Brianna Acero and the Second One's Return

16. I start hearing voices

I feel cold sweat start to gather at my brow. I push myself up off the ground and walk towards the mat on shaky legs. Cass gives me a thumbs-up as I walk by, and even Sandra sends me a reassuring smile.

"Good luck to you both," says Alexa, just as she's said for all the other pairs before us. I take a deep breath.

"Don't worry," I tell myself. "Just use what you know, try and stay in the circle."

I open my eyes. When did I close them? And watch Juan. By his body structure I'm guessing he isn't a Strength, but he looks a lot like someone we just watched, so he could be...

I'm getting pushed back, too fast to know what's happening. I blink and he's just there! Another speed, I knew it. I try to hook my leg behind his own to pull him off balance, but he jumps away before I get even remotely close. How am I supposed to fight against a Speed?

I blink again, rolling away just in time to doge Juan's next attempt at pushing me out of the circle. I quickly get to my feet, watching as he brings his arms up to push me back when... he seems to freeze. I blink, and everything comes back into focus. I dodge, and Juan nearly trip's over himself and stumbles out of the circle. I hear cheers and intakes of breath from my fellow trainees. They obviously thought I was done for. Honestly, I thought so too.

I blink again, but this time something whispers in my ear.

"Behind you."

I turn just in time to find Juan charge at me, and I use his momentum against him, aiming for the white line. I mutter a cruse when he puts his hands on the mat and stops himself from crossing over.

No more voices whisper warnings in my head, so I don't expect Juan to tackle me from his position on the floor. I wave my arms trying to keep my balance, but it's no use, as gravity does what it does best and pulls me towards the floor. My head crashes against the mat, landing out of the circle. I groan as stars explode behind my closed eyelids, and I rub at the spot where a bump will surely form later on.

There is a stunned silence before I hear:

"Get up Bri! You did great girl," and more words of encouragement follow.

I feel someone tap me on the shoulder, and I gingerly open my eyes to find Juan standing above me, holding out his hand to help me up. I take it, and the room spins for a moment as the blood rushes to my head, but I manage to stay upright and thank him for a great duel.

"Those were some pretty cool moves," he says, brushing his sweaty bangs out of his eyes, showing me warm caramel irises."But that wasn't speed, what's your Gift?"

I hesitate, still rubbing at the sore spot on my scalp.

"It's, umm," I stammer, noticing Alexa watching me from the corner of my eye, no doubt wanting to hear my answer herself.

"Not exactly speed, but it's kind of related, it's... reflexes! I guess you could say its kind of like premonition?"

A frown makes its way onto his face, a little wrinkle appearing between his eyebrows. I try to explain myself better.

"I'm good at guessing what's going to happen before it does. Like when you tried to tackle me? I guess you could say I sensed you and reacted. It's a rare Gift! You might not have heard of it before," I add, just in case. But he just smiles and nods.

"No, I have heard of it before, I'm pretty sure my cousin has that Gift."

Oh, ok, I guess it is a thing then.

"That's interesting. I would have thought you'd inherited at least one of your parents Gifts," Says Alexa, not looking up from her screen.

I feel my heart stop beating. Did Alexa know about my father? Should I tell her my real Gift?

"Well," I laugh nervously, "guess not."

Alexa just nods and finishes typing whatever she's writing on her TekPad.

"Okay then, now that we have your results, we will just need to process them and see what level you fall into. You have the rest of the day off, and your results will be sent to you this afternoon. Take this time to explore the compound. In the areas you have access to!" she adds.

"If you get lost just ask one of your tutors for help. I bet some of them would be more than welcome to give you a tour."

She smiles at us, waving one final time before she exits the room, high heels slapping against the floor.

We all follow, excited at the idea of getting to explore our new home, and as I turn to Cassie to ask her where she would like to start, I bump into someone. Strong arms grab my shoulders, and I step back to find myself staring at the person I accidentally knocked into.

"Kalen?" I step out of his hold, and he lets his arms fall at his sides. "What are you doing here?"

He has changed out of the suit he had been wearing before and looks out of place with his oversized T-shirt and cargo pants, but he carries himself in a way that makes it obvious he doesn't care, I even catch some of the girls staring at him and whispering among themselves.

"I live here," he says, smug, and I just roll my eyes at him, which makes him laugh.

"Mara asked me to come get you," he says in that deep voice of his. I noticed that he has a slight accent when he pronounces certain letters. Maybe Irish? I'm not sure, but it makes me listen even harder when he speaks.

"She wanted me to take you on a tour."

He stares at me, waiting for me to say yes, but I'm too busy getting distracted by the fact that I would be going on a tour with Kalen. He crosses his arms and huffs.

"Well?" he says impatiently. "Do you want the tour or not?"

Before I have a chance to back out, Cassie pounces on me, no doubt having sensed my hesitation.

"We would love to! Wouldn't we Bri?"

I glare at her but nod.

Kalen smiles, gray eyes turning into crescents.

"Follow me then," he says, as Cass and I start to walk after him. She turns around and points. "He's cute," she mouths, winking at me. I know for a fact that he isn't her type, but I guess she knows who's type he is. I blush and duck my head.

"This is going to be a long tour," I sigh

When we finally finish I've turned red enough times to be considered a Christmas ornament.

The next morning, when our scores are posted and we received them at the room where all the new trainees got to stay in overnight, Cassie screams in my ear when we find out that we were placed in the same group as Mara, Jayson and... Kalen. How I managed to make it into the group was anyone's guess. I hadn't even won my duel. But there I was, right before someone called Quinn Miller, and right after Cassie.

"Love is in the air," she singsongs, and I tackle her to the bed, covering her mouth.

"Shut up," I mutter, but she just keeps at it until we meet said people for breakfast.

"What's up with her," asks Jayson? Referring to my very hyper best friend. But I'm aware of Kalen watching me, an amused glint in his eyes, so I just shake my head and sigh.

"Don't ask."