Fuck You, Mate

XXXVIII

Alice's POV

The flight had been a few hours in a private plane alone, with one council member. I had stared out the window, taking in all the shapes below. My wolf wanted to feel the air moving through her fur and I wished we had been able to run or bike there instead of flying.

The council member had worked very hard to not stare at me. But after his failed attempts at small talk, he took out a laptop and left me alone.

We only flew for a few hours, crossing water and land, heading north until there was mostly forest below.

We went into what looked like a fairly large building and they showed me to a room and said training would start in a few hours.

I looked around the room. Twin bed. Concrete walls. Tile floor. Counter against one wall. I looked inside but it was mostly empty.

They had put my bag into a locker upstairs before showing me to the basement. There were other rooms across the hall and down the corridor, all seemingly the same.

I laid down and shut my eyes. Better to face whatever the hell this training would be well rested than tired. I'd had to be up at 3 am to get to the flight on time.

------

I woke up to the sound of water crashing to the floor. I was still wearing my cargo pants, hoodie and boots. There was water filling the room. Fast.

There was water coming from three pipes; one under the bed, one by the door, and another in the ceiling. They hadn't been visible when I came in.

I went over to the door, but the handle wouldn't turn. I chuckled. I guess this is the first step. My wolf nudged me to get going.

I pulled the bed away from the wall and inspected the pipe. No tap or controls. Obviously. But have to check. The water was two feet high once I'd inspected two of them. I looked at the third and then ripped the bedsheets off the bed. I stuffed it in the pipe by the door and the one on the floor. The ceiling was too high for me to reach the pipe. The bedsheet slowed the water, but didn't stop the water from coming into the room. But slower was good.

I closed my eyes to try to remember anything that had stood out in the room. The water almost to my waist.

I kicked my boots off while I thought through. I went back to the counter and pulled open the doors, completely covered by the water, which was now slowing my movements and soaking through every piece of clothing I was wearing. I took a deep breath and ducked underwater. The water stung my eyes, and I moved to the next counter. Pulled the door open, took a deep breath, and ducked under.

There were two different walls under the counter, and after a couple more jaunts up for breath, I removed a panel and found the controls behind it and shut the taps off.

The water stopped and I went across the room, grabbing my boots. The bed was soaked, so I went and scoured the rest of the room. There was a loose piece of pipe in one drawer and I tossed it onto the bed.

The water was down to knee height again, so I took my hoodie off and rung it out. I wasn't sure what would happen when this water disappeared, but I didn't want to face it wet.

I dumped my boots out and rung my socks out on the bed before putting them back on. Soaked, but better than freezing cold feet.

The drain came into view on the floor. It was a slightly different shade than the rest and was just a piece of the floor lifted. Sneaky. It had blended in with the floor. I hadn't noticed.

I would definitely have to take in my surroundings better next time.

Suddenly a loud metallic growl sounded and the door light turned green.