Abnormal {Book 1: Completed, Book 2: Ongoing}

Chapter 25

After a whole day of practice, every muscle in my body aches as I finally collapse into bed. I sigh as I run my hand through my hair, still slightly damp from the shower. I never imagined that level 2 training would be so exhausting. 

I tap on my watch to see if I have any new messages. There is one from Valerie, asking how the people in level 2 are; and another from Aveline, reminding me to send her pictures of my new dorm room. I smile as I type in responses to their texts from the keyboard that pops up in front of me. 

As I turn off my watch to go to sleep, I notice Raven examining a small phone-sized device. It looks like a piece of glass with a screen displayed on it. She scrolls down with her index finger, lips pursed in thought. 

"What's that?" I ask her. I lean towards her curiously since our beds are so close together. Instead of handing over the device for me to take a closer look, or explain its presence, Raven shies away from me, even going so far as to cover up the screen with the palm of her hand. I flinch, shocked by her reaction. "It's...it's nothing." She smiles shakily to cover up her mistake. She then shoves the device into her safe box located right underneath the bed, then locks it with an audible click. 

"Sure." I shrug, then lie back down on my bed, facing away from her to pretend that I'm asleep. But my eyes are open and my mind is whirring. I keep thinking back to Raven and her evident expression of guilt as she hides the screen of her mysterious device. I was just asking a simple question. 

What could she possibly be nervous about?

What is she trying to hide?

I can hear her walking over to the door quietly and turn off the lights, then climb back into her bed. I bury my face into the pillow, too tired to keep thinking about Raven and her secrets. 

Within moments, I lose consciousness.

•❅──────✧❅✦❅✧──────❅•

The next morning, Raven and I sit with Zach and his roommate, Ryan at breakfast. Raven is unusually quiet today, probably due to the incident last night. And according to Zach, Ryan has never been particularly talkative. We sit in an awkward silence, soundlessly munching on our eggs and bacon strips, until Zach finally decides to speak.

"So, Lyanna. Have you heard of the Trials?" He asks.

I frown and shake my head. "Never heard of it."

Zach seems surprised. "Nobody told you about it? Okay, so basically the Trials happen once a year. There are three tasks in every Trial, and it's different every year." He reaches for his glass of water to rinse his mouth.

"The point of the Trials," he continues, "is for those who are worthy enough to rise in the ranks. All the points in the Trials are calculated by computer systems, so the final rankings are always fair."

I lean forward, intrigued. "What are the rules of the Trial?"

He smiles mischievously. "There aren't any."

"Wait...what do you mean there aren't any?"

"You can do anything you want. There really aren't any rules. You just have to do everything you can to win the Trials. Aside from rising in the ranks, there's usually a final prize in every task. You also earn a certain number of points after completing each task, depending on you speed."

"When will the Trials be held this year?"

"A week from now." Ryan finally speaks up. 

I gasp. "A week? How am I supposed to prepare...nobody ever told me...how will I survive if there aren't..."

Zach reaches out to put a hand on my shoulder. "Hey, hey, there's no need to panic right now. You can never 'prepare' for the Trials. As I said before, the Trials are different every year. They're even held in different settings. The Trials are used to determine the strength of your abilities, your intelligence, and your courage. It won't involve any guns. Or even any fighting." He pauses for a second. "Well...not with real people at least."

"Has anyone ever died in the Trials?" I ask cautiously.

Zach hesitates before answering. "Umm...yes. One person. She died last year."

My eyes widen. "I thought the Trials were monitored or something? How could they just let her die? Weren't there enough supplies for..."

Raven shrugs. "I heard that in one of the tasks, she was driven crazy by hallucinations and turned a knife on herself. Weapons weren't supposed to be brought into the Trials at all, but her power was to turn her hands into weapons, including blades or guns. So...yeah. That's how it happened. She was trapped in a maze, so when the medics finally found her, it was already too late. She already had over a dozen stab wounds located on different parts of her body. She had lost too much blood to even call for help."

She describes the whole thing so offhandedly that I'm surprised by her lack of emotion. "Did you guys know her personally?" I ask.

They all shake their heads. "She was a general," Ryan says quietly.

I put my fork down, completely losing my appetite. 

If a general was pushed to her breaking point, how will I be able to survive in the Trials?