Hawk and Dove

"Hello, Daniel."

When Dan opened his eyes, everything was not normal. In fact, everything was completely foreign. He sat up quickly, gasping, and took in his surroundings. The room he was in was almost completely steel save for a couple plastic chairs and a mirror on the wall opposite him. He grasped at the edges of the strange table he was on top of, and noticed he was sitting on a scratchy sort of cloth.

Dan raised his head and looked at his reflection. The skin under his eyes was noticeably purple, as if he hasn't slept for days, even though he just woke up. His hair was sticking up everywhere and after he tried to flatten it, Dan realized it was disgustingly greasy as well. He needed a shower. He needed a bed. He almost wanted to go home- and then he remembered his parents ratted on him and suddenly he never wanted to see them again.

"Is there any way I can get out of here?" Dan shouted into the void. He didn't see a door anywhere. There were no windows either.

Suddenly the wall to the right of the mirror slid open to reveal a rectangle of light. Dan jumped off the table. A woman walked into the room. She was tall, blond, and supermodel gorgeous. "Hello, Daniel," she said, her accent charmingly American, "Welcome to The School. Glad to see you're awake."

"The School?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

The woman smiled. "Yes. Here we will teach you to use your abilities safely. You do recall your abilities, right?"

"Yeah," said Dan, straightening his rumpled shirt, "I'm just surprised that a place like this doesn't have a more creative name."

She smiled again, except this time it was a different kind of smile. Dan couldn't quite place it. "I'm Jenna Mourey. I'm your case manager, and for today, your tour guide." she gestured to the door as if she were a flight attendant.

Dan self-consciously tried to flatten his hair again as he left the room. Jenna followed him, and the door slid shut behind her. When he looked back, it was just a wall, as if the room didn't exist at all. "So, what was that room?" he asked her.

"That's where everyone goes when they're new. They're hidden so the current students don't come snooping," said Jenna over the clacking of her high heels, "It was actually pretty entertaining. When you were first brought in, no one could touch you without special gloves. And you almost melted the table you were laying on, which is why we had to put a fire retardant blanket on it."

Dan had to laugh a little. He liked Jenna. Maybe this wasn't going to be so bad after all.

"So we're currently in the basement of the building. There are quite a few rooms down here like the one you were just in, as well as a weight room, gym, and a music room." Jenna said as Dan looked around. The hallway looked very similar to the room that Dan woke up in, and for the first time maybe ever he felt cold. Not physically, but chilled. He hoped the whole school didn't look like this.

"Did you say music room?" asked Dan, catching up with Jenna as she walked quickly.

She nodded. "It's not used very often, but it's there. It's mostly just cabinets of sheet music but there's a piano and guitars and some other things."

Dan nodded appreciatively. He stopped taking piano lessons when he was about fourteen (mostly because it frustrated it him and he left burnt finger prints on the ivory), but he had been missing it. Maybe he could make that a way to relieve his stress about this whole thing now that he's grown.

Jenna turned a corner and started to climb a staircase. Dan wordlessly followed her and took in his surroundings. When they reached the top of the staircase, everything seemed to change. The walls were still stark white as if he were in a hospital, but now there were people around. There girls and boys, and they were chatting and walking and even laughing. Oddly enough, it had a very school-like feeling to it despite the aura of over-cleanliness.