How it started.

OW! Holy crap! That was painful! I scooted away from the knife covered in my blood as fast as I could, considering that I was using one arm. My other arm was pressed against me trying to hold the blood in, unsuccessfully. I crawled into the corner and looked at my arm. Man, was it messed up. From my shoulder to my elbow I had a huge cut from the knife that was in this guy's hand. The guy was big, and muscular, and tall, and kinda cute. I might even have had a crush on him...if he wasn’t trying to kill me. My sleeve was also cut, so I just ripped it off. The guy took a step closer, smirking.

“I've heard of you, the R.A.T.C. aka the Rats.”

“Yeah, I’m with the Rats. What’s it to you?” I said, trying to sound tougher than I was at the moment.

“It’s the fact that you came into my house, attempted to steal a thing or two and you're really hot, so it will be really hard to kill you.” He got a huge grin on his face after he said that last part. I grimaced. His grin turned into a full on smile. He took a step closer. I pushed myself as far as possible into the corner, holding my arm closer to my body. I closed my eyes and.... clang!

I opened my eyes in surprise. Shawn had hit the guy on the head with a frying pan, and it was hilarious! The knife guy had dropped his knife and was holding his head, moaning and walking into things. I laughed and then started to cough. I put my other sleeve to my mouth and when I put my arm down it was covered in blood. Jeez, I was coughing up blood! Gross. I tasted the metallic/rust taste that comes with blood. Something must have happened when I fell down after that idiot cut me.

Cici and Mayin picked up knife guy and probably dragged the guy to his room. I didn’t bother to look where they went. Shawn had heard me coughing and ran over.

“Em! What the heck did he do to you?” his voice was filled with anger and worry.

“He cut me with his knife..” I slurred through the blood that was slowly dripping out of my mouth.

Shawn is a tallish brunette with brown eyes. He is the leader of Rats and has a crush on me. It’s not surprising because almost every male my age likes me. I don’t know why though, I have shoulder length blond hair, green eyes and I’m really short. I wear below average clothes and crappy shoes. I don’t think I’m a catch or anything, but for some odd reason they do...

Shawn picked me up like I was a feather. It helps that he has limited super strength. No, not like a super power, it’s his Ember. Everyone has an Ember. I do. Shawn does. Cici and Mayin do. My Ember is Telekinesis, aka moving things with my mind.

My sister Hanna’s Ember is that she can turn on and off lights, TVs and radios. Haylee (my other sister) can heat up water and food. Like if we had leftovers (because that could totally happen, NOT) she would just put her hands over the plate and the food would be steaming in seconds. Jayson my older brother can stop time for as long as two minutes. Cici can fly about two feet off the ground and Mayin has very limited Telepathy, aka mind reading. I mean very limited, he can only read your mind for like three seconds.

Shawn carried me over to the door and kicked it open with his foot. Cici flew out of the door behind us (literally flew) and Mayin just walked out casually with his hands in his pockets. Shawn started to walk quickly and kept glancing down at me. I wanted to tell him not to worry, that I as fine. But then I would be lying. It’s not like I don’t lie, I mean I lie a lot, but I don’t know if I could lie to Shawn.

Dealing with the family.

I started to cough harder and Shawn broke into a run. Cici just kept the pace by flying next to us but Mayin had to sprint to keep up. I knew where we were going. The R.A.T.C headquarters, aka Shawn’s. You see, Shawn lives there. So whenever I’m at home and going to go there I just say “I’m going to Shawn's place”.

I could see the worn down warehouse in the distance, getting closer. Shawn burst through the door and everyone went silent. There are about one hundred kids in Rats. So most of them were in the main room when he almost broke the door down. He ran to the stairs that were along one wall, and shot up them.

“Where is Charlotte!?” Shawn shouted at no one in particular. Charlotte is one of our doctors and Ben is the other. Charlotte usually take care of the girls and Ben the boys. But sometimes one of them can’t come so the other has to do take care of the boys and girls. In this case, Charlotte was not here today.

“Char couldn’t make it today, and Ben is in the third room.” Warren shouted after us, while playing poker with a girl at each of his sides. Shawn just nodded and ran down the catwalk to the third medical room. He burst through the door and practically screamed:
“Ben! Take care of her now!” He set me gently on the cot and after looking at me with a weird mushy looking, walked out.

Do you remember when I said almost every boy liked me? Well Ben is one of the boys who doesn’t. I mean we are best friends but it is nothing romantic. He came over to me and took a look at me and then at my arm.

“What happened?” He asked lifting my arm ever so lightly.

“We were at some guy’s house picking up a few things and he cut me.” I said with a slight grin. Then I started to cough, a lot. I was choking on my own blood.

“Shh, Shh it’s ok.” Ben said while putting his hand on my throat. Ben and Charlotte have the same Ember. Healing. Instantly I could breath again. When I stopped coughing Ben took out some scissors and cut the sleeves of my shirt off. I guess it didn’t matter much since it was covered with so much blood. Not to mention that guy had shredded one of them with his knife.

Then Ben gently took the the bottom of my shirt and slowly lifted it over my head while helping me sit up. He dropped it on the ground, then lowered me back down. He put both of his hands on my arm. He closed his eyes and pressed his hands down. I winced at the pressure.
“Sorry,” he muttered. The pain in my arm slowly decreased. Then went away all together. I let out a sigh of relief. Ben took his hands off my arm and went over to the sink.

I propped myself up on my elbow and looked down at myself. I was wearing what I usually sleep in. My bra and a pair of sweatpants. Ben walked back over with a needle and thread in his hand. I closed my eyes and felt my skin being tugged back and forth. Since Ben just healed the inside of my arm, it was numb. He just needed to sew the skin back together so it would not open again until it was completely healed.

When he was done he took the extra thread and needle to the trash can. He tossed the needle and thread in the trash then walked back over to me.

“How are you feeling?” He asked, sitting on the edge of the cot.

“Much better than I was fifteen minutes ago, I was wondering if I could have a shirt...”

“Right, lets see if I have one.” He stood up and walked over to the one closet in the room. He opened it and started to dig through its contents. He turned around and said:

“Sorry, I don’t have any right now.” He grinned.

“Jerk.” I said getting up and walking to the door. I guess I will have to hunt up a shirt myself.

I walked out of the medical room and onto the catwalk. I went over to the railing and looked down. I saw a red head girl with a purple shirt walking over to Warren. She was behind him so he couldn’t see her. I put my elbows on the railing. Good old Macy. She was holding a note in her hand. She quickly tip-toed up to Warren and threw the note over his head and into his lap. He took his gaze from the brunette next to him and picked up the note. His eyes got really big and he slowly looked at the brunette that he had been staring at five seconds before.

“What?” she asked, nervously twirling a strand of her perfect curls. Warren just stood up and tossed the note into her lap. She picked it up and her eyes got really big.

“What!? This isn’t true! I don’t even like Devin!” she looked up at Warren, her eyes huge.

“You have to believe me! were a couple! Please!” She stood up and stepped closer to Warren.

“Consider yourself dumped” Warren said through his teeth.

I started to snicker. This isn’t the first time Macy has ruined one of Warren's relationships. The brunette ran away crying. Warren looked past the couch and saw Macy walking away laughing. He realized what happened and started to run after Macy. I started to run along the catwalk, keeping pace with Warren. I grabbed the railing and vaulted over the side with one arm. I fell on top of Warren, knocking him away from Macy. We rolled and stopped with him on top of me.

“What the heck is your problem!?” he shouted. He was looking at Macy, so he didn’t realize that he was sitting on his love, Emma Moore. He looked down with an angry expression. When he realized who I was he jumped up, with me in his arms, to a standing position.

“Oh My Gosh, Are you ok?” he asked.

“I’m fine” I said, twirling out of his grasp.

“Why aren't you wearing a shirt?” He asked.

“Medical reasons” I said while I walked away. I jogged to catch up with Macy.

“Considering I just saved your butt, can I borrow a shirt?” I said, gesturing to my torso.

“Sure, come with me” She took my hand and lead me to the back room. She pushed the door open and left me there to find a shirt.

The back room was a medium sized room with closets lining the walls. The ceiling was really high and the room was usually dark. Macy walked over to a closet and opened it. She pushed shirts and dresses around on their hangers, looking for the right shirt. She smiled and pulled out a dark blue long sleeve shirt. She tossed it in my face. I grabbed it and took a look. It was really tight until the top of my rib cage, then flowed out.

“Thanks, Macy. Now I will have the weirdest outfit here” I said, scowling.

“Well at least you would be wearing a shirt”

“Fine” I put the shirt on and twirled.

“How do I look?” I wanted to know how much of an idiot I looked like.

“You actually look really hot, I wish I could look like you” She sighed. What the heck. Even the girls thought I looked good. What is wrong with the world. Since you are probably really bored I will speed things up. I walked through the warehouse with everyone looking at me. Then I walked the twenty minute walk to my house. When I pushed the door open is when the the entertaining stuff happened.

“Where the heck have you been!?” Jayson screamed, running toward me.

“I was at Shawn’s” I said, pushing past him. In less than a second he was right in front of me, gripping my arms. He had used his Ember.

“What exactly were you doing? Why did it take you until two in the morning?” Oh. Did I forget to say it was two in the morning? Sorry if I forgot.

“Nothing” I started to squirm uncomfortably, in pain. Then I grimaced. He was putting A LOT of pressure on my newest wound.

“Are you okay?” He asked, putting his arms down.

“I’m fine” I said, rubbing my stitches. I pushed past him again and walked into our room. Me, the Twins and Jayson all shared a room. Okay, imagine that you just walked in the door. Hanna’s bed was pressed against the right wall. Haylee’s bed was in the middle and Jayson’s was against the left wall. About four feet away from the bottom of Jayson’s bed is the closet, which is like a wardrobe, facing his bed. My bed is against the wall behind the closet. I walk over to my bed and fall face first onto it.

Tomorrow is the Check-in. Man, it's going to be hell on earth.

The Check-In

I woke up to the sound of doors slamming.

“Dad! you have a family to take care of! your just gonna leave?” It was Jayson yelling at my dad.

“Look Jayson, I have to... take care of something”

“Yeah, you have to take care of us” Good point Jayson.

“Your seventeen, you can take care of the family” At this point I was standing in the door of our room. My dad turned around and opened the door. My vision started to turn magenta and I could see the door glowing the same color very slightly. That’s what happens when I use my Ember. The door slammed shut. His eyes got really big. I walked out into the hallway, holding my arm on the stitches.

“You were gonna leave without saying goodbye?” I wanted to make him feel guilty.

“Emmie, I.... I’m sorry, I just need to see someone” He walked over to me. I lost my cute act.

“Dad I’m sixteen not six. I know you're going to see Samantha, I don’t even know how you like her! She is such a jerk!"

I started to see magenta, why? I didn’t want to use my Ember. Everything in the room besides me, Jayson and my dad started to rise. I could feel my hair start to rise. What was happening?

“Uh, Emmie I can stay home, Emmie you can stop now” He sounded scared. Good. I smiled, I could tell my eyes were now purple. That’s what happens when I use my Ember a lot.

“Emma, please stop” It was Jayson. What am I doing? I took a staggering step back. My vision suddenly clear, I dropped to my knees. Geez, that took a lot out of me.

Jayson ran over to me while my dad just stood there.

“Emma! are you ok?” Jayson went to his knees and gripped my arms. I started to feel dizzy, and I slouched.

“Emma, listen to me” he said more, but I couldn't hear him.

When I woke up, Jayson was sitting next to me. He was wide awake and holding my hand. When he saw that I was awake, he started to talk really fast. I looked around and saw that I was in my dad’s room. Which was always empty because he’s never home.

“Oh My Gosh Emma are you ok? Dad left after you passed out he hasn’t come back or called or anything Haylee and Hanna are trying to get ready but they don’t know what to wear I tried to help but I don’t know what they should wear either-” I cut him off.

“Jay! slow down. What are you talking about? Cloths, getting ready, what?”

“Don’t you remember? Today is the Check-in. It’s in an hour”

“What!? How!?’’ I sat up and used my Ember to literally fly out the door and into our room. Haylee was sitting on her bed cross legged, riffling through a box of shoes, and Hanna was doing her hair in the mirror. I flew in and landed with a thud, lost my balance, and did an epic ninja roll. Except, not really. It was more like a break-your-neck-while-rolling roll. Haylee dropped the really ugly pair of shoes she was holding and Hanna ruined her hair.

“Emma! you need to help me with my hair!” Squealed Hanna. Of course, she could care less that I probably broke something.

“Hanna, Hanna, Hanna. You have to get dressed first” She was wearing some sweats and one of Jayson’s old T-shirts.

“Duh! Um... What am I supposed to wear?” She asked, walking over to the closet and opening it.
I walked over and start to push shirts and dresses around on their racks. I found a cute light green and white dress that is strapless and goes down to your knees. I tossed it at her and said:

“Put this on. I’ll do your hair when you're ready” She grins and starts to get ready. Again I use my Ember and shut the door from across the room. I could sense something coming towards my head and I turned around and used my Ember just in time to stop a dark green sandal from smashing my face. As the shoe hovered in front of my face I gave Haylee the death stare.

“Sorry Em. It’s just you weren't paying attention to me”

“That’s because I was helping Hanna” I said through my teeth.

“Oh well, you can help me now!” She said hopping up onto her feet. I flung the shoe at her with my mind. It hit her on the back of her head.

“Ow! Emma!” She said, spinning around to glare at me.

“Oops” I said, trying not to grin. I walked past her and to the closet. I found a black tank top and flung it at her.

‘’Put that on” I said, already facing the closet again. I discovered a see-through white tank top and tossed that at her to.

“And this too” I said. I reached down and opened a bin filled with our skirts. I dug around till I found a black skirt with white polka-dots all over it. I tossed that at her too. Hanna was ready so I told her to sit down and I did her hair. I took the left part and braided it then used the braid as a hair tie to make a side ponytail with the rest of her hair. When I was done she ran into the kitchen to show Jayson.

“Haylee, let me do your hair now, we have to leave soon” That’s when I realized I was still wearing sweats and the shirt Macy gave me. I ran to the closet and grabbed a cherry red skirt with a black shirt and leggings. I put my hair up in a ponytail because I’m cheap and ran/floated to Haylee. I just put her hair into two ponytails and flew out of the room. Jayson was in a blue and white flannel shirt with blue jeans. I landed next to him and was about to criticize him for under dressing when there was a knock on the door. I said:

“I’ll get it!” and flew over to the door and opened it. It was Shawn.

“Emma! you missed the Rats meeting” He said with concern plastered on his face.

“Oh yeah, sorry bout that, I was busy” I said, jerking my head at my brother and two sisters.

“Oh crap. Um...” He knew that my family didn’t know that I was in Rats. I was in trouble.

“Emma, what is he talking about” Jayson said, walking towards me.

“Well, um, I.....’’ I had no idea what to say.

“Are you.... you're part of Rats!” He shouted.

“Yes, yes I am! Did you think all our food and supplies came from dad’s pay?” I was really mad.

“Well, Yeah”

“Even if he was paid enough, do you think he would spend it on us? His problem?”

“We are not his problem!” Jayson shouted.

“If we weren’t his problem, he would still be here instead of with Samantha!” I screamed.

“I.... you’re right” he said, defeated. We all loved my dad but Jayson looked up to him. He and Dad were the only men in a family of five. So it was hard for him to except that he didn’t care about us. Okay, let's skip to the Check-in.

The Check-in is always in the same building with the same people and the same routine. The thirteen and fourteen year olds together and the fifthteen and sixteen year olds together and the seventeen through eighteen. I went to the room marked 15-16. When I pushed open the door I was hit with a blast of sound. People screaming and hitting each other. It was chaos. I sat on a white chair and waited until my name was called. When I heard: EMMA MOORE PLEASE COME TO THE TESTING ROOM, I stood up and walked into a room that had random stuff everywhere. Behind a window was three people in all white, like the room, with clipboards and dark sunglasses. Two men and one woman would judge me to see if my Ember was strong enough for the army. I stood in front of the window and said:

“I am Emma Moore, Daughter of Rich Moore. My Ember is Telekinesis” They nodded (in unison) and I knew they wanted me to show them what I could do. I didn’t plan anything in advance so I didn’t know what to do. So I thought about my dad. I closed my eyes and let all my anger go to my Ember. I stood there for a minute and when I opened my eyes I could tell they were shining purple. Everything that was strewn around the room was now swirling around me, some fast, some slower. When I was done looking around I looked to the judges. The woman’s mouth was wide open, the man on the right had dropped his clipboard and the man on the left was pouring his coffee on his shirt, having about to take a drink. I blinked at everything just dropped onto the ground, my eyes were normal and I was exhausted. I bowed and said with much effort:

“Thank you” then I stumbled out of the room and collapsed into Shawn's arms.

The Results

“Emma! what did you do?” asked Shawn. He carried me over to a white couch and laid me down on it. I looked at the ceiling, I forgot that he asked me a question. The ceiling was going in and out of focus. I concentrated on making the ceiling clear, but that just gave me a headache.
“Emma?” Shawn said.

“What? Oh, I just used my Ember”

“But how much of it did you use?”

“I just used a little...”

“Emma, I have seen you use your Ember. If you had used only a little, you would be able to keep your eyes open” Until he had pointed it out, I didn’t realize my eyes were closed. Now that I think about it, I could see his face in my mind while he was talking. I tried to open my eyes, but I couldn’t.

It was like my eyelids were glued shut. I passed out.

I woke up in my dad’s room. Again. I looked around but I was alone. I swung my legs over the bed and slowly set me feet on the wooden floor. I stood up and my legs decided that they didn’t want to work right now so I fell to the floor. Hanna must have heard me because she ran into my dad’s room and kneeled next to me.

“Emma! are you okay?” she asked with real concern on her face.

“Does it look like I’m okay?” Annoyance leaked into my voice. She looked me up and down as well as possible.

“I guess not. Should I get Jayson?” Can you believe her? If looks could kill.

“Right. I’ll go get him” She stood up and ran out of the room. I collapsed. I was just laying there, contemplating life, when Jayson finally came.

“Emma! why are you laying on the ground?” He asked while picking me up.

“My legs have a mind of their own, and decided that they still wanted to sleep.”

“Well, we should respect their wishes” He said with a grin, carrying me to my bed. He set me down and walked out our room. I stared at the ceiling and must have dozed off. About an hour later Jayson brought me lunch. While I was eating my sandwich, there was a knock on the front door. I heard someone running to answer it. I heard the door open and Hanna say:

“Hello, who are you?”

“My name is Shawn and I am here to see Emma”

“Um, Let me see if you can...” said Hanna with uncertainty in her voice. Jayson had been very protective of me when it came to the Rats. I heard her say that she will be right back, and then I heard her run down the hallway to my dad’s room. I stood up and walked into the hallway (my legs worked again). I came out just in time to see Jayson walk to the door.

“Hello Shawn”

“Hey, Jayson”

“So you want to see Emma?” I could tell Jay was ticked.

“Well, yeah. I mean, if that’s ok” He was stuttering. He only stutters when he’s scared. I've only heard him stutter once before. That was when his sister, Amber, yelled at him for being late. She is a very scary fourteen year old.

I walked towards the door and Shawn saw me over Jayson’s shoulder.

“Emma!” Shawn said, his face lighting up in happiness. Jayson looked surprised and spun around. I could feel a smile on my face as I hugged Shawn.

“Hi Shawn, why are you here?” I knew the answer before I asked the question. Most of the guys in the Rats had come to check in on me.

“Oh, I just wanted to check in to see that you were okay” He said, smiling.

“Thanks Shawn. I’m fine” I said. I don’t think my irritation leaked into my voice. Whatever.

I hugged Shawn again and stood in the door until he was out of sight. Then I sighed and walked into the kitchen. I don’t remember why I went into the kitchen, but I did. For some important reason. When I left the kitchen Hanna and Haylee attacked me with squeals and shouts of:

“Andy is coming!” Andy is Jayson’s best friend and The Twins absolutely love him.

“Girl’s. I could honestly care less about the fact that Andy is coming over”

“But, He is so cute! With his black hair” gushed Haylee.
“And brown eyes” Hanna finished. Right, Andy has black hair and brown eyes.

“You have to help us” said Haylee.

“Get his attention” finished Hanna. Again.

“Fine. you want to get his attention. I’ll dress you up in paper bags” I sneered. I was very irritated right now. I watched as their faces turned from pleading to horrified. I suppressed a smile.

“He’s coming tomorrow anyways. You know he always brings the Check-in Results. Impress him then” I grumbled. I just wanted to sleep my troubles away. Even though it sounds REALLY cheesy, I was serious. I walked into our room and collapsed onto my bed face first and instantly falling into a dreamless sleep.

I woke up to a book falling on my head. It hit the back of my head and fell down the side of my face, hitting my nose. then falling onto the floor with a thud. I groaned and flung the book with my mind in the general direction of away. I heard a squeal and feet running across the floor. I smiled. I then swung my feet over the edge of my bed and stumbled to the closet. I was still wearing my Check-in outfit from yesterday. I opened the closet and grabbed the first thing that my fingers touched. It was a dark blue dress with one sleeve. I shut the door by thinking about it. I stripped and slid the dress on over my head. Right when I turned around the doorbell rang. Great, Andy was here. I groaned. He is cute and all, but he also is a total pain. I shouted: “I’ll get it!’ as I walked out of the room. I glumly walked down the hallway and opened the door with a 100% fake smile. Andy was standing there with a stupid grin plastered on his face. He stepped in and opened his arms. I sighed and gave him a hug. It’s a tradition for Andy to hug all of us. I could hear Hanna and Haylee running towards us. I let go of Andy and got out of the way right before Hanna practically tackled him with a hug.

“Woah. Hey there Hanna” He said with a chuckle. I just backed away and waited. He let her go and hugged Haylee. Then he let her go and asked me:

“Where is Jay?”

“He’s still sleeping” Hanna said before I could even open my mouth.

“Let’s go wake him up” Andy said with a grin. He walked into our kitchen and grabbed a glass on the counter, filled it up with freezing water, and walked quietly into our room. I just stood there. I could hear the twins giggle, then Jayson shouting:

“What the heck! Andy, you son of a-” Andy cut him off.

“We needed to wake you up” I could almost hear the smile in his voice. I could hear a thud, and then saw Jayson walk out of our room. The door slammed open as Andy, Hanna and Haylee ran of the room with a soaking Jayson behind them. Well, just his head and the top of his shoulders were soaked. But you get the idea.I groaned and walked over to Jayson with a towel in my hand.

“Here” I said, holding the towel out to him.

“Thanks sis” He said, glaring at Andy and Co. The Twins just giggled while Andy practically grinned his face off. I sighed.

“Andy, Just give us the stupid results” I put my hands on my hips.

“Okay, okay. Jeez Em, you need to loosen up”

“Just give me the results” I said with irritation completely masking my fake neutral voice. He just shrugged one shoulder and went around giving Jayson his, me mine, Hanna hers and Haylee last. Jayson ripped his open and unfolded the single piece of paper. Let me explain, you get your results in a envelope, with a single piece of paper. That paper always has only one word on it. Negative or Positive. If the word is Negative (it usually is), the person stays in the Cause. If the word is Positive, they have three days to pack and say their goodbyes. I’ve never known anyone who has gotten a Positive. Wait, thats a lie, I do know someone. His name is Peter. His Ember is shooting lasers out of his hands. Isn’t that awesome? I think so too. Anyway, I can never open envelopes, so I used my thoughts to bring a knife from the kitchen so I didn’t make a fool out of myself. I grabbed the floating knife and cut open the envelope. Before I unfolded my piece of paper I watched Jayson read his paper and say:

“Negative” He looked up at me, then the Twins.

“Negative” Said Hanna and Haylee in unison. It was my turn. I could feel all of their stares boring into my face as I unfolded my piece of paper. I opened my mouth to say “Negative” but my voice caught in my throat. My paper didn’t say Negative. It said the opposite. I couldn't take my eyes from the word that changed my life. So for like a minute I stared at the piece of paper in my hands with my eyes bulging out of my face and my mouth hanging open like an idiot. Finally Jayson couldn’t take anymore of my idiocy. He grabbed the paper and read it.

“HOLY CRAP!” He shouted as he read my paper.

“She got Positive?” Asked Haylee.

“Yeah, I got Positive” I said, not letting myself burst into tears. I walked quickly into our room and pulled my only suitcase out from under my bed. I could sense someone behind me. Suddenly I was in Jayson’s arms and was bawling all over him. It was not one of my proudest moments.


“You have three days, Em, you don’t have to start packing now” He said softly. I wiped my eyes and grudgingly stepped out his hug and started towards the front door.

“Where are you going?” He asked.

“I have one hundred kids to say goodbye to, remember?”

“Oh yeah” He said awkwardly. I waved and walked the 20 minutes from my house to Shawn’s. I slowly pushed the door hoping that no one would be there. I was wrong. As soon as Warren saw me he shouted:

“Guys! Emma’s here!” I grimaced when everyone cheered. I saw Ben walk out of the third medical room on the catwalk and I could tell he knew something was wrong. I tried to smile at him but I’m pretty sure it looked liked I was constipated or something. I looked back at the crowd of kids coming towards me and guess who was in the front. Wait for it...... Shawn! Big shocker! Not. He grabbed me and gave me a big hug. I saw Macy a few people back and gave her my I-need-to-talk-with-Ben-about-some-serious-stuff look. Since he is one of the very few boys who don’t have a crush on me, he is really easy to talk to. And he’s like my brother so that helps too. She nodded and disappeared. I heard a crash and a thud. Then a very feminine scream. Everyone including Shawn turned around to see if everything was okay. While everyone was distracted I ran up the stairs and down the catwalk to the room that Ben was in. I burst through the door and slammed it shut, locking it. I turned around and saw Ben’s look of sheer surprise. I giggled.

“Is there a reason you almost broke down my door?” He asked while cleaning a sharp looking knife. I looked at the knife and it started to rise out of Ben’s hands. It floated over me and I grabbed it out of the air.

“I don’t trust you with this” I muttered, setting it down on the table next to me. I walked over to the bed and sat down, not meeting his eyes. He didn’t say anything at first, he just sat down next to me and put his arm around my shoulder in a friendly gesture. When I finally had the courage to look him in the eyes, I couldn’t speak. The look of pure sadness in his eyes made me catch my breath.

“Ben, I....” I couldn’t finish. He looked away from me.

“I got a Positive.” He said quietly. My head snapped up. I looked at him with wide eyes.

“You got.... I mean....what?” I stammered. I came to tell him that I had gotten a Positive. Not the other way around.

“Yeah, I got a Positive. Sucks right?” He laughed without humor.

“Well speaking of Positives...” I said, trailing off. His eyes widened as he realized what I was saying. I stood up and said:

“Let’s go break a bunch of kids hearts”

Boot Camp

“Harsh much?”

“Well we have a good reason.” I said coldly.

“Good point” He smiled, bumped shoulders with me then opened the door. I forced a smile and stepped through, looking down at the herd of teenagers. Shawn was looking around, pushing people out of way. I shouted: “Shawn! Up here!” When he looked up a waved at him. He just pushed past everybody, ran up the stairs and crushed me in a bear hug.

“Don’t ever do that again” He said.

“Shawn....I....breathe....air......needed” I gasped. Shawn didn’t hear me.

"Shawn, her face is turning purple” Ben said matter-of-factly. That Shawn heard. He let go of me right away, but held me at arm's length. I gulped air until I could breath like a normal person.  When I focused on Shawn’s face again I saw a really strange look on his face.
“Shawn...” I said wearily, not sure he was going to attack me or something. He grabbed my hand and pulled me down the stairs, out the door and to the side of the warehouse. Leaving Ben the the dust. He just stared at me intently. I tried not to squirm. He started to walk towards me slowly. When we were nose-to-nose he leaned down and kissed me. Softly at first, then with more feeling. I snaked my arms around his neck and played with his hair. He had one hand on my back and one on the nape of my neck. I pulled away, breathing deeply. He smiled. I looked up at him and said;

“This is probably a good time to tell you I got a positive” he froze.

“You, what!?” He screamed.

“Dude, it’s not like I can control The Results.”

“But.....” He was so sad. I don’t think that amount of sad is physically possible.

“Look, I should have told you sooner but I didn’t” I bit my lip and walked away. Ben and I told everyone goodbye and decided to go to Tyton City together. Oh I told Shawn goodbye and hugged him. But it was awkward.

On the third day after I got my Positive I was sitting on my suitcase playing Kings in the Corner with Ben, Hanna and Haylee when there was a knock on the door. I sighed and stood up.
Jayson was at the door talking to the man in the black suit. I hugged Hanna and Haylee one last time and stood next Ben.

“Miss Moore, Mr. Passionate, Please come with me” I looked at Ben and he shrugged. We dragged our bags to the limo and hauled them into the trunk. Yes, Tyton City sends LIMOS to pick up recruits for the ARMY. In case you're wondering, The Cause is where Wisconsin used to be in the US of A. Like a bazillion years ago the US of A was destroyed and Australia took over the world so to speak. Tyton City is where Madison would be. The Cause takes up the rest of Wisconsin. All the other states have different “clans” where they used to be. Right now we’re at war with Asia and Europe. Africa, Canada and South America are allied with us. It’s a mess. And now Ben and I have to fight this stupid war. I don’t even know how people got Embers. Whatever. I slide into the limo and scootch to the end of the bench seat. Ben scoots in next to me and pats my arm. I look out the window and watch my life go by as it’s left in the dust.

I woke with a start when Ben shook me.

“Emma, look” He pointed out the window. I looked and my eyes were glued to the window.

“It’s so....pretty” I said. The grass was a bright green and there were trees in little clusters everywhere.

“Look up ahead” Ben tapped my shoulder. I looked through the front window and saw Tyton City. I can explain Tyton City in one word: White. Everything was white. Except for the chain-link fence that had a “High Voltage” sign on it.

The fence goes all the way around Tyton City. We drove up to the fence and stopped in front of a gate with four guards on either side. A guard walked up to the drivers door and leaned down. The window rolled down and the driver leaned towards it. I couldn’t hear anything, but I was busy looking at the other guards. The all were in white cloths with army vests covered in explosives. They were all holding guns. The guard and the driver both leaned back. The driver drove away as he rolled up his window. As we drove away I watched the guards. We drove down a dirt road and up the a white wall that surrounded Tyton City. Like a castle. It was completely smooth. The driver stopped the car and got out. He walked over to my door and opened it.

“Get out” He said gruffly. He stood to the side as Ben and I slid out of the limo. We walked to the back and grabbed our luggage after the driver popped the trunk. We stood and watched as the driver drove backwards then spun the car around. Then drove away. Ben coughed as the dust blew into his face. I chuckled then looked around.

“What are we supposed to do?” I asked Ben when he stopped coughing.

“Wait?” He guessed. I turned and looked at the white wall. As I walked up to the wall I saw a gray line on the surface of the wall. I touched it.

“It’s a door” I said loud enough for Ben to hear me.

“How could there be a door? It’s completely smooth” I looked back at him.

“Look at the grey line, It’s a crack. Like a door” I said, keeping my finger on the line.

“Emma, there is no grey line.”

“Ben, I’m touching the grey line, how can it not be there?”

“Well, I can’t see it.” I look back. Right were my finger was a grey line formed the shape of a door. I move my finger over a put my hand on the door. I push. I feel the wall getting hotter as I push harder. I pull my hand away really fast, because it felt like I had my hand in a furnace. I look at where my hand was and see a neon blue hand print. It slowly pixelized into the door. Then the door slid into the wall. I look at Ben. He shrugged and walked past me into the wall/door/thing. I followed him. As I stepped out of the doorway the door slid back into place, nearly hitting my butt. I looked back at the wall and couldn’t see the grey line. It must be a one way door. Creepy. I turn back around and look in front of me. In front was the wrong way to look.

Four guys were walking our way. They were huge. I don’t mean like 6 foot huge, I mean like 6’10’’ HUGE with broad shoulders and enormous muscles. Three of them looked like statues while the fourth had a sly grin on his face. He walked up to where Ben and I were standing. He stopped and looked us over.

“Check out the fresh meat boys” He said, not breaking eye contact with me. I looked at my nails and cocked my hip. The rest of the giants walked up next to the first guy and smiled. I looked up and raised an eyebrow.

“What? Did you think that we were totally serious solders? Dude, that burns” Said the first guy.
I couldn’t help it, I smiled. He sounded way too much like Peter, the guy who got the Positive I was talking about. I squinted, brown messy hair, square jaw, straight nose and gray eyes...

“Peter?” I said skeptically. This giant could not be Peter. Peter was a lanky kid who couldn’t even pick me up, and I weigh like 10 pounds. Actually 100 but, same thing. He grinned.

“No way!!! Peter, that can’t be you. You're too....big”

“Woah, harsh little dudette, believe me when I say, Tyton city is rough. Especially if you have a mega powerful Ember like me and these guys” The three other guys wave. I glance at them. Peter walks over to them and points to a cappuccino colored guy with shaggy black hair.

“This is Marco, he can manipulate Earth” Marco winks at me.

“This is Jimmy. He’s an Electro. An Electro is someone who can-”

“-control any electricity around him” I finish with a smirk. I know a couple Electrons in Rats. Peter looks at me weirdly then turns to the last guy.

“This is Finn. His Ember is flying” Finn just nods at Ben and me.

“I'm impressed” Marco said abruptly, to break the awkward silence.

“Why?” I asked.

“It usually takes the fresh meat at least an half hour of waiting and shouting for help to actually try the wall”

We were all surprised when Finn asked: “Yeah, how did you get it so fast?”

“Well, we just stood there for a couple seconds then I looked at the wall closer and saw the crack in the door”

“How could you have seen it? It’s invisible to the naked eye” at this point Finn was all up in my face. Personal space bro, respect it.

“What is your Ember?” Jimmy asked from behind Finn, who wouldn’t break eye contact with me.

"I'm Telekinetic"

"Woah, dude, cool" Peter exclaimed.

"I'm a healer, if anybody cares" said Ben.

"So, if we're all done chit chatting I think we should get them inside" Jimmy said after we all just stared awkwardly at the ground. Peter and Finn just walked away so I followed them. Cause I’m pretty sure that's what they wanted us to do. With Peter and Finn in front and Jimmy and Marco behind we were escorted through the giant white (no surprise there) doors. It felt like we were prisoners and they were our guards. It was a weird feeling. The hallway we walked down was surprisingly dark. And creepy. There were not gas lanterns. Sadly. So it felt less like we were being led to a dungeon. And more like we were being led to our executions. I'm just kidding. We came to another set of doors and walked into Tyton city. It was not what I expected. For one thing, it was a lot smaller than I thought it would be. Tyton city was white (of course) and round. I walked into the center of the white tile floor and spun around slowly. There were six doors. Each door had a number above it. I walked to the first door and looked at it closely. There was no door handle, just a smooth surface. I backed up and looked around the door. The number one was just plain metal. Next to the door was a metal plate with a green button on it. I pressed it. A part of the wall slid up above the button and a security camera popped out. I electronic female voice said.

“Say your name”

“Um, Emma?”

“Say your full name” It commanded.

“Uh, Emma Moore?” Peter walked up behind me.

“Computer, she’s fresh meat, leave her alone” Peter said. The camera slid back into its compartment.

I just looked at it as Peter steered me away from the door.

“These doors lead to all the levels of Tyton City. We are headed to door number six.” Finn said coldly. Then he walked to the door with the number six on it and pressed the green button. The little camera popped out of the hidden compartment and the electronic voice said:

“Say your name”

“Finn Taylor”

“Welcome back, Mr. Taylor” the camera slides back into the compartment and the door slides open.

“Come on” Finn mumbles. I walk into the little room and stand between Peter and Marco. When Jimmy walks in the door slides close and lights blink on. It’s an elevator, I thought. Finn puts his thumb on a little green light and holds it there. A couple seconds later he pulls his hand away and shoves his hands in his pockets.

“Hold on tight” Peter whispers into my ear. I look at him and then suddenly were shooting downwards at break neck speed. We stop abruptly and shoot forwards. I fall back against Marco. He grabs my arms and holds me up. I look up at him and he grins at me. I stood up only to be knocked back down again by the force of the elevator shooting forwards. Then we stopped again. I stood up and looked around. No doors were opening and Finn looked agitated.

 

“This isn’t right” He said, pushing buttons on the panel.

 

“What direction are we supposed to be going?” I asked, feeling the walls.

 

“Down five levels and forward two” I can do this, easy as cake. I thought. So I put my hands on the walls and closed my eyes. I never was good at baking.

 

“Hang on” I warned. I pushed my Ember through my fingers and into the small room. I used my Ember to force the elevator down. I moved us five levels down then adjusted to push us two levels forward. I removed my hands from the wall and turned around.

 

“We’re here” I said weakly, then blacked out.

 

I woke up with a hand on my forhead. I looked at the hand, crossing my eyes.

 

"You shouldn't do that. Your eyes could get stuck." I looked towards the voice. Marco. I looked past the hand and at the face it was connected to. Ben. I sat up.

 

"Ow." I stated, rubbing my head. "What happened?"

 

"After you moved the elevator you blacked out. We had to carry you to the infirmary because I haven't mastered waking someone up" Ben said coldy. I swing my legs over the side of the cot. Marco and Ben are the only people in the room. It's small, with blue white walls and tiled floor. The cot I was on was really squishy and smelled like bleach. The lights on the ceiling were extremely bright. I squinted and licked my lips. Instantly they dried out. Ben was quietly consulting Marco about soomething. There wasn't a door to the room, it was just a curtain. I watched the shadows of people walking past. 

Impressum

Texte: Lora C
Tag der Veröffentlichung: 23.06.2012

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Widmung:
I have been thinking of this story for a couple of months so now i am writing it. I tried a couple days ago and then deleted it. on accident. It sucked.