The Next Generation (FIRST DRAFT)

Chapter 22

“Talon.”

    A voice rang out from in front of his cell. Talon rubbed his eyes, still groggy from sleep. He propped himself up to look at the source. 

    “What’s wrong?” he groaned, seeing Brayden at the bars.

    “It’s metal man,” Brayden replied. 

    “What?”

    “Yeah,” Brayden said nervously. “I saw him again.”

    “Why are you bugging me about this right now?”

    “He didn’t look okay.”

    Talon sat up and  got off the cot immediately. “How so?” he asked, worried.

    “He looked sick, really sick.”

    Talon looked down at the ground in shame. Over the past few weeks, Talon had been blocking out all the sounds of thoughts around him. To be honest, he had kind of forgotten about Ben, focusing too much on trying to unlock the powers that Nox had talked about with no luck. If Ben had been trying to warn him, he would have missed it.

    “Do you know if he’s going to be okay?” Talon asked. 

    “Honestly, I don’t know,” Brayden said. Talon drooped. “But I’m sure he’ll be fine!” Brayden said, trying to reassure him. “We’ve got a really good medical team. I’m sure they’ll be able to figure out what is wrong with him!”

    Talon looked up to face him. “But what do they know about working on someone like him?”

    Brayden stopped, his face falling. “I-I don’t know.” 

    “Great,” Talon said sarcastically. He turned and laid back down on his cot, facing away from Brayden. He tried to tune into the thoughts around him, opening thought networks backup that he had tried so hard to close off. A floodgate of voices opened, pouring into his mind. He instinctively clapped his hands over his ears. 

    “Is he okay?” Talon heard Brayden say.

    “Yep, I’m great Brayden. Thanks for asking,” Talon replied.

    “I didn’t say anything though…,” he trailed off as he walked away from the bars. Talon realized that he had been hearing his thoughts. After two weeks of not hearing them, Talon was having a hard time differentiating the thoughts from the real words again. He ignored this fact and pushed through, trying to sort through to find Ben. 

    It felt like Ben was in the river again, a current of thoughts bombarding him from every side, taking him further and further from his intended destination. He had to fight, kicking through the torrent of words to find the voice he was searching for.

    At last, Talon found it, but he was having a hard time understanding him, almost like he couldn’t think straight. Talon tried shouting to him. 

    “Ben!” he screamed in his mind. 

    The voice stopped rambling. “Talon?”

    “Wait, you can hear me?”

    “Clear as day.”

    Talon laughed, not believing that he could actually talk to him. It was almost like a miracle. 

    “Does this mean you have telepathy?” Ben asked. 

    “I-I guess!”

    “Neat!”