Every so often, I'll include a chapter from Rachel's life before the story begins. This memory will focus on her first few days at training camp. This one will be a little longer, but I promise they will get shorter.
Rule number 12 in the rule book of The Hunters, "No recruit may be trained in the use of weapons until after the day of his fifteenth birthday".
Unfortunately, I had that rule memorized. I've been hearing it for two years every time I've asked to use a gun.
But finally, "the day of [her] fifteenth birthday" is here. And very, very fortunately, there happened to be a training camp starting on that exact day.
Being the youngest in the entire facility, I was hidden, only the director and my trainer knowing about me. But now, I could pack up all my stuff and get out of this tiny little room and into one of the dorms with a roommate.
Hopefully a roommate of the opposite sex.
I had gone through puberty and hormones with only the tiny television in the corner to teach me what I know. I was so ready to experience it in real life.
"Are you ready?" the Director asked. I'd been struggling to refrain calling him by his name, because that was strictly prohibited. Why? I didn't know.
"So ready." I answered, smiling.
"Your roommate's name is Emily Durham." I was disappointed until I realized that I'd possibly have a friend to stay up late with talking. It brought the smile right back to my face.
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I hadn't had any chance to meet Emily. She was gone by time I got there, her stuff already unpacked and neatly set up. I postponed my own unpacking and went to the meeting hall, where everyone would be briefed on the camp.
Walking into the hall, I was met by the the faces of thirty-eight males and one female, who was presumably Emily. I heard intakes of breath, and I put on a sexy smirk. Never before I came here would I have entertained the thought of being seductive, but here...well, how else would I pass the time?
There were a few whistles as I made my way to the last empty seat, swaying my hips. Well so much for using the innocent approach.
The guy on my right instantly put a hand on my thigh. The guy on my left slapped it away.
"Mason, you saw the girl less than two minutes ago and you've already got your hands all over her." The guy on my left looked at me apologetically, holding his hand out, which I took. "I'm Alexander, and, quite unfortunately, you've already met my brother Mason."
I looked at him in awe. I had expected that one guy would push another away from me, but not on the terms of being proper. Mason had blond hair and dark blue eyes, ones that weren't terribly exciting. He was an average height, and had a small build. Alexander was similar to his brother, except hotter, with brown hair and a blue eyes like the ocean. He was tall, lean, and muscular. The perfect combination of looks, in my opinion, was all displayed in him. Even his voice had a certain lilt to it; deep yet soft at the same time, with a twinge of accent that was emphasized by the proper way he spoke.
Alexander was looking down at me now with a weird expression on his face; somewhere between bewilderment and wonder, that quickly disappeared after he realized we were staring at each other.
I cleared my throat. "Hi, uh, Alexander. And Mason. I'm Rachel." Pushing everything that just happened aside, determined not to lose my sexy appeal, I flashed a smile at them both.
And with that, our lesson started. Director was up there, explaining everything, and I couldn't help but noticing how their training was different than mine. Director had told me as much, that they were to training for the military and such, and I was going to do something, as he put it "much, much, much more special than that."
I was snapped out of my reverie by Director walking away. Another man I didn't know walked to the center of the stage and introduced himself as Mr. Harvey. He had an array of weapons with him, and looked at me and Emily with slight disgust. I glared at him - sexist people aggravated me more than anything else.
His first demonstration was with a weird looking gun; it folded up and latched together and had a lot of buttons. At first he slowly showed us how to fold it and unfold it while making sure we wouldn't shoot ourselves. Two more times he showed us, but adding speed until his movements were fast and sharp. He suddenly stopped, looked around, and then his gazed settled on me with an evil grin.
"You, in the pink tank top," he said, pointing at me, "get over here and show us if you can do it."
I skipped the act of looking intimidated, and instead smirked and walked up there, once again swaying my hips. I loved the way I looked in these leggings. One guy made a grab for my butt, and I giggled as I skillfully sidestepped it.
I walked up the stairs to the stage exuding confidence. I stepped to Harvey, giving him an evil eye, and took the gun from his outstretched hand. I was kind of disappointed it wasn't loaded, or I could've used it for target practice on him. I smiled to myself, then turned to the audience of males and the one female who was my roommate. She smiled at me encouragingly. I could tell I was really going to like her.
I flipped the gun open swiftly, aiming it at Alexander with a wink, pretended to shoot, then folded it up until it was small enough to be held in one hand. Everyone clapped immediately, though I suspected it was more for my looks than for my skill. I tossed the gun to Harvey, and went back to my seat.
I may have hinted that I had secretly been practicing my "gunmanship," but at the moment I didn't really care. I was just so excited to be there that I could hardly control myself. I took my seat between Mason and Alexander, who immediately turned to me.
"You're a fast learner," he said with a smile, and I could tell he saw what was underneath.
I was going to make a flirtatious reply, but I stopped myself. I realized that with him and his personality, being seductive wouldn't work. He was too kind and conservative, but for some odd reason that didn't make me dislike him. It made me like him more.
Harvey seemed to be in a bad mood after that, which left me smiling. Training was over too soon, but I was practically skipping to my room. I had dodged most of the guys who had tried talking to me, and was almost to the door when someone called out my name.
"Rachel, Rachel!" I turned around to see Mason, and smiled. He stopped running as he neared me, out of breath.
"Yes?" I said expectantly.
"You walk...fast..." My smile widened at that. "I was wondering. We're having a party tonight to celebrate our first day of camp, and I wanted to know if you'd come."
I waited to give my response as to not seem to eager. "Sure, but can Emily come?"
"Emily? Oh, the other chick. Of course!"
I gave him a small wave bye as I walked into my room. Emily was already sitting on her bed, putting clothes away in her closet. She already had several posters hung up on the wall.
My heart jumped. I was finally getting to be like every other fifteen year old, finally getting to have girl time and talk about boys and do each other's nails and hair.
"Hi," I said, aggravated that my voice came out small and powerless.
Emily immediately bounded up and wrapped me in a hug. "Hi! You must be Rachel! You probably already know I'm Emily. How are you?"
"I'm great. And you?"
"Fantastic. I'm so glad to have another girl here. I was scared I was going to be the only one." She had the voice of someone who lived in the city, who didn't really know what it was like to be all alone because she was constantly surrounded by people.
She stepped back and I got a chance to really look at her. Her hair was black, her eyes brown, and she was tall and slender, and very pretty. She had this nervous energy in the way she moved, not graceful but sharp and child-like. Her skin had an olive tone, and I was envious. I'd always wanted to be dark skinned, yet I was very pale. Then again, I never really had much chance to go out in the sun for the fear of the wrong person seeing me.
But I was fifteen, and that was about to change.
"I felt the same way," I said as she let me go. "Hey look, some of the boys are having a party tonight, and we're invited."
She looked at me incredulously."Really?" I laughed at her wide eyes and kiddish smile, already knowing that I was going to love her like my sister.
My sisters. The thought brought a pang to my heart. I quickly brushed the thought away, moving towards my bags. I was doing this for them. So they'd have a better life.
I don't think partying constitutes as giving your little twin sisters a better life, a voice in my head whispered angrily at me.
"I hope you brought partywear," I said, masking my emotions, slowly unzipping the bag I had yet to unpack.
"No," she said shyly, biting her bottom lip, "I didn't think..."
"That's okay. We're about the same size." I pulled out a sparkly silver tank top for her and a tightly fitted skirt. "How does this look?"
Her mouth formed a little O. She looked so innocent that I couldn't help but feel anything but love towards her. Slowly she nodded her head. I grabbed a low cut silk tank top that was purple and some of my shortest black shorts. I immediately slid off my training clothes in favor for the outfit. I turned around to see Emily struggling trying to fix the outfit.
"Let me help you with that," I said. I pulled up her skirt and twisted it so that it was above mid thigh, and fixed the shirt so maximum cleavage was showing. I sat her down on my bed and proceeded to fix her hair.
"You're so good at this," she breathed, staring at the mirror in wonder. After a moment's pause, she said, "Where are you from?"
I wanted to tell her everything. And I would, eventually. All I said in that moment was, "New York, but I've been here since I was thirteen."
"Why?" She blushed, as if regretting the question, but I laughed.
"I'll tell you later. For now, let's get your makeup done."
She giggled as the brushes swept across her face, and by the time I was done I was almost jealous. I fixed my own self up and moved towards the door.
"Have you ever kissed a boy?" she asked abruptly, taking me by surprise.
"Yeah," I said quietly, immediately regretting the lie. We walked down the hall and I noticed her struggling to keep up with me even though she wasn't the one in heels.
The door was cracked, and we both walked in.
A smile made its way to my lips as I felt the eyes on us.
I decided then and there that the lie I told Emily wasn't going to be a lie much longer.