 |
| This is the logo for chapters which feature darker subject content than the normal SPECTRUM chapters from now on. This chapter has no jokes in it. :( |
Chapter 10: Burnt Bridge
Maria stood in front of the sliding doors to the infirmary as they slid open, stepping through and back out into the main campus. She lifted her arm, which was currently wrapped up with a thick bandage underneath her clean white dress shirt. “I really need to stop coming here.” She commented quietly to herself as she slowly began to walk down the stairs and past the campus. Gale manifested on her shoulder as she spoke.
“Well, stop getting hurt all the time.” He commented, Maria scoffed at that and shook her head. “It's not like I can help that or anything” She replied, lightly stretching her arm and shoulder out. “Well... I'm not entirely sure fighting five wolves in a boxing match is something you couldn't avoid.” Maria shook her head and began to walk up to the fountain, dipping her hand into the clean flowing water and gently splashing it on her face.
“Maria? They let you out already?” Said a voice approaching her from just behind. She stood up to face them, realizing it was her older sister and instructor, Sienna. Her light blue eyes peering at her and her face somewhat blank looking. Maria lifted her hand and showed off her bandaged arm. “I should be good as long as I keep the bandages clean.” Maria explained, gently reaching down to rub on it though. “It seriously hurts, though.” She commented, crossing her hands under her arms and looking at Sienna, who still just looked a bit cold.
“So, Shouldn't you be checking to see if the rest of the team is back yet?” Asked Maria, but Sienna just shook her head. “I check on them every hour, on the hour” She countered, looking to the watch on her left wrist. “I also have their GPS location on my laptop near the return point, according to this they'll be about 3 hours earlier than the deadline.” Sienna explained, placing a hand on her waist and leaning to one foot, her wavy red hair gently being blown to a mess by the gusts of summer winds.
“Ohhhh... Alright. To be honest with you, I just want to get to training already.” Maria said with some call enthusiasm. Getting into the reason why she was really here was kind of exciting for her. Even under her cool exterior she'd be giddy like a schoolgirl if it didn't look stupid to be giddy. But Sienna's frown just plunged a little deeper from that. “Yeah... About that.” She trailed on, looking away from her. “Can we meet in your dorm room?” Sienna asked from nowhere, Maria was taking slightly aback by it. “Uhh... Sure, If you tell me why.” Sienna looked down and shook her head.
“This is private, And I don't want anyone else to hear it. Your dorm room is ideal” Sienna commented, but Maria just shrugged her shouldered and began to walk to her dorm, Sienna trailing just behind her. Usually they would strike up a conversation while they were together, just like when they were younger. But this time was different, both of them seemed uncomfortable around the other just enough to remain in silence as they walked up the stairs and into Maria's shared dorm. She looked at the walls and dresser and noticed that everything looked cleaned up and repaired.
“By the way, We had all of the damages to this dorm stripped from your paycheck.” Sienna stated, and Maria suddenly switched from neutral to frustrated. “Are you kidding me?” Sienna shook her head and walked over to the curtain, rubbing her fingers along the draping. “This is silk; it's actually pretty pricey, so we had to take away your whole supplemental check for this month to pay for it. Everything else was public property, and you pay for anything you damage while you stay here.” She stated flatly, looking at her frustrated little sister patiently.
“Really? People can just take money away from me like that?” She said, angrily glaring at her and stomping her foot lightly on the hardwood floor. “What am I supposed to do for lunch, or if I need to replace my jacket? Like.. you know.. how I have to replace my jacket.” Sienna just closed the new drapes and turned around to look at her, shrugging her shoulders.
“And who the hell uses silk for the drapes of A DORM ROOM? I thought dorms were supposed to be budget.” Maria complained, gesturing with her hand as she did. “When you want it to actually look respectable,” Sienna answered, before continuing on as she walked over to shut the door, locking it with a twist before heading back to address her. “Money here isn't going to be a problem here for you, Maria.” Sienna forebode, shaking her head a little bit. Maria looked confused and leaned onto her back foot, her face looking puzzled.
“What do you mean by that? Don't be so vague with me.” Maria reprimanded, crossing her arms a little tighter from feeling uncomfortable. Sienna gently walked over to the closet and pulled it open. “I had your weapon confiscated as of yesterday.” She stated, Maria looking down and furrowing her brow in agitation. “Okay, now you're just trying to fuck with me.” She commented flatly, clearly annoyed by how her sister was acting.
“That leaves me to what I wanted to talk about.” Sienna said, closing the closet doors and walking up closer to her. “Why are you here?” She asked, Maria stared at her in confusion, looking at the wall before peering back to her. “You know why I'm here, Sienna.” Replied Maria, Sienna just glared at her and sighed. “No, Why are you actually here? I want to hear it come from your mouth.” She stated calmly, her brow lowered with a frown on her face.
“I came here to fight Riftfallen; I want to kill as many as I can.” Maria replied, but Sienna didn't look relieved. “That isn't good enough” Replied Sienna, frowning at Maria as she just stared at her with a feeling of uneasiness. “What do you mean that's not good enough?” Maria asked, furrowing her brow and gripped more into the sleeves of her shirt. Sienna walked up and grabbed Maria by the shoulders, looking at her.
“This isn't a game, Maria. You're going to be putting your life on the line every single day by being here. And for what? So you can kill some things?” Sienna observed, her voice tinged with agitation. “I joined this academy to protect the people I love. People who come here need that compassion and bravery in their heart are the ones who deserve to be here.” She continued, but Maria just glared sharply at her. “It doesn't fucking matter the reason for why I'm here, all that matters is I do my job.” She argued, now upset at her sister as she spoke.
Sienna sighed and let go of her shoulders, looking away from her as she spoke. “Yeah, you seem to be doing a great job. Ending up in the hospital twice in two weeks before even doing anything for anyone else besides yourself.” Sienna said scolding, Maria growled slightly and shook her head. “Wow, screw you.” She commented, but Sienna just cut her off.
“I don't want you waltzing into something you don't understand. You just joined here and you're not even old enough to watch a movie by yourself, how in the hell do you expect me to think you're making a mature decision for once?” Asked Sienna, Maria biting her lower lip slightly and looking away from her. “I know what I'm doing, Sienna. I've been preparing for this for years now.” Maria muttered, but Sienna just continued to glare at her.
“I hardly believe that.” Sienna remarked, shaking her head and crossing her arms over one another on her chest. Maria clenched her fists and tilted her head. “What would our parents think of you if they knew you were going to were going to do something this dangerous every day of your life?” Sienna asked, but Maria's glare just grew even sharper, her hands beginning to shake from a quiet fury. “They wouldn't care. They're fucking dead... Dead people can't think.” Barked Maria, but Sienna just closed her eyes and shook her head.
“You don't believe me, do you?” Maria asked sarcastically, Sienna went back to glaring at her, much more upset than before. “No, I just don't think you're ready for this.” Sienna snapped back quietly, Maria quickly flipping her the middle finger for a brief second before replying. “Who gave you the right to choose what I am ready for? I chose to come here and I'm staying. You can't do anything about that.” Maria responded, but Sienna grabbed her by the collar of her dress shirt and pulled her closer. “I'm giving you your ultimatum, Maria.” Sienna said, now visibly angry, her light blue eyes looking as sharp and cold as ice.
“You are nothing but a liability for my team, from what I've saw of you so far I only have one guess as to what's going to happen to us. You're going to get someone killed, be it yourself or one of your teammates... You're going to make someone get killed with your ignorance and blatant disregard for your own safety. Get off my team, or I'll make you get off.” Sienna demanded of Maria, who was just looking very confused.
“And where the hell did all this come from?” Asked Maria, Sienna not letting go of her shirt as she spoke to her. “I made you my pupil so I can watch over you and help take care of you, because I thought you could use the emotional support after all that happened. And yet all I've seen is you be a suicidal idiot who can't even go a week without injuring herself. It's obvious you have something wrong with you.” Sienna remarked, Maria just keeping quiet as she looked at her.
“You should go back to your boarding school and live a normal life. Graduate, find some work, and settle down with someone you like; You'll live longer for it.” Sienna suggested to Maria dismissively, Maria just glared at her even more. “And why do you get to pick that for me?” Maria growled at Sienna, before grabbing her hands and pushing her away. “You fuckin' don't. And no one else can either, if I have a death wish like you say I do then just let me do as much as I can before I get ran through.” She said, glaring at her and looking away.
“I'm not giving you a choice in the matter. I'm going to report you to the counselors if you don't quit.” Maria suddenly jerked back, looking surprised before getting even more furious. “You did.. WHAT?!” She snapped, stomping her foot and gritting her teeth. Sienna just nodded. “Yeah, and if you can't pass their psych exam, you'll never step foot in this academy again.” She explained, Maria grabbing her by her shirt and shouting at her. “Why would you do that!?” She shouted, Sienna just looked at her calmly. “I'd rather have you hate me than knowing that your death will be my responsibility. This is entirely for your protection.” She explained. Maria throttled her coat in her hands, giving her a shake. “You're really gonna do something underhanded like that just to sell me out? Call them off, right now!” She loudly demanded, but Sienna just gently pulled her away from grabbing her.
“Nothing you're going to do is going to make me change my mind, Maria.” Sienna explained, crossing her arms and just watching how she responds. “I just don't want you to die just because of what happened to mom and dad affecting your psyche. I couldn't live with it.” Sienna said, her anger turning into sadness as she waited for Maria to respond.
Maria reared back her hand and slapped Sienna as hard as she could across the face with a loud crack, Sienna's face twisting to the side and making her look at the floor. The slapped cheek feeling a warm sting as it turned red. “FUCK. YOU.” Maria barked at her. “You can't just fucking control my life like that.” She said, her hands shaking from realizing she just bitch slapped her own sister. “If you really want me gone.. Then I'm fucking done here. Just don't expect anything from me ever again.” She continued, but Sienna just stared at the floor, the hand print becoming visible on her face.
“This entire place is a joke, and you're a fucking joke too.” Maria ranted, walking to the door and swinging it open. “Later, bitch...” She said before slamming the door and storming away. Sienna just reached up to wipe off a tear coming down from one of her eyes, before taking a deep breath and looking at her wrist watch. It was just before 11 AM, she needed to go check on the rest of her students.
She walked to the door and quietly opened it, heading down the hallway with her hands placed in her pockets, heading down the staircase and out the front door onto the sidewalk. Looking around to see Maria slowly walking off to the front gates, her head sunken downward. She sighed and walked the other way and back to the top of the hill where the entrance of the forest was.
“There you are!” Shouted Jonah, who was sitting on the grassy hill and rubbing on an aching shoulder. “Yep... I'm here” Sienna replied, noticing that everyone had arrived at roughly the same time, some were standing and some were sitting. “Did we make it on time?” Asked Lily, bandages still wrapped on her face. Sienna nodded some. “Yep, you made it about three hours early.” she said calmly. Jonah wanted to pump his fist in excitement, but as soon as he tried to stand up, he just fell over again from being too tired. “Oh... I want to go tell my bed that I love her.” Jonah commented while yawning, stretching his back to help relieve the pain. Morgan chuckled and shook her head, Sienna shrugging her shoulders.
“Well you all know what this means.” Said Ashley, walking up the hill to meet Sienna and everyone else. “You are all official Slayers for Spectrum academy! I hope all of you are proud of yourselves, you should be.” Everyone smiled at that, as Morgan helped Jonah onto his feet and kept him stable. “You will all get your licenses up at the front desk. And then you can start setting up your schedule around your elective classes.” Ashley explained, adjusting her hair to get out of the way of her only good eye.
“Electives? What are those?” Asked Jonah, trying to get back on his own two feet without the help of Morgan. “Electives are classes you can pick out for yourself when you're not doing combat training. It helps break the monotony and even gives you college credits!” Ashley explained, Sienna gently rubbing the red from her cheek while no one was paying attention. “Are there any examples of what kind of classes we can pick from?” Asked Lily, Sienna sighed and shrugged her shoulders. “They're in the booklets you get at the front desk, us explaining it is just going to be redundant.” She admitted, Lily nodding some as they tried to rest from the 3 day venture.
“I also suggest you get some food while you're at it. Unless you went hunting, you starved yourselves for nearly 3 days.” Ashley added, and Gabriel rubbed his stomach. “It's weird... I wasn't hungry until we were done.” Gabriel added, standing up to stretch out his arms and yawn. Lily looked around Sienna and was puzzled by Maria's absence. “Hey, Sienna?” She asked, Sienna turned her head to face. “Hm?” She responded. “Where is Maria?” Lily questioned, but Sienna just turned around and began to walk off. “She quit, I'm going back to my room... So talk just among yourselves and eat your food.”
Lily looked shocked from the sudden development, talking louder to try to get her attention. “Hey! Wait! You didn't say why!” She yelled, but Sienna didn't reply, just quietly heading back to her room.
“Why would she quit...?” Lily asked to no one in particular, clearly saddened as she stopped trying to chase after her. Jonah walked up behind her and placed his hand onto her shoulder. “That doesn't seem right... It looked like to me she was pretty excited to be part of the academy.” He admitted, she nodded and sighed as they walked off to get their lunches and their wounds patched up.
Sienna began to slowly walk down the walkways and back to her own dorm, a small one bed dorm room with an entire wall devoted to a huge shelf of books. She walked over to a dresser and picked up one of the framed photos. It was Maria, herself and the rest of their family when they were younger. Maria was only 11 when this picture was taken, it was the day before Sienna went off to train at Spectrum back when she was 16.
To be honest, she noticed that Maria actually looked a lot more like her mother than she did, since she took more after their father. Maybe it was the less curly red hair and the more rounded facial features. She lifted the photo and pulled out her rolling chair to take a seat in it, staring deep at the photo as she sat down quietly. She began to remember all the times back when they were younger. She was always a bit overbearing to her sister, as Maria always had the habit of trying to do what all the adults did. She chuckled a little when she remembered when Maria tried to cook her own dinner while dad was at work.
She accidentally lit the eggs on fire because she used too much oil, and then as soon as the fire was put out. She wanted to do it again because she was super determined to 'doing it right', which caused another fire. She was grounded for two whole weeks and wasn't allowed in the kitchen again until mom replaced the stove. Whenever she got homework, she would do all of it herself without ever asking any questions to anyone else because she thought helping would mean she was stupid. She failed a couple of tests but eventually got pretty good at doing it herself.
Sienna sighed and hugged the photo gently to her chest, but soon her concentration was broken when the door was pulled open. “Hey there, Sienna.” Ashley said, Sienna looked up at her and placed the photo back onto the dresser. “Did you need something?” Asked Sienna, suddenly donning her mask of professionalism. “Yeah, I just wanted an answer to something.” Ashley asked, she kind of guessed what was coming next.
“Why did Maria quit?” She inquired, which was the exact thing that Sienna was expecting to happen. Sienna just sighed and looked at the floor in defeat. “I forced her out of the team.” She replied, which Ashley frowned at that response. Ashley was actually Sienna's instructor before she became one herself, and Sienna knew that what that face meant. “Why?” She replied, as Sienna tried her best to explain.
“Just... I haven't seen her conscious since our parents died. It seems like she's stopped caring about her own safety and I thought I could protect her by making her leave the academy.” She explained, looking at the floor with a feeling of guilt. “How did she take it?” Ashley asked, Sienna looked up at her and took a short breath. “She slapped me in the face and hates my guts.” Ashley frowned even more as Sienna replied, shaking her head a bit. “Do you feel like you made a good call?” She questioned, but Sienna just closed her eyes and sighed.
“I don't really know.” Sienna admitted, placing her hand onto the dresser to lean her weight onto it. “I miss my parent's too... but I just don't know any other way to keep Maria out of danger.” She continued, looking at Ashley as she just observed. “I wish things were easier...” She admitted, but Ashley nodded her head and walked up to place a hand on her shoulder.
“It'll be fine, I'll see what I can do about this.” Ashley reassured, before walking out the door and closing it gently behind her. Sienna walking over to her bed and laying down on it to just try and fall back asleep, even if it was only the middle of the day.
Maria stood in front of the sliding doors to the infirmary as they slid open, stepping through and back out into the main campus. She lifted her arm, which was currently wrapped up with a thick bandage underneath her clean white dress shirt. “I really need to stop coming here.” She commented quietly to herself as she slowly began to walk down the stairs and past the campus. Gale manifested on her shoulder as she spoke.
“Well, stop getting hurt all the time.” He commented, Maria scoffed at that and shook her head. “It's not like I can help that or anything” She replied, lightly stretching her arm and shoulder out. “Well... I'm not entirely sure fighting five wolves in a boxing match is something you couldn't avoid.” Maria shook her head and began to walk up to the fountain, dipping her hand into the clean flowing water and gently splashing it on her face.
“Maria? They let you out already?” Said a voice approaching her from just behind. She stood up to face them, realizing it was her older sister and instructor, Sienna. Her light blue eyes peering at her and her face somewhat blank looking. Maria lifted her hand and showed off her bandaged arm. “I should be good as long as I keep the bandages clean.” Maria explained, gently reaching down to rub on it though. “It seriously hurts, though.” She commented, crossing her hands under her arms and looking at Sienna, who still just looked a bit cold.
“So, Shouldn't you be checking to see if the rest of the team is back yet?” Asked Maria, but Sienna just shook her head. “I check on them every hour, on the hour” She countered, looking to the watch on her left wrist. “I also have their GPS location on my laptop near the return point, according to this they'll be about 3 hours earlier than the deadline.” Sienna explained, placing a hand on her waist and leaning to one foot, her wavy red hair gently being blown to a mess by the gusts of summer winds.
“Ohhhh... Alright. To be honest with you, I just want to get to training already.” Maria said with some call enthusiasm. Getting into the reason why she was really here was kind of exciting for her. Even under her cool exterior she'd be giddy like a schoolgirl if it didn't look stupid to be giddy. But Sienna's frown just plunged a little deeper from that. “Yeah... About that.” She trailed on, looking away from her. “Can we meet in your dorm room?” Sienna asked from nowhere, Maria was taking slightly aback by it. “Uhh... Sure, If you tell me why.” Sienna looked down and shook her head.
“This is private, And I don't want anyone else to hear it. Your dorm room is ideal” Sienna commented, but Maria just shrugged her shouldered and began to walk to her dorm, Sienna trailing just behind her. Usually they would strike up a conversation while they were together, just like when they were younger. But this time was different, both of them seemed uncomfortable around the other just enough to remain in silence as they walked up the stairs and into Maria's shared dorm. She looked at the walls and dresser and noticed that everything looked cleaned up and repaired.
“By the way, We had all of the damages to this dorm stripped from your paycheck.” Sienna stated, and Maria suddenly switched from neutral to frustrated. “Are you kidding me?” Sienna shook her head and walked over to the curtain, rubbing her fingers along the draping. “This is silk; it's actually pretty pricey, so we had to take away your whole supplemental check for this month to pay for it. Everything else was public property, and you pay for anything you damage while you stay here.” She stated flatly, looking at her frustrated little sister patiently.
“Really? People can just take money away from me like that?” She said, angrily glaring at her and stomping her foot lightly on the hardwood floor. “What am I supposed to do for lunch, or if I need to replace my jacket? Like.. you know.. how I have to replace my jacket.” Sienna just closed the new drapes and turned around to look at her, shrugging her shoulders.
“And who the hell uses silk for the drapes of A DORM ROOM? I thought dorms were supposed to be budget.” Maria complained, gesturing with her hand as she did. “When you want it to actually look respectable,” Sienna answered, before continuing on as she walked over to shut the door, locking it with a twist before heading back to address her. “Money here isn't going to be a problem here for you, Maria.” Sienna forebode, shaking her head a little bit. Maria looked confused and leaned onto her back foot, her face looking puzzled.
“What do you mean by that? Don't be so vague with me.” Maria reprimanded, crossing her arms a little tighter from feeling uncomfortable. Sienna gently walked over to the closet and pulled it open. “I had your weapon confiscated as of yesterday.” She stated, Maria looking down and furrowing her brow in agitation. “Okay, now you're just trying to fuck with me.” She commented flatly, clearly annoyed by how her sister was acting.
“That leaves me to what I wanted to talk about.” Sienna said, closing the closet doors and walking up closer to her. “Why are you here?” She asked, Maria stared at her in confusion, looking at the wall before peering back to her. “You know why I'm here, Sienna.” Replied Maria, Sienna just glared at her and sighed. “No, Why are you actually here? I want to hear it come from your mouth.” She stated calmly, her brow lowered with a frown on her face.
“I came here to fight Riftfallen; I want to kill as many as I can.” Maria replied, but Sienna didn't look relieved. “That isn't good enough” Replied Sienna, frowning at Maria as she just stared at her with a feeling of uneasiness. “What do you mean that's not good enough?” Maria asked, furrowing her brow and gripped more into the sleeves of her shirt. Sienna walked up and grabbed Maria by the shoulders, looking at her.
“This isn't a game, Maria. You're going to be putting your life on the line every single day by being here. And for what? So you can kill some things?” Sienna observed, her voice tinged with agitation. “I joined this academy to protect the people I love. People who come here need that compassion and bravery in their heart are the ones who deserve to be here.” She continued, but Maria just glared sharply at her. “It doesn't fucking matter the reason for why I'm here, all that matters is I do my job.” She argued, now upset at her sister as she spoke.
Sienna sighed and let go of her shoulders, looking away from her as she spoke. “Yeah, you seem to be doing a great job. Ending up in the hospital twice in two weeks before even doing anything for anyone else besides yourself.” Sienna said scolding, Maria growled slightly and shook her head. “Wow, screw you.” She commented, but Sienna just cut her off.
“I don't want you waltzing into something you don't understand. You just joined here and you're not even old enough to watch a movie by yourself, how in the hell do you expect me to think you're making a mature decision for once?” Asked Sienna, Maria biting her lower lip slightly and looking away from her. “I know what I'm doing, Sienna. I've been preparing for this for years now.” Maria muttered, but Sienna just continued to glare at her.
“I hardly believe that.” Sienna remarked, shaking her head and crossing her arms over one another on her chest. Maria clenched her fists and tilted her head. “What would our parents think of you if they knew you were going to were going to do something this dangerous every day of your life?” Sienna asked, but Maria's glare just grew even sharper, her hands beginning to shake from a quiet fury. “They wouldn't care. They're fucking dead... Dead people can't think.” Barked Maria, but Sienna just closed her eyes and shook her head.
“You don't believe me, do you?” Maria asked sarcastically, Sienna went back to glaring at her, much more upset than before. “No, I just don't think you're ready for this.” Sienna snapped back quietly, Maria quickly flipping her the middle finger for a brief second before replying. “Who gave you the right to choose what I am ready for? I chose to come here and I'm staying. You can't do anything about that.” Maria responded, but Sienna grabbed her by the collar of her dress shirt and pulled her closer. “I'm giving you your ultimatum, Maria.” Sienna said, now visibly angry, her light blue eyes looking as sharp and cold as ice.
“You are nothing but a liability for my team, from what I've saw of you so far I only have one guess as to what's going to happen to us. You're going to get someone killed, be it yourself or one of your teammates... You're going to make someone get killed with your ignorance and blatant disregard for your own safety. Get off my team, or I'll make you get off.” Sienna demanded of Maria, who was just looking very confused.
“And where the hell did all this come from?” Asked Maria, Sienna not letting go of her shirt as she spoke to her. “I made you my pupil so I can watch over you and help take care of you, because I thought you could use the emotional support after all that happened. And yet all I've seen is you be a suicidal idiot who can't even go a week without injuring herself. It's obvious you have something wrong with you.” Sienna remarked, Maria just keeping quiet as she looked at her.
“You should go back to your boarding school and live a normal life. Graduate, find some work, and settle down with someone you like; You'll live longer for it.” Sienna suggested to Maria dismissively, Maria just glared at her even more. “And why do you get to pick that for me?” Maria growled at Sienna, before grabbing her hands and pushing her away. “You fuckin' don't. And no one else can either, if I have a death wish like you say I do then just let me do as much as I can before I get ran through.” She said, glaring at her and looking away.
“I'm not giving you a choice in the matter. I'm going to report you to the counselors if you don't quit.” Maria suddenly jerked back, looking surprised before getting even more furious. “You did.. WHAT?!” She snapped, stomping her foot and gritting her teeth. Sienna just nodded. “Yeah, and if you can't pass their psych exam, you'll never step foot in this academy again.” She explained, Maria grabbing her by her shirt and shouting at her. “Why would you do that!?” She shouted, Sienna just looked at her calmly. “I'd rather have you hate me than knowing that your death will be my responsibility. This is entirely for your protection.” She explained. Maria throttled her coat in her hands, giving her a shake. “You're really gonna do something underhanded like that just to sell me out? Call them off, right now!” She loudly demanded, but Sienna just gently pulled her away from grabbing her.
“Nothing you're going to do is going to make me change my mind, Maria.” Sienna explained, crossing her arms and just watching how she responds. “I just don't want you to die just because of what happened to mom and dad affecting your psyche. I couldn't live with it.” Sienna said, her anger turning into sadness as she waited for Maria to respond.
Maria reared back her hand and slapped Sienna as hard as she could across the face with a loud crack, Sienna's face twisting to the side and making her look at the floor. The slapped cheek feeling a warm sting as it turned red. “FUCK. YOU.” Maria barked at her. “You can't just fucking control my life like that.” She said, her hands shaking from realizing she just bitch slapped her own sister. “If you really want me gone.. Then I'm fucking done here. Just don't expect anything from me ever again.” She continued, but Sienna just stared at the floor, the hand print becoming visible on her face.
“This entire place is a joke, and you're a fucking joke too.” Maria ranted, walking to the door and swinging it open. “Later, bitch...” She said before slamming the door and storming away. Sienna just reached up to wipe off a tear coming down from one of her eyes, before taking a deep breath and looking at her wrist watch. It was just before 11 AM, she needed to go check on the rest of her students.
She walked to the door and quietly opened it, heading down the hallway with her hands placed in her pockets, heading down the staircase and out the front door onto the sidewalk. Looking around to see Maria slowly walking off to the front gates, her head sunken downward. She sighed and walked the other way and back to the top of the hill where the entrance of the forest was.
“There you are!” Shouted Jonah, who was sitting on the grassy hill and rubbing on an aching shoulder. “Yep... I'm here” Sienna replied, noticing that everyone had arrived at roughly the same time, some were standing and some were sitting. “Did we make it on time?” Asked Lily, bandages still wrapped on her face. Sienna nodded some. “Yep, you made it about three hours early.” she said calmly. Jonah wanted to pump his fist in excitement, but as soon as he tried to stand up, he just fell over again from being too tired. “Oh... I want to go tell my bed that I love her.” Jonah commented while yawning, stretching his back to help relieve the pain. Morgan chuckled and shook her head, Sienna shrugging her shoulders.
“Well you all know what this means.” Said Ashley, walking up the hill to meet Sienna and everyone else. “You are all official Slayers for Spectrum academy! I hope all of you are proud of yourselves, you should be.” Everyone smiled at that, as Morgan helped Jonah onto his feet and kept him stable. “You will all get your licenses up at the front desk. And then you can start setting up your schedule around your elective classes.” Ashley explained, adjusting her hair to get out of the way of her only good eye.
“Electives? What are those?” Asked Jonah, trying to get back on his own two feet without the help of Morgan. “Electives are classes you can pick out for yourself when you're not doing combat training. It helps break the monotony and even gives you college credits!” Ashley explained, Sienna gently rubbing the red from her cheek while no one was paying attention. “Are there any examples of what kind of classes we can pick from?” Asked Lily, Sienna sighed and shrugged her shoulders. “They're in the booklets you get at the front desk, us explaining it is just going to be redundant.” She admitted, Lily nodding some as they tried to rest from the 3 day venture.
“I also suggest you get some food while you're at it. Unless you went hunting, you starved yourselves for nearly 3 days.” Ashley added, and Gabriel rubbed his stomach. “It's weird... I wasn't hungry until we were done.” Gabriel added, standing up to stretch out his arms and yawn. Lily looked around Sienna and was puzzled by Maria's absence. “Hey, Sienna?” She asked, Sienna turned her head to face. “Hm?” She responded. “Where is Maria?” Lily questioned, but Sienna just turned around and began to walk off. “She quit, I'm going back to my room... So talk just among yourselves and eat your food.”
Lily looked shocked from the sudden development, talking louder to try to get her attention. “Hey! Wait! You didn't say why!” She yelled, but Sienna didn't reply, just quietly heading back to her room.
“Why would she quit...?” Lily asked to no one in particular, clearly saddened as she stopped trying to chase after her. Jonah walked up behind her and placed his hand onto her shoulder. “That doesn't seem right... It looked like to me she was pretty excited to be part of the academy.” He admitted, she nodded and sighed as they walked off to get their lunches and their wounds patched up.
Sienna began to slowly walk down the walkways and back to her own dorm, a small one bed dorm room with an entire wall devoted to a huge shelf of books. She walked over to a dresser and picked up one of the framed photos. It was Maria, herself and the rest of their family when they were younger. Maria was only 11 when this picture was taken, it was the day before Sienna went off to train at Spectrum back when she was 16.
To be honest, she noticed that Maria actually looked a lot more like her mother than she did, since she took more after their father. Maybe it was the less curly red hair and the more rounded facial features. She lifted the photo and pulled out her rolling chair to take a seat in it, staring deep at the photo as she sat down quietly. She began to remember all the times back when they were younger. She was always a bit overbearing to her sister, as Maria always had the habit of trying to do what all the adults did. She chuckled a little when she remembered when Maria tried to cook her own dinner while dad was at work.
She accidentally lit the eggs on fire because she used too much oil, and then as soon as the fire was put out. She wanted to do it again because she was super determined to 'doing it right', which caused another fire. She was grounded for two whole weeks and wasn't allowed in the kitchen again until mom replaced the stove. Whenever she got homework, she would do all of it herself without ever asking any questions to anyone else because she thought helping would mean she was stupid. She failed a couple of tests but eventually got pretty good at doing it herself.
Sienna sighed and hugged the photo gently to her chest, but soon her concentration was broken when the door was pulled open. “Hey there, Sienna.” Ashley said, Sienna looked up at her and placed the photo back onto the dresser. “Did you need something?” Asked Sienna, suddenly donning her mask of professionalism. “Yeah, I just wanted an answer to something.” Ashley asked, she kind of guessed what was coming next.
“Why did Maria quit?” She inquired, which was the exact thing that Sienna was expecting to happen. Sienna just sighed and looked at the floor in defeat. “I forced her out of the team.” She replied, which Ashley frowned at that response. Ashley was actually Sienna's instructor before she became one herself, and Sienna knew that what that face meant. “Why?” She replied, as Sienna tried her best to explain.
“Just... I haven't seen her conscious since our parents died. It seems like she's stopped caring about her own safety and I thought I could protect her by making her leave the academy.” She explained, looking at the floor with a feeling of guilt. “How did she take it?” Ashley asked, Sienna looked up at her and took a short breath. “She slapped me in the face and hates my guts.” Ashley frowned even more as Sienna replied, shaking her head a bit. “Do you feel like you made a good call?” She questioned, but Sienna just closed her eyes and sighed.
“I don't really know.” Sienna admitted, placing her hand onto the dresser to lean her weight onto it. “I miss my parent's too... but I just don't know any other way to keep Maria out of danger.” She continued, looking at Ashley as she just observed. “I wish things were easier...” She admitted, but Ashley nodded her head and walked up to place a hand on her shoulder.
“It'll be fine, I'll see what I can do about this.” Ashley reassured, before walking out the door and closing it gently behind her. Sienna walking over to her bed and laying down on it to just try and fall back asleep, even if it was only the middle of the day.
No comments:
Post a Comment