‘Daddy, why can’t I go to school like the other kids?’ I asked.

‘Because you’re special, your gifts must be kept secret or people might try and take them.’ He explained.

‘Bad people?’

My father hesitated before answering, ‘yes, you could say that.’

‘Okay,’ I said and nodded understandingly.

‘Now, shall we move on to some maths honey?’ He ruffled my messy brown hair, something that seemed so familiar to me, so comforting. I frowned and shook my head, earning a chuckle from him.

**

‘Yes, you could say that.’ I heard a lady say.

‘Just let me see her.’ Fidelia said angrily. I pried open my eyes everything was blurry. I relaxed when I noticed the white surrounding me.

‘I’m sorry; I can’t allow you to see her. I need you leave now.’ The lady abruptly dismissed my best friend. I closed my eyes again.

‘Fidelia…’ I croaked. I heard a shuffle and then someone was holding me hand and stroking the back of it.

‘Mags, oh I’m so glad you’re okay. We are all so worried about you.’ Fidelia gushed and I smiled slightly. My lips were cracked and dry so it probably looked like more of a grimace.

‘Excuse me you have to leave.’ The lady said.

I heard Fidelia groan loudly and she planted a kiss on my forehead and said, ‘I’ll see you soon.’ And then she was gone, and it was just me and the lady that I couldn’t recognise.

‘Magdalene, can you hear me?’ The lady asked. I nodded because I couldn’t really be bothered speaking. ‘Do you know where you are?’ She continued the questions. I nodded again. ‘Are you in pain anywhere?’ I nodded once more. My eyes were closed and the thought of opening them was painful, thinking about the light and the brightness and my head, how it felt like my brain had magically sprouted legs and was kicking me ruthlessly. ‘Can you show me where?’ Honestly, could she just let me sleep so I could go back to my dream? I tiredly gestured to my whole body with my hand, which also happened to hurt. ‘Okay, well you are on an IV drip so try to stay put. I’ll dose you up with some more morphine and I’ll be back soon to check on you.’ I twitched slightly in agreement and let my mind float away along with my pain as the morphine leaked into my bloodstream.

**

‘Where are we going mummy?’ I asked as she loaded another one of our boxes into the back of our car.

‘Somewhere new, I’m getting sick of this old town, aren’t you?’ She faked a smile, and the dark circles under her eyes suggested that the town wasn’t the reason we were leaving.

‘I like where we are.’ I said, unloading a box from the car stubbornly.

‘Please darling, we need to go now.’ She said softly but urgently. I knew that there was no point in arguing. It was time to leave the town I had grown to love. I had made friends, Louis the boy next door had become the closest friend I’d ever had apart from my parents, but as always, I had to go.

‘Okay.’ I whispered, and I tried not to cry. ‘Can I say goodbye to Louis?’ I asked.

‘I’m sorry sweetheart, but we have to go. Come here, give me a hug.’ She held out her arms and I fell into them, wrapping my arms around her waist. ‘I love you.’ She kissed the top of my head. I breathed in her scent, a sweet, comforting smell, like baking and flowers.

I crawled into the back seat of the car as my parents loaded up the last of the boxes. The car started, and I watched as my little yellow house got smaller and smaller as we left it behind.  

**

Light streamed in through a window and I woke up slowly. Everything hurt. I moved my arms and legs, testing their strength. They weren’t great, but they were okay. I was okay. My eyes fluttered open and I blinked repetitively, clearing the sleep from them. I was propped up on a ridiculous amount of pillows. The room was clearly the med room, and to my left there was a metal pole with a bag of clear fluid that dripped down a tube attached to my arm. I yawned, and winced as a stabbing pain spiked the inside of my chest. The blanket that covered the bed was light blue, like the rest of the room. I racked my brain to find out why I was in the med room in the first place. It all came rushing back in a flood of black, red and forestry. Images flicked through my head; the exercise, the fall, the flag, the blood, the cold, the forest, the nets, the force field, Avery, the death: my death.

I started to panic, and had to take deep breaths, that hurt my chest to calm down. The door swung open and the medic walked in smiling.

‘Magdalene, it’s lovely to see you awake.’ She propped up my pillows and adjusted something on the IV drip. ‘How are you feeling today?’ She asked.

‘Good, good. I feel good.’ I answered, it wasn’t entirely true, but it was an improvement.

‘Great, you will need to stay in here for a few more days. You were severely injured.’ She said, looking down at the clipboard in her hands. I opened my mouth to ask about the extent of my injuries when she continued to talk, seemingly reading my mind.

‘You had a number of broken ribs which are almost entirely healed, a cracked sternum, a punctured lung, and a cracked pelvis. Not to mention the number of arterial bleeds you had. You are lucky to have survived.’ She said, feeling my forehead. If only she knew.

‘How long have I been in here for?’ I asked.

‘A week and two days.’ She said without looking up.

‘A, a what? That long?’ I asked incredulously. Surely she was mixed up.

‘Yes, now seeing that you are feeling better. A young man has been waiting outside your room for hours, this is strictly against the rules, but shall I let him in?’ She smiled at me, she clearly felt sorry for me, or else she wouldn’t even be talking to me so kindly.

‘Ah, yes, that would be great. Thank you, very much.’ I smiled back. She walked out of the room and returned with Avery, who had a sheepish grin on his face.

‘I’ll be back soon.’ And with that, the medic turned and left the room.

Avery sat down on the edge of my bed.

‘Hey.’ He grinned.

‘Hey.’ I mumbled.

‘You’re looking… good.’ Avery searched for the right words.

‘You don’t need to be nice, I know I look like shit.’ I said my voice hoarse.

‘You look better, is what I meant to say.’ Avery corrected himself. ‘A level up from shit.’ He teased

‘Oh, what happy days,’ I said sarcastically.

‘Mags…’ He started, his green eyes looking worried and hurt. I held up my hand silencing him.

‘Please, let’s not talk about it.’ I pleaded.

‘Mags, we need to talk about it some time.’ He insisted.

‘Not today.’ I said, ending all discussion about the topic. ‘Did we win, at least?’ I asked him.

‘Uh, not really.’ He said embarrassed.

‘I’ll take that as we got our arses kicked?’

‘We prefer to use the term dignified loss.’ He laughed, raking his fingers through his shaggy, dark brown hair. The light fell on his face, defining even more, his pronounced bone structure.

‘I see, what happened?’ I questioned, glad to be off the topic of myself.

‘Well, after you and I left, Wyatt, Vincent and Fidelia got caught, along with Tammy and Pansy, leaving only the backs, so their whole team pounced on our remaining six team members.’

‘You and I?’ I asked.

‘Yeah, I took you back to the base. I couldn’t, I um, you asked me to and I, I didn’t want to leave you.’ Avery stuttered. He took my hand in his, rubbed circles on the palm of my hand with his fingers. ‘I’m so glad you’re okay.’ He whispered. I closed my eyes and sighed gently.

‘Can you stay, till I fall asleep at least?’ I asked quietly, embarrassed by my question. It was just, I was having dreams, and as much as it was nice to remember things, it was just added pain.

Avery let go of my hand, and I felt him get up off the bed. My eyes flickered open, was he leaving?

‘It’s okay, I’m just getting a chair.’ He rushed, and then rubbed his face with his hands.

I closed my eyes again, and Avery held my hand and traced it with his thumb.

‘Thank you.’ I breathed, it was so quiet I wondered if he had heard me. He squeezed my hand gently, indicating that he had.

My breathing slowed and I drifted off to sleep.

A weight pressed on to my stomach, and I lurched awake, immediately in fight mode. My eyes flew open and the weight lifted off my torso.

‘Shh, I’m sorry I fell asleep.’ Avery’s husky voice cut through the dark, and I immediately relaxed.

‘Oh, okay, sorry for waking you.’ I whispered.

‘Go back to sleep, I’m right here.’ He reassured me.

My head sunk back into the pillows and I tried to fall back to sleep.

‘I can’t.’ I said after about twenty minutes of silence.

‘Can’t what?’ Avery replied instantly, he clearly couldn’t sleep either.

‘I can’t sleep.’

‘Oh, neither,’ His voice was weary, and I wondered if he was lying.

‘Can you just, talk to me?’ I asked.

‘Okay, sure, what do you want me to talk about?’

‘You, tell me about you.’ I said. I could almost hear his brain ticking and fighting the urge to leave, keeping himself a total mystery. After a while, he finally spoke.

‘When I first arrived at the base I bit Mentor Christian and he’s never forgiven me.’ He started.

‘No way!’

‘Yes way, I’m very proud of it.’ He laughed lightly.

‘I’d be proud of it too.’ I agreed. Avery’s fingers brushed my hair away from my forehead before he continued.

‘My favourite colour is ocean blue.’

‘Ocean blue?’

‘It’s like a bluey-greeny colour.’ He explained.

‘Well why didn’t you just say bluey-greeny?’

‘Because it sounds less sophisticated.’ He said and I laughed.

‘I like the smell of mint, and I hate the smell of lemon detergent.’ He continued. ‘My favourite food is ice-cream, and I hate sausages.’

‘My favourite foods are Snickers bars and strawberries.’ I smiled, even though he couldn’t see me.

‘I prefer cold showers.’ He added.

‘You’re very strange Avery.’ I quipped.

‘If I was normal, I wouldn’t be talking to you now would I? He teased and lightly flicked my nose.

‘What else?’ I urged Avery on.

‘I’m scared of the dark.’ He said very, very quietly.

I was speechless. Avery, the Avery was scared of the dark. He had to be joking!

‘The dark?’ I asked incredulously.

‘I’m not going to repeat it.’

‘I’m not asking you to, it’s okay to be afraid of something Avery.’ I told him.

‘It’s the stupidest thing…’ He said sheepishly.

‘Avery, it’s not. It’s not, okay?’

He was quiet for a while, so I broke the silence.

‘I’m scared of spiders.’

‘Spiders?’ Avery repeated.

‘Yes, spiders.’ I confirmed.

‘Well hopefully we don’t get stuck in a dark room with spiders.’ Avery laughed. I laughed too, but the movement hurt my chest and I winced ever so slightly. Avery stiffened, and reached for my hand.

‘I’m fine, I am.’ I reassured him.

‘Are you sure?’ He asked worriedly.

‘Yes, don’t worry so much.’ I closed my eyes and intertwined my fingers with Avery’s.

‘I’ll try.’ Avery lifted my hand to his mouth, and his lips brushed my knuckles, sending an electric current up my spine.

‘Good.’ I murmured.

‘Go back to sleep.’ Avery commanded softly. He placed my hand back on the bed and shifted in his seat. I focussed on the swirls that Avery drew on my palm with his fingers and quickly fell asleep.

I hope you guys liked this chapter, sorry it's a little short but I'm just so busy! Leave a comment and vote! Thankyou for 400 reads! It's super exciting and I can't believe it! Mum's getting mad at me because I spend more time with my characters than I do doing home work and I quote "I wish you would pay as much attention to school as you do to that book."

Well I remember trying to keep this book, and my writing endeavours away from my friends because I didn't think anyone would like it, and that it was embarrassing, but turns out the majority of readers are my friends so I guess my little secret isn't very secret anymore, so thank you to all you guys for sticking with me through this, love you all xx