Chapter 8
Llare carries me through several hallways. The walk takes about 10 minutes. We enter a room with three twin-sized beds, all lined up against one wall. Llare gently deposits me on the one farthest from the door. Kyle presses his hands on my forehead, and my world goes black.
…
Later that evening, I am rudely awakened from a deep, dreamless sleep by the sound of a thousand thoughts crashing into my head. The dorm room is now occupied by 4 tittering teenaged girls. Each of them are dressed in different shades of assorted colors. Taking all this in, I search the room for a familiar face. I find no one. I start to panic; even Lorik would be a welcome sight.
“Hey, guys, she’s awake!,” announces Aiyamar’s voice. “What? Where are you?” I ask. I look around the room again. I still can’t find her.
“I’m right next to you,” comes her disembodied voice. “Use your Power to find me,” she says, almost teasingly. Now the rest of the girls have turned to look. A couple of them are whispering to each other. One of the girls, dressed in various shades of red, approaches me and extends her hand. “Ignore Aiya, she does this to all newbies,” she says, hand still extended. I warily shake it.
Aiyamar slowly and reluctantly materializes into view, sitting right next to me on my bed. “Oh, I forgot about that,” I say. “So…you are all Inborns?”
The girl who introduced herself to me speaks up. “Technically, we are Wielders of Inborn Powers. WIPs for short. But no one really uses that. We just say “Inborns”.”
Aiyamar nods in agreement. “I’m a Light Classman. And Ya’asa’s a Shapeshifter.”
“So, are those the only other Powers besides Energy Manipulation?”
Another girl speaks up. “Excuse me? Since when are there only 3 Powers?” She is taller than the rest of the girls by at least 3 inches, with dark reddish hair and stormy grey eyes. There was something about her. Like she could change the world with a snap of her fingers.
The rest of the girls laugh. “No, there are dozens of Powers,” explains Ya’asa. “Relax, Kelta,” she directs to the other girl. “She’s new.”
“That’s Kyle’s friend?” Kelta asks in a gentler tone.
“Yup. She’s an Energy Manipulator,” says Aiyamar.
“So, uh, Kelta?” I butt in. Kelta nods, prompting me to finish. “What’s your Power?”
“Weather. I can control the weather anywhere within 2 Earth miles.”
Before I can ask what she means by “Earth miles”, there’s a knock at the door. Kyle walks in, dressed neatly in all black. It shows off his vivid green eyes nicely.
Everyone except for me and the last girl jump up and greet him enthusiastically. Ooh, someone has fans, I tease Kyle, hoping that only he can hear. He winks at me, just like I knew he would, and comes to sit on the edge of my bed.
“Sorry, I would have gotten here faster, but I had to ask Lorik something,” he says as I lean forward to hug him. I hear a soft “aww” from Aiyamar.
“So, I guess they’ve given you the down-lo,” he says.
“Yeah, “ I reply quietly. I don’t really know what to think now. It feels like I’m awake, so I guess it’s not a dream. But…I’ve always thought that things like this were only in movies. In people’s imaginations. Not real. That’s all changed now. In just a few hours, I’ve killed some type of monster, been arguably kidnapped, traveled through some kind of portal, passed out, and become a mind reader. I can’t help feeling afraid. I’m not sure this is what I want.
Kyle senses how I feel, and signals the others to leave. They all make up excuses and exit. Before he leaves, Kyle drops a package on my bed. It’s kind of heavy for its size. I open it to find several white, shapeless dresses, two pairs of whit slippers, two notebooks, an ID card with my yearbook picture on it, and two sheathed daggers like the one Kyle threw at me when the monster attacked.
I shove everything aside except for the ID card. It has all my information on it. My birth date, hair color (it’s listed as “black” but it’s really dark brown), eye color, Power, Team, and a bunch of other little details about my life.
I pick everything up and start to put it back into the package. Then I notice the dresser across from my bed. There’s one across from each bed. I empty the package again, fold the dresses, and put them in the bottom drawer. There is no way I’m wearing those. The slippers go too. The notebooks go on top, and the daggers go in the first drawer. I really hope those are just for decoration. What kind of school issues weapons to the students?
