Aunt Candy and the Mysteries

Sixteen.

I take off, running at a medium pace. I don't want to draw too much attention to myself-- not that I haven't already done that, but I need to try to blend in as much as possible. I make my way around the track, my mind focused on how exactly I'm going to trip. If I do it wrong, It won't be believable and he'll realize i've taken his keycard. But if I do this just right, I can get away with this.

I go around the first curve and I can feel every step in my calves, and the distance through my breaths which come heavy and quick. My eyes momentarily lock with one of the officers standing guard there. He gives me a glare that tells me to keep my eyes to myself, and I do, changing my gaze to the ground then the track in front of me. I start my way down the second straight part of the track. Think Etta think! What would be the most believable? My gaze shifts down to the track again and follows my feet. Now would be a fantastic time for shoe laces. But I think I have an idea.

I race around the last corner, looking as though my legs are about to give out on me, nearly tripping over myself twice for show. As we near the finish line, the officer in black stands with his stop watch out. "Let's get a move on!" he yells, his foot tapping impatiently. I speed up, making sure to make an extra effort to show my extra effort. I gulp and stumble again, making my arms look tired along with the rest of me.

When I come within a foot of the finish line, I 'trip' again, making sure that by the time I get to the white line it looks like I'm fighting to stay standing. I direction my fall, allowing myself to land on the black clothed officer, my hand tucking the flap of his open jacket, landing on the pocket containing the keycard. I put a lot of weight onto him, so he won't feel it when I pick up the keycard. "What's wrong with you!" She shouts, grabbing my arms and trying to steady me. I fight back by falling again, putting more weight onto my hands and therefore onto him. Using my pointer and middle finger, I slowly pick up the Keycard, letting it fall into my sleeve. I finally let him steady me. "Looks like you weren't only made wrong in your head, they messed up your feet too." He says, wiping off his arms and down his jacket. For a moment I panic a bit thinking that he'll notice his missing card, but he just calls up the next group, looking as if I just insulted his grandmother. I limp my way past Katchina as she goes to the track. "Are you okay?" She asks me, concern lacing her irises. I nod, giving her a weak smile, milking the whole situation. She believes it, he believes it, and I congratulate myself on my acting skills as I watch group five run.

♢⚿♢

"Next stations!" The lady's voice from earlier shouts over a P.A. system. "Group two and five to the courses, three and seven to the mats, and six and four to the track!" A loud buzz ends the announcement.

The mats. Fighting. I saw the other groups doing this while I was running. And It's not being taught to you, they just throw you in the ring and make you fight each other, rules exempt. Everyone in the groups before us had been using their Keystones, ribbons of red, black, and burgundy coming out of them riling up their opponents even more. The colors of anger.

"Gather round!" A dark haired woman says from the middle of the largest mat. "Welcome back to the mats, where you learn to defend yourselves. This comes in mighty handy on the front lines, which, in a little bit, will be your new lives!" She lets out a laugh that reminds me of the Mad Hatter. The statement though, reminds me of something Cedar said in the woods the day he kissed me: We're given these abilities for a reason. We can't just sit around the house all day practicing them for Candy's analysis. If we are able, we should use it to defend our country. He'd said. I bite my lip.

"We'll continue from where we left off." She must not realize I'm new. I realize as two kids step onto the well used mat. "Objects out!" The woman shouts. One of the kids, a little blonde girl, most likely no older than seven pulls out a jewelry box the color of her rosy cheeks. The other kid, looking to be about sixteen, holds out her hands in a fighting position, her finger displaying a bejeweled band, most likely a wedding or engagement ring. "Fight!" The woman shouts.

As soon as she does, the little blonde girl snaps her fingers and the box opens, letting out a swarm of white ribbons as she slides her way around the older girl. Immediately confused, the older girl fights against the ribbons of emotion, trying to break them. The little blonde girl on the outside smirks, then before I can blink does a quick flip, then uses that momentum as she extends her foot in the direction of the cocooned girl. Her foot hits the girl somewhere near the face and I can hear her cry out. "Help!" She cries. But no one does anything. They can't, for the dark haired woman glares at each of us, her hand rushing to her holster where a gun resides. So everyone watches instead as the little blonde girl lands another punch to the gut, then promptly to the face of the older girl. We watch, waiting for the worst. The little girl draws her foot back, steadying herself for another punch, but she suddenly starts to shake. Shake with fear as a ribbon the color of royalty wraps around her body. The white ribbons start to recede back into the music box, revealing the older girl, reaching out her hand to release more ribbons.

The purple color slowly starts to bleed in with the color of blood... and anger. The older girl then takes a running start at the younger one, jumping up to thrust her foot at the girls head. Still paralized with fear, the little one can't do anything but watch at the foot hits her face.

Blood drips from her lip and her eyebrow as she falls onto the mat with a soft pfft. I only breathe again when I see her chest fall and rise again doing the same. "Victory for Kelli Diena!" The dark haired woman says, giving the girl a pat on the back as the group of kids somehow cheers. I watch as her tired body recoils a bit at the touch, her eyes not leaving the face of the younger girl passed out in front of her. I swear I see her mutter an I'm sorry before being led off of the mat.

I find myself fiddling with my necklace, wondering if all of my other friends have endured the same. I wonder how Cedar's dealing with all this. After that show I have much reason to believe that his mind has changed since our previous conversation. I bite my lip still nervous for his, and everyone's well being.

"Next up is a treat!" The dark haired woman says as two officers pull away the little girl's unconscious body. "We will have a fight between someone new, and someone old." She tells us as if this is a game. I hear many kids applaud. I fill with panic at the mention of someone new. "Now this is someone we've seen fight before. He's the best fighter I've seen in ages, though he's been hiding his talent for some time now." She says, luring us in. "I'm hoping to welcome him back with open arms, please welcome Charlie Fields!"

I watch as the boy I met earlier walks onto the mats, a reluctant drag in his step. "Come on Charlie, that's it." the woman says, grabbing his wrist and pulling him up with impatience. "Now his opponent is new to this, so I don't expect much more than a lesson well learned. But watching the struggle is all the fun, am I right!?" She yells manically. I bite harder on my lip. Not me, Not me, Not me.

"Please welcome to the stage..."

Not me, Not me, Not me!

"Brooke Grayce!"

My face goes cold. I let my necklace fall from my hand. My mouth flies open.

As I watch.

Her ascend.

To the mat.