Monarch Academy

Chapter 8

Darius

We opened up the door to the training room at headquarters. It was huge, two stories, any type of equipment you can think of, weapons on both sides of the main floor, and a huge arena in the middle for fighting. I walked to the middle of the room with Alice by my side. We passed some guardians and they whispered about her being fresh kill, they weren't wrong, she looked like a sheep that just walked into a den of lions. I just hope her actions can back up those words from yesterday. Once we got to the middle of the circle I stood for a second to admire all the hard working guardians, they worked so hard to become guardians, I know I did. I whistled loudly and got everyone's attention, "Let's go!" I yelled and they all ran, jumped from the second floor, or teleported to the arena we were standing in. "That's more like it." I looked over to Alice who had wide eyes and was shaking a bit. "We have a newbie trying to enter the guardian program." Some of the other girls laughed, one had her arms crossed and a serious look on her face, "What rank?" It was Jane, a girl who tried to move up into the Alpha team a few months ago.

"Alpha." Her eyes widened, "You've got to be kidding me right? You, Gabe, and Markus will destroy her." I laughed a bit, and everyone else was still laughing at the fact I said Alpha. Markus pushed his way through from the back of the crowd. "So you're telling me I have to fight this scrub?" He was now in front of me inches away from my face. "Yes, do you have a problem with that?" He looked to Alice, then back at me. "I'm gonna kill her." Alice backed away a few steps, I can tell she's terrified now. "Go ahead, no rules for initiation, remember?" It frightened me to say that, especially in front of her, I don't want her to get hurt. I looked back into the crowd of guardians and smirked. "She already has Gabe's win."

"He gave up that easily?" Someone yelled out from the crowd. A match would've been fought in front of everyone in the Guardian program, so they automatically knew he gave her his win. I looked over to Alice, I smirked. "Actually he'll be here shortly, he's on medic standby for this match." That wasn't the case, Gabe didn't want to fight Alice because he was scared he was gonna kill her but, I couldn't tell them that. I looked at Alice once more before my decision was final, I looked up to the ceiling. "Let the battle begin!" I hope I won't regret this.

Alice

I stood at one of the corners of the arena facing Markus, I can't do this. He's about twice my size, and Darius mentioned he was the best close combat guardian on the force. He's also a full blooded vampire, just like Apollyon, if I had trouble against a normal pure blood I don't think I'll be able to beat a pure blood guardian. His eyes were a burning crimson color just like Darius' when he used his vampire powers. My mind paused.

Darius.

He's watching me.

I started to fell my blood flush into my face, my heart was pounding in my chest. I looked over to where he was standing on the second floor. He had his arms folded and a bold stance, but his face showed concern. Is he scared that I'm going to lose? Gabe appeared next to him with a couple of emergency medics beside him, he was wearing the same clothing as them so I guess what he said earlier was true. Darius raised his hand, "Begin!" He yelled. I quickly looked back to where Markus was standing but he wasn't there anymore. I felt a sharp pain in my side and I flew across the arena and into the wall on the other side of the floor. I fell onto the floor, curled up into a ball, and wrapped my arms around my waist in agony. I could see Markus walking up to me slowly with his arms opened at his sides. "What? That's it? You've got to be kidding me right?" He was inches away from me now. He grabbed a fistful of my hair and held me up off the ground, my feet weren't even close to touching the floor. "Come on, Darius wouldn't let you try to enter the Alphas knowing you wouldn't put up a fight." His face was inches away from mine, I'm stuck, what do I do now?

Darius, his face appeared in my mind. "You can do this."

My eyes turned grey and my darkness started to slowly surround me and Markus. He smiled, "That's more like it." He let go of my hair which made me fall to the ground. My element was in full swing, it raced through my veins, this was a feeling I must have forgotten. It felt like pure ecstasy, my element comforted me, the pain in my side was gone now. I stood up without any trouble, took a look at Markus then at the other guardians that lined the second floor. Their eyes were wide with fear, they seemed to glance at Darius then back at me. We have the same element, an ancient darkness that is the ultimate weapon. I looked back at Markus, held out my hand, and hurled a stream of darkness in his direction. He jumped out of the way at the last moment, I closed my hand into a fist which made the darkness explode into thousands of shards sending them everywhere. Markus landed back onto the arena floor on one knee, I must have made contact. Blood trickled onto the floor below him, I definably made contact. Slowly, I walked back into the arena and made the space between me and Markus disappear. I was inches away from him, just as he was me when he kicked me, "Hurts, doesn't it?" He raised his head up to look at me, "It's just a scratch."

"Confine." I said aloud. The shards that were in Markus formed into something similar to a rope and consumed his body, he was unable to move. I life's up my hand which made him rise off the ground. I was face to face with him now, "What are you going to do now?"

"I didn't know you were into this sort of thing." A stake formed from nothing and pierced him in the chest just below his heart. He coughed and blood splattered all over the floor in front of me. "You got me." He bowed his head and passed out. "It's over!" I turned and looked at Darius, he had a big smile on his face. "Alice is the winner!" The other guardians started to clap and whistle. Gabe and his paramedic squad jumped from the second floor and rushed over to me and Markus. Gabe got a hold of Markus and told me to release him. I dispersed my darkness without saying a word, Gabe stood there staring at me for a second then went back to caring for Markus. "I knew you could do it." I turned around to see Darius standing behind me. I was blushing but that didn't matter, the only thing that did matter was I just won against Markus. I smiled and my eyes turned back to their normal color. "It's your turn right?"

"Yes, but your already a guardian Alice, you only had to beat two out of the three members of Alpha."

"No way." I felt a tear streak down my face. I'm a guardian now, just like Darius and Gabe. Another fell to the floor, Darius wiped my cheek with his thumb. "Don't cry, okay?" I looked at his face and it was red. "Sorry, I'm just really happy right now." I looked away and wiped up the rest of my tears. He was still smiling, but he backed up and faced the rest of the guardians. "We have a new member! This is Alice, the first girl to ever be in the Alpha team!" He shouted, the rest of the guardians started cheering except for the girls. Most of them rolled their eyes or walked away to go do something else. "Now she has to finish her initiation!" Darius turned to me, "Are you ready? You have to face me now." I nodded my head and took a few steps back to ready myself. "Bring it on!" I shouted so all the other guardians could hear me.