GENESIS

CHAPTER 9: UNSAID IS SAID

Silence. I loved this feeling. It made me feel like I was the only one here, and no one could hurt me. Of course, I was wrong. Alisa had a knife pressed against my skin, but I had one cut into her stomach. She winced at the pain and jumped away, but pounced again. I punched her in the jaw, leaving blood smeared across her cheek.

'We don't have to f-' I couldn't even finish before she lunged with her sword and nearly got me, but instead impaled one of her people behind me. I grabbed her outstretched arm and spun her to the ground. As I held onto her, I saw everyone else fighting for their lives. Ria was barely winning and she was the best warrior I knew, and Mira was breathing deeply while on the ground and surrounded by arrows. The fighting went on forever. Everything was just quick movements of red, and they went before I could catch up with them.

My eyes flew wide when I finally realised to think about the kids. I whipped around and spotted them. I suddenly felt this unbearable pain like a shock wave going from my stomach to my legs. Then I saw their expressions. All of my friends looked at me and went incredibly pale. I looked down. A bullet hole seeped with blood near my ribs. I didn't have time to do or say anything. I just fell to the ground, Alisa rising again. Was everything going slowly black anyone else? I wheezed and coughed. Adrienne was at my side. Or was that Sasha? I couldn't tell. My eyes nearly closed completely before a yellow light burst out that I had to open them. Sasha was crying. Her tears were smeared all over her face, and she had an expression that a small child like that was never meant to know. They all sobbed. Even Noah and Ria were down felt. None of them noticed that my eyes were open yet. I moved my hand to touch all their heads. Alisa and her crew were gone now, but they would definitely come back later. I was now crowded and showered with hugs and touches.

'You scared us half to death! Don't do that!' Mira cried, and I smiled sadly. I nearly died today. That means that Alisa was stronger than before. Stronger than most of my enemies. We had to up our game. I sat up tall and touched my wound. Stitches held the skin together, but most of it was done by magic.

'Alisa is going to come back. This time with an even bigger team than before. Maybe... She might gather all my enemies. We have to get prepared,' I said with sign language. They all nodded. Noah sighed.

'Does that mean more training?' He moaned sarcastically. We all laughed.

☆

We paired off to work. I was training with Mira, so we could level up our combat skills. Ria and Adrienne were practising with us outside to create more wind pressure to make it harder to fight and exceed their limits. I was pretty sure Persephone and Sasha were having a heated debate over ships, and Persephone kept on saying I was liked by most everyone on the team. Noah and Marco were clicking away at the screens in the tech room, while Mizuki was... doing something about his powers. I let my demon roam the woods, checking for anything suspicious or dangerous.

Mira stopped for a moment. The music I was humming in my head disappeared. She continued, but started talking.

'You know... I feel like you've been on the team since forever,' She said while taking a lunge at me. I dodged and breathed out. 'How long has it been again?' She asked, kicking me in the stomach but didn't stop for my answer, 'I think it was... Wow. Only three weeks'. I thought about it. It really only has been three weeks. Felt like three years. I blocked her attack again and did a combo; punch, spin kick and sit. We both breathed rapidly and deeply, and I gulped, standing up.

'I don't think you're a killing machine. I mean, when you fight, you have some pretty awesome dance moves and stuff, but still,'she grinned, and I laughed hesitantly. There wasn't anything good about killing, but when you put it that way it sounds better. Maybe... Maybe it was for the better. She grabbed my arm and twisted me around, putting her foot on my back. I let go of one hand and flipped around to face her.

'All right, you two. Stop dancing.' Ria objected, and we all laughed. She made a face that said, what does a person have to do to be taken seriously around here? We continued training for a while, and no one talked. All we could hear were grunts and deep breaths for almost the entire day.

☆

'When are you guys gonna be done? Dinner is ready,'Persephone asked from the door. I wiped my head with a towel and threw it over my shoulder. Persephone leaned on the door frame.

'You guys,'She said, touching my arm, 'are incredibly sweaty. Go take a shower.'She flicked her head backwards. I sighed in relief and crashed on the couch. It had been a really long day. Marco was staring at me. I raised an eyebrow in confusion. He opened and closed his mouth, scooting closer as I sat up. 

  'Hey, um... could you do me a favour?'He asked nervously. I nodded. He reached into his pocket and pulled out something wrapped in a red handkerchief. 'Wear this. It'll protect you. At least for a while,'He said, unwrapping it and taking out a jade necklace, 'It's made for people who can survive huge things, like your gunshot wound. It has a spell that enhances your mind. Pretty much making you invincible, but I think you need it more than any of us since you'll be on the very front line.' I thanked him and put it on. Dinner was ready by now.

We all sat around the table, reaching over to grab the food that we wanted. I was scarfing down steak and mashed potato, occasionally adding some tomatoes into the mix.

'So,'Ria said with a mouthful of chicken, 'You gain a new crush?' I spat out a bit of water, spraying it over Ria. 'What?'I asked. She rolled her eyes and whispered in my ear, 'Marco.' I whacked her and she dissolved in giggles. I coughed into my hand and looked around. I revealed the necklace.

'Aw, he seriously does like you!'She said with a teasing voice, leaning forward. I swear, steam was coming out of my ears. I got my hands out of view of everyone and only Ria.

'It's this charm thingie to protect my soul or something. He said he would've given it to someone else but I was on the front line,'I said. She looked at me like what I just said wasn't helping with the 'crush' thing. When we turned around, we saw everyone staring at us. We burst out in laughter, but they still stared at us weirdly.

Soon, the sun fell and the moon rose. We got rid of the beds and huddled up in sleeping bags on the floor.