by Sarah Carter
“I’m sorry, Master Damien,” Alex stammers, with his eyes wide in fear.
“Damien,” Claire murmurs, stepping in front of him. “Please, calm down.”
Damien looks at her. “Claire, you have a lot of pull with me, but this isn’t something I can back down from.”
She puts her hands on the sides of his face. “Please, for me. Just let this go. Please.”
“Claire, baby,” he whispers, locking his eyes on hers. “The guard works for the council. He’s a guard member to me before he’s your friend.”
“But he’s my friend first,” Claire replies softly. “Please, Damien, don’t do this.”
He exhales and leans his forehead on hers. “Fine.”
“Thank you.”
Looking back up at Alex, Damien says, “You’re on thin ice, so watch it. You can’t touch her for your safety, not hers.”
“Oh,” Alex retorts.
“Yeah, oh,” Damien quips back.
“Come on, let’s go to the gym,” Claire almost exclaims in nervousness.
Draping his arm over her shoulders, Damien replies, “Let’s.”
Claire’s gaze drifts to Alex but she can’t read his expression. It’s either gratitude mixed with annoyance or just pure anger. She bites her lip and then turns to walk with Damien.
They go down a few flights of stairs and turn down a corridor. Looming before them is a massive room.
Claire’s jaw drops. “No way! It’s a training facility, with the real training obstacle course!”
“Yeah,” Damien replies. “They hook you up to a harness.”
Claire notes the different levels of difficulty. There are the standard walls to scale and things to climb across, but what catches Claire’s eye are the varying pillars and bars across the ceiling. “I’m so doing that.”
“Those are for training the guard,” Damien replies. “It’s tough. You have to jump from pillar to pillar and pretty much trapeze yourself across the bars on the ceiling.”
“I haven’t even done it,” Alex interjects.
“I so am,” Claire declares with excitement in her voice. Turning to Damien, she asks, “Can I do it now?”
“I don’t know, Claire,” Damien replies with hesitation.
“She can do it. Trust me,” her grandfather says from behind.
Spinning around, Claire squeals, “Do you really think so?”
“I trained you. I know so.”
“Miss Livingston?” Mr. Paulson and the doctors come up next to them. “Are you ready?”
“Yeah.” Claire rubs her hands together. “What do you want me do first?”
“Simplistic exercises in the beginning,” Mr. Paulson answers. “Running is our first choice.”
She shrugs. “Okay. Around the track or on a treadmill of some sort?”
“It doesn’t matter to us,” Dr. Galliger says. “We’re going to increase speeds, so maybe the treadmill.”
“Sounds good to me.”
“Come this way, then.” Dr. Galliger leads her to the wall. There is a rectangular platform and Claire looks down at it.
“I just get on there and run?”
“Yup,” Dr. Galliger replies. “Whenever you’re ready.”
Claire climbs onto it, takes a step forward, and the platform moves, so she starts to run. The platform easily follows her speed, which she maintains at a steady jog. She looks to the side. Mr. Paulson, Dr. Galliger, and Dr. Rollins all have tablets and are looking at them.
It makes Claire giggle.
After a few minutes, Dr. Rollins looks up. “Okay, increase your speed.”
“To how fast?” Claire asks.
“As fast as you can go,” Dr. Rollins replies.
“Okay.” Claire she takes off running at full speed.
After a few seconds, Damien gasps. “Oh my god.”
“She’s fast,” Alex states.
“Claire should probably slow down.” Damien sounds concerned. “She could seriously hurt herself.”
“Nonsense,” her grandfather retorts. “This is what she does.”
Pushing herself, Claire caps off at her fastest speed. She can feel it through every inch of your body. Dr. Galliger asks, “How long can she keep this up?”
“At this speed,” her grandfather replies. “Oh, about a half an hour.”
“Seriously?” Damien gasps.
“Mmhmm.”
After a minute, Dr. Galliger shouts, “Okay, slow down and stop.”
Claire does exactly that and when she stops, she puts her hands on her hips. “How was that?”
“Incredible.” Damien laughs.
“You aren’t winded at all?” Dr. Rollins asks.
“Nope,” Claire answers.
She nods. “Interesting.”
“Now what?” Claire sighs.
“Now we want to test your strength,” Dr. Galliger says. “Let’s go to the weight machines.”
“Okay,” Claire says as she walks over to them. “What do you want to do first?”
Mr. Paulson asks, “How much can you dead lift?”
“Normally, or when I’m mad?” Claire inquires.
“Just normally for now,” Mr. Paulson says.
“About seven hundred pounds,” Claire replies.
“What?” Damien gawks at her.
“Seven hundred pounds,” Claire enunciates.
Damien gives her a look, but smirks at the same time. “I heard you the first time. Another reason to not pick a fight with you.”
Claire wiggles her eyebrows.
“We’ll set up the machine,” Dr. Galliger says. “It’s a pulley machine but it’ll monitor what your maximum strength is.”
“Sounds good,” Claire replies. She walks over and grabs ahold of the handles.
Dr. Galliger pushes in a few things on a screen. “Alright. Whenever you want to go.”
Claire nods and pulls. There is instant resistance. By the time she gets the handles to her chest, it is a strain. Finally, she can’t pull anymore.
“Alright, you can stop.”
Claire lets go. “How much was it?”
“787,” Dr. Galliger replies. “That’s astounding.”
Claire giggles. “You should get me mad.”
“We’re going to do that tomorrow,” Dr. Galliger declares. “Master Damien says he needs a day.”
She turns to Damien. “A day for what?”
“You’ll see,” Damien retorts back with a mischievous smile, “And you’ll have to forgive me now.”
“What are you going to do?” Claire exclaims.
“I’m not doing anything personally. Don’t fret about that.”
Claire eyes him.
“I swear, I’m not going to do anything that hurts you,” he promises.
“Okay,” Claire replies, still concerned.
Mr. Paulson steps forward. “We want to work on other physical activity. That’s why I asked your grandfather here. He’s going to put you through some exercises.”
Clapping her hands, Claire says, “Excellent.”
“They’re also going to go through it.” Claire’s grandfather points to the side where the ship’s guard members are standing. “They need a little help, and their supervisor to put them in my hands.”
“Ha! Let’s show them how it’s done.”
“Alright, we’re going to get started.” Her grandfather walks to the front of the training mat. “Be ready for some intense activity.”
Claire practically skips over and takes her place on the mat.
“Okay, we aren’t going to stretch because you don’t get to stretch before a fight. So, get ready.”
Her grandfather begins pushing them through the exercises. They get more intense as time passes. These moves push Claire to her limits. A few guard members fall down throughout the drill, but Claire’s grandfather makes them get right back up.
Forty minutes later, Claire’s grandfather says, “You can stop.”
Claire plops down on her
back. Damien walks over and chuckles. “I’ve never seen you winded.”
“He knows how to push me,” Claire replies.
“I can see that,” Damien laughs. “Remind me to join in next time.”
“Sounds good to me,” Claire exhales back, trying to catch her breath.
Dr. Galliger comes up next to Damien. “That’s incredible. Your levels stayed pretty even throughout the exercises. Everyone else’s increased by a lot.”
“I’m winded, but I’m fine.” Claire sits up. “It only takes me about ten minutes to recover.”
“Interesting.” Mr. Paulson types something into his tablet.
“I think that’s enough for tonight,” Dr. Galliger says. “I would prefer that you try to sleep now. We’ll start early in the morning.”
“I think I can do that. I need to shower first. I’m ten shades of nasty,” Claire quips.
Damien sticks his hand out to her and helps her up. “You can take a shower in my suite.”
Her grandfather narrows his eyes. Claire nervously says, “No, that’s alright. I’ll take a shower wherever I’m supposed to.”
“Claire, really?”
“Yes, really,” Claire hisses. “Come on, let’s go.”
She grabs Damien’s hand and leads him to the door. He laughs but goes along. Damien takes her back to her room.
“Grab your stuff.” Damien kisses her on the cheek.
Claire smiles and goes into her room. She grabs some pajamas and toiletries. When she walks back out to Damien, Claire says, “All set.”
“Right this way.” Damien gestures down the hallway. They come to four doors. “Each of these is a bathroom. There are showers and everything you may need.” He pulls her into the first stall. “I’ll show you how it works.” Walking over to the shower, he says, “There’s this panel here. You choose the language and then work the controls from there. You can pick the exact temperature at which you want it. You can also pick where you want the water to come from. There are spouts all over the place. It’s pretty awesome.”
“Cool,” Claire says from the doorway.
“Yeah it is,” Damien replies, looking at her.
Slowly, with her foot, Claire shuts the bathroom door.
“What are you doing?”
“Nothing. Taking a shower.” Claire sighs. She walks over to him and whispers, “So, how does this work?”
When Damien doesn’t say anything, Claire turns to him. She starts to fiddle with the button on his shirt.
“Are you going to show me how it works so I can take a shower? Show me how to make it steamy and hot?”
He looks down at her, “Are you trying to seduce me?”
Biting her lip, Claire says, “Maybe.”
His eyebrows shoot up. “Seriously?”
Unable to keep a straight face, Claire bursts out laughing. “No. I just wanted to kiss you without prying eyes watching us.”
“Oh, I can handle that.”
Damien grabs her and kisses her hard. Claire wraps her arms around his neck, pulling him tightly against her. They kiss each other passionately and stumble backwards, hitting the wall. Damien’s hands start to go up the back of her shirt.
Claire reaches down and stops his hands. “Hold on. Let’s not go too far.”
“Sorry,” Damien murmurs. “You just…drive me crazy.”
“The feelings are mutual. I’ve never felt this way before.”
“Honestly, neither have I. It’s almost a primal pull.”
“Not even with Kayla?” Claire asks. Damien shakes his head. “Really?”
Damien nods. “You rivet me to my core. I’ve never experienced that before.”
“Good.” Claire pulls him back down to kiss her.
Finally, after a while, Damien pushes away from her. “We need to stop. You need to take a shower, and so do I, and then I need to get some sleep.”
“Okay,” Claire exhales. “Why don’t you just go for the night? You can shower and get to bed.”
“Are you sure?” Damien inquires. “I don’t want to leave you alone.”
“I’m a big girl. I’ll be okay,” Claire replies softly. “You must be exhausted.”
“Actually, I feel a little wired,” Damien replies. “I think I’m overly tired.”
She leans up and kisses him gently. “Go. Get some sleep.”
“Okay,” Damien sighs. “I’ll come and get you in the morning. My father will probably be here.”
“I’m actually looking forward to meeting him…and his guard members.”
Damien rolls his eyes and groans. “That’s going to make me so nervous.”
“I’ll be fine,” Claire assures him. “I’m a lot tougher than that.”
“I know,” Damien chuckles. “Still, I care about you. I wouldn’t want you to get hurt…ever.”
“It won’t go so far as to get me hurt. I just have to show that I’m better than them. Alright?”
“Yeah.” Damien sighs. “I’m going to go now so I won’t think about it anymore, but I probably will anyway.”
Smiling at him sweetly, Claire says, “There are much better things that you could be thinking about.”
“Good point,” he murmurs back.
“Go take a shower.” Claire pushes him toward the door. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
“One good night kiss for the road?”
Claire kisses him gently and then smiles at him.
“Alright. See you in the morning, baby.”
“Okay. Good night,” Claire whispers.
Damien smiles, turns, and leaves.
Claire puts her hand to her chest and sighs. With a skip to her step, she goes over and starts the shower. It feels really good and it’s exactly what Claire needs. Putting on clean clothes feels even better.
While she walks back to her room, she hears, “Claire?”
Turning around, she sees Alex. “Oh, hey.”
“Hey, you left with Damien without saying anything.”
“I was just tired and desperately wanted a shower.”
“Oh. What are you doing now?”
“Going to bed. It’s late and that workout actually made me a little tired.”
Alex frowns. “Alright. I need to hop in the shower, too.”
“Dude, they’re awesome,” Claire says with excitement.
“That they are. I’ll see you in the morning then?”
“Yeah. Damien’s coming and getting me to meet his dad hopefully.”
“Alright. Well if you wake up before then, you know where my room is.”
“I know.” Claire smiles. No matter what, Alex is still one of her closest friends. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
Smiling, Alex says, “I’d give you a kiss on the cheek but I don’t want to be thrown in jail.”
“Yeah. You have to take that seriously, Alex. I only have so much pull with Damien.”
“I can’t believe he backed down because you asked him to. That’s incredible. I mean, you must be really good friends now.”
“We are,” Claire says. “Very good friends, but that’s beside the point. Go take a shower, and I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Good night, Claire,” Alex whispers.
With a smirk, Claire says, “Good night.”
She turns and walks down to her room. She puts her stuff away and sighs. Turning, she walks over to her bed. Her cell phone is sitting there. Claire picks it up and crawls under the covers. She looks up at the ceiling.
“I wonder how you turn the lights off…” she states, looking around. As if on command, all the lights turn off except for some ambient lighting in the corner. She whispers, “Creepy.”
She doesn’t feel sleepy at all, but she closes her eyes anyway. A while goes by, but sleep evades her. Aggravated, Claire exhales loudly. She picks up her cell phone and looks at it. Opening her messaging, Claire types: Do we have cell service here? and presses send.
A little while goes by, and then her phone pings. Claire
opens the message and it reads: Yes. What’s up?
Claire smiles and types: Were you sleeping?
Damien replies: Yes, but that’s okay. What’s wrong?
Nothing, go back to sleep, Sorry, is her reply.
Her phone pings and reads: No, what’s wrong?
She writes: Honestly, nothing, I just can’t sleep. I’m sitting in a space ship, in the hospital wing, someplace weird; that doesn’t make me sleepy. So, I’m just sitting here. Sorry, to have bothered you. Go to sleep.
Times goes by without a response and Claire sighs. “He must have fallen back to sleep. That’s good.” She rolls over and closes her eyes.
The door opens. Claire spins around to see Damien walking in.
He closes the door and smiles. “Entertainment at your service.”
Claire can’t help but laugh and smile.
Chapter 11
“What are you doing?”
“You couldn’t sleep, so I had to come entertain you.” Damien walks over to her. He walks to the other side of the bed and waves his hands. “Scoot over.”
Claire slides to the side and laughs. “Okay.”
Pulling back the blanket, Damien gets in beside her.
“Are you sleeping with me?”
“I’m in here only until you fall asleep,” Damien replies, rolling over onto his side to face her. Claire follows suit and faces him. “You smell like flowers.”
“Lavender. It’s body wash.”
“I use unscented stuff. The other body wash is too overpowering for my nose.”
Scooting closer to him, Claire leans forward and smells him. “Yeah, but you smell delicious on your own.”
“Why, thank you,” Damien murmurs.
They stare at each other. “Tell me something about yourself.”
“What would you like to know?”
“Why were you such a skank back in the day?”
With an exhale, Damien replies, “My family was pressuring me. They wanted me to find girlfriends and yes, I said ‘girlfriends’—and have children early in life. Not when I was fifteen, but around now, they wanted me to start reproducing.”
“Wow,” Claire whispers. “I mean, I know we’re a small race and need to expand, but that’s a lot to ask.”
“Well, if I had children with different women, then it would make for a stronger base to bring in new bloodlines.” Damien sighs. “I’m rich and girls love that. I’m good-looking and they love that even more. I lost my virginity at 14 and had girls throwing themselves at me left and right. I only slept with human girls, because my parents didn’t care about that. Really, they didn’t know until I got older. I was rebelling in the only way I knew how. I mean, don’t get me wrong—I was a hormonal teenager.”
