҉ ✼ ✼ ҉ ✼ ҉ ✼
Sunlight floods through the bedroom windows, casting shadows of carvings on the white tiled floor. A soft morning breeze carried the exotic scent of mangoes. The events of last night instantly came to my mind: Gunshots, arrows, and a Maroon.
Despite Naomi's warning to leave, Jason told us the Three Rings never ran away from their enemies. Amelia and Asher reminded him that they didn't have any field training. Tae and Jason were the only members with physical training. Jason didn't bulge, he only reduced our stay by one day.
"Good morning," I greet Tae, who was in the kitchen making scrambled eggs.
"There is nothing good about this morning," He groans in annoyance.
"You could have just said good morning, Tae."
He continued rambling about the morning being anything but good. I seat myself around the table in the kitchen. The morning was honestly fine until Tae opened his big mouth. I buried my face as I listened to him spit venom on Jason's name.
"Give up. He's never going to let us leave until tomorrow," Amelia said, coming into the kitchen.
"We'll be dead by then. Those were scouts, who knows how many more would come. We have two fighters and three-" he turns around, glancing at me and Amelia.
"Choose your next words very carefully," I warn him.
"Nothing"
Amelia starts laughing. "A big bad Seraph is afraid of an Elite that's a first," she said between laughs.
"An Elite?"
"Members who join because of family member they are basically royalty and because of your brother and-" Tae clears his throat, causing her to stop mid-sentence. "Sorry."
"I'm not going to have a mental breakdown if you talk about my brother or my mother, so there is no need for an apology."
"You know about your mother?"
"Jason told me."
On queue Jason enters the kitchen, and Tae gives Amelia and I an egg sandwich. "Is it safe to eat," I pick up my food and examined it. He shoots daggers with his eyes. "Thank you," I told him quickly to avoid any nasty comment he was about to throw.
"We are leaving," Jason announces, defeated. "Amelia and Jemima, you two are staying. Jordon and the guards will be here soon," his gaze fixated on me. "Do I have to remind you of the rules?".
"No touching"
"And?"
"No touching," I repeat, he give me an approving nod; I rolled my eyes to communicate my irritation. "Why are you leaving?".
"Azim called a meeting."
"Which one?" Amelia asks.
"All of them," The tone of his voice spread tension throughout the room. Even I didn't feel like eating anymore. "We have to find Wade."
"I thought you only protect your own." I recall.
"He has officially became a threat to the the Three Rings when he kidnapped you."
"Plus, Jordon almost died from his virus that tipped off everyone." Amelia adds.
"We left the island to deal with Wade, but they don't know what we know. They won't persecute him, no justice, no punishment, and he will walk as a free man every day."
"They will kill him."
"No, we won't kill him. That's up the people. We'll let them decide. For now, we'll capture him," Jason states firmly.
"Why the sudden change of heart." I asked curiously.
"We aren't monsters. Yes, killing him would be easy, but violence is not the answer to everything conflict," Those words changed my opinion on the Three Rings. "It won't be easy to get everyone on board with spearing his life, but that's what we plan to do."
"And if the people fail to see him for who he is, what then?"
He took a deep breath before saying, "Then the we will kill him."
Jason walked out of the kitchen. Tae playfully pinches me on my shoulders, his eyes connected with Amelia; they shared a knowing nod, and he followed Jason.
"And then there were two," Amelia mumbled. "Do you want to shop with me in the town?" she offers kindly, her brown eyes brightening as her smile widened. Suddenly she reminds me of Lia.
"I don't know," I run upstairs without another word, leaving Amelia puzzled and utterly confused.
Luckily, she didn't follow me. How will I explain this later on? I didn't get a chance to get over what happened to Lia. What she did was betrayal that lead to her death by Wade. I hated him. So many unanswered questions. Why was she working for Wade? Why were we friends in the first place? I doubt Jason could give me the answers I desperately wanted.
For the remainder of the morning, I caged myself to the faint almond-colored four-walled bedroom. At noon, my stomach protested about staying locked away from food. I made my way back to the kitchen. Amelia was sitting around the table, too engrossed in her phone to detect my presence.
"Finally! I thought you wouldn't come down!" she clamors. I smile at her at, then proceeds to the fridge to continue my hunt; to my luck, I found a small enclosed cup of vanilla ice cream. The words Jason's Property' are written in a red marker over the label. Jason's property? Well, it's my property now.
Halfway into Jason's ice cream, the sound of vehicles parking at the front of the house forewarn us of Jordon's arrival, and we both went outside to welcome him.
Jordon steps out of one of the four black vans, suited in his his uniform with a black beanie covering his head, light brown eyes ablaze, muscles bulging under despite the thickness of his clothes. Maybe it was extra sugar in the ice cream or the fact that I saw him stop breathing. Whichever the case is, my feet had a mind of their own. I jump into his arms, throwing the full force of my body forward. The action caught him off-guard, yet he managed to see me. My hands wrapped around his neck, pulling him into a hug.
"This is new," he commented, then placed me down, his gloved hands on rests on my waist.
"Well, because you almost died, I think you deserve a hug."
"Is that so?" He lowers his head until his lips were an inch away from mine.
"Love is in the air!"
Amelia's outburst resulted in me pushing Jordon away. "Why are you scaring my girlfriend?" heat crept up my cheeks at his words. He plants a firm kiss on my temple. One of the guards gave him an extensive white box.
"We don't usually let females into the field, but I got you this," he handed the box to me. I open it, curious to know what was inside.
It's a white combat suit similar to the original black everyone else wore. The only difference between them was the thickness and the symbols. Instead of the three circles, this suit had eight hundred and eighty-eight. "It's an angelic number which represents balance," he expresses when he saw my fascination with the symbol.
Once everyone got settled, armed guards are situated at the front, and some were posted at the end of the field by the fence. Jordon, Amelia, a guard, and I were in the middle of the training area. Amelia wore the same white suit as I did. We observe as Jordon demonstrates simple defense skills with the guard. It was anything but simple; on the bright side, it wasn't Jason who was teaching us.
"Your turn," He informs me, pointing to the guard. Stepping forward, It occurs to me that I might need more than a suit to defend myself.