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Word Count: 1635

~Kezziah

I returned to my room just in time. Sermon burst in five minutes later.

"You're up early," she notices, as two woman wearing white face masks follow her in. The girl with the pale green eyes, sleek black hair pulled into a bun behind her head, is one of them. She's the only one of Alden's staff - aside from Sermon - that I still remember. "You're dressed, even."

I shrug nonchalantly, not saying anything. The last thing I want is for Sermon to become suspicious of my escape. The word would surely spread like wildfire.

"You've taken a lot of this medication very well. Better than any of us assumed," Sermon says brightly. Something tells me it's a line she tells all the other patients. Something to lift their spirits, to avoid hysteria. As much as I don't believe it, I do feel fine. Great, in fact. Perhaps it has something to do with my grand escape this morning.

One of Alden's staff, the unfamiliar one, holds a small, clear container in her fingers. Inside, is a thin strip of some unknown medication. A shiver consumes my skin, trailing down my back. That looks frightening.

"Meet Ivy. Three hours after consumption, it is essential exercise follows. It's just because this certain medication will be targeting your heart. Exercise will be a great way to monitor the effects," Sermon explains.

My eyes widen. "What does my heart have to do with Time's mark?"

"If the heart is cleansed of his bond, then so will your blood," Sermon tells me, motioning for the staff to start the administration.

This worries me the most because if something goes wrong with this, I might die. However, knowing better to disobey, I open my mouth, allowing one of the white masks to slip the strip underneath my tongue. It doesn't immediately dissolve, turning to sludge within my mouth. Sermon demands I keep my lips tightly shut until is vanishes. When it finally does, it leaves a burnt taste of mint in my mouth. It's unpleasant.

"Here's your paper. We will be back in three hours exactly to take you to the gym," Sermon tells me, the poisonous smile gracing her features as I take the paper from her hands. Without waiting for me to bid her farewell, she clicks her way to the next patient.

I lay back in my seat, reading the paper.

Type C
Name: Ivy

Application: Internal consumption

Instructions: Dissolve tab under tongue. Reaction takes up to twenty minutes.

Caution! Discontinue use if symptoms persist:

Chest pain
Heart palpitations
Lower back pain
Light head
Internal bleeding

Common symptoms exhibited in most patients:

Fatigue
Headache
Weakness
Nausea

Use only with the intentions to cleanse blood from source. Follow with exercise.

Sighing through my nose, I glare at the paper. How am I meant to exercise with weakness and a headache? Hopefully in the three hours, all these symptoms will cease to exist. It would be nice if they never came in the first place.

Knowing I have time to kill, I rinse the paper under the tap, letting the water slowly tear it to shreds a before it washes down the drain. Satisfying. After, I pace around the room until I pick up the book that was left for me on Wisdom Pack history. This could be a chance for me to find something out about Alden that I don't already know.

Flipping through the pages, I don't stop until I see his name in bold, and a picture of him. I quickly read the article.

Alpha Alden, the son of Marko's came into power at the tender age of sixteen. After his mother and father, the Alpha and Luna were found dead in j iis their home, hysteria almost destroyed the intricate balance of the Wisdom Pack.
However, the young, and newly appointed Alpha took the biggest skeptics by surprise, with his superior power of the mind that righted the Pack back to its original state. Now, the Wisdom Pack excels as the most advanced Pack, and continues to remain ahead of all other competition.

Alden's parents were murdered, I had no idea. No matter how many pages I flip through, I can't find any other information on it. Who did it?

Before long, the words start to jumble and swim on the page, so I set it back, and lie down on the chair. I wonder if I could sleep this off? I scold that thought out of my head quickly, knowing it might only make this worse. At least an increasing headache and tiredness shrouding my subconscious is my only symptoms I have thus far.

I'm not sure how much time passed, but it felt like an eternity. I would nod off to sleep, then wake up and realise only moments passed. Then, I would shift off the bed, splash my face with icy water, then pass. That would only last seconds before my limbs became too weak to walk, and cycle started again.

It was disturbed by the green eyed girl wearing the white mask. Except she isn't wearing the mask this time.

I can see how youthful she is, as she slips in, closing the door behind her. She can't be much older than me. My mouth opens to berate her with questions of my own curiosity but I stop myself. She's here for a reason. Not to be my friend, but to do the job Sermon and Alden ensured she would.

"I'm here to take you to the exercise room," she tells me promptly. Her tone is no nonsense, but I take my time getting ready, studying her. Something about her strikes me as different to the other nurses. She's always watching me more intently then even Sermon does.

She leads me to a small room just down the hallway. No guard accompanied us. I could have taken her down and stolen her key, but for whatever reason, she seems to trust me.

There are two girls in the room, leaning against the wall talking to each other. They both turn to look at me as myself and the green eyed girl walk in. Neither smile at me, simply staring before turning around to continue gossiping. Instead of focusing on them, I'm lead over to a treadmill. It's something I've never been near in all my life. I would much rather be running outside.

"I would suggest running for as long as you can," the nurse says, pointing to buttons that make no sense to me. "I'll be near the drink table monitoring."

She says no more to me.

Sighing deeply, I attempt to get the device working. Just as I hear the two girls near the wall whispering. When I glance over, they are staring at me, clearly finding me the topic of their discussion.

"What's the bet she's sleeping with the Alpha or something?" One of them whispers. The others eyes widen.

"She's not pretty enough. He's using her."

Swallowing my pride, I don't say anything, or do anything to let them know I heard them. Instead, I hop onto the treadmill and begin my run. My limbs are still weakened from the treatment, but I feel much better than I did an hour ago. I just need to make sure I get through this, instead of causing trouble. They can say what they want.

My eyes glance to the green eyes nurse, who seems to be fiddling with the drinks on the table. I hope she isn't listening to the whispers from the other girls.

As sweat had begun on my brow when the nurse wandered over to hand the girls water in a cup. Too busy concentrating on my run, I refuse to put any extra effort in acknowledging the girls and their gossip about me. They can think what they want. What is between Alden and I is none of their business.

"I think I need to use one the bathroom," one of the girls suddenly gasps, holding her stomach. I slow down to a jog, attempting to listen in on their conversation. "My stomach hurts so bad."

The other girl seems be sharing a similar reaction. "Yeah, me too."

Leaving their cups on the table, the girls hurry off to the bathroom, leaving me and the nurse behind. Quickly, I turn of the machine, using a towel to wipe the sweat from my face. An uneasy feeling has consumed me, as I wander over to the nurse.

"Did you do that to them?" I ask, seeing how she offered the drinks.

She seems flustered by my question, but remains calm nonetheless. "Perhaps it was their medication."

I frown. That doesn't seem right. They shouldn't have gone off at the same time like that. The nurse did something, after they were talking bad about me. Either she is looking out for me, or something else.

"You know that's not true," I tell her lowly. She seems to be glancing at the cameras mounted on the ceilings anxiously. Something she did was very illegal, and if she's caught, that will be it for her.

"Please, Kezziah, be quiet," she whispers suddenly. "You're in enough danger as it is."

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