I couldn't wake up. My body and mind were screaming, knowing that danger could be surrounding me. Yet, I couldn't move. I felt paralyzed. I felt hopeless. The stress building in my body felt like it was about to burst.

What's going on? What happened? Why am I acting like this?

Finally, my mind snapped me out of the trance. I shot up and frantically looked around to get a bearing on my surroundings. Panting, I realized that I was nowhere I recognized. I found myself in a confined bedroom that had no windows. The bed reached both sides of the walls and was no larger than queen-sized. There was no dresser, but a small space for a closet. There was a navy blue uniform of sorts hanging inside of it, but nothing else. The only other thing was a door directly in front of me with a clock hanging above it. It read five forty-seven in the evening.

Where was I? How did I get here? There was so much going on, yet everything was so still. Was I abducted?

Wait. What about Emily and Xavian?

My eyes widened. Memories of recent events flooded back to me. The loud noise, Xavian dropping to the ground, Emily screaming, the people that came out of nowhere...

I needed answers. I needed to find someone. Was Emily okay?

Is Xavian dead?

Scrambling out of the bed, I reached for the door. As soon as I made contact with the handle, an electric current shocked my body so hard that it sent me crashing into the foot of the bed. I felt dizzy and nauseous as I sat with my back against the footboard.

Static came from the ceiling. A man's voice came out of nowhere. "Well, look who's finally awake!"

So many emotions filled my body at once. Fear, confusion, despair, and others I couldn't make out. What the hell was going on?

"After two long days, my Alpha has risen from the dead."

I shook my head. Two days? Alpha? "W-Who are you? C-Can you hear me?"

My throat was dry which caused my voice to come out raspy. I noticed there was a white, circular speaker similar to the ones you'd find in a school. That made me question my location even more.

"Of course!" the voice called. "I can see and hear everything that goes on in that little room of yours. I hope it's not too small because I had to make space for the other rooms."

Other rooms? Is Emily here? Is she okay? Who else was here?

"A man with few words, I see," he spoke. "No worries. I'll break that habit soon. Now, you might be wondering about that door, am I correct?"

I nodded. "Yes."

"That door is charged with a powerful electric current in case you try to leave the room outside of the permitted times. No worries, though. A schedule will be given to you soon so you'll know when those permitted times are."

He was speaking as if I was permanently trapped here. I had to ask. "Where am I? What's going on?"

"Why, you haven't gone far, Subject Alpha," he answered. "This will be your new home for the foreseeable future. More answers will be given shortly."

The foreseeable future?

"What about my friends?" I demanded.

The man laughed. "You're going to have to remind me who they are. I've been dealing with quite several people around your age."

"Emily and Xavian," I hastily responded. "Where are they?"

"Emily Jackson, correct? I can assure you that she's just fine," he reassured. "As for your other friend, I believe it was necessary to dispose of any unwanted trouble. You see, if we kept him alive, he'd report us to the authorities. Doing so wouldn't do much, but it would cause too much of a setback in my plans. We have to maintain our cover, no matter the limits."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Xavian was truly dead. Taking a shaky breath, I found it difficult to process what was happening. After a few seconds, the voice continued speaking.

"I hope you eventually understand the precautions I had to take, Alpha. Once again, more answers will be given soon. Do you see that uniform in the closet?"

My eyes drifted to the right side of the room. The navy blue uniform still hung in the tiny closet.

"Put that on and make your way to the training grounds," he continued. "There are signs on the walls that will direct you where to go. Be there in no more than ten minutes. Dismissed."

I sat at the foot of the bed, utterly shocked at everything that's happened since I woke up. Was Xavian really gone, or was the man playing with my emotions as a scare tactic? Memories of the encounter flooded back into my mind. The gunshot sound, his body falling lifelessly to the ground, the pool of blood pouring from his head...there was no way he could live from that.

Tears fell down my cheek which quickly turned into silent sobbing. I couldn't help but feel like it was my fault that everything happened, even though I knew it couldn't be controlled. Everything happened so suddenly, and yet...

Here I am. What was going to happen now?

Wiping the tears from my face, I hoisted myself to my feet and walked to the closet. The uniform was a thin, dry-fit material with short sleeves and shorts with parallel white stripes running down the sides. There was also an option for pants, but I decided to stick with the shorts.

After putting on the uniform, it was time to leave. Fear kept me from moving toward the door. Would I get shocked again? Carefully touching the handle with my index finger, I recoiled in fear, but nothing happened.

Slowly opening the door, I was greeted by a small cafeteria room with only two tables. On the other side of the room was a kitchen, which I assumed was where the food was prepared.

"What the hell?" I mumbled to myself.

I found signs mounted on a pillar to my right with two arrows, one pointing left and the other pointing right. To the left was the boy's restrooms, and to the right was the direction of the training grounds. I started walking in that direction.

Nobody else was to be seen. The man made it seem like there were going to be other people there. Were they already at the training grounds?

Making my way down a hallway, I opened a set of double doors that led me to a large room about the size of a football stadium. An indoor track circled a turf field, and on it was a group of people all wearing the same uniforms as me. Curious, I started making my way toward them.

As I stepped on the field, a familiar voice called to me. "Eli!"

I looked toward the group to see Emily running toward me. My body filled with relief as we hugged each other tightly, and she began sobbing into my chest.

"I was scared you were dead," she said in between sobs. "I'm so happy you're okay."

Before I could speak, she pulled herself away to look at me. "You're okay, right?"

I honestly didn't know how to answer her. "I-I think so. I'm really confused about what's going on."

Emily nodded and sniffed. "I think we all are. I've been talking to a few of the others that are here and they don't know what happened to them, either."

"What do you mean?"

She motioned me to walk with her. "Everyone's saying that they were abducted similar to the way we were. Everything goes black, and the next thing they know is that they're in a tiny bedroom."

"Did someone tell you to come here?" I asked.

Emily snapped her head towards me. "Yes. It was the same with everyone else, too."

I rubbed my temple to attempt to avoid the migraine that was coming. This was so overwhelming. Were we the victims of a mass abduction? Why were we here to begin with?

"What do we do?"

"I don't know, Eli..." Emily trailed off, grabbing onto my arm. "I'm scared."

I pulled her closer, more to give her and myself comfort. "I am too. Let's just stick together-"

A blast of heat suddenly scorched us, forcing me to let go of Emily. We scrambled backward and fell over. My leg painfully stung from the burn. I looked up to see the culprit, and a girl with long blonde hair stood above us.

"Clinging to each other won't do anything, assholes."

Was she the source of the fire? I looked at her with shock. "D-Did you just...?"

Before she could speak, a clapping noise came from the doors. A big man who could tower over us was slowly walking toward us. He was accompanied by two men dressed in a camouflage military outfit and a doctor. Based on his appearance and the way he carried himself, he had to be important.

"What a great display of your power, Delta," he spoke, stopping in front of us.

My eyes widened after hearing his voice. It was the man that was speaking to me in my room.

The girl looked at him with a confused and distasteful expression and spoke in a sour tone. "Um, who are you?"

His smirk faded, and his tone became low and threatening. "You're telling me that you don't recognize me?"

"If I recognized you, we wouldn't be having this conversation right now," she answered.

They stared each other down for what felt like an eternity. Smoke was fuming from the girl's tightened fists. The man noticed this and spoke in an even lower volume. I glanced around, and the rest of the group were watching as well.

"I'll give you three seconds to cool down."

"Or what?" she countered. "The fuck are you going to do?"

He suddenly pulled a gun from his belt and fired it at her head, causing me to spring to my feet. A few of us yelped, not daring to make a move. The girl stood there, frozen in fear as the gun's barrel steamed in front of her face. Yet, she remained alive.

I then noticed that the gun was aimed only a few inches next to her face, meaning the bullet must've barely missed. The man slowly lowered the gun, keeping a straight face. "Next time, I won't miss. Your power can't match up to mine."

Turning to the rest of us, still standing like statues, he spoke threateningly. "That goes for the rest of you. I may have brought you here, but I won't be afraid to wipe you from the face of this world and show you just how insignificant you are. Don't make your next move be your last."

His words sent chills down my spine. What was he capable of doing?

"Anyway," he started, clearing his throat. "With that out of the way, I'm sure all of you are wondering why you're here."

I know I was. He mentioned the girl's power and called her "Delta," like he called me "Alpha." Did it have something to do with that?

Emily never let go of my arm. I could feel her trembling.

"First, an introduction. I am the Supreme Leader of this country, Alexzander Hayward. All of you have gifted abilities, correct? I was the one who gave those to you."

That stirred a reaction from us. A taller boy with blonde hair stepped forward. "You were the one who did this to me? Don't you know the pain and suffering it's put me through?"

The Supreme Leader stepped closer to him. The boy was shaking with fear and anger but attempted to keep his composure. I watched with fearful anticipation.

"Your name?" Hayward asked.

He gritted his teeth. "Why does it matter?"

"Your name," he asked again, much more demanding than before.

"Zach."

Hayward snapped his fingers. "Zachary Carter. You can create auditory illusions."

He froze as his eyes widened in shock. "H-How did you know that? I've never told a soul about it before."

"I know every little detail about each of you," he stated, loud enough for the rest of us to hear. "I've been watching all of you since the day you were born. I know what power you hold, when you were born down to the minute, what blood type you are, where each of you live...I know everything. So if you try to defy me in any way you can think of, I will find a way to make your life a living hell."

None of us had anything to say. Hayward smiled. "Good. I hope none of you choose a quick end to something special. From this point forward, you'll be my soldiers in this war. I gave you your unique powers because I'm fighting a losing battle in this war. Hevastwa is a wealthy country with rich resources and has almost triple the population of Riland. I hope you can understand that I had to take drastic measures."

"Drastic measures?" a girl spoke. "How did you even give us these powers?"

The doctor stepped forward and raised his head, revealing his age-defining features. "Shortly after you were born, I injected you with vaccines created by our nation's top scientists. As time progressed, each of you discovered your abilities and started to harness them, learning your strengths and weaknesses. Finally, it was time to gather you all here to train you to become soldiers."

"What?" I blurted out, and the sudden draw of attention made me nervous. I forced myself to continue talking. "This is unlawful. Don't you have any morals?"

A few murmurs of agreement came from the others. Alexzander Hayward stepped up to me. "Oh, Subject Alpha. My star pupil. You are the one I've paid the most attention to throughout the years. I'm so proud of how far you've already come. Once we get you into elite physical and mental shape and harness your powers past its limits, there's no telling how unstoppable you can be."

"We didn't sign up for this!" I protested. "We want to live normal lives, graduate high school, fall in love...we don't want this. Right?"

Turning to the rest of the group, they all matched my energy by nodding. The girl that struck me and Emily with fire spoke. Her fists ignited with flames.

"Let us leave."

Hayward sighed and shook his head. "I wish it didn't have to come to this. Murray?"

He pressed a button on a remote, and my body and the rest of the group suddenly jolted with electricity. I dropped to my knees in excruciating pain, screaming in agony. I felt someone grip my hand, and I knew it was Emily based on her touch. How could I let this happen to her? She trusted me to take care of her, and this is what happened?

The electricity finally subsided. I was on my knees hunched over trying to catch my breath. I heard footsteps, and Hayward was walking over to the girl with flames. He reared his foot and kicked her as hard as he could in her cheek. She fell over and was slow to get back up.

"Leaving is not an option. I'll treat you like slaves if I have to. I don't give a shit about your feelings!"

Nobody dared to move, understanding the circumstances we'd been dealt. Hayward came up to me and pressed his foot into my chest, forcing me on my back.

"And you! How does it feel to force my hand? You were the one that made me do that!"

He pointed to the girl, looking at me with desperate eyes. I felt helpless. Looking up at him, he pressed his foot harder into my chest. I groaned in pain.

"I expect you to be a leader from here on out," he demanded. "You're Alpha for a reason. If you fail me, I won't hesitate to replace you with someone that's more suitable. Understood?"

I hesitantly nodded, but Hayward pressed his body weight into me. I yelled from the pain.

"Understood!?"

"Y-Yes!"

"Yes, what?"

"Yes, sir!"

Finally getting off, my chest seared from the pain. Was this going to become the new normal?

"I'm going to post a list to the bulletin board in the cafeteria tomorrow morning at breakfast," he started. "A schedule will be provided for you in your rooms. You are all to return to your rooms for the time being. Dismissed!"

I painfully got to my feet and joined the group as we headed toward our rooms. After walking through the double doors, Emily and I shared one more look before heading our separate ways.

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