I nod slowly and take in the explanation. This is something. The government is something.
“Well you just have to rest now,” Will says making me jump in surprise. I actually forgot he was here since he was being so quiet. He continues, “And you are always welcome here,” He smiles. He clearly has a change in attitude. “Princess, can I talk to you?” He asks quietly.
“Princess?” Red asks while sitting up.
“I don’t know why he does that,” I say with a shrug while turning around. I follow him eagerly to find out what is wrong. We both walk outside in the hallway. “What’s up?” I ask while placing my hands on my hips.
“I want to just talk to you about something that I heard some other Conduits talk about. They are thinking that ever since you came they… They think you could be a good leader…with the right training of course,” Will gives me a small smile.
I cock my head at him in confusion. “A leader for what exactly?” I ask.
He shuffles his feet and looks away from my gaze. “Well, I don’t know… A rebellion maybe? You know just as a suggestion?” He says. I just stare at him.
I am awed at this suggestion, not because I am sure that he knows about me being socially cumbersome (which totally crosses out anything to do with leadership), but because he surely knows about me wanting my brother. He even promised to help me. And I am sure that this is not one way to help.
“Will, you know why I am doing this. Not for a rebellion. I just want my brother back,” I say softly.
“I know, but I think I know where he is. Most likely, since you said you got a letter from the Captain, then that’s where he is: in the main C.T.O. base for New York. The only way to get in there is by having an army. There are huge metal walls, and many guards in front of them. The other Conduits have been waiting for something like this. They have been watching your training and everyone saw that fight with Chuck. It has been a while now, you can do this. You can let them have this while you can get Eric. They will follow you. You just have to tell them,” He explains. “It is a win-win when you think about it really,” His eyes look pleading.
“Will, I don’t know. If I could lead people, then I would! But I am no leader. And this would mean me killing people who are in the C.T.O. I already made it clear that killing isn’t what I do,” I really can’t, Eric is more of a leader. And killing is something that would be on my chest forever. “Besides, I don’t think I would be able to live with being the person responsible for all of these peoples doom.”
“Does it matter? I will be there with you till the end. I swear, Alice, I will be there for you,” He looks at me straight in the eyes. He means it, I can tell.
“Okay,” I sigh. I don’t know what I am doing, but the things he said about Eric and he swearing to be there for me has changed my mind. I rub my temples in frustration and fear about what is to come. What on earth did I just sign up for?
“I’m in,” I jump and turn and there is Red watching us, “I would like to put a couple of arrows in the Captain’s head, if you don’t mind,” She says with a small cock of her head. She is leaning against the door casually. How did she get there without being in total pain? Has she really recovered so quickly?
“You want to kill your father?” I ask in shock.
Red shrugs, “I don’t see why not. It could be fun.”
Will grins and says, “I’m going to go tell everyone else. You might want to get a plan ready.”
“And how on earth am I supposed to do that?” I say.
“Don’t worry, I know that place inside and out.” Red says. “Leave a plan to me.”
I nod and walk towards her, but I turn and look at Will. I let out an exasperated sigh. We are coming Eric, so don’t you worry.
…
I spent the rest of yesterday showing Red around and spending time with her. She really is a nice person, and she makes me laugh. Today Will and I are continuing our practice, since it just happened to be interrupted yesterday. *Cough*, Red, *Cough*. Definitely not pointing fingers at anyone.
Chuck and Red want to watch training today and I am worried that I might mess up. Surprisingly, Red isn’t doing so badly actually. She ran a mile this morning.
A mile.
And she was still badly wounded while doing it. And what was I doing? Sitting on a bench next to the door, waiting for Red, while staring dreamingly at Will.
Best day ever so far.
At the moment, Will is yapping off about how scared I was when we first met to Chuck. Will sits on a small wooden chair and Chuck stands right in front of him. Red stands next to me while chuckling at Will’s description of me. I roll my eyes at his exaggerations at our first introductions to each other.
Chuck walks over to me and gives me a reassuring pat on the back. “Don’t worry, Alice. Ignore him. I’m here to help you with some training before the big day,” He explains.
I nod and glare at Will. “Red wants to join us too, if you don’t mind,” I say sternly to Will, not really caring about his answer. He gets up from the chair and glances at me.
“I don’t mind,” He shrugs.
“Let’s just get started,” I groan while rubbing my temples. Chuck walks over to a rack filled with all sorts of weapons. Knives, swords, daggers, bows arrows, and guns. He picks up a handful of knives (which is gigantic comparing to my definition of ‘a handful’) and sets them down gently on my small arms.
I carefully hold all of the knives in my hands, trying not to prick myself, and wait for further instructions.
“Those targets,” Will points to the far right of the room revealing targets with rings of different colors. “Get the knives in the gold center ring,” He demands.
I set them down on a small table next to me and hold one of them in my right hand. I hold the point in between my fingers and bring it behind my head. Eyeing the target carefully, I throw the knife from my fingers. I can feel the small cut it leaves on the tip of my sensitive skin. The knife hits the red ring and I hear Will sigh from behind me.
“More power. More aim. More control,” He says.
I shuffle my feet, getting into a more comfortable position. I pick up another knife from the ground and pull it back further behind my head. I close my left eye and stare right at the gold ring in the center target. I send the knife flying over my head and at the target. It punctures the yellow ring that’s right before the gold center.
“Bad stance. If you were tossing that at someone, then you would be hitting his or her leg. That isn’t useful,” Will says sternly, “You want their heart, neck or head.”
I turn to him and say in a small voice, “Actually, it would be useful. People use their legs to run walk, or whatever type of transportation. If you pay attention to which leg moves first, and which has more power you can see if their right or left handed. Hit their most dominant leg and they fall. No more transportation, which is easier than having to deal with two legs. Feeding time when he falls.”
Will stays silent for a moment and says, “Not important. This lesson is not to teach you how to take out ones legs. This lesson is to kill. To kill, you hit the heart, head, or neck. One hit and you can move on. More control. More aim. Hit the gold ring.”
I turn back to the target and glance at Red who is next to Chuck on my left side. Red smirks at me and slightly leans forward to get a good look at my stance. Will moves to my right and watches me with a very stern look on his face. I pick up another knife and pull it over my head. An idea sparks in my head and I force myself not to grin. I grip on to the knife and stare right at the gold ring. This time, I won’t try to go for the gold ring.
This time, I am going to prove a point.
This lesson shall not be about killing. This lesson is about deception. Cleverness.
And this time, I am teaching.
I let out a deep breath and quickly turn my torso towards Will. The knife flies to the right of the target and towards Will. I had aimed the knife towards the ground, towards his feet. Ti
me seems to stop as I evaluate what should happen in the next few seconds.
When explaining to Will about the usefulness of cutting off transportation, I had examined his hands and legs. He didn’t make any movements of habits in his dominant hand or leg. His whip marks align in a pattern down his arms, but there are more scars on his left arm than right. I’m guessing that he was disciplined by getting slashed on his dominate hand so they disciplined him by making him use his less dominate hand, which is hard. I find that very upsetting, though. He must have gone through a lot of pain if I am correct.
So from this evaluation I hope that if the knife causes him to jump then he will get higher in the air because of the momentum from his dominant leg. I am pretty sure you know about gravity, so no quick lesson about that.
Time speeds and Will jumps a foot upwards. His left leg is higher than his right leg. He lands on the ground and stares at me in shock and confusion. My point has been proven!
I laugh while clapping my hands and look at Red and Chuck.
They aren’t laughing.
Red jogs over to me and says, “What the hell was that about?”
“I don’t see why that is funny, either,” Chuck says with a loud voice as he runs over to Will to see if he is okay. I glance at everyone and suddenly feel guilty.
I shuffle my feet and say, “I just wanted to prove you wrong.”
Will takes a few steps to me with a hard stare. “About what?” He pushes Chucks supporting hand away from him and stands a few feet in front of me with an angry look on his face.
I stare right back at him and explain with my head held high, “You’re left handed. Your dominant leg is left. Over the past few days I’ve noticed that the scars on your arms is in a pattern. You also have them on your forearms. You have more scars on your left arm than right, so I was guessing that whoever punished you when you were younger knew that it is your dominate arm so they wounded it more so you would have to use your right hand which is very hard not to use your left. If you didn’t jump that knife would have hit your left leg and you would have fallen to the ground because of it. Your left leg jumped higher than your right. It’s pretty obvious actually when you think about it.”
Then, silence.
For a moment, Will just stares. Chuck shuffles his feet anxiously behind me and Red starts humming a dramatic tune, “Da da da da… Da da da da...”.
Will grins and says, “Good job. That’s enough today.” He pats me on my right shoulder and I blush slightly.
I smile and turn towards Red. I am proud that I outsmarted him, one point for Alice and fifteen for Will.
Almost there.
…
I am nervous from Will’s conversation before about being a ‘leader’, but I am even more nervous for tonight. I am sitting at the dinner table next to Red; we sit at the very end on the right side of the long table. Red really has become one of my best friends when I think about it. Red is the first girl that I really have as a good friend. We’ve only known each other for a day or so, yet she has become very close to me. I am glad she turned her life around and is now on our side.
I can hear Will talking to Chuck and some other people about the rebellion (I am staring at him instead of eating). He is smiling, and that is the one thing that can brighten anyone’s day, especially mine.
“Red, have you been an assassin all of your life?” I ask quietly, trying to get my eyes to look away from Will.
She turns to me with a surprised look on her face, but answers slowly and hesitantly, “Uh, no. No. My mother. She didn’t want me to, but after she died, my father took over. So for about twelve years, I have been an assassin.”
I glance at her quickly, but back to Will. “I’m sorry about your mom,” I say with a sorrowful tone in my voice.
Red stays staring down at her food and whispers, “I don’t know if I miss her.”
A confused look flashes across my face, but I stay looking at Will. “What do you mean?” I ask.
She sighs and after a silent minute, she answers, “How about some other time, okay?”
I nod slowly and cock my head to the side at Will. I wonder what she is hiding from me. He turns his head around and laughs at someone beside him. He shakes his head and turns back to Chuck who has carrots sticking out of his ears. I chuckle slightly at the sight.
Typical Chuck.
“You need to learn to do that discreetly,” Red mumbles bluntly.
I jump at her voice and hesitantly turn my gaze away from Will. “What do you mean?”
“Oh, you know what I mean,” She rattles while waving her fork at me.
I roll my eyes and say, “Yeah, I was looking at him obviously. But whatever, it is not like he ever notices me doing it anyways.”
“You nervous for your ‘date’?” Red asks using her fingers for quotations. When she isn’t talking, she is stuffing her face with food. I slightly smile at her poor manners.
I take a moment to answer. “Uh, of course not! And we are just doing research so it really isn’t a date. Right?” I ask with a nervous shrug.
“Well, after what you told me, he is the one who called it a date. So I am guessing that it is,” She shrugs. I look down at my hands and notice that they are shaking. Why does my body just love to shake all the time?
“You’ve never been on a date have you?” She asks while rolling her eyes.
I turn to her and plead, “Oh, Red, please help me! You owe me anyways! You put an arrow in my hand!” I emphasize by showing her my still bandaged covered hand.
“Ugh, fine! What do you need help with?” She groans.
I can tell that she wants to help, but of course she is keeping up all of her badass covers. “What do I wear?” I ask quickly. A nervous/excited smile is plastered on my face as I stare at her gleefully, trying my best to not start bouncing in my seat.
“Dude, you guys are going to be researching! Don’t dress all fancy and that shit! Just act natural,” Red says with a low tone.
“Alright. How do I know if he is flirting with me?” I ask quietly, hoping no one could hear this.
Red explodes into laughter and grips onto the table when she is about to fall off. I cover my face with my hand when Will and his friends look over.
“What the hell is so funny, Red?” I screech.
She wipes her eyes and says, “We’re still talking about Will right? How do you know when Will is flirting? Come on, Alice! It is all he ever does!” Red laughs some more afterwards.
I cross my arms over my chest and let out a puff of air. “Well, I am sorry for just asking!” I say while rubbing my fingers on my temples.
“Sorry, Alice,” She mumbles. “What else do you want to know?”
I chuckle slightly at the question and ask quietly, “How many dates have you been on?”
Red jumps in her seat causing her fork to bang against the plate. She looks at me for a moment before asking, “You serious?” I nod slowly and raise an eyebrow questioningly. She chuckles slightly and says, “Three.”
“Three? I thought you’d have more,” I laugh.
She rolls her eyes at me and fills her mouth with rice. “Do ‘ou ‘ave any ‘ore questions or nah?” Red manages to say with a mouthful.
I chuckle once more and shake my head. “Okay. Okay! I am going to go get ready!”
She shrugs and says, “Good luck with your ‘researching’.”
I smile and jump up from my seat. I nearly sprint to my room, but then I think about hygiene. I slow down to a jog and enter my room, carefully closing the door, not wanting to slam it.
I sit down on my bed and let my head fall into my hands. Why am I doing this? Will doesn’t like me; he just wants to help me get Eric back. He also wants a rebellion.
Why on earth does it have to be a rebellion? I sigh when remembering about him asking me to lead them to war. How can I do this? But just seeing his pleading face almost made me cry. I know why I am going to lead them. Only to get on Will’s good side. Great, I mi
ght just get everyone killed, just so I can be with one person, who most likely doesn’t even like me like that. How can I ever get close to anyone?
When you look at it from a different perspective, Will is like the sun. He has people orbiting around him; some are so close it burns them, some are so far they are the coldest they can be because they want to be closer. The lucky ones are in the perfect distance to feel his warmness and live with him peacefully. In one way or another all the people that meet him feel attracted to him.
He is the brightest person one might ever meet. And where am I exactly in this picture you might ask? Well, in his little System, I am Pluto: a strange, little cold planet that no one wants around the Sun, but who oddly is spinning around him in circles, in the opposite direction as everyone else.
How would the Sun ever even notice Pluto if everyone else just says to that little planet that it shall never be big enough or close enough to be an actual part of his System? So I ask myself again, how can I ever get close to anyone?
I need to stop worrying myself about getting close to anyone. It is not like I have to get close to people, I mean I have Eric and I am pretty sure at this moment in my life he is all I need.
I stand from the comfort of my bed and walk to the closet to see the most perfect and casual thing to wear. Well, not the most perfect thing, but the only thing that I have that is closest to anything casual. Out of the closet, I pull out a blue tee and a black pair of skinny jeans with my combat boots. Quickly, I slip the clothes on and brush my messy hair. Once my hair is nice and straight, I just stare at myself in the mirror. I look okay, I guess. It is casual attire, but there is also amiable ring to it.
Alice: The Leader Page 11