Rise of Xavia

by Tara Chau

  “Gabe,” I say quietly, not looking at him in case one of the rouges attacks.

  “Yeah?” he asks just as quietly.

  “Tell my dad that I’m sorry I couldn’t make dinner tonight,” I say, laughing nervously.

  Before he can say anything further, I walk forward. Ignoring my teammate's hisses of disapproval as I pass them.

  “Who are you? What do you want?” I hear myself say to the wolves. Surprisingly my voice comes out clean and nonwavering.

  I stare in horror as the closest grey Lycan steps forwards and morphs. The sounds of cracking bones and ripping flesh ring through the afternoon air, causing me to recoil. The wolf's fur sheds off, and new human skin grows instantly in its place. Standing where the wolf was only moments before is a young lady. She is no taller than me, has shining grey hair with a defined strip of purple hanging over her right eye, flowing down to her waist. The eye that is visible is also a misty grey. I can’t really focus on one colour as it seems like her eyes are constantly changing. And to top it all off, she is naked. She has almond-shaped eyes and could possibly be Asian. I can't quite tell.

  “Dianna Iysador,” her voice is smooth as silk but somehow sharp as a knife.

  "My name is Dianna Reeds,” I correct.

  “We know a lot more about you than you know about yourself,” she says with a dog-like grin.

  "Do you want a medal?" I ask sarcastically. "Who are you?"

  “Xavia,” she responds coldly.

  Everything suddenly goes haywire. The wolves pounce on each of my teammates, and the vampires hiss dramatically. I'm knocked to the ground by the naked woman and squirming furiously. I manage to land a slap to her cheek and kick her off hard. I jump up and ready myself quickly. She gets up seconds after me and snarls, showing off some yellow canine teeth. She runs at me; I shift my weight to one leg and dodge her. She turns around before getting too far and lashes out with a kick. It hits me hard in my side, and I double over it. She comes again, pushing me to the road, kicking me in the stomach. I inhale sharply before bringing my leg around and tripping her, jumping up quickly. I try to muffle the cry that threatens to be released. I had apparently underestimated the hit to my gut. My side is aching badly, and I can't seem to catch enough breath. My sword - I remember my sword and its needed use. Looking around hurriedly, I spot it a few metres away and dash over to obtain it just as wolf girl grabs hold of it and points it directly at me. Shit.

  “For a girl who has only been training for two weeks, you sure are good,” she says, puffing slightly.

  I stand here, empty-handed while my target talks away for a few moments, swinging around my sword as if it were a yoyo.

  “Say,” she starts again. “what’s that cute guy’s name over there? The one with the blue hair.” She points towards him with the sword.

  I resist the urge to look over at him, to check his progress. As soon as her gaze falls away from me, I kick the sword from her grasp. It goes flying over towards Hayden, who has just knocked his wolf over. He sees it immediately and tosses it professionally right into my hand. I spin back around with the tip pointed directly at wolf girls’ neck, grinning wildly at how the tables have turned.

  “What is your name?” I ask sternly.

  "I'll tell you mine if you tell me his." She nods back towards Gabe, smiling a dirty smile that I want so badly to cut off right now.

  “Max,” I lie. “Now tell me.”

  "My name is Tee-Ly-Ren. My friends call me Ren,” she says with a grin.

  "Soon, you won't have any more friends if you don't call them off."

  “No thanks, I would actually like to see how this plays out. Wouldn’t you?” she says slyly.

  I sigh impatiently as an extremely stupid and risky plan exposes itself to me. I dart towards Ren, catching her off guard and wrapping my arm around her torso. Placing the blade carefully close to her throat, if she so much as moves an inch, she’ll be dead… and she knows it.

  “Freeze,” I shout loud and clear. Surprisingly everyone stops. They all look towards me, and their eyes widen dramatically.

  “Stop,” I emphasise. "All rouges, turn yourselves in or get the hell out of here. If you so much as turn up on our map, even once your leader dies. She will be released within the hour if you comply. Come with us if you still have any humanity left inside you and turn yourselves over to the authority of the PDU,” I recite the words that Protectors use when something like this happens. PDU stands for Protectors Defensive Unit.

  "Do not listen to this human. She is irrelevant," comes a smooth yet deadly voice from the shadows - vampire. "Tee-Ly-Ren can be easily replaced,” the vamp sneers.

  I turn away as another wolf starts to transform back, blocking out all the noise.

  “We do not abandon our own,” comes a low husky voice.

  Now in front of me, I see a middle-aged man. Long dark hair and golden eyes. Broad muscles and high cheekbones. He is also naked. I flinch back, trying to keep hold of Tee-Ly-Ren while adjusting myself, blocking the lower half of the man from my view. All it will take is half a second for her to break free of me. I just need to be careful not to lose too much grip-oh come on!

  Tee-Ly-Ren swiftly knocks the blade from my hand, spinning around to face me. I’m so shocked at her speed that I don’t even grasp what she is about to do next. The Lycan kicks at both my shins so hard I cry out and fall to the hard road. She comes forward and kicks me harder in the stomach, once, twice, and one more time. I roll my knees to meet my chin, attempting to shield myself. The splitting pain travels from my gut all the way up my body, my lungs working overtime in an attempt to keep me breathing. My headaches heatedly, causing me to moan. The world seems to spin, the road underneath me rising and dropping. The pain in my gut is intense, but the pain in my shins calls for my attention as well. They burn with the phantom touch of Ren's abusive kicks.

  My eyes are squeezed shut, but I can hear foot and paw steps reseeding into the crazed street. I can’t breathe. I inhale sharply, trying to get some oxygen into my lungs.

  “Di,” I can hear Ty as he kneels beside me.

  He doesn’t offer to help me up and just watches as I quiver and begin to break down.

  Strong hands grab hold of my arms, dragging me to my feet. I stumble, my shins screaming in agony and my gut clenching. Gabe stands there looking at me. Even though my eyes are still closed, I can feel the deadly look he is giving me. I shake on my feet, feeling myself sink back down slowly, not even attempting to keep myself from falling.

  "Oh, my gods. Di, that was amazing,” comes Anne’s voice.

  I feel a body crash against mine and a hot embrace. I'm slightly glad that her grip is keeping me upright, but I also give a sigh as I wish I could just crumple back down.

  Forcing myself to open my eyes, I squint at the bright afternoon sun. I blink a couple of times, trying to push back the tears that threaten to make an appearance. I take a shaky step back… and fall. My legs give out under the pressure, and I collide with yet another body.

  “Come on,” Gabe says to me, his voice stiff and cold.

  He’s been like that ever since we got into the van. Gabe pulls me up by the arms once again and steadies me against his body. I let out a shaky breath and try taking another one in. I rest my head against his collar bone, groaning from the pain lancing up my side.

  A cautious hand rubs my back, and I dig my head into the crook of Gabe's neck, hoping to get lost in his sweet smell and never come back to this horrible reality.

  “It’s okay,” comes Anne's soft voice. "You saved us, Di; you did good today,” she comforts.

  I shake my head slightly and force myself to look at her, coming out of my hiding spot. “They…got…a…way,” I say shakily, trying to speak without any breath.

  They all smile at me sadly. “It was an impossible situation,” says the girl named Jessica. "It was fourteen to six. The odds weren't at all fairs. They retreated. At least you got th
em to do that. They won't be hurting anyone else today.”

  As I look around at the five members of this group standing here with concerned faces, I feel overcome by dizziness. The world seems to be spinning, turning too fast. I take a shaky step closer to Gabe, but the world starts to spin in the other direction, making me step the other way. Pain, splitting, and insistent jabs at my head. My eyes water and burn as nausea crashes down on my body.

  “Di?” Gabe asks. “What’s wrong? You look-”

  “Stop,” I mumble. “Stop.”

  The dizziness hits me strong and fast that I don’t have enough time to register what is happening before I fall to the road, crashing against the hot tar and drifting into a dark spell.

  I sit up quickly and hiss in pain. What happened? Where am I now?

  “Di,” comes a sigh next to me.

  I slowly turn my head to meet Anne’s gaze. She smiles at me, and I attempt to return the gesture.

  “What…” I start.

  "You passed out. We brought you back here, to the Sanctuary. The wolf bruised your lungs and shins badly. You also hit your head hard. That's why you passed out,” she says mournfully.

  “I feel like I’ve been hit with a bus,” I admit.

  She laughs shortly and looks towards the curtain door. "Gabe's gonna kill me. It took me ages to convince him that you weren’t gonna wake up in the short ten minutes he’d be gone. You just had to make it hard for me,” she says with a smile.

  Anne walks over towards me and stacks the pillows up, pushing me lightly back down to rest. I'm lying down now but not all the way. If someone walks in, I could easily see them from right here.

  “I’ll go get Gabe. Rest.” She squeezes my hand and walks out of the room.

  I close my eyes, trying to think of anything to make the pain shut up. A few minutes later, a cool, strong hand has suddenly linked itself into mine. This is a nice thought. The need to be holding Gabe’s hand right now is overpowering the pain, making it into an annoying throb.

  “So now you won’t even look at me?” Comes his voice.

  I snap back into reality, realising that my hand really is intertwined with Gabe’s.

  "I'm pretty sure you were the one not looking at me,” I counter with a small smile.

  “That’s because I thought you were going to get hurt if you came along, which you did. I told you not to come, but you did,” he scolds defeatedly.

  Anger suddenly washes over me, strong and overpowering every other rational sense.

  “So, sue me,” I snap, untwining my hand from his, whilst ripping out the needle from under my skin that attaches me to the drip.

  Red hot blood drips down my arm and onto the white sheets. Gabe watches as the perfectly circular red drops sink into the cotton. I barely notice the sharp sting of the needle exiting my skin, and I throw it to the ground. I don’t need his lecture; I feel like hell already. I swing my legs over the edge of the bed and take a few shaky steps towards the curtain posing as my door. Once I reach halfway, I feel the same cool hands wrap around my waist, lifting and placing me back on the edge of the bed. I let my legs dangle as I look into Gabe’s angry eyes.

  “I’m not done,” he says.

  I look around the room, realising that I’m still too slow and unstable to escape quickly enough, so I turn back to Gabe.

  “By all means,” I say with an annoyed smile. “Continue.”

  “I cannot stand by and watch you get hurt every time you decide to tag along and fight. I will not see you die in front of me. I won’t...” Gabe breathes deeply, looking down at his hands.

  “I was talking to Ty, and we both agree that you shouldn’t go out into the field for the time being. It would be a danger to both you and your teammates,” Gabe says sternly, not looking me in the eye.

  My heart contracts and I close my eyes. "I knew that Ty didn't believe in me. I just thought you knew better,” I whisper, opening my eyes to see his expression.

  Gabe looks up at me in shock, and I glare back at him. "That is not true,” he says strongly, placing both hands on my knees. I’m the same height as him right now, with him standing and me sitting on the bed.

  “Look me in the eyes and tell me that I can’t fight, that I’ll only get in your way,” I say mercilessly.

  “That’s not what I meant; I would never say that," he protests, his voice cracking.

  "Well, then you're a coward. Because that's exactly what you just told me. And you had no trouble telling me while your eyes were closed." I reach down and remove his hand from my knees, not being able to stand the contact anymore.

  Instead of just letting his hands fall to his side, he uses them to bring my forehead against his. We are now so close that I can feel his struggling breath against the tip of my nose. I try pulling away, but his hands keep me close, holding my head in place.

  “Gabe,” I whisper, I can’t be with him right now. With everything he just said to me, I don’t think I ever can be. “You have to let me go,” I say shakily.

  The words are like knives into my chest. I will never want him to let me go, never. But it's what is best for him and me. I cannot be with someone who has no faith in me. I know that he is trying to convince me not to fight because he cares about me. He doesn't want to see me hurt. But I have a job, and I can't let Ty or Gabe hold me back.

  This isn't fair, I like him so much, and I'm sure he feels the same way about me too. But he doesn't want me to fight, and I can't do that.

  “Let me go,” I repeat, one single tear rolling down my cheek and onto his hand that steadies me.

  Gabe shakes his head and looks at me, watching sadly as another tear trickles down my face. “Never,” he says.

  I close my eyes tight, trying to fight the urge to scream. He doesn’t think I can do this; he doesn’t believe in me anymore; he doesn’t know that by trying to protect me… he’s only breaking my heart.

  I feel warm skin brush across my mouth, his lips in contact with mine, making me whimper and sag. Just a light peck, not even really a kiss, but that doesn't matter. His lips are so close to mine that I can just feel them, but he doesn't move closer. Gabe seems content with just the light brush of lips. Gabe can't do this to me. This isn't fair.

  “Di…I…” he starts.

  I block those next deadly words that really would kill me with a quick kiss of my own. This time it was not just a light brush but a short, strong kiss. It only lasts a few seconds, but it is enough to make my breathing uneven.

  “I…” he swallows, “You have to let me say it.”

  “Stop,” I say, not allowing him to say those three words, prying his hands from my head.

  I sit back and look into his eyes. They are full of sorrow and longing; I know that it is also what mine looks like as well.

  “I am going to keep fighting,” I announce. “Neither you nor Ty can stop me. Now, you are going to fight beside me; you are going to watch as I prove you wrong. But if the time comes… you are going to watch me die.”

  Gabe watches me sceptically, then nods reluctantly and stands up from the chair. I can see dozens of emotions flashing in his face; I can't even begin to decipher half of them. He comes and sits down on the edge of my bed next to me, takes a thin lock of my hair, and starts to fiddle with it.

  "You are going to be a really big handful,” he says quietly.

  “Why can’t I be a spoon full?” I try to joke.

  “Because I’m the one who you’re bossing around, so I at least get to pick whether you’re a hand or a spoon,” he says dryly. Not even a smile is exchanged.

  "You know that I appreciate your concern, right?" I say sadly.

  “Mmm,” he replies.

  “Just don’t lecture me every day, okay? A girl can only handle so much,” I joke.

  “Not this girl, apparently this one can handle everything,” Gabe says with a small, sad smile.

  "We had acquired three rouges from the fights two da
ys ago,” says the head of the Sanctuary. He is the same man I saw giving the speech two days ago and assigning people into groups to fight the rouges. He is the one that allowed me to go help, Gabe.

  "Once we gain information, it will be announced here like always. Until then, stay alert. More rouges may decide to attack this week."

  “I doubt it,” Gabe mumbles next to me.

  As I said, it’s been two days since the Xavia attacked, two days since I was hurt, two days since Gabe and I… made things complicated. Since then, Gabe hasn't said anything about it; it's like it never happened. I'm kind of relieved but at the same time disappointed. Since my dad would probably call the police if I wasn’t home by dinner, Astrid sent me home reluctantly. I was going to call my dad to tell him I was staying late at Anne’s house, planning to go talk to Gabe about... that. But by the time I had snuck into Gabe's room, he was in the middle of a panic attack.

  Only a small lamp lit the room, along with the faint pulsing of blue light coming from the Skill. Gabe had regained enough composer to tell me to get Anne to walk me home, claiming that he was okay and I should go get some rest.

  It only took me a day to be able to talk without losing my breath, and I could walk normally again when I woke up this morning. I had been training in the hall when Gabe came to get me, saying that there was an announcement. He walked beside me but not as close as usual. The kiss had made us more aware of the space between us. Things were the same, our usual flirtatious banter didn't fade, but we hadn't spent any time alone together for two days.

  From somewhere far off a voice calls, I try to listen, but I am once again swept up in my own thoughts.

  Today was Gabe's first day back at school in two weeks, and he seemed to enjoy the attention it was getting him. I had rolled my eyes as he stopped to talk about how sick he was to another guy when Anne had walked up. She smiled at me, looking at Gabe then back at me. Without speaking to me, she winked and walked off. I wonder if Gabe mentioned anything about… that to Anne. Maybe she just picked up on it, connecting everything. Whenever I speak to Anne and Gabe would walk by, she would nudge me and smile widely. Once I asked her what she was playing at, she just replied with another smirk and continued to talk about our previous conversation.