Chapter Nine

I only made one stop on the way home. It was to clean up a bit and to stitch myself. It
was painful but I had to do it. Head wounds really do bleed excessively.
Even though the sun was up, I still had a few hours. My feelings were jumbled up. I
was terrified, awed, excited to an extent that there was going to be one hell of a battle
coming my way, but mostly it was… regret that overcame everything. I know I could
have saved my parents if I was just a little bit older then. If I had just been giving
some time to adjust to the power I wielded and actually knew how to wield it. Things
would have been so much different if that yellow-eyed demon had come only two
years later. How life would have been for James, Jason and I? Would we have moved
from our home town? Probably. Just because humans can't see demons, doesn’t mean
that they can't see the damage that was left behind. And who else was to blame but the
person that tried to stop it. But at least we would have been together. Mom, dad and
us. A real family. Not this broken unit of slayers.
I doubted that we even had that same sense of one another in a fight. We were so out
of tune and our survival depended on it. No… my survival depended on it.
And I would have to learn to live without it. My mind was made up. I would leave
Lincoln Falls even if I haven’t graduated yet. What does school matter to a person like
me. Lucas would take care of me financially and James and Jason would be happy
just where they are.

I arrived home at about eight. Just looking at my house, I knew all hell had broken
loose. I leave them for one night and they break down the garage, destroyed the front
yard and even the neighbour, Dan had severe garden damage.
“Jordan!”
Dahlia screamed as she ran out from Dan's house. She looked horrible to say the least.
She hugged me fiercely while Dan, the man was human and huge.
The contrast was between him and Dahlia was startling.
“What happened here?” I asked her.
“The Council.”
James had come out of the house. He hadn’t shaved this morning and had slight
stubble and his shirt was bloodied a little.
He looked at me once before he came down in a hurry to look at my head, “What
happened to you?”
“The usual.” I said avoiding looking at him, “Why did the council do this?”
“They are so mad!” Dahlia whispered, “I… I was so scared of them. I shouldn’t have
told them, Jordan. It’s all my fault.”
“Of course it’s your fault!” Nikki said harshly as she came out of the house with
Jason, “If you had just left them all alo-”
“Shut up, Nikki.” James told her, “D did what she was told to do. Had to do.”
She kept quite but didn’t look happy about it. Her face darken a whole lot when Jason
left her and came to me, “We’re so sorry, Jo.” He whispered, “We became so caught
up in…”
“It’s fine.” I said gently; glad that my understanding could be passed through my
voice.
“No. It’s not.” James said, “We made a promise to you and we didn’t keep it. And it
almost killed you.”
I opened my mouth to say something but he beat me to it, “Don’t even lie, Jordan! We
can see through that ridiculous scarf.”
‘That ridiculous scarf’ was the only thing I could find to cover the bruise of almost
being throttled to death. It was a prank thing that Jason did a few years ago, hot pink
and red, mixed with green and transparent. I thought I could say that I was cold or
something, but clearly that didn’t work.
“The council is aware of your return, Jordan. They want to see you. Now.” Dan said.
Just as he finished a black limo pulled up. Two werewolves, the daylight guardians,
stepped out looking all menacing.
“We don’t have much of a choice.” James said. His and Jason’s hands flitted over
their guns.
I sighed, “This is going to be another long day.”
“Oh my god!” Dahlia screamed, “Jordan! You… you…”
“Yeah, yeah.” Jason said. He pushed her back to stand next to Nikki, “You two stay
here.”
“Like hell we are!” Nikki screamed. She jumped in the limo first, still sulking.
“Women!” Jason said, getting in after her.
“You might as well get in, D”
Dahlia smiled one of her smiles and went in.
I followed her but James caught my arm, “Jo? You’re Jo, right?”
“Not for long.”
He pulled at the scarf and it came off easily, “What happened?” Part of me couldn’t
wait until I got magic back, then the blue/black mark of a huge hand around my throat
would be gone.
If I told James, I know he would blame himself but he had to know, “I was careless.
Two demons got the jump on me.”
His eyes widened and I felt a twinge of regret. Maybe he didn’t have to know
everything.
“How’d you get free?”
“That I’ll tell you when we get back.”
He rubbed the bridge of his nose, “If we get back. I honestly don’t know how we’re
going to handle this.”
I moved him to the car, “I’ll take care of that.”
“Of course you will.”

This was getting beyond boring now. Since it was daylight, the council and whatever
muscle they have would be underground. We took the same elevator and the same
route. The only difference was Tracy being there.
“They’re in an awful mood.” She told us.
“What are they deciding?” James asked.
“Some say that you should be killed, some say that you should be kicked out.”
“Only two options?” Jason said, “How lame are they?”
After we had gotten off the elevator, Jason and James both stuck near me. I guess it
was their way of making amends but Nikki wasn’t taking it anymore. She pulled
Jason slowly away and he noticed. Jason is the least subtle person I know and he
made a point of showing her that he wasn’t going anywhere. The look she gave me
had no humanness in it. It was all werewolf, territorial, dominance and of course,
dangerous. I knew then she was going to be a problem for me but I had other things
on my mind and didn’t give a second thought to a childish werewolf’s petulance.
There were no guards outside the council room. We found out why after we were let
in. Inside, there were more than fifty Shadow Creatures and humans together. More
than double the last time they thought us a threat. And I wouldn’t be able to hold my
own against them. Two, maybe three I could handle but a third of fifty… probably
never.
They spread themselves all around the walls, making sure we could not escape and
gathered in a cluster near the council chairs.
“Jordan.” Lizbeth said. Tori stood in front of her and she had a wicked smile. Her
revenge was going to be sweet for her.
I nodded to them, letting them see that we did not want to fight.
But Alexander, like Jason, lacked subtlety, “What have you done?” he roared.
“Nothing.” I said after his echoes died.
He growled fiercely, “Do not lie! Tell us what you did and we will think about not
killing you.”
“Don’t you dare threaten my sister! She did what she had to do.” Jason shouted just as
loud. He stepped forward but I held onto his arm.
“Don’t, Jason.” I whispered, “I have done nothing of consequence to the council.” I
said to them.
“You left.” Beran said, “That itself affects the council and the town. You put us at
risk, Jordan.”
“And that has its own consequence.” Lizbeth added, “We are giving you one chance
to tell us why you left and what you did.”
I debated whether to tell them. There was no harm in telling them now. The solstice
was over (I could feel the fear and worry fading away) and I was turning eighteen,
which meant that I would be free of the necklace’s curse and free from the weakness
of the solstices.
“What happened to your neck, Jordan?”
I looked at the speaker and saw it was the warlock, Laran frowning.
“I’m sure you must know that the solstice was last night.” I said, ignoring Laran.
“I’m a witch,” Lizbeth said, “Of course I knew.”
“Are you sure about this?” James asked softly.
“It was my last solstice.” I told him, “I don’t have to fear it anymore.”
James withdrew quickly. I saw guilt and alarm in his expression and I knew he was
hiding something from me, something big. But I didn’t have time to prod at him now.
“The solstice affects me.” I carried on, “It makes me loose my powers of a Shadow
Slayer.”
A collective stun-ness spread through out the room. They kept quiet and I could see
that even the dumbest of lackeys, the werewolf that attacked us first the last time
became intrigued.
“It’s the curse of the necklace. With it, my magic becomes untraceable. But because it
lost its power last night, I couldn’t stay in one place. Staying here meant… bringing
my worst enemies to Lincoln’s doorstep.”
“And what are your worse enemies?” Tom asked.
“Demons.”
The way they all gasped, I think the room had somehow become a black hole.
“A… a demon did that to you?” Laran asked, “How… how did you survive?”
“I survived and that’s all you need to know.”
“Jordan.” Lizbeth said strictly, “Whatever you did, it affected us. The Order called.
They’re coming here tomorrow.”
“One of their own is missing from last night.” Alexander said, “You have to tell us
what you did to him.”
“We cannot save you from The Order,” Laran said.
They were serious. By tomorrow, I would definitely be my invincible self again, and
they thought that I was in danger?
“I saw no Hunters.” I told them, “In fact, when I fought the demons, they were no
humans around.”
“Demons?” Laran squeaked, “As in… more than one?”
“Duh.” Jason said.
“Are you sure that they was no human was involved?” Beran asked.
“I stopped at a few bars. I saw humans; spoke to some but no… no human witnessed
the fight.”
“They will still come here tomorrow.” Lizbeth said, “Even after we tell them this.”
“It doesn’t matter.” Stefan said. He looked to me, “Can we count on you to keep your
promise?”
“Can we count on you not to take such drastic actions like last night?” I countered.
“You broke the law.” Alexander said, “What we did was necessary.”
“No. It was uncalled for. You have to realise that James, Jason and myself are not
you. We are not Shadow Creatures and we are not human. We follow a different set of
rules and they are things we keep from you and we will continue to do so.”
Alexander stood up, outraged, “We are the Council! You cannot keep anything from
us!”
“You are Shadow Creatures.” James said, “Our job is to protect the humans from
you.”
Alexander was going to say something but Stefan stopped him, “Clearly you’re not
going to change your minds. So we’ll leave it at that. The law will be changed to
include Slayers but until then… you have to be punished.”
I tensed. If punishment was coming my way, I was expecting that it would come in
the way off all these people here.
“I propose we put her under house arrest.” Laran put forward quickly.
“We can't do that.” Lizbeth said, “We need her here tomorrow when the Hunters
come.”
“Then her punishment will take effect after tomorrow.” Beran said.
“What of school? Are you seriously expecting her to stay away from school?” Tom
asked. School was only important to him. None of the other members thought of it as
a serious issue.
“Yes. All those in favour?” Stefan asked.
Lizbeth and Alexander were the only two who did not raise their hands.
“Motion passed.” Stefan said, “After the meeting with the Order, Jordan, you will be
confined to your house for a period two months.”
It happened rather fast. The way they voted and passed their ‘punishment’, it stunned
us, my brothers and I. At least I was not the only one expecting a brutal fight.
“You may leave.” Alexander said.
They all stood and left through hidden doors, their mini-armies right behind them.
Just like that, it was over. Soon it was only James, Jason, Tracy, Dahlia, Nikki and I.
“That was…” Jason said. He couldn’t find the right word for it.
“Yeah.” James said, agreeing on the un-findable word. He looked at me then my neck
and sighed, “Before we leave, there’s something I need to tell you, Jo.”
He hugged me tight, “The curse doesn’t end on your eighteenth birthday.”
“What?”
He let go but still kept his hands on my shoulders, “Mom… mom told me about it
before she…” the word ‘died’ hung in the air, “… anyway, she told me she didn’t
know how to tell you. When she said that the curse ends when you come of age, she
didn’t mean the human coming of age… she meant a Slayer’s.”
It became hard to swallow, “When?”
“At… at twenty-one.” James whispered, “Her curse ended when she was twenty-one.”
A tear ran down my cheek. I was surprised that it did considering how un-human I felt
at that moment.
And then the solstice was truly over.
I wiped the tear, straightened my back and shoulders and walked to the elevator,
“That’s fine.” My voice was dead again, “We should get some rest if we’re going to
face these so called Hunters tomorrow.”
“Jordan, wait.” Jason said. He came over to quickly and hugged me, “We will never
let you face another solstice alone.”
“Right.” I walked out of the room, feeling the tiredness and soreness disappear as my
magic healed me. I did need rest if I wanted to at my prime. And I do. After which I
have to tell Jason about yellow-eyes and that even if the curse was not ending on my
eighteenth birthday, I was still leaving.
It is the way things have to be.