I am awoken and rattled by this sudden feeling of me thumping onto the ground, alongside the sun blaring into my eyes. I shut them and wince as I hear Elaine's voice ring out, "Up and at 'em, Parker. Shower and get ready for church. Wear something nicer."
I groggily stand up and tell her, "Best you're getting from me is sweatpants and a solid color shirt, it's all I own. I could wear a scarf."
Elaine sighs, rolling her eyes, "Sure, wear the scarf, even though it's springtime." She pats me on the back and gently pushes me toward the bathroom, where the two showers are. She set aside for me the one on the right, and I do see my soaps already there…
Wait! That means she's been in my room! I knew she had administrative access; hopefully, she didn't find my cloak or mask.
Well, she couldn't have, because it's instantly over for me the moment anyone finds those.
I step into the shower and start the water. Elaine shouts into the bathroom, "I also moved all of your clothes into the second closet!"
"Thanks!" I shout back, now beginning to wash myself. I'm reassured by the fact that if anyone found my Chameleon outfit, I'd likely be the first to know due to the following fallout.
So, church, huh? Not exactly looking forward to it. I'd rather be training, especially since I'm fighting the King of Clubs in a few days.
I hear the door to Elaine's room click as I'm lathering my hair with shampoo. Then some soft footsteps until a soft voice sounds out, "Elaine? Are you ready?"
"Yeah, Elizabeth, just waiting on Parker."
"He's going?"
"Yeah, where I go, he goes, remember?"
I hear Elizabeth yawn and take a seat on the couch, "Well, if he doesn't get out now, we won't have time for breakfast."
I'm finishing up as we speak, but we're still not gonna have time, because I still have to get dressed.
I turn the water off, and I hop out, grabbing a nearby towel and hurriedly drying myself off.
"Can you two close your eyes? I gotta grab my clothes for the day." I ask, my hand already on the doorknob.
"Closed!" Elizabeth shouts back.
I step out swiftly and grab a pair of underwear, a pair of white ankle-high socks, black sweatpants, a solid color blue shirt, and the cyan scarf that Miss Claire made me for my birthday. I step back into the bathroom and shout, "I'm back in the bathroom, you two are good!"
I get dressed as quickly as I can and rush back out. Elaine walks out and starts adjusting my scarf, "At least make the scarf neat and presentable. It already looks bad with the outfit."
"Hey! My mom handmade this scarf for me!" I shout back, rather defensively.
Elaine recoils slightly and nods, a little quieter, "My bad…"
Elizabeth, on the other hand, checks her phone, "Wait! We're gonna be late!" She grabs our hands, drags us over to the elevator, and presses the button.
The elevator isn't coming, though; that's odd. It usually would've come by now.
Elizabeth shivers like she's cold, rapping her finger on her waist, tapping her foot, and looking around frantically. She then decides to grab our hands and open the nearby window.
Wait, she isn't gonna–
And in the next moment, I feel myself fly out the window and start to go into freefall while still holding onto Elizabeth's hand, now for dear life.
"Elizabeth! I know how much being on time means to you, but this is a little much!" Elaine screams, now flailing. Which honestly makes me more scared. She doesn't seem to be the fearful type.
I see the ground below us close in, but as we're about ten feet from splatting onto the concrete, we come to a full, sudden stop. Then, we slowly float onto the ground and land rather lightly. A complete contrast from the rough fall.
"See? Faster." Elizabeth says and keeps walking.
Elaine lets out a sigh and follows after her. I think this is the most intense I've ever seen Elizabeth in my life.
It's actually quite the short walk; it only took us three minutes to walk over here, which makes me wonder what the point of hopping out the window was in the first place.
The church is a smaller building, looking rather gothic. I see all of the glass is colored with different religious imagery depicted on it. In contrast to this older-looking building, the doors leading into it are automatic, opening at the press of a button.
Elaine is the first to enter, pressing the button. It stays open long enough for Elizabeth and me to enter the building as well.
The interior is also quite modern; the floors are smooth and sleek with some material that I personally cannot name. I see Elizabeth rush over to greet some staff, who remark that she's: "Early like always."
Elaine goes and takes her seat, while I walk around to find the bathroom. Almost falling to my death makes me feel like I need to use it.
I look to my left and see this side hallway, leading to a corridor that has assorted rooms, one of which is probably a bathroom, right? So, I dart into that corridor and start hurriedly looking for one…
THUMP!
I feel myself bump into something, which said something makes a loud yelp, so probably a person. I look up, and I see a lady who's a little older than Elizabeth. Probably around Elaine's age?
She's wearing a brown cardigan over a white dress, carrying a small bookbag. She hops up, dusts herself off, then swiftly moves to help me up.
"Sorry! I wasn't paying attention–" She starts to apologize, before I feel a winded sensation wash over me, like my breath is repeatedly getting sucked out of my lungs.
I then hear the screams of a self from the past, the yelling of two distinct male and female voices, the pleading from a different female voice, and the sorrowful eyes of another person who never intervened. Then, when they all cut out, there's the calming voice of Miss Claire, soothing me.
I see the lady start to recoil and hold her head with her free hand. She hurriedly lets go. She backs up, and her eyes widen. She's stammaring, "Y–You're–"
"Yo! Bonnie! Is Parker bothering you?" Elaine's voice rings out.
The lady, Bonnie, looks over at Elaine in pure, utter confusion. "Parker?"
Bonnie looks straight at me, examining. Then she looks back at Elaine, before looking straight back at me, clearly debating whether to say something or not.
Does that mean that she knows who I am?! Was that her reading my mind? My memories?!
I feel myself begin to hyperventilate, and I see out of the corner of my eye Elaine starting to approach me. When I see her take another step closer, I bolt out of the building, running far away, turning constantly at every street corner.
When I run out of breath, I quickly hide in a nearby alleyway. I'm holding my hands to my chest, trying to steady myself.
I hear the stomping of feet behind me, knowing very well who it probably is, I turn around and snap, "Clearly, I'm not in the mood for your psychoanalysis right now!"
Being completely right, I see the King of Hearts, now laughing. "Wow, that Bonnie girl in the church got into your memories, huh?"
"How do you figure?"
"Well, I'm not sure what else would send you running out of that church. Speaking of, am I speaking to the Ray Halford that lashes out? Or the Ray Halford who cowers?"
"Ray Davis!" I snarl.
"A mix of the two, then?" He remarks, completely dismissing me.
"I thought you were just gonna wait until I 'fought my way up to you'?!"
"I never said that I wasn't going to come talk to you." He remarks, taking a step closer. In turn, I take a step back. "I will say, I don't think the Clubs will pose a challenge for you. They're just a stepping stone for handing Eun-ji Choi's power better and learning to fight with only that."
"You're saying the challenge starts after?" I ask, taking another step back.
"I think Manon specifically will drive you to your limit. Not here," He takes a large step toward me and flicks my arm. "But here," He puts his pointer finger on my head lightly, before gently pushing it, causing me to stagger.
"Any other philosophy you want to throw at me, Socrates? What was it, 'core desires'?"
"No. You don't need anything right now." He tells me, crossing his arms.
"What is the point of all of this?"
"I want you to cross the threshold into the world of the strongest. With your copying, you can easily reach there. But your barrier isn't strength, it's mentality. You can grow stronger easily, but rewiring your thinking is harder."
"And why do you want that?"
"Because it'd shake things up! It'd be fun! You're unorthodox, entirely unorthodox. You can shake the world as we know it up."
"Creep," I remark. Backing up again, but this time, I feel myself bump into someone, which seems to be a pattern today.
"Oh, I forgot to mention. I told Val how much of a threat you were, so she's going to try to have you killed before the attack you and those kids have planned." He says, waving, before slipping out of the alleyway.
Turning around, I see four taller men in masks with the insignia of the Clubs.
Well, this is sorta like morning training, I guess.