Quinn did a quick scan over Lucy and then addressed the gathered crowd of teens.
“Today I’ve asked you here because I would like to properly introduce our new arrivals and hopefully get some work in,” Quinn said enthusiastically.
Everyone in the room except Quinn and the doctor appeared to be around my age or close to it. I saw Gabe sitting in a chair only half engaged in the conversation at hand. Silas stood with Greg and Hannah. I found myself standing alone by the closest exit.
Quinn continued, “Layla and Silas have found their way to us. We are happy to have them here and we have all seen that they have special abilities; like the rest of you in this room. If everyone would make a circle we will introduce ourselves.”
The Group formed a big circle and introductions began. Gabe however did not join the circle. He remained in his seat glancing up every once in a while.
“Hello my name is Quinn and I am the unofficial leader here. I do not have any special gifts or abilities. I was ill but did not wake up with any kind of cool super power. To be honest I am a bit jealous.”
He winked at nobody in particular and then tapped a petite girl on the shoulder standing next to him.
“Hi, my name is Addy and I am sixteen. When I woke up from the sickness I found I had the ability to run fast. Like super fast! I can run faster then the things out there. She pointed to a boarded up door. It’s how I am still alive, I outran three of them.”
I remembered she was one of the teens that jumped off the roof. Her red fiery hair was engraved into my memories
“Hi my name is Sally and I am also sixteen. I have the ability to make myself invisible”
She was a short pudgy girl with blue eyes and a short bob cut. It was apparent she had dropped some weight over the past month but had a ways to go.
The introductions continued and I found I was fascinated to learn that each teen had a unique ability or gift. Some called it a gift and some called it an ability. There were thirteen of us all together with abilities, me being the only one that hadn’t discovered what my ability was. I listened to them continue on. One boy could levitate and sometimes fly, his name was Nate. Another could make fire come out of his hands, his name was Jacob. I recalled the fire coming out of his hands and I was still fascinated at the thought. Quinn explained how he believed we were all in the learning stages of our abilities. The more we practiced the better we would become. Gabe snorted in the the corner and everyone turned and eyed him.
“We shouldn’t be using these gifts!” Gabe said angrily.
“My gift almost got me killed and something doesn’t feel right, especially since they got here.”
Gabe pointed in my direction and then at Silas.
Quinn countered, “I know all of you have been through alot of shit and honestly we are all scared and don’t know what to do. However, I do know all of you in this room are here for a reason and have somehow found each other. Those things outside. The night screamers they are awful, they are ugly, fast and smell like death. We also know they only come out at night. They have a severe sensitivity to light and if exposed to the sun they die die for good that is.”
Silas interrupted, “They also don’t like water or rain. The rain seems to paralyze them but when the rain stops they are on the move again.”
The doctor piped in, “I assume you have bared witness to this phenomenon?”
He held a pen in his right hand and an open notebook in his left.
“Yes, Layla and I saw them moments after the rain stopped the screamers came after us,” Silis replied.
The doctor wrote a few notes in his notebook while the group chatted.The air in the room was electric. The teens were all too willing to practice and show off their abilities. I watched a teen named Sara shatter a glass cup sitting on a table. She lifted her arm and opened her hand, squinted her eyes and the glass cup shook, then shattered into a thousand shards. She turned and winked at Wes. Wes gave her the slightest nod and smiled at her pretty face.
Quinn spoke over the ever growing noise in the room.
“Perhaps we should take this outside into a move open area. I think it is a good idea for all of you to practice your gifts but this room may not be the best place.”
Everyone agreed and headed outside. I found myself alone with Gabe. He made no effort to join the group outside. I decided to approach him with caution.
“Hi,” I said.
Gabe nodded his head but didn’t respond.
“I guess you don’t want to practice your gift?“ I asked.
“Ding! Ding! You guess correctly! You just won yourself an ice cold bottled water,” he replied, each word laced with sarcasm.
He tossed me a bottled water and much to my surprise he wasn’t kidding. The water was ice cold.
“Wow, are you always this cheerful to be around?” I shot back.
“Living everyday on repeat gets a bit dull. Don’t you know I am jumping for joy living everyday in this damn warehouse. I love hanging out with a bunch of annoying teens, pretending the world is normal and we are safe inside these thin walls,” Gabe sneered.
“Yeah I get it, the world is pretty shitty right now but you are here and it sounds like you’ve been given a decent gift, maybe you should stop whining and make the best of it,” I replied.
I was annoyed with myself for allowing him to get under my skin.
“Wow this coming from miss cheerful herself. I’ve seen the way you mope around this place,” he hissed.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I blurted.
“It means you don’t want to be here either, you have no idea what your ability is and it is eating at you,” Gabe taunted.
Gabe stood from his chair and headed towards the exit. I followed behind him. Jogging to catch up to him, I grabbed his arm and the world started to spin around me. Electrical sparks shot up my hand and then ran up my arm. Gabe turned in time to lock wide eyes with me. Together we faded out of the cafeteria and into emptiness. I felt the familiar ecstatic emotions come over my body as I gripped Gabes arm. He too gripped my arm and soon we reappeared into existence. We were no longer standing in the cafeteria, we were standing in a big old library. We were surrounded by massive overflowing bookshelves. The putrid air was powerful and I knew the smell all too well. Papers strewn all over the floor and books lay open messily on work tables in the center of the room. Some of the chairs were overturned and a thin layer of dust had settled peacefully on everything in the room. The library was dimly lit by stained glass windows and a few skylights. I continued to grip Gabe tightly not wanting to let go and have him leave me alone.
“What the hell happened? Where are we?” Gabe spoke barely above a whisper.
“Somehow we teleported here,” I remarked.
“I didn’t know I could bring people with me. In fact I don’t think I’m the one that did it. I think you brought us here.”
I interrupted, “I didn’t bring us here. I don’t know how to teleport. Jesus Gabe, this isn’t funny.”
“Really, damn, I thought you were having fun! I was thinking what fun it would be to hang out with the new hot chick today, what better place to bring her then to a freakin library. Come on Layla, are you serious?” Gabe responded with pure sarcasm in his tone.
I was quickly discovering every word Gabe spoke was laced with sarcasm. I wasn’t sure he knew how to speak a normal sentence.
“Ok, if you didn’t bring us here then I guess I somehow did. I am able to take Silas’ ability, maybe I took yours too. I think when I touched you I made a connection. It is strange because I can take Silas’ ability without touching him,” I stated.
“How did you feel right before you grabbed my arm? Were you angry, annoyed or maybe you were going to kiss me?” Gabe mused.
“Aghh,” I sighed.
“Maybe a little annoyed but not angry. I definitely was not going to kiss you!” I said forcefully.
“I think my gift is to take others gifts, if that makes sense,” I s
uggested.
“Shit, that is an incredible gift! I mean, unless you take someones gift and they lose it. What if you take it and don’t give it back. That makes
you very powerful and very dangerous. If I were you, I would keep this information to yourself for awhile,” Gabe explained.
Gabe and I stood frozen in place, holding onto each other. Gabe released our connected hand and took a few awkward steps back.
“No! Don’t let go of me,” I blurted out.
Too late, I watched Gabe fall to the floor he started to convulse. I dropped to his side, feeling my heart quicken. The day in the field came floating into my thoughts, only this time it was happening to Gabe. I cleared my mind and focused on releasing the energy I felt running through me. I closed my eyes, saw and felt an electric serging pulse out of me. I send it back to its owner. When I opened my eyes I saw Gabe stir and then sit up. I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding.
“I guess I can take your gift too,” I stated in a quivering voice.
I explained to Gabe what happened and how the same thing happened with Silas.
He listened intently but didn’t respond.
We decided to explore our surroundings. Gabe didn’t know if he would be able to teleport back to the warehouse with me. I didn’t know how to take his gift and teleport us back safely. We found the library exit and walked outside.The sky was grey, rain droplets hit the earth with aggressive force.The town was unfamiliar, a sign above the town hall read, “Welcome to Holliston.”
“Do you know where we are?” Gabe asked puzzled.
“No, I have never heard of this town and I know most of the towns and cities in this state,” I replied.
I didn’t want to sound like a nerd but I had recently drawn a map of New Hampshire, listing every town and city. It was a school project and I had received and A+.
“Let’s go into the town hall and see where we are,” Gabe ordered, as he walked towards the town hall.
The town hall was directly across the street from the library. We walked into the unlocked building and made our way to the main office. Once there we found papers that stated we are in Holliston, Massachusetts. Gabe was surprised because he hasn’t been able to teleport that far. I pulled open a drawer and retrieved maps. I found State of Massachusetts and New Hampshire maps. At closer inspection I discovered we were over two hours from the warehouse.
“We need to figure out how to teleport back or find a car and leave now. We are defenseless from the screamers,” I gulped.
Panic made my chest tighten with every new and unpleasant thought that entered my racing mind.
“Let’s figure out how we teleported here to begin with. I know we were touching,” Gabe said, as he took my sweating hand, “Let’s picture home and hopefully we will teleport there.”
I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. I tightened my grip on Gabes hands. His hands felt big wrapped around mine. I opened my eyes and gazed into Gabes blue eyes. He stared back intensely and we faded away into nothingness once again. Complete darkness surrounded me. We teleported but we were not back at the warehouse. I waited for my eyes to adjust to the darkness. A small night light illuminated a small glow from a bathroom. I took a deep breath it was my bathroom and I was back home in the bunker. I released Gabes hand, walked to the kitchen and pulled a cord hanging from the ceiling. The bunker came to life and I felt safe, I was home. Gabe roamed around the bunker and took everything in.
“Um, where are we?” He asked confused.
“This is my home. Actually my home is upstairs this is my family’s bunker.”
“You have a bunker in your basement and you left it to come to the warehouse? What is wrong with you? You have everything you need right here. I never would have left this place,” Gabe blurted out.
“Silas and I wanted to find others. It was a strong pulling we had and honestly I wanted to kill every screamer out there,” I stated.
I down a gallon of water I retrieved from a cabinet. I then handed a full water jug to Gabe. He also consumed the water within seconds. His face was pale from teleporting, color slowly spread across his hard-lined face.
“We should stay here for the night and get some rest. I am exhausted and my whole body feels like I ran a marathon,” I suggested, yawning and stretching my arms.
“That is a good idea but everyone is going to be searching for us. No one takes off without telling Quinn. I mean we’re not held there like prisoners but they do like to make sure everyone stays safe. If you want to leave you let someone know,” Gabe exclaimed.
“I don’t think there is anyway we can teleport again today. My energy is depleted and I bet yours is too. We will explain everything when we get back, for now let’s get some rest,” I replied.
Gabe followed me to the bedroom.
“Do you prefer the left side or right side of the bed, I’m not picky. I do like to spoon when I sleep,” Gabe remarked.
He smiled and winked at me.
“That is my parents bed. You can sleep on the top bunk. Make a wrong move and I will shoot you,” I stated firmly, climbing into my bed.
“Prude!’ Gabe sobbed.
I laid in bed wide awake replaying the days events over in my head. If my gift was to take others gift what did that mean? Could I take more then one at a time? Could I take all of their gifts? I had learned how to take Silas’ without hurting him but it felt different with Gabe. His energy was rough around the edges and it didn’t feel pleasant like Silas’. I needed time to practice how to take it safely. Why would I need to take anyone’s gift away from them? Should I take away something that wasn’t mine to begin with. These thoughts kept me tossing and turning until sleep finally won the battle going on in my head. Sleep also came with a price these days. Nightmares filled my dreams and morning couldn’t come soon enough.
Day 61:
The next morning I woke up early, I checked all around my home making sure everything was still in order. I hoped my dad had come home. There were no signs that anyone had been there. The note I left for my dad lay unopened on the dining room table. My fingers traced over my dad’s name on the envelope. I didn’t allow myself time to feel sad. I pulled my emotions back in and found Gabe in the backyard. He was staring off into the rolling fields and wooded acres of endless forest that surrounded my house.
“The views are captivating here. I could live here for the rest of my days,” Gabe said and smirked.
“It is beautiful here and safe. Honestly, I wanted to stay here too but I had to end my mother in the driveway one night not so long ago. It made me realize I may have a bigger purpose now and if it means killing the screamers or saving lives, then that is what I will do. I will come back here one day but not yet,” I explained.
“Glad you have a solid plan!” Gabe stated, sarcastically.
“Why are you so against using your gift and others using theirs?” I asked.
Gabe revealed, “It was shortly after I woke up from the sickness. I realized I could teleport. It freaked me out the first couple times I did it. I teleported to a few different rooms in my house, then to my school homeroom, then to a fast food joint I used to go to. It is down the road from the warehouse. I saw smoke coming out of one of the chimneys and I decided to check it out. That’s how I found the group, once I told Quinn about my gift he had me practice everyday. One afternoon I was practicing but this time I was really tired and drained. I had teleported a couple times already that day. You know, each time we use our gift it drains us. I didn’t know at the time that water revives us, I concentrated on teleporting to my grandparents house to check on them. I was too drained and when I teleported I ended up in my grandparents basement. It was cold, dark and the air stank of rotting flesh. I knew I was in serious trouble because in the darkest corners of the basement were night screamers. They were hunched and huddled everywhere my eyes checked. The screamers knew I was there. They let out a screaming whale and charged at me. I thought I was dead but my survivor mode
kicked in, a wave of pure energy rushed through me and I teleported back to the warehouse. I decided after that I didn’t want to use my gift. Sure, I could teleport but what good was it if I ended up surrounded by those monsters.”
I watched Gabe wander aimlessly with worry pouring off of him. I wanted to assure him everything would work out but I had a hard time believing it myself. I stayed silent and listened to the sweet songs the birds were singing. Time ticked away and I wanted to get back to the warehouse but I mostly wanted to get back to Silas. I knew I couldn’t rush Gabe but I found myself growing impatient as the sun moved higher into the sky. Finally, after some time Gabe stated he was ready to go back to the warehouse, together we teleported back to the warehouse cafeteria.
This time it felt easier to teleport. I didn’t know if it was Gabe or me that made the trip smoother, maybe it was both of our energy’s working together. We were standing in a room full of people discussing our whereabouts. An older women saw us appear, she let out a startled shriek. Everyone in the room stared open mouthed at Gabe and me.
Quinn pushed his way through the crowd of people and made his way to us. Silas darted to me and pulled me into a warm embrace. I could feel the worry leave his body as he held me tightly. Only after looking me over did he speak.
“Where the hell have you been?” His face red with a mixture of rage and worry.
“I’m sorry Silas,” I gulped, “We somehow teleported. We were drained and needed to rest so we stayed at the bunker last night.”
Silas’ eyes looked as though they would pop out of his head. He glowered first at me and then at Gabe. He stormed up to Gabe and spoke inches from his face.
“You stay the hell away from Layla, you hear me?”
Gabe smiled and in a silvery tone said, “Layla and I are besties now. After the glamourous day and evening we shared, I might be willing to say we are more.”
Gabe winked at me.
Silas outraged clocked Gabe in the face, blood splattered across the cafeteria. On impact a brilliant light ignited and the side of Gabe’s face glowed a fiery red where Silas hit him. A mixture of burnt flesh and acridness filled the air. Gabe dropped to his knees, searing pain spread across his burnt face. I dropped to Gabe’s side and could see his face was severely burnt. Quinn called for a teen girl named Olyvia. I watched helplessly as Olyvia ran over to Gabe. I tried to remember Olyvia’s ability from the previous day but my mind was racing with worry. Olyvia was a tall, lean girl with long wavy brown hair and midnight eyes that pierced when you glanced into them. Olyvia surveyed the situation and slowly moved her hands over Gabe’s burnt steaming fleshed face. Gabe cried out in pain. She moved her hands a bit faster over the burn. She then proceeded to push her hands right into his wound. Gabe let out a horrific scream before passing out completely. Olyvia pressed her hands harder into his wound and the air filled with a strange and unpleasant calendula scent. Within minutes Gabe’s face was completely healed. It was like nothing terrible had happened. We all watched in astonishment at the sight before us. I glanced around the room to see Silas shaking uncontrollably in the corner of the room.
The Demise of Humanity Page 6