Don't Ever Trust the Devil

Chapter 21

Crystal's POV

A whole day has gone by.

Everyone's tired, and really excited to get off the bus.

Or at least I am. This place has been horrible. I've been sleeping beside Andy on the rock hard subway chairs up in the front of the section for the past nights.

But we're finally here in New York, and I'm excited as ever.

"How are all of the Runaway groups gonna fit there? There's already 1000 of us in one group." I ask.

"The IRH consists of two hotel-like buildings, so at least 4,000 of us will fit into one. And don't forget, our group is one of the biggest." Andy replies.

I nod. "What about training?"

"They have hundreds and hundreds of different weapons. This place is the Runaway root, we get all our supplies from here."

We walk for about 15 more minutes, and finally arrive at a giant, closed in wall.

"Can the Scarecrows see it?" I ask.

"No. This place has the perimeter lights and guards that watch it 24/7." Andy replies. "You won't believe how many Scarecrows walk by innocently, and are shot in the face by a guard." He laughs.

Dave pulls something black and white out of his pocket, and shows it to a security camera.

The door makes a clicking noise and it opens.

"This is how we acknowledge that we're a Runaway. It's a bandana." He says, showing all Recruits.

The bandana is half white, half black and there's the bottom half of a skull on both sides.

We walk in, and it's like a mini city. I thought the IRH was one building at first. But no, its a whole community.

"Hot damn." My jaw drops.

"Welcome to the IRH." Andy put an arm around me. "You guys should hang out here for now, I'll check in with the leader."

He walks off and we all stand, admiring the buildings.

~~~~~

About 30 minutes later I'm sick of admiring the buildings.

Andy finally comes back, and we all arrive at a hotel.

"We're not the first group here, apparently." Andy announces. "A group from in NYC is here. They took up all of the first and second floor. There's 700 of them, so we'll take up the entire third, fourth and fifth floors."

Everyone is told to pair off into groups of four: your tent partner plus another tent group.

"Andy, I didn't have a tent partner back at the camp site." I say.

"I'll stay with you." He smiles.

"You're supposed to be with Dave though."

"There's four extra rooms on our floors. Crown plus Bones can split into three and three. I can stay with you."

"Do you think any of the Runaways hate me?" I sigh.

"Why would they?"

"I feel like I get special treatment. Because you're my Guardian."

"No, they'll understand. And if they don't, I'll make them. Don't worry, Crys." He squeezes my shoulder.

We are all given keys to our rooms. Andy tosses me one to room 462. I quickly make my way up the stairs and find the room.

There's two beds, a bathroom and a balcony.

I hear Andy walk in. "Hey, lunch is in an hour at the food court."

"Wheres that?"

"A different building. I suggest you change and put on a new Runaway uniform."

I hop into the bathroom and change from one set of black clothes to another set of identical black clothes.

~~~~~

An hour goes by and we go to the food court. There's rows and rows of tables, but no food.

I see Brent jump onto a table. "Runways!" He shouts into the megaphone he brought along. "Take a seat. I'm Brent of the Dallas Runaway group." He waits for everyone to sit in a chair. "For most of you, it's probably your first time at the IRH. And so this being a food court may seem kind of weird. You're probably thinking, where's the food?" He pauses. "Do you all see the small screen on the side of the table?"

I check. The edge has a tiny phone sized screen there, just for me. Everyone has their own.

"You order from there. You will get your meal from a waitor." Brent says. "Have a good lunch, eat up. Training starts at 1:00 today."

Andy plops down beside me. "Hey."

"Hey." I reply. "What time is it?"

He checks his watch. "Ten. We have three hours before training."

I scroll through the list of foods, and decide on plain cheese pizza.

When I'm done, I wait for Andy.

"Finished. Lets go." He grabs my arm and pulls me out of the food court.

Andy charges through the crowd, crashing into everyone. "Sorry. Excuse me. Pardon me." I say to whoever I bump into.

We stop at a gate.

"What're we doing here?" I wonder.

He unlocks the gate. "Can you swim?"

I nod.

Andy grabs my arm again and pulls me to a pool.

"Good." He says, milliseconds before he pushes me into the pool.

I shut my eyes, the cold water tingling through my body.

"Cannonball!" Andy shouts, and jumps in after me. He rises to the surface and shakes his wet hair. "Fuck yes!"

"You're insane, Andy!" I say, laughing.

"I know I am." He brings me to the shallow end.

"We're soaking." I giggle.

He grabs my waist and pulls me closer to him.

The warmth of his body makes the pool seem less cold.

And with that, his lips collide with mine.

I wrap my arms around him, accepting the kiss.

Andy peels his sticky shirt off of his body and helps me with mine as we both stop the kiss to hug one another.

"I love you, Crystal. I have since I was assigned to take care of you. Don't forget that. I'm here for you, forever and always." He says.

It takes a moment for me to reply back. "I love you too, Andy."

We sit on the pool steps wrapped around each other, and just sit there.

~~~~~

Writing block ._.
But ayee, finally making andy and crystal a thing now