The Inadequate Experiments, Sian Webster [whitelam books txt] 📗

ignore the pain that was slowly growing harsher, enveloping my forehead, spreading behind my eyes. Before I knew what was happening, I was too far in. I felt the person jump, and my own body did the same.

Sera… what are you up to? Calliope’s frantic voice was a mere whisper in my mind.

I ignored her, concentrating hard. I tried pulling my consciousness back slightly, just to a depth I felt safe with. I hoped the pain would subside, but it got slightly worse. My curiosity got even stronger. Why the headache now? It normally happened after waking up, but never during the day. Or at least, never that bad. I could sense the person’s thoughts, but I couldn’t understand them. All I heard was a wash of white noise.

Then; Sera?!

The pain exploded in my head, and my concentration was broken. I was back in my own body. Calliope was at my side, shaking me.

“Sera. Sera!” She was saying.

Hesitantly, I raised my head from the desk. I didn’t remember laying down. My brows furrowed. “Calliope?” My eyes widened. “Why did you come out? Are you insane?”

“You collapsed, Sera, I couldn’t just leave you be.” She said exasperatedly.

I raised my hand to my head wearily, a dull ache still there. “Collapsed?” I asked.

Calliope nodded gravely. “Just randomly. You seemed to be concentrating hard. I tried talking to you in your head, but you didn’t respond. You must have reached your limit.”

“Yeah,” I muttered. I wouldn’t tell her what really happened. She seemed very touchy about whatever was causing my headaches. And whatever was causing them seemed to be that person. That familiar presence that somehow knew my name.

“How far did you get?” Calliope pressed. “How many hallways?”

I tried thinking back, to before I encountered that presence. “I got somewhere past the art rooms, I think… At least another block over.”

Her eyes lit up. “That’s over a 500 metre radius!” She exclaimed. “That’s brilliant!” She paused. “But you didn’t find the Principal?”

Behind me, I heard footsteps. I span around in my chair, panicking for Calliope’s sake.

“What?” She asked cautiously. “What is it?”

I looked at her as if she were insane. “Are you not hearing those footsteps?”

A smile appeared on her lips, her eyes filling with excitement. “How far away are they? Learn to control your radar.”

I looked at her, my brow furrowed. I sighed, then closed my eyes. I cleared my mind, pushing out my consciousness once more. “Two people. One older – in the late 30s. The second around mid-to-late teens. About four corridors away, just outside the administration sector.” I found myself saying.

“Brilliant.” The excited girl muttered. “I guess I better return to my cupboard, huh?”

I nodded, a fraction of a movement. I was astounded at my knowledge of their distance away from the office. Calliope’s curiosity seemed to spread into me like wildfire; I wanted to know what else I could do, what other abilities my mother and the Scientists weaved into my artificial chromosome. I wanted to know if my twin sister had the same abilities.

More importantly, I wanted to know who that person was in the block across from Oliver’s art class. I wanted to know who they were, why they knew my name, and why they caused me the ridiculous headaches. My eyes slid closed, and I found my consciousness reaching out for them once more. I passed over Mr Banner and my twin sister, and could feel that same presence, curiosity scraping the insides of my mind.

My eyes flew open as I felt someone touch my shoulder lightly. Mr Banner stood before me, a worried look on his face.

“Are you alright, Sera?” He asked.

I blinked a couple of times, my consciousness taking its time to adjust back to the confines of my own mind. “I’m fine.” I told him. I took a deep breath. “Sorry, I just got a bit of a migraine.”

“Do you need anything to fix it?” He sounded awfully concerned. I imagined he was all kinds of worried about my mental state after the death of my mother.

I shook my head. “It’s okay, it should fade soon.”

He nodded, then motioned to the girl beside him, who I had been too disorientated to notice, even though she had been haunting my thoughts for the past week, ever since I discovered she would be coming here.

“This is Rose.”

The girl gave me a shy smile. The movement was small, yet it lit up her whole face. Her ebony hair fell to her waist in waves so subtle it looked almost straight. She was small – at least two whole inches shorter than me, and almost ridiculously skinny. I remembered what the Scientists had written about her in their reports after we had been born; The second born of the twins weighted in at a frightening 0.9kg… Clare did not name the girl due to fear she would not survive because of her size. Her slight frame made sense; of course she would still be a lot smaller than everyone else. She had green eyes like me, though hers were much more alluring – around her pupils they were a light, dull green, which soon faded into a darker, almost emerald green to the edge of her irises.

There were slight differences between the two of us, yet she was undeniably my twin sister.

I stood up from my seat and found myself smiling, and holding out my hand. “I’m Sera.” I told her. “Sera Grey.”

She reached out and shook my hand, her smile slightly more confident than before. “I’m Rose. Well, Rose Macintosh, though I suppose it’s technically Rose Grey, huh?”

“You’ve been enrolled as Rose Macintosh due to the paperwork given to me.” Mr Banner told her. “Do you wish to have the records changed?”

Rose’s brow furrowed, her hand moving to her chin as she contemplated his offer. “It’s fine.” She said after a while. “I don’t feel as if I have claim to that name.”

Mr Banner nodded. “As you wish—”

“Of course you do!” I interrupted him, incredulous. I took a deep breath. “Of course you have claim to our last name.”

Rose blinked, taken aback. She then shook her head. “It’s fine, Sera, honestly. I’m used to being called Rose Macintosh anyway.”

I nodded awkwardly. “If that’s what you want.”

She nodded.

Mr Banner put a hand on each of our shoulders. “Well, I have some work I have to get to, as well as a meeting in—” he pulled his hand away from my shoulder to look at his watch “—fifteen minutes. I’m right in trusting that you’ll be okay to show Rose around?” He asked me.

I nodded again.

“She’s been placed in your classes for today, all the teachers have had the situation explained to them so they already know.” He told me, before turning to Rose. “Your own timetable will be drawn up today, I will send it to you this afternoon via the Interface. Come to me if you have any issues. Though I’m sure Sera here will be glad to help out.”

“Thank you, sir.” Rose said, smiling at him.

“Right, well, I’ll be on my way then. Have a good day, girls.”

Mr Banner had barely left the room when Calliope toppled out of the cupboard at the back of the room, making Rose jump out of her skin beside me.

“Calliope!” I chastised her – I thought she’d stay in there until all three of us had left the room, but she obviously had other ideas.

“Sorry.” she said, pushing herself up off her hands and knees so she was sitting on the linoleum floor. “There’s not a lot of air in those cupboards. Hiding in lockers is much more comfortable – at least they have slots for air.”

“One day, Calliope, you’re gonna get stuck somewhere, and I’m gonna laugh.” I told her.

“You and the rest of the world,” she laughed, pulling her hair up into a pony tail, “not to mention the Scientists.”

Beside me, Rose’s brow furrowed. “The Scientists?”

Calliope’s head snapped up, and her eyes scanned Rose. It was as if she were pulling my sister apart with her eyes. “Oh, that’s right,” she said, “you’re staying with them, aren’t you? They’re your guardians now, since your foster parents died.”

Rose’s eyes widened. “How did you—?” Her eyes slid over to the cupboard where Calliope had been hiding. “Never mind.”

Calliope stood up and walked over, leaning against the desk. “They don’t particularly like me.” She told Rose. “You could say there was a bit of a… misunderstanding.”

I scoffed. “A misunderstanding? Is that what you’d call it?”

She shrugged. “They thought they could take my brother away from me. They were wrong.”

“Your brother?” Rose asked.

“My Soul Mate.” I told her.

Her brow furrowed. “Why would they do that?”

Calliope and I looked at each other, unsure of what to say. So I went out on a whim.

We’re different. And highly valuable. I projected the thought. They’d do anything to get their hands on us.

Across from us, Rose flinched.

We’re not exactly in a safe situation whenever the Scientists are involved. Calliope added.

Rose’s brow furrowed again. I thought I was the only one who could do this. I thought maybe I was going insane.

“Not only are you sane,” Calliope said aloud, “but you’re Untouchable. We’re simultaneously the three safest and most endangered people on Earth.” She held out a hand to Rose, just as the bell sounded. “I’m Calliope. Calliope Jackson.”

Rose shook it. “Rose Macintosh.”

I turned and looked pointedly at Calliope. “You’ve already missed first period because of your insatiable curiosity.” I told her. “You’re going to your second class.”

Calliope sighed, rolling her eyes at me. “What are you my mother?”

“Sister.” I told her as she made her way to the door.

She stopped suddenly, her hand on the doorframe. “What?”

I realised what I had said, my eyes wide. My gaze dropped to the floor, and I shuffled my feet. “Well, you know, sister-in-law.” I mumbled. “Future sister-in-law, I suppose.”

Realisation coloured the younger girl’s features. “Oh, right, sure.” She disappeared without another word.

Rose raised a single eyebrow. “What was that about?”

I shrugged. “She doesn’t really have a good relationship with her family. She, uh… she caused an accident three years ago, a house fire. Her younger sister died. I don’t think her parents ever forgave her for it.”

Rose looked at the ground. “I see… Is that how she got her scar?”

I nodded. “Come on, we should get to class.”

“Where are we headed?” She asked.

“English, I’m pretty sure. I need to head to my locker first, though.”

“Lead the way.”

I made my way from the room, Rose at my heels. When we made it out of the admin sector and into the busier halls, I grabbed hold of her wrist to make sure she wouldn’t be lost in the crowds. The crowds were staring at me as usual, but this time the whispers were louder; it was obvious to anyone that Rose was my twin sister, and when coupling that fact with the circumstance of my birth, there was a lot of confusion, a lot of louder-than-necessary remarks, and a lot of subtle curiosity. I cleared my mind as if I was going to project my consciousness again, but instead put up a wall, blocking their words.

I scanned the crowds, hoping to see Oliver or Tia, so they could maybe save me and Rose from the awkwardness arising as a result of the unnecessary attention, but I couldn’t see them. I searched the hallway with my consciousness, and it brought up no better results.

Then I felt it. The familiar presence.

My eyes scanned the crowd once more in earnest, most of it a blur of colours. Then, a tall boy a few years older than me with this framed glasses and messy brown hair was visible through the sea of bodies.

I stopped walking, my eyes wide.

Rose touched my arm softly, making me jump and look away from the boy. “What’s wrong, Sera?”

My eyes travelled back to where he had been in the crowd, but he was gone. I could no longer sense that familiar presence in the hallway.