Jacinta interrupts my thoughts when she shoves a plate of food in my lap. “Here, you need all your energy today,” she tells me and forces my ass to fall backward on to the couch.
“I think you need a little less energy,” I grumble, but never the less, get stuck into my breakfast.
Moments later our window is slid open and Trey sticks his head through with a massive grin. “Oh good, you’re up,” he says before climbing through.
Daniel comes in behind him looking extremely unimpressed. “What’s up with you?” I ask as he falls into the couch beside me.
“Trey has been up for hours, he’s that excited,” he grumbles, making me laugh.
“So has Jacinta, she’s even started packing.”
“Match made in heaven,” he scoffs as he steals a piece of toast off my plate.
“Hey,” Jacinta scolds Daniel. “She needs her energy.”
I can’t help but laugh. God bless her beautiful little soul. If I could fold her up and put her in my pocket every day, I would.
Jacinta and I finish off our breakfast then head down to the cafeteria so we can feed the boys. We can’t help but peek down at the back field on our way only to be disappointed when we see the whole area sectioned off with a massive back curtain, blocking our view. “Damn it,” I murmur.
“What were you expecting?” Jacinta says. “They’re going to do everything in their power to make sure you don’t get any hints at what’s behind that curtain until the buzzer goes off.”
“I know,” I sigh. “I’m just so damn curious.”
We make it into the cafeteria to find practically every single one of my combat class mates, all with the same excited gleam in their eyes. “Hey,” Brax says coming and joining us as Trey and Daniel shuffle off to fill up their plates. “Are you ready for today?” he asks.
“Hell yeah, I was born ready,” I grin “You?”
“I’m so nervous, I’m practically shitting my pants,” he says. I want to laugh until I realize he’s serious.
“Really?” I ask a little shocked. “It’s going to be awesome.”
“Yeah, for you,” he murmurs. “You could do this blindfolded. I won’t be that easy for me.”
“You’ll be fine. Now go get food and come sit down.”
He rolls his eyes but just like a good little boy, goes and does what I’ve told him to do.
Jacinta and I sit down and wait patiently for the boys to scoff down their breakfast. “You’re going to video the whole thing, right?” Trey asks Jacinta as he wipes his face on his sleeve like a child.
She looks at him like he’s an idiot. “Of course, I am. I’m going to video all of you,” she tells us then widens her eyes in fear. “Shit, I hope there’s enough space on my phone,” she gasps before pulling it out of her pocket and quickly deleting all her old videos, clearing as much space as possible.
We hang out and chat for a while before we start noticing people heading down to the field. “I better go,” Jacinta says. “I want to get the best seats.”
“Ok,” I tell her before giving her a massive hug.
“Good luck,” she says as she moves around our circle, giving everyone a tight squeeze but saving an award-winning kiss for Trey.
“Come on,” I tell the guys as I catch sight of the time. “We better start heading to the combat room.”
We push through the doors of the combat room to see the rest of our class mates already here with Rylan and Ben talking to each other up the front. Rylan notices our entrance and turns to face us all. “Wow, you’re actually early for once,” he says with an impressed smirk.
I grin knowing just how rare this very moment is and how ironic as it’s our last day ever meeting as a group and will never have the chance to get it right again.
“Alright, we may as well get started,” he says. “This is how today is going to go,” he adds, holding up a piece of paper for us all to see. I don’t miss the fact that my name is at the very bottom. “This is the order in which your trials will take place. You are each given twenty minutes to complete the course and let me tell you now, it is near impossible. Not one student in the last two years has been able to complete the course. Let’s make this year different.”
Great, looks like it’s a long day for me.
“From this point on, you are all to remain in this room. Ben and I will not be here so I trust you will all be warmed up and ready to go when the Council Official comes to get you,” he says. “Use your time wisely in here. If you have any last minute things that are causing you trouble, grab a partner and work on it.”
“Brax, you’re up first. I suggest you start warming up, as for the rest of you, get comfortable. It’s going to be a long wait,” he says before putting the schedule down for us all to study.
He dismisses everyone and he and Ben head towards the exit. I glance over my shoulder at him and he gives me the slightest nod of encouragement making me feel like I’ve got this.
We all sit down and lounge on the stairs while the guys go about stealing some speakers from the store room and turning this wait into a party. Brax nervously stretches and gets started on his warm up, so a few of us join in to help calm his nerves.
Not long after, the door is opened and the crazy sound of the crowd comes flowing in and Is heard even over the sound of the music we have blasting in here. A man in a suit who I’m pretty sure was at my vote at headquarters comes in, looking as imposing as ever and makes the boys around me fall into silence. “Braxton Willis?” the man calls out. Brax steps forward, making himself know. “You’re up, follow me.”
The moment they walk out the door together an eerie feeling settles over us. This is really happening. This is the end of our senior year, our last fight before we graduate. A smile settles over my face. I can’t believe I actually made it this far. Hell, I started the year almost positive I’d be kicked out of the Combat Program and then kicked out of The Guard all together, if it wasn’t for Rylan leading me down the right track, I’d be a goner.
I sit and wait, completely bored out of my mind. One by one the boys disappear from the room and the noise from outside grows louder and louder. This is insane. I pass the time by messaging Jacinta, but I can tell she isn’t into it, she’s too distracted with the fights happening before her, the fights I desperately wish I was watching. Though, I’ll just have to be happy that Jacinta is filming them for us all to watch later.
Every half hour I take myself for a quick job to keep my body warm. Trey and I practice a few moves on each other, but don’t do too much so we don’t wear down our energy.
Another hour passes and it’s just me and Trey left in the room. With Daniel out there now, Jacinta’s messages have completely stopped. The crowd roars and I grin as Daniel must have done something exciting to impress them. Trey lightly jogs up and down the room and soon enough, he’s whisked away.
Leaving me to my own thoughts.
Nerves begin to creep in, but I squish them down and wait for the official to come and get me. I don’t have to wait long this time which tells me Trey did a great job. I hear the crowd cheering for him and I flick off the music, knowing the official will be stepping through that door any second.
Just like clockwork, he appears before me. “Bianca,” he says, giving me a nod. “Let’s go.”
I follow him out and walk down to the back field. He leads me into a sectioned off area that still has my view of the course blocked.
I hear the crowd and those damn nerves creep up again, but this time, I can’t squish the bastards, they’re here for the long haul. I hear the announcer over the microphone, sounding like he’s opening for a professional boxing match. “Last but certainly not least, the girl who has surprised us all and stolen our hearts. The one we have all come here to see, please welcome Miss. Bianca. Moore.”
The crowd cheers and I’m ushered through the curtain and finally able to see the course that is about to make or break me.
My eyes widen in horror.
&
nbsp; Holy Shit.
This thing is ridiculous. There are targets for shooting everywhere, pretend buildings with ropes attached that I’ll be climbing over, rickety swinging bridges with flames underneath, a horizontal ladder to test my upper body strength, and rope to climb at the end with a bell at the top, that I’m assuming I have to ring.
Not to mention the surprise attacks I’ll get along the way. I take a deep breath and look up into the crowd to find Mom and Mille, who each gives me a nod and blow a kiss. I give them a tight smile and let out a shaky breath, wondering where Rylan is and desperately wanting his thoughts on this.
I focus on the course and follow the markers, committing to memory where I need to go and mentally working out the best way to get over each obstacle. This is going to be the most exhausting thing I’ll ever do, but it’s going to be so much fun.
I hear my name screamed from the stands and glance up to find little Morgan waving a huge sign up in the air and… What? Is she wearing a shirt with my face on it? God, I love her. I squint into the distance and try to make out her sign, ‘You can do it, Bianca.’ I grin up at her, loving that I’ve made such a great friend out of her. I won’t let her down. I’ll show her and every other girl in this place that we are just as good as the guys, if not better.
I snap my attention back to the course as I hear the announcer start the count down. Crap, I need to focus. “In three, two, one.” A loud buzzer sounds and I get straight into it, ignoring the sounds of the crowd cheering my name.
I dart out into the obstacle and draw my gun straight away. I take my first shot, even though the targets are placed at the end of the course, and a long distance shot isn’t required, I know my aim is just that good. The bullet sails through a gap in the rickety bridge and past the next few obstacles before burying itself deep into the dead center of the target.
The crowd cheer, but I don’t have time to waste. I sprint forward and come to my first obstacle, a huge wooden triangle looking thing with a net covering it which is designed to be climbed over. It almost seems too easy. I climb the weird triangle thing like some kind of monkey. I get to the top and don’t waste time with climbing down, I jump from the top and land in a low crouch, only to see two members of the Front Lines, dressed to the nines in their werewolf outfits, come out of nowhere.
My eyes dart around making sure they are the only threat in this area and I quickly get to work. The first guy hardly has a chance to react before I’m on him, and with one solid kick to the chest, he’s out for the count. The other one jumps at my back, but he is much bigger than the first ‘werewolf’, but I’ve been trained by Rylan Neill. I flip myself around and flick my leg up just in time to connect hard with his ribs. He stumbles to the side and I take the advantage, pulling out my training dagger and launching myself at his chest.
He goes down like a sack of potatoes.
Looking around, I make sure the coast is clear as I dart across the field to my next obstacle. A building stands at least ten meters tall with a rope connecting from the top. Shit. I have to climb it. I give myself a bit of a run up and launch myself up, grabbing the rope and begin running horizontally up the wall of the building.
Something catches my eye on the ground below and I look down to see a woman with plastic fangs and fake blood dripping from her mouth, reaching for the rope. I realize the nerves are gone and I find myself filled to the brim with excitement.
I hold on to the rope with one hand and use the other to wrap the rope up, keeping it just out of reach of the vampire. How am I going to kill her though? I keep climbing and feel the rope moving in my hands and look up to see another vampire waiting for me at the top. Shit. I’m hanging off a building with a vampire above and below me.
I keep climbing so the vampire above is about a body length away. He crouches down to try and pull me up closer to him which, unlucky for him, is just what I need. I hold on tight to the rope and push off from the wall. I use my body to get as much momentum as possible, I flip myself upside down and send my legs shooting up into the sky, nailing the guy in the chest and sending him flying off the side of the building. Shit. I hope I haven’t hurt the guy, but I don’t have time to dwell on it.
One down. One to go. I look down and notice the vampire still attempting to find a way up to me. I climb half way down the wall, push off the wall and send myself swinging from side to side. I hold on with everything I’ve got and I let go of one hand to grab my training dagger. I swing down past the vampire and she reaches out to catch me, but I lash out with the dagger, slicing along her neck. Awesome. That went better than I thought it was going to go.
I climb the rest of the way up the building and actually make it to the top. My arms are burning from the climb and I know I’ll have a nasty rope burn. I take a quick second to breathe and look out at the field to see two more targets and quickly take the shots, getting them right in the center, just as expected.
It’s probably a bit high, but I leap off the top of the building and land in a low crouch before darting across the field to the next obstacle. I find a low net and immediately dive to the ground and start my commando crawl through the mud beneath. I’m halfway through when the net begins shaking on top of me.
I flip onto my back to see a werewolf on top of the net, quickly making his way towards me. I dig into my pocket and pull out my training dagger once again.
The werewolf is just above me and I kick my feet up. He wobbles and gets his foot stuck in the net. I grin up at him and shoot my arm up through the net, my training dagger burying into his chest. His body goes limp on top of the net and I crawl the rest of the way out.
Wow. This is fun.
I dart to the next obstacle thinking I should have ‘The Eye of the Tiger’ as my backing track. That just how awesome I am doing. I’m nearly at the rickety bridge with flames below when I’m stopped by another vampire. A wicked grin spreads across my face as I realize this isn’t just any vampire, this is a Tessa vampire and I have been waiting to kick her ass for months. She cringes knowing what’s coming, but she puts up a good fight. “This is going to be brutal,” I warn her.
“I wouldn’t expect anything less,” she says right as my fist connects with her ribs.
A terrified scream has my attention taken away from Tessa and I look up at the bridge to see Jacinta laying in the middle with her hands and feet bound and a vampire on either end of the bridge, closing in on her. What the hell? Those flames below better be fake.
Tessa uses my distraction to her advantage and nails me with her knee. I gasp for breath, but I don’t have time to cry about it. I flick myself around and bring my leg up, delivering a powerful spinning kick to her head and instantly taking her out and hoping Mom got a thrill out of seeing me kick her ass.
I sprint the rest of the way to the bridge and climb up the stairs. The first vampire turns around to deal with me, leaving the other still slowly making his way along the unstable bridge towards Jacinta. I know I shouldn’t ask, but I have to know. “Is that real fire?” I ask the pretend vampire who saunters towards me.
“Nah,” he tells me, understanding where I’m coming from. I strike out my foot and kick him backward onto the bridge. I feel my body starting to tire, but I push through. He wobbles the second his foot comes down on the bridge and it creaks under his weight. I throw myself forward and hold onto the rope railings of the bridge and swing my legs around. Fanning towards him from the side and pushing him to the very edge of the bridge.
The whole bridge wobbles with his movement and Jacinta screams again, though this time I know she’s actually scared of falling to the ground. I give the vampire a hard push and he falls off the edge of the bridge, sending himself into the fiery pits of hell below or the fake fire that’s a meter drop.
I rush down the bridge and fly over the top of Jacinta, landing just before the other vampire and making the bridge wobble a whole lot more. The other vampire is a girl, bigger than me, but she doesn’t have my skill. I take her out in seconds
and rush back to untie Jacinta.
I get her off the bridge and send her on her way, but she sticks to me like glue. “What are you doing?” I hiss at her.
“I was told to stay by you until the very end,” she tells me.
“Right,” I sigh and take her hand before running to the next thing. A freaking horizontal wooden ladder crossing with water below. Great. How am I going to get her across that? She has absolutely no upper body strength.
Jacinta comes along beside me and I help her up onto the ledge. “This is so much fun,” she says besides me.
“Yeah,” I grunt, not really in the right mind frame for small talk. “Listen, you’re going to have to get on top of the ladder so you can crawl across,” I explain as she gets into position. I lace my hands together to make a step for her. “Come on, up you go,” I say as she puts her foot in my hands and I help launch her up to the top of the ladder.
She gets there easily. “Good, now crawl across. I’ll meet you at the other side,” I tell her as I jump up and catch onto the first step of the ladder and make my way across, just like a kid on monkey bars at the park. I beat Jacinta to the other side and am there to help her down.
“Freaking awesome,” she grins as we climb down.
I take a deep breath. Nearly finished. I spot one last target out the corner of my eye and instantly raise my gun and take the shot. I hardly even watch to see if it landed in the center. I know it did.
I grab Jacinta’s hand and tug her to the last obstacle. The rope with the bell at the top. Shit, I thought that was going to be the easy part, now, with Jacinta here, that has just become a million times harder.
I can see the rope getting closer. We’re almost there. This exhausting fight is almost over.
A body steps into my line of sight, shit. What now? My eyes instantly zone in on the figure before me and Jacinta doubles over in laughter beside me.
Rylan stands before me and I have to try my hardest to see him as a threat and not my boyfriend currently dressed as a fairy, with wings and all. I can laugh about this later, right now, I need to take him down.
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