They searched Brock first. “Now what's this?” One of the men pulled out Brock's gun. He gave it to the man with the messed-up nose. “This might be fun on the firing range.” I looked over to Brock and I could tell he was trying not to smile. The wrestler at the desk yelled at one of his men. “Put handcuffs on him and take him to a cell!”
“Yes sir,” and they led him away. Brock seemed to accept his fate. Now we were all alone with no adult help. I knew what that meant; we were no longer going home. No leader, no rescue. A dread came over me. The man who checked me for weapons smiled as he did so, probably not even sure why. It was like being in a dream. “Nothing here,” he said.
The leader with the nose turned to another one of his men. “Show these kids a place they can rest for the night. Tomorrow they’ll train with the others. They should comply once Abe has seen them.”
“Yes sir,” he said. “Come with me.” He had a gun on us so we followed. Tracy had her eyes closed as we were led by the man with the gun down another set of corridors. As we came around one corner I could see a small wisp of smoke coming off the gun. “Aiieee,” yelled the man. He dropped the gun and tried to grab me, thinking I would escape, but then all those hours of Tae Kwon Do started an automatic response because without even thinking I kicked him in the side with a round house and as he doubled over, reaching for his ribs, I axe-kicked him on his left shoulder, driving him to the ground. It was weird, it was so automatic it was like I was watching myself do it.
“Great,” said Guido. “Now what?”
Everyone was looking at me. They always looked at me. I thought this was a bad time to point out my lack of leadership skills, so I yelled, “Run!”
We ran through the corridors, everyone following me. I had no idea what I was doing or where I was going. “If we can find him, let's rescue Brock,” I said.
“I thought we were supposed to integrate into the school to find out what’s going on,” Guido said from my right somewhere. “Shouldn’t we do that first?” He was right. That was our mission.
“Good idea,” I said. And everyone believed me.
We took a left, coming to a door. “In that case,” said Tracy, “We need to find the rest of the students.”
I opened the door and led the way through. Then I took a step back in surprise. “I think we did.” In front of us was a group of about thirty students, staring at us and grinning.
Chapter 10: Incognito
“Hi,” I said, walking up to one of the students. I put out my hand, acting much more confident than I felt.
“We were waiting for you,” said a boy who spoke with authority. He shook my hand.
“Good to hear,” I said. I smiled back trying to hide my confusion.
“Abe,” he said with a smile. “My name is Abe.” He was a few inches taller than me, with dark brown hair, and his smile looked genuine. “It’s good to finally see you. We have already made preparations for your stay. In fact, if you like, I'll show you the rooms we’ve picked out for you.” I looked at Han and Tracy, who both looked as confused as I felt, and we followed.
“In case you were wondering about how we knew you were coming,” said Abe, “one of the students has the power to sense the approach of others. He can feel when they are near and some of their characteristics. All he knew is that you were young like us and were heading our way, so I figured you were more students and had a place made ready for you. We get new ones all the time.” He turned around and smiled an honest, disarming smile.
As he led us, the walls changed from brick to wood paneling with round dim lights attached to the sides of the hallway. “What are your names?” asked Abe.
“Tracy,” said Tracy. “And this is Andy,” I waved. “And Han.”
I thought Guido must be hiding. “What about the fourth?” asked Abe. I was told there were four.”
“Guido,” said Guido, “right here.”
Abe looked startled for a second, but never lost his cool. “Your gift! Invisibility?”
“Un-noticeability,” said Guido.
“Interesting,” he said. We passed a couple of boys our age along the hallway. “I hope you like it here.” As we neared the end of one hall, he pointed to a room on the right, “The guys can sleep in here.” Then he pointed to a door on the left. “And Tracy, you can sleep here,” he said. “There are bathrooms down the hallway on the right. If you have any questions, feel free to ask anyone. Most of the kids are friendly. Unfortunately, you missed dinner, but breakfast will be at 8 in the morning.”
“Thank you,” I said.
“You're welcome,” he said and walked back down the hallway.
After he left I turned to the others, “Let's get some sleep and talk in the morning. I don't know what's going on, but this feels weird. It's like a dream or something.” Everyone agreed.
***
The next morning I awoke, climbed down from the top bunk, and put on a sweatshirt. I found that I was the earliest riser. There was light coming from outside and it looked to be a sunny day. When I walked over to the window I saw the ocean in the distance and even a beach with large rocks here or there. I couldn’t see it at night, so there must have been no lights. This was actually a beautiful place. Through the window I could see part of the brick building jutting outward on the left. There was only one floor above ground, but I couldn't tell how large it was.
I felt a hand on my shoulder. “Hi,” said Guido.
“Uh! Don’t do that to me! You’re going to give someone a heart attack!”
“Sorry. Hey, what happened last night?” he said. “How could that kid do that to us?”
“Do what?” I said.
“You didn’t feel it?” he said. “No, probably you wouldn’t. Well, you’ve got some competition, my friend. He’s kind of like you, you know.”
Han stirred from his bed and came over to where I was. “Is Guido with you?”
“Yeah,” I said. Then I turned to Guido. “What do you mean he’s like me?”
“You mean Abe?” said Han. “You felt it too?”
“Hey, Abe is the nicest guy we’ve seen so far. Can’t you just let it be?”
“Han, I don't think he can tell because of his gift” said Guido. “Anyway, we’ve learned to resist it and he hasn’t. In fact, maybe we’re the only ones in this place who know how to resist.”
“Yes,” said Han.
“Would someone tell me what’s going on?” I said. I was feeling the anger build up again.
“Andy,” said Guido, “you have this ability to be naturally popular and everyone wants you to be the leader of any group. It's your gift. Only you are so used to it that you don't even notice it. Also, you have never encountered someone else with that kind of gift so you don't know what it feels like. It’s hard to resist, and it took me awhile to start trusting my own feelings again.”
“Weird, but I guess I get it,” I said. “So?”
“So,” said Guido, “I think Abe is like that. Only it feels different than yours, and it's a lot stronger. With him, I feel overwhelmed with a desire to believe in and trust him. This makes me not want to trust him.”
I was getting more upset and I didn't even know why, “But what if he really is honest and truthful and just happens to have this gift? It doesn't mean he’s a bad guy. He can't do anything about the gift he has!”
“It depends how he uses it,” said Han.
We were interrupted by a knock at the door. Han opened it and Tracy smiled at us. “Are you guys talking about Abe?” she said.
“Yeah,” I said. “It seems they don't trust him.”
“Really?” she said. “I think he was great! He didn't even know us and he gave us a place to stay. He was so friendly and has the greatest smile!”
“Smile?” said Han.
“I think it's a girl thing,” said Guido.
“Okay, so you trust him?” I asked.
“Sure,” she said, “What’s not to trust?”
“That’s what I t
hink,” I said. Then I whispered in Guido’s ear, “But I think Tracy likes Abe.”
“Hey, what are you guys whispering about?” she said. But before we could say anything there was another knock at the door. Guido opened it.
A skinny boy with long dark hair said, “Seven o’clock. It's time for our morning run.”
“Run?” Tracy said.
“We do it every morning,” he said. “It keeps us in shape. By the way, you won’t need that sweatshirt.”
“Okay!” I took it off and we followed.
Chapter 11: Our first day
He led us outside where a large group of kids were gathered in front of the school. The sun was just rising over the ocean but it was already very warm. Kids were warming up, stretching, doing jumping jacks and push-ups on the beach. When we got there, Abe stood up from a deep stretch. “Let’s begin!” he said and started to jog along the flat terrain. We followed.
“It’s hot out here,” said Han who ran next to me, a little out of breath. “The tropics.”
It certainly was. We got to see a bit more of the island having run around much of it. A lot of the shore was rocky and covered by white lichen. In some spots there were sandy beaches, and I felt it would be nice to be in the water there. As I looked to my left, I saw an area much like a park with short, scraggly grass.
After perhaps 20 minutes, we came upon a small harbor for ships. Most of these looked small, like private boats, but as we passed I saw two men loading guns onto one of them.
We ran in a long loop for perhaps half an hour and if it had not been for our training, I’m sure I would have not been able to keep up. The heat became unbearable as we jogged a couple more miles before returning back to the main brick building. For some reason, the heat made the run seem harder.
Fortunately, it was much cooler inside. We showered and got ready for breakfast which was eaten in a large, well-lit dining room. Besides the fluorescent lights, windows were lined up on one side, bringing in sunshine and a view of a long grassy slope. At breakfast we had oatmeal and fruit, very healthy.
We huddled together but didn’t talk much when we ate. All of us were still tired from our run. Tracy, usually the talkative one, just picked at her food silently. When we had finished we didn't know what was next, so we watched those around us hoping for some clue. When we saw others cleaning up, we did the same. Afterwards we noticed that students went in one of two directions: some left the room on the north side and some on the south side. We didn't know what to make of this.
“I don't get it,” Guido said. “Is it a boy-girl thing?”
“No,” said Tracy, “See, there are girls going both ways.”
“Well then what do we do?” said Guido again.
“Confused?” said a friendly voice. It was Abe. “I'm sure you are. A decision will need to be made at this juncture. On the north are the Mixed Arts kids. In the south are Focused Arts. Each of these has advantages, but you cannot be in both, so choose carefully.”
“What’s the difference?” asked Tracy.
Abe gave her a bright smile. “Focused means you focus on your specific ability. There, you will learn proven techniques that will greatly enhance the use of your power.”
“The Mixed Arts kids are a sharing group. If you go with them you will lose some of your own ability, but you will also gain parts of other people's abilities. It is a phenomenal thing!”
“I didn't even know that was possible!” I said.
He smiled. “We have learned some things here that I don't think have been discovered anywhere else,” he said. “Stick around and I think you'll be impressed.”
I looked at the others. “Can we think about this?” Tracy asked.
“Sure, but remember, once you chose you must stay on that path. That’s the rule. Stay here until you decide, then chose a direction. And don't worry, you will still see each other back in your rooms and at meals.”
“Thanks,” said Tracy with a big smile on her face. And then Abe turned his face toward me with a look of confusion, and paused as if thinking about something. After a moment, he smiled again and turned towards Focused Arts and walked off.
“Which way?” asked Han.
“Let's not split up,” I said.
“I agree,” said Han.
“As much as I want to agree with you,” said Tracy, “I really think if we stay together, we won’t learn as much. We should try both types and then report on what we learned. If we ever get out of here, we’ll have more information.”
“Good point,” said Guido. “So how should we divide?” Everyone was looking at me. Then as if realizing what they were doing, they all looked away.
“Well,” Tracy said. “I would like to learn other gifts, even if it means losing some of my own.”
“I’m in the same camp,” said Guido.
“Han, you want to go with me?” I said.
“Okay,” said Han, barely above a whisper.
“Great,” I said, “we'll meet back here for dinner to talk.”
We split up. Tracy and Guido went north and Han and I went south.
Once we walked through the south entrance, Han and I entered a hallway that led straight for a little while with a couple of small rooms on both sides. Each room had a blue mat on the floor, like in a training dojo. We followed everyone else to the end of the hallway where it finally opened out onto a large auditorium. This was the auditorium where we had been captured on the balcony, but no one was using the balcony now. We could see a bunch of kids already assembled inside. They were sitting in chairs and some had notebooks out.
Dozens of rows went downward in steps toward a stage at the bottom. Someone was standing on the stage. “That looks like Abe,” I said.
“I think so,” whispered Han.
“Shhhh,” said a kid sitting in front of us. We found some chairs at the back and sat down.
Abe was already talking, “. . .and remember that at this academy you are the weapons of choice. If you were to encounter a situation, and you knew that you had a power that would be useful, you are the expert on your own ability. I don’t have to direct you. You are more powerful than you realize on your own.”
Han whispered, “I can feel it from here.”
“What?” I asked.
“His gift,” said Han.
Abe kept talking. “You should know that we trust you completely.” He gave a warm smile. I felt that he really did trust me and I felt privileged. “That's one thing this place is built on, trust. You trust me and I trust you, because it’s only together that we can change the world!” I felt like maybe I could make a difference in the world. “So practice hard. Be the expert in your field. No two people have yet been found to possess the same exact powers. That means you’re special. Duplication is what Mixed Arts students are good at, but you are my black belts in your art. Be the best you can be in order to crush the enemy. We have powers which place us above others, so let’s use them to rule!”
Students clapped and he walked off of the stage while a girl, who looked a little older, came up front. She was tall and had a large dark braid running down her back. I didn’t feel the same confidence I did from Abe, but she was pretty and smiled nicely. She spoke with a low voice for a girl. “Get together with your trainers and spend some time on the basics before you move on to specialized training. Trainers, your goal is that someday those you train will become trainers as well. Today’s focus will be confusion to the enemy. Have a good session, and remember: Power to conquer!”
Everyone yelled back, “Power to conquer!” She walked off the stage and we all got up to leave.
Han and I just looked at each other and stood up. “Hey, Abe sent me to get Andy,” said a boy about my age and height. “I will be your trainer.” He looked surprisingly muscular for his age.
“That’s me!” I tried to act more confident than I felt and shook his hand. “What about Han here?”
“That would be my job,” came the voice of a girl. When
I turned to see her I was surprised at how pretty she was and how short.
I could tell Han was a bit embarrassed. “Sorry about that,” I whispered to Han. He just nodded back.
“Follow me,” said the boy. “I already got a training room checked out for us.”
“Thanks,” I said.
“No problem,” he said, “My name is Derek.”
“Hi Derek.” He led me through the hall and down a series of turns so that by the time we found our training room I was totally lost.
“Here we are,” he said. “Room 54.”
We stepped inside to a small rectangular room. The floor had a blue mat on the ground, like the rooms I saw on the way in, and on it, to one side, I saw a strange collection of objects lined up along the wall: a punching bag, a unicycle, a set of dice in a clear box, a stack of notebooks, some pens and crayons, a small stack of books, a jar of pickles, two bowling balls, two pillows, a double-bladed axe, a cheap guitar, a large flashlight, some Legos, and a small, broken laptop.
Derek turned to me and smiled. “Two targets today: focus and confusing the enemy. Since you’re new, we’ll probably spend most of the time on focus. What have you got?”
“I've only got me,” I said.
“Right,” he said, “but how can you improve on the power that already comes naturally?”
“Improve?” I asked.
“Yes. The whole point of this practice is to focus your power. Have you learned how to do that?”
I looked at him, confused. “You can do that?'
“Okay, I see we’re starting from scratch here,” he said. “They should have brought you through the basic training module first, but I'll give you the highlights.”
“I can't take you through all five disciplines of course, but I can tell you a little. This power you have originates in your brain. In order to focus it, you must have control over your thoughts. You have to focus on your goal, ignoring all else.”
“Okay,” I said. “What do I do?”
“I can tell your gift influences a person’s emotions because I can feel it, but I don’t know the details.” If he just knew about that smile of his. “How about you focus that on your target and then make it bigger than life in your mind. This is like using your imagination, but stronger. It just means you think about what you want to do and concentrate on it.
“Okay,” I said. “I’ll try.”