Rise of Xavia

by Tara Chau

  “I was angry at the universe for denying me a normal night,” I grumble.

  “You were being reckless and stupid,” he says quietly.

  “Sorry,” I mumble.

  Gabe lets out a struggling breath, whipping out his phone.

  “Who are you texting?” I ask curiously.

  “The others, we’re going home,” he says.

  “But I’m not done!” I protest, wincing as I shift my hand.

  “Yeah, you are. We need to be back by ten anyway, plus, you’ve just been shot by a gun.”

  I hold up my hand in front of his face, fighting back my cry, "Look! The bullet passes right through, and it's already healing."

  Gabe glares at me, his face paling considerably as he looks away from my hand, pretending to check his invisible watch. Checking my phone, I sigh; it's already nine.

  “We can still look around for the movie though, we have about twenty minutes before we need to go,” I say, holding the screen in front of his face with my other clean and healthy hand.

  “Don’t feel like it,” he mutters.

  The whole way back, we're silent, on the walk to the bus stop, on the bus, and walking back up the driveway. Though by the time we're back, he seems to be in a much better mood.

  “Do you want me to come around so we can walk to school tomorrow?” he asks.

  “Yep, sure,” I say, holding back my yawn. “But you might have to drag me out of bed.”

  Gabe takes my wounded hand in his, lightly rubbing away the dried blood, and sighs with relief. The wound has closed enough to simply look like a deep cut, the pinkish skin around the bullet wound being the only other proof of anything unnatural. Gabe smiles, making me blush. Kissing me lightly on the forehead, he turns away to walk down the driveway.

  “Tease,” I call.

  “Pain,” he counters.

  I'm jolted awake by the feeling of rising then falling in one swift motion. A shriek escapes my lips as my eyes flash open to see that my floor is now my roof. I'm being held upside down with my head hitting someone's shins.

  “Wakey, wakey,” Gabe calls, shaking me crazily.

  I scream again, throwing my hands down onto the ground to stable myself. Gabe lets go of my ankles, leaving me in an unstable handstand to then fall flat on my chin.

  “Bloody hell!” I yell, scrambling up.

  “Morning, beautiful,” Gabe beams.

  “I’d punch you, but I’m still half asleep,” I admit, walking over to my cupboard as I mentally wake myself.

  Opening up one of my drawers, I smile with excitement as I spy the arrow I shot during camp, the one who had penetrated the other one perfectly down the middle, splitting it. Grabbing it, I throw it at Gabe, catching him off guard for a moment before he catches it, looking confused.

  “Did that on camp,” I explain.

  “You did this?" he asks, flabbergasted.

  “Don’t act so surprised,” I say defensively.

  Gabe looks at the arrows and then back at me, laughing freely. "Come here," he says, leaving the arrows on the bed and opening his arms for me.

  A huge loopy grin covers my face, and I fling myself into his body. Hitting his chest hard, he stumbles back a bit before catching the both of us.

  “How many of those do you have?” I ask, pointing at the arrow that was cast aside.

  “Too many to bother keeping,” he brags.

  I make an annoyed face and try squirming out of his grip. Gabe laughs happily, holding me tighter. A pout overtakes my lips. Gabe kisses me. At first, I’m determined to hold back, don’t give him what he wants, a voice in my head screams. Too late. Gabe shudders as I melt into his body. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I draw him closer. When the pressure is too much, our lips part, I can taste the mint from his toothpaste and the sweetness of vanilla yoghurt. I pull back, remembering that I just woke up and haven't brushed my teeth yet, my hair still in tangles.

  “Please hold,” I say, grinning mischievously.

  Gabe grumbles, but let’s go. I fling into action, flying into the bathroom to dress, brushing my teeth and hair, sprinting back into my bedroom to pack my school bag, and then falling straight over and into Gabe's arms once more.

  “Di, that was very rude,” Gabe complains. “All that waiting was driving me nuts.”

  “Patience, you,” I say, pressing my lips onto his.

  Gabe pulls back, giving me a lazy smile. “Gods, you’re amazing.”

  'Thank you is what I'm about to say before he throws me down on the bed, narrowly missing the arrows. I squeal but clamp down on my tongue, remembering that Dad is right down the hall. Gabe falls down next to me, propping himself up onto his elbow. He looks down at me. I feel my face blush as an unexpected image flows through my head. Gabe leans down to kiss me, making me flush harder. I feel the weight of his body cautiously press into mine, hip to hip, chest to chest. His fingers lace through my hair as I slip a hand under his shirt, feeling for the huge scars that decorate his back. Gabe's muscles flex, and his skin shivers where my fingers glide; a low hungry growl rumbles from him, echoing through me, causing my kisses to become more desperate. My back arches as shivers run through me. Gabe hastily drapes a strong arm around my waist tightly but drops me immediately, scrambling upright and stepping away from me. Casting the sting of it from my chest, I stand up, attempting to fix my hair, Gabe doing the same. We each stand incredibly still, quickly trying to get our hot laboured breathing back to normal. Bringing my hands up to my face, I inwardly curse my burning cheeks, quickly bringing them back down when Gabe looks at me.

  “Sorry,” he mumbles, “I’m sorry.”

  “Why?” I ask.

  “Because… we shouldn’t have done that, I shouldn’t have done that. It was a stupid thing to do,” he rambles.

  "What was?" I ask, confused.

  “Honestly, I thought you would have stopped me,” he says, now pacing.

  “Gabe, what are you talking about?” I demand.

  Gabe looks at me like I'm oblivious and naïve. I probably am. "Let's go to school. We'll be late," he says, grabbing my bag and walking out the door.

  Quickly running to the mirror, I decide to tie up my unruly hair and rub some gloss onto my swollen lips. Dashing out the door, I call goodbye to Dad and meet Gabe on the pavement outside. I pray that my flaming cheeks look like I have applied blush.

  “Now, what were you grumbling about in there?” I ask, determined.

  Gabe hesitates before speaking. “I wanted you, Di. I want you now. I lost control just then, leaving you to be the sensible one, unwise of me obviously. And your dad was just down the hall, for god's sake," he scolds, mainly talking to himself now.

  “You’re not a monster for wanting… me,” I say quietly when I realise what he’s talking about.

  “No, just a monster for not asking permission first,” he says, looking down at his moving feet.

  "I'm pretty sure I gave you permission," I realise, frowning.

  “I don’t seem to have the best control when I’m around you,” he says, eyebrows furrowing.

  Gabe shakes his head back and forth a few times like he is trying to snap out of a trance. Looking at my watch, I stop Gabe, standing on my toes. I plant a firm irresistible kiss to his mouth, prying open his lips with my tongue and running it over his own. I catch one second of hesitance before he pulls back, looking down at me sceptically.

  “You seem to have pretty good control right now,” I say, dropping back down and continuing to walk.

  “When you do things like that, it makes it real hard,” he warns.

  “Oops,” I say with an unapologetic shrug.

  Gabe comes up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist. He starts swinging me around. I let out a shriek and flail my arms and legs around. Gabe lets go, to my horror, sending me up. I scream as I begin to come back down to the ground. The pavement approaches quickly. I steel myself and concentrate on landing
right. Bending my knees, I brace for the impact. It's hard but not bad. Stumbling a little, I stand upright and twirl to face Gabe's grinning features.

  “Fuck you, Gabe,” I say, laughing off the shock and anger.

  "Sorry, I needed to, though it would help," he defends.

  “Oh yeah? Did it?” I ask.

  “No,” he chuckles.

  With my anger slowly fading, I remember that we do still have school.

  “Come on,” I grumble, “we’re gonna be late.”

  "Yes, ma'am," he says, nodding, following beside me, still laughing softly to himself.

  * * *

  Walking home from school, Gabe, Ty, and I are chatting loudly when I trip over my undone lace.

  “Your girlfriend’s real smart, isn’t she?” Ty comments, rolling his eyes.

  Raising to one knee, I reject Gabe's hand, tying my laces. I grab a stick off the road and lob it at Ty's head, striking perfectly. Ty looks back at me and glares, the two of them walking ahead. Pouncing up a moment later, I run around the corner after them to find that Gabe has a dagger out and Ty is standing there gawking uselessly.

  "Snap out of it, and bloody help me!" Gabe barks at Ty.

  Turning my attention to the threat, it takes me a minute to grasp who it is. Desperately jumping in front of Ren, I use my mind to deflect the oncoming dagger with a swipe of my hand, sending it into a tree to our right. It narrowly misses my head.

  “What are you doing? Get out of the way,” Gabe hisses.

  “No-wait-stop,” I shout, holding my hands out towards him like that is going to stop his next attack.

  Ren has retreated a few steps, but I can still see Ty’s eyes following her movements.

  "She's fine. She's under the Protectors' custody. Specifically, mine and Ty's," I say quickly, seeing Gabe draw another dagger.

  Gabe pounces, easily getting past me and launching at Ren. I hear a shriek, but he's moving too quickly for me to grasp what's happening. Finally, when the flashes of movement and colour stop, I see Ren with her hands tied together in front of her. Gabe has used a strip of the bottom of her shirt to tie her wrists together in a cross, the outside of her wrists facing each other to make it impossible to untie.

  “Now, you can explain,” he breathes heavily.

  A million explanations cross my mind, I spend a few moments trying to find the best one to use that won’t make him angrier, but Ty beats me to it, using one that I had quickly skipped over.

  "We both caught Tee-Ly-Ren. Di felt sorry for her, and so we've been housing her for the past two months. She has had no contact with the Xavia and should be locked up in my den right now.”

  Gabe’s expression grows five shades darker as he looks to me for confirmation. I nod hesitantly before stepping forward.

  “That’s true,” I murmur.

  Gabe sighs heavily, thrusting his knife into the same tree that holds the other one. Yanking them both out of the trunk violently, he storms back to us.

  “Then why isn’t she locked in the den now?”

  “We don’t know,” Both me and Ty admit.

  It seems to be that even Ty is scared of Gabe when he’s mad. Gabe turns to Ren and gives her a shuddering glare.

  "I got bored. I told Ty that my community service was cancelled for today, and I blocked the door from closing when he left this morning. I had a nice stroll and was just about to go back when you guys found me," she says, giving us all a regretful smile. "Hi, Max," she adds.

  Gabe ignores her. Running a hand through his hair, I can see that the blue dye has started to grow out, proving that Gabe actually has a dark brown shade of hair.

  “Let’s go,” he grumbles, leading Ren down the road towards Ty’s house.

  “Sorry,” Ty whispers as we walk behind Gabe silently.

  "Yeah, you probably shouldn't have led with. 'Di felt sorry for her now I'm gonna cop it,” I hiss.

  “Sorry,” he repeats.

  We walk up the driveway and in through the back gate to the garden. I sit on the grass as Gabe and Ty return Ren back to the small room and talk suspiciously quietly for a while. When I’ve sat here for ten minutes watching them bicker back and forth, I get up and walk over to my house, not looking behind me for one second.

  I pop my head in to say hi to Dad then go out to the kitchen to get an apple. Finishing it by the sink, I walk into the shower, letting the scolding water wash away the guilt and tension racking my neck. Once my fingers turn wrinkly, and my feet glow bright red, I emerge from the shower and dress in a white singlet and red material shorts that I never returned to Anne. Strolling into my room, I let out a defeated huff as I spot Gabe lying on my bed, staring up at the ceiling. Images of this morning flash in my eyes. I cast them aside for later as Gabe's mood seeps through my pores and up my nose. Closing the door quietly behind me, I notice Gabe's put a noise dampener signum on the back of my door. Great. I know what's coming next, and it ain’t what we were talking about earlier.

  “I’m really not in the mood for a lecture or any type of fighting,” I sigh, collapsing onto the bed next to him.

  "That's too bad because I am," he says, his voice and features stone once more.

  "Well then, let's get it over with," I say, shaking my head.

  “That was so stupid, Di,” he says, launching right into it, coming to a sitting position and looking down at me, his voice already rising.

  “If it, were you who were in that position, you would have done it as well,” I point out.

  Gabe is quiet for a few moments, considering this. “Yes, I would have, but I would have told you the minute I saw you.”

  “I. Am. Sorry,” I say, closing my eyes to block out his disappointment.

  “I know,” Gabe says defeatedly, deciding against more yelling.

  He drops back down onto the bed, shifting me so that his arms are draped around me like a blanket. After a few minutes of silence, I turn around so I can see his face.

  “You’re getting soft,” I murmur.

  “What do you mean?” he asks.

  "You would have put up a much bigger fight months ago. I thought I was going to get a tongue lashing," I admit.

  “Well, that was months ago,” he reminds, holding me tighter.

  "I'm tired," I say, not just referring to my sleep deprivation.

  “I know. I am too.”

  Both our phones vibrate simultaneously, causing us both to jump. We grudgingly reach for them, mine on my desk and Gabe’s in his pocket. Looking at the alert on my screen, I look up to find Gabe already watching me tensely.

  “They’re ready to get Lucien,” I say softly.

  Gabe nods, looking down at his hands.

  “They have everything set up, signums to counter his magic, cuffs that will hold him. You don’t have to worry.” "Go," he says stiffly, hopping off the bed and handing me my gear.

  * * *

  Dashing through the streets, I rush past Jess, who has yet to reach her station, giving her a salute as I pass. Approaching the street that is marked with hidden signums, I see Ty waiting.

  “Ready?” he asks as I come to a halt.

  “No, but that won’t change anything anyway,” I say, already regretting my decision to be bait.

  Ty nods reluctantly, "We'll be here. When you're ready, say the words, "I'm doing my part. okay?"

  “Okay,” I nod.

  “We will be ready,” Ty assures before sprinting down the street.

  We had chosen a small unused road to capture Lucien on after Anne realised that we could cause suspicious damage.

  “Lucien, I’m ready,” I say in a normal unfazed voice, not bothering to raise my voice one bit or to even consider how far away he really is. It takes barely five seconds for a yellow flash to zoom past me, ruffling my loose hair, Lucien standing in front of me.

  “You know, I’m not at your beck and call,” he sneers, obviously annoyed.

  I nod, my lips pre
ssed tightly together. "Okay… before I do anything you want me to, what will happen if your plan actually works?" I ask, aware that the others are listening, not knowing that I have untold info about his plot.

  “Oh, you know…” he says, eyes gleaming knowingly. I stiffen up but will never vocally admit how relieved I am when he finishes his sentence. “…a bit of this and a bit of that.”

  “What exactly?” I demand.

  “Why would I tell you?” he asks suspiciously.

  Realising that even if he tells me what the outcome of his plan will be, it will most likely not hold much truth, so I move straight to the point.

  “Well then, how am I supposed to know when I’m doing my part?”

  Lucien’s smile widens but is instantly replaced with a wicked growl as four swirls of colour emerge from the bushes, stopping at Lucien’s side within no time.

  Ty standing in front of Lucien, strikes him across the face with his bunched fist, knocking him to the ground. Anne and Hayden pounce onto his downed body, pinning his legs and kneeling on his back to secure them while Jess cuffs him successfully. Ty hauls him to a standing position, keeping a painfully tight grip on Lucien's shoulder.

  Walking up to them, I look up into Lucien's cold, inhumane eyes, "You're going away, Lucien."

  Instead of horror or worry, amusement covers his features. His skin starts to smoke and burn, Lucien’s body evaporates into a yellow foul-smelling gas, only to reappear two metres away in a solid mass, smiling crookedly.

  “H-how?” Jess stutters.

  "Dianna, I asked nicely…now I'm going to have to make you start listening."

  “Cowered. Come and take me now!” I scream as he disappears again, this time to wherever his next demonic task awaits.

  We only talk once we reach Ty’s house again, all fuming silently.

  “Well, we’ve officially pissed him off,” I seethe, breaking the boiling silence.

  Everyone nods in agreement, arms crossed.

  “Let’s go home and relax a bit, talk tomorrow,” Jess advises.

  “Why?” I ask.

  “Because we shouldn’t be making plans while we’re angry,” she points out, “It would be irresponsible.”