BlackMoon Beginnings (12 page)

“I don’t know. Claire called and told me that
I may be needed here.”

“You’re about two hours too late,” David
replies, chuckling. “We were showing Ryanne some self-defense.”

“That’s fine. I’m staying here for a couple
of days. I can help.”

“Great, it’ll probably take me that long to
learn the simple steps. I need all the help I can get,” I say.
“They were telling me how you used to train them when they were
younger. You trained them
very
well. With all three of you
helping, I’m sure I can learn something.”

He beams at me and I find myself swallowed in
a tight hug. “I like this girl already.”

He pulls back and I step out of his embrace.
“Now, if you don’t mind, I would like to take a shower. I feel
gross.”

“Sure, go ahead,” says Colton.

“Do you know how to get back to your room?”
David asks.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure I remember,” Turning
around I start walking away. I call over my shoulder, “I’ll see you
guys in a little bit.” I make it back to my room with no problems
and jump into the shower, wiping off all the sweat from my body. I
smile to myself knowing that now I will at least have some
knowledge on how to fight back if needed. It feels empowering
knowing that I’m not going to always be the damsel in distress
anymore.

I get dressed into a pair of jean shorts and
a t-shirt, leaving my hair to air dry. It would end up curly either
way. I walk past a room and hear voices inside. Peaking in, I see
David, Colton and Tom all sitting on the couch, watching a
movie.

“Come on in, sweetie. Join us,” shouts
Tom.

I walk in and look at the TV. I have no idea
what they are watching, some loud movie with lots of car explosions
and shooting. Typical guy film. I stop on the left side of Colton,
looking for somewhere to sit. All three guys take up the whole
couch. I move to sit on the ground in front, but Colton reaches out
and pulls me over the side of the couch and into his lap. I gasp in
shock and stare at him. Winking at me, he readjusts me off to his
side, leaving me sitting on his lap, with his arm around my
shoulder. I fit perfectly against him. He turns his attention back
towards the screen. Normally, I would have moved myself, but I’m
surprisingly comfy.

All the guys laugh at me as I jump each time
a shot is fired. I am okay with PG-13 violence, but this isn’t
that. This is gruesome, showing each injury graphically, blood and
gore everywhere. I hide in Colton’s shoulder for most of the movie,
refusing to look at the screen.

Hearing music, which I assume is the end
credits, I speak into Colton’s shirt, “Is it over?”

I feel his chest rumbling, as if he is
laughing at my question, “Yes, you can look now.”

I slowly turn around and see a black screen
with white names scrolling up. I breathe out a sigh of relief,
which causes another round of laughter.

“That movie was horrible,” I say.

David shakes his head amused, “No, it was
awesome.”

Disbelief courses through me, “Awesome?”

Tom gets up and straightens his designer
jeans out, “Well, I’m hungry. Got any food?”

Without moving, Colton replies, “Yeah, there
is a box of pizza on the kitchen counter. Help yourself.”

Nodding, he walks out of the room. My eyes
follow him the entire way out. I can hear his heavy footsteps
receding as he gets further and further from the room.

Colton starts moving the leg directly beneath
me, “Sorry, my leg is starting to fall asleep.”

“Oh, goodness, I’m sorry.” I hurriedly move
off of him, sitting between him and David. I look out the window
and notice that it has started getting dark.

David speaks up first, “Claire should be home
soon.”

Shifting my body towards David I ask, “Would
you mind telling her everything for me? It’s been a long day and
I’m starting to get tired.”

He nods, understanding. “Yeah, go to bed,
Ryanne. We’ll see you in the morning.”

“Thanks David.” I get off the couch and start
walking towards the door. “Goodnight. Sweet dreams,” I say without
looking back.

I walk into the guest bedroom and turn off
the light, and crawl into the bed, falling asleep before my head
even hits the pillow.

I wake up from a dreamless sleep, my body
feeling rejuvenated. Smiling, I stretch and exhale sleepily. I
quickly change out of my wrinkled clothes into a pair of white
shorts and a blue tank top that Claire had left for me. I’ll have
to thank her later for them. I skip down the hallway and slowly
descend the stairs, proud that I am finally figuring out my way
around the house. As I get closer to the kitchen, I slow when I
hear voices.

“So Colton…I saw how you looked at Ryanne
yesterday. This is same girl you told me about last time, right?
She’s pretty cute,” I recognize the voice as Tom’s.

“Yes, it’s the same girl, but nothing is
going on. We’re friends.” He stops talking and I hear him sigh. “I
admit that I used to have feelings for her before I knew her. But
now those feelings are gone. Purely platonic. She’s not really my
type anyways.” So now that he knows me, he doesn’t have feeling for
me anymore. That’s what every girl wants to hear.

I hear David scoff and Tom reply, “Whatever
you say, Colton.”

“I feel bad for her. I’m just trying to help
boost her confidence.” It feels like my heart is free-falling,
plummeting into my stomach at his words. There goes my good mood. I
walk back to the bottom of the stairs and make a noise, giving them
a signal that I am coming. It also gives me time to compose myself.
I knew that someone like him would never be interested in someone
like me. He is gorgeous and I am…well not. He would not have given
me the time of day if I wasn’t this prophecy girl.

I enter the room and am greeted by three sets
of smiles. “Good morning, Ryanne. How’d you sleep last night?”

I turn towards Tom, plastering on a smile
that I know doesn’t reach my eyes. “I slept fine. No nightmares at
least. You?”

Colton and David both look at me as if they
know something is wrong. Tom’s smile falters a little at my
nightmares comment. So, they explained everything to him and
Claire. “Pretty good, thanks for asking.”

David turns towards me, “Are you hungry
Ryanne? Help yourself.”

I walk towards the fruit basket on the
counter in the corner. I grab a gala apple and bite into it. The
room descends into an awkward silence.

Swallowing, I say, “If I’m extending my stay
here, I can go back to Jane’s.”

“Why would you think that?” asks David.

At the same time, Colton replies. “You will
not. You saw what happened last time you went back there! You
almost got killed.”

I shy away from him, because his tone scares
me. “I don’t know. I don’t want to impose on you guys. And he
wasn’t going to kill me. I heard his thoughts.”

“So, you’d rather get raped than stay here?”
he yells.

I step towards him defiantly, placing my
hands on my hips, and say in my sternest voice, “I’d rather stay
where I’m wanted.” I turn to walk out of the room, “And I don’t
need your help boosting my confidence.” His face pales with
realization. Satisfied and angry, I storm out of the room.

Back in my room, I sit on the edge of the bed
wishing that I had grabbed my notebook. It’s still sitting on the
couch in the living room. Frustrated, I start pacing. Just when I
think I had finally met people who could actually care about me, I
find out it is all an act. I am just a means to end their war,
nothing more. I’m only the prophecy girl.

Once a freak, always a freak.

Caught up in my thoughts, I don’t hear my
door open. When I turn back around to pace to the other side of
room, I freeze. Colton is standing in my doorway and when he sees
me looking at him, he steps into the room, “Ryanne…”

“Please don’t, Colton. I’ve heard
enough.”

He walks over to my bed and sits on the edge.
“I didn’t mean it.”

“I doubt that.”

“Ryanne, if you had been reading my thoughts,
you’d know that I didn’t mean it. I was tired of everyone grilling
me about you.” He places his head in his hands, not looking at
me.

I walk up to him and lean against the bed
post. “Well, for some reason, I can’t read your thoughts.” I pause
and look around the room, before continuing. “I haven’t had any
friends in a
really
long time and just when I think that I
might have some, you say that you’re only being nice to me because
you feel bad for me. You think that’s a confidence booster? It’s
not. I don’t want your pity, Colton.”

He drops his hands and turns towards me, “You
really think that I want to be your friend because I pity you? God,
Ryanne, you are oblivious.”

“What?”

He gets up from the bed and stops in front of
me, looking down at me. I don’t know what he means by that. Shaking
his head and running his hand through his hair, he says, “Nothing.
Just please believe me. I didn’t mean anything I said. I’m very
sorry. I don’t want you mad at me.”

I look up at him and study his expression.
Reluctantly, I agree. He looks very upset at the prospect that I
might remain mad at him. Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t have
stayed mad at him for too long. “I forgive you,” I whisper.

He puts a finger under my chin and tilts my
head up. Leaning down, he kisses my forehead. His lips linger on my
skin for a couple seconds, before he steps away from me. My skin
tingles where his lips touched. Trying to keep a blush hidden, I
turn and watch him as he brushes past me towards the door.

“The rest of us are going to train today. Do
you want to join?” I nod my head, not trusting myself to speak.
When he closes the door, I walk to the closet and get out an outfit
similar to the one I wore yesterday, though in a different color.
This shirt is a pale green, bringing out the green specks in my
eyes. I loosely braid my hair back and then put it that into a
messy bun.

I walk into the training room and notice that
everything is already set up, but no one is here. Tom comes into
the room and says, “Today, I want you to take what you learned
yesterday and try to stop the boy’s attack.”

“Whose attack?” Tom ignores me and walks
backwards, smiling at me as he goes.

He’s up to something.

I see David run out of the corner of the room
and head straight for me. Oh, I get it now. I get into a stance and
wait for David to reach me. When I see that he isn’t going to slow
down, I move out of the way. He runs past me and then stops,
turning to face me. He reaches out and tries to swing at me. I duck
and swing my legs out, trying to knock him off balance. He
anticipates my move and grabs my leg, pulling me towards him. I let
him pull me and then swing my arm out and hit him in the gut. He
doubles over, trying to catch his breath and loosens his grip on my
other leg. I jerk back and jump up, preparing myself for another
attack.

I have an idea and just hope that I can
accomplish it. David straightens up and smirks at me, before slowly
walking towards me again. I stand my ground and wait until he gets
close. He spins around, swinging his leg out and hits the back of
my calves. I fly backwards and land on the hard mat. Despite the
pain, this gives me the momentum I need. I reach my hands back
behind me and swing me feet out, kicking him in the chest. As he
falls backward, I kick my feet up and over my head, before
straightening up and facing David, who is still lying on the
ground.

“David. Out.” I hear Tom call.

I don’t have much time to prepare, before I
hear the sound of someone landing behind me. I turn around just in
time to see a fist coming straight for my face. I duck at the last
second and kick my foot out, connecting with Colton’s shins. He
staggers backwards, but remains standing. Eesh, this totally isn’t
a fair fight. He swings another punch towards me, so I put my arm
up like I learned yesterday to block the attack. I wince as his arm
connects with mine. That is going to leave a bruise. I swing my
foot up to kick him in the face, but he grabs my leg and throws me
across the room. I twist my body, so I can land on my feet. Ten
years of gymnastics is proving to be useful.

I decide to try and incorporate more of the
moves I had learned. It’s been over a year, so I hope I’m not too
rusty. I get a running start and jump, bringing my hands forward
and over my head, connecting with the mat, giving myself enough
momentum to swing my feet up. I’m able to flip twice before coming
to a stop in front of Colton. He stares at me surprised, giving me
enough time to swing around and kick him in the gut, similar to
what I just did to David. When he falls to the ground, I jump on
top of him, placing my knees on both side of his thighs, and hold
down his arms. I know that he is strong enough to push me off, but
he doesn’t.

I am already breathing heavy, but when I see
him staring back at me in wonder, I have more trouble getting air
into my lungs. Thankfully I’m not sweating as bad as I was
yesterday. My heart, which is already racing from the exercise,
starts beating faster. On the other side of the room, I hear
someone clapping. Drawing my eyes away from Colton’s, I see David
and Tom walking towards us. I look back at Colton briefly and find
him smiling at me. Blushing, I push myself off of him and offer my
hand to help him stand up.

David runs towards us, wraps his arms around
my waist, and swings me in a circle. Placing me down, he says,
“Where the heck did you learn how to do that?”

Trying to catch my breath still, I smile up
at him and explain. “I was in gymnastics for ten years. I didn’t
know I could still do any of that. It was a gamble, but it
worked.”

Tom puts a hand on my shoulder. “That went
way better than I thought it would. No offense, but I thought that
the guys were going to annihilate you.” He looks towards both David
and Colton, “But it turns out,
she
beat you.” He smiles
mockingly and continues, “You got beat by a girl—a girl way smaller
than you.”