Cardinal

Chapter 25

Everyone finishes at the gun range and I can smell and feel the tension in the air as we were nearing the end of today's training. 

Kyle leads our group into a large control room with several monitors on the screen. 

"You'll be divided into groups and will need to work together to complete your mission. The simulated exercise will include some of the Clubs and you'll need to go against them to complete your mission. Do what it takes to complete your mission. This simulated exercise will commence your entry into the ranking system which will determine which group you'll end up in and completing missions with," he explains. 

"Like any other mission, you'll need to be debriefed on what the situation will be and what you need to do to complete the mission." 

"In this case, you're being paid by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to obtain covert information, particularly a manila folder with said information, from a secured location that you'll have to figure out. You'll be able to use your gifts in this round. However, the catch is that there's a dampener in the building. Mortem uses a dampener with each of their infiltrations, and you should all be used to not being able to use your ability if shit hits the fan," Kyle warns. 

The mention of Mortem made my skin crawl. I was there with a dampener. I felt helpless. 

The building excitement that had been growing had now gone through the chute. I was used to keeping my ability hidden and this wasn't any different. However, having a dampener ruined everyone's fun. Whoever bestowed these gifts weren't generous people and built a check-and-balances system into their gift-giving. 

"Storm, Daniels, Bright, Gomez, White, and Shah, you'll be Team 2"

I hear my name called. Thank god I heard Alaina's name too. We were with the jacked lady from earlier, whose last name was Daniels, I believe. We were also with the cocky trainee from earlier, the first guy who fell on his face, a tiny male trainee who was barely 5'5'', and another girl who looked a little sickly. We were the dream team alright. 

We all congregate into a little corner away from the other teams. 

"I can take point," says the cocky guy whose last name was White. He was posturing which made me want to roll my eyes. 

"I think Rissa should take point," Alaina counters, nodding her head towards the girl, Daniels, who had been doing well for almost all of the fitness assessments that were given today. 

"I agree, she's been performing better than any of us, and she should take point," the tiny male trainee chimes in. 

The cocky trainee rolls his eyes but eventually agrees with all of us. 

"Alright, here are the comms and your weapons. The weapons are meant for training only, signified by the blue stripe on the side. You'll also all be wearing gear that will be as heavy as the Kevlar vests that our teams usually wear out in the field. Headmaster Balthazar has developed these devices for mercenary training. The weapons are modeled after a standard pistol but won't be shooting bullets. You'll be able to shoot your enemy and the vest will detect that someone has shot you," Kyle explains, albeit a little cryptically. 

"How will we know that we've been shot? Will it sound an alarm or light up?" another female trainee asks. 

"Oh, it'll feel like an actual gunshot wound. You'll know," Kyle explains nonchalantly. My stomach drops. 

What the fuck? I knew when his sentence included Headmaster Balthazar that there was some messed up stuff that was going to come out of it. 

Nobody protests. The room was so silent that you could actually practically hear a pin drop on the floor. Everyone had the same scared look on their faces. I mean who really would like to get shot?