One Tortured Soul

Chapter Fifteen

"...ready? They just seem so..."

Voices. They float in and out, fading before coming back again. Bit by bit I regained consciousness, everything coming back to me. The restaurant, the food... poisoned?

My eyes shot open and I sat up, panic taking hold. Where was I?

"Woah there..." Careful hands pressed against my shoulders, forcing me back down against what felt like a bed.

Memories of being in the government facility, of losing my wife, flashed before my mind. I gasped, the pain all too fresh.

"Just relax," a soothing voice said. The hands left, but I could still tell someone was there. I waited for several seconds before blinking to clear my vision. A soft, small woman came into view, wearing scrubs. Behind her stood a man who turned and walked out of my view.

"There we go," the woman said. "You're alright."

"The... the poison..." I shook my head, trying to understand what I was seeing and remembering.

"You were just drugged. We couldn't let you see the way here," the woman explained. "What's your name?"

I gave her a look, confused, but answered nonetheless. "Lucas."

"Lucas. Alright, my name's Petra. Why don't you try sitting up? The drug should have worn off enough so you shouldn't feel dizzy."

Petra helped me sit up, slowly at first, then steadied me. The nausea passed shortly and I was up and walking not too long after that. Once I felt well enough, Petra told me that a meeting would be held in to discuss the plans of the resistance. She said I was invited to join them, even though I wasn't technically a part of it.

I headed out of the infirmary and into the hallway, a dull light bar leading my way. The air was thick, dusty, and I wondered just exactly where we were. There were no windows, at least not that I had seen, which only confused me further. Having fallen asleep and not knowing how long I had been knocked out for was very disorientating.

I followed the directions that Petra had given me to find the meeting place. A left, another left, right, and then the first door on the left. I pushed open the door and headed inside.

The room was large, and a round table filled most of it. Seated around the table were at least thirty people, all talking at once.

Some of them looked up when I entered, but they didn't pay me much attention. I scanned the faces for any familiar ones, and was relieved to see Axel on the far side of the table. He was talking with a man beside him who was sporting a handlebar mustache. The guy stroked his mustache as he listened to Axel speak.

I made my way over to the two men, and Axel looked up as I approached. There were heavy bags under his eyes and I wondered just what had happened while I had been asleep.

"Finally awake, eh?" Axel raised an eyebrow as I took a seat beside him.

"What happened?" I asked.

He shrugged. "We made it. Guess they didn't quite trust us." He sent me a rueful grin. "But apparently they changed their minds now, seeing as we got an invite to this party." With that, he turned his attention back to his companion, the conversation over.

I sat back in the straight backed chair, watching the conversations around me. Things progressed without me, and for the time being, I was content to be left out. Things had gotten much too crazy recently and I desperately needed a moment to just breathe.

The doors opened again and a tall man entered. The whole room silenced almost immediately and I could sense the power that this man commanded.

"Alright. Let's get started," the man bellowed. "I can see that we have some new recruits here, so I'll start with the basics." Several people in the room chuckled and he paused for a moment.

"My name's Lindar and I'm the leader of this little group. We are what the government would call 'rebels.' But I prefer the term 'insurgents.' It has a nicer ring to it."

More scattered laughter.

"As the rise of more specials makes an appearance, the government has declared that they aren't to be trusted. They are trying to get rid of them. To take the specials and their power for themselves. But we don't agree. So we are fighting against that. Make sense?" Lindar paused for only a split second. "Good."

Another wave of laughter. I just raised an eyebrow, slightly amused that this guy thought he was so hilarious.

Just then, I noticed Celest and Kyle sneak in and take a seat along the far wall of the room. Kyle sent me a goofy grin and I nodded towards him before facing Lindar.

"...We are planning a series of attacks to weaken these new institutions that the government has put into place. And that's why we are all here. You'll be seperated into groups who you will be commanding. Each group will have a specific center to attack and will do it at a specific time. Here's the list--"

I tuned out at that point, thinking of where my babies were at this moment. Of what was happening to them.

My babies... my kids! What was I thinking? Supposedly they were here! And I had forgotten in all the rush and craziness.

I would have slapped myself if it wouldn't have looked ridiculous. I started to get up, but then Lindar said something that made me freeze.

"You there. You're one of them, aren't you?" Lindar was looking straight at me.

I didn't know what to say. But apparently Kyle didn't have that problem. He stood up.

"That's Lucas. He's a special," he said proudly before Celest could yank him back into his seat. I cringed, wishing he had never opened his mouth.

Lindar refrained from smiling, although it was quite obvious. He ushered me up to the front of the room where he slapped me on the back.

"Well, I'm glad to meet you. What is your ability, might I ask?"

I stared out at everyone, their eyes on me. I wasn't here to help these people; I was here to find my kids. To save them.

"Fire," I mumbled. "Fire," I said again, louder.

Mumbles rippled through group, eyes wide. I refrained from sighing, something I really wanted to do. I didn't want everyone to know about it. This "ability" of mine had caused me nothing but pain. There was no reason in my mind that I should be proud of it or proclaim it.

"Well now, that's impressive, to say the least. Care to divulge any information?" Lindar asked, his hand still on my back.

I shrugged off his hand and shook my head. "I'm not here to join your fight. I'm here to find my family." With that, I turned and left the room, determination surging through my veins at my task.

Hey guys! Before you even think it, yes, this was a puny chapter, and sorry about that. I know it's been super long since I updated, but I just recently finished NaNoWriMo (yay! I actually won, too! Final word count: 70,000) and I needed a bit of a break from writing. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to comment or follow!

Ithildae