Part 6.

Something about our handler made my blood run cold.

His eyes felt as if they were always watching me without really looking at me. Every time I turned away from him, I felt him examining me. Not in a perverted way, but a calculating manner like he was waiting for me to start ticking so he could exterminate me.

Our first week of training was draining. Who knew there would be so many exhausting little things to do. And they called it basic... What did the real training feel like?

I already felt like quitting as we moved to the second training week.

Our unit barely had time to talk much.

Training ended at around four.

We were expected to take showers in less than thirty minutes, that included level two and three.

As the clock struck five, we were supposed to be in the dining and halfway through our dinner. Afterwards, for those who were religious could go to the chapel or the average-sized mosque or the temple built between the dorms and the library.

One thing they had done right was that they were cautious of any religion under their care. After all, demons were enemies of any godly religion eh?

       With all the fatigue at the end of the day, I barely had any energy to make new friends.

              Sigh!

The night was dead quiet, making my heartbeats sound louder in my ears than any other time.

  My bladder picked a bad time to demand attention. The glowing digits on the IP digital clock/speaker attached above the door read three twenty four AM.

As I walked out of the room, I peeped over at Carlos. He was frowning, maybe was having a nightmare.

      While each floor having its own double toilets for night emergencies, I felt the need to go down the stairs till I was in the community bathroom. After helping myself, my legs further moved towards the exit doors.

I pulled, a part of me hoping they would be open. come on now! Please be-

        "Name and unit!" A manly voice roared.

          "Ah!" I squealed jumping to the side, hitting the wall with the back of my skull. "Fucksake!" I groaned rubbing the hurting part as my eyes searched in the three dim-lit hallways for whoever had spoken.

I spotted him walking down the stairs, over the bathroom doors.

He was wearing a hood, its shadow masking his face. But the golden hair strands peeping from he hood made it easier to identify him, as well as his height and the ever-composed walking style...our unit handler.

    They never gave us their names, just the training initials H.L(Handler for the the L unit).

It was easier identifying them that way, even safer to protect their identity.

       My eyes dropped to the floor as HL halted before me.

I had broken one of the rules and been caught breaking attempting to break another one.

  "What are you doing here, by yourself?" HL demanded.

I took a step back till there was no more space between my back and the wall to even fit a needle.

       "I...um...I'm sorry Sir!"

"Give me fifty." He ordered taking three steps back to create enough room between us.

  "But Sir-"

"But. Nothing!" HL bellowed in his manly voice that quaked the foundation of my soul.

A certain glow originated from my chest, the same one as in the bus weeks ago. It was once more arrested by the bracelet, followed by a painful burning sensation in the skin under that silver thing.

  The sensation grew the more I glared at him till my wrist blazed with unbearable pain that made it feel like it would cut any second.

        "How long will you stand and glare at me?"

"As long as-"

       "HELP!" A distant male scream interrupted my well prepared scolding.

It was coming from outside. But that was impossible, the doors were locked after all.

HL pushed me aside and used one of his keys to unlock the door before rushing outside. I followed him without thinking.

It was warm outside, thankful to the summer air. But that didn't stop a cold breeze blowing from the West, odd.

      "Get back inside!" HL ordered but never stopping.

  "Someone is screaming for help!" I cried as another scream landed in our ears.

He was heading towards the wrong direction. "This way!" I yelled running to the north, behind the dorms.

     I halted at the foot of the forest, it looked so dark in there, frightening.

         HL ran past me without thinking a thing, giving me a bit of courage.

With a leap of faith, I stepped foot outside the school and into the woods.

Shallow breaths, heart racing, poor vision, I sped after our handler, following the male still calling for help.

    After three minutes of running in the darkness, I came across a clearing, saw the flashlight pointing at a woman lying on a fluffy picnic mat spread on the grass.

HL was kneeling beside the male who had been screaming for any aid.

   I went closer, careful not to trip or step on any landmines(assuming there were a few to keep us safe).

      "What happened?" Asked HL while feeling the woman's pulse.

  "I...it was dark. It wasn't human...that-that thing that attacked Jane wasn't...she....she..."

  "Breathe! Stand over there!" HL pointed where I stood, a few meters from the scene of crime.

Shaking, the frightened male picked up his flashlight that had been lying on the ground. His eyes could not blink, not even for a second.

   The fear was so consuming.

"Come here Ivy!"

Oh boy! He was beckoning me to go closer to the female who was bleeding from the deep cut on her abdomen.

   I forced my body to move, more and more till I was kneeling next to my handler.

"Apply more pressure here," he said, indicating the blood-soaked cloth that was pressed on the cut.

  As soon as I replaced his hands on the female's wound, HL stood. His eyes scanned the open area. "Which direction did it go?"

  "Tha-that way!" The younger male pointed further to the north.

"Ivy, maintain that pressure till help arrives. You!" He was now talking to the male covered in blood. "Run back there and get help, now!"

  "Yes S-Sir!"

The male took off, leaving the three of us alone. He took with him the flashlight, allowing the brutal darkness to swallow us wholly.

      I tried not to breathe too loud, suppressed the panting from all the running I had done.

"Sir? Yo-you th-there?" The stammering whisper was enough indication that fear had won yet again.

   It was all too quiet.

I wanted to get up and scream or run, but, I had to a apply pressure to the cut to avoid her from bleeding out and dying.

My eyes travelled to the south, the flashlights penetrating the darkness as they ran at our direction... Just then, a strong blow of cold wind blew from where HL had stood two minutes ago. It blew some dirt into my eyes as I strained to catch a glimpse of what had caused it.

     "How is she?" His voice slashed the grave silence that had been there prior the wind.

"Her pulse is weak."

  "They're here!" HL said just as two units showed up. They surrounded us, the slayers ready for battle with their sharp swords, as the two medics started working on the female.

When they peeled off the drenched cloth, I saw her intestines fighting to spill out through the horrible cut.

   A wave of nausea overcame me, making me dizzy.

Just as I was about to fall from the weakening knees, a hand reached out and gathered me towards the owner.

         For a flash of a second, our eyes met, before mine fell on the black-red liquid covering his chest. Some of it had splashed on his golden hair. It looked like blood, but darker and thicker.

  "You're more human that I thought," was all he said to me.

      "What does that mean?"

"It means you should go back and rest your weak body!" It was an order.

I slowly peeled my body off of him, feeling guilty about something I had no idea of.

   "GO!"