And now for Chapter 10!
DIANA'S POV
I woke up suddenly and glanced at my watch that I'd left on the table next to my bed. 04:30. I groaned and wondered why I had woken up so early. I lay back down, planning to get some more sleep. I pressed my face too hard against the pillow and sat up quickly, my face throbbing. I pressed a palm against my cheek. It hurt so much! I tried to remember what had happened yesterday. Of course. Drake. I sighed. If Caine was here, he wouldn't have let Drake hurt me like that. Scrap that, if Caine was here, Drake would be dead for even thinking of hurting me like that. The thought of Drake dead pleased me. I looked over at Astrid. She was still asleep. Good. I swung my legs over the side of the bed and stood up. There was a mirror on one side of the room and I caught a glimpse of myself. Even in the dim light, I could see that I was an utter mess, covered in dried blood – and no doubt more than my fair share of bruises. I glared at my reflection. This is NOT how Diana Ladris looks! I mentally chided myself and headed to the bathroom.
I spotted a towel hung up on the cold radiator. The towel wasn't particularly clean, but it was cleaner than I was. Sighing, I turned on the water, waiting for it to heat up.
ASTRID'S POV
Hearing water running, I woke up. Looking at Diana's bed, I noticed it was empty. Just like it was for most of last night I thought. I assumed Diana was in the bathroom, showering – hence the running water. I could understand why she wanted to shower, I was all bloody and I could only imagine how Diana looked. In the darkness last night, I hadn't been able to see much of her. I wanted – and still do want – to know where she had gone last night. She had been away for a while.
Eventually, Diana emerged from the bathroom, cleaner but not looking her best thanks to her dishevelled Coates Academy uniform and the ugly scar running from her right eye to her chin. I winced, it looked painful. She smiled tiredly at me and sat down on her bed. I smiled back and walked over to sit beside her. "Hey Diana." I said. "Did you sleep well?" I asked wryly. I didn't think she'd tell me where she was last night, but I wanted to see how well she was able to lie to me. She sighed. "Oh, fine." She replied. There were no signs that she was lying to me, but I felt that she had answered pretty quickly. A little too quickly in my opinion. Stop being paranoid Astrid! I reprimanded myself. She probably wasn't doing anything wrong. You knew Drake had left the door unlocked, yet you didn't use that to your advantage. Diana did. You can't hold that against her. I bet she was trying to get help, but the got caught by Drake.
"Did you sleep well?" Diana asked me, breaking me from my thoughts. I nodded hesitantly. I may as well ask her… "Diana? Last night, where did you go?" I asked cautiously. Diana looked at me in surprise. "When Drake left the door unlocked and you thought I was asleep?" I prompted. Diana had the decency to look embarrassed. "I didn't realise you were awake. I…I wanted to try and get away, bring help. But then Drake c…caught me." she said, biting her lip and looking down at the floor. I could hear the catch in her breath and saw the tears pooling in her eyes. Despite my earlier misgivings, I felt sorry for her. I laid a hand on her arm. "It's OK, Diana, I understand. I would probably have only slowed you down anyway." I said reassuringly. She looked up at me and smiled tentatively.
"Aw, isn't this sweet?" a harsh, mocking voice asked from the doorway. I jumped in surprise and Diana and I looked towards the door, where the voice came from. We saw Drake leaning against the door frame. I noticed that Diana's face had paled considerably upon seeing Drake but she glared darkly at him. Taking a leaf out of her book and deciding to be brave, I glared at him as well. Drake smirked at us and stepped further into the room.
DIANA'S POV
Astrid knows that Drake left the door open and she knows that I sneaked out! I hope she believed my story about planning to get help, I thought, glaring at Drake as he got nearer and nearer to us. "Hey Diana." He said, still smirking. He looked at me and the smirk half–fell from his face. "You're not quite so bloody this morning." Drake said, in a tone that sounded almost…disappointed? I stared at him in disgust, not saying anything. Then the smirk returned to his face. "I can soon change that." He took another step towards us. I shrank back and subconsciously touched the scar on the right side of my face. "Aw, your face isn't so pretty anymore, is it Diana?" Drake asked, sneering at me. I glared at him, then smirked. "You think I'm pretty?" I asked in mock–disbelief. He glared at me. "No. But Caine clearly did." Drake said. I stopped smirking and glared at him. I didn't like him mentioning Caine, not now that he was…gone. "Shut up Drake." I thought for a minute that the words had come from my mouth, but then I saw Drake turn his glare on Astrid. Astrid stood up and marched over to him. "Shut up Drake, and leave us alone!" she said, her voice rising with each word. "If anyone should be shutting up, it's you!" he snapped. I could see Astrid trembling, but she still stood up to him. "No. We've done nothing to you, and we are fed up of you treating us the way that you are!" she yelled. I was surprised, to say the least. But when I looked into Drake's eyes, I suddenly felt afraid. Very afraid. I stood up and caught her arm. "Astrid, stop it." I said, looking at Drake apprehensively. Astrid shook my hand off her arm. "No, Diana." She turned to face me. "We've done nothing to get treated like this!" As she was looking at me, she didn't see Drake raising a gun behind her. My eyes widened. "ASTRID!" I screamed as Drake levelled the gun…and slammed it hard across her head. I heard the crack and watched in horror as Astrid sank to the floor. I looked up at Drake. He was smirking. "You didn't think I was going to shoot her did you?" he asked, laughing coldly.
"I wouldn't put it past you." I muttered under my breath. However, it seems that Drake has hearing like a bat, as he marched across to me, stepping over the unconscious Astrid, and wrapped his Whip–Hand around my throat. "What did I say to you last night?" he asked me, his voice dangerously low.
"You…you said a lot of things to me last night." I replied. He tightened his grip on my throat. "L…let me go." I hissed, struggling to take in oxygen.
DRAKE'S POV
"Not until you tell me what I said last night!" I snapped, my Whip–Hand getting tighter with every word. Diana started clawing at my whip. "I'll give you a clue: it's one of my rules." I told her, in a rare moment of 'kindness.' Diana stopped trying to scratch my whip, the energy leaving her. "Y…you said…that...I…I wasn't to…break any of your rules." She managed to gasp, her face taking on a bluish tinge. I glared at her and loosened my grip on her throat. Only slightly. "I told you not to be cheeky to me!" I snapped, finally losing it with her. Despite the fact that she looked as though she was close to losing consciousness, Diana still managed to smirk at me. "Actually…you…advised me…against be…ing cheeky…to you." She said.
"I also told you that the cheekier you were to me, the more I got to hurt you." I pointed out, grinning cruelly. Suddenly, I gripped her throat so tightly it would be a wonder if she was able to breathe at all. Just as suddenly, I let her go. Diana slumped to the floor, still conscious – barely. I watched as she gasped for breath, breathing in oxygen like there was no tomorrow. I bent down so that I was just crouching over her. Using my good hand, I traced the scar on her face, the one running from her eye to her chin. The one that I had caused. She shivered and looked fearfully up at me.
DIANA'S POV
Drake traced the scar on my face. His touch sent shivers down my spine. He smirked, and stood up. "Stand up." He ordered me, his Whip–Hand curling and uncurling round his waist. Sighing, I stood up, afraid of what would happen if I didn't. Drake took hold of my arm and dragged me across the hallway to his room. "Why did you take me through here?" I asked him. I was starting to find that every minute I spent in Drake's presence, the more trouble I had keeping my voice steady. "We need to discuss things." Drake said, his smirk still fixed on his face. I was feeling slightly confused. If Drake wanted to talk, why didn't we just stay in me and Astrid's room? I was 'stupid' enough to ask him. Drake rolled his eyes and looked at me with utter contempt and loathing. "We can't risk Astrid hearing, can we?" he asked, a mocking lilt in his voice. I frowned. "She's unconscious." I pointed out. Again, Drake rolled his eyes. "Didn't you know that sometimes unconscious people can still hear?" he asked me, speaking to me as he would to a 3 year old. I glared at him. Drake pulled his desk chair over to the bed and sat down on it. He indicated that I should sit down on the bed. I did so, still glaring at him. He smirked and propped his trainer clad feet up on my lap. I brushed them away angrily. The smirk dropped from his face and he glared at me. I looked disdainfully at him. "I don't want your feet on my lap." I snapped. Drake put his feet back on my lap. "I don't care what you want – or don't want – I only care about what I want." He hissed. I pushed his feet off my lap again and glowered at him. "And I don't care about what you want." I snapped as I stood up. Drake was on his feet seconds after me and the next thing I knew, I was lying in a crumpled heap at the bottom of the wall. I pressed my hand to my head. My forehead felt wet and sticky beneath my palm. Sure enough, when I moved brought my hand down in front of my face, it was bright red. I shuddered. I couldn't stand the sight of blood.
Suddenly Drake's hand was behind my head, gripping my hair tightly. I winced. Drake knelt down in front of me, but he was all fuzzy and blurred. Probably due to the fact that my head was throbbing after he chucked me against the wall. Idiot. I glared at him, but that made me start to see double. One Drake is bad enough, but seeing double Drake's… It just doesn't bear thinking about. Drake pulled my face closer to his. I struggled to escape his grip but my sore head and all my aching bones were making that harder than necessary. "Let me go!" I told him. Not that he listened to me. He smirked and stood up. He started walking across the room, dragging me behind him by my hair. I had to bite my lip to suppress the scream forming in my throat. Drake stopped and, still holding my hair tightly, pulled me to my feet. My legs gave way beneath me, but before I could reach the floor, I felt Drake's whip wrap around my waist, keeping me upright. I looked up at him, trying to think of some witty comment but everything turned black before I could open my mouth.
Finished. FINALLY! This chapter has taken me ages to write – I just haven't felt like writing lately! I though the start of the chapter was OK, but then it kind of veered off into the Land of I–Have–No–Idea–Where–I'm–Going–With–This. Which, unfortunately for me, is pretty hard to get out of. But it's finished now and *fingers crossed* Chapter 11 won't take me as long to write. However – should I write more chapters with Chapter 8–type stuff in them or not? Please tell me in a review!