Part 1
Part 2
Part 3:
This hotel was massive, which makes me even more surprised that it didn't have a single bad review, because even thought they have security, it's hard to make everyone listen and obey the rules. The hallways were decent with floral carpeting and cream colored walls. The lobby had a fountain with little fishes swimming in it, couches arranged in a circle near a fireplace with a plush rug in the middle of it on top of the carpet. The perfect hotel. Exactly how movies describe hotels and resorts. I love it here.. but it seems off. Every hotel or motel I've ever been to had plastic on the floor, that was designed to look like tile, was chipping and the thing that came even slightly close to their fountain was their water fountains. This place seem almost too perfect. Too neat and pristine. Plus, common people like Ushmi and I can afford it. Only twenty note per night, forty if you decide to stay a week and guess what? We are staying here two weeks. Ushmi was so excited that she almost rammed our hover car into a pole.
Once parked and checked in, we went in search of our room. From what the elevator told us, this hotel is 61 stories high and in case you were wondering, yes the elevator actually spoke to us. See when we check in we were each given two cards, one to use and one to use in case you lose the first one. Heaven Forbid you loose both. The elevator was telling us that floors 9-11 are entertainment floors and that everyone is welcome to go there for games or what not. Our room was on the 45th floor, room number 4580. We had rented a suite to stay in for the next two weeks and it's costing Ushmi 90 notes for the two weeks. It had the sitting room which contained a pull out couch in front of a satellite TV. The kitchen was a little off to the right of the sitting room. There were pots, pans, spoons, forks, you name them, but there was no food. Ushmi promised to go buy some food tomorrow, but I think that we'll end up going out or ordering room service since neither of us knew how to cook anything except a glass of water or cereal. That's as far as our expertise goes.
There was a closet next the front door and a bathroom to the left of the sitting room. It was a regular bathroom designed to look somewhat like a beach. All that's missing is the waves and the sand. Behind the living room were two doors. Behind the left door was what was going to be Ushmi's room. It contained a king sized bed with a black comforter with two red stripes running down the middle of the bed. The carpet was red and plush. The flat screen TV wasn't as big as the one in the living room, but it had a great picture. My room, which is the right one is similar to Ushmi's, but different, if that makes sense. It had a TV like hers... That's where the similarities end. I had a queen sized bed with a white comforter that had dark blue swirls covering the bottom half. The carpet was the same shade of blue and the dressers were white.
I unpack all of my clothes and personal items into the dressers and walk-in closet. Once I was done, I went on the hunt for Ushmi. She was excitedly flipping through a brochure of what the hotel had for entertainment, when she saw me she couldn't help but exclaim, "They have a real bowling alley! Not a VP version!" I swear she was buzzing from excitement.
I flipped through it and I realized that there is one thing that I really wanted to do at the moment. Swim. I've never been swimming before. The VP taught me, but I didn't really feel anything since I didn't have a chip. "Do you want to go to the pool first? I hear they have a slide." Emma loved the idea of swimming and we were off to the pool in no time.
PART 4:
Shohan's POV
I'm the youngest in our group. Thirteen years old. Our group, is a group of nine. Ridi is the oldest and probably the bravest. She's sixteen going on seventeen, blonde, acts like she knows everything, but always makes sure that we come first. Everyone here is like family. Then there's Akash and Nick who are sixteen as well, but are a days behind Ridi. They aren't brother's because their skin are both different colors, but they were born on the same day. Ariyanzona or Ariyan as we like to call her, is fifteen. She's the shyest in the bunch. Caleb and Clara are fourteen-year-old twins. Next is Hope and Ky who are also twins, who are also fourteen. Last, but not least, me. Shohan.
Our whole lives we've been stuck in this secret government facility. They call us special. I call us freaks of nature. Ridi with her sea blue eyes, can control water. Make is swirl around the room. We all have trainers and hers have to wear scuba suits because Ridi keeps trying to drown them. She tells me stories like when she was a little girl, for the longest time she couldn't drink out of a glass of water, because they feared that she would try to kill herself. Really? A three year old little girl? They tried a ton of different things. The trainers and scientists finally let her drink out of a glass when they tried to make her drink out of those things that hamsters drink out of and Ridi had the water put so much pressure on the sides of the container that it burst.
Ariyan can transform into anything she wants, whether it's clothes or her eye color, she can change. Once she tried to escape looking like a guard. Needless to say they captured her when they realized that she was gone. She can even turn into animals. When I would cry, she would transform into a puppy to make me feel better. It stopped working when I was eight-years-old. Caleb and Clara can turn invisible. Hope and Ky have my personal favorite, they can make fire burst out of nowhere and control it. That's why most of the rooms are fire proof. They both have red hair and green eyes.
Last, but not least, me. Unlike them, I don't have one power that I can master right away. I can do all of their powers. Ridi's water, Akash and Nick's electricity, Ariyan's transformation powers and so on and so fourth. Although, there is one power that is mine. No one else can do it but me. I can hypnotize people to do what ever I want. Except for killing themselves. I couldn't do that even if I wanted to. The body's survival instincts are to strong for that.
We live in a prison, but I guess somewhere along the line someone had a heart and tried to make our rooms as comfortable as possible. I don't know what any of the other kids rooms looked like, but mine had a king sized bed with a navy blue comforter. The concrete walls had been covered with plaster and painted navy blue to look like a normal room, and the smooth concrete floors had hardwood flooring over them. The room where we all hang out when we are not in training is what was like to call, the sitting room. One fourth of the sitting room was devoted to either Nick or Akash, depending on who's day it was. See our trainers didn't want to risk Akash and Nick accidently touching, so the put in a glass wall to keep them apart. The sitting room had a leather couch and a flat screen TV in front of it, but it was all angled so the person behind the glass wall could see it too and not feel so left out.
Today though, they tried something different. Nick was put into a glass bubble and placed in our room, "It's stupid how they keep us here," Nick muttered under his breath, just loud enough for us too hear.
"I know it's stupid, but if we work together, we can escape," Ridi said for the millionth time this year. Her escape plans never work and when they fail, she's the only one to get thrown under the bus. The trainers say that since she is the oldest and didn't try to stop us, that she should be the only one to get in trouble. Usually her punishment is like, a week of solitude, but that's not torture for Ridi, because she has books. She loves reading.
Suddenly, it's like the gears in my head started moving because for the first time ever I said, "I have an idea on how to get us all out of here."
They looked at me shocked. Since I'm usually the quiet one they didn't even think that I would make a comment on the conversation, but it was like a little light bulb in my head went ding. I didn't have a full out plan in my head yet, but I think Ridi can help. "What if we could get Akash out of this bubble?"
PART 5:
"Yeah, but we don't have a key and it's made out of bullet proof glass so none of us can break it," Caleb pointed out.
I glanced at everyone then asked Ariyan, "Can you transform your hand into a key?" Ariyan looked at her hand, trying to will it to turn itself into a key. After five minutes, she did it, "Ok that's as far as I've thought into the plan. Ridi can you help me out."
"Alright Akash and Nick, when Akash gets out, create a power surge. Shohan, when the guards come in here to separate us, hypnotize them to help us escape. Caleb and Clara, I'm sorry, but your job is most likely the most dangerous," Ridi said looking right at them.
"Whatever it is Ridi, Caleb and I can do it. Right Caleb?" Clara responded, elbowing Caleb, who was sitting next to her.
"Yeah. Alright." Caleb agreed, "What do we have to do?"
"I want you to go and find out information on the area. The nearest hotel and how far away it is. Ok?" Ridi said. Ariyan who has been trying to unlock the bubble ever since she formed a key hand, finally freed Akash from his bubble cage. We all stepped back incase we got electrocuted, while Nick and Akash high fived each other. The lights died and our door that was automatic clicked open. Caleb and Clara didn't hesitate to turn invisble and take off. The rest of us walked around until a group of guards smashed into us as we were turning the corner.
"You will show us the way out and shoot anyone who tries to stop us with your tranquilizer gun," I said in a low voice, before they could go anything. Their eyes glazed over and they circled us as we ran towards the exit. As far as I can tell, we have twenty guards protecting us. Clara and Caleb joined us when we reached the door that led to outside.
"Did you guys get it?" Akash asked as the doors opened. It wasn't even fenced in. It was like they never expected us to get this far. Caleb handed Akash the map, "Two miles away there is a hotel. We need money for that and I don't think Ariyan can change into a hundred dollar note."
I turned to the guards, who were now behind us, "Give me all the notes on you." The guards simultaneously reached in there pockets and pulled out a thousand notes each. We ended up with 20,000 notes all together, "Now wait here until the electricity comes back on and stop anyone who tries to follow us."
Once we were about a mile and a half away, we sat down behind some rocks and talked about where we were going. "Do you know how much this hotel costs?"Ridi asked.
"Twenty notes a night," Clara responded proudly. We talked happily on the half a mile walk to the hotel. Once we were checked in, we took the elevator up to our rooms. The girls had one room and we had obviously another.
"So What did you use as a last name Akash and Ridi?" Ariyan asked. When we got to the hotel, Ridi and Akash went in to check us into the hotel. Everyone else went in at least two at a time and waited on the third floor for them. The way we got up was that we would wait for another visitor and Ridi and Akash had eight cards for us to use. They rented two different suites so the girls wouldn't have to sleep in the same room as boys. "Well, Akash used Smith and I used Harts." Ridi proudly, like she came up with the best last name ever.
The woman at the front desk told Ridi that there were only three suites on our floor and we were only occupying two. Ridi was told that the other suite is also occupied by a woman and her sister, so I guess we have to be careful about where we use our powers. There were two bedrooms in our suite, three TV's and a pull put couch. Nick and Akash had to sleep in a different room, but they were glad to be out so they didn't complain. Ky and Akash chose the room with the king sized bed, Caleb and Nick had the one with the queen sized bed, and I had the pull out couch. Ha ha! Jokes on you. The couch is comfortable and the TV is better.
After we were done talking more about the escape, the girls retired to their rooms and so did the boys. They left me to figure out how to pull out the bed hidden inside the couch. So apparently what you do is you pull out this sort of a bed spring out from under the couch and then you flip the cushions so that they form a bed. The whole process probably took an hour, thanks to my 'brilliant' mind.
Once I was lying down, all comfortable and ready for sleep, almost fifty million things ran through my mind. That might be an exaggeration, but you get the point. Memories of the facility, the escape, and finally this hotel. I don't know what other hotels are like, but this seems a tad too fancy to be twenty notes a night, unless you do their two week deal or something like that. I don't trust this place, but it is comfortable.
PART 6:
Livi's POV
I have to say that I was a natural at swimming. Since the pool was cold, it took me a while to get used to the water. After that I swam until they told me the pool was closed and Emma had long ago went back up to the suite. My fingers and toes were wrinkled and my hair was... green! I noticed it when I looked in the bathroom mirror. Emma left me a sticky note saying that she went out shopping so she didn't see my disastrous hair. It was seaweed green! My hair was perfectly blonde before I went swimming. "Ok, ok. Don't panic," I told myself, "Maybe it'll wash out." Hopefully. So, as I collected some clothes for a shower and think about how my hair looked before, I felt a weird feeling just surround my head. I ignored it and went to take my shower. I tried to avoid looking in the mirror, but I had to one more time. It was blonde again. No hint of green anywhere. I was frozen in shock. How was it all gone? Did I imagine it? I must've. I probably opened my eyes under water too much and the chemicals were messing with my eyes.
I didn't know what to do after my shower. I could go back down to the entertainment floors, but I didn't really want to go back down, considering that it was 8pm. Ushmi was still out shopping and I wasn't up for watching any TV shows since most of them are re-runs or re-makes. Nothing is original any more. Seriously. There must be at least 10 different versions of Harry Potter. I decided to see what was keeping Ushmi so long, so I rummaged through the dresser by the bed for my phone. Apparently she already called saying to go on ahead and eat without her. She left forty notes for me in the dresser.
Great. Now I have to eat alone and I don't know where the room service menu is. I guess I could go find a cafe, ask the elevator what floor that's on. I still can't get over the fact that it's 20 notes a night and has free entertainment excluding the spa. The spa is 10 notes. The chiefs and lifeguards took classes. I guess I could ask around. There has to be someone who thinks the same thing as me. So I guess it's eat out in a cafe and ask around. So, after wind drying and straightening my hair I took off for the elevator. There were three other suites on my floor, there are more but they are getting redesigned or something like that, and a group of four girls and another group of five guys came out of the other two rooms. None of them looked like they were old enough to drive except for one girl with sea blue eyes.
I was already waiting at the elevator when they walked up. It was really awkward. None of them talked to each other and my neck started prickling. It only does that when someone or some people are staring at me. They all looked straight ahead, completely zoned out. I rocked back and fourth on my heels, not knowing what to do. Finally, when it arrived, the elevator was empty. Well at least no one else has to go through this awkward torture.
We get in the elevator and before I can ask the voice of the elevator what floors the cafes were on, the oldest blonde girl with sea blue eyes asked, "What floors have cafes?"
A robotic girl's voice responded, "On the 1st floor, there is a breakfast buffet with real fruits and meats," Impressive. Most places have artificial fruits and most of the meat isn't even real meat. "Next is the 3rd floor which contains all of the classic fast food cafes, such as McDonalds and Burger King," You can almost never find those cafes anywhere. Fast food cafes starting dying off when too many people started getting obese. Now if you ever find one of them it's more of a treat than an everyday meal, "and on the 10th floor there is a buffet full of delicious food such as mashed potatoes, pizza, and more. It also includes desserts such as banana pudding, assorted choices of cakes, and brownies."
"Yum," said a boy with red hair behind me. My thoughts exactly. Pizza and brownies? Sign me up!
"Floor 10 please," The blonde girl said and the elevator started moving. "Are you going anywhere?" she asked me.
"I'm going to the same floor," I replied. She nodded and we returned to our awkward silence. In the middle of our silence, the elevator stopped. Didn't move. The lights turned off and the voice came on, "Please pardon the interruption, but we are going through a fire drill right now, please wait until it's over thank you."
PART 7:
"Perfect," mumbled the youngest boy who looks to be around my age.
"Great, so if it was a real fire we would burn to death," I mumbled annoyed with the 'safety' systems of the 29th century. Seriously, I think these are the little ways that they bring down the population without too much trouble. Someone dies, they promise to change the safety protocols, after awhile people forget, someone dies again and the process repeats itself.
Some of the kids laughed since we knew that it was only a drill. "So looks like we're going to be here for a while," the red haired kid said.
The least they could give us in this fire drill is light, and just like that, the lights turned on. "Well at least they gave us some light," muttered a red headed girl.
"So, what's your name?" another blonde girl asked. Now all eyes were on me again.
"Livi. Livi Star," I replied, "What's your guy's name?"
The blonde girl who looked like she was the oldest seemed shocked when I told her my name, before I could ask her what's wrong another girl spoke up, "Well my name is Ariyan and this girl right here is Ridi," Ariyan replied, "Then there's Hope and Ky the red haired twins. Then Clara and Caleb, the other twins," They all nodded. "Then there's Nick and Akash, same birthday, but not twins," obviously, "and finally Shohan our youngest." Ridi. Pretty name, but she was shooting daggers at me for some unknown reason.
"So are you guys a family or just a group of friends?" They all looked at one another with smiles. Except for Ridi who wouldn't stop looking a me. Ariyan noticed, but didn't say anything.
"Defiantly a family." Nick said. I'm going to guess that they are mentally a family, "We like to travel a lot together and we do it so often that we started to feel like a family."
"What do you think about the hotel?" I asked, wondering if some of them thought the same way.
"They all shrugged, "What do you think of the hotel?" Hope asked.
"I think it's a bit suspicious," I replied casually. I was starting to get scared out by Ridi. If looks could kill I'd be six foot under.
"What do you mean by that?" Shohan asked, perking up. I think that he might feel the same way about this hotel.
"I mean, everything is cheap. Rooms are twenty notes a night, all the entertainment is free except for the spa which is ten notes per visit, and I bet the restaurant that we're going to is cheap to," I replied.
"We're?" Clara asked, thinking that I was planning on joining them for dinner. Defiantly not. Especially with that Ridi girl was staying me down.
"I'm going to the restaurant too, but not with you guys. I'm meeting someone there," I lied. I kinda didn't want Ridi to know that I was going to eat alone.
"I've been thinking the same things about the hotel." Shohan said to me.
"Well we should be thankful that we can afford a place like this, "Ridi said coolly before I could say anything back to Shohan.
"I just think that it's weird that everything is so affordable." I replied, taking the smallest step back.
"And what's wrong with that? This is just a regular hotel anyway," she replied offhandedly.
"Seriously? A normal hotel? What kind of travelers are you?" I asked and partially exclaimed.
"Good travelers! We just know how to look for hotels!" Ridi exclaimed.
"Oh yeah? What website do you use to find hotels?" I countered back.
"Google." she responded with complete confidence.
I snorted, "Seriously? No one uses Google anymore unless you don't have a sub-net."
"What the heck is the sub-net?" Ridi replied.
Uh-oh. If they don't know what a sub-net is then they are either criminals or the government trying to fake not knowing and trying to get information out of me, "Nothing. Nothing at all," I said a bit too quickly. I started backing up and I backed in to Akash. The lights flickered, the voice spoke in fifty different language like rapid fire, and the elevator dropped. Everyone screamed and dove for the handle bars on the sides of the elevator. Wind coming out of vents were blowing my hair everywhere and I couldn't see. I just kept imagining the elevator coming to a complete stop when we get to the tenth floor open it's doors and let us out. All the other kids yelp and flew away from the metal handles that we were all holding on to like they were electrocuted. Well all of them except for Nick and Akash. The elevator suddenly stopped and opened it's doors.
PART 8:
I wasted no time rushing out of the death trap that they call an elevator. Everyone else was still trying to stand up by the time I reached the buffet. Huh. It doesn't look like there was a fire drill. A waiter seated me and I asked, "Was there just a fire drill?"
"Yes but only for the new employees and the elevators. I'm sorry if you were stuck in one," he replied. I ordered a Dr. Pepper, got my food with contained nothing but pepperoni pizza, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, and brownies. My idea of a healthy dinner. I was just about to eat when they walked in. The nine kids. I looked down at my plate hoping that they wouldn't see me. What just happened was too scary to talk about. They didn't see me and got seated three persons per table. They all looked like they were looking for someone.
In case it was me that they were looking for I hurried up and ate my food and since I already paid for the meal when I walked in, I left a reasonable tip for the waiter and hurried out of the restaurant. I wanted to find out more about the nine kids for some reason. Something just wasn't right about them and they didn't know what the sub-net was. You would have had to have done something awful for a kid to not know what the sub-net was. That or they were kids to a political person or police officer, but that still doesn't make sense. I didn't see an adult or parent figure, all I saw was a teenage girl who did not like me.
Right as I got into an elevator, someone yelled, Hey Livi!"
PART 9:
Shohan's POV
The girl named Livi snorted, "Seriously? No one ever uses Google anymore unless you don't have the sub-net."
"What the heck is the sub-net?" Ridi snapped. I agreed with Livi. Something isn't right with this hotel and what is wrong with Ridi? Livi suddenly got either really nervous or really scared, because she started backing up towards the wall.
"Nothing. Nothing at all," she replied quickly. What is the sub-net and why did she freak out about the fact that we had absolutely no clue what the sub-net was. What happened next almost got us killed and I have no idea how it happened. This is the 29th century, elevators don't just break down randomly. Livi bumped into Akash and the lights on the elevator flickered and we dropped from the 41st floor and not stopping any time soon. Everyone screamed and dove for the handle bars. I ended up directly across from Livi.
My stomach felt like it was still on the 41st floor and all the wind coming out of the vents was giving me breathing problems. Suddenly it felt like I was being electrocuted and flew away from the bar like they did in some of the old movies that Ariyan made me watch. As quickly as it fell, it stopped. I stayed on the floor glad that I wasn't dead. Livi was up like a light and left the elevator. According to the elevator we were on the 10th floor. Right where we wanted to be.
It took us all a moment to recover and once we did, Ridi was determined to find Livi, "She's a spy! She wants to take us back to the facility! I bet she was even going to go meet a government official at the restaurant too!" Ridi just kept going on and on about how she thought Livi was planning on giving us up to the officials and I just sort of tuned her out. Livi didn't seem like the type to just turn some kids in to the officials.
"We need to follow her!' exclaimed Ridi. Follow her. She looked like she was my age! Plus we don't exactly blend in with everyone. Everyone else is in a group of twos or threes and they talk to other people. We usually stay in our own little world and not let anyone else in. Livi, I think was an exception, since we were stuck on an elevator.
But then again. Ridi could be right. I can't think of any other way that the elevator could've dropped like that was either the government was controlling it or she was like us... Nah. That sounds a bit out there. So we all silently follow Ridi down a few hallways to get to the buffet. We spot after a few moments. She was eating a pizza and a brownie and she didn't look like she was waiting for anyone.
Everyone else realized this too except for Ridi. She was just so determined to watch Livi that she didn't eat and followed her when she left the restaurant. We tried to talk Ridi out of it, but she wouldn't hear it. She told us she would follow Livi 24/7 if she had to. When she left we all wondered what was going on with Ridi.
"Livi was obviously planning on eating alone in the first place," Ky remarked shoving over half a piece of pizza into his mouth.
"Ridi didn't like Livi from the start. Did you see the way she was looking at her? It was almost like she wanted to kill her," Ariyan added. She's right. I thought that Ridi was going to jump across the elevator and choke her.
"Something's up with Ridi," Caleb said.
"Really? I had no idea? No kidding Captain Obvious," Akash replied. I swear Caleb's ears turned the brightest shade of red, but he is right. Something isn't right with Ridi. She drew attention to us by fighting with her when we barley knew her.
"Akash? Nick? Did you cause the elevator to fall?" Clara asked after a long period of silence.
"We couldn't have. We were on opposite sides of the elevator," Nick replied looking frustrated.
"Were you next to each other when the elevator was falling?" Ariyan asked, "Because I was shocked right before it stopped."
"No, but the elevator fell right as Livi bumped into me," Akash replied, "and I think that I was next to her when it was falling."
We all let that sink in for a moment. It wasn't possible. Another person with the same powers as Nick and Akash, at the same hotel, and just happens to be on the same floor as us? It just doesn't seem possible, but all of the pieces seemed to fit. There was no other way the elevator could've dropped. Well, maybe there could have been a different way, I'm no mechanic. "Are you saying that she could have powers like us?" Hope asked, speaking what everyone was thinking.
PART 10 :
"If she does have powers. Then why did Ridi totally lose her mind after the elevator stopped?" I asked after no one responded to Hope's question.
"Maybe she thought that Livi was a spy from a different facility?" Akash suggested.
"That could be a possible. We need to ask Ridi," Ariyan stated.
After we all finished eating and talked about what we were going to talk to Ridi about, we headed for our rooms. What we saw upstairs made us screech to a halt. Livi and Ridi were talking and they looked like they were best friends.
"Hey guys!" Ridi yelled when she saw us, "I was just talking to Livi about how rude I was to her on the elevator earlier and I was asking her if she would like to join us for some arcade games tomorrow!"
"Yeah I'll come, but I have to get inside now. I think my sister is back," Livi responded after waving to us. She unlocked her door, said goodnight, and disappeared into the room.
We all gathered in the girl's room and Ariyan asked, "What was all that about? I thought that you thought that she was a spy?"
"Well, I realized that I don't even know her and that she might be right about this hotel, but we can afford it and it's really nice, so I think that we should stay here," Ridi replied.
"I'm glad your giving her a chance because we think that she has powers like us!" Akash exclaimed.
"Interesting," Ridi responded, "Well, let's explore that theory tomorrow. I'm tired."
After that and few goodbyes, the girls went to bed and we headed to our suited and branched off to our own beds. I wonder if Livi is like me and has multiple powers...
PART 11:
Livi's POV
I woke up to the smell of burnt pancakes and possible smoke. Kitchen equipment hasn't changed much since the 23rd century, so it was a special kind of gas that spreads with water, kind of like vinegar or oil. I never learned the name of it yet though. Ushmi had no clue about this. She would rather learn from mistakes than learn about them to avoid them. So I walk to the kitchen counter as my usual quiet, grumpy, morning self and Ushmi's pancakes catch on fire. "No!" she yelled from the sink, trying to fix the drain, "No, no, no, no!" She picked up a bucket of water and I tackled her before she could catch this entire kitchen on fire.
I rushed to get the fire extinguisher, before any real damage was done to the kitchen and we would have to pay for it. "Livi are you insane? I almost had the fire put out and now look what you did! You covered me and the floor with water and do I need to mention the stove?" Ushmi yelled at me. She never yells at me. Never. I swear my mouth was open so wide that it was touching the floor. She sat on the floor glaring at me and I just walked back into my room, changed into some jeans and tank top. My converse sneakers were under my bed and I slipped them on quickly. I glanced around the room and realized that I almost forgot my purse, which had my phone, money left over from yesterday, and my kindle.
I walked in to the living room/kitchen area to see Ushmi drying the floor. She pointed to some money on the table and said, "Go do whatever, I need to catch up with a friend that lives around here." I quietly grabbed the money and left her staring at the counter. I'm pretty sure I saw a tear roll down her face, but I wasn't sure. I glanced at my phone and it read 6:14am, since it was too early for almost anybody to be awake, especially since it was Saturday, I traveled down to the first floor for their breakfast buffet. It was relatively empty and I helped myself to their bacon, eggs, and French toast. I asked the waiter to bring me back a glass of orange juice and I pulled out my kindle and started reading a book, called the Hunger Games.
I don't know how long I sat there reading my book and subconsciously eating, but when I looked up all my food was gone and the buffet was more crowded then ever. I decided that I should get up so that some of the people in the line can actually get something to eat. I tipped the waiter and shoved everything in my bag before I left. My phone said that it was 10 o'clock and I had nothing to do. Well, maybe I could go to the spa and get my nails done, but I kind of want to keep reading, but it needed to be somewhere quiet. I tried to think of quiet places to read and I thought about those couches that they have near stair cases for some reason and there is usually no one there, if you don't chose the ones next to vending machines.
I must be the only person in this entire hotel who would chose reading to bowling or swimming or even the spa, which actually sounds appealing, but I still don't trust this place. I set my alarm to noon because that's the time that I said I would met Ridi at the arcade, but I couldn't focus anymore. I thought the way Ridi acted was weird. I mean she was acting weird every since I said my name! She was all like, "Hey BFF! Let's be friends! Come to the arcade with us tomorrow!" I only agreed because I wanted to see if she actually was trying to apologize for the elevator incident of if she was like the fake girls in the VP school chat room.
And what was up with Ushmi. It's like she was really upset about something and she was taking it out on me. What could've gotten her that upset? Did she feel the same way about the hotel? Or was it something else? Maybe it was the guy that gave her the bruise on her face.
I was packing my bags in my room when it happened. I didn't really see what was happening, but I heard yelling so I pushed the duffel bag to the side. I opened the door and this guy is screaming at her because she didn't give him his pillows and Ushmi was trying to explain to him that they weren't ready and finally she said, "I don't work here!" He got even more angry and hit her in the face. I grabbed the broom that was right next to the doorway and hit him in the side with it before he could do any more to her.
He glared at me and hissed, "Stay out of this."
"That is my sister and she does not work here," I said evenly and calmly. I was hoping that if I said it calmly instead of yelling that it would get through his thick skull. He blinked at me when I said that I was her sister. He quickly retreated to his room, while I helped Ushmi into the room.
PART 12:
That was probably the scarcest moment of my life. OK, well when the elevator dropped was probably the scarcest, but they were pretty close. The couch that I was lounging on was a cream color with a floral pattern on it and was scratching my arms. My phone said that it was 11:30 so I couldn't stay here much longer anyways. I don't even know what the purpose of phones are anymore. Everyone talks on the VP anyways. I honestly think that they transformed into watches.
I decided against going down the elevator after what happened yesterday, and made it to floor eleven in no time.Apparently though, the stairs skip the 9th floor, so I went down to the eighth one so I wouldn't have to go up the stairs and as I opened the door, a man's suitcase falls off his cart. Like the good citizen I am, I bent down and picked it up. That's when things got a little out of hand.
He didn't know that his suitcase fell off the cart so he turned around and looked at me. At first his mind didn't process the fact that I was holding his suitcase. I opened my mouth to tell him that it fell off when he screamed at me, "Don't touch that you filthy thief!" This man looked to be in his forties with a receding hair line and very neat and pristine clothes. He kind of looked like those guys who should be CEO's to some big company.
"Sir, your suitcase fell off your cart. I was only picking it up for you," I explained.
"Likely story," he retorted, "You can't lie to me. I can sniff out almost any liar." Sniff out? Who uses that saying anymore?
"Key word almost. Look, sir, I'm putting the suitcase back on the cart." I made a big gesture while putting the suitcase onto the cart.
"Don't sass me young lady!" Where did he come from? The 1980's? "You're lucky I'm not calling security on you!"
"Look I have to be somewhere. If you're done with your little tantrum then I would like to go now." Without waiting for a response, I pushed pass him and entered the elevator that just opened for a group of people. They were going to the ninth floor as well, but not the same destination. I headed left for the arcade and they turned right for the movie theaters.
I walk into the arcade and no one is there. Literally no one. I thought there would be some kids in here, but no. They are all probably at the pool or bowling ally. So arcades these days are very different than the ones in the past. They are more like video game hall of history type of arcade and it starts out with pinball machines and other things. Then it moves on to the Nintendo 64 and game cube. Next was the Wii's and DS's. Then there is the X-box and play station types of games. I personally loved Super Paper Mariano on the WII. So I plopped down on this round chair type things that people used to sit in back in the 20th century, put in the game, and started a new file.
I don't know how I ended up with my feet propped up on another chair, but about a quarter into the game I felt a light tap on my shoulder. It was Ridi and the others. They were in a tight-ish circle, except for Shohan. He kind of stood a little away from the group. "I hope we're not too late?" Ariyan asked.
"It's ok, you're only thirty minutes late. I was getting kind of bored with this game anyways," I lied. There is no possible way for me to get bored with any Mariano or Link games.
There was a slight pause. "Well actually we were hoping that you would try this new game that we made up. It's called Imagination. Come on it'll be fun," Shohan said, smiling.
Part 2
Part 3:
This hotel was massive, which makes me even more surprised that it didn't have a single bad review, because even thought they have security, it's hard to make everyone listen and obey the rules. The hallways were decent with floral carpeting and cream colored walls. The lobby had a fountain with little fishes swimming in it, couches arranged in a circle near a fireplace with a plush rug in the middle of it on top of the carpet. The perfect hotel. Exactly how movies describe hotels and resorts. I love it here.. but it seems off. Every hotel or motel I've ever been to had plastic on the floor, that was designed to look like tile, was chipping and the thing that came even slightly close to their fountain was their water fountains. This place seem almost too perfect. Too neat and pristine. Plus, common people like Ushmi and I can afford it. Only twenty note per night, forty if you decide to stay a week and guess what? We are staying here two weeks. Ushmi was so excited that she almost rammed our hover car into a pole.
Once parked and checked in, we went in search of our room. From what the elevator told us, this hotel is 61 stories high and in case you were wondering, yes the elevator actually spoke to us. See when we check in we were each given two cards, one to use and one to use in case you lose the first one. Heaven Forbid you loose both. The elevator was telling us that floors 9-11 are entertainment floors and that everyone is welcome to go there for games or what not. Our room was on the 45th floor, room number 4580. We had rented a suite to stay in for the next two weeks and it's costing Ushmi 90 notes for the two weeks. It had the sitting room which contained a pull out couch in front of a satellite TV. The kitchen was a little off to the right of the sitting room. There were pots, pans, spoons, forks, you name them, but there was no food. Ushmi promised to go buy some food tomorrow, but I think that we'll end up going out or ordering room service since neither of us knew how to cook anything except a glass of water or cereal. That's as far as our expertise goes.
There was a closet next the front door and a bathroom to the left of the sitting room. It was a regular bathroom designed to look somewhat like a beach. All that's missing is the waves and the sand. Behind the living room were two doors. Behind the left door was what was going to be Ushmi's room. It contained a king sized bed with a black comforter with two red stripes running down the middle of the bed. The carpet was red and plush. The flat screen TV wasn't as big as the one in the living room, but it had a great picture. My room, which is the right one is similar to Ushmi's, but different, if that makes sense. It had a TV like hers... That's where the similarities end. I had a queen sized bed with a white comforter that had dark blue swirls covering the bottom half. The carpet was the same shade of blue and the dressers were white.
I unpack all of my clothes and personal items into the dressers and walk-in closet. Once I was done, I went on the hunt for Ushmi. She was excitedly flipping through a brochure of what the hotel had for entertainment, when she saw me she couldn't help but exclaim, "They have a real bowling alley! Not a VP version!" I swear she was buzzing from excitement.
I flipped through it and I realized that there is one thing that I really wanted to do at the moment. Swim. I've never been swimming before. The VP taught me, but I didn't really feel anything since I didn't have a chip. "Do you want to go to the pool first? I hear they have a slide." Emma loved the idea of swimming and we were off to the pool in no time.
PART 4:
Shohan's POV
I'm the youngest in our group. Thirteen years old. Our group, is a group of nine. Ridi is the oldest and probably the bravest. She's sixteen going on seventeen, blonde, acts like she knows everything, but always makes sure that we come first. Everyone here is like family. Then there's Akash and Nick who are sixteen as well, but are a days behind Ridi. They aren't brother's because their skin are both different colors, but they were born on the same day. Ariyanzona or Ariyan as we like to call her, is fifteen. She's the shyest in the bunch. Caleb and Clara are fourteen-year-old twins. Next is Hope and Ky who are also twins, who are also fourteen. Last, but not least, me. Shohan.
Our whole lives we've been stuck in this secret government facility. They call us special. I call us freaks of nature. Ridi with her sea blue eyes, can control water. Make is swirl around the room. We all have trainers and hers have to wear scuba suits because Ridi keeps trying to drown them. She tells me stories like when she was a little girl, for the longest time she couldn't drink out of a glass of water, because they feared that she would try to kill herself. Really? A three year old little girl? They tried a ton of different things. The trainers and scientists finally let her drink out of a glass when they tried to make her drink out of those things that hamsters drink out of and Ridi had the water put so much pressure on the sides of the container that it burst.
Ariyan can transform into anything she wants, whether it's clothes or her eye color, she can change. Once she tried to escape looking like a guard. Needless to say they captured her when they realized that she was gone. She can even turn into animals. When I would cry, she would transform into a puppy to make me feel better. It stopped working when I was eight-years-old. Caleb and Clara can turn invisible. Hope and Ky have my personal favorite, they can make fire burst out of nowhere and control it. That's why most of the rooms are fire proof. They both have red hair and green eyes.
Last, but not least, me. Unlike them, I don't have one power that I can master right away. I can do all of their powers. Ridi's water, Akash and Nick's electricity, Ariyan's transformation powers and so on and so fourth. Although, there is one power that is mine. No one else can do it but me. I can hypnotize people to do what ever I want. Except for killing themselves. I couldn't do that even if I wanted to. The body's survival instincts are to strong for that.
We live in a prison, but I guess somewhere along the line someone had a heart and tried to make our rooms as comfortable as possible. I don't know what any of the other kids rooms looked like, but mine had a king sized bed with a navy blue comforter. The concrete walls had been covered with plaster and painted navy blue to look like a normal room, and the smooth concrete floors had hardwood flooring over them. The room where we all hang out when we are not in training is what was like to call, the sitting room. One fourth of the sitting room was devoted to either Nick or Akash, depending on who's day it was. See our trainers didn't want to risk Akash and Nick accidently touching, so the put in a glass wall to keep them apart. The sitting room had a leather couch and a flat screen TV in front of it, but it was all angled so the person behind the glass wall could see it too and not feel so left out.
Today though, they tried something different. Nick was put into a glass bubble and placed in our room, "It's stupid how they keep us here," Nick muttered under his breath, just loud enough for us too hear.
"I know it's stupid, but if we work together, we can escape," Ridi said for the millionth time this year. Her escape plans never work and when they fail, she's the only one to get thrown under the bus. The trainers say that since she is the oldest and didn't try to stop us, that she should be the only one to get in trouble. Usually her punishment is like, a week of solitude, but that's not torture for Ridi, because she has books. She loves reading.
Suddenly, it's like the gears in my head started moving because for the first time ever I said, "I have an idea on how to get us all out of here."
They looked at me shocked. Since I'm usually the quiet one they didn't even think that I would make a comment on the conversation, but it was like a little light bulb in my head went ding. I didn't have a full out plan in my head yet, but I think Ridi can help. "What if we could get Akash out of this bubble?"
PART 5:
"Yeah, but we don't have a key and it's made out of bullet proof glass so none of us can break it," Caleb pointed out.
I glanced at everyone then asked Ariyan, "Can you transform your hand into a key?" Ariyan looked at her hand, trying to will it to turn itself into a key. After five minutes, she did it, "Ok that's as far as I've thought into the plan. Ridi can you help me out."
"Alright Akash and Nick, when Akash gets out, create a power surge. Shohan, when the guards come in here to separate us, hypnotize them to help us escape. Caleb and Clara, I'm sorry, but your job is most likely the most dangerous," Ridi said looking right at them.
"Whatever it is Ridi, Caleb and I can do it. Right Caleb?" Clara responded, elbowing Caleb, who was sitting next to her.
"Yeah. Alright." Caleb agreed, "What do we have to do?"
"I want you to go and find out information on the area. The nearest hotel and how far away it is. Ok?" Ridi said. Ariyan who has been trying to unlock the bubble ever since she formed a key hand, finally freed Akash from his bubble cage. We all stepped back incase we got electrocuted, while Nick and Akash high fived each other. The lights died and our door that was automatic clicked open. Caleb and Clara didn't hesitate to turn invisble and take off. The rest of us walked around until a group of guards smashed into us as we were turning the corner.
"You will show us the way out and shoot anyone who tries to stop us with your tranquilizer gun," I said in a low voice, before they could go anything. Their eyes glazed over and they circled us as we ran towards the exit. As far as I can tell, we have twenty guards protecting us. Clara and Caleb joined us when we reached the door that led to outside.
"Did you guys get it?" Akash asked as the doors opened. It wasn't even fenced in. It was like they never expected us to get this far. Caleb handed Akash the map, "Two miles away there is a hotel. We need money for that and I don't think Ariyan can change into a hundred dollar note."
I turned to the guards, who were now behind us, "Give me all the notes on you." The guards simultaneously reached in there pockets and pulled out a thousand notes each. We ended up with 20,000 notes all together, "Now wait here until the electricity comes back on and stop anyone who tries to follow us."
Once we were about a mile and a half away, we sat down behind some rocks and talked about where we were going. "Do you know how much this hotel costs?"Ridi asked.
"Twenty notes a night," Clara responded proudly. We talked happily on the half a mile walk to the hotel. Once we were checked in, we took the elevator up to our rooms. The girls had one room and we had obviously another.
"So What did you use as a last name Akash and Ridi?" Ariyan asked. When we got to the hotel, Ridi and Akash went in to check us into the hotel. Everyone else went in at least two at a time and waited on the third floor for them. The way we got up was that we would wait for another visitor and Ridi and Akash had eight cards for us to use. They rented two different suites so the girls wouldn't have to sleep in the same room as boys. "Well, Akash used Smith and I used Harts." Ridi proudly, like she came up with the best last name ever.
The woman at the front desk told Ridi that there were only three suites on our floor and we were only occupying two. Ridi was told that the other suite is also occupied by a woman and her sister, so I guess we have to be careful about where we use our powers. There were two bedrooms in our suite, three TV's and a pull put couch. Nick and Akash had to sleep in a different room, but they were glad to be out so they didn't complain. Ky and Akash chose the room with the king sized bed, Caleb and Nick had the one with the queen sized bed, and I had the pull out couch. Ha ha! Jokes on you. The couch is comfortable and the TV is better.
After we were done talking more about the escape, the girls retired to their rooms and so did the boys. They left me to figure out how to pull out the bed hidden inside the couch. So apparently what you do is you pull out this sort of a bed spring out from under the couch and then you flip the cushions so that they form a bed. The whole process probably took an hour, thanks to my 'brilliant' mind.
Once I was lying down, all comfortable and ready for sleep, almost fifty million things ran through my mind. That might be an exaggeration, but you get the point. Memories of the facility, the escape, and finally this hotel. I don't know what other hotels are like, but this seems a tad too fancy to be twenty notes a night, unless you do their two week deal or something like that. I don't trust this place, but it is comfortable.
PART 6:
Livi's POV
I have to say that I was a natural at swimming. Since the pool was cold, it took me a while to get used to the water. After that I swam until they told me the pool was closed and Emma had long ago went back up to the suite. My fingers and toes were wrinkled and my hair was... green! I noticed it when I looked in the bathroom mirror. Emma left me a sticky note saying that she went out shopping so she didn't see my disastrous hair. It was seaweed green! My hair was perfectly blonde before I went swimming. "Ok, ok. Don't panic," I told myself, "Maybe it'll wash out." Hopefully. So, as I collected some clothes for a shower and think about how my hair looked before, I felt a weird feeling just surround my head. I ignored it and went to take my shower. I tried to avoid looking in the mirror, but I had to one more time. It was blonde again. No hint of green anywhere. I was frozen in shock. How was it all gone? Did I imagine it? I must've. I probably opened my eyes under water too much and the chemicals were messing with my eyes.
I didn't know what to do after my shower. I could go back down to the entertainment floors, but I didn't really want to go back down, considering that it was 8pm. Ushmi was still out shopping and I wasn't up for watching any TV shows since most of them are re-runs or re-makes. Nothing is original any more. Seriously. There must be at least 10 different versions of Harry Potter. I decided to see what was keeping Ushmi so long, so I rummaged through the dresser by the bed for my phone. Apparently she already called saying to go on ahead and eat without her. She left forty notes for me in the dresser.
Great. Now I have to eat alone and I don't know where the room service menu is. I guess I could go find a cafe, ask the elevator what floor that's on. I still can't get over the fact that it's 20 notes a night and has free entertainment excluding the spa. The spa is 10 notes. The chiefs and lifeguards took classes. I guess I could ask around. There has to be someone who thinks the same thing as me. So I guess it's eat out in a cafe and ask around. So, after wind drying and straightening my hair I took off for the elevator. There were three other suites on my floor, there are more but they are getting redesigned or something like that, and a group of four girls and another group of five guys came out of the other two rooms. None of them looked like they were old enough to drive except for one girl with sea blue eyes.
I was already waiting at the elevator when they walked up. It was really awkward. None of them talked to each other and my neck started prickling. It only does that when someone or some people are staring at me. They all looked straight ahead, completely zoned out. I rocked back and fourth on my heels, not knowing what to do. Finally, when it arrived, the elevator was empty. Well at least no one else has to go through this awkward torture.
We get in the elevator and before I can ask the voice of the elevator what floors the cafes were on, the oldest blonde girl with sea blue eyes asked, "What floors have cafes?"
A robotic girl's voice responded, "On the 1st floor, there is a breakfast buffet with real fruits and meats," Impressive. Most places have artificial fruits and most of the meat isn't even real meat. "Next is the 3rd floor which contains all of the classic fast food cafes, such as McDonalds and Burger King," You can almost never find those cafes anywhere. Fast food cafes starting dying off when too many people started getting obese. Now if you ever find one of them it's more of a treat than an everyday meal, "and on the 10th floor there is a buffet full of delicious food such as mashed potatoes, pizza, and more. It also includes desserts such as banana pudding, assorted choices of cakes, and brownies."
"Yum," said a boy with red hair behind me. My thoughts exactly. Pizza and brownies? Sign me up!
"Floor 10 please," The blonde girl said and the elevator started moving. "Are you going anywhere?" she asked me.
"I'm going to the same floor," I replied. She nodded and we returned to our awkward silence. In the middle of our silence, the elevator stopped. Didn't move. The lights turned off and the voice came on, "Please pardon the interruption, but we are going through a fire drill right now, please wait until it's over thank you."
PART 7:
"Perfect," mumbled the youngest boy who looks to be around my age.
"Great, so if it was a real fire we would burn to death," I mumbled annoyed with the 'safety' systems of the 29th century. Seriously, I think these are the little ways that they bring down the population without too much trouble. Someone dies, they promise to change the safety protocols, after awhile people forget, someone dies again and the process repeats itself.
Some of the kids laughed since we knew that it was only a drill. "So looks like we're going to be here for a while," the red haired kid said.
The least they could give us in this fire drill is light, and just like that, the lights turned on. "Well at least they gave us some light," muttered a red headed girl.
"So, what's your name?" another blonde girl asked. Now all eyes were on me again.
"Livi. Livi Star," I replied, "What's your guy's name?"
The blonde girl who looked like she was the oldest seemed shocked when I told her my name, before I could ask her what's wrong another girl spoke up, "Well my name is Ariyan and this girl right here is Ridi," Ariyan replied, "Then there's Hope and Ky the red haired twins. Then Clara and Caleb, the other twins," They all nodded. "Then there's Nick and Akash, same birthday, but not twins," obviously, "and finally Shohan our youngest." Ridi. Pretty name, but she was shooting daggers at me for some unknown reason.
"So are you guys a family or just a group of friends?" They all looked at one another with smiles. Except for Ridi who wouldn't stop looking a me. Ariyan noticed, but didn't say anything.
"Defiantly a family." Nick said. I'm going to guess that they are mentally a family, "We like to travel a lot together and we do it so often that we started to feel like a family."
"What do you think about the hotel?" I asked, wondering if some of them thought the same way.
"They all shrugged, "What do you think of the hotel?" Hope asked.
"I think it's a bit suspicious," I replied casually. I was starting to get scared out by Ridi. If looks could kill I'd be six foot under.
"What do you mean by that?" Shohan asked, perking up. I think that he might feel the same way about this hotel.
"I mean, everything is cheap. Rooms are twenty notes a night, all the entertainment is free except for the spa which is ten notes per visit, and I bet the restaurant that we're going to is cheap to," I replied.
"We're?" Clara asked, thinking that I was planning on joining them for dinner. Defiantly not. Especially with that Ridi girl was staying me down.
"I'm going to the restaurant too, but not with you guys. I'm meeting someone there," I lied. I kinda didn't want Ridi to know that I was going to eat alone.
"I've been thinking the same things about the hotel." Shohan said to me.
"Well we should be thankful that we can afford a place like this, "Ridi said coolly before I could say anything back to Shohan.
"I just think that it's weird that everything is so affordable." I replied, taking the smallest step back.
"And what's wrong with that? This is just a regular hotel anyway," she replied offhandedly.
"Seriously? A normal hotel? What kind of travelers are you?" I asked and partially exclaimed.
"Good travelers! We just know how to look for hotels!" Ridi exclaimed.
"Oh yeah? What website do you use to find hotels?" I countered back.
"Google." she responded with complete confidence.
I snorted, "Seriously? No one uses Google anymore unless you don't have a sub-net."
"What the heck is the sub-net?" Ridi replied.
Uh-oh. If they don't know what a sub-net is then they are either criminals or the government trying to fake not knowing and trying to get information out of me, "Nothing. Nothing at all," I said a bit too quickly. I started backing up and I backed in to Akash. The lights flickered, the voice spoke in fifty different language like rapid fire, and the elevator dropped. Everyone screamed and dove for the handle bars on the sides of the elevator. Wind coming out of vents were blowing my hair everywhere and I couldn't see. I just kept imagining the elevator coming to a complete stop when we get to the tenth floor open it's doors and let us out. All the other kids yelp and flew away from the metal handles that we were all holding on to like they were electrocuted. Well all of them except for Nick and Akash. The elevator suddenly stopped and opened it's doors.
PART 8:
I wasted no time rushing out of the death trap that they call an elevator. Everyone else was still trying to stand up by the time I reached the buffet. Huh. It doesn't look like there was a fire drill. A waiter seated me and I asked, "Was there just a fire drill?"
"Yes but only for the new employees and the elevators. I'm sorry if you were stuck in one," he replied. I ordered a Dr. Pepper, got my food with contained nothing but pepperoni pizza, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, and brownies. My idea of a healthy dinner. I was just about to eat when they walked in. The nine kids. I looked down at my plate hoping that they wouldn't see me. What just happened was too scary to talk about. They didn't see me and got seated three persons per table. They all looked like they were looking for someone.
In case it was me that they were looking for I hurried up and ate my food and since I already paid for the meal when I walked in, I left a reasonable tip for the waiter and hurried out of the restaurant. I wanted to find out more about the nine kids for some reason. Something just wasn't right about them and they didn't know what the sub-net was. You would have had to have done something awful for a kid to not know what the sub-net was. That or they were kids to a political person or police officer, but that still doesn't make sense. I didn't see an adult or parent figure, all I saw was a teenage girl who did not like me.
Right as I got into an elevator, someone yelled, Hey Livi!"
PART 9:
Shohan's POV
The girl named Livi snorted, "Seriously? No one ever uses Google anymore unless you don't have the sub-net."
"What the heck is the sub-net?" Ridi snapped. I agreed with Livi. Something isn't right with this hotel and what is wrong with Ridi? Livi suddenly got either really nervous or really scared, because she started backing up towards the wall.
"Nothing. Nothing at all," she replied quickly. What is the sub-net and why did she freak out about the fact that we had absolutely no clue what the sub-net was. What happened next almost got us killed and I have no idea how it happened. This is the 29th century, elevators don't just break down randomly. Livi bumped into Akash and the lights on the elevator flickered and we dropped from the 41st floor and not stopping any time soon. Everyone screamed and dove for the handle bars. I ended up directly across from Livi.
My stomach felt like it was still on the 41st floor and all the wind coming out of the vents was giving me breathing problems. Suddenly it felt like I was being electrocuted and flew away from the bar like they did in some of the old movies that Ariyan made me watch. As quickly as it fell, it stopped. I stayed on the floor glad that I wasn't dead. Livi was up like a light and left the elevator. According to the elevator we were on the 10th floor. Right where we wanted to be.
It took us all a moment to recover and once we did, Ridi was determined to find Livi, "She's a spy! She wants to take us back to the facility! I bet she was even going to go meet a government official at the restaurant too!" Ridi just kept going on and on about how she thought Livi was planning on giving us up to the officials and I just sort of tuned her out. Livi didn't seem like the type to just turn some kids in to the officials.
"We need to follow her!' exclaimed Ridi. Follow her. She looked like she was my age! Plus we don't exactly blend in with everyone. Everyone else is in a group of twos or threes and they talk to other people. We usually stay in our own little world and not let anyone else in. Livi, I think was an exception, since we were stuck on an elevator.
But then again. Ridi could be right. I can't think of any other way that the elevator could've dropped like that was either the government was controlling it or she was like us... Nah. That sounds a bit out there. So we all silently follow Ridi down a few hallways to get to the buffet. We spot after a few moments. She was eating a pizza and a brownie and she didn't look like she was waiting for anyone.
Everyone else realized this too except for Ridi. She was just so determined to watch Livi that she didn't eat and followed her when she left the restaurant. We tried to talk Ridi out of it, but she wouldn't hear it. She told us she would follow Livi 24/7 if she had to. When she left we all wondered what was going on with Ridi.
"Livi was obviously planning on eating alone in the first place," Ky remarked shoving over half a piece of pizza into his mouth.
"Ridi didn't like Livi from the start. Did you see the way she was looking at her? It was almost like she wanted to kill her," Ariyan added. She's right. I thought that Ridi was going to jump across the elevator and choke her.
"Something's up with Ridi," Caleb said.
"Really? I had no idea? No kidding Captain Obvious," Akash replied. I swear Caleb's ears turned the brightest shade of red, but he is right. Something isn't right with Ridi. She drew attention to us by fighting with her when we barley knew her.
"Akash? Nick? Did you cause the elevator to fall?" Clara asked after a long period of silence.
"We couldn't have. We were on opposite sides of the elevator," Nick replied looking frustrated.
"Were you next to each other when the elevator was falling?" Ariyan asked, "Because I was shocked right before it stopped."
"No, but the elevator fell right as Livi bumped into me," Akash replied, "and I think that I was next to her when it was falling."
We all let that sink in for a moment. It wasn't possible. Another person with the same powers as Nick and Akash, at the same hotel, and just happens to be on the same floor as us? It just doesn't seem possible, but all of the pieces seemed to fit. There was no other way the elevator could've dropped. Well, maybe there could have been a different way, I'm no mechanic. "Are you saying that she could have powers like us?" Hope asked, speaking what everyone was thinking.
PART 10 :
"If she does have powers. Then why did Ridi totally lose her mind after the elevator stopped?" I asked after no one responded to Hope's question.
"Maybe she thought that Livi was a spy from a different facility?" Akash suggested.
"That could be a possible. We need to ask Ridi," Ariyan stated.
After we all finished eating and talked about what we were going to talk to Ridi about, we headed for our rooms. What we saw upstairs made us screech to a halt. Livi and Ridi were talking and they looked like they were best friends.
"Hey guys!" Ridi yelled when she saw us, "I was just talking to Livi about how rude I was to her on the elevator earlier and I was asking her if she would like to join us for some arcade games tomorrow!"
"Yeah I'll come, but I have to get inside now. I think my sister is back," Livi responded after waving to us. She unlocked her door, said goodnight, and disappeared into the room.
We all gathered in the girl's room and Ariyan asked, "What was all that about? I thought that you thought that she was a spy?"
"Well, I realized that I don't even know her and that she might be right about this hotel, but we can afford it and it's really nice, so I think that we should stay here," Ridi replied.
"I'm glad your giving her a chance because we think that she has powers like us!" Akash exclaimed.
"Interesting," Ridi responded, "Well, let's explore that theory tomorrow. I'm tired."
After that and few goodbyes, the girls went to bed and we headed to our suited and branched off to our own beds. I wonder if Livi is like me and has multiple powers...
PART 11:
Livi's POV
I woke up to the smell of burnt pancakes and possible smoke. Kitchen equipment hasn't changed much since the 23rd century, so it was a special kind of gas that spreads with water, kind of like vinegar or oil. I never learned the name of it yet though. Ushmi had no clue about this. She would rather learn from mistakes than learn about them to avoid them. So I walk to the kitchen counter as my usual quiet, grumpy, morning self and Ushmi's pancakes catch on fire. "No!" she yelled from the sink, trying to fix the drain, "No, no, no, no!" She picked up a bucket of water and I tackled her before she could catch this entire kitchen on fire.
I rushed to get the fire extinguisher, before any real damage was done to the kitchen and we would have to pay for it. "Livi are you insane? I almost had the fire put out and now look what you did! You covered me and the floor with water and do I need to mention the stove?" Ushmi yelled at me. She never yells at me. Never. I swear my mouth was open so wide that it was touching the floor. She sat on the floor glaring at me and I just walked back into my room, changed into some jeans and tank top. My converse sneakers were under my bed and I slipped them on quickly. I glanced around the room and realized that I almost forgot my purse, which had my phone, money left over from yesterday, and my kindle.
I walked in to the living room/kitchen area to see Ushmi drying the floor. She pointed to some money on the table and said, "Go do whatever, I need to catch up with a friend that lives around here." I quietly grabbed the money and left her staring at the counter. I'm pretty sure I saw a tear roll down her face, but I wasn't sure. I glanced at my phone and it read 6:14am, since it was too early for almost anybody to be awake, especially since it was Saturday, I traveled down to the first floor for their breakfast buffet. It was relatively empty and I helped myself to their bacon, eggs, and French toast. I asked the waiter to bring me back a glass of orange juice and I pulled out my kindle and started reading a book, called the Hunger Games.
I don't know how long I sat there reading my book and subconsciously eating, but when I looked up all my food was gone and the buffet was more crowded then ever. I decided that I should get up so that some of the people in the line can actually get something to eat. I tipped the waiter and shoved everything in my bag before I left. My phone said that it was 10 o'clock and I had nothing to do. Well, maybe I could go to the spa and get my nails done, but I kind of want to keep reading, but it needed to be somewhere quiet. I tried to think of quiet places to read and I thought about those couches that they have near stair cases for some reason and there is usually no one there, if you don't chose the ones next to vending machines.
I must be the only person in this entire hotel who would chose reading to bowling or swimming or even the spa, which actually sounds appealing, but I still don't trust this place. I set my alarm to noon because that's the time that I said I would met Ridi at the arcade, but I couldn't focus anymore. I thought the way Ridi acted was weird. I mean she was acting weird every since I said my name! She was all like, "Hey BFF! Let's be friends! Come to the arcade with us tomorrow!" I only agreed because I wanted to see if she actually was trying to apologize for the elevator incident of if she was like the fake girls in the VP school chat room.
And what was up with Ushmi. It's like she was really upset about something and she was taking it out on me. What could've gotten her that upset? Did she feel the same way about the hotel? Or was it something else? Maybe it was the guy that gave her the bruise on her face.
I was packing my bags in my room when it happened. I didn't really see what was happening, but I heard yelling so I pushed the duffel bag to the side. I opened the door and this guy is screaming at her because she didn't give him his pillows and Ushmi was trying to explain to him that they weren't ready and finally she said, "I don't work here!" He got even more angry and hit her in the face. I grabbed the broom that was right next to the doorway and hit him in the side with it before he could do any more to her.
He glared at me and hissed, "Stay out of this."
"That is my sister and she does not work here," I said evenly and calmly. I was hoping that if I said it calmly instead of yelling that it would get through his thick skull. He blinked at me when I said that I was her sister. He quickly retreated to his room, while I helped Ushmi into the room.
PART 12:
That was probably the scarcest moment of my life. OK, well when the elevator dropped was probably the scarcest, but they were pretty close. The couch that I was lounging on was a cream color with a floral pattern on it and was scratching my arms. My phone said that it was 11:30 so I couldn't stay here much longer anyways. I don't even know what the purpose of phones are anymore. Everyone talks on the VP anyways. I honestly think that they transformed into watches.
I decided against going down the elevator after what happened yesterday, and made it to floor eleven in no time.Apparently though, the stairs skip the 9th floor, so I went down to the eighth one so I wouldn't have to go up the stairs and as I opened the door, a man's suitcase falls off his cart. Like the good citizen I am, I bent down and picked it up. That's when things got a little out of hand.
He didn't know that his suitcase fell off the cart so he turned around and looked at me. At first his mind didn't process the fact that I was holding his suitcase. I opened my mouth to tell him that it fell off when he screamed at me, "Don't touch that you filthy thief!" This man looked to be in his forties with a receding hair line and very neat and pristine clothes. He kind of looked like those guys who should be CEO's to some big company.
"Sir, your suitcase fell off your cart. I was only picking it up for you," I explained.
"Likely story," he retorted, "You can't lie to me. I can sniff out almost any liar." Sniff out? Who uses that saying anymore?
"Key word almost. Look, sir, I'm putting the suitcase back on the cart." I made a big gesture while putting the suitcase onto the cart.
"Don't sass me young lady!" Where did he come from? The 1980's? "You're lucky I'm not calling security on you!"
"Look I have to be somewhere. If you're done with your little tantrum then I would like to go now." Without waiting for a response, I pushed pass him and entered the elevator that just opened for a group of people. They were going to the ninth floor as well, but not the same destination. I headed left for the arcade and they turned right for the movie theaters.
I walk into the arcade and no one is there. Literally no one. I thought there would be some kids in here, but no. They are all probably at the pool or bowling ally. So arcades these days are very different than the ones in the past. They are more like video game hall of history type of arcade and it starts out with pinball machines and other things. Then it moves on to the Nintendo 64 and game cube. Next was the Wii's and DS's. Then there is the X-box and play station types of games. I personally loved Super Paper Mariano on the WII. So I plopped down on this round chair type things that people used to sit in back in the 20th century, put in the game, and started a new file.
I don't know how I ended up with my feet propped up on another chair, but about a quarter into the game I felt a light tap on my shoulder. It was Ridi and the others. They were in a tight-ish circle, except for Shohan. He kind of stood a little away from the group. "I hope we're not too late?" Ariyan asked.
"It's ok, you're only thirty minutes late. I was getting kind of bored with this game anyways," I lied. There is no possible way for me to get bored with any Mariano or Link games.
There was a slight pause. "Well actually we were hoping that you would try this new game that we made up. It's called Imagination. Come on it'll be fun," Shohan said, smiling.
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