Val The Vessel

25 / Special

I had undergone the same routine from the previous morning. I sleep in Doron's bed, he departs for some 'business' meeting, I get dressed for the day, and Andrea sneaks into the room to binge Netflix with me. The hospitality in this lovely house is wonderful, but I can't shake this feeling that I should be doing something meaningful with my time.

I descend down the basement's stairs to see the same concrete flooring and training mats. Kayla is sitting in a foldable chair, jamming bullets into the magazines of her shotgun. She notices me and stands from her seat. "Hey Val, you okay?" she voices, searching my eyes for traces of red.

"Yeah I'm fine, why wouldn't I be?"

"Ahe, it's just... the last time we were all in this basement together, you kinda went berserk and tried to kill us all."

I look over at Nicole who is seated leisurely in a chair further away, polishing each of her knives with bluetooth headphones over her ears.

"What are y'all doin' down here with all these weapons laying around? Y'all finna kill somebody?"

Kayla frowns and blows her blonde strands away. "Jeez, it sounds really bad when you say it like that. 'Kill' is such a harsh word. But yeah, Doron gave us orders to 'hit' somebody earlier this morning."

"Why didn't you guys tell me?"

"We... didn't wanna bother ya. We weren't sure if you were up for it. This is only your third day here, Val—"

"I wanna join in," I snap.

Kayla scratches her head. "It's not really up to me though. If you want in, then you gotta go ask the 'man' in charge," she explains, pointing a pale finger to Nicole.

I don't hesitate to approach her. The focused brunette sees me coming and ceases her movements. "Nicole," I begin, "I know what you think of me. I know that you think I'm hotheaded, and immature, and impulsive, and spoiled. All of those things are partially true, but please. Let me show you that I can be a different person on the battlefield."

Nicole crosses her arms, surprised by how straightforward my words are.

"I won't get in the way. Just let me help out. I don't care what my role is."

Nicole lowers her headphones from her ears. Her lips are glossy and natural—no lipstick or makeup today. "Okay," she replies calmly.

"W-What? Why are you acting so... cool?"

Nicole smirks. "Because you're putting your own life in danger. It can be a good thing to have large numbers during a mission. You're just one more body to help make this successful." She stands and leans over my shoulder. "But if you get in the way and fail, then you'll prove to every one here how full of shit you actually are. That includes Doron," she whispers in a serious tone.

I quiver from the intensity of her voice. "If I get in the way, you can do whatever you want with me. Hell, you can even rip the blood out of my skin and use it for your own purposes. But I'm tellin' you, I won't fail."

Nicole licks her lips and rocks back in her chair. "Fine, you gotta deal. Survive, and I'll add you to the team. I'll even put in a good word about you to Doron. But if you fail, I'll tell him that you aren't worth the effort."

I giggle. "What's that supposed to do?"

Her jaw tightens with her fiendish smile. "Then I'll convince him to let me drain every last drop of blood from your arteries and drink it with a straw. That is the only thing that makes you special after all. Without your blood, you're nothing."

I swallow the lump in my throat. That's not true, is it? Even if it was, Doron would never let her do that to me, would he?

With that, Nicole returns to cleaning her lethal weapons. "We're goin' over the plans tomorrow morning at 5 AM sharp. Be prepared."

I nod and pace out of the room.