What?

"What?"

She shakes her head, hair whipping back and forth, and she gestures for us to follow. After the initial shock Jayson and I chase after her, and the three of us practically race to the common area. We make it there in under a minute, finding the room jam-packed with trainees. I've only ever been here once or twice, as I prefer to stay at the dorm and read, rather than hang out and socialize.

It's an oval-shaped room, with a large glass table in the middle, two orange sofas circling it. There is a television in one corner, and I know that some of the boys like to play video games together sometimes. I can hear them yelling at each other from our dorm.

We push our way through the crowd and find Kalen and Cassie. Kalen is serious, but Cassie is pale and shaking. She and Quinn had gotten close during training, and the two of us even exchanged a few words from time to time. She was sweet, liked by almost everyone in the compound because of her easy-going nature. It had come as a shock to us when she chose Jack's team, but I didn't judge people for their decisions. She was still a decent person, would still hang out with us during lunch breaks. She helped Cassie with her hand to hand skills and made Jack's team a bit more bearable. And now, she's gone.

Christian stands in the center of the room, in front of the circular table. Alexa and Daniel stand on either side, both with sullen expressions plastered on their faces. Jack and his team stand behind them, all of them wearing equal looks of pain. Even Jack seems affected, skin pale and ashen, dark circles creating bags under his eyes.

The space where Quinn should stand is like a hole, creating a gap too big to ignore. I spot people in the crowd with tears streaming down their cheeks, friends of Quinn's grieving for their loss. Cassie also has tears in her eyes, and when they meet mine, they seem to scream at me. "What's going on?" they plead, and all I can do is wrap my arm around her and provide her with what little comfort I can. I squeeze between her and Kalen, and he watches me with knowing eyes. We have a silent conversation, and whatever happened in the training room is ignored and forgotten. He shifts minutely closer, his own way of trying to provide comfort.

"You've all been called here today," says Christian, voice loud and clear over the low murmurs, "because we've lost one of our own."

I hear gasps, people that hadn't known what was going on were starting to understand the gravity of the situation. Everyone starts asking questions at once, voices creating a cacophony of worried shouts. Christian holds up his hands and asks for silence, but it takes Daniel whistling to get everyone's attention. Christian nods at our mentor and continues his speech.

"Team A returned this morning from their mission, to inform us that what we are facing, is more than what we anticipated. They encountered an unknown Gift, a more dangerous Gift than Simon Says' own, and first-year Quinn Miller lost her life trying to protect her team."

Jack flinches where he stands, and I see how hard he's fighting to maintain his composure. I may not like the guy, but losing a teammate like that, even one you just recently met, is something I wouldn't wish on anyone.

"It's a tragic event, one that will not go unpunished. We've sent out a message to all the compounds in the area. It's become a top priority to find this man and bring him in. This is no longer a solo mission. All of you will be tasked with finding him, you will help each other out, and bring him down."

He nods to Daniel, who looks more serious than I've ever seen him. One of his students just got killed, he had good reason to be pissed.

"You will be briefed tomorrow morning, today you have the rest of the afternoon off. I suggest you use your time wisely."

Alexa pushes her glasses up her nose, a habit of hers whenever she gets stressed. I've seen her do it a lot more recently.

"Both Daniel and I will be around for mentoring this afternoon, if you want to brush up on your training. A memorial for Quinn will be held at 10 o'clock tonight, anyone who wishes is invited to attend."

Christian thanks both mentors and the two of them take their leave.

"Let this be motivation to you," says Christian, eyes burning. "A comrade has been killed, and we will not let her sacrifice be in vain."

He looks over all of us, and his eyes stop when they land on me. They seem to linger for a second longer before he looks away.

"Someone very important is sending us his condolences, he wants to personally thank all of you for your hard work."

He looks at Alexa, who nods and expands her TekPad, turning it around so we see who is on the other side of the screen.

"Landa Compound."

The person speaking to us, staring back from a screen as always, is President Khan. He looks like he always does, brown hair peppered with gray, worry lines on his brow making him look older than he is.

"In this time of darkness, I want you to dig deep and find a purpose for this anger, this sadness. Your troubles have made it to the eyes and ears of the council, and rest assured we will not turn a blind eye to this. From now on we will work with the compounds to find this man, he will not be free for much longer."

The screen flickers and then turns black, ending the President's message. I can't believe we just got addressed by the most powerful man in the country. Forget the country, the entire world! I just wished it would have been under better circumstances.

"Thank you, Mr. President, his help is appreciated," says Christian, though I don't know to whom since the President isn't actually here with us.

He looks at us one last time, face grim.

"You are all dismissed," he finishes, turning away to disappear towards his office, Daniel and Alexa hot on his heels.

The crowd starts to disperse, friends of Quinn huddling together for support, others heading towards the training hall or dorms. Team A still stands in the middle of the room, and I for one, need to know more than what Christian just told us. It seems I'm not the only one who thinks that way, because Kalen starts walking up to Jack in a way that means business.

"Kalen," hisses Cassie, rushing to catch up to him. Jayson and Mara notice us walking up to Jack and follow as well, and soon we are all standing in front of the shell-shocked Elite.

"What happened?" Demands Kalen.

I put a hand on his shoulder and pull him back. Now was not the time to start a fight, Jack has been through enough as it is.

But the latter doesn't seem affected, his dark eyes just stare at us as if he were seeing nothing more than ghosts.

What happened out there? And why does Jack look so traumatized?

Jayson steps up to his brother, blue eyes meeting black, and with careful movements he pulls him into a hug. I hear what sounds like a hiccup bubble up from Jack's shaking form, but I choose to ignore it as the two brothers embrace each other. Jack holds on to Jayson like a lifeline, knuckles going white with how hard he's squeezing, and I worry that he's going to crush Jay. But he eventually takes a shuddering breath and pulls away, wiping his face furiously with his sleeve.

"Jack, what happened out there?" asks Jayson, still trying to maintain his non-threatening voice, like he's trying not to spook a caged animal.

Jack looks at us, looks back at his team, and leans on the glass table we are standing in front of.

"It all happened so fast, none of us knew what happened till it was too late."

His teammates have come to stand beside him, offering their leader support as he tells us the story. Team A, because they were the best team out of all of us, and as much as we hate to admit it, they are pretty dam good. Jack has his mind control Gift, but the other members were extraordinary as well. There's Dean, who might not look like much, but he can make protective barriers of any size, that could withstand a bomb exploding right above his head. There's Laura, who's Gifted with accuracy, which means she never misses a shot. She could throw a knife with her hands behind her back and her eyes closed, and she would still hit her target. And then we have Adam, who probably has the most dangerous Gift out if all of them. He can control fluids. Fluids, counting blood. He could kill a man in two seconds flat, as long as he got close enough to him. And then there had been Quinn, with her energy manipulation. But now...

"We tracked Simon Says to one of the factories in downtown Brooks after one of our contacts spotted him heading out of a thrift shop a short way from here. We found him, him and a few of his buddies, loading these giant barrels onto a truck."

He chuckles.

"We were so confident too. We went in, guns blazing, not thinking about what we might be getting ourselves into. It looked like we were going to get him, but then this man showed up, dressed in a strange-looking suit that covered him from head to toe. He wore a mask and gloves, and we thought nothing of him, just focused on Simon Says."

Jack shudders, reliving the moment in his head.

"He came at me, took off one of his gloves, and tried to reach for me, but Quinn hit him with one of her energy blasts and got his attention. He was only down for a minute, and then he was at Quinn's side, grabbing her by the arm."

Laura makes a choking noise in the back of her throat and turns away, not able to hear any more.

"She collapsed, we thought she was just unconscious, that maybe his Gift knocked people out. He called for backup, and soon we were outnumbered. They got into the van and ran, and we went to chase after him."

"Wait," I interrupt, not sure I'm getting what he's implying. "Are you saying you left Quinn behind?"

Jack holds my stare, but the small flicker in his eyes is all the answer I need.

"We thought she would be okay, we would be right back, but then we got to her and she," he chokes. "Her eyes, they were open."

His eyes shine from the tears he doesn't let fall, lowering his head and composing himself before he continues.

"And her skin was white. But not just white, almost translucent."

He shakes his head. Dean puts a hand on his neck, squeezing, supporting.

"The worst part, she looked like she had been dead for years, not minutes. That guy's Gift, it did something to her. It's like it sucked the life out of her completely."