“Home sweet home,” Bear said once the doorway disappeared again behind them.
“What a day!” D.C.’s eyes were comically wide. “I can’t believe we’re still alive.”
“I won’t be for much longer if I don’t eat something,” Jordan said. “I’m starving.”
His stomach rumbled as if to emphasise his words, and Alex realised how hungry she was as well. And tired. Her day had been exhausting, yet it was barely sunset.
“Food, then bed,” she said. But she remembered something else and amended, “Food, Darrius, then bed.”
Jordan pointed to her bleeding wound where Roka’s blade had nicked her arm. “Food, Fletcher, Darrius, then bed,” he corrected.
“I can barely feel it,” Alex argued, but she knew he was right and nodded in agreement.
“Sounds like we have a plan,” D.C. concluded, linking her arm through Alex’s and leading the way up and out of the Tower.
ome fr om?
Thirteen
Alex was jerked violently from her sleep that night when a bloodcurdling scream nearly ruptured her eardrums. She was out of bed and crouching in a defensive position before fully waking, frantically searching the darkened corners of the room for any trace of Aven who she feared had somehow broken into the dorm.
She could see nothing out of place, but the screaming continued as D.C. thrashed around in her bed, clawing at her covers and waving her hands wildly.
“Dix?” Alex called, rushing over to her friend. She reached out to restrain D.C.’s arms to keep them from smacking her in the face. “Wake up, Dix! Wake up!”
“Noooo!” D.C. wailed. The sound was heart-wrenching and it caused chills to trickle down Alex’s spine.
D.C. continued to scream and fight, so Alex roughly shook her. When she finally woke, her demeanour changed almost instantly. One second she was screaming bloody murder, and the next she had her mouth closed and eyes wide open, looking up at Alex in confusion.
“Alex? What are you doing?” D.C. asked groggily, staring at her arms where Alex held them locked in a firm grasp.
“You were having a nightmare,” Alex said, releasing her. “You were screaming and everything.”
D.C. looked bewildered but then her expression cleared. Just as swiftly her eyes shadowed, and she looked away from Alex, swallowing thickly. “Sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“Hey, you can’t help what you dream,” Alex said. But then she remembered that sometimes D.C. actually could influence what she dreamed. Her friend’s gift enabled her to dream true dreams—dreams that showed the future. When D.C. had those dreams, she could choose to relive the visions anytime she wanted to gather more information.
“Dix, was that… Were you dreaming one of your, you know, dreams?” Alex asked.
D.C. looked up at Alex with eyes that were calmer than before, but still held a lingering trace of darkness.
“I’m sure it was nothing, Alex.” Despite her confident words, she didn’t sound certain. “I can barely remember it, so I think it was just a regular nightmare. Usually I have much more clarity when I have true dreams.”
“Do you want to talk about it?” Alex offered.
“N—no,” D.C. said quickly. Then she cleared her throat as if to cover her abrupt answer. “I mean, it’s late, and I’ll probably have forgotten all about it by morning.”
“You sure?” Alex asked, not wanting to upset D.C. when she looked so vulnerable. “You know I’m here if you want to talk.”
“I’m good, but thanks. And sorry again for waking you.”
Alex told her not to worry about it and made her way back to bed. While D.C. seemed to fall straight back to sleep, Alex had trouble relaxing. Try as she might, she couldn’t get D.C.’s agonised screams out of her mind. But soon enough the events of her day in Meya and the exhaustion from having to relive every moment—except for the ones she promised Roka not to speak of—during her talk with Darrius caught up to her, and she drifted off into a restless sleep.
That was the first night D.C.’s screams woke Alex, but it wasn’t the last.
Every night for the rest of the week Alex was woken by the terrified noises of her thrashing roommate. When confronted, D.C. adamantly refused to speak about her nightmares, continuing to claim they were nothing. And while the night terrors lasted only a few minutes, they were so anxiety-inducing that Alex was rarely able to sleep much afterwards.
Within a few days both girls had dark circles under their eyes, and their lack of proper rest hadn’t gone unnoticed by their friends. But more worrying was that their exhaustion was beginning to cause problems in class.
D.C. was the first to reap the consequences when she failed to answer a question correctly in Medical Science. Professor Luranda ended up giving her a detention when her reply was, “Sorry, Professor. I was so bored that I zoned out for a moment there. Can you repeat the question?”
By the time Friday arrived, Alex was definitely feeling the effects of her barely-awake consciousness. Finn had nearly killed her that morning in PE, and she had nearly killed her entire class in Chemistry. Equestrian Skills had also royally sucked because she’d been so out of it during their forest ride that she’d ended up being coat-hangered by a tree. The impact had sent her flying off her horse and onto the ground, resulting in Tayla ordering her to go straight to the Medical Ward where Fletcher had thankfully treated her bruised ribs without comment.
If Alex thought things couldn’t get any worse after that, she was soon proven wrong. While Fletcher had been fixing her up with pain meds and a Regenevator to increase the healing speed of her injury, the heavens had opened up, bringing a downpour of rain across the entire academy.
“Perfect,” Alex groaned as soon as she stepped outside Gen-Sec and saw the liquid bucketing from the sky. Knowing she was going to end up soaked no matter what, she stepped out into the rain and began to jog over to the Arena for her Combat class. While she ran, her thoughts grumbled about the lack of roofing over the amphitheatre. Sure, she’d had to take the class out in the elements before—rain, hail, snow, shine, everything—but she wasn’t in the mood to deal with the added inconvenience after the week she’d had.
Such was her luck that when the class actually started, the rain began falling even harder. Fabulous.
She made it halfway through the lesson before finally losing it.
“Fun, hey?” Brendan called over the violent sound of the downpour.
Alex could barely see him through the barrier of water. She could hardly see anything. But since they were supposed to be attacking each other, her lack of vision presented a serious problem.
“So much fun,” she returned sarcastically.
The truth was, Alex’s tolerance had reached its limit. But she continued to get the stuffing knocked out of her, knowing the class surely had to end soon. She was wet and miserable, and all she wanted was a long, hot shower and a good night’s sleep. Was that too much to ask?
Fifteen minutes later, Brendan again yelled to her over the tumultuous noise. “I take it back—this isn’t fun anymore!”
Alex grunted in agreement and kicked out at him. They were practising unarmed fighting techniques, so at least they didn’t have the added danger of slipping on the muddy ground and impaling themselves on their blades. That was a positive, if noth“I’ll tell you what,” Brendan shouted. “Why don’t you just let me win and we’ll be allowed to finish?”
Ten minutes earlier, Karter had told the different pairs to move out of a practising stance and into an attacking mind frame. As soon as one person managed to overcome the other, the pairs could finish class for the day. It was an uncharacteristic offer from Karter, but his leniency was likely a result of him being unable see his students.
“Me?” Alex yelled back, ducking his fist. “Why do I have to lose? Why can’t you let me win?”
She heard his faint snort over the cacophony of the rainstorm.
“Why is that funny?” she demanded,
swiping her leg out towards where she thought he was. The rain was so blinding that she missed him by about three feet, and she heard him laugh even harder at her failed attempt.
“We both know you’re not going to beat me, Alex, and no one would believe us if we acted like you did,” he said. “Sure, you’re heaps better than you were, but I’ve been in Epsilon Combat for years longer than you. And I’m an apprentice, while you’re just a fourth year. You’re good, but you’re not that good.”
Normally Alex could handle the banter of the Combat boys, knowing they used taunts to throw off their opponents. But Brendan’s mockery just fuelled the fire that sparked from Alex’s exhausted state of mind.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath to still her rising irritation, and her newly determined peace brought a sense of quiet that she’d only experienced once before. Alex suddenly felt everything around her. When she opened her eyes, she could see everything so much clearer than before. She watched in amazement as single raindrops fell from the sky in slow motion. She could see the other boys in her Combat class who were spread around the Arena and fighting awkwardly due to their limited vision. It was like switching from a static video to high definition; the added detail was startling. And when she threw her hand out towards Brendan—whom she could now see with phenomenal clarity—he wasn’t fast enough to block her blow.
Another punch, an elbow to his stomach, a sideswipe of her foot, and a final roundhouse kick to his torso landed him on his backside with her standing like an avenging angel over his winded body.
“How—How—?” he stuttered, looking up at her in awe as the rain fell onto his mud-splattered face.
“Cat got your tongue, Labinsky?” she said, holding out a hand to help him to his feet.
As if knowing their fight was over, the rain began to ease slightly. Of course.
“How did you move so fast?” he asked when he was standing again.
She brushed a wet lock of hair behind her ear. “What are you talking about?”
“You were like a blur,” Brendan said, lowering his voice to a more normal level as the rain continued to lessen. “I barely even saw you move.”
“That’s because it was raining,” Alex said. “The water was so thick I couldn’t see you either.”
But despite her words, she couldn’t ignore the fear that prickled up her spine. At the end of their fight, she definitely had seen him. And she knew how.
“No,” he said, shaking his head adamantly. “I mean, yeah, the rain was thick and it made seeing you difficult, but I’m talking about the speed of your attacks. You were insanely fast.”
Alex felt her breath catch with his admission but she forced herself to remain calm, even when her memory flashed an image of the cuts and nicks she’d given Roka in their fight a week ago. Had she somehow managed to tap into not only the increased sight, but also the Meyarin attribute of speed during her fight with Brendan? That was definitely a dangerous path to tread. She would have to be very careful in the future.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Alex told him, faking indifference. “You said it yourself; I’m still not that great a fighter. I think the rain distorted what you think you saw and I just got a few lucky hits in.”
Brendan seemed to think about that as they walked to where Karter was waiting. Kaiden and Declan were already standing with him, but Nick and Sebastian had yet to finish their match.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Brendan accepted before they reached the others. “Maybe you did just get lucky.”
Alex tried not to look too relieved.
“Labinsky, Jennings, you’re done?” Karter asked gruffly, wiping the rain off his face. It was now only drizzling lightly and Alex had to force herself to not scowl up at the sky.
“Yes, sir,” Brendan answered.
“You hurt, Jennings?” Karter asked.
Alex turned to him. “Hurt?”
“Yes, hurt,” he repeated. “Injured. Wounded. Damaged in any way.”
She looked at him in bewilderment. Sure, she often sustained injuries during Combat class, but rarely did Karter ask her personally if she was okay unless it was obvious she was in a bad state. Otherwise it was just expected that she—and her classmates—would go and see Fletcher if necessary. After class ended.
“No more than usual, sir,” she told him honestly. Just like after every Combat class, she was probably covered in bruises, but nothing more serious.
He frowned at her as though she’d said something wrong, then turned to look at Brendan. The apprentice must have been able to read his expression better than Alex, since he quietly mumbled something she couldn’t hear.
“Speak up, Labinsky,” Karter ordered.
“I said, Alex isn’t hurt because she didn’t lose the fight.”
Karter’s eyes flickered in surprise before his face reverted to its natural stoic expression. “Is that so?”
“I just got lucky,” Alex said, repeating what she’d told Brendan.
Karter peered intently at her. “Lucky or not, I expect you to keep it up.”
He then told Alex, Brendan, Declan and Kaiden that, as per his earlier agreement, they could leave early. Sebastian and Nick would have to continue until one of them won their fight.
As they sloshed their way out of the Arena and up the hill towards the dorm building, the boys conversed with one another while Alex’s mind wandered to her comfy bed. Maybe she would get a proper sleep that night for the first time all week.
Just as she was contemplating skipping dinner and going straight to bed, a voice broke through the tired haze of her mind.
“Are you excited about this weekend?”
She looked questioningly at Kaiden as he stepped up beside her. “This weekend?”
“Yeah, you know—our SAS getaway?”
Alex stared at him blankly and his lips quirked at her expression.
“Were you paying any attention last night?” he asked. “I mean, I know you got caught in three—or was it four?— of Hunter’s traps, but I thought you were just trying to avoid Skyla. I didn’t realise you were that out of it.”
“I’ve had a lot on my mind lately,” Alex said.
Kaiden’s face was sincere but his eyes were laughing at her. “I’m sure you have.”
“All right, Mr. I-Know-Something-You-Don’t-Know,” she said. “What was it that I should’ve been listening to last night?”
“Well, since you asked so nicely,” he said with a wry grin, “tomorrow we have an overnight assessment for SAS. We’re taking off for the whole weekend, coming back on Sunday night.”
Alex groaned. That was the last thing she needed after the week she’d had. But then again, she might actually get a good night’s sleep if she was away from D.C.’s screams.
Almost immediately, Alex felt bad for thinking such a thought. It wasn’t like her roommate chose to have the nightmares. D.C. was the victim of her own subconscious mind.
“What are you thinking about?” Kaiden asked.
Alex wondered what her expression must have revealed for him to be looking at her with such curiosity, and she quickly relaxed her face. “Nothing. Just wondering what clothes I should pack.”
He laughed. “Wow, you’re really bad at lying.”
She lowered her eyes but didn’t try to deny his accusation. Fortunately, he let the matter drop.
“I guess I’ll see you in the morning,” he said, and she realised they’d already reached the dorm building.
“Yeah, sure,” she replied, giving him a tired smile. She headed up the stairs to her room, quietly closing the door when she noticed D.C. curled up in bed.
“Hey,” D.C. said softly, rolling over to face her.
“Hey, yourself,” Alex returned, crossing the room to sit beside her friend. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” D.C. said. “Finn let us skip PE because of the rain, so I came back for a nap.”
“Really?”
D.C. rubbed her eyes. ??
?Yeah, I was tired.”
“No,” Alex said, chuckling, “I meant that I was surprised Finn let you out of class. Karter made us keep going.”
“You’re still back earlier than usual,” D.C. said, squinting at the time displayed on her ComTCD resting on her bedside table.
“Yeah, by like, ten minutes,” Alex said. “No nanna nap for me, unfortunately.”
D.C.’s face crumpled in apology. “Sorry. I know you haven’t been sleeping well. And I know that’s my fault.”
“You can’t help it,” Alex said with a tired shrug. “And I’ll be gone this weekend for SAS anyway, so maybe having the room to yourself will help you move on from whatever is causing the… episodes.”
“Episodes?” D.C. repeated. “You make me sound like a crazy person.”
“You know what I mean,” Alex said. And then she couldn’t resist adding, “And you are a crazy person. Acceptance is the first step to a good, healthy recovery.”
D.C.’s lips twitched. “Are you speaking from experience?”
“Me? Crazy?” Alex placed her hand dramatically against her chest.
“You’re such a weirdo,” D.C. said, shaking her head. “And at this exact moment, you also happen to be a weirdo who is dripping water all over my bed. Go and clean yourself up, would you?”
“Your wish is my command,” Alex said with a salute, and she stood up and trudged over to their bathroom for a quick shower before dinner.
“This is going to be so awesome!”
“If you say so,” Alex mumbled around a yawn the next morning. Once again she’d had little sleep during the night, and she couldn’t muster the same amount of enthusiasm as Jordan for their upcoming weekend.
One foot in front of the other, she mentally chanted as she followed her friend down to where their SAS class was due to meet at the forest. Even her internal voice sounded weary.
While Jordan continued to babble about what he thought the overnight trip would bring, Alex secretly hoped Hunter would have a change of heart and cancel—or perhaps reschedule to another time.