Kept in the Dark

Kept in the Dark - Chapter 8

Saphrina ran forward a large smile on her face.

"We have been expecting you!" She screeched out excitedly. We have been? I wasn't expecting company. More teenagers stepped out of thick forest surrounding the training grounds. I had liked the idea of being surrounded by forest and shrubbery no one would be able to see us until they were just a few feet away but now I saw that it could be an advantage for people trying to sneak up on us. Unease settled in my gut. There was a total of eight of them four girls and four guys all very beautiful each in their own unique way. A pair of twins in the back were especially attractive one had long silky blonde hair and the other had shoulder length choppy blonde hair, both were exquisitely beautiful but the long haired one was much prettier. I would be pissed if I was the uglier twin but I guess when your sister looks like that second best was still stunning.

"Ah I see the rest have arrived. Would you guys like to have the day off and rest or get right to training?" General Shaif asked from the porch of the house. A tall muscular kid with dark black hair stepped forward glancing at the others as he did, obviously taking the role as the team leader.

"Are they training today?" He shook his head toward us. His voice was deep, much deeper than I had expected it to be even with his extreme height, and it reverberated through me like the bass line of a song. General Shaif shrugged. "Then we will train too."

"Excellent. Please take your things inside. your rooms have now been marked. Take your time to shower and eat. We will wait for you here." The kids sprinted inside as if they didn't want us to have too long before they got back. Who were these people? I threw a questioning glance at Lane as he fumbled out the front door and down the walkway.

"Um are we being robbed? A bunch of kids just ran past me and up the stairs. They headed into the wrong rooms if they are robbers. Maybe I should go let them know." I burst out laughing easing the tension the new comers had started.

"No we aren't being robbed Lane apparently there are more of us."

"Yes, Grace your right there was another tournament and these were the top fighters from that one." My mouth formed an "O" as I let this sick in. That made sense I didn't think we had everyone in the first tournament anyways. New powers were always fun to see, and to train with. Hopefully everyone was cool and we didn't get any snobby ho's. "Actually I was not expecting them for another day or two. We are going to have a slight change of plans. Please meet me in the dining room in ten minutes time. Everyone." He looked around pointedly. We all shook our heads that we understood and he made his way back up to the house. I looked over to Lane who was watching Misty curiously as she flirted with Kallum laughing and touching his chest. Ugh she was as bad as Kallum. I walked over to Lane, looped my arm through his and leaned into his side. He turned his gaze down to me questioning. He was such a nice guy. Why couldn't I like him? He wouldn't hurt me and I wouldn't hurt him it would be such a safe and simple relationship. The world was a cruel place. I tried to find things I liked about him, well that's easy he was gorgeous for one, his brown hair was short and his green eyes were bright with excitement like they always were, his smile came easy and was beautiful. One of those contagious smiles where he looked so happy you smiled too to try and grab some of that happiness. He was tall and muscular like all the men here were, kind of had to be to even be here, and he was so kind. My gut turned with hatred for Kallum and for myself. Why couldn't I hate him? Why did I have to be the cliché women that was going after the bad guy? Why? Why? Why? I mocked myself. Snap out of it. Learn and move on. I glanced back towards Kallum who was chatting easily with the others. The one that can charm the pants off of you can charm the pants of every other women here, don't kid yourself that your special. I sighed my stupid inner voice was always right. Glancing back I saw that Lane was still watching me, I threw him a smile.