Conspiracy Theorist

Chapter Six

Scarlett and Jocelyn wore matching suits that clung to them and Scar felt extremely uncomfortable. She pulled at the material and to her surprise it quickly expanded. She let go in shock and it snapped back to place. A glance in Jocelyn’s direction told her that her friend had discovered the same thing. They exchanged a quizzical look but Jason’s smooth voice snapped them out of it.

            “This way, please.”

            The four of them were being led to the same deep, dark abyss that the flight test had been performed at and Scarlett’s stomach dropped. She sent a pleading look at the boys but all they did was look at her sympathetically.

            Her resolve hardened to not be a baby in front of Adam again. She didn’t know why, but he didn’t seem to have any fears and he had suffered through the same amount- if not more- of abuse over the years. She told herself that that was the reason, but something in her gut told her that there was more to it.

            Gem prodded her back and Jocelyn and she stood next to each other at the base. She opened her mask to ask what they were supposed to do, but she was knocked of balance as Gem slammed a hand into her back. Scarlett didn’t even have time to scream because her eyes widened with shock. Jocelyn’s arm had stretched. The fabric had traveled with her arm to grasp a beam above their heads.

            Scarlett continued to fall like dead weight and the wind was knocked out of her as she slammed into the icy water. She broke the surface and fought to breathe again. Somehow Jocelyn stretching was worse than Adam flying or Kasper turning invisible. It was just gross to think that her arm was like a rubber band. It seemed the powers they were being tested for got increasingly worse and Scarlett couldn’t imagine what the last one- her one- would be.

She was so lost in thought that she didn’t even realize that she was still in the water and there were shivers ravaging her body. Her limbs went numb and she struggled to make her arms and legs move to propel her towards the ladder. Eventually she managed to grasp the rung and she gripped it so hard her knuckles turned white. She began a tedious climb.

Scarlett didn’t know how long she was climbing for, but it felt like hours. She managed to drag her limp body onto solid ground and everyone- save for Gem- let out sighs of relief. Gem just scowled at her then after a moment her lips spread into a cruel smile that made Scarlett skin crawl. She didn’t know what made her smile like that, but she knew it couldn’t be good. She stood on shaky legs and tried not to fall down.

“You’re blue,” Adam said and made his way over to her. A worried expression was plastered on his face. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and at first she tensed from the show of affection that she had never had, but then relaxed into his heat. She was still shivering but then eventually his warmth spread through her and she began to steady her body.

“Oh my Evolution, Scar,” Scarlett smiled as Jocelyn said that, since neither of them believed in god, they said Evolution in any spot normal people would say god. Jocelyn continued, “Did you see that? Wasn’t it so cool? I like totally stretched!” She let out a high pitched squeal and Scarlett was happy her friend wasn’t as repulsed by her newfound power as she was.

“Very cool,” Scarlett lied. She was trying to convince herself that it wasn’t such a bad power and she hoped when she got over the surprise of it all that she would come to except it. Jocelyn threw her arms around Scar’s waist, which was an awkward position because Adam still had an arm around her. She was relieved to realize that Jocelyn’s arm still felt human, it was warm and fleshy. She had been expecting it to feel like rubber and most of the disgust she had felt shrank into the far recesses of her mind.