At least Chris got a full night's sleep. And speaking of which, how did he end up back in bed, wasn’t he stuck in a gss tube? They must have moved him back to the dorms…prisons were more like it. And as before, his powers are still gone. His headache kept him from pondering it too much.

  The smell of breakfast alerts him to the door. Sitting on the floor just inside the door was a tray of food. Eggs, bacon, toast, milk and orange juice. At least they fed them well. Chris was about to deny the food, when his stomach growls fiercely. So, he groans and retrieves the tray.

  After downing the food Chris sits on the bed and contemptes everything. From Rex to involving the Prowman’s, especially Elle. He never meant to hurt her, to make her sad.

  The door opens and Miss Carlton walks in “Morning.” She says in a slightly disgusted tone.

  Oh, yeah. He held her at gun point earlier. Heh!

  “Once your friends waken and you’ve all finished breakfast, the Director will see you all.” She turns to leave.

  “Wait.” Chris manages. She turns around. “The others…my parents.”

  “Everyone is safe and sound. The effects of the experiment will wear off in about fifteen minutes.”

  Miss Carlton leaves and the door shuts, the electronic lock clicking. Chris ys back and waits for the gases effect to go away. He remembers life back on his home world. The freedom to use your powers at will. Most elementals took jobs to keep local problems with weather or natural occurrences in check. Nearly half of all fire fighters were fire elementalists. And the fact that one could fly around at will made travel so much easier. The air was so much cleaner there too. Only a few industries still used what this world calls fossil fuels. Though most use the ancient pyramidal power.

  A knock on the door wakes him out of his reminiscing. The door opens, it was Miss Carlton and a few guards.

  “Time for the test run. Follow me, please.” Miss Carlton says.

  Chris gets up slowly and walks with her down the hallway. They walk past the bs into a new part of the facility, at the opposite end from the elevator.

  Miss Carlton leads them through a door and into a rge observation room. Through a set of rge windows was what looked like an atrium. Trees, a waterfall and stream, green grass, even real looking sunlight from above. And it was huge too, at least as big as a football field. Plenty of room to…practice powers? Oh no.

  Chris’ parents and the Prowman’s are led into the room a few moments ter. Minus Elle.

  “Chris!” Chris’ mom runs to him and hugs him tight. He returns the hug as Chris’ dad joins the hug. She pulls away and takes Chris’ face in her hands. “Are you okay sweetie?”

  Chris nods wiping tears away. “Yeah, I’m okay.”

  “Thank you all for coming.” The Director’s voice rings out.

  Everyone looks around. Miss Carlton directs everyone out across the atrium to a simir viewing window were the Director and Elle were standing.

  “Now, we will see the fruits of our bors. Years of research leading to this moment.“ The Director’s voice says over a speaker in the room.

  Chris can just make out Elle, she has a look of complete defeat. He wants to go to her so bad, to hold her tight. He wanted to feel that spark again.

  “Release the subject!”

  In the garden, to the right, a door slides open and a man is shoved through. It’s Seth. He looks thoroughly pissed off. Chris doesn’t bme him. Seth yells up at them but they can barely hear him.

  “Now, release Tetra.” The Director says.

  From the other end of the garden another door opens. The boy from the central tube is brought out by two of the guards. So Tetra is his name. He looks lost, his eyes vacant. Seth doesn’t know what to do he just stares at the child, unsure of what to do.

  “Now, Tetra? Begin. Level 1.”

  The child puts his hands forward to the ground. Chris can feel the room shake, then he sees the ground buckle and move toward Seth like a wave. He jumps over in but is hit instead by a shaft of rock that juts up. Seth nds hard, but gets up quick. And is hit just as quick by an air bst, sending him back into the pilr of rock. Seth catches himself and swings around to the back of the pilr.

  “Stop this!” Simon cries out. “He can‘t use his powers in there to defend himself!”

  Tetra continues his assault, smming Seth with softball sized rocks created out of the ground. The pilr being beaten to rubble by the rocks. Seth runs for the trees, but is swept off his feet by some water being used as a whip. Using Chris’ updraft technique, Seth is picked up and beaten against the trees. With a few more stones thrown his way for added damage.

  “You’re killing him! Please stop this!” Melissa cries.

  After a few more hit’s the Director orders the child to stop. The child stops with Seth high up in the air. He falls like a dead weight.

  All is silent save for the crying from several people.

  “Return to your room now, Tetra. Guards. Take Mr. Lockwood to the infirmary, we could use him ter.”

  Chris watches as several people come out carry Seth over to a gurney and taken away.

  “I want to thank you all for coming to the first of many test runs. We should have dinner tonight in celebration.” The Director says happily.

  “He talks like we wanted to come to this massacre.” Ariel mentions.

  “Hey, Director.” Larry yells, using sarcasm on the title. “Why not give us back our powers and put us up against your little…pet.”

  “What? We still have our powers?” Jackson asks.

  “Yes, there’s a power inhibiter in pce in the walls around us. He told me shortly after Ariel and I woke up today.” Larry sms his fist against the wall.

  “There’s gotta be a way we can get out of here, right?” Ariel asks.

  Everyone stays silent, not knowing what to say. Chris sure couldn’t think of anything. He notices Elle across the way, he didn’t need a set of binocurs to tell that she was crying. Chris had to do something, but what?

  * * * * *

  Elle could do nothing but watch, as the boy named Tetra, quickly beat Seth to a bloody pulp. Seth was trying everything he could try to get away or do anything for that matter. In the end Seth was left a limp form in the middle of the atrium. His body face down in the dirt, his legs in the water of the stream. One of them looked broken by the angle of it.

  Elle couldn’t look anymore and not just because of the tears pouring out of her eyes.

  “Well, I think that went quite well.” The Director cheerfully excims. “What do you say pumpkin? Tetra did well didn’t he?”

  How can this guy be so sick, Elle thinks. She doesn’t even look at him, he disgusts her too much to look at him.

  The Director goes to the wall, to the phone and hit’s a few buttons. “Miss Carlton? Have new clothes sent to our guests for tonight’s dinner. I want everyone clean and refreshed for then.” He hangs up and turns to Elle. “And I have a special dress picked out just for you, Elle. I know you’ll love it.”

  Why is it pumpkin orange?

  Elle is escorted out of the observation room and back to the Director’s dorm. He was beaming the whole way there. Elle just walked along, figuring that if she didn’t he would just have one of the guards escort her instead. They were just as bad. Except they simply gave everyone a bnk stare. As if their faces were made of pstic or something. No emotion whatsoever.

  “Here you go, pumpkin.” The Director takes a package off the counter by the kitchen and hands it to Elle.

  She wants to burn the thing, no matter what it looked like.

  “Go ahead and get ready.” He motions to the bathroom.

  Elle shuffles into the bathroom and lets the Director shut the door. He says something but she ignores it. She actually felt a little better with the privacy in the bathroom, any bit of time away from him is time well spent.

  She walks to the counter and pces the package down. She pulls the string and pulls it off. Might as well see what this thing looks like. She rips the package open and looks at the dress. If the only man she will ever truly call father had given this to her she would love it. It was a dark golden color with a puffed out bottom and a pair of thin shoulder straps. A pair of simir colored heels were in the package as well.

  A mix of emotions fills her. She starts crying again. Then stops and looks at herself in the mirror. She was a Prowman, not a Hariman. A Hariman left her and gave her up. A man named Simon Prowman found her, gave her a loving home, awesome brothers and a life full of fun and excitement. That was her father. A smile grows on her face. She looks at the dress again and ys it out on the counter. Director Carl Hariman, her biological father, may have bought this for her, but she was going to wear it for her real father, Simon Prowman.