TRAINING

10th floor,

Gymnasium,

The Fortress.

9:05A.M

The "gymnasium" was the biggest that William had ever seen. It was so massive that it was divided into at least five (5) sections filled with different equipment, each section dedicated to different activities. They had the sparring room (room being relative as it was more of a hall), wall climbing, exercise room, gun range, swimming pool, etc. They were probably more but Williams had not had time (or been allowed) to go exploring so these were the parts he knew. All he knew was the gym was always open 24/7 and kept lit at all times. Now he fell to the ground in the sparring room. He stared at the overhead light fixtures.

I swear every single one of them are vampires, these were the kind of thoughts rattling through William's mind as he laid on the ground staring at the ceiling after the nth time - he couldn't even remember the number of times Rico had thrown him to the floor.

His days underground had begun to blur into one as he couldn't really feel the passage of time due to his incarceration. Let's not lie to ourselves that what it is, he thought cynically. His thoughts on why everyone in this facility was a vampire were because no one seemed to be bothered about being stuck underground for days on end. For some reasons unknown to him after the welcome party for Rachel, Rico (formerly known as creepy leather jacket guy) was now in charge of training him.

“How long do you intend to remain on the floor?”

“How long do I get?” William asked back

“Do you want me to come and get you?”

“Not if I can help it.”

Williams stood up and slowly rotated his shoulders to trying to release some of the stress on his body, get a bit relaxed, and reduce the stiffness. Didn't help much as he still felt very stiff and bruised in many places.

The summer was going to go down in memory as the weirdest of all times. He had met most of the family members in the organization at the "welcome party"

He could still remember it like it was yesterday which it actually might be as he didn't know how frigging long he had been underground.

…

Three days ago,

The welcome party

After, the introduction to Mitchelle's grandfather he had been very gently but firmly ushered to another level by Rico. As he trailed behind Rico, he was led through a series of complex and twisting corridors that he was sure that he would never be able to retrace his step back to the cavern except with aid from someone.

“This will be your room for now,” said Rico, he didn't say from now on or until further notice but the hint could be felt. “ I will send someone to fetch you for the evening party. Till then get some rest.”

“Thank you, I think” I replied skeptically as I stepped into the room. The door closed behind me and I could hear a very audible click as whatever mechanism in the door locked me in.

I stared at the door and noticed that there was no doorknob. Of course, what else were you expecting, Williams? You are still a prisoner.

I turned around and inspected my new “room”. It wasn't bad in fact it was better than my hostel room and even my room back at home with my Foster parents. It was like a very nice and tush five-star hotel room except one where I couldn't leave without the benevolence of my captors. The plan was to break out before but the revelation I had received still shocked me. I was still in a daze. As I sat on the bed to compute my thoughts, I became vaguely aware of the softness of the bed, and before I knew it I was lying down and dozing on the bed.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

I was awoken later by a series of soft knocks on my sealed “room”. I noticed that I had probably been sleeping for a while. Well, at least I got my beauty sleep. I thought to myself sarcastically.

I was still taking stock of my disheveled state as I was pretty sure that I hadn't taken a bath in over more than a day and was still wearing the same clothes. The door slid open to reveal another unknown person.

“I was instructed to be your guide to the party.” said a young lady with a beautiful face that was quite hard to identify her age. She didn't seem to be above the age of 25 years though maybe.

She came bearing gifts a black suit and other pairs of clothing. I was given some time to freshen up. Then with aid of my new guide, I was guided through the confusing sets of corridors that seemed to populate this underground hideout or whatever it was. Every place in this place seemed to be well lighted with great fluorescent-looking lights that cast great spills of light that also caused quite a bit of sharp shadows. The creepy thing is that the shadows sometimes seemed to move. Rachel's family business whatever it was seemed to be paying well because the cost of the electricity bills of this place seems to be hinting at being mind-boggling.

As I walked with my new escort/guide I found out her name was Janette and that's pretty much all I could get from her. We talked but she seemed to be merely flirting with me, never revealing anything really to me. As I walked with her I noticed that she had red hair (like really dark red almost running to brown) and green eyes which paired with her Cheshire cat smile made her look very pretty as in a Cat-smiling-at-rat pretty. She looked predatorial in a way, it wasn't in any way she behaved just a gut feeling and it made me want to eat (in fact interact) with her with a very long long spoon.

“So Janette, right? why am I here? Wherever here is?”

“That I do not know. I am merely your guide” replied Janette with a dimpled smile. As she said this we ended at a door leading to a large hall, it was tastefully furnished and it looked like a Ballroom party was taking place, a place where rich stuck up people gathered to look down their collective nose at the peasants while sipping champagne or wine and flaunting their riches of course. In the large Ballroom Hall seemed to be some kind of party.

“What is happening here?” I asked feeling vaguely creeped out by the surprising festive mood that I was witnessing. I hope they are not planning on sacrificing or something,I thought.