“Close your eyes.” Dr. Evans directed and I obliged; we were back to the high-tech testing room after a night’s rest. I was stuffed into a small cupboard of a room in a gleamingly white, sterile corridor for the night, starved of any human contact and collected in the morning by Heather. At least they remembered to give me food.

I was disappointed that Lynette wasn’t  here since I couldn’t ask any more questions, however she had left Heather here to supervise instead. I stole a glance at the poker-face secretary and silently pondered if she was capable of any other facial expression.

They were now onto my telepathic power, which is not the typical power processed by the de Silver family and I could see the excitement oozing out of Dr. Evans and Dr. Hobbs as we began the day.

 “Relax.” Dr. Evans added and I tried not to huff at her request. It’s not exactly easy to relax with things taped to the sides of your head and someone staring at you intensively.

“I want you to try and read my mind.” She said and I nodded. Although I had always been tentative in using my mind-reading skill due to a sense of paranoia that someone would notice and blow my cover, telepathy was still one of my most treasured secret weapons.

Forcing myself to take another deep breath I attempted to clear my mind as much as possible and lowered the wall I had around my mind. Slowly I began to pick up weak signals. Being out of practice, it took me a while to identify the one belonging to Dr. Evans. She had her defenses down (or she didn’t even had any to begin with) so it wasn’t hard at all for me to pinpoint her thoughts.

“Queen of hearts.” I said; she had conjured up an image of the card in her head. Giving me a slight nod she jotted down something on the clipboard in front of her. This kept going for another ten rounds or so before she declared that we will take a break before moving onto the next stage.

The rest of the days consisted of silly tests like blind folding me and asking me to sense the way through a maze. I wondered for the hundredth time why didn’t they just put me in a simulation room. They must have it, considering family business was much more lucrative than a school.

“Are we done?” I asked, trying not to bury my face into my hands. It felt like we were at it for hours. Dr. Evans made some mindless noises as she continued to scribble furiously into the clipboard she was holding and I stifled a sigh. With Lynette being absent today I wasn’t able to ask any questions either, which made the whole of today seem pointless.

I huffed at Dr. Evans as she ignored my question. Seriously, this whole thing was beginning to make me feel like I was only here because they were interested in my powers. Which was probably true anyway.

“When can I get out of here?” I asked, slamming my palms on the table in order to gain the doctors attention.

“As soon as the tests are done.” The doctor finally replied without looking up. Frustrated I glanced towards the other side of the room and saw that Dr. Hobbs had left and Heather was talking on her earpiece again.

“When?” I asked again, this time with more force and to my surprise Dr. Evans looked up at me.

“When we are given the orders from Lynette.” She replied, her voice was monotonous and her expression strangely blank. I blinked in surprise; that was too easy, it was almost like she was… wait, it can’t be.

I just compelled her.

For a second I almost opened my mouth and told her about it. However as Dr. Evans snapped out of the trance acting as though nothing had happened, I realized that this was the greatest advantage I had. If things turned sour, I would still be able to get out and find where Tom and everyone else were.

Feeling a million times better I stuck through the rest of the tests and tried to act the same way as I did earlier in the morning. Although I probably needn’t have worried since all three people in the room with me were the least emotionally aware creatures I knew.

When the end of the day finally rolled around, I was unceremoniously deposited into a random room by Heather, who told me to wait in there. I looked around and came to the conclusion that it must be some kind of common room, equipped with sofas and a small kitchenette.

Sinking into the plush sofa I sighed, wondering if Lynette was ever going to let me go back to London Citybase to see my family again. At this rate I would be stuck here until I turn thirty.

The sound of doors opening startled me and I looked up to see a group of young adults strolling into the room. Surprised, I watched as the guy at the front stopped a few meters away from me

I could tell the guy was studying me and I took that time to study the group as well. There were five of them in total, four boys and one girl. The leader who was sizing me up had ash brown hair and hazel green eyes. When our eyes met he narrowed his eyes and took a step forward.

“So…” he said, pacing in front of me and dragging out his words. “You are Abigail Beckett.”

I raised my eyebrow at him, not sure what kind of game he was playing. So they knew who I was, which wasn’t a big surprise; the question was, what were they doing here?

One of the other boys, one with almost shoulder length dark hair gave me a playful smile when our eyes locked and waved at me making the only girl behind him scowl.

“It’s very rude not to introduce yourself you know.” I said, directing it at the hazel-eyed boy. He chuckled and stopped pacing right in front of me, dropping down so we were at the same eyelevel. I tried not to let the proximity bother me and stared right back at him holding my ground. This felt like school again and I really wasn’t in the mood to deal with the petty drama.

“I am Gerald.” His hazel eyes bored into mine and it felt almost like he was trying to read into my mind. “Gerald Fitz William.”

My glance flickered towards his companions however they showed no indication of introducing themselves. Turning back to Gerald, I nearly grimaced when he inched even closer to me.

“You are not what I expected.” He stated, then standing back up finally giving me back my personal space and began pacing again. Despite only meeting this guy for two minutes he was beginning to get on my nerves; I had never met anyone who sounded so pompous. Maybe with the exception of Fred Bowen.

I kept my mouth shut as Gerald settled down on the couch adjacent to me. His gang seemed to take this as a signal and scattered all around him. The girl and the long-haired guy sat down next to him, the girl still scowling and the other guy watching our exchange with interest.

“I heard you are powerful.” Gerald said; he was finally getting to the point and I shrugged, not giving anything away. I leaned back against the soft cushions hoping that if I ignored them they will just get bored and go away.

Before I could blink however, a mind wave hit me and the mental force was so strong that I was almost knocked over physically. Surprised and outraged I retaliated almost instinctively, tracing the source back to a skinny man standing behind the coach who was now splayed across the floor as my mind wall knocked him over.

Gerald exchanged a look with the girl and I immediately braced myself for whatever might come next. Sure enough the girl lifted the coffee table between us and hurled it towards me, using so much force that if it hit me I would most likely end up with a broken neck.

I was starting to get riled up; narrowing my eyes I hurled the coffee table against the wall and it promptly shattered into several pieces with a loud clutter and fell to the ground. I could sense someone trying to sneak through my brain wall and gritting my teeth I followed his brain wave and instead broke through his and gave him a blow that would ensure a headache for the rest of the day.

With that done I created a mind wall all around my mind and one around myself. I was proud that I had enough self-control not to lash out on them despite the fact that they attacked me first. It would not help my current status if they found out I had severely injured several of their members.

“Impressive.” Gerald said as he cast an uncaring glance at his minion who was now clutching his head and groaning. I rolled my eyes; I made sure that it wouldn’t hurt that bad, what a weakling.

“Thank you, now can you leave me alone?” I demanded, crossing my arms and glaring at him. This guy acted like he owned the place but the fact that his surname wasn’t even de Silver spoke otherwise. His uncaring attitude also unnerved me; I made a mental note to avoid this guy as much as possible when I get out.

“Join hands with me.” He said, leaning towards me ignoring my last remark. Out of the corner of my eyes I saw the girl stiffen and deepen her scowl. “We would make a powerful team and with our powers combined the next generation will be unstoppable.”

Blinking rapidly I discreetly pinched myself, my defenses momentarily forgotten as I wondered if this guy in front of me was for real. The sharp pain on my arm told me that this wasn’t a hallucination, or a dream (I doubted I could dream something like this up). This guy whom I just met for ten minutes arrogantly addressed me, attacked me with his posies and now asked me to basically have children with him. Was that just me or was there something seriously wrong with this picture?

“Excuse me.” I said, finally breaking out of my shock and offered him the only explanation I could think of. “Are you high?”

The long haired guy burst out laughing but was quickly silenced by an elbow to the ribs courtesy of the girl next to him. Gerald did not seem at all bothered by the question; in fact, his face was still a mask of calm as he leaned forward even more.

“Think about it.” He said, his eyes so intense that I felt like they were boring holes in my head. “With the powers and the bloodlines the two of us represent, our combination would bring the de Silver family above all others.”

As I continued to stare into his eyes I realized this guy was dead serious. I secretly wondered what would Tom say if he was here with me now; even if we didn’t sort out our feelings for each other, there was no way I would even consider this guy’s offer. “We are people, Gerald.” I sighed, trying to make him see reason. “Not cattle. And this is not a breeding program.”

Before Gerald could answer, the door opened and Lynette walked in with Heather following closely behind, as well as several elderly members. Surprise fluttered across her face when she saw the collection of people in the room and the conversations between them lulled as the rest of her companions observed the scene before them.

“Gerald.” An elderly man stepped forward and frowned, not too bad-naturally at the mentally disabled man, then at the rest of the gang. “Raven, Liam, Sam and Ron; what are you doing in here?”

“We were just getting to know Miss Beckett, grandfather.” He replied gracefully, standing up and bowing slightly to the group, as though he did not just propose to me that we should get married and have children moments before. “I can see that you have business to attend to, I shall leave you to it.”

Before anyone could say anything they piled out of the room so quickly that I was sure this kind of confrontation happened on a daily basis. Gerald’s grandfather shook his head as Heather closed the door behind them before turning his attention back to me.

“Abigail.” Lynette said, stepping towards me and placing a hand on my shoulder.  “I would like you to meet the council members.”

I nodded at them and forced a pleasant smile on my face, praying that they had finally decided that I wasn’t brainwashed to be a spy.

“Let’s have a seat.” Gerald’s grandfather said and gestured for me to sit down. I made sure that they were settled down first before I did. At times like this manners were very important.

“John has told me a lot about you.” Another elderly man with kind blue eyes said to me and I smiled back at him; it was good to know that someone had put in a nice word for me apart from my own grandmother.

“My name is Harold de Silver.” Gerald’s grandfather introduced himself, the kind old man was called Thomas and a woman about Lynette’s age who was dressed in a silk pant suit called Gretel.

“Under the excruciating circumstances that you were found in the forest as an unrecorded member of the de Silver family,” Harold begun, placing his hands together in a manner that was eerily similar to his grandson. “We had to confirm your account. We were finally able to contact Nirmal Ganesh who confirmed your story, and also of your discovery with Nigel Peterson.”

Nigel. A smile tugged on the corner of my mouth as I remembered the eccentric POE. He was truly one of a kind and I wondered how he was doing. My mind begun to drift away from the conversation only to snap out of it at the last minute.

“…we are happy to welcome you to the family.” Harold smiled warmly at me which I returned with a hasty smile, having spaced out on most of his speech. Out of the corner of my eyes I could see Lynette nodding approvingly and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at her.

“We have assigned temporary living quarters for you.” Harold continued and my ears perked up. “You will be staying at the youth section until further notice.”

One look at Lynette and I knew that this wasn’t what she had wanted, however I felt like a weight had been lifted from my shoulder. Whether I admitted it or not, the acceptance of my family was important to me. It seemed ridiculous, since I didn’t even know they existed till recently, but they made me feel less alone in this strange world. A world that I lived in now.

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Sorryyyy for the long break in update - had the worst writers block (or a case of laziness/brain malfunction)

Anyway just to let you lovely fans know that i am off to voluntering in Greece :P (don't hate me, last summer holiday of my life) for the month. Not that any of you care, but I also managed to get a 2i for my third year in Uni! I thought I was going to get 2ii :S - one more year and I am done with higher education :D

I am excited that I am over my block and the next chapter will be the BIG reveal that would answer A LOT of questions as well as bring up more *evil laugh*

I have created an ask.fm: ask.fm/shadow_cheah

go ahead and ask me questions there!

I am bring my laptop to Greece to cramp in more writing, but I am not sure if I get much wifi however i would try my best to upload whenever i do!

Meanwhile - comment and vote! Let me know what you think of Gerald! (he really isn't a love interest for those of you who are ready to kill me, he's just, well, one-track minded).

And a huge shoutout to my editor Avanish who put up with my irregularity