Number Seven

Chapter 8

I take a deep breath as my nerves rush to every vacant area of my body. My eyes dash to the inches dividing him and me. My palms press against the mattress of my bed as I try to distance myself, but no matter how far I move, he follows.

I feel myself continue to crawl backward until the wall, built at the head of my bed, stops me. My fingers grasp the sheets from the overwhelming anxiety buzzing through my skin. The irregular beats in my chest pound through my eardrums as he eases in, bit by bit. The breath on my upper lip feels hot. A strange sensation explodes through my bones, taking in every little touch from my nerves. In my attempt to move back again, I remember the concrete wall keeping me from doing so. Six inches have turned to three and my heart is racing so fast I can't keep up.

His eyes pierce through me with such intent I feel incapacitated. It's made me unable to say a single word. My gaze snaps throughout the different surfaces of his face, ending on the short, charming smile genetically built into his skin. Something needs to be said, but my mouth refuses to open. His eyes are so focused on the person in front of him. Conducted to the severest extent. I push down the exasperating tenseness in my throat. I try to calm the raging sea in my heart, all while keeping my hot breath from overwhelming his space. My eyes fall victim to the slight part in his lips.

"Kiss me." My heart drums its last beat as the tenseness spikes to my head. My eyes widen and I feel like I can't breathe. I can't breathe. I can't feel my lungs, my hands, my legs that are under him, or my face. Everything feels like it is numb and on fire.

Another irregular pulse malfunctions in my chest as I sit up, taking in my dark surroundings. My hair springs up with my body as I blink through the chilly air. I acknowledge my legs under the sheets of my bed with no one towering over them. My body is back to the center of my bed, comforted by the sheets wrapped around me. After reaching the answer to my lingering questions, I sense the rash beating in my chest come to an abrupt stop. It was just a dream. All of it was just a dream. "I need to get out of here."

"Where are we going?" I flinch to find him at the foot of my bed, head in the palm of his hand, with that straight smile of his slapped back into his face. I maneuver out of my bed, seizing my black training uniform for the day and shoes, before changing in the bathroom at the back of our little dorm. Once I feel ready, my feet bolt out the door ignoring any form of eye contact and using my access card to leave the room.

I desperately need to leave this place.

After brutally shoving breakfast down my throat, I take my weekly stroll through the building. The more aware I am of everything around me, the easier it will be to ditch this hell hole. When the time comes, I make my way to my first class of the day, standing alongside the rest of the trainees in the field.

"Evaluation day, crybabies. To pass you have to complete the obstacle course, personal fitness regimen, and fight me in a one-on-one match."

A groan eludes me as I line up beside the others in front of the faded starting line. The dried dirt crumbles under my palms as I ready myself for death. One wailing noise from the horn clutched underneath Jinx's talons is all it takes for us to start scrambling through the ins and outs of this death trap. I have no idea how many times my body has gone through this thing, but it's starting to get old. 

No matter how many new tricks Jinx brings into this game of hers it is always the same boring course of extinction. Seven makes it look easy, as always. Compared to everyone else, he treats this like his own jungle gym. The way he swings his body from bar to bar. How he climbs the rock wall with such ease and practically flies through every obstacle makes me wonder if he was born on another planet.

By the end of the race, everyone manages to reach the finish line. Even the redhead. It isn't until I realize it's too late that I catch myself looking for too long. One ounce of attention is all it takes for his senses to overload into misreading the situation. So much so that all the muscles in his face seem to relax into this eerie expression. My eyes snap away instantly and before I know it I find myself in the combat building, zipping through our training faster than lightning.