Until Death Do Us Apart

Don’t You Know that to Eavesdrop Is Not Polite?

When we finish training with knives (I’ve hit the target six times. Well, Sophia gave me a piece of advice how to do that), we went for a run. In the afternoon, we trained how to move during a fight and then we were practicing it in pairs.

I’ve got beaten in the 99 % of cases. Sophia was enjoying herself, but I survived the very first day (even though she told me it’d get worse soon).

Saying my body hurts after whole-day torture would be insufficient. I can feel every muscle. I can feel even those which I hadn’t know they existed. I sit on the bed. I just want to get to the shower. I’m exhausted.

I probably fell asleep for a little while. Strange sound wakes me up. Somebody is scratching on my door.

Is this some kind of a sick joke?

The sounds itself is rather quiet, but I realize my door isn’t locked. I take the chair while creeping towards the door, trying not to make any sound. It’s getting louder and more intense. It sounds like nails or maybe claws, just as they’d be scratching deep through the wood. Shivers go down my spine, but I manage to put the chair under the door handle. I sigh in relief even though I know the chair is a lousy protection. I’m sure that if somebody wanted to get to me, he wouldn’t have problems with that.

The scratching suddenly stops, but I’m not ready to find out what or who was the cause of it. I don’t even wish to peep through key hole. I don’t hear any steps, which would signify that something or someone would be leaving my doorstep, so I decide to stay in the room. I stink badly, but I’m sure I can live with that. I sit on the bed paying attention to any kind of sound, but the only thing I hear is dead silence. I want to keep my eyes opened, but I’m exhausted. I fall asleep again.

“Yara!” I hear a familiar voice. Somebody is knocking (not banging) on my door. “Yara!” The voice isn’t angry as it was yesterday, there’s something else in it.

I open the door. I haven’t realized I still wear the uniform. I can’t read Sophia’s face properly, because I’m still half sleeping.

“What?” I murmur.

“Are you ok?” she hesitates, looking at me with a question in her eyes. I can hear worries in her voice not knowing the reason for them.

“I’m fine, thank you,” I reply. “What time is it?” I yawn while asking.

“It’s 5:30 am,” Sophia states quietly. “You have ten minutes,” she adds. I want to close the door when she opens her mouth again, “and Yara,” she pauses, “get your ass to shower, you stink!”

I give her my best smile and close the door.

Five minutes in the shower must be enough. I take my towel, soap and antiperspirant. I close the door and my jaw drops down. The paint on my door is scratched. I can see the wood behind the paint. There’re six deep claw marks. There’s no time to think about it. I have to go to shower unless I want everyone to smell my odder.

When I meet Sophia, she has ironic smile plastered on her face.

“Well, you’re on time,” she sighs and I can sense disappointment in her words. “Follow me!” she orders.

We go to a different wing. I’m thinking about how I ended up in this mess when Sophia opens a door and I can see showers and toilets.

“The guys who train with us live in this wing. These are their toilets and showers. You have exactly 25 minutes to clean this place up. There’s the equipment,” she points to one door.

No, to si snad ze mně děláte…

“Yara, hurry up!” she smirks and leaves me alone.

I’m trying to clean everything. Showers are ok, toilets are worse, but urinals… well… disgusting. This is probably the punishment for the two-second delay from yesterday. I wonder what would have happened if I had been delayed for 3 seconds.

I’m cleaning the last toilet when somebody walks in. I lock myself in and listen to the conversation (I know I shouldn’t, but I can’t help it.)

“…damn, she’s so hot, I’d banged her until she’d reach the whole new f*****g universe!”

WOW! Here we go. Do I really want to hear that? No. Yes? No.

“Have you seen her boobs? Oh my, I was just thinking of my d**k sliding between them.”

Nope, I don’t want to hear it.

“She looks so innocent. I’d teach her how to be a bad girl, but she’d have to obey me and suck my…” he’s suddenly interrupted by someone.

“Good morning, guys!” I can hear Sophia’s voice.

“What are you doing here?” One of them asks in surprise.

“Hmm, here to join us?” The other says sensually. Her steps echo from the walls as she gets close to them.

“Well, maybe another time,” she purrs, “but for now,” she pauses, “Yara, come out!”

Damn! I should see that coming.

I don’t have any other option. I open the door and I return the equipment, which I borrowed, to the exact spot where I had found it. I know I’m blushing and Sophia’s amused look doesn’t help me either.

“It was a pleasure, boys, as usual” Sophia giggles, but I’ve the impression that she only fakes it. I’m about to ask where we’re going, but I suddenly see people waiting in front of the stairs. Oh no… running… here we go again.

It sounds like Mamma Mia. Can you hear it in your head?

…Here I go again, my, my, how I can I resist you…

Sarah gazes at us, but she looks different today as if she didn’t get much sleep yesterday. She doesn’t say anything, not even good morning. Yet, everybody is not surprised and they stretch without her saying a word. I think it’s a good idea to warm up my muscles a little.

After running (which feels like eternity), we head to the dining room. The breakfast is as rich as yesterday although I have to admit I miss our kind of bread from the Czech Republic. This white fluff is not bread, not for me at least. I take bacon, eggs and so-called bread. I pass by Sophia, hoping to sit next to her, but she raises her eyebrows in warning. I’m not dumb enough to not to understand this message.

I sit near window. I love views. I’d even say I’m addicted to them. They remind me of home. I miss being free, to walk where I wish without asking for a permission, to wander around during the nights, to have a friendly chat in my native language.

“Have you seen the claw marks?” somebody barks out. I realize the window I’m sitting next to is opened a little. Nobody else overhears it, because they’re just too immersed into their conversations. I lean closer to catch the words better.

“Keep your voice down! And yes, I’ve seen them.” The other voice is familiar. It’s William’s.

“Do you have an idea what could do this?”

“I’m not sure whether it’s what or who,” William states and there’re no emotions in his voice. “At first glance they seem exactly as werewolf’s claws, but I’m not so sure while giving it a second one,” he smirks.

What? I’m that sane that I know there’re no werewolves, vampires or other creatures in this world. Of course, I’ve seen many films and series about them, but this is far-fetched. Somebody could easily buy a nail or find a sharp object and then decorate my door.

“And what about Yara? Should we tell her?” somebody hesitates while waiting for an answer.

“No,” William grunts. “At least not now!” he sighs. “She doesn’t know a thing about our world. She’s not one of us. She can die during the training or later when accepting the mark.”

“Are you crazy? You don’t want to tell her what she is going to face in the future while everyone here knows, or while they at least have a rough idea of what they’re going to stand up against! She’s a part of our world whether you like it or not!”

“This is not your concern!” William grunts.

“Hell! This IS my concern! She can survive all this and when she does, what will you tell her? Dear Yara, sit down, because this may turn your whole life upside down?” he’s is almost shouting. “We’re supposed to train fighters, but how can they succeed if they don’t know anything?”

“They’ll learn it when the time is right,” William smirks.

“Have you told her anything at all? Have you told her about the mark?”

“Are you out of your mind?” William barks out, but he suddenly realizes that he should keep his voice down. “She was the only one whose blood levels were high enough. THE ONLY ONE! Do I have to remind you that our lines are getting thinner and thinner? Professor Conya told me there wasn’t anyone else found with the levels we require. ANYONE ELSE! She bloody tested every person at the whole uni and there was only Yara! Do I need to tell you what this means?” His anger is still evident even though his voice is rather quiet.

“Yara!” Sophia suddenly shouts my name and I freak out a little. “The breakfast is over. Let’s get your ass drilled!” she smirks and some people (especially guys) laughs. I don’t need to be native speaker to recognize a double meaning.