How I hated being right. When the alarm went off she was already up and dressed. She walked out our room and waited for us in the sitting room. Ana barely looked at me and didn't talk at all. But when she did look at me she had a deadly glare warning me to back off.
"Hey Ana, can I take a look at your blade now?" Ana looked at Kenny and handed him her blade. She sat away from us… away from me.
ANA
I was so angry with Kai I felt like I could hit something…or better yet someone. I looked out across the snowy roads so I wouldn't have to look at Kai. If he knew not to call me by my full name then why did he do it? I knew he wouldn't apologise so I just ignored him today. I didn't listen to his orders and kept walking away from him. He didn't frighten me and I just wanted him to stay out of my way. Or there might just be some hell to pay.
flashback
"Hello Anastasia." I smiled at him and we shared a passionate kiss under some snow-covered trees. I think on some level I truly loved Adrian. Once he even said he loved me, but I didn't know. "What do you mean you don't know?" He asked disappointed to my reply. "I really like you Adrian…but love? I don't know what love is so how can I tell you I love you?"
"You just did." He teased and kissed me again. I wished that day would never end. We managed to get away from the rest of the team and had some time alone. Adrian was my guardian angel and I loved being with him every second. If I'd have known what was coming then I would've told him I loved him. That way we could've run away and stayed together without anyone telling us what to do. They all liked me, Kara didn't say it in so many words but you could tell.
But then everything changed. We were so good at blading we were assigned a coach. How I hated that man, he nearly killed us everyday with his fitness training and the blading was non-stop. We ate, slept, talked and were even made to think about blading 24/7.
He told us to test our skills on opponents weaker than ourselves. The first place we went to was the outdoor blading area. I watched as they smashed one blade after another. It hurt me to see Adrian get such a sick look of satisfaction on his face, it was as though he was taking out his aggression on the little kids blades. Justin seemed to be getting the same satisfaction whilst the others didn't like this at all.
We watched kids running out of the area one after another. Some were angry others were holding back the tears but I could not. I let some tears go for the blades and kids that fell at my team's hands. Then I saw this little girl in a red coat. She looked like trouble so I stepped out the park to watch the show.
"GET EM!" She yelled and all the kids started hurling stones, rocks, snow balls in fact anything they could find at them. My team tried to fight back but there were too many kids, angry kids at that.
Adrian looked at me as he ran out and I shook my head looking and feeling disappointed in him. My coach threatened a new training regime on me for tomorrow since I didn't launch my blade even once that day. We were told to find the girl and make her pay for messing with us. I didn't want to do anything so I just walked behind them. The rest of the team were all hyped up and ready to hit something but I wanted no part of this.
It was late and cold when we saw her. The little girl was walking home on her own without anyone in sight. Adrian had a smirk on his face and went in for the kill. "Little girls shouldn't be alone at night." He said behind her in a manic sounding voice. The little girl turned and saw him before taking flight. We chased after her until we cornered her in an alley. "We're going to make you pay for stoning us today." Adrian picked up a rock and looked at the little girl. He moved the rock up and down her body choosing a spot to hit. "Einee Meinee Miney-"
"STOP!" I ran in front of the girl who was trembling with fear. "But she has to pay Ana."
"Listen to yourself…that's not the Adrian I knew, you're not the Adrian I loved!" He dropped the rock and looked at me. "See, you love me." I looked at him with tearful eyes. "Not anymore, you've changed and I don't like it. He's changed you Adrian and I don't know if I can love you anymore. And it's not just you, I feel like I've lost all of you somehow."
It was true, ever since that new coach came in to our lives everything changed. He made us battle each other until we were so angry we wanted to hurt one another. Justin started to hate me as I kept beating him after our training sessions. Kara used to smile sometimes, but now that's stopped altogether and she hardly talked to anyone. Tila was a bit jealous of my relationship with Adrian but now she hated me for it. Sam was the cheerful happy one but now he was the angry one.
They looked at me and I didn't move. The little girl was still behind me cowering and trembling like a leaf. "Get out of the way!" Sam ordered but I stayed put. He tied to push me out of the way but I winded him and he fell to the ground. "I quit! You want the little girl now you're going to have to go through me."
I turned to the girl and whispered. "Run." She nodded and ran away. They tried to go after her but I fought them. I was out numbered and they beat me instead. I was on the ground in more pain than I've ever been in before. I couldn't move and I heard the others grumble. They had lost her and I smiled. They looked at me and Adrian kneeled down looking at me. "We're…over…" I said before passing out.
I woke up in a hospital and the little girl was smiling at me. "You're awake."
"How long have I been out?" It was too painful to move so I stayed still. "Three days…thanks for rescuing me." I looked at the girl and saw her innocence and purity for the first time. She reminded me of me before the coach came and trained us. I lost that innocence and hated myself. I would've smiled as I looked at the girl but it was too painful. "What's your name?" I said through the pain. "Katy, and you are Anastasia right?" I frowned and looked angry. "Just call me Ana from now on ok." Katy smiled and nodded.
end flashback
I thought about this all day and felt I had been unfair to Kai. But he said my name after Katy told him not to. Did he want me to hurt him? Did he want to see me angry and test to see how in control I was over my emotions? I didn't know and was too annoyed to care.
We were going to lunch so I took my blade back from Kenny. He seemed pretty impressed as to what he had found.
At lunch I still didn't look at him. I could feel his eyes look at me sometimes but I didn't return it. All through the day I ignored him and he still wasn't going to apologise. It was like we were in a duel to see who would crack first. Well I wasn't going to let him win and I don't think he was backing down either.
KAI
We continued like this all through the day. I was starting to get irritated so I got her to come with me somewhere alone. "Ok now stop it."
"Stop what?" She said without looking at me. "This." Ana turned away but I grabbed her arm and turned her around. She immediately punched me and I fell to the floor. "Touch me again and you'll be singing soprano!" I got up and got ready to punch her back. "Go ahead, I dare you." I stopped and looked at her with a balled fist in the air.
I realised what I was doing and stopped. "Why do you hurt yourself?" Ana looked away with anger burning in her eyes. "That's none of your business."
"It is if it effects your ability to blade." She turned and glared at me. "On the contrary, it makes my blading skills even more powerful." I studied her for a minute, she looked like a bomb about to go off. "What does?"
"Like I said, that's none of your business." I scanned her eyes whilst she glared in to mine. At least she was looking at me now. "It doesn't have anything to do with your old team does it?" She went to hit me again but I grabbed her wrists and restrained her. She yelled and struggled against me. She was putting up one hell of a fight. But she was still just a girl and couldn't break free. "LET ME GO! THIS IS NONE OF YOUR BUISNESS!"
"It is if you keep trying to hit me." I said calmly. The anger coming from her was frightening but I kept hold of her. "YOU HAVE TO KEEP BRINGING IT UP!" It took a good few minutes for her to calm down and stop struggling. I could feel her rage so I didn't let her go just yet. "Now you are going to tell me why you are acting like this."
"Bit me." She said quietly. "Tell me."
"Why?" I could see this was going to take a while so we stayed there for another few minutes. "Have you calmed down now?" She didn't move or say a word. "Why do you want to hurt yourself?" Ana sighed and she muttered something that sounded like. "It makes the other pain go away."
"Hey Kai." Tyson and the others were at the other end of the alley looking at us. "What are you doing?" Ana took this moment of distraction to propel herself away from the wall facing her. Unfortunately I was behind her and landed on a wheelie bin behind me with my back. The shock of it made let go and Ana ran out the alley away from us. "Are you ok Kai?" Max asked as he stopped beside me. "What was all that about?"
"I'll tell you when I've figured it out Tyson." I got up slowly and painfully; I knew I was going to be sore in the morning. She didn't come back to the hotel that night and I didn't care. I had a bit of a split lip and an aching back from her.
But I began to get concerned after twelve. I had the bed to myself but it just didn't seem right without her. I missed her soft breathing lulling me to sleep for the past two nights. But I was still angry with her for hitting me. I wondered where she could be at this time of night. Was I worried about her? I may've not been, but the others were concerned for her well being. They hit the nail on the head when I heard them start talking about her old team. "I hope they haven't gotten to her." Rei said looking thoughtfully up at the ceiling.
I got up and went out the hotel. I checked all the places she had been in the past few days. But she was no where in sight. I passed by Katy's house and wondered if she was there. I couldn't just ring the bell and ask if she was there at this time of night. So I went back to the hotel and thought about what I was going to do tomorrow.
