The Survivor: Part 2

Chapter 2

 

“Today we gather in memory of a young man who met an untimely death.” Pastor Collins began his speech.

Lily looked over at Jeremy’s mother and father, who were both crying their eyes out, and all she could think about was revenge. She had the need to pick up one of Jeremy’s swords and run it through the chest of Fred and Calvin. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath as the Pastor continued.

“And now, we hear a few words from the girl that he loved. Lily James.” The Pastor stepped aside from the podium.

All eyes turned to Lily. She sighed, stood up and walked up to the podium. She cleared her throat and looked out at the sad faces in the audience. Her eyes rested on Jess and Brian. They both stared at her intently, waiting for her to begin. She pulled out her cue cards and glanced down at them. She had the perfect speech planned, but it didn’t seem to matter anymore. She pushed the cards aside, smiled and took a breath.

“Jeremy was more than just my boyfriend.” She began. “He was my reason for living. The only reason I’m still alive today is because of the fact that I knew Jeremy would never approve of me killing myself. Jeremy was kind, generous, protective, loving, understanding, and a great friend to all. He did not deserve to die the way he did. He deserved a more noble death. I vow! On this day, to avenge his death! I vow to kill anyone else who tries to kill people like Jeremy! I vow �"”

“Ok, Lily.” The Pastor stepped forward and pulled her away from the podium. “Thank you for your . . . um . . . unusual words.”

Lily shook her head, slammed her fists down on the podium and walked off. She walked down the aisle, ignoring all the looks that everyone was giving her and headed straight for her car. She got it and drove off towards Jeremy’s house. She parked, got out and ran into the house towards Jeremy’s room. She pulled out the box of weapons from under his bed and took it back to her house. She locked herself in her room and emptied out the box on her bed. She picked up each weapon and felt a sudden urge to fight. It was weird to her because she felt as if she knew how to use each weapon. She shook her head and stepped away from them.

“No need to be afraid of them.” A deep voice echoed around her. “This is your path.”

“Who the f**k is there?” Lily snapped as she grabbed the nearest weapon; a dagger.

“Relax, Lily.” The voice whispered. “I’m not here to hurt you. I’m here to help you.”

“I don’t need any help!” Lily yelled. “I’m fine!”

“You’re feeling things you’re not accustomed to feeling.” The voice echoed. “You suddenly feel as if you can do all these different things, and you can. But you need our help.”

“How do you know . . .” Lily murmured.

“Because you are one of us.” The voice said. “Just like Jeremy was. The only difference was that Jeremy didn’t have the fighting ability. You do. So we used him to get to you. We needed to watch over you, and Jeremy was the perfect candidate for the job. Unfortunately, he was killed in an unforeseeable death.”

“Shut up!” she tightened her grip on the dagger. “You don’t know s**t about what happened that night!”

“Can’t we just grab her and go?” a new, frustrated voice growled.

“Liam, silence!”

“Stop hiding and show yourself.” Lily glared around the room.

“Very well.” The deep voice whispered. “Miss James?”

Lily spun around and stared at the tall man standing in front of her door. He covered in black from head to toe. The only thing visible was his eyes, and they were pure black.

“What are you supposed to be?” Lily smirked. “A ninja?”

The man’s eyes narrowed as he looked to his side and nodded to something in far corner of the room. Lily looked across at the other tall man covered in black. The only difference was that this man had mesmerizing violet eyes.

“Yep, definitely ninjas.” Lily shook her head. “Don’t worry, I’m not a pirate.”

“This is not a joke, Miss James.” The black eyed man snapped. “You must come with us. It’s your destiny. You must learn to fight and protect the world from people like Fred and Calvin.”

Lily stared at the black eyed man. She had made a vow to avenge Jeremy, and kill all murderers like Fred and Calvin, but she never thought of how she was going to do it. The mere thought of Jeremy being associated with the ninja looking people in front of her made her tremble. She also couldn’t explain her sudden need to fight when she looked at the weapons or held them.

“Who are you?” she narrowed her eyes at the black eyed man.

“My name is Hattori Azuma.” The man slowly pulled his mask off. “I’m the head of the Azuma Warrior Clan. We are not ninjas. We’re more than that.”

“Uh huh.” Lily frowned and turned to the violet eyed man.

“Ah!” Hattori smiled. “This is my son, Liam Azuma.”

Liam pulled off his mask and Lily gasped. He was scarily intimidating. His hair was black and shaggy, his skin was unusually pale, and his eyes darkened from the shimmer off of his hair. His eyes were narrowed as he kept glaring at Lily.

“Alright, let’s say I believe this crap that you’re telling me.” Lily sighed. “Where exactly do you two want to take me?”

“You need to start training at our estate.” Hattori answered. “It’s in Nagasaki, Japan.”

“Where!?” Lily smirked before starting to laugh. “And how exactly am I to get there?”

“You will tell your parents that you got into an internship in Nagasaki, Japan, and you’ll be spending your entire summer there.” Hattori said plainly. “I will be with you while you tell your parents, so that I can assure them of your safety. We did the same thing with Jeremy’s parents. Then, on the day of the flight, Liam will pick you up and take you to the airport, and the both of you will get on the flight.”

Lily sighed and started pacing the room. If everything Hattori was saying was true, then this would be an interesting experience for her. Besides, she needed to figure out these sudden urges after all. She looked up at Liam and winced at his glare.

“Alright.” She sighed. “My parents should be home in a few hours. You can tell them then.”

“Very well.” Hattori nodded to Liam and walked out the room.

“Hey!” Lily snapped. “Take the beast with you!”

“Liam will remain here for your own protection.” Hattori glanced over his shoulder at her. “No one will see him.”

Lily looked over to Liam nervously, who was now smirking at her evilly. She rolled her eyes, shut her door and began to put away the weapons. Liam leaned against the wall and watched her curiously.

“I never thought Jeremy would’ve fallen for a girl like you.” Liam snickered. “A girly girl.”

Lily stopped moving and glared up at Liam. She gathered the box of weapons and shoved them under her bed. She stood up and grabbed her soccer bag and walked out the room.

“No!” Liam snapped as he grabbed her hand. “I can’t protect you if your all over the place.”

Lily glared and pulled her hand away angrily. She walked down the hallway towards the stairs, grumbling to herself as she headed for the front door. She jumped as Liam appeared in front of her.

“Look, it’s my last soccer practice for the school year.” She tried to reason. “I have to go.”

“Fine.” Liam mumbled as he pulled off his black outfit quickly.

Lily stared in surprise at the rock band t-shirt and black jeans he had been wearing underneath. She cleared her throat as she realized that she had been staring for a while. Liam ran up to her room quickly and threw the clothes into her closet before racing back down to her.

“Alright, let’s go.” He walked past her and opened the front door.

Lily thought it was sweet that he opened the door for her, until he released it and let it hit her in her face. She fumed, locked the door and walked over to her car. Liam got in and buckled up. He glanced over to Lily as she started the car and drove off. Liam glanced out the window as she drove through the city towards the school. She parked in the parking lot, jumped out and headed towards the soccer field. Liam ran to catch up with her, staring about him in awe. Lily rolled her eyes and walked onto the field. She nodded to her teammates, who were all already dressed and doing warm ups.

“Who’s the new guy?” one of the girls asked her.

“Just a friend” Lily shrugged and walked across the field.

She stepped into the locker room, sighed and started to strip out of her funeral clothes. She stared down at the black heap in front of her  as she felt tears form in her eyes. She hadn’t cried since the night of Jeremy’s death. Now, all the built up tears was pouring out. She quickly wiped her eyes and pulled out her shorts.

“Do you always randomly cry?” Liam asked from behind.

Lily yelped and turned around. “What the hell are you doing here? It’s the girls locker room!”

“My father said to stay with you at all times.” Liam defended, staring at her confused.

Lily shook her head in shock and quickly pulled on her training clothes. She shoved the rest of the clothes into her bad and stormed out the room with Liam behind her.

“Did I do something wrong?” Liam wondered.

“Don’t you know about privacy?” she snapped as she crossed the field quickly. “You don’t followed me into a locker room and stare at me while I’m changing.”

“I wasn’t staring at your body.” Liam frowned. “Geez.”

Lily stared at him with her mouth open, dropped her bag, shook her head and ran to her team. She looked over her shoulder and glared at Liam following her.

“No!” she snapped. “You stay there, and wait till I’m done!”

Liam stopped moving and nodded his head. He glanced around and walked over to the bleachers. He took a seat and watched Lily start her training. He was surprised that she was a faster runner than the others, and once they started their practice matches with each other, he was even more surprised by how aggressive she was to the opposing team. He almost cheered for her when she scored the first goal.

Lily screamed and started jumping up and down. Her entire team ran over to her and pinned her down while screaming with her. Liam got up angrily, thinking that the other girls were about to kill her. As he started walking over to her quickly, he saw the other girls get up and help Lily up to her feet. Liam stopped walking and sighed after realizing that they were just celebrating the goal. He walked back to the bleachers as the team’s coach blew the whistle to end the game. Lily grinned and ran over to the coach.

“All right, everyone!” the coach called the girls over into a circle. “Lily won’t be joining us for summer practice. She has an internship in Japan. So, let’s all congratulate her and say our goodbye. Lily, take a ball with you when you go. No slacking off.”

Lily nodded her head and started hugging all the girls. She waved goodbye and walked over to Liam.

“Let’s go.” She gave him a glare, grabbed her bag and walked over to her car.

Liam stared at her, confused as to why she was glaring, but followed her to the car. He got into the passenger seat and remained silent as she drove off. Lily sped quickly towards her house and parked in the driveway. She got out the car and sighed as she saw Hattori waiting in a car, dressed in a business suit. She nodded to him and he quickly got out. She grabbed her bag and walked into the house.

“Mom! Dad!” she yelled. “I need to talk to you!”

Mr. and Mrs. James appeared from the kitchen. Mr. James walked over to his daughter and grabbed her shoulders.

“What’s the matter?” he asked as Liam and Hattori entered the hallway. “Can I help you?”

“Mr. James,” Hattori smiled. “My name is Hattori Kuro. I am the head of an archeology company. Your daughter has been lucky enough to be accepted into our internship program for high school kids.  We are delighted to have her as one of our interns for the entire summer.”

“Excuse me?” Mr. James frowned at Hattori, utterly confused.

“When did our daughter get accepted?” Mrs. James asked, just as confused.

“We sent out emails to all the interns accepted last week.” Hattori replied. “I am here because Lily has informed me that she has not told her parents about the internship.”

“Well, yes.” Mr. James gave Lily a warning look. “We have no idea about this.”

“Um . . . well, why don’t we all go into the living room and discuss this.” Mrs. James pointed towards the living room doors.

Lily quickly opened the doors and walked in. Everyone followed her and sat down. Lily remained standing as she paced back and forth in front of the doors.

“Ok, well, where is this internship?” Mr. James folded his arms and looked directly at Hattori.

“It’s in Nagasaki, Japan.” Hattori leaned back against the couch and stared at Mr. James.

“What exactly would she be doing?” Mrs. James asked gently, resting her arm on Mr. James’ leg.

“Well,” Hattori began. “She’ll be working with on an archeological site. Finding bones, dusting them off, cleaning them, doing a little research on them, cleaning out hidden underground rooms, etc. It’ll be very educational in a historical sense.”

“That’s all fine and dandy.” Mr. James narrowed his eyes. “But she’s my only daughter, and I’m very concerned for her safety, especially at this time. You see, we had an incident last weekend, and well . . . I don’t want to leave her alone for a minute, let alone allow her to jump on a plane and go across the world.”

“Mr. James,” Hattori leaned forward and clasped his hands together. “Your daughter’s protection is our number one priority. I assure you, no harm will come to her while she is in my care.”

“Darling, I think we should let her go.” Mrs. James said softly.

Lily stopped pacing and stared at her mother in surprise.

“She’ll be fine.” Mrs. James smiled at Hattori. “I believe, this is the same internship that Jeremy has been going on since he was ten?”

“Ah, yes!” Hattori smiled back. “Mr. Routhier has been with us since he was ten. At that time, we were taking on younger kids. But recently, we have decided to stick strictly to high school students.”

“I see.” Mr. James stood up and walked over to Lily.

Lily looked up at her father and bit down on her lower lip. Mr. James reached up and touched her cheek gently.

“Do you want to go?” he asked her.

“Well . . . I think it might be good for me.” Lily whispered. “I would really rather be away from here, and everyone for a while. I don’t like how people are already looking at me with the look of pity on their faces.”

Mr. James nodded his head and hugged her gently. He pulled away and moved to sit back down next to his wife.

“Alright.” Mr. James sighed. “What are the expenses?”

“None.” Hattori stood up and checked his watch. “Everything has already been taken care of. Miss Lily James will be under my protection at all times, and thus I will be at her expense.”

Mr. James nodded and leaned back against the couch. Mrs. James stood up and led the way to the door. Hattori and Liam followed her.

“Thank you so much for coming over and explaining the situation.” Mrs. James said.

“Not a problem.” Hattori took a slight bow. “Lily James is a special girl, and we’re glad to have her.”

Mrs. James smiled and closed the door as they left. She walked back into the living room where Mr. James was staring down at his feet in thought. He looked up at his wife and glanced at his daughter. Mrs. James shook her head quickly and sighed.

“Lily, dear,” she forced a smile and turned to her daughter. “Why don’t you go upstairs and take a shower. I’ll call you down later for dinner.”

“Alright.”

Lily wasn’t even looking at her parents as she walked out to the room to the stairs. All that was on her mind was that she was leaving for Japan in a few days, and she wasn’t even sure what she was about to get herself into.

“You have to tell her.” Mr. James looked up at his wife as soon as he heard Lily’s bedroom door slam shut. “She can’t go without knowing the truth!”

“No!” Mrs. James snapped. “She will learn about everything when she gets there.”

“She’ll will hate us when she gets there!” Mr. James stood up and walked over to his wife. “She’s our little girl. What if she . . . meets him.”

“She’s going to meet him either way.” Mrs. James turned around and walked into the kitchen. “All we can do is hope that he helps her with understanding everything.”

“We haven’t seen him in over 17 years, and you think he’s going to be ok with her being there?” he scoffed. “He’s going to be pissed off as f**k that we allowed her to get involved. He specifically begged us in his letters to never let her know about him or about the place!”

“Well, we don’t have a choice now.” Mrs. James grabbed the chopping knife and began chopping the chicken pieces on the counter. “She’s going, and all we can do is hope that she comes back understanding everything.”

“Damn it, Zoe!” he snapped as he threw a knife directly at her head.

Mrs. James grabbed the knife by the blade before it sliced through her forehead. She calmly placed it on the counter and glared at her husband.

“Sorry.” He sighed. “But, I just don’t want anything to happen to her.”

“Drake . . .” Mrs. James placed the chopper down and walked over to her husband.

She wrapped her arms around his waist and looked up into his eyes. He slowly moved his eyes to look down at her and gently broke into a smile. She grinned, leaned up and kissed his lips slowly.

“We knew what was going to happen when we had kids.” She whispered against his lips. “All we can do is support them. Oh, and since we only have a few days left before she leaves, may I suggest we spend it with her? No more vigilante stuff during the nights. Let’s spend it here with her.”

Mr. James nodded his head and pulled away from his wife. He walked over to the fridge and pulled out a beer. He pulled the cap off and downed the entire bottle in one shot.

“I really hope he helps her with everything.” He said softly.

“I’m sure he will.” Mrs. James smiled up at him. “It’s his sister after all.”