Supernaturals: Secrets (Book 1)

{5} Arrive

Echo's POV

I glanced around nervously at everyone in the room. Although there were nothing but friendly faces on every side, I could not feel at ease. Because I grew up being distrusted and lied to, it was rare I ever felt like I could tell anyone anything. The fact that I had never seen nor heard of them before also didn't help at all.

"Would you like to say something about yourself, Echo?"

The man with the nice dirty blonde hair and shining blue eyes turned to me, a smile on his lips. He looked very young, maybe about twenty five or so, but he had the face of someone highly respected and powerful. There was just a look of wisdom that seemed to be etched in his every feature. What did he say his name was? Lucas? Layton? Liam? It didn't matter, as far as I could tell.

"Um... I'm Echo," I started nervously, my cheeks flushing bright red. Duh, Echo, you idiot. He obviously just said that!

"I was born in Idaho. I have a sister -- sorry.. had --"

At this I choked up, tears spilling in my eyes. Why am I here? It's not fair.  I felt like my heart was broken in two. My entire life my sister and I had been abused by our parents, treated like slaves rather than children. I was only a few months old when I found out, as Bailee had told me, that we weren't normal kids. Bailee could hear things that nobody could hear. She would whisper about the mice that crawled in the walls, the ants scampering across the rug, the creaking stairs and groaning doors of the old house that we called our prison. It was only at a year old or so that I got to see her doing it.

~Flashback~

"Shh, Echo, be quiet or Mom and Dad will know we're here," Bailee whispered as she set me down quietly in front of the door. I nodded, fighting the urge to clap my hands. Even though I was only eight months old, I was a very bright child; already I could speak -- even though I rarely did -- and could understand words and sentences perfectly.

Bailee sat her small figure next to me, tucking her short brown hair behind her ear as she pressed her head against the door. My eyes widened as I watched and her brown orbs seemed to glow brighter.

Suddenly she whipped her head from the oak, a horrified look on her face. I tilted my head slightly, wondering what was wrong. I was about to ask when an ear splitting loud sound rang in my ears; it sounded like something crashing against the floor... or a wall... or something.

Instinctively I pressed my hands against my head, anything to get rid of the sound. After only a few seconds, the sound disappeared, but I was already crying. Bailee, who was only eight at the time, cursed and picked me up quickly, preparing to leave. But it was too late.

"What the hell is going on here?!?" my mother screeched, her eyes bulging in anger as she threw open the door. I looked past her arms to see the reason of the awful sound I'd heard; my father had dropped a beer bottle on the floor, and it had smashed. Now, he was walking towards us with an equally angry look on his face.

"I... I... um..." Bailee stuttered, her lips failing to create the right words. I glanced at her, terrified.

Suddenly things seemingly happened both all at once and in slow motion; in a split second my mother had thrown her hand across Bailee's face. In surprise, my older sister; my protector and caretaker, dropped me to the ground. Like I was watching a slomo movie, everything seemed to fade away as I noticed the fearful and angry look on Bailee's face as she reached out to grab me.

She wasn't fast enough, and everything went black.

~End of Flashback~

"Echo? Echo!" I opened my eyes as I heard the man desperately calling my name. He was leaning in front of my face, a concerned look in his eyes. I smiled at him to show I was okay, and he relaxed.

"Ah. So. Yeah, like I said.... my sister. She's not alive anymore. Also, I'd really like to know what's going on here?"

I raised my eyebrow at the man, who nodded swiftly. I didn't understand how I'd gotten here. One second I was walking along the sidewalk, going to school even though I wasn't emotionally capable... crying, because my parents had just murdered my sister right in front of me.

Then the next thing I knew, the road and woods next to me seemingly warped into a building. And I was inside of it, standing in front of a girl with strawberry brown hair who was sitting at a desk. It seemed almost like the front office at my school. I was completely freaking out.

"Welcome to Sahar Academy," the man said, putting his hand in front of me. I looked at it for a minute before cautiously shaking it. You could say I was more than a little nervous; I didn't know what was going on and I was afraid these people had sedated and kidnapped me.

"W-what's... this place?" I asked, looking around the room at the people. There must've been fifty or more, teenagers to ones who must have been in their late twenties.

"It's a school for people like you. Only humans with special... abilities are able to find this place unless they're somebody looking for it. Nobody except our kind knows about it or us, which is why we have to be hidden. Otherwise, they would scan our brains and use us for science."

I nodded slowly, frowning; what ability do I have that is so special? As far as I could remember, I'd only ever been able to hear sounds that nobody else could. Bailee had taught me how to control it when I was about three years old, otherwise I would get awful migraines and headaches from the overwhelming amount of sound.

"You look a bit confused. Here, I'll give an example," the man said, as he smiled at a girl with black hair and large brown eyes. She nodded back, and stood up. My eyes widened as her dark eyes began to glow a bright, neon pink. There was a pop! and suddenly an exact replica of the girl was standing next to her. The real one's eyes faded, but the fake version continued to stare forward with magenta orbs.

"This is Raven. Her power is duplication..." the man began speaking again. But I couldn't hear his voice, it began to get muffled. I groaned lightly as a headache enveloped my brain; this was worse than the migraines I got as a baby.

All of a sudden there was this loud drumming sound pounding in my brain. The world in front of me started to glow a strange color; I could only describe it as a mixture between metallic yellow and orange.

It happened for a few seconds before it stopped with a last snapping noise. I cried out in pain as my ears felt like they would burst, and I fell to the floor on my knees. Immediately I felt arms touching my back and head. Everybody must have ran over.

The pain began to lessen, and I smiled softly as the blurriness and spots in front of my eyes disappeared. But it wasn't done yet.

As my eyes closed, the world blacked out in front of me.

A/N: For those of you who haven't figured out what Echo's power is... don't worry, a few more chapters and you'll know.... probably.. ;)

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