by Elle Grace
“It was my own fault.” Cameron added. “I fell over and...”
“Yeah straight on to Lance’s fist over and over again.” Doe finished and Cameron looked at his feet.
“I guess you are telling me to be careful?” I said.
“Yes, exactly. Girl, you know what I am thinking!” Doe confirmed. She got up from the bed. “I like you Rory!”
“How have you guys survived months of this?” I asked. “The training and the vile behaviour I mean.”
“We have each other.” Cameron said sitting the other side of me.
“That adorable Cameron!” Doe said. Sam smiled. It really seemed like they had a good bond. James came out of the bathroom wearing only a towel wrapped around his hips and it took me a minute to gather my thoughts. He had the body of a god. Toned in all the right places.
“I think we need to call someone.” He said. I picked up my jaw off the ground.
“Yeh, why’s that hun?” Doe asked.
“The water is absolutely freezing.” He replied and they both laughed. Sam rolled their eyes.
“They make that joke every day.” They informed me. “The first one hundred times it was funnier.” Sam shouted at them and I giggled to myself.
“Did you remember anything yet?” James questioned, throwing a t-shirt over his head and coming over to my bunk. Disappointing me by getting dressed.
“No not at all. I wish I could.”
“You mean you don’t know who you really are hun?” Doe enquired.
“Well I do, I’m not an amnesia patient or anything but I don’t know anything about being a hybrid. I mean I know a little more now after I had a bit of a lesson with Tristan, but they all keep saying I should have known all this stuff and who I was well before I came here, and I just didn’t.” I replied.
“That’s insane, I surprised you aren’t really freaked out babe.” I had a feeling Doe was a woman who loved to call people pet names. A lover of terms of endearment.
“Oh, I am, don’t you worry.” I laughed.
“I think this girl needs another cup of vodka!” Doe laughed too. “So, tell me about yourself, like the stuff you do know. You have some catching up to do! We’ve have all been here a few months and grown sick of each other.”
“There is not really a lot to tell, I was meant to be going to college in the fall, but I guess that isn’t happening now. I lived with my two dads in Falcon Heights, Minnesota. One of my Dads is a lawyer and the other works for an electronics company.” I stated realising that there really was not a lot to tell. I felt like it was all very empty.
“So, your Dads were Inperium?” Doe asked confused.
“No. I was adopted. My biological parents were Inperium, well so I have been told. They died though.” I answered. I was beginning to realise how little I knew about them. About anything.
“I was adopted too.” Cameron chimed in with a smile. “My parents are alive though. Well I think they are. They just didn’t want me.” He continued smiling but there was a clear sadness there. “My dad is an actual werewolf from Immortuus, my mum was a hybrid. They hoped I would have inherited his ability to turn, but I didn’t.” He sighed longingly.
“Wow my parents are the complete opposite, they hate the fact that I got my mum’s shapeshifting abilities.” Sam jumped in.
“I think it is kind of cool.” I said honestly.
“It is and it isn’t, it is hard not just being a single person. I think I change personality every time I change.” Sam spoke a little solemnly. “At least that is what it feels like.”
“Can you change by choice?” I asked fascinated.
“I can, but I can’t keep the same appearance past one cycle of the full moon. Then my shape is changed for me and I can never be the that same appearance again.” Sam answered. I looked at the others who were watching Sam. The Prince seemed to be watching me. He was so handsome, I felt myself blush. I was really starting to like Prince James and the way he looked at me. It was nice to have something good to look at.
“What about you Doe?” I asked and she burst to life.
“Well, I don’t know my dad.” She replied. “But my mum is super cool, like the best ever. She had me train here for a while as a kid because she worried about me. However, I really wanted to be a model, like since I could remember, so my mum moved us out to Europe to try and get me where I wanted to be. We ended up in Milan and I was just starting to get some great bookings when the Inperium showed up and explained it was my duty to be here. By the time I go back I will probably be too old and out of it.” She sounded a little dejected and I understood why. She had her dream taken away; I was beginning to feel her pain.
“It’s not all bad, we got to meet each other!” Cameron beamed at us. He was sweet but I had begun to work out his smiles hid a real sadness underneath them.
13
Colt
5am 7th September 2020
I had been awake for a few hours; she was on my mind. Not for some romantic reason but because I still believed she had no place in the Inperium. She was weak, physically and mentally. We could all see it. I had watched the red glow of the alarm clock all night until it slowly faded as light beamed in through the window bringing the next day with it. The clock read five am and I wished I had gotten some sleep.
I think Aurora puzzled me more than anything. She claimed she knew nothing about the Inperium and her heritage yet everything she was seeing and going through did not seem like some big shock to her. Maybe she is trying to play it cool, I thought. Or was there something more?
She was a real beauty, even I could admit that. There was something about her. I think that is why I was being so harsh on her. I needed to be mean to keep myself from liking her. Afterall she was a Mult and being with a Mult was more work than it was worth. There was a resilience in her. All the of the hybrids seemed to have it. I suppose it was something I wished I and the rest of the commanding officers had. Instead we had people like Lance and Caitlyn in control and they were just brutal vile human beings.
I thought about my own behaviour and how I was becoming more like them every day. The Inperium was taking away my humanity. At least I could recognise it, I supposed. I hated what I was becoming.
I got up and prepared for my morning run as I did every morning. After I was dressed, I decided to go and wake Aurora up to join me. It would be good for her training, I told myself that was the only reason. I think I perhaps wanted her to succeed more than I was letting on.
I entered the hybrid dorm stealthily not wanting to wake any of them. Luckily her bed was close to the door.
“Wake up Sleeping Beauty.” I was making fun of her name. I shook her awake, whispering in the dormitory so I did not wake the others. Her eyes flickered open and I could see she did not appreciate it. “Time to wake up.” She looked confused as she glanced around the room.
“What about the others?” She whispered seeing them all still asleep.
“It’s more special training for you today.” I smiled.
“No thanks.” She turned over on the bed. I pulled the sheets off her. Exposing her to the cold, she wriggled in protest.
“Either get up now, or I pour a bucket of cold water over you.” I hissed at her. She reluctantly got out of bed. “Get changed.” I stood and waited. Looking at her.
“Are you seriously hoping to watch?” She was mad and she was definitely not a morning person, I thought.
“I will be waiting outside the door in two minutes.” I had not even thought about how I was watching her; I just did not want her to get back into bed again.
Two minutes later she left the dorm and walked up to me outside.
“So what training is it this morning?” She asked miserable.
“You are coming with me on my run.” I said as I set off up the stairs and she audibly huffed.
She cast me a dirty look thinking I could not see it. I smiled, maybe she was not at weak as I thought.
14
Colt
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11am 7th September 2020
After Aurora had finished with Tristan, she sauntered into the training room where I had laid out something new. I looked her up and down. She looked exhausted. I rolled my eyes.
“What is this?” She asked looking at the six-foot-high balance beam that towered above her.
“I noticed yesterday that you are a little all over the place when you fight. This is to help you to control your movements.” I replied. “As we have limited time, we need to work on as much as we can.”
I threw a wooden pole at her and she caught it. I was pleasantly surprised, at least she had some coordination, I thought to myself.
“We will be fighting with these today.” I grinned.
“Okay.” She did not even try and argue. It surprised me. I gave her a boost up on to the balance beam and pulled myself up. She struggled to gain her balance long before we even began to practice fight.
I decided to teach her a few moves with the stick before we put them to practice. To my surprise she picked them up quite quickly. Her form was looking much better already. Even after only a day.
“Now let’s use those moves.” I said calmly and she nodded.
The first twenty minutes or so were good. I gradually began to move faster, and she was fighting back well. She was really improving fast and it gave me some hope for her trial that was coming up. I made a sweep with my stick to her legs. She tried to block me but was a little slow. My pole collided with her leg, just hard enough to knock it to the right and her whole body lurched right, suddenly.
She fell.
The thud when she hit the ground sounded terrible and I could have sworn I heard bone crunch. I climbed down off the balance beam quickly. She was trying to sit up wincing in pain. As she noticed me, she tried to shuffle back away from me. I felt terrible.
“Don’t touch me!” She snarled, fear in her eyes. She clutched at her shoulder as she shuffled away from me further. I think she thought I had knocked her off on purpose.
“I need to see if you are hurt Aurora.”
“I’m fine.”
“Cleary not.” He stepped towards her.
She tried to move her arm to get up and swore from the pain she was clearly in.
“Let me help you.” I pleaded. I was beginning to feel really bad.
“No.” She whispered. Tears formed in her eyes.
“Why?” I asked.
“Because you don’t want to help me. You just feel bad for pushing me off the beam. You don’t care, I’ve heard you call me a mongrel. You are worse than Lance and Caitlyn. So, don’t pretend to suddenly care or want to help me.” She shouted at me.
Her words hurt; I knew I had been harsh on her. Perhaps too harsh. It made me question myself. Why was I being this way? I asked myself.
“I’m sorry.” I sighed.
“Save it.” She snapped.
“I’m going to get some help okay?” I asked her and stood up to leave, not completely sure what to do.
“Why do you hate me so much?” She stopped me for a second. I brushed off her question and went to find Tristan as I knew he would fix it. He always did.
A few minutes later I returned with Tristan. Aurora had given up with her shuffling and was laid down on the floor. Looking at the ceiling trying to breathe through the pain.
“What happened?” Tristan asked me, looking at the girl on the floor who was visibly in a lot of pain. Pain, I had caused.
“She fell off the beam.” I stated simply.
“Did she?” Tristan narrowed his eyes at me, silently asking for more details.
“More like pushed off the beam.” She retorted. Tristan shot me a look.
“Where does it hurt, Rory?” He asked Aurora. I was instantly jealous; she had clearly told him to call her that. She had not felt comfortable enough with me to let me have that small sign of friendship. It made me reflect on my own actions even more.
“My shoulder and the side of my chest. It hurts to breathe” She said calmly.
“Can I have a look at your side?” He asked and she nodded. He lifted her t-shirt carefully. Bruises were already visibly forming. He gently felt around, and she swore under her breath at him.
“It looks like your ribs might be bruised.” He informed her. Next, he looked at her shoulder. It was clearly out of place. Her whole arm was slumped to a weird angle. “I also think your shoulder is dislocated.”
“What do we need to do?” I asked. Tristan ignored me. I wanted to help
Tristan opened his bag and pulled out a small vile of healing tonic. It was something that the Inperium had always used. It was a formula gifted to Thomas Walsh himself back when he ran the Inperium. It was created by witches and only worked to heal hybrids. He gave it to her, and she drank it.
“Hold her still.” He said to me and followed his directions. As he carefully sat her up and moved her arm. Popping it back into place. There was an audible noise and I shuddered. She swore at the pain. Tristan was cautious as he put her arm into a sling.
“Thank you.” She mumbled at him.
“Now that healing tonic will take care of your ribs in next couple of hours and your shoulder too. No more training for the rest of the afternoon Rory.” He told her. “You need to get some rest. I’m also going to get the canteen to send you some food to the dorm, you are looking a little bit pale.” He smiled at her and she thanked him again.
“Thanks Tristan.” I said to him as he stood up casting me a look. “You are the best; I knew you would fix it.”
“Can I have a word?” He pulled me outside of the gym door. I could see he was beyond angry at me.
“You need to calm down Colt.” Tristan warned me. I knew what he was getting at. Honestly, I had been calmer with her, it had just been an accident.
“I’m trying.” I replied.
“Well try harder before you kill the girl.” He spat.
Tristan stormed out and I could see he was mad. He was not like the rest of us. He always treated the Mults well. I suspected it had something to do with his half-sister. Although it was never confirmed I think she was a Mult. Sadly, she died years before in a nasty accident along with Tristan’s father. I had found out about it through rumours and gossip, but I knew his pain.
I walked over to Aurora. I wanted to help her back to the dormitory. As I came close to her, she looked at me suspiciously.
“Why aren’t you being vile to me today?” She asked. She did not seem as upset now that the pain had subsided.
“Because it isn’t right, you don’t deserve it.” I was honest.
“What changed your mind?” She frowned.
“You surprised me.” I said honestly and she regarded me for a moment before walking away.
15
Aurora
2pm 7th September 2020
My shoulder still hurt from where it was healing. My head still hurt from my conversation with Colt. I shook my head thinking there must be something wrong with me because I was still finding him attractive. He did nothing but degrade and hurt me.
I just felt a little weary. Walking into the dormitory I was surprised to see Cameron in there too, he was obviously finished for the day. He looked weary too.
“Hey Rory.” Cameron was quick to notice me. “Oh, you look like poop on a stick.” He said honestly. “Sorry I mean your beautiful and all but right now you aren’t looking too well.”
“I’m okay.” I smiled at him.
“Do you need a magic brew?” He asked.
“Nope, already had the 5%. I just need to sleep.” I winked at him.
“Good luck with that.” He laughed. “It’s Sam’s Monday night poker game tonight.”
“Really?”
“Yes, its tradition.” He smiled.
“Where are the others?” I asked.
“They are all outside hanging out, I like to get here and shower early. I don’t like people seeing me… without clothes.” He confessed. He seemed to be able to trust me.
“You shouldn’t worry about it. No one in here would be nasty to you.” I tried to smile, to reassure him.
“I know they wouldn’t but still.” He looked down.
“I understand.” And I did, I had my own body hang ups, like everyone does. “So, who always wins at poker?” I asked, changing the subject.
“Mike, I think he counts cards or something, bloody Brainiac.” He laughed.
“He doesn’t like me, does he?” I sighed.
“Who?” He pretending he had not understood me.
“Mike.” I confirmed.
“I think he does.” Cameron smiled, but he was clearly hiding something.
“Then why doesn’t he speak to me or he runs out of the run every time I’m here?” I pressed the matter.
“I think he feels guilty.” Cameron said.
“What for?” I frowned at him.
“I can’t say.” Cameron tried to busy himself tidying his locker.
“Yes, you can. Tell me.” I said turning him around. Doe walked into the Dorm room, she looked puzzled.
“Tell you what hun?” She asked.
“Why Mike feels guilty and won’t speak to me or be around me.” I answered, still staring at Cameron.
“Cameron Turner, why is it that you cannot keep your big mouth shut?” Doe was a little mad but more frustrated.
“I can’t help it, she’s just too pretty.” He confessed and Doe cracked up laughing. I blushed.
“Oh hun!” She playfully punched him lightly in the arm.
“So, what is the reason?”
“I really should not be telling you babe.” Doe said but I had a feeling she was going to tell me anyway. “Mike is young and when he first got here was highly influenced by Lance. He would spy on us and tattle on us. I think he did it because he could see how Lance treated us and wanted to not be put through that. We all understood. He is a lot younger than us.” She stated and I nodded. I could understand it to.
“So, what has that got to do with me?” I questioned.
