I stared into my empty teacup, attempting to absorb all of the information I had just witnessed. I was one of only fifty-four of my kind. Even though I had previously thought there were only five others like myself, this number seemed so much more taunting. We were once a thriving race, but had become nearly extinct, with no hope of ever flourishing again. We could not repopulate, only recycle, and we possessed these human bodies like evil spirits. I was uncertain how everyone in this underwater Eden was so accepting of this.
“So... when you said you had no family left...” I spoke slowly, raising my head to Al.
“My parents were recycled to our newest generation, yes,” Al clarified.
“Why don’t I remember? If I’ve been around for ages, why don’t I remember any of it?” I questioned.
“Even in our original form, at the beginning of time on Earth, this was so. Few carried the ability to retain knowledge through the transference of life-force. These few were deemed Oracle’s, with the purpose of preserving the knowledge of our kind throughout the existence of time. Ten survived the arrival of The Destructive One’s. It was then arranged that an Oracle would be present within each generation,” Lily stated.
“You are an Oracle, then?” I asked, even though it was pretty obvious.
“Yes. Al is very lucky to have bonded with me,” Lily chuckled. It took me a bit by surprise to hear a joke from the mouth of an Oracle.
Math was never one of my strengths, but numbers ran through my head, recapping the outline of the generation cycle, which I could still barely understand.
“Wait, if there were ten...” I said, counting on my fingers as I squinted.
“One generation always has two Oracles. Yours is that generation.” Lily beamed.
“But none of us knew anything about ourselves, until now,” Lakin commented, finally becoming more animated in the conversation.
Lily nodded, reaching her hands to both of us. I decided not to go into the vision, thinking my heart couldn’t handle another experience like the near extinction of our entire race. Instead, I listened intently to the ethereal voice projecting itself from Lily’s lips.
“The Oracles are silenced,” Lily said mysteriously.
“Silenced by wha—” I began, but Al raised a finger to cut me off as he watched Lily’s thoughts.
“The Oracles are silenced by the technology of The Destructive Ones,” Lily said, the white lights in her eyes giving her entire face an eerie glow.
“What does that mean?” Lakin asked, furrowing his eyebrows.
“It means you and Nadia are the Oracles,” Al stated, staring me straight in the face.
“But why are we silenced?” I probed, releasing my hand from Lily’s.
“Nadia is hooked up to machines, which they think are keeping her alive through her coma. It’s interfering with her Elementum connection,” Al clarified.
“But I’m not in a coma. And it can’t be from my Electro-Cuffs, because I didn’t start wearing them until I was older. So what is interfering with my Elementum connection?” I questioned.
Al was silent for a moment, his arctic eyes glimmering with thought.
“I don’t know,” he answered honestly, sighing with frustration.
I looked to Lily, who seemed to be all-knowing. She answered my questioning gaze only with a shrug.
“In time, we will understand,” Lily said considerately. “This will always be true.”
I nodded in false acceptance, still desperately wanting to know why I was broken. I decided to distract myself with other questions.
“How could you tell that Nadia and Angie are the Oracles?” Lakin asked, accepting another cup of tea.
“We are all connected. As Oracles, we are not separated from our own kind by the space of this world,” Lily stated.
My ears perked. We were not separated from our own kind by space... Lakin and I looked at each other, eyes full of hope, but the expression on Lily’s face was full of regret. She did not have to read our minds to see what we were thinking.
“We have never given up on trying to find your parents, but... we have never been successful,” Lily said solemnly.
“You don’t have any idea what happened to them? When they disappeared? Why we were all scattered? Why... why I ended up in The Facility?” Tears built in my eyes while the questions rolled out. I felt vulnerable to the potential answers, as if they held the power to tear me apart at the seams.
“I think you had better take this one,” Lily said to Al. He nodded, then turned in his chair to face me more directly.
“Angie,” he paused, looking for the words, “you were in The Facility since you were a baby, right? Think about the time and effort that goes into building a place like that. It would take ages.”
My forehead wrinkled with confusion.
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying that The Facility was built long before you were born—before your parents were born, even,” Al explained.
“But if the humans forgot about us...” I began.
“Most did, but a few remembered. They passed that knowledge down through their own generations. Few remember, but those few are very dangerous. For them, it’s not about wiping the rest of us out. It’s about using our abilities for their own gain, for war and greed,” he said.
“There were Elementums in The Facility before?” I inquired.
“One generation. Your parents’ generation,” he answered gravely.
Lakin used his free hand to brush a warm tear from my cheek.
“How did they capture them?” I whispered, trying very hard to hold back the river behind my eyes.
“They didn’t. You need to know that your parents’ generation was... is... extraordinary. They did so much for the Earth, and they never lost faith that they could help bring peace to this planet and everyone on it. What seemed like a wonderful opportunity for our purpose presented itself to them. What they did was very brave,” Al said, taking my hand comfortingly. “They were on a mission in Maine to clear up an oil spill... They were approached by a man, who claimed he wanted to understand them so he could help the rest of the world understand, and bring peace.”
Lakin’s grasp on my other hand tightened.
“The man claimed that if he could provide the world with facts about what we are, and how we do what we do, they wouldn’t fear us. He said they’d accept us and welcome our help. Your parents’ generation agreed to live with the man and his scientific team in a building he had designed specifically for our kind. They would allow him to observe their ways and abilities, and to perform the tests needed to make progress with their cause.”
It was no use trying to hold back the tears any longer.
“They asked your parents to wear monitoring bracelets, to detect vital changes in their bodies. By the time they realized that they were being held captive, they were all wearing those Electro-Cuffs,” he said.
“But—”
“You were told they developed the Electro-Cuffs after you tried to escape, I know. That was a lie. The technology of the Electro-Cuffs had been around for quite a while, by then. They waited to put them on you, because they thought simply raising you with false beliefs would be enough to control you,” he explained.
I graciously accepted a handkerchief from Lily, attempting to mop up the tears.
“It’s still unclear exactly what happened, this is all information I gained while I was under cover as your therapist, but your parents somehow arranged an escape. However, by then, your generation was already born,” he continued.
Lakin and I gasped in unison, eyes wide.
“You mean—”
“Your entire generation was born inside The Facility. We know that all of your parents escaped, but we don’t know how. We don’t know why your parents’ generation was lost, but yours was not. We don’t know how you were captured, while Bryant wasn’t,” Al said, shaking his head with frustration as he leaned back in his chair.
Breath caught in my chest
. It felt as though my lungs were being wrapped in barbed wire, as I remembered the generation cycle—a set of twins to each pair. That was why Al gave some of us the same surnames when he was giving William false information about the others.
“Bryant is my brother,” I whispered in shock.
Al’s cheeks turned red with embarrassment.
“You didn’t tell them about that?” Lily questioned him accusingly.
“It may have slipped my mind,” Al replied nervously.
“Here,” Lily said, retrieving a piece of paper and a pencil from a desk near the table, “draw the diagram for them.”
He nodded, taking the paper and pencil. Lakin and I watched with interest, as Al drew a circle with three lines through it, creating six points. At each point, starting with the top, he wrote a letter; R. O. Y. G. B. I.
“The letter stands for the color of the chair. The person who sits in the chair across from you is your bond. Brothers are to the left of their sisters,” Al said, handing me the drawing.
Sure enough, while in the Energy Room, Bryant sat in the indigo chair to my left, and Lakin sat in the orange chair across from me. I handed the paper to the boy who was nearly crushing my hand.
“Lyla is my... my sister? Well... that’ll make for interesting family reunions,” Lakin joked, bringing a smile to my face. I missed the others.
“So what does all of this mean for our parents? Are they dead?” I asked.
I was raised to believe my parents had abandoned me. Though it would have stung horribly to know that they were dead, it somehow wouldn’t feel as harsh as abandonment. At least they would have been forced to leave me, instead of choosing to.
“When our race was being massacred, we all felt each stab of death from those who were killed. If your parents had died, we all would have felt it happen. We are certain that they are still alive,” Lily said quietly.
“Then why don’t you know where they are? You said space can’t—” I began.
“Of this world. The space of this world. After all of these years, we have concluded that we are separated by more than just the space of this planet,” she replied.
“I don’t understand.”
“It is as if… It is as if they vanished from the Earth,” Lily said with finality, her kind eyes swimming with all the knowledge of the universe.
☼
THE ELEMENTUM TRILOGY
The Energy Room
The Violet Awakening
The Astral Descent
About the Author
An overactive imagination and open-minded upbringing made for the perfect combination to create the author Styna Lane would eventually become. Raised to believe originality and creativity were the keys to happiness, she was instilled with the knowledge that most of life's boundaries are far more fictional than the Fantasy books in which she secluded herself.
Having lived in six different states by the time she was nineteen, Styna is no stranger to the road. After spending the majority of her life chasing her dreams wherever they led her, she was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia in 2010, which confined her to her bed much of the time.
Following a small bout of self-loathing, Styna decided she would not let these new boundaries have control over her. She began to utilize her most prevalent childhood trait; her overactive imagination. Styna quickly found that writing the adventures she created in her mind provided her with a total escape from her physical confines. It may not be a coincidence that her debut novel, THE ENERGY ROOM, focuses on a girl who has tremendous powers, but is trapped in a place where she believes she has no control.
Styna hopes to bring awareness to Invisible Illnesses, as well as inspire those who may have thought they'd gone on their last adventure.
www.StynaLane.com
Special Thanks
First off, I need to thank my mom for always supporting my life goals. Even when they are whimsical, absurd, or downright crazy, she never stops believing in me. She taught me how to never stop believing in myself.
I have to thank my grandparents for being some of the most wonderful people on the planet. Even through pink hair, tattoos, and unemployment, they never gave up on me. I am so incredibly grateful to have them in my life.
I want to thank my amazing friends and family, as well as my lovely Marshall, for being a bottomless pit of encouragement. You make my guts feel all mushy and gross, and I love each and every one of you.
I need to thank my dad for being an inspiration to continue reaching for my dreams. I love you, and miss you, and I'm sure you're Raisin’ Hell in Heaven!
I also want to give a shout-out to all of my fellow Spoonies out there. Never lose hope!
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