"To be angry is to revenge the faults of others on ourselves."

- Alexander Pope

IT WAS a change to be in Camp Juvy. Not because of the area or the people – but because of the way Iris was treated. In London, she was feared. People would avoid eye contact, walk with their heads facing the floor, eyes cast downwards. Mostly, Iris was feared because she was surrounded by her gang, but she was well known in London. In fact, she was known across the world.

Just not as Iris.

Her nickname – the Revenant – was the only form of recognition that people used. They couldn't put a face to the name, for she wished to stay anonymous. Anonymity guaranteed her safety. Anonymity meant she could be both. Anonymity meant the police would never find her.

And that worked out well, because the Revenant was wanted by police.

Iris Giorgianni, however, wasn't.

She couldn't help but wonder if she would be treated differently here had people known who she was. Would the people in Camp Juvy even recognise the nickname?

Part of her wanted to be feared. There was something exhilarating about having people be scared of you. It made you superior – envied, almost. But there was also something isolating. Being feared meant that people weren't jumping at the chance to be friends with you. The few friends she had were her gang; even though sometimes she wondered if they were only friends with her because they had to be.

Shaking off the thought, she began to walk away from her camp mates eating lunch. She didn't even need friends, anyway. Why did it matter if people feared her or not?

"Hey, Iris!" Shouted a voice behind her, small but distinct. She turned around, seeing Hunter, carrying what looked like a sandwich and an apple.

Iris rolled her eyes. "What do you want?"

"That's not a very nice thing to say to a friend." Hunter replied, his voice getting louder as his features finally came into view. His hair was swept to the side, cheeks flushed with the wind. "Thought you might want some lunch, seeing as you didn't take any."

"I'm fine."

Hunter shrugged, sitting down onto the grass at her feet. If he was offended by her rudeness in any way, he didn't show it, merely tucking into the sandwich in his hand.

As the seconds turned into minutes, Iris' anger slowly dissipated into guilt. Hunter was being nice. After all, it wasn't as if he'd done anything wrong.

With a grunt, she sat next to him, ignoring the surprised smile on his face as he watched her. The two began to sit in silence, though neither seemed to find the situation awkward. Iris took the time to analyse the attendants of Camp Juvy as they chatted amongst themselves, laughing as if they were having the best experience in the world. She wondered what half of these people had done to actually get thrown into the camp. It looked as if they'd volunteered themselves.

"Oh, great." Said Hunter, breaking the silence. He was looking in the other direction, a grim facial expression plastered on his features. "Look who's turned up."

Iris turned her head to see what he was talking about. Lo and behold, walking with a smirk on his face as he neared was Levi, accompanied by a boy around the same age.

"What, does he like irritating you too?" Iris asked, throwing a scowl in Levi's direction. She'd had enough of him for one day, despite finding his looks extremely attractive.

"Of course he does. He's my brother." Hunter growled, standing up and barrelling into Levi, only being pushed backwards instead. He groaned on the floor, holding his head.

Iris' eyes widened. How did she not see that before? Both with blonde hair, puckered lips and slightly tanned skin. They also shared a smile, the briefest of moments that she managed to sneak a glimpse at as Levi helped his brother up.

"Well would you look at that." Levi said, chuckling at Iris' shocked face. "It's Klutz."

"Stop calling me that." Iris glared. He was irritating her already and had hardly spoken.

The boy next to Levi shook his head. "Sorry about him. He can be an asshole. I'm Chase, by the way."

Iris narrowed her eyes at Chase. He was well built, had stubble beginning to sprout across his chin, and dark hair that juxtaposed him from the two brothers. Nothing about him told her that he was dangerous. In fact, though he had muscle, Chase looked about as useless as a bird with no wings. He had good looks, sure, but she knew that she would win against him in a fight any day.

Iris smirked. If only they knew.

"Iris." She nodded to him, avoiding Levi's eye contact. She could feel his stare from a mile away.

The more irritating boy of the two sat on the other side of her, leaving Chase to sit opposite. The smell of cologne filled her nose, and, though she hated to admit it, her heart began to thud at how endearing it was.

"I like calling you Klutz." Levi answered after a while, his deep voice resonating around them. "Suits you."

Hunter frowned, beginning to put two and two together as he stared at them. "Wait, so you two know each other already?"

Levi's smirk was his only answer.

"You slept together within the first day?"

Iris gasped. "No! God no! You think that little of me?"

"It's not you I think little of." Hunter replied, rolling his eyes at his brother. "Levi over here has a track record with the number of girls he's been with at camp."

"You're disgusting." Iris said to Levi, grimacing in disgust.

Levi shrugged. "A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do."

"And you?" Iris asked, looking at Chase. "You're like him too?"

"I've got a girlfriend, so no." Chase replied dully, as though he had heard of Levi's doings one-too-many times. In fact, now that Iris thought about it, he probably had. Levi seemed like the type of guy to brag about anything.

"He's weak." Levi said, leaning back to rest his head on the grass. "Too boring."

Chase scoffed. "You're still friends with me. You know, I could just go and spend all my time with Ember and then you wouldn't have to be around someone so 'weak'."

"I just keep you around to make myself look good." Levi replied, though the two grinned at one another jokingly.

Iris frowned. She didn't understand boys. Half the time they were serious, half the time they were joking. Why did they have to be so god damned multi-faceted?

"Anyway," Levi said, changing the subject, "how the hell did you kick ass at that challenge today? You a secret spy or something?"

"What, it's that surprising that you got beaten by a girl?"

He merely smirked. "No. I'm impressed. But you can't answer my question with a question. How did you do it?"

"I've trained well." She replied.

"And trained well how?"

She grinned, standing up. "Aw. It's sweet that you think I'd actually tell you."

The three boys frowned as she began to make her way back to the camp. Before she was out of ear shot, Levi shouted, "Why wouldn't you tell us?"

"The world's a mystery. Sometimes people like to keep it that way."

♥♥♥

It turned out that Iris' team wouldn't receive their prizes until later that day, so they had to wait. One thing that Iris did have to do now though, was meet her roommate. In all honesty, she was dreading it. Having to stay in an enclosed space with one person everyday was like having her period -unwanted, pointless, and painful to endure.

Jade led Iris towards a group of people after lunch. She seemed weirdly excited about the situation at hand. "You'll love her. She's really nice – I'm sure you'll get on well in no time!"

Iris bit her tongue to stifle a groan spilling out of her mouth. She was not in the mood for socialising, ever; let alone right now, after enduring most of the day with the most annoying boy on the planet.

"Ember!" Jade called as they reached their destination, causing the group to turn and stare. One girl stepped towards the two, her expression dubious as she eyed Jade's wide grin.

Iris remembered Chase saying the name Ember, so she guessed that Ember was his girlfriend. At least, it was implied that way.

"What's up." Ember said, the greeting sounding more like a statement than a question. She had dark hair and piercing blue eyes that seemed to harden as they laid on Iris. Her figure was thin and small, but she looked fierce, her body positioned with an air of determination, fists clenched.

"This is your roomie, Iris." Jade said, pushing Iris forward expectantly as if she thought they were going to hug.

That, most certainly, was not the case. Both girls seemed to stare at each other with a look of repulse, chins held high, standing their grounds as if ready to fight.

Ember flashed Iris a fake smile, not reaching her eyes. "Hi."

"I'll leave you to it!" Jade said happily, bounding off in the other direction like a puppy towards a treat.

As Iris began to swivel round on her feet to also exit the scene, Ember grabbed her wrist, her features set hard on her face, the ghost of her smile having blinked away within the second. "Listen here, new girl. I'm not interested in forming any bonds. I have my own friends, and frankly, you irritated me the second you opened your mouth."

Iris laughed. "Good to know."

"You think I'm joking?" Ember stepped forward, her voice steady with malice. "I don't give a shit about you, and I never will. Get out of my sight."

"Was that my cue to leave? Sorry. Must have been distracted by how unintimidating you are. You sound like an angry kitten."

Within a flash Ember was twisting Iris' wrist so hard that she was pinned to the table next to them. A group of people began to surround them, some clapping, a series of oo's beginning to spread around the area.

Ember twisted harder, a small fraction of pain darting through Iris's wrist. "How about now? Am I intimidating?"

Iris took a second to adjust herself. She wanted these people to be surprised. Wanted them to realise what a mistake it was to underestimate her. "I'm sorry. Really, I am. I promise I won't do it again."

"Thought so." Ember replied, letting go as the sound of applause began to fill the air. She sent one smug look in Iris' direction, before turning back to laugh with her friends.

Poor girl. Iris thought. You are going to regret that.

As fast as she could move, Iris kicked Ember in the back, causing her victim to fall to the ground with a look of surprise.

There was a moment of silence as shocked faces began to realise what had just happened: lips bit, eyes wide. The surprise that was once on Ember's face began to dissipate into anger, but Iris wasn't even scared. She needed this fight to strengthen herself and prove to everyone that she wasn't to be messed with. She needed to be the Revenant. She needed to be feared. That was the way it had always been, and always would be. 

And so it began. 

Ember, who was getting up off the floor, charged towards Iris with a growl, her teeth gritted, fists ready to launch.

Iris chuckled, darting to the side so that Ember ran into a girl behind them. Another scream of anger pierced into Iris' ears as Ember attempted to punch her, only having Iris punch her back so hard in the face that her nose began to bleed, dripping down her chin.

Now Ember was really mad. She pushed Iris onto the floor, pinning her down to try and get a clean aim. She didn't block her hips well enough, because soon the roles were reversed, and Iris was sending punch after punch into Embers body. Several people around them attempted to get them to stop, but it wasn't working. Both girls were so immersed in the situation that they kept going.

Punch.

"Yeah, I know we always win. But not with this girl."

"Why can't you be more like your brother?"

Punch. Kick.

"Honestly, Iris. How many times do I have to see you? Isn't once enough?"

Punch.

"The doctors couldn't keep him alive."

Kick. Punch. Thud.

"You're a disgrace, you know that? An absolute disgrace."

Ember managed to free one of her wrists and pinched iris' leg hard, just enough time for her to stun her, and so she could break free from Iris' hold. A kick was sent into Iris' head, but Iris grabbed a section of Ember's hair and pulled, hard. A bloodcurdling scream sounded from Embers mouth, just enough to alert the Camp workers.

Iris aimed squarely for one more punch to Ember's face but muscular arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her off Ember as she tried to kick and scramble free. It was no use. She was trapped, and she could hardly move. Whoever was holding her was seriously strong. Or maybe she had run out of energy.

"Calm down." The deep voice rumbled in her ear, attempting to be soothing but only making it worse. She realised then that she knew who it was: Levi.

Jade and John were lifting Ember up, helping her off the floor as she cried with pain, face swollen and bloody.

Iris didn't feel one bit of remorse as she watched her leave, limping off through a parting in the sea of people.

"Show's over." Iris said, wiping something that began to trickle down her face. She was unsure whether it was blood or sweat. "Or does anyone else want a go?"

Levi let go, studying her with an expression mixed between concern and shock. "Stop it. Aren't you tired?"

"I could go on all day, Levi." She snapped, shaking any tension in her shoulders free. And she knew she could. She could keep fighting forever, if that's what made her feel better. All the anger was building up in her chest, getting more and more convoluted, rising like a skyscraper, higher, higher. Further still, and it was unreachable. It filled her every sense, blocking her emotions: thinking, breathing, smelling, touching, tasting, living.

The anger defined her.

And it wasn't going away.

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

AUTHORS NOTE: Hallo my loves!

Sorry it's been a little longer than a week - I'm hoping to do another update asap to make up for it!

CAN I ALSO JUST SAY - HOW FREAKING HOT IS DAMON SALVATORE? THAT. FREAKING. SMIRK. I. CAN'T. BREATHE.

*Coughs*

Sorry, kinda got carried away there...

....aaaanyways, how are you liking the story so far?

Who's your favourite character?

Iris is a lil bit aggressive, I know, but it's all going to come together soon. She's a bit confuzzled at the moment, but all will be well! There is A LOT to come and I'm looking forward to it!!!!!

Let me know what you think - vote, comment, pm me!

Lots of love always,