Manhunt/Steal The Flags part 2
"Why did you leave with him?"
I glared at the back of Joel's head as he asked me the question I knew was bugging him. We had to have been walking around for twenty minutes without running into anyone. My first guess was that no one wanted to fight Joel. I knew he wasn't looking at me but I shrugged looking at my feet.
"The only time I get a reaction out of you is when I do things you don't want me to do," I admitted. "Duchess, General Mason and even you...you keep things from me and expect me to tell you everything."
Joel stayed silent and looked around the forest quietly. He pointed to a bush and I walked over to him it. "So pissing me off is your brilliant solution?" He asked settling in next to me behind the bush.
"You have no reason to be pissed off," I snapped. "You aren't my man or anything."
I heard his breathing change and mentally slapped myself. I keep pissing him off. It wasn't a lie though. Joel isn't anything to me. He looked at me with angry eyes but I spaced out hearing a voice in my head. Joel's face changed and he whispered to me, "Justine, what is it?"
Three are running towards you from the left.
I pulled my sword out and blinked a few times. "There are three coming from the left," I whispered back. Joel frowned and the voice also told me that they had blue flags. "It's the Almássy."
Joel nodded and stood up just in time to see the three guys stop. Joel had an evil smirk on his face as he pulled out his gun and shot all three of them, snatching their flags. I came out from behind the bushes and he tossed me the flags. "How did you do that?" He asked.
I bit my lip. "I heard a voice?" I said as a question. Joel stared at me and then nodded.
"You discovered another ability," he said walking past me. I tied the flags to my belt and jogged to keep up with him.
"What ability is that?" I asked. He ran a hand through his hair and pointed to a tree.
"Nature Manipulation," he said with a smirk. "You can control and communicate with nature. The tree told you they were coming."
I talk to trees?
Joel looked over his shoulder at me and I rubbed my face. This was way too much to take in. "And the force field?"
"It wasn't a force field really. You manipulated the air around you to create a shield," he explained. "The annoying part will be teaching you how to use and control it." Joel pulled me to stand in front of him behind a tree but kept his hands on my waist. I put my hands over my mouth to quiet my breathing. What the hell is going on?
One person with one green flag and eight red ones.
Eight already?! Well thank you, Ms. Tree. I looked up at Joel and he put a finger to his mouth. Does he know who's there—?
"Come out, Joey. I just want to talk."
Nicholas. Joel held me tightly and I bit my tongue to keep my mouth shut. I heard Nicholas walking around the other trees and then chuckling. "I don't understand you. All this time you were Mr. Lone Wolf, no pun intended," he said. "Then the one girl I show interest in you just so happen to like too."
Joel let me go and stepped out from behind the tree. I was about to reach out to him when he reached for his sword. "This shit again, Nicholas?" He asked him, a bit irritated. "I did meet her first you know."
Did he just admit to liking me?
I peeked out to see Nicholas and Joel circling each other. "Put the sword down Joel. You and me both know we don't need those weapons," he smirked. "Does she know? About...you know?"
"Shut up."
"She probably would freak out—"
Joel chuckled darkly, "It's a double edge sword because the same could be said about you." I watched Nicholas's face change and something in his hand started to make a sparking noise. Joel shook his head. "So that's the game you want to play?" He asked annoyed. Literally, electricity appeared in Nicholas's hands and on the ground, I shit you not, little flames started forming.
"Last chance, Spalding," Joel warned him in a calm voice. Nicholas didn't answer him as the electricity in his hand turned into a whip and he threw it at Joel. Joel moved to the side and the whip it the tree I was standing behind. I squealed, falling down as the tree he hit sported a huge hole. Joel looked over his shoulder at me and growled. A random girl with a green flag ran into the clearing and glared at me. Nicholas looked at her and nodded. "Get the flags but don't hurt her," he ordered.
Fuck.
"Justine, run," Joel growled as a wall of fire started building in front of him. I scrambled off my stomach and started running the other way. I heard her footsteps behind me and it made me run faster. I looked behind me to see her pull out her gun and aim it at me. I ducked as the bullet whizzed past me. It took her only three minutes to finally catch me and push me against a tree. She pulled back to throw a punch and I moved my head to the side to avoid it before bringing up my leg and kneeing her in the stomach and delivering my own punch to her jaw. "Stupid bitch," I mumbled taking off in another direction, trying to make my way back to Joel.
I was tackled again and pushed to the ground in front of me, hitting my head. Groaning, the girl stood over me and pointed the gun in my face. I held my arms over my face and after a heart beat or two, I didn't feel the girl standing over me. She was screaming. What the fuck? I opened my eyes and gasped. The girl was being wrapped up in a vine like cocoon. I pushed my hair out of face and stood up. The vines slithered like they had a mind of their own. How—?
"Plant Manipulation."
I turned around and saw Dorrian jump down from a tree. He walked over to me with a serious look on his face. I turned back to the girl, "Was that me or..."
"It was you," he said confidently.
Holy shit. "So what am I now? Poison Ivy?" I snapped. "How do I stop it?"
"Calming down would be a start," he answered calmly and then looked behind the girl as three other people ran over to us. Each of them had two flags. "Or not," he rolled his eyes. "The vines you are controlling move on your orders. Like this." Dorrian raised his hand and vines sprouted from it and attacked the three guys. I stepped back as Dorrian walked over to the three of them and tossed me the flags. I looked back at the girl wrapped up in my vines, passed out and as stupid as I felt, I raised my hand and willed for the vines to bring me the vines on her belt. To my surprise, two of them did exactly that and handed me the flags. I looked at Dorrian who nodded his approval. "Good. Let's go."
"What about them?"
Dorrian shrugged, "They will be collected at the end of the game. Right now we are in the lead and you are a target. Let's go."
I took one last look at the four we had bounded and then ran after Dorrian.
"I want an explaination, Dorrian," I snapped.
"For what?"
I glared at him, "How Nicholas, Joel and even you have abilities?! You don't need me or any of the Candidates if you guys can do that already!"
Dorrian sighed and looked back at me. "Justine, it is human nature to want more of what you already have," he explained.
"So you can already do what I do...all of you," I said staring at him. He nodded slowly and turned walking away. There was a lot more to the story than that, I thought to myself as I followed behind him quietly. He kept looking back and forth between the trees and paused after a few more paces. Dorrian looked up at the sky like he was listening for something and then nodded. And here I thought I was the only one hearing shit. "Joel is okay. Carter found him and helped out," he whispered.
I frowned, "Where's Nicholas?"
Dorrian got quiet again and then his eyes widened. "Move!" He pushed me out of the way just in time before a thunderbolt strict the middle of his chest. I gasped and leaned against the tree behind me. I turned my head as Nicholas walked out into the clearing and smiled at me. "Here I am," he said cheerfully. I noticed the flags on his belt and we were tied. The good news was he didn't have any gold flags.
"How—?"
"Carter helped Joel so I went after whoever else I could find and then I decided to find you," he smirked. I hear Dorrian groan and I bit my lip. He clearly wasn't going to be helping me. Nicholas slowly walked towards me and I quickly tried avoiding him. "I should thank you because if these idiots weren't so focused on protecting you I wouldn't be so far in this game," Nicholas moved one side, I moved to the other.
"That's not a fair win," I snapped.
"A win is a win, Justine. Doesn't matter how it's done," he chuckled.
I rolled my eyes, "If I wanted to hear from an asshole, I'd fart."
Nicholas suddenly turned serious and pulled out his sword at the same time that electric whip appeared in his hands. I weighed in my options. If I don't fight him the Masons lose, the Council will see everything and I fail the first part of the graduation process. "I won't let this hurt too much but it will hurt," he said and I pulled my sword out of its sheath and nodded to him.
"Let's do it then."