Chapter 28

From then until the end of training, I made sure that I wasn't alone with Eric again. After what happened during our little spar, I was still somewhat confused about what had really happened back there. There was no reason why I should've lost that fight. Perhaps it was the constant fights that I'd had recently with the Strigoi and I hadn't fully recovered my body's strength yet. That must've been it. That would explain why my body seemed to be moving a little slower than usual.

When the lesson ended, it was no surprise when Eric strolled towards me. What I was not expecting was such an intense stare from him. It was a gaze that seemed to hold a promise of a continuum of what had nearly happened between us had Tom not interrupted us. I pushed down the surprise that I felt and simply gave him a cheeky smile.

"Well it sure looks like someone got a little over excited during our lesson." I winked playfully at him.

"What can I say? Attractive girls have that effect on me," he shrugged.

"You sure do know how to please a girl, don't you, pretty boy?"

"I appreciate the compliment, I've never had any complaints so far."

"A professional playboy, I'd better watch out then before I get bitten." I smirked.

"We shall see how things go," he chuckled and wrapped his arm around my shoulders casually. People pointed and stared as we passed through the main courtyard of the Academy to get to Rose Hathaway's statue. There were whisperings all around us and had it been six years ago, I would have squirmed and tried everything I could to shy away from the attention. Now, I simply gave them friendly smiles as we passed them.

The walk to the statue seemed to take a surprisingly long time and it took me a while to realise that Eric had actually taken the long way to get to our destination. It seemed that my memory of where everything was in the Academy was still a little rusty. I knew that I would have to fully refresh my memory soon just in case any accidents were to happen.

The last thing that I would ever want would be to not be able to form a rescue plan at a rapid pace. When we got to the statue, he began to lead me onto a small hidden path that I had no recollection of. The only possibility that came to mind was that this path had been made after I'd left and it seemed highly possible that Eric had been the one to make it.

I tried to note every possible minute detail that we passed. The wretched thing about the woods surrounding the Academy was that it was almost impossible to recognise one's way around unless you were trained to notice tiny details. This path was certainly no exception and somehow, it seemed even harder to find tell-tale signs because everything seemed so uncharacteristically identical. It was as though someone purposefully made it that way to prevent someone from being able to find their way.

That made me wonder how Eric managed to make his way through without any difficulty at all. There must have been something that I missed. But what? There was nothing that stood out at all.

"Where are we going Eric?" I asked curiously. My nerves twitched nervously for a moment. He could be leading me anywhere and I wouldn't be able to find my way back without his guidance. If he were to try something on me, I wouldn't be able to get away from him. I would be entirely trapped and for a moment fear gripped me.

"A place that you're bound to love," he told me simply with a reassuring smile.

That smile of his did anything but reassure me. If anything it made my nerves jitter even more and I even contemplated on telling him that I was beginning to feel uncomfortable but my pride took hold as the thought flittered across my mind and held me back.

Eventually, I began to hear other voices. There was laughter and grunts and groans of pain it seemed and it made me more curious than ever. A clash of fear and excitement rushed through me when his hand suddenly took mine and led me forward at a faster pace.

We broke out of the woods into a large clearing and I felt my heart skip a beat as my eyes widened in awe. All around the clearing were people whom I didn't recognise and they were all training intensely with one another with a mixture of magic and combat techniques. In the very centre of the clearing was the most stunning and complicated assault course I'd ever seen as flares of magic flashed throughout the entire course.

Different people raced against one another to complete the course while others seemed to be playing a game of capture the flag that was tied around two people's heads. My mind was blown by what I saw and excitement took over all other emotions. My fingers itched and I clenched and unclenched my fists.

"Oh my god…" I murmured in shock.

"I told you that you're bound to love it." Eric smirked and kissed the back of my hand.

"What… what is this place?"

"This is a training ground specifically designed for the seniors. We don't get good just by going through normal training, you know. Well, we do, but we get even better with something like this. Several yards further is a simulation course with derelict buildings and high walls for us to play Ghost."

"Ghost… as in the game where some people are chosen to play victims while others are chosen to play as the predator and you hunt each other down?" I arched my brows at him.

"That exact one," he nodded. "You know it?"

"I know of the human version. We used to play it after a party in the early hours of the morning around school."

"Well, this game would be nothing like you'd ever imagined."

"I can't wait to try it…" I let out a mesmerised breath.

"We do have 45 minutes to spare before lunch. Are you interested?" he smirked.

"Do you even have to ask?" I retorted with eyes wide with excitement.

"Let me just warn you, there will definitely be magic involved and those who you think are your friends might not be."

"Got it." I nodded fervently.

"Alright then," he grinned. "Hey guys! Listen up, we're starting up a game of Ghost with our latest addition here!"

Everyone stopped what they were doing and cheered before turning to me.

"Hey, isn't that the latest little prodigy? How've you managed to snag her before I managed to get to her man?" one of the seniors groaned in disappointment as he leaned down slightly to get a better look at me. He eyed me up and down before whistling in appreciation.

"So you're the little chick that managed to get rid of Marissa, well done girl," another commented.

"I didn't mean to do it." I protested.

"You did us all a favour Kylie, that girl was getting on my nerves far too much," someone scoffed.

"Now let's get this game on the road!" Eric hollered. "Same team leaders as always, Jack and Tilley you're up!"

I was more than surprised when a flash of fire suddenly whirled across the field and a column of earth cut it short. Two people stepped out from the crowd and began to throw attack after attack at each other with cheeky grins on both their faces. Eventually, Jack who was the fire user fell onto his back in surprise and he glared playfully at Tilley.

"That was unfair!" he complained.

"There are no rules saying that we can't use elements that aren't our specialised ones," she winked at him before offering him a hand up. "I call first dibs on Kylie Valentine."

"Eh?" I squealed in shock and stared at her.

"Well why not? I'd much rather be pleasantly surprised than be ambushed by you if you were on the other team." Tilley reasoned with a smile. "Welcome aboard Kylie."

"Pleasure." I nodded enthusiastically.

"Then I call dibs on Ghost. Eric, get your butt over here." Jack smirked at Tilley. "If you lose this round, you owe me a week's worth of food."

"If I win, you owe me a week's worth of me copying ALL of our homework." Tilley winked with full confidence.

I hastened to try and remember everyone's names as they were called out to join each team. In total there were around thirty of us and due to the rules, there were two more preys than predators.

"Same rules apply. We'll have Kylie be the flag this time." Tilley grinned.

"The flag?" I arched my brows.

"It's the other way of winning the game. If the flag gets pinned with three witnesses from both teams, the Ghost wins."

"Wow… that is an interesting adaptation."

"It spices things up a little bit and makes it seem more like a training simulation."

"I do see what you mean. In this case, the flag is the Moroi while the others in the same team are the Guardians and the ghosts are the Strigoi."

"That's completely right, you're totally getting the hang of this, Kylie."

"Cheers." I smiled.

"You guys have three minutes to get yourselves ready." Jack informed us and without wasting any time, Tilley's team scattered through the woods and I followed her towards the derelict buildings.

They were my best chance of staying free throughout the entire game. Adrenaline rushed through me with every step that I took and the prospect of the unfamiliar grounds excited me even more. They had an advantage that I didn't have regarding to their knowledge of this place. Since I didn't know anything about it, it simply made it more dangerous and that excited me.

As soon as I saw the derelict building, I focused on going up. That way, there would be less opportunities of ambush. Although I had prepared myself for the prospect of this being a magical gam of Ghost, I still couldn't help but be surprised when I heard the various explosions. This had to be one of the most serious games of Ghost I had ever played.

I got my first sign of not being alone anymore when I sensed the presence of a Moroi stepping into the building. I tensed and listened carefully for when he or she would find me. I glanced out of the window and noticed someone from my team in the building opposite mine. He seemed to be gesturing something and I realised that he was trying to let me know where the opposition was. I smiled gratefully at him and then I noticed that someone was approaching him as well. I tried to alert him but I wasn't fast enough and they were engaged in a fight.

"Well, who'd have thought that the first person I found would be Kylie," a deep voice chuckled and I whirled around and cursed at my own foolishness at being distracted.

If I remembered rightly, the blond haired senior's name was Jason. I gave him a small grin and he smiled in return. With the flick of his wrist I felt the gust of wind push against me from behind, propelling me towards him. I didn't do anything as I fell towards him until the last moment when I kicked the group and jumped over him.

"It'll take more than that to snatch me I'm afraid." I grinned and ran up onto the roof. Once there, I took a brief glance at the distance between the buildings before jumping off the roof. My hands reached out and I grabbed the edge of the building before pulling myself up to safety.

"Are you crazy, Kylie?" Jason called out from the window. "You could have gotten yourself killed if you fell!"

"I wouldn't have fallen. I know how far I can jump!" I called back and gave a small wave before turning on my heel.

For the next twenty minutes or so, I remained uncaptured. In fact, I managed to avoid bumping into people on the general whole so that I wouldn't get caught. In the last five minutes though, I could tell that things were reaching a finale. The number of explosions increased and things were getting closer and closer to where I was.

I braced myself for a fight when I heard the footsteps approaching where I had been sitting on a crate. I wasn't sure how it was possible, but by the time I realised it, it was already too late. I felt the presence behind me and instantly lashed out without another thought. My fist connected with flesh and I stared at the blank space for several moments before a shape finally began to materialise.

It was Eric.

But how had he done that? He was standing right in front of me and I didn't even see him.

And then I knew.

He was a Spirit user. He had to have been to be able to command such powerful compulsion. I wasn't one to easily fall under the spell of the compulsion so I knew that no ordinary Moroi could've influenced me the way he had. So far as I remembered, only Spirit users had that power over me. Even then the Spirit user had to be highly experienced and powerful regarding compulsion to be able to influence me.

I jumped away from him and the pair of us circled each other. This felt like the fight from earlier in the training session all over again. Now that I knew he was here, there was no point for him to continue with the invisibility charade.

"How did you do that?" I narrowed my eyes at him.

"A very handy skill known as compulsion."

"That's a Moroi skill, isn't it?"

"You got that right, Kylie," he smirked.

"Are there any more tricks that you want to warn me about before I make a total fool of myself?"

"None that I can think of. And you'd never make a fool out of yourself."

"Well, hopefully not."

I thought that I was prepared for it when he finally tackled me. I honestly did. So how the hell did I end up on my back with his body settled firmly over mine? It wasn't even the first time this happened! This was the second! Honestly, why was this happening to me?

His hand reached down and stroked my cheek. His eyes shone with a lust filled gleam and I gave a shudder. It had been a while since someone had stared at me as intently as he had. While I may not have been a slut, it was still a very big compliment to have someone had handsome as Eric was to stare at me like that.

To stare at me with so much desire.

I shifted slightly and decided to play along. I wrapped my arms around his neck and tugged his head down a little so that we were closer together. I might know that I didn't love this guy, but that didn't mean that we couldn't try dating. I wasn't a slut, but I was the type of girl who believed in showing emotions through actions rather than words.

"I want you, Kylie. You have no idea how hard it is for me to not just ravage you senseless right here and now."

"Well then I guess I should be thankful for your self-restraint." I grinned cheekily and ran a hand through his hair.

A low, and almost feral, growl slipped past his lips and I stared up at him in amusement.

"Oh the things that you do to me, Kylie. You drive boys crazy, you know that?"

"I have been told on several occasions."

"Be my girlfriend, Kylie."

I stared up at him in surprise. I really should have seen that one coming. I wondered for a moment about whether Eric was the possessive type or not. That might be why he wanted me to be his girlfriend so quickly. He wanted to claim me before anyone else had the chance to. I'd met countless guys who were like him and for a moment, I wanted to think that Eric wasn't one of those types. I wasn't sure why, but I kind of wanted things to work out between Eric and me. He seemed like a nice enough guy after all.

"It's only my second week here, I'm not sure I want to commit so quickly."

"Then how about a compromise. Be my girlfriend for now, and if you find someone else that you want to be with more than me, we'll talk it out." Eric reasoned. "Though, I doubt that you will. Find someone else that is."

"Well someone sounds confident."

"What can I say, I've never had any complaints before. Nor have I ever been dumped before."

"So you were the one who ended things?"

"I haven't had all that many relationships."

"But you've had flings."

"All guys have had flings, Kylie."

"Ain't that the truth." I scoffed. "I hope that I am not one of your casual flings, Eric, because I won't hesitate to kick your ass to kingdom come if I find out that you're playing me."

"I wouldn't dream of it."

"Well then I guess I accept. There's not really any reason for me to reject you anyway."

"So how about a kiss to seal the deal?" he glanced down at me and I noticed how he was focusing mainly on my lips.

"Only if you promise to be a good kisser." I smirked.

There was no time for a response. He wasted no time to seal his lips over mine and I had to give him credit. He was a damn good kisser! I wasn't a slut, nor was I a saint. Even I had my share of stories and experiences with guys. Though I said that, I was still a virgin and a proud one at that. Most of the guys on my soccer team were surprised because they were all confident that there would have been someone in our school who had enough charms to at least get me into bed, but nope, apparently not.

The closest I had got was with someone in the drama department. We had been going out for three months and things got pretty hot and heavy between us. But before we actually went through with it, we both decided to stop. He was feeling nervous because it was his first as well and he admitted that he was mainly trying to get me in bed because I was apparently the most popular conquest in school. It was an unspoken competition between the lads to get me in bed.

He was surprised that I had already known about it, and then I explained to him that I was surrounded by the most laddish boys in the entire school most of the time due to the fact that I was in the soccer team. We came to a mutual agreement that it was probably best for us to go back to being friends and we did. Nothing changed between us and I was happy for him when he found a new girlfriend whom he was absolutely head over heels for a couple of weeks later.

Eric sat up, pulling me up with him and he never broke the kiss. He sat me on his lap and placed my legs on either side of his hips for better positioning. My hands weaved through his hair and one of his hands was in my hair while the other was on my hip. Eventually he moved his lips from mine because we had to breathe but he never stopped kissing me. Instead of attacking my mouth, his lips trailed down my face and he moved on to my neck.

I shuddered at the sensation and I flinched in surprise when I felt a fang brush my skin. I stiffened and pushed his shoulders gently so that he knew I was uncomfortable about that.

"Sorry, sort of got caught up in the moment there," he told me breathlessly.

His eyes were clouded over with desire but I could see the trace of bloodlust in his eyes. I gave him a quick peck on the lips and gave him a small smile. "I think you need to go to the feeders."

"I take it they've informed you of that little tradition about us vampires."

"They told me on the first day of school. It was so that I wouldn't freak out if I accidentally walked past a feeding session or something." I shrugged.

"What do you think about it?"

"Think about what?"

"The idea of having such an intimate experience with someone."

"You mean the whole blood taking thing."

"Yes."

"I think of it as a necessity but I certainly have no plans of being the meal." I told him bluntly.

"Shame."

I glanced at him in surprise at his response. I could see it in his eyes. He wanted to. He wanted to bite me, but he had refrained from doing so because of the rules. I also noticed the hint of challenge in his eyes. Eric was the type of person to try what he could to get what he wanted, that much was for sure.

Oh. My. God... I'm soooooo excited! For those who don't already know, - and for those who do know I'm sorry if this is getting repetitive - but I might be able to publish an actual book! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! I really can't wait! And now I am just one step closer having just finished writing the blurb. What's left now is to finished the third edit and then phone up the publishers! YAY!