The Institute (21 page)

“If that was
true, you wouldn’t have done what you did. You didn’t need to abuse
Shilah, you didn’t need to taunt me. You should have believed me
when I said I didn’t know what I could do. I’m not an idiot Drew,
if that is actually your real name. I may be working for the
Institute now but I can assure you, I won’t lie like you while
doing so.” I push the button, cross my arms and wait at the door
until it opens. My cheeks are flushed, I can feel it. I tell my
heart to stop racing and then I realise, Drew can sense all of
this. “Don’t come with me, I can find it from here.” I look left,
and look right, “Okay maybe I won’t be able to find it from here.
Just stop it with the confusing behaviour would you.”

“Fine. Go
left,” he says coldly. “And pay attention so you can find your own
way back.” We make our way through the halls in the same awkward
silence we had in the elevator. “My name really is Drew,” he says.
I don’t respond and just focus on remembering the path I am going.
I have made note of familiar markers along the way and so all I
should have to remember to get back to the elevators is to turn
right when I go through the second buzzing door … no left … ah
crap.

As we walk down
the steps to the cells, I suddenly feel really nervous. This has
all happened so fast, I haven’t even thought about what I am going
to say, although Tate is probably already listening in so I try and
clear my head and create white noise.

“This is where
I stop,” Drew says, distracting me from my concentration. “His cell
is right down there on the left. Oh wait, of course you know where
it is.”

I ignore Drew’s
taunts and start walking to Tate’s cell when I hesitate, I don’t
know what it is about Tate, but I just don’t want to disappoint
him. I know it’s a strange feeling to have for someone I barely
know, but I don’t think I would have made it through my days down
here if it wasn’t for him. I feel like I could tell him anything
which is new to me. I’m so used to having to keep so much hidden,
but I guess that’s not an issue when the thing that is supposed to
stay hidden is public knowledge here.

A guard opens
the cell door for me and Tate immediately gets up from his bed and
embraces me. He looks down at me, his hand still lingering on my
shoulder as he goes to pull away from the hug.

“Are you okay?”
he asks with true concern in his tone.

“I am. I don’t
know what I have got myself into, but yes I’m fine.” We go and sit
on his bed and lean up against the wall. I’m nervous and I don’t
want to tell him what I have done, he looks at me, already with a
disappointed expression.

‘
Well what
do you expect Allira, you didn’t think I couldn’t hear you on your
way down here?’

Oh, so you know
then.

‘
That you’re
training to become an agent? Yes, but I don’t know why you would
think I would be disappointed in you. Just because I choose to stay
down here doesn’t mean I believe everyone should. If I had a less
important ability, I can’t say I wouldn’t have done it any
different to what you are doing. I’m just glad you are okay. When
you didn’t come back, I thought you were dead.’

“I’m pretty
sure a sprained ankle doesn’t run the risk of killing anyone,” I
say jokingly.

‘
No, but
having a double ability does.’

A what?

‘
A double
ability.’ He looks at me like I should know what he means.
‘Defective people are deemed Defective because of the unknown
abnormality in their genetic make-up. The difference between
Defective people and normal people is a supernatural ability, a
single supernatural ability that no scientist can explain.’

Yeah, I know, I
paid attention in science class at school.

‘
Having two
abilities is rare Allira, almost unheard of. Don’t you see, if they
found out about you, they would run all sorts of tests on you. You
would essentially become a lab rat and when they can’t work out why
you are different, they would dispose of you. They already see us
all as a threat, imagine how they would feel about someone with
twice the power.’

But what makes
you think I have this, double ability?

‘
How about
the fact that you can hear me right now and you levitated with Ty
and you can amplify. I think it’s pretty clear you can borrow from
others and amplify their abilities simultaneously.’

They only told
me I can amplify abilities. I’m pretty sure they don’t know I can
borrow them too.

‘
If I were
you, I’d make sure they don’t find out.’

Drew interrupts
us, “Well this is a pretty quiet goodbye.” I almost jump out of my
skin at the sound of him, it is lucky Tate and I were having our
conversation telepathically. “Don’t mind me, I just wanted to meet
the new guy,” he says.

“Oh my god,
enough.” I am getting so frustrated with this stupid jealous
attitude he has no right to have.

‘
This is
Drew I’m guessing.’
Tate looks up at Drew, his expression is
blank. Drew’s over confident act is fading fast, I can hear him
thinking about what to do next. He didn’t think this through at all
and that makes me smile.

“Do you need me
to take you back to your apartment or can you find it on your own?”
Drew asks, clearly trying to cover up this embarrassing moment with
a legitimate reason for being here.

“I’m sure I
will be fine, you can go now.” Drew leaves and I feel like I can
breathe again.

Tate and I
continue as if the little interruption didn’t occur.

‘
I’m going
to miss you around here, Kid. I know it was only a couple of days
but I feel like I have known you for a million lifetimes,’
he
tells me.

I feel exactly
the same way.

“I still don’t
know how they expect someone like you to become an agent,” Tate
says.

“I’ve been
asking myself that same thing.”

“You’re too
nice and really – they expect you to be an agent and be able to
tell a convincing lie? Good luck to them, hey.” He smiles and puts
his arm around me, I sink my head into his shoulder, I don’t want
to leave this spot.
‘Just do me a favour when you’re out there.
If you know that the person you are after is as innocent as we are,
give them a chance. Please give them a chance to get away.’

I will. The
last thing I want to do is send people here, knowing that they are
getting beaten because of me. I don’t know how I’m going to make it
through this without you. I wish you could come with me, I wouldn’t
feel so alone.

‘
The only
thing you have to remember is to be yourself and not let them
change you. I’m sure Drew didn’t go into this job the person that
he is now. Just be true to you and you will do fine. Besides,
training should take a while anyway right? We can let future Tate
and Allira deal with goodbyes, until then I expect frequent visits
from you young lady.’

Of course,
old man.
I laugh, “Hey, speaking of which – Drew said you were
old, just how old are you?”

“I’m 124 years
old.”

“What?” I look
at him confused and he laughs.

‘
You didn’t
think I was serious did you? I don’t think immortality is an
ability. Although it would be an awesome one.’

You still
haven’t answered the question.

“I’m
twenty-four.”

“That’s not
old, it’s only three years older than him. I don’t know what Drew
is on about.”

“Well I guess
to him, who thinks we are together, twenty-four is kind of old for
an eighteen year old.”

“I guess,
although I don’t think age should really be a factor when it comes
to that sort of thing should it? You fall for who you fall for.
Some people may need to date younger because their maturity level
is so low, for instance.”

“Talking about
anyone in particular there? Drew perhaps?” Tate teases.

“It doesn’t
matter anyway, it’s definitely over between us,” I say. Tate just
nods. “I should probably be getting back. I really don’t want to
though.”

“Hey, you can
come see me tomorrow.” He turns his head and kisses me on the side
of my temple, “Go on; go get some rest.”

I start walking
back to my room, thinking about tomorrow and starting agent
training. Tate’s words of advice still running through my head. All
I have to do is make sure I stay true to myself. It seems easy
enough, but how can I do that when I’m unsure of who I am?

I get back to
my apartment and only get lost once on the way back which I am
pretty impressed with. The cloud-soft, comfortable double bed is
doing nothing for my ability to fall asleep. I should be sleeping
better but I guess there is more to getting a good night’s sleep
than just being provided with a comfortable bed.

I’m lying under
the blankets just staring at the ceiling. ‘Be true to yourself’
keeps repeating in my head. When I think of who I am, only one
thing really comes to mind: family. Everything I have ever done,
everything I will ever do is for my family. Without them, I don’t
have a purpose in life. I should go apologise to Shilah but he
doesn’t want to see me.

I think about
Dad, what is he doing now? Is he still on the farm, by himself?
Just this thought alone is bringing tears to my eyes, but since
I’ve been squashing my tears down since I got here, I’m worried if
I start now I won’t be able to stop. I don’t even want to explore
the idea that they could have Dad locked up somewhere or worse,
executed him for his crimes; knowingly housing anyone who is
Defective carries strong penalties. I’ve been trying not to think
of Dad, my focus has always been Shilah since being here but
thinking about Dad having lost both of his children within days of
each other is starting to make me wish he was right here with us,
even if it meant he was Defective.

I think of what
Dad would say if he found out what I have agreed to, would he have
done the same thing as me? Would he want me to protect Shilah? The
truth of the matter is, without Shilah, I don’t really know myself
at all. Take away my family and who is left?

Chapter
Fourteen

I am woken by a
knock at the door again. I look at the clock on my bedside table,
it reads 8:45am. At least I know what time it is up here, in the
Crypt I had no clue. I sigh and make my way over to the door to
open it.

I am greeted by
another guard. I guess he’s here to escort me to my first day of
training. “You’ve got five minutes to get dressed and ready,” he
says.

A normal girl
would get flustered and annoyed at a five minute deadline to get
ready, I’m not like that. I change my clothes so I’m wearing jeans
and a fitted T-shirt, I tie my hair back quickly in a loose bun,
brush my teeth and am ready to leave with a minute to spare. I
guess I can add that to the list of things I am – a tomboy. I guess
living in a house with two guys does that to a girl. Excellent, I
will add that to the list of what I really know about myself; I’m a
family orientated tomboy.

I’m led down a
new hall and into a different elevator than the one that takes me
to the Crypt, the guard presses level T and when the doors open,
I’m right where I’m supposed to be. Now that I am here, it feels
like I am back at school again, I’m the new girl. Another thing to
add to the list, I am not someone who likes attention. I’m looking
at dozens of faces staring at me as we walk through the lobby. I
want to run and hide, I want this to be over with.

“You must be
our newest recruit,” I hear a voice say. I look to my left to see
where it was coming from and I see a friendly looking middle aged
woman with a blonde bob walking towards me. “Hi, I’m Lynch. I will
be working with you today.” She extends her arm and we shake hands.
“Please, come with me.”

It feels like I
am being led to slaughter. At least when they were beating me, I
knew where I stood. Right now I feel like I’m walking right into a
trap, they are being friendly; a little too friendly and that makes
me suspicious. I’m taken down a small corridor and into a small
room containing a desk with a computer to my left and a couch on
the right.

Lynch is silent
as she takes a seat at the desk. She gestures for me to sit on the
couch and I oblige. She just sits there staring at me like she’s
expecting me to start talking. I have no idea what she is wanting
me to say, so we just sit quietly with nothing but a trickling
noise which I can’t pinpoint where it is coming from. I look around
the room and spot a small water feature on the bookshelf behind
Lynch. She is still at her desk just staring at me, I don’t know
what she expects of me and I have no idea where to start.

“So, Allira,”
she finally says. “How about you tell me a little about yourself.
Where were you living before you came here?”

“Isn’t that all
in my file?” I ask. Why is she asking me something that has no
relevance to the present?

“It is, but I
want to hear it from you.”

I get the
sudden feeling this is one of those psychological tests. “I don’t
see how this is relevant to my training.” She scribbles something
in the notebook in front of her without even looking down and
smiles at me.

“Oh, you will
join a training class this afternoon. Right now, I need to assess
you so we can put you in the right classes.” So it really is like
I’m back at school, being told what class to go to and when. There
are a lot of similarities between school and the Institute; I
really think this place could be run better. “So how about you tell
me about the days since you’ve been here. They tell me that you
came from the Crypt.”

“Well, there’s
not really much I can say about it, is there?”

She scribbles
something else down. “Well what did you want to talk about? What
about your ability, can you tell me about that?” There’s a hint of
frustration starting to show in her voice.