Rune Wielders

Chapter Six

Colbie awoke, staring at her white ceiling. She gave a sigh of relief, sinking into the mattress. It was just a horrible dream. She then turned on her side and her stomach dropped when she stared at herself in the mirror on her desk.

Right. She was on Izak. Not at her home. She wished that she was at home. There, she wouldn't have to worry about dying. She didn't blame Eugene, no, but she wished that it could be safer for her. Maybe she blamed him just a tiny bit. It was his fault before.

She pushed off her comforter and her feet hit the cold, cement floor. A cold reminder that it wasn't a dream. She changed and tossed her clothing on the floor, tapping her fingers on the wooden desk. Maybe she could just explore the base alone. That seemed like a good idea. Ruby was probably still knocked out or sleeping. Reed--well, would probably be Reed and be mute as ever. He seemed to like spending time in his room anyway. Alden...was definitely a no-go.

Colbie opened her door softly, peering down the hallway. From what she understood, the room order from where she was standing was her room, Reed's, Ruby's, and then Alden's at the other end. She shut her door and made her way past the remaining three doors, trying to be quiet.

"Colbie?"

Colbie stopped, shoulders raised. "Old man?" She turned her head, widening her eyes as Eugene held the bow in his hands, aimed directly at her head. "What the hell?"

A jolt ran through her as she stared at the arrow loaded in the bow. He was going to kill me if he hadn't realized...

Eugene seemed to move from the shadows, letting the red bow go from his grip. "I thought that...nevermind, Colbie. What are you doing up?"

"I'm an early riser," Colbie answered simply, watching Eugene as his bow shattered on the floor and his quiver of arrows disappeared from his back. "What do you need?" she found herself asking, though memories of last night resurfaced and made her want to throw one of his arrows at his skull.

"Come here, then. I need to get everything ready for you and the others and I could use some help." Eugene turned away.

Colbie nodded and followed him, looking out the windows. "Hey, old man," she started out, unsure of how she should ask him for what had happened before. He was a cool guy--even if he was older.

Eugene set something down on the table, motioning her over. "It's Eugene, Colbie."

"Yeah yeah," Colbie said, moving over to stand next to him. "What...what happened? Before we came here?" Best to get into it and not beat around the bush, she thought as she glanced at Eugene out of the corner of her eye.

Eugene sighed and rubbed his head with his hands, putting his elbows on the table in front of them. "It's a long story. I had another team before you four and I did the same test. They ended up dying." His voice sounded empty.

Colbie looked to Eugene, suddenly realizing just how old he looked--but past that, she was angry. "Did you try to kill us because you wanted to prove something? Why the hell did you do that to us if someone else couldn't even do it--" Colbie bit her tongue at Eugene's pained expression.

"I believed in you. I believed in you all," Eugene admitted. "I let my belief overshadow the actual skill that my team has. I'm too hopeful for having a surviving team. I need to be harder on you guys so you'll live when it comes down to it."

Colbie shrugged, feeling something like sympathy resounding inside of her. It was a foreign feeling to her. She found herself putting a hand on Eugene's shoulder. "You'll do fine. We survived that hell of a mess, so I think we'll be okay." She froze for a few seconds hearing the words leave her mouth.