SERENA

PART II: Chapter 11 - Useless

Completely unaware of what day or even what time of the day it is, Serena still knows what to expect when she wakes up. Because it's always the same. After the initial four tests, they have repeated the ones where she has to be submerged under water and the one where she's left inside the ice room a couple more times, but leaving her there for longer periods. They seem to be testing her limits.

Today, however, Serena is taken to a room she hasn't seen before. There are small plants in pots along one of the walls, and there is also a small tree near the center of the room.

After leaving Serena there on the floor, the same people she has been seeing every day leave the room, but she sees them again when they stand in front of the big window.

"As I'm sure you are aware," Roberts starts, "there is one element we still haven't tested you for. Honestly, if it was up to me, we wouldn't because I don't see a point to it. How useful can earth be? It's just flowers and plants. Completely useless for anything that we can require."

Serena frowns. Useless? Earth is her favorite element!

"But, alas, it isn't up to me. So, as you can see, we have some plants and a tree next to you, and we want you to... I don't know," he shrugs, "do something with them."

Serena crawls to the potted plants and touches the leaves on the first one. This is a species of plant that they don't have in Elementia – not even anything similar – but she has seen it here on Earth many times. Its flowers can have different colors, and the stems have spikes. Right now, it has not flowered yet, but Serena touches the main stem and causes the flowers to open and grow. These ones are light pink. Causing those flowers to bloom immediately makes Serena happier. How can Roberts say earth is useless?

She moves along the lines of plants, making them grow and bloom, and for a few seconds, she can even forget that she's being kept by these horrible people.

When she's done with all the potted plants, she crawls to the tree, even though she feels like she would probably be strong enough to stand and walk. She doesn't want them to release more of that sedative into the room. The tree is nearly as tall as she is on her knees, and Serena places her hand on the tree trunk to make it grow. It starts getting larger and taller, and new branches are formed and beautiful green leaves sprout from them. Serena smiles, looking up at the tree as it reaches toward the ceiling.

"That's enough," Roberts' voice comes from the speaker.

Serena stops making the tree grow, but she doesn't remove her hand from the tree. Roberts told her it was useless to try to escape because the walls were fortified and the soldiers have weapons, but she's feeling stronger now. And, after making these plants grow, she's also feeling hopeful. Maybe they have weapons, but she can be a weapon.

The door of the room opens, letting the other six people in, while Serena is still kneeling on the floor, next to the tree. One of the soldiers and the doctor are the ones who come closer, and the doctor has a syringe in his right hand.

Serena takes a deep breath, and she makes two of the tree branches grow towards the people coming toward her. They don't even see the branches coming until they pierce their chests. Both of them grunt in pain, and blood drips from the edges of their chest wounds. And, when Serena makes the branches retract back to their original position, blood sprays out and the two people fall to the floor. Dead.

For a second, everything is still. Roberts and the other soldiers are in shock, unsure of what to do. And Serena hasn't thought farther ahead than this first step of her potential escape plan.

"Shoot her!" Roberts shouts.

The remaining three soldiers hold their weapons and point them as Serena, while she makes a few branches come out of the tree in front of her, intertwining with each other to create a shield. When the soldiers fire, the bullets get stuck in the branches, protecting Serena.