Pairs

Eleven

Our days went on like this. I would train my ass off twice a day, a break in the afternoon in between where Atticus and I would just relax and watch TV, then showers (seperately) and bed. The next morning Carmen would be there, with her annoying smirk and I'm- above - you attitude. I would drink my coffee with my soy milk creamer, yes Attie provided, thank God. Then breakfast, and we'd start training. This was my life for a month straight, until it wasn't.

Carmen was circling me, bouncing lightly on her feet as she went. I was doing the same, trying to find a weak point. I'm sure her mind was racing for the one point on my body that I wasn't protecting, examining every inch of me carefully. Finally, she made her move. In the lightening speed that was Carmen, she darted out to knock me off my feet with a low aimed kick. I jumped, barely dodging her, before swinging, punching her directly in the jaw. I smirked with satisfaction, that'll leave a good bruise. She whipped around, aiming a kick to my ribs. I felt an oomph leave me, but I refused to give in to the pain. I got closer to her so she couldn't kick me so hard, and I attempted to sweep feet out.

She tumbled to the ground, but rolled over and sent a sickeningly solid blow to my stomach using both legs. I felt the air leave me, as I coughed, but dived on to her, as we rolled, receiving elbows and knees to odd places that ached. I ended up under her, and she went to punch me in the face. I caught her fist in my grasp, then quickly grabbed her wrist and planted both my feet on her stomach. I catapulted her over me, and sat up to wrap my legs around her neck, squeezing to show that I had won.

After a pregnant pause, Carmen realized she was stuck, and tapped out. I stood, looking to Atticus with a big smile. He grinned, before stepping forward.

"Congrats, Kitten. You just graduated training."

I felt my smile slip. What?

"You'll still have to work out and keep up the progress, but now you can move on," He promised, kissing my forehead.

"Wait, move on to what?" I asked, confused.

"Know thy enemy, Ivory. None of you're physical training is going to do anything if you run into a dominant that can paralyze you as soon as you make eye contact," Carmen pointed out, giving me a look. I couldn't even be mad though, because there was already a large bruise forming from my punch earlier.

"You'll be taking a class with Brown. He knows more about The Exotasi than anyone else outside of the government," Attie informed me.

The Exotasi. I didn't know much about them at all, besides that they were bad. I know that they are secret government assassins, and that their goal was to keep the inequality between Recessives and Dominants, and then one day, destroy Recessives all together. In society, recessives are viewed as a weakness. It's shameful to birth a recessive, and I've grown up needing a dominant around to receive any sort of respect from anyone. The government wants a stronger society, without the pollution of Recessives. They plan on destroying them by acquiring powerful dominants to join the Exotasi.

That's how Atticus lost his parents. His mother refused to join the Exotasi, so they killed them both. They would've killed Atticus and Carmen too, but they escaped and went into hiding.

"When do I start?"

"Now."

I spun around in surprise to see Doctor Brown. His shoulders were slumped in exhaustion, and his brown eyes were dull and tired.

"Hey, Brown. Are you sure it can't wait? You look like you could use some sleep," Atticus asked, wrapping his arm around my waist. He and I hadn't been out of each other's sights for more than five minutes since I came here. It would be weird not having him by my side.

"No, we need her ready as soon as possible. Ivory, please follow me," He turned after that and walked away. I looked at Atticus hesitantly, then turned to chase after the good doctor.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Our rebellion group was founded by me, and my two best friends thirty years ago, when I was twenty. For the first five years, we laid low and gathered members. We planned, and we took action. Our efforts fruited more rebellionists, we were growing in numbers and the Exotasi were taking notice. Our members were being put on hit lists, and my good friends had just had a child. They couldn't afford to be too involved anymore. So I found them a safe house, and they had minimal contact with us. We continued finding info, saving as many as we could,  and fighting back," Brown explained, gulping some coffee.

"What happened to them? Your friends?" I asked softly.

"They were found, and killed. Even their kids didn't make it."

I felt my heart drop. Children? They killed children?

"What were their names?"

"Wade and Zoe. Their son was named Blake, and their daughter was Ivy."

I felt myself freeze. It was not possible.

"Wade and Zoe Martin?" I asked, monotone. I knew the answer, and fate was not kind.

Brown looked at me, emotion lighting his dark eyes, for the first time since I'd met him.

"That was their cover names. We made up the paper work after they left here," Brown stated, slowly. "How did you know?"

"Because, their daughter wasn't named Ivy. Her name is Ivory," I mumbled, my whole body frozen. My finger tips were tingling as panic ran through my blood, and I met the doctor's eyes. His orbs were shocked as he took me in, and I knew that I was right. My head was spinning, and all the sudden, it felt like I was underwater.

"Jesus Christ..." he trailed off before covering the space between us, knocking his coffee off his desk in his hurry. I watched the cup fall, the black spilling out. But before he could make it to me or before the cup could fall, my vision went black.