Insider

Release.

"Hey! Come back home immediately after school. I wanna show you something." reminded Louise.
"Got it."
"Alright then. I'll see you at lunch."
It was quite a gloomy day. Clouds covered the sun, but no rain. Exactly my type of weather. I never liked the sun, I feel too exposed in it. All people can see me. The darkness though, that's where I felt the most comfortable. Even in my room at home I always keep the lights off and the blinds down. I don't know, but I sometimes think I hear a faint voice when I'm alone in the darkness. Huh, I've probably spent so much time alone I can practically hear my thoughts clearly.
"Connor!" a voice that was not Tristan called.
I turn my head and it is Rose.
Oh god.
Oh fuck.
Ok, I need to keep calm and stay levelheaded. I've talked to girls before. I can do this.
"Rose! Glad to here you see. I mean see you here." I blurt out.
Big brain, Connor. Big brain. She seemed to not care though. My dumb luck.
"Same! I was looking for you since yesterday in fact and wanted to ask you something."
This is gonna be interesting.
"The other day, my friend Dina, you know, the lightning girl, found something amazing outside of the hexagon. We are planning to have a closer look at it, but I thought that only 2 people would be boring. Why don't you and Tristan come along? I'm sure you could use the occasional thrill once in a while. And maybe...we could hang out more."
Rose is what one would call a prodigy among Deltas. Ever since first grade, she showed complete control over her water manipulation powers, and one year later, she could turn water into ice and siphon it from the surrounding air and plant life, probably the most advanced water Delta feats that even the most skilled of us have trouble doing. Even if you left that out, you have a beautiful slender girl with long hair and big brown eyes.
"Well I'd love to, but I have to head straight home. My sister asked me to."
"Oh come on. It won't be long at all. Your sister won't notice the time at all. Besides, even if you get home a little late she will understand."
Of that she wasn't wrong. Louise was known in the whole hexagon for her easy-going and kind demeanor, but when she says something is important, it definitely is. But this thing shouldn't last THAT long. I mean, it's not every day someone gets to hang out with Rose, especially if that someone is me.
"Well, if you say so."
"Perfect! Tell Tristan as well. He likes an adventure too."
The break came earlier than I thought. Tristan was at his usual spot, helping himself on some huge sandwiches. When he saw me, he immediately picked me up and squeezed me until I almost passed out.
"My guy, you're an absolute ladies man!" he said in his thundering voice.
"I'll be a pancaked ladies man if you don't let go of me." I squeaked.
"Ahaha! Sorry about that! So, outside the hexagon?"
"Yeah, after the overpass."
"What could be so interesting? I mean, hexagons are built pretty far away from other stuff. My expectations aren't that high, but hey! Rose and Dina!"
"Yeah, I guess giving it a shot really does work wonders."
"We are still playing that game of pool afterwards though."
"Tris, come on, I already told you Louise needs me for something."
"What important thing does she need you for so much?"
"I don't know, but since she asked me to head home straight away, it must be of some importance."
"Ah well. No matter. I think I'm getting off work early this evening, we could play then."
"Sounds nice."
"And hey, take this." he said as he threw me one of his giant sandwiches. The thing was as big as my forearm and thrice as thick.
"Tris, you know I can't eat this."
"You can and you will. My mom always tells me: 'Connor is very skinny! He needs to eat more and be strong!' in her Icelandic mom voice. She also said she'd beat my ass if I didn't give this to you."
That wasn't hard to believe. Everyone in Tristan's family was huge and muscled like a tank, probably because they all possessed earth powers, and they all had big hearts.
"That's very sweet of her. I'll pass by later to thank her."
"Hah! She'll squeeze you tighter than me though!"
I chuckled and we went to our last period. It also ended fast. Rose and Dina waited for us at the gate.
"Ready?" Rose asked.
"Yep. Let's go." I replied.
Our hexagon wasn't that big, maybe the size of a medium town, but we had an abundance of livestock and plants that we used for food and other stuff. We all ate good food and lived a pretty healthy lifestyle, and our powers weren't used that much, except for cases like Tristan. All in all, life here is pretty normal. When you turn 17 you can go out of the hexagon, but you have to take care of yourself since there's no one to keep an eye out for you. Rose led us up a modest hill until a huge encampment of non-Deltas showed itself to us. It was no more than 500 meters away from us, yet it kept itself perfectly hidden.
"What in the world is that?!" I asked, dumbfounded.
"It's a non-Delta military outpost. It's common for one or two of them to be built around hexagons, but not this big." replied Dina. She was always the smart one.
"What do you think they're doing in there?" asked Tristan.
"I'll zoom in." said Rose as she pulled her phone out.
I was amazed and in the same time terrified. Amazed because I've only seen this kind of thing on TV, and terrified because non-Deltas this close to a hexagon meant something had to have come up. Non-Deltas either ignore us or hate us, and I'm betting these guys are the latter.
"Connor?" Rose called.
"Yeah?"
"Come here."
She showed me the zoomed picture. It was Louise, being beaten up by some guys in military armor.
"Let me out."
"CONNOR!" I heard Tristan shout.
I didn't even notice myself sprinting down. I wanted to save Louise. I don't care if I get hurt. I got closer to the gate and jumped up. A shadow cape emerged on my back and it let me glide down to where Louise was.
"Let me out."
"Connor, get out of here!" I heard Louise say.
6 guys got in front of me, guns pointed. Another one came from behind them.
"So you're the brother." he said.
"Let my sister go!"
"I'm afraid we can't. She already knows too much."
"Knows what exactly?"
"Connor, just get out!" Louise exclaimed again.
The guy holding her hit her in the gut with his knee.
"LET ME OUT."
"Please stop this!"
"I wish I could, son. I really do. But we have an operation to execute and we can't let anyone get in the way. I'm terribly sorry for this."
The guy holding her took some device out and stabbed her in the back with it.
"LET ME OUT."
I blacked out.