The shadow Hunter

chapter 6

For the next couple week i was taken to the empty white room for hours on end to train my shield. Since it had worked the first time, the scientist insisted on bringing the soldier back each time. I got bloodied up quite a bit at first because the scientist wouldn't let me fight him using my earlier acquired skills, but then my shield reacted quicker over time. I was pleased with my self. In my mind, the shield now was just another weapon i would have to sharpen. But it drained me. The golden, liquid-glass feasted on my energy and after hours upon hours of using it, i would be almost too weak to walk down the stairs back to the cells. 

"Can we please stop for a bit?" I asked the scientist. I didn't beg, i wouldn't ever. My resilience was high but this was taking all my strength. "No!" The scientist said blatantly. So i leaped back to my feet just as the soldier started to approach me again. I relaxed, summoning all my energy, pulling the shield from deep with in me, feeling it in my hands and urging it forward. The soldier's metal fist bounced off my shield and he grunted in annoyance as he was pushed to the floor. I had been studying the soldier for the past couple weeks and the words that were spoken were like a trigger to him, like a button that switched off anything human about him that was left. I thought of this now as he grunted again in annoyance. There were still elements of emotion but filtered and negative. I didn't have much time to think about it now because he had reached his feet again and lunged towards me. I summoned all my energy, all my power and pushed it forward and around me. The soldier kicked at it, punched at it, grabbed at it getting more frustrated but he wasn't giving up. And i was struggling to hold it for so long. The golden liquid-glass flickered and glitched like an old tv from the 50s. I grunted in pain as i tried to hold it but it was no use. It delved back inside me and my arms fell to my side aching. 

Smack! The soldier had seen his opportunity. He brought my back to the floor and shattering pain ran from my head to my spine to my legs. My eyes unfocused but i could still see the blurry image of the soldier. I could see him bringing his arm down on me, it collided with my nose a split second before i brought my arms up to block my face. My nose now rushed with thick red blood. I vaguely registered the scientists shouting over the intercom and guards rushing into the room. They reached him just in time before he brought his arm down on  me again. My vision came back just long enough for me to see him get dragged away by guards with a struggle. And then the black edges started to close in. I blinked furiously and the bright lights of the white room started to poke through. The pain really hit me then. I pushed my sleeve under my nose to try and stop the bleeding and i wearily sat up. "What was that?!" The scientist was standing in front of me and he looked frustrated and angry. "Your fucking soldier broke my nose!" I retaliated. 

"What the hell happened to your shield? You shouldn't be losing it! it needs to be stronger, you need to be stronger!" He continued his rant at me, ignoring my injuries. I rolled my eyes. "It's hard to make it stronger when it drains my energy. You are working me too hard, i need a break." 

A memory flashed in my mind. I was standing in a room with large mirrors on all the walls. I was stood in a black training suit and a man stood in front of me. His face was chiseled and stubbly, his hair blonde and his eyes cold and dark. His name was Andrei Vladimir. He was my combat trainer in the red room. "You need to try harder!" He spat in frustration. "I'm tired, you are working me too hard! I need a break." I spat back in smooth Russian. Andrei let out a sharp laugh. "People like you don't rest! You kill." He spoke cruelly. I was thirteen at the time. But the words stuck with me. 'People like you' i was a killer, an assassin, that's what i was and always will be.  

I remembered that i was still in the white room with the scientist glaring down at me. He was thinking. "You can go for today, the guards will take you to the doctor but tomorrow i expect you to be stronger and better than ever. You will train harder even when you are tired and i expect nothing less." He stated. I stumbled to my feet and winced in pain. The scientist gestured to the guards and they seized me by my arms. I was taken to a doctors room which i had never been in before. I felt sick as i looked around the room. In the middle of the room was a long hospital bed that filled me with dread. It's steel handle bars pulled forward memories that i pushed back. "Sit." Said the doctor. Her accent was American, the first person i had met here that wasn't European. She looked kind and she gave me a reassuring smile as i perched on the hospital bed. She stood up from her chair and bent down to me, delicately touching my nose. "Does that hurt?" She asked when i winced from a touch. I shrugged. It wasn't too bad. She raised an eyebrow like she didn't believe me. She continued to lightly press and assess my nose. "Hmh, i think it's broken." She frowned. "It could be just a fracture, but i will need to reset it."