Shapeshifter's Struggle

Chapter 13: Fighting A Tournament

"You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him." ~James D. Miles

The next morning, Thursday, dawned too early after our late night. But I dragged myself out of bed and through the shower. The shower woke me up, so I was thinking clearly. My side ached terribly and was stiff. I moved like an old granny who lost her cane.

Thank goodness for Logan. He had an ice pack and breakfast when I came down the stairs at a quarter of nine. He pointed me to the recliner and brought everything to me. I have no idea where he learned to cook or what was needed for a bruised rib, but he did.

David and Rachel weren't far behind me and we sat in the living room for breakfast. None of us said much, we were all still waking up. Except Logan, who seemed as bright eyed as normal.

When the doorbell rang at nine, Logan answered it. Jared, James, Peter, and a girl were on the steps. They came in as Logan stepped to the side.

"Good morning, cousin," Jared greeted. "Peter and Leslie will take David and Rachel to visit the recreation center. Did you bring swim suits?"

"No," David said.

"We'll find you some that fit." Peter assured.

"I don't like to swim," Rachel said.

"Me neither," Leslie agreed. "We'll do something else. There's a spa." Rachel was hooked, despite herself. "Come on, let's go." Leslie urged. David and Rachel left with them. I wasn't too concerned. David and Rachel both knew to be careful. David would watch out for Rachel, too. Rachel tended to go off into space at the idea of something girly. A spa was girly.

Of course, that left me and Logan with Jared and James. Logan and James ... this could get interesting. But I stood up, grabbing the ice pack as it fell. Logan took it from me and put it back into the freezer. While he was gone, I asked Jared about our destination.

"You'll see," was all he'd tell me.

We went to the other big building we'd scouted the night before. Inside was a miniature forest. Not that the trees and things were small, just that it was like a whole forest inside the building. The top of the building was wire mesh, so the sun came in but only bugs could get through. The door had a security code. I couldn't tell what Jared punched in, just that it was different from the one Riley had told me.

Jared led us once around the perimeter of the building. It was a large building, but still, to have a whole forest in it was impressive. You could probably have fit a football field inside it, but not much more. No one said a word the whole tour. When we got back to the front of the building, Jared spoke.

"Do you like it?" he asked.

"What's it for?" I replied. "You have real forest outside. And it's bigger."

"It's for the others. Here's one you should recognize," Jared answered. He pointed at a group of people coming our way. The other Cain from the car had Riley by the arm and was leading him towards us. The other four prisoners were being led to us behind him.

"Hello, Samantha," Riley greeted me as the Cain pulled him to a stop.

"Morning, Riley," I answered.

"We let them out weekly. Today is their scheduled run. I thought you might like to see that we don't treat them as badly as you think, cousin." Jared's voice was cold.

"I see," was all I said. It was horrible. Why was Jared showing me this? If he wanted me to stay, this was not the way to convince me.

"Go along now and play, Riley," Jared mocked. The Cain dropped Riley's arm, but Riley didn't move. He turned to look at the boy behind him. This boy looked to be about the same age as Riley, but his total opposite. Where Riley was pale and almost white, this boy was black. His skin was a tan so dark it looked almost black, his hair was black, and his eyes were a deep navy. He was the same height and build as Riley. The Cain holding him dropped his arm and the dark boy moved towards Riley.