I heard a murmur of whispers all around us. Neither Joshua nor I said a word. I glanced at him and saw the look on his face – he was still worried someone would disobey, no matter the consequence.
Maya continued, “Concentration and complete silence is essential. We could separate each group, but we feel it to be a better training experience to let everyone witness and understand why we do this.” Again a few whispers erupted and she raised a hand, silencing the recruits. “You are not to try any of this on your own, outside of my instruction. Safety mechanisms are put into place while I’m here,” she insisted. I wondered what she meant by that. “Do I have any groups volunteer to go first?”
No one raised their hand. No one spoke another word. “Well then,” Maya glanced at each recruit down the row, walking in front of us and stopping. I was certain I was holding my breath when she stared at me. “How about Adam and Jacqueline go first?”
I wondered briefly why she chose us and why we always seemed to get picked on. We were most certainly the least trained and ill-prepared at archery. Was this to humiliate us in front of the other recruits? Neither of us said anything. I gave a nod. “Good,” Maya spoke up. “Jacqueline, I’d like you to take the bow first. Adam you’re to come with me,” she instructed.
I took the bow and an arrow, watching hesitantly as she walked with him out onto the range, standing in front of the target. “Are you kidding?” This was absurd! She wanted me to what, kill him?
Maya saw my expression and seemed unfazed by it. “You should trust us,” she insisted. “You are to aim and shoot at Adam’s head.”
This was nuts! I put the bow down. “Absolutely not!” Did they really want me to kill him?
Cate spoke up with a smirk, “I’ll do it! I’ll shoot Adam.” She beamed with excitement.
Maya’s eyes narrowed. “You will be quiet, Cate. Another word and you’ll be joining Aidan.” Cate immediately shut her mouth, looking anything but defeated. I was certain she’d try and hurt me later for getting reamed in front of the recruits. As if it somehow had been my fault. Maya turned to face me. “The procedure will enhance certain skill sets,” she explained. “However, you can’t reach them without taking the first step.”
“You’re serious?” I couldn’t believe what they were asking me to do. It was ludicrous! This had to be a test. I wasn’t going to shoot Joshua. I couldn’t!
If it wasn’t unsettling enough, I felt Joshua’s gaze. Just do it. I heard his voice in my head. I trust you.
How could he trust me? It wasn’t as though I was shooting at something beside him! They wanted me to shoot at him. “I don’t trust myself!” I screamed back at Joshua though no one had heard his thoughts, I didn’t care. “I’ll kill him!”
Maya frowned. “Your fear is only getting the better of you. Would you prefer to be disqualified and fail the training?”
I wondered if it meant I’d fail the tests automatically, too. It seemed that way, with Aidan leaving and Maya threatening to do the same to Cate. “What about Aidan? He shot an arrow at Adam and you failed him.” I narrowed my eyes at Maya. “This is a trick.” I wouldn’t fall for her games.
Maya shook her head. “It’s nothing of the sort,” she assured me. “I could place an apple on his head and have you aim at that if you’d prefer?”
Was she serious? I stood there mouth agape for a solid minute without responding. At least if I aimed at the apple there was a tiny chance it wouldn’t hit Joshua. “I want the apple instead of Joshua,” I demanded. I could bargain, right?
“You can’t have it all, Jacqueline,” Maya shook her head. “Elsa, go grab an apple from the cafeteria.” She called to the girl. Elsa jogged off back into the building while we waited patiently.
My hands visibly shook, and I took a few deep breaths to settle myself down. I knew if I worked myself up into a frenzy, I’d definitely do more harm than good. It’s okay. I heard Joshua’s voice and glanced up at him.
This is not okay. No part of this is acceptable. I didn’t care if anyone else heard us or not. Joshua needed to know how I felt about what they were making me do.
“Got it!” Elsa called running back with a shiny red apple in her hand. She held it up and tossed it to Maya.
Maya caught it immediately and backed Joshua up a few more feet. With his back to the haystack she placed the apple atop his head. “You only get one chance.” Maya reminded me.
“Tell me something I don’t know,” I muttered beneath my breath. I aimed my bow, taking my time, having no idea how I would do this without marring him. Maybe if I aimed too high it would breeze right over his head. Maya would be disappointed, but Joshua would be alive and well.
“Aim lower.” I heard Maya’s voice as I intentionally positioned the bow higher than his head. I lowered it just slightly, hoping that would appease her. “Lower,” she repeated again, and I studied where I thought the arrow would go, calculating in my mind the trajectory it would take.
With a sharp intake of breath, forgive me, I gasped letting the arrow glide past my fingers, certain I was sending him to his death.
Shocked, the arrow stopped mid-stride, just inches from his head. It had been aimed directly at the apple, but had failed to reach it.
“Very good,” Maya smiled clapping unexpectedly. “You both have done well.”
Joshua was the first to speak, sweat trickled down his forehead. “I don’t understand.” He glanced at Maya and then to me, looking for an explanation.
“Your procedure allows you to see the world in a different way, a more unique way. In seeing such things, your perception is more attune to the world around you.” Maya reached for the arrow, watching it fall into her hands. “If you trust in yourself, you’ll find you have the ability to fight and protect yourself better.”
I spoke up, “I don’t understand how Adam can manipulate an object with his mind.”
Maya laughed softly. “It takes some getting used to but you can do far more than what I’ve shown you,” she admitted, glancing at the others. “You are not to try this without an instructor around. Had I not been here and Adam had been unable to stop the arrow, Jacqueline could have killed him.”
Cate spoke up, “You had the procedure done?”
Maya nodded. “Yes, many years ago. I was one of the first subjects who underwent the tests and passed. I also am incredibly familiar with the procedure and with the requirements of the tests. Let me further elaborate.” She stared at me, “That the procedure works differently for each of you.” Her eyes continued to move among the recruits. “It will take time to understand all that you are capable of, but you now can understand and appreciate the secrecy of our community.”
I glanced at Joshua, wondering what he was thinking. He merely shook his head. I couldn’t blame him. I didn’t trust that Maya couldn’t read my thoughts or Joshua’s. Neither of us really knew how this worked, and we certainly didn’t want anyone eavesdropping into our conversation.
Maya gestured for Joshua to follow her back to our booth. “Jaxon and Margo, you’re up next.”
I put away my bow and reached for Joshua’s hand as he came up beside me. My voice was a soft whisper, careful not to disturb the other recruits as a high level of concentration was required for their training. “I’m glad you’re okay,” I admitted, giving his hand a squeeze.
He glanced at me, his lips never moving. I knew you had it in you. I tried not to laugh, glancing at Maya. She seemed unfazed and unaware of our private conversation. I was glad to be able to steal a minute of privacy, especially if she couldn’t listen in.