Manipulate
Chapter Twenty-Seven

I jog down to the training room and find it unlocked. I enter the room and see the lights are still turned off and the entire room is pitch black. I flip on the lights and the room begins to glow with light.

I smooth back all my flyways into another long and sloppy ponytail as I stare at the punching bag in front of me. I remove my jacket and throw it into a nearby corner. I glance at the ranking board, my heart sinks when I see my rank. I’m ranked forty-two out of fifty.

I start hitting the bag until my knuckles begin to split again. I smile and begin kicking the bag with all of the strength I have. My legs soon begin to sting from kicking the punching bag and sweat rolls down my face.

“Why aren’t you sleeping?” a voice asks.

I turn around and see Theo standing in the doorway. His brown hair is mussed and he’s dressed in a pair of black jeans and a tight maroon t-shirt that hugs his chest. Theo’s footsteps echo in the room as he crosses it in four long strides.

“Why aren’t you in the dorm sleeping?” he repeats.

“I couldn’t fall back asleep so I came down here,” I explain. “And shouldn’t you also be sleeping?”

Theo sighs and shakes his head. “Okay, okay, Phoenix, take a breath.”

I stare at him, my eyebrows rising each second. I cross my arms over my chest and shift all my weight onto my right leg.

“Why do you call me that?” I ask.

Theo smiles. “I can’t tell you yet. But I will later.”

The corners of my mouth twitch into a small smile. “Okay, Wolf.”

“So, we’re calling names now?” Theo asks.

“More or less so,” I say with a smile.

The two of us smile and breakout into laughter. He’s just a friend and I have no romantic feelings toward him. He’s just a friend and that’s all he’ll ever be.

“Can I ask why were you in here yesterday morning and this morning?” Theo asks.

“I just want to work on the techniques we’re learning,” I say. “That’s all.”

“That’s all?” Theo presses. “I have a feeling that there’s more to what you’re saying.”

“No,” I say. “I told you that I’m just working on my technique. And that is all.”

“You’re worried about your rank, aren’t you?”

My eyebrows scrunch together. “No,” I scoff. “Why would someone think that?”

“It’s obvious,” Theo says, arching an eyebrow, “that you’re worried about your rank. You’re ranked forty-two out of fifty initiates. You would have to have some kind of motivation to come down here at five thirty in the morning.”

“Maybe I do. Maybe I don’t,” I say. “Your point being?”

Theo pinches the bridge of his nose and shakes his head. “Abhaya, please explain to me, why are you so sassy at times like this?”

“I’m not sassy,” I deny. “Wha-”

“There, you just did it,” Theo points out.

“But, I’m not sassy,” I insist. “Do you mind if I go back to training now?”

“Go ahead,” Theo sighs. “I’m leaving. See you later.”

“Bye,” I say as I turn to face the punching bag.

Theo’s footsteps bounce off the walls as he walks down the hallways. I start attacking the punching bag with all my strength and until my arms and legs are sore and I can barely move them. Sweat forms on my forehead and rolls down my face as I stand in front of the punching bag panting.

I have to boost my ranking up. It’s the only way, I think as I strike the rough bag once more. I have to make it. I can’t be cut. I just can’t. Right now, there is no room for failure. There just isn’t.

I glance at the clock and it’s only six o’clock. Thirty minutes just flew bye. I shake my head and resume punching the bag. My knuckles begin to split and blood begins to appear. I grin at the sight of the blood. My legs are sore and bruises are beginning to form from yesterday’s fight.

Soon, I’m drenched in sweat and my skin is pink in aggravation from attacking the rough material of the punching bag. Footsteps echo in the room and my head whips around immediately. No one’s there.

“Hello?” I call out. “Can I help you?”

The footsteps stop and I feel heavy breathing behind me. My body tenses and my heart begins to beat faster and faster. Arms lock around me and I struggle to escape their grip.

“What are you doing, Abhaya?” the voice asks. “Why are you down here at six in the morning? Shouldn’t you be sleeping?”

“Why should I tell you?” I snarl as I attempt to escape their grip.

“Because I asked you,” the voice replies.

It takes me a moment to figure out who the voice belongs to. Nick. I struggle under his grip as he pins me against his chest. God, why are boys so annoying?

“Let me go,” I breathe. “Now.”

“Why?” Nick whispers.

“Because I said so,” I respond through gritted teeth.

“You’re weak, Abhaya,” Nick says bitterly. “You’ll never make it in the real world.”

I don’t reply. But I do kick Nick in the shins and then he lets me go. I whip around to face him. He may be invisible but he isn’t silent.

“Leave me alone, Nick,” I hiss. “Go annoy Erika or Lee.”

Nick walks toward me and I catch a whiff of his breath. It smells of sugar and a mix of many other things that do not smell very pleasant. Has he ever heard of taking care of your personal hygiene?

“What do you want?” I snarl.

“I want you to leave TID,” Nick replies, his voice cold and harsh.

I cross my arms over my chest and stare at Nick. My eyes narrow and harden. Anger bubbles inside of me.

“I have a reason to be here,” I say. “I’m not going to leave.”

Nick scoffs. “I’m not going to argue with you this early in the morning. But you are useless and no one likes you. They’re just being nice to you and that is all.”

“You may be invisible Nick, but you’re still annoying as usual,” I say, annoyed.

“I’m offended,” Nick says, gasping at my comment.

“Isn’t that how insults work?” I ask, raising my eyebrows and smiling a little bit.

Nick reappears in front of me. This time his brown hair doesn’t cover his eyes. Instead it’s pulled back into a ponytail on the top of his head and it takes all of my self-control not to laugh. His emerald green eyes are filled with anger and annoyance. He crosses his arms over his chest and stares at me. None of us move.

“You know, Abhaya, I still like you,” Nick says.

“You literally just told me to leave TID! And told me that I’m nothing! I still hate you, Nick. Your point?”

“God, Abhaya, why are you so difficult?”

“I’m not difficult,” I protest. “It’s called being stubborn.”

Nick shoots me a mischievous smirk and presses his lips to mine. My body stiffens as his action. I should have known that he was going to do this. God, why am I so stupid? His eyes are closed and mine are wide open. My eyebrows begin to furrow once more and I shove him off.

“You’re such an idiot!” I exclaim. “Do you even have common sense?”

“I like you, Abhaya,” Nick whispers.

“Did you hear what I just said?”

“So what? It’s not important. And I was kind of joking,” Nick scoffs.

“Just a minute ago, you were arguing with me,” I say. “Now you’re saying that you like me? What is up with you?”

“People change their mind, Abhaya.”

“Last time I checked, that’s not how it works,” I say, tapping my chin. “And by the way my name is not a weapon to be used against me.”

“You’re such a Bishcuit,” Nick sneers at me as I stare at him with a cold, hard expression in my eyes.

Nick storms out of the room in fury and I’m left alone. A feeling of joy and relief blossom in my chest. I turn back to the punching bag and imagine it as Nick’s head. I punch and kick and punch and kick until all my anger has been let out. Sweat rolls down my neck and face as I attack the bag once more.

The bell rings five minutes later and I’m already drenched in sweat and blood creeps out of the split skin on my knuckles. I wrap my jacket around my waist and exit the training room, flipping the light switch off as I leave. I manage to get swept away in the crowd of maroon, black, and camouflage green.

When I enter the cafeteria, I’m immediately bombarded by the scent of pancakes and the sound of bacon sizzling in a pan. The scent of bitter coffee roasting fills the air along with eggs scrambling and frying. It makes my stomach growl with hunger.

I get in line and grab a tray. I scoop scrambled eggs onto my plate, along with two pancakes, and I grab a cup of coffee. It’s bitter and black. Just how I like it. I quickly snag a knife and fork too.

I find Mia, Kayla, Trey, and Peter all sitting at our usual spot in the cafeteria talking and laughing. I sit my tray down on the table and slide onto the bench next to Kayla. Mia sits across from me with her electric blue hair standing out from Peter’s brown curly hair. Her smile is bright and her laugh mixes in with the loud chattering and laughing in the room.

“Morning,” I say, trying to hide the bitterness in my voice.

“Morning, Abhaya!” Mia sings with glee. “How are you?”

“Tired, hungry, throat stompy,” I say. “You guys?”

“Whoa, I did not see that last one coming,” Trey says. “Wait, what does throat stompy mean?”

Kayla interjects with a smile. “Okay, okay you guys,” she says. “We’re fantastic, Abhaya.”

The five of us eat in silence for a moment until Peter decides to break the ice. He flings egg across the room at Erika and smiles. Erika’s head whips around and her icy blue eyes are filled with anger. I notice that the egg landed in her chest-length fishtail braid.

“Who just did that?” she spits out.

The five of us burst out laughing as Erika chucks food at every corner of the room to get revenge. A slice of bread bounces off of my head and I toss a handful of pancake bites at a nearby table. Before we know it, the whole cafeteria is engaged in a giant food fight.

Food sticks to the walls, tables, and people. The sound of laughter, screaming, and yelling all ricochet off of the walls of the cafeteria as we engage in an early morning food fight. TID is my home now and it feels like it used to when Mom, Dad, Aj, and I were together. Warm, safe, fun, and loving.

The bell rings ten minutes later and we’re all covered in egg, pancakes, and fruit. Everyone exits the cafeteria laughing and smiling at one another. No one asks who or why the food fight was started.

As usual, all the older TID Transfers make their way to the training room and the younger TID Transfers make their way to a separate room. When we get there, the other thirty-five TID-Borns are waiting for us, impatiently. Max and Theo stand in their usual spots when we arrive. A woman with a heartbeat tattoo visible on her left arm stands next to Max on his left. Her eyes are hard but seem kind. Her hair is dyed a flaming red, and multiple eyebrow rings adorn both of her eyebrows along with her ears, they’re pierced in multiple places too.

“Everyone, this is Marie,” Max introduces. “She’s been training the TID-Borns.”

Marie steps in front of Max with her arms crossed behind her back. Her brown eyes focus on us and everyone is silent for once.

“As Max said, my name is Marie and I help train the TID-Borns. Also, I help Alia with the younger TID Transfers,” Marie explains. “But today, the TID-Borns and I will be training with you all because we’re-”

“We’re starting stage two today,” Theo interjects. Marie shoots Theo a dirty look but Theo smiles back. “For now, I need Abhaya, Erika, and Nick,” Theo announces.

My heart begins to pound in my chest. You can’t prepare for everything in life and this is one of those events. I follow Theo, Erika, and Nick out of the room and into what I’m guessing, used to be some kind of laboratory. Theo opens the door and leads us into the room. S~ᴇaʀᴄh the Findɴovel.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

“Sit,” Theo orders. “I’ll call each of you in one at a time.”

The three of us sit in an uncomfortable silence until Theo opens the door back up. I hear wheels squeaking as a cart rolls on the concrete floor, the sound of a keyboard clicking, and metal scraping against the floor. Theo opens the door and stares at us. His eyes land on me.

“Abhaya,” Theo calls from the doorway.

I stand up and wipe the sweat from my slick palms. I take a deep breath and walk toward Theo. Theo nods at my presence and shuts the door behind him.

“Have a seat over there,” Theo says, pointing to a metal chair with minor dents over in a corner.

I obey and walk over to the chair and sit down. My knee bounces up and down as nerves claim my blood. I begin to wring my hands together as Theo stands behind a metal cart with a large computer monitor sitting on top of it typing. Theo turns around and walks toward a cabinet on the other side of the room and returns with a black box in his hands.

“You’re starting stage two of training,” Theo says. “It’s all based off of the fears that live in the deepest and darkest parts of your brain. I want you to focus on getting past your fears. My goal for you is to have you conquer at least one fear. Most likely you’ll have ten or twenty fears. I’m going to inject you with this serum. It causes your fears to emerge and put you in those situations. I can see it all on this monitor. Do you have any questions?”

I shake my head “no” and Theo opens the box and produces a needle filled with a blue liquid. He begins to flick the syringe and push the plunger up until he’s satisfied with the amount of liquid and then he places the cap back on. Theo crosses the room and looks at me. His ocean blue eyes stare into my gray ones as his rough, one of his calloused hand cups my chin, tilting it to the left.

“You’re going to enter a hallucination. Remember it is not real,” Theo explains.

Theo wipes the side of my neck with a cold and alcohol-based wipe. He uncaps the syringe and injects it into my skin. The needle pinches my skin as the serum enters my bloodstream.

“You’ll be entering the hallucination now,” Theo says. “Be strong and don’t under any circumstances let your fears control you.”

My eyes close and I enter eternal darkness

I’m falling. I open my eyes and cold air rushes past me. I try to scream but no sound comes out. My arms are stretched out like wings as I fall farther and farther until my body hits the ground. But nothing cracks. It was like falling into a pile of pillows.

I stand up and the walls around me begin to shrink. My heart begins to beat faster and faster as I’m stuck in a shrinking box.

“HELP!” I scream. “WHAT IS HAPPENING?”

I close my eyes and breathe. Everything stops.

Time.

The box.

Everything stops but me.

The scene fades and the ground beneath me crumbles. I’m falling again. The cool air around me becomes colder and colder as I fall.

This time my body hits water like a brick. And slowly, just slowly I’m drowning. I take a deep breath as I attempt to concentrate on not drowning. It’s fine, don’t worry. Just calm down, I think to myself as my body slowly submerges into the water.

This time I can’t manipulate it. I begin to flail around as water clogs my ears and as my eyes immediately begin to sting from the salt-water. My jacket, shirt, and pants all become soaked as water seeps into my shoes; making my socks become sopping wet.

Theo’s words echo in my mind like a bad memory. “Don’t let your fears control you.”

I close my eyes tighter as I try to think of a better memory. Swimming with Mom, Dad, and Aj at the lake. Jumping in large puddles. Swimming in the large pool at school.

The water begins to decrease as the happier memories fill my head. The water disappears and I’m falling again. This time, I’m falling faster than ever before and I try to scream but my sound is nothing compared to the pitch black I’m falling into.

“STOP!” An ear-splitting scream pleads. “Please.”

I turn around and see a boy with curly, dark brown hair. He looks only like he’s in his early twenties and he’s begging on his knees. Tears roll down his face as a gun barrel is pressed to his temple.

“Tell me where she is,” a female voice hisses.

“I can’t,” he whispers. “I don’t know where she is.”

“You do to. Now tell me boy where is she,” the voice hisses again.

Aj. The boy is Aj. His hair and his voice. I start running toward him and see a girl who looks like me holding a gun to his head. Me. I’m the one who’s trying to kill him.

This isn’t real just breathe and it’ll be over soon, I think as a war of emotions rages inside of me. Just breathe. Just breathe.

The girl stares at me with glaring eyes. The longer I stare at her, she begins to transform into someone else. Her brown hair becomes blond. Her dark clothes go from baggy and ill-fitting to tight and professional. And her once kind eyes turn cold and dark. Donatella.

My eyes snap open as I let out a gasp. The taste of blood fills my mouth as I part my lips to breathe. Theo looks at me. His eyes stare into me as if he’s knows something about me that I don’t know about.

“That was odd,” he whispers to himself. “I’ve never seen that before.”

I stare down at my hands and see that I’ve been gripping the chair way too tightly. My knuckles are white and my joints are cramped. I swing my legs over the side of the chair as I attempt to leave.

I run my hands over my jacket, shirt, and pants checking to see if there’s any water. I stare down at my shoes. They’re still there and everything was just a hallucination. I start walking toward the door but Theo stops me.

“Abhaya, where are you going?” Theo asks.

“I’m leaving,” I say.

“Come back over here and sit down. I need to talk to you.”

Great, I did something wrong. What else is new? I oblige and walk back over to the metal chair of torture. I sit back down and Theo drags a chair with wheels over and sits down, facing me. He stares at me with both a sincere and serious expression.

“Abhaya, how did you get out of the box?” Theo asks.

I stare at him. “I just took a deep breath and everything stopped.”

Theo leans into me. He leans on his forearms and narrows his eyes. But I see something hiding behind his eyes. Worry.

“That’s not normal,” Theo whispers. “Whatever you just did is nothing an average person could do in TID.”

I stand up and start walking toward the door once again. Anger bubbling up inside of me. I try to open the door but Theo grabs my arm and turns me around so I’m facing him.

“What?” I snap.

“Abhaya,” Theo starts, “how did you get past three fears? People only make it past one or not even one at all!”

“I don’t know and I can’t tell you,” I say, raising my eyebrows. “Can I leave?”

Theo purses his lips and trains his eyes on the ground. “I suppose so. Tomorrow you’re coming back here.”

“Great,” I mutter under my breath. “Great.”

I open the door without saying goodbye or have a good day and storm out. Theo calls in Erika and tells me to have a seat. I don’t instead I stand along the wall with a heel pressed to it. My arms are crossed over my chest as I listen to the deafening screams of Erika.

Nick sits in his chair with a calm and almost blank expression as he types on his Disc. Nick glares up at me when he sees me standing along the wall. I stare at him with cold eyes.

“Can I help you?” I ask, turning my head.

“What did you do in there?” Nick questions.

“You’ll find out when Theo calls you in there.”

“You’re mean,” Nick points out.

“I’m not mean, I just have a different way of communicating,” I say, sticking my index finger up in the air wagging it. “And by the way, you should work on keeping your nose in your own business.”

Nick stares at me baffled by my comment. His eyebrows slowly knit together as he stares at me. Another high-pitched scream claws its way through the walls and door.

It’s another thirty minutes until Theo calls Nick into the room. Nick stands up and tucks his Disc into his pocket. He walks toward Theo with confidence radiating off of him. While Erika exits the room shaking in terror.

“It’s awful,” she whispers to Nick. “It is truly awful.”

Nick waves off Erika’s comment and enters the room. Five minutes later, all I hear is yelling and “NO!” coming from the other side of the door.

Erika and I sit in complete silence while Nick is screaming and crying his head off. Erika shoots a deadly glare at me and then smiles at me all friendly like. I force a fake friendly smile on my face to return the favor.

Nick exits the room forty minutes later with tears streaking his face. He glares at Theo as he exits the room. Theo inhales then exhales.

“We’re going back down to the training room now,” Theo sighs. “Come on.”

The three of us follow Theo back down to the training room. Our shoes creating a rhythm as we march down to the training room. For the time I’ve been here, going down to the training room is almost automatic. It’s a part of me now. It truly is.

We arrive at the training room and the sound of bags being punched and yelling greets us. Theo opens the door and the sight of Max and Marie pacing the room greets us also.

“I need the following people,” Theo calls. “Mia, Kayla, and Lee.”

Mia, Kayla, and Lee make their way toward Theo and Nick, Erika, and I take their place. The door clicks closed behind us and now it’s our turn to take their places. Max and Marie stop and stare at us.

“Find an open punching bag and you’ll see what we’re doing,” Marie explains as she twists one of million piercings on her eyebrows.

The three of us find an empty punching bag and we catch up once everyone else resumes what they were originally doing before we interrupted them. As I attack the punching bag, Erika stands in front of her punching motionless and Nick well, let’s just say he looks like he’s the younger sibling trying to punch their older sibling but they’re stopped.

“Stop,” Max calls out. “I want Erika and Nick to fight today.”

“I fought with Abhaya yesterday!” Erika protests. “Do I have to do it again today?”

“Yes,” Max says, nodding his head. “You’re not doing what I told you and Nick-er ... we’re going to pretend that this never happened.”

Nick and Erika step onto the mat and the rest of us crowd around them. Nick and Erika’s eyes meet with a deathly glare as they circle around each other. The room becomes tense as a girl and a boy have been paired to fight together.

“Fight,” Marie calls out. “We have more important things to do.”

Nick and Erika stare at each other blankly. Their faces are like staring at a blank sheet of paper. Nothing is there.

Just as Nick raises his fist, Theo opens the door and Kayla, Mia, and Lee all reenter. Confusion sweeps across Theo’s face as his eyes go from Max then to Marie. His eyebrows knit together as he stares at the rest of us. Theo’s lips turn into a taut, straight line.

“Can I please get an explanation of what is going on in here?” Theo asks.

“We were continuing fighting today,” Max responds. “Do you have a problem with that.”

Theo goes pale. “No,” Theo admits. “When we got the plans from Rae this morning it said that we were taking the day off from fighting and we were starting stage two.”

“Are you sure?” Max asks.

“Positive,” Theo says, raising his eyebrows. “Now I need the following people-”

The bell rings and Theo is greeted with a stampede of people bombarding him as they scream, “LUNCH!” His eyes widen at the sight of fifteen-year-olds running for food and for eighteen-year-olds screaming for a meal that they eat every day. Theo slides into the doorway and his eye catches mine as I exit the room.

Mealtimes at TID are now automatic in my mind. My brain is on top of meals and when the bell’s going to ring. TID is my home now, and I’m going to make it my permanent one.

When we enter the cafeteria, Rae is standing at her podium with a bright smile pasted on her face. Her black hair is slicked back into a sleek, short ponytail and bangs cover her right-side of her face. Maroon and black cover her head to toe. Rae wears a black long sleeve shirt with maroon leggings and a pair of black combat boots. The Phoenix rising from the flames is embroidered onto her shirt.

“Hello everyone,” Rae greets. “I need everyone to stop what they’re doing please.”

Everyone in the room stops moving and focus on Rae. She smiles once again at us and clears her throat.

“Sorry,” she apologizes. “I wanted to say that anyone in Theo’s and Max’s unit will begin rope-climbing after lunch. And so, will Marie’s unit too. Are there any questions?”

No one raises a hand or shouts out a question. Rae smiles at us and nods her head.

“Alright then. Have a nice lunch then,” Rae concludes.

Once Rae steps down from the podium, everyone begins to talk and laugh as lunch is being served. I find a spot in line and pick up a tray. Nick and Lee are in front of me roughhousing as they wait eagerly and impatiently to get their hands-on food. I pick up a plate and place it on my tray as I tap the toe of my boot.

I turn my back for one second and as I turn around, Nick comes flying at me with full force. Salty fries fly everywhere along with a bowl of broccoli and cheese soup and a glass of milk. Nick lands on top of me and then Lee decided to join the pile.

“What is up with you two?” I growl. “Get off of me.”

I feel as if I’m trapped in the same box from the hallucination earlier and I can barely breathe. Nick and Lee take this as some kind of joke before I jab my kneecap into the back of their legs. Nick howls in pain and jumps up and Lee is thrown off of the mini tower that was being built. The people both in front and back of us stare at the three of us and then start to laugh.

When I get to the food, I’m still infuriated at Nick and Lee. I swear that Nick does not understand the power of his words and actions. He says that he likes me but he acts like a complete idiot around me. I pick up the soup ladle and spoon the broccoli and cheese soup into a bowl. Steam rises from the tongue-burning soup as it glops into my bowl.

I pick up a cup of water and make my way to my usual spot with Kayla, Mia, Peter, and Trey. The five of us sit together laughing and talking while we eat. Mia shoots Kayla a sly grin and raises her eyebrows. Kayla returns the gesture and then they both stare at me.

“What?” I ask as I’m about to take another bite of my soup.

“Do you have any guys that you like?” Kayla asks, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

I stop and set my spoon down. I raise my eyebrows and stare at Kayla. “No. Why?” I ask.

“Oh, no reason,” Mia says.

I shake my head and sigh in disbelief as I pick up my spoon to take another bite. “You two have a very weird sense of humor,” I say. “No offense.”

“None taken,” Mia and Kayla chime together.

“But what was the point of the question?” I ask again.

“It’s kind of obvious that Theo likes you,” Kayla says, resting her face in her hands.

I nearly choke on my soup as the words come tumbling out of Kayla’s mouth. I stare at Kayla then at Mia.

“What are you talking about?” I scoff. “There is no way that Theo likes me.”

Kayla looks at Mia and raises her eyebrows. Mia copies her and then the two of them stare at me. I take a bite of my soup as they stare at me. I look at Peter and Trey. The two of them sit next to me with their hands covering their mouths, stifling their laughter. I sigh and roll my eyes.

“Like Kayla said, it’s sort of obvious that Theo likes you,” Trey says. “It really is.”

I run my hand over my face and press my lips into a taut line. Great. I glance over at Peter, hoping that he’ll help the situation somehow.

“I have to agree with everyone else,” Peter says. “I think that Theo does like you.”

“Gross,” I say. “Gross.”

“Aww, it isn’t gross, it’s cute,” Mia says as she reaches over to pat me on the shoulder.

I shake my head again and the five of us break out into laughter once again. The bell rings ten minutes later and we return to the training room. Theo, Max, and Marie stand in front of us with bright, cheerful smiles plastered on their faces. My heart stops. A rope is hung in the middle of the room. It dangles from the ceiling and that has to be at least a good ten or fifteen feet. At least.

Marie claps her hands and everyone turns to face her. Her red hair matches her personality. Flaming and full of fire and energy. Max whispers something to Theo and Marie whips her head around. Then she faces us again.

“Theo, are you still collecting others for stage two?” Marie asks.

“Yes,” Theo replies. “But Max is going to take over for the time being. I need three people from your unit please, Marie.”

Marie picks three people from her group and they follow Max out of the training room. Marie stares at us and flips her hair to one side and inhales.

“Today and for the rest of the week, we’ll be working on climbing the rope. We might add a second one later for races but for now we’re starting with one,” Marie explains. “Theo will demonstrate how to climb the rope and then we’ll go from there.”

Marie steps out of Theo’s way and Theo sheds his camouflage jacket. His maroon shirt hugs his chest and shows off all the muscles in his arms. Theo grips the rope as he pulls himself up. Theo’s legs wrap around the rope as his arms hold onto the rope and he pulls his body up toward the ceiling. The rope sways as Theo constantly grabs the rope and pulls his body up. Never slipping once.

When Theo makes it up to the top four minutes later, he comes down, welcomed with applause. He shrugs it off and stands next to Marie. Marie smiles at us and toys with one of the multiple rings on her eyebrow. A toothy grin sweeps across her face as she does so.

“So,” she says, “who wants to go first?”

The room is dead silent until I take a deep breath in. “I will,” I say.

Marie smiles at me. The crowd of people part for me like a sea as I step forward to meet my doom. Theo’s jacket is now wrapped around his waist as I catch a small and quick glimpse at him. I sigh and remove my jacket and wrap it around my waist. I hear a few gasps when everyone sees my tattoo. They see the birds and part of the branches peeking out from my tank top. That’s the last thing I care about. The last thing I care about are people’s reactions to my choices.

“Go ahead,” Marie says. “The floor is all yours now.”

I inhale and exhale. I wrap my hands tightly around the rope, gripping it so I won’t slip. Well, at least not yet. I pull my body up and wrap my legs around the flesh-ripping rope and begin to climb. The rope sways every time I move. Sweat rolls down my neck and I’m at least four feet off the ground.

Gasps and murmurs echo in the room as I climb higher and higher. Soon, I am somehow miraculously ten feet up in the air. When I get to the top, I see a bright blue sky and a yellow sun beaming down through a sheet of glass. Birds fly through the air. Funny, the St. Louis I always knew was dark and monotonous.

I get to the top and then I make my way back down to the ground. The rope burns my skin as I make my way back down. I may have lost a fight but I’m not going to let that define me. One lost will not keep me from achieving my goal.

When my feet hit the ground, the room is silent. People gape at me and whispers echo in the room. My face begins to become warm with blush. Marie and Theo stare at me. The door opens and Max enters the room. His face turns deathly pale when he sees me.

“What happened?” Max asks hastily as he closes the door behind him and the three people file back into the large crowd. “What happened? Is everything okay?”

“Abhaya,” Theo starts, “Just finished climbing the rope. Twenty feet off the ground in three minutes.”

Max stares at me. His eyes become wide with amazement. He rubs his throat as he thinks of something to say. Theo’s eyes are trained on me as I make my way back into the crowd. I feel the heat of everyone’s eyes burn into my back.

“Alright, who’s next?” Marie asks.

For the rest of the hour, half of the group attempts to climb the rope. When it’s Nick’s turn all eyes are gazed upon him. Nick sheds his jacket just like everyone else had done before him and he wraps his hands around the rope tightly. He pulls his body up and attempts to wrap his legs around the rope but he slides back down.

“OWW!” Nick howls as he hits the concrete hard. “What the hell was that?”

“That Nick, was failure,” Theo says as he helps Nick back up.

Nick glares at Theo as he dusts off his pants. Nick’s face becomes red with both embarrassment and anger. Nick marches back into the group and the next group of people attempt to climb the rope. Maire, Max, and Theo stand next to one another as they take note of everyone who has climbed, who has failed, and who has succeeded.

Marie picks more people out of her group to go with Max to start stage two, while we’re stuck in a dirty, dusty, and smelly room. A knock on the door awakens everyone who almost fell asleep while observing everyone climb the rope. Marie makes her way toward the door and opens it. Alia stands outside the door. Her brown hair is plastered to her forehead and her body is covered in sweat. She bends over and pants as she attempts to catch her breath.

“I need Abhaya Hughes please,” Alia calls out when she stands up.

My heart stops beating in my chest and begins to beat like a drum in my ears. My breath gets caught in my throat as shock runs through my veins. Everyone’s eyes fall on me. Blood rushes to my face each time I take a step toward Alia. Her brown eyes are kind but her posture and lips tell me something. Something is wrong. Something is terribly wrong.

“Follow me,” Alia orders as she leads me down the hallways.

I follow her and panic rises inside of me each step I take is one step closer to the truth that I do not want to hear. Alia’s sneakers pad against the ground as she walks quickly. It takes a moment to figure out where we’re going. Rae’s office.

Panic surges in my veins as each step leads me to a truth I bear to hear.

Alia knocks on Rae’s door and Rae answers it without a smile or a cheerful greeting. Instead, her face is solemn and her mouth is pressed into a tight line. I look past her and see a boy sitting in a chair with his head tilted down. His brown and curly hair is longer than I remember it being. Aj. His name gets caught in my throat as I stare at my brother.

Aj turns around and he’s changed since the last time I saw him. He’s leaner and has more muscle. His hair reaches his ears and hides his face. His face is more defined and his brown eyes are filled with both emotion and anger. But one thing catches my attention. A horrific sight on his face makes my heart plummet to my shoes.

“Aj,” I squeak, “what happened to your face?”

A long and narrow gnash covers the right side of his face. It stands out with his pale skin. Stitches bind the wound together but who did it? My guess is Donatella.

“Abhaya,” Aj cries as I walk toward him.

His arms wrap around me and squeeze my sore body. Tears well up in my eyes not from Aj hugging me so tightly but the fact that he’s here. Here and hurt. My arms wrap around Aj’s neck as I wish that this would never end.

“I need you two to sit down please,” Rae asks.

Aj and I oblige. Rae sits down on the other side of her desk and clasps her hands together. Her hair is still slicked back from earlier but this time, in a low bun. Rae stares at Aj then at me. She forces a fake smile onto her face and then asks Alia to sit down.

“Aj, would you like to tell Abhaya why you’re here?” Rae asks.

“Yes, I would,” Aj replies. “Abhaya, something’s terribly wrong at home. The house is out of control and-”

“Wait what?” I ask. “Are you okay? Is Donatella hurting you? Or is it Linda or Lillie?”

“Abhaya, I’m fine,” Aj reassures me. “I really am. Well-Donatella did throw me down the stairs because I wouldn’t tell he-”

I stand up and my chair crashes to the ground. Anger intoxicates my blood. “What? You-you literally just said that she wasn’t hurting you! You-”

“Abhaya,” Rae says. “Calm down please. Let Aj explain.”

I pick my chair up again and sit down. I cross my arms over my chest as I come down from my moment of rage. Rae collects herself and then stares at Aj and then at me.

“Aj, you may continue,” Rae adds.

Aj nods and inhales a deep breath before resuming his story. “But as I was saying before, home hasn’t been the same since you left and neither has Dad. He hasn’t been home lately and if he is home, he’s home super late at night. Almost early morning. Donatella hasn’t been the same either. Every time I bring your name up, her face contorts into a disgusted look. Just everything has changed and something is terribly wrong at home. You can’t come back home Abhaya,” Aj says as he turns around to face me. “Never come back home. For your sake and for your safety, please don’t ever come back home under any circumstance.”

I nod. “Okay, I promise that I won’t come back home. Just for you and Dad.”

“Thank you so much,” Aj whispers. “Thank you.”

Aj wraps his arms around my neck and Rae smiles at the two of us compassionately. A smile that I thought that I would never see again. Aj unwraps his arms from me and I stare at his scar on his cheek. I reach out to touch it. Aj doesn’t flinch at my fingertips grazing the edges of the scar.

“What happened?” I ask. “What did you hit? Or what hit you?”

“It was a corner,” Aj admits. “I went head first down the stairs and my head hit the corner of the wall.”

Aj grabs my fingers and stares at me. He smiles as tears threaten to break the dam. I wrap my arms around Aj, letting me that he is real and that he is here.

“God, Abhaya, I didn’t realize how strong you’ve gotten,” Aj says.

I laugh and smile. Rae and Alia join in and the four of us bring joy back into the room and it seems to drown out the dark and looming feeling that hangs overhead. I breathe in Aj’s scent. I always did that when I needed a hug or if I didn’t feel good then. Aj was the person I ran to when I needed a shoulder to lean on. He was my shoulder to lean on and I was his. And to this day we will always be there for one another. No matter what.

I can’t lose him. Not like how I lost Abi. I can’t lose anyone else. I just can’t. No one else is going to slip from my grip. I will keep them for as long as I can. I just want to save the people I love. That’s all I need and want to do.

“I hate to break up this brother-sister-reunion and all but we need to get back onto the topic that we were discussing earlier,” Rae interjects.

Aj squeezes me one last time and then we face Rae. Alia sits over in the corner staring at us, observing every word we say. Rae smiles at us then she waves for Alia to join us at her desk.

Alia stands up and drags her chair over toward Rae’s desk. She sits down and stares at us. Her brown hair rests in a plaited, simple braid on her right shoulder and her makeup is done in black and a deep shade of red. Not quite maroon, but it’s a similar shade.

“Alia, can you explain to Aj what Abhaya has been doing so far?” Rae asks kindly.

“Well, I guess I can tell him some of the things I do know about Abhaya’s training,” Alia says as her eyebrows rise up as she thinks.

“That’s all I need to know,” Aj says. “I just want to know how she’s doing.”

“Well Aj, Abhaya is doing perfectly fine,” Alia chimes. “From what I heard about today, she climbed the twenty-foot rope without a problem.”

Aj stares at me and smiles then laughs. He knew that I loved to climb objects as a child. He was the one who had to coax me to come back down because I was too high up.

“And I’m assuming that she did it without a problem?” Aj asks.

“Oh definitely,” Alia says. “She volunteered first. Which, by the way is very rare for us to have someone volunteer. Normally we have one of the instructors climb up with them up to the halfway mark, then they have to climb the rest of the way up.”

Aj smirks and shifts in his chair. “Is there anything else that I should be aware of?”

“Well, Abhaya did get knocked out during a fight but she’s fine now,” Rae says hesitantly.

“Oh,” Aj says. “Was it part of the training though?”

“Yes,” Alia says.

Aj nods his head and stares at me. I press my lips into a taut line. I find it sort of ironic that we went from talking about a heavy topic that none of us wanted to face to talking about a much lighter topic. I feel Aj’s eyes burn through me. I can’t tell if he knows that I have a tattoo or not.

I tug my jacket around me. It may be warm in Rae’s office but I don’t want to reveal my tattoo to Aj. At least not yet. Aj cocks his head at me and narrows his eyes.

“Thank you for having me here Rae,” Aj says as he stands up. “But I need to be leaving soon. Have a good day. Bye Abhaya I love you and stay safe.”

Alia stands up and leads Aj out of Rae’s office. Soon, I am left alone with Rae. The two of us sit across from each other like it’s an interrogation. I feel a sudden awkward silence fall between the two of us like a veil that separates the truth from us.

“You didn’t mention to Aj that you have a tattoo,” Rae says. “Is there a reason behind why?”

“I just wasn’t ready to tell him,” I say. “May I leave?”

“Yes, you may,” Rae says, hesitation hints in her voice. “But I might need to talk to you later. Okay?”

“Yes,” I say. “I understand.”

Rae nods and I leave her office. Why would she need to talk to me? Was it because of earlier? Does she know about what I did today? Does Rae know that I escaped the box by just breathing? Did Theo tell her?

What secrets do I hold that they’ve found out? Did they slip out of my hands or my mouth? Did I say or do something that raised concern?

My main guess is that I managed to manipulate the hallucination. And from what I can tell, having the ability to manipulate is anything but good. Just from the look on Theo’s face, stage two is not going to be safe at all.

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