INSOMNIAC

Chapter 16

"Tyson?" Verity asked, the betrayal clear in her eyes. The man shook his head, and walked over to her.

"No, Verity, I'm not Tyson," he said. He was the splitting image of Tyson, but his voice wasn't the same. "I'm James Glover. His younger brother."

"Well he never mentioned you," Verity said. "Would've thought he'd mention you." The man sighed, and took a seat at the desk.

"You can leave doctor," he said, his eyes not leaving Verity. The doctor that was standing by the door quickly stepped out and shut the door behind him.

"Are you like Tyson?" Verity asked. James gave her a questioning glance. "I mean, are you a type of fire elemental?"

James shook his head. "No, I was never like my brother. He was always the shining example of the family, while I was the black sheep of the family, the only boy in hundreds of years to be a Glover without powers." He paused with his story, and took out a folder from the desk.

"It felt like a living nightmare without powers. My parents always focused on Tyson, and I was treated little more than a servant, looked down upon, forced to do whatever my family required. After I was old enough to leave the house, I took my opportunity, and left. My brother got to lounge around, bathed in money, and I had to work for mine.

'For centuries, the Glover family had been the heirs of the fire elemental, and I wanted to be different. So I took scientists that were cast aside like me, and they helped me to recreate beings with power, under the company name of 'Star'. So for a rebellious flare I created my element to be water, the opposite of fire. Along with that, the water elemental power passed, and after the experiments, my power was apparently included as natural powers, and I became the water elemental power, the most powerful water elemental. After that, I made it my duty to help people become the best that they could be. After my 'glitch', it seemed that none of the experiments worked, until you."

"So if I was the only experiment that worked, how did you know that giving me more powers would work?"

"We re-examined at your formula, and we fixed all our pervious mistakes. Now, you are nearly the perfect sub-elemental. The next elemental to die should pass their powers to you."

"But the doctor called me an elemental source," Verity said.

"I guess that is true, but that's only because no sub-elemental has been as powerful as you before."

Verity didn't ask any more questions, and just kept quiet. James looked at her for a few seconds, and then handed her the file that her took out from the drawer.

"I decided that if you wanted to, you could work with us, and then at the end of the conflict, if you are still working with us, you could have a small share of the company."

"You do know that I don't care about the money, right?" Verity asked him.

"Then what do you want, Verity?" He asked.

"Honestly? I have no Idea."

"Well then, lets see if we can change that."

-

James took Verity out the room, and down a few halls. As they walked by, Verity could see many people working outside, and in the hallways. Weather it was cleaning or sorting, everyone was working.

"Who are all these people?" Verity asked.

"These people are the ones that you lived with at paradise, as well as ones that never got to the safety of paradise before getting caught. We buy them from the government, and they get put to work, and once they are done, they get a free meal, free clothes, free showers and places to sleep. Although it may not be the best way to live, it's better than being cut up for scientific purposes." Verity nodded, and kept on walking with him. Eventually, they reached the destination that James had led her to.

"This is the training room," He said, opening the doors.

Saying that the training room is big would've been the understatement of the year. It was the biggest room that Verity had ever seen in her life. The walls and ceiling were a grey color, but the floor was too covered in training mats to see the colors. The whole room was split into five There was a blank spot in the middle, with only the training mats. The rest of the room was divided into the elements. There were plants and dirt and trees in the one section, and in another there were different machines that looked like air conditioners. There was wood and charred marks on a wall in the one section, and water in the last.

"This is where we will be training," James said. "I didn't know whether you would be up for training today or not, so I booked the training room for tomorrow. You'll be doing water with me, fire with one of your trainers, earth with another, and I'm sure that you already know how to use your air, so I didn't call a trainer for that, but I can If you wish."

Verity shook her head, and looked around the room again.

"Are my non-elemental powers also increased?" She asked.

"I have no clue," James said, shrugging his shoulders. "Those you would have to figure out for yourself." Verity nodded, and followed him out the training room. They made their way through a few more hallways, and eventually stopped at a door.

"You will be staying in the staff quarters, and this will be your room," he said. "Dinner is in 20 minutes, and there will be other clothes and a map in your room. Even I get lost sometimes."

Verity thanked him, and went into her room. It was a standard hotel looking room, except it was slightly smaller. She opened the cupboard, and picked out a pair of jeans and t-shirt with combat boots and a leather jacket. All of the clothes were black, and made her feel a little uncomfortable, but Verity made do with what she had, and looked at the map. The dining hall wasn't that far away from her room, so she left about 5 minutes before the time. She took a few turns, and eventually got to the dining hall. As she made her way in, she saw a pleased looking James waving at her to come closer.

"Verity! I'm so glade you found us," he said. "You'll be sitting with us here at the staff table." Verity sat down next to James as he indicated, and was served food by a friendly looking waiter. As she ate, she realised that after all the time she had thought about her captors being evil was useless, and she was wrong all along.

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Thank you for reading!