The Changed

Chapter 8- Edward

At first I thought it had to be some sort of trick, we have had our fair share of them but the look on Tess's face suggested otherwise. "Nick?" She croaked in disbelief.

"Shh," he whispered, raising a finger to his lips. "Can you walk?"

"Who the hell are you?" I asked.

"Doesn't matter now. Can she walk?"

"Yes, if I support her," I said quietly.

"Okay. In ten minutes time turn right down the corridor, then take the next two lefts and then the next right. I'll meet you in the room to the left," Nick said. He turned and left, shutting the door behind him and leaving us in awe.

"What was that about?" I asked Tess. She looked stunned but managed to put together a couple of sentences.

"He has spoken to me a couple of times now. I don't know who he is or what side he's on," she whispered.

"Do you trust him?" I said sternly. She looked me in the eye.

"I think I do," she said.

"If you trust him, then I will too," I told her. She smiled but then I heard her stomach growl. "Wait here," I said. I quickly jogged into my room, which was identical to Tess's, and grabbed a couple of bread rolls, some fruit and a bit of cheese from the table in the middle of the room. I picked up two plates then went back into Tess's room. I shared the food between us on the two plates and we ate in silence.

"You think it's been ten minutes yet?" Tess asked me once we had finished.

"I don't know, probably. I think we should go," I said. I helped her to her feet and together we walked out the room. She was leaning heavily on me but I managed. Following Nick's instructions we took a right, then two lefts and another right. We stopped in front of the door Nick had told us about.

"Are you sure this isn't a trap, Tess?" I said sternly.

"Yes, completely sure," she said weakly.

"All right then. Here we go." I knocked on the door then took a step back. A couple of seconds later Nick appeared and ushered us in.

"Quickly, quickly. I don't want to be caught doing this, it would blow my cover," he said. To make things quicker, I scooped Tess up and carried her into the room which was completely bare with only three wooden chairs as furniture. I dropped her in one of them then sunk into the closest one to her.

Nick closed the door and locked it from the inside. He sat down with a deep sigh. "I've swept this room for bugs and there are none so we can talk freely. No one ever uses this room so I doubt people would try and break in on us," he said. "So, what do you want to know?"

"Umm...let's see," I said sarcastically. "How about who the hell are you?" Nick chuckled.

"I suppose that would be the first question," he said. "My name is Nick Garland. I'm 19 years old and I work for the Changed...in fact, I am one of the Changed."

"What? You're like us?" Tess asked. She looked pretty pale and weak. I knew myself how it felt like coming out of the strength test for the first time. It wasn't nice.

"Yes, I'm like you,"  Nick's voice said in my mind. From the look on Tess's face she heard him too.

"You...you can speak in our minds? That's your...your power?" I stammered.

"Well, no," Nick said. "With a bit of practise, all the Changed can speak to each other through telepathy. That's why your dreams are linked together, but don't give that away to Frost. Most of the Changed can't see each others dreams but they all can do a little telepathy. Depends on how strong you are."

"You're joking. Please say you're joking. We've already had a crazy week but this is way too much," I said, holding my head in my hands.

"I'm sorry. I know this is a lot to take in but its true," Nick said sadly. "Have you got any other questions?"

"What's your power?" Tess suddenly whispered weakly. Nick looked down.

"It's kind of hard to show you in here," he said.

"Well just try, please. I think we deserve to know," I said. Nick sighed but then closed his eyes. We waited.

Suddenly he lifted into the air and hovered, his head just millimetres from the ceiling. I gasped and Tess's eyes widened. "You can fly?" I exclaimed. Nick lowered back onto his chair.

"Yeah," he shrugged. "It's a bit harder outside with the winds and all, but yeah, I can fly."

"That is..." Tess trailed off.

"Amazing," I finished for her.

"Do you want to know why I'm here?" Nick prompted us.

"Yeah...why are you here?" I said, shaking off my shock.

"As a spy. A couple of weeks ago we got a transmission saying that the Government is picking up two kids that, they think, will win the war for them. I was already a spy here and I got told to keep an eye out for you two. The Changed don't like what the Government are doing, not one bit of it, but they do agree with them when they said you two are the key to winning the war. They just have different reasons," Nick said.

"Why does everyone keep saying that?" I asked.

"Because of our parents," Tess piped up. I stared at her. Did she somehow get information on our parents?

"What do you mean Tess?" I said cautiously. She took a shaky breath and explained.

"While you were knocked out in the strength test, I woke up early. I overheard a conversation between Frost and Dr. Brand. Dr. Brand said that the metal lion thing that you fought, well...he said that our parents designed it."

"What? But that's impossible! They worked in a computer store. They were sent over to Australia to check up on some computers when the meteorite landed a couple of years ago. They are dead!" I cried.

"I'm sorry, Ed, but that's what he said. They lied to us. They worked for the Government the entire time," Tess said miserably. I saw tears were sliding down her face and I suddenly realised that I shouldn't have shouted.

"I'm sorry Tess," I said, hugging her.

"It's fine," she sniffed. "So," she said, trying to change the subject. "Are you going to help us get out of here?"

"Yeah, I'll try," Nick said nodding.

"But how?" I asked. "We can't get out of here until we get rid of these." I held up my wrist which had the security bracelet clamped on it. "Well, Tess I can free easily because I have the key," Nick said holding up the red disk from around his neck. "But you Edward, it is going to be hard getting the key from Chancellor Frost."

"Does he have an office or something? I mean, he's no going to where that key all the time, is he?" Tess suggested.

"He does have his private quarters but you wouldn't be able to get near it," Nick said. "The security bracelets make sure of that."

"But what about you?" I said. "They obviously trust you enough to cart us around. If you could get in and steal the key then we'd be able to escape."

"It's not that simple," Nick said shaking his head. "But I'll see what I can do. We've stayed here too long. You two should be getting back to your rooms before they think something's up." He stood up and headed towards the door.

"Wait!" I said. "When will we escape?"

"I'll let you know. Just be ready," Nick said and he marched out leaving us to take it all in.