Betrayal

When I reach the waterfall in the woods, I lay down, tears streaking my face. I used to come here when my mother was alive, we used to roll around in the grass, pulling each other in the pool of water beside. " Come here you monkey! I'll get you!" I reminisce in the memories. 'How could I not figure this out? Bradley not being the leader and being another pawn? Outrageous! Who would that person be? I hear a rustling of leaves behind me, my ears shoot up in alarm, ready for an attack. "OW! Stupid tree stump!" My ears go down and I chuckle, 'Nathan, Mr.Whiney.' I go behind a tree and shift, careful not to let him see me without clothes. I grab my half shirt and white skinny jeans. "You know if you were trying to to be quiet and stealthy, you need some work." Nathan walks out to the clearing, following my voice.

Sneaking behind him, I scream, knocking him to the grass in fear. "That's how to sneak on people, instead of cursing at the wilderness." I snort in a fit of laughter, with Nathan stifling a giggle. Nathan crawls over to the pool of water, coating his hands with the contents, wiping his face. "I came to check up on you. You just ran off, I was worried about you." Nathan whispers sadly, patting the grass next to him. Letting out a stutter of a sigh, I bend my knees and lower myself down to the damp grass where some droplets fell from the waterfall above. I look up at the waterfall, letting my face curl up into a smirk. "My mother used to take me here to be a kid in my "Saviour" life. She made me have a somewhat normal life" I look over to the pool, recalling the eventful days filled with mom.

"We used to swim here for a while, every weekend in fact. If you were just coming into the pack, you wouldn't think that we were different. When we're surrounded by everyone, we have that stoic persona, that we are secluded from everyone for training. She was the perfect mother for the seemingly perfect family. When she died, we started to increase my training, more fierce, more... driven, from my mother's death, we both got more determined. More driven. "I look up at Nathan, anger and drive prominent in my facial features. "And nothing will distract me from my task. Not anyone, not you, not Uncle Mike, and not Bradley." Nathan smiles and looks at me with kindness in his eyes. "Then I will do everything to help you achieve that goal. Once I know what you are trying to do, that is." We both smile and snort. "You'll know soon enough Nate. Also I don't need any help. I've got this." I get up, brush and pat my pants down, extending my hand towards him, beckoning him up. "Come on, they are probably wondering where we are." Nathan grabs my hand and pulls himself up. "You okay now?' He asks. I smile and nod, hesitant. "Yes, thank you Nate." I playfully give him a shove and he smiles while we walk out of the woods.

"You can't just disappear like that Aria! I was so worried, I thought you would get hurt! Never do that again, Ariana, you hear me young lady?!" As soon as we stepped into the door, Dad has been chastising me, It's like high school all over again... 'Ugh he's still going?' "I understand Dad. It won't happen again, I should have kept my cool. It has been frustrating lately, stranger things have happened this whole month, I think it was stressing me out." I explain, after a few moments of letting it sink in, his glare loosens into a scowl. "I understand, but you need to have your head on straight Aria. Even more so, if there is another leader of the Duskwalkers who is higher up than Bradley." Dad grabs me and pulls me into a bone crushing hug, after a few moments, we both pull away and I do a sadistic grin. "More fun for me then.-" "Aria, can I speak to you for a minute in private?" Lex stands in the doorstep, trembling in fury. "One sec, Talk to you later?" I ask Dad and he nods, uncertainty written all over his face. 'Does he know what Lex and I are going to talk about?'

"You might want to sit down Ar." Lex pulls up a chair when we arrive at the headquarters. "Am I in trouble? You look like you're about to snap." I sit down and start fidgeting with my fingers. "Far from it, you did nothing, someone else did. You know Aldus? The creep and the one you were worried about?" Lex asks angrily. My eyes shoot up,"Why? What the hell happened?" Lex starts shaking in fury, his hands clenched up into a fist. "One of the guard found him near the entrance, Bransen. Apparently Aldus was speaking to Bradley himself over the phone." Lex stated. "I jump out of my chair in panic. "Is Bransen okay? Is he hurt, did Aldus see him?" Lex lifts up his hand, "No, he didn't get caught. As soon as he got that information, he went straight to me. Promise me Aria, DO NOT go after Aldus!" I hesitate but I slowly nod. "I promise I won't do something stupid. Have you guys detained him?" I ask in curiosity. "No we haven't but we have a plan, we tapped his phone. Whoever he's talking to and what he is telling them, we can hear now." I look down in shame, "I was supposed to protect everyone, but I failed you." Lex cups my face in his hands, frowning deeply. "No you didn't, You couldn't have known this would happen Ar. We got Aldus, everyone is safe. If you haven't had walked out, I wouldn't have answered Bransen's call." Lex smiles. "Get a room!" Uncle Mike hollers at us while sitting inside. Both Lex and I blush and he lets goes of my face, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. "Come on, we should get back to the Headquarters. We have to tell the rest of the guard of Aldus, well excluding Aldus." Lex starts to walk towards the building. "Wait! I have to say goodbye to Nathan don't I? Hey Nate! I'll be coming back tomorrow! Have a nice night!" I holler to Nathan while walking backwards towards the building.