In Vendetta House (The Vendetta Series #1)

Chapter 13

Chapter 13

I wake suddenly to a scream of horror and panic in the air. It echoes loud and clear in my ears and I automatically bolt upright in worry. Only when the scream stops and my mouth snaps shut, do I realize I was the one screaming.

I glance around, short of breath. What just happened?

I am in a bed, with soft sheets and fluffy blankets. Several others sit in a row neatly to my left. Am I in an infirmary? Oh god, it's only been a couple of days, how many of these am I going to end up in? I raise my arm to brush aside some sweaty hair out of my face, but stop when stinging surfaces from the movement. I look down to see the wound on my arm has been cleaned and bandaged tightly, and a couple of band-aids have been stuck neatly on my palms.

Everything comes rushing back. Oh god. Oh god. Oh god. I had passed out in the middle of a stimulation, rendered unable to breathe by visions nobody else has. I groan out loud. What are these visions even supposed to mean?

The door crashes open and Sasha comes rushing in.

"For crying out loud, just when I go get something to eat, you wake up?"

I give her a startled look, not expecting the sudden entrance, but she takes it the wrong way. She steps back in caution and holds out her hands. "Don't attack me, honey. I'm the real deal."

I shift my startled face to a dull one. "I can distinguish real life and stimulation, thanks."

Sasha's lips curl into an amused smile. "You've got a pretty good recovery time, it's only 4 PM. Good thing for me, as your wonderful roommate, I was in charge of watching over you." Her head tilts to the side curiously while she stands over me, watching. "Most of us took days to come into consciousness after the stimulation."

"Days?" I ask. "Why?"

She shrugs. "A lot of us were shot in Level Two or hit with paralyzer in Level Three. No one's ever even gotten to Lever Four. It's been Level Three at the most before they either get beat into passing out or gave in and blasted the guy to pieces with abilities."

I ignore the unease that the 'guy' is really a little boy. Stop it, I scold myself, he's not real.

"How come?" I say out loud. "I didn't think it was that hard to throw down a bomb."

"None of us even got that far, so it was pretty interesting to watch you go through it-"

"Gee, thanks," I interrupt.

Sasha makes a pft noise. "Not all of us have special skills like yours tucked away. You do karate?" she asks.

"Third degree black belt and occasional fencer," I reply, feigning disinterest.

She nods, obviously noticing my subtle bragging.
"We have fencers here too that usually made it to Level Three. Some jocks got quite far from previous experience in tackling."
She flips her hair dramatically. "I managed to duck the star, using my skinny agility of course, but I got pierced down the arm by the ninja sword too deeply and they stopped it."
Sasha lifts her sleeve and turns her forearm around, revealing a long vertical scar close to her elbow, "See?"

Impressive. "Did anyone drop out at the first level?"

She thinks for a moment. "Not any I've seen, and I've been here with most of the current residents since we all came at the same time: a little after our 16th birthdays. There's been rumors of some who came here willingly that were pretty useless, but who knows where they are now."

I wrinkle my brows in distaste. "Why would they come willingly?"

"Not everyone has lived a normal life like you and me," Sasha says lightly, settling on the frame at the end of bed.
"You wanna know how I got here? I was like you. Normal life one day and the next, my powers came in and I burned down my school." She smiles wryly, "My mom took me home immediately and started packing, saying we had to leave. I had sat stubbornly until she explained in a rush that my dad who had died years ago was a Cambion. She tried convincing me that I was one too and people were coming after me, but by the time I believed her, the news of a girl with hands of fire that had single-handedly committed arson had spread. The next thing I know, these men with rifle holsters and stun guns came storming into our house."