by A. A LEVINE
“Just thinking about the last time we were out here.”
“Are you sure you’re not just worried about your pet giving another recruit a concussion?”
The consensus among a few of the training officers is hat she intentionally harmed him. “I’d still like to know what really happened.”
“Headquarters took care of it. So why are you still questioning it?”
I look at the group of students in front of me. Out of anyone who could have wandered through the campsite and found those two, why did it have to be Holli? I remember where her tent and sleeping bag was; she had to walk past six other people to even get to the edge of the campsite and the path we found them on was another quarter mile away. The only reason we were out there looking for her was because Chloe noticed her friend was missing and thought she went out scouting on her own.
Alex is still watching me. She’s always been like a sister to me and despite our differences, when she sides with John, I know she has my best interests at heart. “Xander, if you think Holli is a threat to other recruits, you owe it to them to speak up.”
“I don’t think she’d intentionally hurt anyone, but I do think there’s something going on with her.”
“Oh, I can almost guarantee there’s something going on with her. She’s a teenage girl, prone to be moody and temperamental and she’s-.”
“She’s what? Have you noticed something?”
“They have her in the admin building training harder than anyone else. That’s gotta be taking a toll on her. So yeah, I notice she’s not as shiny and new as she was when she first came here.” Her eyes go to Holli’s side of the camp. “I don’t know how she’s made it this far, but she has.” Now Alex’s eyes are unfocused and she’s not seeing Holli, she’s thinking of something else. “Succeeding here always comes with a price.”
“But is it a personality shift?”
“You remember how I was in the beginning?” She asks with a small smile playing on her lips.
I chuckle at the memory. “I think you cried in your dorm room all during phase one.”
“Exactly and I wasn’t as soft as Holli.” I give a don’t start with me look which she ignores. “My point is, we all react differently to the training. Maybe now is the point where she’s doing a little more introspection and pulling away from needing your constant support and praise.”
“You make me sound like a cheerleader.”
“In a way, that’s exactly what you are, and she doesn’t need that. We’re not training people to be dependent on us, we want them to be our equals, so now is the time to let her stand and fail on her own.”
Chapter Fifteen
Holli
The sound of crunching leaves and snapping twigs are muffled under my feet. Our team’s game plan hasn’t changed from before. I’m still supposed to be part of the first wave, or, as I like to say, the expendables. No one’s mentioned how the scoring works, other than the team with the most flags win. I was nervous when they told us we were doing this event again. The memory of the last time we were out here bounces in my head just like I’m sure it’s rolling around in everyone else’s. I don’t blame the students for keeping their distance.
I follow my team out of camp and spot a few recruits in the surrounding woods. We’re not the only team who decided to get a jump on things. Chloe stretches and yawns loudly. “Way to alert them that we’re coming.” I tease.
“Oh please, the way Shane is clonking around here like a Clydesdale there’s no way they don’t already know.”
The S-chips are on, and I try not to dwell on the fact that the tech doesn’t always work on me. I keep my mind on the conversation with Chloe. The lessons with Mrs. Price have helped me learn to focus so I’m not overwhelmed by the other voices and noises in my head. Now, I have a 75% success rate on controlling who’s thoughts I hear and when. In the spirit of fairness for this activity, the only internal dialogs I’ll be listening to are my own.
The sun’s coming up and we’ve been walking for over an hour, but we still haven’t made it to our first checkpoint. This hike reminds me of our first one trying to find the Orion Compound almost nine weeks ago. Geez, how can it have only been two months? It feels so much longer. Maybe because we’ve crammed so much into such a small amount of time.
“Are we lost?” Chloe’s question brings me out of my head. I’ve been so focused on just walking and reflecting on myself, that I haven’t paid much attention to where we’re going. “I think we’re lost.” She says answering her own question.
Just like that first day, we don’t have a compass, and Shane the group dictator is holding our only map. I look around at the foliage. There are a few evergreens planted here but most of the trees and shrubs have already lost their leaves. It’s shaping up to be a beautiful November day, though the nip in the air makes we wish I would have put on an extra layer of clothes. Winter’s coming and the temperatures will be unforgiving. I try not to dwell on the fact that the weather was perfect on the original training date because there’s nothing I can do about what’s already happened.
I feel useless standing around when we finally stop for a water break. I lean my head back looking up at the tall Red Maple tree in front of me. The team declined my offer to climb a tree and be on lookout duty, but there’s nothing that says I can’t climb one for fun.
I’m perched in the middle of the tree before anyone realizes what I’ve done. I get comfortable anchoring my back against a branch and feel a sense of safety and comfort cradled in the branches. I close my eyes enjoying the sense of quiet and solitary it brings me. Up here away from everyone and everything, I can finally think and let my mind off its psychic leash. I let myself sink into a moment of relaxation and let my thoughts float like feathers on a breeze. I let them stretch across the campus, across the miles searching for a connection.
Holli? It’s the first time Aiden’s ever spoken to me first.
Aiden. Oh my god, I’ve been so worried about you. Are you okay?
I can hear the relief in his voice when he answers. I thought I was going crazy, but it’s really been you I’ve been hearing in my head.
Yeah, it’s really me. I feel comforted too. I wasn’t just imaging him either.
How is this even possible? All these years, and I’m just starting to break out?
I don’t know. Maybe the separation triggered something in you. Maybe it was happening, and no one noticed because we’ve always been so focused on me.
I’m worried about what this could mean for him.
Have you told anyone that you’re breaking out?
Are you kidding? This place is competitive as hell. I really thought I was cracking under the pressure of this internship and thought I better not give them a reason to bounce me.
Okay. You need to continue to keep this a secret for now.
Holli, what’s going on? Since when do you support secrecy and lying?
Since I’ve had to learn to keep secrets about myself. I can’t talk about it now. But, I’ll explain everything when I see you at Christmas. I just wanted to check on you.
Holli, are you okay?
I am now; since I know I’m not the only one who’s experiencing some strange telepathic phenomena in our time apart.
I can hear someone coming. Aiden, I have to go.
Holli - wait.
I disconnect the link before he reaches the base of the tree.
“What are you doing up there?” Shane barks. I suppress a giggle at how insignificant he looks from this high up.
“Seeing the world from a new point of view.”
“Great. Daydreaming. That’ll help us win.”
I crane my neck to the side to see beyond the branch I’m sitting on. “Sure and in my dream there are four flags wrapped around a tree branch six or seven trees away.”
He takes a moment to catch on to what I’m saying. “You can see them?”
“Clear as day. They’re out there just flapping in the breeze like it
s laundry day.”
My word isn’t good enough, I watch Shane struggle to hoist himself into the branches to confirm my findings. “How can you climb a tree so easily but suck at everything else?” He huffs once he’s settled in the branch above me. He looks a little flushed and I’m not sure it’s from the climb. Is he scared of heights?
“I only suck at running, but Aiden and I spent a lot of time in trees, so I’m okay with heights.”
I refrain from telling him I told you so, when he grudgingly admits, “You really can see a lot from up here.” His eyes are wide and he’s barely looking at anything. Yup, he’s afraid of heights.
I have pity on him, would hate for him to faint and crack his head open falling from the tree, especially if I’m the only other person around. “I’m getting a little lightheaded. It’s been a while since I had to breathe thinner air. I think I’ll climb down now.”
His voice cracks when he says, “Yeah, me too.” I go first and see him put his hand and feet in each branch position that I do. When we reach the ground, he’s instantly steadier on his feet. We catch up to the rest of the group and he announces that I am now on the advance scouting team.
The first half of the day is all about recon work. The actual attempt to get the flags begins tonight.
After a quick lunch and safety brief, we’re issued our weapons, paint ball guns and the game officially begins. Brendon, two people from one of the Midwestern P-Biotech locations and myself are on the advance team. My job is to climb the tree at each checkpoint and mark out any locations on the map that are heavily guarded or completely empty. We’ve set up a pre-determined location to regroup with the rest of the team. Marking out the coordinates takes several hours, and the sun is just starting to set. Chloe looks upset as she passes me a sandwich and a bottle of water.
“Something wrong?”
“How’d I get on sandwich duty?” She pouts.
I shrug since I wasn’t the one handing out team assignments. “Not sure. I was on tree duty.”
Her understated brand of sarcasm isn’t lost on me when she says, “If that ain’t an interesting turn of events.” I look at Shane. I agree it is and given our history, I’m not entirely sure that I’m not being set up for an embarrassing fall.
I try to put her at ease. “Well, let’s not celebrate my ascension into the court just yet. This could all be some elaborate plot to push me in a pit of mud or chop down the tree with me still in it, before the day is out.”
She nods in agreement, as if the possibility has crossed her mind.
We’re coming to the end of the first day and heading back to base camp, and I can’t shake the feeling that we’re being watched. I let the rest of the team get ahead of me and slow my steps trying to home in on the source of the psychic imprint I’m feeling. That’s something else I’ve learned in my tutoring sessions. We all give off a psychic signature it just takes a while to know how to recognize it.
Chloe calls out for me to catch up. “Wow, just when I didn’t think you could get any slower.”
The blip is gone, and it’s just us out here again. “You try climbing trees all day and see how fast your legs go.”
“Man, I’ll bet. Teleportation would come in handy for that right about now.”
We giggle at the joke. “Yup. That elusive ability that probably no longer exists.” I think about the location of the flags. “Telekinesis would be good too.”
The team eats dinner together and I listen to everyone discuss their plans for winter break. I’m just as excited about going home as they are, but my thoughts are on what happens after. We have a little more than a month left in training and information about what to expect the second semester is just as elusive as information about the first. Thoughts of the future flash through my mind as I drift off to sleep.
I hear the clanging and open my eyes. The scene in front of me is unfamiliar and so is the girl on the bench to my right. She’s looking out across the water while talking to herself. This is a dream. This is a dream. She repeats over and over again.
My body ethereal, like I’m walking around in a dream. It’s the same feeling I get during training when I’m in someone else’s head. I approach slowly and slide onto the bench beside her. Her name is Beatrice, she’s thirteen years old, and she’s confused about the thoughts going through her head.
It’s okay Beatrice.
No, it’s not. Nobody believes me.
I believe you.
She finally turns to face me
You do?
Yes, I do. I know you’re not making this up, and this isn’t a dream.
What’s wrong with me? Her breathing speeds up. It won’t do her or me any good if she has a panic attack.
Nothing’s wrong with you. Take a deep breath. Everything’s going to be okay.
This is crazy. If it’s not a dream, then why can I hear everyone’s thoughts? Am I crazy?
No. You’re definitely not crazy Beatrice. You’re a very special girl, and you don’t have any reason to be scared.
Our connection ends abruptly and I’m back in my tent. Beatrice is the first telepathic link I’ve ever established with someone outside of Orion. The experience leaves me feeling tired, and the after effects linger through my alarm. I’m moving slower than usual and scramble to join my team.
I inadvertently make eye contact with Alexis when I walk by and get a glimpse of her thoughts. There’s a surprise in the woods for the recruits. I just hope it’s not one that we can’t handle.
The ambush comes as we’re approaching our first target. It turns out that the help the seniors are giving involves more than just hiding the flags. They’ve formed a mega team of their own with the training officers. We’re supposed to capture all the flags and their jobs are to prevent it from happening.
Shane’s hunkered down awaiting the start of our third campaign and I’m secure in a tree when I feel the change. The air is heavy with the pulse of psychic energy and the barrage of thoughts knocks the wind out of me. I hear one by one when the other recruits figure it out. The S-chips have been turned off. When the ringing in my ears stop, I climb back down and force my mind to only focus on the mission in front of me.
The flags fall and float through the air when the kinetic tug a war begins. I hold up my hand to stop Shane when he tries to use his powers to pull a blue flag from the hand of the recruit in front of him. “Don’t.” I warn.
He looks at me like I’ve said something stupid. “The chips are off, so we can use our powers.” The rest of the team agrees.
“I don’t think that’s what’s supposed to happen.” I look around at the team that is closest to us. We’re alone in this part of the woods. I can sense that the seniors and training officers aren’t around. “It’s a test.”
“They would have told us if it were.”
I look around again. Trying to get a read on them. Any of them. “No. They wouldn’t have.”
Chloe points to the red flag floating over our head. “Everyone’s doing it.”
“Trust me Chloe. We don’t want to do what everyone else is doing.” My statement is met with more disagreement and I try to reason with Shane. If majority rules, I’m totally outvoted. “I know you want to win. We all do, but I can’t help but think that if anyone uses his or her powers, we’ll be disqualified. We have a plan, and it’s a good one. We should stick to it.” I show him the next location on the map. “While they’re all here, trying to snatch flags that have already been captured from each other, we can go on to the next marker.”
I can see him thinking about it. “What if you’re wrong and we miss our chance to win?”
“Every other time they’ve told us when we can use our powers. Why would they forget to mention it now? Look around; there aren’t any seniors or instructors here to make sure we don’t get carried away and hurt each other. Don’t you find that strange?”
Leo, Shanes’ second in command’s, eyes cloud and his brows furrow so tightly that his nose almost
completely disappears. It’s what I call his thinking face. “Maybe turtle’s right.” He says. “We usually know in advance when it’s a day to use our powers and they never let us do it unsupervised, because someone might get hurt.”
Slowly, everyone else seems to come into agreement and Shane makes the final call that powers are off limits. Our team meeting cost us time and we have to run to our next target. The paintball gun strapped to my back alters my gait and I think about what Chloe said about teleporting being a handy gift. The sound of the paint hitting the tree in front of us forces us to scramble for cover. The other teams soon converge on our location.
While everyone’s letting the paint fly, I inch closer to the flag. Before my hand can close around it, it floats across the space as if on a retracting line. Rather than run after it, I run towards the field in front of me. It has the largest and oldest tree and the big black flag sitting atop of it like a Christmas star is worth sixty points. It’s up higher than I’ve ever climbed before, but I’m going to try, anyway.
My muscles strain from the concentration of the climb. It’s quiet here, which means the chips must still work in this location. My hand closes over the flag and the S-chips shut down just as I yank it from its branch. The rush of thoughts push into me all at once. It’s like grasping at air trying to find one to hold on to. I’m frozen in place and the pain in my head is excruciating. This would be one of those migraines Mrs. Price warned me about but she never mentioned being paralyzed like this, while a void of blackness is reaching out to suffocate me.
Holli, Holli, Holli, my name sounds like an echo ringing in a hollow metal room. The soft soothing voice behind the noise says Breathe. Just breathe and count. Five, four, three. With each number the voices get softer. Two, one.
