the devil within

chapter 6 - explosion

blaz

She had been acting strange lately. She wasn't focusing and couldn't seem to get the drills right.

We had been out there for 2 hours and made no progress whatsoever. Maia wasn't acting like herself today and I knew exactly why. It was the blood on the grass. I had learned to block it out and not let it affect me, but she hadn't figured it out yet. She couldn't block it out.

"Let's take a break and go get some food, okay?" I didn't want her to have to be here anymore.

"No. I want to continue. No matter how much you want to get me away from the blood, I'm not leaving." She snapped.

"I just don't want you to have to be around it. I saw how you reacted when you looked at the body. I don't want you to have to go through this again." I said.

Maia smiled. "I'm okay. Promise. Can we get back to work now?" she tried to hide the pain in her voice, but I caught it.

"We're going to get food. No arguing." I grabbed her hand and went to the mess hall. She tried to get out, but it didn't work so well.

I brought her over to where Don and Eli were already sitting. SHe sat down and sulked.

Don laughed. "What's wrong with you?" He asked.

Maia pointed at me. "He's not letting me train." She said, clearly pissed off about something. "I said that I'm fine. Why don't you believe me?"

Don stood up. "Blaz, can we talk outside?" I nodded and we both went to the door.

"What's wrong?" I asked. Don was great, but he never actually made any sense.

"I know what is going on with Maia. I heard some people talking in class about how she was almost killed by some guy named Ethan. Apparently he saved her from a car crash, brought her to his house then tried to kill her. If the Devils hadn't come to save her, she would be dead."

"Wow. That's rough." I looked over at Maia who was talking with Eli. She seemed perfectly okay.

"The reason that she was so upset with you killing that boy was because she has faced death many times before and it now scares her. You aren't as affected by it. At the age of 7, you managed to kill three vampires. This type of thing doesn't faze you like it does to us."

I shook my head. "That's not what it is. I'm just good at hiding it. You guys let it distract you from life. I just accept that death is part of me and that there is nothing I can do to escape it."

"There's one more thing that you should know." Don sounded worried.

"What's up?" I asked, confused.

"Maia says that when she left Ethan's house, he said that he would find and kill her. I also got a message from the council yesterday saying that Ethan escaped from prison. I think he's going to come here to kill Maia." He was obviously afraid, and I could understand why. "I'm not supposed to tell you any if this, so please don't say anything. I just thought that you should know and be prepared."

"Depending on how powerful this Ethan guy is, it could mean war. Maia could be in danger." I whispered. We had all become very fond of Maia and none of us wanted to see her get hurt.

"Neither of us can say anything to Maia or Eli, okay?" Don wasn't joking around about this stuff.

I nodded "Understood."

We went back to the table. Maia had gone and gotten food for both of us.

I sat in silence, thinking about what Don had told me, then it hit me. Unless Ethan came in the next 4 months, Don wouldn't be there to help.