The Elite Four

chapter 7

QUICK RECAP: Max, Tarynn, Zoey and Drake all agreed to help their art teacher - Mr Traven, to hold the art exhibition. Damien, the leader of Alpha Five,  mysteriously came up to Tarynn and told her that his artwork would be the main attraction at the art exhibition. They were now at Max and Tarynn's house, hosting their own movie night.

Chapter 7

* Tarynn's POV *

I walked into the room to see Zoey and Max looking blankly at the mess on the floor. As soon as I shut the door, they turned to me, surprised that I was there.

"Tarynn, we were looking through all these discs and ended up making a huge mess on the floor," said Max. "That's only because Max wanted to watch a chick flick and I wanted to watch an action movie," said Zoey.

I looked at them incredulously. "Is that really your big dilemma here? Guys! We're soon-to-be adults. Don't you think we should be able to decide on one movie to watch?"

Their eyes widened as they looked at me. Max, in particular, had his mouth agape. "Woah, woah, woah. Firstly, we're already adults. And secondly, girl, where did all that sass come from?"

"From within."

I heard a creak as the door open and in came Drake.

"I just lost popcorn and Tarynn just lost potatoes. C'mon guys, decide on a movie," said Drake as he looked at us expectantly.

"Potatoes?" asked Zoey with a puzzled look on her face. "I get Drake with his obsession with popcorn-"

"Caramelized popcorn," interrupted Drake.

Zoey's grey eyes darted back at Drake, obviously annoyed at his interrupting. "Yeah yeah, caramelized popcorn. What's the deal with potatoes though?"

"Zoey my dear, my sister has an ill obsession with sweet potatoes. It's the only thing that shuts her up when she's on her period."

"Max!"

My face burst into flames as I glared at Max.

Wasn't he just the perfect brother?

"Hey, don't be so mean," said Zoey. I smiled. We have a savior. "After all, you're going to be the one that's going to be handling Tarynn when she's on her period, that is, until Drake takes over."

Max burst into laughter as my face proceeded to turn an even darker shade of red that it looked like every red blood cell in my body had escaped to my face. I couldn't tell how Drake looked like but I knew that even if his emotionless face was as emotionless, his brain was probably filled with lots of colorful words.

"Oh Tarynn, you're just so adorable to bully. And, it is so exceptionally easy," boasted Max as he picked out a disc from the pile on the floor.

"We're watching this tonight," he announced.

I hadn't even gotten the chance to see the movie title before Zoey snatched the disc away.

"Nu-uh. We will be watching The Mentalist!"

"No!" yelled Max in horror as he ripped the disc away from Zoey's hand.

"We will be watching a documentary tonight."

Our heads turned towards the man in question. I stared at Drake. What kind of old man was buried in him?

Before anyone of us could even retort, old man spoke again.

"And it's final."

~~~

20 minutes into the documentary, Zoey was fast asleep and I was close to falling asleep. On the other hand, Max was deeply engrossed, accompanied by Drake.

"Max, can you please turn down the volume? I'm trying to hibernate here," mumbled Zoey.

"Shhh you polar bear. This is the most exciting part!"

I heard Zoey grumble as I lifted an eyelid and narrowed my eyes at the screen. The whales were floating in water, looking just as bored as Zoey and I were.

I yawned and sighed in exasperation. Moving gently out of the sofa, I felt for the door knob and twisted it.

"I'm going to get something to drink. You guys want anything?"

I took the silence as a "no" and went down the stairs to the kitchen.

"What's so interesting about whales? I mean, they're big and live in the sea... Okay fine they have blowholes. People don't have blowholes so alright, that's the most fascinating thing. But hello, dolphins also have blowholes! Oh gosh, Tarynn. Stop talking to yourself."

I ran both hands through my hair, forming a bird's nest on the top of my head.

Sighing, I walked to the fridge and yanked the door open, searching for something to drink. Well, looks like water was all there was.

I took a big gulp of water and closed the fridge, satisfied that my thirst was quenched. Yawning loudly, I sat myself on a chair.

Click.

I blinked my eyes as I registered the sound I heard. I definitely heard something, it wasn't my imagination.

Click.

Again, the same sound.

I scanned my surroundings and focused my senses.

The sound was coming from above.

"Tarynn, what are you still doing downstairs?"

Drake came walking down the stairs, appearing in front of me. I gave him a look and silently gave him a thumbs-up, trying to tell him that there was someone tailing us from the higher floors of the house. The stalker didn't seem to have noticed that I had noticed his presence as I heard another click of the camera

Drake didn't seem to have understood what I was trying to tell him as he looked at my hand, before looking back at me, clearly confused.

Slowly, I dragged the glass cup along the countertop towards me, trying to get the reflection of the stalker on the cup.

A flash could now be seen as Drake's eyes flinched, affected by the bright flash.

His green eyes zoomed in on mine as recognition surfaced.

Taking a deep breath of air, he gave me the same thumbs-up sign, pointing at where the stalker was. I took a quick glance at the cup again. He was on the balcony.

I looked back at Drake's eyes as he jerked his head towards the balcony.

I read his moving lips: 1, 2, 3...

At the count of 3, we ran up the stairs. Drake rushed to the balcony and the stalker realized, quickly scrambling to escape.

Luckily, Drake had managed to catch up to the stalker just as he was trying to climb a tree. He yanked the stalker's camera from his neck as he slammed him down on the wood of the balcony.

"Who are you?"

The fierce and commanding voice of Drake reverberated through the air.

The stalker pushed Drake's chest roughly and tried to jump off the balcony. But, it was to no avail as Drake got back onto his feet and pinned him to the ground.

I took a step forward and quickly pulled onto the black mask that was covering his face. What I didn't expect was that the person underneath the disguise was someone I actually recognized.

"Benjamin?"

Author's Note!

Writer's block has been cleared after 6 months and I will be able to finish the story by the end of this year! I apologise for the wait again as I've just undergone a surgery and thus needed time to rest ^^ Also, happy hanukah and happy thangsgiving (yes, I know I'm late) to those who celebrate the occasion(s). Will be back in a jiffy!