15 14: Kelsie

"Soooo, what are you going to do now?" Victoria asks.

I just look at her in shock. This is the first time anyone had demanded to know where we work. Marin just waltzed himself into our headquarters and decided that he wanted to help us but this is different.

Glancing over at Marin he mouths, "Secondary base?"

I nod my head and he pulls out of the parking garage. We make our way across I-75 to the Georgian Terrace, one of the hotels we own in Atlanta. Marin pulls the car up to the front and a valet walks over to the driver's door.

He places the keys into the valet's hand, we all grab out stuff, and head in. Making our way to the private elevator, I scan my hand in and press the button for sublevel 3.

Victoria looks at me in confusion when the elevator starts going down but that quickly fades. I turn around and face the set of glass doors behind us and they begin to show the training area and barracks we had built under the hotel. Since keeping all your eggs in one place was never a good idea, we added the secondary base for protection.

"Welcome to the Underground Victoria," I say.

"This is place is massive! I've driven by the hotel a thousand times but never even thought there could be something else here." The elevator stops and she rushes out to see what's going on on the floor.

Marin laughs at the shock on her face. "It seems big but it's just a good place to work without being noticed."

"It really is. Who would ever think a hotel could be so useful?" I lead them down to where my office is. Even though I'm not here very often I still like having my own room. Living in the barracks tends to be more of a problem than it's worth.

Looking around, Victoria nods in approval at the decor. "Nice place Kels. Why is it so fancy though?"

"When you're in a position of power, you need to make sure that position comes across." Hearing my door open, I turn towards the sounds with a knife already in hand.

A small middle aged Japanese man who works overseas most of the time stands in the doorway.

"Sumimasen, chotto ohanashi shite mo yoroshīdesu ka?" He asks in Japanese.

"Hai. Chottomatte kudasai." I turn towards Marin and Victoria. "Y'all can head to my room. I'll be there in just a second."

They head out and the man starts speaking as soon as the door shuts.

"Anata no otōsan ni kansuru jōhō o mitsukemashita."

"Anata wa nani o mitsukemashita ka?"

"Anata no chichioya wa, tsuma igai ni josei to tsukiatta koto ga 1-ri dakedesu. Kanojo ni tsuite wa amari shira rete imasen."

"Dōmo arigatōgozaimashita." (See end for translation of the conversation.)

He bows and walks out.

I sigh and make my way towards my room a few minutes later. Walking in I see Marin and Victoria sitting in some of the chairs I have in there. Victoria is messing around with my power some and is just starting to bend the light around her.

"Good form." I slip out of my heels and walk over to where they're sitting.

The light she was using disappears as she looks up at me in surprise.

"There is one big problem. You're forcing the light to do what you want it to. Working with something as difficult as light means you have to let it flow while slowly directing it to do what you want. Watch this."

Using my right hand I slowly pull a small beam of light from the air. I let it flow all over the room like a river and then add more. Creating small trees and animals that seem stuck in mid-air the work slowly grows. Victoria just looks at me in shock and Marin smiles.

"This is the beauty of our powers," I say. "Everyone's may be a little different and some may use them for destructive purposes but they can be beautiful when used in the right way. If you work with the light and let it do what it wants, it will eventually go where you want."

Pushing my hands apart the entire picture dissolves.

"But, you can also create things that destroy." I quickly pull light into my fist and it solidifies into a shining dagger.

In awe, Victoria asks, "Can I hold it or will it disappear?"

"You can hold it. Just be careful of the edges. It's sharper than you think."

She takes it and carefully presses her fingertip to the tip of the blade. A small drop of blood appears and runs down the blade, sizzling from the small amount of heat it gives off.

"How can I do this?" She asks. The height difference is noticeable now that I'm looking up at her.

"With time and practice. I'm just worried that you won't be able to do it since you're only able to use my power for a little while after your around me based off what you said." I plunk down on the chair to Marin's left with my legs over the left arm. He immediately moves his hand and starts playing with my hair.

"Are they still able to be manipulated like regular light?" She tosses the dagger back and forth between her hands. Figuring out how it moves is really hard.

I nod my head. "I can make you a couple to mess with if you'd like just so you can get used to them."

Victoria's face lights up at that. "Really?"

"Yep."

"But be careful Victoria," Marin warns. "One wrong move with those things and you can lose something."

"How bad do you think I am?"

I just raise my eyebrows. "You're still a beginner. Where you are now I was nearly seventeen years ago. Don't expect to be able to take me on in just a few days."

"Trust me, I may be a little crazy but I'm not that crazy," She promises. "Besides, I need to work on aiming before learning how to actually fight."

"Let me get those made for you really quick." I look around the room and find her bag sitting by the small desk I have. "You picked a great spot for your bag," I say while walking over. "I have some sheaths right here."

Bending down I grab some sheaths from the bottom drawer, line them up on the desk and set to work. Victoria and Marin stay in their chairs chatting while I summon light and form the daggers. A few minutes later and ten shiny daggers lay on my desk. They are perfect in every way except for the one secret hidden in all of them. A small tracker I embedded in each blade will tell me where they are at all times. Victoria may have some of my trust but I still want to make sure these don't get out to anyone else. If these make their way to the black market, it could end very badly.

"Hey Victoria," I call over to her. "I'm going to put these right on top in the main pocket of your bag okay?" Finding the zipper, I start to open her bag.

She's by my side in an instant. "I've got it. Thanks for the offer though." Carefully grabbing the daggers off the desk, she opens her bag a little bit and slides them in one by one.

"Remember to be careful with those. They can cause a lot of damage if you leave them out of their sheath for too long," I warn.

"That's good to know. Thanks for making them for me."

"It was no problem."

"I hate to say this but I need to head back home. I need to finish up my paper and study for a few finals. See you in a few days?" Picking up her bag, she heads towards the door.

"Yeah, definitely."

"Ummm. How do I get out of here again?"

"Turn right and follow the hall to the training room. You'll find the elevator and just press the button for the lobby. Go to the front desk and you'll be able to get a ride home," I explain.

"Thanks again! I'll see y'all later!" Victoria waves as she walks out.

The second the door shuts I pull out my phone and dial Mikel at the front desk.

"Hello Miss Mortem," he answers. "What can I help you with today?"

"Someone named Victoria is coming up. She'll be needing a ride either to her apartment or back to campus for her car. Use a different Tesla from the one we arrived in and I want you to follow her whenever she gets to her destination. You are able to shift, right?" I ask.

"Yes ma'am."

"Good. Don't raise any suspicions with her. Just say I called to let you know she was headed up if she asks."

"That is no problem miss. I'll let you know what I find out later."

"Thank you Mikel." I hang up the phone and sigh.

"You good?" Marin comes over to me with a worried look on his face.

"Yeah. I'm fine. It's just the way she got so protective of her bag was really weird."

"Okay. So what's your plan for now?" He asks me.

"Train and get this paper done. As soon as I finish it I can shut down for a little while," I answer. "Luckily it's almost done."

"I think training will be good. We haven't had a minute to just work and do whatever we want."

"Then let's go." I grab Marin's hand and pull him down the hall towards the training room.

...

I wake up to my phone buzzing like crazy on my nightstand. Rolling over, I grab it and see about a dozen texts from Victoria and a voicemail from Dr. Becker. I immediately click on the voicemail.

'Good morning class. I'm sorry this call comes early but we were just given some instructions from the dean's last night. Due to the incidence yesterday, everyone must undergo heavy meta testing unless you are entering the last year. Since a majority of you are entering your final year, you are safe. As for the rest of you, I wish you the best of luck and hope they find nothing in the test. Have a good rest of your day.' Dr. Becker's voice sounds sad. I don't blame her. Since it was our class she must be taking all the blame for it.

All the texts from Victoria are her freaking out.

'Did you get the message?'

'I'm not exempt from testing. How will I make it through!?'

'Kelsie!'

'Kels'

'WHAT AM I GOING TO DO?'

I shoot her a quick text. 'I'll figure something out. There has to be a meta working for us that can temporarily disable your powers.'

'I swear you're a lifesaver'

A knock sounds at the door. I scramble out of bed, run a brush through my hair, and open it.

"Miss Kelsie, I followed Victoria like you asked," Mikel greets me.

"Was anything that you saw out of the ordinary?" I question. Since she was so off yesterday, I wanted to make sure everything was okay.

Mikel shakes his head. "Nothing seemed wrong. I've set up a team of shifters that I trust to constantly keep an eye on her."

"Is you trust them then all should be fine. The second there is a change in what she does I want to know about it." I instruct.

"Yes ma'am." Turning away, Mikel heads back towards the main area.

Quietly getting ready, I leave Marin asleep. Grabbing some of my normal daggers, I make my way to the training room. Lining up with one of the targets, I let the daggers fly out of my hands. They form a perfect line slightly touching each other. Placing some light in their grooves, I summon them back to my hand one by one.

Time flies by while I go through my movements over and over again. Once I'm happy with my aim, I move over to the obstacle course. Metas with different capabilities lie hidden within it to try tripping up anyone who comes through. The first part flies by fairly quickly since the only real challenge for it is getting through a full jungle of plants that move and can attack you at any time. I slice through the vines and branches using small beams of light.

"How were you able to do it that easily?" Comes from the frustrated meta.

"Skill and practice. That was nothing." I call over my shoulder. Running over to the next sector I propel myself in the air to keep away from a ground and water powered meta. Small steps made from light form under my feet as I bound across the open space.

"Sorry. Might want to try harder next time if you want to beat me."

The rest of the course was only a little difficult and I made it through with a few small scratches and injuries. No one was seriously harmed except for one guy. He thought it would be a smart move to go for my hair and take a small chunk out of it. I immediately sliced his leg and he went down in an instant.

After I clean myself off, I run right into Marin.

"There you are!" Marin says. "I've been looking everywhere for you."

"Why?"

"They found something and you're not going to like it."

My face falls when he says that. This can't be good.

...

Rough translation from earlier conversation:

"Excuse me miss, may I talk to you for a minute?"

"Yes. Give me just a moment."

"I found what you were looking for?"

"What did you find out?"

"Your father has only dated one woman other than his wife. Not much is known about her."

"Thank you so much."