Moonlit Dangers

Chapter Five

        The next three days passed in a blur. I had been calling my job and making up stories about how my ‘sabbatical’ had been going as well as training, hanging out with Ana, and learning about Lycans with Kory. After the incident at the pool, he had been as rude and cold to me as the day we met, if not more so. I had been hurt for about a day and a half; however, I was over it now. I could understand him not wanting to break his precious rule. I was over it. Really. I was going to train myself, and not even worry about him.

On the subject of training, I was advancing rather steadily. I was becoming more fit and better in combat. Kory was teaching me how to be a “dirty street fighter”, his words, not mine. I guess it was one of the fastest, easiest ways to learn how to fight. My reaction time was a little faster, and I had managed to almost, almost hit him. My knuckles had barely brushed his cheekbone. I had been unbelievably pleased about that. Well, maybe not unbelievably. He was on my shitlist, and punching him would have been satisfying. Especially as I was now bench pressing 120 pounds. It wasn’t exactly my body weight, but it was better than when I had first started and could only bench press 70 pounds. 

Even better than my physical progress was how well I was doing with my ability training. I could levitate by my will alone, a power I exercised frequently. I could only use my abilities for a short amount of time, though Kory said my ‘inner battery’ so to speak, would be able to hold more as I  continued to practice. For now, it made me incredibly tired afterward, and I often napped in the tub when trying to soak away some of my aches in a hot bath. Still, I could now levitate for almost two minutes in any direction I chose to.

“Hel-loo! Elle?”

“Huh?” I said, my head jerking up. I glanced at the cafeteria table to be sure I hadn’t drooled on it in my light slumber. “Oh, hi.” I said, rubbing my eyes. “I was just, ah, resting my eyes a moment.” Peering up, I asked, “I’m sorry, what’s your name again?”

“Darla,” The woman said, “Darla McDaniels. We met a few days ago? On your grand tour?”

I studied her for a moment, trying to remember. She had amazing brown eyes, framed by thick lashes. And her ruby red, pixie style haircut paired with a heart shaped face reminded me of Tinkerbell. She even kind of glowed like the famous character. She carried an oversized shoulder bag the color of ripe concord grapes that exactly matched her tank top.

“Oh!” I exclaimed, as recognition finally dawned. “The Fuzz. I remember. You were in the gym, running on a treadmill. Your hair was crazy, completely afro’d out.” Darla’s special ability was a shocker. Literally. When she got going physically; running, jumping, or sparring, she raised electricity in her body and was able to store it. She was then able to send a major amount of voltage through her hands, making her a human stun gun. Hence her code name, Fuzz; Her hair was always standing on end during a fight.

Darla smiled and blushed, her cheeks turning a pale rose pink. Looking to the side, she put a hand to her cheek. “Please, just call me Darla; At least when we’re in the compound.”

“Oh, okay. I apologize, I didn’t know you didn’t like your code name. Er… anyway,” I said, when she gave me a look of relief. “What can I do for you?”

She gestured to the seat across from mine. “May I sit?”

I nodded. What else was I supposed to do? Tell her no? It wasn’t like it could hurt. Darla sat across from me and opened her bag. Pulling out a bottle of water, she spoke. “I’ve been speaking with Kory regarding your training. He says that you are progressing really quickly.”

“Thank you.” I said, not sure what else to say. I was tired; I had an excuse for being a little brain dead.

“Well,” She began, playing with the cap on the water. “I have to do a little training with you as well, and I wanted to make sure you’re ready. Kory seemed fairly certain that you were, but I wanted to talk with you about it first.”