The wind howled behind him as Jace shut the door. Making sure to lock it, he walked inside his small confine, flickering on the lights.
The light shone to reveal a stack of clothes wrapping around one another lying on the bed. Beside it was a suitcase and at the edge of the bed, was another stack of clothes. This one, arranged.
Jace sighed as he shrugged off his jacket. As he surveyed the room, his eyes flickered over to the bed stand where the previously organized stack of papers lay everywhere, now disorganized and half-read.
They were the Rules and Regulations of the Academy.
Jace had been reading them previously before he had gotten the notification to report to the hall.
Jace picked up the stack, flipping through them. The rules were the same, familiar ones.
'Don't kill', 'Don't torture or maim', 'Don't leave the premises past 10pm' and others like that.
Only a few of the rules interested him, one of them being the Ranking.
In the academy, students had been ranked by their ability grades. A student could choose to move up the rankings by beating someone of a higher rank. Simple, right?
The higher up someone was, the more benefits they would have including tokens.
Tokens were the form of currency in the military and even in factions. Aside from that, the amount they were giving 1st was almost absurd.
Jace moved his attention to his cyberlink as the numbers shone '393/501'.
It had been 502 people when Jace checked it before the ceremony.
Jace involuntarily shivered as he remembered the haunting look on that student's face.
The blood dripping down from every orifice and the broken nails, slowly dripping down blood.
Jace shook his head as he struggled to push the mental image out of his mind.
Placing the papers back on the table, his eyes moved to the bulge in the pocket of the jacket now lying on his bed.
Jace attempted to sigh before stopping himself.
'Not now. Soon, but not now' He assured himself as he focused his attention on the clothes sprawled on his bed.
Folding and arranging them was easy. It was what would come after it that scared him.
Jace still didn't know a lot about the way to get an ability. Information like that was kept under wraps.
What Jace did know was that when you were bestowed, a fundamental change happened in your body.
At some point, other abilities like enhanced intelligence or telekinesis were once bestowed.
That had changed when the survival rate was close to 5%. There were still some rumors that experiments were still happening in the shadows.
Jace folded his checkered shirt as he gazed around. The bed was clear with nothing on it except a pile of folded clothes at the corner.
He was done, which meant he was just getting started.
Jace reached into his jacket pocket, retrieving the familiar black wooden box.
Taking a deep breath, Jace cracked open the box as a silver-like object came into view.
It was a heart.
Not a heart-shaped object like chocolates in valentine or balloons. This was a real silver heart.
Jace touched it as it pulsed slowly–a dry liquid, probably blood, dripping down from one of the many crevices on it.
Jace gazed at the heart as a folded piece of paper caught his eye.
The contents on the paper were easy to see as Jace unfolded it.
'Eat the heart'
Jace blinked as he reread the note. The message remained the same 'Eat the heart', and for a second Jace thought it was a sick military joke.
The heart pulsed once more, as if it too was laughing at the absurd joke.
Jace closed his eyes as he pinched the bridge of his nose, his other hand holding the wooden box.
Jace considered throwing it away. Just tossing it away and pretending. He already had the mysterious floating window, that could probably help him, right.
Jace shook his head. That floating window was a tool, nothing more. The same as the heart pulsing in front of him.
He grabbed it, feeling the blood dripping down his fingers.
A feeling of disgust rose up from his stomach and Jace pushed it back down alongside the familiar taste of bile.
Bringing it closer to his face gave Jace the chance to fully see it. It was disgusting.
Shutting his eyes and pinching his nose, Jace shoved the heart inside his mouth as he felt a warm liquid flow from his lips.
Forcing himself to fit it into his mouth, Jace initially tried to swallow it whole but soon found that the only option was chewing.
This disgusted him more as he felt the strong muscles on the outer layer of the heart's structure, pushing against his teeth.
As his teeth pierced through the layer, the taste of metal filled his mouth as Jace fought the urge to gag.
The familiar feeling of disgust rose like a storm, upsetting his body.
The heart remained motionless in his mouth but even then Jace could still feel its little pulsing.
All this served to increase the storm that was now forming it's way upward.
Jace choked down the heart just before the storm fell on him.
Gagging and almost retching, Jace grabbed his neck, struggling to keep the heart down.
Blood spurted out of his lips, as it stained the tiled bedroom floor.
With a sense of realization, Jace understood.
The Blood. It was his.
And the storm ramped up. From an uncomfortable feeling, it grew into a calamitous event threatening to destroy everything.
Blood rose up to Jace's throat as pain descended on his fragile body.
His muscles tore and reformed, tore and reformed, tore and reformed in such a manner Jace could barely keep himself from screaming out.
The pain kept his mind on the edge, leaving him floating around, itching to go off it but being held back by a thin thread that held his sanity intact.
And then, it stopped. The storm calmed as the scattered pieces of Jace's mind coalesced into one.
A sigh flitted from his lips as he collapsed, his mind now tired.
He closed his eyes just as darkness descended upon him.
The room was silent, almost sleeping like the only inhabitant.
And then, it happened. The clacking of shoes across a tiled floor.
The door swung open, giving way despite the lock still on and armed.
A large figure walked in, a familiar one that Jace would no doubt have been able to recognize.
It was his old friend, the sniper on top of the roof who had nearly killed him and had been mistaken for a training dummy.
Now, with its presence in one of the most secure locations, it became clear.
This was no mere training dummy.
The figure moved slowly, the metal breastplate hitting against its upper body yet making no noise.
It was as if the world had stopped, the wind frozen and the room still.
Only the small rhythmic breathing of the boy challenged that notion.
The figure walked slowly towards the defenseless boy, unslinging its rifle as she knelt beside his body.
It aimed its rifle, steadying it as the muzzle pointed to Jace's forehead.
A period of silence settled on the room, the rifle aimed at Jace's forehead and the figure's finger slowly approaching the trigger.
A voice echoed through the room, cutting the timeless atmosphere through like a hot knife on butter.
The voice was playful, with a hint of underlying power.
"Oh, I was sure I was the only one tasked to watch him. Who are you?"
The metallic figure remained motionless as it paused and then in a silent whisper, spoke.
Either to the unconscious Jace or the inanimate room, it whispered in a half automated voice "I hope I'm not making a costly mistake"
And then, like a shadow, it was gone–Its figure leaping through the window, leaving no proof it was ever there.
The invisible owner of the voice appeared, seemingly formed from the shadows. His bright green eyes scanned the room as he gazed around as if looking for something.
With a smile on his face, he held up the walkie-talkie that had somehow appeared in his hands.
"There was a little problem. Nothing major. Target is still safe and secure".
The figure surveyed the room once more, his eyes resting on Jace as a small twinkle shone in his eyes.
And then, he was gone. His presence vanished, the world back in time, the wind flowing unhurriedly and the room breathing.
And in the center, that boy lay. His heart breathing unhurriedly and his presence, undisturbed.
For now.