Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Nick and Minus exited the hanger, then proceeded down a large corridor, with Minus trying to make small talk as they went. 

“That was Tom and Erica. Don’t mind Tom. He has a hot head but you would be hard pressed to find anyone with a bigger heart than him.” Nick bit back a laugh, wondering if Minus had even really met Tom before.

A few minutes later, they stopped in front of a large metal door double doors.

“Prepare to have your mind blown,” Minus said to Nick with a grin, then pushed opened the door. Nick’s jaw dropped.

The room looked like something out of a science fiction movie. The room was positioned in a semicircle with rows of desks jutting out from the center in ever increasing arcs. The room was made fully of metal, which caused it to sparkle as you moved about it. Large monitors were attached to the walls, displaying information that moved so quickly, Nick couldn’t tell what it was saying. The desks in the room were all occupied, and an uneasy silence fell over the room as everyone turned to stare at Nick.

“At ease everyone,” Minus said, causing everyone to turn back to their work, but Nick did catch the occasional glance thrown in his direction.

“Welcome to the control room of the CIA’s Enhanced Division,” Minus said, holding up his hands in a grand fashion. “We are a secret branch of the CIA whose sole purpose is to monitor Enhanced activity all over the world. This room is where it all happens. We have one of the most sophisticated surveillance networks on the planet.”

“Enhanced?” Nick asked, cutting across Minus’ speech.

“That’s what you are. An Enhanced,” Minus said, smiling. “We had to come up with a name for people like you and Enhanced fit the bill perfectly. I’ve personally grown quite attached to the name.”

“People like me?” Nick said, his throat going dry. “There are more?”

“More than just you, Tom, and Erica?” Minus said with a laugh. “Oh yes. You couldn’t have possibly thought you were the only one.”

To be perfectly honest, that was exactly what Nick thought. He always thought he was special since he had never heard of anyone doing what he could do. Now, he was being told that was a lie. Questions burned through Nick’s mind like wildfire, all begging to be answered. Finally, he settled on one.

“What am I?”

Minus smiled and began to speak. “You are incredibly special. As an Enhanced, you have powers that we are only beginning to make sense of, and we specialize in people like you.”

“But how?” Nick asked, growing impatient. “How can I do it all?”

“Now don’t expect this to be the best explanation since I’m not a doctor,” Minus said. “But I’ll give it my best shot. You were born with a brain that works at a much higher capacity than most. It is an incredibly rare attribute that only few in the world possess. Most of those people can go through life perfectly normal. They’d just appear incredibly smart and that would be it.”

Minus began pacing, his hands behind his back. He then began to speak again. “But some of those incredibly rare people are even rarer. Their brains work so well and are so strong that their brain waves can literally affect reality outside of their own mind. They can use this ability to affect the material world itself. These are the people we call Enhanced.”

Nick’s mind was reeling. Was this really how he could move things with his mind? He had always just done it, not stopping to think about how or why. Looking back, it seemed pretty stupid for him not to question it even a little bit.

“As you probably could imagine, these super powered individuals can pose a threat to national security,” Minus continued. “So that is why the Enhanced Division was created. We keep track of Enhanced throughout the world and try to keep them hidden. If word of super humans living among us all leaked out, there would be no telling what the public’s reaction would be. You understand?”

Nick didn’t want to admit it, but he did understand. The gunman he had very recently taken down in the diner was testament to that. As soon as he realized what Nick could do, he was terrified.

“Even now, we’re trying our best to cover up that little show you did by the Pentagon. We boiled it down to a gas explosion. It’s amazing what people will believe if you throw a few scientific words at them, isn’t it?”

Nick tried to smile, but was unsuccessful. They way Minus was talking about it, it seemed like this was a regular occurrence. Had this actually happened before?

Minus leaned in close to Nick and spoke in a whisper. “Very few people outside of this division know of its existence. We are the most secretive branch of the entire U.S. government. What I have just told you is extremely classified and the telling of it to anyone outside this building bears the punishment of death.”

“So why are you telling me?” Nick asked, taking a tentative step backwards.

“Because you are an Enhanced,” he said. “This whole division is made for people like you.”

“People like me?” Nick echoed. “You mean there are other people who can do what I can?”

Minus’ smile wavered for a moment, but a second later, he was back to his happy self. “Well you are a little unusual. You have a considerable amount of power, especially for someone who has had little to no training. You could have the potential to be one of the most powerful in the world. There’s no one here who could do what you did in Washington.”

“Really?” Nick asked, a smile growing on his face. “I’m the strongest here? Stronger than Tom?”

Minus smiled. “Tom is trained. He has spent years perfecting his control over his powers. You, however, have had no such training, so it is understandable that he was able to beat you in the hanger. But I assure you, you are the strongest Enhanced here.”

“But I practically destroyed that street in Washington, even though I haven’t had any training,” Nick replied. “How?”

“Strong emotions help to make your powers stronger,” Minus said. “When you’re feeling strong anger or fear, your mind kicks into overdrive and you can do things you wouldn’t be able to do normally. Though these emotions make you stronger, they also make your power more difficult to control. That is why it is very important that you learn to control your power so it can’t get out of hand.”

Nick nodded, but his mind was elsewhere. A question that had been nagging at him for years was finally answered.

“Stop!” he suddenly yelled in his mind. He breathed a sigh of relief. He almost though of the memory. Suddenly, another question popped into Nick’s mind.

“You said I was the strongest Enhanced here. What about not here? There have to be stronger ones out there somewhere.”

Minus’ smile wavered again, but it was quickly replaced by his signature smile once more. “All these questions! I would love to tell you more, but we have something much more important to discuss.” Nick couldn’t help but notice Minus had ducked the question. He filed it in the back of his mind for later.

Minus leaned in close again. “You are probably wondering why Tom and Erica are here while most of the other Enhanced in the world live normal lives.”

To be honest, Nick was not thinking this, but now that he said it, it did seem odd.

“Tom and Erica are part of an experimental program here we like to call the Enhanced Warriors. Tom and Erica are two of the five Enhanced that live here. Together, they travel throughout the world fighting evil in ways no ordinary soldier can. From what I heard about you, it is not too different from what you do yourself, without the stealing of course.”

This comment shot alarm bells through Nick’s brain. He took a step back from Minus. “How do you know so much about me?” Nick shot at him, his anger levels rising.

“The truth is we have been following Dark Angel for quite some time. It was only last night that we realized Nick Bennet and Dark Angel were one in the same. If you thought stories of a super powered masked man traveling in Washington DC escaped our attention, you would be sadly mistaken.”

“What do you want from me?” Nick asked flatly. He was done playing games. He wanted answers.

“Isn’t it obvious?” asked Minus, the excitement in his voice hard to miss. “We want you to join the team! With you, there wouldn’t be a problem that we couldn’t fix. What do you say?”

Nick stared at Minus, wondering if the offer could possibly be true. What he was being offered could change his life. He would no longer have to live on the street. He would no longer have to steal for a living.

But at what cost? These people had kidnapped him and brought him to this secret facility against his will. Not only that, but they chained him to a metal slab like a criminal and now they expected him to lay all that aside and join them?

“What if I say no?” Nick asked after a moment’s silence.

“You won’t say no,” Minus responded. “I know your type.”

“You don’t know anything about me,” Nick replied coldly.

Minus sighed and rubbed his face in his hands. “I actually know quite a bit about you. We fingerprinted you when you were brought in and pulled your records.” Minus pulled his phone from his pocket and began to read off it.

“Your full name is Nick Alexander Bennet and you are twenty eight years old. You were born in Annapolis, Maryland to Mary and Finn Bennet. You had one sibling, Joseph Bennet, who died at the age of seven in a gas explosion. You lived a pretty normal life until the age of nineteen, when all records of you stopped.” He looked up at Nick, making brief eye contact. “I assume this is when you ran away from home and began to live on the streets. Was it because of your brother’s death or did you just fancy living among the trash?”

Nick felt like he had just been punched in the stomach. He stumbled backwards and bumped into the far wall, then crumpled to the floor.

“Why?” he finally managed to say after several moments of silence.

“Because,” Minus began. “I wanted to make a point. You have no family. No friends. No purpose. You can go back to living on the streets if you so choose, but think about what you’re giving up. If you want a family and a place to feel accepted, this is it. The world needs you Nick. We need you.”

With that, Minus was finished. He pulled up a chair and sat down, staring at Nick, who was still sitting against the wall.

A minute passed in silence with Nick’s face giving no indication to what he was thinking. Finally, after nearly two minutes had elapsed, Nick looked up at Minus. 

“I’m in.”

A broad grin spread across Minus’ face. “Excellent! You will not regret this decision Nick, I assure you of that!”

He began to walk towards the door, motioning for Nick to follow. They exited and walked a ways, stopping before another set of double doors.

“This will be your living quarters,” Minus said. “There’s one extra bed in there is for you. We were able to find your bag of clothes in an alleyway. They’re already in there for you. I’ll let you go in yourself and get acquainted with everyone. I hope you enjoy your first day!”

“Wait!” Nick called out as Minus began to walk away. “I only just said yes. How did you know to put my clothes in here?”

Minus turned and smiled a mischievous grin. “Because I know what you’re like Nick. I knew what your answer would be.”

With that as his final word, Minus turned and walked out of sight, leaving Nick alone in front of the doors. Nick closed his eyes and tried his best to steady his breathing. Even though his silver tough rarely failed him when it came to wise remarks, he would apparently be living with these people. In this case, first impressions were everything, which meant he had to act presentable. In other words, the opposite of himself.

“Just do it,” he thought to himself, pushing open the doors. The room was vacant, which Nick was relieved to discover. His eyes wandered about the room, taking in every inch.

Compared to the sleek metal façade of the corridor, the room inside couldn’t have been more different. Nick thought it looked, dare he say it, homey. The room looked to be a common area, arranged in a circular pattern with six rooms attached along its sides. There were several couches in the room, all centered to face a large flat screen TV. There was a kitchen area on the far side, with several cabinets that Nick made a mental note to explore later. The doors along the sides were all labeled with a name letting others know the occupants identity. All except for one.

“Guess that’s mine,” Nick thought, pushing open the door to the room and stepping inside. The interior was as dull as the door. There was a bed, a nightstand, and a dresser. His bag was sitting on the bed, but other than that, the room was void of color.

“Cozy,” Nick sarcastically said out loud. He walked over to the bed and began rifling through his bag, making sure everything was present and accounted for. With a great sigh of relief, he found his watch and the sunglasses right where he left them. He pulled them out and propped them on the nightstand. It felt like home already.

He proceeded to lay down on the bed, which he immediately deduced was a mistake. His action sent a billowing cloud of dust flying into the air.

He coughed heavily as the cloud enveloped him. His heaving fits were so loud, he didn’t even hear the door to the room open.

 

“Are you okay, Tom?”

Tom and Erica had left the hanger after Nick and Minus and were walking down the corridor aimlessly, letting Tom cool off from his fight with Nick.

“Tom…”

“I’m fine, Erica,” he shot back all too quickly. Erica frowned. She knew Tom. There were few people who could care more about you than he could, but there was also no one who could hold a grudge more. It seemed like Nick was the object of his newest grudge.

“Can’t you cut Nick a break?” she asked hesitantly. “You did just kick his butt back there.”

“No!” he shot at her. “I don’t know how you can still defend him after that little show? He attacked you and now he attacked me! What does he have to do to make you see he’s bad news? Murder someone?!”

“Come on Tom. He’s just scared! He woke up handcuffed to a metal table. What would you do?”

Tom didn’t answer, but continued to stalk down the hallway.

Erica frowned. The strange feeling she felt towards Nick were still in the front of her mind, causing her to want to defend him. It was bothering her more with every passing moment.

“Hey guys.” Erica and Tom turned to see a Goth girl walking towards them.

“Hey Lizzie,” Erica replied.

“Are you okay Tom?” Lizzie asked, shooting a concerned look at Tom, who had yet to remove the angry glare from his face.

“He’s fine,” Erica said quickly, causing Lizzie to look at her suspiciously. “Where are the boys?”

Lizzie’s suspicious look turned into a grin. “Where else?”

As if on cue, two boys appeared out of the same doorway Lizzie appeared from, holding piles of snacks in their hands and bickering loudly.

“Hey guys,” Lizzie said as they approached, but they acted like they didn’t hear her and continued to bicker back and forth.

“Guys?” Erica said, trying to cut in, but again to no avail.

“Henry. Josh. Shut up!” Tom said, glaring at the pair. Instantly, they looked at Tom and became quiet, and for good reason. No one crossed Tom.

“Where did you get all that?” Erica asked, motioning to the pile of chips and sweets in each of their arms.

Henry’s mouth grew into a wide grin. “The vending machine.”

“Wow. How much did it all cost?” Erica asked, though she already suspected the answer.

“He made me do it!” Josh said suddenly. “I didn’t want to steal them, but…”

“Come on Josh!” Henry said, giving him a condescending look. “If you get kidnapped by terrorists you aren’t going to last a minute before spilling the nation’s secrets.”

“But in all seriousness,” Henry said. “Whose idea was it to put a vending machine in here that can so easily be broken into by any one of the five Enhanced living here? I mean, install some sort of security on that thing.”

Tom rolled his eyes. “They didn’t think it would be an issue, Henry.”

Henry shrugged. “They know my record. What did they expect to happen?”

Tom sighed while Lizzie stifled a laugh. “Come on guys,” Tom said. “Back to the room.”

They walked back to their living quarters together, but not in silence. Henry and Josh had resumed bickering about something unimportant.

“These guys are going to be the death of me,” Erica thought, rubbing her temple as the beginning of a headache began to form.

They finally made it back to the room and entered. Henry and Josh hurried over to the kitchen to store their ill-gotten booty while Lizzie collapsed on the couch.

“What is that door doing open?” Tom asked suddenly, motioning towards one of the six doors in the room. Erica’s heart skipped when she saw which one it was.

Tom walked over to it and entered. 

 

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?!”

Nick sat bolt upright in the bed and saw Tom standing in his bedroom door, a look of pure hatred on his face. He hadn’t even heard him come in.

“I’m getting used to my new bed,” Nick shot back, displaying his trademark cocky smile.

“Your bed…” Tom stammered, his face changing from a look of rage to shock in a matter of moments.

“My bed,” Nick finished, smiling innocently. “Minus gave me a spot on the team.”

It took a few seconds for the statement to register with Tom before snapped back to reality.

“No!”

He stormed out of the doorway into the main room. Nick followed. This would be too good to miss.

Entering the main room, Nick was surprised to see he wasn’t alone. In addition to Tom, there were four other people present in the room. Erica was seated down on a couch with another woman beside her who Nick noticed was Goth. There were also two men seated on another couch next to Erica. They all looked at Nick when he emerged.

“I can’t believe it!” Tom cried, continuing to rant to himself. “Is it their mission to ruin the team?!”

“Who are you?” One of the men said, pointing at Nick. The man was African-American, tall, and had a head of jet black hair. He was younger than Nick, but not by much. He wore a casual pair of sweats and a T-shirt, which caused Nick to smile involuntarily. While Tom went all the way to appear as refined as possible, this guy looked like he couldn’t care less about his appearance.

Tom laughed sarcastically. “Oh didn’t you hear? This is Nick, the guy we picked up last night. He is none other than our newest recruit!”

“Oh really?” The man replied, a grin now on his face. “Welcome to the team. I’m Henry.” He stood up and walked towards Nick, extending his hand for him to shake. “I’m really a big fan of how you lose control and destroy everything around you.”

“Thanks,” Nick said, gingerly taking Henry’s hand. That brought the total of people who liked it up to one.

“No!” Tom cried, causing Henry to jump. “This is not a good thing! You saw him yourself. He’s irresponsible, reckless, and dangerous. He could lose control again and get us all killed!

Nick frowned. Tom was speaking like he wasn’t even present in the room, which only heightened his hatred towards him.

“Oh really?” Nick said, glaring at Tom. “And you just have it all together do you? You’re not going to lose control and strangle someone with a chain?”

The color drained from Tom’s face. A cup on the table shattered on its own accord, sending water and glass everywhere.

“Tom!” Erica cried, jumping to her feet. “Calm down!”

“No! He almost got you killed! I will not work with someone like him!”

With that, Tom ran for the doors and pushed through them, exiting the room. Erica shot Nick an accusing look, then ran after him.

“Sorry about that,” the Goth girl said, leaning forward on the couch. “Tom has some issues trusting new people. Plus, he’s pretty protective of Erica sometimes.”

“Why?” Nick responded, then quickly adding in a smaller voice. “Are they dating?”

“They’re siblings,” responded the girl. “They bounced around from foster home to foster home as kids. They only had each other for a long time. It’s kind of hard to shake that bond.”

Nick stayed silent, unsure of what to say about this newly revealed information. One thing stuck in the forefront of his mind, though. They’re siblings.

“Tom has a hot head but he’s a nice guy when you get to know him. Erica is quiet, but once you break through her exterior, she’s great too.”

“Anyway,” the girl said, standing up. “My name is Elizabeth, but you can call me Lizzie. And this…”

“…is her hunk of a boyfriend, Josh.” The other guy in the room finished, jumping off the couch to shake Nick’s hand. Compared to someone like Tom, Josh looked absolutely puny. He had little muscle on him, making him look fairy scrawny in his bulky clothes. He had short brown hair which was spiked up in the front. It also seemed like he couldn’t keep still, constantly tapping his fingers or running about. Lizzie probably looked more intimidating than Josh did. She had dark black hair which was pulled downwards across her eyes, which were underlined in black eyeshadow. She wore dark clothes as well, which could be seen as overkill by some, but it seemed to work well for her. She combined the dark wardrobe with her perky attitude almost seamlessly. They both appeared to be slightly younger than Henry, meaning Nick was one of the older people on the team.

Thinking silently to himself, Nick couldn’t have possibly imagined two people who appeared more different, but as Josh and Lizzie took each other’s hands, Nick couldn’t help but smile. They had an aura about them of an old married couple that still loved each other after years of being together. It was hard not to root them on.

“Okay you two lovebirds, break it up,” Henry said, causing Josh and Lizzie to let go of each other, blushing deeply. “Do you want anything to eat Nick? We have plenty.”

Though he was absolutely starving, Nick declined. “I’m okay. I just want to get some rest for now. This is a lot to process.”

Henry smiled knowingly. “Of course. We’ll wake you before dinner.”

Nick raised his hand in thanks and entered his room, shutting the door behind him. He laid down on the bed, but contrary to what he told Henry, he wasn’t planning on sleeping. All he needed was time alone to collect his thoughts. The past hour had turned his entire life upside down.

After a few minutes, however, his body betrayed him. Being drugged can really take all the energy out of you. His mind went blank as he drifted off to sleep.