HIVE: Otto's Past 2: The Haven
Sunlight filtered through the glass roof, lighting up Otto's friends as they had their weekly swimming lesson. The albino laid back in his chair, blue eyes watching Wing Fanchu, Shelby Trinity and Laura Brand do lengths up and down the Olympic sized pool. Apparently, when you were at a secret school for future villains you still had to learn to swim – and be fairly good at it. But Otto Malpense was only allowed private swimming lessons, because he had wings. They'd only developed a few weeks ago and Otto can tell you, it came as a big surprise. He thought he'd had cancer when two lumps appeared on his back one evening, but Professor Pike – their ingenious science and ICT teacher – had said otherwise. Eventually they'd grown into 13 foot, white feathery wings. Otto felt down the back of his shirt, and ran the feathers threw his fingers.
How he longed to fly.
Every evening his shoulder blades ached from squeezing his wings in tight, every day he longed for fresh air and sun. But being a part of HIVE (Higher Institute of Villainous Education) meant that Otto lived and worked and learnt underground. His friends and all of the staff knew about Otto's situation, but as far as the other students were concerned, he was a normal (if not intelligent) thirteen year old boy.
Another downside to being 1.75% Avian was that his mother wanted to capture and experiment on him. She ran a science lab called the School, which ran illegal experiments on humans and animals alike, combining their DNA. Although Otto had never met Ms Loom, he knew from what his half siblings had said that she was sadistic and ruthless.
He shivered when he thought of Mr Littleton. That science teacher had been sent from the School to kidnap him when necessary. Otto remembered the ugly Erasers as they'd pinned him down in a deserted corridor, and a scientist in a white lab coat as he sedated him. Otto had woken up on a helicopter, flying across Canada. He'd escaped by flying for the first time down into a forest. There Otto had met Max, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy and Angel who'd helped him return to HIVE.
But hey, there were perks to being a hybrid.
One: Otto had grown, and was almost as tall as Wing, his huge ninja friend with calm features and long dark hair. Two: he was extremely light and enjoyed teasing his friends. Three: he was stronger. His muscles were bigger and more defined, and he reckoned he could beat an adult in any fight.
But not Erasers. They were stronger, and were built to retrieve and kill.
"Hellloooo, earth to Otto!"
Snapping out of his thoughts, he looked up at Laura, suddenly realising that swimming was over. She was standing over him, smiling that pretty smile of hers. Laura was Scottish, and loved computers. Just like Otto. Her red bob hung limply, dragged down after soaking up too much water.
"Yeah?" he said.
Shelby bounced up, blonde hair flicking water everywhere whenever she tossed her head. (Which was every few seconds!)
"Nero says he's got something to show you and we can come along too!" she said excitedly in her American drawl.
"I wonder what he's going to show us?" Otto frowned.
"You," Wing said, coming over. "He said it's not for us, it's for you."
Otto sprang up in excitement and followed his friends to the changing rooms, his mind abuzz.
Maybe, just maybe, it had something to do with flying!
xxXXOtto+MaximumXXxx
Otto followed Nero and Raven – Nero being the headmaster of HIVE and Raven being Nero's young Russian bodyguard and an assassin with a deadly reputation – through the corridors. All three of his friends were walking behind him, eyes shining in curiosity. Otto was curious too, he couldn't wait to see what they wanted to show him!
Turning a corner, they came across a metal door embedded deeply in the rocky wall. Nero delved in his pocket and brought out a lone key. As he turned the key in the lock, Otto noticed a small window at the top of the door. White light was shining through, lighting up the dreary corridor. And it wasn't artificial light – it was sunlight.
His curiosity peaked, Otto stood on his tiptoes, trying to see through the window. But a firm landed on his shoulder to bring him back down and another hand covered his eyes.
"Not yet Otto," he heard Raven say firmly. "It's meant to be a surprise."
Otto heard a swoosh as the door opened. He could almost sense the sunbeams on his skin. From the gasps of wonder from his friends, he could guess that it was pretty amazing. As Raven pushed him forwards but still kept his eyes covered, he found himself becoming impatient.
"What?" Otto insisted, "What is it!"
Shelby burst out, "It's-"
Only to be cut off by four shushes.
Slowly but surely, Otto felt Raven shift her hands from his eyes. The bright light that met him made him blink rapidly, and he couldn't see anything. Then his eyes adjusted and he realised he stood in a huge, airy room. The ceiling high above them was glass – like Otto's Common Room – revealing an azure blue sky and a beautiful golden sun. In the room was a large swimming pool, adorned with rocks and plants and palm trees. Deck chairs lined the sides. Behind the pool, up against the far wall was a rocky cliff. A torrent of water fell over the edge, joining the pool water a good few metres below. On the cliff was a ledge, giving whoever sat there a prime view of the rest of the room. You could only reach that ledge by climbing – or flying.
"Wow," Otto breathed, taking it all in. "Thanks so much!"
He turned to Nero and Raven, tempted to hug them, but deciding against it.
"This room is called the Haven," Nero explained, taking another key from his pocket similar to the one he'd used on the door.
He handed the key to Otto.
"Only you and the staff have a key to this room. This is where you are free to fly and swim and do as you like, but for safety reasons, there are still cameras." Nero pointed to the little screens in each corner of the Haven.
"Do my friends get keys too?" Otto asked hopefully, however nice the Haven was, he didn't want to be on his own all the time.
Nero shook his head. "No, too much risk. We'd end up giving keys to the whole school in the end."
Otto was crestfallen, his friends looked the same.
"But you can let them in," Raven added quickly.
Nero smiled slightly, apparently amused at his bodyguard's outburst. "We're going now," he turned. "Thank you Natalya," he used Raven's real name as she held the door open for him. "Enjoy yourselves."
The metal door swung shut with a loud CLUNK!
Feeling his friends' eyes on him expectantly, Otto bent down and leapt into the air. For barely a millisecond he was falling, then Otto unfolded his wings...