Hey my cuties I hope you're having a fun day! Please, if you're willing, comment and vote so if you like what you're reading! I will see you on Saturday!

Da playlist:

Running with the Wolves by AURORA

Myself by Bazzi

I Get Overwhelmed by Dark Room

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"There was no necessity for you to be mean to her." I glare at him.

He stares me down, then takes a few steps towards me. "She will only learn if I'm mean."

"You hold an unfair advantage, being a body worker." I hold on to my stake as hard as I can.

He shakes his head. "I possess an unjust edge because I have accumulated nearly 2,000 years of practice, I underwent training to become a gladiator since I was eight years old, I continue to this very day to challenge myself for self-improvement. I'm not some lowlife, pathetic body worker, I'm a nonworker."

As he talked, I made slow calculated steps towards him. "I don't believe you."

"I'm not asking you to, telling you-" He cuts off as I lunge for him. He barely has time, but he manages to shove me away. A cruel smirk cuts his face. "Columba, you'll be sorry for that." Before I could blink, he moves, lowering his body, and running at me, shoving his shoulder into my gut. The air leaves my lungs violently as he lifts me up and lets me fall onto my back.

He stands over me as I gasp for air. "Humans are too weak." He turns, but before he can walk away, I roll over and wrap my arms around his legs and pull as hard as I can. He stumbles but doesn't fall like I hoped he would. I roll away before he can retaliate, and push myself up as fast as I can, keeping tight on the stake. I run straight at him, dropping down at the second I see he's thinking of grabbing at me, and try to go around him, but he's too fast. He grabs the back of my shirt and pulls down hard. I'm back on my back, but I roll away quickly, and regain my ground, but he's not there. Tight arms wrap around my waist, pinning my arms to my side, the shirt pulled up, so his arms touch my bare stomach.

"That was a good try," His voice is low in my ear, his breath hot against my neck. "But-"

I slam my head backwards right into his face, he lets go, and hunches as blood drips from his mouth. I bring the stake down against where his heart is from the back, touching the spot. "Point for me." I huff out of breath.

He stands up straight, rage in his eyes as the whites start to turn blood red. "That doesn't count."

"Sure, it does, you're mad a human beat you."

He acts fast. The stake is out of my hand, and the weight of his body pins me to a wall, his free hand grabs mine, pinning it above my head. I grab his wrist that holds the stake but can't stop it, he has it raised and comes down on me. One swift move he lodges it into the wall above my left shoulder, coming so close to me it ripped my shirt, and sliced a little of my skin. His hot breath is against my neck again, his mouth open, his lips almost on my skin. For a very real instance, I think he is going to drink from me, my heart drums violently against my chest.

When he gains a little more control again, he raises his head, and stares at me right in my eyes until the whites almost returned to normal, then his flicker down to my bleeding shoulder.

"Milo." My voice is just a breath, and his eyes found mine again. He smells clean, earthly, with an almost citrus tang, like walking through lemon grass after fresh rain. My fingers loosen from around his wrist and finds his cheek. Stubble pricks at my fingertips until I found the smooth line of the scar. Blood stains his lips, and when my thumb goes to touch it, he pulls away from me. I stand against the wall, letting my arm drop from the top of my head.

"You should go." He avoids direct eye contact with me, maintaining a side view of himself in my presence.

"What about training?"

"Saturdays, we can do them Saturdays if you want, but Nya has to agree to be down here, too."

"Why?" I take a step towards him, my heart still pounding in my chest.

"She needs to learn too, I'll be nicer." He turns all the way away from me.

"Milo-"

"It's best you leave." He walks towards the other end of the shed.

I consider going to him, talking to him, but I turn to go up the tunnel, as I'm at the mouth I turn back to him. "Can I ask you something?"

He turns enough so I can catch a glimpse of half his face. "Okay."

"Is Jude Father Death?"

It seems to me that he's angry that I succumbed to the stories because he remains silent for such a long time, but his head twitches slightly as he gives his answer. "I believe so, yes."

I turn and walk up the hallway, all the while sensing the pressure of his body against mine.

"He made you bleed!" Nya yells as soon as I get to the top of the closet. "Levi! He made her bleed."

Levi pops his head in from the hallway. "He made you bleed?"

"No, it's a scratch." I pull the shirt over the cut.

"He ripped my shirt!"

"Nya," Levi put his hand on her shoulder. "I'll talk to him. I'm sorry, Thea, that this didn't work out."

"What didn't? He said I can come back on Saturdays to train, as long as you join." I look at Nya. "He said he'd be nicer."

Her lips go thin, and she turns her head away from me. "I don't want to be humiliated like that again."

"He wants you to learn, he wants you to be strong, he shows it in the worst way."

With a sigh, her shoulders relax, and she looks back at me. "Okay, then Saturdays we'll practice."

I smile and give her a tight hug. "I believe in you."

"Me too."

I change and get ready to leave. "Hey, Levi?"

"Yes?" He is walking me to the door.

"Who cleaned up the house? And the door was fixed."

"Milo cleaned, and we put up a new door. We hold spares for this reason." He shook his head. "I will be talking to him about that." He nodded to my shoulder. "If that happens again, I will be forced to call off the whole thing."

"I'm really okay, it doesn't matter." I quickly glance back down the hall. "Can you thank him for me?"

"Milo is a very complicated creature; In my opinion, he will only respond by hearing it from you."

"Okay."

"Okay." I grin. "Thank you for all your help."

"No need to thank me. We will see you on Saturday."

I leave when he clears away for me to open the door and head down the hill toward home. As I walk up the street to my house, I notice someone on the front porch.

"Hey," My lip split in a toothy grin. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to make sure whatever you have isn't contagious." Abe jumps off the porch and walks towards me. "I can't risk getting sick, I'm not as cute sick."

"You think you're cute now?" I laugh.

"Like a kitten." He looks offended. "Looks like you're playing hooky without me."

"Like you are now?"

He shrugs, shoving his hands in his pockets. "It's lunch, they won't miss me."

I go up the porch and unlock the door. "They will be in like 10 minutes."

He follows me up. "That's okay, I never be to your house, and I figured it would be fair since you've been in mine." I walk in and hold the door open for him. He pauses at the threshold, and momentarily I believe he will actually wait to be invited inside, but then he crosses over with a whistle. "Nice place."

"Yeah, wait until it's full of people, it's not as nice." I shut the door.

He's looking at me when I turn back. "I personally like this, just you and me."

I clear my throat, shyly. "This is the living room, sitting area, kitchen. Down that hall is my dad's study, and the garage. And up there is mine, my two brothers, and my mom and dad's room, all separate. Well, except my mom and dad."

He took a step towards the stairs, looking upward. "Your own room, that sounds nice." My lip's part to ask him if he wants to see it when he looked back at me. "You're bleeding."

"Oh," I direct my eyes towards my white shirt, now stained red at the shoulder. "Yeah, I guess I am. I went for a walk in the woods, and I must have snagged it on a branch."

"I hope you show that branch who's boss."

I smirk. "Oh, trust me, I did." Going into the kitchen, I pull out the first aid kit from the cupboard. "You should tell me about your secrets."

He takes the kit from me and pats the countertop. "Let me, I'll have a better view." I hop up, pulling my shirt off my shoulder, it was mostly dry now. "And a magician never reveals his secrets."

I ponder my foot, and how this morning it shows no evidence of being torn open. "I have a theory."

"Do tell." He rubs the cream on my shoulder.

"Maybe in time I will." I watch his concentration, as he peels back a band aid, and puts it on my arm. He smells like the woods, like the trees and the leaves, like the water rushing in streams, like the morning breeze. "I found a little shed in the back, on a manmade path."

"The hunting shack." He laughs lightly. "I don't go over there anymore."

"I get why, it's sort of creepy."

"How's that?" He pulls away, cutting me off from the outside.

I sit up to observe the band aid he placed on me, when my head knocks against the cupboard, a shockwave of pain shoots from the back of my head to my ears. "Ow." I complain, rubbing the back of my head, then looking at my fingers. Flecks of red from whatever wound is back there. When I head butted Milo, that must have been my blood, not his. "Must have cut myself worse than I thought." I rub at the wound.

"Damn, Vidal, no more trips out in the woods for you. Not alone anyway."

I grin, leaning towards him. "What are you going to be? My personal escort?" I tease.

He wears that half smile, lowering his hands onto the counter, with my legs nestled in between, and leans closer to me. "You know, I live in those woods, I can protect you."

I think of his home, then of his siblings, then of his dad. "You know," I glance at him, his face near mine, I extend my hand gently touches his cheek. "If you need any place to crash, my door is open to you."

"How would your parents feel about that?" His voice is low, crackling as he leans in a little more.

"They don't have to know." I breathe almost breaking the emptiness between us. There is a slamming of a car door outside. Out of instinct I twist my head and glance at the time, it is way too early for my parents to be home, but my mom might have wanted to check on me.

"Uh oh," Abe says calmly. "I've been found."

Bang! Bang! Bang! At the door, and a voice screams through it. "Abraham Ezekiel Woodman, open this door before I bust through it."

With a sigh, he shoves his hands in his pockets, standing up straight. "Come on, she won't murder me in front of you."

With a hop off the counter, I follow behind him as we went to the front door, when he opens it, I see a girl, a little older than us, in a cinema outfit, rage in her face. "I get three," she shows him three fingers in his face. "Three calls saying you were skipping school. Oh," she looks at me, and a sweet smile loosens her pretty face. "Hello, I'm Imma Woodman, you must be Thea, I've heard a lot about you."

Abe and I exchange glances and divert our gazes, sensing a blush on our cheeks. "Imma, stop it."

"No," her voice is loud again. "You stop it. If you get expelled, I will kill you, I will wring your neck, do you hear me? Pay attention to me when I'm talking. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, Jesus, I the whole town understands you."

"Get in the car now!" She looks back at me, and the beam returns. "It was very nice to meet you, we should get dinner sometime, or go shopping. I have to take this idiot back to school."

"Nice to meet you, too." I grin back and turn my smile to Abe. "See you tomorrow, thank you for stopping by."

He winks, and walks down the driveway with his sister, still getting yelled at. I lift my hand as they drive away and turn back to the empty house.