Primed: A Kayla Madison Story

Primed Part 33

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: COMING OUT OF THE DARK

Hundreds of eyes were on us. All mouths were agape and silent as we walked through the opening, dusting ourselves off in the process.

As I scanned the room, it was obvious our dust-covered outfits and plaster-filled hair did not match the elegance of the attire the audience wore and accompanying tone.

Even the guards around the oval room seemed to prefer blending in with the rich dark wood of the walls than trying to determine if we were a threat. I guessed they weren't used to people breaking down walls. The displayed treasures looked forgotten. I doubted that Wu would even need to gas the group to get them to comply with him and his goonies.

It was difficult to not notice the elegance of the hall. With the luxurious gold drapes, elaborate electric chandeliers, and gold wall sconces, the council had a beautiful setting. The nine members of the council sat around an elaborately carved wood structure on the dais.

"Nothing like making a grand entrance!" Spyder broke off another piece of the false panel.

Mr. Wu stood up. His face, angry at first turned into confusion as he saw Jake with us. He swiped his hand over his hair and saw other council members staring back at him.

Mr. Wu pushed away his chair and ran over to the display of treasures, grabbed something then dashed out the door.

"He has a FOA." Michael and Dad said simultaneously.

"So do we. Plus, we have speedy here, if she can avoid tripping over her own feet." Spyder pointed at me then dusted himself off.

Michael, Dad, Spyder, and Jake looked over at me. Even though it was a fraction of a second, I was able to see their faces look relieved as they remembered my enhanced speed on this world but then their faces all changed to one of concern as they remembered my lack of coordination. They all, however, still motioned for me to run after Mr. Wu.

So, I ran.

While in the Council's headquarters, I wasn't going in my super-fast mode, but I was going faster than most people—not Olympic sprinters, but regular folk. At least I had on real shoes instead of the Earth Prime girly boots.

Even still, when I got outside, I didn't see Mr. Wu anywhere. His horse and curricle were missing.

His boat.

With my enhanced sight, I could see his large sailboat was still docked in the bay near his house. There were no signs of movement on it and he could not sail it by himself. He must have headed to his smaller sailboat on the other side of the island.

It was time to put myself to the test and run to the other side of Coronado. I started running and gathered speed to the point where things around me appeared to slow down. Although it was getting dark, I was able to see people, carriages, and animals that appeared frozen along the way.

I was already half-way there when another figure in my peripheral vision appeared to be moving as fast as I was. I looked and thought for sure it had been a tween girl, but she turned and ran away from me. Assuming I hadn't had some weird TDT hallucination, I had to figure out who she was. However, there was no way I could follow her now. Not when everyone was counting on me.

Great. Now I'm seeing things again.

My heel caught on something and I plummeted to the ground. Fortunately, I landed in grass, but I created my own crater as I came to a stop.