Their meeting

She tossed and turned and moved and stilled until her sheets were off and her mind was creeping with activity.  When sleep overflew her,  an hour after she laid on an uncomfortable, rock-hard bed, it wasn't deep. It was hollowed, like in a haze.

She never dreamed, all she ever saw was a pitch-black hole. It kept growing and growing. Meanwhile, her body would convulse and spasms would shake her to the core. It would start with her head curving left and right and continue with her hands twisting into painful positions. It would reach her feet which would throb harder and faster in a sickening fashion until she fell on the bed.

The shock would wake her up, and today was no different. For a minute, she wouldn't be able to apply strength to her muscles. Slowly, her sensations would come back and when she could finally rise, it was the end of the nightmare.

She checked the clock, with its taller needle pointing at the 4. Sighing in the air, she gave up on sleep and went to her kitchen. Rubbing her scalp, she slowly poured herself a cup of coffee. While she sat on the chair, she siped on the disgusting black liquid. When she finished swallowing the drink, she looked around her tiny apartment, searching for an occupation to make the hours flow by. Her mind kept circling back to the event taking place at dawn. 

She had been waiting for a year now. Right after acquiring those stupid documents, she went ahead and handed them over. It was a little bit over midnight. Now, they were in the process of being analyzed and scanned to be added to her profile. It was a long process and she hoped she hadn't taken too much time completing her last task. Not that it was her fault.

Those missions were given randomly to those who applied to them. At night, when she would just wake up or even when she was about to go to bed, a note would be slipped to her. In various kinds of ways, let your imagination flow. They normally contained the minimal required information, so deciphering them was your first step. Some would be hard, others were far too easy. She would turn the roulette, praying for luck.

She had always wanted to give a piece of her mind to those in charge, except she couldn't. So she roamed around her salon, venting her anger to the molecules of oxygen. She thought it took her at least an hour when she hadn't even spent ten minutes on her shitty talk.

The idea of calling or texting did pass through her, but she knew it would tick the both of them off. Not that she minded that inconvenience, but that would mean that they wouldn't respond. So she continued tormenting herself with boredom when suddenly, she heard a big sound coming from her laptop. Dragging her heels there, she reluctantly when into her emails.

On top of unread emails, was standing one from the Conquerors. That's when pressure and anxiety kicked in. The first word she saw was  "Congratulations Miss Velàsquez ". And with those, excitement took over. She read the paragraph, not really understanding any of the points mentioned, just knowing she made it.

She stood up and showed around a toothy smile to the invisible crowd she was imagining and waved her hand, turning it sideways. " For I am a woman of this millennium and shall out best others. Praise my name for I made it." she recited in a distinguished manner.

She jumped around and spin a couple of times while heading toward her closet.  Today was to be a special occasion. Due to this fact, she opted for letting her hair loose, instead of tying it into the low ponytail she was tired of. Her dull eyes held vivacity for the first time in a long and to accentuate their maroon color she added makeup. She picked a black dress from the hanger and stared in disbelief when she wore it and glanced at her reflection in the glass. For one, she didn't act humble and said it.

"I'm beautiful. "

 She grabbed her phone and headed out but didn't lock her door: there wasn't anything worth stealing inside and she always lost her key.

She arrived at the tallest building on the outskirts of town. The flora - the dancing grass, the marveling flowers growing abundantly- emphasized the structure of the building. High in floors and rather big, this Conquerors branch wasn't the prettiest nor was it the strongest. They were rather moderate in any data in general. The difference with this one was that it served as a home for wolves.

Over the years, strong and weak wolves had joined, making it one big - happy or unhappy- family. So would the rumors go. She believed it was more a dysfunctional family than anything else.

She stepped into the grand floor hall and didn't spend more than a minute there. The platinum blond hair receptionist didn't greet her. She only looked away and while the elevator door was closing Raïna heard faint murmurs.

On the fifth floor, the elevator stopped, permitting her to head out straight to Edward's office. She knocked but didn't receive an answer back. She then flung open the door and stepped in to see him, a girl on his lap. He was washing her amygdala and deep cleaning the interior of her mouth.

Sighing, she went ahead and positioned herself in front of the make-out session. She coughed and he finally looked up at her, his tongue still rubbing hers.

"Could you do this someplace else or hum, I don't know, GET A ROOM. " She shouted.

"What's the big deal? It's not like I'm committing murder, at least not right now. " He counterattacked. The girl was trying to hide her face while getting off him. It's just then that Raïna saw her with only her panties on-if the thin fabric of tissue she had between her legs could be called that. She picked up the rest of her clothes and went out.

"Why her? I thought you hated Lizzy. " Raïna asked.

"Yeah, I do but she knows how to kiss," he smirked at his own comment. She slapped him playfully.

"No, but for real, what did she want? "

"Couldn't do some of her mission so she wants me to falsify her profile, the basic. " he shrugged. Raïna erupted into a boastful laugh.

"People do that nowadays?! I thought it was only in movies that it happened! "

"I would kill to have that power. "

"That's mean, you lied to her. " their eyes made contact and they both chuckled.

Two faces entered the room and went to high-five Raïna and Edward.

"Congratulations Raïna, I knew you could do it," Amy said without shame.

"But aren't you the one who told me I could never make it in only a year? " Raïna asked, staring at Amy.

"Same thing. " Amy crossed her arms and sat down. She was a cream blonde, short girl. Despite her cute looks and her warm personality, her words stang, and she never saw the world in pink, despite her glasses being pink.

" Let's be real, it is a miracle you made it," Leneay stated. If Amy was the baby then she would be the mother. Taller than Amy, brown-haired, Leneay was a role model for her peers. The rational one, the overstressed one, it was all her.

They both had found help in this tower and for them, it was their home.

"Miracle nothing, it was all me and my hard-working butt. Get that straight. " Raïna fired back, closing the debate.

"Well, whatever, Delusional, but if you want to officially become a Captain then we better get going. " Amy said, standing up. She arranged her pink long skirt and waited for Raïna.

Raïna stared at her, incomprehension was written on her face, " Amy, the ceremony is this night, we have time" She explained. Amy finished putting on some lip gloss and responded.

"I know. I meant if you don't buy us dinner, I won't let you walk on that podium to reclaim your prize, I want sushi. " She picked up her little pink bag and walked over to the door, opening it.

"Amy, shouldn't we do so after she received the red envelope? And shouldn't we pay for it? " Leneay informed. Amy snapped at her and shrugged.

"You wanna pay? Fine. I just want sushi, now. " She put her hand on her forehead and voiced out to herself" Jesus, God, why did you give me Delusional and Uptight? " She shook her head and headed out followed by Leneay who just always followed her.

"Spoiled brat," Edward murmured when they headed out making Raïna smile sadly. She could act like that sometimes but there was more to her.

Raïna turned to Edward and asked whether he wanted to come.

"Sorry, got things to handle. Unlike you, I have responsibilities and work to do" He exclaimed. Raïna rolled her eyes.

"Oh please, you don't tend to any of your work, Lazy. " She teased, closing the doors behind her before the book came flying right on her face. She laughed in her hand and joined Amy and Leneay in bickering about whatever she didn't care about.

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Sometime later, after the ice cream, walk in the park, the little shopping, and the restaurant, the girls were tired and full having stuffed themselves with sushi and so on.

"Ahh, this is life! I wished we had days off more often. " Amy sighed as she stretched. " We should get going now, I don't wanna miss Nathaniel. "

"You've been talking about that boy for weeks now. Are you dating him, sex-buddy? What is it? " Raïna asked standing up and walking to the exit of the restaurant.

"Leneay choked on her water before commenting. " Sex-buddy?!?! What do you mean sex-buddy? It better not be that! "

"Why not, she can do the deed when she wants. "

"The what?! "

"The deed, hook up, the dance with no pants. I mean, you know this part in biology you skipped because you weren't at school, but in the forest being raised by hyenas or whatever. " Raïna explained, making fun of Leneay.

"It's not like you're one to talk. But no, it's just a crush. A silly, stupid crush. Now let's go. "

While Leneay continued asking Amy for reassurance and Raïna continued laughing, they headed for the dark alley, between the two restaurants. A growl was heard and leaping toward the base was three humanoid figures: a blue eye one, a pink one, and a yellow one.

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They entered the front hall and stopped talking. People were peering at the one behind the trio, wishing they were at her place.

" All that's left to do is to reclaim your prize. " Edward joined coming from behind surprising the girls.

"Oh my god! I thought it was a ghost! " Leneay exclaimed and Amy slapped her gently on the shoulder. Wonder who was the mother.

"Right, the ceremony. Then let's go. " Raïna walked to the grand ball area decorated for the occasion. Almost, everybody was there, and so were those who applied for the post. She went onto the podium and the referee began talking, making his big speech about the "effort made from our volunteer in making the world a better place for wolves" etc while Raïna eyed the desserts with hungry eyes.

Until a smell caught her attention. It smelled of the forest, of blood, of danger. The smell stimulated her nose and became intoxicating as it got stronger and stronger. It made her ears tingle and her heart sting. It beat faster and faster until a man walked in front of her, pass her and a pang of agony flowed in.

The next thing she knew, her eyes searched him and suddenly they found each other.