Rise of Xavia

by Tara Chau

  “I know, I love her,” he responds.

  I grin but feel like I need to tell them I let her hit me. “I let her hit me.”

  “Of course, you did,” Ty says sarcastically.

  “I did! Do you really think so little of my abilities?” I ask, offended.

  "Do I have to answer that?" Ty asks. I throw an apple at him, hard.

  Everyone laughs. I can feel Gabe vibrating with laughter. His closeness makes me shiver which again, makes him laugh.

  “So, what ideas have you guys come up with?” I ask, cutting short the laughing session.

  They all sigh. I feel Gabe's hold on me loosen a fraction. Oops, buzz kill. After two long minutes of silence, I take a breath to speak.

  “Don’t,” Gabe warns.

  “I think we have to at least consider using me as bait,” I spill quickly.

  Gabe tightens his arms again, so much that it becomes hard to breathe, like a prison to keep me away from danger.

  “Too risky,” Anne decides.

  "Bait being the keyword," I clear.

  “Still…” Jess says, looking down at her feet.

  "Trust me, guys, I don't want to help Lucien destroy the world. I'll do anything to make sure he doesn't," I say, losing my breath due to Gabe's still tightening grip.

  Everyone shifts on their feet, looking around the circle we’ve formed around the kitchen counter.

  "I agree with Di. We need to at least consider it," Hayden says, looking at each and every one of us.

  “No,” Gabe says finally.

  “Listen, we did it before. Dianna is perfectly capable of looking after herself for ten minutes,” Hayden implores.

  "That's because I wasn't here. She would have never gone anywhere near him if I were here," he says, disgusted.

  "Well, you weren't here, Gabe, we were," Hayden says confidently.

  “Come on,” I say, tired of this discussion, looking around the room.

  “Okay,” Jess agrees, casting her vote.

  “Alright,” Ty nods.

  “Fine,” Anne says hesitantly.

  “Yeah,” Hayden sighs.

  Everyone's head turns to Gabe, who's looking down at the floor. "No, no, absolutely not," he swears. With that, Gabe lets go of my waist and walks out the front door.

  Looking around the circle, everyone watches me expectedly. “Oh, really? Why can’t one of you guys do it?” I whine.

  “Because he’s your boyfriend,” Anne says obviously.

  Turning to Ty, I plead with him. "He's your best friend and brother, Ty! You do it. Please, please, please."

  Ty shakes his head, eyes wide but amused. “When he gets like this, I just leave him alone.”

  “Then why don’t we just leave him alone?” I ask, too hopeful.

  “Go!” they all yell in unison.

  I groan loudly, dragging myself outside after Gabe. Spotting him walking slowly down the road towards the Sanctuary, I call out.

  “Gabe!”

  He doesn't turn around or stop. Even though I know he heard me perfectly clear, I can be very loud.

  "Gabriel," I say, this time not even bothering to yell but adding a warning note to my tone.

  He stops but doesn't walk back towards me, so I have to run after him.

  “Hey, we weren’t done talking yet,” I pant, walking around so I can see his stone-cold face.

  “I was definitely done talking,” he grumbles.

  "Yeah, well, I'm not," I huff.

  “Of course, you’re not,” he says, crossing his arms.

  "Do you really think so little of my abilities that you don't trust me enough to be with Lucien for like two minutes?" I ask, still gasping for breath.

  “I do trust you. It’s him I don’t trust,” he says, throwing his arms in the air.

  "We can do it. I can stand in the middle of the road; you'll be one street away, and it will take you less than thirty seconds for you to get to me," I convince.

  “No,” he says, shaking his head.

  “We can,” I plead.

  “No,” he says sternly.

  “Yes, Gabe.”

  “No, Dianna! No.”

  This time it’s me who throws my hands up in the air. I let out a frustrated scream and stamp my foot on the hard concrete.

  “Why?” I whine.

  “Because it’s the most stupid idea you could come up with! Dangerous, idiotic, crazy, did I mention idiotic?” he rambles, staring at the sky.

  "My life, my choice," I say with a shrug, a different strategy coming to mind. "You can be there to help protect me, or you can brood in your room. Who knows, you might be the one who saves me. What will I do if you're not there? Die?"

  I try to hide my snide smile as I listen to his breathing, waiting for him to answer. “Don’t do that,” he scolds.

  “Do what? Die?” I tease.

  “Don’t joke like that. It’s not funny, Dianna.”

  “Will you come and help us with capturing Lucien, Gabriel?”

  “No,” he decides finally.

  “Fine,” I grouch.

  We stand here for a while, me looking at him and Gabe looking at the sky. When he finally looks at me, I see his shield crumble. Stepping forward, I place one hand on his chest.

  “I cannot lose you,” he says, voice strong and decisive.

  “Likewise, Chip,” I say, smiling softly.

  Gabe wraps me in his embrace. My chest rises and falls with his, my head resting in the space between his neck and collar bone.

  "Don't worry. I'll always come back to you," I murmur.

  “Me too, forever,” he whispers.

  * * *

  The sound of clashing sabres swirls around my head. Tuning them out, I focus on blocking the swift and oncoming attacks from Gabe. Block, thrust, dodge, we move in almost a dance, both predicting which move we are going to attempt next before it happens. Two points Gabe, one point me. Jumping off the ground an inch, the sabre just misses my shins. Spinning around the next attack, I feign a low strike but drawback a second before, earning myself a point for touching his shoulder. Gabe's eyes twinkled with anticipation and thrill; stumbling back, he ducks under my swing, taking advantage of my open position, he strikes. I hiss in pain; you would think he would know how to control his strength by now.

  “Sorry,” he whispers, glancing at the teacher in case she heard my protests.

  I answer him by poking my sabre at his gut. Point.

  “Low,” he mumbles.

  I attempt to strike again, but he blocks and takes a step back, thrusts, sending us back into our violent dance.

  “Alright!” Calls Miss Ryans. "Next week, I will be assessing you on the skills we have learned this term. It would do you some good to practice the more difficult moves, use sticks or something. Not on school grounds, though. Dismissed."

  Everyone files out, slipping off their helmets and placing their sabres back into the bucket. Grabbing my bag, I head out the exit, waiting for Gabe and the rest of them at the door. Jess, Ty, and then Gabe slip out, joining me as I walk to the front gates.

  “Gods, these lessons are getting harder,” Gabe complains.

  “You might just be getting slow, Chip,” I say slyly.

  “Pain,” he mutters.

  Jess shakes her head at the both of us as we’re joined by Anne and Hayden.

  “Any of you guys on patrol?” Anne asks as we make our way down the street.

  "Nope," I say, the rest of us shaking our heads. "I think Daniel wants me off nights for a while; he thinks I'm crazy. Though it's not because of lack of sleep," I admit.

  “Yeah, he’s always got one ear open when it comes to you, you know, after those incidents where you basically attacked him with words of hate and abuse,” Hayden reminds, holding his fists up dramatically.

  I hiss at him to shut up, glancing around, but only getting troubled looks from Gabe, nothing new.

  �
��Why?” Jess asks.

  “Why what?” Ty asks.

  “Why did Anne ask if we were on patrol?” she clarifies.

  “Shopping!” Anne squeals her answer.

  The guys groan, but Jess and I look up excitedly, ears perking up.

  “Yes,” she says, grinning.

  "Yes, yes, yes!" I say, jumping up and down; it's been too long since we've had a normal night out.

  “Alright, everyone meets out front of the mall at four. Okay?” she says, looking around eagerly.

  “Do I really-”

  The three of us girls cut Hayden off by shouting. “Yes!”

  Again, all of the boys let out a groan, but we all walk off in our separate directions, Gabe following me, Ty and Hayden off the Sanctuary, and Jess and Anne walking to Anne’s house.

  “We never do anything remotely normal together,” I say to Gabe as he cuts me an unappreciative glance.

  “Shopping?” he complains.

  “You can buy another grey shirt,” I say, pointing at the whole in his current one.

  “It’s the new style, Di,” he says, batting away my finger.

  I shrug as a good idea comes to mind. “We can look for a new movie to watch together.”

  Gabe's expression travels through three different stops, bored, excited, neutral until he simply smiles and gives in with a shrug. "Alright."

  As we approach my house, Gabe turns up my driveway, walking towards the door.

  "What are you doing?" I ask, gesturing to the fence that would take us straight into the backyard.

  “Going through the front door, like a normal person,” he says, emphasising the word normal. “Is that not what you wanted for this afternoon?”

  “But my dad’s working from home today,” I protest.

  “Good thing he knows me.” Gabe smiles annoyingly and waltzes up to the door, knocking twice before I can stop him.

  Walking up beside him, I hit him over the head, hard, just in time for Dad to open the door and see.

  “Afternoon,” Dad greets suspiciously.

  “Hi,” I say awkwardly.

  “Hello,” Gabe says chirpily, rubbing his head not at all subtly.

  “Did you forget your key?” Dad asks.

  “No,” I seethe, reminding myself that Dad probably wouldn’t like the fact that the two of us had been sneaking through the back for months. “Gabe just rang the bell before I could tell him I had one.”

  “Well, come in,” Dad says, eyeing Gabe suspiciously.

  "We'll just be here for a little while. I've got to get ready. We're going out to the shops with a whole bunch of friends at four. That okay?" I ask.

  “It’s Thursday,” Dad reminds, leaning back on the kitchen counter.

  “I’ll be back before ten,” I promise.

  “Alright, but if you’re not, I’m blaming him,” he says, pointing at Gabe.

  “Dad!” I protest.

  "It's all cool. She'll be back, Sir, I promise," Gabe says, smiling.

  Dad nods and walks off, leaving Gabe and me in the kitchen.

  “Want to eat something?” I ask, opening the cupboard.

  “Nah, I’m all good.”

  Closing the doors, I pick up an apple, biting into it. “Okay, let’s go,” I say, throwing another apple at him anyway.

  Gabe catches it in one hand, rubbing some invisible grime off it with his thumb. Quickly rushing into my room, I grab a smaller bag, throwing in some money and my phone. I rush back out again.

  “Ready,” I say, jumpy with excitement.

  It takes about twenty minutes to get to the shops, catching the bus that takes us straight to the stop outside the building. We meet the rest of them outside the frozen yogurt stall, Ty and Anne already holding their cups. Walking up to Anne, I dip my finger into her cup, spooning out some smooth and cold yogurt, grinning madly at her appalled expression.

  Gabe laughs as he sees my nose crinkle and my lips purse. That was gross. "Ew, chocolate,” I say, wiping the stickiness on my jeans.

  “You don’t like chocolate?” Anne shrieks, making everyone in the vicinity clamp their hands over their fragile ears.

  “No…” I drawl, unsure that it was the wises thing to say.

  Gabe and Ty are looking at me, wide-eyed and scared, probably not the best thing to say then. Gabe steps in front of me, gently nudging me behind him, leaving one hand on my hip. Suddenly what sounds like a hyperventilating bulldog starts to… well, hyperventilate.

  “Annabelle, calm down,” Ty says strictly.

  I keep forgetting that these three are like siblings. They must have experience with this.

  “Deep breaths,” Gabe urges.

  “But-but-but…” She breaths.

  “Calm down!” both boys beg loudly, drawing the attention of onlookers.

  The embarrassment of it all wakes her up; glancing around the shops, she cringes at the questioning eyes of the public.

  “Sorry,” she says shyly. “I really like chocolate.”

  “She really likes chocolate,” They both agree, letting out a breath of relief.

  Everyone looks at each other, smiles taking over our faces. By the time we're finished laughing, my cheeks are flushed, and Anne is crying with laughter.

  "Right, where to first?" Jess asks, hopping up and down.

  "Harrods" Anne squeals, Gabe, Hayden, and Ty rolling their eyes.

  Three shops and way too much money later, we stop to get dinner.

  “I just don’t see why you need two of the same top,” Gabe says, swinging my bag of precious shopping, apologising to the lady he’d hit in the queue behind us.

  "Because," I sigh, "they're in different colours."

  “They’re both pink,” he says, exasperated.

  "Yes, but they're different shades of pink. One's a peachy tan. It's cut higher, the others a faded dark, musty pink," I explain.

  “But does it really matter what you wear?”

  I gasp, appalled. “Yes.”

  We reach the front of the line, I order a chicken salad wrap, and Gabe orders a burger. He pays for both of us despite my protests. Joining the rest of them at the table in the corner, the three boys groan and try moving their legs around to make room for the shopping bags while the three of us girls beam with happiness and munch on our dinner.

  “What time is it?” Hayden asks, shoving a shopping bag aside with his foot.

  “Only eight,” Ty complains, throwing his head back against the booth.

  The three boys sigh heavily before returning their focus to their dinners. Once we’re done, Gabe shakes my shoulder as Anne talks about which shop to visit next.

  “You said we could buy a movie,” he hisses the reminder.

  "Oh, right yeah," I remember. "Hey, girls?" I speak.

  “Yeah?” Jess turns to me.

  “Gabe and I are gonna go look for some stuff by ourselves,” I say.

  “Really?” Anne whines.

  "Yes, really," I say.

  “Fine,” she grumbles.

  “We’ll meet you in front of….”

  “H&M,” Anne finishes.

  “Alright,” I agree, handing Ty my three bags.

  “No,” he states.

  “Yes,” I say, nodding my head before pulling Gabe off in the other direction.

  “Where we off to?” Gabe asks, a new boost of energy rolling through him.

  “Film store, I guess.”

  “Sure,” he says, draping one arm around my neck and pulling me close.

  My sense of happiness and normality is kicked out of me as I'm literally kicked to the marble floor. Groaning, I look around. Gabe is on the floor as well, on the other side, shoved against the railing that keeps people from falling off onto the floor below. I jump up, looking around for an explanation as to how we ended up on the floor. I hear Gabe hiss quietly for me to get back down as I spot a whole group of people in black strolling around, kicking
other people down. With guns.

  “Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me!” I shout loudly. Oops.

  The whole gang turns to face me. I hear Gabe cursing furiously.

  "You might want to get down, little lady," the nearest one says.

  He looks younger than the rest, about mid-twenties, his voice is rough, his eyes hard, and his hair shaved short.

  “What are you doing?” I ask, still angry.

  “Robbing people, now get down before you get hurt,” he says, taking two steps towards me.

  Suddenly Gabe is next to me, slipping a dagger into my hand behind my back. Gripping it tightly, I feel for how well balanced it is, perfect.

  "You chose tonight, of all nights, to rob the shops? Come on," I say, stamping my foot.

  “We have guns,” he says, one of the other guys pointing one at my head, just to emphasise the point.

  "I can see that. I'm not blind," I spit.

  “Calm down,” Gabe hisses in my ear.

  “Okay, you can sit down now,” The guy orders.

  “I just wanted one normal night out,” I say, mumbling to myself.

  Gabe turns to look at me, reading something on my face. He grabs hold of my arm.

  “Don’t,” he insists.

  “Everyone, get up!” I yell, looking at all the people on the floor. “Go,” I scream louder when no one moves.

  One man gets up to run, stopping when the lady nearest to him points her gun, shoots. Thrusting my hand out, I stop the bullet before it leaves the barrel, clamping down on my tongue as the bullet passes straight through my flesh, Gabe grabbing my hand back before anyone sees me.

  “Go!” Gabe yells.

  Everyone scrambles up in a daze, hurrying towards the lifts to take them out of the building. All the gunmen look around in confusion and anger.

  “Get out of here before I call the police,” Gabe threatens.

  “We’ll remember this,” The man sneers.

  “Likewise,” I answer.

  Gabe and I turn around and walk away, each of us keeping tabs on the men in black behind us. I clutch my hand to my chest, taking deep breaths, endlessly thankful for the adrenalin in my system. Once we’re around the corner, Gabe stops.

  “That was just about the dumbest thing I’ve seen you do,” Gabe scolds heatedly, looking down at my hand.