So...

This is an excerpt from my NaNoNovel...it's not really...erm...edited? So..uh...I just wanted to make sure it isn't complete crap...I might do a couple of these and then, well, I guess we'll see, won't we? Here goes nothing... (Ps, Cincinnati=Cinni. Salem=not present at the moment...)

“Hello, Cincinnati,” a voice came from above me as the doors I had come through shut seemingly of their own accord. “Welcome to the testing room.”

I looked around to see who was talking but saw nothing except for a large mirror in front of me. I moved more towards the middle of the room and set my hands on my hips, still looking around. “What exactly am I doing in here?” I asked, squinting at how white the room was.

“Welcome to your first training session,” a different voice said, calm in its tone and calming as a result. “Today we’ll just be assessing your abilities and so on, so we can set the appropriate level of your beginning regime.”

“Do you mean exercise?” I asked unsurely. It was probably true, all the self-loathing and sitting around reading history books all day had led to me gaining more weight than I probably wanted to admit. “Because you should probably just start me on level 0, if that’s the case.”

A higher, tinkily voice laughed and I could hear the tone of disdain in her voice, as she said, “No, silly. Your powers.”

My eyes opened wide and my heart stopped for a few seconds. “W-what?” I stuttered. “I thought-I mean, I just-“ I recognized the voice, and my shock at the sudden request pulled me out of my sleep-lacking, moody state.

“You didn’t think we were just going to let you sit there and do nothing while you aged did you?” the voice that I now definitely knew was that of Ms. A. I glared at nothing. I knew there was a reason I didn’t like her.

“Well, I’m not stupid,” I grumbled under my breath. I might be selfish and mean and overly-emotional and snarky at times but I’m not stupid, I thought. But this was sudden. Maybe I was over reacting or maybe I just wanted a little warning, especially considering I hadn’t quite had the time to break it to them that I couldn’t-or wouldn’t-really use my powers.

“Then don’t act so surprised,” she replied, her voice ringing out from the ceiling and echoing strangely off the squishy, stark-white walls. “It won’t be anything incredibly difficult today.” I could hear her lick her lips and almost covered my ears in disgust, unable to stop imagine a lioness licking her chops right before attacking a poor, helpless gazelle.

“Well,” I summoned my strength and girded my loins. “Sorry to tell you but, I can’t.”

“Can’t?” Ms. A. laughed again in a sarcastic, mocking way that made my cheeks flame. “And why not? Do you have an appointment you just can’t miss?”

I stuck my nose up, though I didn’t know if she could see me or not. I didn’t like the way she was treating me, like I was dirt or something she found on the bottom of her shoe. “No, but that doesn’t mean you can talk to me like that,” I pointed out, indignantly. Suddenly, the mirror switched from a reflective surface to a see-through one.

It made me jump back. I hadn’t exactly been sure why they would put a mirror there in the first place, but now I understood. It was one of those one-sided things they use in jails and stuff where one side is see-through but the other side just looks like a mirror. Hence me thinking it was so. On the other side there was a dark room. Shapes were barely visible, but I could make out the ones close to the glass, such as computers.

A long row of monitors was set up a few inches away from the thick-looking glass. A person or two sat behind each one, clickity-clacking away on the keyboards, talking and looking up at me every once in a while before quickly looking down when they saw me looking back. All the people wore goggles and lab coats, looking very scientist-y. There was also a variety of switches and levers on one long control panel that stretched across the table. Behind all the hubbub in the front, looming, barely visible, in the periphery was Ms. A., raising a thinly plucked eyebrow at me, clipboard in hand, also wearing goggles and lab coat. I didn’t understand the point of the goggles as the glass looked pretty bullet proof but hey, if that was their thing, then fine.

Still, the woman looked like she was up to no good, glaring at me smarmily. It made me want to hide my face and punch her nose all at the same time. I internally rolled my eyes at my ever-conflicting emotions. I had gone from headstrong to bi-polar overnight. Ms. A. lifted pressed her hand to the earpiece that she was wearing and spoke into it, her words ringing out from above. That’s one mystery solved, I thought, switching hands and hips, and shifting my weight.

“We’ve been too easy on you for too long Cincinnati, and now you’ve forgotten that we are the ones in control, not you. You are in our facility, under our rules, and you will do as I say,” she snarled.

I frowned. She was seriously going to be ticked at me after what was coming next, but I had no choice. “Actually,” I scuffed the floor with my foot. “I…um…can’t.”

“Why not?” she demanded. “What is so difficult for you to understand? I was informed that you were intelligent, but I must have heard wrong.”

“Hey!” I shouted, both hands on my hips now. “I’m serious! And I’m not stupid. I can’t use my powers okay! Not anymore.”

That shut her up for a few seconds before she started laughing obnoxiously, sounding like she was purposely articulating the has instead of just laughing like a normal person. “I see. You want to play games with me do you?” I could see her snap her fingers through the window, though I couldn’t hear it through the speakers. “Let’s see how you feel after you meet my friend.”

A previously invisible door slid open and two scientists came out, holding something. I craned my neck to see what it was, but couldn’t. All of me, however, was urging run. Where? I thought. I was trapped in the spongy white room. The men came closer, until they were right next to me. I just looked at them, and they looked back, probably trying to look reassuring, but it wasn’t working. I now saw that they held some kind of a collar. I observed it curiously, and opened my mouth to say something when, in one quick movement, they lunged at me and snapped the thing around my neck. Then, they ran as fast as they possibly could away from me and out of the room, the door slamming shut behind them.

“Hey!” I yelled, shaking my fist at them. “Hey! What is this?” I tried to pull at the cold, metal contraption that clung too tight around my neck and constricted my breath slightly. “What-?” I was totally angry now. I continued to try and yank the collar off when I felt a sharp piercing in my neck, like taking 5 shots at once. I cried out and fell to my knees, still trying desperately to pull it off.

“Don’t bother,” Ms. A. said, examining her nails. “It’s just a little...help. To give you a push when you feel the need to…well, to help with your insubordination.”

“You’re crazy!” The facts came crashing down on me when I realized that my Grandma was right. I felt like crying. Could I do nothing right? Why was I so stupid? Why did I have to trust without limit? See the best in people? First Salem and now this. Stupid blond, said a nasty voice in the back of my head, but it was right. “You-you’re…” I trailed off as a single tear streaked down my cheek.

Why could I never listen? Why did I just have to trust myself so much that I screwed myself over in the process? She was right. I should have known it would never last. I had built myself a castle of glass and trusted the wind to not knock it over. Picked the wrong side again, the voice said. My Grandma had been through this. Suddenly, I remembered some marks I had seen on her neck. I pulled weakly at the collar. Had they done this to her to?

Probably. All I was to them was a monster. A stupid thing that could be treated however they wanted because it couldn’t fight back. Or, no, that wasn’t right. A tricky thing that they feared and had to keep captive to assert their authority over it. Monster. The word came back from my memories in the way of Salem’s lips forming it. I closed my eyes tightly and pushed away my sadness.

I couldn’t let them see me weak. Suddenly, my need to escape overwhelmed me. I had gotten myself in here and I could get myself out. I would just…stop trusting anyone. I could only rely on myself and even that was a cheap bet. Even with that fragment of another crazy thought, I still had that collar around my neck and I was still stuck in that room. My complete and total hatred for myself flared and it didn’t matter that I had sworn off my powers.

I stood quickly. “Hit me with your best shot!” I shouted, wanting to hurt myself, but figuring that blowing something up was the next best thing.

What else would you do in my place? Please let me know. Drop me a fax or possibly send me a letter by owl because I could use all the advice I could get. The white of the room was making my vision go all fuzzy and I felt like falling asleep. I also still felt like blowing something up. Or possibly bursting into tears. The sleeping and tears canceled each other out or at least, that’s what I was trying to convince myself of.

I just couldn’t take it anymore. I couldn’t take myself anymore. And maybe, that was why it felt kind of good when a large electric shock burned my veins and lit my skin on fire. It woke me up, turned up the volume on my brain and down on my emotions, and kicked in my survival instinct. I gasped for air, heart and brain racing. I blinked as my brain put pieces together.

Whatever I had been going through in the last couple of weeks suddenly scared me, like those videos of girls with eating disorders.

I had gotten out of myself so bad after I had that dream…I couldn’t let dreams control my life, I realized, no matter how real they seemed. I had become numb and slipped into a state of… I struggled to find my world while my body worked its way out of the shock of being electrocuted. It felt like…hypothermia. I nodded to myself, realizing how right that comparison was. It was like I knew something was wrong but just couldn’t be bothered to fix it.

It scared me. I had seriously been pondering suicide just a few seconds ago and I just couldn’t see why. Sure, I was an idiot, stupid blond who had made bad decisions, but I was only 14. I had time to fix it. And I was going to start by doing exactly what that terrible woman standing to the front of me so I could earn her trust so I could rip it out from under her just like she had done to me.

“I’m sorry,” I said, attempting to smile. Sadly though, I was being forced to look at her face. That made me smile. I had missed my old self, if that doesn’t sound too conceited, but hey. You have to admit, this me was better than angry, crybaby, hypothermia me, right? And she did look kind of nightmarish, completely devoid of laugh lines where they should have been at her age. “But, can I ask-“

“No,” she said forcefully. “You can’t. And don’t tell us what to do. I give the orders around her, Kliene, got it?” She readjusted her navy blue vest that was barely visible under her lab coat.

I forced myself to bite my lip so I wouldn’t do something more stupid than I already had. “Well, then, what now?” I asked, still attempting to be polite, but I was pretty sure it sounded a little forced. I still wasn’t happy about the collar around my neck or the painful needles sticking into it, but I was still filled with the extreme urge to just get this over with.

“Well,” she tapped her lips with a pen. “Give me a second.” It was odd hearing her voice come from the ceiling when I could only see her through the glass about seven feet away. She turned away, blocking the mic and said something to one of the scientist dudes. He nodded quickly, and ran off hitting a button. There was a loud mechanical noise from above and a compartment opened. A large crane lowered a thick piece of wood down and set it in front of me.

I looked at it. It was a piece of wood. Great. “So…what exactly am I supposed to do with this?” I asked, attempting to jump up above the 11ftx7ft piece of wood. It had to be at least 3 feet thick. I couldn’t see past it.

She obviously heard me, however because she responded, “Surprise me,” and then was silent. I looked around for a sign of a hint or something. I wasn’t a beaver so I hoped she didn’t expect me to eat it or something ridiculous like that.

I shivered and jumped as a shock came from the choker, not barely as large as the last one but enough to make my skin tingle uncomfortably. “Now,” she suggested, voice booming.

I stuck my tongue out at her from behind the wood and wondered if I could make terriers appear and devour the wood and the glass but decided against it. It probably wouldn’t work for one, and I was supposed to be being a good girl. So, I summoned my strength from a vault that was supposed to stay locked forever and focused it into one big stream. I felt like I was doing yoga, opening my chakras, as I moved my hands over my head and then out in front of me, willing the energy through my arms and out my fingertips. It made my whole body feel like flying as I hit that energy high.

After holding it just long enough to aggravate Ms. A., I let go and sent a wave of (blue!) energy shooting at the wood, obliterating it into a billion little pieces and hiding my face as the splintered wood flew everywhere. The colour had been awesome, I decided, suddenly feeling exhausted. I didn’t know if I could to that again. Making such a focused, perfect, polished stream had seemed like a good idea at first, impress the boss and all, but now it seemed like quite a bit of wasted energy.

Ms. A. however looked thrilled. Her eyes light up with the light of my energy blast, and with power. I could see how happy she looked in a very bad kind of way. “Yes,” she nodded. “Very good.” Then she whipped her head up to look at me again, eyes still holding their crazy look. “Again!”

And down lowered a larger, thicker piece of metal. My mouth fell open a little in dismay. “Just like last time,” she announced. “Bigger, harder!”

“I-“ I shook my head, I couldn’t do that again without collapsing from exhaustion, especially since I hadn’t used my powers in so long. “I can’t-“ Another shock ran through my body and I cringed in pain.

“Now,” she smiled cruelly, finger still on the button that controlled the source of my agony. I shivered as the electricity sent aftershocks through my nervous system.

My face fell. It was going to be a long day.