Entranced

Chapter 8 Government Project

I did not appreciate being knocked out again. When I woke up a few minutes later, my head hurt pretty bad. I was in an office - and I was mad. The girl from my nightmare was leaning over me, looking concerned.
"What was that for?" I grumbled. She smiled, not regretting anything.
"Sorry. I had to speak to you, since you're new."
"Huh. But how did you do that, exactly?"
"That's my ability. All of us have them." The Light blazed on her fingertips. "My name is Penny."

I sat up, pulling myself into a spinning computer chair. Penny's smile faded.
"Seriously, we need to talk," she said. I though a moment.
" Okay, what is it? What's so important that you have to knock me out to tell me?!" She sighed sat in another chair, pulling it up to the desk. I looked around and realized that we were in a bedroom, not an office. There was a bed draped in purple - patterned covers and piled with pillows tucked into a corner. Pictures of what looked like Penny's family and friends framed the wall above her desk. Which, when I looked at it, was covered in electronics, books, and papers. Penny's room was pretty, with intricate swirls on the walls, but cozy at the same time.

"Grace," she said, snapping me out of my thoughts. "It's a long story. Let's just say that we're part of a government project." I sucked in a breath. I had been at the Capital Building when I saw the Light.
"Okay. Go on."
"And they want us for further testing," she added, wincing a little. I winced, too. This did not sound good. "They were working on something to help the army, I think. But they lost control of whatever they used, and here we are."

I sat there for a moment, thinking it over. "C'mon. I'll show you around the school," Penny said finally. She grabbed my arm and pulled me across the room. Instead of a real door, she spun the lock on a silver metal locker door. I must have looked puzzled, because Penny glanced at me and laughed. "First part of the tour: whenever we have to stay overnight, we have personal locker dorms." Wow, I thought. A dorm inside a locker. Weird, but cool! With that, the door swung open, and I followed Penny out to the hallway, into my new life.