The Insiders

Chapter 6*

Chapter 6- Sharlene

After a long walk, we arrive to our designated room. Nobody talked along the way. I think we are just too curious and nervous to talk. Steve unlocks the grey door and we enter behind him. Our designated room starts as just a small meeting room with white walls and grey carpet. There is a oval wooden table with five black cushion chairs around it and a black leather chair on wheels at the head of the table. Beyond the meeting room though, there is a large empty room. It has tiled floors and white walls. There's a large metal door towards the back with a code to get in. Once again, there are not any windows to be see . After we take all this in, we sit down at the table. I sit on the one side, with Amy to my left and all the boys sit on the other side. Steve sits at the head of the table in the big black leather chair.

"This is going to sound old school and childish," Steve begins. "But If we could go around and say our names, age and power, it would be very helpful for everyone." Steve turns his head towards me to begin.
"My name is Sharlene Fraser, I am fifteen and I," I turn to look at Steve for reassurance. "have the power of thought." The last part sounds so weird coming out of my mouth. I feel like someone should laugh, but no one does. I guess that this is the normal now.
"I'm Amy, I am sixteen and I have the power of light." She says with disappointment clear in her voice.
"I'm Coren. I am seventeen I have the gift of strength." He says. Suddenly I go back to when he broke the cement block when I first met him. A chill goes up my back.
"I'm Thomas, I am fifteen and I have the gift of knowing." He says without any emotion really. Amy and I focus our eyes on the stranger in the room, Bryce.
"I'm Bryce, I am sixteen and I have the power of speed." He says coolly. Everybody's eyes now go to Steve.
"Nice job everyone," He says. " And now for me." Steve does not say anything. Everyone stares at him in confusion. Still nothing happens. We look at each other seeing if anyone is seeing something that the other is not. Just when I'm about to say something, I feel a strong breeze on my right. I turn to look nothing's there. Nobody has moved. I begin to search for a window even though I have already looked. Everyone joins in my search. Then the wind is so strong. It feels like there's a tornado in the room. It makes my hair go everywhere. I hear a scream to my left. I look to see Amy being lifted out of her seat. I try to grab her, but she is already out of my grasp. Bryce slides over the table to Amy and jumps and pulls her down a little by her hand. They share a look that even I can not explain. I look back at Steve. He's smiling. He's doing this.
"Stop it!" I scream at him. He turns his head to me. Suddenly the wind stops. Amy lets out a scream, but then lands in Bryce's arms bridal style. They share a long stare with each other then he puts her down. Amy looks down at the ground as she fixes her hair. Bryce is just standing there with his eyes still on her.
"Thank you." She says to him, but still does not look at him.
"So as you all probably know by now," Steve continues with a smirk. "I have the gift of wind." Steve is the only one smiling in the room.
"Now if everyone would sit back in their own seats, we'll continue." He says staring at Bryce. Bryce takes one last look at Amy then proceeds around the table back to his seat.
"Thank you. Now you could all see how strong my power was. Well that's from practice. Lots of practice," Steve seems to trail off in thought. "Anyway that's why you are all here; to train, so you can use your power to it's full ability. With a little training your powers will be incredibly strong." Steve looks at us excitedly.
"Coren," Coren's head whips to look at Steve. "you will have incredible strength throughout every muscle in your body, nothing will be able to stop you.
"Bryce," Steve continues. "you will become faster and faster everyday. You will be faster than light itself."
"Thomas," Thomas looks scared by Steve's excitement. "your power has progressed quite a bit already, but your facts will become more detailed. Right now people have to ask you a question for you to know the answer, but with time, you will be able to answer anything without any prompts." Steve finishes and turns to look at Amy.
"Amy, you'll be able to produce light from every part of your body. Light strong enough to light up a football stadium!" Last he turns to me. Steve's excitement dies down slightly as he begins.
"Sharlene, you will be able to read every thought in anyone's mind and place thoughts in people's minds. Your power could turn into so much more, but we don't quite know what." This scares me. I am the unknown. The one who has an unpredicted future. It's nice, but I do t like being the only one.
"I know this is a lot to think about, so I'll just let you guys go back to your rooms to digest this information." Steve finishes. He then looks us all in the eyes then leaves the room.

I spend the rest of the day walking around headquarters by myself. I hear the odd thought, but not too many. I eat dinner with Coren and Thomas in the dinning hall. I can't find Amy anywhere. Dinner with Thomas and Coren is great, but we mostly just try to do stuff with our powers. Coren and I ask a few questions to Thomas and he answers. I find one or two thoughts from their minds. Coren doesn't do anything because we don't want to break something on our first day here. After dinner the two boys walk me to my room then carry on down the hall. I get ready for bed and try to wait up for Amy, but I end up falling asleep.

The next few days are just repeats of that. The sessions with Steve become longer. We do more training now. We use the large empty room for training. Behind the metal door with the code is supplies like targets and mats. I swear there is more there, but I do not know for sure. Steve starts everyday by explaining how we are a family and how we need to work together. I do not understand what he means though. Everybody's powers improve a little everyday. Things don't change for me, though. My days progress stays the same.

The thoughts of home are beginning to disappear. I guess I've decided I am safe here, so this is becoming my home. I do miss my sister. I miss her so much it hurts. I wonder how they are from time to time, but then decide I am better off not thinking about it. I am staying here. Although, I do like to think of a future outside of this place, but for the time being I am here. It's not bad. We have food and I guess I have friends. It's strange walking through the halls and seeing people practice their powers. Sometimes I'll see flashes of shiny things or suddenly something will appear or somebody will start pouring out something from their hands. It is not encouraged to use your powers outside of the classroom, but they do not have a punishment for it. This is my new normal. I just do not know if I am okay with that yet.