“I’m sorry, I got lost.” That was
the second time I’d been called that name.
“You must be the new girl.”
“What does ‘muck’ mean?” I truly
wanted to know, but he only laughed at me.
“It means I don’t have to speak
with you.” He turned and walked away and called over his sinfully sexy shoulder,
“You should leave the way you came in.”
Okie-dokie.
Oh, how I loathe
guys like him. Jocks! They think they are all that, and everyone else is
inferior. He was sweet on the eyes, though.
Descending the stairs I noticed a
small sign on the door at the bottom of the staircase designating it as the
bathroom. How embarrassing. I’d walked right on by it. If only I’d seen it
earlier.
Minutes later I entered my room
again. Beth made eye contact with me for a second and rolled away from me. I
changed into my night clothes and lay down on the surprisingly comfortable bed.
Staring at the ceiling, I thought about the day. It started benign enough, but
ended quite malignant. My grouchy roommate referred to me as a human. I was called
’muck’ twice. Even though I didn’t know the meaning of the word, the derision
in the eyes of both Beth and the good looking guy told me it’s not a polite
word. It must be some type of superior athlete’s slang. It’s the four letter
‘M’ word.
I missed my parents, Suz, and my
little hometown. I missed the familiarity of my life, my usual daily grind, my
comforts, even my distresses. At least they were normal for me and I knew how
to deal with them. This place, however, had strange stamped all over it! I am
unwelcome here. Will I ever fit in? My stomach growled as I rolled over and
fell asleep.
Chapter 2
Paradigm Shift
“You’d better get up, muck, or
you’ll be the last one entering the dining hall. And believe me, last is not a
place you want to be.”
She left our room and I jumped up
and hurried to dress. I unzipped my suitcase and rummaged through the contents
looking for the bare necessities that it would take to get ready in the
shortest amount of time. I changed my clothing, ran a comb through my short hair,
rubbed lotion on my face and reached for my perfume, but changed my mind and
set it back down. I didn’t want to appear to be trying too hard. As I raced
down the empty hall to the stairs I heard voices echoing up toward me. The
giggling and whispers of words like “muck” and “sloth” increased as I
approached the door, then silenced as I entered the room.
The huge dining hall was filled
with large, round tables and fellow athletes. Over at the nearest table, Beth sat
next to the good-looking guy that I’d run into the night before. Her eyes narrowed
as she gave me the once-over, and with the amount of black eyeliner she had on,
she looked downright scary.
“Good morning, Calli,” Mrs. Winter
joined me by my side. “Everyone, this is Calli Courtnae from Ohio.”
No one said a word. I glanced
around the room at all the blank faces imaging what they might be thinking. I
had yet to find a face, female or male, that wasn’t strikingly handsome or
gorgeous. My mediocrity must have been confusing to everyone.
Mrs. Winter led me to a table filled
with little kids who weren’t any older than twelve. One seat was unoccupied. I
guessed this was what Beth meant by not wanting to be the last one to breakfast
… you’re forced to sit with the kids. I sat and made eye contact with the
sneering faces of boys and girls. I figured I’d better show some kindness if I
expected to get any, so I said hello. They all quickly looked away from me as
if even the sight of me was hazardous.
Was no one friendly in this place?
Mrs. Winter took her position at
the front of the room. “This is Calli’s first day and she hasn’t had her
orientation yet. I wish to remind you all about the do’s and don’ts concerning
new arrivals and the consequences of disobeying such.” A low grumble rolled
throughout the dining hall which only added to my mounting confusion. Do’s and
don’ts? Mrs. Winter continued, “Also, we will be holding a time trial tomorrow
morning as we’ve received a new assignment. Alright, let’s eat.”
Everyone got up from their seats
and started filing toward the obvious door to the kitchen. I ended up half way
back in the forming line surrounded by boys and girls who wouldn’t talk or even
acknowledge me. Normally, this wouldn’t bother me, but today was different. I
faced forward and found that the line moved rapidly. At least this torture
would be over soon. Once I entered the kitchen and saw the spread of food set
out in buffet style, I was shocked; fruits of all kinds, some vegetables and
nuts; more nuts than I’d ever seen before. Several pitchers of different
colored juices and ice water at the end of the table completed the selection. No
bacon and eggs or French toast? No pancakes or waffles? Where was the real
food? Needless to say, I didn’t end up with much on my plate.
I went back to my seat and glanced
around the room. Everyone seemed to be staring at me which I supposed was
normal; I am the new girl, after all. I did indulge in a bit of lip reading to
try to get an idea of what they were thinking. Other than standard questions
about me, the only strange comment I picked up on was, “She’s so
old
for
a newbie.”
Old? I figured that athletes
training for the Olympics would be
older
than
me
. In fact, now
that I took the time to think about it, where were all the older athletes? I
sat at a table with sixth graders, and a quick inventory of the room revealed
that most of the athletes were my age or younger. It made no sense at all.
Mrs. Winter came over to me as I
finished my food and invited me to follow her after I cleared my plate. She
stood waiting for me as I exited the kitchen and led me down the hall to a
private office and closed the door behind us.
“Take a seat, Calli,” she said
motioning to the overstuffed leather sofa along the wall.
I sunk into the luxurious buttery-soft
leather and a wave of relaxation washed over me. It felt good to be secluded
from all the judgmental stares of everyone else.
She sat in her own extravagant
executive chair behind her desk. “You must have questions for me by now. Go
ahead and ask.”
“What is a muck?”
“A muck is a slow Runner.”
“Well, I guess I
should
have
told them my time, then.” I added a heavy dose of sarcasm to my statement.
She smiled and said, “I believe the
word ‘muck’ is used in a similar fashion as ‘loser’. When you understand the
nature in which you are viewed, it won’t seem as harsh.”
“Why did Beth refer to me as a
human?”
“She doesn’t think of you as being
on the same level as her. Anymore questions, or are you ready to learn?”
“Ready to learn.”
“Alright. First up, I would like
you to call me Clara. Mrs. Winter is too formal.”
I nodded and remembered that Beth
had said, “Clara’s losing her mind.” I guess I hadn’t put two and two together
to come up with Mrs. Winter’s name being Clara.
“Calli, I want you to open your
mind and try to understand what I’m about to tell you. This won’t be easy for
you to comprehend.” I nodded again. “You are an extremely fast runner and your
speed only just emerged. What we’ve found is the running ability surfaces
during puberty, usually around twelve to fourteen years of age. Yours came a
bit later. Not everyone is able to run as fast as you; for instance, your
fellow teammates back in Ohio. However, your burst of speed isn’t, how shall we
say,
normal
. Your ability comes from a cosmic energy blast originating
from a distant constellation.”
I laughed out loud. I couldn’t help
not to. How ridiculous! Clara kept talking as if she was used to being laughed
at.
“You are a Runner, Calli, but you
won’t be in the Olympics. I’m sorry I had to lie to you about that. You wouldn’t
have come here otherwise nor would your parents have allowed you to; even
though your life depended on it. I told you not to go outside last night
because there are dangers lurking in the nearby shadows waiting for someone with
cosmic powers to come along … someone like you.”
“What, like Homeland Security
agents? Are they going to throw a net over me and haul me away?”
“No, Calli, the dangers in the
shadows are invisible to the eye, but are there all the same.”
“Oh, like ghosts?” I stood from my
spot on the couch, laughing. “Is there a hidden camera here or something?” I
spun a circle around looking for any suspicious cameras. “I’m not sure why you
brought me here, but I’m not the kind of girl that believes in fairy tales or
spooky stories.”
Mrs. Winter didn’t move from her
spot and remained unusually calm. “Calli, I am completely serious when I tell
you that you have an ability that originates from the cosmos, one that is
sought after by unseen forces that lurk in the shadows of the night. We refer
to the forces as Shadow Demons.”
“Of course you do.” That was the
last straw, I’d heard enough. I shook my head as I backed up to the door. I
hoped this was a bad dream, the kind when you wake up you’re relieved. However,
I knew the overwhelming reality of the situation, I was now trapped in the
Rocky Mountains of Montana, sixteen hundred miles away from my parents, with a
beautiful psychopath who operated a cult-like compound, and surrounded by
freakishly perfect-looking people with really bad attitudes! I turned my back
to Clara in an attempt to exit her office, only to find her in front of me
blocking the way out. I glanced over my shoulder convinced there must be two of
her, but only found an empty chair.
I took one step back, afraid and
shaking, “Please let me go.”
“Calli, I’m not holding you
captive, I’m trying to help teach you about your gift and how to protect
yourself from the evil waiting to harm you. I am not trying to hurt you and I
understand how insane this must sound, but allow me more time to explain. Please.”
I stared at her for a second, with
a million thoughts running through my head. I guess what made me turn around
and walk back to the couch was the fact that I had nowhere else to go. She took
her place once again behind her desk and continued speaking.
“Everyone you know was affected in
one way or another by galactic cosmic energy rays while they were in the womb. When
a fetus is exposed to the energy blasts, some alteration to its DNA will occur
depending on the proximity to the hot zone, that being the direct center of the
blast. Those located in this area end up with a superhuman ability like you. Those
on the outside edges of the hot zone will experience increased intellect, photographic
memory, artistic or athletic ability, and those further out will be affected
with milder increases. The ones way out on the perimeter can end up with
deformities and retardation. Think about your own high school. There were
probably a couple of highly athletic individuals, the kind who get
scholarships, and a small handful of extra-intelligent kids who would be
valedictorians. Also, a few who excelled in the arts, I imagine. I would hazard
to guess some in your school were a few bricks shy of a load, right?”
I had to cut her off here, “Clara,
I haven’t ever heard of this. These findings would be all over the news and in
the scientific community if they were true. Modern DNA testing doesn’t reveal
this information, and frankly, I think this is all hogwash.”
“Calli, radiation hazards in outer
space are well known. Astronauts are bombarded with these continually and
scientists have proven a developing fetus subjected to x-rays suffer
retardation. What they don’t understand, however, is the same cosmic energy
rays which fly around outer space also hit the earth in a pinpoint fashion
creating a ripple effect. Drop a small pebble in a puddle of water and watch
the ripples form. Now consider the pebble is the cosmic energy blast resulting
in fetal DNA alterations and the ripples represent lesser alterations. The
further the ripples travel away from the center, the weaker they become.
“So, you’re saying as an embryo I
was hit by some rogue cosmic ray which altered my DNA and the alteration
suddenly emerged two days ago?”
“Calli, remember how your body felt
as you ran and the fact you could have run faster? You said so yourself. Now,
put everything you felt into the perspective of a scientist. Would a scientist
be able to explain your sudden burst of speed other than performance enhancing
medications? You told me you were clean; were you lying to me?”
“No, I wasn’t lying, but—”
“Reflect on your own amazement. You
hold the key to understanding this remarkable event; more so than any ordinary
scientist. However, we have scientists in our community who are currently
working on determining which galaxies or constellations the different powers come
from.”
“Different powers?”
“Yes, super-speed running is one of
several powers in the world. There are also Mind Readers, Healers, who can heal
most ailments, Seers, and even some who have over-sensitive olfactory
abilities. We call them Hunters. Here at our facility we employ three
individuals of power; a Seer, a Healer and a Mind Reader. This is a common
practice among clans. I am a Runner and am trained in the art of spell-casting
which I use on foods and herbs for the benefit of the clan.
“Clan?” I asked.
“We refer to groups of individuals
with the same power as a ‘clan’.”
“Spell-casting?”
“Yes, there are spell-casters who
cast enchantments and such; they are generally good. This is not a cosmic
ability but a learned one. Spell-casters differ from witches and wizards,
though. They understand their limitations and do not push nature’s boundaries. Witches
and wizards are underhanded, evil and subscribe to their own wishes without
concern to anyone around them. Any involvement with one is frowned upon, in
fact, consorting with a witch or wizard can get you thrown out of the clan.”