Endgame (Book 3)

Chapter 19

Soon after I fixed the notebook where I wanted, a visitor came by.

"Ashley?" I asked, surprised as she stood just inside my room.

"Surprised to see me so soon?" she asked.

It was amazing how quickly she put her façade back up again. It was as if the occurrence in the dining hall had never happened.

I wasn't content with letting it go, though.

"What went on back there?"

"Oh, nothing," she waved it off. "Ben just lost control for a moment. It happens all the time."

"He blames me for what Zero did to him," I continued, unfazed by her light dodge.

"Yes, he does. But I calmed him down before he did anything stupid, and that's that." She made it obvious she didn't want to discuss the subject any further. "Don't you want to know why I'm here?"

"Yeah, I just saw you."

"The first half of my time with you is spent training your physical capabilities, but the other half is spent with your powers."

"Oh, I get it," I said. "You made it seem like we weren't going to work on my powers at all."

"Well, that would just be stupid."

I laughed. I was glad she wasn't mad at me like Ben was. Then again, she seemed to be pretty good at masking her thoughts and feelings. I had no idea she and Ben were an item while she was talking to me.

Before awkward silence could settle in while she looked at me, I spurred her on. "Shall we?"

"After you," she said politely.

I exited my room and waited for her to lead the way. The door automatically shut behind us and Ashley walked ahead of me at a fast pace.

"For superpowered training, we usually go outside somewhere nearby," she explained to me. "But after looking through your file, I think we need to go somewhere a little more open. I'm going to take you to our major testing site. That way, we can work on your flight without worrying about breaking anything inside or outside of you. Is that okay?"

"Oh, uh, sure," I said.

"Good," she said.

We made several turns, and finally ended up in a more worn area of the facility. These white walls had black scorch marks and torn sections near the end, where a set of double doors stood.

"Did something happen here?" I asked curiously.

She echoed my question with a laugh as if there was irony in it.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing," she said.

And we left it at that.

She pushed open the left-hand door and sunlight washed inside the hall, illuminating it brightly. I squinted as my eyes began to adjust before going outside.

When the light hit my skin, I felt the most pleasant warmth spread throughout my body. The wind picked up and fluttered through my hair, and I took a deep breath, calmed by the sun.

"You look good in sunlight," Ashley noted.

"What?" I said, opening my eyes. The moment was over.

"What I mean is, your skin glows in sunlight." Her cheeks turned a dark pink, realizing what she said. "It was just an observation."

"Uh-huh. So which one of these are we driving?"

We were in a large parking lot outside the building. From the outside, it looked like a decrepit old store. They masked it just like the Afterlight Jake introduced me to first.