Fifteen ✔

9

With my breathing heavy, I sat down in a cement forest. A feeling of being trapped surrounded me. A feeling of betrayal and distrust surrounded that trapped feeling. I stood up, with intent to leave and never come back.

"Hey Koni, missed ya. Where's Ivris?" The taller girl who clearly had Indian descent coursing through her veins stopped me from my plan.

I could feel rage begin to boil in me for a second before I gained control of it, "She's not here. She went off to see the others on her own."

"What happened with you two?"

Not wanting to talk about the issue, I simply turned away, heading towards the exit.

"Konida?"

"I don't want to talk to you. Or anyone. I want to be alone, far far from here."

"Konida, I can't let you do that."

"Why not?" I turned to look at her, "Hmm, Nadia, do tell me?"

"Why don't you tell me why you suddenly hate everything? Aunt Scarlet in town, Koni?"

"I hate everything man made. You, Ivris, this building. Myself," I paused for a moment before continuing, "The only thing I love is anything natural."

"You don't mean a single word you just said, and you damn well know that."

"You don't even know me, Nadia. So why are you talking to me like you know me?"

"Because I want to help you. Don't throw this safe haven away just because of something probably minor."

"Nadia," a new voice spoke from the door behind me.

I turned to see Nadia's twin, Shepherd, leaning against the door next to the door.

"If she wishes to leave, let her. If she can't take the heat of the kitchen, she best get out. Right, sister?"

She nodded her head lightly towards him, "Yes, brother. I suppose you're right. If she's just not strong enough I suppose we should let her leave."

"So, Konida, too weak? Wanna go cry to momma? We're not stopping you."

"I'm stronger than the both of you," I announced, not liking where this was going, "If anyone can 'take the heat', it's me."

They both looked at me with blank faces, "You can now?" Shepherd spoke, breaking the short silence.

"Of course. I'm alot of things, but weak is not one of them."

"Sure," Nadia said, looking over at Shepherd before moving her hands quickly in a calculated manner. He moved his hands in the same manner in return, as though speaking through their hands.

"If you think you're strong enough, prove it," Nadia said, "Fight Shepherd."

"I-I'm not going to fight him."

"Welp, guess you're too weak. Bye bye!"

I took this as a challenge and turned to tackle the male Indian. I ran towards his smaller body and slid onto the floor next to his legs, I threw a punch to the back of his knees and grabbed his leg as I slid across the floor.

His body fell with a thump onto the floor, I moved quickly to keep him exactly where he was.

"There," I said breathlessly and looked up at Nadia.

Before I could look back at Shepherd he bucked his hips, effectively knocking me off his body before pinning me to the ground.

"Rule number one. Don't get cocky," he spoke as he looked down at me.

I moved my head hard and fast, hitting him in the head causing him to lose concentration just long enough to knock him off of me and pin him back to the ground.

"Rule number two, don't underestimate a girl who trained for years in self defense," I grinned and put an arm over his throat to keep him from using my own tactic against me.

"You're too clumsy to have done that," he laughed, his brown eyes filling with the most emotion I'd seen from him in the whole time of knowing him.

"I'm smart enough to use my clumsiness to my advantage."

"Are you sure?" He attempted bucking his hips to set himself free, I expected him to do this and had effectively prepared myself and barely moved when he had done this.

"Yeah, I think so," I smiled looked uo at Nadia, this time expecting anything from Shepherd, "Am I done?"

"Surprisingly," she grinned.

"What is happening?" Sno called from the hallway.

I looked over to the man before paling as I rembered where I was I quickly scrambled off of Shepherd before attempting to rush past him.

He stuck out and arm and caught me, pulling me in to face him.

"What, the hell, did I just walk in on? Some kind of weird, clothed, threesome?"

"N-No. Nothing like that," I said meekly, cursing myself for being so easily intimidated by the man who was old enough to be my older brother.

"Then what was it, Koni?" My nickname sounded foreign on his tongue and it felt so weird that I wished I could physically rip it out of him.

"I was fighting Shepherd."

"You kids have some weird names for threesomes," he calmly said.

"It wasn't a threesome. I was fighting Shepherd and winning. It just so happened that you walked in at the very time that I had been pinning him to the ground," I spoke confidently, using my anger (which had only been dormant during the time) as a booster towards overcoming being intimidated.

"Uh huh? So why were you fighting Shepherd?"

"They challenged me."

"Can't back down from a challenge, huh?"

"No, not at all."

"My sister was like that," he spoke softly, his voice quiet at the thought of his sister, "Sometimes I regret killing that girl. I know Blu wouldn't have wanted me to kill her. But yet I was blinded by my anger and grief. And in a world where I could have done anything I wanted I took my anger out on everything until I found her."

He paused for a second, releasing his grip on me just long enough for me to back away, "I was young and stupid. If I could do it again, I'd still make the stupid decision. It was the dumbest thing I've ever done," a smiled painted his face, no doubt as a memory crossed his train of thought, "Maybe not the dumbest, but definitely the cruelest."

"Everyone, rooms immediately. Our important guests are here and a meeting will occur in a few hours once everyone has returned to the main building," Ivory announced from down the hall.