The Beginning (Book One in The Illusion of Certainty Series)

Uncomfortable Situation

When I woke up in the morning, I was alone; which was a new thing for me considering I was never left alone. I blinked against the morning sun streaming through the window. The Infirmary was that sterile white you always see in hospitals. Everything was white, the walls, the bed sheets, the covers, even the pajama pants and shirt I was put in.

I sat up slowly, knowing getting up to fast would cause the stitches to pop. I could heal fast but with the damage that had been inflicted, I would need time. I still felt tired and drained. I imagined if I looked in a mirror I would look like one of the zombies in my brother’s favorite horror film. I got out of bed, again slowly, and walked over to the window. I could see several students in the practice yards, all wearing their different color fighting gear. Some others were milling around and others racing off towards the professor’s office building. The main school building was a huge, old fashioned mansion. From the outside it looked as if there were only three floors, but in reality, the building had endless amounts of space. The outside appearance was a ruse, a test we all had to pass. There were several other buildings, dorms, dinning hall, the old theater that was turned into the training arena, and a few others.

I turned around slowly and found someone standing in the shadow of the doorway.

“Hello?” The figure took a step forward and I finally recognized Michael’s pale features. His blue eyes seemed extra bright this morning. “Oh, it’s you.” He frowned.

“Expecting someone else?” he asked.

“Yes actually, anyone else.”

“Why?”

“Your presence doesn’t have the greatest effect on me, you can imagine, since you bring back a few bad memories.”

“That’s a bit harsh don’t you think?” he took a few more steps into the room. He was in his ruby red fighting gear. His gear against the stark whiteness of the room was startling. I sighed, not really feeling up to this.

“What do you want Michael?”

“I wanted to see how you were. I was…worried.”

“Were you now?” I started back to bed, feeling my energy draining. I stumbled half way there and in a blink of an eye he was there catching my arm.

“Are you sure you should be out of bed?” he asked. He guided me back to bed and I sat down. “I don’t think you should get up again, you seem a bit…unstable.”

“I’m fine thank you.”

“Could’ve fooled me.”

“You know I wouldn’t even be here if it wasn’t for you,” I snapped.

He looked taken back. His eyes fell to his hands. “That’s not what you said yesterday.”

“Yesterday I was nearly whipped half to death.”

“Hey, that’s not my fault.” I could see the anger rising in his face.

“It was partially your fault.”

“And what about the other part? If you hadn’t bum rushed me, you wouldn’t be in this situation.”

“And if you hadn’t gone crying to your Elder, this would have never happened.”

“I did not go crying to my Elder!”

I leaned forward suddenly and we were face to face. “That’s not how it looked to me.”

If his skin could have gone any whiter, it did. His eyes seemed to take seconds to lose the blue. “Georgiana,” he said softly, “You’re bleeding.” He pushed me back gently and ran as quick as he could towards the nurse’s station. He came back looking unhappy. “Where are the damn nurses when you need them?!”

I tried to turn my body so I could see. “Is it really that bad?”

He stopped at the end of my bed. “From what I can tell, you popped several stitches, it’s not horrible but you are weak enough as it is. You can’t handle to lose too much more blood.”

He walked over to the door and looked down both ends of the hallway. It was like watching a mouse caught in a trap. “You aren’t…hungry are you?” His shoulders seemed to tense when I said that. He looked back at me. “Maybe you should just go.”

“I’m not going to leave you here alone. You might pass out and bleed out…or something. Can’t you call your Guardian?”

“It doesn’t work like that. I’m not in danger and I’m not upset so Luke won’t come around unless…well, unless he wants to.”

“Georgiana, you are in danger, even if you don’t know it yet.”

I looked at him quizzically. “What? Are you going to bite me or something? You are a fledgling, you shouldn’t feel the hunger more than once a couple of weeks and since you were supposed to eat yesterday before the punishment, you shouldn’t be hungry at all.”

He looked me up and down almost like he was appraising me. “I’m different,” he said quietly.

“How different?” I asked. He walked back over to me and turned me slightly.

“Look, I don’t think anyone is coming to check on you. They probably think you are still sleeping. I’m going to have to… you know, fix you.”

“Excuse me?” I shrieked.

“Calm down. I am quite capable of stitching you back up. I have medical training.”

“Michael, you can’t be serious.”

“The back of your shirt is already soaked through. If we don’t do something soon…”

“Ok, I get it. Fine! Just don’t, you know, eat me or anything. What do I need to do?”

He looked around the room desperately. When he spotted what he was looking for, he seemed to have it in his hand and then back at my bedside in a flash. “Lay down on your stomach.” He took a syringe out of the package and inserted it into a clear bottle. “I’m going to have to rip the back of your shirt.”

“What’s that?” I asked.

“Morphine, to help with the pain. I don’t think this is going to be pleasant.”

“Why is it when I’m around you, it always ends in pain?” I said as I turned around. I did as he asked and watched him inject the liquid into my IV.

He turned to me and brushed my hair away. I could feel the morphine start to take affect. He gripped the top of my shirt where the collar was and pulled. The fabric ripped easily and I felt a cold blast of air hit my back. I giggled.

“So tell me, how long have you been waiting to get me undressed?”

“Try to be serious will you?” I turned to look at him, he seemed taller.

He slowly peeled off the bandage. His incisors seemed to enlarge.

“Hey, don’t get any funny ideas,” I said sarcastically.

“Try to hold still. This might pinch.”

I seemed to black out after that. When I came to, he was putting a clean bandage across my back.

“How bad was it?” I asked.

He blinked down at me. He smiled at me and patted my hand.

“Not too bad. I stitched it before it could get any worse.”

I was fighting the drowsiness. He walked over and crouched down in front of me. He brushed a strand of hair off my face. “You’re going to be ok. I promise.” I blinked at him in response. “You should get some rest. The morphine is probably making you feel drowsy.” I nodded in response. His face softened and he smiled at me again but then his head snapped to the side. “I should go. If Luke finds me here…let’s just say it would be bad.” He got up but I caught his hand. They were ruff like a farmer’s after years of working out in the fields. I looked up at him and he was looking at me with a weird expression on his face.

“Thank you,” I said weakly. “I’m sorry for being mean to you.”

He nodded in response, the hardness back in his face. Then he was gone. I closed my eyes and slept.