It Only Takes One Elevator Ride (Completed)

The Base

The ride was not terribly long, and before Kalina knew it, they had arrived at their destination, wherever that may be.

The black SUV slowly came to a stop, the tires barely making a screech. Ian took a peek through one of the shaded windows, attempting to get a view of their surroundings.

"I can't see anything...!" Ian complained. He seemed to be about the right age to be a college intern at the lab, maybe about 21 years old, and Kalina could have sworn that she had seen him around before too.

Kalina cleared her throat. "I think that's the idea."

Ian turned towards her and pouted like a five-year-old. "But we're going to see the place anyway, so why can't we just-"

He stopped mid-sentence as the doors to the back of the van opened and the group was met with a familiar face.

"If you will all follow me, I'll show you around our base- and be quiet as we walk through the halls. Oh, and by the way, my name's Ryder."

"Base?" A woman in the back questioned.

Ryder chuckled. "I probably should have told you a bit more. Sorry about that, Emily. We are an organization that finds people with special abilities. Then, we take them in and teach them how to harness and control their powers. This way, we can avoid situations where people, such as yourselves, don't know how to handle their abilities and harm someone in the process. Got it?"

They all nodded, and Kalina glanced around, taking note that there were about twelve of them in all, including herself.

Ian grinned and said, "So you are a secret agent!"

"More like an 'or something,' but sure," Ryder smiled at him. "Now come on everyone, let's go."

The group followed Ryder into the base. The ground was all made up of concrete while the walls consisted of stone bricks with dim lights lining the corridors. The doors were thick, steel ones with multiple locks and alarms, likely in case of emergencies that could occur from both outside and inside dangers.

About halfway down the hall, Ryder stopped and turned towards everyone.

"I understand that this is all very sudden, as well as the fact that you will be noticed to be missing. Because of this, we have informed everyone that you all know personally that you are taking some time for yourselves for various reasons. We are providing accommodation for you all as well." Ryder paused, a few other people coming up behind him. "These are our staff members and they will be showing you to your rooms."

Ryder shoved his hand in his pocket, digging around before pulling out a scrunched up piece of paper. He unfolded it and cleared his throat, telling the people behind him who to go with.

A man with both brown eyes and brown hair walked up to Kalina and smiled. "Hey, I'm Mercer. I'll show you to your room now."

Kalina nodded hesitantly, still holding onto her folder tightly. Her head was filled with questions. Why am I like this? Is it because of a mutation? If so, what kind? And how? Why am I here?

Mercer glanced over at Kalina briefly before saying, "I'm sure you're probably confused right now... if you want, I can answer any questions you have."

Kalina frowned. "How do you know I have questions?"

Mercer laughed, "If you're thinking that I can read your mind, I can't. It was pretty obvious from the look on your face."

"Oh," Kalina looked down at the ground and smiled softly. "Sorry if I sounded like I was accusing you of anything. I'm just... a little out of sorts at the moment."

"I understand. I felt the same way when I first arrived here. I can assure you that you'll be well taken care of here. Ryder is the one that actually runs the place, and I promise that he isn't as scary as he may seem. He's a real nice guy and his heart is definitely in the right place." He turned to his left and gestured towards a door that they had arrived at. "Here we are, room 140. Take some time to get settled. I'll be back in a couple hours to bring you to dinner."

Mercer unlocked the door for Kalina before handing her the key.

"Thanks. I'll see you later, I guess." Kalina gave him a small smile as he waved and continued down the hall alone.

Kalina closed the door behind her and sighed with relief, taking a look around the room. It wasn't anything like she expected, which was that it would be a plain, white room with hardly any furniture. Instead, it looked more like a college dorm room.

The walls were painted a forest green and there were a few pictures hung up around the room for decoration. On the far side of the room, up against the wall, there sat a wood-framed bed with white sheets and a vanilla-coloured blanket. To the left of the middle window, there was a wooden desk with a lamp, bookshelf, and office chair accompanying it. To the right of the door against the wall, there was a dresser for clothes. Kalina opened one of the drawers and found clean underwear and socks. Looking in a couple of the lower drawers, she saw t-shirts, yoga pants, and jeans. She was thankful that there weren't just dresses, skirts, and blouses, mainly because she hated them with a passion, but also because they weren't very practical in this kind of place.

"What...?" Kalina breathed in disbelief. She thought that it would be more like a prison, but she supposed that Mercer wasn't wrong when he had said that she'd be well taken care of. She hoped that it would stay that way. After all, she should be at home going through her files, not at some sort of mutant's camp learning to control her abilities. Although, it would be nice to be able to keep my powers in check, Kalina thought.

She shook her head and smiled, walking over to her bed and laying down, resting her head on the pillow. Kalina closed her eyes, wondering how her life would change now and where it would go. Before long, exhaustion overwhelmed Kalina and she started to fall asleep, the dream world calling to her like a distant memory. The one thing she did know, was that nothing would ever be the same again.