INSOMNIAC

Chapter 9

"Welcome to Paradise."

-

Alvin weaved his way through the crowds with ease, and Verity was falling behind. She wasn't used to running through packed streets, but Alvin was. Once he finally stopped, Verity had taken a few minutes to reach him.

"Are there any more obstacles you should warn me about?" Verity asked, shouting above the noise of the people.

"Maybe a few," Alvin smirked. He once again darted off, but this time into an alleyway. Verity ran after him. When they got out of the alleyway on the other side, they were in a less crowded street, but this time people stopped and stared as they ran past. Verity looked back, and she saw that the people were following them. When she looked forward, she saw Alvin grab a rope as he ran past, and it made the earsplitting clangs of bells ring. Verity ran faster, making sure that she didn't lose sight of Alvin. He wove between people and stores, making Verity's job to keep up a lot harder. He jumped onto a hay bale and started climbing a small wall of them, to the other side. Once she got over the haybales, she saw what seemed like an old abandoned stadium. Alvin was still running, and he entered the side and went straight to the middle. Verity followed after him.

The stadium was packed full of people that Verity had never seen before, and she was standing dead in the middle of it. The middle of the stadium seemed to be an arena of some sort, and it had a net that stretched high over it, encasing her in. The doors that she entered from were now sealed shut, and the crowd was cheering. Verity heard the tap on a microphone, and the whole stadium went quiet. A tall woman stood on a large platform, a microphone in hand.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" She cried out through the microphone. "Tonight, we are gathered for another initiation ceremony. For this battle, we have the new hero of the streets, Electro!" The crowd started whispering. Verity panicked a little. Fight? Who said anything about a fight? They silenced when the woman spoke again. "And as her opponent, the trickster himself, Raven!" The crowd exploded into cheers and shouts as Alvin appeared on the other side of the arena. He ran towards Verity and bowled her over. Verity landed hard on her back, winded. Now that was not what she expected. She got back up and saw Alvin circling her. She narrowed her eyes in determination. It was her turn to charge, and she ran at him and started using the defense techniques that Tyson had taught her. Alvin blocked her punches easily and gave a few in between. She finally landed a punch on his shoulder, and he grabbed her fist as the next punch came. He twisted her arm and she fell to the ground. He gave her a moment of grace and stepped back. Panting, Verity rose from the ground. She put her arms up again and grinned.

"C' mon, hit me again," She taunted. Alvin smirked and started punching. Verity ducked and avoided most of them, but eventually, she caught ahold of him and sent a pulse of electricity into him. He stood dazed for a minute, which gave Verity the gap to start landing her punches. He lousily blocked half of her punches, but he was starting to gain full awareness again. Once he snapped out of it, he started throwing some of his punches. Verity avoided most of them, and eventually hooked her legs with his when she ducked, and they both went tumbling down. Alvin landed on top of her and held his arm to Verity's throat. He smirked down at her.

"Give up yet?" Verity shook her head and attempted to shove him off of her. He wouldn't budge. Verity sighed in defeat.

"I'm done."

Alvin stood up and raised his hands to a cheering crowd. He turned around with his signature smirk and held out his hand. Verity took it and he helped her up.

"And the winner of the battle is once again, the Raven!" The crown once again went wild and chanted Alvin's name.

-

"Were you trying to humiliate me?"

"Not in the slightest, but I do have a reputation to uphold."

Verity and Alvin were walking towards the office that the woman making the comments was in. He knocked on the door and entered. The room was neat, with small stacks of paper ling in places.

"Verity!" The woman exclaimed and embraced Verity. "It's so good that you chose to come to us." Verity stared at the woman in confusion.

"Sorry, but who are you?" The woman chuckled before replying.

"I am Tamara. No last, no middle. Just Tamara." Verity nodded and looked around the office.

"What is this place?" Verity asked.

"It's the center of life for people like us. For people like you too, Verity. You deserve better than that Tyson Glover who you met. People like him do more damage than good," The woman explained. This confused Verity further.

"But how is he the bad guy?"

"He thinks differently than us. We believe that the law and the more human humans will sort things out for themselves. And Tyson helps with that, but he tries to fix the things that don't need fixing. Take us for example. He thinks that we are criminals, but we're just like him. Only, more discreet and less well known."

-

Verity sighed and lay down on her bed in Tyson's house. Alvin had teleported her here after her conversation with Tamara, and he said that it would probably be best if she stayed there for the meantime whilst they figured out where Verity would stay. She had listened to everything that Tamara said, and she had convinced Verity to stay with them. They said that it would only take a day or two to figure out, and Verity had no idea how she was going to move without Tyson getting suspicious.

-

The next two days flew by without any contact from Tamara or anyone else from Paradise. Verity was once again in her room, but this time searching the internet for excuses to leave Tyson. She had been there for roughly 2 hours, give or take, and she was getting irritated with the fact that she was in the house all the time. Verity heard a small 'poof' and turned around from her spot at the desk. Alvin was standing there, once again with his signature smirk.

"Time to go!" He chirped with excitement. "Just wait until you see your place, it's even better than mine." Verity smiled and stuffed all of her important things into a backpack.

"Let's go then."

Verity and Alvin 'poofed' onto the sidewalk, and she saw a car waiting for her and Alvin. They got into the car and started driving off.

"So, are you excited?" Alvin asked.

"Of course!" Verity was practically glowing with happiness. "So where is the place-" Verity was cut short by the screech of two cars, and it had barely registered in her head when she felt the car she collide with another, and they were rolling off the road. Verity hit her head, and as her eyes started closing, she felt herself become engulfed by the flames.

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Thanks for reading!