The Gifted [INDEFINITE HIATUS]

11 • Elayne

A/N: There have been MAJOR CHANGES to this chapter!

***

Elayne Woodson, you are one of the Gifted.

Questions are rocketing through my mind, ricocheting off my skull like ping pong balls, leaving me unable to concentrate on a single one.

"The story behind the Gifted starts only a few hundred years ago," Kira says, her voice taking on a matter of fact tone that only enhances her appearance of a professor giving a lecture. "It was back when genetic engineering was still legal, and quite common, at that. I do think scientists were a little obsessed with it, because although it was generally used to treat diseases and such, they eventually started doing it almost for fun. They would experiment on humans to push the limits and see what sorts of crazy things they could do by making slight changes to certain genes.

"Obviously, some things--many things--went wrong... but other things went right. And among those things was the first ever person whom we now consider Gifted.

"The success only revamped the scientists' enthusiasm for their little experiments. Soon enough, more and more Gifted individuals were popping up, each with varying abilities, which we now call Gifts, as scientists discovered new genes that produced different results.

"And, of course, these Gifted people started having children, and then they had Gifts too. The thing is, when two people with different Gifts had a child, the child would usually have an entirely new Gift--and when the scientists got wind of this, they went insane. In their eyes, the opportunities were endless. They didn't have to manually fiddle with the genes of their subjects all the time anymore. Instead, they could breed humans--breed them like animals. So, of course, that's what they did."

"Wait a minute," I interrupt, pressing my fingers to my temples. "I don't understand. You say that genetic engineering created the Gifted, but what are they? What do you mean by abilities?"

"What are we," Kira corrects. "Dr. Larson and I are Gifted too, and so are you. We're just ordinary people, but with slight tweaks in our DNA that make us, well, extraordinary. And the Gifts vary quite a bit, actually. Some can read minds, others can walk through walls, still others can fly... and then there's you, controlling fire. Your Gift is quite suspicious, actually. The last recorded case of a Gifted individual with the power of controlling one of the elements was centuries ago. And that was back when scientists were still manipulating people's genes themselves. That is, the individual who could control an element was just a normal human who was genetically engineered, not born to two Gifted adults."

I gape. "Fire--but--"

"I know it's unbelievable, Elayne," Dr. Larson says. "But what happened with your Examination? That was all you. You have the ability to summon fire at will, and it is indeed something that we haven't seen in a long time."

I feel like I'm going to throw up.

"Please don't," Kira mutters, taking a step back, and I realized I've spoken aloud.

Dr. Larson pushes a glass of water at me. "Here. Drink some water and maybe you won't feel as sick."

I remain frozen, staring at Kira. I know that, logically, what she's claiming must be true. But at the same time, I can't believe it. I don't want to believe it.

Dr. Larson taps the glass with his finger. "I'm serious. You look like you want to faint. Drink a little and see if you feel better."

My hand trembling, I pick up the glass and take a sip. As soon as I do, the churning feeling in my stomach settles a little, and I gratefully gulp down some more. It tastes slightly different from normal water, I realize, and has a tangy flavor. Maybe it's some sort of anti-nausea thing he put in it. If it is, then it's certainly working.