The Mysterious Door

Chapter 2

The Instructor's voice shakes me out of what felt like a moment's sleep, "Good morning candidates. As previously stated, the first group will start training today. The group consists of Anthony, Jasmine, Jake and Cindy. The rest of you are free to do whatever you want with your time, within bounds of course." The sound is cut off abruptly and silence seems to seep into the room once more.

I see now, the world coming back into focus, that there is a fresh pile of clothes stacked in a neat pile on the desk. How it got there without the noise from the door waking me, I don't know, but I quickly put them on, the windows turning smoky as I do so, and wait for the doors to let me out.

"How'd you sleep," I ask Cindy in the hallway, before we reach the other two members of our group.

A blonde-haired boy steps out of the fifth chamber and joins the pink haired girl in waiting for us so we can all walk together. It seems we will have team colors, seeing that we are all dressed in grey pants, white sneakers and light blue shirts. GO BLUE TEAM!

"As well as could be expected," Cindy says, "Given the circumstances. How about you, dream about any giant floating heads? Or was that just me?"

"Giant floating severed heads would have been a blessing," the blonde haired boy says once we catch up to them in the hallway, "You should try dreaming about Gustav ripping your body parts off one by one and feeding it to your disembodied mouth while your eyes are forced to watch."

"That sounds terrible," I say, "That makes me feel better about dreaming about Gustav bathing in blood."

"I don't know what you guys are talking about," the pink haired girl says, "I slept like a baby, kicking and screaming all night."

We all laugh, a tiny bit of sunshine in these otherwise dark circumstances. They introduce themselves as Jasmine and Anthony right as we walk into the training room, finding a young-looking brown-haired man smiling at us.

"Glad to see you're already getting along," he says, "That will help you do the best you can during the training program."

"Oh yes," I say, "Nothing brings a group together like a mutual hatred of their captor."

"You shouldn't see it like that," he says, "You should see this as an amazing opportunity to become a better version of yourself."

"You're just saying that because you're standing on the outside looking in," Cindy says, "You won't understand when you are free to leave whenever you want."

"Who says I'm free to leave," he says, the sadness in his voice becoming more evident, awakening a small, unwanted feeling of pity within me, "Sure, I can exit the premises in some degree, but freedom is a subjective term. You have no idea how strong SPORT's hold is, even on the higher-ranking members..."

"What sport," Anthony asks, "Is there some kind of teleporter Olympics?"

"SPORT is an organization, but don't you worry about that... All you need to worry about right now is learning how to teleport and using those powers to pass the tests. Speaking of which, we should probably begin, we only have today for the first part. I'm Brandon, by the way, and I will be your helper throughout the training period."

"What if we can't teleport," Cindy asks, "I mean, I have never done anything even remotely close to teleporting... maybe this, SPORT, made a mistake in choosing me."

He chuckles a bit, "No, no, you would never have teleported before, even by accident had someone not told you about your powers. Teleporting takes a lot of concentration and training to use. So don't worry, I will teach you everything you need to know. By the end of today you will have mastered short-range teleportation. Now, let's make our way to the four mats lined up here behind me. Everyone, take a spot standing on the painted footprints."