Pyra was on the top of a bunk bed, her eyes still tired and crusted from the drugs the men in black had given her. Her head was throbbing, and the back of her eyes were sore. Pyra looked around and saw three other bunk beds. One of the beds wasn't made. There was a door to her left, and next to it was a vent. The wallpaper was a beige color, and the floor was wooden planks. As she inhaled, she smelled mold, as if something was rotting.
As she scanned the room, she noticed a boy on the bunk in front of her. He had neat blonde hair and brown eyes. He was staring at her as if Pyra was a fascinating new type of bug or a machine that he didn't understand but wanted to take apart to figure out how it worked. Pyra stared back at him until finally, the boy said, "Hello, what's your name?"
"None of your business," Pyra replied, glaring at him.
"Sheesh," he said. "I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours."
After Pyra didn't reply, he said, "Well, my name is Evander."
"That's a weird name," Pyra said bluntly.
"No weirder than yours," Evander said.
"I haven't told you my name," Pyra said.
"Oh yeah… Well, I'm sure it's weirder than mine."
"No, it's not!" Pyra said, even though her name was pretty weird.
"All right, tell me then," Evander said.
Pyra hesitated and then said, "My name is Pyra."
"See, I knew it!" Evander said. "Doesn't that mean fire?"
"Yeah, I suppose it does. I never really thought about it," Pyra replied.
"Well, it is weird, but it's also cool," Evander said.
Pyra thought his name was cool too, but she would never say that.
"Well, now it's my turn for introductions," a female voice said. Then, from the bottom of Pyra's bunk bed appeared a girl who looked to be about 13 or 14, with green eyes and long blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail with bangs. Maybe Evander's twin, Pyra thought. They looked pretty similar and seemed to be the right age.
"Hi, my name is Fiora."
"Hey," Pyra said. "Are you guys twins?"
Fiora laughed. "I told you, you're too short." Evander rolled his eyes. Fiora had to take a few breaths before she could speak to Pyra. "Evander is my older brother. He's 15."
Pyra burst into laughter. "I thought you guys were 13."
"I am 13," Fiora said. "He's 15."
"Almost 16," Evander said proudly. "Now, we all want to know who you are and why you're here."
"How on earth were you accepted into the main base of Kindlesurge so quickly?" Pyra laughed. "Is it some kind of sick joke? Because I'm seriously trying not to freak out about the fact that a whole bunch of men in black ninja outfits just appeared from the shadows and kidnapped me right off the streets!"
"Wow, then you really must be important," Evander said. "For them to just snatch you off the streets like that. Where do you live, and what's your special ability? You must have a pretty good one if you're here right now."
"Special ability?" Pyra said.
"Yeah, do you have mind-reading?"
"I have no idea what you mean," Pyra said. "Seriously, you need to stop joking around and tell me where the heck I am."
"How do you not know any of this stuff?" Fiora interrupted. Then, Evander and Fiora both had the same expression on their faces, the kind that happens whenever you realize something really important. They just sat there in silence, staring into each other's eyes for about a minute.
"Excuse me. What on earth are you guys doing?" Pyra said.
Evander broke eye contact with Fiora. "Has anything weird ever happened to you? Like whenever you're scared or sad or really angry?"
Then, out of the blue, Pyra started humming the Harry Potter theme song and burst into giggles. She knew this was supposed to be a serious moment, but it was so cringey. When Evander didn't say anything and just kept on staring at her, Pyra thought about that one night—the night she had never been so angry in her entire life. Something very odd had happened that Pyra would never forget.
"Well… There was this one time when I was 10 years old…"
"Please tell us. We promise we won't say anything to anyone else about it."
Pyra thought about it for a minute and decided the worst thing that could happen was them thinking she was insane and not talking to her, which wouldn't exactly matter that much. So, she decided to tell them about that one night.