SHATTERED| 1 (UNDER MAJOR EDITING)

3.| Popular Last Name?

The tenseness in the air was thick and unnerving. Natalia didn't know how to react when the Nightcrawler slowly shut off his taser. His hands itched to his waist, causing Natalia to raise her fists at the thought of a gun. Instead, he just put the taser away and took off the black mask from his face.

His sky blue eyes and sleek blonde hair reminded her of someone very familiar, but she couldn't quite put her finger on who.

"What's your name?", she snapped.

The blonde narrowed his pigmented eyes and pursed his lips. He hesitated before speaking but eventually said, "Alek."

"Last?"

"Petrova."

Natalia appeared confused at first with furrowed brows and a slightly open mouth, but then, a slow smirk appeared on Natalia's face; cracking her lips enough to draw blood. She ran her tongue along the crack in her lip and shakes her head.

"Your tricks won't work, liar", she growled as her eyes locked onto his.

Natalia looks down at the cement ground, now unsure whether he was telling the truth or not. She raises her head as Alek parts his lips.

"Am I the trickster or the tricked?"

A frown forms on Natalia's face and she purses her lips, but before she could say anything Alek decides to ask another version of the same question.

"Am I going to keep calling you Assassin or are you going to give me a name, girl."

Natalia throws the handle of her backpack over her shoulder. She then placed her hands on her hips with narrowed eyes of hesitance. Her trust for the man was beginning to dim completely and the look in her eyes portrayed that.

"Natalia." Her tone was hard and just as unmoving as the look in her eyes.

Alek's pigmented gaze darkened and his hands clenched to his sides.

"Last?" Natalia found it ironic how he asked her the same exact questions she had ordered from him.

"Petrova," she finished unsteadily.

Alek's grip around his mask tightened as his thick arms reached up to cross over his chest. His eyes narrowed as a small tsk left his lips.

"And you expect me to believe that?"

Natalia frowned, her gaze narrowing.

"It's a popular last name," she shrugged.

Alek ran a hand through his blonde hair, his blue eyes holding a hidden amusement to them before suddenly, he smirked and walked towards Natalia.

"Well let's settle this in the Conference Room," he begins before picking up his mask and turning. A smirk played on his thin lips. "We'll find out who's the real Petrova there."

Natalia rolled her eyes as a mocking smile appeared on her face.

"Put the mask back on Alek. Maybe then nobody will see your stupid expression when you're proven wrong."

Alek stops in his tracks and gives Natalia a glare over his shoulder. Falling in silence once more, he continued walking with Natalia following closely behind.

The two walked a short distance up into the Hall where they entered through the massive, glass double doors. Alek remained close, but just far enough so that Natalia couldn't pull any quick stunts against him.

The two made their way into a long hall, leading to the conference room, when suddenly the two were met with a friendly face.

"Teddy?"

A few feet in front of them, Teddy turns around. At first his gaze was light and carefree, but upon noticing the Nightcrawler next to Natalia, a frown appeared. Soon, the girl was being bombarded with questions.

"What are you two doing here? Don't you know you can't enter in The Hall without letting DeVito know? Do you both-"

Natalia cuts Teddy off with annoyance clear on her face. She didn't have the patience for another one of his lectures so she didn't hesitate to interrupt him by asking, "Whose last name is Petrova?"

Teddy frowns in confusion as he mumbled, "What kinda question is that?"

"This Nightcrawler-" Natalia points to Alek, "-told me that his last name is Petrova, but that's not possible cause I'm the only Petrova in the Academy-"

Teddy cuts her off with a short smile before saying, "You do know there can be other Petrovas, right?"

Natalia's hands fall limp to her sides. She frowns and looks from Teddy to Alek with slowly widening eyes.

"No way am I related to him!"

It just so happened that then was when Alek decided to take action. It all happened so quickly; one moment he took out his taser and swung but the next, he was pressed against the wall with his taser on the floor and Natalia's switchblade to his throat.

The blade on Alek's throat pressed down tighter than before, causing him to raise his fist for a punch. Natalia adds pressure to Alek's throat with a look of anger appearing on her face. Alek noticed her force faltering for just a second, allowing him to shove Natalia off before swinging his fist. There was a hard crack as his bare knuckles collided with her jaw.

Teddy jumps into action and grabs Natalia's raised arms. She yelled at him to let go, but his grip around her wrists grew tighter when he heard the sound of shuffling behind him.

"Nat, stop," he whisper shouted in her ear. The shuffling behind him grew louder, causing his nerves to grow before suddenly, the trio were all torn apart.

Teddy spun around, his eyes immediately locking with his father's angered gaze as his eyes danced from person to person.

"Would anyone like to explain what exactly is happening here?" His voice was low and thick with a secretive anger that only Teddy caught. Teddy's tongue pressed against the inside of his cheek in anticipation as he loosened his grip on Natalia's arm.

Natalia turned, the fury still dancing in her eyes as she faced DeVito with a forming bruise on her jaw. The thick purple spot did not go unnoticed by the man who glared at the girl.

"Just a little misunderstanding sir", was Teddy's reply as his green gaze drift to the floor. DeVito nods once but then eyes each one of the students. He fixed his tie and turns around; his steps short but haste as he walked back to his office.

"Lunch, my office. Don't be late and that goes to all of you."

Even after DeVito had left, the silence in the air was still thick. Teddy gave Natalia a look of disappointment while Natalia looked over her shoulder and gave Alek a death glare.

"You little-"

"Enough," mumbled Teddy as he gripped her upper arm with an unnecessary force. "You've done enough damage as it is. Don't make it worse Nat."

Natalia rolled her eyes and yanked her hand out of his grasp. "Oh buzz off Ted."

With an eye roll, Teddy turned and walked towards the exit of the Hall. When she watched the double doors swing shut after him, she spun around, her glare once again landing on Alek who roughly rubbed at his aching neck.

"You're gonna regret that," she spat before spinning and walking away.

Alek could only watch with a scowl as she exit the building, leaving the boy to rub his neck as the slow bruise began to form.

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  Hey guys, sorry for the late update but here it is and I'll try to make my updates more faster. Cuz I kinda got carried off with school and HW but hopefully I'll make more time to update faster. Once again thx for all your guys support and don't forget to vote and comment. 

(You do so not know how happy I get when I see that people would actually find time to read my book.)