Secret Coder

Chapter 24

Calista showed us both offensive and defensive techniques. She showed us punching and kicking. We practiced shooting arrows and bows and guns. We practiced with swords and shields too. At some point, she took a break to eat dinner then we kept doing what we'd just done. By the end, I was worn out and tired. She made us a schedule for when to coke down with her and practice. I was happy we'd finally get to relax, together. We headed back to the tent. We changed into the clothes we had on before. We'd decided to wear them to bed. I hadn't moved my sleeping bag back and I didn't plan to. We got into our sleeping bags, even closer than before. I kissed him then laid my head on his chest. I fell asleep to the sound of his breathing and heartbeat.
                                 *   *    *
I looked around. I was standing by inside an empty house. The walls were light blue, close to shite, and I was looking into what I thought would be the living room. I noticed I was touching someone's shoulders. I looked down and saw a mini-me, with dark sky blue eyes and wavy hair. Then I felt an arm against my right arm and noticed someone was standing next to me. Andrew. He looked older. But somehow more handsome. Someone ran forward. A little girl. She had dirty blonde straight hair, brown eyes, and tall for her age, immediately I registered her as mine. My daughter. I looked back down at who I was touching, another one of my daughters. Then I noticed something shiny on my right hand. I let go of the girl and lift my hand. It was a ring. It had a diamond on the top and tinier diamonds around it. It's a marriage ring. I told myself. I looked back at Andrew. He was smiling at me. I smiled back.
                                 *   *   *
My eyes shot open. I looked around still in a different world. Everything sunk in and I leaned back down. I turned my head back to Andrew. I laid my head back on him. Subconsciously his position changed and his chin was on top of my head and his arms wrapped around me. Maybe not subconsciously. I didn't mind. I liked it. He was warm and comfortable. I closed my eyes and drifted back to dreamland.
                              *   *   *
I woke up the next morning and slowly opened my eyes. Andrew was still here. He was quiet and still, I wasn't sure if he was awake. I moved back slightly and lifted my head. If he was asleep I didn't want to wake him. I smiled.
"Why'd you move?" Andrew asked.
"I wasn't sure if you were awake. I wanted to see." I leaned back against him. We'd have to get up soon and he knew that.
"Ok," He said then held me tighter. He kissed the top of my hair then we stayed like that for a while. The sun was shining brightly now and we knew it was time to get up. Wd got changed into the clothes Calista had given us. I was wearing a brown tank top and white leggings. I took out my braid. My hair was crazy wavy do I just put it into a low ponytail and let some pieces of hair in the front of my head hang loose. Andrew put on a dark blue shirt and shorts. He messed his hair a little so it wouldn't look too much like bedhead hair. And with that we were ready.
"Let's go.... Beautiful," Andrew said, "Oh, sorry. Cringe. But you're beautiful." I smiled. He smiled back and we left. We ate, did whatever, ate, trained, ate, trained, slept.  That was what we did the rest of the week. Our cuts had healed into scars. My favorite part of the day was any time where I was alone with Andrew. Everyone knew that we were dating and that we kissed when we were alone but that'd what a normal couple did and we didn't care. We were sparring when Calista said, "I think you guys are good with this. Not that you should stop practicing. You guys know that blue thing did something to you right? We got to figure out what. Not that it will be bad. It's good to know. And you'll have to practice using your powers. And if you practice things like running that will make you in great shape and get you ready to run if you need to. And it's something to do."
"Ok. Come down. We're not going to say no," I said.
"Ok," She said smiling with energy. Calista made us a new schedule. We wake up, grab a healthy snack, go for a 20-30 minute run the sprint some of it on the way back(I wasn't in love with running but I guess it would be okay with Andrew), then we'd go to the clinic to see if anything had changed like hearing or seeing, then we would train without our powers then with them. And where ever we were during a meal we'd eat there. This sounded more entertaining. The next day came quickly and we get ready to run. They'd given us a bunch of clothes too. We were told to follow the fenced path when running. It was about three miles total. I turned out to be faster than I had been but only liked running a little more than I had. After we got done we took a shower in the community bathrooms and changed into different clothes. We headed to the clinic.
"Hu, Dr. Haddix!" I said. I'd gotten to know him a little. He's pretty nice.
"Oh, Hi Sky!" He came to us, "So, you're here for the check-up Calista set?"
"Yeah," Andrew said. He had his arm over my shoulders.
"Ok, Come with me," He said. He walked over to a space with a picture on the wall. It was one of those pictures that have letters and symbols on it and the doctor tells you to cover an eye and read it at a certain distance. We were at the end of the clinic.
"Ok, you guys probably know how to do this. Cover an eye, say the letters you can read then do it again with the opposite. Normally we'd make you stand here," He walked over to a red tape line, "But the liquid is supposed to make you stronger right? So, naturally, I'd think you might be able to see farther. So stand here," He stood a couple of feet away from the line. We both walked to the spot he told us to go to.
"So, who first?" Dr. Haddix asked.
"I can," I offered.
"Ok.... ok! Also, every time you read it right move back three steps."
"Ok," I said. I covered my right eye and read the chart. When I was done with both eyes he said I did it correctly do I stepped back. He put up a different sign with different letters so I couldn't memorize them. I kept reading them perfectly. When I was past fifteen feet was when had trouble reading the smallest letters correctly but I only missed two. I kept going to see where I wouldn't be able to read it. After another fifteen feet, half of the bottom row wasn't easy to read. There were only about ten feet left until I would hit the wall. I decided to just go to the end of the room and read it.
"A, I, F, D, T, J, G, E," I read the first line, "W, L, K, C, B, M, O," I finished the second line. There were two left. "N, H, V, P, Z," Now the last line, "uh... Q? S? I can't tell what the rest says."
"Wow. That's far. Andrew, you're up," Dr. Haddix said. Andrew could also see far but he missed the whole first row.
"Next, we're going to test your hearing," Dr. Haddix said. We sat down on a blue hospital bed with a thin white sheet across it.
"Just raise your hand when you hear a beep," Dr, Haddix told me.  Another doctor did the same for Andrew. When we finished with the hearing test they told us that we both had had hearing than most but Andrew had better. Dr. Haddix experimented with a few other things, like reaction time, we had very quick reactions, how much we noticed something and a couple of other things. We were stronger or better at them all than regular people.
"Well, you guys are good to go. Have fun training," Dr. Haddix said.
"Thanks," Andrew replied. We got off the bed and started walking out.
"You ready to use your power?" I asked Andrew.
"Seems fun," He replied. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders. We walked to the battle area quietly. I hoped we didn't need to talk to know we were there.
"Hey!" Calista said when we got there,
"Hi," Andrew replied.
"You guys ready for training?" Calista asked walking over to where the weapons were kept. "Oh! We made you guys suits. They're on that table," Calista added and pointed at a table that was behind us. I turned around and saw two suits laying on a white table. One was black and the other was white. They had gloves that only had a thumb part and on the white suit the glove was black and on the black suit, the glove was white. The suits also had a hood. On the suits, themselves was an inch or two wide line going across it from the right shoulder to the opposite side at the waist. On the white suit, the was a 's c' on the left sleeve. On the other sleeve was the stitching of a waning crescent moon. On both sides of the line going across the suit were tiny stars about half an inch wide. It was the same for the suit except it had a full moon on the top of the sleeve and 's s' on the other sleeve. The pants part was more basic. They both had a big star where a pocket would be on the pants. Around the waist looked like a belt that could keep weapons on it but it was part of the suit. There were throwing stars connected to the line that went across the suit. Next to both suits were a sword and sheath. It looked like the sheath was supposed to go on the waist.
"Ok, We'll go try them on," I said.
"Ok," Calista replied. We grabbed the suits and hurried back to the tent, not wanting to take too long. The suits were one-piece so it was a little difficult to work with. Because of the length, we guessed that the shite one was mine. The suit fit perfectly. The material felt strong but flexible. Once I finished putting it on I looked into the mirror. My first reaction was 'Who's that?' I looked good. Amazing even. The suit made me stand a little straighter but that made me look even better and didn't bother me. The only thing to fix now was my hair. It was starting to lose the crazy waves. If I were to put up the hood my hair would get in the way so I put it into a french braid that went over my shoulder. I used the purple and blue colored hair tie that I had to tie the braid. I turned around to see what Andrew looked like and found him in his suit. It fit Andrew just as well as mine fit me, maybe even more if that was possible. My jaw fell to the floor. He did too.
"You. Look. Great. Amazing. Beautiful," I said. I forced my mouth shut. "You look better," Andrew said causing me to smile. We stood in front of the mirror.
"Thanks," I said. We seriously looked amazing. Stunning.
"We better show her," Andrew said.
"Ok." I started walking to the exit but someone caught my arm and swung me around. It was Andrew. He held me against him and kissed me on the lips. I never wanted this moment to end. I knew it would have to at some point so I just waited for Andrew to stop. Once he did stop I smiled at him then we walked out. It didn't take us too long to get back to Calista. "Hey, Calista!" I called. She seemed shocked when I called her.
"Oh!" She turned around, "Wow! Y'all look amazing!"
"You really like clothes and fashion don't you," I guessed.
"Oh, yeah! Anytime either of you needs clothes or fashion advice just come to me."
"Ok, thanks," I said.
"Yeah. No prob. Let's start practicing. Quicker we go sooner you'll get to use your powers," Calista said as we grabbed a weapon. I knew how to know out someone now. We knew each other's strengths and weaknesses. I fought Andrew then whoever won would fight against Calista. Andrew ended up winning. He was striver than me but I was faster. At one point Andrew pushed me to the ground holding his sword straight against my neck. He was standing with his legs on the sides of mine. I smiled. He looked down and realized the position was strange or awkward and quickly moved to give me a chance to get up and knock Andrew over onto the ground. I ended up laying on top of him with a dagger pushed lightly against the bottom of his chin. He pushed himself and with me, on top of him, I got pushed too. We fought back and forth for a little then he pushed me down. This time he didn't let me get up. I was focusing and thinking about him too much to try to escape too. He took the dagger out of my hand and helped me up.
"I win," He said smirking. He lowered his head and kissed the start of my hairline right above my forehead. Then he handed me back the dagger. I'd started to like using dagger more than swords. I smiled, "Yeah, you did." Andrew stated fighting Calista. He was getting at avoiding her attacks and was strong but she had got more experience so she won. "Good job," I said when they finished. I was leaning against the table. He smiled at me. He always seemed to light up when he smiled at me. I loved that smile. Still do, always do. I walked towards them. They both looked a little sweaty and exhausted. I'd gotten some time to cool off while watching.
"So, power time?" I asked. I wasn't sure what we would do with our powers but I wanted to use mine. Calista looked excited when I asked.
"Yeah!" Calista said, "Sky, you gotta try to control your fire. Not that you can't but better. And kind of the same for you Andrew. But more like release it. So.. the opposite. And Sky you can probably try and release yours too but we wouldn't want to be here, where it could burn everything. We've been making a place for you guys to practice at.
"Follow me." Calista turned towards the woods and started walking. When we entered the woods at first all I saw were trees then we entered a section without trees. It had lights, fences, and weapons.
"Hm. Cool," Andrew said. I noticed that there was a rive behind the fences. It smelled kind of funny like someone mixed two smells but it didn't coke outright.
"What's that smell?" I asked.
"We pit this spray-It's not harmful to anything- all over everything so your fire doesn't create some huge fire," Calista answered.
"Good idea," I said.
"Thanks. Oh! Almost forgot. We have someone who can help train you," Calista paused, "The original.
"Huh?" I asked.
"Didn't we come from gods or something?" Andrew added.
Calista chuckled, "Heck no. That would have been cool but no. That was a cover-up story. One person would believe less and eventually forget. The first person, like you, was experimented on by the government. Terrible but true. The person escaped. But only because of their new power, invisibility. They went on with their lives but soon found that everything changed. They were stuck at that age but were also slowly getting older. They were different. They made a life, got a wife, had a kid. The kid didn't have a power. Until he was ten. He could solve anything that was coded or code anything. A technopath. Then he married someone who also had a power. The government had experimented on a girl too he'd learned. Her power was a fire. Then they had you Sky. The government didn't stop experimenting, they experimented on your dad's grandfather, Andrew. Eventually, it became a gene. The power,  or powers, aren't handed down it's just something you love doing and do so well. And my guess why Sky has two powers is cuz you like two things equally. Coding and... meteorites? Fire? Anyway. That's how it works."
"He's come out parents don't know?" Andrew asked.
"Because... well they did. But when they stopped they said they would allow us to erase these memories and save enough for them to be able to help you."
"Oh... ok," Andrew said.
"How do you know?" I asked.
"Because a fee of us helped the government then stopped when we learned what they did. I was one."
"So we've been fighting.. the government?" I asked.
"Yeah. A Sensually but people they hired to do it for them. And Kara... they brainwashed her to make her think we were the bad guys."
"Huh... Ok. Well, who's coming to train us?" Andrew asked. We were holding hands now. Calista looked past me.
"He's here now," Calista said. Someone walked past me. He was very quiet on his feet. His skin was light brown and he had black hair with green eyes. "This," Calista gestured towards the man, "Is Jaxon. Jaxon meets Sky and Andrew." She gestured to us as she said our names.
"Hi, Jaxon said, "Just call me Jax."
"Ok," Me and Andrew said in unison.
"So, what power do you guys have?" Jax asked. His voice was calm and nice.
"I have super strength and my girlfriend had the firepower and is a technopath," Andrew said. If I wasn't blushing then I was crazy. My heart was racing. He. Said. Girlfriend! The bush turned into a big smile.
"Two powers. Nice. Let's start with you... Sky."
"Ok. What with me?" I asked.
"Your firepower. We have to see how to well you can control it. Like telling it where to be. Make it on your finger then switch finger."
"Ok," I said. I held out my right hand then imagined fire appearing on a finger. I'd done it a couple of times so it wasn't too hard. I looked at my pointer finger and saw it was glowing red and orange flames. Then I closed my eyes and imagined it switching fingers. That took slightly more concentration but when I opened my eyes I saw my middle finger on fire. Maybe I could make a shape. I kept the fire on my middle finger but you could say carved it into a ring. I opened my eyes and found a ring made of firs on my finger.
"Wow. Good concentration," Jax said.
"Thanks," I said and undid the ring.
"Why'd you make a ring?" Andrew asked curiously. Truthfully, I just made the first thing that came to my head. And that was my dream.
"Well... Because of a dream I had," I said.
"What was it about?" Andrew asked. I looked at Jax and Calista.
"I'll tell you later... maybe."
"Ok." Andrew looked fine with that.
"So, what now?" I asked Jax.
"See how much you can set yourself on fire," Jax replied.
"I have set my whole body on fire though," I said.
"Were you scared? Or nervous?" I thought back to every time I'd set myself on fire.
"Well... yeah. I think so. Most of the time I've been worried that Andrew will get hurt or I will."
"That's why. It triggered the power."
"Oh, ok. I'll try." I closed my eyes and imagined lowering my head to look at my feet. Then I imagined myself going on fire, starting with my feet and ending with head. Then I pictured the fire flaring and sparking and being so bright. I told it to only stay near me and not anywhere else. I don't know if it worked though. I opened my eyes and was surrounded by fire. I moved my head, the fire followed me. The fire was thick but I could still see my surroundings. The fire was warm. Like the warmth from a hot shower. Andrew and Jax had backed up. I wanted to be near Andrew. I closed my eyes and imagined the same thing but this time told it to disappear. I kept my eyes closed a second longer. When I opened them the fire was gone.
"Nice work," Jax said walking to me.
"Thanks. What now?" I asked.
"You can see how long you can hold the fire. I want to see what Andrew can do now," Jax answered. I didn't see Calista, she must have left when I wasn't looking.
"Ok." I practiced making the fire stay on me for while. It took a lot of concentration and made me tired but I got through it. A couple of times I caught what Andrew was doing, I was keeping my eyes closed to concentrate better. Calista had left huge bricks so Andrew was breaking them. He broke all of them. He only got on scratch. He'd broken all of them when the sun started to set. We'd have to get back.
"So.... we done for the day?" I asked.
"Yeah, think so. I think we got a lot done," Jax said.
"Ok," Andrew said. We walked back to our tent and said bye to Jax. We went into our tent then changed. We weren't going to go to bed yet but there wasn't much else to do and It could get cold. We got into the sleeping bags and positioned ourselves like we usually do. We were facing each other and when I go to bed I'd lay my head on his chest. I like hearing his soft breathing. Not that I would tell him that.
"So," Andrew said staring into my eyes, "What was that dream about?"
"Well... I was in an empty house and..." I told him about the dream. I remembered every little detail.
"Wow," Andrew said after I finished.
"What?" I was scared.
"Nothing... you remember it that clearly? That must have been some good dream." He said.
"Oh," I did remember it well. "It was," I agreed. He smiled.
"You have a dimple. I love that... oh!" Andrew said.
"What?" I asked.
"What day is it?" Andrew asked.
"Uh... Friday. Why?" I wondered.
"No. I mean date."
"Uh...," I thought about. July? July what.... oh 7th. A light clicked inside my head. What?! That's a week before my birthday! "July 7th."
"Yeah. A WEEK before your birthday. We have to do something. You're going to be sixteen. Two years until you're eighteen. I'm older. Haha, but Happy birthday."
"Thanks. I think I can wait to be eighteen. As long as you're with me," I said.
"I always will."
"Ok," I said. I leaned my head against him. He extended his left arm around me.
"Goodnight," Andrew said.
"Goodnight," I whispered back already falling asleep.
Hope you guys liked the chapter! Don't forget to vote. Thx. - Anna