Heroes

Chapter 12. Experiments?

Jack? He was just standing in front of the elevator, breathing heavily, almost panting.
"Jack?" I asked cautiously. I didn't know whether this was really Jack or something else.
"Mark!" He cried and ran into the elevator with me, throwing his arms around me. "Mark, thank God you came!"
"What's wrong?" I asked urgently, increasingly curious.
"They've got experiments going on. They're trying to find out how we got our powers!" He was speaking quickly, still breathing heavily, but he took his arms off me and stood by my side.
"Why do they care how we got our powers? Is there a purpose to discovering it?" I asked him.
"I think they're trying to mutate other kids to be like us."
I could tell that Jack was uncomfortable talking about this, but I needed to get as much information as I could.
"But we're not mutated."
"Apparently, one of us is," Jack said, looking at me. I looked back at him and opened my mouth to say something, but before I could, someone stopped in front of the elevator and looked at both of us, shocked. None of us said anything for what felt like an eternity, but he suddenly yelled, "THE MUTANTS ARE ESCAPING!!"
"Got anything to help us here Jack?" I asked, as the guard got closer to us.
"You press the button to go down, I'll handle the guys," he replied. I did what he said and pressed the button in the elevator. But the guard clearly knew what we were doing and held the doors open, waiting for his fellow colleagues to arrive. Before I could ask Jack what his plan was, he disappeared in front of my eyes. As the guard struggled to hold the door, he was suddenly tackled from behind by something, or someone, and he was pulled backwards and landed on the ground. The doors closed and we started descending. As I stood there, hoping that Jack had made it on, he appeared at my side.
"Well, that's useful," I said to him. He smiled at me and said, "Why are you here, Mark?"
I was a little taken aback by the question and had to think before I answered.
"Cuz I'm like you, right?"
"No, I mean, why were you here? The surface. Was there a reason?" He was looking at me intently, clearly interested in my answer.
"I came looking for you," I answered, truthfully enough.
"Really?" His smile widened.
"Of course! We were all worried about you, dude."
"You were all worried about me?" He asked me, somewhat sceptical.
"I mean, Nate was concerned to begin with. But then he just kinda, stopped." I felt a bubble of guilt explode inside my chest as I remembered that I'd told his secret to the others.
"But I'm sure he'll be delighted you're back safe," I added, smiling convincingly. He smiled back.

When the elevator stopped and the doors opened, I saw that the previously rubble-filled room had been restored to what it once was. However, there was no one there. Jack excitedly ran into the room, expecting to see his friends, but he saw no one. Everyone had just disappeared. Including Nate. His cell was empty when I checked. We were both confused as to where everyone had gone when we heard the sound of the elevator rising. Then, a few minutes later, the sound of it lowering again. Me and Jack exchanged worried looks.
"We can't fight them," he said, starting to panic.
"I agree. But follow me," I said, and gestured towards Nate's cell. I headed over there, with Jack close behind me, and I pulled on the door, which opened. I ushered Jack in, then closed the door behind us as the elevator doors opened at the bottom. I heard footsteps and voices saying, "Find them. They have to be here somewhere."
Jack was shaking slightly, obviously scared but I put a hand on his shoulder to steady him. The guards finally came to us and looked in. He didn't see anything, because me and Jack were close to the wall, and thankfully he didn't try to open the door. He walked away saying, "We have to find them! And wherever the others went!"
Once we heard the elevator doors close again, Jack and I collectively breathed out a sigh of relief. It was only then that we realised we weren't alone.