3
"Let's stop there for now," Anthony said, cutting Cobie off.
"What do you mean stop? Why force me to tell you my story if all you're going to do is stop me in the middle of it? What's the point?" Cobie questioned, leaning forward. He felt a hand on his shoulder and flinch away only to realize it was Taylor. Cobie was about to continue until he heard a yawn from behind him.
"That would be the reason," Anthony said. "It's late, around twenty-three hundred anyway. You and Taylor have a busy day tomorrow. It's your first day of school anyways." He smiled and crossed his arms as if challenging Cobie.
Cobie took the bait. "What do you mean by my class starts tomorrow? I never agreed to join your school! I never asked for this 'gift!'"
"Well now that you know what we are and what we do, we cannot let you run away to spill the beans. I was hoping you would agree since you did tell us your story. But, I suppose I was wrong. So, I'll give you three options if you'd like to hear them." Anthony's smile dropped as he stood up and put his hands on the table to support himself.
"Of course," Cobie said, happy to have might find some hope, but strange enough he felt Taylor's hand on his shoulder tighten up. That gave him a slight sense of anxiety. What does he care, he just met her. But still, for some reason he could feel her tension.
"Alright, Cobie, I want you to think each one over carefully. Option one is that you remain here and train in my school to fight the evils outside the city and when needed defeat other city's challenges. Option two is indefinite incarceration where you will be kept in a cell the rest of your life losing control of your unpracticed talent until it kills you. The third option is the one that your partner is most afraid you'd choose. Option three is medical execution." He spit it out like he just shot an arrow aimed at Cobie. "You would feel no pain, but it's cost is more than just your life, but your partners life as well."
"What do you mean by that? Everything that you say never makes any sense!" Cobie slammed his palm onto the table. "How would me choosing to die in turn kill my partner?"
"Oh I forgot to mention that if you choose the second option you will be jailed with your partner," Anthony said.
"Why does my decision affect her?" Cobie said in a whisper. He knew that he didn't want to die. But why, what happened? He turned his head toward Taylor. It was her he realized. In the past couple of minutes she convinced him that he didn't want to die anymore. She must have been afraid because she didn't want Cobie to choose if she lived or died.
"Choose carefully. You'll have two days to think it over. Just remember, Cobie. It's not just your future on the line." Anthony turned to leave the room.
That's right. Cobie didn't want to die. For the moment his pain turned to anger toward Anthony Price. His heart pounded and he could feel the poising in his veins cry for blood. But, despite this he knew he could not kill this man without getting himself killed along with Taylor. Why did he care for her anyway? He just met her. Maybe this bond thing Anthony talked about is a real thing. It didn't matter, he wasn't about to kill or throw this girl into jail.
"Wait," Cobie said, standin up straight looking down at the table. He heard Anthony's footsteps stop then turn towards him. "I'll go to your school, I'll fight your evil. But, it won't be for you. It'll be for those who I've lost. I can't explain it but I'm going to fight for my partner too." Cobie looked up at Anthony, his heart pounding and the itch for blood coursing through his hands.
Anthony looked down to his hands. "I see, good choice. I'm sure that you'll have questions but they will be answered in time. Your partner will show you your living space. I hope you don't mind having a roommate." He turned to Taylor. "Congratulations, you've found your partner. Now you finally start class like your peers. I wish you both the best of luck. If you need me please, come find me. Fight hard, find victory." With that Anthony turned and left the room.
Taylor grabbed Cobie's hand and started to bounce up and down. "This is awesome! I've been waiting for my partner for so long. I mean you're not much to look at, but I'm sure that'll change." She said with a smile, bouncing on the balls of her feet.
"Wait. What? Not much to look at? I thought we were partners. Since when do partners care about each other's looks?"
She stopped bouncing and started laughing. "Stupid, I didn't mean it like that. I meant muscle," She said grabbing his bicep. "You'll need to work hard to catch up."
"You mean lifting?" Cobie was dreading the answer.
"And running, can't forget about cardio!" She took off her black hoodie to show that she was wearing to reveal her slender yet muscular frame. She had on just a plain white t-shirt and rolled it up to show off her biceps that out shined his by at least three miles. "Anyways, I should show you our suite." She put her hoodie back on and started to walk away.
"Our suite?" Cobie asked, catching up to her.
"Yep," She opened the door and the two walked into a hallway. It was well lit with the occasional person wearing shorts and t-shirt would walk through to a vending machine or to knock on a door. Every so often there was a door with a number on it and two names while some only had one. "Partners share a suite together as to build the bond that they need in order to fight together. The stronger that bond the better the team will be."
"Okay, I guess that makes some sense at least. But this place looks like a dormitory." Cobie said as he passed a guy talking to a girl trying to get her to let him into her suite. She only had one name tag on the door. "Why would Anthony put an interrogation room in the middle of a dorm?"
"Director Price has the ability to bend reality. He is extremely powerful, we came out of the interrogation room, but only because he designed that door to put us near out suite after he left. You'll learn more about this place the longer you're here." She stopped at a door and turned towards it.
"This is ours then." On it was Taylor's full name. 'Taylor Nelson.' "When do I get my name on it?"
"Right now. Put your thumb on this right here." She pointed at a small, blank name tag under hers. On it was what she was pointing to. It was a grew circle to the far right of the tag. He did as she said.
An automated voice spoke up. "Partner recognized. Cobie Fell. Welcome home." Cobie's name showed up on the tag right under Taylor's and the dead bolt to the door clicked open. He looked at her and she nodded. Cobie twisted the handle and opened the door.
He walked in to see a small living room with a small kitchen off to the side. It was well kept and clean. The living room had a love seat, coffee table, and TV. It filled half the room with the kitchen getting the other half.
"Welcome home Cobie. Let me give you the grand tour." Taylor said, letting the door close behind her, but not before he could hear someone say something along the lines of how he was lucky to get a girl partner. The door automatically locked.
"This is my room," she said leading him over to a door on the left side of the room. "If you ever want to go in, please knock first or just let me know."
"Okay, noted," Cobie said, although he was sure he wasn't planning on going in there too often. He was glad that they got their own rooms at least.
With a smile and a nod she led him over to a door on the left side of the room. "Here's the bathroom, since you don't have any soap or shampoo, you can borrow mine for the time being, I don't mind."
"Thanks," Cobie said softly with his head lulling side to side.
"Are you okay?" Taylor asked. In truth he was overwhelmed by everything and exhausted. After what happened today all he wanted was to sleep.
"Yeah, just really tired."
"Yeah, I'm actually fighting to stay awake right now. It's like twelve thirty." She said checking the time from a clock by the door. "Here, I'll show you your bed and we can hit the hay."
"Sounds great," he said as he followed her to the other door on the left side of the room. She opened it and showed him his bed. It was all he saw in the room before he fell into it and passed out.