Castor's Secret

I looked to where she was looking. The cafeteria was surrounded by a small walkway on top. A man had appeared on the top, casually leaning over the railing and surveying us. He had black, short, wavy hair, and his eyes were gray, intimidating, and looked as if he had put eyeliner around it. He was tall and lean and seemed very agile. I guess I could see why girls liked him so much.

“That’s Nick?” I asked. Sally nodded eagerly. “Where’s Castor?”

“I have no idea,” Sally said.

“Remember that Castor’s the nicer one,” James said. “If you don’t understand something, go to her. Nick will just beat it into you. I learned that the hard way.” He touched his cheek lightly. I looked closely and saw a fading bruise.

“Training in five minutes,” Nick suddenly said from the railing. He wasn’t loud, but his voice managed to carry.

“Come on,” Sally said, standing up. “Oh, and don’t make eye contact with those girls there.” She jerked her head in the direction of those girls. The ones who thought they were on top of the world, had perfect hair, perfect make-up, a perfect body, but not so perfect brain cells.

“Why not?” I asked.

Sally rolled her eyes. “You’re as close to a Grade- A hottie they can get here. After all, they all know that they’re never going to get Nick.”

“Okay,” I said, uncertain.

James threw an arm around my shoulder. It was so much like what John did that I had to shake my head to clear the memory. “Let’s go see what training they have in store for us today, shall we?”

We exited the cafeteria with my mind in a whirl. I had no idea how I was considered a “hottie”, as Sally put it. I had curly black hair, brown eyes, and a decent build, although it was a little on the weak side. Hottie, my a*s.

“Hey, where is this place anyway?” I asked James.

“We’re about ten thousand feet below the surface of the Earth,” James said. “As for where, I don’t know.”

I nodded, and James pushed open the door to a large room.

Large doesn’t cover how big the room was. It was bigger than a football stadium, if the bleachers were flat. All sorts of things covered the room, most of it training equipment. Standing in the middle of the room was Nick and somebody else. I squinted my eyes. The light was dim down here. I realized who it was, and my eyes widened.

I nudged Sally and pointed. “Who’s that?” I asked.

“That’s Castor,” she said.

“I’ve met her,” I said. “She did protect me, and she posed as one of my classmates, but she went by a different name.”

“Really?” Sally said. “What was it?”

“Shadow,” I said.

“So you did have a Guardian,” James mused.

I looked at Shadow. “I suppose.”

“Line up,” Nick called. He sounded bored. We stood in a line, and Nick walked down it, inspecting each one of us. When he got to me, I could see that there was a black stud in his ear. Nick reached the end of the line and turned around.

“All of you are new recruits,” he said. “We’re shaping you up to be in an army. It’s going to be tough, so if you don’t want that, I suggest you ask Dr. Furg for permission to leave. I’m Nick, that’s Castor. We’re your trainers. We’re going to start today with basic hand-to-hand fighting skills. If you’ve had any experience, even street fights, come with me. The rest of you are with Castor.”

I hesitated. I knew that I should be going with Nick, but I really wanted to talk to Shadow. Eventually, I just went to Shadow’s group with Sally and James. Shadow surveyed all of us, raising one of her eyebrows slightly when she got to me.

“Alright,” Shadow said. “Let’s start.” She taught us the basic punches before having us practice of punching bags. I was going through my exercises when she came up to me.

“Hello, Castor,” I said.

“I know you’re mad,” she said softly.

“Oh, no, I’m not,” I said, gritting my teeth. “I’m furious. You were supposed to teach me all of this, but you didn’t.” I stopped hitting the bag and looked at her. “Why?”

Shadow looked uncomfortable. “People who associate with me tend to get hurt, especially while we’re in Zodiac territory.”

“So you’re basically saying that you were keeping me safe by never talking to me,” I said.

At least Shadow had the decency to look down. “I’m sorry.”

“I didn’t need you anyway,” I snarled.

Shadow looked up, and I saw a spark of anger in her eyes. She was absolutely terrifying. “Oh, really?”

I steeled my nerves. Summoning all of my strength, I smashed the punching bag. It flew back at hit the wall. “I don’t,” I spat at Shadow.

She was looking at me as if I was some sort of specimen. “We’ll see.”

 

 

 

“What were you thinking?” James demanded. “Castor could’ve smashed you into a pulp for doing that!”

I shrugged nonchalantly. “Well she didn’t, did she?”

Sally placed an arm on Jams to keep him from yelling at me again. “You do realize that it’s not the smartest decision to irritate Castor, right?” She said.

I looked at them. “I know what I’m doing,” I said shortly.

James threw up his hands in despair, then winced. He had ripped a muscle during practice today. “Whatever,” he muttered, stabbing his dinner savagely.

A pang of guilt washed over me. “Look, I’m sorry if I made you guys worry, okay?”

Sally smiled. “Yeah.”

James continued his stabbing and didn’t answer, but I figured it was a yes.

“Thanks,” I said, taking a bite of my food. For a place thousands of feet below the surface, they had pretty good food. “So where do we sleep?”

“You’re sleeping in my dorm,” James said. “After dinner we get free time.”

I had to stifle a yawn. The thought of a bed was making me sleepy. I was having some serious lag. “I think I’ll just sleep directly after.”

James shrugged. “Sure.”

We ate quickly talking about how our training sessions had gone when three girls arrived at our table.

“Hey,” one of them said. I realized that she was one of those girls.

“Can we help you?” Sally asked.

“Can’t we just talk?” One of the girls pouted. “We should get to know some of our teammates.”

“Talk and then leave,” Sally growled

“Can we sit?” The third girl asked. She seemed a bit decent.

“Sure,” James said. His face clearly said no, but the girls sat anyway.

“I’m Janet,” one of the girls said. “This is Lily and that’s Alli.”

Janet was clearly the leader. She was dressed in something you would see in a fashion magazine advertising workout clothes. Her blond hair had been shaken loose.

Lily looked rich. That was the only way to explain her. Almost everything about her looked fake, from her jewelry to her face to her clothes. Even the way she walked looked fake. Her hair was clearly dyed red, she was obviously wearing green contacts, and it looked as if she had a b**b job done.

Alli was my favorite out of all three, and that’s not saying a lot. She was wearing light make-up, her clothes were decent, and her brown hair with blue streaks was in a ponytail.

“What do you want?” Sally asked.

“We just felt like welcoming the new kid,” Janet said, smiling sweetly at me.

“Aren’t we all new?” I asked.

James tried to cover up his snort of laughter while Janet glared at him.

“Where are you from?” Alli asked me.

“The Zodiac Sphere,” I said.

Alli rolled her eyes. “We all are. Where in the Sphere?”

“The capital,” I said.

Alli’s eyebrow’s shot up. “So you met all of the snooty Zodiacs,” she said.

“Aren’t they all snooty?” I said.

“Nah,” James said. “Some of them are really nice. The closer you get to the capital, the meaner they become.” Alli nodded in agreement.

“Alli, sweetheart, we’re getting off topic,” Janet said.

“Anyway, Michael, if you need anything, you can come to us,” Lily said as she caressed my face.

“I’d rather go to Sally and James,” I said without thinking.

Janet’s face twisted into an ugly mask. “Well, just in case,” she said. She stood up, blew me a kiss, and walked away.

Once she was gone, James and Sally burst out into laughter.

“What?” I asked.

“You are so naïve,” James said.

“I told you you were a hottie,” Sally said, winking at me.

I felt sick. “Does that mean I have to put up with them?” I asked, revolted.

Sally giggled. “Until we get out of this hell.”

I groaned. “I don’t think I can last that long,” I said.

“Don’t worry, sweetie,” James said in an immaculate impersonation on Lily. “If you need anything, you can always come to us.” Sally snorted. I simply groaned again.

“Hey!” Shadow had appeared at the railing. “Curfew’s at ten. You better be in your rooms. Get to sleep early. We’re pushing you tomorrow.”

Now James groaned. “Didn’t they already push us?” He massaged his arm.

“Can’t you get someone to heal it with magic here?” I asked.

“Only Castor knows medical magic, and I’m too scared to ask her,” James said.

I sighed. I should’ve been scared of Shadow after I saw what she was capable of, but I wasn’t. “I’ll come with you,” I offered.

James looked happy. “Thanks. Can we go now?”

“Yeah,” I said, standing up.

“Bye!” Sally called after us.

We made our way down the hall till we got to a forked hall.

“On the left is the student dorms,” James said. “The right is the faculty rooms.” Of course, we took the right. We passed several rooms with plaques on their doors. We stopped in front of Shadow’s room where James knocked nervously. The door was opened by a very disgruntled Nick. He was wearing a sleeveless black top and loose black pants. His huge muscles bulged in front of us.

“What?” He asked.

“Uh, I thought that this was Castor’s room,” James said.

“It is,” Shadow came to the door. “What can I do for you two?”

Nick slipped out of the room after planting a kiss on Shadow’s forehead. She blushed slightly. I raised my eyebrows.

“I tore a muscle,” James said. “I don’t want it to get in the way of anything else. Can you heal it?”

Shadow opened the door wider. “Come in.” We walked in, and I stopped in my tracks.

I don’t know what I was expecting, but her room was solid white. Everything, from the desk to the chairs, to the bed were all white. The only color in her room was a few clothes scattered around it and what Shadow was wearing. I blushed when I realized that we were in a room with a pretty girl wearing the shortest pair of shorts I had ever seen and a tank top. Apparently, James realized the same thing because he was blushing.

“Sit,” Shadow said to James, pointing at her bed. He sat, and Shadow stood in front of him, hands on her hips. She scowled, and her eyes became blood-red with dilated pupils. I nearly yelped in surprise. Shadow blinked and her eyes returned to normal. Placing her hands on a part of James’ arm, she closed her eyes. Black mist began to swirl around the area she had her hands on. James’ face contorted in pain, but Shadow abruptly stopped.

“Better?” She asked.

James nodded as he swung his arm around. “A lot, thanks.”

“No problem.” James and I turned around to leave. “Michael, stay for a second.” James gave me a worried look, so I nodded. He left, and I turned to face Shadow.

“I’m sorry for not acting like a proper Guardian,” Shadow said.

I waved it off. “It’s fine. I’ve gotten over it. I have one question, though,” I said.

“What?” Shadow asked.

“What’s up with you and Nick?”

Shadow’s body stiffened. “What’s it to you?” She demanded.

I grinned. “Are you two dating?”

“Leave,” Shadow said, pointing to the door.

“Why won’t you tell me?” I complained as Shadow ushered me out.

“Good night, Michael,” Shadow said. She firmly shut the door in my face.

“Cold,” I muttered. I made my way to the student rooms. James was waiting for me in my room. There were about five other guys there lounging in the armchairs provided for us.

“What did she want?” He asked.

“She just said that she was sorry that she never acted as a Guardian to me,” I said.

“You two seem close,” James said casually.

I looked at him sharply. He sounded jealous. “I don’t know anything about her, though,” I said.

James visibly relaxed. “I see,” he said.

“Do you like her?” I asked cautiously.

“No,” James said quietly. “She killed my uncle. I hate her.”

A cold shiver went down my spine. “She killed your uncle?”

James looked at me, clearly confused. “You don’t know about that part of her business?” I shook my head. “Have you ever heard of Dragonside?”

“Yeah,” I said. “I actually, uh, dealt in weapons for them.”

“Why?” James asked.

I shrugged. “Where I live, humans struggle to survive, and we’re too poor to move. Lots of people turned to illegal things to get money.”

“Well, that’s one part of their operations,” James said. “They also deal in drugs. Then they have prostitutes working for them, and deal in several other areas. One is thievery. People tell them if they want to get their hands on something in another person’s possession that they’re not willing to give u through money. They steal it for them. Then there’s assassination. They’re extremely expensive, so people rarely get them. They normally go for mutilation then. But apparently Castor takes the assassinations herself because they’re the hardest to handle. Then she goes and kills the person anyway necessary.”

“How did Shadow get wrapped up in all of this?” I asked.

“She’s Lady Dragon.” My jaw practically hit the floor. James saw my look and chuckled. “Yeah, she’s doing illegal things, but she still works for the government. If you admire that kind of stuff, her record is actually pretty impressive.”

“No wonder she knows all of this stuff,” I said. “I don’t mean to pry, so you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, but how did your uncle die?”

“His food was poisoned,” James said. “We were all eating the same thing from the same dish, so we never realized. We found out when the autopsy reports came in. For some reason, the poison only reacted with his system.”

“I don’t mean to say that your uncle dying is good, but for someone to develop a poison that reacts with only one person is amazing,” I said.

James sighed. “Unfortunately, I agree. Castor is truly a prodigy.”

“How does she know all of this stuff, though?” I wondered.

“Maybe she’ll tell us one day,” James suggested.

I snorted. “Yeah, and I’m a monkey’s a*s. There’s no way that that’s going to happen.”

“Point taken,” James said. He stretched ruefully. “Well, I’m going to bed soon.”

“Agreed,” I said. However, once I climbed into my bed, I couldn’t fall asleep for hours while I was thinking about what exactly Shadow was.

Reviews

[Chrisanne]

Great writing as per usual.