Created

Part 5, Chapter 21

June

CHESF base

Come to me...Come to me...Come to me...

Those words over and over again. Nothing more, nothing less. Spectre was calling to her, and over the past couple of days it had gotten harder and harder to ignore them. It started off as a faint whisper, barely perceptible, but it grew and grew. She couldn't tell anyone because they would kick her out, or take away her powers, or worse. The only time when she didn't notice the voice was when she was with him. With Swipe. Clueless Swipe. It didn't help that he spent more time with Sky, and less with her.

Come to me...Come to me...Come to me...

June let loose a frustrated yell and punched the wall, leaving a small dent in the metal, and her hand hurting. The voice still called out to her. She needed to find Swipe fast. She opened the door to her room and quickly walked down the hall towards Swipe's. She knocked on the door. No answer. Grudgingly, she walked to Sky's room and put her ear to the door. She heard muffled talking and a little bit of yells. She breathed a deep breath in and slowly exhaled.

Come to me...Come to me...Come to me...

She cringed and knocked loudly. The talking stopped, and the door opened a little bit. Sky's face was peeking through.

"Hey June! What can I help you with?"

"Can I come in?"

"Umm...sure? Me and Swipe were just playing an old video game."

"Can I join?"

"Yeah, sure!" She opened the door the rest of the way and stepped to the side. June walked past her. Swipe sat cross legged in front of a glowing screen holding a small white rectangle which June assumed was a controller. He held it in both hands. His waist was turned and he was looking at her, his lopsided smile beaming. Her heart fluttered. Sky closed the door and walked over to the desk. She opened one of the drawers and held up two of the rectangles. June could now see that they had buttons on them. There was a group of four toggles that looked like a plus, along with one large button in the center that brandished a big "A". there were three buttons underneath that. One a plus, one a blue house, and one a minus sign. Under that there were two buttons vertically placed as one and two.

"Choose your weapon." Sky said in a deep voice. June carefully picked up the one on the right. "Try not to be so slow about it," Sky said. "These things are bricks, you can't break them by dropping them." She walked over and sat next to Swipe. June took her own seat on the other side of him, her shoulder gently brushing against his. Just that action sent a jolt through her spine and the voice stopped completely. They gave her a quick tutorial of the controls and started playing. Swipe selected a blue creature named sonic, who Swipe said was the fastest character in the game; Sky chose a small child named Villager; and June took her time to choose a character that looked like a princess and a star.

In all terms and tenses, June got destroyed.

June was up against two seasoned veterans. She died all three times within the first 45 seconds of each game. One time, she lasted two minutes on a huge temple map. Other than that, she was dominated. It was a good thing she wasn't there to play or she would have burned the base down. She was simply there to get rid of the voice, and that entailed being next to Swipe. They were mid-round when a voice over the speakers announced for them to meet in the briefing room. Swipe pushed a button and paused the game. All three of them stood up and shuffled around, trying to fit into the small doorway. Sky went first, June second, and Swipe brought up the rear. While walking down the hallway, June made sure to stay next to Him the entire duration. When they got there, Devin and Carter were already in the room, sitting down on two of the many swivel chairs lining the perimeter of a large mahogany desk.

The room was bland. The walls were white, the carpet black, and the only decoration was an eagle behind a red and blue striped shield. Underneath the emblem were the words "Created Hero Experiment Science Facility." That must have been what the CHESF meant. Made sense.

Glass walked through a door on the other side that June had failed to notice. Devin and Carter both stood up quickly. Glass smiled.

"Hi." He said. Swipe responded first.

"Wassup man? How you doin'?"

Glass smiled and chuckled. "Hello Swipe. Please everyone, take a seat."

Everyone did as they were told and sat down. June made sure to sit in the chair next to Swipe.

"To answer Swipe's earlier question, I am not doing well. I called this meeting to give you a piece of advice. A warning, if you will. Unfortunately, me and the board both agree that from now on, there will be no going outside the base until further notice."

Swipe and Carter both stood up and yelled out cries of disbelief and disproval. Devin quietly stood up. His eyes glowed red and the chairs behind Swipe and Carter both scooted in, tripping them. Devin remained standing.

"Why?" Was all he asked.

"That is...classified." Glass responded. "Believe me. I would tell you if I could, but I am under direct orders from the president to remain silent."

June thought for a moment about her past experiences. She had no trouble in the outside world. Nothing ever hurt her except for...

June stood up. "Is it because of Spectre?"

Glass looked awestruck. "How do you know about him?"

June took a deep breath. This may have been a mistake. She thought to herself. She began telling the story quietly and timidly. "Well, back when I had to rescue Swipe from a moose, we got attacked. It wasn't a human or animal. It was like...us. He had powers. He was chasing me. I had to ditch Swipe in a dumpster to avoid him getting caught. It wasn't like he was lucid anyways. The shadow was chasing me and I got cornered. It revealed itself to me and we had a conversation. He asked me to join and I said no. He then jumped on me and was doing something, but Swipe blasted him off of me. It was a close call." June didn't mention the voice. She didn't want to get kicked off the team. Swipe looked at her with a look of disbelief.

"I saved you?"

"Yeah." She looked at Glass.

"So, you met Spectre, and survived?"

"Mmmhhh." she nodded.

"Alright everyone. That will be all. Do not leave this base under no circumstances. Dismissed."

Got up and started shuffling out of the room. June was almost at the doorway when Glass casually said: "June. I need to talk with you." June panicked. Did he know? Swipe was almost 10 feet away now.

come to me...come to me...come to me

The voices started again.

15 feet away.

Come to me...Come to me...Come to me

June willed the voices to stop. They didn't.

20 feet.

Come To Me....Come To Me....Come To Me....

"June? Is everything alright?!"

Out of sight. The voices now screamed.

COME TO ME!!!!! COME TO ME!!!!! COME TO ME!!!!!!!

She clutched her head and cried out.

"June!!" Glass' voice seemed like a whisper compared to the screaming in her head.

COME TO MEEEE!!!

She heard faint footsteps coming towards her. Not even Swipe could fix the pounding in her skull.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!" June let out a shriek.