Underground Darkness: Book 1 of the Powers Children Series

Chapter 3

The next morning, all of my roommates leave at 8:15, going to their normal classes. I don't bother changing out of the sweatpants and T-Shirt that I slept in, so after an extra 30 minutes of sleep, I get ready and make my way down to the gym. The communal gym is two levels, with a basketball court and indoor track on the bottom floor, and then stairs up to a surrounding floor covered in various workout machines. On the upper floor, I find Commander Jars, who after noticing that I'm early guides me toward the back of the gym. There are vending machines with energy drinks, towel racks, and locker rooms, but past it all are a set of three doors that I haven't noticed before. He unlocks one, guiding me into the training room full of all sorts of gadgets, benches, and a large tumbling mat covering the entire floor.

"From now on, you report here every day. Now go change," Jars leaves me in the room, and I find the Girls locker rooms, quickly pulling on the body suit and shoes. I lock up my bag and return to the training room, sitting on the mat while I wait for others. Of course, the next person in is none other than Spade.

"Hello, gorgeous," he smiles, sitting down next to me. He holds out his arms expectantly, and I hug him, not really wanting to in the first place.

"Did you know that you smell like apples?" he comments casually, turning to face me.

"Did you know that you're annoying?"

"Hey! How'd you know that was my middle name?"

I curse myself for smiling. A few people enter the room seconds later, and from then on the flow is continuous until Jars is the last person.

"All right, separate yourselves. Waters in that corner, Earths and Airs in that corner, Fires in this one, and everyone else over there," Jars gestures around the room, and Spade and I go our separate ways. There are only four people in my corner, including me. The lightning girl, Jade, looks at the floor and nothing else, so all I can see is her brown and purple hair. The invisibility boy, August, runs his hand nervously through shaggy blonde hair, his shimmery green eyes displaying nervousness. One last girl, named Orea, has silvery-blue hair and brown eyes, and she looks calmer than the rest of the room. Jars sets up the rest of the room, practicing on machines and with each other. He makes it to our side of the room and shakes his head at the group of ragtags clustered on the floor.

"Jade, there's a lamp over there. Occupy yourself until I can get the other machine working. August, see how silent you can be. Scare 5 people and I'll let you go early. You two, I'll be working with exclusively,"

Jars opens up a case on a nearby table, pulling out a knife.

"Lyra, you take the knife, toss it at Orea. Orea, form a force field around either you or the knife to neutralize the threat. Increase the number of knives until you run out, then switch positions. Orea attacks and Lyra defends. Proceed," Jars instructs carefully, finishing his command by tossing the knife in the air. It blurs into focus and stops by my command, and I lamely toss it at Orea. It shimmers with waves around it and a perfect circle protects it. It bounces off the ground until she lets it go, waiting for the next one. This one I throw a little bit harder, but it only seems to throw her off a little.

"Come on! Jars said you were dangerous. And powerful! Show me some of that!"

Orea grins, flipping her hair over her shoulder. I smile back, tossing two knives, then four, until I'm out. She collects them, not having been touched by a single one.

"You totally had the edge," I joke as I hand her the last knife.

"That I'll admit. Your turn,"

I stand a good distance away as she twirls the knife in her hand. She swings, releases, and I catch it in air, pushing it away. Two more come without hesitation, and I twist away from one, batting the other out of the air. Faster they come, and when I can't dodge them anymore, I focus on the case, rip it from the table, and the knives clatter to the ground, defenseless against the outside shell of the case.