The Immortal Defenses Series - Destined

Chapter Twelve

It took Alexia a moment to catch her breath and then she was out the door in an instant. Running, running away from what she desperately didn't want to be true, running away from her friends who would soon be consumed by rage and most likely attack the people who had caused Alexia's death. She had never been this fast before; perhaps it was the anger pumping through her body that caused her to rocket past trees and jump over fallen logs that she barely had the time to see. The trees had gotten so thick, she expected to fall flat on her face, but she didn't.

Before she knew it, the trees were starting to thin out again, and she had run through the whole forest. She came out of the trees and into a field of high grass. In the center of the field was a small mobile home. It wasn't ancient, but it wasn't new. She noticed two men standing outside the home, and before they saw her, she ducked down into the high grass. It wasn't fear that caused her to duck down into hiding; she just didn't want to fight off anybody right now. Without a doubt, the anger that was pulsing through her body would cause her to beat them to a living pulp and she didn't want to get covered in blood this early in the morning. Even though they were far away, she could hear what they were saying if she strained her ears.

"It won't be long until they have to leave that house. They can't keep her locked in there forever." The man's voice was rough like he had been smoking his whole life.

"You know what they are doing in there though, don't you?" The second man's voice sounded young, much too young to be involved in the execution of Alexia.

"I'm not stupid, and neither is Amarantos. They will be training her to use the defenses against us and no doubt to use her own."

"You believe it's true then?"

"Amar says it's true, so I believe it."

Frozen in the grass Alexia prayed silently that they would mention what her 'special defense' was supposed to be. She knew Demetri was super fast and Roman had mentioned something about having heightened hearing. But not once had they mentioned to her that she would be getting her own special defense. And how did Amarantos know what it was, if Alexia didn't even know what it was yet?

Wasn't your special defense supposed to come to you after you became Immortal? Was it possible that when she was still a Tera, before she had died and was sent into reincarnation, that she already had a fourth defense? With all these questions running through her mind, she knew she would have to go back. Back to the house where the people who caused her death were surely getting beat by her best friends.

∞

After Alexia took off, Demetri and Roman braced themselves for the worst beating from her friends. But it never came. The girls stared at them, waiting for some sort of explanation or perhaps waiting for them to go after her. Nobody moved for a long time, and Roman knew there was no use to go after Alexia, since she could be miles away by now. Demetri knew there was no use in explaining to Cheri and Ellie when they would only have to repeat the story to Alexia when she returned.

Demetri was running over the story in his head, trying to decide the best way to tell her what happened so long ago. He wanted to tell her it in a way that made him look like it wasn't his fault. He planned to put most of the blame on Roman, and truthfully most of the blame had been on Roman, but he knew that her death was partly his fault, too.

Roman had been doing the same thing in her absence. He tried to find the words that would make her see how guilty he felt. He wanted her to see how much it pained him to have her be reincarnated over and over, never knowing who he was. He had to find the words to tell her how much he loved her then, and most importantly, to find the words to tell her how much he loved her now.