Black Equation - The Gifted Ones

Number Two

“Sometimes, there is no next time, no time-outs, and no second chances. Sometimes, it’s now or never.”

Number Two

 

Smiling was the last thing she wanted to do – but there isn’t really a choice, is there? Not if she wanted to pull off the little escape plan she hatched last night. Arashi was hard to fool. Her best friend Tyra was quick on the uptake as well. If she was to meet Ivan today, she had to keep up the façade that she was unaffected, that everything was normal. And that was like saying that nothing had changed even if her whole world – the world as she’d known it – had turned completely upside down and inside out.

Finally. Answers. Four years might have passed since she lost her memory, but there was still this nagging emptiness inside her that screamed to be filled. Because without her past, she was nothing but half the person she is now. Never complete. Merely a shell of who she used to be.

She could see it in their eyes, the longing, the hope, even if they tried hard to hide it. Her dad, her boyfriend… no matter how much they reassured her, she could feel it deep in her guts. They were waiting, still waiting for the old her to come back. She tried to be as lively and as gutsy as their stories portrayed her to be – and she was failing, miserably. To them, she simply wasn’t good enough, and she hated herself for feeling that way. She had been insecure since she woke up after her accident. But could she help it? She had amnesia, yet nobody was willing to tell her the truth of her past.

It hurt her to think that she had to resort to trusting a stranger over her own loved ones.

Abcidee was on her way out of her first class when she first saw him. No, it wasn’t the Russian, but for whatever reason, this particular person had caught her attention as if her eyes were iron and he was magnet.

There was nothing casual about the tall guy leaning against the wall just outside her room. Wearing an expensive-looking trench coat and high boots, the blonde looked like a young detective about to film a blockbuster action movie. He was eye-catching, and this point was further driven to home by the human traffic caused by the ogling females in the hallway.

That included her.

Her mouth suddenly tasted bitter.

Blood.

She was unconsciously biting her lower lip again.

Darn it. Arashi would probably scold her later. She recalled with perfect clarity his statement about her nasty habit.

“Your lips are mine, and I don't like them bloody.”

The nerves of the man! Even so, she smiled at the memory. Arashi could be frustrating every once in a while, but he was hers. And she couldn’t be happier.

The blonde was staring in her direction, and that made her jump in her skin. She shivered in discomfort as she looked away, frustratingly shy as always.

Given that Tyra would probably show up any minute, Abcidee couldn’t waste her precious time for someone she doesn’t know. Before she got squished by the hormone-driven students, she dodged and worked her way out of the crowd. She carefully looked around, finally releasing the air she didn’t know she held. Good, Tyra is not yet here. Without looking back, she made a beeline towards the flight of stairs that would carry her to the east wing.

She had to see Ivan. Fast.

Krad knew that his presence would distract her, and that was all his team needed to initiate the plan. From the corners of his eyes, he saw her tense at the sight of him.

She was all and nothing he remembered her to be. Her once waist-long brown hair was now cut just above her shoulders in alternating layers, giving her very feminine face an edgy look. Instead of wearing the trendiest set of clothes she could find, she now adorned her well-proportioned body with simple tee and jeans.  Even the way she walked was different. There was no grace in her movement; it was hurried and awkward, like one misplaced step would easily send her flying to the floor. Her face was closed-off, an expression that seemed oddly detached to belong to the very enthusiastic and charming girl he knew her to be. Her contagious smiles were nonexistent. 

Could four years really change a person this much?

He expected her to come to him like any friend would if you haven’t seen each other for years. He was annoyed when she didn’t. She pretended not to see him and simply walked away. To say he was angry was an understatement. Stiffly, Krad signaled the switch of tactics from Plan A to Plan B.

Two of his men immediately shadowed Faye Summers the moment she stepped out of the crowd. Krad knew she would sense them but would act otherwise, just as Creed trained them to do. Faye was easy to read – as she had always been. Even if she did notice his men and in her panic, foolishly ran, she couldn’t escape them. Her pursuers were Gifted trackers. They would find her to the ends of the world.

Everything was within Krad's calculation. 

His blue eyes followed the back of her small figure as she weaved her way out of his line of sight, and then he began to move.