The day had come to finally go and see Dr Hammersmith. I was nervous as we turned into the long drive.
Up ahead stood a very old mansion. I wasn't sure if the word mansion was fitting either. House was too small a word. This place was grand and well looked after. It seemed to have been standing there for hundreds of years. Ivy clung to the walls like it was holding on for dear life.
The main doors were securely locked and Sean held our ID cards up to a small camera, after a few moments we were buzzed in.
The inside of the building was completely different from the outside. It looked odd in comparison. The corridors were long and white, like a hospital.
There was no one about as we walked to the end of the corridor to a lift with big black doors. All the way it felt like a million eyes were on me. It didn't help that every few steps a camera would whirr and follow us.
Once inside the lift Sean pressed the button for the third floor, all the time not saying a word.
When the doors opened, we were greeted by a very elegant and attractive woman, who looked to be in her late twenties. She wore a navy blue suit and her hair was tied neatly into a twist at the back of her head.
“Sean.” She purred, as we stepped out of the lift. “If you would like to follow me, Dr Hammersmith is waiting for you both.” She eyed me critically, then turned her attention back to Sean, as we continued to walk down another long corridor.
Half way down she knocked on one of the side doors. After we heard Dr Hammersmith invite us in, she opened the door.
“Erin. Sean!” He beamed at us both. “Please take a seat.” He gestured to two armchairs, in front of a large teak table and nodded at the woman as she quietly left, closing the door behind her.
The room looked like any other doctors office I had visited and you could smell the cleanliness in the air.
We sat down in the two chairs as Dr Hammersmith went to sit behind his desk, and pulled out a medical folder.
“Firstly, I would like to start by taking a few small tests, such as height, weight, blood pressure, so on and so forth, before we move onto the final test.”
I looked at Sean, nervously, as he held my hand. We still hadn't spoken since we had entered the building and he looked like he was concentrating on the doctor.
The tests were like any other medical. I'd had one earlier in the year, when I moved to Galladale. The only difference was he asked to take my temperature, telling me that he would need to take it again, after the final test.
After he put the thermometer away, Dr Hammersmith turned to look at me. With a slight hesitation, he sat down and gave me a long hard look.
“I'm sure by now that Sean has been filling you in on different people and their powers?” Raising his eyebrows as he looked from myself to Sean then back to me.
“Well I know about my parents.” It may have taken me 14 years but I knew about them now, and they didn't half know how to keep it a secret. I hoped I could learn from them. “Sean has also told me about his sister and the twins.” I counted each name off on my fingers. “Oh and Justin.”
Whilst I had been talking the doctor had started making notes of everything I was saying. Well I think that was what he was doing. It was a bit unnerving as I had no idea why he was doing it, and wasn't it just plain rude to write whilst someone is talking to you?
This last bit of information I gave, seemed to intrigue him, because he actually stopped writing and looked up at me with a huge smile on his face.
“Really? Oh please enlighten me.”
Was he mocking me? He was even laughing as I looked nervously at Sean, who wouldn't even look at me. “He's a trainer?” I tried to sound confident.
That's what Sean had told me, but now I was getting the distinct impression I was wrong. Especially since Sean wasn't bothering to help me out.
“Yes, he is a trainer.” I sighed as he said this. “Of sorts” Of sorts? What the heck did he mean by that? “He can make people do what he says.”
He wrote something else down in his notepad. Tore it off. Then put it in a folder, before closing it.
It felt like an eternity before he spoke again. I wasn't sure what he meant. How could Justin make people do whatever he wanted them to do?
“I know pretty much what goes on in Galladale. I also know who has powers, even before they know themselves.” He smiled at me thoughtfully. It was like he was trying to decide whether to continue or not.
His gaze turned towards Sean, who was still avoiding eye contact. This was making me feel very uneasy. I felt nausea sweeping over me. I probably would have started crying if the doctor hadn't started talking again. All I was thinking about was why wasn't Sean saying anything? I thought he loved me.
“I knew you had powers the day you were born.”
Okay, this startled me. It was sending me on a whole different train of thought. How the heck could he have known when my own parents were unsure? Plus my parents had never mentioned that they were friends with him. I wasn't even born round here. So he wouldn't have seen me.
“When you moved here, I knew you had no idea. And I knew you needed a little bit of coaxing. So I asked Justin to train someone to bring out your fiery side.” He said this like it was something you do every day. He was even laughing. Mind you he was the only one. “I knew what you were and I knew who your soul mate was.” He really looked like he was enjoying himself. All he needed now was to look like a haggard old witch and stir a large cauldron. His cackle was perfect for it.
“Well to cut a long story short.” He winked as slapped his thigh. “I got Justin to get Jessica to attack you. And Sean to provoke her by continuing to go near you.”
He roared with laughter. He even touched my leg as a hint to join in with the laughter. I wasn't laughing. I didn't find any of it funny in the slightest. Right now I wanted to rip him to pieces. I wanted to see who would be laughing after I rammed his pencil in his eye.
Suddenly I jumped as I realised Sean was stroking my arm. Did he know all of this? Did he find it funny?
He doesn't love me. He never did. This was all some act. Some ploy to get me here so they could humiliate me. I wanted run away. Far, far away. Maybe another country.
I stood up ready to leave.
“Oh yes we have one more test.”
“I'm going home.” I spat. I was not putting up with any more of his rubbish.
“I don't think so.” The doctor shook his head. Laughter leaving his face. “You are allowed to go after the last test.” He turned to the boy I thought loved me. He nodded from Sean to me. “Please escort the lovely Erin next door.”
Oh my God. Was Sean actually going to do what he said?
“Sean?” I pleaded, as I tried to make eye contact.
Finally he raised his eyes to mine. I couldn't make out what was going on in his head.
“Please.” He barely whispered. “Then we can go home."
He had to be joking right? He hadn't spoken to me since we got here. He's been hiding the truth from me. Was he expecting me to start gushing and say, ‘Oh sure baby, anything for you.’ I knew it was too good to be true. He was too good to be true.
But, and this was a big but, if I go and do this last test, I could go home, then I wouldn't have to bother with him again. I'd go back to my normal life. The life I had before him. My lonely life, where no one spoke to me.
With a heavy sigh I nodded.
I still wasn't sure what the final test was, as we all went to go into another room.
The next room was the size of a gym hall, but with a glass room at one end. Everything was pristine white. I was led to the centre of the room and told to wait there for further instructions, as Dr Hammersmith and Sean went into the small glass room, where the woman, we'd met earlier and a small balding man in a lab coat, were sitting.
I had no idea what was going on. I was scared and stared helplessly at Sean, whose expression seemed pained. He couldn't look me in the eye.
Then there was a sound of a door openin
g and closing, from behind me. Seeing the alarm in Sean's eyes, I turned to look behind me and standing there, looking as scared as me, was Jessica. A look of confusion crossing both of our faces.
I looked back to the glass room to see Sean arguing with Dr Hammersmith. I couldn't hear what was being said. I turned slowly back to Jessica, who by now was looking petrified.
Dr Hammersmith's voice boomed through the Tannoy system, making us both jump.
“Here is your chance to get your revenge.”
The statement made Jessica start to cry hysterically. I was frightened. What did they expect me to do? I wasn't a fighter? I didn't want to hurt Jessica.
In a split second, Jessica was on her knees, gripping tightly to my wrists, begging for forgiveness. But I didn't hear what she was saying. The rage came from nowhere. All I saw was red. I looked down at her, with hate filled eyes, as the flames blazed from my body, licking at Jessica's.
She didn't release her hands and I couldn't hear her blood curdling scream's, as Sean tried to break me from my trance.
It was the sound like Velcro ripping that snapped me out of it. I stood there, motionless, as Jessica’s scream echoed around the room, from her blistered body. Her hair was singed and the smell of burnt flesh stung the back of my throat.
Someone was pouring water over her. The sound of the water hissed as it touched her charred skin, and steam floated up.
Then everything went black.
Chapter 14