Hey lovely readers! Sorry for the long wait, but guess what! The chapter's extra long so you lovely people can read and review:)
When I next opened my eyes, I realized I was no longer in the garden but in the comfort of my now-familiar bed. Was it Evander who carried me up? I shook my head, no it couldn't be. He hated me. I stretched my body and yawned loudly. Suddenly Madison and Kendall burst through the door with exasperated expressions on their face.
"You're late!" they said, simultaneously.
"I'm late for what, exactly?" I asked, cautiously.
"For training! You're late, you're late!"
It took a moment for it to sink in, but when it did, I was already in my sports bra, shorts and sports shirt before I could realize I had changed. I didn't have time to brush my teeth, wash my face or do anything of that sort. I was too worried about what my punishment will be. Sprinting towards the training area, I could only think about how Evander probably hates me even more. And how many extra miles he'll make me run.
But once I arrived at the training hall, it wasn't Evander waiting for me, but Darak. He was sitting on the floor with his back leaning on the wall and his legs crossed. His blond hair was left how it normally was, loose and hanging in front of his eyes. His brown eyes seem to examine me as I entered the room, completely out of a breath. A smirk immediately played on his lips.
"Good morning, sunshine! I take it you slept considerably well since you're a half an hour late." In a swift move he was on his feet, "And because you are late, go ahead and run 4 laps around this room." I groaned but did as I was told. Darak bounced on his toes and rubbed his hands together, like some type of mad scientist, "Oh, this is going to be a blast."
Once I was done, Darak examined me carefully. "It's a shame that Evander got to you before I was able to." he said in a low voice. That voice sent shivers up my arms and down my back.
"N-None of you got to me first!" I felt his breath on the back of my neck but when I turned he was atleast a foot away,
"Oh really now? Then you don't mind if I just sweep you off your feet, eh?"
"No." I whispered, feeling warmth in my stomach as I stared into those brown swirls that were his eyes, "I mean yes! I do mind!" Darak bursted into laughter,
"You see, you make this way too easy and way too much fun. Training with me will teach you how to block out the internal powers of others. You see, my Gift, is what you call an 'internal Gift'. I tamper with your feelings that are inside your mind. I can make you feel anything I want you to feel. I can make you want anything I want you to want. That's the essence of my power. Now our training sessions together, we will mostly train on the subject of not allowing my Gift to faze you, or any other internal Gift." He looked at my face then smiled, "Let's begin."
I stared at Darak while he stared at me. Immediately, I got the full hit of feeling aroused. My mouth slacked when I looked at Darak. He was so beautiful. Butterflies began swarming in my gut and my knees began to quiver as thoughts of his lips touching my body ran through my mind. I bit my lip to hold back a moan,
"Listen to my voice, Isabel." his voice...oh his voice... "Fight my Gift, do not welcome it."
"But I don't want to fight it..." I whispered.
"Fight it, Isabel." he pressed, "Put some type of mental barrier up in your mind, make it as strong as a titanium." I literally imagined a metal wall that cut in between the feelings of arousal. I felt the intimate pull towards Darak lessen but it was still powerful.
"Now use your Gift on me." I felt my Gift automatically react and it began to suck the power out of the Gift. The feeling was now faint and barely there, "Evander can sure pick a girl." Darak mumbled.
Sweat dripped from the side of my head and my breathing was harsh yet I still managed to smirk, "What can I say, I'm a fast learner."
Suddenly all the pressure of Darak's Gift vanished and I had to lean on the wall for support.
"Harder than you think, huh Princess?"
I panted , "Can you please not call me that." Darak smiled charmingly,
"I must say, I think the name suits you perfectly."
"I have plenty of names that suit you perfectly." I mumbled, under my breath.
"Oh you do, do you?" he said with a chuckle, "Please enlighten me."
I cleared my throat, not realizing that he had heard my comment, "I'll tell you another time." After another couple hours of training with Darak, I realized that I was going to be extremely sore tomorrow. As soon as I got back to my bedroom, the smell of roses and lavender hit me. I dragged myself to the bathroom and saw a bath already prepared with bath salts in the water. Madison came through the door behind me with a smile.
"Let me help you with that." She said, noticing my struggle at trying to take off my shirt. When she stripped me down, I walked into the bathtub. Resting my head on the pillow, I finally smiled to myself,
"This is exactly what I needed."
"I know," Madison started, her fingers already working into my hair, "You have been training hard."
I relaxed into Madison's angelic hands, "It's much more difficult than it seems."
"I can imagine."
"Madison?" I mumbled.
"Yes, Isabel?"
"Why do I need to train? I mean, Evander and I are probably not going to be married for long anyway."
"Because we don't know when this war will end. So, in case of the fact that it carries on for years, then you need to be able to defend yourself when nobody is around you."
I nodded and sighed, "I know, I just...I don't know how to feel. This whole time, I feel like I've been dreaming. That this isn't reality and that I'm going to wake up any second."
"It's completely understandable you feel that way, since things are going so fast and everything happened so suddenly."
Her fingers finished up working their magic and unfortunately, I realized I had to get out. After wrapping myself in a robe, Madison led me over to the bathroom.
"Now, let's begin working on your makeup."
I raised an eyebrow, "Why?"
"Well tonight is the dinner!"
"What dinner?" I asked cautiously.
"A private dinner before you and Evander!"
I groaned, "A private dinner? We aren't really on speaking terms..."
"It's just to talk about the wedding."
"Well atleast it isn't a date." I mumbled.
Well it turns out I was wrong. It was very much so, a date. I was dressed in a long red silk dress. It had two thick straps with a classy v-neck. The dress was backless all the way to my lower back and then laced the rest of the way to my tail bone. I was wearing red heels that were about 3 inches tall. My hair was curled and messily put up into a bun and my make-up was done simply with just a dark pink base, thick top layer of eyeliner and red lipstick.
When I was down the stairs, I saw Evander waiting for me. His blond hair was slicked back, which revealed more of his face and gave emphasis to his sharp features and beautiful eyes. He was wearing a black coat with a simple white shirt underneath and a bow tie. When he saw me, his eyes widened and his mouth slightly slacked then he quickly regained his composure and cleared his throat. Then, turned on his heel and walked towards the door.
I followed after him as he lead us out the two double doors and into a fancy sportscar. An Audi, to be exact, but this just wasn't any ordinary Audi, it was imported from Germany with a beautiful white color on the outside and leather seats inside. I was hesitating to get inside the car till Evander roared the engine. As soon as I got in the car, Evander sped off going nearly 100 miles per hour!
"Calm down!" I said, well more yelled.
That just only made Evander drive faster. He turned sharply and increased his speed.
"What the hell is your problem!" Evander only grunted. I had had enough.
"Pull over."
"Excuse me?"Evander said for the first time all day.
"I said, pull over." Evander pulled to the side and then looked at me,
"What?" In response, I turned and opened the door to step out. Evander grabbed my arm and firmly held me in place,
"Where the hell do you think think you are going?"
"Away from you. For the past couple days you've been nothing but rude and inconsiderate! I don't care if I told you that you were ruthless, I'm doing you a favor! I get that you're mad, but really this is a little to far, don't you think?"
Evander cleared his throat, "You are right. You are just...doing me a favor." he said, his voice off. I closed my eyes and put it on the headrest.
"Just keep driving."
After a moment of silence, Evander spoke up, "How was training with Darak?"
"Just fine."
"Good. I hope you are getting along well with all the other Gods'."
"Yeah."
"Liliac seems to have an interest in you."
"Fantastic." I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm. After that he stopped questioning me until we arrived at a large...hotel. What was he planning to do at a hotel? With me? Evander opened the door for me and I climbed out. Walking towards the double doors, worry began to stir in my chest. If he tries anything, I can use what I learned in training...though I doubt it would do anything.
Evander led us toward an elevator which I was calmly able to go up, without saying a word. My plan was if he tried anything, as childish as it sounds, I'll try and drain his powers then take his car keys and run. No, I was not that confident in my own powers but I am confident in luck.
But, instead of leading me into a dark hotel room with chains and what not, we ended up on the balcony of the hotel, which overlooked the whole city. The simple table with a candle were set up in the middle, with a rose set on each of our plates. Evander pulled out my seat for me before going to his.
We sat in silence while he sipped at his wine. I was content with my water.
"You look very beautiful tonight." he said, after clearing his throat.
"Thank you." I simply replied. We sat in the awkward silence for a near 10 minutes before he asked me a question that took me by shock.
"Do you want to go home?"
"Excuse me?"
"I said, would you like to go home?"
"Of course I would like to go home, back to my normal life as a normal Gifted."
"Then you are free to go." he said, then pushed out his chair and stood up.
I was in shock, I was free to go? It was that easy for him to say that.
"Wai-" I started to say before Evander's eyes widened.
"Stay behind me." he said before rushing towards me, pushing my body behind his. In front of us, six masked men scaled the building and hopped over the rail.
"Ah, so it's God Evander and our brand new Goddess." One of the masked men said, sarcastically. He bowed and then stood up.
"Who are you?" Evander said, keeping his cool.
"Well, it would be slightly idiotic of us to tell you are names, but I will tell you why we are here." The man's hands began to glow with a blue flame, "We are here to kill your bride."
"Can you fight?" Evander whispered, though I didn't see his mouth move. I took a deep breath and nodded.
"Get ready." his voice whispered again. Soon a blue flame was flying towards us but we both were able to dodge it easily. Two of the men ran at Evander while the man who was talking sauntered up to me.
"Well well well, your highness." he said, bowing again, "What a pleasure."
"The feeling isn't mutual." I said, narrowing my eyes.
"Oh, how hurtful." he said, sighing dramatically, "You see, I'm going to have to punish you for that one." he said before running towards me. My heart was racing and sweat lined my forehead. I didn't know what to do and I was pretty sure that I forgot all the combat moves I learned.
I didn't even see him move from one spot to the next because in his next move, he had me on the ground with only a kick to my ribs. Tears brimmed on my eyelashes at the sharp pain of the kick.
"Isabelle, on your feet!" Evander yelled, noticing me on the ground. I clenched my jaw and jumped to my feet. The masked man came at me again with a fisted hand which I was able to block.
I felt instinct kick in before I made my next move. I noticed that one of his legs was acting slightly slower then the other one. I dodged his next action with a quick sidestep and landed a strong double-kick on his pressure point in his thigh. I learned this nifty little trick from Sebastian, as a child, when he would constantly give me "dead legs". The man grunted in pain and limped backwards. He was quickly able to shake it off, though, and ran at me again. This time I was ready for him. As I became calmer and took deep breaths, the lessons I got from Darak and Evander slowly returned and it was basic enough for me to avoid being killed or brutally beaten up.
Suddenly, instead of seeing the masked man, I saw a field of long green grass and I noticed the sun shining brightly above me.
A simple oak tree was off to the side with a blanket layed underneath the branches. On the blanket were two young girls, laying side by side and smiling as they whispered to each other. The girl with brown hair rolled over on her stomach and started talking, excitedly. Her friend, with blonde hair was holding her stomach and laughing. Tears gathered in my eyes as I recalled this day. The girl with brown hair was smiling and talking, though I couldn't hear her voice. The girl with blonde hair widened her eyes. Her face was quickly turning pale and her mouth was slacked. She was struggling for breath and couldn't seem to find any. The girl with brown hair didn't know what was happening but knew she was causing it. She felt something tingling inside of her, reaching out to the life force of the girl with blonde hair. No, I can't watch this anymore! Stop...please just stop! The girl with blonde hair had died, her name was Vanessa and she had been my best friend. The girl with brown hair was me, her murderer.
Please review! I'm beggin' ya!:))