| | ɴever ordιɴαry | | {вooĸ oɴe} Comment please!

[jinixe]

I LUFF THIS CHAPTER,C:

[natures-daughter]

By the end of training, my legs were sore, my arms were sore, even my head was sore from taking a hard blow to the head with a wooden staff. I rubbed my left temple to relive the pain, walking around the large yard for training. Everyone else seemed to be doing something else. Jared was icing his joints so they wouldn't get stiff, Raleigh went to her room to relax and read a book or something. Lastly, Derek decided he still wasn't done working and went to the shooting range. It wasn't far from the field I walked mindlessly around.
I could hear the gunshots loud and clear over here.
"Astella." An unfamiliar voice growled a few paces behind her. Astella stopped in her tracks unmoving waiting for the stranger to make a move. "You should turn around, I think you might like the new look." The cocky voice rang in my ears. I could tell that confidence anywhere.
"What do you need so terribly that you need to disturb me while I'm trying to get some peace in this chaos?" I swiveled around on my heels to face Bryant. Shock rippled through me. He changed, a lot. His body was ripped with muscles, and he was taller. He was like the smaller and less green version of the hulk.
"So you like it? I did it just for you. You can't just mess with me like that and get away with it." Bryant took a step forward.
Instinctively, I pulled the knife I had kept in my boot out, ready to fight him.
"Oh, put that thing away. I'm new and improved now, better than you or the other hybrids." Bryant chuckled obnoxiously.
"Not possible." I replied, where was this coming from? Bryant grinned profoundly and let out a laugh.
"Oh, right! You don't know!" Bryant laughed and moved closer and I clutched the shaft of the knife tighter.
"What don't I know?" I demanded holding the knife threateningly. I probably looked pathetic. Bryant let out another burst of laughter and grinned ear to ear.
"I was going to tell you, but I think being mysterious is more interesting." Bryant glanced around, as if expecting someone to come running.
"What do you want Bryant?" I asked, annoyed now at his arrogance.
"Simple," Bryant, paced forward, making me grip the shaft even tighter. "I want to kill you." Bryant growled angrily. I chuckled slightly but didn't drop my guard.
"What's new? A lot of people want to kill me. Stop over reacting like a child." I mocked, waving the knife teasingly in front of him. Bryant growled furiously picking up his pace.
"But this time, you aren't going to have that shady player to protect you." Bryant shouted out. I narrowed my eyes, preparing myself for a fight. Bryant grabbed me by my shoulders, ready to pick me up and through me across the field. I struggled my left hand free and plunged the knife into his chest, a death blow.
Bryant winced slightly and glanced down at the knife, grinning slightly. Why isn't he hurt? Why isn't he falling to the grass dying? Horror flooded through me. Bryant chuckled and pulled the knife out, throwing it to the ground.
"New and improved sweetheart." Bryant picked me up effortlessly and and through me like he was skipping a pebble across a lake. My body slammed to the ground with a thud, fresh mud from earlier rain splashing on my face and wisps of grass making their way into my mouth.
"I must admit," I said between spits. "that's new."
"Don't get cocky!" Bryant ran towards me and blew a fist into my gut, finishing me off by slamming my head against the squishy ground. Bryant backed up and rubbed his knuckles, obviously wanting me to fight back. I pulled myself up, my head throbbing and my knees weak. I was going to give him exactly what he wanted. I gave him a roundhouse kick to the head and added two punches to his sides. One missed entirely and the other did little damage. Only the kick caused Bryant to stagger back, eye swelling shut. He came after me again and threw two punches. One to my face and another to my stomach. I felt my eye begin to swell and I doubled back in pain. I had to resist the growing desire to scream out in pain, i wouldn't give him the satisfaction. That obviously pissed him off and he ran toward me. He threw another punch which I quickly dodged and gave him a good kick to the chin. I guess he bit his tongue hard because blood started to drip from his lip. I smirked slightly and glanced over at the training area. All the weapons where still there. if I could get there fast enough I would have the advantage.
I gave Bryant one last glance before darting off in that direction, not wanting to look back. It took just about all my strength and effort to gain the speed I could. I looked back and Bryant wasn't far behind, gaining ground quicker than I could. It didn't matter though, I was nearly there and then I could possibly get to some sort of weapon to hold him off.
I burst into the training area, loosing whatever speed I had left. I stumbled onto the sparring area and glanced around. With no other ideas, I grasped a spear and turned.
Bryant roared, making his way towards me. He raised his fist for a blow but I knocked it away with the staff part of the spear. Bryant growled in pain. Before he could do anymore damage, I threw the spear. Bryant let out a yelp of pain and stumbled back from the impact. The blade pierced his shoulder and stuck.
"What is going on over-" Raleigh ran up but fell silent seeing Bryant's grotesque features and the spear in his shoulder.
"You stupid hybrids will be no more, I promise you that." Bryant sputtered. Raleigh stared down in horror and tensed up waiting for him to do something.
"Jared!" She screamed, not taking her green eyes off of Bryant. Jared ran up, staring down at Bryant then me. Anger welled up on his face.
"Why would you harm Astella?" He demanded furiously. Bryant chuckled and stood, pulling the spear out of his shoulder effortlessly.
"She made a mistake. Now you're all going to pay for it, you won't survive through the week." Bryant chuckled. Derek ran up last, only getting a slight glimpse of the whole predicament before Bryant ran off at an unmatchable speed. I wiped blood from my busted lip and plopped down on a tree stump, trying to relax my muscles.
"I'll go get some ice." Jared offered, running to the small inside building. Raleigh explained the whole thing to Derek and he pondered over the subject for a moment.
"He said something about changing, and that I didn't know something. He never told what though." I mentioned, pressing the ice against my throbbing head. Derek nodded and glanced around the three of us.
"We need to find out what's going on. Jared, you should look around the mansion. If you see anything suspicious, check it out. Raleigh, you and I are going to see if we can find where Bryant went." He ordered. Derek must have had some leadership quality because the others excepted their tasks with no protests.
"What about me?" I questioned. I hadn't gotten any orders. He must have forgotten that I'm capable of things too. Derek glanced over at me and hesitated.
"Just rest. You shouldn't be doing anything big with those injures." Derek turned as if to dismiss me but I wasn't finished.
"But they're not even that bad. Just a few bruises and scrapes." I countered, not wanting to be useless. Derek sighed softly and turned back to face me.
"I have nothing for you to do. Just go to your room and rest up. You hit your head pretty hard and I don't need you getting anymore injuries when I need you." Derek stalked off annoyed, Raleigh following behind him. Jared had already hurried off to the mansion and I was left alone in the muddy training field. I let out a small sigh and started to make my way back to the room. Derek's car peeled out the driveway in a hurry, nearly hitting me in the process. A flash of movement caught my eye by the front gate. It wasn't the car, and it didn't look like a small animal. I didn't think too much of it until shots were fired and flew past me like a bunch of wasps.

[baestille]

Moarrrrrr

[Butterfly~kitten]

i just read every chapter... I NEED MORRRRRRRREEE OR I DIE!

[jinixe]

Please...I beg chu..more

[natures-daughter]

The shot of gunfire gave me quite a scare. I swung my head in the direction of the shots and ducked for cover behind a tree. I gave myself a good two seconds to collect my thoughts then ran as fast as I could to the shooting range. Bullets flew pasted me. My only logical plan was to grab a gun and help Raleigh and Derek. I glanced back, Derek and Raleigh were both crouched down under the dashboard, shooting at what ever they could.
Once I got to the shooting range, I grabbed one gun and loaded it. Grabbed a second and placed it in my back pocket. The unanswered questions were starting to give me a head ache but I kept myself moving back to the attack area. The shots had become louder and I took cover behind a tree, occasionally sticking my head out and shooting at a few of the people with guns. I ended up missing a lot because I only went to shoot for a few seconds before finding cover again.
Being stupid, I ran out and ducked underneath the car. I pulled myself on the pavement until I saw a pair of legs. I knew they weren't any of my comrades so I shot at them twice. The man howled in pain the fell to the ground. The sad thing is he stared straight at me when I shot him in the head. One of the tires popped from being shot and i resisted my instincts to scream. I covered my mouth so my position wasn't discovered.
I continued with what I was doing until the fire ceased. I waited a few minutes then heard three more shots and a scream of pain. Two more shots fired and I saw a mans limp body fall to the ground. My skin began to itch at the realization the agonized screams were female and it was with no doubt, Raleigh. I waited another moment before crawling out from under the car and up to Raleigh. Derek jumped out of the car and ran around to her side where I was now, yanking open the car door. We both pulled her out and gently lay her on the grass. Raleigh let out painful gasps of protest.
"It's going to be alright." Derek said to her as soothingly as he could. I kept watch around the area while Derek rummaged threw his glove box and started to bandage Raleigh's wounds.
Minutes later, Jared, Mathew, and a few paramedics came running out onto the muddy lawn. They picked Raleigh up and rushed her into the house. Jared and Derek went back to our building to talk. I was just about to follow them when I saw Mathew standing near the front gates, watching and waiting.
I carefully approached him and stuck my hands in my coat pockets.
"Y'know, it was probably Bryant who led those people over here. He's a traitor, I wouldn't sit around waiting for him to come back. He's a monster now not your son." The words came out more harsh than I had wanted but it got through to him.
"I know, but i don't want to believe it." Mathew turned around and sighed. "I'm sorry he attacked you. I just never expected him to turn out like this." Silence followed him words but then Mathew pulled on a smile.
"You should get some rest, Astella. This has probably been a rough day for you." With that, Mathew Walters stalked off, back into his million dollar home.
I glanced in his direction, feeling sympathy for him. His only son had turned into a raving, vengeful monster. Worn out and weak, I trudged back to the second building.
I didn't even have a second to collapse onto my bed before Jared ran in, telling me to meet with him and Derek. I groaned and pulled myself back up.
"One second, let me just wipe up all this blood." I said to him sarcastically. I walked into the bathroom and started running the water in the sink.
"Probably a good idea, you look pretty beaten up." Jared mentioned warily.
"I was beaten up. I'm just glad he didn't take my lunch money." We both chuckled and I ran a wet rag across my face. My nose was filled with dried blood , my eye was nearly swollen shut, I had a huge lump on my head, and a collection of scratched and bruises. I poked at the swelling and hissed in pain.
"Alright, this better be good." I glanced up at Jared who was waiting patiently for me and we left the room.
**
"Jared, what did you find out in the mansion?" Derek asked. His voice that had once held assertion and power now seemed weak and drained, like me. We were sitting around Derek's room. Posters and sketches littered the dark grey walls. His room was surprisingly clean for a guy. The only thing on the ground was his blur electric guitar which sat neatly on a stand. Jared and I sat on Derek's bed, fitted with black and blue sheets, while Derek paced the room.
"Well there's a lot their not telling us. I only had a little time before the attack but I did ask around and apparently we were supposed to get strawberry short cake last night but the cooks ate it!" Jared sounded appalled. I stifled a snort of amusement, but Derek didn't seem to have the patience.
"Jared." Derek growled a warning and Jared chuckled.
"Alright, that's not even the best part. I started snooping around Mathews office and found this code laying on the desk. I searched around for what it might be for and noticed one of the bookcases had been moved. There was a secret door, it led down to some science lab I guess." I glanced over at Derek in surprise but he was staring intensely at the floor, processing everything he just heard.
"There were a bunch of syringes and test tubes. I stole a paper with all out names on it and some ability's plus our own." Jared handed Derek and he read it over. His brow knitted together while reading. "They're planning something big." Jared added.
"What should we do?" I broke in. Derek folded the paper and shoved it in his back pocket.
"I think we should run, go into hiding. You saw what's on that paper, I don't like our odds.!" I felt my gut clench hearing Jared.
"Well, we can't just leave Raleigh! They're still patching her up, she'd be in to condition to travel for awhile!" I mentioned. It would be wrong to leave her here where she would be tested on and most likely die. Derek nodded in agreement.
"She's right, we can't abandon Raleigh. But we don't even know if they mean us harm. We can't leave until Raleigh recovers anyway, so I say we stay, train, and plan. At the sign of threat we'll be long gone." Derek offered. Jared and I both nodded in agreement while I thought over Derek's plan. Where would we even go after we left? There would be no way I'd ever be able to actually go home. I wouldn't put my mother or the others, who I considered my family, in danger.
"Alright, it's passed midnight. We all should get some well deserved sleep." Jared broken the silence. He patted me on the back and left the room, leaving me and Derek. Derek looked me over and walked over to me, sitting on the bed next to me. We hadn't really talked since last night by the pond. That night felt like it had been weeks ago. It was the last moment we had.
"How you feeling?" Derek asked awkwardly. He seemed distant and I knew why. I knew exactly why.
"I'm fine, just a few bruises here and there" I glanced over at him his dark hair shading his eyes.
"I assure you, it's mush more than a few bruises. You look like you're in a lot of pain." Derek looked up at me and touched my cheek sending chills down my spine.
"I'll be alright." I murmured, not cracking a smile. Derek hesitated and searched my face for emotion but I concealed it well, hoarding my feelings behind a brick wall in my mind. Derek gently wrapped his around around me and hugged me, resting his head on my shoulder. This would be the moment in a movie where the whole crowd goes 'awe!' The tough guy getting all emotional.
"I'm sorry." He murmured quietly so the words would hardly reach me.
"Why?" I demanded wanting to tell me what was eating me alive.
"For ignoring you around the others, acting like there is nothing between us when we both know there is. I just didn't want to seem weak for having such feeling for you." Derek crumpled in defeat. I held him tighter and felt him sigh softly. That brick wall broke down and I let my emotions show. I lay back on the bed and held up Derek's face.
"I can't stay mad at you for to long." A smile tugged at Derek's lips and he moved a little so his face was only inches from mine.
"Astella. . ." Derek faltered and leaned down his lips on mine. "Astella, I think I love you." I felt my cheeks flush and the words formed a large lump in my throat.
"Ah, yeah." I breathed, pulling my head up and kissing him again. Derek hesitantly pulled away and stared down at me.
"Just 'yeah'?" He asked, obviously hurt. I was about to say something but clamped my mouth shut, not finding the right words. I would have bolted out the that room instantly if I could but Derek's muscled torso lay on top of me, depriving me from wiggling free. I did not, and would probably never, say those three words to him. When I did, I just got hurt badly. Instead of explaining I changed the subject.
"You know you're a great drawer." Well, it sounded better in my head.
"Astella!" Derek demanded an answer.
"I won't say it!" I shouted back, squeezing my eyes shut and sinking underneath him. Derek hesitated, I could tell he was staring at me with his laser like eyes.
"Don't you trust me?" He asked, the pain obviously in his voice. I figured this was one of those moments where silence was your best answer. Derek obviously understood and sat up, staring at the ground. I pulled myself up and walked away, stopping in the door way.
"I'm sorry." I murmured before walking out, leaving me mentally smacking my forehead and both of us heart broken.

[jinixe]

Awww darn it >.< I wanted her and Jared

[natures-daughter]

I guess it's like team Jared and team Derek haha.

[natures-daughter]

How many people had I killed? How many family's were grieving the loss of their family member? Now, I had just lost count. And how much grief would my mother have to go through before she grew old and died? I swore to myself i wouldn't let her go through another death. I couldn't feel guilty about killing those people, and I wouldn't give them the satisfaction of killing me either. I would hold my own until this whole thing was done.
I lay in my bed on a Saturday afternoon, my hands folded on my stomach and my eyes trained on the cream colored ceiling. The weather had actually showed it could be nice and everyone else was outside playing kickball with some of Mathew's staff. Jared invited me to play but I refused to leave my room. I had my reasons. For one, I didn't think I could bring myself to face Derek after the incident about a week ago. I couldn't look into his blue eyes and see all that hurt I saw that night. That would be too painful. Also, I had been feeling so guilty about all the kids who would never see their parent again because of me. Then again, they probably feel awful knowing their parent has been in an organization to kill a couple of teenagers.
Another reason I had, was to plan. Raleigh was progressively getting better and we seemed to be more in the dark about everything since Bryant turned into that thing. Jared had tried to get into the lab again but security was higher and strange people were starting to come over to Mathew's home. Some would stare at us and point like we were a science legend. I tried to ignore them best I could.
I had my suspicions and was skeptical about Mathew's guests but I had no proof that he wanted to harm us, or kill us. I shivered at the thought and sat up. I grabbed the paper on the desk and read it over again. Most of it made absolutely no sense to the three of us, just a bunch of numbers and codes. All i could make out was this:

нʏвʀıᴅ тᴇsт тнᴇσʀıᴇs
sυвנᴇcт ɴᴀмᴇ: ᴀsтᴇʟʟᴀ вʀσσκs
cυʀʀᴇɴт sκıʟʟ: cσмвᴀт
вʀᴀıɴ υsᴀɢᴇ: Ձ૩%
ᴇхρᴇcтᴇᴅ sκıʟʟs: υɴκɴσωɴ
ᴇхρᴇcтᴇᴅ вʀᴀıɴ υsᴀɢᴇ: Ƽ૦%

On the others form, it told what their expected skills would be. For instance, Jared would eventually be able to have X-Ray vision. that thought made me uneasy knowing he would be capable of seeing though my clothes. Derek could already place false memories into someones mind, but he was expected to also enter someones mind. He would be able to see their memories and send them thoughts. Raleigh would be able to track anything she wanted to or sense a threat coming. That would defiantly come in handy. Those were just examples, they each had two or three expect ability's while mine was blank. Why didn't they know about me? Was it because I just came here?
I placed down the paper and pulled the sleeves of my sweatshirt down so only my finger tips shown. Believe it or not, i was going outside. I walked out of my room and down the hall to the double doors leading outside. I really didn't want to face Derek but I had to figure out his plan because Raleigh was watching the game and would be just fine in a few more days.
I crossed my arms uncomfortably over my chest and watched a little bit of the game.
Jared was standing on the pitchers mount, rolling the ball around in his hand. Derek stood on home plate, ready for the ball to be thrown. Jared pitched with an incredible speed and Derek hit the ball with an incredible strength, nearly spilling the ball in half. I watched as the ball flew through the air, farther than any other hit I'd ever seen.
"Home run." I murmured to myself as Derek flew through the bases, hitting home plate again with no problem. He and his team cheered happily but Derek's smile faded slightly seeing me. As he walked toward me, I noticed the beats of sweat on his brow and the muscles in his legs rippling from the work they just did.
"What's up?" He asked, pulling the rim of his shirt up to wipe the sweat away. I couldn't help but notice his long, lanky built underneath his shirt. He was wearing knee-length Adidas shorts and a skin tight, white V-neck.
"Uh, I just wanted to know what your input is about when Raleigh is fully recovered because she's getting better by the day and-"
"Woah, hold up Astella.We're not leaving for awhile." Derek cut me off in a low whisper. I noticed the anger radiating from him. He was still angry that I didn't trust him.
"But we need to know what we're doing and where we're going if there's a threat." I murmured loud enough for him to hear.
"We don't even know if there is a threat. Why don't you just chill and play a game of softball with us? You need to come out of that room sometime." Derek flashed a smile.
"I don't play sports." I murmured, a bit embarrassed.
"Come on, you'd be great!" Derek grabbed onto my wrist and grinned brightly.
When we were kids, Derek, Dalila, and a few kids from the neighborhood would play a game of soccer but I would just sit and watch. He knew that it would aggravate me if he tried to coax me into playing and it angered me that he did.
"Astella, loosen up. Don't you trust me?" His grin faded and he stared at me intently. I narrowed my eyes and shook my head, pulling my arm from his grasp.
"No, I'll sit and watch with Raleigh." I protested, making my way over to Raleigh.
"Nope!" Derek shoved an over sized baseball helmet on my head and shoved a baseball bat into my chest. "Let's see what you got." Rage coursed through my veins, heating my blood. I wouldn't turn him down now, I'd take the challenge. I trudged over to the base and held the bat up awkwardly. Jared smirked and threw the ball gently underhand. It flew passed me and I refused to swing.
"No!" I shouted at him. "I'm not a child! Actually pitch the ball!" I demanded, clutching the bat tighter. Shocked silence at my small outburst followed as the ball was thrown back to Jared. Jared pitched the ball too quick for my vision to catch. I swung but missed. I expected a couple of chuckles to come from the other team but none came. Even Raleigh seemed to be watching me intently.
Jared readied himself and threw the balls hard as he could. This time I was ready. I swung the bat again, and to my surprise, hit the ball. I dropped the bat and ran as fast as I could. The people in the outfield fumbled around, shocked, running after the ball and throwing it around.
The rest of it happened so fast, first base, second, third. Then at the last second I slid hands first onto home plate. I stood up, ignoring the amazed people. I pulled off the helmet and shoved it into Derek's chest.
"And now you've seen what I've got." I growled angrily. Before I could stomp off Derek grabbed onto my wrist and pulled up the sleeve I didn't have time to stop him. He inspected my wrist, the scars actually. I stiffened and stared at the ground, disappointed in myself. Derek stared at the scars then at me in horror. Everyone on the field was watching us, trying to figure out what was going on.
"Why would you do this?" He asked me, pain in his voice as if I had put all those scars onto his wrist. I ripped my wrist away from him and stared at him, pulling down the sleeve to my sweatshirt.
"None of your business." I murmured, giving him one last angry glance before running off back to my room. I felt tears brim in my eyes. He never needed to know, no one did. Only Dalila had known about that. I hadn't done it in so long it seemed but now I was reminded of the urge and had to force myself to try and ignore it. I ran into my room and collapsed on my bed holding in every single tear. Someone knocked on the door and I burst up, blocking the door.
"Don't come in." I murmured, pressing all my weight against the door. I really hoped it wasn't Derek, he would pressure me about it.
"Astella please let me in." It wasn't Derek's voice, but Jared's behind the door. I hesitantly moved away from the door and opened it. Jared looked confused and concerned. I moved away from the door and sat back down on my bed, pulling my sleeves down a little more. "What did Derek say to you? Did he hurt you? He seemed pretty pissed. I was too far away hear what you guys were saying." Jared questioned me frantically. "I swear, if he hurt you, I'll kill him."
"I'm fine, Jared. But it's sweet of you to worry." I forced on a smile just to relieve him.
"But you ran back inside after saying something, you looked like you were about to cry." Jared tried to coax me into divulging everything.
"I don't cry." I snapped, I did not want to seem weak. Jared seemed a little shocked but just shook it off.
"I know that, I know you're strong. But that guy doesn't have a nice bone in his body. He hardly goes out with a girl for a week until he gets what he wants, if you know what I mean." Jared sat down next to me on the bed.
"Really?"
"Yeah, it's kinda sad actually. And he has no sympathy for anyone really. He's tough. . ." Jared trailed off when i got annoyed and pulled down my sleeve and showed him my wrist. I squeezed my eyes shut while he stared at it. I knew he was going to find out somehow. Either he'd notice it or Derek would tell him.
"So that's what you were talking about." Jared murmured, swallowing a lump in his throat. I nodded, my eyes still refused to open, refusing to see his expression. "Why would you do this to yourself?" Jared asked, confusion in his voice. I just shook my head and forced my eyes to open. Jared just nodded, understanding that I wasn't ready to tell him everything. There was silence for a moment then Jared gently took my scarred wrist in his hand, brought it up to his lips, and softly kissed each scar there was. I felt my cheeks get hot and looked down, hoping he didn't notice.
"Please don't do it again." He murmured before leaving me alone.

[jinixe]

Nice chapter. ._.I Was surprised what Jared said about Derek tho :I