The Search

[Jude Dorrian]

He'd tried talking to her on the way up back towards the Square, but Macy hadn't seemed to hear him. Eventually, sullenly, he'd slowed down, until she vanished out of his sight completely; obscured by the fog and the domes. Now, however, he came back out towards Pigeon Fountain, and could see her, standing by its frozen side. Nothing its glacial-like jets of frozen water, Jude wondered vaguely whether the weather was responsible for this, or Macy.
"Macy," he panted, catching up with her. "Macy, aren't you going to look anymore?"
He was worried. He couldn't help it.

[Macy Deltine]

Macy sighed at Jude's question. "Oh, I don't know. I...I just don't know where he could be. I really don't." She said, feeling her voice start to go high-pitched, as she felt herself panic again. She had no idea what to do. If she could stay out all night, she would. But she also needed to sleep. "I don't know where he is.." She said again, her eyes darting around the Square. Usually, if she was in a problem, she could work iit out easily, but this was different. This wasn't something that, if she didn't know the answer, she could find it in a book.
She didn't know what to do, her feet seemed planted on the ground. She just stood there, staring into the distance, with a patient tiger by her side.

[Jude Dorrian]

Deron's hand slipped into his pocket; fishing for a cigarette. Smoking was something his dad had been renowned for- that along with the whole crazy gene. A love of nicotine ran in his blood like a sick disease. Deron's dad had it, and passed it onto his kid. But Kerry smoked too. And so had her parents, before they'd gotten blown up. And Deron wasn't an idiot, he knew Armelle had already had her first taste of the good stuff.
Deron wasn't addicted yet, though. He just needed it when he got mad. And he did it carefully too. He wasn't about to let his mum catch on what was happening. She hated smoking with a fiery passion. He wasn't about to put her through another mini-trauma.
His mum was a good person. She didn't deserve to have had his dad's disease break her like that- that or to be lumbered with the royal brats. For all they knew, Kerry was now dead.
Funny, it all would've been fine if her parents hadn't gotten blown up.
Deron fiddled in his other pocket, searching for a lighter. He better have one. Or a match. He'd just get mad if he didn't. Madder. Hopefully not mad like that stupid Steve kid.
A student from Orchid had done it- it was weird they knew that, but they'd never been able to catch the guy. Or girl, haha. There.
The flame flickered orange in the shadows; and Deron felt his whole body relax as the smoke unfurled; its poison pouring down his throat. He'd finish this cigarette, then go back and find Jude and Macy. Duty calls, and all that crap. Deron had his pride to deal with, after all.
Sighing, he began to backtrack slightly, reversing his steps and taking a couple of shady shortcuts. Nobody was there. Not even some crummy kid getting high. Not even one of the Milo Manse lot. Deron eyed the place gloomily. Hell, it was hard to think about what he wanted for Cardsdale in a place like this. There was nothing wrong with wanting that little bit of self-respect. The SCR was meant to be his reason for it. They should be cleaning out these streets; helping those druggies, or kicking 'em out- not just...
Just wasting time.
He was always wasting his f*cking time. Wasting it with Kira. Kira, Kira, Kira... God, Kira. Stupid, drifting Kira. Dreamy, pretty- annoyingly naive Kira. Once, he'd told her she had the makings of a Head, only to discover she was one.
Those were different days, weren't they? Long before the SCR- when she was still just this girl from Orchid Hill- the place he revered above all others- just this pretty girl he fancied. Then the battle came; and Deron had felt his perspective slip once more.
Kira was Head of the Spies. That was all he could really feel for her anymore.
Another angry inhale of the smoke.
Bang.
Deron smiled to himself viciously. Sounded like a firework. He glanced around, but saw nothing but the darkened alley. At least he knew now he wasn't alone. Some kids from the estate had obviously gotten their grimy hands on some fireworks.
Bang.
There it was again. Sounded sort of small explosions, those. Those kids were crap with firepower. Deron sighed, stretching, and gave up on his early nicotine addiction. His heel served to smother the smoking stick, and he changed course, heading towards the noise.
Wow, this was actual SCR work- the confiscation of illegal objects.
Then he rounded the corner, and froze.
Those weren't kids. This was just one kid- a crazy, scared kid, rocking back and forth. He could seen him from the end of the alley; the kid sat its end... and before his eyes, another little wooden crate was blasted to smithereens.
Easily.
Bang.
Just like his aunt and uncle.
And then, Deron felt something slip into place. And along with this terrible; unbelievable... obvious conclusion... there was something new.
Deron's very own explosion- of anger, and hate.

[Macy Deltine]

What was that noise?
Macy snapped out of a strange, painful day-dream, and looked at Jude, who also seemed to have heard the noise.
"What?" She whispered, feeling some panic come over her. Had he-? Where was Deron? She looked back at Jude, who looked as if he was going to sprint off in a second. Macy dropped all her bags, and without thinking, changed into the form of a cheetah and sped off towards the noise. It was coming from one of the back alley ways.
There were many, in Cardsdale, and were usually filled with some of the local people. Students from Orchid Hill weren't usually welcomed down the side streets, and they liked to stay on the main roads, in the open.
She was unaware of where her legs were bringing her, but they seemed to know where. She saw the body of Deron around one of the corners, standing there. She changed back into her normal form, and ran to him. She heard Jude running up behind them, around the corner that she had just come.
"What? What is it?" She panted, feeling dizzy from running in another shape. It wasn't wise to do that, if weren't used to being at that shape. One of the rules of Shape-shifting and Transformation.
She noticed that burning cigerette in his hand, and then his face- his expression. It was pale, in almost shock. He was staring at something behind her, but she wasn't sure exactly what.
She was feeling so confused at what had just happened, but was shaken by an explosion behind her.
"It couldn't be..." She thought, as she stepped towards the corner, behind some large bins and crates.
"Steve?" She asked, seeing a body leaning against the wall. It was off a boy's, but it was shaking, rocking. But- his hair. A large, messy, dirty, mop of yellow-black, with purple tinted though it. "Steve!" She screamed, jumping over the crates, to him. She fell to the ground, and realised that tears were streaming down her cheeks. She tried to clutch him, but it was like he wasn't there. Or she wasn't there.
He shook her off slightly, his grey, blood-shot eyes fixed at the ground.
"Help me! Somebody help me!" She screamed, looking wildly around her. She looked back at Steve, who still hadn't moved, except for his rocking.

[Jude Dorrian]

"I'm gonna' kill him."
Jude ignored Deron, pushing past him and running forward towards his friend. Steve looked... god he looked like hell. He shook all over, his body rocking and forth convulsively. His skin was a waxy grey; with a ugly yellow tinge matched by his hair. The white of his eyes had faded to a dingy red, and though Macy attempting to clutch at him desperately, and screaming for help, Steve didn't seem to hear it.
Steve was out of his head.
So... so goddam out of it, not even Macy could reach him.
"Steve," panted Jude, dropping to his knees, and forcing himself to stay calm. "Steve, can you hear me?" There was no reply. Jude looked at Macy. "Macy, please, stop crying. Y'all need to stop crying. You're gonna have to help me, okay?"
Behind them, slow, steady footsteps followed. Deron was walking up to them. Jude glanced back at Deron, but Deron only had eyes for Steve.
Deron was pale, and his eyes were wide- as if in shock. Then, suddenly, they narrowed to slits, and Deron repeated himself, this time, his voice harsher.
"I'm gonna' f*cking kill him."

[Macy Deltine]

"What? What are you talking about?" She screamed at Deron, confused at what he was saying. "What? WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?" She screamed, even louder, standing up. Her tears had frozen on her cheek, as she stared at Deron. What the heck was he talking about? She felt so confused and betrayed, the world seemed to stop around her. She felt like she was going to throw up. She like she was going to faint. She felt like she was going to fall to the ground, by Steve, and weep. She felt like she was going to take that ball of ice that was forming in her fist, and throw it at Deron's head.
She surpressed her anger, and looked back at Steve. She didn't know how to react, she just wanted to be back at the school, in the common room, making tiny balls of ice for Steve to explode, and falling to the floor with laughter.
"What are you talking about?" She asked Deron quietly, looking straight into his eye.

[Jude Dorrian]

Jude stood up too, Macy and him forming a shield in front of Steve. Jude watched him rigidly, waiting for him to answer Macy. Yeah- what the hell was he talking about?
Deron's eyes flickered to Macy's, and the look he gave her chilled Jude. He'd seen that look before.
Deron had caught the scent of blood- and he meant what he'd said.
"I'm going to kill that f**king stupid, crazy kid, right there," Deron said coldly. "And if you two don't get out my way, I'll kill you both too."
Jude stepped forward, his fists furling.
"Don't."
"What?" Deron snapped, rounding on Jude. "Y'all gonna' stop me with those oh so special powers of yours? Think I can't take you- just because I ain't magic?"
And a cold, twisted maniacal grin marred his features.
"I'm going to F*CKING KILL YOU, STEVE!"
And, knife appearing from his back pocket, Deron charged.

[Macy Deltine]

Macy, choked at the sight of what Deron tok from his pocket. Had he been using them the entire time? Had they just led him to Steve? But he was forgetting one, little thing, at Orchid Hill Academy, they learnt to fight. To fight aganist people like him.
Deron tried to lunge towards Steve, who was seeminly unaware of the whole situation, but Macy slapped him on the back of his head with the large ball of ice that was in her hands. The ice smashed across the crown on his head, bringing Deron to the ground, blood running down his neck. He swiftly turned, apparently ammune to the hit on the back of the head, and kicked his left foot forward, towards Jude's legs. He hit him, right in the shins, and Jude fell to the ground aswell. Not being about to react as fast as he, Macy was unaware of the knife that Deron was still holding, as he brought it quickly to her shins, slashing them. Macy gasped for air, as she too, fell the ground, not feeling this amount of pain since she was tortured in the cell.
Deron tried to kick himself up, but Macy, using the little energy that she had left, lunged forward, her hands slapping his face. Ice quickly grew from them, spreading around his face, to his eyes, down his throat. She quickly looked at Jude, trying to see if he was alright, while Deron elbowed her in the stomach, winding her, and making her stop freezing his face. She let go and fell forward, hitting the ground, hard. Her legs were now paralysed, but if she could just freeze the open wounds, they wouldn't get infected, she thought, trying to direct ice.

[Jude Dorrian]

Adrenaline kicked in; but it was cut short the second Jude was knocked to the ground. Anger bit into him; flowing free through his blood, and urging him forward. Jude struggled upwards now, realizing immediately something was wrong with his ankle. But his physical pain was nothing in comparison to the surge of what went through him when he saw Macy go down. Her legs both spewed forward that horrible disgusting liquid, yet as Jude scrambled forward, Macy still managed to get to Deron. Her ice spread across his face; stinging and stilling it.
The perfect distraction.
As Deron struggled with Macy, Jude staggered to his feet and grabbed Deron's knife arm, wrenching it back. His other hand now closed around the knife, and there was a satisfying crunch as the metal bent, and shattered in his hands.
Macy gave a gasp of shock and pain, and was shoved aside. The ice on Deron's neck cracked as Deron turned on Jude, and his fist flew upwards, catching Jude in the stomach. Jude gave a cry of pain, and dropped the broken shatters of the knife. Deron rolled away from him, scrabbling desperately for the sharp splinters.
"I'll kill him- I'll rip his throat open before-"
Jude dived at him from the back, and his hands closed around Deron's neck. Deron struggled desperately, falling forward and throwing Jude with him. They rolled backwards, and Jude's head cracked against the bricks of the wall.
Stars exploded before him; and Jude's hands reached out blindly. Deron wasn't far from him, and Jude's fingers closed around Deron's collar. With a grunt, Jude heaved him backwards, and Deron's body was crashed against the wall. Jude heard a louder crack, and Deron's head lolled now; telling Jude he was out cold. A bloody trail trickled down the back of his neck, and Jude swore aloud, dropping Deron's limp frame.
Breathing heavily, Jude crawled to Macy's side; just as the sounds of running and shouting reached his ears. Relief filled him. So they'd been heard- or at least seen coming this way.
Several members of the SCR rounded the corner; including Prof. Thandie- her face stricken by panic.
Jude rose, panting; standing in the mess of the alley.

[Macy Deltine]

Macy watched in agony, as Jude fought Deron. She wanted to to get up and help him crush Deron, but her legs failed her. She watched as they struggled, Jude first being flung against the wall, then Deron. His body fell to the ground, a bloody trail left on the wall, and a small pool on the ground, underneath him. Macy strained her arms, trying to drag her body to wards where Steve was. She couldn't go too far, but she could see the top of his head. He was looking up, over the bins, to see what was happening. His eyes caught hers, and she felt relief come over her, to look in his eyes. But just as quickly as she looked into his eyes, he looked away. He seemed to fall back, at the wall, and she couldn't see him anymore.
While watching him, she hadn't realised that people were near them. She tried to turn, but she couldn't do it too well. She recognised the voice, though, it was Prof. Thandie.
"What..what on earth happened?" She shrieked. She ran over to where the three of them lay on the ground, but then noticed Steve, hiding away behind the bins. "Someone, quick, give him his mediction!" She shouted, befeore turning to Deron's body on the ground. "What happened?" she screamed, trying to turn over Deron's body.
Macy watched Professor Thandie, but felt something by her side. "Gypsy!" She gasped, as she felt she fur of her companion.
She looked over at Jude, to see if he was okay, and looked back to see someone, she wasn't sure who, bending over Steve.
"What happened?" Prof. Thandie asked again, impatiently.

[Jude Dorrian]

"Maybe his injection," Jude said miserably at the thought, handing the meds in his bag over to Mrs Graham. She nodded breathlessly, moving past him, and to the unresisting Steve.
A few more SCR students flocked around Deron's limp frame. A young Carer girl was already dabbing at Deron's head wound, and from the look she gave Jude, she had already decided who was the criminal in this situation. Jude decided he didn't care, limping over to where Macy had been reunited with her guardian, Gypsy.
"What happened?" Prof. Thandie demanded of him.
Jude groaned. "Deron happened."
Her eyebrows shot up. "Mr Miles?"
"Deron, yes," Jude said savagely, glancing back at Deron, and praying he wouldn't wake up. "Deron found Steve, and me and Macy heard a noise, and came to find them both. Then, really suddenly, Deron just seemed to go crazy..."
"Crazy how?" Prof. Thandie said sharply.
Jude bit his lip. "He pulled a knife out, and attacked me, Macy and Steve. I think he would've killed Steve given half the chance."
Another Carer was over with Macy now; their hands running over Macy's bleeding legs.

[Macy Deltine]

Macy winced as a girl healed the frozen wounds on her legs. It was amazing, how at a touch, the cuts on her legs were gone. After some stinging, the girl stepped away, looking at her work. She started to feel life coming back to her legs, and it took her a couple of tries to get back up on her feet.
"Is Steve okay?" She asked. The person attending him looked over at her and nodded, and then went back to the task at hand.
Macy looked over at Professor Thandie, Deron, and the person who was trying to heal his head.
"I'm sorry, but I don't understand. Mr Miles found and then attacked Mr Ritzski, Mr Dorrian and Miss Deltine?" Professor Thandie said, looking at Macy for an answer.
"Yes, that's what happened. I don't know why he did it, that's another thing, but he just...lunged at him. I know this is completely out of conduct, fighting someone from the village, but I wouldn't let him get to Steve. I know what I did was wrong, but what he did was worse!" Macy said, trying to defend herself. She hadn't realised what she had actually done, they could have killed him. Surely, Prof. Thandie was going to turn around and tell her that she was no longer the Head of the Academics, and was banished from the school, but she didn't. She sighed and rubbed her forehead, as if she was getting a headache.
"Can someone notify his family in Cardsdale, and then help bring Mr Ritzski back to the school?" She asked, her voice seeming tired. Macy sighed and leaned against the wall, her legs still stinging from where he slashed them. It wasn't too deep, but as she found, deep enough to bring her off her feet.
Some people were helping put Steve's body on a stretcher that had apparently been taken out from no-where, while, as there was no stretcher on hand for him, some other people where trying to lift up Deron's limp body and remove him from the alley-way.
She moved over to where Jude was and sighed again. Her head was beginning to hurt now, but she tried to ignore it. "Are you alright?" She asked, feeling her body still shaking slightly from the fight earlier.

[Jude Dorrian]

"Yeah," Jude said, sitting down and letting the Carer who'd helped Macy examine his ankle. "Yeah, I'm fine. What about you?"
She was standing up, definitely, but her injuries had been a lot worse than a sprained ankle and a bump on the head. For goodness' sake- her calves had literally been sliced open! The Carer finished up quickly, and got up, moving away to help fuss over Deron. Steve lay in the stretcher; held up by Ashwin Modan and Jonny Pepper, two of the men from Cardsdale. Jude wasn't sure if the medicine was taking effect or not, but Steve... looked a little better.
Suddenly, Mrs Graham appeared in front of him and Macy, her expression aghast.
"Oh my God, I'm so sorry!" she croaked; and as Jude rose to his feet, she looked like she thought he was going to hit her.
"It's fine," Jude said earnestly and quickly, hoping to reassure her. "It really is! You didn't do anything, after all."
"On behalf of the SCR, I have to apologize," she babbled quickly. "I mean... Deron's... he's a good guy. I never would've thought- I mean, he wouldn't without good reason-"
"Okay," Jude interrupted sharply. "You're fine. But he just tried to kill our friend. Don't defend him to us."
She bit her lip, and fell silent.

[Macy Deltine]

Macy looked at the woman, who was apolgising on behalf of Deron. Macy was half listening to them, though. Her eyes were following the stretcher that had the body of Steve on it. His hair had faded to his natural brown colour, showing that he had been given his medication. Deron's body had also been removed from the alley-way, and where he had been brought, Macy didn't know. It could have been possibly the SCR building, but she wasn't sure. The woman stood nervously infront of them, she couldn't think of a reply to Jude's comment.
The woman walked nervously away, over to talk to Prof. Thandie. Macy started to walk out of the alley-way, through side streets, following the rest of the people ahead of them. They finally arrived out into The Square, and Macy saw her bags lying in the middle of it, near the fountain, untouched. She remembered that she had dropped them there, and went over to pick them up again.
"Are you just bringing him up to the school?" She asked Professor Thandie, who nodded, preoccupied in making sure everything was going to plan. Macy watched Steve, lying on the stretcher. It was so strange- she hadn't seen him since the formal, when he was in the Tux, and was dancing around the hall with her.
Why did everything like this happen around the time of formals?
She watched them stop for a breath while carrying him, and then pick up the stretcher and start to head up the school.

[Jude Dorrian]

Tired, Jude followed behind the stretcher, falling once more into step with Macy as the crowd began to walk back to the school. The SCR members that weren't carrying Steve filtered off into the distance; Deron with them, on his stretcher. The remaining students made a strange procession; no-one asked to go into the village, and all remained silent. A sense of accomplishment and relief decorated them- finally, finally they'd found him. Finally, they no longer had to go on this goddam search!
But for Jude... it wasn't over until Steve was better. Jude couldn't relax until he was.
"C'mon," Jude said, taking one of Macy's bags to help her. "Let's catch up with him..."
Jonny Pepper spotted them coming, and said something to Ashwin. They both slowed down, and Jude smiled at them gratefully. Steve began to stir as they approached, and Jude felt a rush of relief.
"Steve?" Jude said softly, the first to reach the stretcher. "Hey, Steve, are you awake?"