{"sf1_id":761261,"sf2_id":"V1YXW0yn","title":"Amber Silverblood: Chapter Twenty Four","author":"ThisAdamGuy","words":1139,"posted_at":"2014-09-27T12:40:00.000Z","tags":["Demon","Fantasy","Mage","Magic","Transformation","Urban","Warlock","Werewolf","Young adult","pack","wizard"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/761261-amber-silverblood-chapter-twenty-four","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/s/V1YXW0yn","image_url":"https://cdn.sofurryfiles.com/submissions/thumbnails/94/f1/94f12188-076e-488c-9c0d-f3acdc1eca20","description":"#24 of Amber Silverblood\n\nAmber gets a surprise visit from an old friend, and comes up with a wild scheme that may end with her being skinned by D.K.","content":"Chapter Twenty Four\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nI sat there, frozen, for ten seconds before getting the courage to turn around and look at who had spoken to me.\u0026nbsp; When I did, I tried to sight with relief and suck in a startled gasp at the same time.\u0026nbsp; The result was a weird mewling sound in my throat.\n\n\"Stacey,\" I said, after clearing my throat.\u0026nbsp; She was there, standing behind my bench with a worried look on her face.\u0026nbsp; She looked exactly the same as the last time I'd seen her, but it felt like that had been a hundred years ago.\u0026nbsp; I swallowed hard and tried to act natural, \"W- what's up?\"\n\n\"I should be asking you that,\" she said slowly.\u0026nbsp; \"Where have you been the past few days?\"\n\n\"Oh, just,\" I waved my hand dismissively, \"you know, around.\"\n\n\"Around,\" she echoed back, sounding unconvinced.\u0026nbsp; I gritted my teeth and unconsciously tightened my hold on Kimberly.\n\n\"Yes,\" I said.\u0026nbsp; \"Around.\"\n\nStacey put her hands on the back of the bench, leaning on it.\u0026nbsp; \"Your house collapses in the middle of the night, nobody can find any trace of you or your mom, and you want me to believe you've just been _around?_\"\n\nI jumped a little when she said this, feeling like somebody had dumped a bucket of ice water on me.\u0026nbsp; My house was collapsed?\u0026nbsp; I knew Hendricks had shaken it, but I'd had no idea he'd actually knocked the whole thing down.\u0026nbsp; What was I going to do now?\u0026nbsp; Where would Mom and I live?\u0026nbsp; I was snapped out of my thoughts when I realized Stacey was still talking.\n\n\"And now I find you sitting in the mall holding a little girl like nothing's wrong?\"\u0026nbsp; She paused, and leaned in closer to look at Kimberly.\u0026nbsp; I tensed up, ready to jump to my feet and run when she demanded to know why I was holding a girl who was supposed to be dead.\u0026nbsp; \"Who is she, anyway?\"\n\nMy heart was hammering in my chest so hard I was surprised it didn't wake Kimberly up.\u0026nbsp; When I glanced down, I understood why Stacey hadn't recognized her.\u0026nbsp; Kimberly was still fast asleep on my shoulder, and her long hair hung down to cover the sides of her face.\n\n\"She's my niece,\" I answered after a moment's hesitation.\n\nStacey raised an eyebrow.\u0026nbsp; \"I thought you didn't have any family in the state.\"\n\n_Crap!_\u0026nbsp; Why did she have to remember this kind of stuff?\n\n\"Yeah, well, I do,\" I said lamely.\n\nStacey was quiet for a few seconds, searching me and Kimberly with judgmental eyes.\u0026nbsp; Part of me, the paranoid, irrational part that had started speaking much louder than it normally did, was screaming that she _knew_.\u0026nbsp; Why else would she be asking so many questions?\u0026nbsp; No, no, what little bit of rationality I still had insisted.\u0026nbsp; She's your friend.\u0026nbsp; Your house collapsed.\u0026nbsp; You and your mom both disappeared.\u0026nbsp; She's just worried about you!\n\n\"Amber,\" she said at last, \"what's going on?\"\n\n\"It's...\" I stuttered. \"It's really hard to explain.\u0026nbsp; I'm not allowed to say much.\"\n\nIt wasn't a total lie.\u0026nbsp; After all, if I told her the entire story, she would either run away screaming, or call the loony patrol.\n\nStacey frowned, and stood up straight.\u0026nbsp; \"Fine, then,\" she huffed.\u0026nbsp; \"If you don't want to tell your best friend, then fine.\u0026nbsp; Bye!\"\n\nShe turned and marched off towards the nearby Hot Topic, her stiff movements revealing how pissed off she was.\u0026nbsp; It wasn't an act.\u0026nbsp; Watching her go, I tried to feel bad for lying to her, but instead I could only feel resentment.\u0026nbsp; She had no idea what I'd gone through over the past few days.\u0026nbsp; It wasn't that I didn't want to tell her, I _couldn't_tell her!\u0026nbsp; The least she could do was... I dunno, not act like I was stabbing her in the back or something!\n\n\"Huh?\" Kimberly groaned, shifting a little as she woke up.\u0026nbsp; \"Whuz goin' on?\"\n\n\"Nothing,\" I said reaching up to run my hand through her hair.\u0026nbsp; \"Everything's all right.\"\n\nShe moved, and I let her go so she could sit on my lap.\u0026nbsp; She yawned, rubbing her eyes.\u0026nbsp; She'd been asleep less than fifteen minutes, but the past couple of days had caught up to her.\u0026nbsp; That probably felt like a full eight hours to her.\n\n\"Feeling better?\" I asked, speaking softly into her ear.\n\nShe stiffened for a moment, and then sniffled pitifully. \u0026nbsp;She held it inside her, though, and nodded.\n\n\"Good girl,\" I said, hugging her.\u0026nbsp; \"That's my big, strong girl.\"\n\n\"I'm not your big, strong girl,\" she said stubbornly.\u0026nbsp; \"You're not my mom.\"\n\nI sighed.\u0026nbsp; At least she wasn't punching me anymore.\n\nWe sat there for a few more minutes before I suddenly became aware of someone's eyes on me.\u0026nbsp; My skin crawled, just like it had back at the funeral home, but this time I didn't really feel threatened.\u0026nbsp; I turned to look, and was surprised to see Tyler standing at the other side of the hall, a whole head taller than everybody around him.\u0026nbsp; D.K. was nowhere in sight.\u0026nbsp; When he saw me looking, he slowly began to make his way over.\u0026nbsp; I stiffened, but his movements were relaxed, and I got the feeling he wasn't going to hurt me.\u0026nbsp; Even so, Kimberly pressed herself closer to me, like she thought I would be any protection at all against a brute like him.\u0026nbsp; When he got to the bench, he bent over so he was whispering into my ear, his breath hot on my cheek.\u0026nbsp; It smelled like cigarettes.\n\n\"You shouldn't talk to people outside the pack.\u0026nbsp; D.K. wouldn't like it.\"\n\nI gulped.\u0026nbsp; \"Did you hear anything?\"\n\nHe stood up and shook his head.\u0026nbsp; \"No.\u0026nbsp; I won't tell D.K.\u0026nbsp; Just be careful.\"\n\nWith that, he turned and lumbered back in the direction he'd come, leaving me alone with Kimberly again.\u0026nbsp; I watched him go, confused.\u0026nbsp; D.K. was evil, Kaylie was evil, but Tyler almost seemed decent.\u0026nbsp; Almost.\n\nI shook my head.\u0026nbsp; If D.K. told me himself not to speak to anybody outside the pack, I would have no choice but to obey.\u0026nbsp; But if all I ever heard were warnings from Tyler, I was under no obligation to listen to them.\u0026nbsp; It was a little scary, disobeying my alpha, even if it was indirectly.\u0026nbsp; On the other hand, I can't say I didn't like the tentative excitement that blossomed in my stomach when I thought about it.\u0026nbsp; I could get in serious trouble, but... I dunno, maybe it was worth it?\n\nI had my mind made up even before I realized there was a decision to be made.\u0026nbsp; Tonight, I would sneak away from the pack and look at my old house.\n\nNEXT TIME: You've all been saying she needs to grow a backbone.\u0026nbsp; Could this be her chance?\n\n  \n  \n\n","series":{"name":"Amber Silverblood","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/758780-amber-silverblood-chapter-twenty-three.json","next":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/764340-amber-silverblood-chapter-twenty-five.json"}}