“NaNoWriMo 2020 Pt. 26”

Author’s Note: This is a Take Ten to Write story and has not been proofread for errors. If I feel inspired or if there’s interest in the story, I’ll post a revised, edited, and extended version at a later date. Happy reading!

Additional note: In honour of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), all 30 stories written in the month of November will (hopefully) create a single multi-part story that will reach its conclusion by the end of the month. Stay tuned for a new story part every day!

Read the compiled NaNoWriMo TTtW story here!

Prompt: “A pleasure, as always.”

MASON’S POV

“Okay, woah, hold up,” I say, staring at her. “You’re saying that we just cleaned out a dead dude’s room?”

Maddie frowns. “No, I literally just said that he’s still alive.”

“But he was dead… right?”

She nods. “I mean, I think so. His heart stopped beating and everything. Plus, his leg grew back.”

“And you’re sure you weren’t hallucinating?”

“I’m positive.” She sighs and says, “Don’t tell me you haven’t seen strange things since the Day of the Halving. Strange, inexplicable things.”

My mind jumps to Skye and her strange fire-creating ability.

“Okay, yeah, I’ve seen some stuff,” I admit. “But limb regeneration? That still seems like a bit of a stretch.”

Maddie shivers slightly. “Regeneration is the nicer side of things. The things I’ve seen…” She trails off, shaking her head. Suddenly, her eyes snap back up to mine. “Come on, I need to show you something.”

She grabs my hand and drags me down the hallway, leaving our supplies in the elevator behind us. She crashes through the door into the stairwell and leads me up. I’m panting by the time she finally stops on a floor. She skids to a stop in front of the doorway and jabs a finger at the window.

“Look out there,” she says softly.

I peer through the window to see what looks like a vacation villa. I mean, I guess I wasn’t sure what to expect given that I’ve seen what the guests’ rooms look like, but this actually looks like paradise.

“Hold up,” I say with a frown. “Why are they out there and we in here?”

I glance at Maddie and see that she’s looking at me with exasperation. “Have you really not figured it out yet?” she asks. She pushes me out of the way at the window before exclaiming, “There! Okay, look,” she pulls me over beside her. “Look at that girl there, sitting on the edge of the pool.”

I squint as I try to pick out the girl that Maddie’s talking about. Finally I find her. She’s sitting on the edge of the pool, kicking her legs around.

“Yeah, what about her?” I say with a frown.

“Well, just watch,” Maddie says softly.

I keep staring at the girl. Just when I’m starting to feel creepy, the water around the girl’s feet looks like it’s getting lighter.

Ice. The pool is turning to ice.

“Wha….”

“They all have abilities,” Maddie says, her mouth right next to my ear. “That’s why they’re being treated like royalty. There’s this guy, Winston, he runs this place. He’s been collecting people from the mainland and bringing them here. People like us, the Normies, are kept down below and are used as servants for the Specials, who are those guys.”

I frown. “Who is this Winston guy? Why does he get to make all the decisions?”

The door that we’re both leaning on suddenly flings open. I fall forward with a quiet yelp, almost faceplanting on someone’s shoes.

“Ow,” I mutter, slowly pushing myself up.

Maddie’s already on her feet beside me, glaring up at a tall man wearing a labcoat.

“Winston,” she snarls.

“Ah, Maddison,” Winston says. “A pleasure, as always.”

Then, his eyes turn to me. A chill runs down my spine.

A smile spreads across his lips. “Mason Barlowe,” he says softly. “Just the person I was looking for. Come, we’ve got much to discuss.”

Final Comments: I’m not totally in love with ‘Normies’ and ‘Specials’, but it’s hard thinking of stuff on the spot…

Overall Rating: 😅