by C. C. Lynch
“It’s a bit more complicated than that.” I chuckled, not particularly feeling like going into the details of the other students that needed to be rounded up before we figured out a way to take down Replyx. “But this is Draxe, Aiden, Vlaine, and Frankie.” I pointed my hand to each person individually. It did not seem that Liz fully trusted Luka yet, so I spared her the task of revealing her identification if she so chose.
I looked over to the Intervael girls and introduced myself. The girl with the rainbow hair gave a stunning smile and told me her name was Miranda. The girl that could double as an assassin cleared her throat and offered her name, “Claire.”
“Shane, I presume,” I smiled and offered my hand to him. Ovolina squinted her eyes in a warning as I shook the hand of the man that she clearly marked as hers.
It was hard not to stare at him, not because of his appearance or strange ability to shape shift, but because one eye was blue and the other was brown. I hadn’t met anyone with such an obvious difference in iris colors before.
I shook myself of the rudeness that was occurring, with me staring far too long at his eyes, and looked around at everyone. Just as I was about to jump onto my anti-Replyx Corp. soapbox, Draxe did the honors.
“We’re on a certain level of Ernvlik Academy, one reserved for Aiden, Ovolina, and Frankie alone.” Flexing, he took his hat off and sat on the arm of the couch. “Aside from those of us in this room, no one knows we’re here. A couple months ago Abrielle was snatched by this guy Jeremiah because she’s a replicator, but was able to get with some help from the inside. We found out, from that guy, that they have a list of people they were looking to get.” He shrugged his shoulders, “and that’s why you’re here now.”
Claire folded her arms in front of her and stood guarded. “And in an academy full of professors and friends, how is it impossible to resist being kidnapped by this guy?”
“Replyx Corp.,” I began, “is a huge facility run by Jeremiah. Inside Replyx is what they call the ‘tree house.’ There are tons of people and some pretty high tech stuff that makes it nearly impossible to leave. They have rooms that can contain gifts, but you can’t use the gifts to get out.” I chuckled with resentment, “I blew the room up and tried to teleport out of there and it did absolutely nothing. Plus, there are professors in every single academy that is part of the tree house. Us gifted people are test subjects that he pokes, prods, torments, and studies.”
Draxe took the floor once again. “Everyone here has something that Relyx wants. Luka, you can change your atomic structure and phase through material. Miranda, you can manipulate light. Claire, uh, not really sure what your super geometry thing can do but they want that too.” He paused for a moment, waiting for her to explain, but continued once he realized she was not going to offer any information. “This is our safe place, and you guys are welcome to stay here as long as you want to.”
Vlaine took over from there, “but if you want some justice, if you want to make sure that you or anyone you love are safe, then help us take Replyx down.”
“And before that happens, I’ve got one last academy to go to.” Turning to the new faces in the room, “Claire, Miranda, Luka, Shane, it was nice to meet you all. I hope you’re all comfortable here and I look forward to getting to know everyone when I get back.” Turning to Aiden I put my hand out. “Shall we?”
21
Aiden put his hand in mine and in the blink of an eye we were at Lanshaw Academy. The morning was crisp and with every exhale came a small bit of mist. The New Mexico winter morning felt more like a New York spring one, but the smell was different. Snow has a distinct smell and apparently so did the desert in the winter. The air held a strange, almost metallic, scent that I had never experienced in the Northeast.
Red clouds shrouded the sun peeking over the horizon. Everything around the stucco building seemed still, as if we were somehow looking at a three-dimensional panorama. I felt that a single movement would somehow shatter the image I was looking at and wake everything up.
Aiden tilted his head and nodded for me to follow him. A door on the side of Lanshaw Academy swung open easily and we stepped into the hallway. A black wave design decorated the grey tiles lining the floor of the corridor while murals and student projects filled the sides. I followed Aiden down to the far end of the building where we walked outside to a courtyard that separated the building with classrooms and the dormitory hall.
The dormitory hall was very obviously separated in two with doors on far sides of the building placed next to open windows showing the entrance rooms filled with chairs and tables.
“Which one is the guy’s side?” I whispered to Aiden.
He raised a brow and remained silent as if he wanted me to figure it out on my own. Exhaling in disapproval, I listened in to thoughts and tried jumping into dreams. The bulk of thoughts having to do with relationships were on the left side while the much more masculine ones were on the right.
“That side,” I pointed to the door on the far right side of the building.
“Lead the way,” his arm glided through the air allowing me to go first.
I stared at his outstretched arm and grabbed onto it, replicating invisibility onto both of us. I figured it would be easier for a girl to get through a men’s dormitory building if she wasn’t seen.
“You could have so much fun with this,” Aiden bounced with excitement. “We could go scare normal humans and make them think there’s a poltergeist following them. Or we could go prank every single person that we came across.”
“You can already do that,” I hissed. “You can stop time and do whatever you want.”
“This would be the first time I could see their reaction as it happens and I could have an accomplice. What do you say we go move around some furniture then find the other dudes on the list?”
“If you could see me right now, you’d see I’m giving you a dirty look,” I huffed. There was a time and a place for silly pranks, and sneaking into a building to go warn some people about their impending capture did not seem appropriate.
We walked quietly past the RA who was so involved with whatever was on his phone screen that he did not even notice the door to the building had opened. As we were about to walk through the doorway into the tiny mail room that separated the RA and the large area filled with seats and desks, Aiden pulled my arm towards a potted plant that he kicked over.
The RA jumped and looked around before running to put the plant back upright. Aiden stifled a snigger, but I pulled him quickly away from the guy that was scooping up dirt in his hand to put it back into the vase.
Attempting to elbow Aiden in the side, I sent my elbow straight into his hard hip bone causing him to laugh out loud. The guy who had just finished cleaning up the mess Aiden made looked around the room and growled, “Anthony, knock it off.”
“See,” Aiden whispered, “we can do whatever and they’ll just suspect this Anthony kid. Come on, let’s go to the girl’s side.”
“No,” I stood my ground, “absolutely not. There will be no pranks played on girls. If you really need to get this out of your system, then play one more prank here.”
“Two.” He stated it clearly and loudly making it apparent that there was no bargaining room.
“Fine. Two more pranks and that’s it.” I adjusted my grip on his hand and tried to mentally prepare myself for what was to come.
Feeling my hesitation he squeezed my hand comfortingly. “Oh don’t worry, I won’t do anything from the stories you’ve heard.”
“That’s part of my hesitation,” I whispered as we weaved through the chairs in the room. “I don’t know what you did in the past.”
“Hmph, Vlaine didn’t even tell you about his best friend.” His voice was whiny and mocked the hurt shock of a neglected individual.
“Yeah,” my face scrunched with sarcasm, “I can’t believe Vlaine was guarded about something. He’s usually such an open book.”
Chuckling, he decided not to answ
er the question he must have known was on my mind. Walking silently, he took me to the kitchen and started pulling stuff out for whatever it was he had in mind. My mind was occupied with other thoughts and I hadn’t paid much attention to what Aiden was doing. I had, however, felt the split second that he let go of my hand. By the time I even processed the change in his grip I felt him pulling me towards the stairs.
When we got to the first landing of dorm rooms I could easily see a slight sheen over the doorways. I nearly missed the tapping of a cell phone when I was trying to decipher what I was looking at.
“Everyone has their phone on the same network,” he whispered.
At once I heard the ending of Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture” followed shortly by air horns. Expletives and irritated growls preceded a few doors opening only for students to find themselves walking into saran wrap.
It didn’t take long for me to find out that every phone on the network was rigged to play the same song at the same time as a wake-up call. Whichever person in each dorm was the first to walk to the bathroom set off an air horn and the poor soul to jump into the shower would be going into one with powdered fruit juice packed into the shower head. The saran wrap on the door was the icing on the cake.
“See,” he nudged my arm, “harmless and now we don’t have to wait however long for those guys to wake up.”
Hardly a minute passed before one guy began yelling, “Dickson, get out here now,” while banging on the dormitory door.
A red headed guy of average height and weight came out with blue smeared on his skin and a towel wrapped around his waist. The first one started yelling incomprehensibly for a good minute before the rest of the floor emerged making it clear that the red head was innocent.
Aiden started pulling me towards the stairs. Instead of going down like I thought we were, we went up a flight to the next hallway of dorm rooms. There was a knot dangling in the doorway that was tied from a string that led to every single room. Aiden yanked the knot harshly and held a breath while loud curses emanated from the guys inside.
“Fish oil bath,” he sniggered before taking me up to the next floor.
Once up on the fourth floor he pulled his phone out once more but instantly grabbed my hand and started running down the stairs.
“What’s going on?” I partially yelled trying to keep up.
“Wait for it,” he whispered just before the floor rattled and the fire alarms started going off. “That.”
We got to the bottom floor and ran by the resident assistant who was going towards the explosion. Once we were outside I allowed ourselves to become visible before I threw my hands on my hips. “What exactly happened up there?” I pursed my lips and gave him a malcontent glare.
Aiden shrugged and tucked his hands into his jean pockets. “Oh, just someone got upset by being woken up early.”
I rolled my eyes trying to cover my concern with aggravation. “And what happened to just two pranks?”
He gave me an innocent smile, so fake that I was sure he would have stopped time to create a halo to stick above his head. “Everyone was woken up by the same music on their phone and then there was an additional prank for each floor. That’s, like, two.”
Though I did not want to admit it, it was pretty entertaining seeing the results of his little jokes. They weren’t nearly as aggressive as I had imagined they would be. He certainly held back his creativity, to which I was appreciative, despite the explosive reaction someone had on the fourth floor. Having everyone awake so that we did not have to wait was an added bonus as well.
“Thank you,” I sighed, “for keeping your pranks rated G.”
He gave a wink then walked over to a bench nearby in the courtyard. I sat next to him while I listened into thoughts to see if I could locate Connor or Heinrich. I could hear Connor’s name come up a couple times but Heinrich was a mystery to me at that point.
“Sounds like Connor is getting ready and I’m not completely sure about Heinrich. There’s a bunch of people so it might take me a few to find something on him.” I tapped my fingers to my knees impatiently. Finally I caught on to a couple thoughts based around Heinrich that made the hair on my arms raise for no other reason than pure gut feelings.
“Connor is about to come out.” Aiden nodded towards the door.
I knew the answer to my question, but I asked anyway. “How do you know?”
He stated his answer quickly and matter-of-factly, “Time.”
Three guys emerged from the doorway and into the courtyard, one of which was the redhead that had been yelled at and called Dickson.
“Connor,” I yelled and jogged over to the group of guys.
“Yeah?” The redhead’s brows rose and he walked towards me hesitantly. He looked to his guy friends that seemed just as eager to find out what I had to say.
Trying to keep a calm and friendly disposition I gave him a sweet smile and hid all concern from my body language. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”
“Yeah, sure.” He nodded to his friends and walked to the side while they continued towards the building. Once they were out of earshot he furrowed his brows. “Sorry, are we in a class together?”
I felt so awkward standing there with Aiden staring at us from ten feet away while I figured out Connor’s personality and how to best explain the situation. “No,” I shook my head with a smile, “but I know you can reverse kinetic energy.”
Explaining how I knew his gift and why I was there came in quick thoughts with jumbled words. I added a mental summary as well once I finished talking.
“I saw one of those guys,” Connor adjusted his backpack nervously. “The guy with the glasses came here and was talking to one of my professors.”
My stomach twisted and a wave of discouragement washed through me. “When was this?” I began twisting my fingers together nervously and swaying on my heels.
He shrugged and looked up while he searched his memory. “Like a month ago maybe. He said he was a recruiter but I didn’t see him talk to any of the students. So you really think this guy is bad news?”
“I know he is.” I chewed on my lip and tried to think of how to summarize everything. “I think that Hagan Think Tank is probably doing amazing leaps in studying all things gifted without having to kidnap and torture people like Replyx.” I looked to Aiden who gave me a reassuring nod. “I just wanted to make sure to warn you that you were on the list. If you want a safe place to go for the time being, you’re welcome to come with us.”
He looked around unconvinced and then gave a nod and leaned in to whisper something in my head. “I’m assuming that you don’t really want me to tell my friends that I’m going into hiding from some crazy people?”
His question caught me off guard and I was not sure what to say. “I mean, I guess you can tell them that you’re leaving, but they just can’t know exactly where you’re going. We need to keep the other people safe and keeping the location secret is kind of part of that.”
“Yeah,” he nodded, “I’m just going to tell them that I got an internship at Hagan. Be back in a few.”
Connor jogged to the building to tell his friends that he was leaving and I searched around for Heinrich. A guy came into the courtyard after a few minutes that I knew in my gut was Heinrich. His dark brown eyes matched the shaggy hair that partially hid forehead creases. He looked deep in thought and part of me did not want to interrupt whatever it was occupied his mind.
I began walking towards Heinrich but as I did I felt an arm wrap around my shoulder and start leading me in the opposite direction. Aiden leaned in and shook his head then whispered. “You’re better off leaving him alone.”
I nodded in understanding and went back to waiting for Connor. When Connor came out of Lanshaw Academy he had someone by his side. His tan skin, chestnut eyes, and long black hair were indicative of his Native American descent.
“Sorry,” Connor muttered, “he’s a replicator. I thought even if he wasn’t on this list, he’s still pro
bably top priority.”
“Of course,” I nodded. Being in the presence of another young replicator made me want to jump in the air excitedly, hug him, and ask a thousand questions at once. “Are we all ready to go?”
The replicator stood in silence but put his hand on mine nevertheless. In an instant we were in the lowest floor of Ernvlik Academy ready to let the rest of the group know we did our best on the list of students wanted by Jeremiah and the rest of his tree house goons.
22
Walking to the sitting room to introduce our newest additions to the group felt anticlimactic in a sense. I was proud that we had warned everyone we could and gathered certain ones for safety but there was still the danger of Replyx hanging in the air.
“Hey,” I spoke to the group sheepishly. “Um, Connor and our new guest,” I waited to see if he was going to offer me his name and after a moment he nodded and told me it was Al. “Al,” I repeated, “this is Claire, Miranda, Luka, Shane, Ovolina, Frankie, Draxe, Vlaine, Aiden, Lena, and I am Abrielle.”
They exchanged greetings and small conversations took place. I stepped back and allowed the excitement of gathering everyone and the worry of facing Jeremiah battle each other in an oddly even duel of emotions.
Taking people against their will was a barbaric concept that needed to cease. Why did they have so much support when Hagan Think Tank was doing a good enough job researching all things gifted? Were the methods of Replyx somehow superior leading to the ability of professors to scout their students like some sort of genetic potluck? Could it be possible that there were so many people lacking morals?
Having these particular aptitudes came with a heightened need for ethics and restraint. Certainly, the power of my ability made me fear any sort of misuse of it.
Lena was right, we needed some sort of correctional facility for those who misused their powers. I thought about the demonstration room and how it somehow was able to keep me from teleporting from there. If we could understand it, we could detain those who weren’t fit for society.