AcademyX- School For Gifted Children

The Things That Hurt Us Most

My friends disappear behind the tree line. I see bodies all around me. Students and enemies. Children and the elderly. The guys holding me aren't careful and my head nearly crashes into a rock.

"We are trying to keep him alive. Be a little bit more careful, would ya?" I hear from a voice I recognize as Mr. Hall's.

I look over and see him glaring at me, but with an evil-looking smile on his face. My vision starts to fade and I can't find the source. I glance around and notice a young girl hovering a hand next to my head as she runs with me the guys carrying me. My eyes become to heavy to keep open, so I close them and drift off, surprisingly.

*2 hours later*

I open my eyes and find myself lying in an almost empty pool. Why is there a pool in a jungle in some weird dimension? Why is that my first thought. My attention shifts to a loud thud on a door on the other side of the large pool room. The door swings open and 2 men walk in.

"You're awake. That's good. The ceremony is happening soon." Says the taller man with a similar grin to Mr. Hall's just hours earlier.

"Where am I?" I ask loudly.

"The pool room of facility D. Didn't wanna drown ya, so we had to empty it. We have facilities A-F, but you people destroyed A and B. You really don't understand how big this place is and how little you changed the situation." Says the shorter man.

They both leave, slamming the door closed behind them. Maybe they're right. Maybe we really didn't do much to stop this. All the loss, and we only worsened everything.

I stand up and run to the door. I start banging on the door as hard as I can, but nothing happens. I decide to just sit and wait, so I walk over to a rack full of towels and make myself a small bed.

I only get to lie down and rest for 10 minutes when the same 2 men come back in.

"Get up, kid. It's time." Says the taller man.

Trying to act fearless, I stand and walk over to them.

"Okay. Let's get this over with." I say, choking back the terror.

They take me down a hallway. Passing many people who give me dirty looks. The walls seem very nice and have an elegant design. They really do have a nice thing going on here. Too bad it has to end.

We come to a halt at 2 small, fancy looking doors. The short man knocks. The sound of the door unlocking tells me that someone is inside and that whoever it is values their privacy. The doors slowly open, revealing a large room with gold-framed paintings, a mural on the far side, and a large table lined with wooden padded chairs in the middle of the room. Mr. Hall and Kal sit at one end of the table and 2 women dressed as maids stand in the back of the room.

"Joel, please take a seat." Says Mr. Hall.

I bravely walk over to a chair on the opposite side of the table and sit.

"Food please!" Kal says.

One of the maids disappear through a door in the back of the room.

"Do you think you're a king? What have you done for these people that makes them respect you so much?" I ask, glancing at Kal.

"Oh. You're mistaken. These people do not respect me in the least. They fear me. Respect is more of what the students at that school felt for Mr. Hall here. I'm assuming that respect is gone now." Kal says quietly.

The maid comes back into the room followed by other maids with trays of food. They place the food down on the table in front of us. Just then, it starts to rain outside. Large glass windows on my left display the downpour. It helps. Rain has always soothed me in a way.