Chapter two

This was my first day at The Institution. A loud bell rang while I was exploring a tiny cabinet full of sweet wrappers and old, battered text-books. I jumped, span around and joined the flurry of people entering the corridor, towards the Grand Hall. I hid behind my hair, head down. I didn’t hear much from the snatches of conversation I heard, so eventually I gave up as I sat down at a bench, grabbed the nearest bowl, jug and box of cornflakes and began to eat.

“Emberlyn?” a timid, shy voice came through the people. I wheeled round to see a girl with delicate red hair, straight and plaited. Her uniform was exactly the same as mine, and she held her head high as if she was important. Her face was expressionless, then shocked, then joyful. “Emberlyn! Oh Emberlyn it’s you!” Her hug swamped me and I squealed.
“Laura!” It was, it was Laura.

“How did they catch you? I never thought you would be… What happened? Did Andrea end up getting caught for the chewing gum incident? Oh tell me Emberlyn, do tell me!” I blabbed out my long tale, my Mum, my school life, my eavesdropping skills, Emleh and Ryan and what happened the day before. Her answers were all perfect, her accent strong and slightly old. I loved this place immediately, oh how my Mum would love it if I saw her again! My voice would be pure, my back straight, my clothes and sewing skills perfect. I don’t know how I did it, settled into The Institution’s style so fast. Laura and I were in full flow all breakfast, then she looked at the clock, yelped and picked a book from the stack she had been carrying. Flicking through, she announced she had a Drift Theory exam first thing. Looking at my timetable, I frowned. The only lessons we shared were Channel and Biology. I quizzed her as we walked about different subjects and found out that Drift was sending dreams, and Channel was pinpointing them. As soon as she showed me where to go, we hugged and departed, and I resumed my former position; head down, fast movements and no eye-contact. My hair covered my face as I pushed open the door to my first lesson at The Institution.

 

It was a Science lesson, Chemistry in fact. I flopped down at the first desk I saw and took in the room through my hair. It was quite big, and the desks were all separate, one to a desk. The lab section was similar, and there were a pile of goggles in the corner. Later, I learned this was one of the few lessons where genders mixed. The teacher called names.

“Alice. Josef. Tom. Natasha. Aurelia. John. Mary. Finn. Emberlyn. Remington. Tom. Ashleigh. Milly. Laura. Candy.” The replies were all ‘Yes sir’ in clear, ringing voices. Only Finn’s voice faltered and mine was so quiet that barely anyone could hear. I was given a green textbook and a small notebook for lectures. I was also given a pack of pens and pencils, which were all slightly battered and used. I picked the one with the most ink in, and began taking notes on Mr Barley’s lecture on leaf structure. A paper airplane was thrown at me when Mr Barley was turned away. I opened it to read:

 

Hello. You have a strange name, Emberlin right? I like your hair. Go on, answer to a teacher’s question. We all want to hear your voice.

 

I was furious. I scribbled.

 

EmberLYN. Thanks for the compliment but no. I completely refuse.

 

Throwing it back at the boy who sent it. I knew him as Finn. He had dark hair, tanned skin and long eyelashes. Very ladylike.

 

You could at least be polite. You’re not supposed to be confident, you’re new here.

 

Thanks a tonne. Made my day. Why you can’t mind your own business God knows.

 

You should speak out. I think you would have a really pretty voice, it must match.

 

I was very embarrassed at that comment. Carefully tearing the paper, I threw it in the bin, finished my notes and raised my hand.

“Emberlyn?”

“Sir, what is the cytoplasm?”

“Emberlyn, you should know this.”

“Oops. Sorry Sir. I remember now.”

 

There you go. Was your prediction right or what?

 

I guess so. It’s very nice. I guess I was right. Thanks. You made my day as well.

 

That’s nice. You’re Finn right? You’re a sarcastic little one aren’t you.

 

If you didn’t know, I am the same age as you. And yeah, Finn.

 

Oh, is that because I called you little? I don’t know what you have against that. You probably want to know all about me don’t you, so you can tell all of your little friend lings. Well, I am Emberlyn Rose Flint, My Mum’s a nurse and a care worker, and works from home. I handed myself into The Institute and barely know myself, I don‘t know what to say really. Oh, and I hate Chemistry if you hadn’t guessed already. Mr. Barley is actually alright, better than my old teacher. What about you? Hey, do you know Laura? Otherwise you wouldn’t know about my existence at all.

 

Emberlyn Rose Flint huh? Nice. Well, I am Finn White, I’m alright with the Institute and have no idea who my parents are. Oh, and I know this place back to front! Yeah, Laura’s pretty cool.

 

She’s my best friend, idiot. I am actually feeling sadness for you here. I cannot believe you didn’t even know your parents. You must be so miserable. Are we allowed phones in here? Like, in The Institute at all?

 

Hell yeah, we all use them at recess.

 

I’ll be there :)

 

I could have killed him. He was already the most annoying person I had met, really sarcastic and irritating. The bell rang, and I shuffled my paper, shoved it in my bag, clutched my book to my chest and walked out behind him. Following him. Stalking him.

“Emberlyn! Oi!” Damn it Laura, give me away why don’t you. She came running up. And Finn turned around.

“Oh hey, how was Chem.? Oh wow, you’ve met Finn?” She gestured to him and blushed, questioning, curious.

“Yeah I…” Finn began, but I interrupted.

“We just had Chem. Together, that’s all. I’m on the bench next to him, annoying little brat.”

“Oi!”

“Nah, cool it off Finn. You eating with us?” Laura threw at him.

“No, I’ll be with Joe. I don’t hang around with freaks anyway.” He wandered off, flashing me a grin as he went. Laura was flustered.

“So… Now what?”  I asked.

“Now? Now we eat!” We snacked at the benches, scoffing crisps and exchanging funny pictures of our mobiles. Finn walked by once or twice, grinned and shrugged off, glancing back at Laura as he went. She was happy with that, and began buzzing about the people she knew and the cool hideouts in The Institution. I demanded her to show me where they were at lunch, and she agreed eventually. The bell rang.

 

My next lesson was gym, an all-female lesson. I’ve always been rubbish at sport, and I often break limbs. That day, I stretched my leg too far and my leg went all floppy. The teacher didn’t know what was wrong, so I was moved off into the Hospital Block.

 

I sat in there for ages as the robots examined my legs, which was slightly scary. The Institute used robots for loads of things apparently, and as I sat there I was in pure shock. They wheeled off, leaving me upside-down and breathless. I craned my neck to listen to their basic, strange conversation.

“Should we tell Boss?”

“She seems to have gone through Change early.”

“I know that. Should we tell Boss?”

“Yes, go on then.”

“OK.” One robot wheeled into an important-looking room. As the other came back and started fussing over me. What was Change? Why is it happening to me? Why did they say it’s early? Who’s Boss? These questions zoomed through my mind as I lay, mesmerized by the glowing lights above me. The room was well lit, comfortable and somehow poky and small. A teacher walked into the room with the other robot.

“But I need Boss.”

“He’s busy you stupid little robot! Now get back to work on Kelvin! How are you Emberlyn, I heard you went through a strange accident during gym, yes?”

“Um, yes sir.”

“And you know why don’t you Emberlyn.”

“No sir. This is my first day here sir.”

“Oh, I see. You know why you’re here I take it?”

“Yes sir. I’m a Candidate. A Clairvoyance Candidate.”

“Yes Emberlyn, you’re a CC. Now, where does it hurt?” I pointed to the vague area where the pain was, and lay back as the teacher �" I suspected he was a Medic. �" examined it. Once again, I fell into a deep, thick sleep.

 

“Emberlyn! No! Not her!” I knew this voice now, it was Finn. “No! Get your hands off me you freaks! Laura! Emberlyn!”

“Finn!” I called back instinctively. There was a thick pane of glass between us, and I had my hand pressed against it as he was dragged away. I felt strong hands grasp me, and a voice whisper,

“He’s not coming back. You’ll never see him again you know.” I screamed.

 

I woke up shaking, and felt cool hands and metal on my forehead. The teacher was there, along with the robot.

“Shush, dear Emberlyn. Calm down. It was a dream, that’s all”

“Yeah? Really? I am Clairvoyant you know! You said so yourself!” My voice pitch raised, and I started yelling.
“No Emberlyn, not all your dreams are of what shall happen.”

“But that one was! There was Finn and Laura, and I’ve had it before!”

“When?” His voice was sharp suddenly.

“When I was in the van coming here and I think I’ve had it before as well.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.” He walked off and began talking with one of the robots, glancing at me every so often. The robot nodded and wheeled off. The teacher turned back to me.

“Emberlyn, come with me.” I stood up shakily and followed him down three corridors and through a large, ornate door. “This is Changing Class. You, Laura and Finn shall be moved here immediately. You are not allowed out. Now, down this corridor there are four doors. Two lead to dorms, one to a small hospital room and the other to a classroom. Changing Class is small. Do not disrupt any goings-on. Understand?” I nodded. He walked out, locking the door behind him.

 

I was stood, petrified for a long time. I snapped out of it when the teacher returned with Laura and Finn, both of which were squirming, wriggling and dragging. The teacher threw them at my feet and said,

“All of you need to grow up.” He stormed off. Laura and Finn glanced up at me and struggled to their feet.

“What the hell is going on?” I asked, awestruck.

“We’ve been moved into Changing Class.”

“Obviously, but what happens here?”
“No-one knows. No-one comes out, but apparently everyone who gets thrown in here goes on to do great things.” I was absolutely scared witless at the thought �" what was going to happen? I heard a door creaking behind us, and we all wheeled round simultaneously to see a small, dainty child.

“Emberlyn?”
“Emleh?” It was, Emleh was in Changing Class.

“Is this the Emleh you told us about?”

“Yeah. Hey, do you know what happens here?” I directed the question at Emleh.

“No, but they do all weird tests and we have demonstrations and stuff. And when I come in here right, everyone else gets taken away by this huge black bloke. I dunno what happens to them, us I mean.” That was that. We were now in Changing Class.