by Addison West
“Now I think it is time you fight me.” He spoke as I finished to water. I shook my head. I could not go on.
“I can’t.” I breathed.
“Yeah, you can, and you will. Don’t tell me you haven’t been imagining punching me this entire session!” He laughed. “In the box.” He pointed at one of the painted boxes on the floor. I paused for a moment and then reluctantly got to my feet and walked over. My legs could barely hold me up. They felt like jelly. I entered the box and turned to face Colt. Smack. He swiped my feet from under me and I hit the ground hard.
“Get up.” He snarled at me and I did. He put me straight on my back again before I could even defend myself. “Why don’t you fight back?” He snarled. I got back up to my feet gingerly. My whole body was shaky from the continual impact with the ground. I remembered I still had not eaten anything since I arrived. He went to hit me again and I dodged it. I was dizzy.
“Better.” He muttered. He tried again and once again I managed to move out of the way. The third time I was not as agile, and he hit me hard knocking me to the ground and winding me. I couldn’t get up. I lay on the ground feeling pathetic and fully worn out. It was clear from the look on his face exactly what he thought of me.
“You won’t last here.” He remarked and walked off, leaving me on the ground breathless.
12
Aurora
7pm 6th September 2020
Half walking, half stumbling, it took me an eternity to get to the dormitory. The other hybrids were already gathered there. They were milling around chatting to each other. It looked like most of them had showered and changed since I had seen them outside doing their training. Sam was polishing their boots. Doe was the first one to notice me.
“Damn Rory, you don’t look so good.” She remarked as I stood in the doorway.
“Thanks. I feel great.” I jested and walked over to my bed slumping down on to it. Almost swearing at how uncomfortable it was. Cameron came running over to me a bottle in one hand and a plastic cup in the other. Kneeling in front of me, he handed me the cup without saying anything and I looked at him puzzled. He began to pour out some clear liquid which I realised was vodka when I saw the bottle properly. He gave me a generous helping. Then he took out a small vial of what looked like dish soap and tipped it in to the cup. Turning the whole cup of liquid bright green.
“That should help.” He smiled and hurried away to hide the bottle.
“What is it?” I asked.
“We call it a magic brew.” Doe informed me sitting next to me. “It’s 95% vodka and 5% healing tonic. Drink up.” She said and I went to take a sip. She would not let me drop the cup and instead kept tipping it until I had drunk the lot.
“Where did you get the vodka from?”
“Oh please, no one suspects William going and getting a night cap from the cellars.” Sam said behind me, I turned to look at them as they transformed into William and back again.
“That is awesome!” I slurred a little, the cup of vodka hitting me fast.
“When did you last eat?” Cameron said concerned as he saw me swaying.
“I didn’t.” I replied frowning. He lifted on of the beds and handed me something wrapped in tinfoil. I opened the foil and saw it was bread. I began to eat hungrily. “Thank you.” I mumbled between mouthfuls. “Are you the dormitory chef?” They all laughed.
“She needs some ice for those hands.” Mike was leaning against the wall in front of me. He promptly left. He seemed a little off with me.
“I think they are being silly trying to train you like that.” Doe said to me. “It’s just not right.”
“I don’t think they care about right or wrong.” I said solemnly.
“That is so true!”
James came walking into the dormitory and stopped dead when he saw me sitting on the bed.
“Are you bunking in here?” He asked.
“Looks like it.” I smiled.
“Nice! Is anyone using the showers?”
“No go right ahead.” Doe informed him. As soon as he was out of ear shot, she turned to me.
“So, you’ve met the Prince?”
“Briefly.” I replied.
“And?” She questioned, I was not sure what she was probing for.
“He seems nice.” I honestly did not know the guy.
“A little too nice if you ask me.” She said even though no one was asking, I began to wonder if Doe was a little bit of a gossip.
“What makes you say that?” I frowned.
“Well, he is always so cheery, no matter what. I mean the commanders have done some messed up things to try and break him and it doesn’t affect him at all. I mean the guy is a Prince a literal Prince. He is used to being treated like royalty, a VIP. They treat rats better than they treat him here.” Doe rambled on with her opinions.
“Doe, stop it!” Cameron butted in. “Maybe he is just a good guy.”
“Cammy you see the good in everyone, you thought Lance was nice until he put you in the infirmary with 44 stitches and two broken arms.” Doe corrected him. Training had clearly been brutal for them.
“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.
“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.” They both laughed. Sam rolled their eyes.
“They make that joke every day.” They informed me. “The first one hundred times it was funnier.” I giggled to myself.
“Did you remember anything yet?” James questioned, throwing a t-shirt over his head. Disappointing me.
“No not at all. I wish I could.”
“You mean you don’t know who you really are honey?” 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.
“Oh, I am, don’t you worry.”
“I think this girl needs another cup of vodka!” Doe laughed. “So, tell me about yourself, like the stuff you do know. You have some catching up to do!”
“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.
“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.
“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 ab
ility to turn, but I didn’t.” He sighed.
“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.
“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.
“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. 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.
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 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.
“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.”
“What about the others?” She whispered seeing them all still asleep.
“It’s more special training for you today.”
“No thanks.” She turned over on the bed. I pulled the sheets off her.
“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.
“Are you seriously hoping to watch?”
“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.
“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.
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
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.
“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.
“We will be fighting with these today.”
“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.
“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.”
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.
“I’m sorry.”
“Save it.”
“I’m going to get some help okay?” I asked her and stood up to leave.
“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.
“What happened?” Tristan asked me, looking at the girl on the floor who was visibly in a lot of pain.
“She fell off the beam.” I stated.
“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.
“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.
“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.
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. He was cautious as he put her arm in to a sling.
“Thank you.” She mumbled.
“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. “You are the best, I knew you would fix it.”
