Love, Loss, and Despair 16

Ned watched the boys run across the field, smiling more and more as they got closer to the girl's home. Nelly was standing by his side, also staring at them. When she noticed Adin with Jojo, she got more wide-eyed, realizing that he was in danger too now. She shot a glance at Ned's face and cleared her throat.
"What do you need me for, Ned?" She blinked, slowly breathing through her nose waiting for him to reply.
He gazed down at her with shining eyes, "I need you to lead Jojo up to me."
She gasped lightly, and stared back down at him and Adin again. She didn't want to hurt Jojo, especially betray him! With Adin...well, she just wanted him to stay out of trouble until morning.
"What do I have to do?" She asked, dipping her head gently. Ned wrapped his hand around Nelly's arm to get her attention, never looking away from the field.
"I need you to telepathically tell Jojo to come here..."
Nelly couldn't speak.
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Jojo and Adin reached Nelly's tree and stopped to look inside. The trunk was still open, allowing anyone to enter. Jojo stepped inside carefully and called out her name. He got no reply, and tried again after a minute.
"Nelly...?" He still heard and saw nothing. He turned around and stood in front of Adin again with a pitiful look. All Adin could see was his eyes in a sad position.
"Well, then where is she?" He prodded forward, attempting to know the answer. Jojo dropped his shoulders in despair.
"I don-" He froze up suddenly, making Adin step forward to help him. He waved a hand in front of Jojo's face, hoping he'd follow it like someone normal.
"Jojo? you with me here?" It didn't work, but that wasn't a problem. Jojo looked at him after a second anyways.
"She's in the forest with my dad chasing her-she needs our help!" Jojo instantly took off running. The forest was a little less than a mile away, and over 450 acres of space! Adin spun around to follow the little black and grey Who, glad to know Nelly was alright for now. Or so Jojo told him...
A minute later, Adin skidded on his heels and grabbed Jojo's wrist. He lifted him up, and stared at his face. Jojo squirmed in Adin's rough grasp, desperately trying to make him let go so they could keep running.
"Wait! Isn't the forest a great place for a trap? What if Nelly's just trying to lure us into your dad's clutches?" He dropped his friend back down, but didn't start running again like Jojo did.
"Adin, Nelly NEEDS us! This could be your chance to prove your worth to her, and stop my dad from hurting all three of us!" With that, Jojo took off again. Adin sighed and dropped his shoulders, but decided to keep going anyways.
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Meanwhile, Ned and Nelly were in the dense forest, surrounded by black and white trees and the short bushes between the paths. Ned was pacing back and forth in anticipation for his son to find them both. Nelly was parked underneath a tree trunk, trying to sit still, but she fidgeted none the less from being so nervous with the Mayor. This vampire that he was made her feel less secure around him, and she knew he could sense it.
He looked up at her, still pacing in a straight line through the dirt and dead leaves. "Nelly, can you tell how far the boys are?"
She returned his gaze and nodded hastily.
Ned smiled and stopped moving so she could focus on whatever else was around them in the forest. She closed her eyes and let her mind expand past their surroundings, but she found that she couldn't hear anything coming closer, and she picked up no heartbeat when she passed her mind over Ned's. Nelly shuddered to think he was still dead...
After a few minutes, she looked up at him and inhaled slowly. Ned simply waited for her to give the information he desired.
"They're only about a 100 feet away, but not really moving at the moment. I think they're trying to find out where we are," She lowered her silver eyes to the ground again past her legs. She didn't want to lead them straight into a trap, but she also didn't want to make Ned force her to do worse!
"Good, call out to them; say you need help!" Ned strolled over to her side, placing a hand on her shoulder. She sighed and got up, knowing what to do in her situation.
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Adin leaned against a tree while Jojo skipped around trying to find Nelly's location. He kept stopping to turn behind himself, hoping he'd hear something better. It was to no avail; neither boy could hear anything move in the dense forestry.
"Maybe we're not close enough to hear her?" Adin suggested. Jojo turned around to face him, and opened his mouth to speak. Before he did so, they heard a shriek.
Adin and Jojo shot a glance to the source of it, and realized it was her.
"Help!! Jojo!!" Nelly shouted out breathlessly.
"We're coming! Don't worry, Nelly!" Jojo took off running through the trees again, and Adin followed suit. They shoved aside some bushes into a clearing where the girl was.
Jojo saw Nelly against the tree with his dad leaning over her and outstretching one hand to hold her chin. Adin bumped into Jojo, knocking him out of the bush, and face first into the dirt.
"Oof!" Jojo thudded against the ground, and onto his hands. Adin grabbed his arm and heaved him up sheepishly.
"Sorry, man. Didn't mean to do that," Jojo didn't look at his friend, he watched and Ned turned around to face them. He smiled, once more showing off those two glowing fangs in the dark shadows. They gasped as Ned turned around completely.
"I see you found us," He turned back to the girl behind him,"good work, Nelly! I knew you wouldn't let me down."
Jojo gasped. Adin curled his hands into fists, glaring at Mr. McDodd with a fiery intensity like never before.
"You lead us-"
"How could you force her to trick us like that?!" Adin cut Jojo off and clenched his teeth, "She shouldn't be lowered with you making her help you!"
Ned leaned back a bit, rather offended that Adin would say such a thing. He frowned, "I never hurt her. You can do that on your own, Maxwell..." Ned smiled as Adin dropped his shoulders and dipped his head. He never felt so hurt by anyone like that!
"No matter, she's free to go. I really just wanted you and Jojo to get close to me! Now that we're here together, you can't escape from me," Ned walked up to Jojo again, this time not letting him run. Jojo stepped back, then ran forward to get to his friend still against the tree in fear. Ned didn't move as his son came closer. Just as he passed, he grabbed his arm. Ned didn't have him for more than a second because Adin shoved into him, forcing him to let Jojo go. Ned glared at the yellow and orange Who that stood in his way.
"You're not hurting Jojo! not while I'm around!" Adin remained as a solid barrier between Ned and Jojo, giving his friend more of a chance to run and lead Nelly to safety again.
"Fine! If you're not going to move, I'll take you out with him!" Ned grabbed Adin's shoulders to steady him so he couldn't move. In a second, he and Adin were struggling over who could over power the other sooner. Adin tried to rip the Mayor's hands off his shoulders, but it made no difference; Ned was stronger still.
"Give it up - you can't win against me," Ned smirked as Adin still fought.
Suddenly, he shoved the boy onto his knees. Adin gasped for air when Ned tried to strangle him at the base of his neck. He threw his hands over his to pry them away, but it still did nothing.
"Now then...you're done for," Ned boasted. He lifted Adin off the ground and held him there for a few moments before letting go of his neck. Adin dropped onto his feet, breathing heavily. He was shaking all over from the ordeal that took place.
Hands on his knees, Adin struggled to stay up for a minute more.
"Jojo's still gone though...you won't catch...him now," He said weakly. Ned didn't waste any time for Adin to regain his strength; he leaned over and jabbed his fangs through his neck. Pain surged through the boy as Ned spilled his blood.
A second later, Ned let go and took off in the opposite direction.
"I'll catch him alright! now that you're not there to portect him anymore..." Ned shouted back to Adin. He rushed through the trees silently, following Jojo and Nelly's direction of escape. They were already back out and onto the field between her shelter-home and his own house.
Adin was left on his hands and kness, shocked at what had just happened to him.
He still felt blood drip down and stain his fur at the base of his neck. He could barely breath as the realization sank in at last.
"I'm a vampire..."