Test Subject 17

4. New Recruits (3)

"Now, the first pair.....945,781 and your partner. What is your ability?" Miranda questions. Two kids step forward, both messing with the hem of their shirts.

"I um, I can make the temperature rise in specific areas. The tests said the temperature can get as hot as 400 degrees. Before I start getting dizzy," one says. I see the numbers on their arm and a small pang of hurt runs through me.

So many kids are now orphaned. It almost makes me want to leave, now that I know the truth behind our getting here. But at the same time, I just can't. This has been my "home" for years.

I know almost every person in here. My life, no matter how much of it has been in ignorance, is pretty good here. Despising the fact that I have to kill to stay alive and unharmed.

Don't you dare stay here. You know Natalia needs you.

Yeah, but...that is a world full of unknowns. Here I know where to step, where to sit. I know my place here.

You are a pawn here...

The voice in my head, however annoying, was right. I needed to leave, otherwise saving Nat was for nothing. She and I would both end up dead.

"Really?" I ask, sounding intrigued. "And you?" The kid's partner looks at me and pure terror starts to fill the poor child. I know normally patience would have worn thin in a heartbeat had there been anyone but me standing here. But if I wanna make it back to Natalia, I have to fake it. Shouldn't be too hard. I've faked so much my entire life.

"U-um," the kid stutters. Allowing fake fury to take control, I grip my hands together tighter, my jaw clenching.

"I asked you a question and I demand an answer!" My raised voice makes everyone flinch. I never realized how much authority and base I had if I yelled. Never really had to I guess.

"I-I-I can increase the pressure around things with heat. Prolonged exposure makes objects e-explode. And I get a nosebleed," they blurt out, stumbling over their words. A sadistic grin creeps on my face and I feed off the terror.

"Was that so hard? The next person that doesn't answer immediately will suffer the consequences," my voice booms. Just to get my point across and to instill more fear, I c***k my knuckles, looking at everyone. My gesture worked. "Now, you two shall begin your training. Miranda?"

The woman looks too stunned and terrified to even move, let alone speak. She fixes her clothes after a moment and walks up to where I stand.

"R-right. Moving on. 945,781 and 946,286 your endurance test begins," Miranda says. The two of us back to a wall and the kids face each other, everyone clearing the space.

Hesitation seeps from them and someone growls. Before I have a chance to register what I'm doing, I feel my arms cross and my voice rings out, "Why are you hesitating?!"

The kids crumble at the sound of my voice and I can visibly see one of them crying. Then, there's a feeling. One I've felt before, but usually ignore it. Like I'm about to kill someone again. My legs move as if on their own and I stand before the trainees.

"Is there a problem?" I ask, my voice dangerously low. They both shake their heads immediately. "Then why do you hesitate?"

"Th-they're my friend," 945,781 squeaks. For some reason, this enrages me. My body bends to their level and my voice gets lower.

"There is no such thing as "friends" here. It's either you, or them." With that, I walk back to my spot with the other over. Under different circumstances, I'd be proud of the way I'm handling things. As of now? I feel sick to my stomach.

I'm becoming just like them. Cold and harsh. My stomach twists and turns and I try my best to block it out.

Both kids' eyes start to glow, one goes pink, the other a burgundy color. Soon, the temperature around the two spikes and you can see the heat waves. "Now, control it to just your enemy so you don't burn your surroundings, raise the heat, and bend it to your will," I coach.

I realize too late that I don't have a stopwatch and turn towards Miranda. She must have known what I needed and held up a small black and round object, making me c***k a smirk. She smiles back and we turn our attention to the kids.

A few minutes later, as promised by the two, one starts bleeding from his nose and the other sways on her feet as her skin begins to pale. I let them keep going.

Endurance is about how long you can last before your body physically can't take any more. If we went by mental endurance, this country would have ended decades ago, if not a century or two.

This seems to drag on forever until the girl collapses either from heat exhaustion or her own power, the boy a few seconds after her. "Not bad. Ms. Miranda, how long did they last?" My head cranes towards her and she peeks down at her stopwatch.

"For 15 minutes, 38 seconds and 24 milliseconds," she announces. Considering how young these kids are, that is really good. "Someone take them to the infirmary wing." Two older kids from the sidelines jog over and lift the girl and boy, carrying them away.

"Now that you've seen what you will be doing, who wants to volunteer?" I question. No one dares to raise a hand or speak up. "If you don't want to volunteer, then I will be happy to make you participate." About 6 hands from the initial pairing shoot up and I can feel the sick, sadistic grin on my face.

Someone, please get me out of here before I lose myself...

~~Natalia~~

It's only been a day since Alex has gone, but it seems much longer than that. He intentionally walked away from me and a life we could have together, back to those murderers he worships.

Even thinking about it makes me hurt to my core. I may not have been around for him all those years, but that's not my fault. I wanted to be by his side. The one thing that ties him to his parents. But he was ripped from me, twice!

My heart starts to ache and I fall to my knees in my home. I was in the shower, trying to wash off the hurt and guilt. If only I had tried harder to save him before or even now, he wouldn't be like this. I...I need to find him.

I breathe in deeply and exhale, letting my senses open. The water gently pelting my skin, the bottom of the tub against my legs, the smell of soap, shampoo, and water, listening to the way the shower head sounds and the water going down the drain. Then, I visualize it in my head.

Visualize what I feel, smell, and hear. Soon, my ability activates and I can see myself kneeling in the tub, my body limp. The sight never fails to fascinate me.

Over the years, I've been practicing my power and have a pretty good handle on it. If I focus really hard on what I want to see or where I want to be, I can. But I have to stay focused in order for it to work. That's the only catch. And right now, my mind is focused on only one person. Alexander John Michelson. Or AJ as I called him once upon a time.

My feet lift from the ground and I soar through anything solid, rising to the clouds before my ghost self, as I like to say, reaches a tall skyscraper far away from the city. I can feel his presence within, but for some reason, I can't go through the walls.

"Alex!!" I yell, knowing full well he can't hear me. Sobs form in my throat and even though I can't cry like this, I can still feel the tears on my earthly body. The plane starts to shift and I realize I'm losing my focus. "Alex!!" I call again. Everything snaps back and a door opens in the wall.

If I were a normal person, this would be one of the weirdest things ever. But I'm not normal. I push off the ground and fly up to the doorway and walk inside, immediately being pulled through to my point of focus.

What I see, devastates me. Kids all over the place, two of them fighting while two adults watch, and that's what really breaks my heart. I would know Alex's hair from a mile away. And here he stands, encouraging these kids to beat each other up until they can't even move anymore.

"Get up!" he shouts a small boy who had fallen to his knees. The child is visibly shaking and breathing hard. "I said stand 945,742. The whole point of this is endurance. If you can't endure it here, then you're no good to us." A sob leaves my lips and I sit down close to the boy. I don't know if anyone can see me, but if they do, they don't say anything.

"It's okay," I whisper to the child. He looks around, scanning for the source of my voice. When his eyes land on the ghostly figure next to him, he almost passes out from shock. "Sleep." I close his eyes and his body falls the rest of the way. If this is what he wants to do, fine. I'll play his game.

Before I can do anything further, I'm brought back by the change in temperature of the water. It went from warm to freezing cold. "Good God!" I exclaim, turning the water off. My fingertips were wrinkly and I was slightly shivering from the lower temp.

As I step out, I feel a new sense of determination, but at the same time, a bigger hole in my chest. I know that isn't my Alex that was forcing those kids to fight, but just seeing him like that hurts me to no end.

I wrap my towel around my body and pad over to my bedroom, taking a seat on the king-sized bed. This room was originally my parents before they disappeared. I've been here by myself for years. I've longed for the day I would find Alex again or he'd find me. And I can't even relish in the joy of having him because those jerks stole him from me.

Anger rolls through me, but quickly dies down and I just lay on my bed, tears beginning to fall. "I can't lose you again. Please, come back to me," I whisper as I begin to cry. The sobs shake me and everything seems to ache. I just hope that someone can hear me and answers my prayers..

End of Chapter 4