Kiera
Holy crap. That was the most insane thing I have ever seen in my life. That demon was horrifying. I stood speechless as all the Neph used their unique powers to try and kill the demon. That was when I got those quick flashes of what the demon was going to do. Declan stood up right in front of the demon and wasn't even fazed. He was, I hate to admit it, amazing. Trev was, too.
Coordinator Vlad broke me out of my thoughts and said, "Attention everyone. That was rather unexpected. Your families will be notified about this event and that you are all safe and unharmed. Excellent job working together to exterminate the demon." Then he continued to look at me weird.
"You all may go to your rooms for the rest of the day. The Third Trial will begin tomorrow morning. I will use this demon attack as an evaluation to further determine who will be Guardians or Supporters," Coordinator Vlad continued.
We all shuffled back inside and through the spacious hallways to get to our rooms. My roommates sat on their beds and stared at the peeling wall. They looked thoroughly freaked out. Heck, I was freaked out.
A light knock sounded at the door. I slowly swung the door open and was surprised to see Trev standing on the other side.
He smiled and whispered, "Come with me." Then he walked in the direction of the Trials Center.
~
Trev lead me in the Trials Center. A few other entrants were already here practicing with various weapons and powers. I followed Trev to the back of the room in front of a wall of weapons away from everyone else. He dragged a dummy to our area and stood next to it.
"I have to admit, you do have some skill with hand to hand combat. I saw you fight that woman in the alley and that guy during the First Trial. You just need to touch up a few things and be more efficient," he said.
I nodded and he beckoned me forward.
"Because you are not Neph and do not possess the powers that we do," he said raising his eyebrows, "You need to be able to defend yourself against demons the old fashioned way."
I looked into his violet eyes and nodded. I clutched the small dagger in my hand and stood about ten feet away from Trev and the wooden dummy.
"Throw it," he said flicking his head at the knife.
"Uh, okay," I said a little uneasily.
I drew back my arm and threw it with all my might. The dagger pinged off the leg of the dummy and fell to the floor.
Trev picked it off the floor and handed it back to me.
"Again," he said.
I repeated the movements and the dagger hit just below the dummy's waist this time before falling to the ground.
Trev bent and picked it up and handed it to me a second time.
"Again," he repeated.
We continued this routine so many times until I lost count. I was out of breath and sweating with my hands on my hips.
"You threw it wrong every time," Trev said.
"Now you tell me? You could have told me before and helped show me the correct way," I said.
"No. You needed to get a feel of what it's like to throw a knife. You need to be stronger. That knife never once stayed planted in the dummy. If that was a demon, you would be dead now. A dagger won't do much to a demon, but if you encase it in Onyx, it will obliterate the demon."
"Why are you even wasting your time teaching me this? You know as well as I know that I'm just gonna end back up in the Gray Sector like every other human."
"Trust me, I'm not one to 'waste my time'. I will do something if I think it's necessary and I think this fits that description. Like I said, you're different than I thought," he said.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"I thought you were just like all the other weak and naive humans. I was wrong. Your performance during the trial yesterday and at the demon attack today, proved that you actually have a chance. You just need to work hard to catch up with the rest of us who have been training our entire lives for this. And guess what, I am going to help you," Trev said grinning.
After that, he helped position my hand around the dagger and taught me how to strike the dummy so the dagger would actually stay planted. I got the hang of it after a while.
I bent over and put my hands on my knees to take a quick break while Trev yanked the dagger out of the dummy's shoulder.
"What do you think you're doing?" An angry voice asked from right behind me.
I turned around and was face to face with Declan. His eyebrows were drawn together and he was scowling. I could see his dimples but he wasn't close to smiling. His silver eyes looked like there was a fire behind them.
"What does it look like?" I asked.
"Trev you know not to do this."
"Hey, cut the crap, Dec. Go somewhere else," Trev said coming to stand next to me.
Declan reached out grabbed onto my arm, dragging me through the room. I craned my neck back to see Trev making his way to us angrily. I shook my head and he stopped. I wanted to see what Declan had to say and why I couldn't train. Declan didn't stop pulling me until we were outside my dorm room.
"Why did you just drag me out of there?" I asked.
"Don't train with him. He's dangerous," Declan said.
"Are you serious right now? I need to train and all Trev has done to me since we got here is helped. You can't make me stop practicing. I'm so far behind as it is. Any training will help."
He didn't say anything at that. Instead, he reached around me and yanked the door to my room open. Jack and Aaron sat wide-eyed when they saw Declan. I guess I would too when I saw the son of the ruler of the White Sector at my door, if he wasn't such a jerk.
Declan scooped me up and I yelled, "What the hell, Declan! Put me down!" Then I started to smack his chest. He didn't budge.
He tossed me down on my bed and scowled at me. It looked like he was going to say something but then he changed his mind and backed through the door. Then he slammed it in my face.
~
Declan
I don't trust Trev. Never have, probably never will. Yeah, he did help kill the demon, but anyone with the power he has is a danger. He can put immense pressure on the brain until he destroys it, he can erase your memory, and he can plant images in your mind.
When I stole Kiera's power, I didn't tell anyone. Someone noticed that she was lacking the essence that all Nephilim have because of their power. That's probably when she was kicked to the Gray Sector.
During the match against Trev, he planted the images of him erasing Kiera's mind and putting new memories in her mind, into my head. He made her believe her family was all dead and that she's always been a human living in the Gray Sector.
Trev knows I would never tell Kiera I know what he did to her. If I did tell her, I would have to tell her that I took her power in the first place.
Hell, I shouldn't care if she finds out about either of those things.
~
Kiera
I was furious. Declan is such a jerk. Who does he think he is, besides The First Descendant's son, to toss me in my room like that? Here he's the one calling Trev dangerous when Trev helped protect all of us from the demon. If anything, the way Declan throws me around is "dangerous".
I hate that it was so easy for him to get under my skin. I also hate the fact that he's attractive. It's not fair. Someone with his attitude should not be allowed to look like that. Most girls probably look past his cocky attitude and just go after his looks and social status. (*cough, cough* Justine)
Whatever, I'm going to keep training with Trev.
I rolled over on my side and faced the wall. Heaving a sigh, I shut my eyes and fell asleep.
The door creaked open soon after I was sleeping. A shadow slipped in and quietly shut the door. I was still in that dream-like state where you're kind of asleep but not really.
I opened my eyes and if it weren't for the hand that slapped over my mouth, I would have screamed. I smacked the face with my hand and hit something metallic above the eyebrow.
"Shit," the guy muttered.
"What the hell are you doing, Declan?" I whisper-yelled.
"Just shut up and come with me."
"What? No! Leave, now!" I was almost yelling now. Good thing Jack and Aaron were heavy sleepers.
"Do you always have to be this stubborn?" He bent and plucked me off my itchy bed and heaved me over his shoulder.
I started banging repeatedly on his back but he wouldn't put me down. He left the room and headed down the dark hallway. He needed to stop picking me up all the time. We didn't stop moving until we were at the doors leading to the backyard.
"If I put you down, do you promise not to run?" He asked.
"Yes," I huffed.
Declan slipped me off his shoulder and placed me on my feet. My eyes came level with his chest. I had to crane my neck to look up at him.
He was scowling at me and I saw just a hint of his dimples. He wasn't smiling of course.
"If you suddenly want to train because of that stunt you pulled with that demon earlier, I'm telling you now: whatever happened back there, was just a coincidence. You won't be able to do it again and you should give up now. Trev will do more harm than good. Not that I even care, though. Forget about the demon attack and just don't try your trick again," he said.
Before I could think better of it, I clenched my fist tight and threw the punch right at him. Faster than I could see, his arm snapped out and caught my fist in his huge one. He twisted my arm behind my back and positioned me so his chest was flat against my back.
I squirmed in his grasp and he whispered in my ear, "See. You are no match for a demon. You are just going to get yourself, and others, killed."
I've had it. He was the biggest jerk I've ever met. He thinks I'm a weak human and freaking hates me for no reason.
With my arm stuck behind me, there wasn't much to do. Then I thought that maybe he was jealous of Trev training me.
"Then you train me," I said.
"No."
Guess he's not jealous.
"What is your problem? You know that I'm not jeopardizing your chance at being a Guardian. You also know that I'm just gonna go back to the Gray Sector. So why bother wasting the energy to tell me what I already know? I know I'm weak. I know that you're strong and going to become a Guardian. You will never see me again, so what's up with all of this?"
He sighed and said, "I think you're going to get me in a lot more trouble than you realize. No other human has came to The Trials wanting to succeed as much as you do. No human has ever aided in the fight against a demon. You're too clueless about this world to be a part of it. It's best if you stay away from me and this place. The only problem is that you're making it hard for me to stay away from you."
"How? All I do is tell you to stay out of my way and we'd be much happier. You're an annoying, self-conceited ass."
"That's not it," he said, "You're not weak. You are special. That's what keeps drawing me to you." Then he twisted me back around so I was facing him again.
I stood there speechless for a little while. When I finally stopped gaping at him and could form words, I said, "What?"
"I've been trying to keep you away from me so you wouldn't ever find out about what happened before. It's actually much safer for you to live in the Gray Sector than here. You're probably not going to listen to me when I tell you to stop training and when I say it's pointless. That being said, good luck with the rest of The Trials."
I kinda stopped listening to that whole speech. I only heard the first sentence of what he said.
"What happened before?" I asked.
He groaned.
"Nothing."
"Oh something happened before and you're going to tell me."
"This is why I needed to keep you away from me and go back to the Gray Sector. A girl like you does not belong here and never will. You will just drag us down in the end. You're a liability. You must think you're so powerful now after what you did against the demon, if you even did anything. Think about it. If Trev and I weren't there, you would've gotten yourself killed. You're not ready. Just admit it and go home." With that, he turned his back on me and walked away.