Trials in Walls of Ivy (Triskelion Trilogy Book 1) (13 page)

Ash was waiting for me outside the building. I smiled weakly. It didn’t fool him. He put his arm around my shoulders and we walked in silence to the house. Owen and Jay had the kettle ready when we got back. Without word they watched me, impatiently waiting for the verdict. Ash joined them on the other side of the room watching, ready for the hammer to fall. I threw my bag to the floor and tried to put into words my mixture of feelings. Ignoring the sting in my leg, I paced.

“She likes the idea and what we’ve done so far.”

The guys erupted in cheers. Ash picked me up and span me round.

“But,” I said, breaking their celebration.

He placed me back to the floor slowly, waving his hand to the others to shush.

“But what?” Jay asked.

“But, it looks like I’m not going to be passing with you guys.” Tears welled and I looked away. I could feel the tension in the room as we all realised the consequences of my failure.

Ash reached for my shoulder and gently turned me to face him. “What did she say?”

“My leadership skills are fine and our team’s progress is fine.” I felt my lip tremble and immediately bit it. “But, my progress in computing and physical, isn’t fine.” Biting my lip wasn’t working. I felt the first tear streak down my cheek.

“Did she say it was too late to improve?” Ash wiped the tear away with his thumb.

“No, but,” I sucked in a breath, determined not to have a break down in front of my friends, “but, she said to pass, I had to be exemplary.” I looked to Ash, my voice falling to a whisper. “I can’t fail, I don’t want to die.”

There it was. The realisation that my life hung in the balance was enough to break me. Ash wrapped his arms around my shoulders as the first sob erupted through my body. He stroked my hair gently as I shook with the force of the tears. I gripped his shirt like a lifeline, keeping me afloat.

Time seemed to stand still. The shaking which ripped through my body eventually stilled. My face saturated with fear, was buried in his shirt.

“Roz, look at me,” Ash said, once he was sure I had control.

My eyes rose past his now drenched top and met his eyes.

“Roz, you’re not going to fail. You’re going to pass and they won’t hurt you.”

I pushed away from him and rubbed my eyes dry with my sleeve. Owen and Jay had disappeared, fled at the sight of tears.

“How? How am I supposed to suddenly become
exemplary
?”

He walked toward the door and poked his head through. “Guys, get back in here.” The sound of footsteps thundered down the stairs.

Owen was first through the door. “You okay sweetie?” He asked, as he hugged me hard. I nodded as I hugged back.

“Roz needs to become a super student, fast,” Ash said, as he stood in the centre of the room. “Owen, you think you could show her a few short cuts in the computing department?”

Owen grinned, like he was in on a secret. “Oh, I think I can teach her exactly what she needs to know. I can show you short cuts even the tutors don’t know about.”

“Jay, can you back up on the surveillance side?”

“Sure. You want to learn how to plant bugs? I’m your man,” Jay laughed, high fiving Owen.

“And I will train you,” Ash announced.

I looked up at the seriousness in his face and gulped. The last time I was on a mat with him I almost got a concussion.

“I could ask Bree?” I said, trying not to sound ungrateful.

Ash shook his head. “No, Bree will go easy on you. You want to pass, you train with me. It won’t be easy, but believe me; I will get you through the tests.” He turned and opened the cupboard door. It was lined with cups and jugs. He pulled out a sports bottle. “Go get changed in to your trackies. We start now.”

I froze. “Now? I’m not ready; I can’t just suddenly train now.”

“You want to pass? You have to be ready at all times.” He filled the bottle with water while he spoke.

I watched him, my mouth hanging open. His body was tense, like he was preparing for conflict. A shiver ran through me as I watched his muscles flex. I couldn’t train with him. He was Jupiter. His muscles had muscles.

Within ten minutes we were facing each other on the grass. He had taken me to a clearing within the campus grounds. It was neatly mowed and flat, surrounded by thick conifer trees. We were alone for the most part. Few students passed us here and there. None stopped to chat. They sounded like they were gearing up for a party. If one thing could be relied upon here, it was that at any given moment there was a party going on in the campus somewhere. There was a constant murmur of student’s voices at all times of day and night.

He placed a bag a few meters away from us on the grass. I wrapped my arms around myself, too nervous to speak.

“Why are we here?” He asked, pulling a football from the bag and gently spinning it in his hands.

“You want to train me?”

“No. I mean, why are we here at this university?” He threw the ball to me gently and I caught it. He put his hands out, waiting for me to throw it back.

I threw the ball. “Because, we were chosen to train as undercover agents.”

“And what do undercover agents do?” He asked, as he threw the ball harder.

I leaped higher to catch the ball. My hands stung with the impact. “We collect information which could be a danger to the country.”

“Wrong.”

He dropped to his knee and threw the ball, hard. It smacked into my stomach, knocking me to the ground. I wheezed as my breath was forced from my lungs.

“We put our lives at risk following orders to find information.” He held out his hands again, waiting for the ball.

I didn’t throw it back. “That hurt.”

He stepped forward and took it from my hands. “Then why didn’t you defend yourself?”

“I didn’t know you were going to attack me with it,” I snapped.

“Roz, when we leave here, do you think they’ll have us working in safe places?”

I shook my head.

“They’re training us to be covert, to get the information where others couldn’t.”

“So how is throwing a ball in my gut going to help with that?”

“First lesson in defence is agility. You need to move without hesitation. You need to see the danger before it has a chance to touch you.” He threw the ball again and I ducked. It flew over my head and disappeared into the trees. “See, I knew you could do it.”

I lost track of time as I ducked and swerved. Again and again, he threw the ball at me. My leg screamed in protest, but I kept moving. I didn’t manage to avoid every hit, but it was worth it when I finally caught Ash with a return throw.

“Ha! Got you.”

“Show off when you hit me again,” he laughed.

I never managed it. He was so fast. It was like he knew where to move before I knew where to aim. I even tried looking one way while throwing in the opposite direction. It didn’t fool him. He was exactly what this university looked for. A true Wolf. He leaped high and caught the ball each time I threw it back. The training got steadily more difficult as he added obstacles which I had to jump over and roll under whilst avoiding the ball. I panted with exhaustion and exhilaration. I felt alive.

When Ash held up his hand to indicate a time out, I collapsed on the grass next to his bag. I was dripping in sweat. My arms felt like they were on fire as I pressed them against the cool grass. Even after a full day of body boarding, I had never felt this wiped.

“You’re doing great, Roz,” Ash said, as he passed me a water bottle.

I downed half the bottle before I could speak. “You’re a good trainer. Where did you learn all that from?” I poured some of the water into my hands and scrubbed my face.

He shrugged. “My Dad. He’s in the military, all my family are.” He laid beside me on the grass.

“He trained you like this?”

“As soon as I could walk.”

I turned on my side, propping my head on my elbow. “You’ve been training since you could walk? You must be some sort of secret ninja by now.”

He turned to look at me, his face confused. Then burst into laughter. “Oh yeah, I’m a super powered ninja alright.”

I slapped his chest playfully. “Seriously, you must be pretty good at all this? What does Tooth think of you?”

The thought of returning to class with Tooth made me shudder. No matter how well today had gone, I still didn’t think I could do enough to make him see me as improved.

“I’m his prize student, or so he says.” He shrugged, his cheeks flushing a darker shade of red. “I think he says that just to piss off the others. I’m always first to be picked in hand to hand. Everyone wants to beat the star fighter.” His voice was bitter.

“Do they win?”

His face fell. “No.”

I leaned up on my elbows to look him in the eye. “Ash, you don’t really like it here do you?”

“Does anybody? The constant threat of death if you fail, the pressure of constantly passing hidden tests. How can anyone like it here?” His voice echoed around the clearing.

“We don’t know for definite that they kill us.”

He looked at me and raised his eyebrow. Even I could hear the doubt in my voice.

“Okay, well they most likely do. But, why did you stay in the beginning when they said we couldn’t leave?”

“It didn’t make a difference.”

“What didn’t?”

He leaned forward and stroked a strand of hair away from my face. “I was always going to be trapped. Be it here or at home, I never had a choice.”

I leaned in closer and waited for him to continue, my skin tingling from his touch.

“My entire family are military. Every leaf on our family tree is in some form of service. For as long as I can remember, my Dad has trained me for that service. I can climb, scuba, and fight in I don’t know how many styles. For my sixteenth birthday, he threw me out of a plane so I had experience with parachuting. He’s obsessed with it.”

“He wanted you to follow the family tradition? I suppose some Dads can get a little pushy when they want their kids to do well.”

He shook his head. “It’s the family obsession. My sister always thought I was stupid for wanting something different. She can’t wait to enlist.”

“But, you didn’t want to?”

He huffed and put his hands behind his head. “I get it why they love it so much. They help people. They’re important. It’s a worthwhile road to take. But, it just wasn’t me. I wanted to do something for myself. I know that sounds selfish.”

I shook my head. “That’s not selfish. Why shouldn’t you do something for yourself?”

“It doesn’t matter now. I’m here and it’s the same result. Except here, instead of choosing which service to enlist in, I’ve been drafted.”

“Drafted?” I sat up and reached for the bottle again. “We still have some choices.” Though at that moment, I couldn’t think of any.

He sat up beside me. “I applied to six universities. I know I had the grades, but they all refused me. Then I get an acceptance from here? A place I’d never even heard of? They took away my choice, leaving me with only one option. Drafted.”

I twisted on my knees in front of him. “That happened to me too. All my applications were refused, and then I got this acceptance. It was either stay home and work in a beach bar for the rest of my life, or go to uni here.”

He nodded. “Jay said the same happened to him and his applications. All refused. Then he has a big confrontation at his parent’s warehouse with some blokes. Next morning, he gets a letter inviting him to this place.

I grabbed his arm. “The attack. Just before I got my letter, two men came and threatened me and two women at work. I had to stand up to them to get them away.”

“You must’ve done a good job, you got your letter,” he laughed humourlessly.

“Good job? I was cut to shreds. Are you telling me, you think that was all part of their plan? A test?”

My hands shook, balling into fists. Dorothy was so old; they could have given her a heart attack. And June? I didn’t think she would ever get over the shock.

“Roz,” Ash cupped my face with his warm hands, “there’s no point in getting angry now.”

“But they…”

“I know, but we’re all trapped here. If we fail, they’ll kill us off. Right now, the best thing we can do is fit in and pass.”

“Brilliant. And if we pass, we get to live a life of danger on the front lines. What’re we supposed to do?”

He stood and pulled me to my feet. “We become the best. We pass, and find a way to get out that doesn’t involve death.”

I let out a sigh and grinned up at him. “Sounds like a plan. Count me in.” I grabbed the ball and threw it at his head.

He dodged easily.

It was almost dark when we packed the bag and headed back to the house. We walked across the grass and re-joined the path as a line of students passed us. As usual, they were dressed for a party. Some carried crates of beer, while others balanced dishes of food. We let them pass without a word.

“How can they find the time to party?” I said, struggling to find the strength to talk and walk at the same time.

“Probably don’t know the consequences of failure.”

“We should tell them.”

“And say what? The university are secretly going to kill you off if you fail your exams?”

I laughed at his cheery tone.

“We have no proof, only what Owen has put together, and even that’s guess work. And what do you think will happen to everyone who does find out?” He pulled my arm gently, urging me to continue.

“It just feels wrong. I know you’re right, but I wish we could warn people.”

“So do I, but then we could disappear, along with anyone we’ve told.” He pushed open the front door and waited for me to enter. “We just need to watch out for ourselves and encourage people to get on with their work where we can.”

We walked into the living room to find it dark. I called to Owen and Bree, but got no reply. I turned on the lights as I walked up to my room.

“Put the kettle on, Ash,” I called as I headed for the stairs, “I’m just going to quickly change.”

I switched the shower on as I passed the bathroom, and then ducked into my room to grab my wash bag and clean clothes. A note from Bree had been left on my bed. She was heading to the social bar, again, and wanted me to join her there. I rolled my eyes at the note. There was no chance of me having the energy to go out after training with Ash. 

By the time I had showered and dressed, Ash was sat on the settee, coffee mug in hand. He held a mug out to me as I came to sit beside him.

“I raided your biscuit barrel. Hope you don’t mind?” He held up a packet of chocolate digestives.

“We have a biscuit barrel?” I asked, as I dug my hand into the packet. I mentally noted that I would have to run to the shop in the morning to replace them.

We relaxed in front of the TV. Time was measured by the mugs of coffee we consumed. Without realising when it happened, Ash and I fell into a new level of friendship. He touched me casually, as I rested my legs over his. As if acknowledging a silent acceptance signal, I felt closer to him, like I was welcome within his space.

We both jumped when Warwick slammed the front door open and stumbled into the room.

He looked down at us and laughed. “Your turn on the settee tonight?”

I threw a cushion at him. “Not in the way you use it.”

He caught it and threw it back. “You’ll have to clear off soon anyway. She’s on her way to a good night over there. She’s probably gonna want to use it.” He wiggled his eyebrows at me drunkenly.

“What? Who’s having a good night where? You’re not making sense.”

Warwick leaned on the back of the settee, lowering his head to mine. The smell of his breath was enough to make me dizzy.

“Cheese. She’s about to have a good night.”

My stomach sank. Bree was at the social bar. Alone. I looked to the clock to see it was passed eleven.

“Oh god, how bad is she?”

“Who says she’s bad? She’s just pissed up enough to not remember much in the morning. Well on her way to a good night.”

I stumbled to my feet and grabbed Ash’s hand. “Come on.”

“Where are we going?” He asked, as he stretched.

“Social bar. She’s been out for hours.” I jabbed my thumb over my shoulder, pointing at Warwick. “If he says she’s having a good night, it can’t be good.”

We walked to the bar as fast as my legs would carry me, which wasn’t very fast given all the exercise we had done. I always considered myself quite fit, but now I felt like a slob. My scar was still screaming at me, but I was getting used to ignoring it’s ever presence now.

The thudding music grew louder as we approached the bar. The silhouettes through the window told us it was packed. We opened the door and came face to face with Spring. She was stood with a group of girls, all dressed the same in tight skirts and heels.

She held up a glass, like she was toasting. “To the slut of the year!” She shouted.

I stepped forward. “What did you call me?” Ash grabbed my arm, holding me back.

She grinned. “Oh, not you. Your friend over there. Think she’s taking the term,
giving it away for free
, a little far.” The group of girls erupted in laughter as Spring high fived them.

I shoved through roughly and made my way into the room. Crowds of people stood in every direction, all taking louder and louder over the music. My eyes raked the crowd, finally settling on the far side of the room. Within a heartbeat, Ash was ahead of me as we forced our way through the dancing crowd.

In a booth, Bree was sprawled across one of the seats. Eyes closed, she looked unconscious. Two guys were leaning over her. Each of them tugged and pulled at her clothes, reaching in to touch her. Ash lunged forward with a growl. He grabbed the first guy who had both hands under her top. Holding him by the scruff of his neck, he threw him backwards. He stumbled to the floor and backed away. I slapped at the second guy. He shoved me away and leaned back over Bree. I pulled at him as he crammed his lips against hers, forcing her unconscious mouth to open with his tongue. His hands groped over her body greedily. Ash’s fists wrapped around the guys throat and yanked him free, throwing him to the ground where his friend had fallen.

The dancing crowd stopped and turned to watch as the guy ran for Ash. He swung once, drunkenly, missing completely. Straightening himself, he lunged again. Ash punched him square between the eyes. He dropped without a sound. Blood poured from his nose, pooling on the floor where he laid beside his whimpering friend.

Bree was cold. I put my hands on her cheek, her neck. Her pulse was weak, but it was there. I tapped her gently.

“Bree? Wake up, Bree.”

She didn’t respond. Her head lolled to the side as I shook her shoulders harder. Ash leaned over and pulled one of her eyelids up. Her eyes were almost all black, un-focusing.

“Ash, this isn’t right. What’s wrong with her?”

He knelt beside me, taking her hand. “That’s not alcohol. She’s had something.”

“How do you know? What has she taken?” I felt through her pockets. They were empty. “What should we do? Where should we take her?”

He leaned over and scooped her up, just like he did the first time we met. “Let’s see if anywhere’s open.”

We pushed through the crowd roughly. I didn’t care if I shoved too hard or knocked any one over. These people had stood by and watched my friend as she was assaulted. Anger rose in me as people dared to look annoyed by my shoving. I pushed harder.

“Can’t handle her drink, can she?” Spring laughed, as we passed.

I turned back and stood in front of her. “Why didn’t you call for help?”

“She looked like she was enjoying it.”

Fury enveloped my vision. My body tensed ready to pounce, my fingers tingled with rage. Before I was aware of my actions, my fist flung back and smashed into Spring’s cheek. She screamed and fell to the floor. Cheers filled the air around us as the drunken students began chanting
fight, fight
.

Still filled with rage, I stormed out of the room, into the cold air.

Ash was running back toward me. “You okay? I thought you were right behind me.” Bree was limp in his arms.

“Probably just got myself kicked out of here, but it was worth it.”

I leaned over to check Bree’s breathing. She was still unconscious, her skin sallow and pale. I scanned the area for light. Every building looked closed.

“Isn’t there an emergency number or something?” Ash asked, looking to me like I had all the answers.

“There is, but I never properly looked at it. I didn’t think I’d ever actually need it.”

I motioned for him to follow me as I ran to the end of a path, looking for any sign of life. There, in the distance was a glow. We ran together around a row of buildings, following the lights.

“There,” I shouted, as the building came into view. Every light inside the science block was lit. We ran together awkwardly, as I held Bree’s head for support.

I opened the glass doors and held it while Ash came through. The smell of chemicals tickled my nose as we walked the corridors in search of life. We pushed open a side door to see a man in a white lab coat with his back to us.

“Excuse me, we need help,” I said.

I walked into the lab in time with Ash, still supporting Bree’s head. My mouth fell open as the man turned.

“Mark?”

Mark put down a tool and took off his gloves. “Roz, hi. Not seen you in a while.”

“Not since the hospital.” I tried to keep my voice cool.

No way was I going to let him know how much it had hurt when he didn’t ask how I was after the bomb.

“I know, I should’ve called. But, I’ve been swamped here. Leg better?” He pointed to my injured leg.

“More or less. Twinges still, but nothing I can’t deal with.”

“Sorry to interrupt,” Ash snapped, “do you have a phone? We need to call a doctor.” He laid Bree out on the top of a work bench.

Mark seemed to snap back to reality. “What happened?”

“We think she’s taken something,” I said.

“She’s been slipped something. Bree doesn’t do drugs.”  Ash folded his arms and looked at Mark expectantly. “We need to phone a doctor.”

Mark ran to the side of the room and lifted a phone receiver from the wall. He dialled a number and waited.

“Hi, Doctor Levins? There’s a medical emergency at the lab.” A muffled voice responded. “No not any of us. It looks like a student has taken somethin’, but we dinnae know what. She looks out of it.” He nodded and put the phone down, turning to me with a smile. “Shouldn’t be long. He’s not far away.”

I paced the room while we waited. Ash stood beside Bree, like a body guard. Arms folded, he watched Mark like he was the villain.

I jumped when Levins slammed open the door. Without word, he strode over to Bree, pushing Ash out of the way. He leaned over her defenceless unconscious body, peering into her eyes as Ash had done. We waited helplessly as he whispered to Mark, pointing to a cupboard on the wall. Mark rushed to it and wrenched the doors open. Clattering echoed through the lab as Mark ran back with a silver tray filled with tools and sterile packets.

All Ash and I could do was wait in the wings, as the two men worked on our friend.

“You okay?” I asked Ash. He had hardly spoken two words since we had gotten here.

“I’m fine,” he replied, “but I’m going to kill whoever slipped her the drugs.”

“Are you sure she didn’t take it herself?” I recoiled as he glared at me. “I’m just saying, she likes to drink, she likes to go out. Why not take drugs?”

“Because she wouldn’t. Bree’s not like that.”

I watched him as he paced, consumed by the floor which his gaze didn’t leave. He chewed his cheek, grimacing at whatever thoughts were raging through his mind.

“You really like her, don’t you?” I asked.

He came to an abrupt stop. “We work together, we train together. She’s my partner. Of course I care about her.” He continued to pace, his shoulders hunched against the strain of helplessness.

I stared at him unblinking. She was his partner? How had I never known that Ash and Bree were together? How had I not seen how close they were? How protective he was of her? Of course they were together, it made sense. How could I have missed it? My heart sank as the selfish thought flooded my mind. I had read him wrong. He was my friend because he was with Bree, my best mate here. How could I have been so stupid to miss-read their body language so badly?

“That’s it then,” Levins shouted, from across the room.

Ash ran over to join them. “How is she?”

I shook myself out of my stupor and ran to stand beside him.

“She’s had an alarming amount of alcohol. And, it looks like a worryingly large dose of Rohypnol.” He went to the sink and washed his hands.

“What’s that?” I shouted, panicked.

“Date rape drug,” Mark said, “most likely someone slipped it into her drink. If she was already half gone, the people in the bar probably thought she was just drunk.” He went to a computer, printed off a sheet and handed it to me. “This is the test result Doctor Levins just did. The drug will metabolise in her system. By the time she goes tae police, there won’t be much left. She’ll need this as evidence.”

I stared at him blankly. “Thank you.”

“Roz, whoever gave her this, gave her over three times the dose.” His eyes were grave. “You two saved her life tonight.”

My hand crammed over my mouth, muffling a cry. I hadn’t realised how serious it was, how much danger she was in.

He placed his hand on my shoulder, rubbing my neck with his thumb. “You dinnae need tae worry about her now. Doctor Levins has it in hand. She’s goin’ to be fine. But, Roz, do you think somethin’ happened before you got to her?” His tone was delicate like I was the one injured.