Dawn of Darkness (Daeva, #1) (10 page)

"Didn't
expect to find you here," Katiya called out from the other side of
the hall. I stopped punching for a moment and noticed she was
walking straight towards me. She hesitated for a second as she got
closer. "Man, you look pale. I mean, more so than usual. You
feeling all right?"

"I was,"
I said, hoping she would take the hint. My wishful thinking
appeared to be just that.

"Sure?
You look really ill."

"I'll be
fine."

"Suit
yourself." Katiya started stretching at the edge of the mat. "So,
where's Ash?"

I should
have known she would ask sooner or later. Ash was all she really
cared about. "Asleep... maybe. How should I know?"

"Well,
the two of you normally come here together, and he spends nearly
all his time with you."

"Jealous?" I took another swing at the bag.

"Maybe I
am." For once, I had to give her credit for being honest. "Did you
two have a fight?"

"No. Am I
not allowed to spend some time alone without having had a fight
with him? Is that what you think of me? That I'm some lost puppy
who can't survive away from Ash?"

"Gee, I
was just being concerned." Whether it was the anger or the
hangover, I don't know, but my head began to swim, and the
dizziness made me nauseous. "Are you–?"

I ran
straight to the locker room, not bothering to try and remove the
gloves on the way. Fortunately I found a toilet with its seat up.
My stomach retched, and at first I thought nothing would come. Then
my throat began to burn. My mouth was filled with the vilest
tasting substance I had ever known. It looked as bad as it tasted.
Neon-yellow. I coughed, trying to rid myself of the sensation when
the second wave hit.

I heard
footsteps behind me. Katiya crouched down beside me and set to work
on removing the gloves from my hands. I started to thank her,
albeit reluctantly, when my stomach interrupted me. When I
finished, she said, "I'm gonna take a wild guess here. Tell me if
I'm wrong, but you're hung over, aren't you?"

I felt
ashamed, like I was the biggest hypocrite in the world. All my
preaching about how drinking alcohol was stupid, and there I was,
praying to the porcelain God. I turned my head, avoiding her gaze.
"Go ahead. Mock me. I know you're dying to."

Katiya
sighed. "I remember my first time. It was my eighteenth birthday.
My brother took me out to a bar. I woke up the next morning in a
pile of my own vomit, feeling like I was dying. You see, I'm in no
position to make fun of you."

I gagged
and coughed as my stomach convulsed once more, but nothing came.
Katiya walked out into the locker room and returned soon after with
a bottle of water, which she handed to me. Normally, I would have
been disinclined to accept anything from her, but the burning in my
throat and the bitter taste weren't going anywhere, and right then,
that was more important than my pride. I screwed off the lid,
dropping it in the process, and drank as much as I could before I
needed to breathe.

"So,"
Katiya started. "You got drunk last night. I'm assuming Ash was
there, and now the two of you have had a falling out?"

"It's
none of your business," I snapped.

"Well,
you're not denying it at least. But whatever happened between the
two of you could affect the whole squad, so yes, it is my
business."

"It's
nothing. I just want to do things on my own."

"Whatever. You don't have to tell me. I know you don't like
me."

"No, I
don't dislike you. I..." I wasn't sure how to finish my sentence.
There was just something about her that annoyed me.

"I'm the
one who's trying to steal your best friend from you," she
said.

"Something like that.”

"And
you're the best friend I have to compete with for his attention.
We're rivals."

Rivals.
That wasn't a bad way of putting it. It was a game of tug-of-war,
with Ash as the rope. I had to choke back a laugh because, in a
way, Katiya had already lost. The question was, would I accept my
victory or pass on it? My mind screamed at me, urging... no,
telling me to get out while I still could. But deep down there was
a small part of me that wanted it. It was a part of me I hadn't
realised existed until the night before, a part that recognised how
happy I had felt. Then there was the doubt at the back of my mind,
trying to convince me I was making a mountain out of nothing. Ash
said it was just sex, nothing more. What if he was right and I was
making a fool out of myself?

I jumped
from my skin when I heard my name being called. It was Ash. Without
thinking I pulled my shields around me, stopping him from sensing
me. It's difficult to describe what shielding is like to someone
without a psychic ability. The analogy Ash used was that of a long
cloak, long enough to wrap around my entire body, covering me
completely.

Katiya
glanced at me. "You owe me," she said and walked out of the
toilets.

"Hey,
Kat. Have you seen Mik?"

"Yeah, he
was here not long ago. He wasn't feeling too good so he
left."

"Oh. Do
you know where he went? I need to talk to him."

"No,
sorry. Did you two have a fight or something?"

"Or
something," he replied. There was a loud crash. "Fuck! I'm so
stupid."

"Hey,
come on now. I'm sure whatever it is he just needs some time alone
to think. Look, why don't I grab my things and we can go back to
your room, make some breakfast, and you can tell me all about
it."

"Yeah,
maybe. Thanks, Kat."

The
mention of food made me realise again how empty my stomach felt. It
groaned in protest. When the coast was clear I exited from the
toilets and changed into the spare clothes I had brought with me.
With my things packed I headed to the cafeteria. I really did owe
Katiya for helping me escape.

*****

I had
intended on ordering a fried breakfast, but the smell alone was
enough to make me feel queasy. Instead, I settled for some pink
grapefruit, toast and a coffee. Black, of course. I sat down in one
corner of the large hall and looked out of the far window. The sun
was starting to peek over the rooftops of Rachat, and people were
now trickling into the cafeteria. Sipping at my coffee, I noticed
someone had stopped beside me, and there was a moment of dread when
I thought it might have been Ash. It was a relief to hear Lucas'
voice.

"Hey man,
how are you feeling?" He sat down opposite me with his breakfast
packed full of fat and grease. Understandably, given his ability,
he had an abnormally high metabolism. I looked away as his knife
cut into a sausage, the juices oozing out with every
stroke.

"I've
felt better," I replied, trying to concentrate on my own
food.

"Don't
worry. The great thing about being a Daeva is we recover faster
than regular humans. You'll be feeling right as rain in no
time."

"Is it
that obvious?"

"Yes, and
I saw you and Ash at the bar last night. It looked like things were
getting pretty heavy, so I left you two to it."

I sighed.
Heavy didn't even begin to cover it. I hadn't really processed the
knowledge that Ash had killed someone. Knowing his past didn't
change anything. Still, I couldn't begin to imagine the burden he
carried. Having someone's death on your conscience, and hearing the
person you loved call you a monster. It was unbearable just
thinking about it.

"I assume
he told you then." My eyes widened. There was no way Lucas could be
talking about the same thing. "About the night he killed
someone."

"He said
he'd never told anyone." I plunged my spoon into the grapefruit.
Juice spurted out of the mutilated segments.

"Oh, he
didn't tell me.” Lucas leaned in to whisper. “I get my information
through other means."

"You mean
you've been snooping through classified files?"

"Shhh,
keep your voice down. Yes."

"You
could get into serious trouble, you know?"

"Please,
I am Rachat's number one master thief."

"You got
caught before," I reminded him.

"I told
you, I was set up. Anyway, get this. The man with the knife at our
graduation, he's the father of the guy Ash killed."

That
would certainly explain why he had been looking for Ash.

"That's
not all." Lucas paused as a group of cadets walked past us. They
sat a couple of tables down from us. "They have files on civilians
flagged as potential Daeva."

"So? We
all know they've been scouting for more Daeva to join the army.
Makes sense they'd keep an eye on any potentials."

"It's
more than that. Some of these files were for newborn children, and
you know as well as I do there's no genetic link. Becoming a
Daeva... it just seems to happen at random."

"Then
they've cracked it."

Lucas
nodded. "Possibly."

This new
information didn't bode well with me. If they figured out what made
us different, then it would only be a matter of time before they
managed to recreate it. General Marsten called our abilities 'gifts
from God'. If that were the case, then we should never be able to
unravel their secrets. It seemed humanity was destined to jump from
one sin to the next.

"So, are
you feeling better yet?"

"Much,
thanks," I replied. The food and coffee helped quiet my stomach,
which just left the splitting headache. Having something to think
about besides Ash helped as well. With our food finished, we
carried our trays over to the counter where they were taken from
us.

Lucas asked what I had planned
for the rest of the day, and mentioned he and Brad were going to
watch a hockey game that afternoon. He invited me along and I
accepted, welcoming the distraction with open arms. We agreed to
meet at his dorm at noon, and parted ways as we left the cafeteria.
I spent the next few hours hidden away at the back of the library,
catching up on my reading. It was scarce to come across many
paperbacks, with most of them being lost to the wear and tear of
the last century – the majority of what we read was stored on the
city's electronic archives. However, I managed to find a
well-preserved copy of
'The Hobbit'
amidst the clutter of books, and I sat down to
learn all about the adventures of Mr. Bilbo Baggins.

Reading
fantasy was something I enjoyed a lot as a kid. They were an escape
from the misery and suffering in my own life. I could visit all
manner of magical worlds with their unique and wonderful races, and
monsters, and forget all about my own problems. But in the end, it
was only fantasy, and the time always came that I had to put the
book down and face real life once more. I checked the book out of
the library, and took it with me.

*****

I left my
things in Lucas' room, and the three of us started on our long walk
across the city to the stadium. It made me wonder when the public
transport Graeme mentioned might be operational. Once there, we
ordered drinks and began our search for some free seats.

Hockey
was one of the few sports I enjoyed playing at school. I wasn't
much of a spectator though. It seemed boring to watch other people
play, but I resigned myself to at least try and enjoy the match, if
only to prove I could without Ash being there.

As the
game wore on, I got more and more into it, and before I knew it the
match was over. Once more, I was faced with the reality that I
couldn't avoid Ash forever. We stopped off at a sandwich shop on
the way back and I found my appetite had returned. I bought a
garlic chicken sandwich, my favourite filling, and devoured it as
we walked. I spent most of the walk thinking about Ash. I missed
him. Him and his carefree attitude and goofy grin.

I picked
up my things from Lucas' room, and said goodbye to him and Brad,
before heading back to my room. I hesitated outside the door,
half-expecting Ash to pounce on me with a feral look in his eyes,
but in the end I was greeted only by the silence of an empty room.
For a while I lay on my bed reading, until my eyelids grew heavy
and I drifted off.

*****

The first
thing I noted when I slipped back into the conscious world, was
that I wasn't alone. I felt the weight of someone sat on the edge
of my bed, and I didn't need to open my eyes to know who it
was.

"Hey," he
said as I opened my eyes. Ash didn't look annoyed as I expected. If
anything he looked nervous, his smile faltering.

"How long
have you been there?" I asked, wiping my eyes.

He looked
over the clock on the desk. "About fifteen minutes. I couldn't
decide whether to wake you or not."

"So..." I
sat up, waiting for Ash to say something.

"So..."
He replied. "Awkward."

"Yup."

"Look, I
know you're probably angry at me and I understand, but I'm
sorry."