Midale

Chapter Twelve: With Power Comes Pain

"Madison Turner you owe me a shoe!" Sam exclaimed at her feet, out of which one was covered with her pink heels and the other had pieces of the earth stuck on it.

"Now how am I suppose to walk with one stiletto on? Can you go back and check where you dropped it?" She said, folding her arms and giving me her worst glare, which I hoped was mixed with gratitude. She should be happy I didn't leave something else of her's on the way, but when I think about it, I could've lived with a tongue-less Samantha.

"Have I ever told you how pretty you are?" Lucas said to Emma but his words were slurred and he had a dreamy look in his eyes. Wow that must have been a very bad stomach ache.

"Uh- Sam I think you dropped your stiletto on Lucas' head." Emma turned to Sam while supporting a very drunk looking Lucas. Okay I agree that the experience of covering hundreds of miles in a mere second was like a drug but I didn't know it was that strong.

"Actually it dropped on my head." Ash handed Sam her shoe with a scowl on his face.

"Lets hope it didn't scratch my face, I can't afford to lose my looks." He groaned, feeling his face up for any "dents".

"Yeah that would be horrible, after all, they're only thing you've got." Sam muttered and I was sure Ash was going to cross some line and sucker punch Sam in the face when Emma caught his attention. Or rather the Institute caught all over attentions.

"Guys look!" Emma eagerly pointed to the Sanctuary in front of us. The only thing stopping her from jumping up and down was the unstable Lucas in her arms.

The building was just as I had imagined. It was like an elephant compared to our Sanctuary back at Midale, with its vast gardens, housing almost all the plants I could think of and couldn't think of. The most appalling thing though, was the crowd of teenagers gathered outside. They were all huddled in a circle, listening intently to someone in the very middle. I didn't know if it was some sort of training or drill but it looked cool and different. We could never afford activities like this back home, it would attract too much attention and suspicion because it was not normal for a bunch of teenagers blowing each other up in the middle of nowhere. This place on the other hand was perfect. I doubted anyone ever even bothered to climb the hill all the way up here. The other shocking thing was the weather. Any other place this high up would've frozen up by now but here, in NYS, it was just another sunny spring day.

A group of girls made their way to the entrance through the same paved road we were standing on. All their eyes scanned our group but settled on Ash. I wasn't the only one who noticed them gawking at him. Ash winked at them and the girls ran up the stairs that led to garden giggling. Ash sighed in relief.

"My face is still irresistible."

I fake gagged at this, he grinned and casually slung an arm around my shoulders. I didn't mind, it was good to have my best friend back. Well at least the one still alive.

The ascend to the garden was a short one, consisting of only six grey steps. Everyone seemed to be following behind me, so I had to be the one to make the decision to either stick outside or try to enter the Institute. I opted for the safer option. We quitely trudged across the fresh grass field until we reached the huddled group. They still seemed very focused and involved in whatever they were discussing and didn't notice us.

I cleared my throat.

"Excuse me."

All the heads rose at once and fixed on our little group. The man in the middle was a tall and muscular individual. He looked on the early thirties side but I knew better. It was hard to spot the similarities but his amber eyes were ones I had watched for a long time, waiting for answers.