The Academy

~Chapter Seven~

"We're done for today," Daniel grumbled. Hearing those words was like an angel sent to me from heaven. I immediately collapsed onto the ground into a pool of sweat.

It was five o'clock in the afternoon. I had been training with Daniel for thirteen hours. Every single muscle in my body ached. The only thing I wanted to do now was go to bed and stay in bed.

"Raff set up an ice bath for you on the battlefield," Daniel commented gruffly. An ice bath wasn't something I was opposed to. I had never had one, but I'd heard that they soothed muscle soreness. I was all for it.

Daniel led me onto the battlefield. On the edge of it near the dorms stood Colonel Raff next to a large, black tub. As we walked up to her, she put a halfhearted smile on her face and greeted us.

"How was your first day of training?" she questioned, making her voice sound cheery and nice. Daniel scowled.

"I'd rather not talk about it," he grumbled. I shot him an angered glare.

"And I take it that it did not go well," Colonel Raff mumbled to herself. She put her hands on her hips and made a displeased face. "Well, it's only the first day. Things will get better as time goes on."

"I wish," I whispered quietly to myself. All three of us remained quiet for a moment.

"Anyways, ice bath," Colonel Raff said, sounding falsely cheery. She motioned to the large tub with her hands. "Take off your shirt, shorts, and shoes and leave your bra, spandex, and socks on." I looked at Colonel Raff with a do-I-really-have-to-take-all-of-it-off expression. She nodded and smiled. I bit my lip and began to strip off my clothing. First the shirt, then the shoes, last the shorts.

Once I was mostly undressed, I looked back up at Colonel Raff as if to ask what to do next. She answered my question by again motioning toward the tub.

"Hop on in," she told me, still using her fake, happy voice. Uneasily, I lifted my aching leg over the rim of the tub and dipped it into the icy water. I then lifted my other leg into the tub. Daniel and Colonel Raff stared at me.

I slowly lowered myself breast-deep into the water. The water was absolutely freezing. I released a quiet groan as the cold water started to numb my body. Colonel Raff looked down at me.

"I've started a timer for fifteen minutes," she said. "You can get out when it goes off. There's a towel at the end of the tub if you want to dry off. If you need me, I'll be in my office." Colonel Raff then looked at Daniel and cleared her throat. "Daniel, come with me." She began to walk off of the battlefield with Daniel following behind. Abruptly, she stopped and spun around to look at me. She walked back over to me.

"Oops, almost forgot," Colonel Raff mumbled. She looked at me, smiled, and took a small, pistol-like gun from her pocket. My heart immediately started thumping.

Colonel Raff walked around to my backside and harshly pushed me forward, so my back was off of the tub wall. I felt her place a cold, metal thing in the middle of my back. What the hell was she doing?

"Stay still. This will hurt a little," she told me.

"Wait what are doi-" My sentence was cut off by the sound of a trigger being pulled and an awful, stabbing pain in my back. What the hell?

"Damn it, what the hell was that?" I yelled at Colonel Raff, as I turned my upper body to face her. She smiled innocently at me.

"Your tracker," she answered.

"A tracker? God that hurt like a bitch."

"Yep. Just to make sure we can know where you are wherever you go." Colonel Raff walked off again.

I twisted my arm around my body to feel the injection spot. It stung badly. When I brought my arm back around, I could see that my hands were stained with my red blood. God that hurt.

I sunk myself down into the icy water, letting the frigid ice soothe my aching limbs. Was I really going to have to do this again tomorrow?

After the fifteen minutes were up and the timer dinged, I hoisted myself out of the tub and stepped onto the soft grass. I grabbed the towel that Colonel Raff had left for me and wrapped it around myself. Every movement made my body ache.

I gathered the rest of my clothes and my shoes from the ground, and I began to head back to my room. As I walked along the path back to my room, I heard muffled screaming coming from Colonel Raff's office building. Curious, I walked in to see what was going on. Walking through the door, I saw that I was in a small room, and there was another door on the other side. The yelling was coming from behind the door.

"Raff, can't you see she's useless?" Daniel's voice yelled through the door.

"Look, Daniel, I know she's not ideal. Believe me, I would rather have any other girl in the world instead of her, but that's just not how it worked out," Colonel Raff's voice complained.

"But why couldn't we have gotten another one?" Daniel inquired.

"We didn't have a choice. It's not like I hand picked the girl. The Protection Program shipped her off here."

My heart dropped. Were they really saying these things about me?

"Ya, and now we're going to send her off to battle with the big kids," Daniel mumbled.

"And that's why you're going to train her until she's ready," Colonel Raff retorted. Daniel chuckled.

"She's going to get us all killed. I can see it in the headlines now," he mocked. "'Blair Kensington Causes Mass Murder of Every U.S. Citizen in the World!'"

"Daniel," Colonel Raff said sternly.

"Raff, I will not train her. That girl is a lost cause."

"You will."

"I will not."

"Yes, you will. I'm giving you orders, and you will follow them."

"Do you not hear me? I will not train that stubborn-assed bitch!"

"You will if you want to keep your position here." The talking stopped.

My heart was thumping loudly. I reached for the door knob and twisted it. Opening the door, I saw Daniel and Colonel Raff in the middle of a large office space. They both looked at me.

"Is that really what you think about me?" I questioned, my voice quivering.

"Look, Blair-" Colonel Raff started. I cut her off.

"I heard what you said about me. I'm not stupid. If I'm such a 'lost cause,' then why don't you just throw me out now? Don't waste your time." At this point, tears were dotting my cheeks. I turned from the room, slamming the door behind me. Once I got outside, I began to sprint back to my room, my aching muscles protesting with every step.

I got to my room and slammed the door behind me. I flopped onto my bed, and I began to sob. I knew in my heart that I would not do this, that I would not continue.

Then, there was a knock on the door.