To Infinity

My wings were easily twice the length of my outstretched arms, their coloring pure white.

Shockingly enough, this tone of white didn’t bother me as much as the white I was constantly surrounded with. My white seemed to be more…relaxing, not as nauseating.

I raised and lowered my wings, creating small gusts of wind as they moved through the still room.

This seemed to take our assessor off guard, as he took a step back and covered his face with his clipboard.

I still remembered how heavy my wings had been when I first got them. They had been nothing more than a useless extra limb until I had built up the dexterity and strength needed to actually use them.

I had been fairly determined at the age of two…or three, so I guess it was no surprise I was where I am now.

The pokie nodded his head, having regained his footing, and signaled for me to stop moving my wings.

I reluctantly brought my wings closer to my body and folded them onto my back. It felt good to stretch them. Especially since we weren’t given many opportunities to stretch both of our wings fully all of the time. I felt their warmth against my back as they found their way back under my tracksuit. The pokies had been kind enough to cut slits in the back of it so I could freely use my wings as needed. Not that I was given many opportunities to do so…

The pokie wrote a few notes on his clipboard, recomposed himself, and then directed his attention back at me.

I felt a lump form in my throat. I knew what he was going to ask next… and I was going to fail miserably at it. I had hoped that they would’ve given up on this test by now, but I guess they’d go until I finally expired…

“Now speak.”

The pokie seemed to have gained some confidence by now, because this was said without an ounce of fear. He even seemed to stand taller, his fear slowly dissipating from the room.

I opened my mouth, willing myself to make a sound.

Any sound at all… Anything that would show that my body had overcome the trauma they had put me through.

But it seemed that that wouldn’t be happening anytime soon.

My throat seemed to close in on itself.

A choked rasping sound was the only thing that was able to claw its way out of my shredded vocal chords. It burned my throat to even attempt to make the smallest of noises.

Tears welled in my eyes as one of my hands clutched at my throat. This had happened ever since they had done the surgery on my vocal chords. A terrible surgery that should’ve never been done. There was no reason a human's vocal cords should be meshed with an animals’…

The man clicked his tongue in disappointment, scribbling more notes. “Unfortunate. Experiment ten, your turn.” He turned his attention to the girl on my left.

I took a step back, tears threatening to fall from my eyes, wanting to shrink into the floor as ten stepped forward. For the majority of my time here, I had been considered a “failed experiment”. The only reason I was still here was because they had failed time and time again to put me down.

That was also why my blood ran on the acidic side of things…

My attention turned back towards ten’s assessment when I heard a crackling sound. Ten had a ball of electricity in her hand, acting as if she was going to throw it towards the pokie.

Don’t; I sent a thought to ten, making her electricity falter for a second, since I had taken her off guard.

I don’t see why not; Ten thought back to me.

I could just see the smug look she was wearing inside her head, whereas on the outside, her face would still be set in the same stone look it’s been in this whole time.

Alex; I thought sternly towards her, making sure she was aware I disapproved, my eyes narrowed on her back. I knew she could feel me glaring at her.

Ann; she responded in a sing-songy whine, letting my name take up as much space as it could in her response.

She was in a playful mood. This whole situation could end in several different ways.

I opted to try and reason logically with her.

They won’t let us outside if you electrocute another one of them;

Alex’s electricity faltered some more, then slowly began to fade until it was simple sparks on the tips of her fingers.

I released my breath that I had been holding, allowing the pokies fear to enter my lungs once more. The familiar feeling of adrenaline running through my veins made me lightheaded, I swayed for a moment before catching myself. Thankfully nobody seemed to notice.

“Moving on,” the pokie attempted to take control of the room again. A poor attempt if I might add.

Alex dropped her hands to her sides then rolled her shoulders before stretching her wings.

Her wings were a dark brown. A brown so dark it could almost be considered black.

Alex flapped them up and down, moving them in the same ways that I had, before being told she was done.

The pokie paused, before calling on the last of us… Karla.

I could feel his dread long before he showed it.

They never liked reviewing her and for good reason too. She was the ultimate wild card. Alex and I were the only ones to have any form of control over her. That was why she stayed with us, they didn’t dare separate us after what had happened last time…

“Nine, make it quick!” the pokie demanded, his nerves were more on edge now than they had before, his thoughts rushed too fast for me to piece them together. They were most likely on what could happen to him if Karla decided she didn’t want to listen to anyone today.

Karla stepped forward, a giant grin on her face.

That was the first red flag.

She lifted her hands quicker than the pokies’ eyes could keep up with, and suddenly had a fireball the size of a basketball in her hands, the flames reflecting off her pale skin.

I blinked quickly, adjusting my eyes to the new lightsource in the room, refusing to take a step back like the pokie had. Alex stood by my side, unphased by the fireball. This wasn’t uncommon for Karla, and we had both expected something like this.

Karla had been a bit too energetic today.

The flames in the ball cycled through several colors as Karla controlled the heat it was giving off. It colored the nauseating walls in different hues of cool red all the way to bright white and back. Sweat beaded on our foreheads as the light show continued, the only one not affected was Karla. Nobody knew how or why she wasn’t affected by the flames, but it seemed that the cold didn’t bother her a whole lot either.

“Cool it back down,” the pokie shouted over the roar of her flames.

The flames seemed to echo in the tiny sterile room. Usually Karla set off the fire suppression system within the building, but upon a quick glance of the ceiling, it was easy to see that this room lacked such a system.

Unfortunate…

That would’ve been beneficial for the pokie.

Looking back at Karla, the ball of flames had grown in size. It was now the size of a very hot beach ball.

That was the second red flag.

Put. It. Out! I snarled at Karla, watching as the pokie tried not to cower from the flames that were inching their way closer to him.

Where’s the fun in that? Karla pouted in response, the ball of flames still growing at a steady rate.

I gritted my teeth at Karla’s insistence on being a danger to everyone within an inch of her. What do you think they’ll do to us if you burn him to a crisp? I snarled into her head, making her smirk at my irritation.

Why I was considered the leader of the group I will never know.

“Extinguish!” the pokie shouted over the sound of Karla’s flames.

Karla wrinkled her nose at the pokie, but allowed the fireball to decrease in size, until it was as small as a golf ball.

Extinguish; I spat the thought out, knowing that I would be the one to get in trouble for her not doing as she was told.

ExTiNgUiSh; Karla replied in a mocking tone, making sure to lilt her voice as annoyingly as possible.

I clenched my fist, my nails digging into my skin as I did my best to hide my irritation with her. Extinguish so we can move on with our day; I finally ended the conversation

Karla looked towards the tiny ball in her hands, allowing it to die in her palm while giving me a nasty look that told me I was going to suffer for ruining her fun.

The pokies sense of relief washed over me like a warm wave, nullifying any effects that his previous fear had done to me. He took a moment to compose himself then instructed Karla on her next assessment. “Wings.”

Karla huffed at the demand, but complied… perhaps a little too willingly.

That was the third red flag.

The rest of today was going to suck.

My heart dropped as I immediately knew what Karla was going to do… it also didn’t help that Alex was silently egging her on too.

Knock him over! Make the newbie regret testing us! Blow him over! Alex thought excitedly, the image of her cheering Karla on filled our heads.

This was one of the downsides of being psychic. Everyone had a connection, and sometimes those connections crossed each other. The other two could only talk to each other because I had a mindlink with the pair of them.

Don’t you dare; I warned Karla, as she raised her glossy black wings.

Karla started with slow flaps, but quickly picked up speed creating a vortex with the power she was putting behind her wings. She had obviously tuned me out, since nothing I seemed to say was getting through to her.

Typical.

The pokie braced himself against the wind, trying to keep himself from tumbling over.

Getting Karla’s attention was now a fool’s errand, she was having the time of her life.

I groaned internally then focused on closing my mind, to stop Alex from egging Karla on further.

A quick jolt of electricity ran through me, letting me know I had successfully silenced the “demons” from talking to each other. I ignored the pain much to Alex’s annoyance. My gaze was now focused on Karla as I clicked my tongue for her attention, shaking my head in dismay.

Karla looked back towards me, glowering. She slowed her wings down then folded them onto her back, placing them underneath her tracksuit. She took a step back, falling in line with Alex and myself.

The pokie nodded towards me, his relief overflowing from him now that the assessments were done. He scribbled a few more notes then made to leave the room. “Keep them in line until it’s time to begin,” he said to me before walking out the invisible door.

Alex and Karla relaxed on either side of me. I stayed in my alert state, taking a step back and leaned against the wall behind us. I knew they were planning something and I wanted to be ready for whatever it was.

“I’m bored!” Karla whined while taking a step forward, whirling around to face me with a fireball launching from the palm of her hand. Alex stood to the side watching as Karla had her fun, a cheshire grin on her face. “I want to have some fun.” she finished as I slid down the wall, dodging her flames, allowing them to dissipate on the wall above me.

The heat was intense. It always amazed me how she could conjure up so much heat, especially in such little time. There was now a black scorch mark on the previously pristine white wall.

You know why! I projected the words into both Karla and Alex’s head, pointing an accusing finger at them, while restoring their previous psychic connection.

“What's that?” Karla mocked, holding a hand to her ear, as Alex fell into a fit of giggles, her wings lifting ever so slightly off her back as she held her sides.

I rolled my eyes as Karla repeated herself, making my cheeks heat up. At least the pair of them seemed to be at ease. Their wings weren’t held tightly down to their bodies like they would be when we were being assessed.

That was the nice thing about our wings. They acted like a dog’s tail. They showed our emotions to each other.

You know I can’t speak; I growled, standing up, my blade extended threateningly in front of me. I felt tears pricking the back of my eyes, but I wasn’t about to let them fall.

Not here.

Not now.

“So then, why are you the one in charge?” Karla asked, another fireball forming in her hand, she tossed it idly in the air and caught it.

I didn’t choose to be leader; I stood defensively behind my blade, my wings slightly held off my back, ready to knock the pair over if need be. I had never asked to be the leader of our little group, it was just how everything worked out. I was too stubborn to die, so my punishment was to make sure these two didn’t.

Karla wound up her arm, getting ready to chuck the fireball at me, her grin never fading. “I’d challenge you, but I wasn’t ‘designed’ to be the leader,” she mocked as she released the ball of heat.

I maneuvered my blade so it hit the ball as soon as it was within reach, the scorching heat burning the blade. I grit my teeth, concentrating on taking control of the flames to use as my own. The ball slowed its velocity only a little, before combusting into the air around me.

The suddenness of the implosion pushed me back against the wall, a silent groan of pain was ripped from my lips as my head hit the wall. My wings forced down onto my back from the impact, making my back hurt where everything had slammed into me. I sat there slumped against the wall as my head slowed down. There was no point in opening my eyes if everything was going to spin.

“Well, you almost had it,” Karla announced cheerfully, her voice only having a slight fuzzy edge to it as I recovered.

That hurt; I finally lifted my head to look into the bright room. Stars were still circling my head, but I had recovered enough that I could stand. Alex offered me a hand, helping me up. I nodded to her in thanks, making sure I moved slow enough not to set off the pounding headache that was threatening to take over.

I looked to my left and straightened that wing, grimacing at the pain, but thankfully nothing was broken. I repeated the same thing on my right side, finally ending the process with a couple of swift flaps to loosen up the muscles before they tightened on me. We can try again later? I turned towards Karla, who nodded in agreement.

She enjoyed this training, especially when she ended up besting me on taking control of the flame ball. It was a trick we had been practicing for a while. When I finally get it down, I’ll be able to hold a ball of fire in one hand and a ball of electricity in the other. We figured it would up my “intimidation factor”. White wings were only so scary…

“Wonder what bullshit we get to deal with today,” Alex rested her head against the wall, closing her eyes, listening to the room. I followed her lead, wondering if we would be able to actually fly today or if we’d be back in our cramped rooms.

The hallway outside the room seemed to be quiet. The pokies were probably preparing for whatever it was we would be doing today. Maybe it was another obstacle course. I rolled my eyes at the thought as Alex groaned.

“If we have to do another obstacle course, I’ll stab my eyes out.” Alex huffed, sliding to the floor, trying to get comfortable.

Don’t give them any ideas; I warned Alex.

Karla had a thoughtful look in her eye, bending down to examine Alex’s eyes a few seconds later. “But her eyes would be so pretty sitting on a shelf,” Karla smirked, looking back at me.

Fourth red flag.

But if she’s blind, how will she know where her targets are? I asked sweetly, kneeling down next to Karla, a gentle hand on her shoulder.

Karla seemed to consider this for a few moments before nodding in understanding. “Well, I guess they’re prettier in her head.”

Good decision;

We were all silent for a moment. The eyes of the observing pokies behind the wall continuously bore into us.

Finally Karla had had enough quiet, throwing herself back from her seated position and let out a long heavy sigh. “I’m so B O R E D.”

Alex and I snickered at her dramatics. Guess it was time for me to become “the mom”.

We could get our flight feathers ready; I suggested, shrugging. It’d be better to be ready and get whatever test they’re putting us through today over with.

Karla laid on the floor, staring at the ceiling for a moment longer before getting back into a seated position. “Yeah, I guess.”

The three of us moved into the middle of the room in a small circle. Simultaneously extended our wing facing the outside of the circle, then began readying the wing of the person in front of us, as we waited for whatever today had in store for us.