Rebellion

Chapter Seventeen

I pried open my eyes, thankful that I was in control now, and that the darkness had passed completely. I blinked once, and slowly forced myself upright. The pain in my abdomen was substantial, and I almost blacked out. But I stayed strong, and made sure I did not pass out again. I was done with sleep for the time being.

The first thing I noticed was how amazingly clean I was. My legs felt soft, even against the scratchy material of the hospital gown. Every inch of my skin was smooth. My raven black hair felt soft against my neck, and it tickled my cheeks. it was a luxury I was not used to, and it felt amazing.

I looked around myself, and saw that Callum was passed out in a chair next to me. I smiled at his sleeping face. His black hair was tousled and messy, and his eyes were puffy from lack of sleep. His strong jaw line was slack, and relaxed due to his peaceful state. His muscular arms were resting softly across his chest, and his pale skin tone gleaned from the lights above us. There was no other word to describe him but beautiful. His structure was perfect, his facial features were unlike any other, and he was with no doubt, beautiful.

Trying not to wake him, I swung my legs over the side of the bed, and dropped my feet to the floor. I winced at the sharp jolt of pain in my stomach, and hissed through my teeth. The cement floor was cold on my feet, and sent shivers up my spine as I stood completely. I stood up straight now, not relying on the bed for support. I wavered, but caught my balance almost immediately. I walked over to where Callum was sleeping and gently tapped his shoulder. He stirred, and slowly opened his eyes. He saw me and smiled.

"You're up," He said.

I nodded. "I figured you would want to know,"

He chuckled. "Yeah," he stretched, lifting his arms above his head and leaning from side to side, "You should probably eat now. I have a some clothes for you to change into first though,"

He stood up and handed me some clothes before pulling the curtain around my bed for privacy. I quickly changed out of the hospital gown into the clothes given to me. The pants were some type of black, tight material, but it stretched and followed my movements nicely. The top was merely a t-shirt. A brown one more specifically. It clung to my skin, but it fit me properly. I stepped out from behind the curtain and smiled at Callum. He gently took my hand and led me out of the infirmary, and down the hall. The dugout was buzzing with people, and many sounds. I couldn't help but smile. It made things feel normal, like everything was going to be okay. Callum led me straight across the crowd, and into a huge room with two dozen tables, mostly full of people eating. We sat down at a spot closest to the door, and Callum waved to someone excitedly. I looked at him curiously, but he just smirked, and sat down. I heard running, and glanced over to my left, to see who it was, and someone crashed into me, arms wrapped around me, holding me tight. Thinking it was another Demon attack, I started panicking, and tried to push the body off of me, screaming. Callum grabbed me by the shoulders.

"You're okay, it's just Briss. You're okay." he soothed.

I leaned against him, my head buried against his chest. "I thought he was a Demon," I whispered.

"I know," he responded.

I turned to Briss and saw the shock and concern in his eyes before he smiled at me.

"Hey," I breathed.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah. You just frightened me is all,"

"Sorry about that... I was just glad to see you out of the hospital and awake. It's been awhile,"

"I understand, it's fine, nothing to worry about,"

He grinned. "So everything's okay then?"

"I guess so. I feel somewhat normal anyway," I paused. "What have you been doing in the meantime?"

He let out a puff of air. "Well, training mostly. I visited you quite a lot as well of course,"

I nodded. "Of course,"

"I've determined my strength is in knives. I've gotten a bullseye on almost every target!"

"Well, that's good that you've determined your strength,"

"Yeah. You probably won't be starting your training for awhile then?"

"No, actually, I'm probably going to start today. I need to be ready,"

His eyes widened. "So soon?"

I nodded. Callum leaned over my shoulder. "Everyone needs to be trained and ready. An attack could happen any day now,"

Briss shrugged. "Well, that makes sense, I won't argue,"

I turned to Callum. "Where is the food?"

"I'll get you something. Hold on a second," He got up and shuffled through the crowd of people.

It felt good to be back, I concluded. To smile, laugh and be with those I know. It felt right. My thoughts wandered to Delst. How he was going to take me to Her, the Queen of Them. It made me sick knowing that he was working for Them, but it also made me wonder. What was in it for him? What benefit did joining Them have for him? What possibly made him want to? I didn't understand many things about the situation, and I knew it was probably best that I didn't.

Callum finally made his way back to where we sat, balancing a tray of food in his hands. He set it on the table before sitting next to me. On the tray were many different fruits and breads. I quickly took an apple and bit into it, savouring the soft flesh of the fruit. I ate it slowly, not wanting to upset my stomach. Callum took a slice of brown bread and ate it. Briss took nothing, and I could only assume he already ate. After finishing my apple, I took a slice of bread and ate that slowly as well. I didn't feel like I could eat much after that, so that was all I took.

"Done?" Callum asked me. I nodded. "Good, then we better take you to the training centre,"

I turned to Briss. "I must go to train now. It was good to see you,"

He smiled. "I'm glad that you're better now. I'll see you around,"

I then followed Callum out of the eating centre and into the pit, and down the tunnel which led to the training room. The very one which caused me to run away, and lead to my attack. My heart beat picked up, and I grew nervous. This room meant danger to me now, but I pushed through my panicky feeling and stepped into the room. Callum was with me, he wouldn't let anything bad happen to me. Not again anyway.

"Where would you like to start?" He asked me.

I smirked and jerked my chin to my right side. "Swords,"