The Innates (Book #1)

Chapter 8

I covered my ears as I heard the desolation of the isolated world. My energy seemed wasted and empty. Did I just die? Of course I'm not dead, I could still feel myself struggling. How come I feel like I'm dying? I need water. I need something that boosts my energy. I can't breathe, I rendered my inhaler useless in this situation. But I had no choice but not to breathe and just look around.
All I could see was circling lightning, emerald lightning. So sharp and glaring.
"What is this place?!" I asked, but it was inaudible. There was enough silence that could hurt the deaf. I couldn't hear my voice. Or Jackson's. Or Ace's. Jackson utters a couple words that I could not interpret with my eyes. But a strong gust of wind dragged us forward. Like a gigantic vacuum. There was no ground, there was no water. Wait, there is water. One raindrop. It lands on the tip of my sharp nose. Every molecule expands for there was no gravity. And then, it was a splash. It grew larger.
I felt light and sturdy. Like all of this was over. And it was.

"Woah!!!" I exclaimed, landing on moist puddle. "What the heck was that?!"
"A portal..." Ace said, "remember? It's a wedge between time and space."
"Yeah, I get that but, where are we?" No seriously, everything that just happened was a combination of earthquakes and tsunamis. I picked up my muddy glasses off the wet grass.
"We're at our school." Ace said.
"School? You gotta be kidding, I went through a portal, lost air, and got soaked by a simple drop of water for a trip to a school?"
"It's not just any school, it's an academy for Innates like us." Ace said while standing up. "Hey, Jackson's here!"
"Hey!" I said. "What took you so long?"
"Here, have some." He passes me a bottle of coke, good thing he knows I'm thirsty.
"You need some sugar. Most of your energy was wasted because of the force of the portal."
I got up, shook off the dirt, and swallowed the whole bottle.
"Ace told me this is a school." I said after finishing.
"That's right. Wanna go?"
"Of course," I said.
"You know, there's something about you that... makes me feel comfortable when I'm around you. Oh well..." He said.
"What exactly is this?"
"It's a shooting field."
"Shooting field, like for guns and stuff?" At first, I thought it was a football field. But it was abnormally wide for something that has to do with sports. I think it stretched for miles.
"It's more than that." Said Ace. "We used to have track-and-field tournaments but, our Dashers became procrastinators, lazy runners." I laughed, even though I had no clue on what he meant by "Dashers". I shrugged it off and started walking with the two.
"What kind of a school has a shooting field? What are you, like, soldiers? Protectors? Cops?"
"Pretty much, yeah." Jackson said. "We also study advanced science and technology."
"Ooohhh... science!" I said. I love science, science is my favorite subject, right next to math. This is why most people ignore me, I am such a nerd.
"You're gonna love this school, if you wanna attend."
"I still wanna see, you know, what's inside."
"You are going to love it here. It's filled with inspiring people who strive to be better at what they do. What do want to be when you grow up?" That question has haunted me for years. I remember my first answer, doctor. Then I changed my mind and said, chemist. But I grew more confused and mixed-up. Do I want to be a doctor or a chemist?
"I don't know, I just can't pick one."
"Well, we have different academies at our school like, Architecture, Biology, Medical Arts, Business, Law and Government, Visual Arts, Technology and many more. There's like nine acadamies here. You can be anything you want." He smiles with his eyes.
The outside of the building has a timberwolf color and the windows were stained glass which had the engraving of a goat with a tail of a fish. Capricorns, I thought. Capricorns are loyal fighters, that's what I know.
"Are all the students here Capricorn? Because I'm a Pisces." I said.
"Huh? Oh, like I said, you can be anything once you get here." He said.
I looked around the extensive square footage of the lobby. Everything, everything was made of glass and steel, even the furniture frames.
"Are you sure this is a school? Looks like a hotel to me." I say, noticing I've been asking too much questions. I see the Capricorn again, this time, it's inside a circling water. I'm guessing it's made of copper, judging how it shines despite being in the dark.
"Everyone is asleep so silence is our new boss now." Ace said.
"Who was the old one?" I kidded.
"Not now, Jess." Jackson said. Suddenly, I was afraid of him.
"Can I just have one more question? The last one, I promise." I lied, I have so many questions.
"Yeah, sure." The both of them were looking around, like they were waiting for somebody to arrive.
"What state are we in?"
"Oops, I kind of left something out." Jackson said. "We're not in America."
"Europe?"
"Nope."
"Asia?"
"Uh-uh."
"So where are we? In space? Another planet? Another dimension? Like such thing exists."
"Feel better if I say yes? That we are in another planet called..."
"What planet? You're kidding me right?"
"Pluto."
"But, but, but Pluto is--"
"They built a secret land only for us, Innates. It was built in 1941 by the american-asians, they were brilliant and powerful I wish I had a chance to meet them and tell them how thankful I am for this place."
"I'm sorry, Pluto?"
"Yeah, you need some rest, Jess." Ace said. "I'll get you a key card for your dorm."
"Dorm?" I set the bottle down the glass table.
"Okay, for my sake, Jess. Please calm down." Ace said.
"Just summarize everything there is to know." Jackson suggested.
"Okay... uh..." He scratched his head and walked to the front table to get my key card. "The Capricorn Academy was built here at Pluto in 1941 because the Nazis hated us. I don't know what their problem is but, you're safe here. Everyone is friendly. The dorms are outside the building, I'll be your tour guide for the whole week, unless you freak out again."
"I promise I'll behave." I said.
"Okay. I'll show you your room. Follow me."
"I better get inside the office and include Jess on the students' files. I might be here for the remaining of the night."
"Wait, you sure?" I said. "You hardly know anything about me."
"I'm a psychic. Level 5, which is very good." Then I realized how he knew my name and my backstory.