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  “What was that about, guys?” Doe asked laughing at us.

  “Nothing.” I smiled. “James just wanted to copy my homework.” I joked and we all laughed.

  “I must admit you guys have made being here a little easier.” I smiled. We were interrupted by William entering the room with an old-fashioned portable microphone and an old speaker strapped to his overly ornate belt.

  “Ladies, gentlemen and hybrids, I need your attention please. I am pleased to announce that following today’s successful trials and tests that we will be hosting our annual passing out ball tomorrow night for our recruits. This is in keeping with the traditions here. Hopefully, all of you can attend. Your commanders will instruct you further.” He finished, it was short and sweet. As he strutted out of the canteen Lance walked over to our table. Everyone else remained seated and silent until he had left.

  “Miss Hart can I have a word?” Lance stood at the table looking seriously. All the others stared at him, they shot me warning glances. “Alone.” He added. I felt uneasy.

  “Sure.” I said knowing I had no choice in the matter. I stood up and followed him. We walked outside of the canteen. Two of the other graduates were waiting by the door. They grabbed me and put hands over my mouth and eyes to silence me. It had begun to rain heavily.

  “So, it is tradition here, that the commanding officers play a prank on the hybrid graduates.” He informed me as I tried to break free. Of course, it was, I thought. “Colt and Tristan never want to do it, but Caitlyn and I love the tradition.” The two graduates were pulling me away from the canteen and away from my friends and I was worried as to what they were going to do to me. Lance continued to talk as he walked. I had seen the way that Lance looked at me.

  “Caitlyn will deliver the news and the assignment to your friends shortly, after we have set up the prank.” He stated. We walked for about 10 minutes. We came to a large grassy plain within the campus. In the centre sat a concrete flagpole that held the symbol for the Inperium on it. It was very muddy as we moved across the grass. “This year the prank is a riddle. The graduates have to find you.”

  “How is that a prank?” I asked muffled.

  “Because there is a catch.” He smiled devilishly. Pulling out a small black pouch from his back pocket he began to prepare a syringe. “You see in this is a paralytic agent. It will begin that you cannot move but as time progresses it will paralyse your breathing too. You have about two hours.” He chuckled to himself as he put the syringe in my neck.

  “That still isn’t a prank, you stupid prick.” I spat at him. My legs had begun to go numb very quickly, I was not sure if it was psycho-symptomatic and the two helpers dropped me. Lance loomed above me, he instructed the others to tie me to the post. They did as they were told and as soon as I was suitably chained up, they all left laughing. I could not move, let alone struggle. The rain got heavier, and I could feel it soaking through my clothes. It was freezing. I was a little grateful though as the freezing weather meant that the effects of the drug would have been slowed down a little.

  Time passed quickly whilst I was chained to the post. My thoughts consumed with the events of the last few days. Trying to keep my mind of the fact I was in danger. Thoughts of Colt flooded my brain, the way he looked at me left me questioning whether he knew anything about the prank. Maybe he supported it, I thought, maybe he chose me. That could not have been true.

  I hoped the others were at least attempting to look for me. I realised how far I was from the canteen and I could not imagine the clue that Caitlyn had given the group would have been of any help. My breathing was becoming more difficult and I realised I must have been stood in the dark wet field for at least an hour if not longer. My body was numb from the drug and from the cold. I just wanted to close my eyes and sleep; I tried my hardest to stay awake, but the world started slipping away.

  23

  Colt

  8pm 9th September 2025

  I could not believe what Lance had done. I was just thankful that I had overheard him bragging when he returned to the canteen. He really was an utter idiot.

  Rushing out to find her I was glad that he had at least had the decent sense to leave her in the open. She begun to open her eyes and I thanked the stars after I had given her the antidote. She slowly began to recognise me.

  “I am going to kill him!” I hissed undoing the chains and ropes that held her to the post. She fell forward and I caught her. Holding her close to my body. “Are you ok?” I asked, genuinely concerned.

  “Cold.” She shivered, and her teeth chattered. She was soaked through and freezing cold to the touch. I held her closer trying to warm her up a little bit. Quickly thinking about ways to help her.

  “Can you walk?”

  “I think so.” She stated testing her legs. They were shaky at best.

  “You need to warm up. Let’s go to the showers.” I stated helping her to walk. She stopped and looked at me.

  “We only have cold water down there.” She said glumly. Sometimes I forgot just how bad the Inperium treat the hybrids.

  “I have a better idea.” I said and led her away to my room. I made sure no one saw us as we walked down the corridor to my room. I opened the door and let her in leading her straight to the ensuite bathroom. I turned on the shower and she just blinked at me. I went to leave the room to let her shower. As I reached the door, she stopped me.

  “Wait.” She said. I looked down and saw her hands were shaking so bad that she could not even undo her jacket. “Why are you being so nice to me?” She asked looking sad.

  “You don’t deserve to be treated badly.” I was solemn. None of them did. I had never really thought about it until I met Viola. I helped her with her jacket. She stiffened clearly worried. I stopped and looked at her. “I won’t hurt you.” I said. She softened a little and I helped her to remove her t-shirt and her pants. She stood before me awkwardly wearing only her underwear. I paused for a moment and just looked at her. She was beautiful. I helped her into the shower. Taking my own clothes off until I was only wearing my boxer briefs, I got in the shower with her. She stared at me for a moment, before tracing a finger down a large scar on my chest. Her eyes full of questions. She relaxed into the hot water and I could see her calming and warming up.

  I stared at her. Her beauty and her strength just affected me in a way I could not fathom. I moved forward cupping the back of her head with my hand and leaning in to kiss her. I could not help myself, I wanted her. She accepted my lips on hers. The warm water of the shower poured between us. Her lips were soft and needing. The kiss went deeper, my hand moved to caressing her waist. I could have stayed there in that moment for an eternity. I pulled away and we spent a long minute together in reflective silence, neither of us daring to talk. Our heads pressed together, water cascading between us.

  After we finished showering, I got out and got some clean clothes for us both. I left hers in the bathroom whilst I changed in the bedroom. As she walked into the bedroom, I placed a blanket around her shoulders and sat her on the bed. I walked over to the small kitchenette that all the commanding officers had in their rooms. It was only a basic sink, a small fridge and a kettle but it was useful. I made her a cup of tea and handed it to her. She sipped the hot tea. I sat beside her. Silence fell on us for a few awkward minutes again. I just hoped she did not regret our kiss.

  “You confuse me.” She said finally breaking the silence. “I cannot take this hot and cold treatment any longer. One minute you look at me like you want to fuck me and the next you have this utter contempt in your eyes.”

  “It isn’t that easy.” I confessed.

  “It isn’t that hard either.” She stated and she was right. What the hell was I doing? I questioned myself. I needed to make up my mind.

  “I’ve worked hard to be where I am…”

  “And you don’t want to throw it all away for a bit of fun with some half breed?” She finished my sentence.

  “Stop saying that!”

/>   “What? Half-breed? I have heard you call me much worse.” She tucked her wet hair behind her ear.

  “I shouldn’t have.”

  “But you have.” She stated and she was right. She sipped her tea again. I wanted to take the tea from her and push her down onto the bed and kiss her again. I had never been shy with women but there was something about Viola that was different.

  “I’m sorry Viola, I really am.” I said.

  “You can call me Vi you know.” She replied. I was happy she gave me permission finally, but I tried to not let it show.

  “I like you Vi, like a lot more than I should. The issue is I am meant to be your commanding officer and I’m human. We could get into a lot of trouble here.” I laid down the law, it was the truth. If we got caught being together, we would both be severely punished, her punishment would be far worse than mine and I could not watch her go through that.

  “I don’t know anything about you, Colt.” She said.

  “There isn’t a lot to know.” I replied honestly.

  “How did you even end up here?”

  “I came here after a year in the army, just trying to find my place after…” I paused, worried about the next part, it was something I rarely said out loud.

  “After?” She prompted me.

  “It’s a long story, I was born and raised in the Northern Territory. My pop had a working farm there, but he died when I was quite young. He was a drinker.” I explained.

  “I’m sorry.” I said looking down.

  “No, it’s okay, it was a long time ago. It turned out much later he was not really my father, my mother had an affair and I was the result. Anyway, after he died, we moved around a little bit. It was just my mum, my sister and me. We eventually settled in a town east of Broome. My mother co-owned a popular diner on the edge of town. It was an old school American themed place. My sister was a couple of years older than me and worked there as a waitress. Then one day, this group of people came to the town. They said they were on the road and looking for a bite to eat. I was eighteen at the time. I was miserable that I was not allowed out with my friends and sat in the back sulking. This group were not men though. I mean they were not human. They weren’t hungry for grits and shakes. They were vampires and they wanted blood. They killed everyone in that diner. The thing was only hours before the gate to Immortuus had been opened, no one knows who did it. I was locked in the back room for a few hours, later the Inperium arrived to clean up and found me. I enlisted the next day, twelve months later my drill sergeant said that they were looking for special recruits for an organisation called the Inperium and he said that it was an honour to serve them, so I signed up. How could I not?” I finished and just looked at her. She was just taking it all in.

  “I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have asked.” She mumbled. “Did you have to be tested too?” She asked.

  “No.” I said quickly. It was lucky that I had not been as my birth certificate had been the proof, they needed that I was human. I was not ready to tell Viola my secret or how I knew the pain she had suffered with the Partenth stone. I was not sure I could trust her fully yet. She watched me in my silent thought and then stood after a few moments.

  “I should go.” She stated.

  “No.” I said far too quickly.

  “Stay and get some rest. This room has got to be far more comfortable than the dormitory and I want to make sure that drug is out of your system.” She looked at me, eyebrow raised. “I will sleep on the armchair.” I added and she tucked her hair behind her ear again. I liked when she did that. It gave me an insight into her thoughts.

  “Okay.” She finished the last of her tea and laid down. I settled myself on the chair. “You don’t have to sleep on the chair.” She sat up and looked at me after a few awkward minutes.

  “Are you sure?” I asked and she nodded. We both lay on the bed looking up at the ceiling. Our fingers brushing against each other until our hands found their way together. I do not think we could help it; we were like magnets. We lay there holding hands until we fell asleep.

  24

  Viola

  7am 10th September 2025

  I slipped back into the dormitory in the early hours whilst everyone was still asleep. My evening with Colt had been unexpected and extraordinary. My lips still tingled from his kiss and my body ached for his touch again. I shook my head; I had to forget all of it. I would not survive at the Inperium if I did not. Still I could not get him and his deep brown eyes from my mind.

  Someone shuffled around the room. Suddenly James appeared at the side of my bed.

  “Morning.” He smiled. I looked at him feeling unsure as to what was happening. Suddenly I remembered our plans. He had dressed nicely in a crisp white shirt. I felt incredibly guilty that I had completely forgotten our date.

  “I need to get dressed.” I replied quietly.

  “You do that, and I will meet you outside.” He placed a quick kiss on my forehead that surprised me. I got out of the bed I had only just gotten in to and put on some clothes that looked decent from the wardrobe. As I stepped outside into the fresh cold early morning air, James waved to me from across the grass. A blanket rolled up under his arm and a basket in the other. I walked over to him.

  “I could not quite manage a champagne breakfast like I wanted.” He started. “But I did manage to convince the canteen staff to let me borrow a basket and grab some breakfast items from the table. They like me down there.”

  “That was nice of them.” I remarked mumbling.

  “I’m a charmer.” He laughed and we walked off across the campus. We stopped when we got to a secluded spot near to a small stream. James laid out the blanket and invited me to sit down.

  “This is lovely. You didn’t have to do this.” I said softly. From the small white rose he pulled from the basket and the look on his face, he was really trying to impress me. He was hard to read.

  “I want to get to know you Viola, away from the Inperium and the others.” He said gently, placing his hand on my leg.

  “There isn’t a lot to know.” I shrugged.

  “I’m sure there is plenty.” He was reassuring me. “I’ll start with an easy one. What is your favourite colour?” I liked his line of questioning, it was easy, not like most of the questions I had been asked at the Inperium.

  “Orange.” I said certain. He reached into the basket and pulled out another single white rose. He held it in his hand and closed his eyes and I watched it change colour in front of me. It became a brilliant bright orange. He broke off the majority of the stem and tucked the flower in my hair behind me ear.

  “Good choice. Vibrant, like you.” He said softly. There was something about his charm that made me like him but also made me incredibly wary. I chalked it down to the years of practice that would have come with being a prince. “How do you like your tea?” He asked. Pulling out a teapot from the basket much to my amusement. He placed it down carefully and reached back in for a cup and saucer.

  “Erm… one sugar and a dash of milk.” I answered. He poured the tea from the teapot into the cup and handed it to me. It was perfect.

  “How did you do that?” I asked. Colt had not asked me the night before when he had made me a cup of tea and had just served me black tea. They were so very different. Colt so simply practical and James more charmingly thoughtful.

  “That part isn’t magic.” He laughed. “I like it exactly the same way.”

  “Lucky.” I stated. Knowing it was all too good to be true. It had to be, I thought.

  “Can I ask you something more serious?” He grew solemn.

  “Sure.” I replied an eyebrow raised.

  “In your trial yesterday, you chose to kill Cameron as the traitor, why?” He asked and I was slightly puzzled by his question. I was not sure why he was asking. It was clear he had been thinking about it. Was he jealous I had not chosen him? The question flicked through my mind.

  “I had worked out it was part of the trial pretty much straigh
t away.” I replied. “So, I figured I would pick someone who would forgive me in the real world for choosing them.” I was brutally honest.

  “I would have forgiven you.” He said after thinking for a brief moment.

  “Maybe, you would have.” I answered. “I suppose I didn’t want to risk it.”

  “Risk what?” He asked.

  “This. I don’t want you to not like me James. I’m not sure why, I just have this feeling about you.” I was honest again if not a little cryptic.

  “I feel the same.” He replied knowing there was a lot more unsaid.

  25

  Viola

  6pm 10th September 2025

  The scarlet silk dress that hung and clung to my body in all the right places was stunning and honestly, I felt confident in it staring in the mirror. Something I thought that I might never feel. It was so different from the dresses I wore on night’s out with Frankie. The dresses for the ‘Passing Out’ Ball had been sent down by William which surprised me as they all seemed rather tasteful. I was glad the rest of the dorm was empty. I really needed a moment to myself. The neckline plunged daringly, and a delicate silver necklace sat against my collarbones. My hair sat neatly curled on my shoulders. I wished I had looked that good for my prom, but I had worn a frumpy navy dress that hid my body. Something was changing in me. A growing confidence was definitely part of it.

  However, I did not feel confident in where I was. I seemed to be playing along with these people I barely knew, and I was confused as to where I stood. Especially after staying the night in Colt’s bed and the date with James. After I had left James, I had spent the day revelling in my own thoughts, confusing myself and getting worked up over both men. When honestly, I really needed to forget them both and just focus on surviving. Doe had helped me get ready and I had just felt like I was in a trance like state through it all.