Luminescence

Sixteen.

Just a quick shoutout to its_shauna ! I wouldn't be posting this chapter without the support from her. If you've read up to this point, I couldn't be more grateful. People like you are the ones who motivate me to keep writing. :)

_____________

"Again!"

Wiping the sweat from my forehead, my legs begged for any mercy I could give them. For the past two hours they had been doing anything from running, to kicking enemies down in one powerful jab. My lungs were even worse. Of course Priscilla allowed no water breaks, because if I were on the run from enemies in the real world there wouldn't be time for water breaks. I felt like my body was going to explode. And to top it off, I was on that time of the month. Ladies, do you feel me?

As I tried to tap into my abilities, there seemed to be something that was nagging at me, disabling me from being my best fighting self. I swore Priscilla knew it too, as her eyes narrowed examining every nook and cranny of my face.

The enemy holograms took me down for probably the billionth time in the past twenty minutes, and instead of the enemies respawning as they usually did, they stopped.

I knew exactly what was bugging me—and not the flood down south.

"Five minute break, Mara," she says calmly as I hang my head down in defeat. She suddenly tosses a water at me, and without even looking I tiredly catch it in my hand. I walk over to the bench in the training room, plopping down. Surprisingly nobody else was in here, most likely because it was dinner time at the rebel base.

"Mara, there's something on your mind. I can sense it in you, and it's bothering you like a pesky fly," she says taking a seat next to me and placing a wrinkly hand atop mine. "Tell me. Did Hudson come back in your head last night?" She asks carefully.

I was hesitant to tell her. After everything I had seen I wasn't sure if I wanted to bring it up all over again. But alas, if I didn't tell anyone about it, it would only haunt my mind more.

I needed to vent.

I slowly nod. "I need your help, Priscilla," I whisper so softly I could hardly hear myself. "Whatever this bond between Hudson and I is, it's only becoming stronger by the day. Yesterday when he came back in my head he was able to physically touch objects around me. It was like he was really there."

Priscilla's hazy eyes get lost in thought, pondering all the possible reasons as to why they have a strong connection.

"And that's not all," I continue, snapping her out of thought. "The bond played a memory of mine in both of our heads yesterday..." My voice trails off. "The day my parents died," I barely whisper.

We both reminisce momentarily at those memories together, shivers both running down our spines as to how bad they haunted us.

"You and Hudson were both in my childhood, yet I somehow buried the memory so far back in my head I couldn't remember you two," I state to her breaking the silence. "For so long, I had pushed my parents' death away, and now here we are again standing here 16 years later."

Priscilla nods. "I was afraid that if I told you I were Hudson's grandmother it would be too much for you," she says softly. I completely understood her. If she had brought back the old memories, I don't think I would've been able to handle it. "I'm so damn ashamed of myself, Mara. I keep hiding the fact that my grandson is the general of The Plague. Yet if I told Wes, he would murder me. I can't help but hang on to that one glimmer of hope that maybe, just maybe one day he'll come back so I can be reunited with my family once more," Priscilla chokes up, and I rub a hand on her back.