I yelled and quickly looked over my shoulder, finding Jillian standing there with the branch in her hand.
“What the hell, Jillian?” Frank yelled at her, quickly pulling himself up. “You could have hit us. Don't you think I haveenough of a problem without you waving a huge ass branch at us?”
Jillian smiled at us, but the smile wasn't right. It wasn't her usual sweet smile, but a sinister one. And her eyes, they were wrong. She threw the branch aside and yanked a knife out of her pocket. I felt the hair on my body raise, and I leaned back against Frank.
“Jillian? What are you doing?” I asked, pulling myself up. Frank stood in front of me, holding a hand out, stopping me from moving past him. His hand landed on my stomach, and I knew he would protect me no matter what happened. He might be hurting, but he was going to fight.
Her eyes narrowed. “What needs to be done,” Even her voice was wrong, and it sent shivers down my spine. I took a slow breath, going to her knife. I quickly questioned where she got it, but she ran at us before I could.
Chapter 24 - Frank
Jillian ran at us, and I moved quickly. I slammed my hand onto Jillian's elbow, stopping her swipe at us before she would hit us. My arm shook from the impact, and even if I wasn't at my full energy, she had clearly gotten more strength than she had before.
“What is this?”my wolf growled, confused.“She's only half human? Why is her attack so powerful?”
“Jillian, why are you doing this?” I asked, never seeing her as the type to switch sides. I knew she didn't have it easy, but I always saw her as a sweet person with a bright outlook on life. I'd known Jillian since she was a child, and I didn't think she had a mean bone in her body. But what was this?
She chuckled as she dragged the knife down, and I felt it cut into my arm. Blood instantly dripped down my elbow, and I winced. I pulled my arm back and took a step back from her. I pulled my hand up, cupping the wound. It swung, but I shook the feeling off. A small injury like this was not going to stop me.
I looked back at Jillian, taking in her face. Her eyes looked darker than I remember.
“Nina, step back,” I said, waving a hand at her. I didn't want her to get hurt or get in the way. I didn't know exactly who Jillian was aiming to hurt, but I didn't want her caught in the crossfire.
Nina took a few steps back, looking pale as she watched us. Her hand was over her belly as she swallowed. “I don't understand,” she whispered. “I...I... this doesn't make sense.”
“Nina, whatever you've been promised is a lie.” That had to be it. Whoever was doing this must have promised hersomething she wanted, but what had she wanted? What had he promised her?
“Shut up,” Jillian growled, running at us again. I blocked while she swiped. I kicked her in the stomach, knocking her back a few feet, but she brushed it off like nothing had happened. I knew if I had done that to anyone, they would have been leaning over in pain.
This didn't make sense. Jillian should have felt that, but she acted like it was nothing. Something was wrong.
“Frank, something is not right,” Nina shouted. “Her eyes are dark, and that's not her voice. I know Jillian, and this isn't her.”
I glanced at Nina, knowing she would know. She spent endless hours with Jillian. They were good friends, and I wasn't going to question her. I looked back at Jillian and scanned her. She wasn't wrong. Jillian had a softness to her, but right now, she looked evil.
Her eyes couldn't seem to focus, and the way she was standing was odd, like a person who was half dead.
“Who are you?” I asked.
Jillian smiled but was creepy, and her fingers tightened on the knife. “Your worst nightmare.”
I stared at Jillian, knowing it wasn't her. She was being possessed by the darkness. I didn't know it could do that, but then again, it constantly changed. There was so much we didn't know that we should.
Jillian charged at me, and I tried to avoid her this time. But she ended up slashing the knife across my forearm. I pulled it back, seeing blood, and held back a growl. I didn't know howto do this. I knew how to fight, but to avoid. That was something else.
“Stop, whoever you are. She's an innocent person.”
Jillian just kept smiling that smile. Her eyes were glued on me as she started to circle. I made sure to keep myself in front of Nina at all times. Nina stayed a step behind me, keeping her distance from Jillian.
“Who are you?” I asked again, deciding maybe I could get information that none of us had been able to get so far. If I could get them talking, we could find out who we were dealing with.
“No one you know,” Jillian said, once more jumping at me, but I couldn't avoid her this time. I ended up punching Jillian once more in the stomach, and Nina yelled.
“Frank! You can't hurt her. It's still her.”
“I'm not trying to,” I said softly. “But if she keeps coming at us like this, I won't have a choice. I don't know what more to do.” I doubt there was a way to tire her out. Whoever was possessing her likely didn't give a shit about her energy.
“Maybe if I talk to her,” Nina said as Jillian once more threw her arm out, trying to swipe the knife at me. I blocked and shoved her back a few feet.
