The Fortress

Chapter 12 - The guardians

JUST LIKE THE regular afternoons, Jared was sitting on the couch at the center of the lobby with indistinct chatters filling the area as students kept parading the lobby back and forth in groups to get food. Everything was normal except that Jamie was not sitting with him in the lobby today.

"Are they not supposed to eat in the dining hall?" He thought out loud as he saw Santiago, Wong, Alessia and Dawn, lined in a semi circle digging their spoons into a cup filled with ice cream and spilling some of it on the floor at one corner of the lobby.

It was against the rules to eat in the lobby but it seems like the rules were exceptional to the likes of Santiago, Wong, Jamie, Lily, Alessia and Ruby. They were more than just students. They were highly trained to protect the institution in case of external attacks. Jamie had told him they were called The Guardians.

He wondered why the cafeteria and the lounge vending machine was situated at the other side of the building when it could be placed in the dining hall so student would not have to go through the stress of covering a long distance just to eat or maybe it was just a form of training that..

"Hi Jared," An unusual squeaky voice intruded Jared's thoughts.

He looked sideways where the voice was coming from and was astonished at the figure and face standing before him.

"Hi, Ruby," he managed to say, gulping hard.

"Can I sit?" Ruby asked politely as she pointed to the couch Jared was sitting on.

Jared was speechless, he just nodded and scooted over.

"I apologize for the unruly behavior I displayed yesterday," Ruby said the moment she sat, brushing the hair that fell to her face backwards with her fingers as she stopped to sit.

Sweat had started oozing from Jared's face as she spake, he could feel goosebumps all over him. He had never gotten this close to her and it made him nervous with a little feeling of nausea. "There's ab... absolutely...no..pr... problem." He stuttered, closing his eyes partly as he struggled with words.

She smiled.

"I guess we've not been introduced properly to each other. I'm Ruby," She stretched out her hand for a handshake.

Jared grabbed her hand nervously.

"I'm Jared," he replied with a faint smile.

"Can you do it again?" She asked with sparks of excitement and enthusiasm filling her eyes.

"Do what?" Jared asked, his eyes rolling in confusion.

"Speak, like in my head. Let me hear you in my head the way you did before," she replied grinning.

Jared face twitched and wondered why she would expect him to speak to her telepathically after her reaction the day before.

"You'd freak out. Wouldn't want to take that risk."

"I promise you, I won't," she said, laying her left hand on her chest.

"The truth is I'm not really comfy right now and I don't know if I'm capable of doing it again," Jared mumbled.

"Just try please," Ruby didn't seem to be giving up soon on her request.

"Okay, let's give it a try," Jared said and closed his eyes.

"Can you hear me?"

"Yes I can!" She exclaimed.

Jared opened his eyes. "You don't have to say it out, just say it in your mind, I will hear."

"How do you do it?"

"I don't have an explanation, I just try to do it and it happens. You want us to continue?"

"No, it's not necessary. I just wanted to be sure I wasn't hallucinating, it's very cool though. You are a telepath."

"Yeah, so what are your abilities?"

Jared was starting to get comfortable and felt he should pick up a conversation with her.

"Well, nothing much. I just have the ability too..."

"Guess who is back!" a loud familiar voice swept through the lobby, drawing everyone's attention and putting a hold to the rustling chatter abruptly.

"Jamie!" Jared yelled in excitement as the face he saw matched the voice he heard. He ran towards Jamie totally ignoring the pretty lady he wanted to stir a conversation with.

"I missed you man," Jared said as he gave Jamie a tight hug.

"I missed you too man," Jamie replied.

"So good to have you back, how does it feel to be quarantined for twenty-four hours?" Wong said, approaching Jamie with the regular group of four.

"Urgh! Feels terrible. I'm glad I can breathe fresh air once again," Jamie replied with a radiant smile on his face.

"There's no fresh air here either. I don't think there's a difference in...."

"I literally mean the air of freedom. If you were also quarantined, you would understand what I'm trying to say," Jamie interrupted Alessia's speech.

"You should have seen me whupped Wong's ass in Bartitsu class this morning," Dawn sprouted.

"That's not true, she cheated. She Created a doppelganger of herself," Wong defended himself, his eyebrows raised in fury.

"I still whupped your ass," Dawn snorted.

"Hi, Jamie," the unusual squeaky voice Jared heard few minutes earlier squeaked again. Jared was sure this would go sideways. What could Ruby possibly want with Jamie?

"Oh, look who is squeaking?" Jamie mocked realizing the beautiful voice belonged to Ruby. If he was honest with himself, there's no doubt the voice was appealing. He was actually shocked Ruby sounded that way.

For the past one year he had known her, she never spoke and when she did there was always a tone of aggression in her voice. He was pretty sure the rest of the group were as shocked as he was hearing her voice sound so appealing as everyone of them had become silent immediately they heard her voice and all eyes were fixed on her.

"The angry bird. Or should I say the angry mice," he answered his own question meant to mock Ruby and everyone burst into laughter except for Jared and Wong.

"I know you don't like me and you have every reason not to," Ruby started peering from one face to the other.

"I've been so mean and cold all these while and my action towards Jared was terrible. As cold as I am, it would never be my intention to hurt anyone. So I apologise both to Jared for attacking him and to Jamie for being the cause of his quarantine," Ruby said with a sober face and in a sober voice.

"She even knew she was cold all these while," Dawn whispered to Wong.

Everyone kept staring at her, no one said a word and it made her feel a bit awkward.

"I apologise to everyone also for being unnecessarily cold," She added remorsefully, cocking her head downwards before turning to leave.

As she turned to leave, Jared reached for her and grabbed her by the wrist, stopping her from leaving. He had no idea why he grabbed her that way or how he moved so fast to reach her before she turned fully. But he knew he felt sympathy for her. He knew how it felt to be the outcast of a group, he could totally relate.

"Uhm, guys, she's forgiven right?" Jared ran out of words for few seconds as he grabbed her wrist and their eyes met. He managed to compose himself and pleaded on her behalf.

They kept staring at her for few more seconds before they all took few steps backwards and put their heads closely to each other to form a circle. Jared and Ruby looked at each other in confusion as they heard them mummuring in their circle.

"Okay, we've made our decision," Santiago said as they scattered the circle they had formed.

"Since we need to be United as the guardians of this great institution, we have come to the conclusion that Ruby as posed as a threat against our unity for long and we are glad she's finally wanting to be part of the family. So, we invite her to our secret camp in the forest tonight by nine p.m." Santiago's speech was followed by few whoops and cheers from the group except for Jamie who seemed indifferent about the decision.

"Thank you very much," Ruby replied grinning. "But isn't Jared invited too?" she asked, hoping to get a positive response.

"No, I'm not part of you all, I'm not a guardian," Jared added quickly, opposing Ruby's suggestion.

"Come on Jared, don't say that. You are definitely part of us," Dawn said defiantly like she had been offended by the statement he just made.

"Yeah, she's right, you are part of us," Wong added.

"Come on Jared, you are invited too." Jamie walked closer to him and nudged him.

"Okay, okay. I'm in," Jared said grinning and everyone cheered and whooped.

"You never told me you all had a secret camp," Jared said with excitement welling up in his voice.

"It's supposed to be a secret, no way I could have told you about it. Now that you know, you are part of the circle and you must protect our secret," Jamie replied as they both headed to the elevator. They were going to Jamie's room which was on the tenth floor. Jared had never gone pass the sixth floor where his room was. There were other students on the sixth floor but he hardly saw them and everywhere he wanted to go never exceeded the sixth floor as the lab was on the second floor. Though, he had never been to Jamie's room, Jamie had been to his room a couple of times but briefly. This time around, he was going to Jamie's room to spend the rest of the day till it's time for dinner.

As the elevator dinged and slid open, a voice cried out behind Jared and Jamie.

"Wait!"

They both turned simultaneously, it was Ruby.

"I'm going to the seventh floor," She said as soon as was close enough to them.

Jared could hear his heart thudding as she stepped into the elevator with them.

"Thank you Jared," Ruby said smiling as she faced him.

"Why?" he asked without looking back at her even though he could tell she was looking at him. She was in between he and Jamie. He was on the right while Jamie was on the left. He wasn't the only one uncomfortable as Jamie also had his hands folded to his chest and a frown on his face.

"You came through for me today," She replied blushing.

"I did?" Jared asked sarcastically, finally finding the courage to face her.

She probably didn't read the sarcasm in Jared's tone and question. She replied innocently, still blushing.

"Yes, you did. Thank you very much".

"No problem. Your room is on the seventh floor?" Jared asked as he took his gaze off her and looked straight.

"Yes, it is."

The elevator dinged, signifying they had reached the seventh floor.

"See you at the camp Jared, bye Jamie," Ruby said amidst waving as soon as she stepped out of the elevator.

Jamie still kept a stern face after Ruby's departure and it bothered Jared.

"Are you good?" He asked.

"How did it happen? Saw you both on the couch in the lobby and now I can feel the chemistry between you both," Jamie said without turning to face Jared and maintaining his stern look.

"Trust me, it's nothing like that."

Jared didn't know if he was telling the truth or not. He liked her but there was no chemistry between them.

"She came to me when I was sitting on the couch hoping for your release like Alex had said. She popped out of nowhere apologizing and asking me to telepathically speak to her again."

"And you did?" Jamie replied almost immediately flitting his gaze to Jared. The frown on his face had worn off.

"Yes, she said she needed to be sure she wasn't hearing things or hallucinating." Jared peered at Jamie's face trying to read his facial expression.

"Good for you. I think she likes you."

The elevator dinged instantly Jamie made his assumption.

"You think so?" Jared asked eagerly whilst stepping out of the elevator.

"Yes, most definitely. Just be careful around her," Jamie warned.