i wish there was some way that i could go back to those happy times'' Chole said tears rolling down her cheeks.