Arisen

by Elle Grace

I did as I was told.

  30

  Colt

  5.30am 11th September 2020

  A knock came at the door, it was the last thing I needed with half the commanders in my room and a hybrid lying in my bed. I opened the door carefully so the visitor could not see inside.

  “Director Dubois has requested to see you.” An assistant stood unimpressed.

  “Did he say why?” I asked. Worrying a little. I could explain everything though so I knew I would be able to get out of any trouble.

  “Do you think he would have told me?” The assistant rolled his eyes rudely.

  “I guess not.” I mumbled. “I need to get dressed. Wait there for me.” I slammed the door. I ran over to the bed. “Rory, I have to go to a meeting. Tristan will look after you until I get back okay?” She nodded and I left the room carefully.

  The assistant walked me silently over to William’s office.

  He knocked at the Director’s door and I was told to enter. I opened the large oak door and was not surprised by the old-fashioned wood panelled office that greeted me. It was dark and incredibly out of date.

  “Ah, Colt, good to see you. Take a seat.” He smirked at me and I did as I was told. “It was a big night last night.”

  “Yes, it was Sir.” I responded.

  “We also had an incident.” William was suddenly more solemn.

  “We did?” I asked, pretending to be unaware.

  “It seems that someone attacked some of the recruits and a commander last night.” He said eying me. I was unimpressed at the version of events he was sprouting.

  “What happened?” I asked.

  “No one is particularly sure, Lance was involved, he was one of the attacked. As you can imagine this is something that is of great interest to me.” He continued. “I have some photos.” He handed me a stack of A4 images showing me some of their injuries. They were pretty graphic, and I was left a little unsure as to how Rory had done all of that and escaped. None of the three attackers looked pretty after she had finished with them. It made me question her again, the girl I had trained could barely throw a punch a few days ago and now she was throwing people off roofs and rearranging faces.

  “Yeah, well I imagine your son is receiving the best possible treatment.” I snapped a little, placing the images down.

  “That is beyond the point Colt. There was an attack on Inperium grounds last night and I intend to get to the centre of it.” William barked.

  “I think you should probably bring your son in here and get him to describe what happened.” I said carefully.

  “One of the human recruits was thrown from the roof of the main building. He will survive but it will be a while before he recovers.” William was angry. He obviously knew that his son was behind it all.

  “Why am I here?” I asked.

  “Because I am convinced it was one of the new hybrids and I want you to find out which one.” William ordered.

  “Why not just check the security cameras?”

  “Someone erased the footage.” He said coolly.

  “Hmmm, I wonder who had access to do that.” I said sarcastically. Lance had really covered his tracks. I was angry. Lance had stabbed Aurora and she was lying in my bed looking terrible and he had the audacity to spin some yarn to the Director about how he had been attacked. He really was a manipulative jerk, I thought.

  “Just find out which one of the hybrids is behind it.” William said.

  “How?”

  “In the simulation, work it out and then report them to me. I will make sure they are thoroughly punished.” He smirked again and I knew that meant he would kill them. I had to make sure that he never knew that Rory was the one who was on the roof.

  31

  Aurora

  6am 11th September 2020

  The assistants we had met a couple of days ago led us down the gravel path just past the main house. We went through a gate that led into the woods. I was half carried; half held up by some helpers who took it in turns to aid my journey. By the time we reached the woods I was pretty much able to walk on my own and I was grateful to Tristan and his witchcraft paste. I looked around for Colt as we walked.

  “How are you feeling?” James stood next to me. “I was so worried earlier.” He said softly.

  “I think everyone was.” I replied.

  “No, I was incredibly worried about you. I don’t know what would have happened if you had not been alive when Colt found you.” He sounded upset. I smiled at him.

  “We don’t have to worry about it now.” I stated. My fingertips brushed against his and for a brief moment we took each other’s hands. The warmth that radiated up my arm from where his hand held mine felt right. The small crowd of people we walked amongst hid our moment of togetherness from view, but I let go quickly so that nobody could see.

  We were told to stop in a small clearing where a small temporary podium had been set up. I looked around the at faces of those who had gathered, I recognised them all from the procession to the arch two days before. Everyone looked nervous and excited, except for a small pocket of people including Lance and Caitlyn who looked bored until they noticed me and began pointing and laughing. Lance had a smug face on his face as he looked me up and down. I think he was a little surprised to see me standing. I was lucky I had some friends who were there to help, I thought.

  I had never experienced bullying in my life and suddenly at the age of eighteen when I thought all that childishness was behind me, I was experiencing what can only be described as the worst bullies in the world. It was an incredibly strange situation to be in.

  I looked behind me and spotted that Colt had joined the group. I instantly let go of James’ hand.

  “Good morning.” William had stridden through us to the podium. He wore a particularly vile velvet jacket that was plum in colour. He smiled at us all as if nothing had happened the night before. I found it hard to believe that he had not heard about the incident on the Inperium grounds especially when someone was found to have fallen off the roof. “Welcome to your last session of training. This year our recruits will be placed in a very special elite team with a single project in mind. This final training session is aimed to set you up for the project. It is a simulation of a situation you may find yourself in. Please take it seriously and remember your actions are being watched and analysed within this training simulation.” He spoke to us all. I hoped he was being honest about our actions been watched. I also hoped it meant that Lance might refrain from trying to kill me in my sleep whilst we were in there. “Good Luck.” He said dramatically at as he pointed to the huge thick steel wall. It must have been at least 6 metres tall and looked almost impossible to break into or out of. A door opened in the wall. It was completely disguised when closed. We were beckoned to walk inside. Once everyone had cleared the door it was closed and sealed, vanishing back into the wall. We looked at each other cautiously not knowing what was coming next.

  32

  Aurora

  8.30am 11th September 2020

  “Welcome recruits to our state-of-the-art training facility. In this arena you will find that all the scenery is very real. Such as the trees and the buildings. However, the enemies you face in this training facility are all simulations. Now be warned they can hurt you and you can hurt yourself by doing things like falling off the scenery so be careful. Each of you is now being handed a special emergency alarm. It makes no sound, but it alerts us here in the control room that someone is hurt and needs help. So only use them when you need them.” The guards passed around some small devices that looked like the miniature keyring torches you could buy from any normal newsagents. People began to put them away.

  “Do you think I could use mine now and get out of here?” I whispered to James who stood incredibly close to me, his fingers continued to brush against mine, letting me know he was there for me. He stifled a laugh.

  “Next we will hand around some backpacks. These packs have enough provisions for a few days as
well as other necessary things such as first aid kits. This will be the only provisions you will receive so look after them.” The voice from the control box continued. “The first training exercise.” He spoke as if he was reading from a card. “Somewhere in the area is a vampire nest. They have stolen a vital and important artefact from the Inperium organisation, a turquoise amulet, and it is your job to retrieve it with minimum causalities.” Some people looked at each other and jested how simple it sounded. “You will work in two teams against each other.” Other people began to negotiate their grouping silently. “The teams will be chosen by combat as it is traditional. The order of picking will be decided in a traditional Inperium way. Two people will fight each other, and the winner gets their team of choice. The other will be placed in the opposite team. They will fight in the circle. The winner is the one of them that pushes the other from within the circle then they can choose a team. The fight will continue until all recruits have been placed.” Feeling my side burning I felt terrible that I was going to have to fight. I looked like death and was sure nobody would want someone who looked as sickly as me to be in their team. “Commander Lance please step forward.” I began to feel really bad for the other team leader, I imagined Lance would fight really dirty in the training simulation. “Commander Colt, please step forward.” I swore under my breath with happiness, at least there was a team I wanted to be on. “Commanders you may choose your assistants.” Lance instantly chose Caitlyn and Colt was left with Tristan which he seemed rather pleased about. “Recruit Aurora and Recruit Chelsea, please step forward to fight. I looked around as the candidates around me stepped out of my way. Even James pulled away from me suddenly. I walked gingerly to the front of the small crowd and stood next to Chelsea. In front of us a white circle was painted on the ground. “When the recruits are ready please enter the circle and begin.” The voice ordered us onwards, and I looked pleadingly at the onlookers. Colt, Tristan and James all looked as worried as I felt. We stepped into the circle and Chelsea instantly threw a punch which I managed to move out of the way of quickly. I retaliated with pushing her straight away, but she maintained her balance.

  Lance looked mad and I knew what he wanted, he wanted Chelsea to kill me. He wanted to do his best to give Colt a team that consisted of enemies. Knowing they would probably kill him in his sleep. I vowed I would not give him the satisfaction. Chelsea stepped back into the circle, I was ready for her. I kicked at her hard and she jumped out of the way. Nearly straight out of the circle line. A few of her friends groaned as they realised how close it had been again. Colt frowned, disappointed. Chelsea once more stepped closer into the circle. She was ready. Fury on her side. She landed a strike straight to my side that nearly had me keeling over with pain. She knew my weak spot. I was at a disadvantage. She laughed and I sideswiped her legs causing him to tumble out of the circle. She swore at me as the bell dinged announcing my win. “I choose Colt’s team.” I said quickly.

  The next two fighters were called up. James and Tim. They began to fight.

  “I’m glad you picked my team.” Colt whispered to me.

  “What other team was I going to pick?” I half smiled.

  “I suppose.” Colt smirked.

  The rest of the fights were fairly uneventful. Colt’s team ended up being the expected seven, mostly hybrids. We had James, Cameron, Mike and Sam join Tristan and me. I looked at them, pleased with their choices. It was hybrids again humans.

  Lance’s team lay decked out on the floor once the fight was over, they were exhausted, and I could not believe it. We had given them a real run for their money. I looked at the team around me who all were cheering and smiling. I placed my hand to my side and pulled it away revealing the wound had bled through the bandage. I felt dizzy, I was not sure how much more of this ‘training’ I was going to be able to endure.

  33

  Aurora

  9am 11th September 2020

  Tristan led the team up a small hill. He knew the training ground much better than any of us did. Once we were out of ear shot of Lance and his team, he had explained my predicament to the rest of the team, and they all understood when Colt flung me over his shoulder and carried me up the hill the rest of the way as I had begun to feel faint.

  A small stone cottage sat the other side of the brow of the incline.

  “I knew it was still here.” Tristan exclaimed proud of himself. The rest of the team gathered their breath as they walked down towards the building. “It’s a little bit shabby but it should be a decent enough shelter for us.” He explained as he led us inside. The cottage had three medium sized rooms cluttered with some old fabric furnishings. Colt gently placed me down on the sofa and brushed the hair off my face.

  “She is looking worse, Tristan.” He said worried. I knew I must have looked pale. Tristan come over to me and lifted the bandage.

  “I can hear you; you know?” I jested and Colt sighed.

  “She is going to be fine. The infirmary smuggled something for me in my backpack.” He confessed and proceeded to hand me a small glass vial. “Drink all of that. It is going to taste bad.” He warned and I undid the tiny cork that bunged the glass shut. I gulped down the brown liquid. Tristan was right. It tasted terrible, like dirt and spoiled milk. My body tingled.

  “You were not kidding, that is disgusting. Why couldn’t it taste like strawberries, I like strawberries.” I muttered to Tristan, a little bit delusional from pain and blood loss, he stifled a giggle.

  “It is an extra strong healing tonic. Hard to get hold of. Your side should heal in a few minutes, but you lost a lot of blood and I cannot replace that. So, you are going to be a little bit weak still.” He confessed.

  “I can handle that.” I whispered moving to get up.

  “Get some rest Aurora.” Tristan soothed, pushing me back down on to the sofa and I closed my eyes. My body forced me to sleep.

  When I woke everyone was sat around, some people were chatting, others looking through their backpacks. Mike sat on the kitchen counter nosily eating an apple. Colt and Tristan were whispering to each other in the kitchen. I assumed I was getting a vote of no confidence. I thought, I probably deserved it. They probably did not really want me there. I needed some air, so I quietly headed for the door and stepped outside. James made me jump as he sat on the step to the cottage. I went and sat next to him.

  “Thank you for earlier.” I said. Placing my head on my shoulder. “I don’t know where I would have been without your support.”

  “You would have been fine; you are a lot stronger than you give yourself credit for.” He smiled.

  “I’m not too sure about that.” I mumbled looking at my feet.

  “When I found out you had been hurt, my heart sank, I have never met someone like you.” He was being candid, but I really was not in the mind set for his feelings. Earlier I had needed some support and just to know that I was not alone in all of the craziness around me. Since the simulation had started, I had to keep my head in the right place. I did not want the team to hate me because I was too concerned over flirting with a guy, I had a crush on. It was not fair to them especially as I was new, and they had been working hard for a few months. Not to mention the huge secret I was now hiding from everyone. I was completely unsure how to broach that. I remembered everything and I knew I could give myself away at any point now that I knew.

  “Thanks, but I’m sure you have.” I brushed him off. “We should go back inside. I think everyone will want to discuss some strategies.” I got up and walked back in the door turning back to see his head in his hands. I knew he was disappointed, but I could not do anything to change that.

  34

  Colt

  1pm 12th September 2020

  The debate had been thoroughly heated and I realised a lot of people in the team had some views about how the team should be run. I was sure I was disappointing them all. I was not the leader they needed me to be.

  “We need a better plan guys.” I quietened everyone
down as their voices grew out of control. “Tristan, I like your idea about scouting out the nest before we do anything else. We cannot just go running in there not knowing what we are facing.”

  “It’s such a waste of time. Lance and his team certainly won’t be playing it safe.” Sam jumped in. I knew they were right, but I was not ready to charge into a situation I did not know. I was not about to risk the whole situation on a whim.

  “It doesn’t matter what their team does.” I replied. “Our job here is to get that amulet back. If we know nothing about the nest or the creatures, we are fighting then I don’t see how we can do that.” I explained and everyone listened.

  “They might get it before we do though?” Cameron sounded worried.

  “Sure, they might.” I responded. “That behaviour would be risky though. I probably have no place in leading you incredibly capable individuals but from what I have seen of the Inperium is that taking dangerous risks is not really a behaviour they like. I refuse to put any one in harm’s way to get back some artefact. No matter how important it is. We will do some recon. Get some information and go into this knowing exactly what our stance is.” I finished and everyone looked at me. I waited for a new argument, but none came. Aurora looked at me pleasantly surprised, I think she appreciated the way I was now speaking to them.

  “Well then, I think it is sorted. It’s recon time!” Rory said.

  “Let’s sort ourselves out and meet outside in ten minutes.” I instructed everyone. “Cameron, can I ask you a favour?” I turned to him and he nodded dutifully.

  “Sure.” He said sort of excited. I knew that the Inperium had not been a great place for him and everyone had treated him horrifically.

  “I need you to stay here. We need to keep our base protected. Could you do that?” I asked.