CHAPTER FOUR
RAYNE
After dinner, Serina sent us to the Arch – the long stretch of concrete connecting the outer ring to the island itself. It was night, but it wasn't quite dark out yet. The sky lingered in the stage between sunset and moonlit darkness. Tall skyscrapers at the forefront of the city's downtown twinkled.
I was first in line this time. The toes of my tennis shoes rested against the front of the concrete, while the heels of my shoes sunk into the grass. The others lined up behind me. I saw the girl with the cool style in the back. I think her name was Lane or something. No, wait, didn't it have something to do with water? Ah, got it. It was Lake!
Besides being a hybrid, I had nothing in common with these people. To be honest, I was surprised they even picked me. I never got picked for anything. Plus, I had nothing waiting for me back home, except for my friends, Nova and Zander.
A tinge of wind splashed against the nape of my neck. I turned around. Hayes was now behind me. I wasn't one to drool over celebrities. I only knew who he was because Nova liked one of his songs.
"You're in so much pain," Hayes pointed out.
I slightly straightened my posture. "What do you mean?" I looked toward the water. A boat was climbing its way to the dock. "This place isn't so bad," I said.
"Deep down, you're hurting." Hayes stared into my eyes. "That tough girl act is a defense mechanism."
I smiled slightly. Even as corny as it sounded, it made me want to laugh straight at his face, but I held myself back. "Is that how you pick up girls?"
His cheeks turned a bright red. "Uh no...I...I--"
"Relax." I chuckled. "I was only joking."
A thin woman clapped, grabbing our attention. She greeted us with a cheery smile, "Welcome, children. My name is Hazel Everflore. I am the town manager. " Her voice was weak and flimsy, revealing that she was a lot older than I had first thought. She had long, wavy, metallic silver-colored hair, but her face only wore minimal signs of wrinkles. If I hadn't heard her speak, I would have placed her at no more than fifty. "I will be assisting all of you to your housing quarters," she said.
Housing quarters? She made it sound like we were college freshmen, moving into our dorms.
As we walked, she told us about rules we were supposed to follow, general rules meant for teenagers. Rules most parents would enforce: don't sneak out, don't throw secret parties, and on and on. It was just common sense, but then again, telling a bunch of teens about rules doesn't guarantee that they won't break them. After we crossed the bridge, we stopped.
"Well, here we are," Hazel announced.
Where is here? I pondered looking up at a slender, cool blue colored building that towered high into the sky, taller than any of the buildings on that side. It was getting darker, but the building looked like it had been paneled with some kind of foil.
"Welcome to the Isle Harbor Tower Hotel and Residences," a man in a red coat greeted us.
Wow, a hotel, now that's something. I was right. This place wasn't so bad. In fact, it was almost like a vacation. The inside of it was even cooler than the outside, a mix of modern tech with stylish elegance. There was a spiral staircase in the middle of the lobby, which made me wonder where it led to. The front desk agents were sitting on hover seats with their tablets as they checked guests in.
"This is where I must leave you, children," Hazel said. "But you're in good hands."
A tall man with dyed blonde hair and a woman with piercing green eyes, both in their early twenties, walked up to us.
"This is Corey and Tayler. They will be looking after you," Hazel said as she started to walk away. "If you ever need anything, you know where to find me."
How could Hazel just leave us with kids not much older than ourselves? Not that I minded. I absolutely loved having freedom.
"Oh man, we're going to have so much fun," Lake said.
The girl named Aya nodded. "Our parents are going to be so pissed."
I turned around. "Forget about them. They've lied to us this whole time. They should have told us we were half Sciusian."
We traveled up the glass elevator, through what seemed like a hundred floors. The walls of the elevator were transparent. I looked out one of the windows, taking in the landscape of the entire city. Finally, the elevator came to a stop on floor eighty.
"This is the penthouse floor," Tayler pointed out.
"Wow, fancy," I said with a grin.
"They're like giant apartments," Corey said. "The ladies will be staying here." He pointed to a fancy red door. "Guys will be with me down the hall. Don't worry about us too much. We're just here to make sure things go okay."
Tayler pressed the key against the door, and it opened. My eyes widened when I stepped foot into the giant living room. There was a plate of cookies on the hovering coffee table. Lake sat down on the red velvet couch, while Aya glanced out of the tall, open windows. I walked around a little. I was impressed by the slick kitchen with several gadgets I was dying to try. I turned around and explored the second part of the suite.
There were six large bedrooms. Lake chose the second bedroom, and Aya took the first room. Naturally, I chose the third one. The other girl, Issa, took the fourth room. She seemed homesick, so I offered her my room, but she wouldn't take it. I could have sworn there was a fifth girl, but maybe I was just thinking of Monica. The poor girl couldn't make it through the verification process. God knew where she was now.
Lake and Issa seemed to bond over the fact that they were missing their moms. As soon as Issa mentioned going back home to see her mom, Lake's eyes widened. I didn't know much about them, but they seemed to have good families, otherwise, they wouldn't be so homesick. It was something I couldn't understand. I missed my dad a little bit, but he wasn't dad of the year. In a way, it was nice to get away from my controlling grandmother. Perhaps if I had a mom, I would have missed her too.
After we had settled in, I thought it would be a good idea to close the door for my own privacy. I was too lazy to get up from the bed. My palm faced the door as I kneeled to the ground. It wasn't working, and I couldn't feel a thing. What was happening? I couldn't even close a dumb door. I tried again. This time I concentrated harder. Still nothing. I didn't understand. I could feel the heat traveling through my nerves. There was electricity, but no manifestation.
I wanted the Key of Peace. That looney Serina had mentioned we would get dyeing spots if we worked together as a team, but I knew she just said that so we wouldn't fight. The person who found the Key would be the real winner. But how was I going to get that Key without my powers?
EDITED