The Weaponsmaster

Chapter 2

Upon opening it, she was blinded by the bright light outside the room. After a few seconds, her eyes re-adjusted revealing Karen and Jackie waiting for her. Karen must’ve come to wait with Jackie after school ended.

Once they saw her, they gathered around her worriedly, looking at her with concern in their eyes. Drea probably looked pretty beat up, especially with the way she was leaning against the wall, but she was feeling miraculously strong.

            “Are you ok Drea?” Jackie said with concern.

            “I’m fine Jackie, it’s only my shoulder.” Unfortunately Drea just couldn’t keep the ring of annoyance out of her voice. After hearing “are you ok?” about five times in one day, Drea couldn’t help but to feel weak and useless. She hated not being able to protect everyone, or even herself, and the fact that her little sister was acting like she was the older one made it even worse. How could she care for all of them when she kept fainting and falling down? It was a terrible feeling to feel like she was putting a bigger burden on everyone around her. Drea wanted to be like her brother so badly, she wanted to protect all of them and keep them safe, but now everyone was concerning themselves with protecting her. That was the last thing she wanted.

            “Drea, you’re not fine!” said Jackie more forcefully. She rarely raised her voice like that, especially to her sister. “You need to stop saying that nonchalantly when all of us can see that you’re nowhere near fine! You almost fainted this morning, and you did faint today. Mom and dad know now too. They’re taking you to the doctor’s to get you checked out. Quit trying to be strong already and just let us take care of you.”

            That pushed Drea completely over the edge; she just couldn’t take it anymore. He little sister was acting like she was her mother and that wasn’t acceptable for her. She normally didn’t get angry at Jackie, but she just couldn’t help but to show her attitude to little miss I-know-everything. “Why don’t you quit trying to act like you’re my mom? I can take care of myself Jackie, I’m a big girl you know, and I don’t need my younger sister to take care of me. It’s my job to protect you, not the other way around. I’m fine, so you can just leave me alone.”

            Jackie looked genuinely hurt, but she really didn’t care at the moment. It hurt to feel like she was the failure of the family and that her younger sibling had to watch over her. It hurt her even more to know that she had disappointed Kevin, and that she couldn’t protect the people he’d given his life to protect. Drea normally wouldn’t have even said anything to Jackie, but she couldn’t let herself feel so helpless anymore.

Karen still stood next to Jackie, looking extremely uncomfortable. She knew better than anyone else that Drea didn’t normally blow up like that.

Jackie was just about to say something else when a boy of about seventeen seemed to materialize next to Drea. She could’ve sworn that he wasn’t there before, but she must’ve gotten so caught up in the argument that she didn’t see him approach. He had such a powerful presence too, like he was emanating power.

Who is he? thought Drea with curiosity. He wore a school uniform, but she’d never seen him in school before. He did seem familiar though with his short black hair and piercing eyes reverberating in her memories. It was like the wolf; he was in her memories somewhere, but she just couldn’t place where she’d seen him. There was a lock in her head that she just didn’t have the key to, making it impossible for her to remember where she’d seen him.

She was so lost in thought that it took him a few tries to get her attention again, which didn’t help her side of the “I’m ok” argument.

“Excuse me,” he said politely, but also a little impatiently, “I know you’re a bit busy, but I really need to speak with you Andrea. It’s very important.” How did he know my name? She didn’t remember meeting him, but everything about him seemed familiar. His voice was the same as something she’d heard deep in her memories, but his aura was even more familiar. It was fierce, gentle, and sharp all at the same time.