The four of us glance at each other, sensing the intimidation she’s provoking in the air.
She puts her hand on Nick and Nate’s shoulders. “Just keep up and endure, kids. That’s the only way you’ll get through today, tomorrow, and the next.”
Siobhan sighs gives each of the guys a hefty pat as she looks at Angela and me. “Training will run from 6 to 11:30 a.m. You’ll shower and meet in here for lunch at noon.”
Luke calls out, “Yeah, we don’t want to smell your five and half hours of sweat over lunch!”
Siobhan grins at Luke’s interjection, and then continues. “We go back at it from 1:00 p.m. until—well, that’s up to your mentor. Eat up; we’re hitting it in ten minutes.”
As Siobhan walks back to the mentor table, they all rise and start toward the door. Ezra speaks over his shoulder. “We’ll be waiting for you in the gym.”
Finding the gym isn’t a big feat with Angela leading us. She had the place memorized after the tour, which was impressive, but commonplace for someone with her abilities. Complete brainiac. The gym is about the size of a football field—massive.
As we take a seat on the first set of risers, Luke gives us our morning assigned training. “Jesca, Ezra wants you on the circuit for an hour. Angela, you and Siobhan are going to hit the trails. Nick, Jake wants you in the pool. Nate, you and I are going to do some endurance training.”
As we all fan out to our designated training circuit, I see Ezra on the left side of the gym through a glass-windowed room full of free weights, benches, and all types of contraptions. Ezra has some upbeat music on in the background. He glances back at me. “Have you stretched?”
I’m about to answer as he turns the music up louder. I raise my voice over the music. “I just got here!”
Ezra shakes his head and bobs his head to the beat as he steps in front of me. “You’re burning training time. Get moving Jes.”
He smiles like a Cheshire cat before cranking up the music even louder.
That was the last smile I saw for the next hour. I must’ve lifted, pushed, pulled and stretched every piece of equipment about thirty times each. The rotation did move quickly with Ezra in command, but that also cut out water breaks between sets. Ezra laughs at me when I ask for one.
Halfway through the training session, I start seeing stars. “I need to stop. I’m going to pass out.”
Bent over and panting, Ezra stands in front of me leaning against one of the circuit machines. “Stop? Do I look like that much of a pushover?”
He yells, “Stop!”
His comment pisses me off enough to spur me on through the second half of the circuit. I figure that was his reason for saying what he did after the fact.
With the hour up, I look like a fire hose has soaked me. If only I was so lucky. The skin on my arms has a fine layer of grit on them; dried sweat. I have never felt so disgusting and smelled so bad in my life. “Can I get a shower?”
Ezra’s eyebrows raise high and I can tell by the color of his is bright red. “Shower? It’s not even 8:30!”
I mumble under my breath. “I smell disgusting!”
Ezra crosses his arms over his chest. “Get used to it. Let’s hit the trails.”
We run the same passage I took on the trail yesterday. Ezra matches my stride, which is surprising. “You keep up pretty well for an old guy Professor Kahn.”
Ezra chuckles. “Yeah, well, you don’t do so bad yourself for a girl.”
“Oh, you haven’t seen anything yet.”
I dash through the cutouts onto the switchbacks, passing the cavern with the beautiful pool of water. I notice Ezra break away, heading toward a cutout to the left so I follow. Once we’re in it’s like a rollercoaster. The turns are sharp and the dips are unexpected. The path is rockier than the gravel one I took yesterday. When Nate was talking about rocky trails, he must’ve been talking about this one. The gap between Ezra and me begins to widen because of the terrain. He calls back at me over his shoulder, his voice echoing along the cavernous walls. “Don’t wimp on me now. We’re almost to the turnaround.”
Wimp? I pick up speed and as I come around the turn at a switchback, my right foot starts to slide. I look down at what I’m sliding against and see a drop-off into pure darkness. As I keep moving, picking up speed again but watching my footing on the ledge, I breathlessly call to Ezra, “Thanks for the warning!”
As I catch up, running right behind him, he responds equally breathless. “Oh yeah, watch out for the ledge.”
I hear him laugh under his heavy breath and the urge to kick the back of his foot is tickling my brain. I show restraint and focus on my almost plummeting to my death moments ago. “What the hell is it?”
“It’s a sinkhole. We found it about two years ago when we made this cutout. With the sinkhole and trails less managed and more rugged, Siobhan thought it’d be good for rigorous training.”
And he brings me on this my first day! I respond in a sarcastically sweet tone. “Aw! Thanks, Siobhan! I could’ve died back there on my first fucking day of training!”
Ezra suddenly slows, bringing us to a stop. He turns and pats me on the top of my head. “You’re welcome, green pea.” He starts running back in the opposite direction. “I’ll beat you back.”
I accept the challenge, but with caution. I wouldn’t put it past Ezra not to tell me about any other surprises along the path. At the trailhead, Ezra and I catch our breath and he tells me what’s next. “You’re training in the pool next. Let’s go.”
He starts to walk off, but I’m at a loss. “Um, don’t I need to change?”
He turns around, staring at me like he doesn’t understand what I’m asking.
I tug on my sweat-drenched tank top. “Swim suit?”
He raises his eyebrows, and then shakes his head and grins. “This isn’t a beauty pageant Jesca. What you have on is what you swim in.”
I don’t like his condescending tone and it’s even more annoying that he thinks I’m some kind of priss. “I know that and I have no problem swimming in these clothes so lead the way.”
He turns around and starts walking ahead of me. “We’ll see. Prove it in the pool.”
I can’t help but feel that his comment is some kind of sick, threatening, training tactic he plans to pull when I get in the water. As I walk behind him through the gym, the others still working hard in their designated circuits, I find some hope that whatever we’re doing in the pool, I’ll at least cool off.
Ezra makes me jump into the deep end. It’s freezing cold, but I don’t mind one bit. It feels great actually. Maybe he was just pulling my leg with the scare tactic on the way here. Maybe I’m just going to do laps. Huh, I can swim laps all day long. Mom and dad used to brag on what a strong swimmer I am. But the way Ezra is smirking as I wade in the water, I know something’s up.
“You ready?”
With his question, I grit my teeth and force a smile. “Yep.”
He shakes his head slowly. “No, you’re not.”
He jogs over to the storage closet off to the side and disappears through its doors. Wondering what kind of torture device might reappear I question nervously. “No. Why not?”
The sound of him digging around is even more nerve wracking. “Need help in there?”
Ezra hollers back, “Nope, I’ve got it!”
When he reappears, he resembles a man being eaten by a black, plastic python. The air duct tubing is wrapped haphazardly around his shoulders, and then trails behind him as he walks toward the edge of the pool. He stops right in front of where I’m treading water and drops the entire pile, letting out a grunt. “Whew, okay, now you’re ready to start.”
I can’t fathom what torture he has in mind. He must see that as he starts to explain. “When you get into a water-related situation, one of two things will happen. You’ll either be fighting against
someone bigger than you since you’re so small.”
Nice, thanks asshole.
“Or you’ll be trying to save someone that could also be much bigger than you since you’re so small.”
“I’m not small.”Ezra ignores me defending myself and kicks the black tubing with the tip of his running shoe. “This is going to prepare you for those two situations.”
Putting two and two together clicks into place suddenly. “Are you going to make me swim with that? It’s going to fucking drown me Ezra!”
Ezra becomes irritated as he starts to feed the tubing out to me “It will not! Don’t be such a baby!”
I push it away. “No, I’m not doing this shit!”
I start to swim to the edge as Ezra calls to me. “What, you’re giving up already? Typical.”
Fucking typical? I hold onto the ledge for a moment as the sound of him feeding the tubing sliding against the edge of the pool blends with the sound of the waters lapping around me.
“You just want your average life back, but that life is gone. No more.”
His words are haunting as I think the very thoughts as he says them. I glare at him. “Stop fucking reading me.”
I swim back out to the center and then dive down to grab the bottom of the tubing. As I surface with the tubing, I feel the weight tug me down. I know this is going to be hell, but I don’t let it show as I stare stoically at Ezra. As he stares back at me, feeding out the tubing, I know he’s trying to get back in my head. I imagine a wall going up around me, impenetrable to him.
“Nice language by the way. I know Delilah didn’t raise you to talk like that.”
I ignore his comment. He’s only trying to distract me, piss me off even more. Suddenly, he stops feeding out the tubing. “Ah, you figured it out.”
Suddenly, I hear his thoughts. “Now’s not the time for her to be blocking me from reading her.”
Good! Give him a taste of his own medicine. I focus on the wall I’ve made around my mind and bark at him. “Why not now? Send me the rest of the tubing! C’mon!”
My voice boarders bitchy but I don’t care. I’m so frustrated with him right now; I could hold all of this tubing and then some. He shakes his head, and then starts feeding out the tubing faster. “Start wrapping it around you from your waist up. Just like that. Push it down around your waist.”
I’m treading water and simultaneously trying to wrap tubing around me as quickly as I can. Suddenly, the weight it’s adding to me rears its ugly head as I start to sink. I labor harder to keep my head above water as the tubing I’m wrapping has covered my torso and is now coiling my shoulders and neck. I bob under to my eyes, and then reach my head up to the sky, to keep breathing. He releases the last bit of tubing which is a good eight feet worth—definitely enough to send me under, damn it! I wrap knowing that I’m going down and just before I wrap the final foot, Ezra hollers, “Sink to the bottom. Don’t unwrap yourself until you touch down.”
As his final word hits my ears, I dip down under and begin to sink. My instinct is to fight the drop, so I have to make myself let go. Looking up as I descend, I watch the hanging lanterns of light above the pool getting smaller, then blur as I go down deeper. The drop seems endless and the sensation to release air begins to settle in.
Then, my feet touch. I try to look down, but the tubing is constricting my ability to move my neck. I try to unwrap methodically at first, thinking it’ll make the job easier. My hands test any loose tubing since my sight is worthless without being able to see the pattern of the coiling around me. I tug a tube and feel it loosen. Relief washes over me as I start to unwrap under one arm, then the other. The urge to release air is so tempting now that I’m unwrapping quickly, but I still have my entire torso to go, so I hold it in. Suddenly, I feel the unwrapping creeping back up my chest. With all the twisting and turning and my concentrating on not breathing or letting Ezra into my head, I’ve reversed the unraveling! Shit!
Needing the pressure building too fast in my lungs, I release a small bit of air thinking it might help, but my body responds with a craving to inhale now. Shit! Shit! Shit!
My body starts to tremble under the tubing now, shaking as I fumble along the tubing to reverse the wrap—adrenaline. As soon as I find my grip, I start unwrapping with more power and determination than before. The tangled tubing is coming off at greater speed now, and I feel the weight of it slowly releasing me as I rise from the bottom of the pool.
“C’mon, Jesca! You can do this!”
Hearing Ezra’s thoughts should be motivation, but it’s more gratifying knowing that I’ve shut him out for underestimating me. With my confidence increasing as I unravel, I release more air and feel myself levitate a fraction more. I glance up as I unwrap, noticing the light from the lanterns less blurry, maybe ten feet away from the surface. I twist around to unwrap the tube from my waist, but it’s snug on my body. I tug again only to feel it tighten more. The urge to inhale comes again and I take it.
“Jesca. Let me in your head.”
Ezra’s thought is my fighting motivation to hold the mental block even more. I try to tug the tubing the other direction, but still, it’s snugly wrapped around me, holding me down. Ten feet-I can propel ten feet. I try to kick my legs and I do get some traction, but not much with the tubing wrapped around my thighs. It’s still too heavy and I’m running out of breath. The urge to inhale is eating away at my resolve. Suddenly the tubing shifts down from my waist. I try push the bulk of the tubing down my body, shimmy out of it, but all that does is shift the bulk of the tubing down to my thighs, making propelling up impossible. “Crap! I’m sinking again!”
“Shit! She can’t do it!”
He’s slipped back into my head!
“Get out of my fucking head Ezra! I’ve got this!”
So much for my holding my mental block while I keep from drowning. As I try to tread and my lungs tighten, shards of light streaking in front of my eyes are too familiar. I cannot pass out right now. “I need to breathe.”
“Damn it Jesca,” are the last thoughts I hear from Ezra.
I feel numb and senseless all at once, as I release more air. I imagine feeling arms around me, peeling away the tubing and bringing me to the surface. Ezra’s thoughts are solid now as his command echoes in my head. “Hold on Jesca.”
The muffling of sound underwater suddenly transforms to the cacophony of water splashing and Ezra yelling at me to breathe as he carries me out of the water. My eyes are transfixed as I’m pulled from the water and everything spins upward as Ezra lays me on deck. His terrified face comes into view blocking the lit lantern shining on me. “Breathe, Jes! Now, damnit! Breathe!”
My body doesn’t listen as I look at the halo the light has put around his head, as if he were a guardian angel. Suddenly, I realize I can’t hear my breath. Shit, I’m not breathing! Am I having an out of body experience or some shit! No, I’m not going to die like this! All of a sudden, my mouth opens wide and the water it held pours out. I pinch my eyes shut and alternate gagging and gasping for air, my throat sounding raw as I inhale. “That was amazing for your first time! You’re going to be unbelievable!”
Panting in an attempt to catch my breath, I slap his arm as hard as I can. “Are you fucking kidding me? I drowned out there!”
He wipes the water from his face angrily, which pisses me off because why should he be angry. I’m the one who almost fucking died!
“Why did you block your thoughts!”
“No, you’re not turning this on me! You had to jump in after me!” I slap him on the arm again, holding my ground even if he’s gritting his teeth at me. “I was having an out of body experience! I was dying! Hovering above my body and shit!”
I use the little bit of energy I have to push him away, but Ezra barely shifts under my hand. He sits back on one foot and one knee. He looks like he might explode with anger.
&nb
sp; “Look, you’re going to be put in death’s grip with situations way worse than this. Yes, you came close to death! Yes, it scared the shit out of me too! But you have to be smart Jesca! Blocking me out of your mind while you’re in training isn’t an option! Got it!”
He jumps to his feet, then grasps the tubing and starts to carry it to the storage room, when he suddenly throws it to the ground and looks back at me. Pointing at the tubing he says, “This! This is nothing compared to what you’ll be fighting out there. In less than four weeks, you’ll be out in the open! No safety net! You’re the only defense for yourself! And if I have to almost kill you to get you ready, then so be it!”
As he carries the tubing back into the storage room, I lay back and try to catch my breath. Even though it’s sick and twisted, warped even, he’s right. This is happening. It’s not a game. No game over, please insert another coin. This is the only practice I’ll have before facing whatever the hell I’ll be facing.”
As he strides back, he keeps his distance pacing in front of me with his arms crossed. When I finally sit up, he throws me the towel on his shoulder.
“Sorry about blocking you. I didn’t think it was important.”
He stops in front of me and nods slowly before he looks up at me. “Accepted.”
I wait for it, hoping that an apology is waiting for me. When it doesn’t come, I probe. “Nothing to say to me?”
He scratches the side of his cheek, and then shrugs. “You were impressive out there for a green pea. Jake said Nick couldn’t handle it. He had to surface early and didn’t even sink to the bottom. You’ll get it for sure next time.”
Holding the towel in one hand, I stare at him in shock. “Next time? Impressive! Are you completely insane? Oh yeah, wait, we’re all insane down here because we’re fucking guardians, right?”
Copula Chronicles: The Complete Collection: Origin, Descend, Ascend, Legacy Page 10