Avenge the Shadows (I)

:: 1.17 ::

CATHERINE'S POV

I went back to my room when the sky started changing, but I was restless. It was way too late to activate the resting rune, so I just managed to use the energy rune and after a shower, I was fresh to start a new day. When I got to have breakfast, everyone was just ecstatic talking about our next activities. It would be the first time our institute would receive soldiers from other institutes and I found that really enticing. New people meant new rules and probably, new missions. Evelyn stood in front and we all got quiet immediately. "As most of you know, we'll receive soldiers from around the world and I think it is necessary to mention that rules won't change." It was too amazing to be true. I stared back at my breakfast and tuned out. After a while, the ones sitting next to me were staring at me with an excited smile as there were some standing around the room and I was completely lost.

"What's going on?" I whispered to one of them. "Stand up with a smile." She whispered back and I did not really know why I was doing it. "These are our next year-off soldiers, who will be attending a new institute next year. For that reason, they are hosting the exchange soldiers." Everyone started clapping and I really did not know what to do. I was shocked. I was mad. I was confused. I knew I had to get ready for my year off, but now I felt forced to go. And not just that, now I had to receive an unknown soldier. Like, did not they know how awkward I was? When I snapped out of my thoughts, everyone was congratulating me and I just smiled and thanked them, because I did not know what else to do. My social skills were broken. I could not get two words out with strangers and now they wanted me to share my room with someone; but at the same time, I knew that there was nothing I could do about that, yet I wanted to make a few changes.

So, after breakfast, I went to Evelyn's office. It was like she was waiting for me. "Miss Ashdown, get in and close the door." She said as I stood on the door looking for her. She was standing in front of the window, drinking tea. She turned to me and all my courage flew out the room. "Is there anything you need, Miss Ashdown?" I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. I felt my lip quiver and then, I coughed. "I want to go on missions." She slowly put the cup on the plate and just stared at me. My heart was bumping and I started to sweat. I literally felt the oxygen burn my lungs, but then, I was totally okay. Like someone had pressed a button and my panic was gone. "Yes. I'm sick and tired of being locked in the institute." Her eyes were set on me and I just stared back at her. "Okay." She replied and she sipped once again from her tea. I had not expected that answer, so I was confused, but before she regrets it, I stood up.

"I'm going to need that on paper." I replied before walking to the door and got out of there. I got to my room and started freaking out. I did not know how I had been able to talk to her like that. After a few minutes, I looked at the time and ran to the training room, where most of the residents were already getting ready to our morning jog. I took Charlotte's music player and glamour it into my sporty outfit. Our institute firmly believed that jogging could be used as a way to increase endurance and according to the Asian institutes, jogging was really great in increasing human lifespan, and decreasing the effects of aging, which was why Asian soldiers looked so young. In London's institute, we had to jog for three hours, daily and everyone jogged outside. Me, on the other hand, I usually used the treadmill to cover my jogging routine, because I had always been too afraid to go out.

In fact, going to the Global Meeting had been my first time out since I got to the institute almost two years ago. So, when they saw me getting ready to go out, they did not exactly know what to do. We all knew we had to run for two hours, then stop and turn around as the return was faster. You could go in every direction, but whenever the two hours ended, you had to go back. 

#charlotteverlac #catherineashdown #sebastianverlac #jaceherondale #thor #loki #aleclightwood #claryfairchild #izzylightwood #magnusbane #shadowhunters #tonystark #pepperpotts #brucebanner #avengers #avengetheshadows #marvel #haileesteinfeld #maiamitchel #willtudor #domsherwood #chrishemssworth #tomhiddleston #matdaddario #katmcnamara #emeraudetoubia #harryshumjr #robertdowneyjr #gwynethpaltrow #markruffalo #newyork #London #Russia