Rebel

Chapter Eleven

"You heard what I said, shoot her!"

I opened my eyes. Tears were rolling down my cheeks and my knees felt weak. My mom was still sitting in the chair. She was now leaning forward, "My baby," she was saying, "Live. Do it for me, okay?"

I closed my eyes again, "I-I love you too, mother." I whispered. I was shaking so hard I thought I was gonna fall over. My heart was pounding in my ribs like a bird trying to get out of a cage. I thought of the serum I just drank. I thought about how it tasted like blood. Blood and iron.

In one sudden movement, I jerked around and pointed my gun at the man. I didn't care if he shot me. I was going to die if it meant that I didn't have to go through shooting my mother again. We both fired at the same time. A hole ripped in his shirt and crimson blood poured out of it, staining his dark shirt even darker. He fell backwards and landed with a thump on the ground.

I sat there, expecting me to die or for the simulation to end. Nothing happened. How am I still alive? I thought to myself. Didn't he shoot me? I looked at my hands and jumped. They were made of iron!

"How did I--" just as the words left my lips, the iron slowly changed back to skin like nothing ever happened. I stared at my hand for a moment, then thought of iron again. Nothing happened.

I hummed for a moment. How did I do it before? I thought of the taste of iron, how it reflected the light and the silvery color of it. Then, I focused all my energy on my hand, and right before my eyes, it shifted into iron.

"Woah." I said, holding my hand up to the light. It was mesmerizing to watch the silvery material move simply by my command.

"Try turning into something else." Cathleen's voice echoed through the room. I stared at my hand and focused on the idea of wood. Slowly, the iron faded to the brown of my new wooden hand.

"This is a cool power." I said to Cathleen, not positive if she could hear me or not. For her reply, she must've ended the simulation, because I felt like I was being shoved through a funnel again, and soon was sitting in Cathleen's office.

"Well done, Sage." Cathleen said, taking off her dark glasses. She seemed to be holding back a smile. I guess I pleased her with my worst fear. "You did it. You passed the worst simulation. In fact, you passed the whole simulation phase. You can start to develop your power now!"

I stared at her, "All ready?" I asked.

"Yup."

"Wow." I said. Something about this seemed off. Aiden and Jace didn't even have their powers yet. The only people to have gotten their powers were Olwyn and Dario. My gut twisted at the thought.

"You are officially the fastest tester I have met."

"Thank you." I said, standing up. "Now, if you don't mind, I would like to go tell my friends."

"Actually," Cathleen said, "Do you mind not telling young Alexsandra yet? I know you're best friends, but I need you to keep quiet. Can you do that?"

I felt light headed, but forced a casual stance, "Sure. I can do that."

"Thank you Sage." She said, looking me in the eyes and smiling. "I think that you will do good on the field."

I nodded then walked out of the room, breaking into a sprint the moment the door closed behind me. The world was swimming just like my thoughts. I don't know exactly why, but I felt extremely uneasy with today's training session. The visions of my fear simulator kept on playing in my head, not making it easier to think. I didn't know where I was going until I crashed into Dario in the halls. I was just outside the dining hall.

"Sage!" Dario said, grabbing me by the shoulders to keep me from toppling over. "Are you okay? You don't look so good."

I nodded, avoiding eye contact. Why was I freaking out like this? Take a chill pill! I commanded myself. "Yeah, I'm good." I said in a shaky voice, "I, uh, I just need some time to, er, to think. Alright?"

Dario looked confused, but nodded and stepped aside so that I could go to my room. I walked down the hall, feeling his eyes on me the whole time. The moment I turned the corner I started to sprint. Stupid fear simulator. I thought, Why are you doing this to me? And why do I even have a fear in the first place?

I opened the door to my room, and ran inside. Ugine looked up at me from where he was laying on the ground, his eyes reflecting the light streaming in. I ran to the bed and shoved my face in the plushy covers. My dog jumped up and snuggled next to me, sensing something was wrong. Don't think. I commanded myself, If you think or else you'll replay what just happened then you'll start crying then you'll be a mess.

I fell asleep right there with those thoughts rushing through my head.