Hiding in the shadows

Chapter 15

I followed Elijah into what I thought was going to be a damp and disgusting underground lair but under the tree was a neat, carved out room. All the walls were plastered and the ceiling had wooden beams across it, kind of like in a mining shaft and the floors were covered in boards. It was like the forest had been built around the headquarters, not the other way around. Elijah purposefully strode up to a man.

"Ezra,"

"Elijah, I see that you have finally gotten Ari to come around. I'm glad you have brought her here. Take her on a tour, but remember, not too much at once, we can start training for her in a few days."

What training? What's going on? How does he know my name?

"Sure thing Ezra."

Ezra looked like a normal human being. Nothing abnormal about him. He was a medium build, but you could see he had hidden muscle through his baggy thin green sweater and tight black skinny jeans. He had brown eyes to match his short brown hair that was curved into a quiff, though the sides and back were shaved. He walked off to a small lady sitting at a desk with three large computers and a keyboard. She had so many tabs open I wondered how she knew what she was doing. On her desk was a placard with the name Janice written on it. I went to take a step closer to Ezra and the small lady - Janice - but suddenly Elijah grabbed my hand I was pulled sharply to his side.

"Don't wander. Not until you know everything." He said it so bluntly it made me want to hide my head in my hands, but he was holding my hand. At that thought, butterflies shot through my stomach.

He suddenly realised what I had and dropped my hand. Damn, my subconscious pouts. He starts walking towards what looks like a brightly lit hallway. Following, I kept a step behind him, staring around me. Along the hall are at least 20 doors.

"What is behind all these doors?"

"Nothing."

"Elijah, you don't have a door with nothing behind it. Besides, Ezra told you to give me a tour. So, what is behind the doors, you wouldn't be a very good tour guide if you didn't show me everything." I shot back.

"Fine, I will show you, but we are going to start at the other end of headquarters."

After about a walk that felt like 20 minutes but turned out to only be five, we reached the end of the complex.

"Okay," he said.
 
Turning around, we slowly walk down the hall, opening each door and Elijah explaining everything to me.

"This is room A, this is where all the training gear is kept. Every Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday the new kids train, that's you. For more experienced people like me, we only train once a week, compulsory, but we can train as much as we want in our own time. My UWM helped with my training, I got through the stages really quickly."

"Stages?"

"There are 6 stages of training, they each take about 2 months to complete. Each stage teaches you different things, hand combat, light, weapons, far range, things like that. Training is either held in the woods or in the gym, which is the next room."

Opening the next door I'm surprised by how big the room is, it's at least the size of 5 Olympic swimming pools.

"We have a good range of activities-"

"Ha, range, I recon." Elijah looks over to me, a small look of amusement crosses his face, before it goes back to being blank.

"We like to cater for all needs. There are things for strength, cardio, close combat, gymnastics, swimming, weaponry and a few other things. Anything here interest you?" He asks.

"Um, yeah actually, the swords, the katanas specifically, the close combat area and a few other things."

"Huh, you're more into fitness than I thought."

"Why didn't you think I was into fitness?" Genuine curiosity fills me.

"Just...the way you look." He admitted shyly, bowing his head.

"Hey, just cause I have black hair with a fringe that covers half my face and I like to wear black doesn't mean I don't like to keep fit."

"Well, anyway, continuing on," He said, turning back towards the door we came through.

"Elijah," I suddenly said, spying a trampoline in the gymnastics section.

"Yeah?" He said, turning his head back towards me.

"Can I just do one quick thing? Please?"

He looked at me curiously for a minute then smiled. "Go on."

I hadn't been on a trampoline in years but I still remembered everything. Running over to it like I was 12 again, I took of my Converses and jumped onto the mat. I jumped a few times getting the feel of things, then went straight into it. Front flips, back flips, handsprings, so many tricks I learnt when I was younger when everyone made excuses to not come over and hang out. After about 5 minutes I flipped off the trampoline, then looked to the door to Elijah. But he wasn't there. Worry running through me, I looked around panicked. The door to the gym opens slightly and I see Elijah walk in with Ezra, they are in a deep discussion.

"What's going on?" I ask, the worry is obvious in my voice.
  
"Elijah was telling me about you, can you show me what you were just doing?"

"Am I in trouble?" You would think with my appearance I would be quite the troublemaker, but truth is, I HATE getting in trouble, it chills me to the core.

"No," Ezra says with a small laugh, "It is just some things that you were doing we have been trying to teach many of our kind, but none of them have been able to do it, I want to see if what Elijah says you can do is true."

"Oh..." Blood rushes to my cheeks, before I was just having fun, being playful, now I feel like I have all the pressure in the world on me. I turn to the mat again and repeat what I was doing before. I make a few small slip ups because of the nerves but otherwise everything was the same as before. Nervously, trying to impress Ezra- and admittedly, Elijah- I get my height up and do a front flip leading into a double side twist and surprisingly, like a miracle has been cast over me, land it perfectly, even though it has been at least 2 years since I have done gymnastics.  

"She's the one." Is all Ezra says to Elijah before he walks out.