The Gifted

Gabriel

Sometimes, I don't feel like I am who they say I am. Like I've fallen into this world, but I've fallen to the wrong place. I feel this way every time I stand in front of these large doors at the entrance that open by themselves.

I walk through the hallways making my shoes echo on the marble floor. I sigh sadly at the beautiful surroundings. I wish I were like my friends. They live in a beautiful home that's small, but it's enough for them.

Ade walks beside me with the same exhaustion of faking our identity every day. It's been like this all our lives. She lets down her bun and sighs with relief. Some soldiers give us firm nods and I return them. Ade is the only one who doesn't seem to return any of their respectful gestures. I don't know how she can get used to this life.

I can't even seem to remember my mother. She was probably more like Ade as they treat people like they're all meant to serve them. I try to look into those blue eyes of hers, and all I see is that firmness and sadness I see every day. The only person I can lean on the most here is my father.

I turn a corner that leads me into a door. I put my thumb on the machine next to the doorknob and it recognizes me. Only the presidential family is allowed here. This is the only hint of home. The only escape we have away from the politics and pressure of this society.

We enter our living room and Ade immediately goes over to the small bar by the piano. No one has touched that before. My father says that my mother used to play it. Ever since her death, all there is are dust particles.

Ade serves herself a cup of whiskey and sits down with legs crossed on the couch across from me. As she takes a sip, she takes off her eye contacts revealing those ocean blue eyes. She watches me from her cup as she sips it to the end.

She knows me all too well as she clears her throat and says, "What's going on, Gabriel? We have their trust. Well...sort of. That Emms girl is still doubting me and I can't blame her, I don't even trust myself sometimes."

I chuckle at this last part and roll my eyes. "Stop trying to lighten up the mood, Ade."

"Then who will?" Ade puts her cup on the table in front of us and it swallows the cup. It goes through the system of cleansing. While it's washing, a glass cup is replaced at the shelves in the bar and another cup of whiskey appears on the table in front of us.

Ade looks down at the cup and chuckles. "I never asked for another, but if you insist." She takes it and drinks it all in one gulp. She presses a button and once it's swallowed, another doesn't come back. Her icy eyes go back to me and raises her eyebrows. "Why are you so depressed lately? Are you in love?"

The moment she says this I look up at her and give her a glare, my mind takes me back to her.

Kat...

Those little moments where I would watch her from afar down at their laboratory. She's not much of a fighter. So she gives her bruises a rest and works at the lab instead. She hangs out with Nikki a lot because they both seem to have an interest in medicine. But her...beauty is what makes her stand out. Especially when she smiles. That smile makes my heart light.

But my feelings for her are impossible to express. Who would pay attention to one of the most important and targeted people in this society?

"So it is her..." Ade's voice brings me out of my beautiful thoughts. I furrow my eyebrows at her as she gives me a smirk. "Is she the only one who will lighten up your mood?"

"Stop that, Adeline," I say with a tone a little too firm. I sigh at her surprised silence and press a button on the table so a glassed cup can appear. I also take a drink of whiskey and say, "We have to stay focused on our mission for answers."