Chapter 23
You know that feeling that you get when you wake up on a snowy morning, get ready for school - which you don't want to go to - and rush downstairs for breakfast, but suddenly get a call from them saying school's off?
Yeah, that's exactly how I felt when I woke up this morning.
I felt great. Absolutely amazing. In fact, for the first time since Xena's death, I felt whole again.
Oh, damn it. Xena.
Wasn't Arsen her one true love? Perfect. And now I feel guilty. Just what I needed to start the day.
"Are you going to get up?" Someone mutters from next to me. I freeze.
Oh, he's still there.
I turn to my side and sigh, closing my eyes.
"Nope, I'm staying right here," I answer.
Slowly afterwards, I feel his arm wrapping around my waist and pulling me closer. My back hits his chest, and my heartbeat quickens.
Not good for the morning.
"This doesn't change anything between us, Xanthe," He whispers coldly in my ear.
I nestle into him, letting his arm tighten around me, and smile.
"Sure it does, Arsen. Do you want me to say out loud what we did?" I ask, smirking. I feel him stiffen.
"No, Xanthe," He growls. My smirk widens.
"Mmkay. But this does change things between us. I mean, we did just sleep in the same bed," I say, smiling when I hear a sharp exhale come from him.
"Oops, did I say it out loud?" I snicker.
Without warning, Arsen pulls me under the covers and despite myself, I squeal.
God, this is going to be a great day.
I don't think the universe likes us that much, mushroom brain.
Oh, shush. Stop ruining my moment.
Sure, whatever. But afterwards, you'll be crying about the fact that I'm always right.
I never do that!
'Course you don't.
*~*~*~*
A few hours later, however, my subconscious is proven right, once again.
"Where?" Arsen demands.
"Under the red bridge, boss. There's been funny activity goin' on there, we think it might be Teel's gang, but we ain't sure," Tony answers. Arsen growls.
"And you didn't do anything about it?" He demands, his voice icy.
John snorts and Brian smirks, who are standing behind Tony.
"No, boss. I... didn't know what to do," He answers, his head down. Arsen glares at him for a while before turning to the other guys.
"We're going down there, then, all of us. And Tony, make sure you do something this time," Arsen hisses, glaring at Tony before walking off, gesturing for me to follow.
I turn to give Tony a sorry smile, to which he returns, before running off after the boss.
"What happened?" I ask as he opens a door to their weapons room.
"None of your business," He answers curtly. I scoff.
"I mean, if I'm going then I have to know, right?" I ask, rolling my eyes. Arsen whirls around.
"You're not going, Xanthe," He growls coldly. I gape at him.
"I am going. I'll end up coming anyway, Arsen, so you might as well say it," I smile, shrugging. He glares at me.
"You won't end up going. She will make sure of that," He says, pointing behind my shoulder and walking towards the suitcase right at the back, next to a door.
I furrow my eyebrows and turn to where he pointed. Sure enough, there's a girl standing there, one eyebrow raised and arms folded.
Where'd she come from?!
"So, you're the I-don't-take-orders-from-anyone girl, huh?" She asks, snorting. I eye her.
"Yeah, and who are you? The I-keep-girls-cooler-than-me-away-from-danger girl?" I ask. She lets out a short laugh.
"No. I'm Liv, actually. Why, who's asking?"
I give her a look. "Who do you think?"
"What about you, then, what's your name?" She asks. I smirk.
"Xanny. Why, who's asking?"
"Who do you think?" She haughtily replies. I shake my head and turn back around.
"Arsen, you are not going to keep me stuck here with Leather Jacket Girl for the rest of--" I pause.
He's not there.
Oh, my God, he's not freaking there!
I turn a whole circle, my eyes narrowed, but don't see him anywhere. I turn back to Liv.
"Uh, where'd he go?" I asked, panicking a little. She smiles sweetly.
"He went out of that door," She points.
I rush over to the door he supposedly went through, and try to open it.
But...it's locked.
"Bastard," I mutter, trying to kick the door open.
Unfortunately, that doesn't work, either.
"Guess you're stuck with me, chipmunk," Liv says, slouching on top of a suitcase. I glare at her when I realize that that's my suitcase.
"How old are you?" I ask her, folding my arms and raising an eyebrow. She copies me.
"Hasn't anyone ever told you not to ask a woman her age?" She smirks. I scoff.
"No one has ever told me that," I answer her, shaking my head. She rolls her eyes.
"I'm twenty."
I stare at her.
"What?"
"Yeah, you heard me. I'm two years older than you, so you've gotta respect me," She says, her smirk still on.
"Well, that ruins my plan to suffocate you in your sleep," I sigh, plopping down on Arsen's suitcase. She snorts.
"Bad karma, Xanny," I look at her for a while.
Liv's really pretty, in a rugged sort of way. She has long, straight blonde hair. She's tall, too, I'm thinking five-foot-seven, or maybe even eight.
Her clothes make her look badass.
Wearing black leggings, a white t-shirt, and a black, leather jacket with her sleeves rolled up makes it feel like she's from a rock band.
I actually like her style.
"So, Liv, is that your full name?" I ask, smiling sweetly at her. She shakes her head.
"Full name's Olivia. Why do you care? You have a chance to escape and you're wasting it on an interview with me," She says, gesturing towards the door.
I furrow my eyebrows, looking at her, then to the door, then back to her.
Slowly, I start to walk towards the door. When she makes no show of moving, I rush out and run to the nearest fire exit I can find.
Once I'm out, I bump into someone.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I was in a--seriously?!" I hiss when I see Liv standing there.
Well, that wasn't creepy. I guess I got my hopes up.
She points to her left, and I see the Emergency Exit #2 half-open.
"That's the door Turner went out from," She tells me. I stare at the door.
What a sneaky bitch. And here I was thinking it was locked.
I give her an annoyed look as hard as I can.
"So, what are you gonna do now?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.
"Take you to Turner. Believe it or don't, you're not the only one who wants to see the boss in action," She smirks, wiggling her eyebrows. I scoff.
"And how are you going to take me?" I ask her, folding my arms and leaning against the brick walls.
"Well, I was planning on going to a zoo, renting an elephant from the zoo, and riding on that," She considers with a hand to her chin.
I stare at her for a while.
"A car, Xanny, I'm going to take you in a car!" Liv groans, clearly frustrated.
She walks off and I give her a weird look, following her.
Once we're all strapped up in her Mini, she takes off.
Her driving's really unsafe. Personally, I don't want to have to explain to anyone that Liv died whilst trying to back the car out of a petrol station.
That would seriously be messed up. And embarrassing.
"So, how old are you?" Liv asks eventually.
"How old do I look?" I ask, not taking my eyes off the road. I hear Liv snort.
"You look eighteen," She offers. I make a surprised 'huh'.
"You're right, actually, I'm eighteen. Although I'm turning nineteen very soon. This December, actually," I say, hesitating a laugh.
Her eyebrows raise slightly, but after that, we stay quiet.
About twenty-five minutes later, Liv parks under an abandoned - long - red bridge, with a lot of trees and bushes growing on one end of it.
At least we know what the source was stopping the cars from passing.
"We're here," Liv says, opening her door.
I get out from my side, and follow after Liv, hearing the click of her car being locked.
"Why would this Teel guy be here?" I ask, looking around.
Liv gives me a look that clearly says I'm dumb. I stick my tongue out at her.
"You think anyone could hear a gun shooting from here?" Liv asks, holding her arms out as if embracing the world.
I roll my eyes, and once we climb up to the top of the hill, I point to my left.
"Actually, yes, I think everyone could," I reply.
We both look over to the city this hill views. And the landscape is beautiful.
It's the countryside, clearly. Because in the distance, you can see the farm and vast fields where they keep the sheep and cows - don't forget the adorable chickens.
Also, the city isn't exactly huge. It's pretty tiny. The houses, however, are delightfully big, and they all have red rooftops.
They look a lot like cozy bungalows, actually.
"Then I guess Teel isn't exactly looking for a gunfight, eh, chipmunk?" Liv says, patting my head.
I hiss and wave her hand away, hating how she thinks she can just boss me about.
"You sound like you know Teel," I say, glaring at her when she smirks at me.
"I do, actually. But I don't think it's my place to tell you what he and Turner hate about each other," She tells me. I give her a weird look.
"Is it because you're scared, or because you're a nice person? Oh, wait, you're not, so I guess it is because you're scared," I give an evil laugh - I've been practicing.
She growls and pushes me, causing me to almost fall off the hill.
"Just move it, bitch," She says, sounding totally defeated.
I smirk and walk ahead, not knowing where to go when I see Sarge's familiar black car.
"Wait, stop," She whispers, pulling me behind a bush just as we're about to enter into a large crowd of guys wearing black.
"Whoa. What's going on here?" I ask, impressed at how cool it looks.
"Gangs have meetings. This is Teel's way of compromising," Liv shrugs. I give her a weird look.
"What is he, a good gang leader?" I ask, snorting.
"No, actually. He's the type of gang leader who manipulates others into giving him what he wants," She explains.
I raise an eyebrow, already hating Teel, and start to get up.
"What are you doing?" She whisper-yells. I smile down at her.
"Raiding the party," I say innocently. She immediately jumps up and grabs my wrist.
"You are not getting me into trouble in front of Turner, that is embarrassing and scary. Yeah, I admitted it, I'm scared of him, just like everyone else is," She says, glaring at me as hard as she can.
I giggle, knowing I finally got her to admit defeat.
"Sorry, Liv, but I only take orders from Arsen, and in this case, Arsen is the only person who is actually important right now. Teel, too," I add on, shrugging.
"Fine, whatever, but when he kills me for not keeping you safe, don't blame me," She hisses. I scoff.
"Arsen wouldn't kill you," I waver, my voice doubting that fact.
"Oh, yes he would," She tells me in a knowing way.
Gulping, I try to hide the obvious fact that I'm starting to reconsider.
"Well," I start. "That's not my problem."
Ignoring her attempt to keep me behind, I get up and tiptoe over to the little crowd. Spotting Sarge at the back, I go and stand next to him.
"Xanthe?" He asks, looking surprised. I smile.
"The one and only," I laugh. He laughs too but stops himself abruptly.
"Arsen is going to be very mad," He says, sounding panicked. I give him a small, convincing smile.
"Don't worry, I'll handle him. Nice shoes, by the way," I point out, glancing at them quickly before quietly stumbling through the army of Arsen's henchfolk.
Ugh, how many does he need? Or are they just that bored?
"Xanthe?" Tony hisses. I turn to him and lift a finger to my mouth, silencing him with a smile.
Ignoring anyone else who calls my name, I make my way quietly to the front, to see Arsen standing with another man, talking quietly among themselves and a few other men.
I furrow my eyebrows, noticing how excruciatingly ugly the man he's talking to is.
As quietly as I can, I make my way up to Arsen and silently stand a centimetre or two behind him, so that he doesn't see me but I'm still close in range.
"Oh, come on, Turner," The ugly guy says. "I'm trying to get a good deal out of this," He bellows. Arsen's glare is just as strong as ever.
"How is it good, Zimerman?" Arsen growls, his voice is cold and emotionless.
I look back at Zimerman, who seems to be examining Arsen's features, which are much more pleasant than his.
Zimerman, which I am assuming is Teel's second name, looks like a drug addict, an ogre, and most possibly Shrek's identical twin brother.
Perhaps he's Shrek himself.
"What's the deal?" I ask.
Bad move, because all eyes turn to me and Arsen snaps his head towards me, glaring so hard that I have to look away.
"What are you doing here, Xanthe?" He asks with gritted teeth. I smile.
"Talking to you," I say, shrugging. His glare intensifies, and I swallow. "I mean, if you'd been stuck in a room with Liv then you'd want to escape too, you know," I smile nervously.
I hear Teel and a few guys with him snicker quietly.
Huh, so they must know Liv, too.
"Where's Olivia?" Arsen asks, not taking his eyes off me.
My eyes widen, and to spare Liv from Arsen's anger, I try to come up with an excuse.
"She's gone to pay the water bills, Arsen," I say, and I hear Brian's hyena snigger somewhere in the crowd.
Arsen's eyes immediately find the bush we'd been hiding behind and narrows them imperceptibly.
Without a sound, he turns and is about to stalk off towards it, but my eyes widen, realizing what he's about to do, and I immediately rush to block his way.
"Do you really want to talk to Liv while she's tinkling, Arsen?" I ask, looking anywhere but his infuriating amber eyes.
"You don't look me in the eye when you're lying," Is all he says, before walking off to the bush.
I gulp, and turn to see Teel smirking at me disgustingly.
First of all, the dude's eyes are lingering on my whatchamacallits for too long, and second of all, I don't get a good vibe from him.
Deciding I don't want to be around this guy, I turn and walk through the tittering crowd of men, trying not to bump into any of Teel's members.
"Arsen?" I hiss, walking up to the bush.
I spot him eventually, having a heated conversation with a frightened-looking Liv.
In all honesty, I didn't know someone older than him could be scared of him.
"I told her, Turner, but the girl doesn't listen to me," I hear when I'm close enough. Scoffing, I push myself forward.
"That's because you're rude," I say, folding my arms. Arsen growls and turns to me.
"Xanthe, you are going back with Sarge right now," He says, glaring at me with his fiery, amber eyes. I sigh.
"Is it too much for a girl to want to be near you?" I ask, raising an eyebrow. He pauses for a moment, before turning to Liv, completely ignoring what I just said.
"Get the hell out of here, Olivia, before I change my mind," He hisses, glaring at her. She stumbles backward slowly before running off as if he were going to chase her.
"She was my ride," I moan, looking at her retreating back. Arsen glares at me.
"And now she's not," He mutters, grabbing my wrist and pulling me after him. I smile.
I guess he's not sending me back, then.
Once we're back down the hill and near the gang, the crowd goes quiet and Teel emerges.
"So, Turner, made up your mind?" He asks, winking at me.
Ever so slightly, Arsen pushes me behind him. "Yeah, I have," He answers, his voice stone cold. I gulp, and Teel eagerly waits for his reply.
"I don't want to accept your deal," He finishes.
As soon as Teel's face drops, I realize that Arsen did the right thing, and a smile creeps up onto my face.
Unfortunately, Teel notices. He snarls at me.
"Fine, here's another. If you don't give me what I want, I'll go to Mooreville right now and kill each member of your family," Arsen stiffens frighteningly. Teel smirks. "Starting with Elena."
This time, Arsen takes a threatening step forward. "What do you want, Zimerman?" He asks, his voice dangerously low and icy cold.
A creepy smile etches onto Teel's face, and his bloodshot eyes turn to me.
"I want her."
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2920 words.
I am super duper sorry for this super duper boring chapter, but you guys needed to know about Teel Zimerman. He plays a very important part in this book. Unfortunately.
I promise it's going to get interesting, so please stay on your horses, and keep your seat belts buckled - oh, and remember...
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