CHAPTERFIFTEEN_TRAINING CAMP
October 5, 2032

 It’s the next day. Ellie was in the girls’ bathroom. She was staring at her wearable computer on her waist. It was flesh-colored, and it looked like a sweat waist band. Then she put down her shirt, and tucked it back into her skirt. 

 She then stared at her face. It was unusually perfect, but it was due to her 3D contour makeup. Then she touched her hair. Since she woke up in the morning, she was ready to straighten her hair. But as she brushed her naturally curly hair, it came out straight and shiny. She didn’t even need to straighten her hair! So she shrugged it off, and tried to push off a nagging feeling in her stomach that something was wrong.

 As she kept staring at herself, Cheryl and Rachel entered the bathroom. Ellie face them, and asked, “Does my hair look…too perfect to you?”

 Rachel looked at Cheryl for an answer. Cheryl replied, “Well…I wouldn’t complain if my hair is perfect. But didn’t you go to some makeup studio?”

 “I did, but they didn’t do anything to my hair.”

 “Hmm. That’s odd.”

 Then they both looked at Rachel. Rachel kept her eyes on the floor. Ellie asked, “Rach, how are you? With you being this…”

 “Mutant?” Rachel finished. “I’m not fine with this. I have to wear these stupid glasses. And now I have an urge to mark Nathan.”

 “But that’s a good thing…right?”

 Cheryl said, “Oh, don’t mind her. She’s just cranky because she didn’t get to be mated to some doctor bloke.”

 Ellie shook her head, and said, “Rachel, just accept that you belong to Nathan, and he belongs to you.”

 Rachel scoffed, “You don’t get it, do you? Then again, maybe you do, considering you’re mated to Declan.”

 Ellie sighed, “I’ve accepted that I belong to Declan. It’s still hard because I’m used to dating other guys. I’ve even slept with one of them. Declan…he’s sweet, and so far, he doesn’t know that I’ve had sex in the past. I’m scared of how he’ll react to my past, but so far, he’s shown he’s a reasonable person.”

 Rachel sighed, and slumped on the wall. Ellie told her, “Look, maybe it’s not that bad. Yeah, we’re young, and we should date anyone we want until we’re ready to get married to the right person. But being set with someone for life is not that bad.”

 Rachel sighed, and said, “I guess you’re right. I just have to get used to being with Nathan, and grow to love him.”

 As she was about to leave, Ellie told her, “We have a meeting in the music room right about now.”

 Rachel and Cheryl followed Ellie out of the bathroom. The girls arrived in the music room. Rachel saw Nathan. He looked genuinely concerned for her. She sighed, and sat on his lap. She then instinctively leaned on his shoulder.

 Avery began: “Okay, we got somewhere with the meeting. We’re all agreed that we should reveal ourselves. In a big way. We thought of using social media to let everyone know about this event, and get Gen-Mods around the world to join in. And on top of that, we educate Normals who we really are, and it’s that we’re a peaceful people who are more advanced than the Normals, and want to live like normal humans.”

 Justin asked her, “Did you forget you’re a Normal too?”

 Avery sighed, “Yeah, I kind of did. But they made valid points that pretty much make me admire them. All these people want is to be accepted and left alone. That’s all.”

 Aria nodded her head, and said, “Well, I like this idea. I think we should go for it. Gen-Mods? Normals? What do you think?”

 Everyone agreed to this plan. Then Aria told Avery, “Go tell your club that we’re in.”

 Avery smiled, and nodded her head. With that, she, Justin, and Cheryl left. Declan told everyone else, “Okay, since we got two new Gen-Mods here, and a fake one, we have to start training you three.”

 Rachel and Matt groaned, while Ellie was content. Declan told the two, “Look, you two are one of us now. It’s time to learn what you’re capable of.”

 Matt asked, “So when do we do this? And where?”

 Declan explained, “Tonight, whilst everyone is asleep. We go to a military base, and train there. So, cool?”

 Ellie grinned, while Rachel and Matt just stared at him. Aria told them, “Oh, suck it up, you newly mutated humans! You’re going to have this training!”

 Both Rachel and Matt sighed in defeat. 

 It’s now close to midnight. Rachel changed into her workout clothes. As she was about to sneak out, her father stopped her. He asked her, “Where are you going?”

 Rachel didn’t have her glasses on, as they were in her bag. She kept her back towards Tristan as she answered, “I’m just going over to a friends’ house. I left something there, and I need it back.”

 “You can wait till the morning. Go back to bed. It’s not safe out there.”

 Rachel sighed, and said, “Fine, I’ll just go to the loo.”

 So she walked over to the bathroom. She walked up to the window, and opened it. She gave shaky breaths. She hadn’t discovered her new powers just yet. She knew her senses her heighten, but that’s it. 

 She saw a tree in front of her. She gulped as she swung her backpack on. She jumped to the nearest branch. She caught it, and began scurrying down the tree. She then landed on the ground effortlessly, like a cat. 

 She felt excitement run through her. It felt like it was a normal, natural. Yet, she knew this was very inhuman about it all. It was animalistic. Even so, the entire thing was a thrill to her. 

 She then walked to the nearest subway station. She saw Matt, Ellie, Aria, and Declan. Aria told her sternly, “You’re late.”

 Rachel said, “I know. Ever heard of a run-in with your dad who might hate the Gen-Mods?”

 Declan said to Aria, “She’s got a point.”

 Aria rolled her eyes, and said, “Fine. Let’s just go.”

 So the group got on the subway. During the ride to the military base, Rachel asked, “Where’s Nathan and Kimmy?”

 Aria said flatly, “Asleep.”

 Rachel nodded her head. Declan asked her, “Feeling like you need to mark him?”

 She replied, “Yeah, I do. Ugh, I hate this.”

 Matt added, “I’ve been feeling like this too. I’m scared, though, to mark Kimmy.”

 Declan explained, “Look, it’s nothing to be afraid of. It’s natural to mark your mates. Trust me, you’ll feel glad that you marked them. It’s means they’re yours, and no one else’s. They belong to you forever.”

 Matt gave a small smile, while Rachel shifted in her seat. Soon, they arrived at the military base. They went to the training area. Declan told them, “Okay, we’re going to test your speed, see how fast you can run. Go.”

 Rachel, Matt, and Ellie ran. They all completed the course in 2 minutes. Both Aria and Declan were impressed by this. Ellie asked Declan, “Do you train here? Does the military know you’re here?”

 He replied, “Oh, they do know, and yes, I do train here. It’s a way to learn what I’m capable of, and to get stronger.”

 Aria added, “We’re not sure why the military is so eager to allow us here. We think they’re up to something. Not towards us, but…something.”

 Matt asked, “Is there anything else we need to do?”

 Declan replied, “No, just these three rules: One, know what you’re capable of; two, don’t make a big deal out of it; and three, defend your kind. You’re one of us now. It’s time for you to live like us, to be like us.”

 The three nodded their heads. Then they began heading home. When they arrived at their stop, Rachel told them, “You guys can go home. I’m going to do something.”

 Declan said, “Okay, be careful.”

 Rachel nodded her head. She walked over to Nathan’s house. She saw the window to his bedroom. She scurried up the house, and opened the window. She climbed in, and closed the window. She laid next to a sleeping Nathan. She cuddled him. She stared at his neck, feeling a strong urge to mark him. At this point, she gave in to her instincts, and marked him. When she was done, she felt satisfied, and fell asleep.

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IN THE PIC IS A GEN-MOD RACHEL>>>>