Power (Book 1)

Chapter 17

The image of the robots morphed back into Dr. Snow, smiling at me from across the room. The items on her desk returned to the normal papers and stapler.

What. The hell. Was that.

You know how you used to watch those shows with the dolls like Elmo when you were little, but now you're all grown up and Elmo seems like a creep? That's how I'm feeling right now.

I mean, seriously, who puts a smile on a robot? In marker?

I must've had too much to drink. Yeah, that had to be it. Except, I didn't drink anything. Come to think of it, I hadn't even eaten anything in a while.

I grabbed my head and squeezed it, willing myself to stay sane. Too much was going on at one time.

"You alright, Jay?" Jake said, momentarily forgetting our situation.

"No, I am not okay," I said. "This is just too much. Nothing in my life is the way it used to be. Hell, I don't even have my house!" I sank to the floor. "It's too much," I whispered.

"Hold on, calm down," Jake said calmly. "You just need some rest, okay? A good night's sleep should do you some good. You've been through a lot today."

"Yeah, yeah," I said. "Some sleep."

*****

I jerked awake from a deep sleep. I looked around the hotel room, momentarily forgetting where I was.

Then the previous night's events flooded back to me. Afterlight. Sage. Dr. Snow. The freaky robots.

After leaving Afterlight, Jake took me back to the hotel. He said if I was really going to be a part of Afterlight, I would need to get some rest before the next day. Apparently, I was going to be given an instructor today. Jake said I was already assigned one, but he had to be redone since I acquired my new power.

Speaking of, I wonder where this speed came from. It must have replaced my other abilities. But that gave way to another question: where did my old powers go? And more importantly, what was the infinity matrix doing to me?

I threw on some jogging pants and a workout shirt, not knowing what to wear for the day. I put on a jacket over that. It might be chilly outside.

I called Jake and told him I was ready for him to pick me up. He arrived a few minutes later.

"You sure came fast," I said as I climbed into Jake's car.

"Yeah, well, I was around the corner." Jake and I completely let go of the fact that he kept his secret from me. We didn't even need to say anything. The past was the past, and the future was bright ahead.

We didn't say anything along the ride. We arrived at Afterlight a few minutes later, and for the third time, we went through the two doors and the stairway with the door at the bottom.

When we got to the elevator, Jake pressed the button leading to the black abyss.

I felt irritated. What was the point in having an elevator if you were only going to use the trans-dimensional portal inside?

This time, he took me to another room. It looked exactly like a standard school gym, just bigger and without bleachers. I mean, it was the size of 3 football stadiums, easily.