The Story That Followed After

« 16. The Story That Followed After »

"Just get me some freaking cereal!" Adrianna commanded as she threw a shoe at Adriel's head, narrowly missing him.

"Adrianna!" Their mother scolded as she frowned at her daughter. "I understand that your cramps hurt, but don't get violent."

Adrian casually walked towards his son and nudged his arm. "If I were you, I'd be getting that cereal right now. Shark Week is in full effect and—"

"Adrian, you are not helping." Yvanna said and she looked at her son with a knowing look. What are you still doing here?

Adriel held up his hands innocently and turned to leave his twin sister's room.

"Goddess. I am very lucky that I do not have to deal with that." He groaned as he walked down the stairs.

"Hey, Adriel!" He got from some of the kids that had gone to his school. He smiled back at them and waved at some of them. As he neared the kitchen, he sensed who had been in there.

He took a deep breath and entered the kitchen. The chattering in there stopped and all three pair of eyes watched him.

"What's up, twin numero uno?" Arnelle asked as she bit into an apple. He smiled at her, then waved. "I need your help, Arni."

She went to stand up, but Dominic wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pushed her down.

Arnelle glared at him, but Dominic had been too busy grinning at Adriel, who sighed and ran a hand over his face.

"Zachary, tell your friend to get his hand off of me." She said, and Zachary only chuckled. She rolled her eyes as she attempted to take his arm off, but he pulled her into his chest.

"I want to help out, too." Dominic said as he ran a hand through his brown locks. Adriel rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"It's more of a 'womanly' thing." He responded as he walked over to the refrigerator.

"And I don't think you want to hear about Aunt Flo's overstayed visit." Arnelle said as she pried his arm off of her. She punched Zachary in the arm, then secretly shook her hand (cause the kid's got some tough skin). "Okay. Let's help you out, kid."

She walked over to him and Dominic rolled his eyes, turning back to his friend. "Another day, huh?"

Zachary smiled with his eyes and he nodded his head.

"She threw a shoe at your head?" Arnelle asked, an amused smile on her face. Adriel nodded as he poured some Cocoa Puffs.

"I don't understand why not everybody's monthly is the same. I know you don't suffer too much. Although you do eat a lot. And I do mean a lot—Ow! Ok, fine. I was just joking." Adriel said as he rubbed the back of his head.

"You better be. But, that was the last and only strike. I'll go get Harrison to help her with the cramps, noob." She said as she ruffled his hair. He went to slap her hand away, but only felt air.

She left me alone. Of course. He thought to himself. The only person he was really cool with besides his twin and Janice, was Arnelle. She was really the only one that was cool with him, even though she did things like this to him when she was annoyed.

No words were really exchanged between the two boys and him, even though they talked animatedly about the training they would have in a couple of hours.

Although he really liked this instead of their daily shenanigans, he did wish that one day, both of them would come up to Adriel and tell him, 'Listen, I know we've been total a-holes to you. It's cause we wanted to be just like you—sometimes envy gets the best of us.'

Right at that moment, he felt something hit his neck and bounce off. After, he heard snickering and Zachary say, "If you do not wish to get hit, I do advise you to get out of the room."

He groaned as he quickly poured the milk and took a spoon. "Stupid mindreader." He mumbled out as he left the room.

Zachary and Dominic began to laugh at his reaction.

Michael entered the kitchen and their laughing stopped right then and there.

He had been wearing a gray hoodie and some gray sweatpants. He had been wearing black sneakers on, so the two boys knew what time it was.

"Oh. Now you two stop laughing." He said as he walked past them to open the door that also lead to the backyard. "I told you about tag teaming on him. Let's go."

The two boys groaned as they followed him out into the night. As they walked, Michael had told the boys what they were to be working on.

"First, we'll go over mental training." Michael announced as he entered the meadow. He paused to turn around and looked at the boys. "Rogues are brutal, and so are hunters. They will find your weakness and use it against you. Vampires are the same way, but apparently a little more complex—which James will touch upon for you."

Michael then bent down to pick up a fallen branch from the floor then snapped it in two. "We will also work on surprise attacks. Sometimes things can hap–"

He threw one of the pieces at Dominic, who avoided it by jerking his head to the side. Michael smiled with amusement, then threw it at Zachary, who stopped it with his hand, a few centimeters away from his face.

"I think I will do well with surprise attacks." Zachary said with a smirk. Michael mirrored this and asked, very slowly, "Are you sure about that?"

Before Zachary had time to register anything, he was suddenly tackled back, sending him several feet. While in midair, he felt several pressure points being hit. Not strong enough to hurt him immensely, but enough to make him feel uncomfortable.

He landed on the floor, and groaned in annoyance. As he looked up, he made eye contact with gold eyes. A smug smile was placed on James' face and Zachary groaned again, this time running a hand over his face.

"Are you sure that you can do well with surprise attacks?" He asked as he held out his hand. "Because it does look like you need help."

"Dad." He let out as he accepted his hand. He stretched out as his father chuckled at him, slapping the top of his back.

When they returned back to the meadow, Dominic had already shifted into his wolf, and Michael had been unzipping his hoodie to do the same. When he looked at Zachary, his lips tugged up at the side. "Don't get too arrogant on the field. Something like that might happen."

Dominic's wolf let out a wheezing sound, as if laughing at him. What a noob.

"Oh, am I?" Zachary challenged, as he charged at him, shifting into his wolf.

Michael chuckled and James appeared next to him. He had hung his cloak on one of the branches, and at the moment, was fixing the sleeves to his white button up shirt.

"What's the point in wearing a white shirt if you'll just dirty it in the end?" Michael asked him. James turned to him with an amused look.

"My shirt will not stain, Michael. But, I do ask you: What is the point of wearing clothes, when you will shift regardless?" He said, his lips quirked up into a smile.

"You know what?" Michael started as he began to strip down. "There's gunna be a huge paw mark dragged across your shirt. Just like this." He finished off as he dragged his finger diagonally from his right shoulder down to his left hip.

"Once we are done with their training, let us see if you live up to your word." James said as he turned to walk towards the boys. Michael only smirked as he took off his sweatpants.

"Come on, bat boy. I'll take you on."