Postremus

part 3

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The rest of the day dragged on. It seemed to last forever. From math, Cambria went to Journalism, then from Journalism to lunch and then finally to the last period of the day which was chemistry Cambria waddled in to the chemistry lad and applied her goggles. She grabbed the hair tie around her wrist and tied her hair into a ponytail. She felt someone rudely bump into her. She turned around to shoot the person a glare but noticed it was Marshal.

"Oh my God."  she blurted out.

"What not happy to see me?" he replied with a smirk.

"Not really. Why are you here?" Cambria asked breaking eye contact with him.

"Ms. Gilda asked me to help out the students in this class with the project."

Cambria looked back at him, squinting and making an obvious confused face. "Helping? Helping? Sorry to say but your not the brightest star in the sky when it comes to chemistry."

Marshal laughed and pushed past her again, before walking away he turned "Maybe it's me proving 'it' to you. Or maybe it's cause Ms Gilda has a crush on me," he said looking over at the chemistry teacher.

He was right. She was eyeing him a bit. But that still doesn't prove he's smart enough to help out a bunch of teenagers on their project. Cambria shrugged and turned towards her lab and began mixing various chemicals.

Cambria arrived home and plopped down on the couch. Her mom was helping out at her dads office today, so she wouldn't be back until about 9 at night. The usual time. She got up off of the couch and went to the door leading to the basement. She arrived at the bottom of the stairs and walked down the hallway to where her brothers room was. Cambria creaked the down open slightly, so she could get an eye-full of what was going on inside his room. Kody was reading a book, the same book he always read, "Jurassic Park". She walked in and stood in the doorway.

"Reading it again, are we?" she questioned.

He looked up, "You can get a lot of information from books, ya know."

"But that book is a science fiction."

"Aw yes. Clever girl. But theres always some sort of hidden message in every book you read."

"And what message does that book provide?"

Kody shrugged and said, "Probably something along the lines of 'Nature shouldn't be tempered with,'".

Cambria nodded, not really giving it much thought. "Alright, well. I'm going to the Prepartions class now. I'll be back around 8."

Cambria turned around back down the hallway only to be stopped by her brothers dark words, "I wouldn't trust him you know."

"T-trust who?" she stammered feeling her body go numb.

"That boy you talk about while you sleep. The 'one with the blue eyes'. I'd stay away if I were you."

"What do you know about Marshal? Why have you been watching me sleep?" Cambria became flustered and started walking towards Kody's room again only to be stopped by his looming figure in the doorway.

"Nature shouldn't be tempered with." he whispered as he closed the door and locked it.

Cambria started to worry. She sat down on the staircase and ran her hands through her hair. What was Marshal capable of? And what does Kody know? He sleeps all day, and then is gone all night. An explanation popped in her mind. She ran upstairs, into the kitchen and then towards the medicine cabinet. She opened it and grabbed the prescription towards the front. It was for her brother, used for stablizing "after shock" symptoms of Exsilium Inbecillus. She opened the lid and examined the pills inside. She counted the pills and noticed  they didn't add up to the amount Kody was supposed to be taking during the week. That's why he acted strangely. He hasn't been taking his meds. She closed the cap and ran upstairs to get ready for Preparations class.

The Preparations class was for teenagers looking for some training for the event. It was optional for everyone, but highly recommended. During Prep. class, it was the usual rundown. Conditioning, skill training, and then finally resource skills. Cambria was being trained in the art of hand to hand combat and staff wielding. She was the top of her class in both categories, all though her resourceful skills could use a little more work. There was something about being in training that made her come alive. She finally could show people what she was capable of. But not many people from her school came to training. They were all from the other school in Sanction 14, and boy were they tough. They all had a build fit for an army of the Roman Empire. They were quick, agile and all specialized in different skills. Cambria was friends with many of them, but the one she admired the most was Kai. He was tall, strong, tan and had the greatest brown hair ever. It was always styled as a shag but messier with more volume and definition. The two of them were good friends, fortunately. Cambria finished up her resource training and was putting on her worn down tennis shoes. Kai came over and sat next to her on the bench.

"Nice training today. Your hand to hand is looking very clean cut." he began putting on his shoes as well.

"Thanks Kai. Your swimming is looking more polished."

Kai leaned back on both his hands, 'Oh! Lucky me! The Detonator is watching me train!"

She looked at him, her face burning up "The Detonator?"

"Yeah it's what everyone has been calling you. Whenever your in a combat class you go from glum, shy Cambria, to fierce, conquering Cambria. Why do think most of the girls in your class are afraid to face you? You look quite scary." Kai patted her on the back, "But being scary and ruthless is exactly how you survive." He got up and waved good-bye to Cambria, "See ya tomorrow!"

Cambria scratched her head then made her way to her car. She unlocked her car and opened the door only to see it be slammed shut by someone standing next to her. She clenched her fist and faced the person who did the act to find it was none other than Marshal Price.

"What gives Marshal? I wanna go home."

"We all do. Me especially. But can I tell you something?" he looked straight in her eyes with his piercing blue gaze.

She looked away then stammered, "I guess..."

"When the event occurs, figure out who your real allies are. An airhead like Kai, who only jumps in bare-armed throwing punches, which by the way gets you killed. Or someone with a plan, who can execute in stealth combat and decisive thinking. Someone with your set of skills would be well paired with someone who is your complete opposite," Marshal leaned in towards her ear and whispered, "It's a classic cliche in every characters story line. Every Yin needs a Yang." Marshal burried his face in the nape of her neck for a moment then pulled away. "By the way you smell nice. Pink Pomergranate is a nice perfume. You should use it more often, it stimulates hormones in males when a girl smells nice, that's what you want out of Kai anyways, right?" He stepped away and walked towards his own car.

Cambria stared at the ground in shock, frozen, not knowing what to think. What the hell is that boys problem? Yin and Yang? Unfortunately, he had a very valid point. She shook it off and got into her car. She started the engine and drove home.

She opened the door and went straight up to bed. She didn't remove her clothing or greet her parents, she just fell straight to sleep and awaited the next morning.

Epilogue: It was 3:27 am and the window in Cambrias room opened just enough for a person to slip through. A figure, black as night, slipped through the gap in the window and walked over to Cambrias bed. The figure loomed over her and slipped out a device. The person pressed a button on the device and a needle sprung out. The figure injected the needle into her arm and released a glowing substance into her bloodstream. They pulled the needle out and then made for a window. They made one glance back towards Cambria sound asleep then slipped through the window and closed it, making no trace of its presence. Cambria woke in a sweat again, hearing the roar of thunder and seeing the strike of lightning, on a clear, cloudless fall night.