Isle of Sanctum | The Aya Thrasher Chronicles | Book 1 |[Editing]

Chapter Forty-Nine

CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

RAYNE

The next morning, I woke up excited. I know that sounded wrong. We were about to put ourselves in eminent danger, but I wanted to kick some butt. They had messed with me one too many times. They had almost made me destroy the people I had come to care about. Camden had been like a big sister to me, and then to just betray my trust like it meant nothing. That's what burned my blood the most. I wasn't about to let them get away with that. Justice was going to prevail. I was going to make sure of that.

After I was done getting dressed, I wrapped each of my forearms with athletic tape to prevent bleeding from electrical burns. If I had to use my powers, it would be vital that I was prepared. Who was I kidding? Of course I was going to have to use my powers. I could use the gloves Camden gave me, but who knew what kind of hacks it had hidden in it. She could have used it to spy on me for all I knew.

A part of me wanted to reach Nova somehow to tell her what was going on. She probably didn't care. She had her new life with the underground and everything seemed good for her. I shouldn't have to burden her with my problems.

Before leaving my room, I searched around my backpack until I found a pair of brass knuckles the police officer had given me before we left for the dyeing center. They probably would be useless, but it was always good to have back up just in case. That reminded me of how I got here.

TWO MONTHS AGO....

After I had been processed as an offender, one of the male correctional officers escorted me back to a holding cell at the juvenile center. It was large, about the size of an average bedroom, larger than I was expecting. I was also somewhat relieved to see that there was only a single bed. No need to worry about a roommate.

"Because of the nature of your crimes, we can't risk you harming any of the other inmates," the guard told me.

After the officer left, I glanced at my reflection in the mirror crookedly hanging over the sink. I ran my hand through my toffee colored hair. I didn't look half bad in the navy uniform.

Hours went by before another officer came to check on me. This time it was a female officer who despite her tiny structure had an intimidating presence. She slid a tray full of sludgy brown colored food in the slot. The sight of it made me feel like puking.

"Rayne Markovic, we will be moving you to an adult institution tomorrow," the officer mentioned.

I dropped the plate of food on the floor. "I'm seventeen."

"You're being tried as an adult. As you know, we need you to be housed closer to the adult courthouse in Shreveport," she said before walking away.

My life wasn't really particularly valuable. I would rather die than live by the standards that the Federation imposed. What was I to do now? As I closed my eyes, I thought back to the night before and how I had smashed the glass out of the store's windows. If only I could do that again. I clenched my teeth, trying to focus myself on creating a tornado of power. It wasn't working and after several failed attempts I gave up.

I twirled around the room, eyeing any objects that could be useful. I spotted the tray with the sludge of food and picked it up. Without a second thought, I repeatedly slammed the tray against the mirror, until bits and pieces started to fall from it. I bent down and picked up a sharp slender piece. Holding it in my hands, I admired it for a moment before deciding it would be sufficient to do the job. I realized trying to cut through the bars with the glass would be idiotic.

Instead, I tried focusing on the bars, maybe I could remove them this way. I tried and tried. Clenching my fists tighter and tighter, until a viscous maroon colored liquid oozed out of my arm and formed a pool on the floor. Electric currents had burned through my forearms.

The room around was spinning around me like merry-go-round and my powers weren't strong enough to remove the strong bars. The blood loss was already starting to get to me. I had tried too hard, and it had burned through my skin.

The next time I woke up, I found myself starring straight at boring, white covered walls, a little disoriented from the morphine. I stretched my neck down and examined my arms. They were wrapped in aquamarine colored bandages. They still stung. Several tubes connecting to an IV were twisted around my body like a snake.

Quickly becoming more aware, I ripped the IV's from the bulging blue veins in the center of my arms. It didn't hurt, but thin streams of blood flew rapidly down my arms as I tried to get out of the bed. I found myself having a hard time moving my foot and I came to the realization that my foot was cuffed to the metal railing of the bed. Of course! It would have been too easy. After all, I was a criminal.

The door flew open. My heart stopped. I didn't want to know what they would do if they had caught me attempting to escape. I sighed and closed my eyes tightly, somehow thinking I could escape from this terrible situation.

"Are you awake?" I heard a familiar voice and opened my eyes.

It was the cop who had arrested me. "Oh great, are you here to take me back?" I rolled her eyes.

"You're not going back," he said and threw a small backpack into my lap. "Get dressed."

I was confused, but I didn't want to question him. "I would love to, but—" I pointed to her ankle cuff.

After he uncuffed my ankles and left the room, I slid on the pair of faded jeans, threw on the white tank, and put the plaid long sleeve shirt over it. I slipped one of the backpack straps onto my left shoulder and warily left the room. The cop was standing outside looking at his watch. I looked at him to signify that I was ready to go. I glanced at him for a second, looking at his nametag for the first time: "OFFICER THRASHER".

In the vehicle, I proceeded not to ask any questions. The less I knew the better. About three hours into the ride, we pulled into a motel parking lot. Another vehicle pulled in the empty spot beside us. Officer Thrasher told me to get out of the car quickly and to be careful. 

END OF PART VIII.