God of Strength (Light of Obsession #1)

Chapter 8

Alicia

Vaughn kissed me. Oh dear God, why? This is like the second guy I've ever kissed, well... willingly. I check my reflection in the mirror, smoothing out my hair and attempting to calm down the flush on my cheeks then rush to open the door.

"You alright, Little Angel?" Eli asks, his eyes scanning me. My face is probably still red, despite my breathing being calm.

"Yeah! Just a bit hot, heh." The lie slips out so easily and a feeling of guilt sits on my heart. God, I hate lying to my family. It's absolutely horrible, I never lie to them about anything and now it's all I seem to do.

They think I don't know, but before I left for college, dad tasked Eli and Creigh to look out for me. So, whatever I do gets back to dad through them. Which is why I haven't told them about Vaughn. Not to mention, they'd also flip their lids.

His eyes flit to the teddy in my hands and raises an eyebrow.

"Oh! I bought him! His name is Barry, adorable, huh?" I say, chuckling.

"Hm, I will never understand the weird connections you have with those stuffed animals. Anyway, I came to ask you to lunch with me and Creigh." He switches the subject, thank God.

"Yes, of course! Come on, lets go!" I say, grabbing him by his hand and rushing outside.

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This is such a bad idea. I'm stood in between God knows how many people, all wearing masks in preparation for the initiation.

Why did I come here? Curiosity really is going to kill the cat, isn't it?

The Heathens are stood above us. Orange mask in the middle, green and red to his side. To the other side, yellow and white masks. White mask, I can recognize anywhere. Vaughn. He's swinging a mace.

I can tell it's him purely by his stance and oh lord, he's terrifying like this. I don't see the Vaughn who gifted me a teddy bear or took me to dinner. I see Vaughn Morozov, mafia heir and future Pakhan.

Horrifying.

Orange mask, who I assume is Jeremy Volkov, introduces the initiation. A chase. Well, good thing I wore my running shoes. He gives us all one last chance to leave, a couple people shuffle outside. But my idiotic self remains in place, where'd my sense of safety go?

The count down begins and I rush outside, attempting to avoid being trampled by the other contestants.

        The woods are dense and foggy, I can already feel the burn in my legs and I stumble and sprint away.

I can hear the hoards of people rushing behind me as they scatter and disperse.

My game plan? Hide. I find a dense area, the fog stronger and duck in there. I hide between a plethora of trees, attempting to calm down my racing heart.

A few contestants race through the area, but none of them stopped to see me. Whether that's because my hiding spot is good or because they're just as stressed as I am, I don't know.

      Contestants are being eliminated left and right, I hear the announcements booming from above.

     A man races past me, attempting to hide somewhere near. I hold my breath when yellow mask; Nikolai, approaches, dragging the man as he thrashed against him.

     A girl to my right dashes out of the bushes, being shortly followed by red mask; Killian, and orange mask hunts down another girl.

     Garreth and Vaughn are the only two I haven't seen yet, seems the other three are too preoccupied to notice me.

      I hear the crunch of a leaf come near, footsteps getting loud. Oh God, I don't dare to breathe, pushing myself closer against the tree I'm hiding behind.

       I peel my head out and see the back of Vaughns hood, as he scans the area. He laughs, the sound rich and... manic.

       "Oh, Kukolka, I know you're here... come out, come out..." He taunts. Oh God. How does he know I'm here?

       I stay in place as he continue to taunt me, hopefully he'll just give up. Assume I ran somewhere.

       As his taunts die down and I hear his footsteps drown out as he walks away, I exit my hiding spot. Carefully stepping out to scope the area.

       A hand covers my mouth and smashes me against their chest.

       "Found you, My Alicia." The voice is immediately recognizable, Vaughn caught me.

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A/N:
Well, hello hellooo. I hope you lied the chapter ;))) Vaughns more psychopathic and manic side is gonna show in the initiation, although he usually doesn't like to show it around Alicia. He can't help himself in such situations
Don't forget to please vote and comment <333