First I want to say thank you to those who reviewed since I last updated. I
was amazed at the number of them I got and was so glad you all liked it. I
hope you all like this chapter just as much.
Chapter 15
Wraith returned to her temporary residence and scanned the street before closing the door behind her. The day had been productive in some parts and unproductive in others. However, to sum up a days work it hadn't been all that bad. She had been able to sleep through the lessons they were that elementary. Snorting she remembered how the students had complained. Everything had been too hard and too much work, they had no idea of the real meaning of work.
Leaning her back against the door for a moment she let her eyes slide shut. Her body started to sway and she felt her eyelids becoming heavy, her feet start to ache and her mind drift to the blissful thoughts of sleep. Reaching her hand down weary fingers sought out the ever elusive bit of modern technology that was so prized by the youths of today. Easing it out of her bag she turned it on and seeing there was no messages she sighed out a breath in relief and threw it onto a nearby couch.
Drifting into her bedroom, her limbs like leaden feathers, weightless and yet heavy at the same time she shed her clothes on autopilot, laying them neatly on a chair. Everything had a purpose, and there was nothing in the entire house that was non essential. To an outsider it might look cold, uninhabited and soul destroying but to her it was essential. She thriven on utter and complete control, and this was the only way she could maintain it.
Pulling back the covers of the bed with shaking fingers her body sank down and her muscles sang with relief as they were finally allowed to relax and conform to the mattress. A bird started chirping at an irritating and intrusive pitch which she managed to ignore for a while but eventually started grating against her nerves. Concentrating her mind on the sound and its source for a minute the sound ended abruptly. Smiling in satisfaction she gently rested her head down on the pillow again and followed the deep breathing exercises she had been taught as a child to maximise the regenerative powers of her sleep. Soon her mind drifted to oblivion and her thought started to wander.
~
Suddenly she found herself in her old training room, eyes purposefully kept low, avoiding anyone's gaze. There was a large punch bag in front of her and her entire mind was focused on it. All her eyes could see was the bag, swaying gently backwards and forwards, every detail of the plastic covering indelibly marked into her brain so she could shut her eyes and know exactly what it looked like, how it moved. Her nostrils were filled with the tangy smell of sweat and it burned into her eyes. She pulled her leg up, spun around and smacked the shin into the bag, feeling it rock and slide away. The ominous and repetitive sound of the chains creaking filled the room but she did not stop. Her arms raised and followed a well rehearsed pattern of punches, the muscles in her arms screamed for release but the panic and tension in her body made her deny them.
Her toes dug into the dirt floor with each movement, trying to get purchase and retain her balance but sending dust into her eyes each time. The urge to cough burned in her throat but she didn't want to show any sign of weakness so choked it back. Feeling eyes watching her she stumbled and felt the flimsy material of her trousers tear at the seams. Landing on her back she scrambled up to her feet. Her eyes caught sight of a red stain on the far wall and she froze, unable to tear her eyes away. The rotting grey wall had what at first looked like a large splatter of red paint across it. That was until you noticed the darker streaks in it that were almost black and then the smell hit you, rolling over you in waves. The smell was metallic. It pulled at you, making you take deeper breaths, trying to absorb as much of it as you could from the air, and yet at the same time, churning your stomach with its sweet, nauseating stench.
A sharp blow in the centre of her back sent her crashing into the bag and falling to the floor where she just managed to tuck her legs under her and roll, coming to her feet. Slowly and painfully she turned around only to be grabbed by the collar of her shirt and lifted from the ground. The face in front of her made her stomach scramble in fear. The voice whispered and rasped.
'You weren't guarding your back, that's inexcusable. I'm not paying to keep you up so that you can waste my time. You better sort yourself out and fast or you'll find your life isn't worth living.'
Release her legs squirmed in the air until they found solid ground and stability again. Breathe gasping in and out, eyes wide and body shaking she applied herself with the dedication only extreme fear can create to the task in front of her. Keep going, keep moving, keep concentrating. It's just you now, you have to look after yourself, have to stay alive. Falling into the rhythm she felt her breath come in and out at regular intervals again, her mind ease. Not so bad, could be worse, could be the other lessons, those were the worst.
Her mind drifting she found herself somewhere else. Standing in the open, she faced a barren landscape. To anyone else it would appear there was nothing around as far as the eye could see. Sand stretched out, mile upon mile upon mile. But she knew. She knew. In her minds eye she could see a place far, far away. Grit flew up and plastered her clothes against her body. Whorls of sand swirled at her feet but all went unnoticed. Her thoughts were racing far ahead of her physical body, coursing through the air, over land, below water, and through time. Coming to their destination she found a building.
Sunlight streamed down through the windows of a small and sheltered hut. Sending pretty patterns skittering along the floor a lone man sat writing on parchment at a slanted desk. Shoulders hunched his hands trembled, blotting ink over the page. Cursing under his breath with astonishing viciousness he rubbed his sleeve across the stains to dry them out and continued his work. The wind rustled through the leaves outside, everything was calm, and then with a quiet puff of smoke and flame started at the corner of the mans page.
Staring at it in astonishment he leapt to his feet knocking his chair back. Throwing it to the floor he stamped on it several times then lifted his foot expecting to see it doused. To his astonishment the new rush of air set the fire to a roar and the flames shot up to the roof of his wooden abode setting fire to the rafters. Suddenly his jaw went slack and his face white and he ran to the door, frantically tugging it. He looked unsurprised as it refused to open and at the same result with all the windows and even a trapdoor in the floor.
She watched, silently, until everything faded to silence again. Sheep started bleating nearby and voices drifted in and out of hearing. A sound started building at the corner of her mind however and she slowly travelled back, settling again into her body. She felt the presence around her, ever watching, always there. Then she heard it, the sound getting louder and louder till it crashed down on her ears like thunder. Driven to her knees she covered her ears, begging the noise to stop. It was only now that she realised what the sound was.
Laughter.
Chapter 15
Wraith returned to her temporary residence and scanned the street before closing the door behind her. The day had been productive in some parts and unproductive in others. However, to sum up a days work it hadn't been all that bad. She had been able to sleep through the lessons they were that elementary. Snorting she remembered how the students had complained. Everything had been too hard and too much work, they had no idea of the real meaning of work.
Leaning her back against the door for a moment she let her eyes slide shut. Her body started to sway and she felt her eyelids becoming heavy, her feet start to ache and her mind drift to the blissful thoughts of sleep. Reaching her hand down weary fingers sought out the ever elusive bit of modern technology that was so prized by the youths of today. Easing it out of her bag she turned it on and seeing there was no messages she sighed out a breath in relief and threw it onto a nearby couch.
Drifting into her bedroom, her limbs like leaden feathers, weightless and yet heavy at the same time she shed her clothes on autopilot, laying them neatly on a chair. Everything had a purpose, and there was nothing in the entire house that was non essential. To an outsider it might look cold, uninhabited and soul destroying but to her it was essential. She thriven on utter and complete control, and this was the only way she could maintain it.
Pulling back the covers of the bed with shaking fingers her body sank down and her muscles sang with relief as they were finally allowed to relax and conform to the mattress. A bird started chirping at an irritating and intrusive pitch which she managed to ignore for a while but eventually started grating against her nerves. Concentrating her mind on the sound and its source for a minute the sound ended abruptly. Smiling in satisfaction she gently rested her head down on the pillow again and followed the deep breathing exercises she had been taught as a child to maximise the regenerative powers of her sleep. Soon her mind drifted to oblivion and her thought started to wander.
~
Suddenly she found herself in her old training room, eyes purposefully kept low, avoiding anyone's gaze. There was a large punch bag in front of her and her entire mind was focused on it. All her eyes could see was the bag, swaying gently backwards and forwards, every detail of the plastic covering indelibly marked into her brain so she could shut her eyes and know exactly what it looked like, how it moved. Her nostrils were filled with the tangy smell of sweat and it burned into her eyes. She pulled her leg up, spun around and smacked the shin into the bag, feeling it rock and slide away. The ominous and repetitive sound of the chains creaking filled the room but she did not stop. Her arms raised and followed a well rehearsed pattern of punches, the muscles in her arms screamed for release but the panic and tension in her body made her deny them.
Her toes dug into the dirt floor with each movement, trying to get purchase and retain her balance but sending dust into her eyes each time. The urge to cough burned in her throat but she didn't want to show any sign of weakness so choked it back. Feeling eyes watching her she stumbled and felt the flimsy material of her trousers tear at the seams. Landing on her back she scrambled up to her feet. Her eyes caught sight of a red stain on the far wall and she froze, unable to tear her eyes away. The rotting grey wall had what at first looked like a large splatter of red paint across it. That was until you noticed the darker streaks in it that were almost black and then the smell hit you, rolling over you in waves. The smell was metallic. It pulled at you, making you take deeper breaths, trying to absorb as much of it as you could from the air, and yet at the same time, churning your stomach with its sweet, nauseating stench.
A sharp blow in the centre of her back sent her crashing into the bag and falling to the floor where she just managed to tuck her legs under her and roll, coming to her feet. Slowly and painfully she turned around only to be grabbed by the collar of her shirt and lifted from the ground. The face in front of her made her stomach scramble in fear. The voice whispered and rasped.
'You weren't guarding your back, that's inexcusable. I'm not paying to keep you up so that you can waste my time. You better sort yourself out and fast or you'll find your life isn't worth living.'
Release her legs squirmed in the air until they found solid ground and stability again. Breathe gasping in and out, eyes wide and body shaking she applied herself with the dedication only extreme fear can create to the task in front of her. Keep going, keep moving, keep concentrating. It's just you now, you have to look after yourself, have to stay alive. Falling into the rhythm she felt her breath come in and out at regular intervals again, her mind ease. Not so bad, could be worse, could be the other lessons, those were the worst.
Her mind drifting she found herself somewhere else. Standing in the open, she faced a barren landscape. To anyone else it would appear there was nothing around as far as the eye could see. Sand stretched out, mile upon mile upon mile. But she knew. She knew. In her minds eye she could see a place far, far away. Grit flew up and plastered her clothes against her body. Whorls of sand swirled at her feet but all went unnoticed. Her thoughts were racing far ahead of her physical body, coursing through the air, over land, below water, and through time. Coming to their destination she found a building.
Sunlight streamed down through the windows of a small and sheltered hut. Sending pretty patterns skittering along the floor a lone man sat writing on parchment at a slanted desk. Shoulders hunched his hands trembled, blotting ink over the page. Cursing under his breath with astonishing viciousness he rubbed his sleeve across the stains to dry them out and continued his work. The wind rustled through the leaves outside, everything was calm, and then with a quiet puff of smoke and flame started at the corner of the mans page.
Staring at it in astonishment he leapt to his feet knocking his chair back. Throwing it to the floor he stamped on it several times then lifted his foot expecting to see it doused. To his astonishment the new rush of air set the fire to a roar and the flames shot up to the roof of his wooden abode setting fire to the rafters. Suddenly his jaw went slack and his face white and he ran to the door, frantically tugging it. He looked unsurprised as it refused to open and at the same result with all the windows and even a trapdoor in the floor.
She watched, silently, until everything faded to silence again. Sheep started bleating nearby and voices drifted in and out of hearing. A sound started building at the corner of her mind however and she slowly travelled back, settling again into her body. She felt the presence around her, ever watching, always there. Then she heard it, the sound getting louder and louder till it crashed down on her ears like thunder. Driven to her knees she covered her ears, begging the noise to stop. It was only now that she realised what the sound was.
Laughter.
