Chapter Fourteen

Five went to HQ about the same time Amelia found me, the only one older than I was. He’d spent months in a cast with a badly broken leg, though, so he hadn’t made it out in the field. Eleven was a few months younger than me, and still growing into his frame. Poor kid was all limbs and tripped over his own feet half the time.

I met the other seven today.

“Wait, where did the kid with the spiky hair go?”

Six of them looked at each other.

“Fifteen was here a minute ago,” Twenty-one said. He shrugged. A person can’t help the face they’re born with, but this boy didn’t look all that bright. For everyone’s sake, hopefully it was only an impression.

“Shouldn’t an adult be here?” Sixteen asked. She had indents on the sides of her nose indicating she wore glasses until recently.

“If this tour involved anything more important than the gym, classrooms, and chow hall, sure. You’ll be spending plenty of dedicated time with your Guides soon enough.” Lord knows I couldn’t get a single day without Amelia on my case.

“Rumor has it you killed a vampire,” Seventeen said.

I stopped and turned to them again. “Yeah. It’s how I ended up here.”

“How’d you do it?” Ten asked.

I held up my hands. “They can’t touch us.”

I continued down the hall.

Lots of murmurs behind me. What had the recruiters told them?

Tour ended at the kitchen.

“I’ve been told to give you lunch,” I said, and left them with the cafeteria staff.

The wounded retired Actives lived in a different wing of the complex close to the med clinic and worked upstairs if they were able. Most of them were using canes or crutches. A couple were missing part of a limb or two. The attack must’ve been horrific from the burn scars not all of them could hide.

Thirteen introduced me to all of them before he shipped out. He’d made a point of it, introducing me to each one, and it wasn’t a sad occasion like I expected. He treated his disabled friends like everything was normal, using nicknames and razzing them with inside jokes.

I wondered if I’d ever have the strength to do the same.

It was a good example to live up to, though.

The newbies had the opportunity to meet the agents, too, but these kids shied away, fear driving them into denial about what they might become.

The former Seven wasn’t available for me to get to know.

He hadn’t made it.

I got up at 5:00AM, ate, ran on the treadmill, then did homework until noon.

With Amelia’s private instruction of my senior subjects, I was progressing through the school year faster than I would at home. Provided she was pleased with my work, I would be going home to take semester finals before Christmas break. The independent study approved by my high school still required me to take finals tests in person.

Beyond my expectations, I was excelling here.

It scared me.

Lunch was a protein shake—yuck—then I was in Master Takeshi’s combat training class until three. Sensei was a lot harder on me than my other instructors.

“Learn to like pain. It means you are still alive.”

He says this while making me do a handstand on wood blocks for who-knows-how-long. He won’t let me wear my watch. My arms are shaking, the muscles burning, and I’m fighting to keep my body straight in the air so I don’t fall.

“Let go, Seven. Stop trying to balance and be.”

I take a deep breath through my nose and close my eyes.

My body stops fighting and I feel like I’m floating.

“That’s it…now attack.”

“What?” I toppled off the blocks and landed on the wood floor hip first. Ow.

Brown-black eyes glared at me. “You have to focus, Seven. Your mind can never drift out in the field. All information should flow through you like water as you collect what you need and discard what you don’t. A voice should never startle you.”

“Well, sorry, Mr. Miyagi, I concentrate on one thing at a time. It’s how I’m wired.”

He swept my legs out from under me when I started to stand. “Pay attention.”

I rolled further away and stood. “You just enjoy giving me bruises.”

“What does not destroy you makes you stronger, Seven. Ignore pain.”

“To what extent? Broken bones? Severed limbs?”

He sighed. “You chose to be here. Why do you fight it?”

“I… I don’t know.”

His dark eyes saw too much. “I believe you do.”

“Fine, I don’t want this… I don’t want to be a freak or away from my mother and friends or learning to be an expert in death. I’m only seventeen, sir. I don’t want to know monsters exist, or any of this.”

He walked to me and placed a tan hand on my shoulder. “Seven, death is what we are. It is our gift to the world. For the vampire, we’ve released a soul from bondage. But not every part of our work is death. A werewolf can’t help being infected. We teach them what they are and how to restrain themselves during the full moon. Our scientists are working on a cure.”

“That…that’s good.”

A quick nod. “The Agency helps the possessed, the misguided, the enslaved. The supernatural world presents more dangers to humanity than death. It’s your destiny to help those people.” He turned away. “Lesson over. Go back to your quarters and evaluate your heart.”

“Yes, sir.”

During my time alone, I prayed for guidance and thought about the way I’d been raised.

My guidelines.

You don’t whine, you don’t quit, and you don’t disrespect your elders.

I kept using my youth as an excuse, but it wasn’t good enough… I’d asked for somethin’ bigger since I was ten, right? Now was my chance, the brass ring.

So what if The Agency wasn’t part of my plans…God worked in mysterious ways and I knew deep down I couldn’t turn my back on what I’d learned.

So…

I decided to grow up and stop pining for what I thought I was missing.

Another two hours of schoolwork, then weapons proficiency for two hours, and supper. At eight, I had tactical class for an hour, then it was back in the gym until eleven.

Then, sleep.

Lather, rinse, repeat.

Six months would have to be endured before I’d see home again.

Sanctuary was a lot bigger than the footprint of the building above it and without my new photographic memory it would’ve taken me weeks of following a map to know where to go, even with the recruits’ area all in one section.

The Council made sure HQ had all the creature comforts of an above-ground corporation, making you almost forget we were all below the earth. Still, even with the potted plants here and there and natural lighting effects, it wasn’t outside air or sunshine. I kept hoping for a field trip or training exercise anywhere else but here.

How did they all stand it?

I watched for the staff to go up to dinner or grocery shopping, but people rarely left.

Could be my imagination, though. I was in class or asleep every day.

Five shared my common area. The residence section was divided into groups of eight suites, so we were in one-through-eight, the next complex was nine-through-sixteen, and so forth. Our designation was our suite number, so this was one of a few areas where agents and recruits mixed—when the agents were home.

Five still did rehab on his leg, so I usually ran into him in the gym.

“How’s the PT coming?” I asked.

He was doing reps on the calf machine. “Same as yesterday when you asked. But I’m not limping anymore, so they’re finally letting me train.”

“Cool, you got clearance? Takeshi is going to make you wish you were still in the wheelchair, just so you know.” I started my warm-up on the elliptical.

“The little Japanese dude? He comes up to here.” Gesturing to the middle of his sternum, he didn’t look concerned.

“Size doesn’t matter, Five. Sensei knows his stuff. Every class is pain so far. I think he’s a sadist.”

His brow rose. “A what?”

“A guy that enjoys the pain of others. And he’s tricky, too. It’ll suck if you’re a slow learner.”

He lifted his chin. “Think I can handle it.”

“If you say so.”

Other kids came in and I shut up.

It was impossible to get a workout done if the Chatty Twins thought you were open to having your ear yapped off. Five and I were the only recruits to take the gym seriously, maybe because we both had goals. Well, Eleven was okay. The three girls gossiped while walking on the treadmill unless a Guide was cracking the whip.

The boys usually played around and dropped a weight plate on someone’s foot or ogled the females in spandex. Fifteen often made me uncomfortable. If he kept staring at my boobs, one of these days I was going to break his nose.

Wow, all the fight training was getting to me.

I finished my miles and went to my room.

Two weeks of this place and it was already changing me.

What would I be like after a month?

Three?

Six?