My eyes fluttered open, and the shock almost caused me to disconnect. Taking a grip of myself, I realized the perfect opportunity just presented itself to me. This was exactly what I needed to even out the playing field.

Hello again. I greeted the alpha of the group of Lupa, who seemed to be rather resigned at their luck of running into me again. I took the lack of hostility as a good sign and suddenly an idea crossed my mind. They had said before that I had reminded them of a human who had made a pact with their ancestor. Could it be?

I am here to confirm the renewal of the pact that we made long ago. I began, sensing the mood shift as the pack of Lupa got my words. It must have been Akram who had made that deal; there was no other explanation. He was the only one with the power and vision to do it.

Excellent. The wolfs’ excitement was palpable and once again I was reminded how animals seemed to be able to keep their promises for generation, and yet humans’ seemed so weak and breakable.

But first, I need your help. I smiled and related my plan to it. To my relief, the Lupa readily agreed to the plan and assured me that it would be done discretely. I stole a glance at Liam’s direction and whatever they had done to the device; it seemed to render it completely useless except for coughing up that fake spot leading us south-east.

Having solved my most pressing concern, I was able to make it through the rest of the day without tearing my hair out in frustration. With new allies on my side, I was ready to take on whatever Gerald was going to throw at me. The leader of the pack had also informed me that there was a Ruin in the direction we were heading, but it had long been claimed by several pack of felixia.

My eyes widened at the information; surely we weren’t heading there towards certain death. However, that sounded exactly like something Gerald would do, leading us straight into the center of the nests just to meet a random dude to get information.

I tried to draw up a mental map of the region to gauge the scale of the Ruin; we were roughly where the Ganesh family guard was ambushed, somewhere high up in the Himalaya. If we go south-east we would be entering the Indian plains, and there was no shortage of cities down there.

With the Legres scouting for us, I didn’t even needed to bother checking myself, but I still did a thorough sweep every half an hour and get updates from the pack as well.

“So,” Casey slowed her pace, so she was walking alongside me, detaching herself from Vanessa and Liam. I pulled myself back to the present and directed my attention to my old friend. “You and Tom huh?”

A violent blush made its way to my face. That was not what I expected at all. Laughing heartily Casey slapped me on the shoulder, not needing any more confirmation other than my red cheeks.

“I always knew there was something going on with you two.” She teased her tone nostalgic. “I just didn’t know you had it in you to snog that guy in front of everyone.”

My jaw dropped open, and I glared at Liam’s back, knowing he must be the one who spilled the beans to Casey. He didn’t even see it himself!

“It was painful enough watching you two interact around each other.” Casey continued, ignoring my increasing scarlet face. “I mean, we were too busy trying to stay alive but god, the sexual tension was so awkward.”

Gasping I turned to look at the brunette, who had the audacity to continued rambling on. “We did not have any sexual tension.” I said through gritted teeth, completely embarrassed to learn that this was how she viewed us.

“Oh babes.” Casey rolled her eyes at me and gave me a small pat on the arm as if she was addressing a toddler. “Even blind people could sense it.”

A chuckled escaped from the front and I narrowed my eyes at Liam, who was trying to cover his slip up by fake coughing loudly. Judging from the way Vanessa’s shoulder was shaking she was eavesdropping on our conversation as well. The only exception was Gerald at the front who seemed oblivious to the bullying treatment that I was getting.

“If only I could tell Nate.” Casey said, sadness creeping into her voice. “We were taking bets on how long it would take for you two to get together. I said six months and he said four weeks when we set off from Yunnan. I guess I won then.”

 Offended that my friends had gambled on my relationship status with Tom, I shook my head at her but couldn’t help the wave of sadness that washed over me at the thoughts of my missing friends. I knew that the boys would do whatever they could to protect the girls, but from what Casey had said, the odds that they had escaped the clutches of the Apocalypse seemed low.

“I am sure they are fine.” I managed to choke out the words, and Casey nodded, ending the conversation on our lost friends.

“How far are we?” Vanessa asked, a hint of annoyance in her voice as we stopped for a quick break. Jiggling the little device, Liam peered at it again.

“It keeps moving away from us.” He answered, scratching his head and shooting a surreptitious glance at Gerald. “But we are getting closer.”

I exchanged a look with Casey, and I could see the original determination the later had seemed to have faded. This was understandable, of course; I wouldn’t have expected to be chasing a refugee several days. It seemed increasingly likely that this was either a fluke, or we were picking up some other trails.

“Do you think that maybe this is something else?” I voiced out, playing my part of a confused member. Casey nodded in agreement and I could see Liam was trying to stifle a snort. Very subtle.

“One more day.” Gerald said, more to me than anyone. “Then we will head back.”

Satisfied that he had given me a deadline, I retied my shoelace and got ready to go. It felt like the two of us had been playing a passive-aggressive game trying to flush the other one into action. It felt so immature and yet this was just how we interact. Sighing internally, I marveled at what my life had become. Not what I imagined four years ago.

“I would kill for a shower.” Casey fumed as we settled for the night. I chuckled and nodded in agreement and Vanessa let out a laugh as well. The boys had their own tent, and we could hear soft murmurs coming from their tent. It was true; we hadn’t showered for a long time and we were starting to smell kind of off.

“Food.” I said, and we all burst out laughing again. It was a nice, normal moment and one that I hadn’t had for a while. This made me miss Natalie and Elise. Lately, it seemed every little thing was reminding me of my friends, but I was determined to let these memories fuel me instead of pulling me back.

“What do you think those two do in a tent?” Casey asked, a mischievous twinkle in her eyes, and I almost choked on thin air. Whatever it was that Gerald and Liam were doing is their own business. I had no desire to find out, in fact, I felt like I wanted to vomit just thinking about it.

“I don’t want to know.” I admitted, making fake gagging noises causing the other two girls to laugh. “I bet Liam does all the talking and Gerald would just tone him out.”

After a chorus of goodnight, I fell asleep almost immediately. “Gail, it’s your turn.” The next thing I knew Casey was shaking me gently to wake me. Popping up groggily, I slipped out of my sleeping bag giving the tired girl a nod. Satisfied by the sight of me struggling to get up Casey crawl back to sleep, and I stretched my arms out attempting to wake myself up.

Is there anything unusual? I decided to check in with the Legres and immediate got an affirmative response from the alpha, jolting me from my sleepy haze. What is it?

There is a group heading to the Ruins. The Lupa answered, and I shot right up. Unbelievable! What was wrong with our luck? We seemed to be getting into trouble left, right and center.

Where are they now? I asked slipping quietly out of the tent, heading towards the direction of the Lupa. I made sure to be extra careful as I tip toed past the other tent. Gerald had taken the first night shift and I knew from passing the common rooms from time to time that Liam sleeps like a rock.

Give me the details. I requested and within seconds I felt connected to several other Lupas, who was letting me see what they smelled. It was a weird experience, almost like I was a wolf myself, and I knew that the past few months of training underground (literally) had been good for me. My powers seemed to have transcended to another level, and I felt more confident in saving my friends and fulfilling whatever plans Akram had for me. It was the least I could do after that guy had been through.

By now we had almost reached the edge of the mountains, ready to descend to the foothills where the Ruins were. They had picked up scents of a large group of people, around ten to twelve at on their way there too. From the direction they were coming from I instantly knew that they weren’t Gerald’s friends. And if I remembered correctly, the man himself had also said his friend was helping us, singular friend.

Tugging on my hair I sighed. We would just have to cross the bridge when we get to it. I didn’t want to ask the Lupas to risk their lives trying to stop the other group when there is a slight chance that we might not go in. Who was I kidding, it was the only plausible explanation for us to trek three days in this random direction.

Keep me updated. I asked, and take care.

Startled by my words the Lupas gave me an affirmative thought before retreating, presumably to rest. I settled down on a dry spot and hugged my waterproof closer and stared up into the stars. People used to believe that their fates are written in the heavens; I wondered if mine was there too.

When everyone woke up the next day Liam showed us the reconnaissance device and sure enough, it pointed towards the Ruin. I was sure that Gerald knew about it, but Casey, Vanessa and Liam appeared out of the loop. I wasn’t exactly thrilled by him withholding important information but on the other hand I wanted to see how he handled things when we inevitably arrived.

“We are descending.” Vanessa frowned as we continued our downhill journey into the Indian plains, her green eyes uneasy as she surveyed the changing landscape around us. “We are getting too far from the base.”

“Relax.” Gerald said as he walked through the shrubs as though he owned the place. “There is another base nearby should we need to retreat quickly.”

Throwing him a suspicious glance Vanessa bit her lips and decided against whatever she was going to say. Despite having spent the last five days together I still hadn’t gotten to know her too well, but I do know that she was a polite, quiet girl who keeps to herself. It was strange to see her addressing Gerald so directly.

“Is that a…?” Casey started before trailing off, her eyes fixed at a feature in the distance. Looking up, I squinted in the direction of her glance and saw it too.

“A Ruin.” I answered; my breath caught in my throat as I took it the once majestic city that was now nothing more than a wasteland inhabited by beasts. It was different yet the same with the one we went to. They seemed to emit the same sense of abandonees and with it a certain despair that seemed to suck your soul.

“Is it…” Vanessa started, and she didn’t need to finish the sentence for us to understand her question. Liam checked the device and sure enough, the green dot flashing on the screen was where the Ruin was.

“We can’t just go in like this.” The words flew out of my mouth before I could stop them and it was my honest opinion. We were not prepared for a trip to a Ruin where powerful Legres nests and there was another group of POEs lurking inside. Despite the scale of the city being small, it was still a maze of death traps and dead ends, not a place where one decided to go on a whim.

“We have to find the source.” Gerald said, looking at me so that I knew he was serious. “We haven't come this far just to turn back.”

Noting the double meaning behind his words I bite my retort back. The Lupas were already scouting ahead for me, so I knew that we were safer already; and if the Ruin were so dangerous, Gerald’s friend wouldn’t have dare to venture in alone.

“Fine, but any sign of danger and we are out.” I compromised and saw Casey and Vanessa nodding in agreement.

The trek there was relatively straight forward and with every step we took my heart beat faster in my chest. The Lupas had been quiet, but I knew it was because they could sense my anxiety. It was weird how comfortable I was with them now, and it seemed strange to me that no one had ever tried to establish some kind of connection with the Legres before. Surely I wasn’t the only one who could communicate with them. Akram did it and with millions and millions of people in this word surely someone could too.

The grounds around us became increasingly barren as we neared the Ruin. Trees began to disappear and concrete stubs and steel rods were everywhere. We had to be extra careful not to trip over anything. This wasn’t one of the maintained Ruins, and I was beginning to wonder if it was even on the radar. There were no fences around it, no wall; it simply became more and more condensed with buildings until it was a jungle of skyscrapers deteriorating.

“Can you pinpoint the exact location?” Gerald asked, and I knew he was doing it for shows. Liam nodded and began tapping away at the limited buttons on the reconnaissance device, and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at them.

“It’s coming from a spot on the southern outskirt.” Liam answered, and I caught the slightly relieved looks on Casey and Vanessa’s face. At least we didn’t have to go into the thick of it. “We can just circle around it.”

We can’t help you anymore. The Lupa alpha said, and I could sense his location about a kilometer or so away. We are not allowed in.

Thank you. I thanked the kind Legres as they retreated back into the mountains. I smiled at how strange it was that merely a year ago I was running away from its kind. Little did I know how life can lead you in such different directions.

Carefully we began to pick our way through the concrete jungle, making sure that we were at a safe distant from the nests but still maintaining a relatively direct route to our destination. I wondered why Gerald couldn’t just get his friend to meet us closer if we were coming from the same direction but then and again he wasn’t someone who could be measured using normal standards.

With the city being relatively small, it only took us a couple of hours before we were getting close. Somehow we managed to avoid any living creatures except some rats on our way by some cosmic luck which I wasn’t going to complain about.

“Who would be hiding here?” Casey couldn’t help but commented as we hopped from a particularly large piece of concrete rubble to another, balancing perilously with our backpacks. Gerald motioned with his finger for us to be quiet and Casey huffed.

“It’s right there!” Liam said, zooming in on his device and pointing to a relatively put together building at the far end of our visual range. I quickly did a minor mind sweep around the area and it looked clean. I didn’t dare to do a large scale one in case I stumbled upon one of the higher grade Legre that would be able to sense me. Strangely I couldn’t penetrate into the building, which was odd.

“There seems to be a wall around the building.” I said, feeling the expectant glances of my teammates. “We should approach carefully.”

Noting the situation we began to slowly made our way to the two-storey derelict building that only stood out as being relatively good condition. It was eerily quiet as we edged closer, and our footsteps became slower and slower. Gerald motioned for Liam and me to go around the back whilst Casey, Vanessa and him approach from the front.

There was a back door to the place, a wooden one that was once painted blue, but had now faded into a dusty gray colour. There were numerous creaks across it large enough to see inside. Squinting I tried to get a view of what was inside, and it looked just as bare and abandoned as the rest of the place.

Exchanging a glance with Liam, I opened the door carefully with my telekinesis, doing my best to stop it from creaking. The whole thing almost crumbled when I wrapped my mind around it, and it took great control for me to hold it together and flinging it away as quickly as possible. Throwing me an incredulous look Liam shook his head at me, and I shrugged at him. It was the best I could do given the situation. I mean, that door was like three hundred odd years old, it should have disintegrated a long time ago.

Carefully I set one foot inside the building and held my breath, but nothing happened. Cautiously I took another step, again nothing. However, I could no longer feel what was outside of this house with my mind, it was like this place was somehow a world of its own.

Carefully we made our way through the intact floor, still treading carefully in case the floor suddenly gave away and collapse. That would be a stupid way to die. As soon as we cross the second threshold we could see the other three heading towards us and judging from the looks on their faces they hadn’t found anything of use either.

Suddenly we could hear noises from upstairs and everyone froze. Gerald immediately gestured for us to get behind me and we quickly obliged. As I was turning back around to face the staircase and pair of feet appeared and I tensed.

A young man who appeared to be in his early twenties was descending to the ground floor, wearing army green trousers, combat boots and a t-shirt of the same colour. He had tousled blonde hair with a mischievous smell on his face as he took a big bite on the apple. He was also someone that I knew.

“Nigel?” My jaw dropped at the man in front of me and déjà vu washed over me. His eyes locking into mine the blonde gave me a huge smell and threw the apple core behind him.

“Abigail Beckett.” He sang as though my name was lyrics and nodded at Gerald. “We meet again.”

Hello beautiful people :) Hope you guys enjoy my regular updates.
Since last we spoke I have finished Selection (yay!), there's only four more chapters to go!

Having said that, I have to put a pause on NaNoWriMo because i haven't really planned out the third book yet. I had only just realised that I got confused myself and I am not sure if I should call the third book Revolution or Revelation. Let me know what you think!

I have now also entered into some kind of a quarter life crisis in which I have absolutely no idea what I want to do after I graduate. For the first time I am seriously considering becoming a professional author - what do you all think? Would you guys support me ;D

Anyway, hope you enjoy the new twist! For those who don't remember Nigel - he is the guy who came to Abigail's rescue at her first encounter with the Legre back in London Citybase.

I am not a fan of this kind of coincident but somehow he just fits!
Stay tune for more plot twists - because I have more tricks up my sleeve!

Comment and vote peeps <3 because the more I see, the faster I update x