The Awakening

Chapter Four: A World Reopened

          Justin slowly traipsed down the dark stairwell leading to the musky smelling basement. Pressing his bare feet against the swept, wooden stairs, Justin breathed a sigh of relief, for he finally felt a sense of calm flush over his body. He was looking around at the lavish style of the building when Grace appeared directly behind him. Freshly out of the shower, Grace put her arm around her brothers upper back. She gave Justin a small half-smile and walked him the rest of the way down. Stepping into the basement, Justin noticed the style of the underground room contrasted deeply with the modern designs apparent in the upper floors. It was a long room, dimly lit throughout with a sparse amount of furniture. The only item resting in the basement was a rectangular, oak table directly in the middle. Dragging forward, Justin sat beside the old man at the head of the table while the others gathered around.
"Now that we're all here, let's start from the very beginning, shall we," the older man proposed. He looked around at the bare room with a solemn expression upon his face.
"It's been many years since I've been down here. Couldn't bare to revisit the memories," Thorn choked.
Letting out a sigh, the old man looked towards Justin with a small smile.
"Justin and Grace, I'll start with you. My name is Thorn. And yes! I am your grandfather." 
Thoughts of a painful past flooded into Thorn's mind. All he had left of his daughter were her two children. He didn't want to tell them about their long history. However, he knew it was inevitable they found out the truth.
A puzzled Justin sat with a blank look on his face staring at this strange man claiming to be of relation. Justin brushed his hands through his smooth, brown hair and looked across the table at Brendan.
"I know your confused," Thorn joked. "But let me explain. Over a century ago, a deadly virus broke out, killing its hosts upon exposure. The Capital tried its best to eradicate the virus by distributing a new type of medication. However, many people could not afford this expenditure so a majority died upon catching it. The lower class began to pass away first, and their dead bodies lined the street. Eventually, the disease managed to evolve into a super virus. People who caught this disease began to develop... superhuman capabilities so to speak.
"The beginning of the first uprising," Imere whispered inadvertently.
Thorn turned to face Imere with a look of sadness. "Unfortunately yes," he continued.
"People eventually began to band together and come up with the notion that they could break in to the Capital and steal the medicine. These people were desperate and upon realization of their new strengths, they had the courage to form a union and start an uprising. After weeks of planning, they struck. It was a horrible battle which was ultimately lost. Many good people died that day," Thorn sighed.
His eyes filled up with tears, and he turned away to compose himself. Pressing his palms firmly on the table, Thorn looked up and walked over to the side wall. He pressed his against the above wall and hit his head repeatedly. Clenching his eyes together tightly, Thorn attempted to regain composure. Tears slowly began to trail down his face while he sniffled a runny nose. Imere stood up and slowly approached Thorn. Pressing her hand against his back, she leaned in and put her head against his.
"It's going to be okay," she gleamed. "Rose's death shook all of us, but we can't let her death be in vain."
Thorn turned back and shook his head in understanding. Sucking in his deepest feelings, he walked back over to the table and continued.
"The Capital then retaliated by attempting to kill off every single carrier of the virus. My grandfather, the owner of this very house back then, was a firm believer of the cause and tried to save as many souls as he could. Anyone who showed up at his door would be offered a safe space to say and a ration of food everyday. The conditions were terrible, but at least they remained safe.
"Why didn't they check your house though?" Courtney inquired. "I mean- weren't they smart enough to check people's houses?"
"Actually," Thorn chimed in. "My house was searched many times during this time; however, this house was deemed "clean" every time."
"But where would they hide. That many people in your house had to have been obvious," Courtney chimed.
"I'm glad you said that," Thorn said. His face lit up like a lightbulb and he stood up once again. Slowly walking heel to toe, he measured a distance from the table to a specific floorboard. Stomping down on the ground, a small piece of wood flapped up, and Thorn placed it against the side of the wall.
"Come here everyone," he smiled. Looks of confusion appeared on everyone's faces as they grew more intrigued as to what was hidden below the surface. The group crowded around in a tight circle to see a small red button covered by a thin, pale cloth. Reaching his arm down, Thorn got level with the ground and pushed the tiny button. Suddenly, the side wall began to shake and started sliding upwards. The floors began to shake and chunks of drywall fell to the floor, creating a dusty mess.
The wall slid upwards into a gap in the ceiling revealing a whole new room.
"Woah, this is cool," Justin awed as he stepped into the new room.
"Welcome to the Hideout," he chuckled.
Leading the group in, Thorn examined his surroundings, for it had been years since he stepped in this room. Bright lights peered down and prestigious machines lined the walls. The room appeared to go on forever and seemed much larger than the whole of the upper story. Looking up, Justin noticed that a glistening waterfall cascaded down from the ceiling into a tiny pool filled with pebbles. Cobblestone pathways intertwined along the outside of the machinery. Fake trees were dressed throughout, giving the room a rainforest-like theme.
"I- what is this place?" Will asked the older gentleman.
"This. Is the mutant training lab. These machines lining the wall were all donated by my grandfather before he died. He dedicated his life to finding the schematics behind the cause and function of the disease."
Continuing forward in the room, Thorn led the others down one of the paths under a canopy of trees.
"I'll tell you guys more about this later, but there's something more pressing you all need to know about," Thorn announced as he glanced over at Imere.
Imere bent her neck down with a sigh and fell to the back of the pack to walk alongside Raven.
"Something bad is going to happen here. I can feel it," Imere whispered to her daughter.
"What do you mean?" Raven questioned while pulling her mother to the side path. The two women crouched down behind a luscious bush in a pad of mulch.
"They're gonna know too much. Thorn is gonna tell them everything, and we can't have that. This could change our plans," Imere worried while glancing around to make sure no one was in the near vicinity.
"We've got to get to Thorn before he spoils everything," Raven examined.
Standing up, Imere nonchalantly stepped back on to the path hoping no one was there. She skidded to catch up with the group and bypassed everyone to meet Thorn at the front. She put her hands on his shoulder as they were walking and pulled him down to whisper something in his ear.
"Do you think, maybe? We shouldn't tell them the whole truth. I mean, like it's a lot to take in at once. Especially after all they've been through," Imere sympathized.
"I never thought about that before, but I guess you're right," Thorn discovered.
          By then, they had reached the end of the room and came face to face with the back wall, which was lined with rows of books. Thorn sat down in a foldable chair before the wall and pulled a book from the bottom shelf.
     "Along this wall are all the discoveries our researchers have found about the virus and it's mutations. This book I am holding was written by my very grandfather. He paved the way for future studies by writing down all of his studies in here. And Imere and I have been talking. We think it's time you guys know the truth about yourselves and the reason everything has been so chaotic recently."
          Justin turned to look at Imere who refused to meet his eyes. She faced away from him and clenched her eyes shut to stop herself from showing any emotion.
     "What is it," Grace spoke up. She walked over to her grandfather and held her hands out in asking for the book
     "I think it's better you hear it from me out loud," he said. He pushed her hands away and set the book down in his lap. Facing the group with wide eyes, he saw the anticipation surmounting on everyone's faces. His grandson, Justin, had his arm around Grace's shoulder holding her tight. Imere, Raven, Courtney, and Brendan stood in a tight cluster  while Will and Blair sat on the ground before them looking intently at the older man waiting for him to finally speak. Thorn arched his back down and rested his elbows on his knees.
"Do you all know why the Capital is after you?" He asked.
Blank stares emanated back at him, and he glanced over at Imere to see her worried reaction.
"Well, ummm. There's no easy way to say this, but you guys are carriers of the mutated disease."
"Cool," Brendan exclaimed.
"No! Not cool," Thorn cried. "I'm surprised you guys are even still alive to tell you the truth."
"Wait! What do you mean by that," Will jumped forward. "Surprised that we're still alive, what's that supposed to mean?"
"Well, most of the time, carriers of the disease normally die at a young age. However, with you guys, the disease has had a long enough time to grow accommodated to your body. To put in simpler terms, you guys have probably started to experience side effects of the mutated disease."
"What kind of side effects?" Justin asked. "Do you mean we're all gonna die?" He fearfully questioned.
"No! Of course not. If you were gonna die, the disease would've killed you by now. What I meant was... well, remember when I mentioned supernatural capabilities? Have you guys been experiencing anything out of the ordinary recently?" Thorn asked the teenagers.
The room fell silent, and blank looks came back at Thorn.
"I know it's a lot to take in," Thorn added. "But you all will learn to accept it eventually."
Justin, finally breaking the era of silence, turned to Imere and asked," Did you know about this? Like did you know we had a dangerous disease inside us? A disease that could get us KILLED by the government!"
Justin began to grow fumed at the sudden intake of all this new information about himself.
"Honey, calm down," Imere soothed while taking ahold of Justin's hands.
"Yes! I did know. But before you get mad, please know that I would never do anything to hurt you. I had to keep it a secret because I couldn't risk anyone finding out about you guys. Look me in the eyes Justin," Imere demanded.
"You are like a son to me, and I will do everything in my power to protect you. No matter what!" Imere supported.
Justin broke his gaze at Imere and stepped to the side.
"I need a moment to process this," Justin said as he left the shaded area of the cobbled path.
"Justin! Wait," Imere called.
"Let him be," Grace interrupted. "He needs to be alone right now."
Grace embraced Imere and held her closely.
"It's going to be okay. You've protected us our whole life. He won't hold this little thing against you. You did what you had to do! You opened your doors to me after losing both of my parents. I owe you my life," Grace gleamed.
"Oh, sweetie," Imere cooed.
Thorn dawdled over to Imere, saying "I hate to interrupt this love fest; however, it won't be long before they find us. There's one more piece of business we have to attend to. During the Awakening, the doctors are required to insert "the chip" into you upon arrival. This microchip, while tracking location, has special abilities which can kill people with any remnants of the virus contained in them," Thorn announced.
"Which to avoid them finding us," Blair said. "We have to cut them out."
"Show me your left arm," Thorn demanded of Blair.
Wincing in anticipation of sudden pain, Blair shakily stuck out her arm. Pointing at a spot mid-forearm, Thorn pressed down hard.
     "Aggghhh, that hurt," Blair cried as she yanked her arm back. She massaged the bruised part of her arm and turned away from Thorn protecting herself.
     "The chips are still in there, so we have to find a way to get them out as soon as possible or our location could be found out.
     "You have to cut them out," Will winced. "At least this day can't get any worse."