Since Royce was the oldest from them all and wanted the game to be even, he offered to be the coach.
He stood just some inches from the mud pit, in-between the two teams who were holding onto the ropes, ready to pull.
They all had excited looks on their faces, filled with competitive determination in their eyes.
John, Jephthah, Barton and Daniel held the other end with Daniel up front while Talia, Brittany, Nancy and Dora held the other end.
Dora opted to stay at the end Incase they failed. She didn't want to fall into the mud completely. Talia happily insisted on staying upfront, face to face with Daniel who found her bright smile very awkward and creepy.
"Are you guys ready? We all know the rules and the ways of playing right?"
"Right," Everyone said in accordance to their coach's loud voice.
"Alright…one...two," Once he counted till three, all right of them poised, ready to pull. Their knees were bent low, their backs straightened, their arms strongly holding onto the vine.
"Pull!!!" At once, Royce stepped back to watch the game so he wouldn't get messed up if the loosers fell into the mud and splashed it everywhere.
The boys were obviously stronger and were holding back a little to spend more time dragging the vine with the girls while chuckling at their feeble attempts.
However, the girls were slowly pulling them into the mud pit.
The boys were left mouth open and finally decided to give it their all and make sure the girls were drawn into the mud pit.
However, the rope didn't budge. It was almost as if, the girls' strength were equivalent to theirs.
Daniel looked up and his eyes met with Talia's. She was smiling at him. What happened next was only between the two of them. She suddenly released one arm from the vines and used just one hand to pull all four boys into the mud pit.
It was obvious to Daniel that all these while, it was Talia who was holding the vines back. Someone like Dora and Nancy couldn't have been that strong enough to pull the ropes with them for so long. Brittany was strong but she wasn't 'that' strong to pull in four grown men.
As the boys chuckled and helped each other up while covering up by telling the girls that they were holding back, Daniel sat still in the mud pit, his thick locks over his eyes dripping with mud.
The girls were jumping and squealing in excitement while Brittany ran at full force and jumped over Royce, toppling him into the mud pit with a smug smile, Royce roaring in laughter.
Daniel finally stood up and grabbed Talia's arm, pulling her around to face him. Everyone froze and stared in silence and confusion at the pair.
"Daniel what's wrong". Dora asked, when she saw red flashing in his eyes as he glared at Talia who silently smirked at him. Everyone stopped what they were doing. Even Brittany climbed down Royce's back while John stopped trying to grab Nancy into the mud-pit by her waist.
"How did you do that?" His question was directed at Talia whose face broke into a confused expression, her lips parted in shock when they all turned to look at her. She was such a good actor. No one saw the evil glint in her eyes directed at Daniel when they weren't looking.
"Do what?" She asked, shaking her head slightly.
Daniel turned to the others who were staring at him like he was mad or something. Even Nancy who always seemed to be smiling no matter what wasn't smiling anymore.
"She literally pulled us in with one hand," He explained to them and their shocked expressions was mixed with confusion.
"Daniel," Royce came forward. "Are you saying the others weren't pulling on the vine. I clearly saw you all participate in the game."
"It's just a game you silly monkey. We won and you're just mad about it," Brittany cut in with a smile crawling up her face as she high-fived Dora.
"You don't get it," Daniel turned to Talia and began shaking her, panic on everyone's faces. "Tell them what happened. You and I know what happened!"
John stepped in and grabbed Talia away while Jephthah stood behind her and the twins stared at him with a similar warning look.
"Daniel let it go. Besides, we were holding back. The girls wouldn't have…"
"No…we weren't holding back. We gave it our all and I saw her yank the rope with just one hand," Daniel said and came forward but Barton stepped out.
"I don't understand Daniel. Everyone participated in the game. Why are you making it seem like I did something wrong?" Talia sounded pitiful and everyone looked at him in confusion and anger.
Even Dora thought he was overreacting over a little game.
Suddenly Kelvin started growling.
He only did that when there was trouble and now he was growling non-stop, threatening to break out of his inner mind.
Daniel stepped back, falling on his knees while holding onto his head like it was a ticking bomb about to go off.
Everyone exchanged looks as they ran towards him. Only Talia stood rooted on her spot, watching them all with a blank look.
Suddenly, Just when he thought he was going to drift away into the darkness, the scent of citrus and chocolate liqueur made him look up, unconsciousness clearing from his eyes. Kelvin began to calm down on getting a scent of their mate.
Dora's eyes rolled inwardly when she recognized her. That slut. She had some nerves coming here. Why was she here anyways? She was worrying about Nancy taking all of Daniel's attention. Now she was here and Daniel couldn't keep his eyes off her.
Daniel stood with difficultly along with Royce's support, his gaze not leaving Naomi's.
"Naomi. You're here!" Brittany suddenly said and Daniel froze at the name.
He had never even bothered to know her name.
Naomi?
He suddenly pulled his arms from Royce's shoulders and began moving forward, his gaze lingering on hers.
However, the look on Naomi's face caused everyone to freeze. Even him.
"What's going on?" Nancy whispered.
One minute, she had arrived with the basket of lunch and the next thing, she had frozen still, her gaze on someone behind them.
Suddenly Naomi pointed and they all turned to Talia who stepped back with dilated pupils.
"Who are you?" Naomi asked softly with quivering lips and narrowed eyes.
Everyone realized Naomi was suddenly acting strange like Daniel…
What was really going on. They all turned to Talia as if trying to decifer what they couldn't notice earlier but all they saw standing there was just…Talia.
Before they could process the situation, Talia turned and bolted away, heading for the forest like a wild animal.
Naomi immediately followed, dropping the basket, the box spilling its contents on the ground. She didn't care that everyone was frozen in shock at what just happened. She was intent on following Talia who was running like her life depended on it.
Daniel ran after her without hesitation and the others ran after him, looking forward to what would ensue later on.