sarah

I have to admit that when I first met Lailah I was kind of jealous. I mean she was rich and gorgeous. Then I started realising that she would've given up everything she had not to have gone through what she did. Her life had been sad.

I woke up and got dressed into some clothes from the drawer; a white button up shirt and a pair of jeans and of course a pair of white sneakers. I shook John awake and made him get dressed. He wore more or less the same thing as me. We walked outside to see everyone sitting at the table and eating breakfast. Everyone was wearing the same thing.

Lailah was sitting next to Nine, laughing and joking as if nothing had happened last night.

I rubbed my eyes and Yawned. 'What time is it?'

'Eight o'clock,' Marina said between mouthfuls of cereal and giggling.

John and I sat down next to Marina. We dished eggs and toast and began to eat.

Just then a little voice said, 'Lailah?'

Lailah turned her head to look at the child Katie. She got off her chair and knelt beside the girl. Katie whispered in the grey-eyed girl's ear. She pointed a little finger at our group. Lailah smiled and lifted the child. She sat back down with the four-year-old on her lap.

'This is Katie. She said she wanted to say 'hello',' Lailah said with a grin.

'Hi, Katie,' I said, waving my hand.

She waved a tiny hand back. 'You have nice hair.'

'Thank you.'

Katie turned to Nine, who looked absolutely baffled. 'I'm Katie.'

When Nine didn't answer Six took over. 'Katie, I'm Six. This next to me is Ella.'

Ella was sitting next to her, curled up into a ball that I hardly saw her. She had reverted to a younger age- four or five.

Katie's eyes lit up at the sight of a new playmate. She waved enthusiastically and Ella sat up.

'Katie, why don't you go show Ella you're books?' Lailah suggested.

Katie nodded and jumped off the chair and started walking down the hall, Ella next to her. Lailah turned to a woman on her left. She whispered something into her ear and slipped her a small ruler.

She turned back to us. 'Is everyone done? I think we should all train.'

Soon everyone was following Lailah outside a side door and into a large field. The field looked like a military camp. It had ladders and ropes and a shooting range.

'Nice,' Nine said, impressed. 'Where's your arsenal?'

Lailah grinned and walked to a garage to her left and opened the door. Instead of a car inside there was a whole arsenal, filled with guns, helmets and grenades.

I looked at the others. They were completely shocked. Lailah picked up an AK-47.

'Anyone knows how to shoot an AK-47?' Lailah asked, grinning.

No-one spoke up.

'Pick up a weapon and we'll get started!'

We all shuffled forward and picked up weapons. John and I picked handguns. When we were all done we walked back to Lailah who had her phone out. When we walked to her she put her phone away and looked up.

'Well, I don't really know how to train you so I called some friends,' Lailah said.

Right on cue, a man walked in wearing a pleated grey suit and a gun at his side.

'Lailah,' the man smiled at the girl.

'Uncle Wu,' Lailah nodded in acknowledgment and then turned to us. 'Uncle Wu here is going to train you and so are the rest of them.'

Wu looked at us sternly. He started pacing up and down while surveying us. Lailah went to go and put the AK-47 down and grabbed a handgun. She went across the field and started shooting paper men.

'You all do know how to handle a gun, right?' Wu asked.

We all nodded.

'Well, you mustn't only know how to handle a gun; you must also know some complex offence. Lailah will demonstrate.'

He called the girl and she put down her gun and came striding back. Wu whispered something in her ear and she grinned. A man came out from a door on the side.

Lailah stood before him, an inch shorter than him. She stuck out two fingers and jabbed at his throat. She grabbed his wrist and flipped him over. As he was in the air, her knee came forward and hit him in the chin. He lay on the floor, bleeding from various places. Lailah helped him up and he went to go stand back in his line.

'We have to learn to do that?!' Nine gawped.

Wu nodded. 'First, I'm going to divide you into pairs and practice basic fighting skills. No weapons, just fists and knees.'

Marina and Six, John and Nine, Sam and I and Eight went with Lailah.

'Oh and you can use you're... powers,' Wu said uneasily.

My spirit lifted, at last I wasn't with one of the Loric. We started. Sam tried to punch me but I blocked him. I jabbed him in the ribs. He brought his knee up to my chin and my head fell backwards. I aimed for Sam's knees and I kicked. His knees buckled and I punched him across the face. He spat out blood. I was about to apologize when he punched me in the stomach. I doubled over.

'Stop!' Wu shouted. Everyone stopped. Eight was on his back while Lailah was squatting beside him, looking amused. Six and Marina were breathing heavily and John and Nine looked extremely angry.

'That was... amateur. At least you know some offence. Maybe you're better at shooting. Grab a weapon!'

We all grabbed handguns. Wu pointed at six paper men and said 'shoot'. I was about to start when John laid a hand on my shoulder.

'Are you okay? You're bleeding at the mouth,' John whispered.

I nodded and he began to shoot. We had all put on helmets to shield our eyes, except for Lailah.

I landed a bullet on the man's knee. I aimed for his chest and I hit it spot on. A new sheet rolled in. I aimed for the head but it landed on the shoulder. I shot his head the second time.

We did this until Wu shouted, 'Stop!'

We all put our guns to the side and looked at him.

'You are better at shooting then you are at offence, but I think you need rest,' with that Wu left.

Six turned to Lailah. 'Lailah, do you have a swimming pool?'

'Yeah, I do.'

'Do you think I could go swimming?'

'Sure, there's a bathing suit in the drawer in your room.'

Six nodded and walked out.

'You guys should get some rest before dinner,' Lailah said.

We nodded and walked out, Lailah at the back. I looked at the girl and I just noticed that she had a certain black cobra around her neck. I shuddered and walked closer to John.

We headed for our rooms. I sat on the bed with John next to me. I looked up and wound my arms around his neck. He grabbed my waist and kissed me. I smiled.