Rich Kids Don't Die | Featured

Chapter Twelve

      TOGETHER, they stepped into the training room and dispersed to change into black trainee jumpsuits. Strangely enough, Maddie had actually grown to like them, as opposed to her previous opinion.

Once they were all ready and had tied the last of their boots, they gathered in front of the shooting range, and waited for some kind of instructor. But, when no one came after two minutes of deadly silence, Katya brung her hands together, muttering under her breath. A crimson flame of light oozed through her porcelain skin, and before they knew it two instructors had stumbled onto the mats.

"Sorry, sorry!" the mysterious woman-instructor warbled. "Those other magicians we were training before you guys had some serious injuries," she gasped. "Come on, now. Katya, thanks for summoning us; we could've been a while."

Another trainer appeared, this time a man. "Hey, everybody!" he grinned. It was him; the man from the speakers. He'd known about their "rich kid problems", and he'd twisted Maddie's struggles like a rope, tightening onto her lugs and making her feel almost petty. Could everything that had happened to her not been a big deal? Just some rich kid problems? It felt like he was comparing rape to a spoilt Givenchy bag. Oh, you poor thing.

But this man didn't know about what had happened that night, with Lucian. No one did. Thus, Maddie took a breath, gnarled her lips into an almost smile, and acted normal. As normal as magicians could be, she supposed.

"Alright," the man echoed, clapping his hands together. "Today, our first lesson will be physical – useful in the mortal world and out. Everyone, gather at a separate point. This is one of the most important parts of your self defense, against offenders and spies when you go on your mission."

"Knew it," Alex mumbled. "We're all going together, then?"

"Yes." the woman said, adjusting the guns at the range, filling them with gleaming bullets. They reminded Maddie of the pistol she'd shot her self with, the bullet soon pouring out of her mouth like an ocean, clattering onto the sink with an electrifying ding! that made her want to throw up.

Maddie swallowed down her nerves, shuffling closer to the radiating warmth of Alex. By now, he was like her protection blanket. He glanced at her worriedly, eyeing her shaking fingers and pressing his own glowing ones against them. An electric cobalt flame of light oozed through his skin, enveloping hers into a tranquil embrace. Suddenly, the shivering stopped.

"I want you all to pair up, and join a target. You two will help each other; though I doubt you'll need it much. Most of you have experience in this field, I assume." the woman's calculating eyes swept across the group, softening at Maddie and Alex.

Together, they shuffled towards the third target whilst the rest sorted themselves. A line of gleaming pistols lay in a line, but they were different to what she remembered from last time – each of them were a different color, almost like they produced different results, different magic.

One of them stood out to Maddie: a blue one with curling flowers and blossoms of vibrant colors dancing across the body. She picked it up, wary.

"Alright," the woman said, strutting across the mats defiantly. "These guns are all loaded with magic bullets. ONLY magic bullets will be safe for you all; once they pierce your skin, your system will bring them back up. Vulgar, yes, but it's better than death."

Once they pierce your skin, your system will bring them back up.

The thought rung in Maddie's head for a moment, but her string of wander was cut by the slice of a person's voice in the air.