Survival Mode

Chapter 8

I blink slowly as the light falls on me. I open my eyes and look around. What happened?

I sit up and find myself in a white room with an IV attached to my arm. It takes me a few moments to realize I'm not alone.

"Nice to see you're finally awake." I snap my head towards the voice and find Amber sitting in a chair near my bed, arms and legs crossed.

I grit my teeth. Not now. I'm not in the mood now. "Amber."

"It's Ms. Johnson to you," she snaps.

"Right, Ms. Johnson." I shake my head and take a deep breath. "What do you want?"

She stares at me for a few seconds before talking. "The Commander asked me to get you in the Rostra. He said you proved your worth by beating Erik."

I look at her expression carefully. "But you don't think that."

Her smile is a creepy one. "No, as a matter of fact, I don't. I know you couldn't control your powers back there Evin. Hell you don't even have your powers yet. It was all because of the necklace Doc gave you. I could wear that necklace and have more power than you." She scowls at me. "You're not special Evin. Get that in your head. We're going to war not a tea party. The sooner you realize you can't be front line, or in this thing at all for that matter, the better."

I don't say anything. I just stare because she's right. I can't go to war relying on nothing but a necklace. It didn't even work when I tried to use it before. It only worked when I was fighting with Erik and I don't even know what triggered that.

Amber stands up, straightens her clothes and pushes her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "From now on you will not use the necklace. I gave it back to Doc." I touch my neck to find it, indeed, empty of the necklace. "You will train seriously. You are on the Rostra, yes, I have no say in that matter, but you will do it relying on nothing but yourself. Got it?" I nod and she leaves.

I sigh and let my head fall back against the wall.

As my eyes close I can't help but think of the few minutes I had the power surging through me, and now I can't help but want more of it. It's like I'm addicted to the rush it brought me, the feeling of superiority it gave me. I even got Erik to submit to me! I chuckle at that.

I wish I had the necklace. I miss the feelings I got when I was using its powers, my powers.

The feeling of being invincible, of being superior to everyone else, it's addicting. I touch the skin of my neck where the necklace had tried to burn itself into. It hurts a little bit, dry parts of my skin standing as if they were trying to swallow the necklace whole.

I hear the door open and snap my eyes open. I see Etan walking in with a cup in his hand. He smiles at me softly and I relax. He sits in the chair Amber was sitting in a few minutes ago and hands me the cup. I look at the bright orange color of it questioningly. "Doc mixed in a few herbs, said it would help you heal." His eyes fell to the burnt skin of my neck and he frowns.

I decide to not pay any attention to it. "Thanks," I say as I take a gulp from the liquid. It's cold, fresh and sour with a little hint of sweetness. I hadn't realized how thirsty I was as I down the whole thing.

I put the cup on the bedside table. "What happened?" I knew the answer already but I wanted to hear it again.

Etan looks away from me. "You lost control over your powers and I had to get you to snap out of it." He closes his eyes as if in pain. "I'm sorry I hurt you."

"Hey, it's fine. You did what you had to." I smile at him and he smiles back. "Speaking of, I didn't know Phoenixes' weakness was water." I frown. I really didn't.