4
Cobie woke up to light streaming into the room and onto his face from a window on the right wall. With a yawn he sat up rubbing his eye. Blankets fell off of his chest and he looked around at his surroundings. He didn't see much but four white walls, a wooden dresser and desk pushed against the back wall. Pushed into the desk was a small regular chair with blue cushions. He didn't know why the chair caught his eye but he just shrugged it off.
He threw the blankets off of his legs and swung his body to sit on the edge of the bed. Cobie eyed the blankets and tried to remember getting under them. When the memory didn't come there was a knock on his door. Still groggy, Cobie pushed himself up to his feet and walked to the closed door. When he opened it he saw a bright eyed and smiling Taylor.
"Good morning!" She said a little too loud making Cobie wince. She stopped smiling and looked at his clothes. "Crap, you need new clothes don't you?"
"Hey, I like these clothes," Cobie said in vain as Taylor ignored him and started to ramble to herself about his sizes. She was measuring his chest in her head when he snapped his fingers. "Hey, my eyes are up here."
She looked up into his eyes and laughed. "Oh right, I guess I forgot to tell you that there's a school uniform. I've had mine for a while waiting for my partner. But since you're new you won't have it. I should've ordered it last night, but it slipped my mind."
"And how long does it take to get a uniform. We have class starting today apparently."
"Well, we have a couple of uniforms, one for combat training, one for simulations, and one for school. This one is my school uniform obviously, and in there are the other two." She pointed to a duffel bag lying on the couch. Her uniform was a pair of black slacks with a black button-up over shirt with what seemed like the school's crest on the left breast pocket. Under that was a white shirt. It wasn't anything special looking, but what could he expect from a secret government program.
"So I'm guessing that my uniform is going to look something a little like what you're wearing?" He was dreading having to wear a school uniform but it wasn't something he could avoid. He was government property now.
"Yep! Isn't it so cool! I've been waiting forever to wear this!" She said almost jumping.
"How long have you been here? I mean you keep saying that you've had to wait for a bunch of things, especially a partner." Cobie said slightly tilting his head.
"I've been waiting for three years." Her smile disappeared and her face darkened a little. Cobie felt a small ping of sadness and apathy in his chest. He didn't know why maybe it was because of the link that's formed between the two. "But, I'd rather not talk about it right now." She smiled and the sadness in Cobie's chest disappeared. "You need a shower. Give me your sizes and I'll order your clothes for school. They should be here before you're out if not a little bit after.
Cobie told her his sizes and she thanked him pulling out her cell and walked away towards the couch. He made his way to the bathroom and realized how much he actually smelled. How could she have dealt with this smell, it's terrible, Cobie thought.
Once inside the bathroom he closed the door and looked around. He saw two sinks in front of a long mirror. A toilet sat in the far corner and built into the wall was a shower with a frosted over glass door. The whole bathroom smelled like strawberries and some other kinds of fruits he couldn't make out. It was funny, he's never actually been in a girl's bathroom, even if this was technically his bathroom too, he still counted it.
He stripped and opened the shower door to see under the shower head in the wall was a concave slot for bottles and soap. And that's what was exactly there. Body wash, shampoo, and conditioner filled up the slot. All either scented strawberry or kiwi, which must have been the other fruit he smelled. Shaking his head he closed the shower door and turned on the faucet. Hot water streamed onto his chest and he exhaled with pleasure as the sweat and grime from the past couple of days got washed off him.
Cobie bent his head down and looked at his hands as water poured onto his back. He looked at the hands that killed so many. None of it his fault but he couldn't help but think about their faces as they touched him and screamed in pain. "My ability is to kill." He whispered to himself. "Why? I didn't want this. All I wanted was to make a company with my best friend but I." Cobie stopped as he saw his Darren's body go still and his contorted face went slack. He closed his eyes and tears streamed down his face. "I'm a monster. I am a monster." He repeated this over and over again as he washed up with his fruity smelling soap and shampoo.
He walked out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist and steam following him into the living room. "Hey, strawberry, your clothes are on your bed along with a duffle bag, backpack. There are school supplies in the backpack." Taylor said from the couch watching some sitcom.
Great, Cobie thought, I'm a strawberry now. But even so, he couldn't help but chuckle.
On his bed he found underwear, socks, and the three school uniforms. He put on the regular uniform and found a shoe box with black loafers in them. The only difference with the male and female uniforms is that the males have to wear black ties. He then moved onto the other uniforms. He put the simulation uniform into the duffle back first. It was kind of heavy but it looked like some kind of synthetic type of clothes that felt like a gel in his hands. It came with black boots and high socks. The training clothes were a lot lighter because they were just a white t-shirt with the school's insignia on the left side, black shorts, white no show socks, and regular white sneakers.
He zipped up the duffle bag and put it on his shoulder then but the backpack on. Taylor wasn't kidding either. The bag was stocked with pencils, pens, and notebooks. He technically already graduated. He wanted to go to college but not for how to be a killer.
When Cobie walked out of his room he smelled something great. "Breakfasts done," Taylor said with crossed legs, still watching TV.
"Awesome," Cobie said as he set down his gear by the couch and walked over to the kitchen area to grab food. His stomach was growling when he sat next to Taylor and watched her show. He wolfed down the eggs and bacon that she made and tried to make sense of the show. It had something to do with an alien and a robot trying to make a life and stay hidden in urban society. It was kind of stupid.
"I felt it," Taylor said right as Cobie finished his meal.
His heart skipped a beat. "What do you mean by you felt it?" He asked looking at her dumbfounded.
"Your sadness, regret, your pain," she said putting her hand over her chest. "I felt it in my chest. We're partners, Cobie. That means I can feel your pain and sadness and you can feel mine. We're connected and the closer we become as partners then the stronger our connection will be and we can even communicate through our bond. But I think to start this journey together we will need to trust each other." She held out her hand to him. "I can trust that you won't hurt me. Can you trust me?"
Cobie was speechless as he stared at her hand outstretched to her. He could feel her warmth, but he could also feel the serpent in him screaming for death. He didn't want to hurt her like he did the so many others. He sat there for a minute until he made his choice. He reached out and grabbed her hand. Nothing happened to her. She just smiled and the serpent calmed. He was warmed and he smiled. He couldn't explain it but he was happy to find someone he couldn't kill by touching, someone who can calm him and the beast in him.
"I trust you," he said. Then it felt as if something happened between them. Something formed like a tether that pulled them closer. The full bond was created and he could feel her happiness. It happened, they were partners. Cobie knew that somewhere Price smiled.
There was a knock on the suite door and an automated voice spoke out, "visitor acknowledged. Dexter Ito, alias Halitus. Cobie looked at Taylor with suspicion.
"Who's that?" He asked when a knock came again.
"Visitor requesting entry," the automated voice said. Taylor stood up and walked to the door and opened it.
"So you're the one escorting us to class then?" She asked, her body and the open door blocked the face of Dexter.
"Yeah, I can early encase you needed to get ready but I suppose you already are. Where's your partner?" There was a kind of annoyance in his voice that made it seem like he didn't want to be there.
"He's inside," Taylor said stepping aside letting the man in. He had sleek black hair that fell to his shoulders and his eyes squinted. He had a tall and slender body frame but Cobie could still see his muscles under the school uniform.
When he reached the couch where Cobie was sitting he reached out his hand. Cobie flinched back not wanting Dexter to touch him. "What, gonna leave me hanging? That's not very nice, especially to your escort."
Cobie started stuttering, "I . . . It's n . . . not that. I can't touch you." Taylor's hand fell on his shoulder.
"But she can?" He asked annoyed.
"Cobie, it's okay. You can shake his hand. As long as I'm here I can negate your powers." Taylor sounded so sure. She knew all about him but he knew so little about her. He then remembered the pact they just made. He said he would trust her, so he would do just that. He reached out and shook Dexter's hand.
"The first thing you need is a weapon that complements your powers. Like mine," he seemed to pull two daggers out from nowhere and a stream of smoke flowed from the tip of the blades. "My power is to summon a smoke screen. It can hide my partner and I, but it can also suffocate my enemies. I have the two daggers because no one sees it coming from the smoke." He seemed to like to talk about himself.
Cobie's interests were peaked nonetheless, "what do you think my weapon would be?"
"Well that depends. What's your power?" Dexter asked looking down to Cobie.
Cobie didn't like talking about his ability too much, it was going to be a callous in his heart for a long time. His sudden sadness was washed away but a surge of confidence. He felt the pull in his chest and glanced over at Taylor. She was walking, back straight, eyes forward, and smiling. He said a quiet thanks and told Dexter his truth. "I have a poison in my skin. When I touch someone that poison is released and that person dies almost immediately and painfully."
"But, you shook my hand," Dexter said stopping.
Taylor stopped behind him. "My ability is to create shields and to shield back powers. I can stop his poison from activating when I'm near him. That is why he didn't kill you." I gave a quick nod.
"Right, I see. Well for you, Cobie, you might get some kind of sword because it seems like you have to be close to use your powers effectively. Don't worry about the type, you'll know when you see it. And for miss shield over there she might get a javelin or spear. Something to give her reach," Dexter said with a smile.
"Okay, that kind of makes sense," Cobie said looking ahead seeing that they were headed to a set of elevators.
"Yep, the school house is underground along with the armory. So, that's where we're headed."
As the three of them climbed into the elevator Cobie stood beside Taylor and asked her if she was okay.
"I'm fine, I just don't like Halitus very much," she said with a bite.
"Halitus?"
"That's my alias or code name. In the schoolhouse you will address everyone by their alias. It's a security measure and it's used to get everyone using that instead of real names in the battlefield. You'll both be getting yours later today." And with that, the elevator went down to Cobie's new life of training and warfare.