I'd like to thank iZaln for editing the Prologue and Chapter 1 of my story! I'm not going to bother saying don't post here because I know people will post anyway I hope you enjoy the story! Feedback Thread Prologue: The water was murky today, as it had been for the past week. My eyes dart from side to side. There finally! A fish. Quickening my pace and tail going faster, I open my mouth....yes! Eww! I slow down. The fish have tasted odd lately... I swim toward the sea floor. Suddenly I see something large in the distance, and swim closer to it. Closer..... I stop in fright. I try to swim away but this thing sucks me toward it. I feel my tail getting heavier and slowing down... Breathing harder.... -Blackout- Chapter 1: An Introduction "Have a good day Evaline!" my mother told me as I stuffed my feet into my shoes. Grabbed the envelope on the table and ran out the door. I raced through the streets of my village Enimote. There are about 200 people living here, but it consists of mainly elders and young children. I am one of the few teenagers in my village. At 16 years of age, I take care of my younger siblings, cook, clean, and work, but today was different. I was off to The Academy. The Academy is for special people. People like me. People with special powers. I am Telepathic. It's hard to explain... I can determine and read any creature's thoughts, even humans. I can also talk to other telepathic people without speaking. I don't have much experience, but I've practiced alone with animals. Only one other person in my village is like me, and she's my best friend, Diane. She is a Hynoptist. It's pretty cool, I admit. She already went to The Academy yesterday, and now it's my turn. I take a right and to find that I'm in front of The Academy. Painted blue and red bricks, it stands out in my village. Most of the buildings are run down and worn, but The Academy was built here by the government two years ago. Usually it costs 2000 pieces to attend, but it was cut down to 10 pieces for some unknown reason. I stole a few seconds for a deep breath. Finally, I ascended the stone steps to enter the Academy building...
Chapter Two: The Academy "Wow...." I felt blown away by the interior of The Academy. Technology everywhere! Hi-tech computers, floating TV's, laser security, etc. Enimote wasn't up to date with the technology, we were centuries behind! I walked up to the desk. It was rectangular, made of solid metal and glass. "Uhhh...Hello?" Suddenly, a screen appeared out of thin air and flickered to life. I stumbled backwards, tripped and ended up on my butt. Fortunately, the lady on the screen had her back turned. "Great way to start off the day Evaline..." I muttered to myself. The lady turned around. She had short red curly hair. "Oh! Hello there! How can I help you?" the lady asked "Um...I...got this letter..." I wasn't sure how to explain. It felt weird speaking to a screen. A spark of recognition appeared in the lady's eye. "Ah yes, Evaline Taylor Werdt? 9 AM appointment. Telepathy?" "Ye...yes." "Certificate?" "Um no" "Follow the corridor, turn right, second door to the left. The Professor will be with you shortly....and...this..." The lady held up a silver key card. "This is your identification from now on, it will give you access to the places you are entitled to enter. Thank-you for coming!" The screen turned off,it shrank then disappeared into thin air. I blinked. Had this all been real? *buzz* I looked around. "What in the world???....." A device that looked like a coffee maker was buzzing. A slim laser beam shot down from where usually the coffee would come out. A silver key card appeared. The buzzing stopped and everything was quiet again. I took the key card, it was as thin as a sheet of paper. "Hell! It's lighter than a feather!" My name, ability, birthdate, birthplace, parents, odd series of numbers, a small fingerprint picture and a funny pattern of dots were on the card. I slipped it in my pocket. "Well, I guess I'd better get moving..." I said to myself. I walked down the corridor. The walls were painted white, illuminated by fluorescent lights. Each door was metal. Visually, it felt cold. I reached my designated door. Pulled it open and stepped inside. I blinked. Dimly lighted, modern design. Sleek. The walls were a cream brown, white couches, Two cages coves by cloth, a small table and a vase of lilies..... No one was inside except me. "This is so weird..." I spoke to myself. Suddenly the door pulled open and a man with light brown hair walked in. Around 22 years old I guessed. "Hello, you must be Evaline. I'm Professor Retnos. Please sit." He waved a hand towards the couches. I sat down. He took a seat across from me. "We will run through 4 telepathy tests. Two on me, the other two on animals. If you pass all 4, I will give you a certificate and timetable for your education at The Academy. Shall we start?" He asked I nodded. "We will start with you reading my mind. Tell me what I am thinking." I breathed out slowly, then closed my eyes and concentrated on the professor. It wasn't very hard because there were only two living people in the room. When I use telepathy it's hard to explain what I see. I only see darkness for a few seconds but once I concentrate I see any living creatures in the room with my eyes closed but in a certain colour depending on their mood. Red for angry, Green for happy, Yellow for bored, Purple for sad and so on. I see Professor Retnos in brown. This means he is calm. I focused all my attention and energy on him. Soon, what he is thinking flows through my mind in words. "I wonder what I'll be having for dinner tonight...." I giggled. I broke my concentration. I opened my eyes to see the Professor looking amused. "What was I thinking?" He asked "You thought: What am I having for dinner tonight..." I replied "Hmmm well...it wasn't exactly what I was thinking. You picked up my subconscious thoughts instead, how odd. Most beginners can only pick up conscious thoughts." "Oh..." The Professor looked at me thoughtfully. "Now let's try sensing the image I have in my mind." I nodded and concentrated. Instead of words I got a picture of a elephant. "An elephant" I told him "Very good." he replied We went through the rest of the tests quickly. I got them all right. "I am proud to say that you are now an Academy telepathy student." Professor Retnos said "Thankyou!" I was so happy. I was finally a student! He handed me a certificate made of paper and a small device. I think it's called an iPhone. "Now this is just the hard copy of your certificate, the digital copy is in this iPhone as well as a copy of your ID, Academy student number and your timetable. All telepathy classes start at 5AM every day and go until 12 noon. You may leave now" "Thankyou professor." I said He laughed. "You earned it."
Chapter 3: Illuminate I ran up to my house where my Dad was farming. "Daddy! I got my certificate!! I'm an Academy student!!!" I yelled My Dad looked up. "Good heavens Evaline! Congratulations! I knew you'd get in." Dad gave me a big bear hug. I detached myself from him and ran into the house. "Mom!!! I got in!" My mom was sitting at the kitchen table reading to my little sisters, Kate and Stephanie. Kate is 10 and Stephanie is 8. "You got in??!!" Kate asked "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! I WANT YOU TO STAY!!!" Stephanie wailed "Hush Stephanie! You all knew Evaline would be accepted." Mom told them "How did you know?" I asked "How could you not? Even I have a little bit of Telepathy. It runs through the family, but only few of us have strong telepathy. I'm very happy for you Evaline." Mom said with a smile. I gave mom a hug. That's when my sisters jumped up and started asking questions like: Will you be gone for days? What does your certificate look like? Can I see it? And so on... We sat around the table and I told them everything. Two hours later I'm calling Diane to tell her about my day. As I wait for her to pick up I look around my room. The walls are light pink. My bed and furniture are plain brown. My desk is on the other side of my room, across from my bed. I don't have much aside from a Teddy Bear, a stack of paper, several pens, pictures, a few books and a bracelet made of pure sterling silver and green gemstones. The bracelet had been passed down through my family for generations. I'll admit that my family is rather poor, we're sitting just above the poverty line. Diane's family is better off. Her dad is a politician and her mom a well known artist. My dad is just a farmer, my mom can't work on the farm because of weak lungs. Fortunately, my older brother visits every week to help out. He got married last fall and moved to the city Terra. "Hello?" Diane's voice went into my ear "Hi Diane! It's Evaline." "Hey! So what happened today? Did you get in?" "Yup, I got in." "Yes! Now we can go together!" "Yeah. It was so creepy though... All that technology and speaking to people through screens..." "Not really. I heard that the big cities have lots of tech." "That's what my brother says." "How's he doing?" "Good, his wife's expecting soon." "Cool! That means you'll be an Aunt!" "I guess. Hey Diane, did you hear all those rumors going around about people disappearing near the coast of Illuminate? Like after they go in the water they never come back up?" "Yeah, not true if you ask me. Illuminate is the capital and coastguards are all over. It's probably just a rumor that someone started to get attention." "Maybe...but it sure seems real..." "Don't stress over it, I gotta go. See you tomorrow at the Academy!" "Bye!" I turned my phone off. It was almost 9PM. "Lights out everyone!" my dad yelled from downstairs. I hurriedly turned off my light. I decided to actually sleep, I had to get up early tomorrow. I closed my eyes and dreamt of the capital Illuminate. Next Day I sat in my classroom. Professor Retnos was explaining how to get subconscious and conscious thoughts. Then learning to distinguish them. My mind was exhausted. I kept drifting off. All day I had been learning techniques, concentration, colors, talking to others and thought shapes. Talking using telepathy was hard for me, I had no experience. At first I couldn't send anything. Now I could send short words. "Evaline? Are you listening?" I jerked back into reality. "Sorry professor..." I mumbled He sighed. "I know this is tiring Evaline but with more practice it'll become easier, faster and stronger. For now you just need to memorize everything." "Ok." The clock hit noon. "You are dismissed. Please try to concentrate better tomorrow. Have a good afternoon." "You too." I left the room as fast as I could. I could've slumped onto the floor in two seconds but I promised Diane I'd meet her after class. When we met up, Diane looked exhausted too. She told me about the hypnosis techniques she was learning and told her about thought shapes. We didn't talk long, both of us needed sleep. So after 10 minutes we went home.
Chapter 4: On the Road 1 month later I sat in a chair at Diane's home. My eyes were closed. Her mother was cutting my hair into the latest fashion. I was the only one getting their hair cut because Diane's hair was already cut short. Her hair was a pixie cut and blonde. It suited her eyes which were green and sharp looking. We had received news from The Acdemy that we needed to be dressed nicely tomorrow. No explaination. I was getting used to it though, it had already been a month. My powers were much stronger now but I couldn't send thought shapes. If I tried they always looked like monkeys... "Are you done yet?" I asked Diane's mom Trisha impatiently "Don't worry honey, just sit back and relax." Trisha responded I cringed at the sound of the scissors snipping. I hated getting my hair cut. I disliked change and how long it took just to cut hair. I'm not a patient person. "And...we are...Done!" Trisha told me I heard Diane giggle beside me. "What is it??!? Do I look weird?" "See for yourself honey." I opened my eyes. My face looked back at me in the mirror. My eyes got round... I looked so different. Usually, my hair was waist length, light brown and cut straight. No style. Now, 3 inches shorter, it was layered in a V shape down my back, my bangs were cut and flipped and MY HAIR WAS DYED. Trisha must have seen the panic in my eyes. "Don't worry, the colour will wash off in a month or so and your hair will grow out eventually if you don't like the layers..." She said quickly My eyes bugged out. "A month???...." I squeaked Diane was laughing now. "Oh be quiet!" I snapped at her "Thanks Trisha" Then I left Diane's house. When I got home I looked in the mirror again. I have to admit, it wasn't THAT bad....I don't know why Diane laughed...maybe it was because it was so different. Most people in my village had only one colour in their hair but I had two... It was black with red highlights. Next morning I put on a blouse, nice blue bootcut jeans and black flats. My hair into a pony tail. I ate quickly then left for The Academy. When I arrived Professor Retnos raised an eyebrow at my hair but gave me a nod of approval. Diane was next to her Professor. Professor Teyli. Diane wore a blouse, black skirt and heels. She grinned at me. "I wonder what it's all about." Diane whispered to me. "I don't know either...I wonder what we're waiting for." I responded We didn't wait long. A TV screen appeared just like it had on my first day at The Academy. This time, it was a man in an expensive looking suit and I didn't trip and fall. "Good morning. Professors Retnos and Teyli. Miss Werdt and Miss Laylor." He didn't introduce himself. "I am calling all teenagers with abilities to Illuminate. You will be traveling by horse due to the fact that you do not have cars or teleports at your village. It should take 5 days to reach Illuminate. You may only travel with each others company, Miss Werdt and Miss Laylor. Unless other companions have an Academy certificate you many not travel with them. Once you arrive at Illuminate you may leave your horses at the gate pens. Then travel to the Main tower, City Hall, department of natural disasters, Floor 8 by taxi. You must show your ID and certificate at floor 8 to the front desk. More details will given to you once you reach floor 8. You will be given horses, equipment for the horses, food, water, tents, weapons, maps and 1000 pieces each to cover any other costs. Please bring your own sanitary items, clothes, cups, etc. Yourself. Professors you will stay at The Academy. Please prepare. You have 3 weeks at latest to reach Illuminate. Thankyou." The screen flicked off and disappeared. I looked at Diane with wide eyes, her expression mirrored my own. I couldn't believe we were leaving Enimote! Diane turned to Professor Tayli. "Is this another training session?" she asked The Professor shook her head. "You will be traveling to Illuminate. We'll give you your supplies now. You will head out tomorrow morning. Make sure you pack your clothes, toothbrushes and hair brushes we will not be providing that." With that she walked down the hall and motioned for us to follow. Are we really going to Illuminate? I asked Professor Retnos using Telepathy. Yes, be careful there are many thief's, bandits and rouges on the road. Especially, since you're traveling by horse. He responded I gulped. This was going to be one rocky adventure. Next morning, I met Diane at the edge of the village near the road. I had put on black riding pants, blue t-shirt, light jacket, sweater, riding boots and helmet. Our horses and saddle bags were already there, As well as our professors. I slung my backpack off and leaned it against a tree. My bag contained food, water, clothes, maps, sanitary items, etc. Our horses would carry our sleeping bags, tent and other provisions such as extra food. The only thing we needed now were our weapons and pieces. "Ready?" Diane asked She was dressed similar to me. "Yeah, a bit nervous though." I responded "Look on the bright side, we'll be together and we get to explore!" "If we don't get lost first." Diane hip bumped me. Professor Retnos handed me and Diane two coin purses. "These are your 2000 pieces. Use it to cover any costs on your trip." He told us "Thank you" Me and Diane said in unison "Now all you need are your weapons. You have two to choose from." He held up two weapons. one was a bow and arrow but more hi tech looking and the other one was a round circle with four buttons and a red glowing middle the size of a newborn baby's hand. I decided to take the bow and arrow. I was also given something that went on my arm and right hand. It was like those gloves that went up the elbow but without the fingers. The professor said it would make sure I never missed and it would be a good compass. Diane took the round circles. They acted like smoke bombs, it could create a diversion if needed depending on the button pressed. She was also given a dagger. Once we were given the weapons it was time to go. I slung my pack on and mounted my horse. Diane did the same. "Follow the path and it should bring you to Werdwood Town. There you take the right path and follow it all the way to Illuminate. If you get lost look for a river. All water flows towards Illuminate. Goodluck!" Professor Tayli told us We nodded and we set off down the path farther away from Enimote.
Chapter 5: Exploring Part 1 We have been traveling for an hour now. We passed forests, valleys, flowers and animals. It was gorgeous. Fortunately for us, the path didn't go into the forests. My quiver of arrows were in the saddle bag. I was hoping to reach Werdwood town before dark so I wouldn't need to use these arrows. The bow was very amazing. It wasn't your typical wood bow. A bendable metal made this bow. I fingered the metal on my arm. Diane noticed "You know what's it's called right?" She asked "What's called what?" I asked confused "The metal on your arm that looks like glove going up to the elbow without the fingers." "Well no..." "It's called a gpsard. Stands for GPS ARrows Defensive." She pronounced the gp like 'jip'. "GPS Arrows?" I asked quizzically "Those arrows are special, it's connected to the gpsard. The arrow lodges a tracking device inside the wound of the person you hit, even if the arrow is pulled out the device is still in the flesh. It's tiny and hard to see. If they don't take the tracking device out of their body then the gpsard GPS panel can locate them." She pointed to a little panel on the gpsard at my wrist. "That turns on when a tracking device is lodged into someone. It will always stay on until the tracking device is removed." "So what's the defensive part?" I asked "It doesn't do much defensively...gpsards are more offensive than defensive. You have to get the Exardite. That's a true defense mechanism, But a gpsard can alert you when any objects, rocks, arrows anything really, is aimed towards you." "So how do you know all this? I don't think you've been outside of Enimote." Diane looked embarrassed. "I Uh took weaponry class medieval/modern...all the other classes were full and I needed that last credit..." I laughed anyway. Diane just gave me a shove. "Hey!" I said I managed to keep on my saddle. "Hey there's a town over there!" Diane pointed to a small speck of buildings in the distance. "I bet it's Werdwood Town, Race you!" I told Diane Diane grinned and spurred her horse. I smiled to myself as I spurred my horse. Diane might be a tomboy but I had more experience riding. My horse raced past Diane's. I waved as I passed her. She raised an eyebrow and encouraged her horse to go faster. I laughed and felt as free as a bird. I reached Werdwood town before Diane. One look around and my laughter died.
Chapter 5: Exploring Part 2 I stared into the emptiness. I couldn't believe what my eyes were seeing. "Hey, why are you..." Diane cut off once she saw the town. I felt torn. Werdwood was where my grandfather lived. Werdwood was torn to pieces. Some of the houses were brunt. Other had broken glass, smashed frames, missing doors... The place looked like it had been looted and brunt. "Your grandfather....he lived here right?" Diane asked I managed to nod. "I'm sorry." Diane lay a consoling hand on my shoulder I slid off my horse. "It doesn't feel right." I declared "What do you mean?" Diane asked "It just doesn't look...fresh...like it just happened...This happened a long time ago, I haven't heard from my grandfather since I was six. That's ten years." I guessed aloud Diane's eyes widened "You mean that this happened ten years ago?" "Maybe...maybe more..." I strode over to a building. Peering inside I saw a bone here and there. Rotten flesh, but mostly decomposed. "But why? Why now one knows? If it's been ten years or more...why doesn't anyone know? It doesn't look like any officials or police or inspectors have been here at all." I asked the sky "I think we should leave now Evaline, it's getting scary. It's like a ghost town. Literally. Like ghosts haunt this place. I want to get out of this area before sunset. The best we can do is notify the government when we get to another town or Illuminate." Diane said from her horse "You're right...let me just say a prayer and we'll be off." I responded I said a quick Our Father and prayed to God that my grandfather was safe wherever he was. I slid back on my horse. As I slid on I thought I saw a shadow. When I looked back no one was there. "Did you see something? A shadow?" I asked Diane Diane looked around "No, I didn't see anything." I frowned. "I'm sure I saw something." "Trick of light?" Diane guessed I shrugged. It was probably a animal. I didn't bother checking the area using Telepathy. We prodded our horses into a brisk pace. We didn't see any other towns or villages. I didn't expect to see any though. There wasn't anything for miles on the map. We found a river and re-stocked on our water supplies. While our horses drank, we set camp up about 10 meters away from the river. Diane set up the tent, I used a filter to clean the water and started a fire. We tied our horses to a nearby tree. I baked a can of beans over the fire. "I wonder how long it'll be until we reach the next town." Diane said "I hope we get there soon. We might want to start rationing our food. Water we don't need to worry about. River run all over the place near our path but the next town is kilometers away." I told her "True, we really needed to use Werdwood to restock..." Diane responded We grew quiet. I couldn't get the town out of my head. "Hey did you hear something?" Diane asked suddenly I jumped "What?" "Never mind...I thought I heard something..." I quickly checked the area using telepathy but nothing showed up in my concentration. No one visible or invisible. Telepathy can sense both invisible and visible creatures. "Anything?" Diane asked I shook my head. "Oh well,are the beans done?" I took half the beans and Diane took the other half of the can. Afterward, we munched on pieces of hard bread. I dimmed the fire with a bit of dirt. "It's around 9PM. I'll take first watch. I'll wake you at 2AM. We'll start off again at 7AM." I said checking my watch Diane nodded and disappeared into her tent. I took out a small battery lamp, slid my quiver over my shoulder and strung my bow. After the first hour I started to get scared. The fire was out and my lamp didn't help much. It was so quiet. Later I got lonely then bored. 2AM came around with not much action. I woke Diane and slid into my sleeping bag. I could hear Diane rummaging through her bag for her dagger and diversion bombs. Then I drifted off to sleep. I suddenly woke to shouts. I grabbed my bow and hurried outside. The lamp was out bit I could see Diane battling someone with her dagger. Diane wasn't winning. I had a feeling that this had just happened. Then Diane left arm got cut. She switched to her right arm. I knew she wouldn't last long. Diane was left handed. I concentrated and saw that the person she battled was calm. Diane radiated fright. I quietly string my bow and concentrating at the same time. I could now multitask and concentrate with my eyes open. I aimed and shot. I saw the figure that once was calm become anxious. I aimed again. Then stepped into his view. I had hit his right leg. I shot again. He was too slow. He went down. Too easy I thought. As I wrapped Diane's arm she apologized for not waking me. "I didn't know what to do, he came so fast! Become I knew it he taking a shot at me with that knife!" "It's ok, I'm sure I would have had the sane problem. I think we both need some sort of melee weapon. That's not a dagger..." "Do you think it was that same person you saw at Werdwood?" I thought and shook my head. "The person I saw was more stealthy. If I had shot at him he would have dodged easily but it might have been the person you heard." "We should move on..." "Yeah definitely, I don't think it would be wise to stay here any longer." We gathered up our things and set of quickly with breakfast of flat bread.
Chapter 5: Exploring Part 3 As we traveled down the trail, Me and Diane didn't talk much. The attack had been a shock. It was still dark. My watch read 5AM. Even though I had only gotten three hours of sleep, I wasn't fatigued. I had a hunch of who that man was. I didn't want to tell Diane though. I wasn't sure who this man was, I didn't know anyone who wanted to kill me or Diane. I wonder if Diane knew, she had been rather quiet. Usually, Diane was a blabbermouth even if bad situations, this was certainly the worst of them all but still... I looked over at Diane. She me looking at her and gave me a shaky smile. I turned away and stared at the shadows cast off by my lamp hanging from my saddle bag. Suddenly, I thought I saw a shadow that looked...human... My hand drifted to my bow. "Is something wrong Evaline?" Diane asked worriedly "No but...." I cut myself off and concentrated. I looked around. Something caught my eye. I gasped. "Diane! We have to go! Fast!!" I yelled I couldn't keep calm...I just knew... Diane looked at me with wide eyes but spurred her horse. Our horses were galloping now. I strung my bow and had it at the ready. I used my legs to hand on to my horse. Diane drew her dagger. I kept concentrating and turning around. Now I definitely saw something, and it was chasing us. "What is it?" Diane asked me urgently "A man I think...different from the other. It might be the one I saw earlier..." I answered I unhooked my lamp and stuffed it into my saddle bag. Now we were racing in darkness with only a sliver of moonlight from the sky. "Stay in front of me." I told Diane Our horses were black. Tired I thought. The person behind me was magenta. Urgency. Why? I wondered. "Take to the trees!" I told Diane Diane looked at me like I was crazy but did it anyway. The horses slowed a bit when we hit the trees but we were still ahead. I heard the man curse when he saw us go into the trees. Hopefully he won't follow us or he'll lose us. "Wishful thinking..." I muttered to myself when I heard horse hoofs behind me. 10 meters away? I urged my horse faster. We burst through the trees and into some valley. The man was right behind us. I decided it was time to take him down. I carefully turned around and aimed. In the arm I thought happily.Guess he wasn't expecting it. His thoughts were now pain. It was faded though. It meant he was trying to block it out. I saw him lift his undamaged arm , a light shot out of it. I was too shocked to react. It hit me in the chest and threw me off my horse. "Evaline!" Diane yelled I felt blood rushing from my chest. I started getting dizzy. The last thing I saw my Diane throwing a bomb at the man. -Blackout- I cracked my eyes open. Sunlight. I was in a small room. Brightly painted walls. It was a simple room. I was on a makeshift bed. I slowly got up. "Owww!" I yelped when sudden pain seared through my chest. "Hey you're awake. Drink this." Diane said as she walked into the room. "Thanks." I sipped the hot drink. It tasted like chocolate and mint. I noticed Diane's leg. It was in a cast. "What happened to your leg? What happened to me?!" I asked her "Oh it's nothing, Just a small fracture. The man who chased us caught up and took a swipe at me before the bomb activated. Made me fall the wrong way. Then the bomb went kaboom and I dragged you towards this village in the valley." she told me "Did he die? What weapon did he use? I've never seen anything like it.." "I don't know if he died. He used a laser gun. Probably an AML, Aiming Machine Laser. It was attached to his wrist." "So what is this place?" I asked "Well...it's kinda hard to believe and I'm not sure if I believe it at all but...it turns out the people from Werdwood were hit by a plague. People who went there died so no one ever found out...people who survived...went to this valley..." "WHAT?" "Yeah...maybe I should get Risana to explain to you...I'll be back in a sec." Diane quickly left the room. Leaving me to digest all the information that I had just received. It didn't make much sense...why would no one ever find out? There has to have been someone who found out! My head started to hurt from all the thinking. That's when Risana walked in. She looked older than me, dressed plainly in a t-shirt and jeans. Her hair was auburn and freckles splashed across her face but the most stunning thing were her eyes. They were a dark blue. Jewel tones. The most common colours were greens, blues, grays and oranges. Most people with jewel tone eyes had powers like me and Diane. Of course, there were exceptions...but it were those who were exceptions that are most powerful. Diane had bright green and I had dark purple eyes. Dark purple was an unusual colour, even with people who had power. Some people think they have a great destiny but others believe that they will be dead by 21. I hoped I didn't end up dead by 21. "Hello, I'm Risana Dokido. Do you feel better?" Risana said "Yes, Thankyou. I believe this is your home?" I asked "Uh huh, it's simple but suits our needs." "Uh...could you explain why this place isn't on a map? Me and Diane looked everywhere on maps but..." "This wasn't on there?" I nodded "It's kinda long but I guess you guys will be here for awhile so I'll give you the long version." Risana said with a grin
Chapter 5: Exploring Part 4 Part 4 is not understandable if you have not read Chapter 5 Parts 2 & 3 Risana started telling her story. "About 11 years ago some travelers arrived at Werdwood town. I was 8 at the time. They were...different from other travelers. No backpacks, no horses. They also looked a bit different, sharper eyes, small noses, lips shaped like rose petals, faces perfect oval like a mirror. Perfect hair, perfect nails, perfect cloths, perfect everything. We should of realized it sooner that they might not have been human..." Risana trailed off a little looking sad. "They stayed at an inn but never came out except at night. They always went to the tavern. I heard they asked questions about our society. The capital Illuminate, Werdwood history, stuff like that. After the 3rd night we started getting suspicious. The owner tried to sneak into their rooms but couldn't. He said it was like an invisible force keeping him out. Shortly after, he caught a fatal disease. We've never had a strain like it. No one knew how to treat it. We ran those travelers out of the town but they seemed to smile but they left." Risana seemed to be getting angrier by the tone of her voice. Her fist was clenched. "By then it was too late. The disease caught on to the majority of the town. My family was lucky. None of us got ill. Many people died, only 60 people survived. A few weeks later those travelers were spotted a few miles outside the village. That night, a small fire started in the forest nearby. It burned many homes. That killed another 5 people....also that night..." Risana stopped Her face had lost it's anger now she looked like she would cry. "We moved to the valley...but raiders attacked a few days later...many people were taken hostage or killed. I hid in the forest with my brother and mother. My father stayed to help repel the raiders...." Risana's voice started to break "Th...then when we came back..w..we couldn't find my father. No one could tell us what happened...." I felt sadness rise to my chest. "I'm so sorry..so you live here with your mother and brother?" I asked "Yeah.." Risana didn't meet my eyes when she said it. I had a feeling there was more she wasn't telling us. "So do you go to The Academy?" Diane asked changing the subject I gave her a dirty look. I wanted to ask about my grandfather but I guess Risana wasn't ready to answer anymore question on the subject. "The Academy?" Risana asked "You've heard of it right?" Diane continued "Well yeah..." "So do you go?" "Why would I go?" Diane gave me a sideways glance I stepped in "You have jewel tone eyes. Most people with jewel tones have a power. Mind power I should say. There was an a call for young people from the Academy to go to Illuminate." Risana looked uncomfortable. "You guys have power right?" she asked I noticed she looked at our eyes. "Yup, I'm a telepathic and Diane is a hypnotist." I answered Risana suddenly smiled. "I thought I might be the only one!" "So you know you're power?" "Yup, I'm have hypnosis." "Hey that's cool!" Diane exclaimed "You want to see something cool?" Risana asked "Sure" Me and Diane said in unison "Follow me." Risana told us We followed her out of the room and into her garden. The garden was beautiful. Roses and lilies were everywhere. Risana picked up a cat lying in a patch of sun in a flower bed. "This is Russell. He fell into the valley well several days ago." Risana explained "Now watch." She put Russell on a chair and closed her eyes. She started muttering. When she opened her eyes, her irises glowed like fire. It wasn't anything new, I'd seen Diane get that glowing look before but Risana's glow wasn't as bright as Diane's. I couldn't hear what she was saying but Russell was getting more agitated. "What is she doing?" I whispered to a wide eyed Diane "She's using hypnosis to bring back the memories of the well to Russell, but to do it on an animal...she must have a weak animal telepathy..." Diane mummered I never knew a person could have two abilities... Soon, Russell was literally clawing the air and meowing really loud. I didn't dare use my telepathy to find out it's feelings in case I might ruin the demonstration. Then Risana's irises flowed more softly. Her mummering slowed to a more calm effect. Russell calmed down shortly afterwards, Risana put him to sleep. The glow disappeared from her irises and she sagged a little. "You OK?" Diane asked "What do you think?!" Risana snapped "Umm.." Risana breathed out and in. "Sorry...I'm just...tired..." She apologized "It's ok." Diane said "How did you do that?" I asked "Hypnosis can serve many functions if you know how to do it but I have a weak telepathic ability. This time I used it to send a picture of a pendulum into Russell's mind and hypnotize him. Of course it has limits, I can only use telepathy in small animals, Such a chipmunks. I can't talk, sense feelings or thoughts of creatures like a stronger telepathist and my hypnosis isn't as strong as a person with only a hypnosis ability but having the two abilities in smaller amounts is very useful." Risana told us "I don't get it..." I said Diane turned to me. "Telepathy and hypnosis is a strong combination. Meshed together it's ultimate power but fortunately, those who posses two powers...the powers are weaker. The main power, such as hypnosis in Risana's case, is stronger than the secondary power, the telepathy" "So why don't people take a hypnotist and a telepathist and make them use their power together?" I asked Risana answered me. "People have tried but...it doesn't usually end well for the telepathist. The telepathist's mind is used as a bridge between the hypnotist's and the subjects minds. They also must convey the messages between the minds. The power of two minds coursing through one brain is so strong that most of those who have tried, die instantly from the immease pain and pressure. Even the highly experienced and veteran telepathists could die, go crazy, lose their telepathy power forever or if they're lucky, they are inflicted physical brain damage." I tried not to gape but it was pretty shocking. Diane patted my arm. "Don't worry we're not going to try it on you!" I closed my mouth. "Hey we better get inside. The sun is setting. Do you guys want to stay in my house until you leave for Illuminate?" Risana offered "Thanks. That'd be great." Diane said "And tomorrow we can talk more about the academy." I hinted Risana gave me a look. "Ok ok!" I said "By the way Evaline...why is your hair red? Is that it's natural colour?" "Uhhh well.....it's a long story..."I muttered Diane laughed and we went inside. I woke up in the same room that I had been in yesterday. As I sat up, I cringed at the sight of the bandages on my chest. It was starting to heal. I picked up a pill from my night table that was supposed to help with the wound. I pulled on jeans and a t-shirt then went outside. Only some farmers were awake. Checking my watch it was 6AM The sun was starting to rise. I walked towards the edge of the village and stretched my arms and legs. I glanced at the forest. I thought about going for a run. I had mainly been riding horses lately and I might find a few animals to use telepathy on for practice. As I looked at the trees, a slight shadow seemed to duck through the trees then disappear. I squinted hard. Were we still being followed? I hope not... "Hey Evaline, you are an early riser too?" I turned around in surprise. "Hi Risana. I guess I am." I said with a smile. Risana stood next to me. "I'm guessing Diane is your opposite? Were you looking for something? You were squinting at the forest." She asked "Yup, she can sleep through anything. I think I might have seem something..." "Probably an animal. There are many around here." Risana reassured me When Risana stretched i noticed a large bruise on her arm. "How'd you get that bruise?" I asked Risana "Huh? Oh it's nothing." Risana said carelessly If I hadn't heard wrong, I almost heard anger in Risana's voice. When she saw I wasn't so sure. "I just tripped and fell. It's really nothing." Risana told me "Well ok." I saw some trees swaying in the distance. It looked like they were about to fall. "Hey wouldn't it be funny if those trees never fell?" I asked Risana She just shrugged. "It would I guess but it would never happen. Gravity will make sure it falls." "No sense of humor then eh?" I teased "It's just not realistic." She responded "True..." "Sorry, I'm not trying to be mean or anything...it's just the truth..." "Hey don't worry I know. I'm going to see our horses." I told Risana "The stable is behind the barn." Risana informed in "Thanks, see you later." The horses were in good shape considering what happened yesterday. I groomed and fed them. Using telepathy I saw they were calm and comfortable. They were pretty happy according to their thoughts. 4 hours later I went back to my room and thought about what we were going to do about this situation. Pulling out a map I talked to myself "If we leave tonight...try to get to the next town Deki in two nights...then reach Illuminate in 4 nights from Deki...That's one week...then our journey should take 1 week in total..." "Heeeyyy early bird." I jumped out of my thoughts and saw Diane looking heavy lidded. "Hey sleepy head. It's not that early. About 8AM. Maybe you can still catch breakfast instead of brunch." I joked "Haha very funny. I know it's like 10AM right now." Diane walked over to where I was sitting "So we're leaving tonight?" she asked "It would be a good idea. We've restocked on supplies, the horses are ready there's nothing holding us back." I explained "Except Risana." Diane said "Risana?" "Yeah, she has hypnosis and telepathy. She knows what The Academy is. She's strong too. I bet she has an invite to go to Illuminate." "Then why she didn't tell us straight out?" "I don't know. It might have to do with her mom. Remember when she looked uncomfortable about the subject?" "Well yeah..." "And we haven't seen her mom either." "Or her brother." "No, I saw her brother. He was the one who found us and helped me drag you here." "Oh..." "The funny thing is...that night her brother told me to convince Risana to go. I'm not sure what he meant but he didn't get a chance to continue because you were losing blood. He left for hunting the morning you woke up." It struck me. "So you think her brother wanted us to convince Risana to go to Illuminate...which means she went to The Academy...which means she got an invite...we've gotta talk to her about this right now!" "No way. I'm half asleep. You go I'll back you up...later...when I'm awake!" Diane left it at that and stumbled off to the kitchen. I felt troubled by this information. I had so many questions. I sat on the bed and thought of how I might approach Risana. I didn't come up with anything until the late afternoon. 3 hours before me and Diane planned to leave. I decided to be straightforward and bring it up when I told Risana we were going to set off. After lunch I told Diane the plan. She agreed, so we found Risana outside looking at the stars. "Hey Risana!" I called "Hi!" Risana called back We walked over to her. "What's up?" she asked once we reached her "We're planning on leaving soon. 3 hours for Illuminate. If we don't go now we might not make it in time." I told her "That's fine. I guessed you guys wouldn't stay long." she answered "We were wondering if you wanted to come along." I continued Risana raised an eyebrow. "Why would I come with you guys? I mean this town is my life. Illuminate is yours." "I don't think so. You went to The Academy at Werdwood didn't you? And I bet you got an invite too." "Why you think that?" "Well when we got our invite, it was calling ALL young people in The Academy. You certainly fit the bill." Risana sighed. "Who told you?" Now I raised an eyebrow. I didn't expect her to act like this. "Your brother." Diane put in "Oh man...he is so dead.....!" Risana muttered to herself "So you go to the Academy. Why didn't you tell us?..." I asked "Why? Because I can't go to Illuminate." Risana said unhappily "Why not?" "I don't have a parent to give consent and I can't just leave." "You have your mom and your brother is old enough to take care of himself!" I argued "My mom doesn't care about me or my brother! She gets drunk and doesn't take care of us at all! My brother took care of everything until I was old enough to help!!" Risana yelled at us "I only got to go to the Academy because my mom was drunk when she said yes and signed. Her drinking wasn't that bad back then..." Risana's voice started to break "Now...she doesn't come home at all....Only when she needs more pieces...Me and my brother have to work to provide for her or she beats us up....!" Risana pulled up her sleeve. "That's what I got last time I tried to talk her out of drinking..." Risana's eyes started to water. "Now we can't talk to her at all!...and I'll never get to go..." Then Risana cried. I was pretty shocked. Not only of her story but because Risana was crying. She seemed like the type that was rock hard. She was carrying a lot of emotional baggage. "Nice job Evaline. Really smart time to lose patience." Diane told me drily. I trued to give Risana a hug but she pushed me away. "I'm fine..." she muttered "C'mon Risana, let's find your mom. We'll be with you and hold her back if she tries to beat you." Diane said "It won't work." Risana said sadly "It's worth a try." I added "Ok...um..sorry for shouting like that at you guys...it's not your fault..." "Hey don't worry, that's what friends are for."Diane said We headed for the tavern Risana's mom usually stayed at. When we walked in, Risana pointed out a women that had similar features to herself but looked more sagged and gaunt. "Let's do it." Diane said Risana was literally shaking. "Um hi mom." Risana said quietly Her mom didn't seem to hear her. "Hello Mrs. Dokido?" I asked more loudly. Risana's mom turned her head. "eh? hullo...what do you want?" Risana's mom snapped in a slurred sort of voice. "Mom...I need to go to Illuminate." Risana said timidly "Why? It's not like your anything important. If you aren't here giving meh pieces then go away." Risana looked like she'd been slapped. "But..." "But nuthing!" Risana's mom made a clumsy grab for Risana. Me and Diane gave eachother a look then Diane grabbed Risana's mom, I grabbed Risana and we dragged them outside. We dragged them to the nearest empty barn. "Risana use your hypnosis." I ordered her "WHAT?!" Risana looked at me as if I was mad. "Do it. It doesn't look like your mom is going to compromise." Diane handed Risana a watch and held her mom in place. "Lemme go..." Risana's mom muttered Risana looked scared to death. "You can do it." I reassured her. She took in a shaky breath and started with a shaky voice. Soon, Diane was able to let go of Risana's mom. Her mom wasn't fussing anymore now that she was hypnotized. Diane gave her a pen and the letter that needed to be signed. Risana started mummering the orders to sign, in a calming voice and repeated when her mother wasn't doing it. Risana was very good at hypnotizing, her voice was so soothing I had a hard time trying not to sleep. Eventually, The letter was signed and Risana was tired so Diane took charge and wiped Mrs.Dokido's memory of the events that happened. We settled her carefully in the kitchen of Risana's home. Fortunately, Risana's brother, Luther, was back from the hunt. He looked like Risana but the features were a bit sharper and his eyes were brown. All he had to say was he was glad Risana was going. he suggested we left tomorrow morning instead. We agreed and put Risana in her bed. Me and Diane walked to the stables to unsaddle the horses. "He's cute isn't he?" Diane asked "Who?" I asked puzzled "You are so slow, Risana's brother!" "Oh yeah...very cute..." I answered To be truthful, I didn't care much for boys anymore. After Dreck broke up with me I didn't want my heart to feel pain like that again. It lasted 1 minute but my mind or heart would never forget. "Evaline...Dreck was a jerk. Ok? He doesn't know what he's missing. You're better off without him." Diane said when she noticed my expression. "Yeah I know..." "So forget about him." I sighed...I wished it was that easy. I looked to the right. Where the forest was. It was so calm. I stopped cold. "Diane...I see something. For sure this time..." "What is it?" Diane asked quickly. "Raiders." I breathed We ran to wake Risana. "What's wrong guys?" She asked tiredly "Raiders! C'mon, we have to move!" I answered Risana was wide awake now. "But...that's crazy....they haven't come for years! It just doesn't make sense!" "Well they're here now." Diane said Luther came running in. "It's Raiders! You three leave right now!" "Why?! We're going to help fight!" Risana complained "NO!" Luther yelled "Go! Last time they took all the people with powers as hostages! And killed everyone in their way!" Risana looked shocked, I don't think anyone told her that. "Risana..." "No." She said and jumped out the open window into the fight. Luther looked beaten. "We'll make sure she gets out alive." I told him He nodded and ran out of the room. Me and Diane went to the barn and grabbed our horses, weapons and possessions that we had packed yesterday. "Go find Risana. I'll grab her stuff." Diane told me We parted. I urged my horse through the streets and shot at any raiders that got in my way. After 3 minutes I found Risana battling in alley with 5 raiders. Each raider had an emblem of some sort of their chest. Risana had a laser gun and several TL knifes. Aka. Target Lock I quickly shot at some of the raiders and pulled Risana onto my horse. "Hey!!" Risana yelled at me "Come on! We have to go!" I told her I got my horse out of the alley. "Follow them!!!!! Don't lose sight!" A heard a raider yell behind us. I guessed he was the leader. "They're only after us! The faster we leave, the faster they'll leave!" I explained to Risana when she struggled to get off the horse. I met up with Diane at the edge of the village. Diane put Risana on the second horse she had brought along. "Guys! We can't just leave without trying to help!" Risana tried to persuade us "I'll take care if this." I told Diane. "Go ahead of me. The river ok?" "Are you sure?" "Yes!" "Ok." Diane and Risana left. I turned around and tried to figure out what to do. They were getting closer now. "C'mon Evaline think!" I muttered to myself I thought back to my lessons to see if I could remember any telepathy attacks, unfortunately I couldn't. Telepathy isn't very offensive. So I resorted to my last idea. Talking to animals. I concentrated and found a pack of wolves in the forest. I sent a subconscious message to the pack leader saying how men with emblems in this village had stolen something from the pack and how he should teach them a lesson. I hoped it worked and spurred my horse. I shot arrows as fast as I could. They were gaining on me. Then I heard a wolf howl. "Yes it worked!" I shouted I silently thanked my teacher for teaching me about how to send subconscious messages to animals and make them think it's their own thoughts. The wolves came tearing down into the village and pursued the raiders. They jumped on them and killed. Once I saw they were all dead I sent another message to the leader about how the job was done and they should go. It worked like a charm. The wolves left just as fast as they had come. I urged my horse into a run to catch up with Diane and Risana.
Chapter 6: Just the beginning Part 1 I found the river and followed it hoping to find the other girls. Unfortunately, my luck had run out. I stopped after a kilometer or so. It was late at night and the moon was already at the highest position in the sky. Not a single cloud in the sky. I set up camp and built a low fire. I set a trigger within my mind that would wake me when someone approached. I don't know if everyone could do it or if it was just me but I had discovered how to do it by accident a few weeks after my first training session at The Academy. Before going to sleep I wondered what Illuminate would be like. Would it have upper class and lower class? Gangs? Tall skyscrapers? I thought of this before I drifted off into uneasy sleep. Next morning: I quickly went back on the road looking for Risana and Diane. After a few kilometers I found them camping near the river bank. Both of them were still asleep. A mischievous grin spread over my face. I decided to give them a wake up call...my style! I concentrated and let slow anger rise to my mind. I knew Risana would hear it but Diane... I hoped this would work, usually it worked only on other telepathic's but there is a slim chance other people with power can hear it too...if it's loud enough. I let the words WAKE UP blast into their minds. I got the reaction I had wanted. Diane jumped up and held her dagger like is was a pick-axe. Risana fell into the river. I was laughing so hard my sides hurt. "Jeez Evaline!!!" Diane shouted Risana got out of the water looking madder than a bull. Fortunately, she was still half asleep. "What was that for?!!" Risana muttered with a hint of anger. "Little wake up call." I said innocently Diane snorted "Yeah, so little I could sleep right through it." "Hahaha very funny..." Risana said I kept laughing. "Why don't you guys pack up and we'll get moving, we should be a few days away from Illuminate!" I said in between laughs. A few minuets later we were riding again. When night struck we camped and slept. It was nice to have 3 people in the group now, all of us could sleep more by dividing up watch in three. I always took first middle watch. Risana took second and Diane took third. We repeated this for 4 nights. Fifth day: I looked at my map. We would probably reach Illuminate before dark today. I could tell the excitement was building up between the three of us. None of us had ever been to Illuminate or any city. Diane told us that they were filled with technology but also filled with crime so we would have to be cautious in the city. "Otherwise, we might lose something. We can't afford to be dazzled by Illuminate." Diane said Me and Risana agreed quickly. The path went up a hill and we saw tall towers of pure glass in the distance. All of us just stopped and stared. It was like nothing I had ever seen before.
Chapter 6: Just the Beginning Part 2 I could barely move from the shock. "Come on guys....we...better move.." Risana whispered "Wait what?" I asked Risana She rolled her eyes. "MOVE" she repeated and grabbed a shocked Diane by the arm and dragged her down the hill. I quickly ran to catch up. As we got closer to the city, I saw what it really looked like. A large gate of lasers stood in the path to Illuminate. Gla.ss guard towers next to the gate. Beyond the lasers was mainly metal and glass. Sky tall buildings that seemed to go on and on and on. The shapes of these were mainly rectangular or shaped like cylinders but some were odd shapes. Pentagon, triangular, hexagon,cube and shapes that I couldn't describe. The one that stood out the most was in the middle of the city. Forged of the clearest glass, crystal, silver metal and water. The building was rectangular but the walls looked like a stack of pages on top of each other, each one a little shorter in height than the one behind it. Windows shone from the front and back. Water flowed from the top of the building, flowed down the front, past the windows and splashed into a reenforced rectangular concrete container at ground level. Like a large fountain. Oddly there was no door, just a weird thing that looked like a telephone box made of shimmering blue glass just in front of the cascading water. Even Risana was lost for words. It looked even more beautiful in the setting sun. "So how do we get through? I don't think running through the lasers is the solution." Diane managed to say. I was stumped. The guard towers were too high to call. "Hey there!" Risana pointed to a slim metal block at the foot of the gate. "So?" I asked Risana rolled her eyes again and muttered something about us being blind. "Look closer." We approached the block and I saw a small button and a small black glass device that looked like my iPhone but different too. We all stared at the block. Silence. Then Risana and Diane took a step back. "Uhhh...." I started "Go on! You got better communication skills than us!" Diane said "Biggest lie I ever heard." I muttered darkly Diane was better at this stuff than me, And Risana had a way of charming people with her intelligence. Me? No way. I wasn't a smart cookie and my social skills weren't polished. I just stutter and make a fool of myself. Especially guys...for some reason after Dreck...They made me feel kinda uncomfortable in a casual environment like a party. The only thing I'm good at is Telepathy. Before The Academy I was the bottom 3 people in my class. C's and B's. I knew I was a born leader and knew exatualy what to do in high pressure situations....because i was the only one who didn't start screaming. Like the time we got stuck in a cave... I wasn't smart but I had common sense, diplomacy and how to make nothing into something Diane would tell me. I know I am impatient, irritable sometimes, easily frustrated and bossy. I never believed a single word Diane had said. I picked up the device and pressed the button. "Hello, Welcome to Illuminate. Please state your business, name, group or single and traveler or resident." A smooth male voice came from the receiver. Funny thing is that it sounded like a mere boys voice. "Um...what do you mea.." I started saying but then a another older male voice interrupted in the background. "What are you doing here rascals?!?! Get out! Security!" "Hey! Lemme go!" The boys voice said muffled a little through the device. I watched as a boy about my age was escorted to the tower exit and thrown out. A group of boys appeared and quickly picked that boy up and hurried away. "Sorry miss, Please state your business, name, group or single and traveler or resident." The older male voice asked "Uh what do you mean by business?" I asked awkwardly "Why are you in Illuminate." "Oh! I'm Evaline Werdt, I'm here with my two friends Risana Dokido and Diane Laylor. We are The Academy Students. We've been invited to city hall Natural disasters department floor 8. We are travelers." I said "Ages?" "I am 16, Diane is 17 and Risasa in 19." "Very well. Please come forward to the security office on the right past the gate." I put the device back and motioned for Diane and Risana to follow. The lasers dissolved and we went through. I took a right and went into the security office. There a man was waiting for us. "May I please see your ID?" the man asked I produced my key card, Diane and Risana followed my suit. I've never seen their ID cards before, I was surprised to see that they were a different colour. Their cards were purple like my eyes. I guessed it was purple because they are Hypnotist's. Risana's had silver corners. "Certificates please." the man said once he gave back our cards. We showed him and he nodded. "Very good, you may go. Your horses will be here in the stable until you come back to retrieve them." "Ummm how do we get to City hall them?" I asked "Taxi or teleport." "And don't we get scanned or something?" Risana asked suspiciously The man laughed and said "You really aren't from around here are you? When you go through the gate it scans you automatically. Mind and phtsically. No one can get through who isn't supposed to be in here!" "Well ok..." We quickly left our horses here, got our iPhones scanned and given an electronic copy of out passes to get our horses back. On our way out I tripped on my way out the door. Risana and Diane started laughing...loudly... "Typical..." I muttered as I got up We were hailing a taxi a group of about 5 guys surrounded us.I recognized them as the guys who had been kicked out. Most of them were my age except one of them who looked 14 or 15 years old. "What do you want?"Risana asked "Nothing. Just want to know why you couldn't play along." one guy said he was the one who had been kicked out. "What are you talking about?" I asked He turned to me. "You just had to get all confused and suspicious. We had it all planned out. That block can read your feeling and sense if something is wrong. That's how I got caught!" he said angrily "And how is that MY fault? I don't think you were supposed to be in there anyway!" I said back I felt my temper rising. "Goody two shoes." he muttered I felt my anger taking over this. Diane noticed and opened her mouth but that 14 or 15 year old beat her to it. "Hey don't get all mad, it doesn't suit your pretty face." He said smoothly with a hint of a smile A few of his friends snickered. I studied him, medium height, he had blonde hair and blue eyes. Like bright blue. I noticed he had muscles but managed to look slim as well. I concentrated and saw him in fire red. I gritted my teeth. "Pyro..." I muttered I hated Pyro's, no telepathic can see their feelings or thoughts. And this had a huge ego! He grinned. "Got that right pretty. By the way, how'd you get the red hair?" That really did it. I glared at him as the taxi pulled up. "You want to charm a girl? Go find someone else!" I said angrily I pulled the taxi door open, shoved Risana and Diane in then jumped in myself. That guy was about to say something but I gave him a good mind blast. His eyes widened in shock. Good that should teach him. Diane and Risana stayed quiet during the ride. I guess my face looked like a thunder storm. I hate that guy! I'm not sure if it was because Dreck was a pyro too...and had the worlds largest ego... We reached city hall. As we stepped out even I couldn't keep the anger on my face any longer. It was so much more beautiful up close. The sun was almost gone below the horizon. Small colored lights turned on behind the water and made the water shimmer different colours. "So how do we get up?" Diane asked softly "There! That telephone box thing." Risana said We looked at it. I watched as a person stepped inside for a few seconds then dissapeard. "A teleport!" I said in awe. "What are you waiting for! Let's go!" Risana said enthusiastically Risana went first. Then Diane. I slowly stepped inside the teleport. The was only a metal panel in the teleport on the wall. "Welcome to city hall. ID please." an electronic voice said over a loud speaker. A small card slot appeared out of thin air on the panel. I slid my card in. When I got it back the voice said "Certificate please." I slid my iPhone in. As I got it back the card slot disappeared. "Floor?" the voice asked "eight." I answered I heard air whisking by, Then my vision went dark and I felt like I was going at 5000km per hour. My vision cleared and I was back in the teleport. I fell out of the door of the teleport. I was in a room with only chairs, a glass coffe table and a floating TV playing finding nemo. The chairs were arranged around the coffe table in a circle. Diane and Risana were already sitting down. There were about 5 other people in the room. 3 boys, 2 girls. "Evaline! Do you have to fall through every door?!" Diane said with a laugh "Hahaha." I said Risana grinned. "Evaline, meet Zaln, Jay, Tammy, Drake and Karl." She waved a hand at each of them as she said their name. Jay and Drake sat alone in the chairs nearest to the corner of the room. Jay was reading a thick old looking book, Drake was playing a game on his iPhone. Jay had shoulder length light brown hair and grey eyes. Drake had blonde hair cut short, freckles and blue eyes. Both of them were ignoring everyone. Zaln, Tammy and Karl were sitting in the three chairs on the right if the coffee table. Zaln and Tammy said hi. Karl just gave me a half smile. Zaln looked asain, Black eyes, black hair with a hint of green. Tammy had waist length curly brown hair and eyes that were dark brown. Both of them looked like the prank playing type. Karl had short brown hair, brown eyes and glasses. He looked a bit nervous, almost scared but he talked easily to Zaln. I said hi back and took a seat next to Diane on the left side of the coffee table. Everyone was dressed nicely except us. Zaln and Karl's clothes looked very expensive. Zaln and Tammy went back to talking, with Karl joining in once in awile. As I looked around the room I felt like someone was in my mind. My eyes quickly flicked to the direction where it seemed to be coming from. Zaln. What do you think you're doing?! I asked him He looked surprised. You're a telepathic too? Yup I answered Cool! Now I can tell you everything about everyone else! Tammy and Karl are both reincarnations, Jay's a Seer and Drake's a pyro. Are You close to Tammy and Karl? I asked Me and Karl have been friends since we were kids. I just met Tammy. She's pretty nice. Oh yeah, don't be fooled by Karl. He might seem snobby or shy but he just has a hard time adapting to new people. I'll remember that. Thanks. Is red your natural hair colour? Zaln asked I groaned silently. Do you know how many people have asked me that?? "Hey! Are you guys having a telepathic conversation over there?!" Tammy asked "Well yeah." Zaln answered "What were you guys talking about? Us?" Karl asked Zaln laughed. "Oh yeah you bet. I was saying how horrible you are. Eating ants and all!" We all laughed. Except Jay and Drake that is. "Do you guys know why were all here?" Diane asked Everyone stopped laughing and a chorus of No's were heard. "I know." Jay said quietly We all stared at her. Even Drake. "I had a dream a few days before my invitation. A shark was swimming in the water. It swan downwards and saw a machine. It got older and died as it was sucked towards the machine. Then it changed to another place in the sea. There was a large dome buildings of glass. Surrounding by other dome buildings. There were people inside but they looked different..." Jay trailed off as the teleport turned on. A person came stumbling out. "You!?!?" I literally yelled I jumped out of my chair. It was that guy that we had run into earlier. "I have a name ya know. It's Matt." he said "What are you doing here?" "I was invited here like you guys. We have something in common." "Well don't expect me to be nice." I grumbled and sat down Matt turned to Diane and Risana and asked "Why is she like that?" "Oh well...that's a long story..." Diane said giving me a sideways glance Matt shrugged. "Shouldn't you be with your friends, running all over the place getting people mad?" I asked Matt "We don't get people mad...well sometimes but they aren't my friends." He told me "Oh really?" I asked "We're just a group..." "Care to elaborate?" "No." He said shortly "Are you guys friends or enemies? I don't think I can tell the diffrence" Zaln asked Karl rolled his eyes. I tried to think of more words to throw at Matt but then a loud crash was heard from the floor below. A bit of yelling, Then two uniformed police officers came in through the teleport dragging a young guy about 17. He was a bit pale but was trying to get out of their grasp. At six feet two, He had messy reddish brown hair. He looked pretty strong. His eyes were funny. They looked dark like black holes, seconds later his eyes started to change back to normal and his eyes were dark brown. He slumped over in the chair the officers dumped him in. He looked really tired. The officers didn't bother introducing him but I think I knew what he was. A poltergeist. Some people say poltergeists are troubled spirits, or people who are poltergeists are possessed by demons only some of this is true. My professor once said that everyone has a poltergeist spirit inside of them but few people can tap into the spirit or release it temporarily. Once released, it cannot be controlled in it's actions. Usually, once released it will hurt the person it's host hates at the moment or just cause destruction of whatever is in it's sight, like banging on walls, turning cups over, etc. The only thing an unexperianced host can do is call the spirit back or guide it a little. Only the experienced can tell the spirit what to do. There are very few experienced hosts. Most poltergeists are tired afterwards. I had a feeling that guy had released the spirit to try and get away, except the spirit didn't obey him... The TV stopped playing Finding Nemo and a man appeared on the screen. It was the same man who gave me and Diane the invite.
Chapter 7: The Mission Part 1 "Hello Academy Students." the man said His eyes turned to the poltergeist. "Ah Keir MacAulay. Please try not to lose your temper. It won't end well." Keir stuck his tounge out at the screen. He smiled "My name is Dr. Gordan. I am the head of the department of natural disasters." he paused "You may be wondering why you are all here. Here is your answer, Of very late there have been people disappearing from the coast of Illuminate. People who go in the water never come back. There has also been a loss of sea creatures in a certain area of the sea. We have sent scout agents and other groups of Academy students to figure out the source of the problem. We have determined that an odd underwater civilization is the source. They are using some sort of machine that we can not determine. We have located the machine but so far all regular attacks and mind attacks are useless. Your job is to figure out how to destroy this machine then destroy it. We believe the answer to destroying the machine is in the civilizations main government buildings. Use all means to find the answer, do not give in, this includes destroying the civilization in the process if nessacary or dying to destroy the machine." I felt my mouth go dry. I shot a glance at Jay. Looks like her Seer powers were very accurate... "You will be given maps, equiptment and information regarding the civilization, as well as videos from the scout groups. Now you may all be wondering what your reward is, if you succeed." THAT was the last on my mind! I wasn't liking this guy. "Each of you will receive a plaque displayed in Illuminate, property inside or outside Illuminate, future training at The Academy if you wish for free, a future well paying job in any field for those of you who need one and 1,100,000,000 pieces. Plus you will all be known as celebrities." Dr.Gordon continued Well I supposed that sums it up. I had a feeling half the people I just met were in it for the reward. Except maybe Zaln and Karl. They looked like they were rich kids. I looked at Diane. Her thoughts were on how much we could use the money. Our parents could live comfortably for years! It would all be great if the job wasn't so dangerous. "You will be given a few weeks of training before you depart. Report to The Academy trainibg centre in the city at 8AM sharp tomorrow morning. Oh yes, I almost forgot. We believe their may be traitors in our employees. Slipping information out. Do not hesitate to kill any of them, if you find them. That is all. Goodluck." the screen flicked of and resumed playing Finding Nemo. "You may all leave now." a voice said We all turned around. A lady stood there with several sheets of paper in her hand. "These are the maps you may study them before or during the mission. Ah yes...and Evaline Werdt, Diane Laylor and Risana Dokido?" "That's us." I said shooting a glade at Diane and Risana "You will be given hotel accommodation in the city for the weeks you are here before and after the mission." she handed us a key card. "Good night." the lady left leaving the maps on the coffee table. Nobody moved. "I swear I tried reading that guys mind a million times but I don't think it works through screens." Zaln's voice echo'd throughout the room. Some of us cracked a smile and Karl bonked Zaln of the head with a rolled up map. Lighten up! It's gonna be easy. Plus Jay told us what this thing does, she can probably tell us how to destroy it! Zaln told me Yeah sure. I answered sarcastically telepathically Me and Diane waited outside City Hall as Risana tried to figure out where our hotels were. No one seemed to know where it was. Jay and Drake had left already without a word. Keir had been escorted home by the officers. Zaln had been dragged home by his older brother who apparently worked in city hall. "You guys can stay with me, if you want." Matt said I glared at him. "Fine fine, good night. See y'all tomorrow!" Matt said as he walked away "I'm sorry you guys can't stay with me...but my place is pretty small." Tammy told us before she left. "My place has plenty of room if you guys can't find the hotel." Karl offered quietly "No need, I found the location! Thanks anyway Karl!" Risana said reappearing with a sheet of written directions. Karl nodded and hurried off. "So where is this hotel?" I asked "More like motel or inn. It's in the middle ring of the city. Decent but small. Let's go before it gets too late." Risana answered We hailed a taxi. I was starting to get used to the city. Sorta... All of the skyscrapers are all glass. Homes or apartments are bricks and glass. The place was packed with technology. I couldn't describe it. The scenery started to change from skyscrapers to short buildings and decent looking but battered looking homes. "The middle ring. Middle class families live here." Risana informed us. The taxi pulled up in front of a weatherworn building, 5 floors high. We paid the driver and hurried into the 'hotel'. "Hey there's no door here either! Just a teleport!" I observed This teleport was much larger about 5 people could fit inside. When we moved all our packs inside an electronic voice said "Please insert key card." A small touch screen was installed to a wall of the teleport came to life. A small metal slot opened on a metal panel so we could insert the key card. I slipped it in the slot. "Please wait." that voice said "Number of people?" The touch screen turned on showing a number pad. "Uhh..." I said "Press the number using the touch screen Evaline!" Risana told me "Oh yeah, I knew that." I muttered I pressed the number 3. "Names?" The screen switched to a keyboard. I typed our names in. "Thank you. Please scan finger." I placed my index finger on the touch screen. "Thank you. Please prepare for teleportation." The key card slid out and I took it then once again my vision left me and I felt like I was flying through air. My vision returned and we were inside a different teleport inside a 'hotel' room. It was OK. White walls, two windows, connecting bathroom, Two queen sized beds opposite of the teleport, white sheets, two nightstands beside the beds, one dresser, one ceiling lamp and a small desk with one chair on the right of the teleport. Everything looked rather beaten up. We stepped out of the teleport. "Home sweet home?" Diane asked "Ha no." Risana answered "Well let's just hope there aren't any bed bugs." I muttered We worked out shower times and who got a bed to themselves. We decided Risana should get her own bed because me and Diane had grown up together. Once everything all our stuff was unpacked and we were all ready for bed it was already midnight. I sat the bed, Risana was already tucked in but Diane was at the desk writing a letter to her parents. "So anyone catch your eye?" Diane asked us while writing "You aren't putting a list of cute guys in your letter are you?" I asked suspiciously "I wish, but Evaline I think Matt was flirting with you!" Diane answered I rolled my eyes. "I agree with Diane, Evaline." Risana threw in her two cents. "C'mon guys. If you ask me Matt just wants to annoy me." I said "You won't give him a chance will you?" Diane asked "No." "You're kidding right? Matt's pretty cute." Diane said "I think I like Zaln better." Risana admitted I kept my mouth shut. "Does this have anything to do with Dreck?" Diane asked me "Who's Dreck? Do you mean Drake?" Risana asked "No Dreck. Evaline's ex bf" Diane said "Good night guys." I said and slid into bed. "You know you have to talk about him eventually." Diane said I went to sleep at that point and lost track of the conversation. I woke up to sun shining through the windows. The water was running in the bathroom. Diane was still asleep but Risana was already up. I rolled out of bed and ran through my mind what was happening. We were going undersea to destroy a machine...we needed to be at The Academy at 8AM sharp. I jumped. What time is it?! I asked myself 6:30AM, jeez Evaline your telepathy is strong! You woke me up! Zaln's voice said in my mind Opps... Sorry Zaln, I didn't mean to send anything telepathically...it was an accident... No problem. Not. Haha I'm just kidding. Zaln sent me a thought picture. It was of his room. The place was a mess, but was decorated well. Looked really expensive. What was that for? Are you rich or something? I asked him huh? Oh sorry accident. Ha. Don't tease me! Can't take a joke can you? Yes my parents are rich. Nice isn't it? Yeah. I answered Show me what your room looks like. Um no. Why not? Everything I send looks odd... Well ok but you've gotta show me some other time! Zaln said Bye, see you at 8 I shut my mind off. By the time me and Risana were ready to go, Diane was still sleeping. "What should we do?" Risana asked uncertainly "We could be nice and shake her awake or we could dump cold water on her if we're mean." I considered "Nice or mean?" Risana said I checked my watch. It was 7:15AM. "Mean." I said 5 minutes later we had a grumbling and soaking wet Diane on our hands. It took her about half an hour to get ready. At 7:50 we were in a taxi going to The Academy centre in the cities upper ring. "Did you guys really have to dump water on me?" Diane grumbled "You bet. If we hadn't, we wouldn't have been able to get you up fast enough." I answered Diane laughed "You know me too well." "Yes and I think I'm starting to learn." Risana joked At that point our taxi pulled up in front of The Academy. We got out and saw Tammy and Jay going towards The Academy too. "Hey guys!" Diane yelled Tammy yelled hi back. Jay gave us a slight smile but it disappeared pretty fast. I guess Jay's just quiet and shy. When we went inside I was pretty shocked. Not in a good way. A bad way. The whole place was trashed. Everyone else was already inside surrounding a man in a suit, he was talking. We joined the group. "...As you can see this place was trashed. Last night. We do not know for sure who it is but for sure no training will be taking place right now. This place may take months to fix. Instead of training you will all be dispatched underwater tomorrow morning. Tomorrow you will be given everything you need and more instructions." the man fixed a stern gaze at all of us. "This means you are all at a slight disadvantage than past groups but that does not mean you will fail. You will not fail. Your mission is the most important. I will tell you your squads for the mission. Your squad will just be who you are with in the submarine but you will all work together and communicate. Squad one's leader will be Evaline,members are Jay, Keir, Risana and Matt." I groaned silently. "Squad two's leader will be, Zaln, members will be Diane, Tammy, Karl and Drake. More positions will be given tomorrow. I trust that you two Telepathic's will use telepathy during the mission to communicate with each other." With that the man left The Academy.
Chapter 7: The Mission Part 2 Silence is all I heard. "How are we going to do this?! It's crazy!" Risana said She sounded almost hysterical. "I dunno...it sounds...do able. It not like we're experts but I'm sure we're all pretty good at our abilities...." Zaln put in Except Keir...Zaln added telepathically I smiled a little. "Yeah but we don't even know what we're up against!" Risana protested "I'm out of this." Risana said I was shocked. "Risana! We have to do this. This machine will probably be used on Illuminate then on the whole world." I said "Yeah Evaline's right. It doesn't matter where you live but it'll eventually come around." Matt said I glared at Matt. "What?" he asked "Nevermind." I muttered "It's a wild goose chase!" Risana told us "It sounds fun to me. Anything that'll keep me out of jail." Keir said We all stared at him. "Risana...you have to do it. In my dream..." Jay started quietly "Dream?! How do you know it's right? What if it's all a joke?" Risana countered Jay closed her mouth, she looked rather hurt. "Hey! Don't be mean!" Drake said stepping in. "Jay's seer powers have been accurate so far." Matt observed "Sure." Risana said sarcastically "Look Risana you don't need to be apart of this. You can walk out right now if you want. But we're all going through with it." Zaln said "I don't know..." Diane said That's when a huge fight broke out. Zaln,Drake and Matt were defending Jay. Risana had lost her temper. Me and Diane somehow got in an argument. Karl was getting mad at Keir for throwing debris at him. Only God knows why Keir was throwing debris. "BE QUIET!!!!!" Tammy yelled when that didn't work she yelled "SHUT YOUR MOUTHS!!!" That shut us up. "This isn't working guys. Risana, walk out if you want but most of us are going with it. You too Diane. As for the rest of us...We can't waste time arguing. We have to make a plan and test our abilities. The only question is where are we going to go to do all this?" Tammy told us "Ok...I'll stay..." Risana said subdued Diane nodded. "So where are we going? My place is too small." Tammy asked again "Me, Risana and Diane don't have homes here." I said "Not my place." Drake and Jay said "My ah home isn't very nice." Matt admitted "My parents are home...So not my house." Zaln said "We can go to my place." Keir said "Umm...what about you Karl?" Tammy asked despretly I am not going to Keir's place... I told Zaln telepathically Yeah I have to agree.Zaln answered "My place is fine I guess. My parents are in Europe." Karl shrugged "Ok let's go!" Tammy said a bit over enthusiastically "Oh wait...Uh Zaln you have to get rid of that rubber bracelet on your neck..." Karl told him "Why? I've been to your house before wearing it." Zaln asked That's when I noticed that Zaln was wearing a black rubber bracelet on his neck. He was also the only person wearing a striped green polo. The rest of us were wearing plain T-Shirts. "New security system. They installed it last week." Karl answered "Well ok then..." Zaln said He took it off. "Let's go. We can't walk. It's kinda far." Karl told us We started walking to the train station. Karl and Zaln took the lead with Tammy on their heels. I walked with Diane. Risana was apologizing to Jay. Drake hung back. Keir was doing...something while he was walking. I didn't even know what he was doing. Matt was trying to talk to Drake. After a few blocks we reached a pretty park. It was normal looking. Nothing special except for some marble statues and a tall elegant looking fountain. A bunch of girls were hanging around the fountain when they saw us walking by they yelled Zaln's name. Zaln put on a smile and waved. The girls ran over. We stopped walking. "Hey Zaln!" A perky blonde girl said She also gave Matt a shy smile. "Bridget. Nice to see you again. What's up?" Zaln said "I just wanted you to show my friend that mind reading trick you showed me last time." Bridget said "Sure. It would be my pleasure." Zaln answered Mind reading trick huh? I asked Zaln Haha, watch and be dazzled!Zaln told me telepathically Bridget pulled a brunette forward. "This is Stephanie." she said "Hello Stephanie. Now think of an animal, any animal in the world." Zaln told Stephanie "Have you got one?" Zaln asked Stephanie nodded. "Now picture it in your mind. Repeat the name on the animal in your mind. I will read your mind and tell you what animal you chose." Zaln pulled up his sleeves and placed a hand on Stephanies forehead like a magician. I snorted. "Hmmmm...." Zaln thought I could tell Zaln was faking it. He already knew what the animal was. Now he was just putting on a show. "Your animal...is a...Pelican!" Zaln said triumphantly "Oh my gosh! How did you guess?!" Stephanie squealed "I have my secrets." Zaln smirked "Show us again!" Karl gave Zaln a jab in the side. "Sorry girls. We have to get going. Maybe another time." "Ok bye!!!" Bridget said The girls ran off. "Can't stop impressing girls huh? You have a bigger ego than Matt!" I joked "My ego isn't that large." Matt protested. Somehow he was beside me now. Zaln just grinned "It's fun." he said Tammy looked a bit irritated. "Let's move! We don't have much time." We walked the rest of the way to the station. It was a new light train that went 250km per hour Karl told us. We only needed to wait a few minutes before we got off. We were outside of Illuminate now. In a large town. Itwas filled with mansions. We walked a block more...and we reached Karl's home. It was beautiful and huge! Not all metal and gla.ss like the other homes around it. It was actually made of bricks but still no door. It had those old drive in drive ways that curved around a large fountain., went right to the teleport. It had nice flowers all over the property. "There aren't any doors in this town either?" Diane observed "Yeah only teleports now." Karl answered We went in the teleport that stood where a door would usually be. It didn't look any different from the other teleports. Metal panel, touch screen but this one also had a hand scanner. While Karl worked with the teleport. Drake and Diane were drooling over the house. Zaln chatted with Tammy. Jay started reading that old book again. Keir was making weird faces throughout the gl.ass at the people walking by on the street. I stood with Risana and Matt. Risana and Matt were talking about pyro and Hypnosis abilities. I wasn't paying much attention. I kept trying to form some sort of plan in my mind. "Ready to scan." An electronic voice said over a loudspeaker. "Jay you might want to put that book away." Karl suggested Jay stuffed the book into her pack as if it was gold. A red light came from the ceiling of the teleport scanning us. "So this is the new security system?" Zaln asked Karl "Yeah. It dissolves any objects that look like weapons." Karl answered The light disappeared. "Prepare for teleportation." that voice said Then I was flying through air again. Me, Keir, Diane and Risana were the only ones who went smack against the glass of the teleport. Keir muttered something about door being better when he stood up. "Are you guys ok?" Karl asked As we dusted ourselves off. "Yeah." I answered We stepped out of the teleport into a long hall with doors. The hallway was lined with electronic picture frames, expensive wall scones and oil paintings. I stopped right in my tracks. Only Zaln and Karl didn't stop in shock. "Hey what are you guys waiting for? You can gawk later." Zaln said Somehow we managed to get to the living room only to be shocked again. I felt like my jaw was going to drop off. The living room was HUGE and decorated lavishly but not with stuffy sculptures and lace. It was filled with artifacts and paintings of places from all over the world. The walls were deep creamy brown colour. A large fire place was on the far end of the room we several large couches around it. A chrystal chandelier hung from the ceiling. A TV with game consoles around it was on the left side of the room with a shelf full of videos cassettes, DVD's and video games. The right side had a door to an adjoining room and artifacts from Egypt in display cases and on top of dressers. "Wow..." Tammy breathed I felt the same way. "Let's sit down. There's a lot to do." Karl said We sat on the couches near the fire place. Karl went to a nearby telephone on the wall that I hadn't noticed until now. He picked it up and said a few things. Orders to bring snacks and soda. "You have a butler?" Keir asked "Well yeah. But mostly robots do most of the dirty house work, like cleaning and gardening." Karl said A butler came in with a snack and drink trolley then left. We all grabbed some junk food and a soda then got to work. I managed to shake my head clear. "I think since Evaline and Zaln are the leaders they should make the plan." Keir said "We're making the plan together. That includes you Keir. But Zaln and Evaline should lead the whole thing." Matt said I took out the map. "Ok. So we know where the machine is. We know that the instruction on how to destroy it are in the main buildings. The only thing we don't know is how the people there fight and how well guarded the area is." I stated "We should scout the area then?" Zaln suggested "But aren't there scout reports already? We could just get those." Risana said "Yeah but they're old. My brother told me they were done a month ago." Zaln said "Why does your brother know so much?" Jay asked suspiciously "He works there remember. He works in that department." Zaln answered "Ok. So one group should scout." I said "I think my group should go. Since you got Keir in yours." Zaln said "HEY!" Keir protested "Unless you want to go into the water first?" Matt asked Keir "Fine. I get it." Keir slumped back in the couch. "So my group scouts, brings the report back. Then what?" Zaln asked "We access the danger. If it's low key we go together and search the buildings. If the danger is so so. We go in our squads instead of all ten of us. If the danger is high we have to get the appropriate technology then go in but in groups of two or three. The smaller the group the chances of being found are smaller." I said Everyone nodded. "We should decide what buildings we search and how many." Keir said I looked at him in surprise. "I'm not dumb you know." Keir muttered "I think we can see that." Tammy said drily Diane took out her map to look at it. Risana took my map. "There are only 3 main buildings. The debate hall/citizens bulletin,the parliament building and the presidents home. I'd guess it mostly likely in the presidents home." Risana said We all agreed. "Jay could you use your power to see if this will work?" Risana asked Jay nodded. She went through her pack and pulled out three colored pebbles, and 5 cards with stars on them. She arranged the pebbles a certain way, flipped the cards upside down in a straight line then started chanting words in a language I didn't know. The pebbles started to move onto certain cards. Jay stopped chanting. She picked up the card with the green pebble. It had 3 stars. "This means our mission will succeed." Jay said She picked up the card with the yellow pebble. The card had 2 stars on it. "This means there will be problems and challenges but nothing too severe." Jay picked up the card with the red pebble. The card had 5 stars. "This means there is great danger in the mission." Jay said quietly "Well at least it'll succeed..." Diane said "Well we can't do much until we scout and see what kind of weapons we get." Matt said "What about training?" Drake asked "I have a simulation machine. It can copy us and we can fight each other to train with different weapons." Karl said excitedly "Simulation machines rock!" Zaln added "Sounds cool." Keir said "Let's do it!" Keir jumped up. Risana rolled her eyes. We got up and Karl led us to the adjoining room.
Chapter 7: The Mission Part 3 The room was large in size. The walls were dull grey. The whole room was empty except for a row of 10 machines lined up at the right side of the room against the wall and a large TV screen and this other machine thing on the opposite end of the room. The machines looked like old fashioned arcade machines but they had a touch screen, disk slot and a camera above the touch screen. Karl pointed to the machines. "Those are Hologram Simulators. You can create a fake you or let the camera take a scan and it'll create an exact you. It's easy to do so go ahead!" I approached one of the machines on the far end. I turned it on. A brightly lit screen appeared and had three options. Upload saved avatar, Create new avatar, Transfer saved avatar. I tapped on create new avatar. Then it gave me two options: Create new, Copy yourself. I chose copy yourself. The words PREPARE FOR SCAN blinked on the screen. I stood and waited. I red light passed through me then a flash. PROCESSING IMAGE appeared on the screen. I waited about 5 minutes until the words DONE flashed on the screen. Then my avatar appeared on the screen. It looked exactly like me. Some tabs were on the left side of the screen. There I could equip weapons. I noticed that the majority of the weapons were laser. I turned to Tammy who was beside me. "Are all the weapons laser?" i asked "Yeah the majority anyway. They're more effective than bullets." Tammy said I equipped a gpsard and arrows like my own weapons. I tapped done. The words INSERT DISK appeared. "Here take one." I turned around. Zaln was handing out floppy disks. "Just slide it in the slot." Zaln told me as I took one. "Thanks." I said I slid the floppy disk into the slot. SAVING appeared Then DONE. The floppy disk popped out. "Hey are you done too?" Tammy asked me "Yup." I answered "I wonder how it works..." "Holograms I guess, It's gonna be pretty cool." "Guys are you done?" Karl called out from where the TV and other machine thing were. We all said yeah. "Ok then get over here." Karl told us We went over. As I got closer I saw that the machine was a big black box with two projectors at the front. Under it were slots. 5 slots on the right, 5 slots on the left. "I think it's best if we fight in our squads." Zaln said I slid my floppy disk on the right side, Zaln slid his the left parallel to mine. After Zaln slid in his, the projector emitted a light and with a flash our avatar's appeared. "Wow...it's freaky..." I mummered "Looks just like yourself huh?" Zaln asked I nodded. Zaln's avatar had two laser hand guns and something on his arms that looked like arm braces or casts except it was leather and metal. Everyone else slid their disks in. Matt's had a laser weapon that looked like rifle. Jay just had two Exardites. The defense counterpart of the gpsard. Keir had a reinforced javelin. Why he chose that? I wondered Risana had an odd weapon. It was a Tantō but made of a different substance so it would never break and could deflect lasers. Also known as a short sword. It was a Japanese double edged knife that was 30cm long. Diane had her bomb things which I found out were called motion sensor bombs. She also added a laser pistol gun. Tammy chose a Hearding. Which is like the gpsard and Exardite in look and style but 10x more offensive. It can shoot 40 laser beams in 3 seconds. Drake had just light vest armor and some odd mechanism on his arm. It was supposed to increase his pyro ability and ability to control the fire. Karl just went with two laser pistols. Karl handed out bracelets that would let us control our avatar with our minds. My squad stood on the opposite end of the room from Zaln's squad. Zaln and Karl had the advantage because they've used this before. Our avatar were 3 feet ahead us. Karl shouted to start. I concentrated on my avatar and gave an instruction for my avatar to move forward and put an arrow in the bow. It wasn't very hard to control it. Soon a mini battle was underway. I got my avatar to shoot and dodge lasers. Drake was pretty good with his pyro ability. Even though he promised not to set our avatars or weapons on fire it was hard not to step in fire once it appeared in front of your face. I managed to hit a Zaln and Diane. Drake just scorched my arrows to ash, Karl was fast and Tammy just broke the arrows with her rapid laser fire. I was surprised by Keir and Risana the most. Keir was actually good with a javelin and Risana managed to slash a lot and reflect lasers. I just had to make do with dodging. I hated to admit it but Matt was pretty handy with that rifle. Jay was a good fighter. I never would have guessed. She used the Exardites to reflect the lasers and send the right back at the shooter like a boomerang. Zaln came right at me with those guns with a grin. I didn't have much time to shoot arrows. My mind was on drop, roll, dodge, get up, dodge, dodge, drop, duck,etc. I eventually just used my arrows like daggers. Stab, drop, duck, stab, dodge, dodge, dodge, stab and so on.... By the end my avatar had several burns and cuts and gashes from the fire and lasers. My mind was exhausted. We all agreed that training was finished. As soon as we got back to our hotel room I fell asleep.
Chapter 8: Under the Sea Part 1: Christmas Special I opened my eyes. Everyone was still sleeping. I got out of bed and walked towards the window. My eyes widened. It was snowing. Light dainty snowflakes fell from the sky. Making the world look like a Christmas wonderland. Cars went by. People walked on the streets. A large tree stood in the park. Children giggled throwing snowballs. I heard the door open. I turned around. A boy stood there. Brown red hair. Green eyes that were always dancing. He walked towards me. "Merry Christmas Lyn." He said I smiled. Lyn was his nickname for me. My heart jumped as he pulled a small box from his pocket. He gave it to me. I opened it. "Oh my gosh...." I mummered Inside was a beautiful necklace, a Christmas tree charm with small diamonds in it hung from the middle. "I got our initials engraved on the back." He said I turned the charm over. Our initials were there with a heart around it. I felt tears prick my eyes. "Here. Let me put it on you." He told me. I let him take it and clasp it around my neck. He smiled as he turned me around and leaned forward... My eyes snapped open. I sat up in bed shaking. It wasn't snowing. I wasn't in New York 2 years ago. I was in Illuminate. Diane was sleeping. Risana seemed to be in the bathroom because of the running water. I put my head in my hands. I was crying. Lyn...my nickname... I stepped out of bed and pulled open my backpack. I opened a special compartment hidden at the back and pulled out a silver chain with a Christmas tree charm on it. Still glowing like it was just yesterday. Turning it over. E.W & D.M Dreck.... Why had I kept it? Wasn't I over him? I let the tears fall.
Chapter 8: Under The Sea Part 2 The funny thing about Illuminate is that it's really one island and one mainland. To get to the island you need to go to the west side of Illuminate where there is a ferry for tourists and citizens and a bridge for commercial trucks and any civic automobiles.(ex. Police cars) The mainland itself is surrounded by water on three sides. East, West and North. Only the South side, the main entrance to Illuminate, Is land and connects it to the rest of the continent. The east side is a port for over sea shipping. The north side is where the coast and beaches are. We were going there but since you can't put a 1000 pounds of equipment on a beach we were at the port. Besides, it was bad for tourists. We were supposed to go underwater to get to the beach. This morning, we went to city hall where we were given more maps and old scout footage. Then we were sent to the army base for weapons and equipment. When we arrived, all of us were given waterproof wireless bluetooth headsets. Each one was connected to one other headset in the group. For example, Matt and Diane had connected headsets. They can only talk to eachother through Bluetooth. Only me and Zaln weren't given headsets. They said we could just use telepathy. I wondered how they made them. They were different from the ones my parents had. Next, We were led to a room filled with weapons. I decided just to take a laser pointer just in case. Risana, Jay, Zaln, Diane, Tammy and Drake took the same weapons they chose for their avatars. Matt took a laser machine gun and a sniper. Karl found a new laser sword. It was still in the process of being improved but Karl took it anyway. It was just a sword made is laser except the handle. The handle was a cylinder shape. When the laser is turned off it can double as a dagger because you can slide a short blade into a slot at the top of the handle and lock the blade in. Keir took a foot long dagger and a ashandarei. Which is a spear with a one sided blade at one end. Also we got lightweight water proof/laser proof vests, a pair of waterproof gloves, water shoes and a choice of water proof clothes. The clothes didn't get damp and heavy. It was like wearing a swimsuit. The material that made the clothes was funny feeling and a bit scratchy. All the shoes were black. Unfortunately, we still needed oxygen tanks, masks, buoyancy compensator, regulator, alternate air source, pressure gauge and dive computer. For some reason the government didn't out much money into researching for better diving equipment. Fortunately, it was only when we needed to go outside of the submarine. Then we were driven to the dock along with truckloads of equipment. So now here we all were standing at the dock watching people set up equipment. I still felt rather shaky from this morning. I had let Diane throw the necklace out the window. I ended up telling Risana what happened. Diane and Risana were talking now, about the plan and stuff. I sat on the dock with my legs drawn to my chest and my head resting on top of my legs. I don't think anyone noticed my gloomy expression. Everyone was nervous or excited but Jay seemed to be the only person who was calm. I watched the waves crash against the docks. Quite a lot of water splashed onto the walkway. The tides were high this season I heard from some sailors. "Hey Evaline are you ok?" a voice asked Matt. "Yeah I'm fine."I mumbled not looking up. "Evaline..." Matt started but Dr.Gordan interrupted "OK! We're all set and ready to go. Students please board!" he yelled I stood up hastily. Both submarines had black colored metal frames but one blue gla.ss and one the other had black gla.ss for windows. They were about 80 feet long and 6 feet wide. They were already in the water. Dr.Goddam directed my squad to the submarine with blue gl.ass. I slipped through the hatch. The submarine was divided into six sections. The control room/navigation room, diving gear/change room/exit section, bunkbeds/washrooms, look out windows/sitting area, engine room and a kitchen/eating area. Each room is about 15 feet long. The largest area is where our gear is stored. The control seemed to be simplified. Dimly lit. Three seats. One steering wheel. The seat in the middle had the steering wheel and a touch screen above with 4 buttons. The seats beside had something that looked like a built in laptop, no keyboard though just colored buttons, touch pad and number pad next to the touch pad. Both screens had another screen above it like the other seat with the steering wheel. Beside each screen was a wireless headset. Also, there were panels of switches next to each screen. I moved to the next room. The change room was simple just a bench with hooks above facing a wall with cubbies filled with gear. A tiny teleport stood beside the cubbies. The next room was the look out/window area. Two seats, two windows and a viewer thing(looked like binoculars attached to a pole) that let you look outside and around the submarine. Very small space. Beside each window there was another set of wireless headsets. I guess that's how you could communicate between the areas. Then there was the dining area and kitchen. A portable fridge, two hotplates, one sink, one cupboard and a microwave. The cupboard was stocked with dry foods and kitchen supplies. One small round table and five chairs took up the rest of the space. Then the bunkbeds. Small and cramped area. Three bed on each wall. The engine room was cool. I hoped someone in my squad knew how to fix engines. We weren't allowed to come back up unless we finished the mission or we have a major problem with the submarine. All food and oxygen tanks could be teleported to our submarine if needed. Everyone joined me in the engine room. "This is COOL." Keir said Even Jay looked impressed. "There isn't much space though. We're going to have to leave all over weapons on the benches in the change area." Risana stated "Ok." I said taking charge "Let's go to the control room and figure out who's doing what." We moved to the control room. Once everyone was there it was a tight fit. We had to leave the door open or Jay and Keir would be squashed. Suddenly, all the screens flicked on and started playing the same tutorial. It explained what everything did and how to use it. It took at least 15 minuites to finish. It ended with Dr.Goddam reminding us about not failing. "I hate that guy." Keir said loudly That's when I decided I needed Risana to look after Keir. I didn't want him getting in trouble...but I didn't want Matt near me but Keir couldn't be trusted in the control room. Which meant... "I get the screen on the left. I'm giving out the orders." I told them The left screen controlled lights outside the submarine, motors(how fast the sub will go), emergency exit, emergency fan, check gauges, basically anything that had to do with the submarine inside and outside. The main controls. I could also see where anyone was in the sub using a heat sensor. "Jay...you will be the navigator. Take the chair on the right." I told her Jay nodded. She would now have to look at maps and direction arrows to tell us where to go. "And..." I started "I want to drive!" Keir yelled "And MATT will drive." I finished Keir put on a pouting face. Turning to Matt I asked "You can drive right?" "Yeah don't worry." Matt answered with a smile "Risana I need you and Keir to be look outs but when we got outside you'll be co leader." I told her "And make sure Keir doesn't get into trouble. Don't let him touch anything..." I whispered Risana made a face but nodded. "I heard that." Keir grumbled "Let's move." I said ignoring Keir I took every ones weapons that they didn't need and put it on the change room benches. I kept my gpsard but I left my arrows there. I came back and took my seat, then flicked a switch to turn the power on. I slipped my headset on. Are you guys ready? Zaln's voice came in my head. We're ready. I told him telepathically Then a voice came through a speaker below the screens. "You may go. Good luck." I flicked a switch for the motors to turn on and checked the gauges in the engine room through cameras. Sorta like a mall security system. Turned my headset on. "Ok Matt. Go." I said "Are you guys seated?" Matt asked Risana and Keir through the headset. "Yup. We're ready." Risana responded "It's so small." Keir muttered Matt flicked another switch and our submarine moved.
Chapter 8: Under the Sea Part 3 Leagues Below the Sea I sit at my fathers bedside. His features is a mirror image of my own. Our people never aged. We changed very little but what was there to change? We were near perfect. "Son...Keep them away...at ALL costs..." my father said slowly in between coughs "Yes father." I said "Use your power..." I looked at my father in shock. "What do you mean? You said there is no powers here!" "I lied...Only our line...has power...Telekinesis...poltergeist...or telepathy...one of those are yours..." "Bu..but.." I started "You have...no training...but you..can...wield it..." my fathers breath shortened and became labored. "Dad..." I cried "Make...me proud...Jerad..." My father died. Some men came in and took his body away. I stood up and looked out the window. 17 and a president already. I thought. "I will avenge my fathers death." I said to no one in particular. ------------------------------- Where are you? I asked Zaln telepathically Farther down. You guys have to dive. Zaln said "Risana and Keir, keep an eye out for the other squads submarine." I said into my headset. "Matt keep diving until Risana or Keir see's them or we reach that civilization." I told Matt "Jay...where is this city supposed to be?" I asked Jay scrolled through some maps on her screen before choosing one. "50 degrees north, 40 degrees west under the sea. We're almost there..." Jay said quietly "Ok..." I breathed I could hear Risana and Keir getting into another arguement. Jay had already taken her headset off. I was tempted to... "Guys stop arguing and start looking!" I barked into my headset. They went quiet. It was getting darker. I flicked a switch for the lights outside the sub. "I see them!" Risana said through the headset. I switched my screen to the outside camera. I moved the lights searching. "More to the right..." Risana said Turn the lights off! Or we are going to get spotted!Zaln said Sorry... I answered turning the light off. Outside was pitch black. Matt was talking through his headset. Turning to me he said "Diane say the city is just several 100 meters down, from where we are." I nodded. Are you guys going? I asked Zaln Yup, we're going to get our gear on and drive around the city a bit. We will take some footage with the sub so you guys can see it. Then we're getting out. Zaln said Sounds like a plan. We will stay here. I told him I told Risana and Keir to come to the control room. "What's up?" Risana asked I turned around to face everyone. "Zaln's squad is going to scout the area and send some footage, then they're heading inside." I said "Wouldn't they have barriers though?" Keir asked I sighed. "They're taking weapons I guess. So they should be OK." "So we're just waiting for them?" Jay asked "Yeah." I answered Evaline! Change your camera to our camera's!Zaln said It took me a bit of tine to figure out how to do it but soon the screens changed to show what the squad was seeing. They had no lights on but they didn't need them. The city itself was glowing. The whole city was inside one large dome. Smaller domes with short buildings inside surrounded the large dome. Each buildings was made of bronze and gla.ss and had intricate designs. "Wow..." I muttered We're leaving the sub behind these rocks so we can go in.Zaln said Ok watch out for that machine though. We will let you guys know what we find but we're turning off our headsets so it doesn't trigger anything. We don't know how advanced they are in technology. Zaln explained "We might as well get comfortable. It'll be awile." I told my squad. We waited for hours. Nothing. Keir had left for the kitchen. Risana was sleeping. Jay was reading. Matt was making the trash can burn. Me? Just sitting around fiddling with the sub controls. Suddenly a strand of my hair went on fire. I jumped up. "MATT!!!" I yelled "Opps sorry..." he muttered flicking his hand making the fire disappear. Now the room smelled like burning hair. Jay looked up. "Fire will be your demise in life." She told Matt then went back to her book. Matt rolled his eyes. "Really Matt! You have to be more careful!" I scolded him "Sorry." he said again I sighed. Evaline!! I jumped. "What is it?" Matt asked urgently "Is it Zaln?" I held up a hand to tell Matt to be quiet. Zaln! Where are you guys? I asked Trapped, caught, hiding...Diane and Karl got caught in a trap, triggered an alarm. They told us to run. So we don't know what happened to them. Me, Drake and Tammy got caught by guards or police or whatever they are. Zaln said So we're running rescue mission now? I asked Yup, they don't know you're here...We told them that we're the only squad down here at the moment and you guys are waiting above ground for us. Ok...where are you guys? And where did Karl and Diane get trapped? The trap is a bit past the gate in an alley. 3rd street to the left. We're in the dungeon. It's in the little dome with the bronze, and black building. Be careful, they were hi-tech traps and this place is crawling with security. You guys better come up with a plan before you come. Zaln advised Can you send me thought pictures of the place? I closed my eyes and waited. Then pictures came flying through my head. It was almost like a video. I felt shaky. Ok. Thanks Zaln. We're coming! I told him I opened my eyes. Matt and Jay looked worried. Risana and Keir came barreling through the door of the control room. I looked at everyone in the eye. "We got a rescue mission to plan." I said grimly
Chapter 9: Trapped Part 1 Zaln's View I tried to get the cuffs off but it was no use. Tied to a chair! My legs were tied to the chair and my arms cuffed behind me. "Dammit...At least I got through to Evaline.." I muttered They had singled me out from the group and put me in this room. They didn't plan on killing us...yet. It's a good thing I didn't tell them my power. They had no idea that I was reading their minds. I tried to jump with the chair. Only thing that happened was the chair fell over and I was now sideways. The door opened. Several men came in surrounding a young guy probably a year or two older than me. He had short brown hair and dark blue eyes. His other features were the same everyone else had here in this place. Pale skin, sharp eyes, small nose and oval face. I glared. When the guards found us they laughed when I told them I was the leader. I guess it was because of the rubber bracelet on my neck and my green tinted hair. They wouldn't believe me till I knocked the smirk off their faces. Several of the guards picked up my chair and pulled me upright. They pulled up another chair and put it across from me and that guy sat in it. I wondered who this person was. He looked at me as if I was scum. I struggled against the bonds again. "So...I hear this is your first ah...visit to Atlantric." He said I didn't answer. He nodded as if he could read my mind. "I hope you enjoyed the sights? Our buildings are...different than those you have...on land." "Can you just get to the point?" I growled He laughed. "We can't 'get to the point' when I haven't introduced myself." He paused. "My name is Jerad. I am the president of Atlantric." I stared. Then laughed my heart out. "YOU?!? The president?!! You've gotta be kidding me!" I said in between laughs. One of the guards punched me in the face and sent me toppling sideways. I felt my nose bleeding. I had a feeling that I would have a pretty bruise on my cheek tomorrow. "There's no need for violence." Jerad said sharply The guards pulled me upright again. "If you just tell me this..." Jerad continued. "What do you want?" I asked tensely Jeered got out of his chair and walked towards me. "We found three of you in the and I hear two others are ah..unfortunately in a trap. I don't believe you...children are capable enough to plan the whole mission..." "Well we did." I said through gritted teeth. I felt pissed off. He just called us kids when he's my age! "Yes I you are rich enough to buy the equipment and you all planned how to get inside but tell me...Who started you on this mission? Who gave you all our information?" Jared stared at me in the eye. I looked back. He was pretty bold but how did he know I was rich? "Well?" "I wouldn't tell you even if the world was ending." I said I did I quick search of Jerad's mind and feelings... He might not have looked nervous but his feelings inside were unsure and anxious. He was even a bit fearful of me! Why? "Why were you kids chosen...out of millions...to take this mission? What makes you so special?" Jeered asked This wasn't good. If they found out... "Nothing special, they just chose us because we had guts." I bluffed. "You lie. Just tell me. No one needs to be hurt..." Jerad said I kept my mouth shut. His feelings were now angry. "Guards leave." he said tensely They left. "Now tell me!" he yelled I opened my mouth to throw some words at Jerad but suddenly a blue light surrounded me and I felt frozen. Then I was flying backwards and hit the wall. The blue light disappeared and I felt pain searing through my head. What power was that? I despretly tried to reach Evaline, i'm not sure if it went through. My head hurt...too much... -blacks out- ------------------------------- Jerad's View I felt woozy. Zaln was unconscious. I just used telekinesis! I had a power. My eyes slowly closed. ------------------------------- Evaline's View I felt a slight pain in my head. "Are you ok?" Risana asked I blinked. Had my face showed pain? "Yeah I'm fine..." I said Where had the pain come from... Telepathy....Zaln! We were finishing the details for our rescue mission. "...So I guess that's it..." Matt finished I hadn't caught what Matt said last. "Evaline? Did you hear me? We're going to find Karl and Diane first." Matt repeated I snapped out of my thoughts. "Oh yeah I know. Let's go." I said We got up and went to the change rooms. All we needed to put on were weapons, equipment and vests. I took off my runners and slipped on my water shoes. I slipped on the vest then the scuba equipment. The funny thing was that it didn't feel like a million pounds. It felt...like nothing. "Technology." Matt told me with a grin when he saw my expression. I slipped on the gloves and my gpsard. Slipped the laser pointer into my pocket. I also pocketed a handful and Diane's extra motion sensor bombs. I hoped it was all waterproof. How was I going to use my arrows? Eventually, I made the strap really long and slung it over the oxygen tank. It would be a bit hard to get arrows but it worked. I held my bow in my left hand. One by one we went into the teleport and teleported outside. There were two choices: Illuminate's beach or outside the sub. The water wasn't too cold, I tried swimming a little. Wow... This was fun. Everyone had put on their Bluetooth just in case. I tried to reach Zaln but no response. The sub was parked about 200-300 meters away from the city. Once everyone was out of the sub I motioned my hand for us to start swimming. I was at the front. Risana and Keir behind me with Matt and Jay taking up the rear. We got closer. 200 meters...100 meters.. Time to start the fireworks.
Chapter 9: Trapped Part 2 Zaln's View My eyes fluttered open. My vision was foggy. I could barely make out where I was. "Tammy? Drake?" I asked I blinked a few times then tried to sit up. "Ow!" I cried I had a massive headache. It felt like my skull was split open. "Zaln! Lay down!" Tammy's voice ordered me. I ignored her. "Who used an electric drill on my head?" I asked "Haha very funny." Tammy said Tammy and Drake were sitting beside me on the floor of a cell with only two small barred windows looking into the cells beside us. "You're becoming like Karl..." I muttered Then memories jolted through my head. That weird president guy...traps...water...tied up...slammed against a wall... I sat up straighter. "What happened?" I said to myself "Why don't you tell us." Tammy said unhappily "Yeah you could explain." Drake muttered I gave them a quick overview of what happened. When I finished, Tammy and Drake looked scared. "The only thing I don't understand...is that power that president guy has." Tammy mummered "Never heard of anything like that." Drake admitted "Maybe he's a poltergeist...." Tammy suggested "Then he must be an expert..." I said "He is no poltergeist." an unknown voice called from the cell on the right of us. Tammy and Drake jumped up. I would've done the same if I could stand up. Drake peaked into the cell next door and his eyes widened. A guy around my age came into view in the window. He was dirty looking and very thin. It seemed like he'd been here much longer than us. At least by a several weeks, or maybe even a month. His skin was tanned. He was taller than any of us. He had short black hair that looked spiky. His eyes were a stunning bronze colour but sadness, irritation and tiredness shone within. "My name is Seth. Jared used telekinesis. The oldest and most dangerous of all powers." Seth said sadly ------------------------------- Evaline's View There are only two ways into Atlantric. The front gate and the entrance/exit to the guard rooms. We couldn't take the front gate so we were taking the the entrance to the guard rooms. Only problem were the guards. About 80 meters away, I started scattering the motion sensor bombs. All the bombs were linked so if one went off, all the others would go off one by one. When we reached the dome, I ordered everyone to stay put while I swam around and scattered some more bombs. The bombs were just for distraction. We needed many to blow up so it would get all the guards outside, then we could slip in. Of course the chances of our plan succeeding was all based on luck. Hopefully luck would be on our side. I came back around to where the squad was waiting. I gave them a thumbs up. Matt, Risana and Keir started working on a latch to the door of a teleport next to the dome. It took about 2 minutes. We quickly entered the teleport and got teleported to the inside side of the dome. The cities high walls weren't patrolled. In fact, the people who were supposed to watch the gate were asleep, leaning over the edge. I took my mask off. Inside the dome was air, no water. I noticed a pile of equipment hiding behind some plants, half buried into the ground. Zaln's squad probably. "Everyone take off your gear except for...Risana and Matt. I need you guys to find Zaln, Tammy and Drake. After you find them get to the main buildings and serch them. Dont try to find us. If you find it, go back to the subs. Check the small dome on the right. We will find Diane and Karl here. They're probably still in a trap. Now, everyone else, we will dig a hole to cover our stuff." I told them I also quickly told Matt and Risana about the thought pictures that Zaln had sent me earlier. Matt and Risana exited the dome and swam to the smaller dome on the right. We didn't even need a shovel,the ground was a soft dirt and wet sand mix. It took about 10 minutes with all of us working to dig a hole large enough for all our gear. Now all we had were our clothes,(which weren't wet)weapons, laser vests, gloves and water shoes. I picked up a rock the size of a fist. "Ok guys...see those small alcoves in the wall near the guard door? Try to hide behind there I guess. Hopefully, there are enough bombs that go off so people don't notice us." I said pointing. Everyone hurried off. I slipped back inside the teleport with the rock and took a large breath and swam fast once in the water. A few meters away from the closet bomb(30 meters away)I threw the rock at it. The bomb glowed red then starting blinking. 5 seconds. 1... Then swam for my life. 2... 3... 4... 5... *BOOM* Dammit...I tried to go faster. *BOOM* 2nd bomb Sirens wailed. *BOOM* I hadn't noticed the 3rd bomb was near my leg. I found myself thrown on the sea floor. I got up and started swimming again. A felt a slight sting in my left leg. *BOOM* 4th bomb A few more meters, my head felt faint...couldn't hold much longer. *BOOM* 5th bomb I was now at the teleport, just in time and stumbled into the nearest alcove as guards started pouring out the door fortunately, they didn't notice or see us. *BOOM* 6th bomb I gasped for breath inside the dome. "How many did you scatter?" Keir asked "30-50?" I managed *BOOM* 7th bomb *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* 8,9,10. Soon guards stopped coming out. There were about 100 out in the water and 50 looking around the dome. We had to move and fast. My breathing steadied. "Let's go!" I yelled over the noise of the bombs. At least another 15 had gone off by now. I strung my bow and went through the door. The door was at the end of a dimly lighted hallway that connected to another hallway going horizontally. A few guards ran past us not noticing we were there, no cameras either. I guess this hallway was usually patrolled. We stayed against the wall. I tried to recall where the trap Karl and Diane were stuck in from Zaln's thought pictures. I peeked up and down the hallway. All clear. I looked back. Everyone was waiting. I pointed right, and we started moving. ------------------------------- Jerad's View My eyes opened. I was in my bedroom and I had a major headache. I noticed a nurse named Sadie taking my blood pressure. "Well,Mr.President, you should have a nasty headache for a few more hours but it will go away." Sadie said "What happened? Both of you were knocked out." Sadie asked "Oh well..." I tried to figure out what to say. I couldn't tell how I had a telekinesis power. "That kid somehow got loose, punched me. So I punched him back...guess it knocked him out." I finally said Sadie nodded. "Explains it all. Take it easy." With that Sadie left. I settled back against some pillows. My room was underground in the house for the president in the city. Rather quiet. The cells were above ground, not in the main dome, making it harder for the people in them to sleep. A small smile spread on my face. Suddenly, a general burst through the doors. He looked panicked. "What is it?" I asked "Sir...Bombs are going off around the Atlantric dome." he said quickly I sat up. "Bombs?" "Yes sir." "Where are they from?" "We don't know yet." I sat back. "Sir?" the general asked uncertainly I was thinking. "Send scouts up, get them to check the air and beach. If they don't find anything, send half the guards searching all over the sea floor. 100 mile radius." I said carefully "Yes sir!" the general turned to leave. "Wait." I said The general turned around. "Yes Sir?" "Send 20 guards to you know where and another 20 to the place where you know what is. " I told him The general's eyes widened. "Yes Sir!" the general ran off. I settled back and fell asleep. ------------------------------- Evaline's View We sped down dim empty hallways, trying to find the exit. We didn't run into any guards, I guess the bombs worked, I could still hear a few go off. The hallways were paneled with metal. The floor was a soggy wood. Badly maintained. Soon the hallway came to a dead end, with only a metal door. "Let's go." Keir said enthusiastically I wondered if he saw this as a game. I slowly opened the door. Sunlight! Or artificial lights anyway. We stepped outside. No one was outside. There wasn't any sand, there was only concrete. We quickly slid into the shadows as a platoon of guards marched past. They all seemed to have the same features. Pale skin, small nose, oval face. I'd heard the description before but I couldn't quite remember where. Zaln said Karl and Diane were trapped in an alley. I thought back to the pictures. "Let's go but be careful. Try to stay in the shadows." I whispered We went from shadow to shadow. I kept my eyes on the ground. Some traps were obvious, others were already broken. We reached a dark alley where there was a large pit, like the concrete had broken open but that was impossible. A trap. I ran forward. Sure enough, two bodies were in the pit. "Diane?! Karl?!!" I yelled into the pit. "Evaline?" Karl's voice sounded from the pit. "Yeah it's us rich guy." Keir yelled Karl muttered something. "I think I broke something. I'm not sure but um...Diane...." Karl cut off. A fear emerged from my mind, one I had pushed back. "What is it Karl?" I asked "Um do you guys have a flashlight or something? You should see for yourself." Karl responded I wished we had Matt. He could use his fire. I looked at Keir and Jay. Keir shook his head. Jay reached into her pocket and pulled out a book light. "Any predictions?" i asked Jay "Yes...but I don't think you'll like it." Jay said softly She turned it the light on shined in into the pit. Keir peeked it and his mouth dropped open. I took a breath and looked down. Karl was sitting cross-legged with his arm bent out of shape. Diane... "I'm sorry Evaline...I think she broke her neck..." Karl said sadly Tears slid down my cheeks. I couldn't help it. Before I knew it, I was on my knees crying hard. My best friend was dead.