Misguided Souls

The bell rang for the students to be let out. Some lingered in the halls talking and planning for the weekend, others were taking books out or putting books in lockers. Charlie lingered by her locker deciding what books to leave and which were needed but she couldn't think of an assignment that was due besides insignificant worksheets that she had already completed. She closed her locker and shouldered her bag and was put off at how light it was. She remembered that her mother was going to send the limo to pick her up after school which was odd because her mother never spoiled her with such things, but her mother had told her she wanted her home as soon as possible. So she hurried out of the school and walked to the limo that was waiting for her she opened the door and closed it before the driver could. He quickly drove her home and tried to get the door for her but she beat him to the punch and was zooming up the stairs in a few seconds. She composed herself as soon ad she opened the front door, her mother would surely reprimand her if she ever saw her do such a thing. And it was a good thing too her mother sat on what Charlie liked to call the royal throne her mother's chair that made her look even more regal and beautiful. Charlie walked to the Family room and kissed her mother on the cheek and to her surprise her father was in his own throne as well which was odd because she never saw him after school the mornings were when she usually saw either of them. She quickly walked over to her father and kissed his cheek. She sat down and realized that they were expecting guests, the maids had served pastries and drinks for six people. Charlie rose to excuse herself but at that precise moment the door bell rang and was hushed and told to be seated. The butler answered the door and allowed the guests in, Charlie quickly rose to her feet as the butler ushered the guests to the family room. There were three young adults maybe 1 year older than Charlie. Two men and a woman they bowed curtly to Charlies parents as if they were royalty. Charlie nearly snickered but remembered her mother was in the room.The three strangers took notice of Charlie and glared as if she were the intruder. Charlie aware that three pairs of eyes were sending mental hate thoughts at her didn't seem bothered at all by the gesture, since she had been used to such treatment for as long as she could remember. She simply kept her face blank and stared right back which seemed to bother the three of them, they finally looked away from her and back at her parents who welcomed the three into their home. They all sat down and went on with the casual politeness that was a custom to her. While they spoke about frivolous things such as the weather, Charlie studied them the three, all were all beautiful in individual ways, but nothing that made her drool like and idiot that some girls sometime did when Miranda's boyfriend walked by. The girl who introduced herself as Rachel was an innocent kind of beautiful delicate features and honey blond hair that fell in perfect ringlets around her face and down her shoulder, she was tall and slim and wore designer clothes like everyone else at school. The other two were Ikkarus and Julian. Ikkarus wore his long black hair down to his shoulder in waves, his eyes were a green so light Charlie thought they were contacts, his features had a slight Asian touch his eyes were captivating really, and had high cheekbones. Julian was the complete opposite of Ikkarus though his hair was platinum blond and was longer than Ikkarus', held in a braid down his back with dark blue eyes, and a hero like cleft chin. Both though had an english accent and were tall and slim as well. Charlie sat silently as they talked, for young adults they talked like sophisticated and wizened people. Charlie looked over at her mother and father and saw that they had great respect for the three. Which was an unsettling because she had never seen her parents ever treat anyone else as equals, they hardly acknowledged her and to see that they had an admiration for three perfect strangers made her uneasy and useless. Charlie thought of this as she stirred her tea and remembered that she had an appointment with her martial arts instructors, she set her tea down and rose to her feet making the three stand quickly, she thought they forgot she was in the room but they had keen senses, all five pairs of eyes were staring at her three glaring two questioning.
"Excuse me i have a meeting it was a pleasure to spend time with you" she directed to her parents and then looked at the three and added "Pleasure to meet you" they bowed curtly at her which she nearly laughed at. She exited the room quietly and made her way to the gymnasium in the back she walked briskly like a lion walking back to her cave.

Her instructors accepted not tardiness and so she ended up with a 500 sit ups and 500 push ups. Aside from that she had to do chores for them that built her muscle and reflexes. As she finished her last set of sit ups one of her instructors drilled her about how important it was not to let the opponent spot your weakness, she listened intently as she easily finished her set. Soon the sun was setting and she was wrapping things up with laps around the edges of the forest that surrounded the back yard. The workers waved at her and cheered her on as usual. When she rounded to her last lap she heard a crunch on the side of the forest and a panting that kept pace with her through out the lap, she slowed down and looked into the forest to see if there was a deer or a wild dog out there. She stopped and so did the panting she tried to make out a figure in the dimming light of the afternoon but there were branches overlapping each other. She finally gave up when the last wink of light blinked out of sight and the yards lights came on automatically. She turned her back and started jogging back and there it was again the low pant and the snap of stepped on twigs. She stopped and went in to the forest slowly pushing branches and scratching her skin, she called out to who ever was out there. but no one answered and soon she was walking into darkness the lights from the backyard no longer visible and she didn't know which way was right form left. She tried to retrace her step but soon found she was walking in circles. She talked to herself aimlessly.
"It must have been a wolf that just wanted to run with someone" trying to ease her growing nervousness. "Mother must have noticed that I wasn't at dinner she'll be furious" Her mothers wrath scared her even more than the dark, an odd noises the forest echoed. She saw that there was a light and so she followed it hoping to find civilization but instead it was a street light and saw that she had gone in the opposite direction of her house. She had no phone and it was growing cold. With nothing but shorts and a tank top she would surely draw the wrong sort of attention so she walked back into the forest and started running straight. And again there it was the panting. She stopped and yelled out,
"Whose out there?" she thoughts a dog would bark or a deer would run away she did not expect to find herself face to face with a man holding a knife. He wore a mask and wore a complete black outfit. She stood in a balanced stance and looked at him and sized him up, he wasn't too big and his stance was wobbly. She could smell the fear come off his skin. Her face betrayed no emotion , he looked at her as well and sized her up to him she looked scrawny small and innocent. He smiled at her and said "You sure are pretty, too bad i can't let you live, master wouldn't be too happy if i kept you as a pet, no best get this over with girlie " He laughed a bitter tone, and went for her ribs, she quickly moved and struck his knife hand, he yelped and cursed at her.
"Oh, we got a lively one do we?" just as he said it a second man stepped out form the sahdows and looked at her with a disgusting pleasure.
"I hope she's a screamer they really turn me on" he drawled.