Running From Time

Chapter 18

Suddenly, a noise so loud and so high pitched that my head felt like it was splitting in half pierced the air. I instantly started screaming and someone removed the gas mask from my face. The noise stopped and I rubbed my head, slowly sitting up. I could see my reflection in one of the metallic walls and my jaw dropped. My eyes were bright green. Maybe my powers were back! Vanessa stood next to me, looking at me in horror. I gave her a sheepish smile and she backed away slightly, knocking over a glass of water in the process. Nobody dared to move.

"Is Thalia here?" I asked quietly and four of the people in the room ran out, scared. I frowned and looked to Vanessa, who was almost out of the door.

"I've gotta go -"

"Please. I just want to see her." I pleaded and she looked at me with fear and a small bit of pity. After a moment of hesitation, she nodded and headed out of the room. I looked around and spotted a strange pool of sparkly black liquid sitting on a chair to the right of me. My body was stiff but I managed to haul myself off of the bed. I looked at it curiously before slowly lowering my hand towards it. As my fingers made contact with it, it jumped onto my hand. I yelped and looked around quickly to check that no one was watching. It snaked its way up my arm and I pulled at it, trying to get it off. Footsteps to the left of me made me panic as I desperately tried to prise the strange black liquid off of my arm. It started to spread across my chest and down my legs.

The doors opened.

"Chris!" Thalia screamed in delight and I turned to her. She burst out laughing when she saw the liquid making its way to every part of my body.

"Hey! Uh, can you get this thing off of me?" She just laughed some more and I looked down to see that the liquid had stopped spreading. I was covered in what looked like a jumpsuit. As I watched, spirals began to form.

"I see you've met our uniform!" Thalia exclaimed and I rolled my eyes. So that's what it was. She was also dressed in one and I tried not to look at her curves. I could tell she was also trying not to look too far down my body either.

"Yeah, unfortunately." She giggled and I smiled.

"You know, these jumpsuits are made from a very rare chemical, one that can't be found on earth."

"Really? Why?"

"Well, it comes from a planet called Sio. It's in the Andromeda Galaxy. It allows the wearer to gain incredible speed and strength. Try it out." I shrugged and took a single step. The world zoomed past me momentarily and before I knew it, I was crashing into the wall.

"Ow." I said softly and Thalia chuckled.

"Yeah, it takes some getting used to. But I've been here my entire life so I'm used to it." I nodded.

"Your whole life? You mean, you've never lived in a proper house?!" I exclaimed and she shook her head. Wow, that must be weird.

"Nope. This place is my home. As you can tell, our technology is very advanced."

"What exactly is this place?" I asked and she smiled wryly.

"PMHQ. It stands for PeaceMakers' HeadQuarters. And I brought you here to protect you. I knew that something was wrong when I saw you completely knocked out on the cliff and I knew it was finally time for you to come here. It's the safest place in the world. Well, it was until..." She paused, looking up at the ceiling. I shook my head in confusion.

"But why didn't you bring me here before if it's the safest place?"

"Because...well, I didn't know how the people here would...react to you."