The Equinox **DISCONTINUED**

You're from Jersey?

Sam draped an arm over Adam and Alex. "Taylor," he said, dragging out the "r" in her name. "How nice of you to pay us a visit!"

The woman rolled her eyes. "That's Taurus to you. To all of you." She stared at Adam, her eyes piercing, before turning and quickly walking out of the room.

Sam laughed. "This is it!" he yelled and started pulling Adam and Alex into the hallway after Taurus. The other men followed. Adam slipped out from Sam's grasp and fell to the back of the group with Langdon. He shoved his hands in his jacket pockets.

The other door, the girls' dormitory, Adam guessed, cracked open and a set of eyes peeked out. He recognized them as the girl from the taxi. She stepped out of the room and motioned for someone else to follow her.

Five other girls joined the taxi girl in the hallway and started to follow Taurus and the guys. One of them ran to the very front of the pack and jumped on Sam's back. Langdon rolled his eyes.

The taxi girl matched her pace with Adam's. They glanced at each other, but when their eyes met, the girl looked away quickly. Her hands rested inside the pockets of her puffy vest.

Adam sighed and tried to pull himself together. "Where are you from?" he asked, a desperate attempt to make conversation.

The girl looked at him again, her pale blue eyes curious. "Jersey," she stated.

Adam was surprised. "You don't look like you'd be from Jersey."

"Do I have to look a certain way to be from Jersey?"

"Uh, no. I guess not." Adam laughed uneasily. He was so stupid. Couldn't he keep certain things to himself? Langdon chuckled next to him. Adam elbowed him hard.

The girl looked forward at Sam and the other girl, a tall one wearing her hair in a high, curly ponytail. She smiled sadly. "My name's Polly."

Adam met her eyes. "What?"

"You asked my name earlier. It's Polly."

"Adam."

Polly nodded. "I heard. You tried to escape?" She pointed at Taurus. "We were informed of what would happen if we tried the same thing."

Langdon laughed at loud this time. "Yeah. I'm sure you were," he snorted, giving Adam a mischievous look.

Adam glared at Langdon, warning him to keep his mouth shut. Before anything could happen, though, a high-pitched laugh sounded from behind them.

A couple of the girls hovered over a phone, giggling hysterically. Taurus's voice rang out from the front. "No phones!" She sounded serious.

The girls hushed each other and continued typing frantically, but every now and then, they let a giggle escape.

Adam turned back around and continued walking. Although curiosity sat at the edge of his mind, he really didn't care about what they were fussing over.

"Alkine!"

"What?!" Adam called back in response to Alex's loud voice. Polly looked away and focused on the floor in front of her.

Alex threw a phone -probably his own- at Adam, who easily caught it. On the screen was a picture of him, the back of his jacket tore open and his old spiral notebook poking out. Alex nodded at the girls behind them.

Polly shook her head. "I'm sorry, Adam..."

Adam looked at her, confused. "Why?" he asked.

She pointed at the picture. "Doesn't that bother you?"

Adam shrugged. "Not really," he said, even though he was a little angry. Why couldn't they just say something to him? He called out to Alex and threw the phone back to him.

The rest of the walk was silent, and Adam was so lost in his thoughts, he walked right into Grant when the group came to a stop. They were in a large room with a beautiful domed ceiling covered in paintings and symbols. Most of the pictures were of planets or constellations, but there was one of tree right in the middle. It had four branches, one for season, and each of those branched into three more. The smaller branches held pictures of animals and a few people.

Adam was pulled out of his sightseeing by a loud bell. He looked forward to see twelve more people in front of him. Two of which were Leo, who kidnapped him, and Alan, the taxi-cab driver. Taurus and Crystal stood with them as well.

Adam pushed past Luke to Sam. "What's going on?" he asked.

The girl next to Sam shushed Adam. She wore a necklace bearing her name: Virginia. Adam ignored her and asked Sam again, "What's happening?"

Sam shrugged. "I don't know. I think it's a naming ceremony."

A naming ceremony. Adam wasn't even sure what that was. He was about to go back to Polly, who at least seemed to make sense, when Taurus began talking. Her voice bounced off the walls and ceiling, amplifying it.

"We have spent the last twenty years searching, waiting for the purest humans to replace us. Now that we have finally found you, the real training can begin."

Training? Adam glanced at Sam, who shook his head and mouthed, "Don't ask me."

Taurus continued. "You will spend time with each of us. It's important to understand how each sign's power works. Then, we will tell you what sign you represent." She threw a hard stare at Sam who smiled and waved. "Some of you may already know -if you cared enough to find out."

Adam tried to follow along with the next set of instructions, but there was so much he didn't get. What signs? What were they all representing? What training and why? Soon enough, he got lost in the mess of words.

Leo approached Adam slowly, his hazel eyes cautious. The rest of the group started pairing up with each other. "You look confused," Leo stated, a frown painted on his face.

Adam looked around, avoiding eye contact. He didn't trust Leo after what happened with the bird-creature and the taxi. "I kinda am..."

Leo motioned for Adam to follow him. "I'll see if I can clear things up for you," he said and began walking away. Not wanting to stand there like an idiot, Adam didn't protest as he followed.

They walked down the hospital-like hallways in silence. Adam watched the door to the dormitory pass by. They took a left, walked a little, then turned right. All the hallways looked exactly the same: pale gray walls and useless windows. Without Leo to guide him, Adam would've surely gotten lost.

Finally, they came to a stop. The door was large, made from dark wood, and one of the weird symbols from the tree painting was carved into it. Adam ran his hand across it. "What does it mean?"

Leo stared at the symbol for a minute before responding. "It's my symbol," he whispered. "The symbol of Libra."

"Isn't that a constellation, though?"

Leo nodded. "But it's also one of the twelve signs of the zodiac."

"Zodiac? Like the Chinese thing?"

Leo shook his head slowly and opened the door. He walked into the room and explained, "Astrology. It's a form of divination, the art of reading the future. It says that the position of the planets when you're born determines what kind of a person you'll be and what kind of a life you'll live.

"We're the signs. We embody them. We pave the path of the future for others." Leo turned around to look Adam dead in the eye. "And we're training you to take our place."

So I'm interested: any guesses on who goes to what sign?? Their names have something to do with it. ALSO.... If you feel like I'm representing your sign wrong or that I'm stereotyping, please let me know!! I'm trying to write them all correctly, but I only have experience with a few of them (mostly fire and earth signs).