mat, eyes rolling up in its head. The other pumped both fists in the air and let out a roar that would have any lion running for cover. Shuddering, I turned away.
Eventually we reached the end of the sizable room and passed through a looming archway. The room on the other side was completely white and about the size of a tennis court. A bench sat at the far end, next to a complicated looking machine. Buttons blinked and screens flashed as if alive. In another corner stood what appeared to be a large metallic fridge. The wall straight ahead was in serious need of repair. Thick chunks of plaster were missing and large cracks scattered out in all directions, some even reaching the ceiling. Sophia plonked herself down on the bench, folding her skinny legs under herself. Her big, multi-coloured eyes were fixed on me and she wore a look of fervent interest.
Midnight pointed to a red spot on the floor I hadn’t noticed. “Stand there,” he grunted.
I shuffled over to it. He walked to the large fridge and returned a second later carrying some kind of injector. It looked like an insulin dispenser, more pen than needle; except this one was see though and full of dark blue liquid.
“Hold out your hand,” he ordered.
I didn’t respond.
He stared at me. I sighed and held out my trembling arm. He jabbed the needle into it. Liquid fire seared up my wrist. I yelled and shook the wounded appendage. The pain kept sweeping up regardless, through my bicep and into my shoulder. My entire arm ballooned and the veins morphed into thick blue worms.
“Damn that hurts!” I yelled, clutching my infected arm.
Midnight rolled his eyes. “Give it time.”
“I’ve had them before. They don’t hurt that much,” added Sophia, laughing.
Great, I’m more of a wimp than a little girl, I thought in between the swear words. After a few more seconds the pain dissipated and my arm shrank back to normal. “I think I’m okay now,” I admitted. “What do ya want, a prize?” snorted the hulk. I stared at the red welt left by the injection. It grew smaller until it had completely gone. “What was that?” “Something to help if you get hurt.”
I don’t like the sound of that.
“Face the entrance.”
I rotated so that Sophia and the equipment were to my left and the cracks on the wall were behind me.
Midnight lumbered over to the computer and tapped at the screen. I couldn’t see properly with his large frame blocking most of the screen, but I did notice the words ‘Start training’ appear in flashing green letters. He glanced over his shoulder and a wide smile spread across his face. “Get ready.” “For w-” I began to ask, but saw the answer swing towards me from the ceiling. A battering ram.
It arched towards me at an immense speed. I dived out of the way just in time. I felt the wind as it rushed past me followed by the deafening crack of stone connecting with brick. The fractures in the plaster increased. Small fragments dropped to the floor.
“Are you trying to kill me?” I shouted at the giant madman, who looked even bigger from my position on the ground.
“No,” he said simply. “If I was trying to kill ya, you’d be dead.” Then he turned back to the screen and started tapping away again. “Reaction speeds are good,” he muttered to himself.
The ram winched itself back up on its supports.
Midnight tapped the screen one last time with an over the top motion. “Right,” he said without turning. “Let’s do that again, but don’t move this time, k?”
“Don’t move?” I spluttered, picking myself up off the ground.
Sophia shouted encouragement from the bench. “Come on Alex, you’ll do great! If I can do it so can you!”
I was shocked that they had let a little girl take part in something like this. Then I remembered that she wasn’t a normal little girl at all, just like I wasn’t a normal teenager. Nothing around here is normal.
“Okay,” I said positioning myself back on the spot. My heart punched against my chest. I clenched my fists and gritted my teeth, ignoring the rational part of my brain, which screamed that I would die in the next few seconds.
The ram came down harder this time. It carved through the air, heading right for my midsection. I shut my eyes and forced myself to stay put.
Smack!!
It felt like a nuclear bomb had hit my stomach. My feet left the ground and I flew backwards, arms flailing wildly. Then there was a second impact as my back smashed into the wall behind me. The air rushed from my lungs and I slipped to the ground wheezing as I struggled for precious oxygen. “Calm down,” said Midnight. “Your body can handle this.” “Glurrgh,” I said in reply. Eventually my lungs reflated. I ran a hand through my hair, sweeping away flecks of plaster like bad dandruff.
I waited to see how I felt. Apart from the initial blow, there was no longer any tangible pain. Only a dull ache which soon faded. I looked over at Midnight who gave a noncommittal shrug.
“Not bad for a first try I guess,” he grunted. “Let’s do it again.”
Three more times we tried and three more times my body was sent careering into the wall. It began to look as if it were in danger of collapsing all together. Midnight was shaking his head in disappointment. “Come on, you’re not trying!” he growled. His response sounded like something John would say. I felt the anger rise in my stomach. “It would help if I knew what the hell I’m supposed to be doing!” I retorted before I could stop myself. Midnight’s eyebrows descended over his dark eyes. He looked like he was brewing an anger all of his own. One that could rip mine into pieces. “Stop the ram with your body,” Sophia whispered. Midnight gave the girl a sideways glance. She went red. “Sorry.”
The behemoth composed himself. “You ain’t supposed to know what to do in this training. We like ya to use intuition to work it out. But we’ll pretend pint size didn’t say anythin’ yeah?”
I nodded and stood up. The battering ram cranked up on its chain supports.
“Come on Alex!” encouraged Sophia.
Placing my feet on the red target, I tried to mentally prepare myself. My mind flashed back to when the car had hit me. I remembered how without trying, I’d stayed rooted to the spot, whilst the car folded itself around me. Sophia’s right, I can do this.
“Okay I’m ready.” I clapped my hands together and jumped a little on the spot. Midnight seemed to approve my change of attitude. He nodded and almost threatened to break a smile.
I was prepared when the ram swung down this time, but my reaction still surprised me. Instead of just letting it hit me, I sprang forward, driving both fists into the stone. There was a thunderous crack and for a second I thought I’d shattered my knuckles. But then several deep jagged lines appeared on the ram’s surface. A second later it crumbled into a shower of concrete rain. I rotated my wrists and was relieved to see that they were fine. There was a light dusting of powder on my knuckles.
Midnight’s expression was one of pure shock. Sophia copied it like a ventriloquist’s dummy, staring at the pile of rubble at my feet.
“That, I have never seen.”
“Whoa…” breathed pint size.
“Better?” I asked trying to keep the smugness from my voice. Midnight nodded and rubbed a large finger on his chin, surveying the destruction. Sophia started clapping like an excited seal. The sound of footsteps approaching made me look over at the doorway. Delagio entered the room. His Stetson hat emerged before he did.
“Just in time,” said Midnight. “Alexander just smashed strength training…literally.”
The American raised his eyebrows at the pile of rubble on the floor. “Not bad. Let’s see if you can bring that energy to part two.” His Southern drawl combined with waist jacket and hat reminded me of a bad guy from a cheesy western. I couldn’t resist a smile.
He gestured for me to follow. We were almost out of the room, when a loud siren started blaring from a speaker near the ceiling. It sounded like something from a World War II film.
“Well I’ll be damned,” cursed Delagio. “Looks like trainin’ is gonna have to wait.”
All three charged out of the room. I followed. We ran through the gym, which was emptying of people. They
