There was a loud blaring that invaded my dreamless sleep like the honking of a car horn. Slowly, I rubbed my eyes with the back of my hands. Holly reached over and smacked the top of the alarm clock. The room was silent again.
I considered rolling over and going back to sleep, forgetting for a moment where I was and that it was my first day of training. When that fact returned to me, I sat up and brushed my long hair from my face. Holly tossed and turned, stretching her arms high above her head.
“Come on,” I urged as I got out of bed and went into the bathroom. “I want to make sure we have enough time to find our way to class. And I want to eat, too. That weapons guy didn’t let us eat at all last night.”
Holly rolled onto her stomach and grunted into her pillow. When she finally found the strength to sit up, her hair looked like a lion’s mane. There was a small dab of drool in the corner of her mouth. She reminded me of a wild animal waking up from hibernation.
The bathroom resembled any other standard hotel accommodations. There was a tub with a shower head, a toilet, a sink, and a cabinet for towels. Under the sink was an assortment of shampoos, conditioners, and body washes. I assumed they were free for us to use, so I grabbed a few and took them into the shower with me.
The water was warm on my skin and released the tension that had built up in my muscles. I rolled my head around to stretch out my neck. There was a strong pinch. I raised my hand to rub it and realized it was right where my birthmark was.
When I finished, I left the door open for Holly to take over and sat on my bed in a white towel. I laid my uniform out before me and ran my fingers over the bizarre fabric. Then, I picked up my necklace from the nightstand and clasped it around my neck. My fingers spun the wings around aimlessly.
Once I dressed, I stood in front of the full-length mirror and studied myself like I had in the dressing room. In the low light of the bedroom the outfit didn’t look as scandalous as it had before. True, it left little to the imagination of my form, but as I gave it a hard second look I realized that it was actually flattering to my figure. I looked the part of a Huntsman of the Chamber of Darkness, that was for sure. But could I do the job?
I sighed and turned away from my reflection. There was no use in obsessing over things I didn’t know. All I could do was go to the training, try my best, and if I failed then I failed. My top teeth sunk into my bottom lip. I really hoped I wouldn’t fail.
“Okay, I’m ready to go,” Holly said, stepping out of the bathroom in her uniform looking fresh and vibrant.
The slick black material contrasted with her curly red hair in an eye-catching way. It was almost impossible for me to look anywhere else. My eyes kept drifting over to her wild, large mane of hair and tall, skinny form.
“Do you think we should pull our hair back? If we’re doing physical stuff we don’t want it to get in the way,” I said with another quick glance in the mirror.
“Good point. Do you know how to French braid?”
It was the friendship bonding moment little girls dreamed about. But trying to tame Holly’s head of hair was more like a nightmare. Her curls had a mind of their own. No matter how hard I tugged and pulled to get them to stay in the braid, there was always an extra piece or two that fell out. I had to redo it at least four times, making us ten minutes late for breakfast.
“Forget about mine,” I said. “I’ll just put it in a ponytail.”
I swept it up quickly and tied it off on the back of my head. It was loose and sloppy, but I didn’t care. I had to get something in my stomach before it decided to revolt. We were halfway down the hall when it hit me—it was the first time since before Danny’s death I had any kind of appetite. The thought made me want to smile and cry at the same time.
The mess hall wasn’t far from the initiates’ wing. It was set up cafeteria style, but somehow more depressing. With no windows, they resorted to decorating the place with seasonal paper cut outs of trees, reindeer, and Santa Claus. In all the craziness I had forgotten that Christmas was only a few short weeks away. It would be the first Christmas I wasn’t with Cara since we were ten.
I pushed through the turnstile and grabbed a tray, fork, spoon, knife, and cup from the piles. As I slid down the line I craned my neck to get a good look at the limited choices. First up was something that looked like a big pile of pale mush, maybe oatmeal? I couldn’t be sure, but either way I wasn’t eating it. Next was something I could only guess to be a big tub of plain yogurt. Lastly, a giant bowl of assorted fruit. I grabbed two bananas, an orange, and a plate-full of strawberries before I filled my cup up with whole milk. I hoped it would fill my stomach until lunch.
Behind me, Holly filled her plate with everything she could get her hands on. She even took a large bowl of the mush. I wrinkled my nose when I got a whiff of it.
There were only six long tables set up in the middle of the hall. One was where the Chamber members sat. It wasn’t off limits to initiates, but none dared to sit there and risk getting on an instructor’s bad side. The other five tables were left to us. It seemed like the groups we split up into at the ceremony took over a single table each. Lucky for me, Ryker sat with his buddies elsewhere. Achilles and Atticus sat together, moving around their mush with their spoons.
“Good morning, ladies,” Atticus said with a smile. “I trust you had a better night’s sleep we did.”
“Oh, that’s right. You’re bunkmates with the devil himself. How was that?” Holly laughed as she set her tray down and took her seat. She dove right in to eating the colorless food on her tray.
“Please, he wishes he was the devil. He’s just some snotty rich boy with good hair,” Achilles said snidely.
I noticed several heads turned to look in our direction. They were doing their best to be discreet, except for Ryker and his friends, who bore their gazes into the back of my head like they were trying to set it on fire telepathically. I tried to ignore him, but the faint sound of them snickering sent a fire burning in my ears.
“How can you eat this stuff?” I turned my focus to Holly and her endless shoveling of food.
“It’s good. You should try it. Plus, it’s supposed to be good for our diet since we’ll be doing highly physical activities. This is packed with calories and all the good stuff that’ll keep us from burning out.”
Achilles and Atticus looked at each other and then back at their bowls. They shrugged their shoulders and raised a spoonful to their mouths. Smiles slowly spread across their faces.
“Wow, this is actually good!” Atticus said.
“Smells like ass,” Achilles chimed.
“But tastes delicious!” Atticus finished. “You should try a bit.” He loaded his spoon up with another mound-full and shoved it at my face.
I backed away. “No thanks.”
They laughed. “Oh, come on. Don’t be such a chicken,” Atticus said.
“When in Rome,” Achilles urged.
Holly used the back of her hand to muffle the sound of her giggling.
I sighed and rolled my eyes up to the ceiling. “Fine. I’ll do it.” I took the spoon and hurled it into my mouth as quickly as I could and swallowed. The thick, creamy taste lingered on my tongue. It was sweet and fruity…it was delicious!
“Wow!” I exclaimed. “Now I wish I’d gotten a bowl.”
Everyone laughed together. Atticus shoved his bowl toward me and insisted I take it while he shared with his brother.
Suddenly, there was a low, animalistic growl from behind, followed by the loud bark of a dog. I jumped in my seat and whipped my head around. Ryker and his two friends were rolling with laughter, slapping their knees and pointing.
“What’s the matter, Paige? Scared?” Ryker roared with laughter. Once he finally gained control of himself, his face tightened back to its usual scowl. “Better grow some tougher skin, not that it’ll matter. They never should have let non-descendants in. They’ll realize that when they see how pathetic you are.”
Holly, Atticus, a
nd Achilles all jumped to their feet at the same time. Holly was closest to Ryker. She closed the gap and towered over him with a menacing glare. “If you don’t back off, I’ll make you sorry you were ever born,” she hissed.
“Oh, honey,” Ryker said, standing up slowly with a smirk. “I wasn’t just talking to Paige. The same goes for you, non-descendant. Don’t think I don’t know about your mother, or should I say godmother?”
Before she could say anything he picked up his tray and nodded to his friends. They walked out of the mess hall together. Holly stood in front of their table, heaving furiously as her face turned a shade of red that matched her hair. I walked up to her and put my arm around her shoulder to guide her back to our table.
We finished our breakfast in silence. I fondled my necklace and ate the rest of the fruit on my plate. It seemed like I wasn’t the only one infuriated by Ryker Alexander. As Holly’s breathing returned to normal I looked over at her discreetly. A smiled tugged at the corners of my lips, but I willed it away. There was a warm feeling spreading throughout my heart as I thought about my three new friends standing up for me.
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Broken Angel (Book 1 in the Chronicles of a Supernatural Huntsman series) Page 15
