Trinity - Defying Destiny
Page 7
There were cheers and voices of people egging something on. Garth and Vex were already over there and next thing I know Garth lifted Sky up with one arm from the back of her shirt. He set her on the ground and gave her a pat on the back.
“Good job, but you must learn when to stop. Your opponent is out cold,” Garth said as we walked over.
Sky had cuts and grazes on her arms and face. I looked down and saw a person passed out.
“What happened?” I asked.
“I came in here to check it all out. This idiot started talking shit about us. He challenged me and I accepted,” Sky replied breathlessly sporting a huge grin.
“I didn’t know you could fight,” I was smiling back.
“Neither did I,” she replied.
The group that was standing around the blue mat started to walk off as they gave me questioning looks, but as they passed Sky, they gave her a pat on the shoulder.
“Nice to know one of us is making friends,” I said laughing.
“I heard you already did?” Sky replied.
I raised one eyebrow at her, which she knew was my trademark, “What?”
“Ally! She came and found me. We had a big talk. She is the one that brought me here,” Sky told us.
“Where is she now?” I asked, looking around trying to see her.
“In the shower,” she told me and pointed to a doorway. “She sparred with this totally hot guy, but she wasn’t knocked out or anything.”
I smiled at her, then my eyes widened as I was watching the marks on her arm fade.
“Cool, huh?” she said as she looked at what I was seeing.
“Yeah.”
“How did your feed go, Nikkee?” Sky asked.
Nikkee started telling her about her first feeding experience. I turned and walked over to the far wall and started looking at all the weapons that were hung up or sat on tables. They were all cleaned and polished. There were some battens, knives, staffs, and even guns. I remembered that night of the forest and how excited I was when we opened up Jason’s trunk to find a whole heap of weapons. Now that I looked at them, I felt scared and unsure about myself. Was I really that much of a threat to people for them to try to avoid me. Was there some sort of power that I had, to have them all scared and fearful to be around me? Or was it just as simple as what Ally had said? That it was my fault that we were all nearly exposed. Was I still in danger from my own kind? Even throughout history, people have always seemed to destroy things that they deemed a threat or were unsure about. How was I going to prove to everyone that there was nothing dangerous about me? Sure, now my temper and emotions are hard to rein in, but that didn’t mean I was dangerous. It just meant that I needed some guidance, I needed some sort of stability. Something that felt normal.
Why didn’t they understand what was going on in my head? Only a few weeks ago I had found out that my destiny had already been written. Then I was told that humans were not the only species that lived among us. I, like them, had been thrown into a new world that seem to have nothing but deception, blood, anger, and monsters. Oh yeah, finding out that the guy I was crushing on was not only an alpha wolf, but had also been the one to wake MY dormant werewolf. This was possible because Garth, the main werewolf, is indeed my father who was never there while I was growing up, but in fact had been there even though I never knew because he wanted to protect me from all this crazy stuff. It didn’t seem to work out too well. To add to my list I’d also turned my best friend into a vampire who seems to be handling that a lot better than I was; my other best friend is a werewolf who was happy to be whom she is or at least she seems to be. The final crunch, the one I tried not to dwell on too much was Mark. He not only betrayed me, but he betrayed Sky and Nikkee and put us all in danger. I wanted to punch him in the face so badly. I looked down and saw that my fists were clenched without even feeling the pain that was going through my palm. I unlocked my hands to see that my nails had dug their way into my skin and blood was seeping out freely. I held my hands up to my face and watched as the blood flowed and then the cuts closed over. I frowned to myself, it didn’t seem to happen that fast for Sky, was I some sort of super healer?
I pushed that thought aside, I didn’t really care, what I did care about was who was with me and who wasn’t. How was I going to find out who I could trust and who I couldn’t when I’ve been deceived before and so had the others? I needed to talk to Lachlan and find out if he could help me find Carra’s hidden prophecies, help me sift through who I could trust and who I couldn’t because at the moment I could only count those numbers on one hand.
Chapter Fourteen
I left the others in the training centre as I silently creeped out. I knew it didn’t go unnoticed by Garth or Lachlan, but they let me be. I wasn’t really feeling anything, just overwhelmed. I wanted to do something, something fun, and something the old Trinity would do. As I walked down the hall, I pondered on what that would be. The old me seemed so far away and untouchable. I felt rebellious like I had with Lachlan. He didn’t even tell me about Garth, although he never told me much about anything. Most of it I had to find out on my own with Nikkee’s help. I understood that they wanted me to find out the hard way, to learn along the way. But if they would’ve been straightforward with me from the start, I may not have told Nikkee, nor Sky or at least I would have had some proof so Sky would not have told Mark. She would have kept my secret; I knew she would have if it were under different circumstances. Well, I hoped. Things between her and Nikkee seemed to be better like the old days. I laughed a little as I passed someone. They gave me a funny look, but kept going.
I walked into the reception area and up to the sign-in log on the counter where a woman was sitting, reading the paper.
“Hi,” I said.
She moved the paper to expose her face and then sat the same paper face down.
“Trinity, what can I do for you,” she asked.
“I’m looking for Steven,” I told her.
She frowned slightly, “He is on the third floor,” she said slowly.
“Can you call his room and ask him if he could come up here?” I asked politely.
“Sure.”
She turned around, dialled some numbers, spoke briefly and then hung up the phone turning back to me.
“He said he will be right up,” she told me with a questioning look.
“Thank you,” I replied sincerely.
I turned around, walking over to a set of chairs in the corner, and sat down. The woman had gone back to her paper, but kept moving it slightly, glancing at me and then back to her reading material.
I squirmed a little at her scrutinizing eyes. Good thing Steven was not long and stood in front of me in no time at all.
“To what do I owe this pleasure?” he asked with a cocky grin.
I stood up. “I was wondering if you were not busy, could you take me into town?” I asked.
He raised an eyebrow. “What for?” he asked.
“Just something to do,” I said.
“Why not go with your friends and maker?” he pressed.
“If you don’t want to, don’t worry about it,” I said turning around.
He grabbed my arm. I turned back and watched as he ran his fingers through his hair and looked around.
“What?” I asked.
“Nothing. We will at least leave a note,” he said and turned towards the reception desk. I followed.
“I will be taking Trinity into town,” he informed the woman.
She looked from him to me and again to him. She stood up, walking over to the far wall where a bunch of drawers were. She opened the top one and pulled out an envelope. She walked back and handed it to me.
“You will need this,” she said handing it to me.
I frowned and ripped it open.
Inside was a bankcard with a small note which read, ‘so you can always buy your own underwear! Garth.’
A big smirk came on my face at his humour. I didn’t know he had any.r />
I turned the card over and saw my name printed on the front. There was a little sticky note on the top that said UNLIMITED.
“I can’t accept this,” I said.
“Well, you have to. It would be an insult to not,” the lady stated as a matter of fact.
I looked back down at it. Could it be mine? Could I actually buy my own clothes and undies? With my own money?
A smile slowly crept over my face as I thought of all the possibilities.
“I guess we are going shopping,” Steven was grinning.
“Sounds good to me,” I said asking, “Oh, you do have a car right?”
“I do, but you could always buy your own,” he told me with a big grin.
My eyes widened at the possibility of having my own car and underwear. Things were starting to be more exciting.
Steven had walked into the garage, over to a Commodore that was sitting at the far end. I told Steven to wait as I started to feeling guilty because I had not invited Sky and Nikkee. I sent a text and asked if they wanted to come. I shortly received one saying that Lachlan had told her that she shouldn’t, now that she has had her first feed, the direct sunlight will affect her and that I shouldn’t go either. I told her I would be fine and that I would see her soon. She told me to just wait as Sky wanted to come. I smiled and sat back in my seat deciding I was going to enjoy this trip even if it was to a small township. I had my own money, my friends and kind of a family of my own and I think I had a boyfriend.
“Are we going yet?” Steven asked.
“No, we are waiting for Sky to come,” I told him.
“What about your hot friend?” he asked with a pout on his face.
I was laughing, “She has just had her first feed so Lachlan said she should stay.”
“And he didn’t say you had to?” he questioned.
“Yes, he did,” I said.
“Well since you have a dad like Garth I wouldn’t be all bossy, especially when your wolf lover is next in line for the throne,” he bit out.
“Get over it,” I told him with force.
“I will try, but I can’t make promises,” he replied cheekily.
“Well, try. You work at a club we both go to. Learn to deal with it here,” I snapped.
The back door opened and Sky climbed in.
“Hey guys.”
“Hey,” we both said.
“What’s going on?” she asked, sensing the tension.
“We just had our first squabble,” Steven said, smirking.
“Really?” she said with a hint of caution.
“Don’t worry about it,” I replied, sitting back in my seat.
Steven and Sky both let it drop as he drove the car out of the garage and into the hot sun. I instantly felt queasy wanting to squirm in my seat. I have not had any more blood since I bit Nikkee; I couldn’t bring myself to. Even though I accepted what I was, I was still trying to not act like the monster I had become and if that meant depriving myself of blood for as long as I could that was fine with me.
I looked out at the open dry land that stretched out thinking of nothing but the peace that it had all to itself. I was hoping that would block anyone from feeling what was going on in my head. It seemed to be what stopped them when we had driven to ‘Mutual’ in the first place.
I thought about long walks in the grass hand in hand with Jason. Not saying a word, just listening to the sound of the earth around us. No busy streets or voices breaking in, just our quiet footsteps leaving little trace of our existence. We were normal, I wasn’t a monster and neither was he. It was just us, enjoying the quiet sounds of life and what was ahead of us.
I couldn’t help smiling as I thought about a future even though I knew deep down we would never have it.
But what was the harm in dreaming?
Houses started popping into my view as Steven drove. They were acres apart, but then they started getting closer and closer together.
I could feel Sky’s eyes on me from the back seat. I didn’t know what she was worried about. As soon as Steven was out of sight, I would ask her.
The grass started going from a dry, gold colour to a brown, brown-green and then finally green trimmed lawns came into view as we entered the town. I had not been looking ahead; if I had, I would have seen how big it actually was. It started to change as Steven drove around a few streets and then we were on a main road that was so full of cars, we were in bumper-to-bumper traffic.
Chapter Fifteen
The street was so busy, but the cars were moving at a slow pace. The people that were walking on the sidewalk were moving faster than we were. It was like driving forward in time, one moment there was just dirt, long dead grass, cows in paddocks, a few houses here and there, then straight into a small city. ‘Mutual’ seemed like the perfect location remote, hidden and out of sight, but perfect feeding grounds for the monsters that hide within.
“The mall is just up ahead,” Steven announced.
“It's so busy,” Sky pointed out.
“I know,” I replied automatically as I stared out the window at all the different people.
We moved along a bit more until Steven was finally turning into the entrance to the shopping centre. We parked on the third floor, as there were no other spaces on the two above us.
“Check it out,” I said, handing Sky my card.
“Wow, that’s awesome. Do you have a budget?” she asked.
I shook my head and started walking with Steven to the elevators. I pushed the button, we only had to wait a few seconds before the door chimed and we were walking in.
“I don’t think so; a note on it had said ‘Unlimited’,” I said, finishing with a huge grin.
“What are you going to get first?” she asked.
“My own underwear!” I was laughing.
“Hey, there was nothing wrong with the undies I got you,” she said laughing with me.
“No, but it will be nice to be able to get my own.”
We walked out of the elevator and into a big, open floor with shops’ signs and people everywhere.
“Let’s get some food first. My treat,” I said and waved my card before putting it in my pocket.
“Sounds great I am starving,” Sky said.
“Me too,” I replied.
Steven didn’t reply.
We looked up finding the signs that pointed us in the direction of the food court so we headed that way. I filled Sky in on what had happened during my breakfast/dinner with Garth. She listened well and gave the right nods when needed. I also told her about Ally. She seemed to keep the same expression, but I could tell she was still bothered and she knew I could see through her calm expression.
We walked into the food court area and looked around.
“What do you feel like?” I asked them both.
“Not that food does much for me, however, I do like a good kebab,” Steven said.
“I haven’t had one of those for ages. Sounds great! Sky?”
“Yeah, but I might get two, I seem to eat more these days,” she said a bit sheepishly.
I smiled at her. “I know what you like, I will grab it. What do you want Steven?” I asked.
“Surprise me.”
“Okay! You two grab us a table and I will go order it,” I told them and walked over to the kabab shop.
I waited patiently for our order to be ready. I got a funny look due to the number I ordered, but I told them I was ordering for friends as well. I looked around at everyone, eating, chatting, and walking in and out of the food area. They had all been so loud when we first approached, but I pushed it aside. I figured it was because I had a few weeks to practice before I fully changed. Not necessarily changed so much as accepted. After my first feed, things were more heightened, though not much had actually changed. With that thought I wondered why was I so uptight and what the hell was I worried about? So some people wanted to kill me, big deal. I have had a target on my back since I was born. Not that I knew, why did I feel I had t
o change? The only thing I needed to do was stop showing everyone I was scared. Stop letting them know their looks and judgment bothered me. I had all the people I needed to love me. The rest could bite me, or I them, whichever came first?
Our order was ready. I looked directly to where Sky and Steven were sitting. Not that I had seen them, but I could hear them as clear as day, like they were standing right next to me. I walked over and put our food on the table.
Sky grabbed hers, opened it saying thanks through a mouthful of food. She must have been hungrier than she thought.
Steven grabbed his and smiled. “This is what I get all the time. Chicken with the works and sour cream with BBQ sauce,” he seemed surprised.
“It’s what I have,” I replied.
He raised an eyebrow at me and took a bite while still staring. It made me squirm a little in my seat at his watchful gaze. I wasn’t sure what it meant, but I didn’t like it, or did I?
My kebab was delicious, I savoured the flavour while I was chewing and I could taste each one. I kept my eyes down, trying not to make eye contact again. Steven and Sky were chatting or should I say doing that uncomfortable small talk. Steven seemed to have a big chip on his shoulders about the wolves and I didn’t understand why. He worked at a club that had both species and stayed at a monster hotel, yet I could hear the clipped tone in every question or answer he gave to Sky. I had a feeling he was trying, at least for my sake since she is my best friend, but what about me. I was both and yet he didn’t seem to have a problem at all.
I averted my hearing out to other people in the food court. I suppose you could say I was eavesdropping, but it seemed like the perfect place to test out my abilities. I still didn’t quite know what they were exactly or how far they went; in order for me to find out, I needed to learn. I didn’t want to have any more break downs or episodes that would draw attention to our kind and if I wanted a normal life I needed to try to harness everything I had.