The Sons of Satrina: A Sons of Satrina Novel (17 page)

Aisline looked over at the good doctor and shook her head gently, smiling softly.   She wasn’t one f
or talking about her feelings. She never had been, and probably never would be.  In her family, if you ever had a problem, you kept it to yourself. You didn’t burden others with it.  The only person she had really ever talked to about things that troubled her, had been Lana.

Lana.

But, she wasn’t here now.

“What you thinking about right now?” Doctor Phillippe asked softly.

“Nothing”

The do
ctor chuckled softly, “Really?”

“My
friend, Lana.”  Aisline replied, with a small sigh.

“Have you spoke to her since all this started?”

Ash looked down at her hands once again, “No.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t want to lose anyone else.”

“Who say
s you’ll lose her?”

“My parents don’t want me, so why should she?”

Dr Phillippe fell quiet again.  She had to tread very carefully here.  Finally, the girl was starting to open up a bit and she didn’t want to frighten her back into her shell.

She only knew
the bare facts about Aisline - That the warrior mark had appeared suddenly one night. She was only seventeen. She was evidently a beautiful girl who wasn’t hung up about her looks and was happy to get her hands dirty.   And that was about it really.  She didn’t want to know the rest. She wanted the young girl to be able to come to her to talk it all through herself. This new warrior was a mystery that she wanted to unravel.

Scooting around the subject of her parents, which was obviously a sore point that they would have to address in the future, she wanted t
o try and focus on her friend. To try and find a solution that would help her.

“Why wouldn’t she?”

“Because of this.”  Aisline tapped the side of her head, pointing out the still relatively new mark of the Warrior.  The doctor noticed some bitterness creeping into her expression as she did it.  Another thing to think about in the future.  Did she even know that she was bitter? 

“And that changes who you are inside, why exactly?”

That took Aisline aback.  She was right.  Just because she had suddenly got the mark of a warrior and now had a different path in life, it didn’t mean that she had changed.  She was essentially still the same person that she had been only a few days ago.  She still liked the same things, she still laughed at the same jokes, and she still hated the same foods. 

She was still herself.

So, why the hell couldn’t her parents see past the mark and accept her for who she was?  Had they ever accepted her for being who she was?  She could still be the same imperfect daughter that they had loved before, and she could still make them proud, just in a different way now.  But, alas, they didn’t want a fighter as a daughter.  It clearly wasn’t a dignified position.

Would Lana still want her as a friend though?

That thought scared her more than anything else right now.   She’d lost too much already.  Lana was old school, like her parents. Would this be too much for her to handle?

Doctor Phillippe
decided not to push that point too much, either.  She just wanted for Aisline to realise that she was still the same girl she had always been, that the changes in her life could be for the better.  She wanted her to know that she hadn’t lost herself in the process of getting the mark and that she was still in there somewhere.  She needed her to keep an open mind about her new situation and keep thinking rationally.

“Hmm, I guess th
at’s something to think about. Yeah.”  Ash muttered, still sounding very unsure of herself.

Doctor Phillippe turned to get some paperwork off of her desk.

She didn’t want to set Aisline up for a fall by encouraging her to make contact with her old friends. After all, they may have the same opinion as her parents seem to hold. But she didn’t want her to feel isolated either.  It was a very fine line for her to tread.

This was such a new situation for all of them that they were all, each and every one of them who were involved in smoothing out Aisline’s transition, playing it by ear.  Trial and error, hopefully without too much o
f the error. After all, this was someone’s life that they were working with.  They didn’t want to damage her, emotionally or physically. 

“So, you’ll come back and ta
lk to me if and when you need it?”

Aisline smiled but Dr Phillippe could still see the hesitation in her eyes.

“Will you at least promise me that you will talk to someone rather than keeping it to yourself?  Kayleigh?  Kelton? Anyone?”

Aisline smiled again, a little more genuinely this time.  Kayleigh was definitely someone she could talk to if the feeling took her.  As her mentor, that was also what she was there for, partly anyway.

“Good enough, I guess.”  Dr Phillippe mock frowned at her, and then laughed. “So, on with the exam then.”

The medical wasn’t quite as scary as As
h had feared that it would be. It was the basic height (5’9”), weight (64 kg’s), a couple of blood tests and a urine sample.  She wasn’t quite sure what the liquid tests were for, but she didn’t really want to know either, so she didn’t ask.  There was no point in refusing so she just closed her eyes and got on with it.  It could have been so much worse. After all, a couple of prods with a sharp needle was better than she could have hoped for.

“Right then. T
hat’s everything for today.  Is there anything you want to ask me while you’re here?”   Marilyn Phillippe asked her as she took a seat back in front of her cluttered desk.

“Nope, I’m all good thanks.” 

She just wanted to get out of there now. The threat of having to talk about her feelings was still lingering heavy in the air.

“Okay, then.  You get yourself out of here.   Kayleigh will be up at the front reception area.  If you go and find her, she’ll be able to tell you what needs doing next.  Than
k you for coming in to see me and I hope you’ll be back soon, Aisline.”  Dr Phillippe smiled warmly. 

The girl was adorable, strong, confident, and fragile.  And she liked her, genuinely.  She was just worried about the effect all this was having on her mental health.  She wanted her to know that she wasn’t alone, that she had others around her that could help her through this.   All she could hope was that Aisline had listened with her head and her heart.

“Thanks, doc. I’ll catch you later.”  And she was out of the door before she could say another word.

Closing the door behind her, Aisline leaned her head against the cool wall and closed her eyes.  She didn’t do talking.  She didn’t do psychologists.

She had like Doctor Marilyn Phillippe, so it could have been worse.  And it was actually good to know that there was another female in the place, just in case she did need to speak to someone.  After all, you never did know when you would need someone to turn to.  Women’s problems and all that - surely that would scare most of the men in this place.

But, for now, she had an even bigger problem.  Finding her way back to the main reception.  Where the hell was it? This place was a goddamn maze.  Damn it, next time she would have to remember to draw up a map or something, perhaps leave a trail of breadcrumbs behind her or something.

Keeping her eyes closed, she tried to pictu
re the school in her mind. It didn’t help though.  Everything looked the same here.  Grey, cream, white. Grey, cream, white.  A house of mirrors, showing the same reflection, over and over again.

She was lost.

This may have been a good time to ask the doctor for some help, but she didn’t want to have to talk through her feelings of being lost, blah, blah, blah.  That would just be a ridiculous waste of her time when she could be out here getting herself even more lost.

Ugh! This place could be so infuriating!

Jackson closed his eyes as soon as the buzzing of the razor started.  It wasn’t like he was bothered like some of the other guys.  This was no big deal in the grand scheme of things.  He knew that this had to be done and it was a huge stage in his progress of a warrior - for he would soon look like a warrior.

And it had been bloody hilarious, listening to Denver shouting and refusing to even lose a millimetre of his hair.  Cutting it made sense for combat.  But, then, when Denver had emerged from the room, Jackson understood what all his fuss had been about and had to hold back the laughter that threatened to burst forth. 

Denver looked awful.  Half of his good looks must have been he
ld in his perfectly styled bleach blonde hair, for without it, he was regular.  Without a word or a look at the rest of the guys, which was a first for Denver, he put his head down and hurried out of there - the laughter ringing in his ears.

“All done, buddy,” the man who had cut his hair said with a clap on his shoulder.

Jackson opened his eyes and took a sneaky peek in the mirror and was pleasantly surprised by what he saw.

He liked it.

The short buzz cut actually suited him.  It brought out his features for the better, no more hiding behind the locks that had fallen into his face like before.  Running a hand over the newly short bristles, he realised also that he looked older, harder, and more capable.  His square jaw line and cheekbones were more sharply defined, making him appear older than his years.  He looked confident.  It was a good new look for him.

He was now ready to become the warrior that had always been lurking inside him.

Opening up the door, he thanked the man before leaving and stepped out amongst the rest of the trainee warriors that were waiting in line.  Dylan clapped him on the back and Jase took the piss out of him, saying that he looked like a supermodel now.  Jackson just laughed at them and pushed them both aside, strolling down the corridor with a big ass grin on his face.

The grin froze when he saw the girl, the one who had laughed at him in the c
afeteria, standing there alone in the hall with her forehead pressed against the wall.

She must have heard his footsteps walking down the hallway as she quickly lifted her head and straightened herself to look at him, turning to catch his eye.

“Hey.”  Jackson said.

“Hey.” t
he girl replied.

And then there was silence.  Jackson didn’t know what to say or do.  She was the last person he had expected to see out here.  After seeing her in the cafeteria, he’d tried to put her out of his mind.  Thinking about this unknown girl wouldn’t help his concentration. And
yet, here she was.

The awkward silence continued
as they also both continued to try to avoid looking at one another like a pair of awkward teenagers. Checking out the blank white walls, the blank white tiled floor, anything so that they didn’t have to look at each other. 

Damn it.  He’d never been tongue tied around a girl before.  There was something about this girl that threw him all out of whack.  She was beyond beautiful.

“Right…. Well…. Then….”  Jackson cleared his throat nervously, “See ya.” and he quickly turned away, making to stride off away from her.

“Wait up!” she shouted and Jackson spun around on his heels to face her.  “Can you ple
ase tell me which way I go to get back to the main reception?”  She hated to look so clueless in front of someone that she suspected she would be training closely with, but she had no choice.   If he didn’t show her the way, she was going to be stuck down here forever.

For a moment, he couldn’t speak again.  Looking at her, he knew that she was one of the most beautiful girls he had ever seen.  Ever.  She had the
most stunning long, dark hair that framed her pale face, covering up the mark almost completely with its waves. Her skin so starkly white that her rich, red lips stood out like a beacon.

Damn, he realised that he’d been stood there staring at her, while she looked back at him dumbly, obviously wondering what his problem was.  Only a few days of not seeing any girls his own age was obviously sending him a little crazy.  Not that he was gir
l crazy or anything like that. He wasn’t a player, but he did well enough.  This girl had something, something he couldn’t quite put his finger on.

Shaking his head slightly to encourage his brain to function normally, he cleared his throat again, “
Sure, I’ll show you the way.” and he turned again, listening attentively to make sure that her foot steps were following along behind him.

“I’m, uh, Jackson, by the way.”  Jackson said over his shoulder as they walked and he hated how he stuttered his speech when he was nervous.

“Aisline.” she replied in a silky tone that caught him off guard.  He was so used to being around a group of gruff guys that the difference was magnified further.  Jackson coughed nervously.

This clearly wasn’t the time
for conversation between them. Jackson wasn’t functioning coherently and they walked the rest of the way in an awkward, excruciatingly painful silence.

“It’s just around that corner.” Jackson pointed as they reached the front part of the building.