Winter's Edge

Chapter 4 - Found

Ian

DISTANT voices and the sound of falling water roused me from sleep as I pulled in a waking breath. I cracked my eyes open but couldn't focus. Above me lay an open sky...or was it a ceiling? The walls around me didn't look right. Nothing looked right. Where was I?

I sorted through my memories furiously trying to track down the last one. My dad kicking me out. Mom in the hospital. The frozen trees. Running from the agents through Denver. Collapsing and losing consciousness. None of them told me where I was. Was I in some government facility where they'd make me their lab rat or try to use me as a weapon?

"Mom," said a girl with surprise in her tone.

I looked across the long room to find two blurry figures.

"Oh, he's awake. Good morning, Mr. Sharp." The mother's voice sounded older with a light British accent.

How did they know my name?

The two blurry figures stood and headed my direction. Tension seized my chest bringing the dark sensation out of hiding. It crept from my bones, weaving its way through my muscles like hundreds of slithering snakes.

I had to get out of here.

I sucked in a breath, flung covers off of me, and yanked an IV from my arm. Cords and sensors popped from my body like a frantic squid, and alarming electronic tones filled the room. A metal tray smashed into the ground spilling medical utensils across the floor.

"No need to panic," the British woman said, still quite a distance away.

I threw myself from the bed with my aching limbs. They weighed twice what they used to, like I'd been drugged. My feet pushed off of cold stone toward the door a few steps away. The British woman moved her arm and the door slammed shut by itself.

I wasn't the only one here with powers.

I grabbed a tray from the ground and threw it at the woman. She threw up her arms to block it, breaking her hold on the door. I jerked the door open and stumbled out.

"Mr. Sharp, this is quite unnecessary." The woman's accent might have sounded pretty if she didn't frighten me half to death.

I'd come out into a vast area roughly the size of a small football stadium, its circular wall a fuzzy gray to my drugged vision. Another blue sky, more blurry than the last, hung overhead. What was this place?

My legs surged with energy, driving me through a grassy area. I crossed a wooden bridge over a stream and hit more grass on the other side. A waterfall lay far to the right, feeding the stream I'd just crossed, but all I could see was a tall white streak.

Gasps sounded around me from distorted figures.

"Ian, stop!" It was the girl again.

Pushing harder, I made it to a stone floor and through an unusually tall passageway. Deep into the hall, I slammed into a wall, unable to stop my momentum. Super-speed had its drawbacks.

I turned left and set off down another passage. Then right. Then another right.

Strength drained from my legs. I managed to slow down but braced myself for the inevitable. My body folded and I took a dive, crashing into an inset door.

I should've expected my powers would be exhausted in no time. Where was I running anyway? I didn't have a plan. Didn't even know where I was.

I propped myself against the door and waited. It wouldn't take them long to find me.