Caine & Diana || ˢᵗºʳʸ ºf ᵘˢ

CHAPTER ONE - 270 hours 25 minutes

edited 25/4/24

Diana slumped down on a chair, bored.

The dark-haired boy with the charming smile, Caine, was still sorting out their grand entrance at Perdido Beach. It was a lot of posturing and organisation, all to ensure Coates could establish control now that everyone over fifteen was gone.

Ridiculous, Diana thought, that Caine just had to be perfect. He was such a control freak that it was exhausting, but also somewhat endearing. Diana enjoyed the ambitious glint in his eyes, anyhow.

Another teenager, with shaggy blonde brown hair, stood beside Caine, listening silently to his orders. Like a dog, almost. Diana nearly laughed to herself.

The guy's name was Drake.

Drake Merwin.

There were rumours Drake was a psychopath, and Diana had seen firsthand that dangerous glint in his listless grey eyes. Then again, he was a bit of an idiot, following Caine's orders like a stupid servant. Diana knew he was dangerous, but he was still a lackey.

Drake then decided to walk past. Diana smirked. "Here's the eager little soldier."

He stiffened, riled up as easily as Diana had anticipated. "What did you just say?"

"I called you an eager soldier," she repeated innocently, looking at her nails. "Or would you prefer a loyal dog? They both fit."

Drake's cold dead eyes blazed with anger. "I wouldn't mess with me, Diana. You have no idea what I can do."

"You're right, I don't. But it won't be very exciting, coming from you. You're too busy sucking up to your boyfriend." She nodded at Caine.

Drake gritted his teeth together with barely controlled rage. "Caine, she's--"

"Oh, can't handle me alone?" Diana teased.

"I swear to God, if I had powers, you would be--"

"What's going on here?" A voice demanded

Diana's eyebrows shot up in anticipation.

Caine.

"Caine, this idiot was pestering me." Drake accused, eyes still blazing. "I think we should dump her in with the other freaks."

The other freaks meant all the people who had developed powers as soon as the adults vanished. That was another hellish development, one that Diana herself had acquired. But she wasn't about to give that away, not yet.

Caine walked into the room, frowning. "Who..?"

He paused as he gazed at Diana. Gazed deeply into her eyes, his own dark eyes softening like butter...

"Come on Caine, do something. Fling her! Anything!" Drake growled.

Caine stood, mouth open at Diana, speechless. Diana tried not to react, waiting.

Then he shook his head. "Right... I... First I gotta... Um..."

Caine grabbed Drake's shoulders and hauled him away from the room.

Diana stood speechless, gazing after them. She'd meant to test how Caine would react by going for Drake, but she hadn't been expecting that.

She looked down at her shoes. Her usual lonely self, but this time she was trying not to smile. Maybe this whole new world thing would work out for her, after all.

***

"What the hell was that?" demanded Drake, bubbling with anger and humiliation. "That... That bitch was getting on my nerves! And you just stare at her as if she's some sort of angel!"