Girl Enchanted (Book 2 of The Girl Trilogy)

by Miliardario, Reussie

  The monstrous screens showed close ups of Rays long fingernails which the speaker said could be used to his advantage as fighting tools. But, he also said they were weaker and shorter than other victors of the past.

  The sharks began circling fast around Rodego. When they showed a close up of his face, he looked scared. But, at once, he charged at the largest shark and started tearing it open with his long fingernails. He made some big incisions and long tears in its flesh. But, the creature was moving fast and twisting around as it tried to throw him off. He stabbed his finger nails hard and deep into the shark’s body and pulled out a huge chunk of flesh into the water.

  The other sharks got exited and started fighting over the flesh in the water. The second largest shark finally got the majority of it away from the other and ate it up.

  Rodego held fast to the largest shark and continued to tear more and more chunks of flesh from its body. By now, with all the flesh in the water, the other two creatures were eating in a violent frenzy. They were ravenously devouring the shark flesh.

  But, then Rodego made a mistake. He swam away from the dying shark before it was dead and attached himself to the second biggest shark during its feeding frenzy. Immediately Rodego started violently tearing off its flesh. But, the largest, dying shark grabbed Rodego by his arm with its teeth. The arm tore off from his body.

  At once, blood gushed into the water. Now the smallest shark went wild from the smell of blood and bit into Rodego’s torso.

  Rodego’s mother was screaming hysterically. I couldn’t handle it. It was all too sick. I wanted to run away from this horrible place, but I couldn’t leave Aver. He was up next.

  The smallest shark took another bite out of Rodego’s torso. His eyes were wide with horror as he writhed and turned before what was left of him floated lifelessly in the water.

  The largest shark with the most flesh pulled away from its body was almost still as it just moved its half torn away body slowly in the water. The other two attacked the remains of Rodego’s body until it was gone.

  By then, the largest great white was dead and its body turned over as it floated in the water. The other two, still in a frenzy ate it up.

  The crowed was cheering wildly. Some were crying and gasping. Rodego’s mother had passed out and the officials carried her out of the arena.

  At this point, the shark keepers lured the two remaining creatures into another cage. The speaker announced, “Next up is Aver Hainsworth. If he is victorious, he will win the title of duke on the royal court and a fabulous chateau beside the king’s palace.” The crowd cheered and stomped wildly.

  17

  The officials headed toward Aver who was still in his seat passed out from drinking too much. My heart was racing so fast. I tried to figure out what to do. It occurred to me to start crying with my tumultuous josephine voice. I could wreck the building with a huge earthquake.

  But, the idea was dangerous. If the building collapsed, it could crush the crowds of people inside and even release all of the great whites from their cages to attack everyone. No, that was a terrible idea.

  Ailey and Hark were trying to wake up Aver, but nothing seemed to rouse him. They were shaking his shoulders and yelling at him. Hark slapped him in the face, but he just smiled in his sleep as his head fell back. Then he rolled to the side of his seat toward Renena who was seated beside him and he vomited in her lap.

  She jumped out of her chair and screamed, “Ugh, how gross.” But, after wiping the throw up off of her lap, she repositioned Aver upright in his seat. “Oh, come on, Aver. Please wake up. Please.” She leaned over and kissed his cheek. But, even with all that, he remained unconscious.

  Amadathan wasn’t saying anything at all. She was just sitting in her seat biting her nails. Her beautiful face looked riddled with fear. It was pale and blood drawn.

  The audience’s focus was on us now. The officials walked down our row of seats from either side. Aver’s friends and I stood up to let them pass. But right as the official with the backwards baseball cap and his tall, bald headed partner reached down to lift Aver, Hark and Ailey grabbed their mercury pistols from their holsters.

  Ailey fumbled with the gun for a moment as the bald official swung around and elbowed him in the face. He fell to the ground.

  But, Hark had a firm grip on his gun. In an instant, he pointed the weapon at the mer with the baseball cap and grabbed him up by the neck. “Let Hainsworth go or I’ll kill you,” he commanded.

  The audience made an “ah,” sound. Some of the mers began pushing their way out of the building. There was a lot of chaos at once.

  Resolution came quickly when the official with the baseball cap pulled a slick move, side swiping Hark and throwing him over his head at once. Apparently, these officials were highly trained combat fighters and though both Ailey and Hark were strong and muscular, they weren’t matched against these opponents.

  In no time, the officials had Hark and Ailey in handcuffs. Some of the other officials took them away. Renena and Amadathan were crying, but they stayed with me as the passed out Aver was carried toward the show cage. The audience calmed and the crowd that exited the building during the assaults came back in and rejoined.

  Renena, Amadathan, and I were huddled together holding hands. They were still crying and I was too shocked to release any emotions. I couldn’t believe what was happening and I didn’t know how I felt about it. The room started spinning in my mind. The music within me was overwhelming me. It was so chaotic.

  A thought came to me. I started to sing. I called upon Aver, hoping to rouse him out of his sleep. My voice lifted to a high pitch. The rhythms were strong. It felt like he was listening. He could hear my song in his mind. The vibrations became erotic. We were connected. The room started to shake lightly. At once, I lowered my pitch to keep the power at bay.

  Even though I felt him in my mind, I saw with my eyes that he was still asleep. What was happening to me? I could feel him. It was strong. “Don’t worry, Cordellia. I am here. Nobody is going to die.”

  But, the shark keepers lifted Aver up and threw him into the tank. His body floated in a deep sleep. The great whites were released into the show cage.

  I continued to sing. Anything to wake him. But, he didn’t move. The sharks were circling him.

  “I’m here, Cordellia. I’m here!” I heard the voice, but why wasn’t he moving. But, then I saw him. The voice was not Aver. It was Shaul!

  “I’ll take his place,” Shaul yelled out to the officials. “I volunteer.”

  “Go ahead,” one of the officials said.

  “They let him by.”

  “No!” I screamed. Without thought, I ran through the crowd to stop Shaul.

  But, he dove into the show cage between the sharks who were circling Aver’s unconscious body.

  “I volunteer. I volunteer,” I screamed to the officials. “I’ll take his place.”

  They let me pass. Before I could even think about what I was doing, I dove into the show cage. The sharks were circling Shaul who was holding Aver over his shoulder now. I swam behind the circling great whites alongside the bars of the cage and to the bottom floor. I was underneath the predators and the boy I loved now.

  I couldn’t let Shaul die. I was him. He was me. We were one. “Shaul, I volunteered. You are free now. Get out of the cage.”

  As one of the sharks brushed past him, he looked down at me. “Cordellia,” he screamed. “Get out!”

  I started splashing and yelling to get the sharks’ attention. After everything, I didn’t care if I lived. I just wanted Shaul to survive. At once, I bit as hard as I could into my arm. Blood began to gush forth into the water.

  It worked. The great whites smelled the scent of my blood. They turned away from Shaul and Aver and came after me.

  I charged at one of them and grabbed onto its enormous back. It threw me around and bit into the side of my tale, but the injury wasn’t deadly. I started clawing the shark ferociously. Though, no mat
ter what I did, it wasn’t enough.

  I heard a spell. It was Latin. The sharks turned into huge blossoming water lilies. Shaul remembered my favorite flower. Their bright petals fell in beauty to the floor. I heard the crowd shriek in fear.

  “A serpent!” someone in the crowd screamed. Then much of the audience was yelling, “Serpent, serpent, serpent…” They pushed and shoved their way out of the building.

  Shaul and I swam to each other. Aver was groggy, but he awoke. Shaul released him. I looked at Shaul deep into his beautiful silver eyes.

  “I love you.” I couldn’t help but say it. My feelings poured out of me.

  “I love you too, Cordellia.” He took me into his strong arms.

  The music in our minds was true. It was a symphony of love. We held each other tightly. My heart beat against his and we were one.

  Réussie Miliardario

  Hi, Everybody! Thanks for reading Girl Enchanted. At present I am working on book 3 of The Girl Trilogy with the tentative title of Girl In Love and the Endless Love series (teen adventure romances with a bad boy and bad girl!). Keep an eye out for upcoming books. I’m writing like mad and the process is thrilling! Hope to have both the trilogy and series out soon!

  Here is a sample of Outlaws (Endless Love, #1)

  1.

  The school bell just rang. I tossed my folder and literature book into my backpack, zipped it up, and threw it over my shoulder. When I stepped outside, I was rudely reminded of how hot it was today. The warm Santa Anna winds were strong. I was glad that I wore shorts and a tank top to school today. It would be easier to handle the late May heat on my walk home.

  I think I was the only senior at San Diego High School that didn’t have a car. My mother and step-father had lots of fancy cars, but they wouldn’t let me have one. They said I was too stupid to own an automobile. I’d just crash it or do something idiotic in it like get pregnant.

  Usually, my best friend Brooke and her boyfriend Jacob would drive me home, but today they left early because they were driving from our beach city, La Jolla, to the country town of Ramona about an hour away. They wanted to visit Brooke’s aunt who was in the hospital.

  As usual, the kids were noisy and rambunctious in the halls. One senior grabbed a baseball cap off of a freshman and threw it in the trash. Some cheerleaders rushed by with their pompoms in their hands and sneered at me as they passed. I tried to ignore them. I was in a melancholy mood and didn’t feel like starting up with them.

  Aside from my down mood, it was a pretty average day except that I noticed bad boy Justin Mason glancing at me as he talked to his friends over by the school library. He was far away, but I could tell he was watching me. He was wickedly handsome. All the girls wanted him, but he didn’t seem to want any of them.

  Last week, after I broke up with my boyfriend Tyler, some guys at my school told me Justin wanted to ask me to the prom. I was shocked. I never considered myself attractive—I was skinny, my nose was pointy, and my eyes were slits. My brown hair was too long, too thin, and too straggly. Something about my appearance was boyish and bratty. And I certainly wasn’t popular. So the possibility of an invitation from the most desired boy at my school came as a real surprise.

  I didn’t know him at all and I heard he was bad. He had a mysterious past that nobody could figure out. He was confident, but aloof. Nobody knew much about him, but rumor had it that he didn’t even have parents.

  If Justin really did ask me and if I said yes, all the popular girls would be envious. I didn’t get along with most of the cheerleaders and cliquey girls. They thought I was weird. I definitely wanted to go to prom with Justin even if to just make them angry. Pay back would be sweet. I couldn’t wait to see the looks of jealousy in their eyes when they saw the outcast girl going out with the guy they all lusted over. But, deep down I feared that the guys who said Justin wanted to take me to prom were just messing with me, trying to make me look stupid.

  I was embarrassed that Justin was looking at me, so I took a quick detour to the bathroom to get out of his line of vision. If he was trying to mess with my mind, I couldn’t deal with it today.

  The bathroom was quiet and cool, but it smelled like cigarettes. I was glad that nobody was in there to bother me. I splashed water on my hot face to cool off. When I looked in the mirror with my wet face, I felt like somebody else was staring back at me. I just didn’t feel like myself anymore. I felt ugly and alone. I hated my mother. I hated Tyler. I think I hated everyone.

  I must have stood there in the bathroom staring at myself and thinking evil thoughts for twenty minutes before I left. When I got outside, all the kids were gone. The school halls were quiet. I headed over to my locker past the library.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” Tyler said as he threw my arms over my head against my school locker and held them in place.

  “This isn’t funny,” I said firmly. “Let me go.” I tried to wiggle out of my ex-boyfriend’s grasp, but he held me too tight.

  He pressed his lips against mine.

  “Stop it!” I twisted my head away, but he held fast, shoving his tongue into my mouth. “Ugh! Don’t, don’t.” I squirmed to get away. In a fury, I tried to knee him in the groin, but he blocked my aggressions with his legs. At once, he pressed up against me.

  I kept trying to kick at him as I tried to spit his tongue out of my mouth. I knew he was broken up about our break up, but I didn’t want to be with him anymore. He cheated on me with my own mother. I found them together. It was a tragic horror that I hadn’t been able to wrap my mind around. I just couldn’t believe it. I felt like my heart was torn out of my body and squashed. But, my mom threatened to kick me out of the house if I told my step-father what she did. And now Tyler wanted me back!

  I started sweating all over. His advances were scaring me. He just wasn’t normal. In a panic, I bit down on his tongue as hard as I could.

  He screamed as he released me. In agony, he was throwing his head around. “Why won’t you let me talk to you?” He demanded. His face was beat red, his brown hair was all messed up and hot perspiration slid down his forehead.

  “Just leave me alone. You dug your own grave. Live in it, freak.” I grabbed my books out of my locker. “Leave me alone,” I cried as I started to run away.

  But, he chased after me through the empty quad. I just had to get home and away from him. I could hear his feet hitting the pavement behind me as we ran.

  In a rush, he grabbed my wrist and swung me around.

  “Help,” I screamed as I looked through the quad for a teacher or some other kids. Everybody had left for the day and all the athletes were already in the fields and gym too far away to hear my calls.

  “I’m sorry,” he pleaded. But, his nostrils were flared and he looked really angry. “But, you just weren’t putting out. A guy needs some and your mother came onto me!”

  I slapped him hard across the face. And then I tried to run away, but he held fast to my wrist.

  “Just hear me out,” he demanded. The fierce look was still in his eyes.

  I turned to him, face to face. Bile lifted and burned in my throat. “I don’t love you.” I stared at him directly in the eyes. “I don’t want you.”

  He threw me to the ground and kicked me in the side. “I don’t want you either.”

  I looked up at him, shock in my eyes.

  And then he spit on me. “Whore,” he said.And he ran away.

  I must have laid there on the ground for five minutes before I got up. My mind was so messed up. It seemed like everyone I cared about betrayed me. I just wanted to die.

  The palm trees were swaying in the hot Santa Anna winds. Nobody was around. The lunch lines in the quad were empty. I grabbed my backpack up off the ground and went back over to my locker to get my stuff.

  When I opened my locker, to my utter shock, I saw an unbelievable diamond necklace on one of the shelves. It looked like something from a museum. The center stone was a gigantic yellow diamond with big
white diamonds forming the neckline. I looked around. There was nobody there. I quickly took the necklace and slid it inside my shorts’ pocket.

  I gathered up my books, placed them in my backpack, and started walking toward home. I didn’t know what to think. My mind was racing with thoughts. How in the world could such an expensive piece of jewelry get into my locker? I wondered what I should do with it. It would be a mistake to tell my mother because she would just say I stole it even though I had never stolen anything in my life. Lately, she was finding even more fault with me than usual.

  As I cut through the fields to get to my house, I felt like someone was following me. It was a strange feeling like I was being watched. I wiped the perspiration off my forehead and looked around. Nobody was there, so I continued onwards.

  At once, I heard a rush through the trees. I turned around and again I saw that I was alone. My adrenaline started pumping. I knew I wasn’t by myself. I was sure of it. The presence felt closer. I started to jog. My backpack was heavy. There was breathing. I could hear it. In a panic, I ran as fast as I could all the way home. When I got to my parents house, I rushed in and locked the door.