Chapter 12

Tia POV

"You really don't have to-" I interjected quickly after a second of realizing what he had said. As kind of a gesture as it was meant to be I wasn't anxious for a killer to meet my family for many reasons.

"Don't worry, I don't need to threaten your family's life to get you to do something, you'd risk your life for just about any stranger," he smirked as if reading my mind. Somehow I felt as if I had just been insulted...in a very high end kind of way. But besides that, how did he always do that!? If I wasn't so trusting I'd really say he could read my mind, outside of an exchange!

"Bro, can't you just admit you want her to get home safely--," Steph cut in rolling her eyes, "Seeing as she has a daunting knack to get in trouble." I blinked. Was that supposed to be my defence! my thoughts drifting abruptly to Steph again, I demand a new lawyer, but before I could object again, Jayden cut in.

"And aside from all of that—you with your human skills probably didn't see the route we took to get here, since we ran, more than likely you'll get lost, and take way more than a few minutes to get home," Jayden pointed out. I bit my lip, he had a point, and I could tell my father was at the end of his rope, meaning Sherry was probably awake. Poor dad, I thought then curbed the taunt of revenge, that's what you get for trying to get me 'socialize'. I looked up at Jayden as he walked out of the living room to his bedroom to change without waiting for a formal sign of consent...since he obviously won that battle. Although I think I got the worse for this situation.... See where socializing in the middle of the night got me! In big trouble! Steph is one thing, but having to deal with Jayden is going to be hard.

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Jayden POV

We walked down the empty streets of the city, wordlessly. Only the occasional stray dog or howling of the wind broke the silence. It was evident she was uncomfortable, but that was her own fault and I wasn't going to jump through hoops to make her comfortable—besides her added hate towards me would push her to work harder...or something like that. My eyes shifted slightly across at her, her face looked calculative as if studying an important puzzle in her mind. Her silky, smooth skin wrinkled ever so slightly at a thought and I longed to make whatever was bothering her better. Who am I kidding? I don't like her hating me; she was probably bothered by me. Every time I glance at her it becomes a stare, and every time she glares...we were definitely not getting along, but that was sort of expected I'm a generally distasteful guy. Or uniquely flavoured as I like to call it?

"Hey...How is the training thing supposed to work? Steph really seems to want me come," she turned ever so slightly with a hint of a smile on her lips. I fought to keep a stoic look, she likes my sister...who said I couldn't raise a likeable person...although Steph's more like our mother than me but I digress.

"You can't make it tomorrow?"

"I've school Sherlock," was her reply. Despite her sarcasm she continued to look at me as if expecting me to figure it out.

"Then after school?" I tried, shrugging my shoulders.

"Do you go school?" she asked, her question seemed somewhat off topic but I answered anyway.

"Dropped out—I'm 20 now, so it's kind of late for that."

"What about Stephanie?" concern racked her face.

"Not exactly..."my voice got softer by the end of my statement as guilt came to me, along with the look of horror she gave me. She truly didn't need to talk her face spoke volumes about what she thought, and then she actually acts surprise when I know what she's planning to say. It was ridiculous to say the least, and quite entertaining.

"That's horrible! Steph needs and education!" she blurted out stopping, just as abruptly, bursting in my thoughts yet again.

"She gets an education—I home school her," I added defensively, glancing away a bit, as I paused in my stride .

"Somehow with everything you say there is something wrong about it 1) you dropped out, how can you tutor her after a certain age? and 2) what about connecting with normal people at school, you're hindering her life as a child! She's suffering," she hissed between her teeth. I grit mine at her explosion, for lack of a better word.

"My apologies Ms. Psychologist but she's not a normal person, she's an elite and some elites don't get the privilege to live HUMAN lives!" I growled out, making every effort to show my anger without shouting. I watched her beautiful face form into a disatisfied frown, and I felt another pang of guilt. What the hell is wrong with me, I'm doing the right thing! I defended myself, this is my way! And it works...

I could literally sense the anger burn off of her she obviously didn't agree with me, and I sensed her begin an exchanged with me.

'Racist! Heartless! Idiot!'

That was all I heard, repeated for 20 seconds straight; although she probably didn't know I was getting the message. Yet if she knew how to I'm sure she would have probably sent it anyway.

"You're beyond curable!" she concluded aloud, clenching her fist and closing her eyes. Her eyes opened with a vibrant, silver flash and she turned and stormed ahead of me, four apartments down and opened it with a key, not bothering to glance back at me. Slamming the door with her excess elite strength the sound rang in the air for a good minute before it quieted.

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Tia POV

I woke up the next day, having barely slept for four hours (4), when I heard my sister bawling. It was going to be one of those days, a feeling from the pits of my stomach told me. Even the frosty, chill in the air backed up my feeling. The events of the night before flicked back to my mind, as I pulled my feet off of the bed onto the cold tiled floor; I was dimly aware of my little sister now. Jayden, his name flicked in my mind again. I hated him, he was cruel, sinister and he came really close to ending my life yesterday. It took a night of wayward dreams for that thought to settle in—up until the point I slept I never summarized it like that, I never thought about the what if's clearly...

I could hear my dad calling me now from down the hall. Obviously not in control of the situation, as usual. I need more time though...this was too much, I was always calm and in control but last night...my death almost caught up to me...I was powerless for the majority of my encounter. Grace was the only thing that saved me.

"TIA!" dad cried helplessly breaking into my mind. Gosh, everything felt surreal now. I exhaled deeply and literally dragged my body to the bureau where my mirror was. I felt like crap, I looked like crap, I deemed, I was so out of it I barely registered the sound of a bell of some sort ringing.

With what energy I had, I ran my fingers through my deep, brown chocolate hair until it was combed straight back. I'm shaking, I realized suddenly; my hands and body were in a rack of trembles, I was so tired too. Everything seemed to be going slow, as I stared at myself in the mirror. Man, it felt I had 5 minutes of sleep instead of four (4) hours, although neither was saying too much for refreshing.

All around me was starting to get blurry, and I could feel my knees wobble slightly below me. What the hell, I can't breathe, I managed my consciousness seemingly even more distant, I realized after a moment, everything is hazy, and my body feels really heavy. I don't even have energy to—I tried to grab the bureau to hold myself up but missed hopelessly. My eyes glazed over as my fingers slipped off of the sides of the bureau and I fell to the floor. The problem with being fairly tall, I grimaced, recalling something my mother told me as I braced for an impact, is that when you fall—it's a long way down.

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'That's obviously to say don't fall' an inner voice replied. I could feel strong arms holding me firmly in place, and till that point I still hadn't felt an impact. I released an audible groan, as I vaguely recognized the tingling sensation going throughout my body.

'Shh...be quiet, I'm not exactly supposed to be here' the voice came again. If I hadn't known better I would say it sounded like Jayden, in my head, but it couldn't be? Right?

'The one and only,' I could feel my body being lifted up off of the ground by the same strong arms then my body went limp, and finally even my sub-consciousness failed me.

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