by Keisha Petersen
As I crept around in the shadows with the cars just a couple of metres away, I knew they would find me. All I could do was stay hidden.
“Hey kid, need a ride?” A car had pulled off the road and the window was down.
I looked up at the sky. It was black but there was a faint moon.
I turned back to the car, where a man was looking at me. I suppose I did look a little weird: I was wearing a jet-black leather jacket and black jeans.
“Kid, are you okay?” He was watching me.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks for the offer, but I am going to walk,” I said.
“What is your name?” the man asked, as he got out of his car.
He was walking towards me.
Should I run?
“Um …” Now I knew I should run.
Before he could ask the question again, I turned and ran, pushing energy into my legs. My feet barely touched the ground as I ran, but I could hear a car driving right beside me.
I knew I must leave, even though he would see what I could do. I had to get away!
I threw my arms forwards, pushing all the energy into the sky.
The sky split open. As I ran into the split, I glanced behind and saw the confusion on the man’s face.
*
“Where were you?” Miss Franklin said, as soon as I opened the front door of the hall.
Miss Franklin was the caretaker for the orphanage, and she was always kind and loving, but she didn’t like things out of place. Getting home late at night, without telling her where I was going, was a big deal.
“I told you. I was with my friends,” I said.
“I don’t believe you!”
I didn’t reply. I just stomped out of the room.
While Miss Franklin was kind and loving, I would always wonder what it would be like to have a mum and dad. Miss Franklin said that they died in a car accident and were buried in a cemetery in another country. Miss Franklin had never offered to take me there, so earlier that day I had gone out and teleported to all the cemeteries in the countries around me but found nothing.
I never found a headstone that read:
Katherine and Alexander Parker
Beloved Friends and Family Members
That is what Miss Franklin had said was written on the headstone. She had gone to school with my dad, and when they died, she took me in with the other kids she took care of.
One more set of stairs until my room.
As I walked to the stairs, I passed Clare’s room. She was sitting on her bed reading, and she looked up as I passed.
“Were you out using your powers again?” she said, before I could sneak past without being noticed.
“Of course not,” I said.
Clare was the only one who knew about my powers. I had told her about them soon after I developed them.
I continued up the stairs. As I walked to my door, I could see that it was slightly open. Someone was in there.
I pushed my door open to see a man sitting on my bed. His back was facing me, so I couldn’t see who he was.
He turned around. I saw his face.
He was the man from the car.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
“Hello Lexi, my name is Mr Brown. We have been watching you. You have very irregular location patterns, so I have been told to come and talk to you about your abilities. I will be seeing a lot of you in the coming weeks,” he said.
“Why?” I asked.
“It is time to start your training.”
“What am I training for?”
“There are many kids in the world like you. They have powers. We don’t want a bunch of untrained kids with powers running around unmonitored, so we train them to control their powers.”
“How do you think Miss Franklin will react when I say I am going to your camp?”
“We have shown it to her already as a camp for people who need to get out in the sun. Miss Franklin has already signed you up. She will tell you soon,” he said.
“So, I just trust you?” I asked.
“Yes, you just have to trust me.”
“Have to?” I asked.
“Teleport to me when you are ready.”
“Why all the secrecy?” I asked.
“We are a top-secret organisation, even the government knows little of our work,” he said.
“So, when do I leave?”
“Tomorrow morning. Don’t bring anything. There is already a bag of things you will need waiting for you. Please leave the house wearing the clothes we have provided.”
He gave me a quick smile and walked out the door.
I stared after him.
You just have to trust me.
Suddenly I heard someone coming down the hall.
“How was your therapy session?” Mrs Franklin asked, in a loving tone.
Mr Brown must have said he was from the mental health industry.
“Good.” I was still kind of angry at her and didn’t want to talk to her.
“I have signed you up for a summer camp. All the other kids have families coming to look after them for the holidays, so you get to go to summer camp each day for a week.”
Mr Brown was right. She had signed me up.
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