Four.....warehouse

He’d only brought her there for selfish reasons. The beach was the only place he could feel calm when thinking about Naomi. Honestly he would’ve shot down the moon for her. But she betrayed him. And while he was with Gen he felt the overwhelming urge to betray her. Betray her to spite Naomi mostly, but partly because Gen’s eyes were a unique shade of grey with a surreal sparkle, and her olive skin was flawless, and because her voice was the first voice in a school of singers to actually capture his attention. Even when she was just talking all he wanted to do was listen. Hunter told him the only reason he found her so enticing, or enticing at all was because he wanted to hurt Naomi. Will wasn’t convinced, that wouldn’t be fair on Gen.

They sat about and joked for a bit, before Will went and got her the ice-cream that was promised despite the cold, and they ate it at a bench in Connors Park before returning.

Mr Truman entered the room then, bringing him back to reality, a false reality though, and it reminded him of the part he had to continue to play. Less than a few minutes later his iPhone buzzed.

“No phones in class Mr Davenport,” the calculus teacher said monotonously.

He looked down at the screen to see Hunter’s name. “Sorry sir I need to take this,” he said, before getting up and leaving, knowing full well he wouldn’t be allowed back into the class " also knowing he wouldn’t need to go back anyway.

“Hunter, what’s up? ... Uh huh, uh huh... she’s what!? ... Where are you now? ... Have you called- I’m coming,” he said before hanging up.

Out in the parking lot he waited about 15 minutes before his sister showed up.

“Sorry, I was in the middle of performing a soliloquy when I got the call,” she said, before they both caught sight of the black benz pulling in to the school. The twins jumped straight into the back seat.

“Summer, Will, you guys know where you’re covering?” Landon said, glancing up at the rear view mirror.

“Yep,” Summer said, as Will gave a nod.

“Hunter said this is a twelve-hunt, who did JC pick?” Will asked.

“Us,” he said, referring to the four siblings in the car, “Hunter of course, Elle, Travis, Chaice, and Aryn,”

Landon didn’t need to mention Ty, Blake, and JC himself, who were always on hunts larger than six " Landon too was included in the top elite of the sect too.

Their sect was small, they had enough over the age of 13 to make two eight-hunts and four-hunt, JC hated putting anyone under the age of sixteen on the hunt, Will was partially surprised he himself was on this hunt. Though they were almost sixteen, this was important. He found it even more surprising that Aryn, a freshman was allowed on.

Most sects were large enough to have three full twelve-hunts, and most of the members would have finished high-school, their sect lost a lot in the Great Massacre.

Landon parked the Mercedes swiftly and no sooner than that had happened they were all outside the car. The Hall was old; it resembled an old fort or church and had been standing there for lifetimes. Many people knew it as owned by some rich family, and those walked within the walls let them believe the rumours that it was freemason lodge or something along those lines, but no-one really knew what was inside.

Within the weapons room they all began gearing up, Will took out his key from his inner jacket pocked and opened his personal weapon hold, they all had one. He found his dark silver Triarn Knives and cuffed one at each wrist, with the last at his waitst, before shoving some maradarts and parisees in his back pockets. He watched Summer take out a white crossbow and Penn, the middle brother, laughed to Landon’s immediate attention.

“Summer, you know you can’t take that,” he said, quite levelly. Will knew had it been him Landon would’ve hit him in the head with the garish weapon.

“But I’m so good with a crossbow, beside, you and Penn are taking Felstars,” Summer moaned, referring to the bulky dagger Penn had and the huge sword Landon was holding.

“But you’re not going to be in a car, these are just provisional, we probably won’t even use them,” Penn told her.

Will groaned, he hated having to taking the subway, but he knew taking a bike was impractical, he couldn’t wait to get his licence.

Outside Landon go in his Benz and Penn had to make the decision between his Subaru or his Hyundai.

“You know which car to take!” Landon exclaimed out of his window before tearing away.

Penn took the less obvious Hyundai " it wasn’t bright blue with yellow stars across it " and sped off too, leaving Will and Summer to walk.

“What are you waiting for dumbass, we haven’t got all day!” Summer said she pulled her brother toward the subway station. Her hair was now tied up in a bun on her head.

The subway was dusty and dank and it was all Will could do to avoid it.

“What if she gets away again? I mean, it was a pretty amazing escape the first time,” he said to Summer as their train pulled out of the station.

“I know, I can’t believe she’s alive either, but this time she won’t be, all of us are on this one. Think about it Will, if we get a name, we could be revolutionising-”

“Don’t say it Summer, don’t get over-excited, we’ve seen a string of Defenders before so it doesn’t mean we’re getting inside. People have gotten names in the past, and they’ve gotten no-where,” Will said doubtfully, he just didn’t want to get too happy over what was still essentially nothing.

Summer stayed quiet, she always had her eye on the bigger picture and was always bitterly disappointed. She knew Will was right. She didn’t like it.

Will got off two stops before Summer, and hung around the corner of 17^th and Maple, waiting for a ping, a text or a call. He stood there for about half an hour, loathing his duty. Standing-by, waiting for them to lose her in his area so he could go after her. If everyone else did theirs correctly, his was a dull job.

After a few more minute his phone buzzed. Ty. He picked up.

“Ty?”

“We lost her on your end Will, around 14^th street, beige trench coat and sunglasses,”

“I’m on it,” he replied, ecstatic.

He then broke into a run, one with which the faster he went, the more ultra-energy he emitted on another dimensional plane, which couldn’t be detected by the lesser animals of this world, humans included.

The streets blurred around him but he could see clearly, every lamppost, every mail box, every person, he saw them and dodged them all with full precision, looking out for her. He made it to 14^th street in under a minute and tried to pick up her scent, it was day time so it wasn’t nearly as strong but just as unique.

It wasn’t too long before he found her; putting his arms round her waist so they looked like a couple to anyone who could see. She gasped the second she felt him.

“Keep walking,” he whispered into her ear, “Don’t try to run, I’ve got a Triarn at your lower back, I can paralyse your legs and leave you bleeding on the street,”

They both knew that the energy the Triarn would give off if used would be too strong and mask her from the rest of the world; she could literally die in broad daylight.

“You won’t do that,” she replied, entirely too confident, “What I know is too valuble for you to stab me and just walk away,”

“Fine, I’ll stab you and run with you,” he said, not in the least shaken by her confidence. Underneath it all she was probably just a scared little girl.

He took out his phone and hit call but Ty didn’t answer, neither did Landon or JC or Blake, so he dialled for Penn.

“What Will, kinda busy right now,” he said, sounding out of breath.

“I’ve got the girl at a Triarn but I need a car; who has one?”

“Call Elle!” he said before hanging up.

He was positive Elle’s car still needed repairing, but he did as his brother told him.

“Elle, I’ve got the girl,” he said the moment she picked up, “Are you driving? I’m outside the Java Joint on 14^th,”

“Yeah, be right there,” she said as she hung up.

Two minutes later a black and red Bugatti parked a few metres away from them, he pushed the girl in the back seat and sat beside her.

“Annamarie let you use her car?” he asked Elle, in slight disbelief.

“Yeah, she said as long as it comes back in the same condition, so you can’t put the girl under. We need someone at the left door, whose close by?”

Will looked down at the map he had up on his phone. “Summer’s area is eleven blocks away but if we cut down Lincoln we’ll be in Hunter’s”

Hunter got in the car a few minutes later and sat beside the girl " who disdainfully spat at him.

“Why didn’t you put this b***h under?” Hunter said, revealing his right Triarn and bringing it toward her neck.

“No!” Elle exclaimed, “Big no no, Annamarie said that if I get a single drop of blood on the leather I’m paying to get it cleaned, and if I’m paying you’re paying,”

Hunter let the Triarn slide back into his sleeve. Will had only ever put someone under one, and Hunter twice to his recall, and they were both more than keen to do it again.

Pulling a cord from his jacket pocket, Will tied the girl’s hands behind her back and she was unnervingly silent and calm. Ignoring her he looked out the window. The smell of brine and salt was increasing as they approached the harbour. As Elle parked behind the warehouse Will dragged the girl out of the car by her shoulders and walked her inside, the ultra-energy off the cord concealing her, and him as long as they were in contact.

A few of the guys on the harbour whistled at Elle, she may have been only eighteen but she looked about twenty-five, she had a blonde short cut and never left the Hall without pink or red lipstick and five inch heels. It wasn’t a surprise she always volunteered to drive, it wasn’t just that she and Penn loved cars; she probably didn’t want to break an ankle, Will mused.

Inside the mildly lit room Hunter helped Will tie the girl to a chair while Elle was on the phone. Two metres away, within clear eyeshot of the girl, was the sofa the boys placed themselves on, knowing all they had to do now was wait.

While Hunter turned on the Xbox, Will took in sight of the girl, simply because you should know your enemy well. Very fair skin she had, sunken brown eyes, and exceedingly long brown hair. Cute. He thought momentarily, too bad she’s filth. She still said nothing.

After a while of ‘Call of Duty’ Ty burst through the door, with red running down his arm and the side of his head, he was livid. Elle got up at the sight of him and found the first aid kit " not a regular red box with a white cross, one of their own " she pulled out some vials, some cotton and some bandages.

“D****t,” he exclaimed as she began dressing his head wound, “When I get my hands on that kid-”

“Stop moving you head!” Elle argued with him, “Be glad I’m not Juniper, or I’d intentionally make it hurt more,”

“When I see that kid, I swear to God,” he paused and turned to the girl, who was eyeing him from her chair, “I will kill him myself, and consume him while you watch,” Ty said, with a murderous glare over his eyes. His voice echoed off the large warehouse walls.

The girl’s calm facade broke into one of slight fear, but she regained her composure quickly.

“Where’s Penn?” Will asked, “Weren’t you riding with him?”

“We were riding together, but had to get out of the car, we collided with Landon and JC, so he told me to get myself cleaned up,” Ty replied, Elle wrapping dressing around his bleeding arm.

“Wanna play CoD?” Hunter offred.

It wasn’t long before Travis joined them, who knew that if this ran over, he’d be standing up Eden. He was soon followed by Penn, Landon and JC.

In Landon’s blood-soaked arms was a boy, about Will’s own age, brown skin, curly hair and a Triarn sticking out of his neck. The girl looked horrified and on the verge of crying. Her partner.

They sat his unmoving body on the chair beside her, both of which had seen blood before and had been repeatedly washed. His hands were bound and his feet too, the JC removed the knife from his neck, causing his eyelids to slowly rise.

“Cris!?” the girl exclaimed, “Crisanto, say something!”

“Uhh,” he groaned, not quite back yet, “Ivory?”

“Cris!” she replied.

“Okay, it’s time for you to listen to us now,” JC said to them, absolutely no compassion of any kind in his measured voice.

 Hunter saved the game and they joined the other six in a threat circle; surrounding the Aphotians and staring them down, reminding them whose in charge, while they let their Commander do all the talking.

“We know you know the name of the next Chose and we know you’re going to be its  Defender. So I’m going to put it simply, we have one request, tell us the name,”

“I’m not talking,” Ivory replied defiantly, she then tilted her chin to her chest and blew on something; suddenly there was a puff of thick black smoke in the air. It had seemingly no effect. Will glanced at JC, whose eyebrows creased.

“For that stupid move, one maradart,” he said before glancing to his flanks, “Travis, left shoulder,” he commanded.

Travis stood directly in front of her, almost seven metres away and took aim; he caught her in the right place. Her face coiled up in pain, and her mouth opened but no sound escaped. The other boy grunted and tried to move himself in his chair, as if he could protect her.

“Let me tell you one more simple, not hard to understand thing,” JC went on, “Landon and Ty over there,” he gestured to each one, Ty leaning on a table, and Landon resting against a wall, “both have devil swords, so if you don’t want to tell us the name of the next Chosen, then you can choose which sword kills you friend. And here’s the fun part, one’s been soaked in marasulphur, so pray you choose the sword that hasn’t because I hear it causes one hell of a painful death, like torture apparently,” the traces of enjoyment could be heard in his voice, though his face gave nothing away.

Marasulpur, Will knew, was painful on them, but even more so on Aphotians for reasons he couldn’t quite understand. Ivory looked frightened, a tear rolled down her cheek, she still held her silence.

“You must’ve forgotten what marasulpur feels like, Will, Hunter, remind them,” JC said.

Taking a dart from his back pocket, Will caught the girl in the neck, while Hunter caught the boy in the leg. The boy, Cris, let out a moan of agony, and the girl’s face went from in pain to an expression of ferocious anger, but still no sound. Will and Hunter glanced at each other.

Summer arrived then, with Blake, Chaice and Aryn.

“Hold on,” Elle said, “That smoke, it was from a spell,” the whole room knew that when an Aphotian releases black smoke it’s from a spell, but evidently nothing had happened, “I don’t think she can talk, like that time with-”

“That girl two years ago, it’s like twenty-four hours of silence,” Ty cut in, remembering.

JC now looked irate, they didn’t have twenty-four hours, Will knew, they had till sundown, and then things would get messy.

The boy laughed, confirming their idea. Big mistake, Will thought.

JC released a whirling Penta which zipped through the air and sliced the boys cheek. Blood began pouring rapidly out of the thin deep cut. He let out another groan of anguish.

“What do we do?” Penn asked, “We can’t hold them for twenty-four hours,”

“Can’t we?” JC replied, his rhetoric obvious, “Just ‘cause we have to hold them past sundown, doesn’t mean we can’t. We’re staying,”

Will exchanged a glance with Hunter, then Summer.

“But not all of us,” he continued, “Only me, Blake, Landon, Elle and Penn are staying, and someone call in Gabe, the rest of you should get back to your educations,”

In that moment the adrenaline rush inside Will died, he was ready for this, and enjoying it in a way, in the sense that you might enjoy a horror movie maybe " that was as close a description as he could think up. Either way it was irritating that only the adults were staying.

“What about me?” Ty exclaimed, outraged.

“You’re injured, it’s now a six-hunt and Gabe can fill your space,” JC said calmly.

“But-” Ty tried to argue.

“Injury equates to liability Ty, how many times do I have to tell you this!” JC roared at him, “Maybe if you didn’t get yourself injured so f*****g much you’d get to stick around more,”

Ty stormed out, clearly unhappy, if anyone was going to finish that kid off, he wanted it to be him.

“Blake, Landon, Penn, you can drive the rest of them back to the Hall, and pick up some more supplies. Will, Travis, get over here,” JC said.

The two stood before JC eagerly waiting like children.

“Nice aim, both of you, now put them under. I’ll make sure you get your knives back,”

Happy and honoured, Will went behind the boy and lined his left Triarn with the hole that was already in his neck, Travis got the fresh one. He slid the knife in swiftly and expertly and the boy’s body went limp, blood slowly starting to trickle out of the wound.

 

Back at the Hall, Will put away his two remaining Triarns, what was left od his maradarts and his unused parisees before slinging his camera back around his neck.

“Do you want me to drop you guys back to school before I go back,” Blake offered, even though she didn’t look it, Blake was always completely selfless and caring, like a mother falcon.

She was as statuesque as her cousin Elle, but she had a darker complexion as she was mixed-race, and dark brown short cut hair, no matter how hard she fought, there was never a strand out of place. Summer was going to end up like either Elle or Blake, Will thought.

Maybe it was her uncanny ability to put the others before herself that put her in the league to become second in command. It was between her, Landon and Ty, but second-in-commands and Commanders have to be over the age of twenty five, so when one of them turned " if they lived to be that old " they’d get the place directly under JC. Elle was just as eligible, just as old as the other three, but for whatever reason, she wasn’t fighting as hard for it.

“Thanks Blake,” Summer smiled gratefully.

 

School was less exciting than a fish eating fish food " or any kind of food for that matter. Will wanted to be there at sundown, he wanted to witness and be part of the excitement when the Aphotian went Aphotic, they’d be more matched then. But instead he sat in a bland Chemistry class; regular sulphur was nothing compared with marasulphur. The bell rang for lunch.

In the cafeteria he could’ve sworn people were looking at him more than usual, he even checked to make sure he hadn’t left any ill-concealed weapons about him. Without warning Gen greeted him with a surprising hug. Her hair smells like peaches...

“Oh Will I’m so sorry,” she said, to his immediate confusion.

“About what?” he replied.

“Aren’t you angry?” she said before realisation fell over her face, “Oh, you don’t know. Everyone’s talking; they’re saying Naomi cheated on you,”

“Oh it’s true,” the tall kid said from the table Gen had been at, “there’s a facebook page, ‘If Naomi Beckford would rather cheat, I guess the Davenport allure is all sparkle, no spark,’” he read off his phone, “and there’s a picture, I think it’s Javier De la Costa, in London man,”

Again? Will thought. She begs me to talk about it with her when she gets back and she does it again? She is going to pay for making an a*s out of me.

Author's Note

this is one of my personal favourite chapters, i feel like the story doesn't start until you've read thus far