The Eccentric

14

I'm beginning to think this whole escaping from jail thing was a bad idea. At every turn, there is a problem but this one is the worst yet.

"Run!" Someone shouts and we all race out the door, straight toward the soldiers who stand in our way. I dodge the bullets that fly through the air toward us and cry out when the person in front of me is hit square in the chest and falls back onto me. I push him aside and keep running toward the fence, ignoring the pang of guilt in my chest. If I can't get out of here, then at least I'm going to die trying. No more lab rat. No more dirty cell and best of all no more Dr Mann. Suddenly death doesn't sound like such a bad idea.

The fire exit leads to a huge, open garden that coils around the building and then spans out into an open field protected by a huge fence that I can only assume is electric from the slight hum in the distance. The fence isn't the worst part. At least one hundred soldiers stand throughout both the field and garden, some stand behind ballistic shields while others are equipped with bulletproof vests and assault rifles but it doesn't take an idiot to realise that there is a weak link in their army. Spread evenly throughout the back of the formation are soldiers who stand empty handed with looks of fear and regret plastered on their faces, a vast comparison to the other soldiers who look either disgusted with our presence or eager for the battle ahead. The soldiers also have different uniforms with bright numbers written on their backs and parole, ankle monitors wrapped around their lower legs. This is weird. Very weird.

I jump behind the nearest tree and reach for my Soak powers, imagining a huge wave of water washing over the army but instead end up with wet shoes from the small puddle beginning to form at my feet. That wasn't meant to happen. I sigh in disappointment and realise I'm better off opting to a power I am more familiar with. I close my eyes and attempt to get a grasp on my Spark powers. Within no time they surface, leaving me smiling when the familiar feeling of my blood boiling and power running through my veins comes over me. This will never get old. I send a small spark of electricity toward a soldier who comes running toward me, knocking him out cold. He falls to the ground with a thud and his gun slides along the ground toward me, leaving his sprawled out body behind. I bend down to reach for his weapon but am stuck by a powerful force from behind. I topple to the ground, landing face first on the wet grass and struggle to escape my attacker's grip who sits over the top of me. The soldier twists me around to face him and wraps his cool fingers around my neck, cutting off my circulation before I can react. I gag while scratching at the man's marking grip and attempt to scream out for help but only manage to get a pathetic choke out. My attacker smiles down at me devilishly and reaches for his gun to finish off the job when a bright light appears behind him.

A flaming hand grabs him from behind and throws him onto the ground beside me, setting him alight in the process. The man calls out in surprise and begins to roll around in the grass, letting out mangle screams while I gasp for air and wheeze through the pain. The glowing figure throws a flaming ball at the man who struggles on the ground and I watch in terror as he goes up in flames. The smell of smoked flesh fills my nose and I yelp at the sight of the man clawing at his skin as it burns into ash but it makes little difference. The man lets out one last whimper then goes limp on the ground then scorching figure turns to me.

"Please don't hurt me," I whimper and push myself away from the walking fire coming toward me.

"Layla, calm down," he says, "It's me, Tate." Slowly the flame begins to burn out, revealing a boy with adorable dimples and messy hair staring down at me while chuckling.

"Don't laugh at me," I say, ignoring his outstretched hand and push myself up. "You scared me, I didn't realise it was you!"

"Gee, a thank you would be nice," he says with his hand over his heart in mock sorrow and I can't help but laugh at the whole situation. I smile up at Tate and open my mouth but before I can get the words out a bullet flies through the air and lodges its self in the tree next to me. Centimetres away from my head.

"Run," I scream and sprint towards the group of misfits who are making their way toward the fence with Tate beside me. I spot my aunt first, running along behind Eddie, Sydney and Emmie. She may look scared half to death but at least she is safe.

I send bolts of electricity left, right and centre, missing majority of my targets but manage to scare some away but my efforts are pathetic compared to some. I watch in awe as other Eccentric send spheres of water or metal spikes toward guards, one after the other without missing and begin to feel a little envious. They only have one power that they have to worry about. They have perfected it and know how to control it. Instead, I have to worry about eighteen of them. I would much rather have one strong power then eighteen pathetically weak ones, but it's not like we get to pick and choose our powers. If that was the case, then I know for sure I would have never picked this. Never have picked being one of them in the first place. No one deserves to be like me. I shake my head and realise that these negative thoughts are a waste of time, I can do this. I just need a bit of practice and escaping from prison is the perfect time to do so.

With surprising power and determination, I whip around the face the soldiers that run toward us and reach deep inside me for my Rein powers. I have had enough of my powers controlling me. Now it's time for me to control them. I place my hands out above and squeeze my eyes shut focusing on the power that swirling around within me. If we want to get out of here we need to stop these bullets. What we need is a shield and thats what we are going to get.

As the guards continue to fire, I open my eyes and watch as the bullets begin to get lodged in my hidden field of power. Some stop dead in their tracks, staring up at the floating bullets while others continue to fire around it but miss the group. It's patchy at first. The occasional bullet escapes through the invisible screen and hits an unlucky prisoner who is stuck at the back but the stop of bullets allows the group to get further. I focus hard and stand my ground as my inmates continue on but I know I won't be able do this for much longer. As my shield gets stronger my energy gets weaker.

Instantly, my powers begin to deplete. I fall to my knees and place one hand on the ground for support but keep the other one up in an attempt to stop as many bullets as possible. The sense the shield quivering and groan as I attempt to keep it together when suddenly it all stops. It isn't until I notice Eddie walk up behind me that I feel the weight get lifted off my shoulders as he mimics my actions and creates a stronger shield. I fall onto my chest, panting and try to get my breath back as Eddie and a few other Reins take over from me and build the shield higher.

"Thank you," I wheeze at Eddie and he smiles down at me.

"We got this, go help the others with the last line of soldiers," he says and pats me on the back encouragingly once I get up off the ground. This will be easy. I think as I run toward the last line of weaponless soldiers who stand ready for the fight but it isn't until I reach the front of the group that I realise who they really are.

The soldiers don't need weapons because they are the weapons.