Ark (#Wattys2016)

Training The Humie

"Change is the end of something you know and the beginning of something else that you don't know. Something new that holds opportunities." 

-Kholoud Yasser

Zane and I quickly ate our food and I changed into one of the training outfits that I had seen the others wearing. Zane walked me down to the training rooms, talking with me quietly. "Are you going to talk to Laurel about your dad?"

"Not until Alice is taken care of." I replied. I wanted answers but I realized that there were more important things that needed to be handled first. "Right now, she's a bigger threat. I'll talk to Laurel and Baz as soon as that threat is eliminated."

When we arrived at the training room, there was a small crowd of people already there, at least twenty by my count. They were all dressed like they were ready to train, yet the all stood along the walls of the room. They all turned to us, some smirking and some just watching with interest. I leaned over to Zane and whispered, "Why are they here?"

"They wanted to watch." he muttered, his tone apologetic. I looked at him in alarm. What the hell was that suppose to mean?

"Watch what?" I asked, panicked. A boy with brown hair, probably the same age as me, stepped forward, his arms crossed and his green eyes showing clear arrogance. Behind him stood more guys who wore his obnoxious expression.

"We wanted to watch the humie get his ass handed to him." he chuckled, his voice condescending. Reese, Theo, Dylan, and Jasmine were suddenly beside us. They each looked like they wanted to pummel this little jerk.

"Piss off, Peter." Reese threatened, towering over the much smaller boy, who slouched slightly in fear. "Or do you want everyone to watch you get your ass handed to you?"

"Look what we have here." another voice cooed. A guy with dark buzzed hair and cold eyes came to stand next to the other boy. He was taller than Peter and more muscular, but not nearly as much as Reese. That didn't seem to matter to him, though. He still spoke and acted like his was the big dog here. He turned to his friends and sneered, "I didn't know the freak show was in town."

A few of the other trainees laughed, while the others glared at them in warning. The buzz cut boy continued to mock us. "Look, we've got the freak crossbreed, the pyromaniac, the ice bitch, the mutt, and the telepathic brat. And they've even adopted a pathetic humie, who wants to play with the big boys. Isn't that just so cute."

I started forward, anger fueling my movement. Nobody talked to my friends that way. Well I guess they weren't technically my friends, but the rule still applied to acquaintances. Zane grabbed my arm, holding me in my place. The boy and his little cronies chuckled and mocked at my anger. I glared at the little ass and spat out, "Shut up, you prick."

"Why don't you make me, humie?" he countered, stepping forward. Theo and Jasmine stepped in-between us. I usually wasn't one for conflict but I really wanted to punch this guys teeth in. His expression was smug as his continued, "Figures that you need your little friends to protect you."

I opened my mouth to smart back but Jazz cut me off with a raised hand. She glared at the boy with an icy glare.

"Let it go, Pax. Christian is just upset that he's still stuck here in training while we're out in the field." Jasmine mocked, obviously getting under the guy's skin.

"If you mess with him, we're going to have problems." Theo threatened, his voice deadly. "Do you really want that?"

"That's enough!" Baz's voice boomed. Causing every head to turn to him in surprise. He and Laurel stood in the doorway of the training room, both with stern looks on their faces.