A/N: Okay, so I should probably warn you guys that this chapter is like double the length of the other ones. I considered splitting it into two, but I just couldn't find a good place to. Think of it as a present from me. You're welcome.
Anyway, please read and REVIEW! Any ideas are welcome, I might incorporate them into the story ;)
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Fang POV:
I could vaguely feel someone shaking me, but I didn't know who. Probably him. I don't like thinking of him as my father, let alone my dad, so I usually just refer to him as, well, him.
Suddenly I was running. I didn't know where I was (in a forest of some sort maybe? How did I get here?) but I could hear scream and angry shouted echoing over each other all around me. It was awful. My breathing was coming in short, terrified pants as I willed my legs to go faster. I could feel the danger closing in, the trees making my path increasingly narrower and difficult to navigate.
I wildly looked around, but everything was hazy and unclear. Why was it so unclear? What was wrong? The screaming was catching up with me as I desperately turned around, trying to find the path. It was gone. Where had it gone?! I needed to get back to path, before it caught up with me! Before he caught me!
Worthlessundeservingshittyselfishstupidfatuglystupidunworthyshittyuselessfatstupidvilefatundeservingvileuglyhorrificworthlessundeservingshittyselfishstupidfatuglystupidunworthyshittyuselessfatstupidvilefatundeservingvileuglyhorrific
"You're such a whore, Nicky," the man purred.
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Max POV:
We were finally here. I took out my earplug again (I had put it back in when my ear felt like it could take it) and glanced at Nudge, who was staring at something behind me.
"What's wrong with him?" She asked me, pointed to the seat across from us. I looked to my left and was unpleasantly (but I don't think it was unpleasant, actually) reminded of the emo-boy sitting there. But.. what was wrong with him?
He seemed he be having a nightmare of some sort. He was squirming and occasionally letting out a terrified yelp. I glanced at Nudge with one eyebrow raised before leaning over and shaking him. His eyelids seemed to flutter briefly before he let out a whimper. One lone tear slid lazily down his cheek. This must be a pretty bad nightmare. He didn't seem the type that would cry. But that would yet again ruin my emo theory. Argh. Anyway!
He was sweating like crazy. I went to unzip his hoodie (it must be really uncomfortable), and suddenly his eyes flew open and he grabbed my arm, twisted it, then pulled so I was yanked out of my seat towards him. Whoa.
In a sudden series of quick, professional moves of his hands, I was quickly pinned against the back of the seat in front with my arms tucked behind my back in such a way that I couldn't move them. My legs were on the empty seat that had been beside him, and he was sitting on them. Which was rather painful, actually. My eyes were bugging out of my head. What was this guy, a judo master or something?
"Nice, but this position is kinda sore on my legs." I said drily, silently adding 'and my arms!'. His head snapped up and he stared at me in shock, before whipping his head around to look behind him. Everyone was staring at him, with their mouths wide open.
"Shit." He swore quietly. He let go of my shoulders and slid into his original seat. "Sorry."
I snorted. "Yeah. But that was pretty cool. Do you do judo or something?" He looked confused for a second before realizing I was talking about how he'd managed to get me completely immobile in the space of about three seconds.
"Oh, er, no."
Not much of a talker is he?
"Anyway, we're here. I was trying to wake you up, but, er," I gestured with my hands towards where I had been pinned. I think he smirked.
"I'm Max," I said, holding out my hand for him to shake. Oh, he was definitely smirking now.
"Fang," he said, taking my hand and kissing it, distracting me from his weird name. he just kissed my hand! I was blushing madly, and Nudge squealed and was now poking me urgently in the back.
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Fang POV:
Shit, shit, shit! I suddenly remembered where I was. I was on the coach, on my way to bootcamp. He wasn't here. He was miles away.
I'd pinned her to the seat! Her eyes showed how shocked she was. Come to think of it, her eyes showed a lot, and not just a pretty colour (wait, did I just say her eyes were pretty? No, no. I just like the colour. That's it.) My reflexes had reacted to someone trying to touch me (not like that, you dirty minded people). Which also made me wonder, why was she trying to unzip my hoodie? Probably as a joke or something. Yeah.
"Shit. Sorry," I apologized sheepishly, releasing her. She snorted. Very ladylike.
"Yeah. But that was pretty cool. Do you do judo or something?"
What? How could- Oh. She thought I'd done that whole thing on purpose?
"Er, no?" Smooth one, Fang. Real smooth.
"Anyway we're here. I was trying to wake you up, but, er," she waved with her hands to where I'd had her against the seat moments ago. I smirked at her uncertainty.
Seeming to decide something, she held her hand out, probably for me to shake.
"I'm Max," she said. Ah, that was her name. Strange, for a girl. Anyway, me, being the rebel I am (was that sarcastic? I'm not even sure) took her hand and kissed it lightly. Mmm. She smelled nice. Not completely covered in perfume, but just the right amount to make it smell natural.
"Fang," I replied. Her eyebrows furrowed briefly, and I could bet she was pondering on my extremely uncommon name, before red rushed to her cheeks. Probably from my little peck on her hand. Hah.
Max's friend was making a high pitching noise that almost made me wince. She turned to talk to her but just as she started to speak, Ms Cairn told everyone to get off the bus and that our bags would be put in our rooms for us. I snorted, and swung my backback over one shoulder. The sad truth was that I didn't trust the teachers not to go through our bags. They had told us that any electrical equipment was going to be confiscated, along with any sweets or snacks our parents may have given us. Like I'd get any snack treats from him anyway.
"You might wanna hide that," I told Max, pointing at her iPod.
"She smirked at me as she pulled on her jacket, then showed me the inside of it, where I could just see the outline of a secret pocket. Nice.
I shoved my headphones in my hoodie pocket and put my iPod in my jeans pocket, for lack of a better place to hide them.
Everyone trudged off the bus, and luckily none of the teachers questions my backpack.
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Max POV:
"Alright, listen up! Some of you seem to think that you're here on some kind of holiday, but you are here to work, and you will work hard." A gravelly, uneven voice said.
I stood in the middle of the line teenagers around my age, and tried to keep a straight face. This guy was hilarious. His face was bright red, and so was the bald patch on his head.
Nudge was beside me, and she turned her head slightly to catch my eye.
As soon as we saw each other, we both burst out laughing. Which probably wasn't that smart.
"Ride, White, would you mind telling us what is so terribly funny?" the guy, I think his name is Mr Rogers, snarled (A/N: Nudge's second name is White in this story).
I tried to stifle my laughter, and failed epically.
"N-nothing," I gasped between fits of giggles, holding my ribs.
"Right. Twenty press-ups, now." His voice was eerily calm, and I managed to stop laughing.
"Wh-what?" Nudge's eyes were wide with horror. I don't think she's done a push-up in her life.
"I said twenty push-ups, now!" Mr Rogers growled, seemingly angry again. This guy was pretty prone to mood swings..
Seeing no obvious easy way out of this (without killing anybody, that is), I sighed and got down into the press-up position. Nudge, shaking slightly, followed.
"Okay. Go!"
We started. I think I was doing about five press-ups for everyone one Nudge did. By the time I'd finished, she'd only done four.
"Impressive, Ride. We'll make a man out of you yet."
I had to pretend to have a coughing fit to cover my laughs.
Finally, Nudge finished, panting and looking incredibly embarrassed.
"Hmm. Looks like we have quite a lot of work to do here, White. Everyone, go to your dorms. The bell for dinner will go in thirty minutes, follow your map to the canteen. If anyone is more than five minutes late, they will have to do an extra half hour of exercise tomorrow."
A few staff people in uniform (even though they looked barely older than me) gave each of us a map. Blimey, this place was massive! Everybody started to whisper to each other, some excited, some seeming almost traumatized at the thought of exercising.
Mr Rogers blew a whistle, making us jump. "You are dismissed," he said
We exited the 'assembly room', as it was named on our maps, and stomped to the dorms. Sadly, me and Nudge were in separate dorms. Typical.
"I'll see you at lunch!" I called to her as she headed towards her dorm. She smiled and waved back.
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Fang POV:
I entered my dorm and looked around. Nobody else was here yet. The dorm wasn't that big, but it was an okay size. There were three beds, one of which was a bunk bed. Smirking slightly, I threw my bag onto the top bunk. and climbed up after it. I liked feeling unreachable, above everybody.
There was as on suite off to the right, as well as four little chest of drawers, presumably one for each person. I unpacked a few pairs of jeans and t shirts, but not much else. For some reason I felt like my stuff was safer in my bag.
Suddenly the door burst open, making me jump. A guy with blonde hair and blue eyes sauntered in. A typical heartthrob.
He eyed my silently. Maybe he wasn't much of a talker, that would suit me great.
After what seemed like an age he sat on the bed below my newly claimed top bunk. "I'm Iggy," he mumbled. (A/N: Btw, Iggy isn't blind)
"Fang," I replied, studying him. He was quite tall, but still probably shorter than me. Though I'm taller than most guys my age, so it didn't really come as a surprise. He has blonde hair that flopped just above his eyes, and he looked like he really didn't want to be here.
Then again, he probably had a loving family and a warm house to go back to. Frankly, I much preferred here.
"You don't look like you're loving it here," I commented.
"Yeah," he said, a smirk pulling at his lips. "I get nervous around other people. I never really know what to do or say. It always feels like they secretly hate me." He let out a shaky laugh. "You seem alright, though." Ah, so it was just the people that got to him.
I just shrugged in reply. "Don't talk much." He nodded, seeming to understand. His mouth opened, and I thought he was going to say something else, but just then the door burst open (again) and our three remaining dorm mates sauntered in.
Iggy seemed relieved when he saw a boy with tanned skin and dark hair. "Sam!"
Ah. They knew each other.
"Oh, hey Iggy. We share a dorm? That's cool," he grinned. "Who are you?" he gestured towards me, and I looked down at me feet. I didn't like attention.
"Oh, that's Fang. He doesn't talk much."
I glanced at Iggy gratefully, and he seemed to understand because he grinned and shrugged, as if to say 'it was nothing'.
"Iggy, this is Raymond," Sam gestured (I noticed he seemed to do that a lot) to a boy with dirty blonde hair, grey eyes and dark skin tone. Strange combination.
Raymond did one of those cool-guy head nods, where you tilt your chin upwards. "Hey Iggy, Fang," he acknowledged.
"-And I'm Ben," the other boy grinned, but I noticed he seemed to eye me with distaste. Hmm. I'd have to be careful around him.
We still had ten minutes until lunch, so I decided to go into the on suite and check my bandages. I think a few scabs had broken during my struggle with Max on the bus. I grabbed the small bag I kept all my bandages in, just in case,
As I walked into the bathroom and locked the door, I absent-mindedly wondered what Max was doing. She was probably chatting with all the other girls in her dorm. It didn't seem as if it was difficult for her to talk to people.
I pulled my jumper off gingerly, not wanting to irritate my cuts more. I pulled off my t-shirt too, then walked over to the mirror.
"Shit!" I exclaimed, rather loudly. I heard a murmur through the wall.
My bandages were soaked with blood. I craned my head awkwardly around to look at my back in the mirror. The bandages were doing nothing. I peeled them off, wincing as more scars, old and new, were exposed. Blood dripped into the sink and onto the floor. Gritting my teeth, I grabbed my bag, now glad I had brought it into the bathroom with me. I took some bandages out of it, and took a wash cloth from the cupboard under the sink.
I soaked the wash cloth with warm water and gently wiped the blood off of the skin around the deep cut the whip had made in my skin. The stinging was nothing compared to the pain that cleaning the cut itself caused, but I managed. Probably because I had endured much, much worse.
"What are you doing in there Fang? I need to pee!"
Crap. I recognized that voice as Sam.
"Er, I'll be out in a minute, I just dropped my contact lens," I shouted to him. Hah. I don't even wear contact lenses.
I quickly twisted so I could see my back, well, sort of. I wiped the blood off as best I could, crying not to cry out at the crazy throbbing it was causing.
Finally, my back was blood free. That was good, but it also meant I could read the words that were carved to carelessly into my flesh.
Stupid, was the first word I read, though the jagged strokes that came with trying to write with a knife made it almost illegible. Then there was ugly, fat, pointless, vermin, scum, and quite a few others.
But one word stood out from the rest. Running straight down the middle of my spine, was a word that I probably could have read from a mile away. WORTHLESS was scribed almost elegantly in a perfectly straight line down my back. He'd taken time on that one. It made me almost want to cry. But I don't cry. Apart from when there's a dagger being stabbed into me. But I think that can be forgiven, right? (A/N: I know there was 'one tear' during Fang's nightmare, but he doesn't know about that, he was too busy having a nightmare.)
I wrapped the bandages around my torso, making sure they covered all of my wounds. You never knew when they might start bleeding again. It would be hell once this 'training' thing starts.
Suddenly, a loud bell rang through the dorms. I guessed it was dinner time. Quickly throwing on the black t shirt and hoodie I was wearing before, I exited the bathroom.
"Sorry," I said apologetically to Sam. "I think my contact went down the sink."
He nodded, accepting my apology. "It's fine, I used the toilet block. It's only around the corner. Now come on, let's get to dinner. I'm starving!"
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A/N: So, what do you think? Was it okay? I know it's not exactly jam-packed with action, but I need these first few chapters before I can get to the main part of the story. If you're a writer yourself, I'm sure you'll understand.
Max: Why won't you let me and Fang have a proper conversatioonnn?!
Me: You did, on the coach!
Max: That didn't count. *pout*
Me: *sigh* Fine, I'll see what I can do for the next chapter. Happy?
Max: Yay!
Me: You sooo have a crush on Fang though.
Max: No, I just.. like him..
PLEASE REVIEW! OTHERWISE I WILL KILL IGGY OFF! MUAHAHA!
(I feel so powerful, oh my gawd)
~ LightningEagle ~