Jerome, AZ
September 24th, 2018
20:15:13

Jonathan's POV

I'd been picking at my food absentmindedly, ignoring the chatter around me and especially ignoring the new girl. Shit was bad enough as is without some loud, hyped up Latino screeching all over the place. Was she Latino? I thought, the image of her flashing quickly in my head as I continued to impale chickpeas with my fork. Who cares? I stopped myself, slamming down the fork with a clang. Nothing really mattered, except getting out of here, out of my skin, out of my mind, out of my life. Thanks to the powers I'd been gifted six months ago, that wasn't possible anymore. At least, not yet.

I was stirred out of my fuming daze by that idiot Brad Henshaw. He marched over to the new girl and stood over her expectantly, looking madder than I'd ever seen him. His face had turned red and pudgy, his arms crossed like a 5-year-old who'd had a tantrum. The new girl looked confused but attempted to flirt anyway. What a weirdo, I thought, studying her face. Suddenly Henshaw swooped down, grabbed her arm viciously, and dragged her away.

"Oh shit", I whispered not very quietly. I didn't really care if anyone heard me, and everyone here had learned to ignore me anyway. We all watched Brad half-drag her away, the girl struggling to keep up. She turned around and smiled at Adi, which I thought was an odd thing to do. Seriously, what the hell is wrong with her? She's crazy.

Almost as soon as she was gone, everyone turned back towards each other and anxious murmurs sprouted from every mouth. "Where're they taking her?" "Why's the nerd so angry?" "How soon are you gonna ask her out, Adi?"

There was only one place they'd be taking her. I assumed it was like when I'd been brought in; when they couldn't figure out my powers. They must have taken her to my cell. The special one. The torture chamber.

*************************************

About 15 minutes later, they released us back to our cells, escorted by a frail blonde in a lab coat, her tiny face swallowed up behind thick-framed cat-eye glasses. 6 angst teens with superhuman powers who could have easily taken her out walked behind her calmly. Where the fuck was the logic in this book?

She let them in one by one into their shared cells. Herle has once confessed that she wanted to see if we could make superhuman babies or at least superhuman romances, but as far as I knew neither of the two had happened. I also knew was that I was the only one who'd been isolated, until know.

Jasper and Kassidy left first, then Sophie and Amari, then finally the twins. I looked around at the 17 cells, 13 of which were empty. I hoped they'd never be filled, for the sake of the poor saps who'd occupy them. Finally, the blonde chick and I walked down the hallway to the last door. It was dark and brooding, the same way people saw me. At least, ever since I turned 17. My new roomie was behind that door. I sighed as it swung open, light flooding into the small, dark hellhole. The girl lay on the floor with her back to the door, seemingly unconscious.

I stepped in without a sound and the door swung shut behind me. A click from behind it reminded me once again that there was no getting out.

I stood still, waiting for my eyes to adjust to the absence of light. After a minute, I could faintly make out the black mass on the floor, a tangle of hair and tears. I crouched down and placed my hand gently on her shoulder, a whole new empathy I'd never felt before filling up my heart. She was the only other kidnapple who'd been in here. I'd be the only one who understood how she felt.

My memory flashed to my own first night, screaming and bashing my head against the wall, trying to escape the agony this room filled my lungs and heart with. I never understood why they did it, but it worked. It always worked.

I didn't have anyone then. It was just the twins, Sophie, and me, and they'd all been spared.

I was nudged back to reality when she began to stir under my touch. I looked down, barely able to make out the shape of her cheek. Her eyes flitted open, and I jumped back. They glowed. Literally, a purple light seemed to be shooting out from each of her bloodshot, green eyes. The light showed a tear roll down her cheek, confusion etched in her skin. She looked so helpless, like a gazelle that'd been run over by a Jeep and left for dead on the side of the road.

"J-Jonathan?" She whispered, wiping off her eyes, then seemed to realize that the light was coming from her eyes. Holding her hand out in front of them, she panicked, scooting back a couple of feet until her back was against the wall. She looked around, panicking, shining the light onto every corner of the tiny room. "Jonathan, what's happening?" She asked, louder this time, with panic cracking through her voice. "Please for fucks sake don't tell me I'm glowing" she stumbled over her words, talking a mile a minute. Her bright, wide eyes met mine.

I squinted a bit against the somewhat bright light but didn't break her gaze. "It's ok" I held my hands out, walking over to her slowly. "You're gonna be ok."

She laughed nervously, almost hysterically. "Yea, yea, I'm gonna be just fine besides the fact that I'm having a mental breakdown on my fucking birthday also this room is full of spiders and did I mention that my EYES ARE GLOWING because they sorta kinda are could you possibly knock me out now?" She spoke softly at first, then possessedly loud and wild, screaming and then talking softly again. Well, she's handling it better than I did, I thought, and sat down on the floor next to her.

"Hey, listen, I promise you, we're gonna get through this. Together. I don't know you but I've been there, only I didn't have anyone to keep me from trying to kill myself." I put my hand on her shoulder again. She turned to face me, her eyes wider than before.

"Are- are you ok?" She asked, her face scrunching up with concern.

"This is the room where people like us, people whose powers aren't immediately revealed, get tortured until they're squeezed out like juice from a lemon. Then they just leave us here to decay. But anyway, what they squeezed out of me is that I'm immortal. And it only took me 15 suicide attempts on one night to figure it out."

While I talked, her eyes kept getting wider and wider until I thought they'd pop out of their sockets. I'd let my hand drop back down to my side. This was unlike me. I usually didn't talk to anyone, didn't console anyone, and certainly didn't touch anyone. But she was in the middle of the same thing I'd been through. I felt like I had to protect her. I had to keep her from feeling as shitty as I did.

"I- holy shit man... just... holy shit," She muttered, shaking her head. "I just... I hope you're ok now." Her face was so full of concern unlike anyone else had ever shown for me. It was such an unfamiliar feeling, I had no clue how to react.

"Yea, nah. I'm not. But we're being held hostage and tortured for our powers. Seriously, who would be?" She chuckled in agreement, and I smiled. She seemed so human, the first person in six months who actually cared.

"So, are you ok?" I asked, studying her face. "You've only been here for half an hour but you passed out. Do you remember anything?" Her face twisted into all sorts of knots, then grew somber.

"Let's not talk about that" she said, turning away from me, resting her arms on her knees and looking straight ahead.

"Ok, let's talk about something else." I turned ahead too, staring at the empty stone wall that was now tinged purple and illuminated for the first time since I'd been kidnapped.

"So," I started conversationally, "are you Latino?"