Neither Near nor Far
Chapter 3
-Present-
The weeks that followed were mechanical; nothing changed. I woke up, executed my training and went back. Eventually, I lurked outside after dusk had set. However, when I reopened my eyes from another sleepless night, I knew that something had altered. The petty birds that usually disturbed me every morning didn't make a sound. 'How peculiar...My tactics for destroying them will have to wait...' I thought bitterly; the one morning that I had time to demolish those infantile creatures and they decided to conceal themselves within the shadows of the tree that hung about outside my clear window!
After I dressed in my regular black attire, I left the confines of my 'dwelling'. My heavy footsteps echoed down the hallway that ordinarily had somebody in it. It was entirely empty now, which was quite unusual. I ignored all of these tell-tale signs and marched on.
Once outside, I came to realize the cause of the emptiness and silence of the hotel. My rich violet eyes narrowed into slits when they rested on two specific people; Carina and Adrasteia. 'Why the hell are they even here?' My mood wasn't particularly pleasant these days. I stopped at the sight of them with red, slitted pupils that had black irises.
"Why are you here?" I managed to snarl at them. My lips curled back slightly, revealing my pointed fangs, as I spit the question out at them. My raspy voice that erupted when I was angry ceased to startle them anymore.
"We don't have to answer to you anymore, Acquilina," Carina replied in her impassive voice. Her stormy-blue eyes fixed themselves on my slight figure as she spoke, "but, if you must know, we were forced to train here." A low snarl ripped from my throat, but I remained silent; Kai was approaching.
His own reserved eyes flickered from Adrasteia to me as he came forward; he wasn't happy to 'meet' me. I watched attentively as his heavy, porcelain–white scarf remained lifeless at his side. His muscular arms crossed over his toned chest, which was covered with a navy shirt. Kai maintained his silence easily as he stood across from me. Pride lingered on his features; undoubtedly the most distinguished part of his personality.
Without a word, he turned on his heel and left, Adrasteia glared at me once more, and hastily followed after her team captain. I watched them leave me behind with no vacillation. My eyes resumed their normal, pained look as they continued to trail after Adrasteia and Kai's backs. 'This was the last picture I left them with...' I thought with remorse, 'don't they understand that I did it for them? That I did it for myself? I'm filled with regret every time I'm forced to think of that cataclysmic day.'
I shut my eyes and turned my face to the side; I must never watch that scene play itself out before me again. Who was I kidding? I earned this punishment. I let everyone down, again, why shouldn't I be ostracized? I lifted one leg just above the ground and retreated to the shadows. With my hands clenched into fists at my sides, I disappeared as quietly as I had come.
'Give up...This life wasn't meant for you. Go home...Nobody wants you...No one needs you.'
-Past-
"Why didn't you just go and help him, Acquilina?" Bryan roared at the child. Tears stung her eyes and left red trails down her cheeks. The boy with grey hair shook in anger. He didn't understand why she stayed in her cell when the girl could hear Tala's anguish from down the brick hall. He didn't understand why she cried in front of him when the child should be begging for forgiveness. No, Bryan would never get the full picture.
He struck the wall again and stormed out, leaving the young girl behind. She watched him go with glistening purple eyes and fell to her knees when he vanished from her view. Acquilina sobbed for what seemed like hours to her, but were truly only minutes. 'I have to make this right, again...If only something like that could be made right.' She thought after her crying eased up.
Down the hallway from her, Tala writhed in agony. Viridian had etched horrendous scars all over the red heads' back and parts of his shoulders. Tala's pristine ice cold eyes were shut tightly as were his sharp teeth, 'I will never show such weakness again,' he thought as his friends worked to slow the bleeding down. He would soon drown in his own blood if Bryan, Spencer and Ian didn't find a way to suspend the blood flow.
-Present: Nightfall-
The day seemed to go by so quickly. It seemed just hours ago that my anomalous morning turned for the worse with the arrival of Hiwatari, Kai. 'I doubt that anyone even bothered to look for me. Maybe this will be my escape...This might have been my last day to ever see those fools again.' I smirked ever so slightly; this wasn't such a bad idea.
But, my peace was ended abruptly when my acute hearing caught wind of voices. This wouldn't have bothered me much, except for the fact that these people were calling my name. 'This can't be happening to me. Why would anyone call my name?' I thought with little comprehension. I listened harder, tilting my head in the process.
"Acquilina!" The deep, quieter tone of his voice matched with Spencer's; why was he looking for me? After a moment, I heard my name again, this time a few 100 metres south of where I was; it sounded like Carina. In half an hour I heard all of my old team, my new team and voices from other various teams.
I cringed at the thought of why anyone would be trying to locate someone or something as hazardous as me. My head rolled from lack of food and the much needed rest my body yearned for. I would appear to most as an ordinary drunkard, except for one thing: I wasn't under the influence this time. I helplessly clutched at the torn remains of sanity I held so dear. With the loss of everything that had kept me level with the ground I truly had nothing left to live for. My intelligence was lost, my emotions were alien to me and happiness was something only heard of in folklore. No, this wasn't a real life.
"Acquilina," I heard the shouts again. How futile were their efforts. 'Even if I had the strength to drag my body over to the mouth of this alley, I'm positive I can't respond to their cries,' I thought with something even more alien; guilt.
As the last few minutes of life ticked by, I tried to listen to their whereabouts. They'd find my body in no time, but not in the time frame that I've been given to live. As the darkness finally secured its hold on my consciousness, I sifted through the blissful memories I had left. A small, pained smile formed on my ashen lips and my neck hung low. Eyes that once held so much life slowly diminished into emptiness, and finally, lifelessness. My eyes closed for what seemed to be the last time. With my hand outstretched beside me, palm up facing the sky, I grasped the last tendrils of air that whisked themselves by my stagnant figure.
The wind picked up strands of my slowly greying hair and swirled them around my bowed head and hunched shoulders. Small loose pebbles were knocked against my open hand with the force of the air. The rotten smell of the alley would soon be joined by the smell of diseased flesh; my flesh.
"Acquilina, Acquilina!" quiet voices ran on through the night while the ears they were trying to reach would remain deaf forever.
-Past: 1st World Championship-
Tala Valkov was climbing down the steps from the dish he froze over not too long ago. He had a smile on his face even though he had lost. As soon as he shook Tyson Granger's gloved hand, he knew that things were going to change for the better this time. The red head turned back to his team, the Demolition Boys, and led them away from the highlighted area of the beydish. He knew that Boris wasn't going to be around anymore. A feeling of freedom surged through each of the boys simultaneously.
Once they were clear of the crowds, they all ran back to the abbey; there was one thing that needed to be done before they made their escape. 'Today is the beginning of our life, I just know this to be true,' Bryan thought as the four boys sprinted back to their girl, Acquilina.
The hinges creaked as they forced open the barred cell door. The young child threw her arms around her team mates with tears streaming down her pale face. 'They won, they won!' Were her only thoughts as she was lifted into Tala's arms and carried away from the place of death; her only home.
Wind rustled up their hair and by the time they made it back to a house that would be theirs (thanks to Mr. Dickenson); the moon presented itself to the midnight sky. Its face of hard rock looked down on them; both beautiful and fearful. The house was empty, its shutters were drawn. The basic white washed walls held in secrets of what lay on the inside.
They all marched inside and drifted off to their own rooms. Acquilina slept soundly for once in her life; it was possibly the only time in her whole life. She had been spoken to by Mr. Dickenson earlier on in the days of the tournament, and she knew what she must do. Acquilina had to leave her safety net, the Demolition Boys, for they needed to do what must be done without her aid. Acquilina was forced into taking care of a different, older team. The child was forced to leave and do the unthinkable: make a national team out of two resentful girls.
'Maybe one day I'll be back around...But, if it keeps me any longer than needed to be away from them, I don't know what I'll do. They've got to understand it's a hard life that I'm going through.' She thought as she finally settled into a deep sleep; the last of their kind for her.
-Past: Leaving-
"She's what...?" Bryan whispered in disbelief. The grey haired boy stood in the doorway of the house, his eyes wide with incredulity. Tala held the single note that explained her sudden disappearance. His own eyes reflected the same light one would have after just hearing someone had passed away.
Bryan's shoulders slumped forward and he dragged himself to where Tala stood. He grabbed the letter from Tala and read it: I'm sorry, I needed to leave. It's not you, it's me. Goodbye and always remember that I'll always love you, even if you forget me.
'She left us...Left me. I love her! But, she's gone now and I'll never see her again. I won't forgive her for betraying us like this; I can't forgive her for this treason.' Tala thought as he climbed the stairs in grief. As he walked down the hallway lost in his tormented mind, he absently went into her room and sat there. 'Always remember that I love you...even if that love will one day cost my life.'
-It's the game of life. Do I win or do I lose? One day they're gonna shut the game down. I gotta have as much fun and go around the board as many times as I can before it's my turn to leave-
End