Chapter 52

Mitch held Alex's hand as they walked out of the first room, moving in to the next one where a table was set up, just as the new instructor had told them. The Alphas were moved into the next windowed room to watch again, all more on edge this time than the first time. There was a large piece of cardboard, with seven different shades of pink/purple on it. At the top of the board, it said the word 'bruises'. Alex took a deep breath when he looked at it, several memories flashing through his head when he stared at it, though he tried to keep his eyes dry. The instructor then gestured to another table, where several objects were set out as well as one index card with a word on it. "Here are your options. This is a timed assignment, though you'll be working together on it." As he spoke, Alex watched Mitch take a small step back, looking at the floor for a second to get himself together, before he looked back up to resume listening to the instructions. Alex put an arm over his shoulders, hoping to be comforting, and also hoping that Kirstie had been listening to the instructions because he certainly had not. The Alpha in the room took a step away. "I'm going to go grab the timer now. Before I get back, you'll need to split yourselves up. One Omega needs to identify which punishment belongs with which color, one will need to place that object on top of the colored board, and the final Omega will need to name each object at the end of the trial." In a general sense, they'd need to place the objects onto the color bruise that specific object caused. The instant the door closed, Alex turned to Mitch. "Minnie, I don't think I can do this." Mitch nodded, grabbing him in a hug. "I know. God, why did we have to lose that specific paper? This is the worst part of the entire exam." "But when we first took the test at our School graduation thing, we didn't have all these memories hanging off of these objects." Kirstie glanced at the door nervously. "I know this is going to be difficult, but you have to pass this test, Alex. Pick a place." Mitch looked up at Alex, trying to give him a reassuring smile. "What if you do the placing of them? That should be easy." Alex glanced over at the table of punishments, and his eyes began to water. "I c-can't... Can't touch them." Kirstie nodded once. "I'll do that, then. Since I don't know any of these." "Can you just say the names of them, Allie?" Mitch offered. "You do the third thing he said. Then... You're not even thinking about the punishment. You're just identifying them, which is easy. Yeah? Easy. We did this in School all the time." Alex swallowed harshly, and nodded. "Okay. I can do that. Will you be okay doing the bruises? It's not like this doesn't hit home for you too." Mitch nodded, refusing to look at the tables. "Yeah... I don't think I can touch them either, so." "Do you want my job instead? It's easy. I can suck it up." "No. I'm--" The Alpha walked back into the room with a stopwatch, giving them a small smile. "Well? Have we come to our decision?" Mitch could practically hear Scott freaking out in the other room, not wanting Mitch anywhere near these items. The thought made him feel a little better. "Yes, Sir." He'd survived the test by just pointing at each thing, and then telling Kirstie where to put it. It actually wasn't that bad, if he just concentrated on the educational part of it all. He'd finally figured out what the index card was, which was just a picture of someone's hand, and he giggled at it. "This one is after the ruler." Kirstie nodded, doing as he said as quick as she could. Mitch had been avoiding the whip on purpose, but finally had to point to it, though he tried not to look at it. "This one goes in the last spot." "The darkest one?" Mitch nodded, but tried not to think about it. The Alpha stopped the watch then, and walked over to scan their work. "This looks accurate. But can you name them all?" He looked up at Alex, who was holding his hands behind his back to keep them as far away from the objects as possible. Alex just nodded curtly, staring at the lightest pink box and working his way down. "There's a ruler, then the--" "What kind of ruler?" Alex looked up, thinking about it for a second. "A wooden ruler." "Proceed." "Then a hand spank, then the paddle, then a hair brush, then a belt, then--"