All Chapters of Secret Soul (Himitsu no Tamashi): Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

The bell rings, signifying the conclusion of another tortuous day. My locker, unfortunately next to "Mr. Popular" himself, winks at me as I walk out of the classroom towards it. Kiyaya is overwhelmed by his fans, leaving me ample time to collect my baggage. I grab my stuff, waiting for him to dissipate the crowd and make his way towards me. Which he does, with a big smile on his face. "Are you ready?" he questions.I look away, trying to make my voice sound convincing. "Can I go to the bathroom first?"He nods, staring at me with his electrifying green eyes. I feel, suddenly, as if he can stare straight through me, seeing what my true intentions are. Keeping my head down, I plow past him into the ferocious crowd.I slip through the halls, enduring shoving and pushing along the way, and pause by the bathroom. Consisting of only a tiny hall of stalls and two meager sinks, it is a sorry excuse for a bathroom, but it will suit my pur

A gigantic mansion stands before me, resembling a castle really, with turrets and a moat. It is in the center of the forest, trees surrounding the clearing where the mansion lies. It is ferocious and forbidding, reminding me of a haunted mansion. A door stands at the front, unnecessarily large, closed and most likely locked. A bunch of those prickly bushes are located around the mansion walls, most likely to prevent the same thing I tried to attempt today."Who are you werewolves defending yourselves from?" I ask in wonder, nothing the turrets that most likely house a ton of arrows, guns, and grenades.Kiyaya bows his head, his voice soft. "You just don't worry about it, Shaba. You don't need to get involved in this," he assures me, though my temper is only sparked by a comment like that. However, after a few seconds of huffing and puffing, I quell my ferociousness.We start walking to the moat, the bridge across it s

"Now I guess you've met all of us, Shaba," Jim says loudly. "This is our pack. We used to call it the 'pack of players', but now that Kiyaya is settled, we can't exactly say that anymore.""No girls?" I question, only to see four faces shaking their heads no."We like to be free of all women," James grinned, "Love 'em and leave 'em, I always say.""You people are terrible," I laugh, instantly feeling at home with these handsome men. After a second, I nearly jump in alarm at the realization that I can barely recognize myself. The old Shaba would have run away by now.The old Shaba would have never fallen for these wily werewolves' tricks. It must be those strange feelings James was talking about.Akim just stares at me, a forbidding expression on his face. "She needs to leave for a minute while we have our meeting," he says, his voice rough and completely unlike Kiyaya's."Come on," Jim protests, "She's not doing

When we finally reach the garden, four miraculous figures come to meet us, each handsome in their own unique way. Jim stares at me, his gaze of concern."What happened, Kiyaya?" he questions the man beside me, drinking in his face of weariness."A Shifter," he narrows his eyes, "was on our property."The stunning men all rear back in surprise, pure disgust lacing through their features."Here?" James erupts, his voice furious.Akim shakes his head, Lee looking at the perfectly manicured lawn near his feet. I breathe a quick sigh of relief; I hadn't exited the grounds. Now Kiyaya can't get mad at me."Why didn't you just stay in the garden?" he turns to me, his expression of anger, "if I hadn't look out of the window and seen that gigantic tree, you would have died!"Obviously I thought too soon. Kiyaya can get mad at me for anything.My eyes narrow,

His eyes widen at my cheek, stained ruby red with blood, pain, and tears."What happened?" he asks, somehow compelling me to betray the truth."Ms. Lim, uh, slapped me," I finish in a whisper, choked gasps escaping me as a fresh wave of pain enters my body.I can still feel them, the nails as they dug into my cheek. My hand throbs also, but it nothing against this blinding terror, coupled with the agony."If I don't finish cleaning the entire orphanage tomorrow, which I won't, then she will deprive me of food for the next week! And I only have about three or four dollars in my account at school.""That's all?" he asks suspiciously, and I gaze into his emerald eyes without a word.He nods, taking my hand in his, staring at the bruise that was starting to form."I'll help you out of this, Shaba," he determines, swirling his soothing fingers around the purple splotch,