SWNOVELS Chapter 10 - Paintball Wars
“I bet they’re all aliens.” Eva mutters, looking at the group of men who are currently grabbing equipment from a shed.
“Eva!”
“What?! Are you blind Luna? They’re all flawless and look like Greek gods!” She huffs, daring me to deny it.
“Fine, but I wouldn’t go around calling them aliens!” I retort, tightening my ponytail.
“Ask your boyfriend what cleanser or exfoliator he uses. I would kill to have clear skin like them.”
“He is not – we’re not like -” I fail to form a coherent sentence, looking at her with wide eyes.
“Oh, shut up. Even though you guys haven’t made it official, you’re still seen as his girl.” She smirked, her green eyes twinkling with humour.
“We’ve only been on one date.” I huff and slap her arm, making her whine in a dramatic fashion.
The boys come back to us with the equipment, setting them down on the grass. We are in the forest behind Owen and Axel’s place and since the boys had bought paintballing gear, we didn’t have to go to a centre. I grab a set of overalls, putting it on with the body armour and face mask. My brother Nick and I would always go and play paintball back in Amsterdam so I recognised the equipment.
I help Eva pick out a gun before we fit our hoppers, the container that holds the paintballs and feeds them into the gun, on top of the gun. I explain the safety switch and trigger to her before the boys taught us how to aim, reload and which height we should be shooting at since the paintballs can drop when you shoot.
I ask which game we are playing first which makes Derek and Rico grin wickedly as they both answer. “Capture the Flag.”
We are divided into two teams with Kaden and Axel as captains. I’m picked by Kaden along with Owen and Rico whereas Eva, Chris and Derek are on Axel’s team. Matt and Maddox couldn’t make it as they are both nursing terrible hangovers and have prior commitments.
After we are explained the rules of the game, Kaden’s team gets handed red paintballs whilst Axel’s team gets blue. The time limit is one hour and we must get the other team’s flag to our own base before then. We split up and make our way through the thick forest, the leaves and branches providing us with camouflage.
Once the Axel and Owen’s sister rings the horn, we begin.
Kaden tells us about his plan and we stick together at first, trying to spot the other team. We keep walking for a while, only crouching or hiding behind rocks or fallen trees when we hear a noise. But about fifteen minutes into the game, Kaden tells everyone to split up and says that Owen and he will try to go for the flag while Rico and I try and take out the other team.
I have my eyes set on Derek as he moves stealthily through the forest about a good few feet away from me. But just when I pull the trigger, something shuffles behind me and I jump out of my skin, missing the shot before rolling behind a rock to avoid the three paintballs he sent my way.
Crouching low, I ran away from the rock when I hear footsteps making their way in my direction. A few minutes pass before I can’t hear them anymore and assume that Derek has given up. As I walk on, I manage to shoot Eva at the same time Rico does, both of us looking at each other and grinning.
I catch up to him and stick by his side, our next target being Chris. He tells me that Kaden is hiding behind a large boulder near where the other team have placed their flag whilst Owen is defending ours, having already shot Derek when he tried to capture our flag.
So far, we are winning because both Eva and Derek are out and have returned to main base. I hold my gun tightly as Rico and I walk on, stepping over vines and pointing out some animals we saw. It was all quiet but then we hear shuffling from behind us and we freeze, looking at each other with wide eyes.
Slowly, we turn around with bated breaths only to sigh in relief when it’s just a squirrel racing across the forest floor. I turn around, ready to go onwards when my finger presses against the trigger and I accidentally shoot Rico in the leg.
The sound echoes through the forest and he drops his gun, a silent scream escaping his lips while a loud gasp escapes mine. I rush to him and hold his arm, whispering my apologies profusely. He nods, reassuring me that he is alright.
When he is okay to walk, we continue…but not before he shoots me in the arm. I shriek, whipping around to glare at him. “I said it was an accident! You didn’t have to shoot me!”
“An eye for an eye Luna.” He chuckles when I shove him.
He overtakes me and stalks forward, on the lookout for Chris. We manage to find him a while later, hiding behind a fallen log. Rico jumps up onto it and shoots him three times just for the heck of it, Chris curses loudly before standing up and shooting him back.
Rico shoves him hard and that causes Chris to press down on the trigger when he was trying to find balance and accidentally shoot me on my stomach. I grimace, looking up to see him pointing to Rico before apologising.
I smile, seeing his shoulders sag with relief…before I shoot him on his thigh twice. He cries out in shock, looking at me in disbelief as I make my way over to Rico who is looking at me with pride.
“Sorry Chris, but as Rico told me…it’s an eye for an eye.” I smile sweetly, looping my arm through Rico’s before we walk away.
We hear shuffling behind us and assume it’s just Chris getting up to walk back to main base. Turns out that we were so wrong. Rico and I had only taken about twelve steps before I got shot twice in the back whilst he got shot in the leg and arm.
I cry out in shock, twisting around to see Axel standing there with a smirk on his lips. Before either of us can do anything, he soundlessly hurries away leaving us to follow behind Chris. We catch up to him and reach main base in a matter of minutes, greeting Eva and Derek glumly. I sit down on the grass beside her, placing my gun down and removing my safety mask.
“Why do you have your team’s colour on you?” Derek laughs, pointing to my red splattered overall.
“I accidentally shot Rico and he got his revenge.” I roll my eyes before chuckling.
We wait a good while, just talking about random topics before Kaden, Owen and Axel emerge from the forest. Derek, Eva and Chris groan when they see Kaden carrying both flags, Axel completely covered in red paint meaning our team has won.
The next game we play is called Deathmatch where two teams fight to eliminate the other players of the opposing team. When all the team players are out or if we reach the time limit, the game ends. We play for about an hour again and I’m the fifth one out sadly. But the good thing was that I shot Derek right before Chris shot me. As we walk back to main base, Eva and Owen joined us.
Again, we wait for the other boys and in a matter of minutes, Kaden and Rico emerge from the trees with wide grins on their lips, a defeated Chris behind them. Derek and Owen groan, rolling their eyes and stating how Kaden is always the winner and asking him how he does it.
“A player never reveals his secrets.” He smirks, reloading his gun.
The last game we decide to play is called Free for All, but the only difference is that there are no teams. Everyone will be fighting everyone and the game will end when only one person remains standing.
Everyone splits up and I’m sure their sister is relieved to be ringing the horn for the last time. This time we each have different coloured paintballs and I have purple. I walk into the forest as stealthily as possible, using trees and rocks as my shield whenever I would hear footsteps or rustling close by.
So far, I was doing good but then something presses to my back and I freeze. I hear chuckling behind me and I turn to see Eva with a wicked smirk on her lips. But before she could shoot me with a green paintball, two blue one’s splatters onto her overalls.
She cries out in shock and we look around to find the player but came up empty. I shrug and smile when she whines about how she was so close, waving to her as she walks back to main base. I turn around when I hear rustling behind me. Holding my gun up, I aim at the large rock. To my surprise, Kaden steps out with his hands up in a surrendering gesture.
“Don’t shoot.” He orders, walking up to me. “I have a proposition.”
“Which is what?” My eyes narrow as I lower the gun to my side.
“Why don’t we work together and get everyone out?”
“Oh…okay, yeah.” I nod and smile up at him, agreeing with his idea since he has basically won every game.
He grins and tells me to follow him and I walk alongside him through the thick forest. The sun is about to set and the weather has become chilly. Even in my gear, I feel cold still. Thankfully, this is the last game we are playing.
We both shoot Rico and Owen, quickly running to hide as we hear their disappointed groans. When we are sure they have walked away, we carry on. It is sometime later that we find Derrick…sitting on top of an actual tree and looking quite comfortable.
Kaden expertly shoots him three times before grabbing my hand and pulling me away to another hiding spot. I’m beginning to learn how he plays and what his strategies are to always come out as the winner.
Until he shoots me.
“Kaden!” I gasp quietly, staring down at my blue splattered overall before looking up at him in disbelief.
He is biting his lip, no doubt trying to stifle his laughter. I pout, crossing my arms as his eyes shine with amusement. I should have seen it coming really, of course Kaden would want to be the winner and to become that, he must get Axel and I out.
I turn and start making my way towards main base when he soundlessly runs up behind me and embraces me. His arms wrap around my waist and he hides his face into the crook of my neck. I huff and struggle to remove his arms, causing him to hold onto me tighter.
“Luna, I’m sorry but you know I was going to shoot you sooner or later.” He chuckles before pressing kisses to my cheek. “Forgive me?”
“No.” I stubbornly reply, turning my head away.
“Please…” He murmurs, turning me around and pecking my lips.
“That’s not fair!” I groan lowly, pushing him away.
He laughs before pulling me flush against his chest and stealing another kiss from my lips before jogging away. “Everything is fair in love and war, Luna.”
I roll my eyes, a soft smile blooming on my lips as I make my way towards main base. We will soon see who came out as victorious but I knew it’s going to be Kaden, it was as if he was the master of paintball.
As I emerge from the trees, everyone looks up at me and it was quiet for a few seconds…before they start endlessly teasing the heck out of me. I knew they would catch on to the fact that Kaden and I had formed an alliance for the duration of the game.
“So, looks like Kaden wasn’t the faithful boyfriend huh?” Chris grins, pointing to the dried blue paint on my overalls.
I shake my head, a sigh escaping my lips as I take my gear off and hand it to Owen and Derek who place it in a large box with everyone else’s. Derek sits down on the grass beside me before he turns to me, a sympathetic look on his face.
“You need to dump his ass girl.” He states in a southern drawl and I almost laugh at the seriousness he says it with.
After waiting for some time now, we decide to head inside the house and wait for Axel and Kaden to return since they were taking too long. It was when we were fifteen minutes into a movie that they walk in through the front door, having removed their gear and now in regular clothing.
“F*cking finally! Who won?” Rico asks eagerly as we all look at the grinning duo.
“I did of course.” Kaden boasts, walking over to stand behind the couch I’m sitting on.
His hands find my shoulders and I grab one of them, rubbing my thumb across his fingers. As he talks about the events of how he dragged the game out and finally shot Axel, there’s an undertone of excitement in his voice which makes me smile.
As their conversation comes to an end and they all agree that we should do this again sometime, we stand up and grab our things before making our way out of the door, thanking Owen and Axel for letting us come over.
Kaden takes my hand in his and intertwines them, leading me to his Mustang with Eva following behind. He opens the door for Eva and makes sure she’s in before closing it and holding mine open for me. I smile at him gently, taking a seat and strapping my seatbelt on as he closes my door and walks around the front of the car.
“He is so sweet!” Eva whispers quickly before Kaden gets in and asks if we’re ready to go.
We both say yes and he reverses out of the driveway and onto the smooth road that will lead us out of the gated community. Owen and Axel’s house is situated in the more richer part of town, miles into the countryside. The houses are luxurious and maintained in perfect condition. My jaw had dropped when we first arrived.
The wrought iron gates open for us and we soon drive out of the community and towards the city. It’s approximately a twenty-minute drive from downtown Berlin to their house. All the city lights are now on and when we finally enter town, I see that it’s relatively quiet for a Saturday night.
Kaden asks if we had fun today to which Eva and I respond in a confident yes, telling him we will be up for it again. He chuckles and invites us along with Maddox to the next game they will have in the future, telling Eva that he’ll text me the details when it’s decided.
As we turn into our neighbourhood, I look out at the sky. The clouds have completely taken over tonight and I frown when I see no stars or moon. It’s impossible to see them in the city but I thought I would catch a glimpse like most days from our home.
A low chuckle brings me out of my search and I look over to Kaden. “Nothing out there tonight?”
“No.” I sigh sadly, hearing Eva mutter about how I’m obsessed with the night sky.
“Why do you always look for them anyway?” She asks suddenly, curiosity in her tone.
I shrug half-heartedly before explaining. “When my mother got pregnant with me, it wasn’t planned and my parents were experiencing financial hardship back then. My father was not yet employed and my mother had to take maternity leave so money was scarce. But, my father told me that he would always take a seat outside our house and look up to the moon and stars and it would bring him peace. He told me he would feel stronger again and believe that things would change as soon as I came into this world. And when I did, he got the job he applied for three days later.”
“So, you’re his lucky charm.” Kaden glances at me as he parks outside our house, smiling gently.
“I guess you could say that, it’s what he calls me anyways.” I nod, tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ear. “Whenever I want to feel calm, I always look at the moon or stars and it brings me peace just like it does to my dad. And that is the reason behind my name.”
“That’s amazing, Luna.” Eva murmurs, giving my shoulder a gentle squeeze before getting out of the car. “I’ll go check in on Maddox, he didn’t go to his society meeting because of the hangover, God knows how he must be doing.”
I grab my bag and move to follow Eva too when I’m pulled back by my arm, soft lips meeting my forehead when I turn to look at Kaden. He pulls away before pressing his lips to mine in a slow, sweet kiss that overwhelms me. I cup his cheek and kiss him back, loving how he is being gentle with me.
As we come up for much needed air, he smiles breathtakingly and rests his forehead against mine, rubbing the pad of his thumb across my cheek. “Sweet dreams, Luna.”
“Goodnight Kaden.” I smile, pecking his cheek before finally exiting the car and closing the door.
He waits until I’m inside and I hear his Mustang drive off before locking the door and heading upstairs to find my unwell housemate, hearing Maddox and Eva bickering like an old married couple over his health as I make my way towards his bedroom.