Thread: The Clinic: The Final Test (mild language, sexual conduct)

The Final Test

I stood with the Guardian Mages by the river, my gaze locked with Rho’s. The woman knew everything that had transpired—everyone knew—but they remained silent.
“So tomorrow’s the day,” Zetta said, her legs swinging back and forth. She’d climbed into a tree and had seated herself on one of its limbs. “What are we going to do until then?”
Epsilon was leaning against the tree Zetta had chosen while Rho and Iota were seated on the riverbank.
I narrowed my gaze, looking around.
“Rho,” I said hesitantly. “Where is Ky—” I paused, reconfiguring my mind briefly. “Where is Eta?”
Her eyes traveled to the forest and she pointed into the dense shroud of the woods.
“He told me to send you. There is something he would like to speak with you about before tomorrow.”
I nodded and felt myself walking before my mind realized what it had told my legs to do. I was completely out of sorts. I couldn’t get my mind away from Jamie.
It didn’t take me long to locate Kyle. He couldn’t have been farther than thirty feet from the main base camp. It was enough to have privacy but still remain safe.
“Ky—Eta?”
I bit down his name, forcing the latter past my lips. I hated it but I knew I had to do it.
“Call me Kyle,” he said quietly, not bothering to look up at me. “So you came.”
I folded my hands behind my back and leaned against a tree, looking down.
“Well…yes,” I replied with barely a sound. “I guess so…”
Kyle stood up, turning to me.
The fire he had lit in front of him played with his features, making him look like a gorgeous god and then a demented demon.
“I honestly wasn’t sure if you would even make it out of there alive.”
“Of course I would.”
Kyle closed the space between us and I guessed that it was to hear me better. We were both speaking so quietly.
“Claire,” he sighed. “There’s something I need to tell you. Something you don’t know about me.”
I gave him a confused look and his gaze turned from me to my brands.
“You were engaged to someone before Scorpion,” he continued. “They chose to change your engagement once they realized that you matured.”
I looked into his eyes, searching for answers.
Why was he telling me this? Why did this matter? What did this have to do with anything? Unless…
“I was your original fiancé.”
Kyle had been my fiancé? But…why had they changed it? What had happened when I matured to bring about this change?
“I’ve watched you, since you were born,” he explained. “Your mother asked me to. So, when I was told that you were my chosen I was glad. I had already fallen for you. And…when you fell for that hybrid brat…I was happier when you finally chose the Guard.”
Heat flared in my cheeks as Kyle pinned me, his forearms flat against the tree behind me.
“And when you turned sixteen…I was going to take you and explain everything to you. I was going to protect you until you were strong enough to protect yourself. And then we could fight Jate and Feiral and end everything.”
I blinked, staring at Kyle in a mixture of disbelief and confusion. Wetness was visible in his eyes but his face and voice were completely composed. Tears had slowly begun to slide down his cheeks.
“I love you, Claire,” he whispered. “But I know you don’t love me. The High Council denied it.”
“Denied it?”
My voice was weak and uneven. It barely came out as a little more than a squeak.
“Just because I have the highest seat does not mean that I have full ride over things,” he said coolly. “I was told that I was ‘unfit’ to be with you—that it would be dangerous and a scandal. How I kept my seat after I destroyed the place and nearly killed them is beyond me.”
“Kyle I…I’m sorry…”
I didn’t know what else to say. What was there to say? My mind was completely blank.
“Give me one thing,” he said quietly. “Just one, simple thing and then you never have to do anything for me again.”
“What?”
Kyle didn’t speak, but I knew.
His lips neared my own, his head tilted slightly. My breath caught in my throat but I had no fight-or-flight instinct. This was Kyle. I had no reason to fear him.
I closed my eyes and tilted my head back. His lips met mine with the barest of touch. It felt almost as if he was asking. I pressed closer to him, lifting my arms to wrap them around his neck.
Kyle’s arms closed around my waist, holding me to him, and I kissed him back slowly.
Before the kiss had even begun, it was over. Kyle wasn’t even there anymore. He had completely disappeared.
I fell to my knees, sitting on my calves. My knuckles from my loosely fisted hands brushed the ground.
How much time passed, I wasn’t sure. When I finally realized what had happened, I’d numbly made my way back to camp. The fire had long sense gone out so I hadn’t needed to put it out myself.
And then I slept.

The sun had just risen when I’d woken up. Rho and the others had already made their own, individual preparations for today.
It wouldn’t be long before we would have to leave.
My gaze settled on Kyle who was kneeling beside his backpack. The sight, so simple, caused so many emotions to building inside of me.
I looked away and leaned against a tree. Epsilon stood quietly beside another and I was partially glad that he chose to stay quiet. He reminded me of Aime in some ways.
“Are you ready?”
Rho’s voice caught me off guard but I managed to keep myself from flinching. I simply nodded. It was all I could do.
Truthfully, I never thought this day would come. Part of me hoped it never would.
I led the party, then Rho, then Epsilon, then Zetta, and, finally, Kyle. Elly had already ventured ahead with the task of watching the Clinic.
Our party took little time making our way to the edge of the woods. What was waiting us wasn’t what I expected.
Fate, Giles, Aime, Pes, and Zaien were all waiting for us. Elly was talking to Fate, curious about the girl. Things seemed to be going well.
“Claire!” Giles yelled, running and hugging me. I nearly fell over but hugged him tightly. “It’s true!!”
I smiled and hugged him tightly.
“Hey Giles,” I laughed, squeezing him gently. “It’s good to see you too.”
Aime’s eyes met my own and we shared a smile. Fate simply gave me a glare but I knew she was glad that I was there.
“Pes,” I said quietly. “About Jamie…”
“I know,” he said, his head bent slightly. “There’s nothing we can do about it.”
It was easy to tell that he mourned the loss of his best friend but I knew he would give it his all.
“So what is our plan?” Zaien said evenly, his eyes on Kyle.
A shiver slid through me and I felt as if he knew.
But that was impossible—right?
“We’ll simply attack,” I explained. “Zaien, Kyle, Rho and I will go after Jate and Feiral. Pes, Epsilon, and Zetta will deal with the Guards. Fate, Giles, and Aime will have their luck with any more Guards and the Patients. I’m relying on you three to protect them.”
Everyone nodded and formed out groups. As much as I hated having Zaien and Kyle in the same group, I knew it was needed. Zaien and Kyle were two of our strongest. I would need their help.
We split into our three groups and headed our separate ways.
Zaien, Kyle, Rho, and I were breaking in through the windows. It would have us practically undetected. Especially sense Pes, Zetta, and Epsilon’s break-in attack at the front would draw their attention.
Aime and her group were following behind Pes’s group and go after the Patient’s.
This had to work.
A loud crash followed by the sound of an explosion erupted from the front of the building and I smiled, knowing that it was Pes and his group. We’d barely made it to the windows before it sounded.
I slid open Aime’s window, knowing it was open—and, more importantly, empty.
Time was a constraint that we didn’t have on our side. Several attempts at going and coming through windows had trained me on how to do it but the others were a different story.
Zaien and Kyle made it through easily but Rho could barely manage to hoist herself up before we had to grab her and drag her in.
It was easy to tell she was used to using magic, not physical attributes.
We didn’t waste any time breaking through the hallway and down the stairs. What met us was chaos.
The Guards fought with Pes and the others. They were holding up rather well—especially Pes, since he was fighting his friends.
The Patient’s were nowhere o be found along with Aime and her group. It was a very good sign.
I led the down the stairs, pushing my powers to the front of my mind, and slid through the fight going on.
We made it into the dining room but I knew there was much more to come. It had been easy so far.
Aside from the noise outside the door, it was eerily quiet. I’d never heard anything this quiet.
The door to Jate and Feiral’s separate area opened and we all tensed. Jate, Feiral, and Byren emerged and, without warning, everything was thrown into turmoil.
Chairs and tables were thrust against the walls around us, shattering into thousands of pieces, and windows exploded around us.
“Claire,” Feiral growled.
“Let me destroy her, mother,” Byren said maliciously. “I promise you’ll enjoy it.”
Feiral’s lips curved into a deceitful smile and I shivered at the coldness in it. Zaien and Kyle were immediately behind me, ready to help me.
“No,” I said quietly. “This is my fight.”
Neither argued but neither of them moved. I knew they would respect my wish and stand down.
“Leave,” I continued. “Take Rho and help the others. I’ll be fine. The faster the Guards are taken down, the better.” They hesitated. “Now.”
They left and I was left alone with my family.
“You just made the worst mistake ever, Claire,” Byren said, grinning malevolently.
I felt before I realized.
Pain carved through every inch of my body, ricocheting through every vein. My scream sliced through the air, high pitched and almost like an animal caught in a trap.
“No!” I screamed. “Zaien! Kyle! Stay away!!”
I knew they could hear me and, for once, I was thankful that the Clinic’s walls were so thin.
Byren had one arm across my chest—from arm to arm—and another across my waist. He pressed me firmer against the wall and I knew either my bones or the wall would give eventually.
Pain blurred my vision and I could feel my bones splintering. It was too much and I knew I couldn’t stay conscious much longer.
“You can do this,” someone said softly. The voice echoed through the chaos, drowning out everything. “Use your powers—you can do this.”
“M-Mom,” I choked out.
Without warning, my power slammed through me, throwing Byren back and healing my bones all at once. Everything filled me then. And I knew.
“You killed her!” I screamed, looking at Jate and Feiral. “You killed her!!!”
I threw my hand forward and Feiral slammed against the wall. Her hands were at her throat, tied with invisible ropes.
“You killed her!” I screamed again.
Feiral was choking, gasping for air, and I tightened my control on her. She let out a soft, animalistic squeal and I reveled in it.
I threw her into a wall and it caved effortlessly beneath her. She didn’t move.
Byren was suddenly behind me and twisting me. I was bent and my upper body was twisted to face him. His lips slammed against my own.
I jerked away, twisting, and my foot connected with his head. He hit the ground and I slammed as much power onto him as I could. He met the ground.
“You knew!” I cried out. “You knew but you didn’t tell me!!”
Jate was next. He had stayed silently in the corner, unmoving. Even as his sister was being attacked. Even as his son was being destroyed.
Carefully, I crossed the room until I stood in front of him. That was when I knew.
“Hi, daddy.”
Jate chuckled, his lips curving into a cruel smile. I knew it much more than I wanted.
“So you finally remember?”
“You erased my memories when I was two,” I said evenly. “You killed Jate and then assumed his place. Because Jate was your brother. You and he look exactly alike so it was easy to convince people. Feiral was kept from the truth.”
“It seems you do remember, my dearest,” he enveloped me in his arms and I stayed still. “That’s a good girl.”
“Go to Hell,” I growled, my nails digging into the skin above his heart. My fingers slid through until I held his heart in my hand. “It was you who killed mother. It was you who had everything arranged.”
“And I’ve been waiting to kill my bitch of a daughter since the day she was born.”
In the blink of an eye, he was gone.
I let out a cry, screaming as loudly as I could. As if my vice had caused it, another explosion erupted from the building, shaking the entire structure.
Kyle and Zaien appeared by my side and I glared, searching. Feiral was gone but Byren remained. Byren. Not my nephew, but my half brother.
“We need to get out of here,” Kyle said, dragging me towards them. “The Clinic is on fire—it’s going to completely destroy itself!”
I glanced briefly at Byren and then turned my back to him, leaving the place.
We raced out of the building.
Giles was the first person I saw. Only, he wasn’t a person. His clothes were in scraps and he’d just shifted from a wolf to a human.
My eyes widened. Giles was a werewolf?!
I shoved the thought aside and saw so many Patients that I could barely count them all. It didn’t take me very long to note that some people were still missing.
“Pes and Aime,” I gasped. “They’re still inside?!”
I turned and started back inside. Kyle caught my wrist, holding me in place on the steps of the Clinic.
“You can’t go inside,” Zaien said sadly. “It’s not safe! You’ll die if you go back inside!”
“Listen to the vampire!” Kyle growled.
“No!” I screamed. “Let go of me!”
I managed to break free of Kyle’s hold and ran as quickly as I could into the flames.
Smoke filled every inch of the building, soot blackening the chrome-white walls. Bodies were everywhere.
I searched the bottom of the building and the Guard Quarter once before I heard moaning. The source wasn’t my objective.
Byren had managed to crawl into the main area and was trying to stand.
“Dammit,” I growled. “Byren, you aren’t dead?!”
“I’m not that easy to kill, bitch,” he shot back before falling into a fit of coughs.
“That is sister, Byren. I am your sister.”
I started to run up the stairs but froze.
There was no way I could simply leave him behind. As much as I hated him for what he’d done and everything that he’d had done…I still couldn’t leave him. He was my brother.
I let out a sound of annoyance before running back and lifting him onto me. He shot out protests and questions but I ignored them as I led him to the door.
Kyle was there waiting for me and I shoved Byren to him. He caught him hesitantly before throwing him to the ground as I ran back inside.
“Get out of here,” I coughed as the smoke was finally getting to me. “This isn’t safe.”
“Speak for yourself,” he growled, running with me.
We made it up the stairs and I headed to Aime’s room. It was the only other place she could be.
The door was on fire when we got there and Kyle knocked it down. I gave him a grateful look before venturing inside.
That was when I saw them.
Aime and Pes were on Aime’s bed. They almost looked as if they were sleeping.
Pes was on his side and had one arm around Aime’s shoulders and another around her waist. Her head was on his chest, one arm hidden between them and another limply on top of his hand.
If it wasn’t for their wounds, they look like sleeping lovers.
Aime had a large wealth of blood that stained the front of her shirt on her stomach. It had long since stained the bed. Other cuts marred her small, delicate features but the wound to her abdomen had ended her.
Pes had multiple wounds but his killing blow had been the one in his back that had cleanly cut through to the front. His blood had mingled with Aime’s on the bed.
I covered my mouth as a sob escaped. Kyle hugged me to him, hiding me away but I pushed back.
“No,” I whispered, stepping towards them. I leant over the bed and stroked Aime’s hair and then Pes’s. “They were finally happy. Finally…”
Tears cascaded in rivers down my cheeks and I gasped as realization slipped through me.
“Jamie—what about Jamie?”
“Claire, there’s no time,” Kyle yelled. “This place it’s going to literally blow any second.”
“No, Jamie—”
Kyle slammed his lips against my own, hugging me tightly. I fought against me but he didn’t relinquish his hold on me.
“Claire,” he said, breaking away. “Don’t worry. I’ll find him. I promise.”
He pushed me back and smiled.
“She’s going to be beautiful, Claire.” He paused. “I’ll see you soon.”
I opened my mouth to speak but I never had the chance to ask my question.
Kyle shoved me and I felt glass break beneath me before I fell.
The Clinic exploded, erupting in flames as I freefell to the ground. It was as if time had slowed down and I was watching everything change. Like the turning point of everything.
Like a new beginning.
I hit the ground and screamed. Almost instantly Zaien was by my side, dragging me away.
“No!” I screamed, fighting. “Kyle! Kyle!! KYLE!!!”
Another blast went off and smoke and flames licked the air around the Clinic. All I could do was scream and fight, trying to get back to the Clinic—back to Kyle.
“Kyle’s still in there!” I screamed. “He’s still in there! You have to go back!! Kyle!!!”
By the time we made it back to the base, Zaien had lifted me into his arms. I had stopped screaming, too weak. My body had given into its own exhaustion.
I was staring at the sky, blanketed with cloud and realized vaguely that it was snowing—and that it had been snowing the entire time.
The snow fell to my cheeks and liquefied before sliding down my cheeks with my own tears.
At the base, I was immediately greeted by Rho and the other Guardian Mages—save Kyle.
“Claire,” Rho said evenly. “Kyle had to die—you are to take his place on the High Council.”
Something inside of me snapped and I calmly stood on my own. I knew Zaien wouldn’t let me go other wise.
“So I can take his place?” I said neutrally. “He died so that I could take his place?”
Rho silently nodded and I dropped my head, chuckling darkly. It wasn’t long before I was in an entire fit of crazed laughter. Rho looked at Zaien and I knew everyone was watching.
Truthfully, I could care less.
“You had Kyle killed so I could come to power,” I yelled, all hints of laughter gone. “He knew he was going to die?! You planned to kill him?!”
She backed away and I followed.
“Murder,” I screamed. “Suicide!! Kyle didn’t want to die! You sick bitch! Now I understand completely how the mage kind works! When you’re done with someone, you kill them!!
“Go to Hell Estra Charkovsky!!!”
I pushed Rho and she fell into the river. I turned on my heel and walked off. I didn’t care what anyone thought.
“Claire?”
“What?!” I growled. I paused as I saw a little boy. “Oh…I’m sorry.”
“My name is Kyle,” he said evenly, unaffected by my anger directed towards him. “Kyle Sate. You knew my older half-brother.”
I froze, staring down at the boy. He looked nothing Kyle. If anything, he could be my brother.
“Kyanite Venue is also my Aunt. So you are my cousin.”
I stared at the little boy in disbelief and he held his hand out to me. He was so composed but he couldn’t be more than seven.
Carefully, I took his hand and light flashed, blinding me. I felt the hand in my own morph and grown and, when the light receded, I focused my vision on the boy.
“It’s nice to meet you, Aunt Claire,” he said with a smile.
The boy was about six-three now with silver hair that had been fashioned like Kyle’s. He had, however, my orange eyes. His skin was paler than my own and I guessed it was a trait from his father.
I smiled.
“Nice to meet you, Kyle.”

We ventured back to the group and I introduced Kyle to everyone. Nearly all of them were shocked but no one said a word.
“So what is the death count?”
Rho, still soaked, sat with the other Guardian Mages, a paper between them.
“Of ours,” Epsilon said evenly. “Twenty. Of theirs, however, well over one hundred.”
I nodded and looked down at the list. Several names I recognized, others I didn’t.
“Hey,” I said slowly, looking around. “Where’s Zetta?”
Epsilon stood and walked off. I knew then that it wasn’t good—that it was either bad or horrible.
“Ah…Zetta…Zetta didn’t make it,” Elly said quietly. “She was killed.”
I bent my head and then nodded.
“How is Epsilon?”
“Not good…he’s not taking it well. He hasn’t said anything or even cried around us but we know he’s hurting. We can feel it.”
I nodded again and glanced around.
Fate and Giles were curled in their own little corner of the Clinic group and I felt my heart ache as realization flowed through me.
They were all that was left of our little group.
I had left what felt like a long time ago, Byren was the enemy, and Jamie, Pes, and Aime were dead.
The Guardian Mages only had Rho, Epsilon, and Iota left. Zetta and Kyle were dead.
How much more messed up could things be?
I felt arms envelop me and I leant into them. I easily recognized them as Zaien’s.
“This nightmare is over, Claire,” Zaien whispered. “We can leave.”
“No, Zaien,” I said evenly. “This nightmare is just beginning.”
“Claire is right,” Rho said, finally entering the conversation. “Jate is still alive. He is still a threat.”
“His name isn’t Jate,” I growled. “His name is Castel. Castel Time.”
“I think you should go see Epsilon,” Zaien whispered, his lips at my ear. “I think he could really use you right now.”
My eyes fell to the piece of paper and to Zetta’s name. I could feel tears of my own filling them.
“Alright…”
I stood and headed towards the direction Epsilon had left. He was only about thirty or forty feet from the base camp. The first thing I noted was that he was holding something.
Zetta.
“Epsilon…”
He wasn’t making a noise or even moving, but I knew he was crying. I could feel it.
Slowly, he turned his head and I saw his dark eyes filled with tears. His pale cheeks were stained with trails of his tears.
“I should’ve been there,” he choked out. “I should’ve been…there…”
He broke off into sobs and I wrapped my arms around his shoulders, falling to my knees.
“I understand,” I said softly. “Kyle…maybe if I would’ve been faster…maybe if I would’ve pulled him with me…I should’ve hurried. I should’ve pulled him with me.
“But you need to tell her good bye, Epsilon. Zetta was always to happy and bubbly. She wouldn’t want you to be sad, now, would she?”
He shook his head and set Zetta’s body down gently. Like Aime, a stomach wound had most likely dealt her end.
Epsilon turned in my arms, burying his face in my chest as he sobbed.
Out of everyone I had ever known, he and Aime were the strongest.
Aime knew she was going to die and accepted it.
Epsilon had held his composure for what must’ve been an eternity after watching the woman he loved die.
They were both so strong yet they had been reduced to ash.
Epsilon and I returned to the group and that was when I saw it—the sunrise.
The sun had begun to rise over the hills just outside the Clinic. Its warm light danced off the falling snowflakes.
“No matter what happens,” Epsilon said softly, “the sun always rises and tomorrow always come.”
“Shakespeare?”
He shook his head.
“No,” he said, smiling at me as we entered the base camp and the others greeted us. “Kyanite Venue.”