Blood Stains on Silk

Chapter 9

"Whoa, Lena, is that you?", Delphine said over the phone, "I feel like I haven't heard from you in, like, five months, man."

"Sorry, Delphine. Those training sessions keep me pretty busy, you know." Lena was on her way to the building one Friday morning for yet another session.

"Oh, yeah, that's right. You have important-talented-people duties to fulfill. I almost forgot."

"Are you making fun of me?" 

"No, well, sort of. I may be a little mad you're extra busy now. When will we get a besties night again?!"

"Yeah, I know, Del! I'm pretty deprived myself. We do really need a night to ourselves."

"Well, actually, now that I think about it, there could be a chance for us to hang out soon", Delphine mentioned, "So, you know my little sister Maddie? Yeah, well, her birthday's coming up and she's having a party at this great bar downtown. We've rented out the whole place and it's  gonna be awesome. Invite someone... you know, someone like... a comrade who trains with you?"

Lena caught on to what Delphine was implying and scoffed. "Okay, Del, I'll definitely be at the party myself but I'm not sure about that last part."

At that point, Lena arrived at the building, said goodbye to Delphine, and headed inside. She walked into the training room to find half of their team.

"Good morning, everybody", Lena greeted casually, setting her stuff down. "Where's, uh, Aria and Eden?"

"They went to the bathroom and said they'll be coming soon", Victoria said. 

"So, are you guys ready for the test today?", Moon asked as Lena came over and joined the group.

"Well, I guess. I mean, I think it'll be pretty easy actually", Lucas mentioned. 

"Oh, okay, got some confidence! That's good, Lucas." Moon said.

Lucas continued, "Yeah, me and Nathaniel will be fine but Elijah's kinda scared."

Elijah faced him, "No, I'm not. I'm just..."

"Hey, Lucas, leave Elijah alone. He's fine; he's got this", Lena said.

Suddenly, the other two trainees came into the room. "Oh, I think we're late, Eden", Aria murmured. 

"Wow, late on a test day? What do we charge for that, Moon?" Lena said jokingly. 

"Take points off of their scores today!" Lucas suggested.

"Hm, I'll consider it. Come on before you miss the instructions, girls."

Moon began giving the overview of the day. "For Stage 1 of your test you will each receive a random handgun to which you will have to hit a series of moving targets. This will test your skills with different handguns and aim. You will be monitored by Silk Eyes and I. Lastly, are there any questions?"

The room was silent. "Okay, then, the first person up is Lucas."

Lucas came and followed Lena and Moon to the practice room. After he was set up, Lena and Moon went to the surveillance room and saw him enter the course. They nervously glanced at each other. This was to tell if their training actually had an effect.

Moon announced when to go and, without hesitation, Lucas started shooting the targets. Lena and Moon watched intently. As the targets become more complex, he started slowing down and missing them. Luckily, Lucas finished with 2 minutes to spare.

From there on, each trainee completed the course as Lena and Moon monitored the whole thing. When it was over, everyone gathered back in the training room. 

"Well, that was a great first run of the test, everyone", Lena said, "remember that next Friday is stage 2 of the test, so come prepared. Other than that, you guys are dismissed. See you all next Friday!"

The trainees started leaving as Lena and Moon gathered their things. 

"I think they did pretty well, actually. Much better then we expected." Lena said to him.

"Yeah, they did", Moon agreed, "I'm proud of everyone. Maybe our teaching is actually working."

"Yeah, just maybe." Lena smiled.

They stood and looked at each other for a second, slightly smiling.

Lena cleared her throat, "Uh, I was talking with my friend today and her sister is celebrating her 19th birthday at some type of bar downtown. She said to invite everyone so I was, uh, wondering if you might be free to come?"

Moon looked at her. His expressions didn't change much. He was more of the hard-to-read type. "Uh, sure. I'll try to see if I can make it. When is it, again?"

"I think she said it was next Saturday at 10:00 PM. I can send you the details."

"Okay, thanks. I'll try to be there." 

Moon smiled at Lena and she smiled back. "Yeah, it probably won't be too bad", she said. 

"Well, I'll see you there. Goodnight, Silk Eyes." Moon said stepping out of the room.

Lena realized they both seemed to be smiling that whole time. She felt proud of herself for inviting him. It would be the first time they would talk outside of the training sessions. Lena looked forward to it.