Flight

Chapter One

My town is divided into manors A-Y. Each manor contains students from age 10-19 with a specific power. For example Manor A has people with the power to teleport, while Manor B's power are ice. Once you aged to 8 you discover your power, tattooed on the side of your pointer finger clearly visible to all. A symbol represented what you were, in my case I had a parrot tattooed in green ink. The parrot symbolized my ability to mimic sounds and appearance, something that landed me in Manor V. The power came in handy when sneaking between Manors; I could make my skin an emerald green to match the people of Manor R (vegetation). In three years, I will finally be 19 and get to leave Manor V and continue on in life, own a big blue house with vast amounts of land for my children to run around. Of course, that is only a pipedream because in reality once you reach 19 you are sent into the town to use your powers to help others. I don't know what I'd do with my power, they'd probably assign me to a government job or something.

"Alex let's go!" A voice hummed from downstairs, probably Vega. I checked the clock in my bedroom. 2:00pm, which meant it is time to go hunting. The only things we are allowed to use to catch our food were nets and our powers. We are confined to hunting in the outskirts of town, which is littered with trees and bushes. To ensure that nobody escapes they made sure the fences flow with electricity 24/7, the buzz of the fence can even be heard from the very center of the town. I remember the time Jimmy Stambelle accidently hunted too close to the fence, the smell of burned flesh lingered in the air for days. After that, the town added reflective strips that could be seen at night and hunting was restricted to certain times.

The cold air nipped at my skin but it did not hurt. With my net in one hand and my skin now tinted to match the orange leaves that littered the ground, I stalked what looked to be a rabbit. I signaled for Vega to drop down behind me and follow. Vega was a new transfer from the town, only just turned ten. I was in charge of making sure that she learned how to use her powers properly.

"Okay lesson one." I whispered. "When in sight of your prey change to a neutral color similar to your surroundings. Right now you should be brown."

"Why brown?" Vegas face twisted with discomfort.

"Because the bark on the trees are brown and the soil underneath the leaves are brown." I snapped. "Now quickly change because once we see the rabbit we wont have time to."

"I'm trying okay? No need to get on my case." Her face eased up a bit, her skin tone began to darken, and her clothes are swapped with plain brown attire. I pushed her up ahead of me and pointed to the rabbit tracks.

"Keep sight of the prints and look for any feces, it'll signal how far away they are." I whispered. She nodded and continued her low shuffle towards the game. I looked out towards the distance; Manor H could be seen faintly. I had heard stories about Manor H from my dad who had attended it. Manor H was water, they had the power to control the path of water and produce water through their palms. Hunting for them mostly was fishing but occasionally they overflowed ponds just enough to kill the animals in the surrounding area.

"There it is!" Vega tapped her foot twice signaling for the net, which I handed over reluctantly. I normally did the hunting due to the fact I was older but she had to learn eventually. I saw her slide up against a tree making sure to not step on any of the crunchy leaves. She quickly maneuvered her way up the tree onto a low branch that suspended over the rabbit. Kicking her feet back, she swung upside down, making sure that her skin tone matched the earth below her, and fell back from the branch and onto the unknowing rabbit, capturing it under the net. I was honestly impressed at the skill and concentration she had obviously put into the hunt, maybe I should let her capture more often. She knotted the end of the net and swung it over her shoulder, the rabbit kicking a bit, as she did so. Vega uncovered herself and gave me a sly smile; this was the highlight of her life probably. I patted her on the back and through the net, I gripped the rabbit's neck and lower back, with turn of my wrist, I snapped the rabbit's neck.

Days had passed since the hunt with Vega, I spent most my time helping out around the house. I have chosen to isolate myself in my room with the occasional stroll outside. The only thing good about the manor was the amount of rooms, it virtually never seemed to fill up. Ricky (a visitor from another manor) had been placed in floor 7, the hall where the visitors stayed. Most of the hall was empty besides two occupied rooms, because nobody wanted to visit Manor V. The town called us "Fakers" because of our ability to look and sound different from how we really do. My mom was in Manor V too, a complete coincidence she described it whenever she visited.

"Where's Alex?" I heard someone ask from down the walkway. I was currently sitting outside by the gates, listening to the hum of the fence.

"He's out in the courtyard...I think he might be depressed or something." A female voice responded back. She was right, I was becoming lonesome. My normally vibrate brown hair was now an almost rusty orange color and my grey eyes had become coal black. Strolling into the room came a tall white man with a black comb over, clad in a bulky black suit. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and casually walked over to where I was seated. Carefully he pulled up another white lawn chair to sit next to me.

"I'm Agent Roscoe and I assume your Alex?" He stuck out a beefy hand and I accepted it slowly.

"What brings you here today?" I try to mentally calculate all the bad things I had done that would call for the authority. I came up blank.

"There has been a complication," he bluntly replied. "Someone you know has been...taken." The agent eased out the words slowly, I could see his normal emotionless face had softened a bit.

"Who?" I replied worriedly. Every now and then, a crime is committed in the town, a rare event that is usually under control in the matter of seconds. I tried to recall when I last saw my parents, they could not have been taken my mom was had a constant group of security and my dad was always flocked by his fellow marine biology friends.

"Ella." Agent Roscoe has completely wiped all signs of sincerity away. "Ella has been taken."