Thick Skin and A Jeweled Heart [3]

     Check out the glossary at the end of this chapter for the meaning of some (only one) sentences you might not understand.

Have fun reading.

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      Jade hurried towards Meri, a sad look on her face. "We're already late as it is." She scolded the young brunet. "We don't have time to read tombstones.

      Jade nodded solemnly. "Yes..."

      Meri stared at her friend's worried face and smiled. "You have a kind heart, Jade." She brushed Jade's hair from her face. "But you must not let that be a distraction to your tasks."

      Meri's face became stern as she faced the bush. "Kindness has a place." And with that, she pushed through the fake bush and disappeared.

      Jade took a deep breath and stole another glance of the tombstone before going through the bush.The sensation was like walking through a cloud. Jade smiled a little at this.

      On the other side, a pair of twins waited.

      "Took you long enough. Teasing Ally is fun and all, but it gets boring after a while." One of them said, grinning at his twin sister.

      Ally glared at him response, eyes flashing red. "I was tempted to fling Matt over the bushes. Let him join the graves outside."

      Matt 'ooh'ed, pointing at his sister and smiling. "If looks could kill, am I right?" He laughed-- no, cackled --as Ally's anger grew.

      Meri shook her head at the twin's silly behaviour. "We use our power to defend. No harming will be done unless needed. And definitely no harming each other. Got it, Ally?"

      Ally pressed her palms against her eyes in frustration (also as an attempt to control her anger) and grunted. "Got it."

      Matt, who watched the scene in amusement, laughed and walked towards Jade. "As you can see, teasing Ally is quite amusing." Taking Jade's hand, he slowly brought it to his lips, kissing the back of her hand delicately. "M'lady."

      Jade chuckled, pulling back and wiping the back of her hand on her pants awkwardly. "No, Matt. Just no."

      Matt stared at her for a moment, processing what she just said. A look of realization dawned on his face. Backing away, he smiled apologetically. "Jade! My mistake."

      Meri shook her head again and sighed. "Now, shall we get started?"

      Ally threw both of her arms up. "Finally! I'm so tired of waiting around and doing nothing--"

      A thump interrupts Ally. The four of them turn to the source. Meri groaned in annoyance at the boy laying face down on the grass.

      "You.." She growled as the boy supports himself on his elbows. The boy's eyes widened in fear as Meri takes out a knife from under her jacket. The knife seemed to be gleaming menacingly as she tightened her grip on it.

      Before Meri could make a move, Jade was already in between them, her eyes gleaming gold. "Calm down, Meri." She reached out to her friend's hand and gripped the knife by the hilt. "Please, calm down" She said again. "Wipe the silver off your face."

      Meri squinted her now silver eyes, looking over Jade's shoulder to glare at the boy. He stood and dusted himself off, glaring back. Jade lifted a finger. "Ah ah. As you said, we can't hurt each other."

      "He's not one of us." Meri was suddenly behind the boy, pulling him into a headlock. Jade semed unfazed by how fast Meri moved. It almost seemed like teleport. But of course, it's nothing of the like.

      Jade turned around to face the now silver haired girl and glared at her. "Meri.."

      "This.. 'Lime' boy is not in the term 'each other'" Meri growled, tightening her grip on said boy.

      "My name..." The boy struggled against her strong hold. "is Liam!" Meri's headlock tightened some more and Liam's mouth hung open, gasping for air.

      Matt jumped in, trying to pull Meri off of Liam. "We should listen to Jade. And he's suffocating! Stop!" He managed to pull her away and threw her to the ground. "I'm sorry if I hurted you but we should really think twice before killing someone. Especially someone innocent."

      Ally rushed to Meri's side and helped her stand up. Meri was flexing her arm and wincing but other than that, she doesn't seem to be hurt. "I think you used too much of your strength on her."

      "Well, she used the same on Lime boy over there." Matt pointed towards Liam who was rubbing his sore neck. Jade patted his back. "Are you okay?"

      Liam cleared his throat. "Well, I was threaten to get killed and almost got chocked to death. Yeah, I'm dandy." The corner of Jade's mouth raised in an amused smile. "Oh c'mon, it's not that bad--"

      "Don't! Say that." Liam glared at Jade. "Don't say that it's 'not that bad', 'cuz trust me, it freaking is." He continued rubbing his neck, mumbling curses.

      Jade stared at Liam with a confused smile. That is, until she noticed blood on his right sleeve. "Liam, you're bleeding." She took his arm and rolled up his sleeve, revealing dried up blood on his skin. "Oh yeah, I got that while coming here. Almost forgot about that..." Liam pursed his lips as he stared at the blood.

      Jade trailed her finger up his arm, following the dried up blood until she touches the source, a wound. "Thorn?" She raised an eyebrow and pressed on the wound. "Ouch! Yes yes, please don't press on it!"

      "Sorry." Jade stared at it for a moment before searching her pockets. "I might have something for it." She pulled out a purple stone, it's surface smooth and shiny. "Amethyst." Liam said. Jade smiled as a reply and tore a piece of cloth from her clothing.

      "What are you--"

      "It's fine. I bought this shirt from a second-hand store." She proceeded to wipe the blood off Liam's arm with hand, then placed the amethyst on the wound, wrapping the cloth around his arm. "That'll keep it in place. The result is not immediate, but it's the best I can give you... right now. Sorry if it's a bit messy."

      Liam stared at the piece of cloth binding the purple stone to his arm. "I.. You.. You believe in these stuff?"

      Jade looked confused. "What stuff?"

      Liam shared the look of confusion. "Ya know, some people believe that stones can heal you and stuff." Jade stayed silent, still confused. "They can... give you strength.. or something."

      "Interesting..." Jade breathed out.

      Liam's face went deadpan. "You seriously don't know?" Jade shook her head, then her face went thoughtful. "Well..."

      "Hey! We've been staring at you guys for five minutes!" Ally shouted, impatient. "Time is ticking. Tick tock! Hurry up!" She pushed Matt away. "Haven't got all day."

      Meri tugged Jade's shirt. "We should go now." A pointed look towards Liam. "Him too."

      "Hey hey! I got the right to know what's going on." Liam stood face-to-face with Meri.

      "Yeah? Is that so? And why should we tell you?"

      Liam smirked. "Well... I can call the police on you."

      "Hey--" Meri started to protest but Liam stopped her. "You did try to kill me."

      Silence fell between the two and Liam could feel his confidence grow as he got the upper hand.

      "I told you to calm down." Jade muttered under her breath, just loud enough to be heard by both of them. Meri took a deep breath before talking.

      "We'll think about it."

      Liam seemed satisfied enough with the answer, eyeing the knife in Meri's hand warily.

      "Now go." Meri snapped.

      "Remember." Liam's smirk grew. "It's a deal." And with that, he shuffled through the fake bush.

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GLOSSARY

Wipe the silver off your face: The Silverquick family (Meri's family) are known to be grumpy and always have a frown on their faces. The  'silver' was meant to be 'frown'. It started off as a  joke but it soon grew on the four young-teens (Jade, Meri, Ally and Matt)