Athena

Chapter 5

It isn't often that I reminisce about my past, mainly because there isn't much to reminisce about. I have no decent memories, not even before the institute.

An absent father and a depressed, high strung mother who snapped a lot over little things isn't something you tend to miss. Would it have been better than life in the institute, absolutely, but even then I know my life would've remained miserable.

The one thing, or rather the one person that lightened up my life even a little, was Elias.

When he left, it was one of the toughest days of my life. We parted on good terms, both of us sad, but a part of me is happy that other aeteri were hopefully able to get him as a mentor and experience the same kindness I was lucky enough to receive.

"Athena."

Startled, I dropped the pen and journal in my hands, cursing under my breath. I ejected any thoughts of my old mentor, walking across the bedroom to open the door.

Adrianna stood on the other side, dressed in dark leggings and a sports bra, her box braids looking a bit unorganized.

She motioned to the open journal on the ground. "I haven't seen you write in that old thing in a long time."

I brushed off her comment. I did think it was a little odd that I decided to write in it with everything going on, but I take it everywhere, even though most of the time I don't really write anything. It's a journal I use to write down thoughts or even ideas that pertain to our home, other than that it just sits in a bag.

I looked over her disheveled appearance in confusion.

"I went for a fly." She said before I could ask.

My eyes nearly popped out of my head. "A fly?"

She nodded, "Jax and I wanted to survey the territory. It's quite large, a few fields throughout, nothing too distinguishable. No bodies of water within the territory or any suspicious behavior to be concerned about." She reported the news just like she would back home, but we aren't home.

"Adrianna, you need to be wary of this place. The wolves barely trust us as it is, if they think we are monitoring their land or pack members, we'll get thrown out."

"No one saw us. They never do." She explained. "Besides, I was going for a fly anyway."

I relaxed, deciding to just let it go. She knows what she's doing, she's a grown woman. Being my own age of twenty-three, Adrianna is one of the more mature ones in the group, other than Kevin. Most of the institutes were freed within the same year, so Adrianna and I were most likely freed around the same time. Her institute was a few states away from mine, near the ocean.

She told me that a lot of the older prisoners like her self came up with a name for the place; Seaside Derision. They chose that name because looking out from the inside, they saw miles upon miles of ocean, of freedom, but they were never going to be able to tread it, so the mockery of the glistening waves and the horizon in the distance irked them to no end.

She told me about some of her time at Seaside Derision. Her mentor was as cruel as others but occasionally trained with her on the beach. He told her running through sand helps strengthen leg and core muscles. He kept a CFR nearby of course, in case she tried to fly, but she never did, she never wanted to jeopardize her access to the outdoors. Not many aeteri were allowed out, so she considered herself lucky.

I pulled my suitcase onto the bed to find something suitable to wear. "Are we supposed to dress a certain way?" I asked, looking over the clothes I brought.