Violet Path (9 page)

I followed his instructions, and the movements came fluidly. About two hours passed, and I had learned twenty-five offensive tactics, which made me feel much more dangerous, although it was obvious that I had a long way to go compared to Maxime. He told me that I was a fast learner and that we should try sparring. Naturally, I was worried, but I took on the challenge.

He promised not to laugh at my mistakes as long as I promised not to tell anyone how he got the scratch across his cheek. Then he counted off and we started.

Maxime lunged at me, but I hit his stick with mine.

“Good,” he commented playfully.

He turned around and tried hitting my back. I fell to the ground as his staff flew above me. I swiped my stick and tripped him. He fell on his back and I got up.

“Don’t get too confident.” He laughed and stood up.

His staff hit mine—right, left, up, down, behind, in front, slowly, quickly—we kept moving, attacking, defending. I jumped, he knelt; I turned, he spun. I took a step back, and he took a step forward. I struck, and he rolled and pushed me down in a matter of milliseconds with his knee. My staff rolled out of reach. He stood above me, the tip of his staff at my neck. With the sunlight gleaming through the leaves, I could see his black, coal-like eyes.

He quickly stepped away. “Good job,” he muttered.

“Thank you,” I replied politely although I hadn’t done well.

When he faced me again, his eyes were green, like an emerald. It didn’t make sense, because I was sure his eyes had been black less than a minute ago.

We took a deep breath simultaneously, which made us laugh. I was exhausted, but he didn’t reveal any hint of fatigue.

“Let’s clean up. It’s almost time for breakfast,” he announced cheerfully as he picked up my staff.

“Where are the showers?” I asked.

“The creek becomes a river not too far from here. Showers are for when it’s too cold; otherwise, we lose too much water, energy, and time. Do you mind?”

Although I was a bit uncomfortable about bathing in the creek, I lied and said that it was fine. I didn’t have a choice, so what was the point of being annoying and complaining?

We followed the creek as the sun slowly rose. The sunlight skimmed the creek’s small ripples from the soft wind. The soil was damp, so I assumed that it had rained recently. Droplets of water fell down from the leaves, and drops of dew were strung onto spider webs like beaded jewelry. We could hear the rustling of the creek and the leaves and sticks crackling under our feet.

The creek soon became a calm river, reflecting the clear sky and the trees like a perfectly clean mirror. It looked soft and smooth to touch and delicate enough to break.

“There’s a beaver dam not too far down. I’ll go down there while you bathe. We’ll meet at the dam in fifteen minutes. If there’s a problem, don’t hesitate to call me,” Maxime said.

As he disappeared, I pulled off my sweater then my shirt, but I kept the wound dressing on. As I stripped down, I looked at my scar from the bullet; it was small and barely noticeable.

I slowly stepped into the cold water. It was refreshing and woke me up. I swam around for a couple of minutes, then got out and dressed. It felt weird to get back into dirty clothes, still wet, but I didn’t have a choice. I shook my head quickly a couple of times, trying to get used to my short wet hair as it sprayed the river like thin rain.

Once I was finished, I headed over to the dam. As soon as I could see part of the meeting point, I stopped.Timidly, I called out to him.

“I’m here. You can come down if you’d like,” he quickly answered.

I took a couple of small steps, unsure of my decision, then sped up. I saw him through the clearing. He had his pants on and was pulling his shirt over his head. He then shook his left hand, which was wrapped in the black cloth I had seen the first night I met him. I wondered why he wore that black cloth; I’d never seen him without it.

“Hungry?” Maxime asked as he took both staffs.

“Starved.”

“Good. Breakfast is waiting.”

I walked by his side as we followed the creek back to camp.

“Does everyone come here to bathe?” I asked shyly.

“No, there’s a lake on the other side of the camp, but I thought you ought to come here. Any other questions?”

“Do you mind if it’s a personal question?”

He hesitated, then nodded.

“Where is your family?” I was an orphan and never knew my parents. Maybe he didn’t know his parents either.

“My mother and father were killed when I was four, and you know my brother.”

“I do?” I answered stupidly.

“David. Sorry, I thought you knew.”

I compared them in my mind, but couldn’t see much resemblance. “I’m sorry about your parents.”

“Thanks, but you couldn’t have done anything.”

“Still . . .”

There was a moment of silence, and then Maxime broke it. “Same question. What about your parents?”

I sighed. “I don’t know anything about my family. I don’t know who my parents are or if I have any siblings. I grew up with a friend and her family for as long as I can remember.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. You couldn’t have done anything,” I mimicked him.

He smiled and asked me some questions about Lyli until we got back. He told me that we would meet at the clearing at three the next morning.

We made our way to the dining area. The tables were almost full. Maxime sat at the head, and I begrudgingly found a seat next to David. We had bread, bacon, and eggs. It was much better than H.S.H.S.’s breakfast.

“Where were you? You’re wet,” David asked.

“Bathing,” I answered.

“You weren’t at the lake. I checked.”

“No, I wasn’t.”

“Fine, if you don’t want to tell me now, you’ll have to later. You’re not getting off that easily. Meet me at my cabin right after breakfast,” David scolded. When he finished eating, he stood up to make announcements. He said that I was in a group with John, Tim, Nick, Sam, George, and two Mikes. George was the eldest and Sam the youngest, only about five years older than I. We had fighting class, weapon making, kitchen duty after lunch, hunting, and showers after dinner. I didn’t know what to expect from the classes, but I tried not to think about it too much and simply focused on fitting in.

When breakfast was dismissed, I followed David to his cabin. He lay down on his bed, contemplating the ceiling.

I hesitated, then said, “I was at the river.” I was hoping that explanation would suffice.

“Why?”

I didn’t know how to answer, mainly because I thought it was obvious, but apparently not. “Well, if you haven’t noticed, I’m a girl.”

“Your point is . . . ?”

I couldn’t believe that I had to explain everything to him. Not only did it make me slightly uncomfortable, but my blood boiled inside my veins, making them want to explode. “I didn’t want to be seen!” I huffed.

“So . . . you went with Andrew?” he said in a patronizing tone. I saw where the conversation was headed.

“He showed me where it was,” I said through gritted teeth.

“And it took three-and-a-half hours?”

“No.”

“Then what?”

“Why do you care? Why won’t you let me be? Why do you have to know everything about me? You’re not straightforward with me. You lied to Max—I mean Andrew—your brother. You told him that Matthew shot me. And—”

“Okay, I get it,” he cut me off. “What do you want to know about me?”

“Why didn’t you tell me that you and Andrew are brothers?”

David looked away. “Because I’m older, yet I take orders from him. He was elected as leader by the people of Maria, and I as his guardian. I’m the shadow. Okay?”

“Is David your real name?”

“David is my middle name. My first name is Eric, but I prefer David.”

“Why did you shoot me?”

“That question is off limits.”

“Why do you always need to know where I am and what I’m doing?”

“Because.”

“Because what?”

David got up and turned his back to me, as if he were ashamed. “Because I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“You’re the one who shot—”

David turned around and kissed me before I could even finish my sentence. I was shocked and confused; I had never been kissed before. I pushed him, then turned away, embarrassed.

“I’m so sorry. I thought you . . . Alice, I mean Alex . . . please go to class now. Don’t be upset if you have a hard time keeping up; it’s a tough class. I suggest leaving your sweater at your cabin. Now go!” David shouted, as if he were scolding me for his actions.

I quickly spun around and ran out as fast as I could. I didn’t want to see him. I was a wreck after what had happened, stumbling over my own feet and almost running into people between cabins. I hardly knew anyone at The Shadows, and out of the two people I did know, the one who had randomly kissed me had also shot me. And he had called me Alice. Who was she? My mind was foggy, I couldn’t think straight, and I felt incredibly uncomfortable, especially being the only girl. David scared me. I wasn’t sure what had happened, but I wasn’t going to stay to find out. I sprinted to class hoping that I wouldn’t be late.

I counted seven men standing in a group. Timidly, I approached them. I didn’t know what to say or how to act. I was missing the first step on how to fit in.

“Hey! You must be Alex,” said a short blond in his early thirties. “I’m Mike.”

“I’m Timothy,” stated a brunette. He had very thin lips and freckles on his cheeks.

“I’m John,” added a shorter, but older blond.

“Nick,” said the one with black hair, who must have been in his late forties. He had a strong paternal smile that was warm and comforting.

“I’m Sam. Nice to meet you.” He was about three inches taller than I was. His jet-black hair glistened in the sun, and he had a discrete scar, like a small slit through his left eyebrow.

“I’m Mike, and this is George,” introduced a redhead, pointing to another man who looked exactly like him. They were obviously identical twins.

David finally showed up and ordered us to line up. My group responded with “Yes, sir!” in perfect unison. I couldn’t look at him. I was embarrassed and felt the tension between us growing.

“One hundred and fifty military push-ups: fifty wide, fifty narrow, and fifty one-armed push-ups. You have five minutes. Start,” David said powerfully.

We all got down on our knees. I counted in my head, “One, two, three, four . . .” Everyone was going much faster than I had expected, but I wasn’t tiring. I figured it was the S.S. Pill kicking in, keeping my strength and energy pumped up. I stood up once I’d finished. The rest of my group was still struggling with the narrow push-ups. I didn’t know what to do. I was sure that I had counted correctly.

“Did you finish?” David questioned.

I nodded, and we waited for everyone to finish. A long abdominal workout followed, and then a short ten-minute run. We were then paired up for short sparring in which the winners would do thirty push-ups and the losers, sixty. My partner was Nick.

He immediately tried to kick my head off, but I ducked and got up in time to strike him in the ribs. He tried to hit me, but I kicked his hand away, then kicked his lower abdomen. He fell back but quickly got back on his feet. I kicked his jaw, sending him flying back. He kicked my knee, then my ankle, making me fall to the ground. Before I could get up, he kicked my jaw and then my rib cage. He tried to kick me in the face again, but I blocked with my elbows as best I could. I grabbed his foot and twisted it so that he fell back. When he stood, he twisted my wrist, then my elbow, making me dance around him to avoid tearing my ligaments. I spun around and wrapped my arm around his neck. I held onto my wrist and slowly tightened my grip. He struggled to undo it. Finally, out of breath, he tapped my shoulder, signaling that he had given up. I released him immediately.

We faced each other and shook hands. I felt bad for his fat lip and bruised cheekbone as well as his new limp. He complimented me, stating that it was his first loss in over ten years and that he was impressed.

“Beginner’s luck,” David called out.

For the last ten minutes of class, David talked to us about balance, agility, reaction time, and force. We were then dismissed to go and make weapons.

I followed my group to a huge cabin with a controlled fire burning outside. As we entered, I watched my group take some materials and utensils. I didn’t know what to do. I followed them at first, but then decided to approach Nick. I didn’t want to make weapons and aid the accumulation of the war’s violence, but I figured if their goal was to rid the world of Matthew, then I had to help in every way I could.

Nick told me to get whatever materials I needed to make a weapon. He was extremely surprised when I’d told him that I didn’t know how to make any weapon, which made me feel ridiculous and stupid.

“Follow me,” Nick said. We headed over to the other side of the cabin. “This is Will,” he said. It was the same guy who had sat next to me the night before. Nick explained to Will that I was a lost cause, ignorant of everything that had to do with weapons. I was sure that my face turned bright red, but I kept my mouth shut. Will told us what I was supposed to make, and Nick volunteered to teach me as long as I would help him learn some more skills for sparring.

Nick taught me the different parts of different weapons, followed by the materials, and then how they were assembled. He taught me how to make a handgun, and then it got more complicated when we had to assemble laser guns. It was confusing, but I got through the ninety minutes.

Thankfully, lunch followed next. The meat was something I wasn’t used to: rabbit and deer. It was surprisingly good. Throughout the whole meal, David and Maxime were quiet and glared at each other. They were upset, but no one said anything.

When lunch ended, my group cleaned up. We had to put the plates in huge buckets of soapy water and wipe down the long tables. The cooks did the rest, although it took us an unexpectedly long time to get everything done. Luckily, after it was all finished, we had some energy left.

After kitchen duty, we were supposed to go hunting for dinner. I had a slight problem: I didn’t know how to hunt. I didn’t say anything but simply followed the crowd. I would have to learn with time and experience.