The Reincarnated (Book 2A of Wolfcreek Series)

Chapter 21

Sergio cleared his throat and shifted a little away from me while his face grew pale. He moved his fingers until they were about an inch apart from each other and squinted a little. "Just this much," he said.

My grin grew wider because I knew that he was lying.

"Ok, I admit it, you do scare the crap out of me, Cass, so please stop," Sergio said.

I didn't respond and kept grinning at him.

Sergio's eyes grew wider, and he looked at Commander. "Commander," he said, begging him to save him.

"Cassidy," Commander warned, and I looked at him quickly, changing my expression to my best innocent look and not the creepy smile that I was doing to Sergio. He scowled and narrowed his eyes slightly, and I kept looking at him innocently as if I was the most purest angel in the world.

"To answer your question, Cass, I do talk to them about you," Charlie said, and I looked at him instead of Commander. He looked at Hank unimpressed before he looked at ne. "Hank does know that your name is Cassidy and that you go by Cass."

"Then why did he lie?" I asked and raised an eyebrow.

"Because I didn't want you to think of me as creepy," Hank said, "or Charlie because he talks about you to us."

I gave him an unimpressed look, not liking his answer. I knew that he was telling the truth, but I had no idea why he thought that I would think of him as creepy.

Like I trusted Commander and Sergio right off the bat, I trusted him. I had no idea who he was, but I had this deep feeling that I had known him, liked him, and trusted him with my life, even though we had just met.

Charlie looked at me, and understanding flashed through his eyes because he knew what I was thinking since he could read me like a book before he looked at Hank. "She trusts you," he said, and Hank looked at Charlie with wide eyes before he looked at me.

"You do?" he asked, and his voice quivered slightly. Hope filled his voice, but there was a small bit of fear twinged in it as if he thought that Charlie was lying to him. "Is he telling the truth, or is he lying to me?"

I sighed and shook my head. I wanted to be a pain in the ass to him and tell him that Charlie was lying, but for some reason, I knew that it would break his heart, so I decided against it. "Charlie is telling the truth," I said instead. "I don't know you, but I do trust you like with my life." I shrugged and grimaced. "Even though I don't know you that well, not like I do with Charlie."

Hank studied me before a huge grin broke out on his face, and I could tell that he knew that I wasn't lying to him. "Well... we can change that," he said. He cleared his throat and shifted on his feet, looking very giddy as if someone told him that he had won a big prize that he didn't expect to win.

He looked at Commander before he looked at me, and his cheeks turned a little red while he blushed. "I mean... can we?" he asked and raised an eyebrow. "You are working out here, right?" He looked at Commander again. "With our group?"

There was sadness in his voice, and his voice grew soft while he looked nervously at him. He wanted to work out with me, even though he was afraid of me. He wanted to get to know me and show me why he could be trusted.

Commander studied Hank before he slowly nodded, and Hank's face lit up as if he had won the lottery. "She will be working with that group," he confirmed. "However, we will talk about that tomorrow since you do have to go back to your family." He looked at me when he said that.

Disappointment filled my body, and I couldn't help but feel slightly sad since I had to leave them. "Oh," I said, not hiding the disappointment in my voice. I knew that they were waiting for me to get back so that we could go to that restaurant, but I wanted to stay here.

I wanted to fix the bonds that felt like they were severed between the people that were here and me, especially the three men besides Charlie. I wanted to get to know them and understand why I trusted them so much, even though they were way older than me, and I knew that there would be some people that would look at us weirdly because of our friendship or whatever.

Hank looked at Commander and pointed at me, and I raised an eyebrow in question, wondering what was going on through his mind. "Can we please keep her?" he asked. "At least for another couple of hours before we send her off to her parents?"

Commander sighed and shook his head, looking older than he was. He looked tired and annoyed, and I could tell that a part of him wanted to say 'yes' and to give in to his demands, but he knew that he couldn't. "Unfortunately not," he said instead, and Hank frowned while he looked dejected. "However..." He looked at me. "You will be reporting here at eight every evening for training," he said. "You will be training from eight to ten every night. Understood?"

I nodded. "Is Zaria in that group?" I asked, and Commander shook his head, no. I wrinkled my nose in disgust and frowned. "Why not?" I asked. "She wants a fight, so I want to finish by playing "nice.""

"Fighting her is not playing nice, Cassidy Anne," Charlie said in that teacher tone of his, and I rolled my eyes and scowled.

"Stop with the teacher mode, Charlie," I said. "We're not in school."

Charlie didn't say a word and looked at Commander with a look that screamed, "this is your fault."

Commander didn't make a comment about Charlie's look and instead cocked his head while he studied me. "If you want to spend a weekend here, then you can," he said. "However, that is not a requirement, but showing up for practice at eight will be."

I folded my arms across my chest and raised an eyebrow in question. "And what will happen if I don't?" I asked. "I mean, when I join cross country, I know that there will be days when I have competitions out of town and won't be back until late. There will also be nights in which I have play practice, too."

"You will have to do a couple of courses for me after you are here," he said. "However, that does not include going to cross country competitions, play rehearsals, or spending time with your friends out of time. At least, please make sure that you let Charlie know where you are going."

Even though I have a feeling that he already knows... I said silently, but I nodded instead. "Yes, Commander," I said.

Commander nodded and cleared his throat. "Good." He gestured to Sergio. "Sergio will show you out. I expect you to be here tomorrow at eight. Is that understood?"

I nodded again. "Yes, Commander."

"Then you are dismissed."

And with that, both Sergio and I dipped our heads to Commander and left, leaving my heart behind.