Free Deborah Hockney by Jocasta's Gift Page B

had a talent at all. But nobody seemed to have the answer to her question; the question that was constantly in her thoughts.
    The remainder of the evening was spent watching an old movie in the adjoining lounge. Special filters and a high class surround sound system meant that you actually felt you were part of the action. Even though it was a film that Jocasta had seen several times before she could still enjoy it, as she chose this time, to view the film from the perspective of one of the monsters. It all became rather too realistic, however, when her monster started attacking the humans and she quickly changed characters before she could explore the sensation of biting off someone’s leg.
    She was relieved to find out that she’d been paired up with Nikki again for the sleeping arrangements. Much to their delight they discovered they had a shared interest for swimming and an interest in geology, especially semi-precious stones. Jocasta carefully unwrapped her sapphire, the only one in her overnight bag, and proudly showed the stone to Nikki.
    ‘It’s quite rare,’ she told her. ‘My parents gave it to me for my ninth birthday.’
    ‘And is that another stone in there?’ Nikki asked, pointing at the grey lump of plastic that had tumbled onto the bed when Jocasta had pulled out the gemstone.
    Jocasta could feel the colour rushing to her face as she remembered Will’s warning.
    ‘Oh no, that’s just a good luck thing a friend gave to me before we left,’ she said quickly, turning away. ‘Don’t really know what it’s meant to be,’ she added, shoving it down to the bottom of her bag.
    ‘Have you got any gems with you?’ she queried, hoping Nikki wouldn’t ask any more awkward questions. She liked her a lot, but there was something about those things that Will had given to her and David that made her want to keep it a secret, certainly for the time being.
    She was relieved that Nikki was only too happy to show off some of her stones, and they spent the next few minutes happily discussing their gemstone collections.
    It wasn’t long before the girls were both trying to stifle yawns; and after remembering to carefully hang up their uniforms ready for the next day, they were soon getting ready for bed. Within minutes of their heads touching the pillows, the two girls had fallen fast asleep, oblivious to the noises outside, where the hum of machinery and the drone of vehicles transporting goods backwards and forwards throughout the Cosmodome carried on well into the night.
    At 0700 hours a subtle but persistent alarm echoed through the rooms of all the Elite trainees, waking the two girls in room sixty-five from their slumbers. Reluctantly leaving the comfort of their beds, but anxious to see what the day ahead held for them, they quickly showered and made sure that their uniforms were correctly fastened and hair neatly smoothed down. They hurried to the lifts, along with everyone else from their floor.
    ‘Thought we might be the first,’ panted Nikki, as they rushed along the corridor, ‘but I guess everyone else is as eager to get to breakfast as us.’
    They were squashed into the back of the lift as everyone surged forward; no-one wanted to be left behind. Jocasta tried to breathe normally, but there wasn’t a lot of room, and she began to worry that the lift might be overcrowded and become stuck between floors.
    And then the hairs on the back of her neck began to stand on end, there was someone or something behind her; she could feel warm, soft breathing in her hair, and… was that whispering in her ears? She couldn’t make out any words… there was a persistent buzzing in her head that blocked the chatter of those around her. Jocasta wanted to turn around, but she couldn’t move, they were all packed in so tightly. And anyway, she was at the back of the lift; even if she did turn around she would only come face to face with her own reflection in the mirrored walls. How could there be anyone behind