Beyond the Rift ✔ (Completed)

Chapter 11: The Shifter

Alexis

Every night is a futile tussle of conflicting thoughts. I don't want to sleep, not yet. I just spent fourteen hours training and I'm not ready to wake in the morning to rinse and repeat. My bones start healing, the longer I lie in that bed the better I feel. But I know that between now and the return of daylight; my body will heal, the cuts will mend, the muscles will relax and I'll be better than ever. Six hours will feel like sixty in heaven, yet I'll rise as if I didn't already know what is coming. Then I'll put on my clothes, eat my breakfast and realize that, I'm not getting ready for school but a fruitless wrestle with boughs. Once again, I'll be pulled apart; limb from limb and my body will be swallowed by the earth.

It's been 10 days; and we are getting nowhere. Every day, I return messy from the training grounds and have a dose of the healing potion. 

That, has become like a routine.

...

Next Morning

I have eaten my breakfast and am now approaching the Training area. To my surprise, Elvira isn't there; she would always show up before me. 

Something feels unusual today, the sky is stagnant; plain grey clouds hangs motionless above us. The leaves fall in a straight path, without swaying back or forth. The only thing dynamic is the splashing sound of the flowing river. Other than that, there was no noise in the bunker today either. Like everyone had magically taken off.

I glance around, the woods are silent. Something's off.

I pace back to the bunker. Maybe Elvira has decided to take the day off. That would really help.

As the distance between the bunker and me closes, I pick up an uproar. Some men are rushing towards a small crowd at the entrance of the bunker. The crowd is looking at something in the center. I advance towards them.

They notice my presence and instantly part and make way for me. What's going on?

I reach the center and am greeted by a bloody Marty lying on the grass. He has a wide slash across his chest; his shirt is stained with a rusty red color, probably blood. The wound looks dried up; it is a deep cut though. His pale white face too is smudged in blood and dirt. The platinum blonde hair is messed up. What on earth happened to him?

"Marty!" I say as I kneel before his battered body.

Embarrassment fills his eyes as he tries to rest on his elbows.

"Peaches!" He replies happily. "Nice to meet you again; sorry you have to see me in this shape. Ouch!" He grips his stomach as his face twists painfully.

"Don't move!" I yell in panic. The people standing over us are murmuring in confusion. Why aren't they doing something? "Can anyone help him?" I look around to find them backing away from us. They disperse immediately; at first I am puzzled at their reaction, but soon I spot Elvira, Nick and Ethan coming from the forest.

"Let's take this inside!" Nick directs me while helping Marty to his feet.

...

"Look, I am warded now, so they won't find me again." Marty says reassuringly. Elvira is dressing his wound with a gauze which is soaked in the healing potion. He winces occasionally. We are in a vacant sleeping quarter; Marty is lying in bed. I am unsure whether to leave or stay, but something implies that I need to hear this discussion.

"Are you sure they didn't follow you here?" Nick, who is standing next to me asks Marty.

"No way, I kept shifting on my way here. The wound wouldn't stop bleeding though." He looks down at his bandage covered chest.