Powerless

Introduction

When the era of human knowledge finally comes and supernaturals are uncovered, the United States government goes into war mode. Families are torn apart, neighbors, coworkers, and friends disappear without a trace. Some- fleeing from the government. Others- taken captive to be tested on. However, it isn’t just the government that’s interested in harnessing the power of supernatural beings. When Elliott breaks free from her shackles and somehow ends up with a supernatural rebellion, she can’t even begin to imagine what the next months will have in store for her life.

“It doesn’t matter if we’re all supernaturals.

It doesn’t matter how powerful we are together or apart.

It’s not about our powers, it’s about the people we have loved and lost because of them.

Today we fight for those people because if they were here, they would fight for us.

It’s not about power, because as long as we don’t have freedom, we are powerless.”

Leave all of your preconceived notions about supernaturals at the door, please.

My body aches as usual, but for some reason, it hurts a little worse this morning. Is it morning? Not having windows in here is really throwing me for a loop.

As I begin to wake up I hear voices, well I always hear voices, but these aren’t just in my head. I prepare myself to meet the guards before I even open my eyes. Then, with a loud bang from the door hitting the wall and a light so bright I can see it through my eyelids, my day has begun.

“Rise and shi- oh you look particularly shitty this morning.” one of the guards – Brandon - says to me as I squint my eyes in an attempt to adjust to the sudden light pouring into the room. I start moving my shoulders to ease my sore muscles, having your hands bound behind your back for days on end really does a number on your range of motion- trust me.

“I need to piss!” I shout, Brandon and the new guy in the corner seem unphased by my sudden outburst. “The reason your chain is as long as it is is because you got your bathroom privileges revoked after your last tantrum. Go in the corner, I’m not risking another guard quitting because you want to go on a punching spree.” Brandon says way too nonchalantly.

I’ll be damned if I go to the bathroom in front of these goons.

It’s been a few hours since I woke up and the new guy has been watching me like a hawk, he hasn’t taken a single break and won’t say a word to me.

I’m sure he’s the guy that replaced the one I roughed up last week; in my defense, the guy grabbed my ass. Prisoner or not I’m not too intimidated to fight off a dickhead and, clearly, my tactics were effective.

At first, I tried to count the days I was in here, but that got a little tedious and, with as many beatings as I’ve taken, I’m sure that I have been unconscious for many of them. By listening to the guards talk outside my door and occasionally getting to look outside and see what season it is, I can guesstimate that I’ve been here for around 2 years.

Well, not ‘here’ as in this particular building, I’ve unsuccessfully escaped 6 times and have been moved locations 7 times. They now have me in what seems like an old warehouse, I’m pretty sure I am chained up in what used to be the office.

The stained blue carpet isn’t my taste, but the light yellow walls definitely add a sort of contrast to the room that makes your eyes cross after awhile. There’s an old metal desk in the corner of the room where New Guy is standing. I think I am somewhere in Alabama because that’s where I was when I was taken.

I remember it like it was yesterday.

I woke up in the backseat of the car, we had been driving nonstop for three days. When the government first found out about us they did what they do best and hid it from the public.

They would sneak into houses in the middle of the night and kidnap supernaturals to be their lab rats. It wasn’t long until they had taken too many people in too close of a time frame, their own greed for knowledge and power blew up in their faces.

Supernaturals that had lost family members started exposing themselves, thinking that if they were honest to the public the government would be pressured to let their loved ones go.

Instead, the government retaliated with public raids; kids taken from their schools, parents going to work in the morning and never returning home. Churches, movie theatres, homes, hospitals- nowhere was safe.

After our neighbors went missing my parents packed our lives into three duffel bags and we left without saying a word to anyone. My parents, clearly on edge, told me that they would most likely be caught, but at the sight of trouble would do everything in their power to allow me enough time to get to safety.

There was a target on our backs, they explained, because my parents were very respected among supernaturals. They had been very involved in the supernatural community, my father was a teacher at the Pope Academy of Gifted Arts and my mother babysat a lot of the kids in the community who’s parents worked mortal jobs.

At noon on the third day of driving we were forced off of the road by a black sedan- they had found us. My parents did exactly as they said and gave me time to run. So I ran and ran until I couldn’t move any further, trying not to think about my parents that I had left behind.

Two days later, in the middle of the woods, I was kidnapped by a mortal-run antigovernment group.

I don’t know why they want me, they’ve never tried to use my powers. They have beat me and tortured me for information, they have taken my blood and pumped me full of drugs, and they have tried to break my spirit for years.

The only hard part about breaking my spirit is that it died with my parents. You can’t break someone who has nothing.

New Guy is probably the most boring person on the planet. I’ve asked him questions, begged him to get the hell out so I could go pee, and for the past 15 minutes I had been singing him the only songs I remember the words to.

Since I haven’t heard music in two years, my set consisted of Irreplaceable by Beyoncé, Burnin’ Up by The Jonas Brothers, the chorus of Blew by Nirvana, and 3 consecutive performances of Part of Your World from The Little Mermaid.

I could tell how pissed he was getting, which normally would’ve motivated me to sing more, but I’ve been getting even less food and water since I decked that dumbass in the bathroom last week.

When I couldn’t sit up straight and was about to pee all over myself I heard what sounded like a massive garage door slam shut and Brandon walked in. He looked sweaty and dirtier than usual.

He’s not normally dirty because he does anything, I just think he doesn’t take showers for fun. Man, showers are a luxury I genuinely miss.

Brandon looked at New Guy and nodded his head, and as if they had already planned this moment out, New Guy started walking toward me. The last thing I remember was his knee headed directly for my face.

Headaches were a feeling I was used to at this point, but just like this morning, something was different. I forced my eyes open and sat up, the sight of my blood-caked nose causing my eyes to cross.

It’s dark outside now, I’m sure of it, but they left the light on in the office for some reason. It only takes me a second to realize I’m not alone, I can hear someone else’s thoughts in my head.

I look around to find a boy slumped against the wall opposite me in the pee-corner. Good thing I’ve been holding it. I can tell that he is bound like me, hands behind his back with a chain attaching him to the wall.

He looks maybe 17 and is pretty beat up. If I couldn’t hear what he was thinking I would probably guess he was dead.

He’s having a nightmare, and as much as I love to creep on people’s subconscious’ while they’re unsuspecting, I need to wake him up. We won’t have much time to talk before the guards come to check on us.

He groans and forces himself up onto his knees as he looks around, clearly confused and still disoriented from the beating Brandon put him through.

Then, like a lightning bolt striking my body, his ice-blue eyes meet mine. At that moment I somehow knew my life would never be the same again.