Eclipsed

Chapter 4

Manhattan, New York City, New York.
10:47 p.m.

I blindly follow the girl for a good half-hour, until we reach an abandoned building near the edge of Manhattan. She doesn't hesitate to enter, but I'm more cautious.
"Come on," she urges me. "It's safe, I promise.
I sigh and follow her. There's a dim light coming from where she's headed— a good sign?
We pass through a doorway, and my eyes widen.
Tents are set up around a campfire in what appears to be the building's parking garage, and people are milling about. Not just anyone, though. Teenagers. People my age. And they're all doing weird things. One's got his hands over the fire and seems to be controlling it, while another blinks in and out of sight.
"Who are these people?" I ask the girl.
She grins. "Your new family!"
I frown. "But... all of them seem to have some sort of magical ability. First of all, since when do those exist, and second of all, I don't have one."
The girl's grin doesn't fade. She just raises an eyebrow. "You sure? I don't see any other reason why your hair would still be sticking up like that."
I ponder that for a second. "Maybe you're right."
She smirks. "I'll introduce you to our Leader."
We head toward the encampment, entering the biggest tent. A girl a bit older than me, maybe about sixteen, with light skin, wavy brown hair, and freckles sits cross-legged on a torn-up rug in the middle of the space, staring at the wall.
"Adelée," the girl who'd rescued me says.
The other girl snaps out of her trance. Her gaze softens at the sight of me. "Luna, is this her?"
"The one Niko sensed? Yeah. Found her in a hospital, arms bruised up from all the needles they gave her."
I decide to speak up. "Can you guys stop acting like I'm not here? I have absolutely no clue what's going on. I passed out, then woke up to see her," I point at Luna, " and decided to trust her. Now she's brought me here, and I still don't really know why. All I know is that I'm tired, I'm hungry, and my life's been hard enough already."
Adelée stands up. "What's your name?" She asks me. "Rune."
"Well, Rune, I'm sorry we haven't offered you much of an explanation." She shoots a pointed glance at Luna. "Since you seem to be tired, let's get you settled in, and we'll explain everything in the morning. Sound good?"
"Yeah."
Adelée nods at Luna, and she leads me into a nearby tent. I get a thin mattress to sleep on. Luna tells me this is the 'healing tent'. A girl my age with light brown skin and dark hair tends to my bruises with her healing powers, instantly making them fade. Then, she gives me some sort of tea that knocks me out immediately.
—
The next morning, I'm shaken awake by Luna. She has new clothes for me: faded, ripped jeans, a tight brown crop top, and a black quilted jacket.
"Wow," I say. "Thanks. Where do you guys even get stuff like this? It's nicer than anything I've worn since my parents died."
I don't mean to draw sympathy, but Luna's expression turns soft as she says, "We have our sources."
I duck behind a curtain to change, then head out of the tent. There's a flurry of activity as people grab breakfast from the food tent. Luna and I manage to grab packaged jam-filled squares with icing on top. Apparently they're called 'Pop-tarts' and were a thing about a century ago, but have lost popularity. 
As we eat, Luna shows me around the camp. I have to keep pushing hair out of my face, because without a hair elastic, I can't braid it.
I learn where the sleeping tents are, that the tent we'd visited last night is considered the Leader's tent, where Adelée sleeps and consults her Advisors. Being an Advisor is a higher ranking duty around here. Apparently there's Seekers, Fighters, Plotters, Spies, Scavengers, Protectors, and Builders as well. Luna tells me she's a Spy, and that she wouldn't have been the one to come find me if any of the Fighters had been free, but they were busy looking for other new recruits.
"So how do you know if somebody has powers?" I ask her.
"Our Seekers, like Niko, who located you, have enhanced senses, so they can either smell, hear see, or feel the power in you. Or, they have Radar Sense and can tell where you are if they're within a certain range of you."
"Whoa. What power do you have?"
She grins. "I'm a shapeshifter."
"Can you show me?"
"Sure." A second later, I'm looking at a clone of myself.
I gasp. "No way. You can turn into anything?"
"Within reason. Any animal or person, and sometimes plants."
"Cool!" My eyebrows furrow as I examine her. "Wow, I look really tired."
She shifts back and nods. "You do."
I shrug. "Whatever. I've looked worse."
"You looked worse last night, for sure."
"Great, 'cause that makes me feel better." I grumble.
Luna ignores me. "Now that we're done our tour, there's some people you should meet."
She drags me back over to the Plotting tent, right inside. There are tables with papers scattered across them. Some of them have big red marks on them, while others are practically blank. Luna's headed toward the biggest table, where a boy sits behind a small laptop computer. He has thick-rimmed glasses and a puzzled expression on his face.
As we approach, he looks up. He's got big brown eyes, brown skin, and curly hair. He looks to be of Indian descent.
"Hey, Rajiv." Luna says. "What's up?"
He leans back in his chair. "I'm just planning routes for our fighters to take, see if they discover any late bloomers. Who's this?"
"This is Rune—she's a new recruit."
I give a small wave. "Hi."
He spares me a quick glance, then turns back to Luna. "Know what her power is yet?"
Luna frowns. "Not quite, but we're thinking Electricity."
I give a small grin. I have a power! Probably. Even after Luna's explanation, I'm still not totally convinced I've got one.
Suddenly, we hear footsteps behind us.
I whirl around. Standing behind me is a boy with dark brown hair, blue eyes with a purple tinge to them, and a light dusting of freckles.
He smirks. "Who's this?"