Love of a Shifter: A Paranormal Romance Bundle

Chapter 2-3

The second portion of the examination wasn’t what she had expected. Drying her hair and walking down the hallway to the room at the end of the hall, she found out that it was another elevator and that it wouldn’t rise up to the next level until everyone had gathered into the elevator together. Two women were waiting for her and one by one, everyone started emerging from their rooms, until they realized that there were only nine of them again. Tamara immediately took inventory of everyone who had made it.

She instantly recognized that the crimson haired woman, the Asian lady, and the black woman with the large hair had failed to make it through the last round. Everyone was on edge and the tension was electric, passing through all of them and making them nervous, considering what it was that they were going to have to pass through next.

What was it that they were going to have to do in this next portion?

The elevator rose to the next level and opened with a soft ding that made Tamara jump. She was too lost in her thoughts, drowning in nerves and anxiety. Part of her was overly thrilled by the fact that she had made it this far and that she had survived the first round, but three were gone. The odds of her sticking to the middle and safe were diminishing. If she didn’t make it through this next round, then she was going to be in serious trouble. But, the thought of actually making it through this round and being forced to fight through the next room was equally terrifying.

Stepping out of the elevator, nine women, dressed in robes and slippers stood in a room that was sectioned off in nine separate cubicles where there were three women waiting for them. Hanging over each of the cubicles was a sign that declared the owner of each cubicle and Tamara immediately knew what this was going to be. Each cubicle had a woman in a long white coat, a doctor, and three nurses who were attending them, helping them with whatever examination they were looking to do for them.

“Please proceed to your booth and comply with the requests of your doctor,” the soft, electronic voice requested of them.

Instinctively, like a herd of sheep, the women complied with the signs and Tamara found herself standing in front of a woman with a short haircut that was shaved on the side of her head. She wore a mask over half of her face and all she could really see were the striking hazel eyes and thin eyebrows of the woman. One of the nurses drew a curtain around the single open side of the cubicle and gave them some privacy from the other women. The doctor sat down and motioned Tamara to sit down on an examination table.

“We’ve received medical records from your doctor, but the Matterhorn Company would prefer if we did our own thorough examination of you before letting you proceed, especially after a rigorous workout. Do you understand?”

Tamara nodded to her.

“Great,” the doctor said to her. “I’m going to walk you through the entire process and if you have any questions, feel free to ask them. I want this to be as smooth and simple as it can be for you.”

What followed was the most invasive and thorough round of tests that Tamara had ever experienced in her life. They drew blood, tested her for STI’s, checked her reflexes, performed a drug test, checked her for lice, searched her body for any discoloration or moles, and a hundred other tests that Tamara found herself nodding along with the doctor, regardless if she knew what the test was for. She didn’t care about it. She had a highly successful past of not getting sick and definitely not getting any kind of illness or disease, whether it was from s*x or any other form of communicable transference. She was as clean as a whistle.

What felt like hours passed and finally, when they were done, the doctor made a final note and then looked up at Tamara with her bright hazel eyes. She wondered if the doctor was smiling or not.

“We’re through here,” the doctor said with a soft voice. “You can go to the next room and change.”

“I passed?” Tamara asked with excitement.

“You’ll be processed out in the next room based on the results,” the doctor immediately shot down any kind of excitement that might have bubbled up inside of Tamara.

Deflated, Tamara headed into the next room.

The following room looked much more like a dressing room than anything else. As she stepped into it, there was a long white ottoman that stretched the length of the room with several doors stretching off to the side. Her name was marked on one of the doors and instinctively, she pressed her thumb to the scanner and listened to it as it unlocked. Inside the dressing room, she grabbed the clothes out of the locker and proceeded to dress herself in the new, fresh underwear, yoga pants, shirt, hoodie, socks, and slip on shoes. She was surprised at the materials that they were wasting on the application process. It was all so top notch that she felt like she should get to take them home if she didn’t pass.

Turning and grabbing the handle to the door, she pushed it open but felt that the door was locked. Horrified, she immediately knew that she had been weeded out. Claustrophobia started to sink in and she was certain that this was the end of the line. There was no escape and she was going to be sent home packing. Her heart pounded and she felt lights glittering all around her as she felt like the walls were coming in on her. She was going to go home a failure and her dad was going to rub her nose in it forever.

“Please wait while processing is fulfilled,” a soft electronic voice said to her.

There was a moment of relief, but it was short lived. She felt the panic return as she listened to the doors around her opening and she just waited for the axe to fall. It was only a matter of time before they came for her. She knew it. Sitting down on the short bench, she waited for the door to open and an attendant to escort her back to the locker room.

But no one came.

After five minutes, the lock on the door clicked and she was free of the tiny room. Stepping out into the common room, she looked around and saw that there were only six of them. The black woman, the olive skinned woman, the redhead, the punk looking woman, the silver haired blonde, and herself. This was it, she had made it to the next round and she was going to be in the final three.

Her nerves returned, but she was also feeling like she was on cloud nine right now. She was going to do this. Whatever the next test was, she was determined to blow it out of the water and show all of them that she was a force to be reckoned with. There was no way that she was going home.

An attendant took them into the next room and she found herself in a large classroom that immediately made her nervous. The white desks and white chairs were labeled for each of them to sit down and wait for their commands. Tamara found the desk that was waiting for her and she sat down, looking at the desk and realizing that the top of the desk was a screen.

“You will be given two hours to answer the following questions to the best of your ability,” the soft, electronic voice instructed them. “Should you find an answer that you do not know the correct response for, please answer to the best of your ability. Your answers will not directly influence the outcome of your results. Cheating or failure to comply will result in immediate termination from the examination. The examination will begin at the ring of the bell.”

Tamara watched as the top of the desk started to move on silent hydraulics until it was tilted comfortably for her to look at the screen that came on. She was thoroughly impressed by all of this and as the screen came on, she waited for the bell.

When the bell rang, Tamara was in a whirlwind of strange questions that came at her with the speed of her own ability. When she was done answering one question, she would be given another. Having danced through college and high school before that, she was confident in her abilities. She worked through each question, trying to find the best answers for each of them and trusting her gut. She knew that testing came through with a person’s confidence. But the whole process was strange. Some questions would be scientific or mathematical, while others would be grammatical or based on her comprehension, but then there were stranger questions that really didn’t fall into any kind of category.

Whatever they were looking for with this test, she was going to give them an accurate reading of it. She guessed that psychological profiles, intelligence, and comprehension abilities were all included. They were monitoring everything that they could with this.

Finally, when the two hours were up, she felt like her mind had exploded and she was left with nothing but her own nerves and anxiety to keep her company. She looked up and watched as the tops of all of the desks slowly descended to their normal positions and they were free to stand up and stretch.

She immediately rose and began to stretch, feeling like she had been stuck in that chair for an eternity. Everyone in the room exchanged nervous glances with one another, shaking their heads at how exhausting and ridiculously difficult this entire day had been.

An attendant entered the room and drew their attention like an explosion appearing out of nowhere. “You may proceed down the hallway to the room marked with your name for the final phase of the test,” the attendant said in her soft, kindly voice. She smiled at all of them. “Those of you who will be passed on to the final test will be given the time allowed to continue on to the final phase of the examination.”

Tamara didn’t like the sound of that.

Nervous as she always was, she waited until all of the others left the room and she followed them down the hallway until she found the room that was marked with her name. She looked at the red letters of her name and pressed her thumb to the lock and listened as it beeped and allowed her access.