Evolved

5. Mind Reader.

 When Hera awoke, she was somewhere else. 

The room was minimalist and looked almost surgical. Everything was white, and her eyes were already tired again moments after opening them. Her throat was aching, which then reminded her of the Chamber. "Oh, my God!" she groaned. 

A tall cup of cold water sat on the bedside table. Condensation frosted the glass, and small drops trailed lazily down its length. Then, as Hera sat up to swallow every drop, the door opened, and Theo walked in. "Are you calm?" he asked with a neutral expression.

"What kind of stupid fucking question is that?" Hera rasped incredulously.

He smirked a little in response. "Well, when you nearly destroy the most secure Evolved testing Chamber in five minutes, I think I have every right to ask you stupid, fucking questions."

She rolled her eyes at him and asked, "Where are we now?"

Theo didn't bother answering; he just threw a duffel bag next to the bed. "Get changed and come down for breakfast. We'll start training after so dress for that. I'll wait outside."

Hera wanted to be sarcastic back but thought better of it. I'm sure there will be plenty of times to get back at him, she thought wryly.

She realised with a squeal of delight that the duffel was hers. Homesickness took over, but Hera pushed the feelings down as she found her spare clothes and did a small happy dance. Her current attire had started feeling crunchy. She settled on some black activewear and her favourite sneakers. She had no idea what training entailed, but it was surely going to be intense. 

 Hera threw her hair into a bun, rinsed her face, and brushed her teeth in the adjacent bathroom before meeting Theo. "Took you long enough," he said, smirking again.

"Shut up," was all she could come up with.

They walked in silence through the winding hallways until they came to the mess hall again. This time it was bustling with hundreds of people, young and old.

Hera was amazed to see so many people like her but quickly became overwhelmed and fearful that she might hurt them. Stopping dead in her tracks, she willed herself to turn and run back to her room. Theo only turned to check on her when he noticed everyone staring directly behind him. He walked back over to Hera with annoyance evident in his features.

"I can't do this. What if I hurt them?" Hera looked wide-eyed at Theo, who sighed. 

His expression softened slightly, and he awkwardly patted her shoulder. "You can do this, and don't worry. I won't let you hurt anyone, alright?" The exasperation in his tone almost made Hera laugh. 

"Was that supposed to be a threat?" Hera queried with a halfhearted frown.

"Well, you know I could just make you fall asleep, so, yeah. Guess so." He replied, shaking his head trying to hide a smile. The whole strange interaction made Hera a bit calmer.

"Besides," Theo continued, "after your little performance in the chamber last week, I'm sure you won't have enough energy to hurt a fly..."

Wait a minute. Hera frowned. "Last week!?"

As the pair entered the room, everyone became very busy. No one wanted to meet Hera's eyes and instead looked unrealistically interested in their breakfast. The 'newcomer' turned her eyes down and stared at the back of Theo's shoes as she walked. A heaviness weighed on her chest. 

 Theo told her to sit at the empty table at the back of the room and wait for him as he walked towards the serving area. Finally, Hera was around people like her, but no one wanted anything to do with her besides Zeke. She went to look for him but was distracted when Jean appeared at her side and shoved her across the bench with toned shoulders.

"You're a legend here now, princess," Jean said with a chuckle. "I heard what you did in the chamber." The words started to sound more mocking. Everyone around them had suddenly gone silent. Hera could sense their bodies leaning towards them in anticipation, and a fizzle of energy danced on her fingertips.

"It was an accident," Hera said while quickly intertwining her fingers and smothering the rising electricity between her palms. She shoved them under the table and frowned at Jean, who didn't seem to notice or care.

"Nobody knows what happened, but people whisper. And I heard your little performance knocked you out cold for five days." She looked smugly at her nails. "You must be a low-level 'E'. Weak."

"Move, Jean." Theo reappeared, placing a full plate before Hera and pushed Jean along the bench, wedging himself between the two. Jean only smirked and started eating her breakfast, as did Theo. The room resumed their conversations, and Hera looked down at her plate. 

It looked pretty good, considering she hadn't eaten in FIVE days: fresh fruit, porridge, and toast. Hera ate every last bit and waited for Theo to tell her where to go next. He finished a hushed conversation with Jean, which left her wide-eyed and rose to his feet. He was already halfway across the room when Hera heard his voice in her head. Let's go. She frowned and jogged to keep up with him. Then, out of spite, she thought, Get out of my head, on a loop, while staring a hole into his back. 

 His body tensed up momentarily but then continued as nothing happened. So you can read minds? She imagined pushing her thought into his head while staring at his dark curls. He tensed harder this time, turning to look at Hera frowning. 

Hera looked smug. I knew it. As they walked through the door, he turned to face her, pinching her chin between his fingers. He stared from eye to eye, scrutinising her.

"Ow, let go, you dick." Hera tried to turn away, but she found herself paralysed.

"Why can I hear you in my head?" Theo demanded.

What? "I don't know because you can read minds?" Hera shot back.

Theo released her chin and shook his head, looking mildly annoyed, "No, I can't. I can only project my thoughts into other peoples' heads." 

Hera felt a sense of relief. Thank God. 

"There! You did it again. You said, thank god, right?" Hera looked side to side, hoping someone else could see this shit. "Uh, yeah..." She blushed slightly at the implications of her relieved comment but stayed quiet.

He blew air from his lips before muttering to himself. "This is crazy. You are crazy!" He paced in the small space making Hera dizzy.

She made a face at him before butting into his minor crisis, "Uh uh, I gotta say, Theo, for the first time, I'm not the crazy one right now." His eyes met hers then, and his jaw clenched, deciding what he should say next. 

Theo pulled his lower lip between his teeth, looking intrigued before saying, "It's just impossible, Hera. You must be more powerful than we even thought." His mouth stopped speaking, but she heard his voice mumble. Who the hell are you?

Hera was beyond tired of this. She couldn't even enjoy the warm sound of her name on his lips. "Can we just go to training now?"

The spell was broken. Theos' look of faint annoyance reappeared. "Well, let's go then." He said out loud this time.