Kayden stood before Bog drenched in sweat. Most of the morning had been taken up with intense cardiovascular exercises. It was about more than Bog getting a feel for her physical capabilities, although that was part of it, but it also served the greater purpose of breaking new initiates down. Ernestine Academy did the same thing. It weeded out those who weren’t serious and humbled those we were too arrogant.

But Kayden was beginning to suspect that her assessment was more rigorous than usual. She could hardly breathe, was feeling light-headed, and she wanted to puke. But there wasn’t anything in her stomach as she hadn’t had breakfast yet.

“Do you want to give up?” Bog asked in his raspy voice with a frown. It was the first thing he had said to her outside of barking instructions. He had seemed put off with her all morning.

She shook her head, too out of breath for anything else. Beads of sweat dropped to the ground.

“Again,” Bog said, leaning back against a wall to peer at her through his round glasses.

She took off, sprinting toward a line, bending down to touch it, then back to the start again. She repeated the process, touching a line on the ground further each time.

She could have accepted that assessments for all new initiates were this thorough, but she began doubting that when the other initiates began filtering into the training facilities and started taking enjoyment in her torture.

They would point and laugh at her when she finished one painful exercise and was rewarded with another. Some called out suggestions of what Bog could have her do next. And others blatantly hurled insults, calling her Uptown princess and other such things. Bog didn’t reprimand any of them, no matter how vulgar and cruel.

That is when she knew that this had nothing to do with assessing her capabilities. It was meant to break her, and not in the way that Ernestine Academy broke their students.

Bog wanted to see her fail. All of them wanted to see her fail.

They had somehow learned who she was. She knew it was inevitable, but she hadn’t expected it to happen so soon. She had hoped to at least get to know them before it happened. If they were already friendly with her then maybe when the truth came out, they wouldn’t be so hard on her. But that opportunity was gone.

It didn’t matter. She wouldn’t break. She couldn’t.

So she ran, jumped, did push-ups, and everything else Bog could think to force her through. He didn’t ask her if she wanted to give up again, but it was as if each time she completed an exercise, he took it as a personal insult.

She had her father to thank that she hadn’t already collapsed. He had given her mediocre training when she was a kid. It had been mostly been geared toward controlling her aura and channeling it through her arms, but part of that had involved disciplining her body. And so even when his training eventually stopped when she entered Ernestine Academy, she still continued with a morning routine of simple exercises so she didn’t grow rusty.

Bog’s antagonism surprised her. She expected it from the initiates, but he was a fully-fledged Nikiphero member, and she had been brought here personally by Cassius himself. She would have thought that at least would have garnered her some respect in his eyes even if she wasn’t considered a Cliffsider.

Bog had seemed to worship the ground Cassius walked on. There was no way that he would react in this way toward her unless he knew that this wouldn’t displease Cassius in any way. Could Cassius have told him to go harder on her?

But no, that didn’t explain why Bog seemed to suddenly be taking such a keen disliking toward her. He wasn’t just going hard on her. He was trying to get her to quit. She was missing something, and she couldn’t figure out what it was.

That was until she felt a pair of heavy eyes on her. For the most part she had ignored the other initiates watching her, but some intuition caused her to glance through the hair plastered to her face to see Rem leaning against a wall watching her.

His tailored suit and red mohawk stood out amongst all the initiates who had gone back to their training with Rem’s arrival. None of them wanted to be caught slacking off in his presence.

When he saw Kayden looking at him, he pushed off the wall and walked over. Kayden stopped the exercise she was performing and straightened up. As much as she hated seeing Rem, it was a relief to have an excuse for a reprieve.

Bog’s lip twitched at her suddenly stopping, but glanced over in Rem’s direction when he noticed Kayden looking over there. He didn’t seem surprised to see Rem, so he must have already known that Rem was here, and Rem must have been the one to reveal her origins to everyone.

Why was he going out of his way to punish her like this? Was he so prejudiced against Uptown? Or could it have been something else? Although she couldn’t imagine what. She hadn’t done anything to deserve being treated with such hate.

Rem came to a halt in front of her. “Why are you here?”

“To train,” she said, although she knew that he wasn’t asking why she was physically here at the Nikiphero training compound. He didn’t believe that she really wanted to be a member of Nikiphero.

“You are weak. You make all of us weaker, being here.”

Kayden didn’t answer, not even to deny his claim, because she knew it would make no difference. Her actions would have to speak for her.

Rem’s face remained placid even as his words grew harsher. “Your father was weak too. He was never meant for this life. He knew it just as we all knew it. That is why he ran to Uptown. Go home Uptowner, before you end up hanging off a ledge you can’t pull yourself up from.”

There was nothing she could say to Rem that wouldn’t end with one of them trying to kill the other, and Kayden was under no illusions as to who would win that fight. So, she opted for the other option and went back to the exercise that Rem had interrupted, pounding at a punching bag.

Rem stood there for a moment longer before walking away to converse with some of the other initiates. They seemed familiar with him as they were quick to greet him and to show their progress. Although they still treated him with the respect his position garnered.

Bog had gone with him, so she was finally left on her own to rest. Whatever game they were playing with her was over--at least for the time being.

She channeled as much of her aura into her arm as she could manage and slammed it into the punching bag. It flew through the air by the chain it dangled from and slammed into the ceiling, leaving a crack.

Kayden stared down at her fist in surprise. She had never performed a blow that was so powerful. Being in so many life or death circumstances seemed to have improved her abilities drastically. It made her feel more than a little bit excited because her channeling abilities hadn’t increased since she was a kid.

She was broken out of her reverie when she realized there was no sound in the gym. She looked up to discover everyone looking in her direction. The weight of their disapproval, centered around Rem, fell upon her.

She scowled at them and strode out of the gym.

She ran into Launi on her way out. It looked like he had just gotten out of bed since his hair was in such a disheveled mess. Bog had woken her up at the crack of dawn for her assessment, so even though she had been exercising for hours, it was still relatively early, and other initiates were still filtering in.

He smiled lazily at her with that goofy grin of his. “Good morning.”

She blew past him without a word. She felt his eyes follow her as she went up the stairs that held the dorms.

The rooms held three initiates each, and Launi had set her up in a room with two other new initiates. Launi had told her that there used to be another person staying here, but he couldn’t keep up and had been kicked out.

Nikiphero may have been a gang but they had high standards, so they had a high turnover rate at the beginning. But after a certain point, only in the most extreme of circumstances was an initiate forced to leave.

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

Kayden went into her dorm to discover it empty, which wasn’t a surprise. Her roommates would have been out training already. This relieved her, not only did she not want to deal with their prejudice against her, but it was awkward being the only girl, especially with boys that had just come off the streets.

She doubted they would try anything, attacking another initiate outside of the confines of sparring was a quick way to get kicked out, but still, the threat was there. She would put anyone in their place that tried to touch her.

The dorms were small, with only two rooms. One was where they slept and the other was the bathroom. All of the meals were taken in a big mess hall beside the training facilities.

When she got out of the shower, she found that her two roommates had returned. They were both older than her. They could have been twins except for the fact that they weren’t even brothers. One was called Spax while the other was Shiloh.

They were currently going through her bag of possessions which she had left on her bed. One of them--she still wasn’t sure which was which--was holding the picture of her father while the other peered over his shoulder at it.

“Hey!” Kayden rushed over with her still damp hair and grabbed the picture from his hand.

He didn’t try to resist her but bared his teeth in a poor imitation of a smile. She gathered up her possessions which were scattered on the bed and pushed them all into her bag.

“We were just talking about how we would split up your stuff when you got yourself killed,” Spax said. She was just taking a guess at this point of which was which. She was pretty sure Spax was the one with the gap between his front teeth that made a slight whistling noise when he spoke.

She kept her back turned to them as she collected her things.

“So, you really are the Wreckage’s daughter. It’s hard to believe he would have an Uptown daughter like you, but that’s the result of him getting soft over the years.”

This got her to turn around to stare him down. But that was the exact response he wanted because his smile got wider. Shiloh sat down on her bed and leaned back to rest his head against the wall like he was bored. She only spared him a glance before turning back to Spax.

Spax continued to taunt her. “Come on, I may be new to Nikiphero, but even on the streets, they talk about how the Wreckage fell from grace a long time ago. He let himself get weak. The man in that picture isn't the legendary right hand of Cassius. The man in that picture is an Uptowner like you.”

Kayden slung her pack over her shoulder and started to walk past Spax but he stepped into her path, inches away from her. He reached up to run his hand down her arm, but Kayden slapped his hand away, her heart racing. She forced her way past him. He didn’t come after her.

“Bog wanted to see you,” Spaz said as she opened the door. “He’s waiting for you in the mess hall.”

Kayden had planned on heading that way already as she was starving. Launi had mentioned that the meals were taken with everyone together, three times a day. But he hadn’t said when, and Kayden had been woken up early by Bog so she hadn’t had a chance to ask anyone.

She slammed the door closed behind her and made her way to the mess hall. She arrived to find it empty except for Bog sitting at a table with a plate laden with scrambled eggs and a thick slab of meat which he was cutting into. The mess hall was a disaster with plates and food left discarded on tables and the floor.

Bog saw her enter and waved her over as he shoveled a dripping, red piece of meat into his mouth. Kayden’s stomach churned at the sight. She had never been an avid meat eater and seeing something so undercooked be eaten seemed unsanitary and barbaric.

As he didn’t motion for her to take a seat, she came to a stop in front of him as he slowly chewed his mouthful of meat with juices trickling from the corners of his mouth.

She hoped she wouldn’t be forced to eat the same thing, but at this point she would take whatever she could get, and it wasn’t exactly like initiates would be able to pick their own menu.

Only once he was done chewing and swallowed did Bog speak, his raspy voice echoing slightly in the empty room. “The initiates are given duties to fulfill. You will be incharge of cleaning up the mess hall after each meal.”

Kayden looked around the room in befuddlement. “On my own.” It would take hours to clean this mess up.

“Yes. Is there a problem?”

Kayden knew he was baiting her, but she couldn’t stop herself. “I’ll be cleaning dishes all day. When am I supposed to train.”

“From your assessment, I have judged that you are not in need of as much training as the other initiates. With your little display with the punching bag, you showed you already had control of your aura.”

This had nothing to do with her capabilities. He was purposefully trying to prevent her from improving. But what could she do? He was in charge and she was only an initiate.

She briefly considered going to Cassius. But how would that look? Going to him on her first day with complaints. He had warned her that there would be complications with her attendance here. She would just have to shoulder the burden and find a way to work around it.

“You can eat once you have finished cleaning,” he added. “Oh, and I know it must be uncomfortable sharing a room with boys, so I’ve taken the liberty of having a private room prepared for you. It is in the kitchen which is convenient since you will be spending so much time there. One of the initiates in charge of preparing lunch will show you to it.”

He took one last bite of eggs then held out the plate which was still mostly full of food. She took the plate reluctantly.

“I’d get started now if you want to be ready for lunch.” He looked around the room. “The boys made quite the mess today.” Then he stood up and left.

Kayden looked around the room as well, and took in the spilt milk, the plates lain carelessly about, the food splatters on the floor. There was no way that anyone could eat so sloppily unless it was purposeful. This mess was yet another message which clearly stated that she did not belong here.

With no other option, Kayden sighed and got to work. She grabbed a few plates then made her way over to what she guessed were the doors that led into the kitchen. She was right and found that the kitchen was full of boys working on getting the next meal ready.

They all stopped what they were doing and watched her as she came in. She tried not to let their gazes get under her skin, and walked over to the one area of the kitchen that wasn’t occupied, the large tub-like sinks for the dishes. She discarded her pile of dishes and then tried to take stock of how to get through this in the most efficient way possible.

She would need a trash can to discard all of the leftovers, dish soap, rags, soap to clean off the tables and floor in the mess hall, a broom, and a mop. That would probably do it, but she didn’t see any of those things around her work station.

Reluctantly, she turned around to see if anyone could help her, but they had all gone back to their own work. Just like breakfast, lunch looked to be largely protein based. She had a feeling she would have to get used to eating a lot of meat.

She went up to a table to get some help but everyone ignored her. She was about ready to throw up her hands and scream in frustration even though she knew that would be giving them exactly what they wanted when someone tapped on her shoulder.

She spun around, ready to fight, but only found Launi grinning behind her. He looked down at her raised fists with raised eyebrows. She lowered them in embarrassment.

“Looks like you do have the fighting spirit,” he said. “Everyone else seems to think you will cave after a few days. I tried to tell them that the daughter of the Wreckage wouldn’t be so soft even if she was an Uptowner.”

“I’m not an Uptowner.”

“Sorry,” he said quickly, but his grin remained firmly in place. It was starting to annoy her, she couldn’t tell if he was making fun of her. “That’s good to hear, but you were raised Uptown weren’t you?”

“So, what?” she said, some of her anger finally coming free. “That doesn’t make me one of them.”

“Sorry, sorry,” he said, raising his hands defensively. “I’m just trying to get a read on you. I was always a huge fan of the Wreckage when I was a kid. I caught a couple of his fights in the arena when he still did that sort of thing. I wish I could have caught his fight with Rem. I heard it was legendary before it got interrupted by that attack from Mistech. If you ask me, my money was on the Wreckage winning. Nobody could stand toe to toe with him. I respect the Fiend--don’t get me wrong--but in a straight up fight, the Wreckage will win every time. He just has too much power in those fists. Had, I mean,” he amended.

Kayden didn’t know what to say. It was unexpected to be getting this fanboy reaction out of one of the other initiates after how they had all been treating her. Maybe it was his grin or his bright, blue eyes, but Kayden felt like Launi didn’t exactly fit in with this crowd.

“So what was it like growing up with the Wreckage?” he asked eagerly.

“Uhh…”

“Did he teach you any sweat moves? I heard you’ve got some good control over your aura already. I do too. Bog said I’m a natural. Maybe we can spar some time.”

He waited with expectant wide eyes. Kayden glanced around, more taken off guard by his friendly demeanor than if he would have been abrasive like the rest of them.

“Sure,” she said. Who knew, maybe this could be the start of a shift in the way the rest of them treated her. She had to start somewhere.

“Cool. I’ll look for you around the gym, but for now, I’m supposed to show you where you will be staying.”

He led her off to the side of the kitchen where there was a door. It opened up into a small supply closet. There was a sink with a dirty mirror surrounded by objects for cleaning, and in the back was a bed with a small section cordoned off with a curtain which must have been a shower.

“Everything you will need to fulfill your duties is in here,” Launi said. “It might not look like much, but at least you have your own space.”

Kayden took it all in distastefully and thought wistfully back to her apartment above the slaughterhouse. That had been a suit compared to this.

Launi glanced back as someone called his name. “I’ve got to head back, but if you have any questions feel free to ask. I won’t treat you like the rest of those jerks.” He smiled at her again before running back to help with the lunch preparations.

Kayden walked into her closet and closed the door behind her. There was a small cord above the mirror that turned on a light. She walked over to the bed, sat on it, and placed her pack of belongings beside her. Launi was right, it might not be much, but it was a small relief that she was finally away from everyone and could breathe freely for a second.

Her relaxation lasted for about a second before her stomach growled and reminded her how hungry she was. It was time to get to work.

She gathered up the cleaning supplies she would need and left the closet.