After ongoing brutal slayings in her home town of Australia and her mother’s murder, Sky enlists with Logue agency, one of the top agencies in Australia, and becomes one of their top assassins at 18 years old. And as the agencies only female promoted to the agencies classified missions, she can only rely on herself.
When assigned to capture Lars, an enemy of Australian Government with an insatiable thirst for power, Sky embarks on a treacherous operation to befriend Galen who belongs to division 19, a division separate from all other divisions in Australia and one bounded by secrecy.
Unfortunately for Sky, Division 19 has unspeakable power and anyone threatening exposure is hunted, leading Sky on a high stake mission of life and death, with no room to fail, or it might be her last.
Targeted Age Group:: Teens, Young Adults & Adults
What Inspired You to Write Your Book?
“Blind Sky” is my first book and I was inspired to write it after watching a program on the History Channel discussing the Lost City of Atlantis. The Lost City of Atlantis is surrounded by centuries of myths, mysteries and stories of a highly advanced civilization that some say existed, but suddenly disappeared and could possibly be underwater.
So the idea and concept of an advanced group of citizens living on earth but under secrecy was born, and as my ideas continued to develop, I knew I wanted this world of prestige, unimaginable power and advanced technology to collide with modern day society.
How Did You Come up With Your Characters?
I had a vision of the characters in my mind, including what I wanted them to look like, their flaws and strengths. Coming up with names was fun, though finding the right name was easier for some than others. The main character Sky was easy to come up with, I named her after my car, which I still drive. It was the first car I bought and my mom came up with the name because of the blue color. Other characters in the book, I used google as my search engine to find unique names, while some of the characters names literally just popped into my head, like Metakye and Herrin for example.
Book Sample
Prologue
I stood in front of the bathroom mirror before I retired to bed, and faced the girl in the mirror with the memory of blood stained hands, whose last notable achievement was a High School Diploma, until today.
I pulled my wet hair into a pony tail, then wrapped a towel around my naked body, but there was not enough water, or soap suds that could erase what I did. And I couldn’t celebrate. There was no medal or trophy to honor such a victory, but I didn’t need it. It felt good. I prevailed, and couldn’t wait to do it again.
1
Two Years Ago
Get up, get up,” the voice barked.
The sheet wrapped around me was snatched away, leaving me coverless on the bed. There wasn’t much I could see besides a shadow, hollering and instructing everyone to the hallway outside the bunkers. I rolled onto my side and noticed Misty; one of my best friends looked dazed, though still beautiful even without make-up. Misty had the height, charisma, and dark hair that hung effortlessly just above her collar bone, and was one thing I envied, because each strand of sun-tanned bronzed curl on my head demanded constant grooming and attention, or my hair would run wild.
“Rule number one, always be prepared and alert. Leave nothing to chance,” yelled Tadao. Tadao, our instructor poked the gun into my thigh, then directed me out of bed. He was a petite and slender guy, with skin as translucent and smooth as a porcelain doll, and large almond shaped eyes designed like a Lark.
And instead of filling out college applications like the average 18-year old, I opted to enroll with a recruiting agency that send agents on covert missions to kill enemies of Australian Authority Official’s, plus submit to Tadao’s loud mouth hammering in my head.
As if Tadao’s strident demands weren’t enough, I had to move around the condensed room, which was even tighter with another body roaming inside shouting orders.
It was week one at Logue’s Agency training facility.
“Get into formation. Men to the right, women the left,” he instructed, and if not for his commanding voice, he could be mistaken for an adolescent boy.
A sea of recruits piled behind one another, and my eyes were still burning from being jolted from my sleep. I didn’t sleep well. I was cranky.
In that moment, I wanted nothing more than to thrust Tadao’s gun into his leg, to prove how agitated I was. After eight hours of non-stop training drills yesterday, flanking maneuvers, endurance fire courses, and team defense field exercises, I was more exhausted than I’ve ever felt in my entire life. But I couldn’t afford to lose focus, I wanted this.
“Someone will escort you to your destination today. In the meantime, everyone march to the front of the building.”
No one had shoes on, but we formed lines and marched in the hallway outside our bunkers wearing blue shorts and blue shirts, our mandatory sleep wear and uniform.
We stopped in front of the gray dome shaped facility surrounded by a row of guards marching in line to the commands over the speaker. It was still dark, and probably another two hours before the sun arrived.
The blue uniforms were representative of Logue’s agency colors, and the blare of the guards chanting their recited mantra got louder. We won’t stop ’til… we win this fight. We won’t rest ’til… we find you. The sight was patriotic and served as a reminder of their dedication and devotion.
There were two guards outside standing near our formations, but only one bothered to look over at us. I was first in the line of women. The guard approached and skimmed over me with suspicion.
“Name,” he shouted automatically.
“Sky McClair.”
“Inside to the left, instructions will be given for your physical today. Name,” he shouted again and examined Misty who was in line behind me.
“Name,” he bellowed once again, but with more assertion.
Misty stepped forward apprehensively. He glanced up from the clip board and scrutinized her with his popping gray eyes, studying her underneath the brim of his hat that highlighted the shadow across his face.
“If you’re reluctant, maybe you shouldn’t be here,” he said with aversion, and didn’t hide the repugnant expression speckled across his face. I knew Misty wanted to be there, but I could tell she was in pain from the drills yesterday, judging by her fidgeting uncomfortable in the line, and the way one side of her body collapsed awkwardly to the side. Misty was tough, but a lot more sensitive than me. Surprisingly, the guard wasn’t even distracted by her impressive 5’10 physique, which was unusual considering men usually fall like sand in her presence. I’ve witnessed it happen countless times.
“Come on. Give her a break. She’s just a little tired from yesterday that’s all,” Derek, my best friend chimed in. He stood third in the men’s line, with an undeterred look on his face, and ruffled his hands through his dark hair.
The guard approached and despite Derek’s 6’3 well developed body, he faded in comparison to the guard’s grizzly shape.
“Name,” he yelled and eyeballed Derek suspiciously.
“Derek Tillman.”
“Step aside,” the guard scowled.
I glanced over at Derek who was fuming and obviously annoyed, and I prayed he didn’t do anything stupid. I knew him well enough to know, if provoked he would make a scene.
The guard moved closer and punched him in the stomach, and he coughed from the impact. Derek stood up and growled at the guard, tightening his fist by his side. My heart was pounding, and the urge to do something kicked in.
I began to doubt my decision to join the agency, because I couldn’t believe they would do this. The second guard remained positioned like a manikin in front of the building’s entrance. He made no attempt to work anything out and positioned the clip board at his side and stared off into space, standing as still as a frozen corpse. I didn’t even think he blinked.
I tried to get Derek’s attention, but his focus was geared toward the guard. The guard shoved Derek to the ground with no remorse, and on instinct I jumped out of line and screamed for the guard to stop.
“Sky stay back,” Derek advised and brushed his self-off. “Sky don’t do anything.”
But I wasn’t going to sit back and let this happen. This was ridiculous and I couldn’t allow myself to stand for it.
Derek blocked his body in between me and the guard, and Tadao walked up beside the guard with his sleek black hair swiped across his face like an anime character.
“What’s the problem out here?” he inquired.
“Tadao,” the guard saluted.
“Would anyone care to explain what is going on?” and stared at Derek who was still pinned between me and the guard.
I put my hand up. “I would.”
He examined my expression, scrutinizing me with what seemed like doubt, but I wasn’t afraid and maintained my focus.
“What’s your name?” he asked and focused his stonily reservation on me. He didn’t demand the question; rather he employed a subtle tone that had a hint of interest.
“Sky.”
“Are you involved in this matter?”
“No, she wasn’t,” Derek yelled before I even had a chance to answer.
“Yes I was,” I reinforced. Tadao glanced over at the guard who reverts back to his post, then surveyed Derek and I, and rubbed his chin which had no visible hair at all, not even a stubble.
“Then what happened?” he asked me.
“Difficult over there,” I said and pointed at the guard with attitude, “hit Derek in the stomach and pushed him to the ground,” and I glared back at the guard who seemed unapologetic. It took every fiber in my body, and muscle in my bone to restrain from kicking him in the jaw, though I wasn’t opposed to doing it anyway.
Tadao refocused his gaze to the guard. “Is this correct what they say Bay.”
“Yes sir. But only because he got out of line.”
Tadao turned back towards us. “I apologize for the unwarranted behavior, but please do know, if and when someone gets out of line, the guards have permission to follow through with their job.”
He paced back and forth with his hands behind his back, examining Derek and I over like a scanning metal detector. I was repelled by everyone’s lackluster behavior. There was no excuse for what the guard did.
“Do you both want to be here?” he questioned and stared back at Derek and me.
“Yes,” we answered together.
“Clip board,” he shouted.
The guard handed it to him without reservation and he wrote something down, returned it to the guard and disappeared through the doors, and we were ordered to enter into the building.
2
Once inside, a towering shadow in a full piece blue leather suite walked with precision down the hallway aisle, and for a second I thought whatever it was or whoever it was, was headless. No one flinched or peeped, and I tried to restrain the cough in my throat trying to escape. I weathered the uncertainty and tried not to look out of place, though clearly we were. I deliberated walking away from training, the agency, and Tadao, but I made a commitment and had to see it through.
I caught Derek’s awareness of my dilemma. Unfortunately, I was never good at hiding my discomfort. He supplied reassurance with a subtle mention not to worry, then the mystery of the headless shadow was revealed with an icy greeting. The figure clearly had the prim and poised characteristic of a robot down.
“Follow me,” she directed.
Derek had to be impressed and smitten because I noticed he smiled while he inspected her body. She seemed to ignore Derek’s useless attempt to flirt. Her coal black eyes rolled toward him with a guile of warning, then she turned around mechanically and proceeded, and we followed diligently.
We weren’t allowed to tour other parts of the building outside our bunk quarters, so we marveled at the large columns and white tiled hallway. The room we entered was large and spectacular. It had a modern design with high ceilings and slender lighting sectioned in rows, plus bright green flooring that highlighted the soft white paint along the wall. The room was designed to the nines, and far from the small bunks we were assigned to.
A large rotating circle with the words LOGUE inscribed in the center of the floor stood out like a Giselle in a small card board box. The spinning stopped, then a blast of colorful assortment of striking lights whirled around the room as bright and prominent, as a sea of firework shows on New Year’s Eve.
The lady escorting us stopped, and swiped her pastel blue hair situated down her back behind her ear. Derek and I stood behind her, and I wasn’t sure if we were the only ones that would meet today, because there were no other recruits.
“Welcome recruits,” a voice over a loud speaker greeted. “We are glad you are here because there are intolerable groups threatening our security and livelihood. Overtime you will become familiarized with our procedures and expectations. Don’t be alarmed. Training will be tough, but necessary for survival.”
“Sky to the left please,” our robotic sounding lady said. “Derek to the right, please. Physicals will be performed now.”
Robes were handed to us and we were summoned to individual rooms. Derek’s black belt in martial arts put him at an advantage, so he was classified under experienced and taken to another section of the facility.
I stood on the circle platform which had a plush padding that absorbed nicely underneath my bare feet, and then Derek appeared accompanied by Tadao. Derek smiled over at me and I smiled back.
“Today, we’re doing something different.” Both Derek and I gave each other a puzzled stare. “Usually, I save this part of the training until the end, but I think both of you can benefit from this.” Tadao gave a nod to the robotic lady, and she walked away, only to return shortly after with a white chair in hand.
“Sky, Derek, each one of you will take a seat in the chair, and Marina will give you a glass with liquid inside to drink. Once the liquid settles, your entire body will go numb and testing will begin.”
“What exactly are you testing?” Derek asks.
“Tolerance,” Tadao replied. “There will be five levels of electric shocks administered, mild, transitional, intense, extreme and severe. Think of this as your advance course on enduring torture.”
“Sky, please take a seat in the chair.”
At Marina’s request I did so and wondered how much pain I could endure. My tolerance for pain was in the realm of average. A small wound or minor injury wouldn’t bother me, or would it I thought, because I never had to deal with an injury, and any small scratch or scrape I might have had growing up was too trivial to compare to receiving electric shocks.
Derek had his arms crossed in front of him and appeared more concerned and nervous than I was. He was a good friend for caring, and I loved him dearly for it.
Marina placed the chair in the center of the Logue inscription, explained some of the drills and requirements, which included simulators with gun battle, combat and weaponry training, and LOGUE System Protocol Classified assignments. “But those tests will be later,” she said without ever blinking once while she addressed us.
Marina gave me a small cup the size of a shot glass. There was enough liquid inside that I could finish it with one sip. It looked like water, had no smell, or flavor, but trailed down my throat like swallowing an oyster. A silver metal shaped like a bracelet snapped around my wrists and Marina stood in front of me holding a miniature notepad, then began typing something.
Nothing happened immediately and I considered if what they were testing was merely a reaction.
Then a quick jolt jumped from my body. My head dipped to the right and then to the left swiftly, but I couldn’t feel anything.
Marina kept her face buried in front of the screen, while Derek watched me nervously and Tadao stood to the side with his arms behind his back.
A few more jolts jerked my body intermittently, but I felt fine, until an unexpected shockwave of discomfort vibrated through my chest with the sensation of pins pricking my arms. My body began to shudder and shiver like falling into sub zero water temperature and the pain no longer felt like sharp stings piercing through skin, it was worse.
The feeling of barbed ice absorbing into my skin came to a halt, replaced by a dynamic force surging my body through a wind towel. Darkness traveled around me like the rings around Saturn, as my head spun around in circles, then it all stopped abruptly and my body throbbed and ached with drumming pulsation like a parade of elephants tramping on my head.
A tortuous spasm of pain coursed and scraped across my abdomen. I tried to bear the persecution of being severed and shredded apart by piranha teeth ripping and tearing every piece of flesh connected to my body, and at that moment, I rather my body exploded than suffer through the experience of teeth slashing and hacking every layer of skin.
“Stop it. Stop it. Do something, you can’t just let her scream like this,” a voice shouted, though it sounded like it was coming from a distance.
“If you’re not going to do something, I will.”
“She’s holding up well, a minute longer and she will make it through extreme,” a voice said.
“The hell I will. Her face looks like it’s about to explode.”
“Sky, snap out of it,” but I couldn’t, I continued to scream. The warmth of someone’s hands shook me back and worth, the way one would when trying to wake someone from a bad nightmare.
Everything faded and I felt as though I had been released from a bottle I was trapped inside of.
“Sky, Sky….it’s alright.” I could barely open my eyes and the atmosphere was dim and extremely hot.
“Are you happy now,” he shouted.
“Derek, this is part of the training. It’s something she and everyone must go through.”
“Are you alright?” I tried even harder to open my eyes further. “Sky it’s me Derek. It’s alright, I’m here.” And the locks around my wrist released.
My awareness started to slowly come back, as Marina approached Derek, who held me by his side.
“Come with me,” she said and extended her hand in a gesture to follow.
“She’s had enough,” and Derek continued to act as my shield.
Tadao glanced over at me, and then rubbed his chin like he did before. ”We will finish this tomorrow. Marina will arrive tomorrow morning at your bunkers to escort you back here.”
“What time?” Derek asks, but Tadao never responded to his question.
Marina handed us newly packaged blue pants and t-shirts.
“He could at least tell us a time?” Derek mumbled. Marina ignored his comment and left the room.
“You alright?” I knew the unease was evident on my face, and to avoid any misgiving because I didn’t want the test to break me, I settled on giving Derek a hug.
“It wasn’t what I was expecting, but I’m glad I did it.” Derek stood in front of me weary of my explanation, then proceeded with a suspicious evaluation of my face, but I maintained my composure, even though I felt exposed.
“You hungry?”
I honestly didn’t have much of an appetite, but it could easily have been from the impact of being tortured by the feeling of my gut being ripped and shredded apart.
The cafeteria was the only place where all male and female recruits were not divided; at least that’s how it was arranged on our side of the facility, and as far as space was concerned, it was one of the few areas that didn’t skim on space.
There were two floors, each with a stationed kitchen and pleasantly up to par food. The selection were many and varied, from freshly toasted sandwiches on ciabatta, rye, whole grain bread and so many others, to chicken biscuits, bacon, eggs, hash browns, tortilla wraps, French toast, pancakes, and fruit salads.
We walked into the cafeteria to a cluster of recruits who resembled a field of blueberries dumping food into trash bins, and stacking trays on top of another.
People were shouting above each other, laughing, and reciting lyrics of their favorite songs, which was as much entertainment as we could expect. Television, music, computers, lap tops and all other technological devices, except a one phone call per day authorization, was prohibited during training.
Misty spotted us and signaled us over. A group of other recruits were sitting around the round table with disconcerting expressions when we approached.
“What happened to you guys? Where did they take you?” Misty asked.
I gave Derek a nervous smile and he read my mind immediately.
“Well, when you’re two of the best recruits here, they have to pull us aside to make the rest of you guys look good.”
“Oh please,” Misty snapped. “We haven’t even done evaluations yet, so don’t get ahead of yourself.”
I was used to Derek and Misty’s bickering, but the five other people at the table seemed apprehensively quiet. A guy with pallid skin and amber blonde hair sitting extremely close to Misty sized Derek up, but Derek oblivious kept on ranting.
Misty put two fingers between her lips, whistled, then slapped her hands together. “Now that I have everyone’s attention, I would like for us all to get acquainted,” and goes on with her introductions.
Casey had a sweet shy voice to match her adolescent round face, and Shirley temple colored hair, which was an example why you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. This girl seemed like the picture of a girl next door, who would babysit the neighborhood kids, not slaughter someone on request.
“This is Lacey,” Misty announced. “Her father is the Chief of staff for Australian Government.”
She crossed her arms in front of her and gave me a forced smile, but I ignored her direct disfavor. At times, I could quickly dismiss people I didn’t know, but she proved I wasn’t overanalyzing my observation because she perked up when Derek made eye contact, and gave her a charming smile, which made her giggle like some school girl caught in a trance.
Sophie, had long hazelnut colored hair, bright cobalt eyes and greeted everyone in a more than overzealous voice.
“Did they take you guys to some secret part of the facility?”
“Or to where they stash the weapons?” Lacey interjected, then tossed her medium length hair, that was dark brown on top and blonde on the bottom.
“No, they just wanted to go over a few things with us,” I replied. She was annoying me, and the smug slander on her face only made me want to smack the condescending leer right off.
“So what are you guys, a pair of trouble makers?”
My body assembled into aggression, but I took a couple deep breaths to collect myself.
“No,” I mustered. “I just believe in having an opinion and doing something when my friends are in trouble.”
Misty got out of her chair and ran over to me.
“Guys enough with the questionnaire, Sky’s my dearest and best friend, and she’s not a trouble maker. Now Derek on the other hand,” she said with hesitation, then took a deep sigh, “that’s up for debate.”
“That’s a pretty name,” the guy sitting next to Casey commented.
I observed his face, bed of wavy curls, walnut colored skin, and deciphered that his remark sounded genuine, so I gave him a smile.
“It is, isn’t it,” Misty said with a smirk. Derek overheard the comment and took a seat next to him.
Derek watched him like a protective older brother.
“So you like her name eh.”
“Yes. I said it was pretty.”
“What’s your name?”
“Lawrence,” he pronounced with confidence.
“Hey Misty, what about me? You forgot the most important person out of the bunch.”
“I was just getting to you. I was saving the best for last. “Sky, Derek, this is Joshua,” and she sat on his lap, which made his cheeks flush like a ripe tomato.
“That’s right,” he replied with a certain arrogance while rubbing Misty’s back.
He seemed like some pompous jerk. He winked at Sophie, and she seemed amused but remained quiet, only returning a flirty smile.
“It’s almost time to go. You guys going to eat or what?” Misty asked.
Despite not being hungry when I first walked in, the rumbling inside my stomach indicated different.
Suddenly, everything appealed to me, but I decided on whole grain bread and an omelet, while Derek got his usual plate of French toast, scrambled eggs and bacon. I finished my breakfast and took a sip of my ice tea and spit it out when my chair almost got knocked over by guards running to break up the brawl that broke out on the second floor. Several more guards charged up the stairs and stopped the fight.
An announcement was made over the speaker and we were ordered to our bunks.
Misty told me later that night, she overheard a group of guys making bets on who had better fighting skills, and probably the reason for the fight.
I closed my eyes and thought about my reality. It was not a game, but a matter of life and death.
3
Footsteps of the issued guard patrolling outside the bunker window, squishing and crunching his boots on the lawn made it hard to sleep. I fluffed the two pillows I used for neck support, rolled onto my back, and huffed at the sound of Misty snoring in the bed across from me. I thought about the events that brought me here, and my reason was clear. Find and kill the perpetrator that murdered my mother.
The entire continent was at the brink of war, and the death tolls were escalating, as uprisings from The Protectors, they announce themselves as such, were multiplying and on a killing spree, and have one up on us–Insanity.
Dad being away, allowed a little relief, though after hearing updates that we were going to war, he insisted on an earlier flight but nothing was available. Flights were booked up. Terror does that. Everyone panics and everything becomes turmoil.
I’ve acquired some knowledge in my short existence that nothing compromises value, structure and morale more than killing with no guilt or remorse. The killers were delirious and manipulated by propaganda. They wanted to overthrow the government, declared the need for a new world order, and were ready to kill and die with no regards.
When Australian Officials reported mom’s murder to dad and me on the pavement of our front door, dad was beyond himself and had to be sedated after he attacked one of the Official’s. I on the other hand, was frozen. Frozen with leaching mania to pluck the perpetrator’s eye out and make them feel an inkling of torment and anguish I felt for my loss. I ached with desire to avenge my mother’s murder, and defend my country from those vile killers. I craved revenge, retribution, justice, anything, something, to ease the uncontrollable maddening desire, marinating under my skin, which was boiling over with an insatiable appetite for vengeance.
Anything I ever needed, yearned, or requested, paled in comparison to coveting their head on a platter.
My mother’s death, murder, and slaughter was the turning point for the burst of galling urgency saturated inside my body, ready to erupt, and why I had to join the agency.
Tadao brought Derek and I back to continue with the torture test. It was the last place I wanted to be, but Tadao made it mandatory and had me pulled out my bed by an expressionless Marina at 5 a.m.
Derek didn’t seem nervous, and actually appeared composed and relaxed.
I gave him a nudge in the arm. “Are you trying to outshine me?”
“Never,” and rubbed my back.
Marina performed her same duties and instructed Derek to take a seat. Derek and I grew up together, and I knew he could handle just about anything.
I was apprehensive to watch Derek endure a similar ordeal as I did, but was curious to see how far he would go.
Derek took a seat in the chair, drank the liquid without hesitation, placed a hand on each leg and sighed. The metal bracelet snapped around his wrists, and he waited patiently for something to begin.
Five minutes passed and nothing happened. Derek scrolled his eyes around the room and tapped his bare feet on the floor assertively.
I got his attention and shrugged my shoulders because I didn’t know what to think of the whole ordeal, except that maybe Marina didn’t administer the test yet, but she was typing into the notepad and staring vehemently at the screen.
I glanced over at Tadao who seemed to show no sign of worry or concern.
Derek wet his lips and took a deep breath.
Another minute passed and only his heavy breathing persisted. I just about put my hands up in defeat, and was ready to ask Tadao what was going on, when Derek closed his eyes and began shaking.
His body tensed with small traces of sweat trickling down his face, as he dug his fingers into the arm of the chair.
Tadao watched with interest. I stood helpless, wanting to do something, say something, but I didn’t know what. He wasn’t screaming, or shouting hysterical like I did, but the anguish was obvious.
Derek gripped onto the chair so hard it began to rattle. His entire body vibrated with convulsion. He shook and shuddered as if a possessive demon inhibited his body, wounding him with tremor.
The image was so intense, I quaked with anxiety. And even though the room was brightly lit, it felt like an invasion of a dark storm engulfed the room with intensity that mimicked the eruption of a volcano, the winds of a hurricane, the flood of a tsunami, and the pulsation of an earthquake.
I took a few steps forward that brought me within arm’s length of Derek. I wanted to reach out and touch him, but Marina grabbed hold of my arm and pulled me away.
I reacted by withdrawing from her hold, then she sneered at me with eyes focusing in on me as a hungry tiger would watching their prey. She remained close to me and I wanted nothing more than for her to move away.
Tadao aware of the situation gave some kind of signal with a single finger motion, which he moved up then down once. She indicated agreement with a subtle nod and positioned herself about a foot away from me.
Relief took over me, as I was glad for her to leave, but that quickly got overshadowed because of Derek’s grunts.
I observed his body that seemed to be struggling to escape. The chair rattled and vibrated more violently than before, then it fell over with Derek in it. His eyes opened and he kicked the chair across the room, then stormed out.
Tadao came over to me and told me that the numbing liquid was not real. “It’s nothing more than a clear jello substance. We tell recruits that they will be numb, to settle their nerves a little, because the shocks are real. We want recruits and agents to understand, that most of the time, the key to staying strong when being tortured, is developing a mental resistance to the pain.”
At lunch in the cafeteria Derek picked at his food, barely taking a bite of anything. His usual entertaining wit and self-assured personality materialized to dowdy, and I didn’t know how to snap him out of it.
Misty was too busy flirting with Paul, Derek’s bunk mate and Joshua to take notice of Derek’s behavior, which ordinarily she would of delightfully critiqued, igniting their usual banter.
Lacey of course had to put her two senses in and comment. “What’s wrong with him?” she asked, but I turned away and ignored her, then saw Sophie and Lawrence wave to me from the second floor.
He whispered something into her ear which made her giggle. They seem to be enjoying one another’s company and I wondered why someone couldn’t swipe Lacey away, so she could leave the table. I would have left myself, but I didn’t want to leave Derek or be rude to Misty, though judging by the flirtation going on, I doubt she would have noticed.
“Maybe, he’s just tired,” Casey suggested.
“Oh please,” Lacey said with reservation and I had enough of her attitude.
I slammed my cup down on the table, which thankfully wasn’t glass and stabbed my fork into my lasagna.
“Enough,” I shouted.
“Or else what,” she mocked.
She stood up and knocked her chair over and growled at me. I got up out of my chair and chucked my fork at Lacey’s head.
I felt a hand pull me down into my chair.
“Sky, what’s gotten into you,” Derek yelled.
I was blind sighted by my fixation to kick Lacey’s butt, and probably why I didn’t notice Misty or the guards hurling out questions one after the after, waiting for an explanation. The guards held their guns firmly at their sides while gaping over me. I felt like I was on trial. I rationalized the situation as nothing more than a misunderstanding and Lacey agreed to the story as well. We were both given a warning and summoned to our bunks.
I heard the bunk door creak open and assumed it was Misty coming to check on me. I stepped out the bathroom and something sharp and cold struck me across the face, then fabric with the scent of fresh linen was thrown over my head.
I was suffocating for air, but managed to land my fist across someone’s face. They grabbed my waist and threw me on the bed, and quickly my hands were tied behind my back, then I was tossed onto by back.
I thrashed my feet erratically.
“Pipe down will you,” a male voice huffed. But I didn’t stop and kept kicking, until a sudden stab punctured into my right and left leg.
“You think she’ll taste like candy, or melt in my mouth?”
Voices chuckled and mused on suggesting what type of candy they liked.
I waited for the torture to begin, closed my eyes and prepared to be tortured.
As I felt my shorts being removed from my hips, I wanted to die, and I thought I might because it was getting harder to breathe, and the smell of fresh linen evaporated.
“Don’t worry this will be quick. We’ll all be quick, won’t we fellas.” I could hear the clatter of a belt buckle being undone, and the swish of a zipper slithered in my head.
Whatever they put over my head was pushed up to my nose, and immediately my mouth was covered with tape.
Heat sipped on my neck from his mouth, followed by the moisture from his tongue roaming across my neck. “Taste more like salt to me,” and he positioned his body on top of me. I expected the assault, but instead he mumbled how soft my skin was and ran his fingers down my arm.
“I wanted this to be quick,” then skin sticking heat extracted from his mouth. “But I think I might actually take my time.”
Inside, I was screaming, hollering, cursing and hysterical.
“Make it quick will yah. We don’t have all day,” a different voice hollered.
“I’ll take as much time as I need,” and pressed his weight against my chest.
“He’s right though, you can’t hog her all day,” another voice said.
“You guys can make a good moment so unpleasurable.” Then he grazed his hands that felt like scrap metal down my arm.
I was mortified, alone, and frozen.
“Don’t be so nervous. It won’t be that bad. I’m not here to hurt you.”
As I laid there I couldn’t understand why such scum like this would be allowed to still live. I ran through all the list of things in my life I’ve done wrong that would make me deserve this. I never thought too much about karma, until now, because there had to be a reason for why this was happening. Maybe now I’m being punished for having dreams of Catlin, a know it all when I was in High School, getting hit by a bus. Or maybe when I lied to my parents about sleeping over Misty’s house, but instead went to a concert. Or maybe the dozen white lies I’ve told. Whatever the reason, whatever the cause, this was happening right now.
Lips slithered across mines and tears shattered across my face.
“Get off of her,” a voice shrieked and the body on top of me got up.
“Get off of me,” I heard a female voice scream.
“You asshole. Take advantage of someone your own size.” I knew right away that was Derek’s voice.
I tried to wiggle my hands loose, but instead rolled off the bed and hit the floor.
After she threw the sheet off my face, Misty helped untie my hands.
There was a guard sprawled across the floor, one holding Derek, while another one punched him.
“Sky, your legs,” Misty said.
“I’m okay. We have to help Derek.”
Misty jumped on top of the guard punching Derek, and I wobbled over to help Misty but the guard on the ground grabbed my leg.
I kicked him in the mouth and heard shots fired.
Derek shot two guards in the leg, and walked over to the one Misty tackled and shot him in the arm.
******
After our second round of knife handling drills, training was over for the day and Derek caught up to me in the hallway on the way back to the bunks.
“Sky,” Derek said and turned me around to face him. “How are you holding up? Are your okay?”
“Yes,” I whispered because I didn’t want the rest of the recruits walking by to hear us. “I just hope those guards get actually what they deserved for what they did.”
“Well, they were fired and won’t be coming back here.”
“You should have just killed them right then and there,” I said then leaned my back against the wall. “What about you, are you okay?” He leaned up against the wall next to me.
“Yeah,” but I knew he was lying.
“Want to talk about it?”
“Nothing to talk about, except I don’t want to think about how things would have turned out if me or Misty never went to check on you.”
He said it with such somberness I wanted to hold him in my arms, but that might have made it worse.
“I’m glad we’re almost done with training,” he said then pressed his head against the wall.
“Yeah we’re close.”
About the Author:
I was born in Kingston, Jamaica, moved to Brooklyn, and then Queens, New York as a young child, then later moved to Central Florida with my family, where I still call home. For twelve years I’ve worked in administration and management, security surveillance, and temporarily in immigration law. I’m a freelance writer for Demand Media Studios with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and “Blind Sky” released in 2014 is my first book. I would like to travel more, as my destinations so far include Bonn and Cologne Germany, and Paris France. I enjoy tea, reruns of Sex and the City, all Marvel Comic book movies, yoga, and trying foods from different cultures.
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