LOST SHADOWS - A Broken Lie

Chapter 17

"Alright. Listen up!" The buff young man at the front of the room yelled out. "Welcome to Protector training! I'm your assigned instructor, Ian Jex. Though you will call me 'Chief'." He gave a solid look towards Elaina, who was standing leaning against the door. She was in her second form, and the dumb outfit that they told her to wear. "That bum over there is the one making sure you don't get killed the first day of the job. You will refer to her as 'Nyxie'. Try not to cross her, we just fixed the wall." At this Elaina strode over to Chief as she laughed. He stiffened up as she casually leaned on his shoulders, clearly uncomfortable with her being near him.

Really hate the nickname... But... We don't care if he dislikes us. Most people around here dislike us. Protector. Specialist. It's all the same. He really needs to respect our direction for privacy.

"Pay no attention to him, I didn't even break the wall all the way." She warmly joked. She pushed off him and continued. "But it is my job to make sure that you all are safe till this grouch says your ready to be on your own." She spotted Milly and Dawn in the group, and smiled. She knew they didn't recognize her. Her face was covered by a mask, her hair was white, her skin gray, she was wearing her black Protector  costume, and she was a head taller than her normal height. Elaina really hated this form, but work was work, and she really didn't mind her job. She towered over most of the newcomers, rather than just the shorter people like her normal form. She was still shorter than Chief's form, though not by much. The Dark-Talent man glanced at her. This was their second year working together, but it was clear he didn't trust her. Not that she blamed him. They hardly ever talked outside of the training sessions. On top of that, a totally of three people knew both sides of her and none of them really worked with her. For all Chief knew, she was a secretive unstable bitch with a lot of connections. Funny enough, he seemed to like 'Elaina' just fine. Even though most pitied the CEO's "pet project", given most of the Protectors knew about her "condition".

Bastards! The whole lot of them!! Thinking we're two seconds away from physically deteriorating!!!

Elaina mentally rolled her eyes, thinking back to the blood that she threw up that morning. Maybe cuz we are?' Her brain scoffed at her, so she left it at that.

"So the group will be set into teams of four. You will keep these teams till you second year of working as a Protector, so be civil." Chief let out a grunt as he spoke. Elaina chuckled, which earned her a look. It was Star-Hero that assigned them to be instructors in the first place. Elaina remembers the day so clearly. The expression on Chief's face going from honored and overwhelmed to terror upon learning he'd be working with her was hilarious!
Back then, though she wasn't really well known, there was still rumors floating around about her, not that she minded. It was nice having some quite.

But now things are different.

She glanced over at Dawn and Milly finding out what group they were in and smiled.

Definitely different.

It smelt of smoke.