"Wake up, Aspie."
I rubbed my eyes. "I told you to call me Aspen."
She smiled her warm smile. "Sorry sweetie. The others are downstairs helping with breakfast."
Gloria was the kindest person in the world. I'm sure my mother was as kind as her.
I got up and walked over to the dresser. We all had our own drawer because Gloria treated us all like we were her children. Gloria was making the beds, so I grabbed some clothes and went down the hall to the bathroom. "Hurry up, I need to change!"
"I'm almost done!" Grayson came out, his hair dripping wet.
"How many times do I have to tell you to dry your hair before coming out?" I asked sarcastically.
Grayson has always been like a big brother to me. I walked inside, the steam from his hot shower warming me.
On a chilly fall day like this, I needed all the warmth I could get. I peeled my pj's off and put on my favorite green shirt and some ripped jeans. I walked lightly down the stairs.
The smell of breakfast wafted up the stairs! The bacon popped and crackled.
"Watch out!" Lennon lifted the pan quickly before the bacon burnt. I sighed and rubbed my hands together.
"What are we making today?"
Hendrix rolled his eyes. "It's what we make every Thursday!"
I giggled. Grayson sat down and pulled out another chair. Emma sat down and put her hands in her lap.
"While we're waiting, I can teach you the ABC's one more time." Grayson told her.
I set the table while they did the rest. We always worked together. Gloria jogged down the stairs quickly. "You must hurry dears, a nice couple will be here soon."
I groaned. "Don't tell me it's the Phillips!"
Gloria put her hand on my shoulder. "They only want to visit. They are our neighbors after all."
I sighed heavily and went to sit down. Before Gloria went to answer the door, she grabbed my arm. "Don't get angry, alright?"
I nodded. Everytime we had guests, she always warned me not to get mad. I don't know why, but it's been pretty easy since they don't bother me. They act like I'm not even there.
"Welcome, welcome. The children are eating breakfast, so please, follow me into my office." She shut the door behind her and Hendrix immediately went to the door.
"It's sound-proof, so why do you keep trying?" Grayson queried.
He glanced at me sneakily and cracked the door. Grayson grabbed his arm and shut the door. "Why are you always up to something? Can't you be respectful for once?"
He yanked his arm away and looked down. "I want to know if one of us is leaving."
Grayson crouched beside him. "Look at me. Hendrix, they come once a week. They've been doing that for as long as I can remember. None of us are leaving."
I smiled. Hendrix glanced back and sat down. Grayson grabbed our dishes and started to wash them. I walked over and grabbed the sponge.
"Let me help you."
He didn't stop me, and we washed the dishes as the others went upstairs to play. Gloria walked out with Mr and Mrs. Phillips.
"Children, come on down and play! It's a perfect day to jump in a pile of leaves." Emma was the first one down.
I stopped scrubbing and bundled her up in her warmest jacket and my hat. It went over her eyes, but she pushed it up and giggled. Grayson finished the rest and helped Lennon find his gloves. Gloria looked at me sadly. "This will be you guys' last day together as a family."
I took her hand. "What do you mean?"
She looked back at the couple. "Their friend wants the twins to help on their farm. They are too old to care for it."
I gasped. "B-But…" She put her finger on my mouth. "Please, don't get angry." A tear trickled down my cheek.
Grayson came down and saw us, and Gloria motioned him to follow her into her office. Even if I wasn't the oldest here, I was still spoken to like a grown adult. Lennon walked down, Hendrix following close behind. I knew from the look on their faces that they already knew.
"How many times has Grayson told you not to eavesdrop?" Hendrix rolled his eyes.
I didn't want to argue, but sometimes Hendrix could really get on my nerves. "At least now we can go right ahead instead of waiting for later."
I crossed my arms like a mother, but sighed and dropped them to my sides. "Please, don't tell Emma. You know how she is."
He shrugged. "I agree with her. I love Emma. She's always been like a little sister to me." Lennon said.
I smiled nervously, then walked outside to play.
The gravel dust rose up as the car drove away, the twins waving their goodbyes in the back window. Emma didn't come downstairs for a long time. She was always asleep, and soon had to eat from a tube. Gloria finally pulled me into her office one day, obviously upset about something.
"Emma's… sick. She is only getting worse the longer she lays there."
I stared at my untied shoelaces. "Well, it's not like we haven't lost anyone important last month."
Gloria sighed. "Please stop being sarcastic. It'll trigger your anger." I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms.
After all those years, I finally dared to ask the question Gloria always avoided. "Why can't I get mad? Why are you always keeping secrets from me?"
She crouched and stared into my eyes. "I guess you're old enough to know before they come."
She nudged me into a chair and sat in the other. "Grayson already knows, so don't worry about him."
I smirked. "You really know me, Gloria." She smiled at my attempted joke.
"Your mother tried to protect you from a group of scientists. They wanted to test you, which could've killed you at that age. You're not human. Well, you are, but you aren't normal."
I nodded, listening to everything she said. I fiddled with my fingers, hesitant of what she would say next. "You'll find out the rest yourself."
I jerked up and flung my hands in the air. "You're just going to stop there? What about me being abnormal!?"
Gloria gave me a stern look, but some sympathy was hiding behind it. No, that wasn't sympathy. It was fear. "Gloria, why are you scared?"
When she didn't give me an answer, I grew more impatient. I could feel an emotion boiling inside my chest. "Answer me! Gloria, why are you scared!"
She ran out the door and yelled at the others to run outside. Why was she ignoring me? Unable to control myself, I screamed with irritation. Once they were outside, Gloria slammed the door behind her. I stared out the window to see Grayson carrying Emma. They had left me. As quickly as Gloria ran out, a black car came around the driveway.
The men in long, white coats and goggles looked sort of familiar to me. Where had I seen them from? Suddenly, I was filled with rage and anger. I was mad at Gloria for avoiding me, mad at Emma for being sick, and mad at the unknown people in that mysterious car.
Then, I hit my peak. I screamed before fire exploded from my hands. The whole room lit on fire! Before me stood a dark shadow with horns and a devil's tail. It was him, the king of the underworld. I ran upstairs in fear and shock, coming out onto the balcony.
Gloria was watching from below. The rest of the building was on fire by now. The shadow was behind me, as if it was my own shadow. I then realized it was my shadow. I touched the top of my head, feeling sharp horns sticking out of my head. Gray smoke rose around me as it began to rain, the water droplets distinguishing the fire coming from my hands.
They didn't burn at all, but the building was still in ruins. The only way out was to jump. I leaped off, and my back started to ache. When I looked back, light-gray wings had sprouted from my back, and a halo had appeared above my head. Once I touched the ground though, they went away. Gloria took Emma as Grayson ran to me, but he was too late.
The strange people grabbed me by the arms and another pushed Grayson away. "Don't touch him!"
Before I could say another word, I was blinded by a flash of red light, then the man who pushed Grayson was on the ground. "You burned him alive… Interesting."
The man holding me turned me around to face him.
"Your eyes! They're two different colors!" Gloria pulled Grayson away and he took back Emma.
"Don't harm her. You know her mother is watching your every move." Gloria warned.
The stranger holding me rolled his eyes and threw me in the back of the car. It wasn't the most comfortable, but I wasn't worried about that. A mirror was hanging from the car ceiling. My left eye was red, and my right eye was white. As they put the body in a seat in the middle of the car, I noticed the devil looking shadow behind me.
My horns were out, and they were red with a clear, black mist surrounding them.
"Gloria was right, I'm not human. I'm Heaven and Hell itself!"
A car door slammed and the vehicle started moving.
"Where are you taking me?" I crossed my arms and legs.
The driver didn't answer. I stared out the window and sighed. Once we reached the road, I fell asleep. Then, someone started to yank my arm.
"Get up, we're here!" I yawned, glanced outside, then groaned.
"It's freaking early in the morning!"
The man stared down at me. "We've only been traveling for 12 hours."
I stared at him, looking at him like he was the stupidest thing I had ever seen.
I stretched and got out of the car. My horns were gone, but my eyes were still the same. I gawked at the big building standing before me. People milled about on the other side of the glass windows. It was tall, with about ten stories.
"Come inside, and let's have a little… 'checkup'." He tried to grab my hand, but I yanked away.
I didn't like this place one bit. I did a big show of stomping off with them, and once they were a couple feet ahead, I ran. I bolted past the car, but I barely made it to the parking lot. A big, burly man with black glasses grabbed my arm. Even though he was the security guard, I bit down, hard!
He felt no pain, and he didn't let go. He pulled me up and carried me by the waist. Even once we got past the big double doors, we didn't stop. The person who brought me here thanked him, but he didn't let me go.
"Let me go!" As I squirmed in his grasp, they took me to a room filled with white cushions.
"This is a sound-proof room. Nobody can hear you from the outside." He pushed me in then slammed the door.
Even the glass was sound-proof, and when I banged on them, I figured they were bullet-proof too. I glanced around and a metallic object hanging from the ceiling caught my attention.
It was too high up to reach, but by the sound and weight of it, it looked very powerful. Suddenly, the security guard pulled a switch, and the object went down. I was right below it, but I couldn't move. This was a trap! A blue light swarmed over me, and I screamed.
It hurt like crazy, and it wasn't just scanning me. Fire exploded around the room, and I noticed my hands were causing this. Pain shot up my back as my wings grew. I didn't notice the horns growing from my head, or the halo right above them.
"Let me out!" It was no use.
They couldn't hear me, and they weren't going to stop. He pulled the switch back into place, and I fell on all fours. I was gasping for air, tired and weak. The halo, horns, and wings didn't go back, but the fire from my hands were now sparks.
"So this is my true power…" I muttered to myself.
The door opened and the man lifted me by the hands. Here comes his favorite word, "Interesting…"
I yanked my hand away once again. "I'm not a child. Who are you, and what do you want?"
I was pointing my finger at his chest, but he swatted it away. "Stop acting childish. My name is Rubius, but everyone calls me Ruby."
I shrugged and rolled my eyes. "That's a girl's name, and I'm calling you by your actual name!"
He chuckled slowly then snapped his fingers. He looked angry. The security guard grabbed my arm, but I didn't bite him this time. He put me on his shoulder.
"Hey, you didn't answer my question!" I screamed while punching his back.
Rubius smirked mischievously. It was the type of evil grin that came from cartoons. "I'll tell you that story another time."
I kicked and flailed my arms. This guy was tougher than I thought. He took his other hand and reached inside his pocket. Once we got to another room, he dropped me onto a bed.
"You're not very gentle, you jerk!" No reaction or expression came out of him.
Acting like a teen, I rolled my eyes once more. His hand was still in his pocket, and the other was acting like it was going to grab something. He was acting very suspicious.
I hesitated, fear washing over me. I knew I still had all my power activated, but I felt too weak to use it.
"The more you move, the more it's going to hurt." He pinned me down, but I kicked him off.
He was acting weaker, waiting to see me react. He pulled his hand out, and a blue shot was present. It's needle was so long, I almost mistook it for a knife. He walked over to me, a firm grip on the item that held blue liquid. I couldn't stay still. I leaped up, but soon realized it was a bad move.
I grew weaker, then fell to the ground. He pinned me once more, knowing that I had lost my energy. He was just trying to tire me out. He injected the shot into my arm, and my whole body stopped working. I was too weak to even watch him get up. My world was swallowed in black.
<><><><><>
I groaned. Someone was shaking me. "Let me sleep for 5 more minutes, Gloria."
The shaking stopped, and I realized I wasn't at Gloria's house anymore. I yawned and sat up. I was laying on the floor, and someone had set a blanket over me.
"Rise and shine, princess. I'm taking you to meet the others." A beautiful woman stood before me.
Her eyes were kind, and she wasn't in a lab coat or anything. "Who are you, and what do you mean 'others'?"
She lifted me up gently and smiled. She opened the door and led me out. Once we were out in the hall, she spoke. "My name is Zariah. The others are kids just like you. It's OK to be shy, though."
I looked around as we turned corners and through doors. This place was huge!
I tried to remember everything, but it was too difficult. Finally, we made it to a wide iron door. "Why is it made of iron? Shouldn't it be made of wood like the others?"
Her necklace of keys jingled quietly as she looked for the key that fit the hole. "All of our important doors are iron."
I thought back to the room I was first sent to. That room door was made of wood. She nudged the door open and ushered me inside. The room was quiet. Everyone was asleep. "Everyone, wake up! It's time to meet your new roommate."
A kid sat up so fast, I didn't even have time to blink! He practically bolted over to me. "Hi, my name's Tatum!"
He took my hand, and it turned to a blur as he shook it. I might like this kid. Zariah came up behind me. "Tatum, this is Aspen. Her power is Heaven and Hell."
He gasped quickly then muttered under his breath.
"My power is speed! I'm really fast. That one over there-" he pointed to a girl in the corner, "-her power is death. If she touches you, you die immediately!"
She was rubbing her eyes, but her hands had gloves on them. She waved and got up to greet me.
"Hello! I'm Melanie! I'm sure Tatum has told you everything about me by now." I chuckled slightly and turned to Zariah.
"I'm going to get back to work. Tatum will show you around the room, if you can keep up of course!"
She shut the door behind her and locked it. "Welp, looks like you're stuck with us now," said another girl.
She gave me a bear squeeze and held my arms. Tatum piped up. "This is Willow. She can heal anything with the touch of her finger."
Suddenly, Melanie punched Tatum so hard, I thought he would break an arm. A big purple bruise appeared, and Willow gently touched it with her pinkie. As fast as it had appeared, it was gone.
"I could get to know everyone well." I said. I caught Willow staring at me, but once she noticed, she quickly looked away.
"Let me show you around," Tatum said.
He sped over to the corner where the girls had been sleeping. "This is where we sleep." I noticed there were only 3 beds, but when Melanie pressed a button, another bed appeared.
"That's cool…" I mumbled.
Next, we went to the next corner where a whole bookshelf was present. "This is our little library. I wouldn't call it little though."
He pointed to the other 2 corners. A drawing table was set up in the corner across from the beds, and a door was in the other.
"That's the bathroom. It's pretty small, but it has a shower and everything."
In the center of the room, a rug was laid on the floor, and a table was stretched across it with 6 chairs. "That's where we eat," Willow said before Tatum could point.
"Hey, that's my line!"
Melanie rolled her eyes. "Looks like your speed isn't on point today. Besides, all you care about is food!"
I smiled. Willow stared in awe. "Your smile suits your name."
Melanie turned. "It's very unique."
I sighed. "It's not like I've never gotten that compliment before."
A loud bang came from the door and voices were shouting. "They're too young to go through this today! We must wait until they are all 16!"
I recognized that as Zariah's voice. "They better not hurt Zariah!" Melanie said angrily.
The door burst open and 2 security guards barged in.
Zariah was being held back by Rubius. The guards grabbed all 4 of us and hauled us out of the room.
"Rubius, please! They're too young!"
He barked back, "Don't tell me how to do my job!"
He let her go when we rounded the corner. Tatum was squirming like a worm, but it was no use. We had to let them take us.
Each of us was thrown into a concrete room with glass connecting the rooms. The rooms had numbers on them, and I was thrown into room 3. Tatum was beside me, in room 4, and Willow was on the other side, in room 2. I couldn't see Melanie, for they had injected her with that sleeping stuff. That meant she was passed out on the floor.
Rubius was with his guards. "I told you I needed her awake! Now we'll have to wait another two hours!"
One of the guards shrugged. "We have all the time in the world, so there's no reason to get upset, boss."
He clenched his fists like a toddler. "I need it done now, while they're still strong!"
"What are they doing to us anyway?" Tatum asked.
I didn't know how I could still hear him, but I shrugged. My ear felt weird, so I touched it with the tip of my finger. Willow spoke up quietly. "They gave us earphones to hear each other." I could hear her, too.
"Why on Earth would they do that?" Tatum responded.
Once again, I shrugged. "I'm as confused as you are."
A pop burst in my ear, and the earphones faded. A voice rose above my head, and I saw a speaker attached to the ceiling.
"I know you're all confused, but it's going to be alright. We just want to do a little experiment. Just give us two hours, and we'll begin."
Tatum clenched his teeth. "What did you do with Zariah!"
He ran at the door and slammed on it hard. This time, Willow couldn't heal him. I went to the far corner of the wall and slumped down. Ever since I had discovered my power, my whole world had been filled with magic.
Willow put her hand against the glass. "I promise, one day, we'll escape this cruel place and live somewhere else."
I nodded and tried to look proud. Minutes passed, and we were starting to get bored. Tatum finally convinced them to let us have something to eat, but it was only bread and a water bottle.
I took one bite of the bread, and I suddenly didn't feel hungry anymore. The water didn't help my growing fear. What were they going to do to us?
Finally, I grew tired. I laid down and closed my eyes. Maybe it was all a dream, and I would be perfectly fine when I woke up.
<><><><><>
Someone was banging on the glass window. I opened my eyes a crack and saw Rubius standing by the door, peering in like I was a zoo animal with a deadly sickness. Once he saw me get up, he went over to the intercom.
"Now that you guys are awake," he glared at the guards, "we shall begin your training."
I stood up quickly. "You never said anything about training!" I yelled.
He smirked and pulled down the first lever. Melanie was standing in her room, but she couldn't move. Suddenly, a capsule captured her and started to fill with a murky blue liquid. She was squirming violently.
Next, he did Willow. I was prepared to go next, but he skipped over me and pulled down the lever for Tatum's room. "I want you to know what we're doing, but you better not tell your little friends."
I glared. You don't tell me what to do! I can tell them if I want to!
"Let's put it the hard way. Once you realize I'm better than those people out there, we can take over the world!"
I balled up my fists and started running at him. As soon as I stepped into the middle of the room, he pulled the lever, and I was trapped in the capsule. I could still breathe, but it hurt to move. I soon went limp, but I could still look around with my eyes. The doors flung open and four guards carried us out. The capsules had wheels, so it was easier on them.
Rubius pointed at Willow's capsule, but I couldn't hear what he was saying. The capsules started moving again, and we were taken to the room I was first tested in. We stopped outside, but Willow's capsule was taken inside the room. Even though it hurt, I kicked my legs and screamed. Bad idea.
Some of the murky liquid went into my mouth, and I felt tired. Of course! He used the same stuff that guard used when he put me to sleep! My body went limp once again. Tatum and Melanie were already asleep. My eyes grew heavy. I tried to fight back to make sure Willow was safe.
I grew weaker and weaker, and soon, my eyes shut completely. "Sleep my dear child, and you will grow stronger. In the end, only three may go, but six must stay back."