Taylor was barely able to move. I knelt down on the floor next to her. “What have they done to you?”
She started crying. “I’m so sorry I led them to you.”
I put my hand on her shoulder. “It’s going to be okay, Taylor. We’re going to get you out of here. Have you seen my mother?”
“No. But they told me they have her.”
“Did they say where?” Ostin asked.
“No.”
“Taylor, what kind of school is this?”
“It’s not a school. It’s a laboratory.”
“A laboratory? For what?”
Another voice came from the darkness. “To learn how to make more of us.”
I spun around to see a young man standing on the other side of the cell. He looked about my age but was a full six inches taller. He was African-American and glowing. Standing behind him were two teenage girls, one Chinese, the other a tall blonde, who were both glowing as well. I’m not surprised that I hadn’t seen them, as they were in the opposite corner of the cell and I was only focused on Taylor.
“I’m Ian,” the boy said. “I’ve been watching you and your friends since you arrived this morning.”
“From down here?”
“I see through electrolocation. I can see through the walls.”
“Like electric eels,” Ostin said. “That’s cool.”
“Why are you down here?” I asked.
“Around here you either do what Hatch says or you end up in the dungeon.”
The two girls walked toward us. The Chinese girl said, “I’m McKenna.”
“And I’m Abigail.”
“I’m Michael,” I said. “Do you also have powers?”
McKenna nodded. “I can make light and heat. Abigail can take away pain.”
“Electric nerve stimulation,” Ostin said. “Very interesting.”
I turned back to Ian. “Do you know who else is down here?”
“I can see everyone in the building,” he said.
“Do you know if my mother is here? They kidnapped her.”
“How long ago did they take her?”
“Just a few days ago.”
Ian shook his head. “The only female prisoners are on the next floor up and they’ve all been here for more than a year.”
My heart fell.
Ian suddenly looked up toward the corner of the room. “Oh no,” he said. “The two guys you came here with are being taken away by the guards.” He turned back toward me. “How did you get in here? In this room?”
“Michael demagnetized the door,” Ostin said. “With his electricity.”
Ian shook his head. “That’s impossible. The locks aren’t magnetic. The sliding bolts are made of resin and work pneumatically. Everyone here has electrical gifts, so they prepared for that.” Ian looked back up. “They’re coming.”
“Who’s coming?” I said.
Ian didn’t answer. He grabbed the girls and stepped away from the door, back to the corner of the room.
“If I didn’t open the door,” I asked, “then who did?”
A voice boomed from an unseen speaker. “That would be me, Michael. We’ve been expecting you. Welcome to Elgen Academy.”
There was suddenly a loud screech in my head and I felt dizzy, just as I had in the parking lot when my mother was taken. I fell against the wall, covering my ears. Everyone in the room groaned except Ostin, who looked around curiously at us. “What’s happening?”
“It’s Nichelle,” Ian said.
“What’s a Nichelle?” Ostin asked.
The cell door opened. The man I had seen outside the pizza parlor was standing there next to the creepy girl.
“Hello, Michael,” the man said. “I see the group has been reunited.” He stepped inside the room.
“Shock him,” Ostin said.
I took a step forward, then the screeching dropped me to my knees. Everyone else screamed.
Hatch turned to Ostin. “Ostin, isn’t it? I thought you were supposed to be smart.” He looked down at me. “What do you call yourself? The Electrokids? The Electroclub?”
“The Electroclan,” Ostin said.
“Right.” Hatch smiled darkly. “You don’t belong here, Ostin. But here you are.”
“I belong wherever Michael is,” Ostin said.
Hatch smirked. “Loyalty. I like that. Even when it’s misplaced, there’s something endearing about it. Unfortunately, this is where your relationship ends. Michael, if you’ll follow me, we’ll let Ostin stay here with the others.”
Ostin looked at me.
“I’m not leaving them,” I said.
An even higher-pitched screeching poured through my head, followed by an increasing tightness, as if a metal band had been put around my head and cinched up. It was the same thing I had felt when my mother was taken—as if life itself were being drawn out of me through a straw. “Aargh.” I fell to the ground, grabbing my temples.
“Stop it!” Taylor shouted. “Leave him alone.”
“Mike knows how to stop it,” Hatch said.
“Okay,” I shouted. “I’ll go.”
Hatch nodded at Nichelle and the sound and pain stopped. “Come along, Mike. I’m a busy man.”
I staggered to my feet. “My name is Michael.”
“A Glow by any other name is just as electric, but as you wish.”
I looked over at Ostin and Taylor. They both had fear in their eyes. “I’ll be back,” I said. I staggered out and the door automatically closed behind me. Halfway down the hall Hatch turned to me and said, “I sincerely hope you won’t be back to that place.”
“I belong with my friends.”
“Then the question is, will your friends still be there? And that is completely up to you.” The elevator door opened. “After you.”
“Where are we going?”
Hatch pushed a button on the elevator. “I want to talk. But first, there are tests to be run.”
