Chapter 2: More Than Meets The Eye
The rough hands of the guards grip tightly onto Sam's shoulders, before hurling him into the dark cell.
"You can come out once you learn to keep your mouth shut, Temple". He runs for the door but it had already slammed shut.
"No! No, please! Please, let me out! You can't leave me here! Help me, please get me out!" He slams on the steel door as hard as he can but no one comes to assist him. What has he done? What will they do to Brianna, Orsay and Jack? He shakes his head. Right now he needs to worry about himself.
Suddenly realising where he had been locked away, Sam slowly turns around and looks into the eyes of the terror of the institute.
"Please...please...d...don't hurt me," he puts up his hands in a surrendering gesture, but the little boys eyes go wide and Sam realizes what it looks like. He instantly puts his hands back down.
"Sorry! Sorry! I don't want to hurt you. Please don't hurt me. Please," The dark figure slides off of his bed and walks slowly towards Sam. Sam's face goes pale and he backs away, sliding down the wall until he is resting on the floor. Oh God, this is how I die, he thought. At the hands of this fatal boy who's no older than five. Sam, eyes clenched shut, feels a hand on his shoulder. He flinches, waiting for death.
But death doesn't come. Sam, opening his eyes warily, looks up at the boy. The toddler has some kind of crooked smile on his face as he looks back at Sam.
"P...P…e…e…t…e…" says the little boy. Sam looks at him in shock. At the boy that the doctors have made him and his fellow inmates fear so much. The deadly boy is nothing but a little child with what appears to be a mental disability. Maybe even autism.
The boy stands back and Sam slowly gets up, brushing himself off, embarrassed by his fear.
"So, your name's Pete...little Pete," Pete smiles and claps his hands at that. Guess he likes that name.
Sam walks over and sits on the bed beside Pete. This boy doesn't seem like a threat. He must just not be able to control whatever power he has. Little Pete stays sat on his bed and begins twirling his fingers in the air, as if he is playing with a string that isn't there. Sam lays back and, feeling at ease, manages to fall asleep. A lot less fearful than when he was thrown in.
Sam is still sound asleep a few hours later when a loud crash fills the room. His eyes fly open and he blindly fires his brilliant green light, his superpower, from his hands. Quickly realising what he is doing, he ceases fire and looks at the figure standing over him, blending in with the new hole in the ceiling, which revealed the black of the night.
"Who are you?" Sam asks, bewildered by the intrusion.
The stranger turn on a flashlight and shines it at Sam, almost blinding him.
Eyes half shut, Sam looks at the person, taking in details. Before him is a girl no older than he is, her bright blond hair shining in the torchlight. Sam can't help but have a look of shock and amazement on his face. "Who are you?" he asks again.
"My name is Astrid Ellison. I'm here for my brother Pete".
"Sorry, I had a nightmare and I guess my powers started. Sorry again,"
The doctors close the door. Sam waits a minute before walking over to his bed and ripping off his bed sheet, revealing Astrid's mess of beautiful, blond hair. She stands up and fixes her hair.
"Thanks," she mumbles as she walks over to where Pete is sleeping. Sam stares at her in shock. She can't be real; the doctors told him that she was just a figment of his imagination. Yet here she is. As real as Sam himself, soothing the so-called dangerous child. She looks up at Sam, catches him staring and sighs.
"How long have you been here?"
"Years...Little Pete just came a few months ago," Astrid looks at Sam and raises an eyebrow.
"Little Pete?"
Sam shrugs, "He liked the name".
She nods and picks up Little Pete, cradling him in her arms like a mother holding her infant child. She begins to walk towards the door but Sam steps in front of her.
"That's not a good idea. They probably already know that somebody is in here that shouldn't be, every room probably has a guard at it.
She sighs and curses under her breath.
"My Astrid didn't do that," Sam mumbles to himself, but Astrid overhears. Her head lifts up and she looks at Sam.
"Excuse me? Your Astrid?"
His heart begins to beat quickly, his mind buzzing, searching for an answer. But he comes up with nothing but the truth. He looks down at his feet and kicks the ground.
"I knew your name before you told me it,"
She looks at him confused. It is then that Sam notices the gun on her hip. He takes a step back, choosing his next words with great care.
"Lately, I've been having these dreams. You're in them, and we're with three other boys named Roger, Quinn, and Edilio. We are outside of this place and are fighting something. But I know it's impossible because there is nothing outside of here. Right?"
Sam cringes when she just stands there and he waits for the blow of the gun. He tries to recall the thing that he shouldn't have said. However, the bullet doesn't come.
He opens his eyes and sees her arms wrapped around his body. He stands, confused by this action, not sure how to respond.
"Oh, you poor boy," she says into his shoulder. Astrid then holds him out in front of her.
"There IS a world outside of here, whatever they have told you is lies. And those boys. Those three boys you mentioned. They are my friends and we know that there's something wrong with this place. We are putting a stop to it. If you want, you can-"
The door flies open and the doctors stand at the doorway, guns aimed at Astrid.
"AND FIRE"
"NO!"
Sam jumps in front of Astrid and the brilliant green light shoots out of his hands, on impulse.
The bodies of the doctors fall to the ground, burnt to a crisp. Oh god, what did he do? What had he done? It was an impulse, they were going to kill Astrid. He...he had no choice, right?
Sirens blare and Sam covers his ears, screaming in frustration. Astrid grabs tightly onto his arm and begins to pull him.
"We have to go!" She shouts at him over the blaring sirens. He shakes his head furiously at her.
"NO! No. I killed them. I killed someone! I could kill you!"
He tries to pull away but her grip won't loosen. She won't let go.
"I'm not leaving you here!" She shouts at him.
Astrid pulls him out of the room but he skids to a stop.
"WHAT?" she shouts.
"My friends! I can't leave my friends!"
She swears under her breath again but nods.
"Fine! Go! I'll watch your back," she says, still cradling Little Pete in her arms.
Sam runs to Jack's room first. Not there.
"Jack! Jack!" Sam runs around, dodging doctors and firing his deadly beams of light. He feels a quick breeze and knows who it is instantly.
"Brianna!" it only takes a second and Brianna is standing on Sam's toes.
"What the hell is going on Sam? They're saying that someone got in, but that's impossible cause I-" Sam grabs onto her arm and pulls her, cutting off her question.
"Where are the others?"
"Jack's locked with Orsay. I got out before they locked the door. Caine's freaking out. Diana's trying to calm him down but is only making it worse. Dekka's stuck in her room with Toto, and Taylor's in the cafeteria I think, why?" Sam stops in front of Astrid. She turns and looks at Brianna who recoils at the sight of Little Pete.
"What's he doing out? He'll kill us!"
"No he won't! Don't you dare talk about my little brother that way," Astrid takes a second to compose herself, "We need a place to hide".
"My room,"
Before anyone can respond Sam is running to his room and Astrid follows. Brianna runs past him and after Astrid runs in she locks the door.
"Okay who the hell are you? And why are you holding the killer like a baby?"
Astrid tilts her head, like she sees something that isn't there right above Brianna's head. Brianna, impatient, snaps her fingers and Astrid shakes her head, snapping it back into focus.
"What? Oh, yeah. He's my brother and I broke in to get him out"
"Broke in? That means that-"
"Yeah Bri, there's an world outside. The doctors have been lying to us for years and it's time we get out,"
"I have a group of people waiting on the outside for me," Astrid hesitates, "But I suppose everyone can come if they want to,"
Brianna looks at Sam and then back to Astrid, who again is looking just above Brianna's head like there is something there.
"It's short,"
"What's short?" asks Brianna as she looks up to see what Astrid is looking at.
"What? Oh, nothing,"
Sam stares at her hard and she looks back. She tries to avoid it but her eyes travel up above Sam's head and he understands what's happening.
"Oh my god...You have powers,"
