Emblems

Chapter 21: Isolation

Chapter 21: Isolation

SHE DIDN’T LIKE EATING IN the cafeteria. It wasn’t the food, which she had to admit was decent, or how the four of them couldn’t sit together anymore because Leone had ruled that the Emblems should sit with their tutors the week before. No, it wasn’t all that. Amber didn’t like eating in the cafeteria because of the people. Most of the time she was okay with people. But it wasn’t most of the time when the entire room knew that she had a Demon inside of her. More like they think I am a Demon.

A week ago, she had tried to eat dinner with Sol in the cafeteria. The whispers had grated on her ears, and with her new and improved hearing she could’ve heard every single one clearly if she’d wanted to, sometimes even if she didn’t. The stares had been worse though. They followed her everywhere, from the second she entered the cafeteria and then with every step she took from the food collection counter to her seat.

So from then on, she would skip breakfast like she’d always done, and get herself released early just before lunch and dinner. Then she would eat alone in the cafeteria and go back and train alone while her tutors and the other Delegates ate. It was an efficient system; she was proud of it because no one could stare at her while she ate anymore. It was more comfortable that way. Not to mention the fact that her tutors never said anything about it, and even Daniel didn’t try to ask why she didn’t turn up at mealtimes anymore – when they actually had time to talk, that is.

On this evening, she finished her dinner early and, instead of entering her training room immediately, she continued down the corridor. Sol wouldn’t mind – he’d said that she could do anything she wanted till dinner officially started. She walked, stopped just before she entered the section for their bedrooms, then doubled back, looking through the windows.

In one room, Calida lifted her hands and the stones and rocks in a tub rose into the air. She pressed her hands together and the pile of them compressed, spinning and revolving around in circles. Amber caught the strained look on her face as she pushed her hands forward, making fire spring to life and leap towards the airborne rocks. She gritted her teeth and the flames turned from red to a bright yellow that hurt her eyes. Slowly, the rocks and stones seemed to become a black mush, bright, almost neon streaks of red and yellow stark against the molten rock. Lava? With the combination of Earth and Fire? Calida dropped her hands and the Beast Delegate sprayed water into the tub. Steam rose up in the room, but Amber could still see her triumphant smile.

Turning away before they could notice her, she headed down the corridor. The others... They're growing. This is only our second week here. We're getting stronger while everyone else gets weaker and weaker. Maybe we should just die already, and give everyone what they want. She looked through the next window. Daniel stood in the middle of the room, with a Human Delegate off to the side, arms folded as he watched him. There was a cage at her feet. The water around Daniel swirled and danced and when he spread his fingers suddenly, the streams shot out like extensions of his own arms, weaving over and under each other before slamming straight into the targets placed all around the room. 

The Delegate – she recognised her as Leone – bent down suddenly and opened the cage, letting loose something that streaked across the room like a brown and white lightning bolt. Even from outside the room she could hear the feral growls of the dog as it sped towards Daniel, teeth bared in a show of aggression. “Whoa!” he exclaimed, green eyes focusing on the attacking canine. The water streams all around the room lost their shape and dropped towards the floor, and he raised both hands even higher. The dog kept on coming and Daniel stumbled backwards, squinting at it. He muttered something she couldn't hear and shouted, voice sounding a tiny bit desperate, "You! Dog! Freeze! Stop stop stop stop STOP!"