The Gifted
Authors: Aaron K. Redshaw
Tags: #fantasy, #science fiction, #technology, #christian, #superpowers, #middle grade
The Gifted
By Aaron K. Redshaw
The Gifted
Aaron K. Redshaw
Copyright © 2013 by Aaron K. Redshaw
Smashwords Edition
All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy
Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2007 by
Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House
Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights
reserved.
This is a work of fiction. All the
characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are
either products of the author’s imagination or are used
fictitiously.
believed in me, and to David and Andrew for whom I wrote this
book.
Chapter 1: Things start with a
bang
Chapter 2: I awake in a strange
place
Chapter 6: When things fly at
night
Chapter 7: Our mission explained
Chapter 20: I completely lose
control
Chapter 21: The end of the
battle
Chapter 22: A bad kind of surprise
Chapter 29: Back among friends
I was reviewing fractions in Mr. Hoang’s
class the day my school got bombed. The explosion rattled my teeth
and blew papers all over my 5th grade classroom. Mr. Hoang was on
the floor with the rest of the students, hiding under his desk.
“What was that?” I said. I was already
looking out through the small rectangular window in the top of the
door, the only one standing. Immediately I saw what was up. A huge
smoking hole had been blown clean through the wall on the other
side of the hallway. It was right below where our school Bible
verse says, “The LORD protects those of childlike faith-Psalm
116:6.”
“Cool!” I said, but no one was listening.
Everyone else in the room was hiding under their desks or on the
floor. Out the window, through a haze of dust, three men and one
who might have been a woman, stumbling through the hole in the
wall. They were wearing helmets and black vests. Each had a weapon,
a gun of some sort on their hip. The man in front was taller than
the rest. He appeared grim and determined, and it looked like his
nose was bent a little to the right. He stepped over the debris and
moved toward me.
Seeing me through the glass in the door, he
made eye contact and smiled. That’s what I remembered; his smile
that didn’t look like it fit there on his face with his broken
nose. He came with the others, tromping over pieces of brick and
plaster, and then grabbed the doorknob. I could tell he was having
trouble with it. It must have been jammed from the explosion. I
backed away from the door as he yanked hard and with a loud crack,
it flew open. He took one step in the doorway, grabbed something
from his back pocket and hit me over the head with it. Hard.
I said, “mmmfffffpphhh,” and hit the
floor.
I awoke, and almost instantly was in a panic!
I was in total darkness and my head hurt terribly. There was a
buzzing sound, like electric machinery coming from another room. It
was a comforting sound I thought. One that I have always associated
with electric heaters or clothes dryers; good to sleep by. But my
heart was pounding too fast to sleep.
There was a loud conversation going on
outside the room. It sounded like a man and a woman. I stood up and
walked toward the voices with my hands stretched out in front of
me. When I got to the wall, I felt around with my hands, and
listened. Finally I put my ear to what must have been the door. “I
don't understand,” said a woman.
Then a man’s voice, “I'm just telling you it
is true. He’s one of those special kids, so watch yourself.”
“And how am I to do that?” said the
woman.
“You should go in with a determined mind,” he
said, “Especially when you come within proximity of the boy.
Anything you do should be preplanned so he can’t affect you.”
There was a pause, steps were getting closer.
I stumbled away from the door quickly so no one would know I was
listening. When I had moved back a few steps, I tripped and fell
down. I stayed there as I saw someone with a flashlight enter. I
closed my eyes, trying to pretend I was sleeping, which was hard
because I was breathing so fast. I tried to take deeper, slower
breaths.
“Ah, so you have been awake already I see.
This is not where we first laid you.” The woman had some sort of
accent I couldn’t place. She kept her distance, “I can feel your
pull from over here, but I was sent only to give you this message.
You will get food twice today and then tomorrow you will be sent
off the mainland. You have a new life waiting for you there.”
She took a couple of steps toward me. Then
she was quiet for a few seconds. “But you are bleeding.”
I
am?
I thought. “They should have told a medic. How are you to
be turned if you are treated this way?” With another pause, I heard
the fading sound of footsteps and the close of a door. She locked a
deadbolt from the other side.
I was left on the floor, concrete by the feel
of it, in an unknown place and I had no way out. And, evidently, I
was bleeding. I’m not much of a crier, but I’ll admit, I cried for
a few minutes then. Eventually I got tired of crying, and hearing
the humming of the machines; I was lulled to sleep.
The next thing I remember is that Abraham
Lincoln was selling burritos from a small white cart to blue alien
children, when the burrito cart blew up in a cloud of smoke and
fire.
I was startled awake. It was no dream! There
was a bright light in the room now and a huge gaping hole in the
wall. What was it with explosions these days? Cinder blocks were
scattered in pieces all over the floor and there was a lot of dust
and smoke. A man in camouflage who looked like he should have been
a professional wrestler stalked into the room. Upon seeing me he
took out a two-way radio, and with a smile said, “Yes, I have him.
See you at the base.”
He turned to me, took a couple of steps
closer, and said to himself, “Yup, just like they said.” Then to
me, “Hi, I'm your ride. We call it a rescue mission. Let's go.”
He reached behind me and put on handcuffs.
“We don't want you to go anywhere though.” He smiled, and this
smile did not look like it belonged in his straight jawed face
either, but it looked more genuine than the last guy. I stood up
and he put one thick arm behind me and pushed me out toward the
hole in the wall. I stumbled over the debris the best I could.
I heard the noise of yelling and running
outside, but I couldn’t see anything because the light was
blinding. I closed my eyes and let him lead me out. Once we got
past the rubble, he grabbed me like I was a sack of flour and
carried me over his shoulder.
His pace quickened, and since my stomach was
against his shoulder, I felt sick, but my thoughts of pain were
distracted when I heard a helicopter ahead of us. I had never seen
a helicopter up close and always wanted to. I sure hoped this
really was a rescue. I was excited and scared at the same time. He
opened the door of the helicopter and put me on a seat. “I'll see
you on the other side,” he said and then gave that unnatural
looking smile again.
I could feel the helicopter lift off as I saw
him run the other way. We lifted up higher and I saw that we had
been in some warehouse right in the middle of my town! The voice of
a man behind me said, “Hello,” and then I felt a prick on my neck.
Everything became dark again.
When I opened my eyes, I expected to see the
inside of a helicopter, but was surprised to find I was lying in
bed, staring up at a white ceiling. It was entirely too quiet,
except for the ticking of a clock, which, as I turned my head read
8:05. Was that am or pm? The room was well-lit but cold, and there
were some other unoccupied beds beside mine.
I have been in a hospital before. When I was
eight, I fell out of a tree and broke my arm while playing with my
younger brother. A shriveled old man had been walking past the
playground and saw me. Immediately he ran over, lifted me in his
arms, and carried me twelve blocks to the hospital and checked me
in. The man was 86 years old and had chronic back pain. Once the
nurses took me away the man acted confused and wondered aloud why
he had done it.
As I lie there remembering this, I heard
footsteps and someone opened the door. It was a lady with dark skin
and a mouth that looked like it was made to smile. “I see you are
back with us now,” she smiled, speaking with a soft voice and a
thick Indian accent. “Did you know you talk in your sleep? You were
saying something about Abraham Lincoln and Mexican food. Anyway, I
thought that might mean you were hungry, so I brought you some
food. Do you like Mexican?”
“I do, thank you,” I said. “Where am I?”
“All of that you will learn soon, but no need
to worry, you are safe,” she said.
“This food isn't going to put me to sleep, is
it?” I said.
“No, it won’t. They put you out to keep you
safe, and to keep hidden this place. I can feel quite a pull when I
come near. Well, that's what they said to expect. I had better
leave now before it gets harder. Have a nice meal.” She put a
bottle of water next to a tray of food and walked out.
Feel a pull? What did that mean?
I opened up the lid and saw Spanish rice and
beans with corn tortillas. I ate my meal and I found myself
hungrier than expected. As I ate, I thought about my parents and my
brother. I already missed them.
About an hour later that same nurse opened
the door just a crack and said, “There is someone here to see
you.”
A medium height, stocky man entered. He had a
wide face and reminded me of a neighbor I had back home. He might
have been Mexican. “Andy,” he said, “I see you are awake and have
eaten. Good.” He was clearly born in the U.S. as he had no accent
whatever, but spoke with a deep voice like you’d expect from a pro
football player. He stepped closer, “Oh yeah, you’ve got it! I
wonder if you even know.” It was weird the way people kept talking
about me like this. Didn’t he realize I was right in front of
him?
“Do you even know what I'm talking about?” he
said.
“Huh?”
“Yeah, that's what I thought. The people who
got you gave you quite a lump on your head. We checked you out to
make sure everything was okay.” I reached up and felt a bandage on
my head.
“Do you feel like you can walk yet?”
“I don't know.” I started to sit up. “I
haven't tried.”
“Why don't you try it now, but go
slowly.”
I got up from the bed and put my feet on the
smooth, gray cement floor. I felt the cold on my feet as I slowly
stood up. I was a little dizzy at first, but after a few seconds
felt better. “Yup,” I said. “I think I can walk.”
“Good, because in twenty minutes you are
scheduled for an important meeting. You may want to change out of
that hospital gown though if you don’t want the other kids to laugh
at you. Your clothes are in the bathroom.” He pointed to a room in
the corner near the door. “Oh, and here,” he said as he held out a
pair of gray slippers. “It seems your shoes didn’t make the trip.”
And then he left.
