Manipulate

We’re hauled to our feet and thrown into two cars. Two people in one and two in the other. I’m forced into a car with Theo. We sit in silence as we’re driven to the center of the city.

Theo covers my hand with his and nudges my shoulder. In his front pocket a gun was concealed. Theo winks an eye and slips it into my pocket closest to him.

The car stops and the doors slam closed. I pick my backpack up and shrug it onto my shoulders. One Government worker drags me out by arm and orders me to move. Theo isn’t far behind me. Rae and Aj are behind Theo. I’m the first one in.

The building is tall and made of glass. All four of us are crammed into an elevator with four workers. The person doesn’t loosen their grip on my arm. The cool metal of the barrel of my gun presses itself against the denim of my jeans against my thigh.

The elevator dings when we reach the top and I’m forced into an office with a mahogany desk in front of the gleaming glass windows., bookshelves with different types of books lining the right side of the room, and filing cabinets on the left side of the room. The worker releases me and I get a glimpse of them.

They’re dressed in a white military style jacket with gray buttons buttoned up to their throat, gray pants, and black polished shoes. The gray cap conceals their face, but I recognize them in a ponytail at the base of the head. Red and extremely curly. The person removes their cap and their gray eyes are full of shame. Linda!

“Linda?” I whisper, confused at what is going on.

“Shh,” she hisses. “I’m going to help you, but you have to trust me, okay?”

“Why should I trust you after all of those years?” I ask, not getting the picture of Linda helping me.

“I’m on your side,” she confesses. “I was mean to you because she told me to be. It was all an act that I didn’t want to be part of. Aj found out and told me everything but I’m assuming that my room was bugged and that’s why this all happened. I didn’t mean to hurt anyone. I’m so sorry.” Tears well in her eyes. “Please believe me. I’m not the person you knew growing up. I’m-I’m like you. Aj found me levitating objects in my room two weeks ago.”

“Okay, I believe you,” I say, my mind becoming more fuzzled with each word. “What about Lillie though?”

“Lillie…” Linda trails off. “She’s like Mother. Her side, her ideas, everything. But she isn’t like us.”

The door opens and Donatella enters with a look of determination. Her face tells me that she wants to test me and then kill me or she wants to kill me while testing me. Linda stands up with her back rigid as steel as she places her cap back on her head. My backpack suddenly becomes heavier than I thought it was.

“Linda, take her backpack and hold onto it,” Donatella orders as she sits down behind her desk.

Linda whispers ‘sorry’ in my ear and follows Donatella’s order. The weight still hasn’t been lifted off my shoulders. I stand before my own stepmother with fear bubbling up inside. I shouldn’t be scared of her. I know her better than anyone else in TID.

“Abhaya, my, my, my, you have grown up so much since I’ve seen you last. New hairstyle, I see. It suits you very well,” Donatella says slyly. “Now, you know why you’re here, correct?”

Silence fills the room. I don’t want to answer her question. If I answer, she might make it easier on me and if I don’t, I’ll have to risk it.

“You’re a smart girl, come on.” She flips her blonde ponytail over her shoulder.

“Because I’m different from you and you don’t like difference; you want everyone to be like you,” I finally answer.

Donatella shakes her head and laughs. “Very good, but there’s more to that than you think. You, specifically, are well special. I know, Abhaya. I know what you’re capable of. Now, if you’ll let me run some tests on you, I’ll tell you more.”

“And what if I don’t agree?” I ask, crossing my arms.

“If you don’t corporate, then I’ll hurt the people that are close to you. Theo, Aj, Rae, Chloe, even Arik. Now, that may seem cruel, but I won’t stop until I can figure out how to remove these so-called ‘powers’ from you and your kind,” she sings.

“So, you’ll kill everyone until I corporate?” I ask, raising my eyebrows. Cliché, I add mentally. That’s a fairytale retelling villain move.

“Yep!” Donatella croons. “Every last one. Linda, bring our test subject and follow me.”

Linda harshly grabs me by my arm and we follow Donatella out of the office. We stand in an elevator that takes us down. When I look at Donatella, my stomach turns and flips itself over multiple times.

As the elevator drops, so does my stomach. What is she going to do to me? How is she going to do it? My thoughts muddle together as I try to stay calm.

The elevator dings when it hits the bottom. Donatella leads us out as Linda and I follow. Donatella leads us past different cells. They eye us with pleading eyes. Some of their bodies are skeletons covered in bruises, their hair is ratty and dirty. It’s all to get rid of our imperfections.

“Phoenix!” a voice shouts to my left.

Theo stands against a door that’s transparent. His hands are against the material that’s stronger than glass. My heart stops for a brief moment.

“Wolf!” I shout back as three people crowd at the door.

“Abhaya!” a woman that looks just like me shouts.

“Mom!” I shout as I jump, twist, and pull my body just to see her. “Mom!”

She looks like she hasn’t been fed enough food in eleven years. Her eyes have purple and blue bags under them and her skin is covered in bruises. She looks like almost everyone here.

Another worker grabs me by my other arm and steers me away from the sight. His grip on my arm feels like he has the strength to crush my bones. Donatella leads us to the end of the hallway and opens a door.

“In here. You know the drill,” she says.

I’m thrown into the room and hear the door click behind me. The blinding white lights turn on and I squint my eyes. A cracking voice fills the room as I stand up.

“In a moment we will be testing your blood. Please wait,” the voice says.

Another door opens and two people enter. They drag me over to a chair and strap my arms down. They strap my arms down so tight that when I try to move, I can’t. I look down at my pants and still see the gun in my pocket. If only I could use it now.

“Don’t move,” one of the workers on my right warns.

A needle sticks the vein in my elbow and I hiss. Dark red blood flows through a tube and into a small vial. I try to stay calm but I can’t.

Everything stops and everyone in the room is frozen except for me. The blood has stopped flowing through the tube and I look around. I kick my heel against the chair, grit my teeth, and launch myself forward.

The bands snap and the needle tears out of my skin, letting blood trickle down my skin. My head begins to feel dizzy from the loss of blood and I find a piece of cotton and a roll of elastic bandages.

I scramble toward the door, panic rising up inside of me. The handle only budges, the door is locked. I decide to take a risk and shoot the door. Somehow and some way it works. Time resumes as I’m running down the hall with my gun, ready to shoot anyone who dares to stop me.

Donatella begins shouting at me to stop and to have guards stop me. I ignore every word she says. Linda finds me and throws her cap off.

“Come on, we’ll get them out,” she says, shrugging the backpack onto her back.

“Okay,” I say as I shoot another guard. “Do you have some kind of key or something?”

“Passcode. 8-4-2-1-2,” she recites with a wink.

We make it to the cell holding my friends and family and Theo’s sister. Linda puts the code in and with a beep of approval, the door opens. Mom’s eyes light up when she sees me. She hugs me with her bony body and smiles.

“It’s good to see you again, Mom,” I whisper. “But you have to help answer some of my questions.”

“It’s good to see you again, Abhaya,” she says. “It’s been too long.”

Tears well in my eyes as emotion crashes over me like a wave. Linda clears her throat, reminding us that we can reunite later and that our lives are at risk right now. The six of us begin to run as alarms blare in our ears.

We make it to the sidewalk of the front of the building and that’s where we’re forced to stop. Donatella stands before us with a gun pointed at me.