deCEIVED (Book 2)

23: Michaela

A/N: Okay, so I checked Wattpad a few day ago, and I found out that "deCIPHERED" had reached over 4,000 views! I was super happy about that, so thank you all SO much for making this happen! Also, the beautiful artwork above was created by Femdip_Pinetree, so go ahead & check her out! And the music I've included doesn't start until I add another author's note in this chapter, so in case you want to listen to it, this is just a heads-up.

❤️❤️Luna❤️❤️

"Michaela? Michaela? Can you hear me, Michaela?"

I sat up and opened my eyes. Lucas was standing in front of me, and we were still in our training room. The window next to me revealed how dark the sky was getting outside. This made me wonder if our extended training session was almost over.

"Did I do okay, Lucas?" I asked while I rubbed my forehead.

"You did great, Michaela. I couldn't be prouder of you."

I smiled at Lucas's response and followed him out of our training room. We passed by Holden and Nathan while we were heading off to the guest bedroom, but neither of them looked very relaxed. They held their fists close to their faces, sparks flying freely out of their closed fingers.

"Are you two okay?" I asked both of the boys.

"Keep it down!" Holden hissed.

"Yeah, it's bad enough that she knows you're here." Nathan added.

"Who are you talking about?" I inquired.

Nathan and Holden didn't respond. I turned to Lucas, hoping that he wasn't being as paranoid as the other two boys. Unfortunately, he was also prepared to fight, fiercely glaring at the end of the hallway while he took deep, heavy breaths.

I raised my eyebrows at all three of the boys in the hallway. "What's going on?" I asked myself under my breath.

I squinted and tried to spot something at the end of the hallway that was likely to trigger a large helping of paranoia in Nathan, Holden, and Lucas. I could only see a potted plant, a painting of a sycamore tree, and the figure of a middle school aged girl.

I slowly moved towards the girl, and as I got closer, I could see her features a lot easier. The girl had curly, coal-colored hair that almost seemed tangled, light brown eyes that made her long, dark eyelashes stand out, tan skin, light, rosy cheeks that conplimented her cheekbones, and full, heart shaped lips. This girl was very pretty, but there was something about her that made her seem like she was in a trance.

"Michaela," Holden whispered in a panicked voice, "back away from that girl!"

"Why?" I asked Holden with my voice at its normal volume.

This girl looked harmless and fragile- at first. Then she slightly lifted her chin up and pulled out a crossbow, which she pointed at my chest less than two seconds later.

"Gia Costello," Nathan growled, "if you even think about it, I swear, you will be in a world of pain when I'm through with you."

I swiped the girl's crossbow from her and tossed it to Holden. So this was Gia.

Holden didn't catch the crossbow- instead, the arrow brushed past his arm, and before he could shed any blood, Holden disappeared into thin air.