The Gifted

by C. C. Lynch

  A wave of relief washed over me. He knew a lot about Replyx, but I was mostly sure that the name was just a coincidence. I still needed to focus on being Erik. “You’re wrong,” I sneered, “Jeremiah and my dad know exactly what they’re doing.”

  Curtis shook his head and curled his lip, “you’re on the wrong side, son. You ought to side up with Abrielle and those Josnic boys or you’ll end up on this side of the door.” He scoffed, “if Vlaine lets you live for tricking Abrielle. I don’t really think he’s the forgiving type.”

  “I’ll be just fine,” I said before walking away. I took care to take easy, confident strides like Erik. Once I was out of his line of sight, I let my normal appearance come back. It would have been better if Draxe or Vlaine were there to have emulated Erik that way I could be there and make the façade more convincing, but I worked with what I had at the time.

  “He’s playing you and just trying to stir up trouble,” my dad shook his head as soon as I was visible. “Erik was raised to think that his dad was a hero. People like that don’t change their minds overnight.”

  “Hey, Abrielle,” Luka called out from behind me, interrupting my conversation, “the lavy will be ready by noon.”

  I nodded a thank you to him before returning my attention to my father. “I know he’s trouble,” I smiled. “but he swears that he’s truly my friend. I just wanted to see if any information would have been revealed from the conversation. Getting all the sides of Erik I can, you know?”

  “You could have told me first.” He gave me a disapproving look, like I had come home twenty minutes late for curfew.

  “It wouldn’t have been as effective,” I said while unlocking the door. I pointed to the stall Lacey was in. “She’s in that one, just three down on this side.”

  He nodded in understanding and walked over to the door, peering into Lacey’s room.

  I stood afar while my father and Lacey conversed. I could not hear anything from my distance, but I did not want Lacey to see me in case she would clam up and stop speaking. It did not sound like a one-sided conversation, so I figured my dad was successful.

  Once he was done he came over to me and I took him back to Aldershaw Academy so that I could ask him about their talk. He revealed that he had a very faint memory of her, but he learned that she had wiped his memory along with just about everyone else at the tree house.

  She was shocked when she saw him and assumed that my father and I had some sort of ability to resist memory manipulation. Apparently, she really did want to leave Replyx because she truly was a prisoner there and wanted them to cease existing. Being a bit of a bad egg and loving the power she felt while using her gift, she enjoyed messing with people’s memories and felt little, if any, guilt.

  I thanked my father for his help, then went back to Glaston Academy.

  8

  Vlaine arrived back safely and confirmed that his aunt was okay. She had been at the campus when the attacks were occurring, but made it out safely. When she returned to a deserted campus, she simply assumed that everyone had evacuated for safety precautions.

  Luka and Al created a couple bathrooms between some stalls so that if there were any more prisoners, they would have the privilege of sharing a bathroom with whomever was on the opposite side. Just as it was with the food cubby, only one side could be open at a time. There were measures put into place to make sure that two people could not switch cells or be in there at the same time, but I did not think it was perfect in design.

  We decided that the envelope with directions would be left in the refrigerator, so we all agreed to take on separate tasks so that we would not know who had the envelope, but it would be there once we were ready to open it. Dinner time rolled around and we all gathered in the cafeteria. The instructions would be read while we all sat together eating.

  Miranda tucked a piece of violet hair behind her ear and delicately opened the envelope. Her eyes scanned the table before looking down at the instructions.

  “Okay,” she breathed, “here we go.” Her eyes drifted to me then to the others in the room as she took a deep breath. “Um,” she cleared her throat, “it says ‘Abrielle goes alone.’ And underneath it says 7 P.M. Here, you can see it.”

  Vlaine’s fists slammed down onto the table, shaking it violently. “No,” he shook his head. His eyes narrowed on the piece of paper before he grabbed it from her grasp. “Whose handwriting is this?”

  “Stop,” I put my hand gently on Vlaine’s arm. “It’s something they wouldn’t expect. There’s an entire other team over there that have a different set of instructions. I wouldn’t truly be alone.”

  “We don’t know what it says in their envelope. Nothing says we have to adhere to this stupid piece of paper.” He tossed it across the room and flashed an intimidating glare at the group, daring anyone to cross him.

  “Look, Josnic,” Aiden began carefully, “we can take a vote. Put either yes or no into the hat,” he looked around, “or another container, and if everyone votes no, well, we will draw another envelope.”

  I noticed Al looking down at his hands, avoiding eye contact with anyone. That was when I realized Al was the one who wrote the instructions. I trusted him. For whatever reason, that was what he felt was the best option and I would go along with it.

  I trust you. I directed the thought to Al. He gave the slightest nod of the head, letting me know he got the message.

  We took the vote, writing our answers down and stuffing them into a metal mixing bowl. Aiden was the one to read them. Three votes for yes, three for no, and one maybe.

  Vlaine rubbed his forehead, angrily. “Seriously?”

  Claire gave a cautious smile and said, “we weren’t supposed to read the envelope until tomorrow. Why don’t we wait until the morning and figure it out then?”

  9

  Hey Princess.

  The words swirled in my mind as the fog from my sleep quickly dissipated. I sat up in the bed and looked around the room. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust to the darkness. Once they did, I could see everyone in their beds, sleeping soundly.

  I turned over on my side to read the red digital display on the alarm clock across the room. It was only 3:47 in the morning, but Erik’s voice was still fresh in my mind.

  I listened closely, trying to take in any thoughts in the area.

  Abrielle.

  It was Erik’s voice once again. He was close, I could feel it. Flutters of panic rose in my chest. I used my gifts, seeing if I could feel or hear anyone else with him. Mainly, I was looking for Jeremiah. The gross, creepy feeling that I associated with the man was absent. As far as I knew, Erik was unaware of the storm shelter hidden beneath the stables. If I kept silent, I could find Erik and see what he was doing.

  Vlaine was sleeping peacefully in the bed perpendicular to mine. I did my best not to wake anyone up while I got out of bed to check on the intruder. I cloaked myself in Liz’s invisibility and pushed through the door, replicating Luka’s gift.

  The stables were dark and drafty, enhancing the eerie feeling that had already settled inside my chest. I put my hands in front of my face, trying to hide the breath that could be seen with each exhale. My trek to the door of the barn was painfully slow, as I tried not to make any noise walking across the wood floor. I did not want to teleport in case I accidentally landed in front of Erik or, even worse, in his exact spot.

  My eyes scanned the surrounding area and building, searching for any movement or noise. After a few moments, a flash in a window caught my attention. A flashlight waved across a room in the dormitory hall, shining ever so briefly as it moved across a window.

  The breath escaped my lungs and I froze in place. I cursed myself for not waking anyone up. An enemy was there and I left everyone unaware.

  If there is anyone else here aside from Erik, I’ll wake everyone up, I pledged to myself. I teleported closer, keeping my body next to the main academic building. A moment later Erik and Luther emerged and Erik was grunting and gri
ping about something. Keeping myself disguised with invisibility, I inched closer, trying to listen.

  “He saw her here,” Erik growled, “we’ll check the building again.”

  “Yes, your highness,” Luther exclaimed sarcastically. He threw his middle finger up behind Erik, though Erik had no idea that Luther had done so.

  Who saw me here? Who was he talking about?

  I needed to know. I pushed myself slowly through the wall and into the building. I could hear Erik and Luther’s footsteps on the floor of the cafeteria.

  The directions! No one had picked up the piece of paper that Vlaine had thrown after his angry outburst. I held my breath and hoped that he would somehow miss the one thing that was out of place in the building; aside from the lingering odor of the dinner we had cooked earlier.

  I waited a solid two minutes after Luther and Erik walked by the room I was hiding in before I began following them. After about twenty minutes of Erik searching and Luther standing behind him, looking rather unamused, Erik gave up. Luther looked my way quickly and gave a wink before he teleported Erik out of there.

  Luther had known I was following them. Whether it was only a few minutes or the entire time, he knew I was there and did not say a word to Erik. At least I knew that my trust was well placed with him.

  I began walking back to the shelter to go back to sleep for a few hours but as I was headed back Luther appeared in front of me suddenly.

  “Jeepers crow,” I shouted with my fists raised in a very pathetic reaction to the fight response, “you scared the crud out of me.”

  “Let’s keep the foul language to a minimum, shall we?” Luther raised his brow. “I didn’t mean to startle you,” his lip twitched in amusement. “Just wanted to let you know that the all great and powerful soothsayer told Erik where you were, but the prince is left scratching his head.” He had sneered when he said “great and powerful soothsayer,” showing his true feelings for whomever was behind the plans for our current situation. “Stay tight to the shadows and be careful. All your actions from here on out have been foreseen.”

  “Good pep talk,” I rolled my eyes.

  “G’night, love.” He disappeared into the night as he lit a cigarette.

  My interaction with Luther replayed through my mind until my eyes became too dry to stay awake. I hated the idea of someone having forecasted any of my actions. Above that, something else was bothering me, but I could not quite put my finger on it. Something about what I witnessed really irked me. I told myself that it was knowing that I had never actually been safe; that no matter where I went, it was possible someone knew I would go there before I even made the decision.

  Al got up carefully and left the room just as sleep won the fight. When I awoke, everyone was gone except Vlaine. He let me know that Claire, Miranda, and Luka were exercising and practicing at the gymnasium and Aiden and Al were trying to get more information from Lacey.

  Vlaine and I went to the cafeteria and noticed there was an envelope sitting on a plate in the center of the room. The paper that Vlaine had thrown down was indeed gone.

  The envelope read: “Miranda is to announce plan at 9:59 A.M.”

  “That’s weird,” I said to Vlaine, hesitation and uneasiness causing my voice to crack.

  “Looks like someone decided that you’re not going alone,” his lips pulled into a lazy smile. “We’ve got roughly an hour and a half before this goes down. Want to practice one more time with the group before things get serious?” He nudged my arm and gave me a reassuring grin.

  “Yeah,” I agreed, “grab the envelope.”

  10

  At exactly one minute to ten o’clock Miranda handed Luka a piece of paper and said, “Abrielle, take Luka, Claire, and Al to the parking garage right outside Replyx and come right back here.”

  Anxiety rocked me backwards on my heels. This was happening. We were about to attack Replyx. The fate of the institution we were assaulting, and our lives, was drawn up in Miranda’s hand. I felt tiny. Before that moment, I was sure that everything would work out as long as we all had each other and were a solid support team. Instead, all we had was a piece of paper and the hopes that everything would work out if we tried our hardest.

  Despite how unprepared and scared I felt, I did as she said. Luka, Claire, and Al grabbed onto my arm and I took them to the garage and came back immediately.

  “Good,” Miranda nodded and sighed, “now take Aiden, me, and Vlaine just outside the control room. Next, you’ll go directly to the last room you were held prisoner in.” She pushed a piece of paper into my hand.

  “I don’t know where the control room is,” I shook my head.

  “There’s a map,” she showed me the bottom of the paper. There was a crude drawing showing a room marked “CR” that was located three floors above the demonstration room.

  “Okay,” I shrugged, and held my arms out to the group.

  I squeezed my eyes closed, afraid of what I would see when we teleported in front of the control room. That office building scent filled my nostrils. For some reason, buildings like that always had the same kind of aroma. The musty smell that the treehouse harbored was absent from that spot.

  I opened my eyes slowly to see a large silver door outlined with thick glass. The glass was illuminated and a blue light shined through the opaque glass, drawing our attention to an electrical entrance pad to the right of the door with the same blue color radiating from the screen. My hand went towards it impulsively, though I had no recollection of it.

  “Go ahead,” Miranda said gently, “try it out.”

  I put my finger on it lightly and closed my eyes, allowing instincts to take over. My fingertip flitted across the screen, drawing the same pattern I had when I became overwhelmed and my hands began drawing patterns on walls. Once I felt a sense of relief wash over me, I opened my eyes to see that the blue light was now a pale green and a click sounded from behind the door.

  My mind had harbored a secret code the entire time, and I had no knowledge of it.

  “Good job,” Vlaine nodded, reaching for my hand gently. He squeezed it lightly and in an urgent tone ordered me to be safe.

  Here we go, I thought to myself, teleporting to the last room that Jeremiah had kept me in. I shuddered the moment I entered the chamber, then opened the note quickly.

  This is not the last place you were held captive. Go to the demonstration room.

  “Whoah,” I gasped, looking at the writing. Somehow, whoever wrote the directions knew I would go to the last bedroom rather than the actual room.

  “Fine,” I muttered to myself, then teleported to the demonstration room.

  The moment I landed there, the smell of fresh paint hit my nostrils.

  “Abrielle?” I heard a voice come from behind me. I turned to see that it had been Erik. “Wow,” he shook his head in disbelief, “I was starting to think you weren’t going to come.”

  I looked back down at the paper, hoping for further instructions, but there was nothing.

  “Go ahead,” I heard Vlaine’s voice come through speakers in the room, “try and heal him, Abbs.” They were giving me a chance to fix things how I wanted to; to heal people before fighting.

  Erik looked around the room, trying to find the speaker from which Vlaine’s voice had emanated.

  “Go ahead,” Erik shrugged, “try and heal me.” He walked cautiously towards me, holding his hand out. “Because once you do and nothing happens, you’re going to realize that we’re right. This is not a bad place. We’re doing things to help the future, help everyone.” He placed his hand in mine and rubbed his thumb gently on the back of my hand. “Please, Abrielle, go ahead.”

  Something in me snapped and the urge to throw him backwards overcame me. Just as I was about to, his other hand caressed my cheek lightly and I was suddenly calm, so calm that my entire chest felt warm.

  “You’re stronger than that, Abbs,” Vlaine’s voice came through the speakers once more. “Don’t let him horse you
around.”

  Horse me around? That was not a very Vlaine like thing to say. Horse… stables! Could I get out of the room? They must have changed the limitations of the demonstration room from the control center.

  I slid my fingers in between Erik’s, releasing his contact with my face. “I do want you to be healed,” I said softly to Erik, “I want the best for you.” I sighed and shook my head, “but I don’t have time for that right now.”

  I looked up towards the speakers and nodded, then teleported Erik and myself into one of the cells at Glaston Academy. Quickly, I rushed out of the cell and locked it.

  “You better hope we succeed today, because otherwise you’re going to be locked in here for a long time.” I double checked the lock and nodded.

  “Abrielle,” Erik said sternly. When I did not respond, he shouted, “Abrielle, let me out of here!”

  “See you soon Erik,” I grinned before disappearing from his sight and traveling just outside the control room.

  I went forward to put my hand to the pad but was thrown backwards by rough, callused hands.

  I struggled to sit up, the sheer force of the throw had knocked the wind out of me.

  “Should have known,” I wheezed, looking up at Slade.

  His mouth formed into a sickening grin and his eyes were soulless as he stepped closer. Every move he made seemed to last several minutes, though only a few seconds had gone by. Just as an enormous mass of fire began to head in my direction Connor came from nowhere and held his forearm in front of the barreling inferno.

  Connor placed his body in front of me, guarding me from Slade. The burly behemoth of a man threw his fist towards Connor sending his entire body into the punch. Connor, unaffected by the blow, caused the entirety of the force to be thrust onto Slade. He was thrown backwards into a wall and slumped onto the ground, unconscious.

  “Thank you,” I smiled at Connor.

  A sincere grin spread across his face. “You’re welcome.” Connor looked so proud in that moment, truly happy to have helped.