Disclaimer: Beyblade? Mine? Ye-err I mean no. It deeply saddens me because then this pairing would have been incorporated into the anime and Tyson would have lost the third world championships.
THIS HAS BEEN REWRITTEN FOR READER ENJOYMENT. I felt that the first disastrous chapter was chasing off everyone from reading the good follow-up. I myself was especially displeased with this. So, I have decided to redo this mainly for my own satisfaction. Don't worry. I ALWAYS take careful thought to the your happiness as well. No matter what, you are thought of when I write.
What's Changed: New scenes added and sections rewritten.
Now, please review. For those who have already reviewed this chapter, then you can always send me a private message. Please don't do anonymous because some of the best reviews I've gotten are anonymous and that means I can't reply to you to give my sincere thanks.
A special thank you to all of you beautiful readers! Every good review lets me know I'm appreciated and my writing loved. Once more, thank you!
The cold night air sneaked in through the small entry space the window allowed, straying freely throughout the small room, making its occupant tremble as the chills ran up her back. Hilary's lightly chapped hands brought the blanket closer to her chin in an attempt to become more comfortable. She finally woke to her own trembling and was upset to find that curling into a ball had proved useless in this situation. Hoping for the smallest warmth, she buried her nose into her pillow before slowly sitting up and gazing around the room with little thought as to what she was actually seeing.
Her dry ruby eyes burned as she rubbed them to shake off the exhaustion of sleep. Feeling not so much more awake, Hilary slid her bare legs over the side of the bed. Pajama shorts did nothing to protect her legs from the frigid air that midnight carried. She rubbed her legs with her hands to try easing the freezing sensation even just the smallest bit.
'I knew I should have packed something else', Hilary mentally chastised herself.
Squinting through the dark, she reached over to the bedside table and turned the knob for the lamp to turn on. Nothing. Several attempts more were disappointingly useless and provided her with no light for changing. Not deterred, she picked up the lamp and twisted the knob repeatedly with a foolish determination.
Someone sat up in their bed without a sound insinuating the swift movement, though this still alerted another of the disruption in the night's peace.
"Kai?" he asked, his instincts telling him that his childhood friend was troubled by the same problem that had been plaguing him for nearly one week.
"It happened again, Tala", the deep voice responded, belonging only to Kai.
"Go back to sleep",he ordered his teammate.
Kai's dark silhouette didn't stir from his position.
"Is it that bad?" Tala asked after several seconds of silence passed by.
"Yeah."
"Fine, but I doubt they'll want to wake up and help you right now."
"They don't get any choice this time."
"You're worried?"
"No."
"Don't lie to me, Kai. After all these years, you can't."
Kai grunted in reply and set his feet on the carpet, numb to the cold. Tala turned on to his side, facing the wall. He tried blocking out any and all sound that disallowed him from falling back to sleep. Now that he had been awoken, the Russian youth wondered if he could now that this sudden feeling of insomnia hadovercome him. If that truly stood in his way of rest, then Tala reasoned that there would be no use in lying there until dawn began sending gentle rays through the window.
Kai was quietly surprised to see his friend sit up before also standing. He stared, which Tala became aware of quickly.
"I'll go too. You don't need to wake them up", he replied to the unvoiced question, leaving out the part of him suddenly becoming an insomniac. There would be questions as to why he was suffering the same odd restlessness as Kai, but Tala preferred to contemplate the matter after having fully woken up from this slight daze.
Without another word added to their conversation, the two teenagers dressed into their regular attire and seized their beyblading gear.
Defeated, Hilary set the small reading lamp back down not so gently on the bedside table after many tries. She moved her feet to the floor and stood up on the nice carpet with every intention of turning on the ceiling light. True, its brilliance would blind her for a second but she couldn't care less if that meant she could change into warmer garments.
Careful to avoid the dark silhouette of objects, Hilary reached the area of the wall by the door and felt around for the switch. Her hand quickly brushed over it and her index finger pushed it up.
Nothing.
"You've got to be kidding!" she hissed, seething with intense frustration.
Several impatient clicks followed but the results did not differ. Hilary gritted her teeth in anger and was on the verge of screaming for the cursed light to work. An unexpected noise in the hallway seized her attention, saving the switch from being ripped out of the dully colored wall.
Her first deduction was Daichi was roaming around again sleepwalking. The red-haired midget had a habit of doing that, dreaming that it was spring-cleaning and he had been dumped with the job of cleaning the dojo belonging to Tyson's grandfather. If that was true, then he would soon start boisterously complaining about how everyone else went for ice cream while he was stuck indoors.
The sound met her ears again, but at this point she realized it was the unmistakable sound of a spinning beyblade. Well, perhaps it wasn't so distinctive if her first guess had been the short loudmouth beyblader.
Hilary frowned, not at all amused by the unknown beyblader's antics. It was plain idiocy to beyblade in the middle of the night; it was also incredibly impolite to do it in the hallway which held rooms where people were trying to sleep. After several minutes of hearing the small object repeatedly whirring past her door, she decided to tell whoever it was off.
'The nerve of this guy! You'd think whoever is doing this just wants to make my night worse!'
The Japanese teen picked up her hairbrush from the bedside table and quickly went over her chocolate brown locks. She had never been one to stress over her appearance, but it couldn't be denied just how bad her bed-head was. Never again would she endure the teasing and laughing from a pair of monkeys known as Tyson and Daichi. Hilary never wanted to be caught like that again with her hair in a wild mess after rising from bed.
With her hair tamed to look presentable, she was ready to give some poor soul a piece of her sleep-deprived mind. The door creaked unbearably loudly as she opened it without a hint of hesitation. Her eyes were met with darkness once more and her vision quickly adjusted for sight. The whirring was so near yet she couldn't spot neither beyblade nor beyblader.
It seemed silly to turn off the hallway lights on that floor of the BBA building, but Mr. Dickinson had insisted to his associates that this should be done to send a message of rest to the competitors. His reasons were noble, however. The old man was always concerned for the safety and well being of the beybladers, trying to avoid anyone becoming hurt or exhausted to the point of their health being endangered. Still, Hilary wanted some kind of light source to hint what might be covered by the darkness.
There it was again. It was crazy and the constant spinning of some beyblade raised her anger several notches. Hilary wanted whoever had enough nerve to bother her in the middle of the night to pay some kind of price. She blindly looked around once more before stepping forward. Her foot instantly sprung back in a mixture of pain and alarm.
"Ouch! Huh?" She was terribly puzzled by this new object that appeared out of the shadows before her. Spinning in front of Hilary was an unidentified grayish-white beyblade. It stayed in the same place with wonderful balance as if waiting for a reaction from her.
Hilary got down on her knees and leaned forward to get a better look. "Stop moving so I can figure out if you're a bit beast or not!" It may have been ridiculous to talk to a beyblade, but appearing cool wasn't an issue at the moment.
The only thing she could make out from the bit chip was some white and a touch of green. That alone wasn't enough to even hint who was behind the beyblade. There was some kind of animal printed on to the center chip.
Hilary made a swipe at it, trying to pick the item up. She flinched in surprise upon seeing it suddenly move at the last second. Hoping to catch the blader off-guard, her hand flew for the beyblade after a wait of several seconds and missed once more. It seemed like she would catch it sooner or later, but it was too obvious that whoever was controlling the blade was toying with her. Several more tries and fails later, a growl of frustration rumbled in her throat. It seemed as if everything she tried that night was destined for failure.
Making sure not to raise her voice and disrupt the other teams, she said with every hint of exhaustion, "Why won't you just leave me alone? I'm tired!"
Hilary yawned to make her point clear to the unknown beyblader and stood back up. She had suffered enough of this nonsense and wanted to return to her bed, which had probably become cold from the lack of her body heat. The small metal object tapped her foot again and went up the hallway. It stopped just at the end, next to the corner.
'It might just be Tyson and Daichi playing a trick on me, but what if it's something else?' she contemplated. It could be dangerous, like the person holding the beyblade's launcher. No one in their right mind would be out this late at night.
'I'm just freaking myself out', Hilary assured herself. 'I'm safe here. After all, it's not like Barthez or any of the Blitzkreig Boys are behind it. No other team here is the type to pull sabotage, so there's no need for me to be scared. I'm not even a beyblader, so why would anyone try anything?'
Nervously biting the long sleeve of her white pajama top, Hilary closed the door to her room and began after the beyblade. The tile floor was freezing under her bare feet and cruelly encouraged her legs to shiver violently at every few steps. The farther she went, the darker it became. A sudden rush of insecurity made her feel obligated to hug herself out of need for self-confidence.
"It's just…nothing", she whispered to herself. She hated how unsure her voice had sounded, wishing for it to be certain.
She stopped at the end of the hall and breathed a sigh of relief. Nothing bad. It was a silly, childish dream that there was an evil entity there to harm her. It was as absurd as the infamous monster in the closet.
"You need a psychiatrist, Kai", Bryan told his opponent as they prepared to launch. Both he and Spencer were finding Kai's recent insomnia problem tiresome (no pun intended). Though despite not having been invited to the late night practice session, thathalf of the team joined them anyway. It proved to be a stroke of luck.
"I'm fine", was the stoic reply Kai always supplied when asked a question inquiring as to his health.
Tala didn't bother acting as a spectator for their beybattle. Instead, he sat on the floor of the large training room and tried fixing his launcher without having to completely take it apart. His ripcord had jammed while pullingthemetalthrough, proving that something within the custom launcher was out of place. Finding the source of the problem was a tedious task and proving more arduous than first predicted to be. Tala was thankful that the problem had presented itself now instead of ata tournament match. He also didn't have to think about battling Kai thanks to their friends' unexpected arrival.
Seeing that he would have to take this small piece of equipment apart, Tala slumped against the wall as much as he allowed himself. That wasn't too much considering his military upbringing.
"I'm going back", Tala announced to the other three, not bothering to give them the clear reason as to why.
Spencer, who was standing and watching the battle with focus, averted his eyes to Tala and nodded. There was no reaction from Bryan or Kai, but he knew his words had not fallen on deaf ears.
The Blitzkreig Boys' captain stood up and exited out the nearby door, the darkness not at all affecting his enhanced senses. Some things from the abbey just went too deep to depart and leave him normal, making him share the same pathetic senses every other human being possessed.
The beyblade slowly went down the next hallway and stopped near the end. It went across the tile with an almost fluid movement and such a leisurely speed that it was made rather apparent that it was deliberately just so she would see it.
Ten steps later and Hilary desired to turn back. Whether it was fear or weariness, all she wanted to do was go back to bed. There it would be warm and secure with nothing to threaten her. The temptation wasn't enough. Her curiosity and anger towards the unknown blader got the better of her. She decided to follow wherever the spinning metal led.
Thinking about it, this situation was like something out of the horror movies that Tyson rented. The two-time world champion would rent something like Nightmare on Elm Street and stay up all night with the lights on. The next day he'd doze off during practice and fall face first into the beydish, earning an extensive lecture from Hiro.
This bit of memory brought a small smile to her face and brought back a shimmer of confidence. Her sensible mind reminded her that masked psychos and chainsaw murderers didn't just pop up. Especially in buildings as well guarded as the ones owned by the BBA. If anything, she was more safe there than at her own home.
"Absolutely nothing to worry about", she laughed at herself.
Hilary let her arms drop contentedly to her side and relaxed her tense shoulders. Kenny had a point when he told her that logic could be comforting. It separated the real from the fictional and frightening.
Paranoia settled back into her as did the chilly atmosphere. It was insane how she could lighten up for just the shortest second before being filled with a terrifying dread.
Her feet moved across the floor in a dead run, hurrying towards the white beyblade. She didn't know why that was chosen to be the goal, but it was all there was to go for at the moment. The target zoomed behind another corner to lead her further through the building. Hilary rounded the corner, out of breath from dread and running.
Her legs gave out beneath her without warning and Hilary felt herself fall into slumber at the same time she fell to the floor.
Hilary sighed and cuddled deeper into the soft pillow. She tried convincing herself that it wasn't real. It was just a dream leftover from Tyson's latest movie rental. A mental note was made to yell at him later for her lack of good sleep.
Shaking her head, the brunette rolled on to her stomach for several minutes then changed to lying on her side. She brought her knees near her chest and hugged her legs for extra warmth. Hilary shivered and blamed whoever had left the heater off.
She buried her nose into the pillow and inhaled deeply. Her mind forgot about the frigid air and focused more on the delightful scent. It wasn't the aroma of a kind of fruit or something ridiculous like bubblegum that stores sold to teenage girls. The smell couldn't be, considering she didn't wear any of that stuff. This pleasing scent was masculine, far from feminine. Hilary breathed in deeply once more and analyzed it again.
Her eyes opened in shock as she realized that this pillow couldn't be her own because this was, without a doubt, cologne of some sort. It was most likely a body wash. It was different and didn't remind her of anyone she knew. None of the BBA Revolution wore that kind of stuff. Especially not this variety. Sitting up, Hilary frantically looked around her surroundings for an explanation.
This room, as suspected, was certainly not her own. Mr. Dickinson had been kind enough to give her a personal room so she wouldn't have to share with the guys on her team. This was definitely one of the guest rooms for BBA tournament competitors. This one just didn't belong to her. It held four beds total and still enough area to keep one's personal space. The other three beds were neatly made as if no one had slept in them at all. A duffel bag was next to each of them, just as perfect looking as the beds. Hilary briefly wondered if whoever occupied the room even took time to sleep. She noticed that at the end of the room, there was a door that, with her luck, was most likely locked.
Hilary gingerly picked up the pillow to look for anything abnormal about it. Finding nothing, she dropped the item back on to the bed. Panic flooded her as well as fear. She had been completely vulnerable asleep and even now her being was in danger. She checked herself for cuts or anything out of the ordinary and was relieved to find nothing new.
It was tempting to kick herself for having unthinkingly walked into such an evident trap. Hilary knew she should have figured out that anything the white beyblade led her to couldn't have been good. She wondered what she had thought it was leading her too. It had been painfully apparent there was nothing right.
"Why is everything so much more clearer afterwards?" she sighed quietly to herself.
Her eyes locked on an object sitting beside the lamp of the bedside table. It was the same white beyblade that had taunted her and led her straight into this trap. With unnecessary caution, she picked it up. This could be a major clue to help her figure out just where she was. The greatest question was what was on the bit chip.
Hilary held the top-like item up so it was level with her face. The small picture of a feral arctic wolf glared back at her from the bit chip. It was wild and lethal, a terrifying combination in a bit beast. The beast's fur was an awesome white that could remind anyone of a harsh tundra. Two beautiful emerald-like structures stuck out of its back as if they were wings. It had one large paw forward like it was taking a step towards a doomed prey. Glancing back down at the bedside table, she spotted a peculiar launcher that resembled a handgun. Shaken, she returned to looking at the small object in her hand.
She brought the beyblade close up to her ruby optics in order for it to entirely fill her field of vision. It seemed impossible to stop staring at the wolf, who only stared back. Hilary could even tell that the animal's eyes were a stunning red on orange, despite that the optics were so small in the picture.
The door leading to the room closed with a click, signaling that someone had entered. The brunette brought the beyblade down enough for her to see the newcomer, reality slowly setting back into her mind. She was met with a stare from a pair of striking icy blue eyes.
The beyblade loosened in her grip and fell into her lap. It went completely unnoticed as nervousness overcame her head. Another thing Hilary knew she should have thought of: preparing to see someone she didn't want to face. It was another thing she didn't realize until it was too late.
The teen's eyes were entirely focused on her while he walked over to a side of the bed. In one swift movement, he had swiped back his beyblade. She never looked away either, internally fearful of the world class Russian blader.
"What do you think you're doing? Don't touch Wolborg again."
Review and I really hope this is better. It's five pages on size 10 font. That's nice and a page longer than before the update.
Hopefully, I'll have some reviews in the morning. Don't let me down, my good readers!
Ciao For Now Everyone!