I leave the lab and start roaming around the school, not really knowing where to go next, but before I know it, I'm at the one place I never thought I would ever visit. I go down a long flight of stairs, and see two guards standing in front of a massive, silver door.
I approach them, and they straighten their backs at the sight of me, probably not expecting any company, "Who are you?" One them asks, a tall, thin man with an unkempt beard.
"I'm here under Head Master Ren's orders," I lie, not really knowing where I'm going with this, I should've come up with a plan before coming here, but I always do tend to think better on my feet.
The two guards exchange looks, confused, "We didn't receive a notice that there will be visitors," the other guard says, a red head with dark brown eyes.
I shrug, looking indifferent, "Alright, I'll leave, but if Head Master Ren has you fired, don't come whining to me, I'm his new favorite prodigy after all." I say, studying at my nails, pretending to look bored.
They shift in their places, then the first guard says, "You're the new student who just entered the school, aren't you?"
I don't look up when I say, "Mm hmm, that I am."
They consider this for a moment, then finally they let me in by opening the doors and then one of them says, I'm not sure which one since I have my back turned to them, "You have ten minutes," then closes the door, and I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding.
I walk down another flight of stairs, my heart beating uncontrollably in my chest, what the heck am I even doing here? This is a bad idea, if I had half a brain, I'd turn around and run for my life right this second, but instead, I swallow my fear and continue walking down these endless stairs. Before I know it, I'm standing face-to-face with Dex, who's being held inside a cell, doing push-ups. He's shirtless, and sweating all over, I take another deep breath, and walk closer to his cage, all words and thoughts escaping my good-for-nothing brain. I'm pretty sure this is what they call a brainfart, never thought I'd ever have one of those, guess there's a first time for everything.
I cross my arms to keep them from shaking, "Sucks being on the other side, doesn't it?" I say, my voice sounding more confident than I thought it would, which gives me a boost of self-assurance. Dex freezes half-way through a push-up at the sound of my voice, and looks up at me, his eyes narrowed. Within a second, he's on his feet, and dusting off his hands. I give him a once over, and can't stop myself from staring at his chest and abs, which makes the blood in my veins run hot throughout my body. There's a band-aid wrapped around his shoulder and chest, hiding the injury Blaze gave him back at Lord Codd's palace. He then turns around, walks to the bed that's at the far end of the room, grabs his shirt and puts it on. The lack of skin makes my heart regulate, which is a huge relief.
"What do you want?" he asks, now making serious eye contact.
That is a very good question indeed, why did I come here exactly? I had so much to ask him, why did they kidnap me, why doesn't the strog work on me, what's with the whole prophecy nonsense that they were throwing at me back at the palace, and lastly, how in God's name were they able to find me? But none of those questions leave my mouth, instead, I stare at him, speechless, my emotions jumping at me from all directions. I'm angry, and upset, and most of all, hating him from what he made me go through. But looking at him now, I can't help but feel a little tinge of sympathy towards him, like he needs me in some sort of way.
"Guess you're not going to thank me for saving your butt," I smirk, putting my hands in the pocket of my jeans.
Dex scowls, "You humiliate me by bringing me here and surrender my life at the hands of people like you, and you expect a thank you?" he says through gritted teeth, "You're lucky you're still alive, but that won't be for long."
I narrow my eyes at him, my smirk never leaving my face, "Your threats would be awfully terrifying if you had any sort of power here, but you don't. Instead, you're stuck in cage, at the mercy of people like me."
He chuckles, his eye's deadly, "You should've left when you had the chance, perhaps you'd have stayed alive."
I click my tongue and cross my arms against my chest, trying to look more confident, "Careful now, or someone might think you're worried about me." He doesn't answer, instead, he walks back to his bed, sits down, and leans his back onto the wall and closes his eyes. Guess that means he's done talking to me, too bad I don't feel the same way.
"How did you find me? Why am I so different from everyone else?" When he still doesn't answer, I walk towards his cell, and grab the bars, urging him to look at me, "You let your people torture me, they were ready to kill me, the least you can do is give me some answers," I didn't mean to shout at him, but my anger was starting to get the best of me.
Dex opens his eyes, and studies my stance, his face emotionless, "You're asking the wrong questions, when you're ready to ask me the right questions, come back and talk to me."
I shake my head, frustrated and tired, what the hell does that even mean? I thought I was asking the right questions, in fact, I am asking the right questions, he's just too arrogant to admit it. "Doesn't matter, I don't even know why I came here. I'm going to visit The Great Witch, I'm sure she'll be more informative than you."
Dex quickly gets up, and now he's standing right in front of me, less than an inch away. If it weren't for these bars, I'm sure he would've gotten even closer, "You can't go there, it's not safe," his voice is urgent, yet firm.
My eyebrows shoot upwards, "Two slips in one day, now I definitely know you're worried about me," I smirk, catching him off guard.
Dex takes a step back, his eyes drilling holes into my skull, "It's your funeral, but mark my words, Elena never does anything for free, there will be consequences, which are usually worse than the situation you had before."
I shake my head, and take a deep breath, "There's nothing that she can take away from me that I haven't already lost. Anything at this point would be better than staying in the dark," I admit, not really sure why I'm telling him all this.
The look of disapproval is plainly obvious on his face, and I can tell that he's hiding something, I just don't know what. I decide not to ask him about it, because I know he wouldn't tell me anyway.
"Like I said, it's your funeral," he says, with nonchalance.
I nod, knowing perfectly well that his words are true, death doesn't scare me, but living in the unknown and awaiting the inevitable terrifies me more than I care to admit. I walk away, not really wanting to say anything else, even though there's still so much to say. But I'm tired, and all I want to do right now is head to my room and clear my thoughts.
"You know, Lexi," I turn around, startled, that's the first time he's ever said my name, and for same reason, it made my heart jump, "You're going to come back and see me, before long, and when you do, I expect more." I furrow my eyebrows, confused, what the hell is that supposed to mean? "I'll also be getting out of here soon, hope you're ready." He says, his voice firm, and serious. I don't answer, turn around and leave.
I climb up the stairs, taking two steps at a time, ready to get out of here. I open the doors, and the guards slightly jump, startled, as though they forgot I was down there. I approach them, smirking, "It's definitely been more than ten minutes. Oh, and I lied about Head Master wanting me to go down there. What would happen if he found out I outsmarted two well-trained guards?" I ask, crossing my arms. The red head stands up taller, and stares me right in the eyes; he's not afraid of me ratting them out. "One day, I'm going to need a favor, and if you want to keep your jobs, you're going to have to obey without arguing, understood?"
They look at each other, then back at me, scowling. Clearly they don't like being blackmailed, but it's their own fault they weren't taking their job more seriously. I walk away, winking at them before going up the next flight of stairs.
***
I wake up at 6:30 in the morning, my eyelids heavy and weary. I stayed up until past midnight reading, it's the only activity that helps me keep my mind in check. I go about what has now become my daily routine, and off to the cafeteria I go. I have a quick breakfast with Nick, where we talk about tonight's celebration, and what time he's going to pick me up from my room so we can walk there together. I completely forgot all about it, and hope it didn't show on my face when he mentioned it, the last thing I want to do is crush his heart. He gives me a quick hug, then hurriedly runs to class, or well, as fast as his crutches can take him. I drag my feet while going to the boxing rink, not looking forward to today's lesson whatsoever. When I finally get there, I see Blaze putting his gloves on, then testing them out on a boxing bag.
He turns around, and sees me staring at him, "I don't have all day," he says, while picking up another pair of gloves and throwing them at me. I catch them and put them on, then climb into the rink. He stands in front of me, and within seconds, I can see several students already forming a circle around the rink, excited for today's performance. The sight of them irritates me more than it should, I stare at them and growl.
Blaze's eyebrows shoot upwards, clearly impressed, "Easy now," he smirks, then looks at the students, "Leave, now."
They all look terrified, and start to scatter around like ants, trying to get as far away as possible. Okay, that was slightly impressive, but I will never give him the satisfaction of telling him that. I'm still unbelievable angry about what he did to me yesterday, and if it wasn't for my fast healing rate and Joy's medicine, I'd still have bruises all over my body. But luckily for him, I woke up this morning and they'd had disappeared.
Blaze doesn't waste a second, he puts his fists up in front of him, and spreads his legs, ready to fight. I take in a deep breath, press my lips together, and stand in the same pose.
We spend the next hour training in silence, and I can already feel myself getting better. My only problem is that I'm not as strong or as fast as him. I take off the gloves, put them back onto the rack, and I start to walk away, feeling proud of myself for not uttering a single word to that arrogant prick.
"Where are you going? We're not done," he shouts, also coming down from the boxing rink.
I turn around to face him, and see him walking towards me, his hair sticking to his forehead, and his sweaty shirt glued to his body, outlining his broad shoulders and abs. My heart starts to beat faster and I bite my lip. Why do I always feel this way around him? After the way he treated me yesterday, almost killing me, I should hate him, not feel oddly attracted to him. I take in a deep breath, trying to calm myself down.
"Well, I'm done. We've been at it for an hour, I'm tired and sweaty and all I want to do right now is take a shower," I turn around, ready to be excused.
"You told the Head Master that you wanted to attend classes, well, your wish has come true," I turn to face him and see him holding a paper that has my name and a schedule on it. I take it from him, checking to see what subjects they put me in. I scowl when I see my three least favorite subjects, math, chemistry and geography, it's like they knew.
Blaze points at my first class of the day on the schedule, "As you can see, all your classes start at 10:00, which means you'll be training with me every day until 9:45, which will give you more than enough time to shower and get ready for your next class," I look at his face, and can tell that he's not ecstatic about the news either, nor was he joking about giving me just fifteen minutes to shower and get dressed.
"Most girls need more than just fifteen minutes to get ready," I say, in disbelief.
Blaze gives me a careful once over and says, "Clearly, you're not like most girl," he turns around and starts to walk away, urging me to follow him, if only I had a machine gun, I'd gladly empty it in his stupid head.
I pocket my schedule, then jog to catch up to him, "What are we going to do?" I ask, still irritated.
He looks at me from the corner of his eye and smirks, "Run," he says.
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