The Cardinal by Elif Kaya (booksvooks .TXT) 📖

Chapter 10 ******

Axel

 

Back to the waiting room. Sasha gets called to the Administration office to get her exam results. She gets accepted and Axel takes her to the waiting room. talking first then falls asleep. Axel watches her for a while

 

Chapter 11

 

Sasha

 

All of us were given sedatives after the Test. When I wake up on a comfy couch, I feel even worse than the time when I took the drug and childishly thought that my future was in my control and I could change it by simply studying for a stupid exam. 

 

A middle aged woman enters the room, carrying a tablet that has what I assume is the list of the chosen ones. My name is on the top. Way to go Sasha! You are doing hell of a good job at blending in. Congrats! I roll my eyes at my sarcastic inner voice. 

 

Some are crying over the fact that they are not chosen whereas some who have passed the Test are given report cards. I start waiting in order to get my own however I’m not given one although everyone other than me has a report at hand. I turn to the square faced woman and ask for my own report card. She smiles fakely at me and then says,

 

“I’m afraid there has been a complication with yours, but we will try to convey your report card to you as soon as possible.” And just like that she leaves the room after signing us to follow her.

 

As I walk behind the woman, I try to ignore the venomous gazes coming from the other chosen ones. One catches my eyes though. He has dark black hair and I have never seen such hatred for a stranger -me- in anyone’s eyes before.

 

She exits the Main Building in which we have taken the Test after the physical ability electives. She escorts us through the long path of the Academy which crosses by the Diplomatic Relationships, Economy, Medicine, Research and Development, Art and Urban Design departments. 

 

Finally we arrive at a sports arena full of targets, sandbags, guns, weapons and everything you can imagine that would prepare you for any fight. At the far corner of the area, there is a room with black tinted glasses. There are a lot of cameras surveilling the arena. 

 

“This is the main training center. You better get used to spending your whole life here as soon as possible. After you are taught the basics, you will have permission to work out in smaller groups at the other specializes training areas. From this point on, Axel, James and Riley will escort you to your dorm rooms.” 

 

The redhead whose name is Brandon and which I have seen near Axel before, calls out a few names that include mine: Alicia Rivers.  Nearly all of the children that live under the roof of the “Riverdown Orphanage” is named Rivers since no one has any idea about their biological parents. Being called “Rivers” is unsettling since it is a common last name for a common girl who grew up in the “virane” orphanage outside the Fence. I feel like humiliating these kids given that I never lacked attention in my childhood. I don’t deserve the name and it doesn’t belong to me. Brandon’s vibrant voice pulls me out of my thoughts.

 

“Greenies, follow me. If you fail to catch up with the group, you are gonna get lost. And if you get lost in your very first day, believe me, you should most certainly get lost before the chief finds you and talks your ears off and intimidates you by never ending threats. They are really creative though, in case you are interested.” 

 

From side glance, I see Axel smirking at his friend’s cheerful tone and demeanor. They seem close. I mean as close as one can to be to one another in this pit of hell. I remember also catching them chit chatting during the electives in the field. Intriguing. Maybe Brandon has a tendency to not approve much of the Cardinal’s antics. 

 

Brandon takes us downstairs and the limited sunlight that filled the Training Center’s building subsides with each step. We walk through bleak tunnels. As we follow his steps, Brandon gives us a brief crash course on the life in the Phoenixes. He informs us about our first week. He also takes us to the sleeping quarter from the long route in order to show us the Great Hall, the Market and the classrooms. He also shows us a room that has devices similar to the ones used in the Test. As much as I can understand, us, the greenies are so far from becoming a true Phoenix.  The admissions were just the beginning and now the real game starts. I should be more ginger about my decisions. One wrong step and all of the supervisors watching me would be eager to get rid of me.

 

I barely realize that we have arrived at the sleeping quarter. Brandon announces, “That’s the end of our trip. Now get in and take a long look at your new home for the first or maybe second semester.” 

 

He opens the double winged door and the quarter is in front of our eyes. I slowly push the door a bit more and take a step inside. There are about fifty bunk beds. Two opposite walls of the room are covered with lockers and there is another door inside which I assume takes you to the Bathroom. “Enjoy your last free hours chicos. Firstly, “Carpe diem” all the way and secondly, try not to get yourselves killed or kicked out in the first week. The rest is going to be easier. That’s all you need to know for now. Oh, and you need to be in the Great Hall before seven o’clock in the morning. You will be assigned classes and duties for the month by the woman that greeted you after the physical ability tests: Corporal Miranda”

 

…

 

I place all of my belonging that I have brought with me in a duffel bag into my locker meticulously. I take a shower in the common bathroom. I’m not used to sharing everything I have with more than one person -Hunter- but I guess, I will be grown used to it in a couple of days. 

 

After I settle for good, I find a bunk to myself. I make myself at home as much as I can at the heart of the. Cardinal which is full of phonies. After opening the photo album of me and my family full of a happier version of myself with my parents and getting lost in it by using the lens Hunter gave me, I fall asleep. The thought that he was considerate and sweet enough to buy it from a technology store in the Black Bazaar -which is quite expensive given that they convey products that are illegal to use or sell in Riverdown whereas it is a common technologic gear among the senior officials of Cardinal- as a farewell present for me is the one thing that gives me comfort in this poky bunk bed.

 

...

 

The next morning I wake up being shaken by a pair of strong hands. “Guys, come over here! Our princess is finally ready to wake up.” 

 

As soon as I get rid of my sleepy hands, I swat at the hands and kick the body they belong to. He hasn’t seen my kick coming so he stumbles. I use his weakness to my advantage and push him strongly. My attacker falls onto the ground and I climb over him to straddle him. 

 

There lies Nixon Heinz. I remember him from the waiting room. To be more precise, I remember his calculating gaze and intimidating posture and stoic gestures.

 

He tries to push me off of him but my steel like grip sustains. 

 

“Don’t mess with me Heinz. I don’t want you to be sorry after you lose to me.” I pat his shoulder before I get off of his body. “Next time I won’t be this gentle by the way.” I say looking down at him. He jumps to his feet. I turn around and start getting my belongings from my locker. I feel Nixon’s presence behind me. He shuts the locker door abruptly. I slowly turn around once again. He comes down on me to have me constricted. I release a bored sigh. Just like that, his fury becomes more visible. I see his fist raising and catch it. This surprises him. How many times does he need me to remind him he cannot beat me? 

 

I punch his throat with my free hand his breath hitches at his throat. And then I punch him in the eye just to satisfy myself. What? I’m trying to be honest here. As soon as I’m finished with Nixon, a girl named Hailey shouts from the upper bed that stands above mine.

 

“She warned you beforehand. You should have listened, man.”

 

Just as she finishes her sentence, our mentors break into the room. I’m so fucked up.

Chapter 12 **

 

Axel

 

I was having breakfast with a few other mentors I know from my Strategy classes when one of the greenies called out for us. I quickly ran to the sleeping quarter and saw the little crowd gathering around Alicia and a muscular guy. I approach Alicia since she is under my responsibility in case of an emergency. 

 

“Are you okay?” I ask. Even I can’t recognise my voice which sounds so… concerned. She looks puzzled by my tone as well. 

 

“Yes, I am but aren’t you here to chastise me?” She winces as if she regrets the words coming off of her mouth. 

 

“Is there a reason for me to chastise you? I look around and notice the split eyebrow of the muscular guy. His mentor tries to stop the bleeding without holding back his laughter.

 

“I thought you were stronger than that, Nixon. Did you really let that little girl beat the shit out of you?”

 

I feel Alicia tense. Her jaw clenches and she steps forward as if she wants to jump