Elements of Freedom

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen

Water

There was a slight hint of what looked like a bundle of houses in the distance below a huddle of tall mountains that stretched across the vast land in front of us. Ila, of course, led the way as if she were following an invisible guide. Once every few minutes she appeared to be mouthing words, and then waiting for some sort of reply. I had come to the conclusion that perhaps she was trying to recall directions to wherever we were going. However, this conclusion was becoming even more unrealistic as she was completely aware of where we were, and which ways we were to walk. So, to save whatever sanity I had left, I tried to ignore her lone conversations as much I could.

"My feet are bleeding." My words flowed out like water, not even realising they had left my mouth. I watched carefully to see who would reply or support my question. Not one person lifted their head or even took a glance in my direction, for what seemed like several minutes.

"Look down." Ember piped up in almost a whisper. We were stood on a large cliff, standing way above the cluster of what I originally thought were houses. They weren't houses. It was a building which looked identical to the lab which we had just escaped from.

My limbs stiffened inside my body, and my legs began to shake with fear and anger. But the shadows next to me reminded me I would be okay. I knew I would be; I kept my eyes on Ila, curious as to what her next step was.

"Ila, why?" Arcanio growled what I'm sure we were all thinking. His eyes began to cloud over and fill with ripples of grey cloud looking shapes, which triggered small whisps of wind in his hands. He was preparing for the worst.

"If they live, we cannot. It is something we must do. Together." Her reply was icy and spoken without a hint of emotion. She began to access the area and appeared to be looking for a way down. She had hunger in her secretive eyes. I couldn't put my finger on it but there was something about Ila, something about her that was both terrifying and intriguing. As much as I tried to be immune to her odd behaviour, there was a more dominant side of me that was becoming sick with curiosity.

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There was a huge metal door concealing the lab inside. It had thick metal bolts covering it, and deep marks that looked like claw markings. 

"How do you suggest we get inside?" Ember spoke from behind us. The building looked unguarded but still difficult to break and enter.

I caught a glimpse of green in the corner of my eye. I began to frown, unable to figure out how we were in fact going to get inside. Ila, of course, remained calm - as if she had a set plan in her mind. Which, wouldn't have surprised me, considering she had an answer for everything - she was always one step ahead of us or so it seemed.

The small tufts of grass beneath our feet suddenly shifted like a tiny earthquake. However minuscule, it was big enough to gradually raise us to the roof of the lab. I checked around me to make sure I wasn't the only one with a dumbfounded look on my face. We all had powers, but somehow Ila overshadowed us. She had a presence that was frightening.

My mind once again was spinning, I found myself thinking back to my schooling in the lab I had grown up in. The prison cell I had lived in. There was one particular labcoat, I wished I knew her name. She was the nicest of the worst bunch. She specialised in the teaching of words and reading words. She never congratulated me after a good session, but she did reward me with a slight break between lessons. She would tell me that my brain function was remarkable, apparently my brain functioned at a vastly accelerated level to normal human beings. If I were far more naive I would feel grateful that I was educated but, that too was a test only with less needles, and pain. There was a particular lesson of words that I couldn't help but remember vividly. Even the tone of her voice stuck in my mind, the smell of her skin and the click of her heels echoed inside my head. Her touch.