I did not know what to think about this strange invitation with no return address on it. Or why my mother and my best friends treated me like a monster. Or even why were there no doctors or nurses in this supposed hospital. All I knew was I could not stay in this horrible hospital. I went back to my room and looked for spare clothes, but I could not find any.
“Crap. How can I get out of here with no clothes and no money?” I said to myself.
But then I thought, Wait. Mom always brings an extra nurse outfit in her bag. Under the circumstances, could not say I felt guilty about stealing her clothes.
I opened the gym bag my mom left in the room and found extra green scrubs.
Luckily, Mom and I wear almost the same size.
After I put on her uniform, I looked in my mom’s purse and was shocked to find one thousand dollars in cash.
Where did that come from? We barely had enough to cover utilizes this year. Where did she get all that money?
Did they pay her to keep me here?
I searched everyone’s pockets and scraped up two thousand five hundred dollars and the keys to Mom’s car outside.
Along with that, I took Marcy’s visitor badge, to avoid suspicion, along with Chad’s taser, and hid it in my mom’s gym bag.
After I used Marcy’s visitor's pass to leave the building, I noticed this was not a hospital at all. I was in an underground facility that looked like it was top-secret.
“Where the hell am I?” The warehouse building had only the room where I stayed. It looked like a top-secret bunker you would see in a CIA movie.
I walked towards the main entrance when two guards confronted me.
“Hey, you,” the first guard yelled. “Where do you think you’re going?” He pulled his Taser. “Get back to your holding cell or we’ll drag you there.”
My heart thumped in my chest. My hands felt clammy. The only way out was to run like hell.
The second guard called for reinforcements on his radio. “Heads up. The subject is moving towards your direction.”
I charged toward the other direction, but two other security men blocked me when I reached the corner. When they snuck behind me, I dropped the weapon I stole from Chad.
I struggled to break free. “Let me go!”
One of the guards pulled away from me and picked up the weapon I dropped. “You’re not going anywhere.” The guard pointed the stun gun at me.
Anger filled my veins. I felt the same type of energy I had felt when the people I loved held me down a few minutes before. I felt my mind overpowering theirs, like a computer hacking into another computer.
“This is an underground bunker used to isolate and study hybrids,” the guard said in a blank trance.
They released me. They seemed to be in a hypnotized state.
I put two and two together and tested out this new “mind control” thing.
“Now tell me where the hell I am,” I told the third guard.
“Vanity has instructed informer Sarah Penelope North to conduct private studies upon you to identify what abilities you may possess.”
I tried to hold my concentration while fighting tears that started trickling down from my eyes, hearing that my own mother was studying me like some type of experiment.
No. That could not be true.
My mom was keeping me here and so was Marcy. They did think I was a monster. They lied to me.
I wiped away the tears from my eyes, hoping to control my grip on the guards. “What’s a vanity?”
Moments before I got my answer, two guards, I had seen earlier showed up, causing me to lose focus. “There she is,” the first guardian said, readying his Taser.
“Hey, what’s with you two?” yelled the second guard. “She must’ve gotten to them. Let us take them out.”
The guards charged at me, but I hacked their thoughts. I pretended to be playing a video game with my mind as the controller.
I guess my video game skills paid off. I made the guards that were under my control fistfight the others with my thought control abilities.
Although the other guards managed to land a few hits, the guards that I had controlled eventually managed to overpower them and knock my attacker’s unconscious.
But I quickly began to feel each blow inflicted on the guards under my control as if they were inflicted on my own body. It could be because of my mental l**k to the guards that I had controlled. Fortunately, those creeps only got a few good hits. I would hate to think about what would happen if things had gotten worse.
“Okay, tell me who this Vanity person is and what are they after next?” I ask the third guard. I pulled out my letter from Zen Academy.
I probed their minds to learn more about Vanity, but a blue and white light exploded in the third guard’s mind.
“Ahhhh!” I screamed. I lost my connection with the guards when they both fell unconscious, but not before I found out where I was and how to escape.
From his thoughts I learned, I was in a private bunker under an abandoned flag-making warehouse in downtown Seattle.
When I reached the door, I slid Marcy’s visitor’s pass into the slot.
Access granted, the monitor said. Then it popped out a capital V with two circles and a vertical line in the middle. I guessed that was Vanity’s symbol, whoever they were.
The door opened to an elevator with the same symbol painted on the stainless-steel doors. I pressed the only button there was which would reach the top floor inside the old warehouse.
I walked toward the exit where I saw two open doors to the outside world. I raced towards the exit, pushed the doors open, and saw downtown Seattle. I paused for a minute to observe the skyscrapers in the city.
I began having flashbacks of the last time I was downtown: Eight years ago when I was eight years old.
My mom had said, “Madelyn Angelou North, get back here right now.”
I always hated when she said my full name. Do not get me wrong, having your parent yell out your full name seems too embarrassing for word at eight years old.
“Mom, I want to ride the horsey.” I stood in front of the Manchester Mansion, one of the oldest abandoned buildings in the city. No one seemed to know why it was shut down.
“I told you to stay away from here,” Mom said, pulling me away. “This is a terrible place to be around. Promise me you will not go near this place again. Do you understand me?”
“But Mom,” I whined, using my puppy dog eyes.
“Don’t give me that look. Come on. Let us go. No arguing.”
“Yes, Mom,” I reluctantly agreed, staring into the ground.
She took my hand. “Good, let us go. I am going to drop you off at Marcy’s house. I am working another double. With any luck, I’ll be considered for the company’s next promotion.”
I grew up in a low-income neighborhood on the outskirts of Seattle. As a single mom, my mother did everything she could to save for my future and put food on the table. I remember spending long nights at daycare or with Marcy and her mom, Bethany Willis. The truth is, I do not remember Mom having many days off. When she did, she spent most of the day sleeping or running errands.
Each weekday morning Mom walked me to school since we did not have enough money for a car.
“Thank you again, Bethany,” Mom said, hugging me after one tiring night at work.
“I can’t keep doing this for free, Sarah,” Ms. Willis said.” You know I love you both, but I have a child of my own and bills to pay off.”
“I promise to pay you in full next week,” my mom said with a heavy sigh. “Times are tough for everyone right now.”
My Mom had gotten pregnant with me while she was a senior in high school. As a single mom, she did not have time to pursue a career as an orthopedic as she planned.
My grandparents had been disgusted over the fact she got pregnant so young. Mostly because Mom’s parents were Italian immigrants who worked diligently to come to America and earn enough to survive here.
Although Mom claimed they accepted me as their grandchild regardless of my mixed ethnicity, we were not welcome in their neighborhood.
My grandparents gave Mom an ultimatum: either she had put me up for adoption or my grandparents would. Instead, Mom chose to keep me and begin a new life in Seattle.
Unfortunately, with only a high school diploma, Mom barely made end is meet each month.
***
Later that day, a dark, fancy mustang drove to the curb. A man wearing a black suit, red tie, and a pin that looked like an eight-sided star stepped out and spoke to Mom.
“Sarah Penelope North?”
“May I help you?” Mom, asked, pushing me behind her.
The man took out his wallet, flashing a silver badge like the badge on his pin.
I used to question if he was, a social worker. But considering my present circumstances, maybe there was a connection between him and Vanity.
“We need to talk. I will drive you to your daughter’s school. She can sit in the back so we can discuss a few details. The barrier between the front seats and the back is soundproof,” he said.
I had never seen my mother so serious and frightened before.
“Mom, who is this man?” I asked.
She tightened her grip on my hand.
“Let us go, Madelyn. Everything is going to be alright.”
She put her work bag in the backseat and helped me get in.
The last part of this flashback that I remembered was watching Mom reassuring me that everything would be found by blowing a kiss to me before the door closed shut.
They say when you die, you see your whole life pass by before your eyes, but that did not happen. While I was recovering from the blackout, I had strange visions about me and five other teenagers I have never met. Each of us had peculiar powers. One dude in sunglasses was blasting three robots that looked like they came out of a sci-fi movie with two dark laser beams from his hands. Another bald man sliced five other robots in half using only his arms. But both arms glowed purple. The visions got more puzzling. I envisioned a young Hispanic girl with gorgeous black hair, wearing a red jacket. She created a force field resembling ruby quartz. The force field protected a small group of people from a massive cloud of debris caused by the acti
I ’m not sure why I remembered the image of the star now, but the pin the man wore looked almost identical to the one I saw when I probed one of the guard’s minds. After I had finished my flashback, I pulled out my mom’s letter and the envelope from Zen Academy. On the back, I saw a thin button. I pressed it and a blue virtual map appeared before me. “Whoa,” I whispered. My jaw stayed open for about twenty seconds. Would I finally get some answers? I found Mom’s car and drove toward the railroad. The virtual envelope showed me the way. I figured it might be the only place I would be safe from this Vanity crap. Forty-five minutes later, I arrived at my destination, an old, a
Itook a break from probing Eric’s mind and tried my luck on the girl with the ruby-coated hand.Her name turned out to be Adrian Rodriguez from El Paso, Texas. She lived with her mom, a factory worker. Adrian’s Mom was demanding so Adrian kept busy trying to earn her mom’s approval.She thought earning a spot on her school’s varsity basketball team as a sophomore would be a good start. Even though she was still a sophomore, she qualified for the varsity team and was close to playing state.But the night her team was going to play for the regional championship, she experienced “the change” and transformed into a hybrid. It lasted two hours. Naturally, the doctors were puzzled.The school officials thought Adrian was on drugs prior to the game due to her sudden coma, so they kicked her off the team and suspended her for a week. The following week, she found out her team lost 35 to 18 because
The entire crowd of students gasped at the sight of the gigantic hologram towering above us. The mere virtual presence of this unusual woman kept us in suspense. “I am Chancellor Emola Thorne,” the hologram said. “Here at Zen Academy, my faculty and I have made it our objective to seek out each of you based on your exceptional abilities. We know many of you come from households and cities that do not understand your capabilities, or the reason you have frightening gifts. Some of you may have been exploited or hunted by those closest to you because of this. But rest assured, you are safe in this environment. You’ll learn to use these abilities for the betterment of yourselves and all mankind.” I didn’t know why, but I felt safe listening to her talk. I felt enchanted by her words, but reluctant to trust her. I looked at the other students gazing at her as if she was their savior. “My security drones shall escort you to your dorms,” the chancellor s
The crowd around us made a wide circle because they expected a huge fight. This girl was the roaring lioness while we were the gladiators fighting for our lives.“Kids, this might be a bad time to tell you this but I don’t know how to fight.”“Seriously?” Adrian asked “Mind blast her. Knock this ninja chick out.”“I’m trying!”“I won’t let you creeps mess with my head,” Natalie shrieked. “Die!”Natalie transformed her mallet into a defensive shield. She aggressively charged at us with her shield in front of her and her sword cutting the air behind her. Eric got in front of me and Adrian prepared to blast his dark matter beam from his hand.The dark energy plasma surged towards Natalie but her shield blocked it.Instantly, the beam split into five different branches and wreaked havoc on the campus, sending
As the debris from the two mysterious figures began to dissipate, I recognized the two men emerging from under the dust. One was a bald black fellow and the other was muscular, possibly Native American.“You can get inside, the show’s over,” the bald one said with a British accent.One walked around Natalie while the other one knelt to check her pulse. The bald fellow started talking to me.Then I recalled these two people were the ones I saw in my vision. The bald one sliced the robots in half with his bare hands. The other man lifted an armored tank by himself.“You blokes know how to make an entrance, Ms. North.“Who are you?” I asked. “How do you know my name?”“My name’s Daryl Wailer and Mr. Muscles there is Richard Ardmore. We’re enforcers for the academy.”“What does that have to do with me and my friends?&rdq
To say that my encounter with Emola was overwhelming would be a huge understatement.“Right this way,” the drone said. It pointed me to the changing room.When I walked into a changing room, I noticed a blond Caucasian girl pulling up her socks.The girl pulled out cigarettes, snapped her fingers and out came this small pink flame from her fingers. My eyes lit up at the sight of it. No pun intended. I could not believe all these teens possessed such a variety of powers.“I know you’re there, newbie,” the girl said. “It’s rude to stare, you know.”“Sorry,” I said.” I did not mean to stare. My name is…”“Maddie North,” she said with a smirk. “Everyone who saw you and your friends knows your name.”She stood up and burned her cigarette to ashes.“Congratulations, you’re
What choice did we have? Who could we trust to help?“What the hell!” Adrian said. “How are we going to survive? We barely understand how our powers work.”“Even if we could leave, we’d have nowhere to go,” Eric stated.“The rest of the world won’t understand what we are. Most likely, they’ll try to kill us.