Steal My Heart (Victor Blade)

Chapter 17

"Let me play!" Victor shouted as we all looked at him disbelief.

"Avril, I thought you said he wouldn't come!" Jade exclaimed as Victor and I stared at each other.

"But... I-" I murmured, unable to find the words.

"Please let me play." Victor pleaded with his eyes. "I can do Ultimate Thunder and we can score."

Everybody looked at the coach, who was inspecting Victor from head to toe. He was clearly debating on what to do, as we all held our breaths.

"It's not up to me." The coach finally sighed as he turned to us. "You're the team, you decide what to do with him."

"There's no way we can let him play!" Michael immediately exclaimed angrily. "Do I need to remind you he works for the Fifth Sector? How can we trust him after he quit on us?"

A long silence fell on the team. Victor and I were locking eyes, and I could see something was different. He wasn't angry, or sad, or scared... he just wanted to play and make things right.

"I trust him." I finally said as his eyes widened in confusion and everyone looked at me. "He played with us last time, and he's here now, despite his orders. We don't have a choice, Victor's our best chance to win." I bit my lip as everybody kept staring at me.

My eyes were still a bit narrowed, unsure if I had made the right call, but it didn't matter. Victor was here, and that was all that counted.

"If Avril trusts Victor then I do too." Arion said after awhile.

"Yeah, me too!" J.P. nodded, as I thanked them with my eyes.

Slowly, everyone agreed: we had to let Victor on the field. Michael still seemed a bit reluctant, but seeing everybody against him, he raised his arms in the air and gave up.

Victor thanked us all as Mark handed him his uniform, and quickly rushed to the changing rooms to get changed.

The referee had just started calling us back on the field, when Victor came out of the locker room wearing his uniform.

"Ok, we need to try Ultimate Thunder as soon as possible." Riccardo said as everybody nodded.

We all placed ourselves, ready for the game to start. We had the ball, and Victor had to do the start kick. He immediately sent it back and started running, as Arion sprinted forward.

One by one, the players started kicking the ball backwards, as it charged with energy. But when it reached Victor, after struggling for awhile, he didn't manage to send it back, and I swiftly stopped it with one move.

"What the hell Victor?" Michael asked furiously.

"Let's try again." Victor replied unbothered, as I sent the ball forward.

Starting the process all over again, the boys sent back the ball and Victor started running towards me.

As our eyes locked, I whispered "For Vlad.". Victor's eyes widened in confusion, before nodding and kicking the ball.

He struggled again, but this time managed to send it forward and break the Royal Academy's defence. There Arion scores a goal with his new technique.

We all cheer as Victor smiles at the scoreboard.

Royal academy puts the ball back in the game. Swift as the wind, Victor sprints forward and intercepts it, not allowing the ball to reach the defenders' limits. He then evokes his own warrior spirit, Lancelot Master of Knights, and scores our second goal with "Death Sword".

2-2 for us. There's only 10 minutes left in the game, but we can do this. We can win.

"Avril!" Riccardo shouts in my direction. "Get ready to score the next one." I quickly nod, focusing on the game.

Royal Academy throws the ball back in the game. After contending the ball for awhile, Arion manages to snatch it, and they start Ultimate Thunder all over again. I immediately sprint forward, avoiding the defenders as I go.

I finally hear Victor screaming as he sends the ball in my direction, breaking once more the defence. In one swift move, I stop the ball and evoke my warrior spirit, Bella the Swan Princess, as my hair turns platinum blond.

Then, using a new attack move I've been working on, "Ice Comet", I leap in the air on a snowflake platform. Snowflakes circle me and the ball as I shoot it in the cage. They keep following it, freezing the goalkeepers hands as the ball enters the cage.

I land back on the ground as the referee whistles the end of the game. 3-2 for us. We won!

Happiness coursing through my body, I instinctively look for Victor and start running towards him. He's standing still, hands in pockets, as I leap into his arms and we twirl around.

I hug him tight as he stares at me, startled. He then chuckles and hugs me back.

"I'm sorry." He whispers in my ear.

"It doesn't matter." I say raising my head to lock eyes with him, still holding him tight. I smile softly. "You came, and that's all that matters."

He looks at me, eyes soft, as he smiles back and I burrow my head under his neck again. Then out of nowhere, Arion and J.P. run towards us and throw themselves on us, causing a group hug that makes everyone laugh as Victor wiggles awkwardly, trying to free himself from Arion's tight embrace.

For once, all is good.

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The next day, the coach asks us to meet in front of the Royal Academy. Nobody's sure why, but he tells us he wants to show us something.

As I am biking towards the school, I notice Victor walking slowly. After yesterday's match, I haven't been able to properly talk with him yet. I quickly tie my bike to a pole as I sprint to catch up to him.

Hearing my footsteps, he immediately turns around and smile.

"Hey." He says happily as I reach him and we start walking together. "I wanted to talk to you."

"Great, because I wanted to talk to you too." I sheepishly say as he chuckles.

"Listen, I..." he pauses, trying to find the right words. "Thanks for trusting me yesterday." He finally lets out. "If I were you, I would have never trusted me, especially after all those things I told you at the hospital."

"You were just trying to help your brother." I try to reassure him as he shakes his head.

"Yeah but you were right. Vlad didn't want any of the dirt money. And I shouldn't have snapped at you like that."

"Vlad found out?" I ask as he quickly nods. "Is that why you played the game?"

"Partly." He sighs.

"Well what's the other reason then?"

"I... didn't want to let you down." He finally says as we stare at each other. "And just so you know," he adds. "I didn't mean what I told you at the hospital. Protecting you wasn't a mistake."

He looks at me with eyes full of hope as I bite my lip. Just as I'm about to answer, Jade's voice interrupts our conversation.

"Guys!" She screams waving, while the whole team looks in our direction. "Come on! You're the last ones! Move it."

I smile at my friends as I reach them, and Jude Sharp comes out of the doors of the school.

"Follow me." He says as we all enter the imposing building.

"I wanted to thank you for yesterday's match." He explains as we walk in the hallways.

"What do you mean?" Coach Evans asks, incredulous.

"It was all just an act. We needed to find out who were the Imperials in our team, and you helped us figure it out."

He stops in front of an elevator, and after putting in a special key, the doors open. He turns to us.

"Now that I've rid the school of imperials, I can finally show you our true intentions." He motions us to enter the elevator, and silence reigns as we all go down.

After a couple of minutes of holding our breaths, the door finally opens on a big room, a group of seemingly older man sitting around a table.

"Welcome to the resistance." Jude Sharp announces as our eyes widen in shock.