Categories > Original > Drama > Hollow Body Got A Hold On Me
Chapter Five
0 reviewsJai Eric Courtney recieved an Erudite result for his aptitude test, and plans to Choose accordingly. One horrible night before his Choosing ceremony will change his life, and his Choice. Now a ruth...
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Stormy's POV:
I wake up in a large, comfortable bed. This is not my bed. Where am I? I sit up, quickly; too fast. My head is pounding.
"Hey," I hear Eric's voice, thick with sleep, coming from the floor by my head. I look over the edge as he sits up, rubbing his eyes. "Did you sleep alright?"
I just look down and nod silently. I don't know if I feel numb, or depressed, or angry.
"So, uh, you can take a shower if you want, I had Four grab some of your things last night," he said, and there was something in his voice I couldn't place; sympathy, maybe? I nod again, and hesitantly take his hand as he helps me up out of bed.
His bed; I realize. He points me to the bathroom, and hands me a pile of my clothes.
I let the hot spray run over my body, thinking over what happened last night. It takes me a minute to realize that I'm crying, and I try to be quiet. Right now, it feels good to cry, with the hot water to wash away the tears.
I dry off, and get dressed, extremely grateful to Four for grabbing my toothbrush, and head back into his living room.
I see Eric standing in the kitchen, stirring eggs in a pan. He looks up at me, and attempts a small smile, but it looks more like a grimace. I would almost giggle.
Almost.
"Breakfast?" he asks, pushing a plate full of eggs, sausage and toast towards me. There is coffee, too. It smells delicious. I sit down at the counter, and begin to eat. I don't eat breakfast, but this morning feels different. I must admit, eating is making me feel better. We both eat in silence. I'm afraid that he wants to talk to me, about what happened, but he never brings it up. So, I do.
"Listen," I begin, not wanting to look at him. "About last night-."
Eric cuts me off quickly. "You don't have to talk about it, if you don't want to," he says gently. I blink my eyes a couple times, grateful for his understanding. "Thank you," I whisper quietly.
We sit in silence a bit longer, before I speak again. "Just one thing," I say, hesitantly. "What happened, after I blacked out? I just-, I need to know, if-."
Eric cuts me short, again.
"No, he didn't. Came close, but I threw him into the Chasm before he could."
"Oh," I say quietly. "Thanks?" Eric nods his head, and grabs our empty plates, placing them in the sink.
After he washes them, he turns to me again. "You gonna be okay for training, today?"
"Yeah," I reply, standing up, and straightening my clothes out. "Yeah, I'm fine." I make for the door and Eric opens it for me, following behind me all the way to the training room.
Eric's POV:
We walk into the training room, and both remove our boots at the same time. Stormy is giving me a look, silently asking why. I just shrug at her. The other initiates file in soon enough, and Four is nowhere to be seen. Okay; even better.
"Initiates! We're doing something a little different, today," I say with a smirk When I see their confused faces, I continue. “I am randomly going to pick three of you to fight with me."
I steal a glance towards Stormy, and she looks just as confused as everyone else.
"Let's see," I begin, holding my chin. "Justice, Jax and Rebel. Justice, you're up first. In the ring," I say darkly. I think Stormy can see where I'm heading with this. "You are going to be ranked by this fight," I smirk at the dark-haired boy in front of me. "Come on, attack me."
Justice lunges at me, and I step out of the way, as Justice falls to the floor. I smirk, and grab him by the collar of his shirt, pulling him to eye level. I lean down, and whisper in his ear, so that only he can hear me, "Take this as a favor, I could've killed you last night." Then, I slam my head into his, and watch his eyes roll back as he's knocked out.
"Jax! Ring!" I yell, as the other boy steps on the platform.
This is going to be fun.
I don't wait for him to attack, this time; I rush at him, and kick his groin before I step on his foot. He falls to his knees, and I begin to punch his face over, and over until he falls over. "K.O. motherfucker!" I grin at the bloody mess in front of me. "Rebel! Ring!"
I see Stormy's face, and she looks horrified.
Oh well, she'll figure it out.
I can't let it look like I just singled out two initiates. Rebel's my alibi. And I'm going to let her win.
Stormy's POV:
Rebel gives me a look, she's scared. I'm terrified for her. I give her a small smile as she enters the ring, and Eric turns to wink at me. I hope no one else saw that.
**************************
He let her win; I know he did. He made it look good, nobody else could tell. The other initiates probably thought that his arrogance is what got him knocked out; that he let his guard down.
He flashed a goofy grin at me, right before Rebel threw the punch that did it. I know he let the Erudite girl win.
All of the other Initiates have gone to lunch, but I stayed behind. Eric was sitting on a bench, holding an ice pack to the side of his face. He looks up at me, then. "Are you angry with me?"
I was taken aback at his question; his eyes said he genuinely thought that I might be mad at him. I sat down beside him on the bench.
"No," I say honestly, then, in almost a whisper, "Jax and Justice. They were the ones who attacked me with Pistol, weren't they?" I look down at my hands resting on my knees. I look back up, and Eric nods in confirmation. "Thank you," I say. He gives me a small smile, and we sit in a silence for a bit.
"I feel like I am always thanking you for something," I say with a frown, breaking the silence. Eric chuckles softly.
"So, don't say thank you."
"But I'm grateful to you, I kind of have too. Or else my conscience would kill me," I say honestly. Eric shrugs.
"Let's get some lunch, huh?" He stands and I follow him to the cafeteria.
**************************
Chaotic and Rebel are whispering about something when I make my way to their table. I barely notice Eric sit down beside me. He doesn't sit with anybody. But today he does.
"Hey," I say. "What's going on?"
Chaotic is the one who answers. "They pulled a body from the Chasm this morning while we were in training. It was Pistol. They said he committed suicide."
Eric coughs then, and becomes extremely interested in his french fries.
"Oh," is all I say in reply, before taking a bite of my hamburger.
"Hey," Rebel asks. "So, where were you this morning? You weren't in bed when we got up." Damn her Erudite curiosity. I hesitate to answer her, I'm not a good liar.
"She was with me," Eric says, like it's the most obvious thing in the world. I shoot him a deadly glare, before he continues. "She wanted to go for a run, but as you know, initiates can't leave the compound without a member. So, we went for a run."
"Oh," Rebel says curiously. "Yeah, okay."
The rest of lunch is uneventful, and when we are finished we dump our trays and head back to the training room.
**************************
Eric's POV:
I feel protective of Stormy. I don't know why. Maybe it's because I can sort of empathize with her situation. Whatever the reason, I want to keep her safe. I offer her my bed again, but she declines. That hurt for some reason. It shouldn't; she made a good point. The other initiates might think I'm showing favoritism, or special interest, and she doesn't want them to know the real reason. So she's staying in the dorm.
I have Four keep an extra, vigilant eye on the sleeping initiates from the control room, and demand that he notify me immediately if anything looks odd.
The next week passes in a blur. It doesn't feel like that much time has passed. I hope Stormy's not stressing out too bad about rankings. She's the most improved initiate, but she doesn't see it.
I wait in the training room as they file in, tension noticeable amongst the transfers. Stormy wears a poker face, but her eyes betray her concern. I send her a small smile, before turning to the board behind me.
"Initiates, final rankings for stage one!" I say, before flipping the board.
I hear a sigh of relief from Stormy, before a grin lights up her soft features.
1.Chaotic
2.Rebel
3.Stormy
4.Daniel
5.Rowan
6.Jax
7.Justice
8.Pistol
I clear my throat and continue, "Jax, Justice, get your shit, and get out." They hurry to meet my demands, none too happy about it. "Pistol would have been leaving with them, but, well... he's dead. Take the rest of the day to do whatever, and tomorrow we start stage two. I'm gonna warn you, now, stage two is tougher, and more stressful than stage one. Be prepared."
I wake up in a large, comfortable bed. This is not my bed. Where am I? I sit up, quickly; too fast. My head is pounding.
"Hey," I hear Eric's voice, thick with sleep, coming from the floor by my head. I look over the edge as he sits up, rubbing his eyes. "Did you sleep alright?"
I just look down and nod silently. I don't know if I feel numb, or depressed, or angry.
"So, uh, you can take a shower if you want, I had Four grab some of your things last night," he said, and there was something in his voice I couldn't place; sympathy, maybe? I nod again, and hesitantly take his hand as he helps me up out of bed.
His bed; I realize. He points me to the bathroom, and hands me a pile of my clothes.
I let the hot spray run over my body, thinking over what happened last night. It takes me a minute to realize that I'm crying, and I try to be quiet. Right now, it feels good to cry, with the hot water to wash away the tears.
I dry off, and get dressed, extremely grateful to Four for grabbing my toothbrush, and head back into his living room.
I see Eric standing in the kitchen, stirring eggs in a pan. He looks up at me, and attempts a small smile, but it looks more like a grimace. I would almost giggle.
Almost.
"Breakfast?" he asks, pushing a plate full of eggs, sausage and toast towards me. There is coffee, too. It smells delicious. I sit down at the counter, and begin to eat. I don't eat breakfast, but this morning feels different. I must admit, eating is making me feel better. We both eat in silence. I'm afraid that he wants to talk to me, about what happened, but he never brings it up. So, I do.
"Listen," I begin, not wanting to look at him. "About last night-."
Eric cuts me off quickly. "You don't have to talk about it, if you don't want to," he says gently. I blink my eyes a couple times, grateful for his understanding. "Thank you," I whisper quietly.
We sit in silence a bit longer, before I speak again. "Just one thing," I say, hesitantly. "What happened, after I blacked out? I just-, I need to know, if-."
Eric cuts me short, again.
"No, he didn't. Came close, but I threw him into the Chasm before he could."
"Oh," I say quietly. "Thanks?" Eric nods his head, and grabs our empty plates, placing them in the sink.
After he washes them, he turns to me again. "You gonna be okay for training, today?"
"Yeah," I reply, standing up, and straightening my clothes out. "Yeah, I'm fine." I make for the door and Eric opens it for me, following behind me all the way to the training room.
Eric's POV:
We walk into the training room, and both remove our boots at the same time. Stormy is giving me a look, silently asking why. I just shrug at her. The other initiates file in soon enough, and Four is nowhere to be seen. Okay; even better.
"Initiates! We're doing something a little different, today," I say with a smirk When I see their confused faces, I continue. “I am randomly going to pick three of you to fight with me."
I steal a glance towards Stormy, and she looks just as confused as everyone else.
"Let's see," I begin, holding my chin. "Justice, Jax and Rebel. Justice, you're up first. In the ring," I say darkly. I think Stormy can see where I'm heading with this. "You are going to be ranked by this fight," I smirk at the dark-haired boy in front of me. "Come on, attack me."
Justice lunges at me, and I step out of the way, as Justice falls to the floor. I smirk, and grab him by the collar of his shirt, pulling him to eye level. I lean down, and whisper in his ear, so that only he can hear me, "Take this as a favor, I could've killed you last night." Then, I slam my head into his, and watch his eyes roll back as he's knocked out.
"Jax! Ring!" I yell, as the other boy steps on the platform.
This is going to be fun.
I don't wait for him to attack, this time; I rush at him, and kick his groin before I step on his foot. He falls to his knees, and I begin to punch his face over, and over until he falls over. "K.O. motherfucker!" I grin at the bloody mess in front of me. "Rebel! Ring!"
I see Stormy's face, and she looks horrified.
Oh well, she'll figure it out.
I can't let it look like I just singled out two initiates. Rebel's my alibi. And I'm going to let her win.
Stormy's POV:
Rebel gives me a look, she's scared. I'm terrified for her. I give her a small smile as she enters the ring, and Eric turns to wink at me. I hope no one else saw that.
**************************
He let her win; I know he did. He made it look good, nobody else could tell. The other initiates probably thought that his arrogance is what got him knocked out; that he let his guard down.
He flashed a goofy grin at me, right before Rebel threw the punch that did it. I know he let the Erudite girl win.
All of the other Initiates have gone to lunch, but I stayed behind. Eric was sitting on a bench, holding an ice pack to the side of his face. He looks up at me, then. "Are you angry with me?"
I was taken aback at his question; his eyes said he genuinely thought that I might be mad at him. I sat down beside him on the bench.
"No," I say honestly, then, in almost a whisper, "Jax and Justice. They were the ones who attacked me with Pistol, weren't they?" I look down at my hands resting on my knees. I look back up, and Eric nods in confirmation. "Thank you," I say. He gives me a small smile, and we sit in a silence for a bit.
"I feel like I am always thanking you for something," I say with a frown, breaking the silence. Eric chuckles softly.
"So, don't say thank you."
"But I'm grateful to you, I kind of have too. Or else my conscience would kill me," I say honestly. Eric shrugs.
"Let's get some lunch, huh?" He stands and I follow him to the cafeteria.
**************************
Chaotic and Rebel are whispering about something when I make my way to their table. I barely notice Eric sit down beside me. He doesn't sit with anybody. But today he does.
"Hey," I say. "What's going on?"
Chaotic is the one who answers. "They pulled a body from the Chasm this morning while we were in training. It was Pistol. They said he committed suicide."
Eric coughs then, and becomes extremely interested in his french fries.
"Oh," is all I say in reply, before taking a bite of my hamburger.
"Hey," Rebel asks. "So, where were you this morning? You weren't in bed when we got up." Damn her Erudite curiosity. I hesitate to answer her, I'm not a good liar.
"She was with me," Eric says, like it's the most obvious thing in the world. I shoot him a deadly glare, before he continues. "She wanted to go for a run, but as you know, initiates can't leave the compound without a member. So, we went for a run."
"Oh," Rebel says curiously. "Yeah, okay."
The rest of lunch is uneventful, and when we are finished we dump our trays and head back to the training room.
**************************
Eric's POV:
I feel protective of Stormy. I don't know why. Maybe it's because I can sort of empathize with her situation. Whatever the reason, I want to keep her safe. I offer her my bed again, but she declines. That hurt for some reason. It shouldn't; she made a good point. The other initiates might think I'm showing favoritism, or special interest, and she doesn't want them to know the real reason. So she's staying in the dorm.
I have Four keep an extra, vigilant eye on the sleeping initiates from the control room, and demand that he notify me immediately if anything looks odd.
The next week passes in a blur. It doesn't feel like that much time has passed. I hope Stormy's not stressing out too bad about rankings. She's the most improved initiate, but she doesn't see it.
I wait in the training room as they file in, tension noticeable amongst the transfers. Stormy wears a poker face, but her eyes betray her concern. I send her a small smile, before turning to the board behind me.
"Initiates, final rankings for stage one!" I say, before flipping the board.
I hear a sigh of relief from Stormy, before a grin lights up her soft features.
1.Chaotic
2.Rebel
3.Stormy
4.Daniel
5.Rowan
6.Jax
7.Justice
8.Pistol
I clear my throat and continue, "Jax, Justice, get your shit, and get out." They hurry to meet my demands, none too happy about it. "Pistol would have been leaving with them, but, well... he's dead. Take the rest of the day to do whatever, and tomorrow we start stage two. I'm gonna warn you, now, stage two is tougher, and more stressful than stage one. Be prepared."
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