Belligerent (Vicara) (5 page)

“Just a little,” he replied before injecting the serum. It pinched, but it didn't really hurt. After several long moments, Dr. March placed the shot in a bio-hazard container.

“Now, we wait a few minutes before proceeding.” He resumed his soft whistling.

“How will you know if I'm allergic to anything?” Ryan asked, staring down at the small red dot forming on his skin. The edges of the puncture began to turn an unsettling shade of purple.

“That's how,” the doctor replied taking Ryan's arm in his grasp to study it. “Not too bad. You seem to have a mild lactose intolerance, but otherwise you're not showing any other allergies.”

“You got that from a color?”

“And the size of the ring it formed,” Dr. March replied. “Best medical breakthrough yet, that shot is. Can test for every allergy in mere minutes with only one prick. Saves a lot of time and pain. You know, a Belligerent came up with it.” He reached for the next shot on the tray. “Now for the vaccines.”

“Are those all-in-one too?” Ryan asked hopefully.

Dr. March chuckled. “Don't be silly. Of course they're not! Luckily, you've only got about six of those to endure.” Ryan blanched, but Dr. March placed a wrinkled hand on his shoulder, giving him a reassuring squeeze. “Don't look so scared. You can't be afraid of needles when you'll soon be facing swords!”

The next six shots were painful but not excruciating and left behind sore spots on his skin that made Ryan think he should play connect the dots.

After another part of the whistled tune, the doctor said, “We've got butterflies, polka dots, cupcakes, race cars and jungle animals.”

“What?”

Dr. March held up a pack of bandages. “Those are your choices.”

“You don't have any normal ones?”

“My job is to treat Betas for their academy enrollment,” Dr. March said flatly. “Almost all my patients are ten years old.”

Ryan grunted. “Race cars.”

“We've only got one step left,” Dr. March said to Ryan's relief.

Reaching over to the tray, he grabbed a device that looked like a pair of giant pliers. “This just measures your wrist,” he quickly assured before clasping it around Ryan's wrist. He turned a dial on it until it was firmly clasped then took note of the setting. “There we are.” He crossed the room and opened one of the clear cases lining the wall, whistling again as he inspected the contents. “And here we are.”

When he turned back around, Ryan spotted a notorious band in his hand. There it was: the band that marked all Belligerents, and it was about to go around his wrist as a permanent disclaimer to everyone he met from that day forward.

He was a criminal. He was a Belligerent.

“You've seen these before, I assume.” Dr. March said as he sat down in front of Ryan once more.

“Only on someone's wrist and from a distance,” Ryan said. He was unable to take his eyes off the rather large needle-like device on the inside of the band.

“This will hurt.”

“You can't just numb me?”

Dr. March gave him a gloomy smile. “It's not allowed,” he said with a shake of his head. “This is meant to be your first real wound as a Belligerent. A rite of passage almost, I guess. Albeit a private one.”

Ryan rolled his eyes and then glared at the doctor. “Of course. It was sadists who came up with this system, and it's sadists who still enforce it.”

Dr. March carefully turned the band in his hold allowing Ryan to see every micrometer of its surface. The man seemed as kindly as a snake at that moment. His jovial exterior was but a ruse for the children. Another lie.

Ryan took a deep breath. “Well, ten year old kids get this done all the time. Can't be that bad.”

No whistling this time.

“Hold out your wrist, please.”

His nerves somewhat under control, Ryan didn't hesitate. He stretched out his arm, forcing himself to watch as his freedom was officially, unceremoniously stripped from him.

“Remember, you can't be afraid of a little needle when you'll soon be facing swords.”

With that said, Dr. March forced the band onto Ryan's wrist. The thick needle pierced his skin and dug into his vein before the band clasped closed with a sickening snap. Soon he felt a liquid being released from the needle and his head floated.

“It's an acclimation drug. The ‘warning drug,’ as they call it. It will wear off in a few minutes.”

Dr. March tried to explain the violating sensations, but Ryan was too busy releasing a choked-off scream to care. His arm felt as if it was seizing and melting at the same time. The agony spread from his wrist to his shoulder. Then it consumed his entire body. Spots clouded his vision and he fought to remain conscious. It took several minutes for the drug to wear off, and when it did, Ryan still needed even more time to rein in his breathing.

“What... What now?” Ryan asked, watching as Dr. March manipulated his tablet.

“Now, you come with me,” a new voice called from behind.

Ryan sluggishly turned to face the doorway. “Shifter?”

Shifter grinned back at him. “Hello, Ryan. Ready to catch our flight?”

Chapter 4

His release from the place was bittersweet as he was immediately placed under Shifter's control. Shifter was his Owner and he took Ryan to an academy to be officially trained as a Beta Belligerent. That last part had come as a bit of a shock. He had been sure Shifter had been joking about his being placed on a team, but it seemed Shifter did in fact need someone to fill a spot as a student. The only way Ryan could shed his status as a Belligerent was to win his freedom or be permanently injured beyond being useful.

With only eight Belligerents being freed a year, Ryan didn’t like his odds. It was a bet Alex would never dare make.

The path up to Proserpine Academy was lined with trees so dense that Ryan couldn't see the sky, but he figured that it was still the same dreary overcast image that had greeted them at the airport. Proserpine Academy was located in a perennially cold climate with only a short, mild warm season, as Shifter had so kindly informed him. The branches of the trees intertwined with each other to form a natural archway over the road.

“The people here enjoy their privacy,” Shifter said absent-mindedly. “You'll grow to appreciate it.”

Ryan glanced over at the man, who had been busy reviewing documents on his tablet for nearly the entire ride from the airport.

Several long moments of silence passed.

“What's the matter? Not feeling sociable?”

Ryan sneered and went back to staring out the window. Attempting to steal the
Zeus
had been the worst decision of his life, and he was paying for it with his freedom. He stared down at the thin, identification band encircling his left wrist. The band marked him as a Belligerent. There was no way for him to remove it short of cutting off his own hand, and if the device sensed him trying such a thing or tampering with it in any way, it would immediately eject a sedative into his bloodstream which would knock him out until a member of the disciplinary squad could get to him.

“How long do I have to stay here?” Ryan asked. If he couldn’t find a way to escape, he wanted to know what would happen to him.

“You're being entered as a fifth year along with the rest of your team. You'll have to play catch-up for a while, but I have no doubt you'll be able to do it. You'll graduate after you complete eighth year. You're lucky, you know. You're a bit old to be given a chance at an academy and Proserpine is the best of the four.” He spoke of the place as if it were your typical school where students studied normal subjects instead of a place that trained teenagers in combat, theft, hacking and manipulation.

“And what happens after I graduate from the academy?”

“The top two groups from each of the four academies will go on to become the eight teams that will play in Vicara. If you happen to be a member of one of those groups, you'll become a celebrity. If you go on to win Vicara, you'll gain enough wealth and reputation to be anyone you want or do anything you want. You'll be free. If you do not graduate within one of the top two groups of Proserpine Academy then you will only move from being a student Belligerent to a professional Belligerent. You will continue to fight in pit games at my or your new Owner's discretion, and you will probably be loaned out for your transportation skills which will otherwise be useless if you do not get a chance to compete in Vicara. Of course, I could also have you downgraded to an Omega and sell you off to work as a labor or domestic Belligerent.”

Ryan hoped his fear at that threat didn’t register on his face. Nothing terrified him more than the possibility of becoming a labor Belligerent condemned to work in the mines or fields.

“Of course, I doubt there’s any way I would decide to do that to you. I'm not that sadistic.”

“What if I want to return to Darton?”

Shifter locked eyes with him. “Then win the right to be a combatant in the Vicara arena.”

The car came to a stop in the center of campus and Shifter motioned for Ryan to follow him. Ryan hesitated. He wondered if he had the ability to overpower both Shifter and the driver and take off with the car until he found someplace they couldn't find him. The sight of the thin band on his wrist stopped him. Breathe. He couldn’t rush. Planning and patience would surely open a chance for him.

“This is the main part of the campus,” Shifter said with a sweeping gesture once they were standing in the center of a courtyard.

Cobblestone walkways branched out in complicated patterns over the perfectly manicured grass leading to different areas of the campus, most of which could barely be seen due to the thick forest covering the majority of the grounds. Surrounded by hyacinths, an elaborate stone fountain dominated the center of the courtyard. Ryan recognized the plant because it was one of Alex's favorite flowers. Thinking about her caused a pang in his chest. He wondered what she thought about his disappearance. How long had it taken her to realize he wasn't coming back? They had been a team for so long. What if her gambling wasn't enough to support her? Would she go to Paul for help?

Ryan was jolted from his panicked thoughts by Shifter clearing his throat in an obvious manner.

“As I was saying, this building has mostly faculty offices, but a few of the general classes such as math, literature, and history are held here. The other buildings are for specific concentrations.”

The edifices in that area all had dark elements to them and appeared to be made out of black marble. Large columns and elegantly intimidating features made up the buildings' exteriors.

Shifter pointed to one of the larger structures. “That building is for retrieval specialty and combat specialty. You'll probably have some fitness tests in there. Eva, whom you've already met, runs her team training sessions in there on occasion. The building next to that is reserved for the medical and science concentrations.”

“See those hedges over there?” Shifter asked. Ryan nodded. “That's a garden maze. You have to go through it to get to the entrance of the building for the strategy and information specialties. Every so often they change the maze's layout overnight, and then the students have to race against the clock to get to their classes on time.” Shifter's eyes glazed over and a small smile appeared on his face as if he were remembering something.

“That building,” Shifter said while pointing to the tallest and most modern one, “is for technology and transportation. There are training grounds spaced over the entirety of campus as well as few smaller gymnasiums and shooting ranges to allow teams the opportunity to train privately.”

“Where are the dormitories?” Ryan asked.

He didn't want to sound interested, but the campus was fairly impressive. He doubted the dorms would be of the same caliber. In his mind he could picture the type of residences the student Belligerents lived in: small rooms with a cot and no windows, doors that locked from the outside, and complete isolation outside of classes. He had heard the rumors. No one knew what a Belligerent academy was like except for the Belligerents, Owners and the school staff. Elites, Commoners, and Exempts never had a reason to set foot on a Belligerent campus and often debated over the true nature of the campus. As a former Commoner, Ryan had participated in those speculations quite often.

Shifter chuckled and pointed to a spot in the distance. “That would be your residence.”

Ryan squinted as he tried to make out exactly what it was that Shifter was trying to indicate. Across the large lake, on a cliff, there seemed to be some kind of boxlike structure. It was huge and had no windows. Those were the only details that Ryan could decipher.

“What’s that?”

“That is the villa you will be sharing with your seven roommates. Each group has their own villa. You're expected to look after yourself here, but I'm certain that will be nothing new to you,” Shifter said but Ryan didn't bother to respond. “We should be heading to Dupin's office.” Shifter seemed annoyed with Ryan's attitude. What did the man expect from him? Had his other Belligerents been happy to be kidnapped? Ryan followed behind Shifter as the man confidently made his way down the dimly lit hallways coming to a stop only to knock loudly on a thick, wooden door.