The Mismunandi

Chapter 11

I watch the flames dance up into the sky and turn into smoke that I can barely see in the dark of the night. The whole forest is on fire. I look over to Brighton who backs away slowly, shaking her head, fear in her eyes. I look to my other side at Nora who bravely stands by my side. She turns her face to me and I nod. She raises both her hands at the fire-

I open my eyes, confused by the dream and realize that I fell asleep holding Rich's hand and my head is now resting on his shoulder with his head resting on mine. I straighten up and let go of his hand which wakes him up.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize-" I start.

"It's okay," he says.

I awkwardly look everywhere except at Rich, occasionally checking to see if he's looking at me. He does the same, glancing away when I catch him. Embarrassed, I take the headphones out of the pouch on the seat in front of me and plug them into the the small TV to watch a movie. I lean back in my seat and turn to the side a little so that I can't see Rich, even out of the corner of my eye.
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We land at the airport in a city I don't know. All I know is that we are in Europe because Dr. Paver said that's where MTA is. He wasn't specific when he was telling me where we were going. I guess I paid more attention to the fact that it was so far away that I didn't bother to ask where, exactly, in Europe we were going.

I gather Brighton and Nora who now has a shadow. The girl behind Nora is tall and slim with light brown hair and looks very excited to be here. Silver tags along and Rich insists on following me too, meaning the rest of his friends also come. There is a new member to their group who I recognize as the male singer of their band. He must not have been sitting with them at the airport. He has long blonde hair and wears a black leather jacket. The group of Mismunandi heads over to baggage claim and we gather all of our belongings. After everyone is done we are unsure of what to do. Most people go outside and wait for whatever it is we're supposed to wait for and my friends and I decide to join them. I sit on my largest suitcase and shiver a bit in the cold European air. Right on cue, Rich comes over to me quickly and takes off his hoodie.

"You're cold," he says and drapes it over my shoulders.

"Thanks," I mumble and we stay there in awkward silence.

"Where exactly are we?" I finally say and Nora's shadow bounces off of the curb where she had been sitting and faces me.

"We are in Croatia. I could tell because the people inside the airport were paying with kunas. I'm pretty sure we're in Zadar," she says

"How do you know the city?" Nora asks.

"I saw a sign," the girl chuckles. "I'm Cindy by the way."

"Scarlet. How old are you?" I say.

"Fifteen. I turn sixteen in a couple months, though."

A herd of big black SUVs pulls up to the curb where we are all waiting and a tall woman steps out of the first one, followed by a man wearing all black. She is intimidating, also wearing all black. She walks down the sidewalk looking at each and every person. When she reaches my group at the end, she stops.

"These ones ride with me," she says gesturing to me and my sisters.

"We must fill every seat, Ms. Bird. We don't have enough vehicles for the kids to be in groups of three," the man says bluntly.

"Then some of their friends here can ride with us, Henry. You," She says facing me. "What is your name?"

"Scarlet," I say quickly. She looks over at Nora.

"I'm Nora." And then to Brighton.

"Brighton."

"Scarlet, Nora, Brighton, get in that car. Pretty boy," she says to Rich. "You go as well. And the the two that look alike. As for the rest of you," she walks out so the whole group can see her. "No skipping seats in the cars." She and the man get in the front of the first car and everyone else starts to get in the rest. My sisters and I look at each other, unsure of what to do next. Brighton sighs and picks up her things. Everyone else follows and we put our stuff in the back of the car. Brighton, Nora, and I sit in the middle row and Michael, Nicole, and Rich sit in the very back. The car pulls away from the curb and begins to drive out of the airport. Ms. Bird, who is sitting in the passenger seat, turns to face us.

"Rebecca Bird, Vice President of the council at MTA. And this is Chester Henry, the treasurer. One of our co-presidents' father, Thomas Paver sent me a letter requesting I get to know the Bells. He told me to look for the redhead, the perky blonde, and the other one who looks like she'd rather be elsewhere," she says and Brighton shrugs her shoulders. "Your father went searching with a group that calls themselves The Seekers. It is the largest gang of Mismunandi that are doing research and looking for a place where we can all settle and live together. A place where no person can find us. The island where MTA is placed is not big enough to hold our whole population. That's another story, though. The point is, we have no other information on your father and Thomas said you would ask, so I'm telling you now."

"Well I guess he really knows us," Brighton says.

"You know there are different houses at MTA, right? Well, you see, they are kind of like teams. Categories in which you fit into. There's four: Precarious, Astute, Benevolence, and Pariah. After the first week, you will find your place in one of these partitions." Rebecca says.

She turns back around as if she has nothing more to say and we spend the rest of the ride in silence.
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About an hour later, we arrive at a harbor where there is a semi large boat waiting for us at the dock. We get out of the cars and cross a board that is set up as a bridge. The boat has a canopy with two very long padded benches under it. I take it that is where we are all supposed to sit. I go all the way to the end with Nora, Brighton, and Rich right behind me.

Rich turns to me and says, "You never told me your specialty."

"My what?" I ask.

"You know, your special power."

"My what?" I repeat. Rich tilts his head down a bit and a devious smile grows on his face.

"You didn't even know about them, did you? This should be interesting."

A/N
I'm super sorry I didn't update for, like, two weeks, I've just been really busy. I fact, I'm pretty sure this was the last day until school ends that I had nothing to do. (except write of course) Anyway, thanks so much for reading, I hope you liked it! Don't forget to comment, vote, and share.