by Kunz, C. A.
Landon turns to look at me and his face is tear-stained and his eyes are red and swollen. My heart breaks seeing him like this. I throw my arms around him and he wraps his around me while placing his head on my shoulder. No words are spoken for a few moments, we just hold each other.
“Kenley? You are crying again? Is everything okay?” Galileo asks.
“Sorry Galileo, but this is not a good time,” I reply.
“My apologies,” he says and sucks back into the band.
“They’re all gone.” Landon finally speaks.
“I’m so sorry. I don’t know what to say,” I reply. “Was your Dad there too?”
“No, he’s in D.C.,” he answers. “I can’t believe my home is gone…just like that…everything.”
As I squeeze him tighter in a hug I can feel his pain as his chest restricts and he sobs into my shoulder. It’s amazing how life can change in the blink of an eye.
“We’re going to make them pay, okay?” I say, pulling Landon’s face to be in front of mine. We both stare deeply into each other’s teary eyes. The only thing I want to do right now is kiss him, in hopes I can ease at least some of his pain.
“I think I’m going to skip breakfast and rest up for class today,” Landon says before kissing my cheek. “Thank you.” He goes to sit on his bed and I walk over to be by his side.
“Would you like some company?” I ask, sitting down next to him.
“Yeah, I’d like that,” he replies.
We lay down on his bed and he wraps his arms around me and holds tight. I snuggle up close to him and press my ear to his chest. I drift off to sleep, listening to the beat of his heart.
“Grayson, you’re up,” Commander Archer announces and then points toward the back room. “Just like everyone else, you’ll have four timed tasks to complete. Your overall time will determine your mastery of the skill. Each task will require you to utilize one of the four abilities you’ve learned in order to complete the task. If you are touched at any point during the task, or perform a different ability that is not the one called for, you will fail, understood?”
“Understood, sir,” I reply with a salute.
“Well, get in there then, soldier,” Commander Archer orders.
Landon grabs my hand as I go to leave. “Good luck.”
I nod to him and head toward the back room. As I enter, I see a giant electronic timer imbedded into the far wall, and there’s a switch on the wall to my left that’s lit up.
“When you’re ready, press the switch on the wall,” Commander Archer calls out to me from the training room. The large window that everyone usually lines up in front of to watch is now shielded by a sheet of metal in order to keep the test a secret.
I hit the switch and the timer starts as an electronic voice pipes into the room. “Task is Kinetic Punch. Activating Combat Drone.”
A panel in the floor in front of me slides open and a drone rises up from the hole. It goes into a combat stance and readies for my attack. It charges at me and leaps into the air. The drone dive-bombs in my direction and I roll out of the way as it crashes into the ground, causing a dent in the tile on the floor. It recovers and charges me again. The drone reels back to throw a punch, but I counter, throwing a charged kinetic punch straight through its chest. The drone crumples to the floor and the timer stops.
My time shows up yellow and the electronic voice chimes in again. “Satisfactory.”
The switch on the wall starts to glow once more. Pushing it, my time starts and the electronic voice comes into the room. “Task is Surge. Activating combat drone.”
Another drone emerges from the floor, but this one is surrounded by a wall of blue energy. I concentrate on its barrier with my hands out in front of me, my palms facing the drone. My hands start to glow blue, and the drone’s barrier begins to slowly break apart into tiny particles I absorb. With the barrier fully depleted, I release my energy in a wave-like pattern, knocking the drone back against the wall and shattering it into pieces.
The clock stops and turns yellow. “Satisfactory,” the electronic voice says.
I press the switch and cue the electronic voice again. “Task is Barrage. Activating Combat Drones.”
Wait, combat drones…like multiple? I ask myself.
Three drones emerge from the panels in the floor and all enter into a defensive stance. I drop my hands down to my sides and both immediately ignite with a blue glow. The drone directly in front of me moves first and I dive out of the way as it lunges at me. I flip around and throw a light projectile from my hand right through its chest. As the drone crashes to the floor, I hear the clank of the other two’s feet on the tile floor as they move toward me. I spring up and spin to face them. Wait, there’s only one there, where’d the other one go? I think to myself. I feel two cold arms clasp around me tight, pinning mine to my side, not allowing me to move. I try to break free from its grip, but can’t. “Damn,” I murmur as a loud buzzer sounds and my time goes red. The electronic voice pipes in as the drone releases me from its grasp. “Unsatisfactory.”
The switch on the wall lights up again, but I decide to take a quick breather and regain my composure before starting the next task. I’m feeling pretty low right now after failing the previous one, and the last thing I want to do is rush into the one task that I’m actually okay at. While staring at the switch on the wall, thoughts of me being not good enough begin to enter my mind. I shake off those thoughts, walk over to the switch, and pound it with my fist.
The electronic voice filters into the room. “Task is Telekinesis. Activating combat drone.”
Another drone appears in the room along with a metal ball that rolls through an opening in the wall. I immediately concentrate on the ball, channeling all my anger from failing the previous task. Clenching my left hand into a fist I transfer all my energy into my right hand, and then push the ball at the drone. It shoots toward its head and knocks it clean off, causing a firework of sparks to erupt from its neck. My time turns green.
“Excellent,” the electronic voice announces.
The door to the exam room slides open and the first person I see is Commander Archer standing in the doorway. “Not bad, Grayson. You probably could’ve done better, but not too bad at all.”
Chapter Seven
Defensive Measures
“So, any word on Landon’s return?” Joey asks me as we enter the mess hall.
“Nope, not a word. He just kind of left right after the Strike final and said he was going to see his father in D.C. I’m surprised he was allowed to leave,” I reply solemnly.
Joey wraps his arm around my shoulder and gives me a side hug. “I hate seeing you like this—all mopey and stuff. Cheer up, he’ll be back soon, don’t worry.”
“I hope so,” I state, looking up into Joey’s eyes.
“Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m starved. I worked up quite the appetite during my final,” Joey says, sitting down at the table.
“Yeah, me too. And if you don’t mind, I’d rather not talk about how I did.”
“Oh, come on. You couldn’t have done that bad,” he says with a laugh.
“Let’s just say that it wasn’t one of my best performances,” I say dryly.
“That bad, huh?”
“Yep.”
I’m kind of surprised that we’re the first two at dinner from our group. Sam’s usually the first one here. That girl loves to eat.
I glance over and see Joey flipping through his virtual menu. As I look past it I see Landon’s empty seat and wonder how he’s doing.
My thoughts are interrupted by Sam plopping down on the seat next to me and brushing my shoulder with hers. “I’m so freakin’ hungry,” she announces while hitting the menu button on the table in front of her. “Aren’t you eating, Grayson?”
“Yeah, just haven’t decided on anything yet,” I lie, knowing exactly why I haven’t picked something.
Geoffrey sits down across from me and Caleb takes the seat next to hi
s. They both stare at me with questioning eyes. Clearly, it’s written all over my face that I miss Landon. “So how were all your finals today?” I ask, trying to change the subject and take the focus off me.
“I’m not really in the mood to talk about it,” Geoffrey states as he keeps his attention on his menu.
“Don’t feel bad, Kenley. He won’t even tell me how he did,” Sam chimes in.
Caleb just sits there with a smile on his face and doesn’t say anything.
Does he ever talk? I ask myself.
“I think I‘m going to head to my room. I had a big lunch earlier and might just turn in early tonight. That Strike final really kicked my butt,” I say while standing up.
“You really should eat something,” Joey states, looking at me with concern.
“I’m fine, Joey, really. Don’t worry. I’m just tired and want to go rest up, okay?” He nods his head, but I can tell that he sees right through me. Joey knows me too well. “Goodnight, guys.” I hear everyone say goodnight just before I leave the table.
Walking toward my room, I stop in front of Landon’s hallway and stare down at his door. I let out a sigh and continue onward.
My door opens as I approach it and then closes and locks once I’m inside. I proceed to pull out the metal casing for the bangle from the dresser drawer and snap it on. Galileo turns on the shower and I begin to peel off my uniform.
“The water is at your desired temperature,” I hear a muffled Galileo say within the casing.
“Thanks, Galileo.”
Standing in the shower feels wonderful as the warm water just washes over me. I find myself thinking of Landon again and it seems like I can’t do anything without him popping into my head. This is crazy, I’ve never felt like this before, and I’m not even really sure why I do, I tell myself.
Leaving the shower, I slip into my robe and head back into my room.
“Galileo?” I ask, taking off the metal casing.
“Yes, Kenley?”
“Can you play that song for me? You know the one that you set as my alarm?”
“Yes, I can play that song for you,” he replies and then the song begins flowing from my bangle.
I smile as I look down at the little band of plastic and am immediately brought back to the first night I heard this song. Joey, Dylan, and I were lying out under the stars and it came on over the radio in my brother’s truck. Dylan was right in the middle of telling his story about a star, and the song matched the tone of it perfectly. From that night on, it became our song.
A knock at my door takes me away from my musings. I approach the door and it slides open. I’m surprised to see Landon standing there, and when he sees me, a half-smile appears on his mouth. I smile too and want to wrap my arms around him and squeeze tight, but I resist.
“Galileo, you can pause the music for now,” I say softly to the bangle. The music stops and I focus back on Landon.
“Hey, what was that song you were just listening to? Sounds familiar,” he asks.
“Oh, that? It’s just a song I used to listen to a lot when I was younger. Hey, how was your trip?” I ask changing the subject, not wanting to get into the story behind the song.
“Interesting, to say the least. May I come in?” he asks and I don’t know what to say. I’m in my robe and a gorgeous boy is asking if he can come into my room.
I hesitate, but then say, “Sure.”
He walks into my room, grabs the chair in front of my vanity mirror, spins it around and straddles it with his front facing the back of it. I move to sit on my bed and face him. He’s quiet at first and seems like he’s contemplating what to say next. He begins to say something a couple times and then stops.
“So…what made your trip interesting?” I ask trying to get anything out of him.
“My mom and little brother are alive,” he replies, but sounds oddly less enthusiastic than I would’ve thought he’d be.
“That’s great news, right? I mean, you were worried that they had…well, you know,” I state sending him a reassuring smile.
He suddenly snaps out of his funk. “Yeah, it’s great news. It was good to see them again,” he says, sounding a little more upbeat.
It’s weird, he still kind of feels disconnected for some reason, I think to myself.
Landon stands and moves over to me. He kisses my cheek softly and turns to walk toward the door. “We’ll talk more later, okay?” he says and waits for me to walk over to let him out.
“Yeah, just let me know when,” I reply, moving to stand by him and opening the door in the process. He appears so guarded, like something’s really bothering him, but he doesn’t seem to want to discuss it right now.
“Goodnight, Kenley.”
“Goodnight,” I say as he leaves my room and the door rolls shut behind him. I lie down on my bed and sigh. I begin to wonder what exactly happened that he can’t talk about.
“Galileo, can you please resume playing the song?” I ask and then the song chimes on again as I continue to gaze up at the ceiling.
As we enter our first Fortification class, I smell the faintest hint of lavender in the air. My mom grows lavender in her garden, and I always love helping her tend to it just so I can enjoy the wonderful fragrance. It’s so beautiful when it blooms.
“Come in, cadets, and take a seat on a floor mat. We’ll begin class shortly,” Dr. Patel tells us with a huge smile.
Landon picks the mat next to mine.
I laugh. “I find it weird that all of these rooms have desks, but we hardly use them.”
“Yeah, that is weird,” Landon responds nonchalantly. He’s being so hot and cold. I wonder what happened in D.C. that has him acting like this. I wish he would just confide in me.
The last student filters in and Dr. Patel clears her throat. “Welcome to Fortification training. You already know me, so I’ll skip over the introductions.” She looks down at the electronic pad in her hands and presses the screen. The smell of lavender intensifies as she looks up and smiles at us. “The scent you’re all smelling, if you don’t already know, is lavender. It’s used a lot in aromatherapy for a calming effect. This actually brings me to our first exercise.” She sits down on a floor mat at the front of the class in the Lotus position and places her hands on her legs with her palms facing upward. “Now, I want you all to sit as I am, and close your eyes. Concentrate on your breathing and listen to my instruction.”
I close my eyes and take in a deep breath, following Dr. Patel’s words.
“Your first task is to create a barrier of energy around your person. In order to do so, you must clear your mind and visualize the barrier you require,” Dr. Patel explains in a soothing manner. Her voice seems to flow through my head, and as it does the calmer and more focused I become. I feel a sudden burst of energy project from my hands and then it engulfs me. There’s this heat that seems to wrap around me like clothes that have just been taken out of the dryer.
I sense a presence in front of me, so I open my eyes and see the distorted face of Dr. Patel through a hazy blue energy field. She startles me and I gasp, causing my barrier to disappear. She continues to stare at me, almost as if I’m a specimen she’s studying or something. It’s actually kind of creepy to be honest.
“Very interesting,” Dr. Patel states, with an intrigued look on her face.
“What is?” I ask confused.
“The speed at which you were able to produce your barrier,” she replies. “You were actually the first in the class to do so.”
“I was?”
She continues to study me with her eyes. Suddenly something seems to dawn on her and she points at me. “I bet you’re a natural protector. You have a true instinct to defend yourself and those around you.”
“I do?”
“Indeed,” she laughs.
Sitting in the mess hall I look down at Landon’s seat and it’s empty. He said he’d be right here, I think to myself. I’ve been worried about him ever since he got back from D.C. I k
now there’s something wrong with him that he’s not telling me. In stereotypical guy fashion though, he acts like he’s okay, but you can see in his eyes that he’s not.
“So how do you like Fort training?” Joey asks. “At least tell us what you can, since we can’t really talk specifics.”
Pulling myself away from my thoughts, it takes me a few seconds to process the question, and then I reply. “Apparently, I’m a natural protector. At least according to Dr. Patel. She said I created my barrier quicker than anyone so far.”
“Damn, Grayson, I couldn’t cast a barrier to save my life last week,” Sam chimes in. “I’m Strike all the way, baby.”
I laugh slightly. “Don’t even get me started on that egotistical jerk, Commander Archer.”
“He’s a teddy bear compared to how my father was,” Sam replies.
“Yeah, mine too,” Joey murmurs. I place my arm around his shoulder and give him a comforting look. He smirks back at me.
“How’s training going for you, Geoffrey?” I ask him as he flips through the dinner menu hologram.
“I just found out that Geoffrey got all Green during his Tact final. He’s a certified whiz kid. Strike on the other hand…not so much,” Sam answers for him. He nods, confirming what she just said is true.
“What about you, Caleb?” Joey asks him.
“I received all green in Fort. Actually finished second overall in my class,” Caleb replies, shocking everyone with his lengthy response since he usually just keeps it to one-word answers, if he even talks at all. He grins and returns to eating his food.
After dinner I make my way to Landon’s room since he never showed up. I knock on his door, but don’t hear any movement inside. I knock again, but still nothing. Where is he? I ask myself.
“Kenley, I sense you are worried about something. Is there anything I can help you with?” Galileo asks, projecting from my bangle.
“Not unless you’ve got GPS and can locate people,” I respond in a defeated tone.
“GPS? I am sorry, but I am not equipped with such technology.”