14 days until the war.
I wake up and my head hits my wall.
"Damn it." I say.
I look at my clock and it reads 9:00. My heart races. I'm late. I throw on my jeans and leather jacket as I race out of the door.
"I have to get to training." I say running down the hall.
I look down and run into something hard. I stumble back and look up. Hutch grabs my shoulders.
"Veronica? Why are you running?" He asks.
"I have training that started 15 minutes ago." I say.
"I was just coming down to get you for it. Training is at 9:45 not 8:45. It was rescheduled." He says.
"Oh. You know you can just text me." I say.
"Yeah well let's go get breakfast." Hutch says.
I grab an apple and bite into it. We go sit by Ashley, Nathen, and Tyler.
"Why am I always the last one to the table?" I ask, sitting down.
"No clue." Ashley says. "But your entrances definitely make you present. Like at the funeral. Nobody could take their eyes off of you."
"With my bodyguards." I say smiling. I take another bite of my apple and twirl my hair.
"Okay we have to go to training." Hutch says.
I wave to them and we walk away. I put my apple in the trash and hurried after Hutch. We walk in the hallway and reach the training room. There are mats and punching bags.
"I was in an assassin asylum for 10 years. So why exactly do I have to train?" I ask.
"Because you can always become better." He says.
"But now I can crush up to 5,000 peoples bones, killing them so why do I have to become better?" I ask. "And that 10 years at the asylum was me learning Karate, Jiu-Jitsu, and Kung Fu. As Well as American boxing."
"If you can beat me then we will determine your training. But you always train. If you beat me we will give you the most advanced training." Hutch says.
We set onto the mat and I threw off my leather jacket. Hutch puts his fists up and looks at me.
"Begin! And no powers." He yells.
He comes at me and throws the first punch. In a quick motion I grab his fist pressing down. Something cracks and he is on his knees. Through the pain, he stands back up and comes at me again. Moving his fist for my stomach I grab it and pull it up. I kick in the air at his stomach and he falls again.
"Ready to quit?" I ask.
"Never." Hutch says.
I turn around and use my hearing to hear his feet run toward me on the mat. I turn around and grab his arm as he runs after me. Using all my strength I throw him over my shoulder. I get on top of him and pin him down.
"Now are you ready to quit?" I ask.
"Not even close." Hutch says.
I get flustered as he grabs my shoulders. My cheeks burn and my heart skips a beat. He throws me over him and gets up off the ground. I get up before he can get back to me and as he goes to spin around I hit the back of his neck. He drops down to the floor in a flash.
"Sorry. Didn't mean to knock you out. But you are worse than the doctor at the asylum." I say.
A few minutes later his eyes opened.
"Damn, I feel like I've been hit by a truck." He says rubbing his head.
"Sorry." I say. I help him up.
"I will tell the leader you beat me." He says.
"Did you ever doubt me?" I say smiling.
I throwback on my jean jacket and Hutch is drenched in sweat.
"You didn't even break a sweat." He says. "That's insane. Anyway I need to take you to Rein to get your IV."
"Okay." I say.
We walk over to Reins office and she has the IV cart set up again.
"We are going into a different room today." She says.
Hutch and I follow her into a metal room with a metal chair. Like an interrogation room.
"Take a seat." Rein says.
I sit down and she sticks the needle in my wrist. She tapes the needle down and grabs her chart.
"This is a new set of medicine. Unlike the last one." She says.
"Alright." I say.
The medicine flows into me and my power groans. My eyes turn bright blue and I clench my teeth. It feels like water on my skin and air in my body. I can't control it. Rein and Hutch look at me.
"Get out." I mutter. I clench my teeth and look up at them.
"What did you say Veronica?" Hutch asks.
"Get out!" I scream.
I can't control it. I feel the power growing inside of me. I lock eyes with Hutch as my eyes flash bright blue again.
"She is losing control." Rein says.
"Get out!" I scream again. "Before I kill you. I can't handle it."
They get out of the room and look in from the protective glass. My power surges and water hits the side of the room. Water fills the room as waves flow out of me. My head shoots up and a blast of wind blows throughout the room. I pass out and see the darkness.
I wake up in a gurney. A pulse reader is on my pointer finger. My head is pounding. My wrist is wrapped up and the heart monitor next to me beeps. I feel light-headed and tired.
"And she is up." Rein says walking in.
"What happened?" I ask.
"The IV made your powers take over. You couldn't stop them. You took in every last drop of that IV." She says.
"How did you get the water out of the metal room?" I ask.
"Drained it. Your body has gone through a lot." She says.
Rein lets me out of the hospital room and back to my room. I walk back into my room and change my clothes. I put on a gray shirt that goes down to my fingertips and ripped jeans. I walk down to the cafeteria and sit with my normal group.
"Hey we heard what happened yesterday. Are you okay?" Tyler asks, leaning from across the table.
"Yeah I am just tired. Using that much power, brings it out of you." I say.
"Power? We were talking about how you beat Hutch in training." Nathen says.
"That's what I meant as well." I say.
"You have powers?" Ashley asks.
"No." I say. If water has memory then can it take away memory? Yes. I summon my power and use the water. Water has memory. Take it away. I think that in my head and use my power toward them.
"I can't remember what we were talking about." Ashley says.
"Neither can I." Nathen says.
"What just happened?" Tyler asks.
"I just got here." I say. "So I don't know what you guys were talking about."
"Hey guys." Hutch says walking over.
"Finally getting over those bruises because Veronica beat you up?" Tyler asks.
"Whatever." Hutch says. He sits down next to me and leans against the table. "How are you Veronica?"
"Tired. I think I want to cancel training for today." I say.
"Alright. But we got you a new trainer." Hutch says.
"Who?" I ask. My curiosity is beaming.
"Someone who works with us from the outside. Her name is Lina Rose. She helped contact us to bring you in." He says.
Did I just hear that right?
"Lina, like the Lina that was my best friend and at my funeral? That Lina?" I ask.
"Yes. We brought her in when seeing you both on the security cameras. We needed an inside partner. She has been acting like the pitiful best friend but she is one of our best agents. She is at the same skill level so you will train with her. She really thought you were dead until we told her this morning. She took the news very badly." Hutch says.
"I need some air." I say stuttering. I stand up from the table and walk away. "I can't handle the lies. I am getting out of control."
I find myself in a hallway. I hear boots click on the tiles.
"I can't believe you are alive." Lina says walking down the hallway. She wears a sweatshirt with the arms cut off and ripped jeans. Tears flow down her face. "You're really alive."
She comes and sits next to me in the hallway.
"How could you never tell me you were a spy for them? On me!" I say. I don't know how to feel. I feel betrayed and overwhelmed.
"I was under an oath." She says. She touched her chest and her blonde lock of hair fell over her shoulders. "I wanted to tell you every day. And I didn't spy. I played a role."
"I am so used to seeing you in blouses and seam front pants. Not hoodies and ripped jeans." I say, looking up at her.
"I hated those clothes." She says, laughing.
I smile at her. But the smiling feeling doesn't reach my eyes.
"I am tired from this new IV that went wrong yesterday. I passed out and Rein had to wait to get me treated. And it did not end well." I say.
"Alright, I will leave you then." Lina says.
She gets up and walks away. I grab the bloody knife from next to my right leg and wipe it on my pants. I stand up and go to Reins office. She sits there writing notes on a notepad.
"Hey." She says looking up when I walk in.
"Hey. I have one question, did that IV drip have any side effects? Like nausea, sadness, and tiredness?" I say.
"No. That's weird why you're feeling that way. Can you try using your powers?" She asks, writing her notes.
"Yeah." I say.
I summon my power and my eyes flash blue. Then a shooting pain runs in my head. I scream.
"What's wrong?" Rein asks, jumping up.
My powers immediately shut off and I wipe the sweat off my head.
"Something is wrong. Something inside me is very very wrong." I say.
"What happened?" She asks.
"Pain. Bad pain. That has never happened before. My powers shut off." I say.
"We need to scan your brain." She says.
She grabs the brain orb and opens it. It forms into a halo and she fits it over my head. It turns and flashes.
"Alright, the scan is starting." Rein says. A few minutes later she looks up at me. "Something is going on and severing your connection to Bentley. You're dying because of it."