Ventus

by Jonathan Dakin

Chapter Nine

  The guided tour was a lot of fun. Sigwald introduced me to all sorts of people, who worked in a lot of different departments. To begin with, I got to see the science labs, which had all kinds of machines and computers and maps in. Almost all of them were being used to study the weather. There were many different types of Meteorologists, who were all interested in predicting and learning about the weather, some of them were even developing new equipment for the others to use. There were Climatologists, who were checking up on the different climates around the world, as well as some Atmospheric Scientists who looked into pollution and how it was altering the weather, and the environment.

  After that, I was taken to a room that communicated with the other Cohor departments of the Elementus Populas around the world. They were monitoring the other Elementals, and they told me that, once we were ready, they would be there in case any of the other groups needed assistance.

  I was then ushered to the wind tunnel, which was where we would be practising our skills. It looked amazing, but I was frightened of going into it. They didn’t ask me to go inside, because I wouldn’t have anyway, but they did demonstrate it for me. The strong blasts of wind were intense: they looked like they could knock me to the floor! Sigwald assured me that one day, I would be able to control the wind to stop it from harming me. I couldn’t quite get my head around the idea of standing safely in the middle of a hurricane!

  We were then shown the best part of the entire facility: the athletic rooms. There was a swimming pool, a running track, a basketball court, a gym, and, of course, a dojo, so that we could be taught martial arts to defend ourselves against human perpetrators. I was impressed, but I didn’t like the fact that it was all indoors, away from the outside.

  “You can go outside whenever you want to,” Sigwald told me, “You’ll eventually have to train outside anyway. We couldn’t lock the Ventus up indoors now could we?” He smiled, showing his off-white teeth, but I didn’t smile back. I suddenly realised that this was where they intended us to stay. Permanently. Just before I was about to bring this up, Sigwald took us to the final part of the tour: the living quarters. That was when a stone fell into my stomach and dragged my lungs down with it, making it hard for me to breathe. They were separated from the main areas of the building by a long and narrow tunnel, which was sectioned off by an electronic door.

  “Why would you need that?,” I asked worriedly. “To lock us in?”

  Sigwald sighed sadly, shaking his head. “To keep people out.”

  I didn’t like that answer any better.

  Once Sigwald had entered the code, and scanned his palm into the hand sized pad next to the large metal door, it slid open smoothly, and we were introduced to a huge, plush, room. It was massive, and was contemporarily decorated with furnishings like lamps, leather sofas, a widescreen television, and even a table football table. I walked in, my jaw dropping in shock, feeling the soft shaggy carpet underneath my shoes. It was wonderful. But there were no windows. There was an area to eat, and a large kitchen next to it, but no windows. I ran across the room and opened a door to see a huge mirrored bathroom. It had a Jacuzzi, a bath, and a standalone shower. But there were no windows. The three separate bedrooms all had double beds, televisions and telephones. They even had en suites. But they too, did not have windows. I re-entered the main room, and stood in the centre of it, next to one of the large sofas. Grandpa was sitting on it, beaming in wonder.

  “It’s great, isn’t it?” He asked joyfully.

  I shrugged. “I suppose so. But it’s… underground.” I looked up at the harsh neon lights, which burnt into my retinas. My throat began to feel tight, and the stone in my stomach was now much heavier. My head began to spin. Grandpa could clearly see that I was not feeling too good, and jumped up from his seat.

  “Are you okay?” he enquired in concern. No. I wasn’t. I didn’t like being underground, away from the sunlight and the fresh air. “Take a seat; you’ll feel better,” he advised, but I wasn’t so sure.

  “I need to get out of here,” I stated, my chest heaving irregularly.

  Sigwald and Valeska, who had been in the kitchen area, approached us. They were both instantly worried about me, and tried to comfort me. As the three of them began to tighten around me, I suddenly felt the walls pushing towards me, the ceiling dropping lower. I tried my hardest to get a deep breath, but my body wouldn’t let me as my heart pumped erratically. I pushed them aside and ran over to the door, but it was locked. I began to tug on the cold steel handle, but it wouldn’t budge.

  “Get me out of here!” I screamed, pulling the handle as forcefully as I could. I used every ounce of strength in my body to try to open the door, but it still wouldn’t move. Sigwald ran over as fast as he could, typed a code in, and the door slid to one side. I sprinted rapidly back down the corridor, into the main area of the base, up the stairs, down the catwalk, out of the entrance, and back into the cold grey daylight. The abbey walls bore down on me, so I looked up, towards a white sliver of light in the dark sky, and began to breathe normally. The damp air against my skin soothed me, and knowing that I wasn’t stuck in an underground facility made me feel very happy. I was at peace when I was outside. I was at one with nature, and most importantly, myself.

  After a few moments, Grandpa trudged up the stairway behind me. I closed my eyes as it began to rain softly, the tiny droplets splashing against my cold cheeks.

  “Niyol, I know it’s a lot to take in…”

  “They want us to live here. For how long?”

  “Just until you have finished your training…”

  “And when would that be?”

  Grandpa groaned. More water hit my face, the icy daggers ripping into my flesh. I could hear myself breathing, slowly, calmly, and I listened to my rasping exhalation. Grandpa cleared his throat.

  “I don’t know.”

  “They want us to live here forever, don’t they? So they can monitor us, track us: contain us?” The rock in my stomach disappeared, and was instead replaced with a ball of rage. It shot through my body, almost instantly surfacing in the palms of my hands. I opened my eyes, looking down at the lightning hovering around my fingers. I turned to face my Grandpa, but he recoiled in horror. I was shocked and disgusted. He flinched from his own grandson. What had I become? Or worse yet, what was I becoming? I sighed and my head drooped low.

  “You’re afraid of me,” I uttered; sadly, “You think I’ll hurt you again.” My head felt hot, especially around my eyes. It was like the feeling I get when I’m embarrassed and my cheeks would turn red, but this time it was all over my face, centred around my eyes.

  “No,” Grandpa said assertively, “It’s not that at all, it’s just, well…” His concern was beginning to frighten me. “Give me your phone…” he asked, holding his right hand out. I pulled my temporary phone out of my pocket, trying to not make it explode like my old one, and passed it to him. He held it up, in front of my face. In the black reflection, I saw myself. And I gasped. There was lightning coming out of my eyes, and hovering around my face. I screamed out in shock, stepping backwards.

  “How could that happen?” I yelled out, hoping for an answer I knew he couldn’t give me.

  “Don’t worry!” He said, trying his best to comfort me. He tried to hug me but I avoided his grip. I didn’t want to hurt him.

  “They want us to live here to make sure we do as they say, don’t they? They want to keep us a secret! They don’t want us on the loose, able to use our powers!”

  I continued to babble on, not even making much sense to myself, but I didn’t know what to think. I didn’t know what to say or do. It seemed like nothing could make this situation any better or any easier. I began to feel hotter and hotter. The anger was stronger. It was burning me up. I was furious, just like before, but now it was even more potent. Grandpa rushed backwards, away from me, as the sky darkened. I looked up, towards the clouds, and called them closer. I felt the pressure of the atmosphere chang
e, and I used that to bring more clouds towards me. The sky rumbled loudly, and I smiled in appreciation. It was doing exactly as I asked, and I had to congratulate it. The heat and fury within me suddenly exploded, and as it did I threw both my hands up towards the heavens. Two large streams of lightning shot out of me, into the clouds above, and thunder blasted as the sky lit up. I felt the rage leave my body and enter the clouds, and they thanked me by answering with a thunderous roar. As soon as the lightning had all gone, my body returned to a normal temperature. I sighed loudly, vocalising my content. I could feel every molecule of air in the surrounding area pour through every pore on my skin. I could feel the wafting breeze, as if I was a part of it. I drifted along waves of wind, several feet away, in all directions. It was as if thousands of threads of strings were floating towards me, through me, and away from me, and I was connected to every single one of them. I could feel the condensation of the dark cloud that sat in the sky, above my head. The cloud’s weight, size and structure was now a part of me, until I would choose to release it. I now finally understood what it was like to be… wind.

  I let everything go, and the trailing strands and particles of air faded into the background. They were still there, lingering around me, but their presence was not strong. I spun my head around, searching for Grandpa. He was cowering in the dark stairwell. He peeked out, looking to see if it was safe to resurface. He caught my stare.

  “What on earth was that?!?” He cried out, jogging out of his hiding place towards me.

  “I finally felt the wind,” I replied.

  “I feel wind all the time, and your Grandmother hates it!”

  I joined him in fits of laughter, which eventually died down.

  “I didn’t need them to teach it to me, Grandpa. I did it alone. I don’t need them.”

  His face dropped. He looked serious, and upset.

  “But Niyol, I’m a part of the Ventus Cohors too! I joined them as soon as I found out…”

  “I know you were only trying to help,” I interrupted, “but I’m not living underground. And I’m sure that Aura and Sefarina wouldn’t either.”

  “But you saw what they have here! They built this all for you! They only want to help you! We,” he corrected, “only want to help you.”

  “By locking us away? By controlling us? How do I know that they aren’t the bad guys? How can I trust them?”

  Grandpa’s eyes welled up, and his chin sank into his neck. His stared up at me sincerely.

  “Because you trust me. And because I love you. I’d never do anything to harm you.”

  My gut wrenched. Pangs of guilt alighted within me. He was right. I did trust him. And I knew, more than anything, that he loved me. Just like Dad, he had always been there for me. I wasn’t surprised that Dad didn’t want any part of this, not after mum leaving. But Grandpa stuck with us and learnt all he could, so that he could help us. All three of us.

  “I just need to think about it…” I trailed off.

  “You’re right,” he added. “Let’s go home and think it over. When you’re ready, we can talk about it as much as you want.” He wrapped his arm around my shoulder. “But before that, let’s have some dinner.”