The Irangel | Prequel Story |

Chapter 17 ~ The New Four

Meanwhile the irangels were recovering from earlier, changing shirts and getting ready for bed. Justin noticed Cole sat contemplating on his bed, elbows out and hands on his thighs. "Something on your mind?" he asked, sitting beside him.

"She. Took. Everything. From. Me," Cole said roughly, heavily enunciating each word with restrained anger behind them. "I had a job, a girlfriend, I even went to school to work on graduating with honors. Then she suddenly comes into my life in her fancy Bugatti, presses a stinky napkin to my face to make me feel like passing out, then shoves me in her car and drives off like we're going to Disneyland! A stranger I never met before just dunked a whole thing of permanent glitter on me and locked me up in a room with three other sparkly guys. Is that not messed up or what?"

"It is," Justin said noncommittedly, keeping his voice neutral. "I don't know why she's keeping us prisoners here. It's very wrong what she's doing."

"I didn't ask for any of this," Cole continued to vent. "I had everything going for me, and she just snatched me up for no reason."

"She has a reason," Justin told him. "A very bad one."

Just then Keith came over, asking, "You guys by any chance got any bud? Muscle relaxers, maybe?"

Cole punched him. "You better not be kidding me," he told him sternly.

"Got any balls is what he should've said," Camdren called from where he was laying in bed.

The cold, dangerous look in Cole's eyes were all that Keith needed to shut up and stay shut. He retreated to his own bed, staying quiet the rest of the time.

Justin sighed with relief. Glad Cole's keeping some sort of order here, even if he is very bad-tempered, he thought. He decided to tell Cole some positive news.

"I figured out a way to get us out of here," he said, getting everyone's attention. He pointed at the frosted wall. "I figured if all of us used our strength, we could knock it down. It's not as strong as that iron door."

He could see the three guys thinking about it, evaluating what other few options they had. At last, Camdren said, "Well, it's the best any of us has thought so far."

"I say we wing it," Cole said with a small smirk, the closest thing to the first positive emotion he expressed besides anger and frustration. Justin took it as a good sign and glanced at Keith, who said, "I have a better idea. How bout the element of surprise?"

"Meaning?" Cole asked, turning to him now.

Keith pointed at the dent in the wall caused by Camdren getting smashed into it. It was near the door adjacent to the frosted wall. Suddenly, as if all were in some sort of silent agreement, the men threw themselves against it, creating more and more dents until the wall started crumbling down. They tumbled into the open, right in the large walkway adjoining the other rooms of the building. The men got up and straightened themselves, brushing pieces of wall off them. Tori was nowhere to be seen.

Justin and Cole started moving forward, Camdren and Keith behind them. They toured the building, going in all kinds of rooms and doorways.

They were startled to see four people in the cylinders in the transformation room, still unconscious as the elements seeped into their naked bodies. Three of them were men; one of them was a woman. The four just stared at the new four for a long moment.

"Oh my god," Camdren whispered while Cole's shocked eyes took on a narrowed look.

"She's turning more into Iredescents," Justin said in a quiet voice. He had already explained to them about what they had all become.