"Look who's awake," I heard a familiar voice mutter.

As I attempted to raise my head, I immediately lowered it. Pain seared through my skull as I carefully lowered it to the ground.

"Yeah, I don't recommend lifting your head quite yet," a different, but also familiar voice instructed.

"Ow," I groaned. Along the sides of my back, near my shoulder blades, felt even worse than my head felt. There was something feathery pressing against shoulders as well. Confused, I left it alone, waiting silently for the pain to disappear. Whatever it was, moving would surely make it worse.

"It's no wonder she only got one power," a feminine voice chirped gleefully. "Clearly, whoever the person is that experimented on us has great taste."

That shrill voice was enough to jog my memory. Dakota had spoken first, then Parker, and finally, Delilah. Everything flooded back. Remembering the two powers I was supposed to get, I slowly angled my head side to side, which was difficult the way I was laying on one shoulder, looking for my "ginormous wings" that were supposed to be splayed out beside me. Seeing nothing, I sighed. Maybe the man was right, and the serums conflicted, giving me only that "telekinesis" thing.

The aching and throbbing all around my body was starting to subside, so I carefully sat up. Shockingly enough, the further I strained my muscles, the better they felt— almost like I had worked out and the lactic acid was being released. I suppose I had, though. Running from that dude was an exercise in itself.

"Stretching helps," Parker said as I opened my eyes. Looking around, I saw we were in what I would describe as a desert oasis. According to Parker, we had been dropped in this cave/tunnel system that extended deep into the reddish-brown earth. There were battery-powered lanterns hanging from the roof, large packs of batteries taped next to them for refilling. No source of water save for four water bottles- one for each of us. We'd have to find a way to boil some later on. The mouth of the cave had water stretching inside for a few meters, and Parker remarked that Delilah had confirmed it was fresh water, not salt, by walking up and drinking some. It was the perfect hideout, except that to get out of the cave you would have to shimmy along the side one by one, occasionally hopping gaps where the water lapped threateningly over the small ledge. Parker also explained to me that we had been left four wallets, again one for each of us, completely empty. Next to the wallets was a stack of cash which was currently being counted by Dakota and a note. In perfect cursive, it read-

Dear subjects,
I'm surprised none of you put up that much of a fight! Except you, Miss Moyer. You were quite the handful. Here is some money, wallets, and a water bottle for each of you, as the experiment requires. You will have as much time as you need to get through this. What is this, exactly? You'll find out. Search for your next instructions at the gardens.

Lots of science,
Jeremy K. Orlon

P.S.: Don't be freaked out if you start to feel a little... weird. It's all part of the experiment!

"As if we wouldn't already feel weird the second we woke up!" I scoffed. Remembering Parker's advice from earlier, I stretched out my entire upper body, straining my muscles. I screeched and stood up, jumping backward when I heard a snap as something whipped out beside me. Thinking it was someone else's power, I snarled, "Not funny, guys!" Delilah didn't say anything for once, just stared in awe, first at my face and then at my sides. I followed her gaze and my eyes widened.

Beside me were two abnormally large pitch black wings.

Tentatively, I tried to move them. I watched in awe as, on command, they moved side to side. A little sore, I winced at the pain that came from moving them around but continued to do so anyway. Slowly, but ever so surely, the pain went away. I flapped them, hard, and accidentally sent my body flying backward into Dakota. The male snarled and shoved me upwards, sending me staggering forwards. Better than falling on the ground, I guess.

"So much for having one power," I whispered.

"Mine's better," Delilah mumbled, turning away. "You have the freaky eyes, anyway."

"Freaky... what?" I obviously couldn't see my eyes, so I went over to the still side of the pool of water and covered my mouth with one hand upon seeing my reflection.

Instead of my two dark brown eyes, I normally saw reflecting back at me, one of them was bright green. Or, it seemed bright, staring back at me harshly in the water, out of place and sitting on my reflection. "No way," I muttered, picking up a large, insignificant rock and chucking it at my "reflection". This was faked. That's the only reason for it. There's no way my eyes were two different colors. That doesn't just happen to people. I mean, sure, I had been injected with a drug I'd never seen before surrounded by plants that should not even exist, but that doesn't mean my eye color would just-

Oh, right. It means everything. Sure, it didn't just happen to people, but I wasn't exactly in a normal situation here, was I? No. I had to get over it. Sure, it made me look hideous, but, I mean, I already was. There was no reason to dwell on it now. I'd look how I was going to look.

"I don't think your eyes are freaky," I heard a deep voice say from behind me. I whipped around to see Dakota staring at me thoughtfully. He cocked his head a little bit and studied my eyes. I began to grow a little self-conscious (more than I already was) and looked away. He cleared his throat. "What I mean is, they're intriguing. It makes me wonder if the enzyme that made your eye change colors came from that weird greenhouse we saw earlier, or whether it was artificial. It also makes me wonder what exactly caused your iris to change colors. And-" He stopped upon noticing my tortured look. "Sorry. I, uh, took classes in school to become a scientist. A neurologist, in fact. Kris and I never could have afforded to go to college, obviously, so I read a lot of books on a-" He stopped himself. "What are you looking at?" I turned my pitiful gaze away. "Did you expect me to tell you my whole life story? What do you think I am, an idiot?"

I shook my head violently as he towered over me. I was tall, yes, but he was very, very tall. Remember how I told you earlier that he was as stocky as a football player? I forgot to mention how he towered over every one of us.

Okay, maybe he wasn't "very, very tall". But he was taller than me and that was enough to be intimidating.

"So what powers do all of you have?" I asked carefully.

"Extraordinary senses and ultra strength. Or super strength, I guess. They had to make it start with the letter "U"." Dakota kept his back to me, but I heard him loud and clear.

"River, which is also known as water control." Parker answered. As if to prove it, he gathered water from the pool in front of him into a ball. "It's so weird. Almost like a sixth sense that I have. It comes so easily that it makes me feel like I've been able to control it all my life."

I looked at Delilah. "What about you? Obviously, you must have one power as well, since there's only one letter left in Future."

"Yeah, but mine is so much better. In fact, I don't think you deserve to even know what it is."

"Uh huh. You don't know what it is then, do you?" She must have been the last one to find a clue and been sent up to the greenhouse by default.

"Of course I do!" she shouted. "I can... I can, uh..." She seemed to fight for an answer, thinking of powers that started with a "U". "Just go away!" Delilah elbowed me as she ran by, tears in her eyes, and everything immediately went black.

Ooh, a cliffhanger! What do you think happened to Carson/what is Delilah's power? Here are some more questions that I'd really appreciate you answering if you have the time.

>> Comment here if you have read every chapter of this book from the start.

>> What is your favorite part about this book?

>> What can I do to improve this book?

>> Who is your favorite character so far? (And yes, that does mean that there are more main characters coming.)

>> Are there any questions you'd like to ask me? (No, you can't ask me what's going to happen next in the book. Actually, you can, I just won't answer.)