*
When the sunbeams came in my window, it was about 7am. I got up and went to my wardrobe to take out the stuff I needed for training. Mr Brown had given me a nice pair of activewear tights and a shirt. There was also a black backpack with a water bottle, notebook, pencil and a torch inside.
“Nice clothes!” Clare said, as I walked into her room.
She had been in the orphanage for a long time, and we were very good friends.
“Sorry you don’t have a family willing to look after you,” she said
“The family picking you up is here, Clare,” Miss Franklin said, coming into the room.
“Goodbye, Miss Franklin,” Clare said, as she hugged her and went to the door.
“Do you want me to drive you?” Miss Franklin asked me after the door closed.
“No thanks, I’ll catch the bus.” But I had no intention of taking the bus.
I started walking to the door, but before I closed it behind me, I turned and hugged Miss Franklin. She was like a mother to me. She had been there since my mother left me on the doorstep when I was two, with a note that said, “Take care of her, she’s special.”
“Thank you, Miss Franklin,” I said.
“You deserve so much more than this,” she whispered, but I heard it well enough to understand.
“I hope you have a nice time without so many kids in the house,” I said.
“I will, but you need to go or you will miss the bus,” Miss Franklin said.
As the door closed behind me, I started to feel the nerves.
I hardly knew Mr Brown or the company or even why I had powers. Many years ago, I had woken up one morning in a construction site and I really wanted to go home, and suddenly I was back in my bed at the orphanage. A couple of days later a woman in an official suit knocked on the door and she told me that I had powers.
As I walked out onto the street, I looked at Miss Watson’s house across the road. Others had such a normal life, a life without powers, with families, with answers to almost all your questions.
I started to run down the road, picking up speed as I went. When I was ready, I thrust my arms forward, letting the energy out into the air. A split opened in front of me, and I charged through the portal.
As soon as I entered the portal, colours surrounded me, bright colours, dark, warm, and cool. I focused on Mr Brown’s face. A split opened in front of me and I went through.
“Sorry I didn’t mean to interrupt,” I said. I had teleported into an office room where Mr Brown and another man in a suit were talking.
“No need to be sorry, Lexi. We were just talking about your training program and besides, we knew you would come through eventually,” Mr Brown said. “This is Mr Smith.”
Mr Smith looked at me and smiled a rather non-cheerful smile. He had dark brown hair and a grey suit.
“If you walk through that door, it will take you out into the training dome. Training will begin soon,” Mr Brown said, pointing to a door behind me.
And just like that he sent me off with no answers—but I was used to that.
Outside the office the ceiling rose into a big white dome. There was an obstacle course in front of me and a forest off to the left, but on the right, there was another smaller dome.
A dome inside a dome?
There were flashing lights coming from inside the dome and bangs, too.
What were they using that dome for?
Suddenly, there was a loud bell. I foolishly hid behind a tree.
Mr Brown walked out of the office, closely followed by Mr Smith.
As I came out of hiding, a couple of kids started whispering behind me. I looked silly hiding behind a tree. I was such a scaredy cat.
I turned around to face the whispering kids.
“I’m new here. Can someone tell me what that bell is for?” I asked three girls behind me. One had blonde hair, one black and one brown. They were all wearing the same kind of clothes as me.
“The bell tells us that training orientation starts in two minutes,” said the girl with the blonde hair.
“Can I ask a question? When you hid behind the tree, which I don’t blame you for doing, did you realise that you opened a void and I almost fell through?” asked the girl with the brown hair.
“Oh, I’m really sorry. I didn’t realise. I guess I really need training then. Does everyone have powers here?” I asked.
“Yeah, all of us do, or will get powers in training. It’s designed to help us find our dormant power. Orientation is about to start. We need to go over to that clearing,” said the black-haired girl, pointing to the clearing.
They hurried away. The bell went a second time, and I rushed over, too. At the last second, two people walked out of the mini dome, a boy and a girl, but my jaw fell when I saw that the boy’s hands were on fire.
“You should probably stop staring before he notices!”
I turned my head. A boy about my height was standing beside me. He had light blond hair and red eyes.
I couldn’t take my eyes off him.
“Oh sorry, my name is Jake and I am a shapeshifter. I didn’t mean to do that,” he gestured to his eyes. “Who are you?”
“My name is Lexi. Your power is super cool,” I said. His eyes were now blue but still I found it hard not to stare—there was something special about him.
“We can talk in a second. Mr Smith is coming onto the stage. Last time I talked during orientation, he yelled at me in front of the entire crowd.”
“That must have been embarrassing.”
“Welcome to the first day of the week. Today we will be focusing on getting to know each other and our powers. While most of you have been here since last week, we do have one new student joining.” Mr Smith was standing on the stage at the front of the clearing.
“Class Eagle and Class Raven, please proceed to the transport shed. Everyone else who hasn’t been sorted or is in Hawk come back here in thirty minutes for your session.”
He finished his speech and started to walk back to his office.
“Eagle, Raven and Hawk are the three classes. You will probably be sorted into hawk,” said Jake
“Are classes different levels?”
“Yeah, Eagle is beginner, Hawk is moderate, and Raven is advanced.”
“Kind of like school?” I asked.
“Yeah,” he said.
“What are your powers?” he asked.
I knew he would ask soon, but for some reason I was dreading it.
What if they didn’t like my powers?
What if they didn’t like me?
“I find it easier to show people my powers. Can I?” I reached out my hand.
He reached out and grabbed my hands. At that moment I turned and ran, pulling him with me.
He was clutching my hand. He probably thought I was crazy, pulling him.
Finally, I had the energy.
The colours sprang to life. A portal opened in front of us and, as soon as we were in, I let the portal close.
I spun around, looking for Jake. He was floating helplessly around, and his mouth was moving, but I couldn’t hear what he was saying.
I reached out my hands, grabbing into the colours. I pulled myself closer to Jake.
Soon we were holding hands again. It was the only way to stop him from floating away.
He must not be able to grab onto the colours, I thought.
Suddenly, I panicked. I was feeling new emotions I had never felt before.
I needed to get out!
I thought of the clearing where orientation was.
Unknown forces pulled me. Jake must have noticed I was going down; he was clutching my hand very tightly.
Our feet hit solid ground and Jake started talking at once.
“That was so cool! Why did we leave?”
“I’m sorry, but I had to get out. I was felling … never mind,” I said. It didn’t make sense. I was feeling his feelings, but I was not an empath.
“Wow, that is so cool! Time passes in the void. I didn’t think it did,” Jake said. “Have you ever stayed in there for a long time? Have you ever teleported to the wrong place?”
“Lexi, there you are.” Mr Brown was standing behind me.
“Mr Brown,” I said, turning to face him.
“Lexi, we need to talk in my office. Jake, session starts soon. Run along.”
Jake waved at me and turned to run and catch up with some other kids.
