The Haven

Chapter 22

The helicopter continues to come closer and closer, gaining on us. My father looks up and sees my flushed face and how I'm slowing down. I can already tell what he is thinking.

"Your going to have to drop me." He says and I rapidly shake my head.

"No. No, I am not going to just drop you! We'll make it, we'll be fine."

"Aaliyah, if you don't drop me we will both be captured." I look back once more and see the chopper only a few yards away, still coming closer. He's right. I look down and see a small lake below. Quickly, I dart down towards the lake and once in close enough, I loosen my grip.

"I'll come back for you." I say in all seriousness, and he smiles. My arms release him, sending his body plunging into the cool water.

***

It took three days of searching, from the land and the sky until we finally found my father crouched beside a large oak tree. It was a miracle he didn't die from hypothermia due to the cold nights and the cold water I had to drop him in. He's okay now though, making it time for the next task to arise. This leads to where I am now.

My heart beat picks up, pumped with adrenaline. I feel a wave of shivers roll over my shoulders as I crouch against the back wall of a cabin, clinging to the shadows. Just when you think your never going back, there you are, lurking in the shadows of the Blaze.

Mission Recruit proved to be more difficult than previously anticipated. We assembled as many humans we could into our growing army, but were still vastly outnumbered. We needed something more. We didn't just need to increase our numbers, but strength too.

We needed gifts, people like Illia, and me. People like Raven.

It turns out, the Blaze works in rounds along with the Haven. Once the Blaze has enough people fully trained to use their gifts, the chips are altered and the drones are moved out. Once the drones are moved to an unknown location, new people are brought to the Blaze, clueless of what their training to become.

My father, Rose, River, and a group of others we brought along filter throughout the Blaze and "recruit" people. I should be doing the same thing, but there is something I have to do. Something I need to know. I hurry around the corner and peek into the small window of what should be Raven's cabin. Nothing. I hurry over to what used to be mine, but he isn't there either. I search everywhere, tears building up until I realize he isn't here. He's gone. He's a drone.

I break down, curling into a ball and soaking the sleeves of my grey shirt. Its all my fault, I lost him. I left him behind and now he is gone. I shudder in my arms, then consider another possibility. Maybe he isn't a drone, maybe he found a way to escape! I run my hands through my hair, focusing on that small sliver of hope that he might still be the Raven I remember.

"Aaliyah, we have to leave, the guards are on our tails. We rallied up-Hey, are you okay?" Rose says crouching beside me. I wipe away my tears and pull myself together.

"I'm fine, lets go."

We bolt out of the facility, guards hot on our tails. Bullets erupt from all angles, slicing through the air. One of the guards points his gun straight at the center of my back, but before he can fire, a girl I don't recognize points her finger at the gun and it instantly melts. She sends me a knowing smirk and I nod a quick thanks before we both turn and continue running. The new recruits know where to meet, so we all split up. I unfold my wings and shoot into the air.

The war is coming closer by the minutes. And we'll be ready.

***

I look out the glass widow of the office and see the rest of our warehouse filled with humans and gifted people ready to destroy the director and all who stand at his side.

It's almost time, I saw it in a vision, only one more month until the heinous director sends his army of drones and the governments military to take over the world. One more month to prepare, one month to be completely ready to attack and fight for our freedom. The Haven Revolution is almost here.

"Hey sis?" I whirl around to see Willow twisting in his chair.

"How many gifts do you have again?" I take a moment to think and remember all of them.

"Breathing under water, flying, invisibility, talking to animals, and seeing the predicted future. So five so far...if everything works out the way the Haven scientists planned, I should have two more left to discover." I also am abnormally strong, but I'm pretty sure that came with the wings. Flying takes a lot of strength when your about ten times the size of an average bird.

Suddenly, a loud noise begins to pulse in my ears. It grows louder and louder to the point where I cannot bear to hear it. My hands shoot up to cover my ears and I wince, crouching down as the flapping sound almost ruptures my ear drums. Everyone in the room hurries to my side as I force myself to try and see where the noise is coming from. Everyone else seems unaffected by the piercing noise, making me wonder if they can even hear it. My eyes find themselves staring through the widow and out another one all the way across the warehouse.

A butterfly.

A butterfly flutters just outside the farthest window, each flap of its wings sending a loud boom echoing through my ears. Great, super hearing. I close my eyes and try to focus on lowering my hearing, and to my luck, my ears obey.

"What's the matter, Aali?" My father asks, worried. I turn to Willow who is watching scared and confused by my sudden actions.

"Looks like I forgot one of my gifts," I say to Willow and his eyes grow wide, "I have super hearing."

I guess now there's only one more gift to go.