Waters of Lethe, Book 2

53. Exhaust

I woke up in my bed at the safe house, a massive headache preventing thoughts from coming into my brain. All I could think about was how bad it hurt and how incredibly foreign the feeling was. I hadn't had a migraine in years.

I pulled the cover over my head to block out the early morning light. It was eerily quiet in the room, making me wonder if Enzo was still asleep or if he were already up and gone to complete his daily training and other tasks. I didn't know if I had daily training today. I couldn't remember. I remembered, however, that there were consequences to missing training or quality time in the weapon room. The migraine was preventing me from caring.

I tried focusing on something else as I pressed my comforter into my eyes. I thought of Enzo again and tried to listen for his silent breathing. If he were still in the room, I could hear him if I focused hard enough. What I heard was someone much closer to me than Enzo's bed was.

I pulled the comforter from my face and Alex was there, sitting at the foot of my bed, watching me. His hair was in a mess. His clothes were his usual, a white shirt and jeans. I imagined he had his boots on, as I never saw him walk around barefoot. Always ready to go.

The feeling that swelled up in my heart when I saw him was odd. I was glad to see him. 

"What?" I asked, forgetting the pounding in my head for a moment.

"I've been waiting for you to wake up," he shrugged, as if he were just pointing out a fact that I should have known, should have learned long ago.

"Why?"

He sighed. If it were any more subtle, I would have missed the small air of confusion that surrounded him. "They did more testing on everyone yesterday. They think something happened to our heads—to our brains. Because a few people are... out of it. And we got someone new. A few people remember us getting him, but... I don't."

I sat up, realizing I was wearing a baggy black tank when my bare arms hit the cooler air around me. "Wait," I started. "Something happened to our heads...?"

"We've been put through testing before, you know. They think maybe our brains have.. adapted. Whatever we are, the part inside us that's enhanced is more resistant to testing."

I put a hand over my eyes, blocking everything out. Alex's explanation didn't make sense. And that's what I told him.

"I don't get it either," he admitted, putting his large hand on my knee, still hidden by blankets. "Some of the people outside—Dee, Enzo—have had a few side effects."

"Enzo?"

"Yeah," he laughed quietly. "Who knew he was so... resistant?"

Although I cared about both boys, needed them to keep me sane and safe, I felt somewhat offended on Enzo's behalf. "Are you saying he's not strong?" I knew that Enzo was one of the weaker ones. Right off the bat, he was nice. He was so nice that it cost him fights, competitions. He would even sometimes lose to opponents that we all knew he could beat. He didn't want to beat Piper in anything because he thought he had an unfair advantage, him being bigger and her being smaller.

Alex squeezed my knee. "No," he said gently. "What I mean is... I guess there's a lot we don't know about everyone here. Stay alert."

And with that, he left, giving my knee one more squeeze before he got up and quietly walked out. When he shut the door behind him, I got up. I looked around the room, feeling as if I hadn't seen it in a while. I didn't remember going to bed last night, nor did I remember putting on what I was wearing— a tank that dipped a little to low in the front and a pair of black running shorts. No socks.