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 suggested.
“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.”