Project ERASE

Chapter 7 : Tension

Sorry for the late chapter, I had to rewrite this a few times. Happy reading!

****

The first person I saw was Ares. He looked half-awake and was wearing what seemed to be sleepwear that consisted of sweats and a t-shirt. His platinum blond hair was sticking up in different directions.

"Morning, Leaf." Ares closed his eyes and yawned.

"Do you live close by or something?" I was puzzled.

"We all have apartments downstairs." Ares tried to open his eyes wider to look more awake, but it slowly closed halfway in a few seconds.

I took a step away from the door to let him enter because if I didn't soon, he may fall asleep standing at the doorway. Ares came in and walked drowsily towards the dining table, leaving me alone with the new people. This came as a shock because I had thought that he would introduce me to everyone.

I looked at the remaining three men standing at the doorway. They looked familiar, so they were probably a part of Project Erase, but I couldn't remember their names or numbers. All except for one.

My eyes brightened and my smile was back on my face. "Tank!"

Tank was... built like a tank. Black hair in a buzz cut, dark blue eyes, broad shoulders, body corded with muscle upon muscle that screamed he wasn't someone to be messed with. He was shorter than both Ares and Lucien by a bit. He looked out for me once in a while in the facility and it was probably under Ares or Lucien's request. Even though he looked vicious and mean with his stiff expression and the small diagonal scar on his left cheekbone, he was softer on the inside compared to the other kids raised in the facility. He was able to fool everyone else at the facility that he was ruthless and merciless to stay alive, but people very close to him would be able to see through his facade.

I reached out with both of my arms and jumped, wrapping my arms around his neck and pulling him into a tight hug. He leaned down so my feet could touch the ground and wrapped an arm around my upper back and patted my head with his other hand. I was happy to see him, but not necessarily surprised. We kept in touch over the years but he never further expanded on what he did for work, so I never pried.

The name he decided to take was Titus Steele.

"Leaf," Tank greeted, his tone warm and comforting.

I pulled away and suddenly felt a hand pressed against the middle of my back.

There was amusement in Tank's eyes as he looked at me, then glanced up at the man that I knew was standing stiffly behind me.

I discreetly reached behind me and swatted Lucien's hand off my back.

"Come inside and ignore the grouch behind me." I smiled at Tank while grabbing his arm to tug him inside. "I made a mountain of food."

The last two men standing at the door were new. They looked familiar enough, so I probably saw them in the facility, but I never talked to them nor knew their numbers.

One had the hood of his hoodie up and hands in his stuffed into the pockets of his sweatpants. His light brown hair peeked out a bit from under the hood and he stared at me with curious emerald green eyes while his face remained blank. He was built a little leaner than everyone else, more of an athletic-muscular look and around the same height as Lucien. He scanned me quickly from head to toe and looked displeased.

I was wearing a simple pair of jeans and a long sleeve blouse with my hair neatly braided. It was nothing fancy, but nothing that should invoke a look of contempt.