The Energy Room (The Elementum Trilogy) (9 page)

“
Have a seat,” William ordered nonchalantly, taking a seat himself in the largest chair at the far end.

I did as I was told, sitting a few seats away from the stern man, so as to hopefully prevent being spat on out of anger. I fiddled indifferently with the arm of my chair, avoiding making eye contact with William.

“Can you tell me, honestly, that this was not another one of your ridiculous escape attempts?” he asked drearily, interlacing his fingers on the table in front of him.

I looked up, bewildered. The thought that catching Al on fire could have been perceived as an effort to escape hadn’t even crossed my mind.

“What? No! It was an accident. We were working on a new ability. I couldn’t control it,” I explained, almost offended.

William eyed me diligently, struggling to identify any hint that I was lying. He remained silent, apparently expecting me to confess to something. I pushed myself back in my chair, crossing my arms heatedly. My forehead wrinkled in irritation as my ears began to burn.

“If I had been trying to escape, don’t you think I would have, Oh I don’t know… tried to escape?!” I asked irascibly. “Don’t you think I would have actually tried to get away while everyone was preoccupied, instead of stepping right into the middle of the crowd to help Al?”

A gutty laugh made its way out of William’s throat, bouncing adamantly off the walls. I glowered at him, scoffing at his jolliness.

“I only wanted to be certain, Angela. Calm down.” William’s gray eyes glistened, much like the eyes of every villain I had ever seen in movies.

“
So, am I in trouble? Or can I go?” I snapped impatiently.

“
You’re not in trouble, no,” William began professionally, rising to his feet to pace the room. “However, this is the second lab-run within a week that has produced unexpected and potentially hazardous results. It would appear that your abilities, for whatever reason, have advanced. I think it is best that you do not participate in any more experiments until we have renovated the labs to be more secure. Also… we will be raising the standby voltage of your Electro-Cuffs, effective immediately. It is obvious that they are not strong enough to prevent you from attempting to use your abilities while they are activated.”

“
What?!” I objected, outraged. “I was trying to help Al! I couldn’t even manage to heal him with them on!”

“
The reason is irrelevant. The purpose of the Electro-Cuffs is to protect the residents of The Facility, as well as yourself,” he explained. “It is not up for debate, Angela.”

I eyed William furiously, gritting my teeth to keep myself from saying anything I would regret.

“Can I go, now?” I asked, jaw sore being clamped with all my strength.

“
You may,” William replied, waving his hand as if he were a king sending off a peasant.

As I waited for the elevator to return, I kept my back turned to William, teeth still grinding in rage. The doors opened with a ding, granting me my escape from the office I hated so much.

“Oh, and Angela… You may want to make amends with young Mr. Stein. He has shown an interest in his father’s line of work, and I’m sure it would be less than pleasant for you if your future head researcher had ill feelings toward you.” William’s voice echoed at me, as the elevator doors closed between us.

I fell quickly into a deep slumber. I was grateful to see two of the other five seats occupied in the grand, white room. My hopeful glances rapidly determined that Lakin was still avoiding me.

Bryant and Nadia swiftly scooted their chairs next to mine, detecting the massive amounts of stress that filled my head. Without thought, I laid my head on Nadia’s shoulder, tears strolling down my cheeks.

“What’s wrong, Angie?” Bryant asked, patting me on the back as I sniffled into Nadia’s neck.

“
Nothing. Everything. I don’t know,” I cried.

I wasn’t much of a crier, but I felt completely overwhelmed by everything that had happened within the last week. It was as if all the emotions I had suppressed throughout my entire life were pressing in on me all at once. I wanted to scream, and to smash things. I wanted to blow things up. I wanted to cuddle a puppy. But the only reaction that my body felt was appropriate to display was crying.

“Tell us what happened,” Nadia said in a calming voice.

“
I… caught Al… on fire…” I choked between sobs. “I… didn’t mean to… it was… an accident. And… I even healed him.”

“
Everyone makes mistakes. It’s okay,” Nadia cooed.

“
But… they’re increasing security… and they’re raising… the voltage… on my Electro-Cuffs. They think… I was trying to escape,” I hiccupped, sitting up to rub at my puffy eyes.

“
Did you explain that you didn’t scorch him on purpose? I feel like they should have realized that when you healed him, but people are stupid,” Bryant said quietly, drying off my cheeks with the sleeve of his sweater.

“
William doesn’t care,” I said, voice cracking a bit as I tried to pull myself together. “He doesn’t trust me. I don’t think anyone does.”

“
Does it matter if they trust you or not? You’ve never cared about that before,” Nadia said, raising an eyebrow.

“
I know, but… I don’t know. I just feel like things are going to get a lot worse,” I explained, lowering my head into my hands.

“
Is Al alright, though?” Nadia asked.

I jerked my head up, suddenly remembering what had happened before I was engulfed in flame. I had clearly heard Al’s voice inside my head.

“Yeah, he’s fine. I need your opinions on something, though,” I said quickly, holding out my hands to both of them. “I heard something, just before everything exploded.”

Nadia and Bryant cautiously placed their hands on mine, allowing their eyes to fog over as they relived my day. I tapped my foot anxiously, waiting for them to finish their visions.

“So… that… is, er… interesting,” Bryant said, eyes shiny with intrigue.

“
I knew it!” Nadia exclaimed, almost bouncing out of her seat.

“
Well, hold on Nad. Just because she heard his voice in her head, doesn’t mean he’s connected to us. None of us are telepathic,” Bryant said, attempting to calm the excited girl next to us.

“
We don’t know that for sure, do we? It might just be between our own kind, and none of us have consciously met another of our kind,” Nadia rambled, bursting at the seams with hope.

“
But why couldn’t I hear him until today?” I questioned.

“
I don’t know! Stop tearing apart my dreams!” Nadia bellowed jokingly.

“
Sorry,” I chuckled. “Are we agreed, though? I’m not crazy. Something is up with him.”

“
I still think you’re crazy,” the most amazing voice I had ever heard spoke up from behind me.

I stood as fast as my legs would allow, attacking Lakin in an encapsulating hug. A feeling of despair flooded me, as I was not met by welcoming arms. Lakin stood quietly, as rigid as stone. I looked up to his face with my watery eyes, releasing him from the grasp he did not return.

“Do you hate me?” I asked quietly, looking to my feet in shame.

Lakin remained silent for a moment, intensifying my feelings of guilt. I wondered if I had ruined everything between us, if he could, ever again, feel for me the way I would always feel for him. Finally, his soft hand met my chin, lifting my face to meet his eyes.

“I could never hate you. I’m just upset, and dealing with it the only way I can,” Lakin explained, sweeping a tear from my cheek with his thumb.

“
I’m so sorry,” I whispered.

“
I know you are. I just can’t accept it, right now,” Lakin said honestly, brushing a stray lock of hair away from my forehead.

I leaned my face into his warm palm, unsure of what to say. I knew there was nothing I could do to make the situation any better. When Lakin wanted to talk, he would confront me. The scab would never be able to heal if I kept picking at it.

“I know that I can’t keep avoiding you. But things can’t be the same as they were, at least not for now,” Lakin said, searching my eyes for understanding.

I nodded, forcing a feeble smile across my chapped lips. I shifted my eyes back to the floor, returning to my comfortable blue chair. I glanced from Nadia to Bryant, both of whom had been pretending not to listen. I cleared my throat, brushing off the stream of tears from my face with one final sweep of my hands. The weak smile of false acceptance remained on my face, as Lakin scooted his chair over to join us.

“So what happened, exactly?” Lakin asked, void of any emotion.

“
I, uh, I heard Al’s voice in my head,” I said. My throat felt swollen, and unwilling to speak.

“
Are you sure?” Lakin questioned.

“
One-hundred percent,” I said, trying desperately to sound as detached as he was.

“
So I guess you have a way to communicate with him, now. Right? There aren’t any microphones or cameras in your head,” Lakin observed, elbows on his knees.

“
That’s right! The next time you see him, you can just ask him what he’s doing there and if he knows anything about us. Inside your head, I mean,” Nadia beamed.

I nodded in agreement, still having trouble getting my vocal chords to cooperate.

“Be careful, though. This could still be some sort of trick,” Bryant cautioned.

“
How could they possibly simulate someone’s voice inside her head, Bryant?” Nadia snapped.

“
I’m just saying! I wouldn’t put it past them,” Bryant said, raising his hands in surrender as he lay back in his seat.

“
He’s right. We don’t know what they’re capable of,” Lakin stated.

“
Let’s say, hypothetically, William found or trained a telepath. If Al can truly get inside my head, then he would already know about you guys,” I posed.

“
Even if they
do
find out, what could they possibly do? There’s no way for them to get into the Room,” Nadia said conclusively.

“
Do we know that for sure?” Bryant asked.

“
How could they? It’s inside our heads,” Nadia huffed.

“
Even so… we shouldn’t assume anything,” Lakin remarked.

We sat in silence for a while, all considering everything the others had said. I felt my cheeks burn, as my eyes locked with Lakin’s for a moment. In that instant, I could see that he was not as disconnected as he tried to appear. He was full of just as much anguish as I was. Even though he was exceptionally talented at hiding his torment, it was there, eating away at him like a parasite; hot fury coursed through him, like lava, in his veins.

I rehearsed our future conversation in my head, tapping my fingernails against the railing of the elevator as it steadily carried me down to The Village. I would knock on Eric’s door, and tell him we needed to talk. I would tell him I was sorry for being catty with him. I would explain that I cared a lot for him, but that I thought we were better off as friends.

I blushed as the memory of kissing him in my apartment raced through my head. Even though I knew the elevator was empty, I looked down in embarrassment. ‘
None of that
,’ I thought. I shook my head in an attempt to force the memory out, bouncing on my feet in anticipation. It couldn’t be that hard, could it? It couldn’t be that hard to break up with your best friend.

I bit my lip as the elevator doors opened to what would surely be my doom. I scrambled to press the ‘10’ button, releasing a long sigh as the doors closed me back in to the protective lift. I was banging my head against the cold white wall of the elevator by the time the doors revealed my empty floor. I growled in frustration, punching the ‘16’ key again.

“Pull yourself together, woman,” I said to myself, cracking my neck as if I were about to enter into a boxing ring.

“
What are you doing, Angela?” a voice with an English accent unexpectedly called over the speaker in the elevator.

“
GOOD GOD!” I shouted, jumping what felt like three feet into the air, “I hate when you do that, William!”

“
You’ve been up and down in the lift four times,” William stated, obviously waiting for an explanation.

“
I’m trying to get the nerve to talk to Eric. Stop spying on me,” I said bluntly, the doors opening, once again, to The Village.

“
I like to think of it as monitoring,” William said. I could tell he had a satisfied look on his face.

“
There’s nothing to monitor. You won’t let me do labs, and my Electro-Cuffs are set to kill. Don’t you have anything more important to do?” I glared at the small camera in the front, right corner of the elevator, jamming my hand in between the doors as they attempted to close.

“
Nothing is more important than the safety of our residents, Angela,” William said in a stern tone.

“
Right,” I said under my breath, deciding whole-heartedly that whatever would happen with Eric had to be twenty times better than talking to William.

I was very aware of curious eyes watching me from behind the closed blinds of nearly every house. I was guessing the news had gotten around that I had set fire to my new shrink. The part where it was an accident and I tried to heal him with a bagilliondy volts of electricity coursing through my body, had most likely been left out of the general story, which had spread around like a virus.

I shook my head as parents ushered their kids inside, issuing me nervous glances before locking their doors. I was flabbergasted that after almost eighteen years of working with, around, and on me, people were actually afraid of me. I had never done anything to intentionally hurt anyone in The Facility. I could have... but I didn’t.

“
Afternoon, Angie!” Dr. Helmsworth shouted, waving happily.

I waved back with a smile. At least there was one person who wasn’t frightened of me. If Dr. Helmsworth hadn’t turned off my Electro-Cuffs, there was no saying what state Al would have been in. Those kinds of burns don’t exactly go away with ointment and bed rest; those kinds of burns ooze puss for days, then get infected and kill you... according to that one documentary I watched that one time.

I took a deep breath, knocking on the door of the last house on the block. I was barely able to recognize the woman who answered the door. The Emmy I had always known was not the Emmy standing in front of me. Dark rings fell underneath her exhausted eyes, making her look at least ten years older. Her hair looked as if it hadn’t been brushed in days, kind of like mine always did, but very uncommon for Emmy.

“
Hi Angie, come on in,” Emmy said with a yawn, letting me past her.

The enthusiasm she had always exuded was lost, leaving only fatigue in its place.

“Are you okay?” I asked, fighting the urge to feel her forehead for fever.

“
Oh, I’m fine sweetie. I just need to lie down,” Emmy replied, forcing a weary smile. “Eric is in his room, dear.”

I nodded in thanks and made my way up to the second floor, keeping an eye on Emmy for long enough to see her flop herself onto the sofa. I hoped she was alright. I wondered if some sort of toxin had been set loose, causing people to turn into zombies. I shook the nonsense out of my head, hesitantly knocking on Eric’s door.

“It’s open!” a muffled voice called from inside the room.

I opened the door cautiously, poking my head just far enough into the room to alert Eric that it was me.

“Hey,” I said almost questioningly. I was relieved to be met by a smile.

“
Come on in,” Eric said, waving me toward him.

I tip-toed into the room. Even though Eric’s tone was friendly enough, I felt slightly unwelcome inside his room. Inside his house, for that matter. There was a sense of uneasiness within the entire Stein home.

“How are you doing?” I asked, eyeing him nervously.

Eric chuckled, taking a seat at the end of the bed and patting his hand on the cover. I sighed, rolling my eyes slightly as I slowly sat next to him, being sure to keep my distance.

“I know you better than to think you’ve come down here just to make small talk. What’s up?” Eric asked with kind eyes.

“
I wanted to talk to you… about us, I mean,” I said somberly, keeping my eyes on my hands.

“
Oh?” Eric questioned, his joyful tone quickly morphing to that of suspicious gloom.

I closed my eyes as hard as I could, inhaling deeply. I decided it would be best to say everything I needed to say as quickly as possible. It was like ripping off a Band-Aid.

“I just really care for you a lot and I think we went about all of this the wrong way and for the wrong reasons and I don’t want to mess up our friendship and I’m really sorry and please don’t hate me,” I rattled out, not pausing for a breath.

Eric didn’t say anything for a long while, and I wondered if I had spoken too fast. Perhaps he couldn’t even decipher what I had said. Perhaps he was deciding the best way to kill me, and how to hide the body. I raised my eyebrows, trying to determine what was going on inside his head. His face was blank, but his eyes were filled with thought. Finally, he looked to me with a smile.

“You’re right. We did this for the wrong reasons. I don’t think it happened too fast, though. I’ve loved you my entire life,” Eric said quietly, his eyes burning into mine.

“
I know. But we went from being best friends who farted on each other, to making out in my living room, over the course of a couple days. I don’t think that’s how it’s supposed to work,” I remarked, placing a hand sympathetically on his shoulder.

Eric nodded in agreement, giving me a soft smile.

“Friends?” I asked.

“
Friends,” Eric replied, hugging me gently. “Can I ask you a question, though?”

“
Anything.” I smiled, feeling as if I had regained my best friend in The Facility.

“
Do you have feelings for Al?” Eric inquired, the slightest hint of jealousy returning to his eyes.

I snorted, shaking my head in irritation. I guess sometimes the Band-Aid gets stuck on your arm hair, and makes you do an embarrassing little half-dance while you curse yourself for thinking you could get away unscathed.

“Are you serious?” I retorted, scooting a few inches away from him on the bed.

“
I just want to know,” Eric said firmly.

“
Does it make a difference?” I snapped, rising to my feet to stand with my arms crossed.

“
Yes. It does,” Eric countered harshly.

“
Why?! Why does it make the slightest difference?” I exclaimed, feeling my temper rise.

“
I want to know if you’re breaking up with me because of the reasons you said, or because you’re falling for him,” Eric said, his voice thick with revulsion.

“
I’m breaking up with you because the only reason we were ‘dating’, was because you were being a jealous. Little. HAMSTER.”

“
Fine,” Eric huffed, crossing his arms and glaring away from me.

“
Fine!” I shouted, doing the same.

We stewed in our angry soup of silence for a while. Now and then, we would catch eyes and make a face at each other. Our immaturity could have been cut with a knife, and served with sides of narcissistic whipped cream and stubborn strawberries. I rubbed my eyes with my thumb and forefinger, wondering how our conversations as of late always ended up as an apparent battle to the death. While I was fond of Al as a person, and indeed had no feelings of attraction for him, all of my problems with Eric were sparked as soon as he came into the picture. I wondered if I would really be forced to choose between my lifelong friend, and my new psychologist. Eric’s sudden change of tone suggested I wouldn’t be required to choose.

“Did you really set him on fire?” Eric asked quietly.

“
Yeah. Not on purpose,” I answered with the slightest chuckle, back turned to him.

“
I heard his eyebrows are gone,” Eric said, voice laden with insufferable gratification.

“
Al has only ever been nice to you. He hasn’t done anything wrong,” I rambled, groaning in frustration as I returned to my seat next to him.

“
It doesn’t feel that way,” Eric said miserably. “It feels like he’s here to take away something very important.”

“
He’s not going to take away anything, Eric. He’s my shrink. You’re my best friend. It’s not one or the other. I don’t even have a choice of whether or not to see him, you know? Whatever you think is going on, or will go on, between me and Al… you’re wrong. Not that it’s any of your business,” I mumbled.

Eric eyed me suspiciously, trying to determine if I was lying. He knew me well enough, he was almost always capable of calling me out on my dishonesty. I wasn’t lying, though. I had no intentions of pursuing a romantic relationship with my therapist. On the same thought, I hadn’t had any intentions of pursuing a romantic relationship with Eric, either. Eric nodded in approval.

“So can we drop it, and just go back to being us? I miss us. The real us,” I pleaded, resting my chin on his shoulder.

“
Yeah. The real us is good, I guess,” Eric smiled, wrapping his arm around me in a friendly embrace. “But I still would have loved to see you catch him on fire.”

I jokingly punched him on the shoulder, giggling as the distant man in front of me transformed back into the young boy I was so familiar with. A wave of relief flooded over me as we smiled and laughed. Our conversation may not have gone exactly how I had planned, but it seemed to have worked out for the better. I had my best friend back, and maybe Lakin would be able to find it in his heart to forgive me. Maybe.