8

For three weeks Scarlett lay unconscious. Eventually, she healed and found herself in a forest for a week trying to quench her thirst. She lost control of her sanity and killed lots of monsters. A month ago she was fighting a battle between life and death but right now, she was thinking about that person who had been helping her. He wasn't an enemy but he wasn't a friend either.

The next ten days she spent thinking and training. She didn't sleep even though she was already tired out, but she didn't stop either. She wrecked the training room again and it shook the entire foundation of the mansion causing everyone to rush downstairs, everyone except Mr. Quinn.

Surprisingly it was the thirtieth punching bag that came crashing down with her last punch. She was surprised though, that was exactly thirty punching bags. The last time she came down here, there were only ten but now they were thirty and they were all on the floor around her. Her grandfather had tripled the supply knowing she would come down here to distract herself.

Nicole wasn't surprised seeing the damage but she needed to distract Scarlett from her training or else the entire mansion would come crashing down the next time Scarlett came down here. Nicole knew once Scarlett healed, she would make up for the month of training she missed while she was unconscious but this was a bit too much.

"Scar you need to relax, let me train with you,"

"No!"

"Why?"

"You'll make me go easy on myself,"

"That's the point of me training with you,"

"I don't want to go easy on myself,"

"Then stop,"

"Alright you got my attention, what do you want Nicole?" Scarlett asked and turned to Nicole.

"Come shopping with me,"

"I can't," she replied and walked towards the weights.

"We'll go shopping today and tomorrow, we'll go out, after that you'll train as much as you want to,"

"You're kidding right?" Scarlett asked hoping Nicole was just making a joke. Nicole wore a serious look that was both demanding and pleading at the same time. "You know what my training means Nicole. I've been lying unconscious for three weeks and spent another week in the forest and you still want me to waste another day relaxing,"

"You're not wasting the day, we're going shopping and tomorrow we're hanging out with the others, I promise after we're done shopping you can continue your training but tomorrow's for us, please,"

"Shopping…what for?" Scarlett knew Nicole never went shopping without a good reason.

"We need to relax and what better way than to go shopping," Nicole said but Scarlett wasn't buying it, she was scared Scarlett would spend her nineteenth birthday down here training.

"I've been relaxing for a month Nicole,"

"Moaning, turning, screaming in pain and trying to maintain self control aren't ways to relax Scarlett, you've been suffering," Nicole blared. Scarlett finally agreed and they went shopping. When they got there, at the clothes section, one of the sales ladies called for Scarlett's attention.

"Excuse me miss are you Scarlett Quinn?"

"Who's asking?"

"Someone dropped a package for you,"

"What's your name?"

"Julia,"

"Who and why does he have a package for me?"

"I don't know Ms. Quinn; he didn't give any personal information, just the package,"

"Sure…"

"Are you sure about this?"

"Not really, but it couldn't hurt," Julia led them to sit down. She brought out lots of shopping bags and put them in front of the girls. They were stunned, this wasn't a package it was the entire clothes section!!!

"Looks like a secret admirer," Nicole whispered to Scarlett.

"These are yours Ms. O'Connor," Julia said and Nicole stared at her speechless. "Me…but why would he…?"

"I'm sorry but we can't possibly take these," Scarlett said.

"But Ms. Quinn he said it was a gift to you,"

"I'll be right back," Scarlett said and excused herself. Nicole took the opportunity to tell Julia about Scarlett's birthday.

"I don't think she remembers though,"

Once the line connected, her grandfather's voice echoed over the phone. "Hey kiddo, the boys said you and Nicole went shopping?"

"Yes we did,"

"I'm surprised you actually left your training, it's an improvement,"

"What does that mean?"

"You're not as obsessed with training as you were before," Scarlett wanted to ask another question but she stopped herself before the words formed in her head.

"Grandfather did you perhaps keep a package for Nicole and me," she said ignoring his statement.

"No why?"

"…I was just asking, see you later,"

"Bye kiddo," she reluctantly agreed to take the clothes.

"You really don't know who sent these?" Nicole asked when they came out of the mall. Scarlett nodded and sighed. She started the ignition and drove to a dojo where they could train for the rest of the day. They trained till the dojo closed. Scarlett knew the training room would be fixed by the time she got back but she didn't feel like training anymore, she wanted to see what was in all those bags and have a relaxing sleep. Everything she put on was from Xquisite Gold and if the contents of the bags weren't, she planned on returning them saying she didn't like them.

Chris and Michael were surprised to see the number of bags carried inside by the maids. This was the first time Scarlett ever shopped this much. They knew Scarlett wasn't really interested in shopping and Nicole wasn't one to buy this much. She never flaunted her riches no matter what.

Nicole was overjoyed with what she saw in the bags. Just like Scarlett, she also had her own favorite fashion line, Fabulous Diamond. And just like Scarlett, everything she wore was from that line. Scarlett sat still in front of the bags, everything was from Xquisite Gold. No one knew about her clothe preferences except Nicole and…and that person she had told about it in the forest, he was the only other person she had told about it but that didn't explain why he would buy her all these. It didn't make any sense. Why would he anyway? And these things looked way too expensive.

Scarlett lost the enthusiasm to train again; this was the first time she didn't feel like training. Training was all she ever thought about even when she was hunting, so losing the enthusiasm to train just felt strange, she didn't feel weak, in fact she felt very strong. She wasn't the only one who was shocked, everyone was, Nicole the most. She had had to beg Scarlett to come with her and now she didn't want to train. Nicole knew Scarlett wasn't tired and there was no way the little work out they did in that dojo was enough.

"The almighty Scarlett Quinn doesn't want to train," Michael teased.

"Uh…Nicole, are you sure you didn't switch the real Quinn with an imposter at the mall? Chris jokingly asked.

"I'm actually starting to consider that Chris," Nicole replied with a grin on her face.

"It's the real me," she assured them. "Even I'm surprised," they sighed and smiled weakly at her.

"If you need anything, you know where to find us," Nicole said and they left. Scarlett sighed to herself, now she felt tired. She had worked herself up just to make up for a month's training she missed. She lay on her bed and stared at the ceiling in deep thought. She had just arrived here four months ago, and in those four months, she'd saved a young dempire girl from Black's bane, survived the same poison since she sucked it in, hunted and drank blood like an irrational vampire and found out her parents never actually died. Her mind kept wandering about the things she had gone through in under four months that she didn't even realize when she slept off.

Then it started again, the nightmare she couldn't remember but hated so much, it was more painful, more real.