Talented (On Hold)

Chapter Seventeen

Sorry for the long wait - I've been on vacation, and then I lost my charger cord. As a surprise, I'm going to post two chapters!

Chapter Seventeen

“You think this is the place?” Kaolin asked, starring up at the tall building. The high rise seemed very out of place, standing beside a lake in the middle of the woods. It was a foreboding structure, with few windows and dirty grey walls. Ivy grew up part of the foundation, providing a welcome spot of color.

Connor shook the GPS. “This stupid device says it is.” They had found the GPS in dashboard compartment of the van, and Zack had gotten it to work, inputting the coordinates that Kaya had given them for Blue Mirror Lake. She had told them that the building, known as the Lake Compound, used to be an office building for a high tech company, but now stood empty. A new company, a research company called Anderson Tech, had recently bought it.

            Zack snatched the GPS from Connor, who was still shaking it and pressing buttons. “Stop that! You’ll break it!” He cradled it to his chest like a baby.

Gage laughed, then grew serious again. “I’ll go check out the building.” She said. She morphed into a bird and flew off, circling the building. In a few minutes she flew back. “Yeah, this is the place. She’s on the eleventh floor, in one of the back rooms. “

“How do you know?” Kaolin asked.

“She blew a hole in the wall. I couldn’t get close enough to really see through it, but she’s there. That hole was definitely made by a powerful telekinetic, but it’s too small for her to have been able to get out through it, or for me to get in.” Gage replied.

            They snuck up to the front door, which was glass. Through it they could see a lobby, which was neat and well kept compared to the outside. A sofa sat in the corner, and a stack of magazines decorated the table in front of it. The reception desk, luckily, was empty.

            Connor was about to pull open the door when Zack stopped him. “Wait!” He whispered, pointing at a security camera that was mounted on the wall. Zack closed his eyes and held out his hand, mimicking Alina’s pose when she was trying to move something heavy. He, with his mind, searched for the telltale buzz of electricity. Finding it, he cut of the power to the camera, and sent a surge of energy back along the wire, hopefully short-circuiting the other cameras.

            He opened his eyes and smiled. The camera’s light had gone dark, and it had stopped scanning the room. Kaolin grinned. “Nice, Zack.”

            They cautiously pulled open the door and walked in. Connor moved to push the button for the elevator, but Kaolin stopped him. “Umm, Connor? You do realize that it would be a lot safer to use the stairs, right?” She gestured to the door to the right of the elevator.

“But…” Connor whined. “It’s eleven stories!”

Zack frowned at him teasingly. “Is the big bad shape shifter afraid of a few stairs?”

Gage grinned. “It’s not that bad, Connor.”

“Easy for you to say.” Connor muttered. “You can just fly.”

“Shut up, Connor.” Zack said.

            Kaolin pulled Scientia out of her bag. “Will you check that there isn’t anyone in the stairwell, and that all the camera’s are off?” She asked.

“Of course.” Scientia said, stretching her wings. She took off, and disappeared. A few tense minutes later, she returned. “There is a man guarding the entrance on the eleventh floor. He nearly saw me, but the cameras are all broken.” She said, making sure that everyone could hear her.