Defeated

Hi guys, welcome to the sequel for Shy- Defeated !

Hope you enjoy it, and thank you for being patient for this to come out !

It will probably not make much sense to begin with, but bare with me and all will be explained in the upcoming chapters.

And please, do not moan at me about the events that happen in this book, I have have these planned for a long time and I'm not changing them or writing them just to please readers, what happens in this book has always been my idea and plan since writing the first book. Please respect that because the amount of hate I received on the ending of Shy was disgusting and put me off writing for a while.

But, hopefully those people that hated aren't here and it's only the people that liked the ending and want to find out what's going to happen !

Thanks for sticking around, and I hope you enjoy it !

*

Updated 07.01.2022

Tai looked up at the mess of a house in front of her and turned to her twin, Raiden, raising her dark eyebrows at him. "Out of all the places, you chose this dump?" She said, clearly not impressed at her new home. The pain was peeling, a window shutter was hanging off and the grass had grown so long that they were surrounded by weeds.

"I didn't see the point of blowing all of our money on a fancy house, this has all we need," Raiden defended himself, not viewing the house as pessimistically as his sister. He was always the more positive one out of the two.

"I'm sure it has lots more than we need, such as rats," Tai frowned and crossed her arms over her chest, scowling at Raiden. "We've got a load of money, you could have bought somewhere a bit nicer!"

"We're here now," Raiden said, smiling hopefully, "let's make this work."

Tai pursed her lips and held her hand out. "Keys," she sighed and Raiden placed the keys to their new home in her palm. "Let's hope the inside is better than the out," she murmured and walked up the path and shoved the keys into the lock. The door creaked as she pushed it open and she walked into the sparsely furnished one-story house. "Home sweet home," she said un-enthusiastically, looking back at her brother in distaste. "Next time, leave it to me."

"There won't be a next time," Raiden said and kicked the door shut. "This is our home, our new town. This is where we are going to stay, Tai."

Tai glanced at her brother as she walked through the house, making her way into the kitchen and looking out of the window, nodding when she saw they backed onto the woods. "At least you got one thing right," she muttered and scrunched her face up when she looked at the dust-covered counter. "Are you sure this place hasn't got mould?"

"Stop being so miserable!" Raiden scolded and wrapped his arm around Tai's shoulder, smiling down at her. "This is what we've always wanted. We're out, it's just us two, we're out of the system, no one can tell us what to do anymore. We're free."

Tai pursed her lips, looking at her boot-clad feet. "The way we got here wasn't exactly... Pleasant."

"Forget about that, Tai," Raiden frowned. "It was an accident, it wasn't your fault, you know you didn't mean to hurt anyone."

"It was my fault," she argued. "If only I could learn to control it, then maybe we wouldn't be here in this tiny little town in this god awful house-"

"Hey, stop it," Raiden said softly, cutting his sister off. "None of this is your fault. You couldn't help what happened."

"Exactly!" Tai said, groaning in frustration and ran her fingers through her long dark hair. "I couldn't help it; it was my fault!"

"Oi, shut up," Raiden said suddenly.

"Hey! Don't tell me to shut up!" Tai exclaimed, glaring up at Raiden.

"This is a fresh start!" Raiden said sternly. "We're going to forget about what happened and move on with our lives. I'm not going to let you bring yourself down with your negative thoughts."

"What about when I lose control?" Tai asked quietly. She looked at Raiden with a vulnerability in her eyes that only Raiden had ever seen. He sighed and squeezed Tai's shoulder comfortingly.

"We'll cross that bridge when it comes to it."

*

The next Tai's mood had not improved. She crawled out of bed and scowled. "This bed feel like rocks!" She called, "literal rocks! I had the worst nights sleep ever!" She groaned and rubbed her back.

"That's exactly what I want to hear first thing in the morning, you moaning!" Raiden said chirpily as he walked past Tai's room, grinning at his sister as he stopped by her door.

"Ha ha," she said sarcastically and stuck her middle finger up at him, glaring.

"Rude!" Raiden tutted.

"Fuck off," Tai smiled. "So, brother, what's on the agenda today?"

"You are going shopping," Raiden told her.

"Sexist pig, why does the girl have to do that?" Tai wondered as she searched the cardboard boxes in her room for some clean clothes. Tai was the unorganised twin, she had dumped all of her boxes containing her belongings in her room where Raiden had already unpacked his and put everything away neatly. Tai's belongings would remain in their boxes for many weeks until she eventually got around to sorting them out.

"Because if I do you'll moan at me that I bought the wrong freaking cheese," Raiden chuckled and Tai raised an eyebrow at him.

"There is a difference," she said seriously.

"And that's why you're shopping, not me," Raiden shrugged.

"What are you doing then?" Tai wondered and smiled when located a pair of skinny jeans.

"I'm going to the high school."

Tai frowned and slowly turned to look at her brother. "And why the hell is that?"

"Because after all the crap that has happened to us, we're going to do one normal thing," Raiden explained.

"And that is?"

"Graduate high school," Raiden grinned and Tai looked at her brother with a blank look.

"I hate you," she said. "And if you were closer then I would punch you."

"I love you too," Raiden smiled. "Tai, please don't fight me with this. We both need to graduate."

"Me? Fight with you?" Tai gasped and held her hand to her heart, feigning a look of shock. "Raiden, you hurt me, really hurt me."

Raiden rolled his eyes. "You're the most argumentative person ever, Tai, I think I only put up with you because we're related."

"Raiden," Tai said as she grabbed a black shirt, "words hurt you know."

"You should remember that next time you're a bitch to me," Raiden pointed out and Tai smirked.

"I'll try," she said. "Now shoo, let me get changed."

Raiden nodded and reached for the door handle, but stopped and looked back at his sister. "Tai, are you okay?" He asked seriously.

"Nope," Tai said instantly and glanced over her shoulder at Raiden. "I'll let you know when I am."

Raiden gave his sister a look, but nodded and excited her room.

Tai sighed and rubbed her eyes. "If I ever am," she murmured.

After what she did... She didn't know how she could ever forgive herself.

*

Tai spat toothpaste into the sink and looked up at her reflection. She splashed water onto her face and tied her long hair up into a ponytail. Her eyes went to the locket around her neck and she sighed. "Morning, ma. Morning, papa," she whispered, taking her mother's locket into her hand.

Tai and Raiden had been brought up in the foster system most of their lives. Up until they were six they lived in Japan with their parents, until their mother died and their father dragged them to America to start a new life, which resulted in a bad car crash that killed him and resulted in Tai and Raiden being shoved into foster care.

The locket was the only thing she had of her parents, inside was the only picture of them.

"Tai, are you ready?"

Raiden's yell made Tai jump and she sighed, dropping the locket and walking out of the bathroom and into the hallway where she met Raiden. "Ready," she said and grabbed her purse and phone from the side.

"I'll drop you off at the supermarket and then pick you up once I'm done at the school," Raiden said and Tai nodded, eager to get out of their new house.

Tai climbed into the passenger seat of their truck and waited for Raiden to start the engine and drive off into their new town. Tai stared out of the window, observing the new place that they were now living. For a small town the streets were busy and she noticed a diner packed full of teenagers.

"What do you think?"

"I guess it's not too bad."

Raiden smiled. "It's a nice town, a safe town. It's good for us."

Tai sighed and nodded. "I trust you, Rai. I know you wouldn't have moved us somewhere dangerous."

"It might be dangerous now that you're here with your winning personality" Raiden teased and Tai rolled her eyes and shoved her brother. "Watch it, I don't want to drive into a tree!"

"Then learn to be more polite," she said and smiled sweetly at Raiden just as he stopped the truck outside of a large supermarket.

"Go and buy the correct cheese," he said with a laugh and Tai rolled her eyes, climbing out of the car. She waved to Raiden over her shoulder and made her way into the supermarket, collecting a trolley and starting down the aisle.

She filled the shopping trolley to the brim with Raiden's and hers favourite food, and she struggled to push it to the till, where a ginger-haired staff member was scowling at the item of food in her hand and waving it manically in front of the scanner. "Blasted till," the girl scolded. "Get a job at the supermarket they said. You'll enjoy it, they said!" The girl narrowed her eyes and snatched the money from the customer in front of Tai and gave them the receipt. The customer gave the girl a strange look and hurried away, but Alice just rolled her eyes.

Tai raised her eyebrows and walked up to the girl, reading her name tag, Alice.

"You're new," Alice said and Tai looked up at Alice as she started to put her shopping onto the conveyer belt.

"Excuse me?"

"Your new to this town," Alice said. "Sorry, I'm not creepy, it's just that this town is quite small so a new face is recognised from a mile away."

Tai nodded. "Right."

"When did you get here?" Alice wondered as she started to scan Tai's food.

"That's a bit of a personal question, don't you think?" Tai asked, an edge to her voice. Tai didn't exactly come off as friendly when she first met people. She wasn't a mean person, she just didn't trust easily and was quite cold at first. She didn't like people knowing much about her, she was very much a closed book.

"Chill, I'm just curious," Alice shrugged.

"Learn to be a little less," Tai muttered and was grateful when her phone rang. She reached into her pocket and answered her phone, knowing that it would only be Raiden.

"Good news!" He called and Tai rolled her eyes at his chipper tone. He was always happy.

"I doubt it."

"School starts on Monday!" He said enthusiastically.

"Do we really have to go to school?" Tai groaned. "I'm fine with not graduating, I'm more than fine with it. How about you go and I don't?"

"We start Monday," Raiden repeated, "no excuses, Tai. I'm on my way back to the supermarket now. I won't be long.

"I really don't like you," Tai grumbled and hung up on Raiden, shoving her phone back into her pocket.

"You're going to the local high school?" Alice wondered and Tai raised an eyebrow at Alice.

"You're curious and an eavesdropper," Tai noted and Alice frowned, looking slightly hurt.

"Sorry, I just overheard-"

"No," Tai shook her head. "I'm being a bitch. Sorry, I'm just not in the happiest of moods."

"It's fine," Alice shrugged and suddenly glared at the packet of cheese in her hand. "Why won't you scan, you annoying lump of dairy!"

Tai raised her eyebrows. "You're scanning the wrong side."

"Oh... Right," Alice coughed and threw the cheese aside. "Well, I'm sure I'll see you around on Monday. I'm Alice."

"I can't wait," Tai said sarcastically.

"This town has a lot of drama," Alice said. "It may be small, but that doesn't mean it won't feel like you've just walked into a young adult fiction book.

Tai chuckled slightly. "I'll considered myself warned."

*

Tai woke up in a grouchy mood on Monday morning. She forced herself out of her uncomfortable bed and rushed into the bathroom before Raiden and showered. She walked out in her towel and smiled at Raiden who was waiting outside, towel in hand. "You better be quick, there's not much hot water left," she said and Raiden narrowed his eyes at her.

"You're mean," he said.

"So are you for making me go to school!" Tai called and walked back into her room. She dressed in a pair of black jeans and a long-sleeved navy top. She pulled on a pair of combat boots and ran a brush through her hair before plaiting it down her back. Once she was dressed she made her way into the kitchen and grabbed an apple from the side and stuffed it into her bag.

"Morning," Raiden greeted as he stumbled into the kitchen. His hair was damp and he rubbed his tired eyes as he poured himself a cup of coffee.

"Morning," Tai nodded. "I'm going to take the bike today."

"Be my guest, I don't want to be anywhere near that death trap," Raiden shivered. "Do you know how to get to the school?"

"I'm sure I can figure it out," Tai nodded.

"When you get to the school go to the reception."

"Will do," Tai said. "We better get going then if we don't want to be late, not that I care but I know what you're like with being punctual."

Raiden chuckled. "Drive safe, Tai."

"I always do."

"And please try to have a good day," Raiden said, his tone pleading as Tai walked towards the door.

"Impossible!"

"Be nice to people!"

"Even more impossible! Bye Raiden!"

Tai made her way out of the house and climbed onto her motorbike, slipping her helmet on, revving the engine and then speeding off down the road. Tai felt free when she rode her bike, it was exhilarating, there was a wildness to it that she loved. She didn't care that if she fell off she could be hurt, she could potentially seriously harm herself but that didn't put her off. She viewed herself very lowly. After her past, she didn't care if she was hurt. She thought that if she ever injured herself then she would view it as her penance, it would make up for the horrors she had inflicted on people.

*

When Tai drove into the school car park she was aware of many eyes following her and she couldn't help but smirk when she received shocked looks as she climbed off of her motorbike and took her helmet off. She pocketed her keys and adjusted her bag on her shoulder, scanning the crowds of students briefly before heading up the stairs into the school building. She didn't pay attention to the curious looks as she walked through the school hallways. She located the reception easily, finding it empty apart from two students arguing.

"What is your problem!" A girl with curly blonde hair hissed and glared at a blond-haired boy. "I told you to leave me alone! Why can't you freaking listen?"

"Because I want to apologise! C'mon, please let me explain,!"

"Explain? Now you want to explain? I don't want to speak to you, ever! Do you not understand that?"

"I didn't have a choice!"

"Yes, you did!" The girl gasped and threw her hands up in exasperation. "Because of you my best friend is hurting everyday! You've ruined her!"

"I never wanted to hurt her," the boy whispered. His face was pale and he looked at the floor, in shame.

"Well, you have, and you've hurt everyone else," the girl snapped, clearly having no sympathy towards the boy. "I don't care why you did what you did, I don't care about you. I don't want to ever speak to you again. You have destroyed any hope of ever making this right."

"Please-"

"There's only one thing that you could do that would make things better. Make. Him. Leave." The girl spat the last three words out with such ferocity that even Tai raised her eyebrows in shock. "But you can't make that happen, can you? It was nice knowing you, Brandon, now leave me alone, I'm waiting for someone-" The girl stopped talking and glanced in Tai's direction, her eyes going wide and mouth dropping when she spotted Tai who was standing in the doorway. "Oh... Hi!"

"I can come back?" Tai said, raising her eyebrow at the two people. "And you two can finish... whatever this is."

"No, no, no. Don't leave! Brandon was going," the girl said and glared at the boy, Brandon, who scowled and stalked out. The girl stared after him for a few moments before letting out a long sigh and rubbing her eyes tiredly. "I am awfully sorry for that. How much did you see?"

"Enough to know that he's done something major to piss you off," Tai commented.

"To say the least," she murmured, but suddenly a bright smile covered her face and she held her hand out, her personality switching from distressed and annoyed to friendly and bubbling. "You must be Tai?"

Tai raised her eyebrow at the girl's sudden personality change, but she reached out and shook her hand. "That's me."

"I'm meant to show you around and get you settled in here," the girl said with a smile. "I'm Brooke."