By: Summer Chu
Elliot was on the run.
He didn't know what he was doing at all. He had always been such a quiet kid; no one knew him, and no one even cared about him but his family and his one friend. He had never done anything before to attract attention, but now, he was running from the government.
Law enforcement had come to his quiet house late at night, where he lived with his two parents and younger brother, and declared that it was his duty to serve his country. Elliot was confused in all this. He thought maybe they were trying to draft him into the military, but he didn’t think that this was how drafts worked. His parents tried to ask what would happen, but all the military people just said that Elliot was getting brought to serve the government for a great cause, whatever that meant.
So, his family, unable to fight the government, packed his essential things while the people instructed him how to behave; Elliot was barely listening. He didn't know what was going on, and he didn't know what to do. All he could do was sit there and worry about what he could've done to have the government, after him. Elliot hadn't broken any laws or done anything else that could've caught their attention. In the end it didn't matter. He was taken far, far away from his normal quiet life with his normal quiet family and was dragged right into chaos.
He went on a long road trip in the back of a black car. Other cars identical to the one he was in were always beside them. After at least 8 hours of confusion, panic, worry, terror, and looking out the car window, they finally arrived at their destination. The capital building of his country was enormous. It dripped with jewels and displays of wealth and power that made Elliot feel the size of an ant. He was escorted to a huge bedroom, larger than his entire house, and actual guards were posted outside his door. He was left there with the single suitcase his parents had packed for him with no more instructions.
Elliot was exhausted from staying up all night in the car and the sheer number of emotions he had gone through. Without even unpacking or changing into his pajamas, he climbed into bed, knowing that anything would be better than staying up and worrying. So, he fell right to sleep.
In his dream, he was in a huge, barely lit library with every conceivable surface covered in books from floor to ceiling. To some, it might have been a paradise, but for Elliot, it was his worst nightmare. He was dyslexic, and at his school, he had always been terribly bullied for it, so much so that he convinced his parents to let him get homeschooled. He had tried so long and so hard to learn how to read, but still, Elliot had a really difficult time. He started running as fast as he could, letting out short labored breaths and tripping over books, trying to get out of the library. But it looked like the shelves were creating a maze around him then closing in, forcing him to put on another burst of speed, running even faster out of the huge library. Suddenly, just as he thought he was going to pass out of exhaustion, he stumbled into a small white room.
Everything in the room was nothing but bright white until his eyes adjusted and he realized it was his room back home. He watched as a younger version of himself appeared on the ground and then, his best friend beside him. Elliot watched as his younger self played monopoly with his best friend Millie, the only friend he ever had that had truly liked him. He watched as Millie would read out the cards for him and how they would laugh together. She had always been nice to him, and he had never known why, until she had moved away. After that, Elliot never saw her again. The memory slowly faded into black as he drifted off into a deeper sleep.
Later, he was woken up by one of the guards outside his door with a loud knock and a voice saying that he had to get ready to see some president's general. Elliot scrambled out of bed and walked to the door. He opened it, and the guard led him to a fancy office with portraits hung all around the room. What happened after Elliot can't remember too well because of how dizzy the news the general guy told him made him feel.
Apparently, a recent health test that Elliot took at school revealed that he was one of the last mindreaders in the world. Elliot had heard of the mindreaders that had lived hundreds of years ago, where the power had been almost as common as having blue eyes. But ability had faded in time, and no one had the power anymore except him.
Apparently. Elliot didn't believe it, though, the power had been gone for generations, and he had never had any mindreading powers before. Still, the general said that the power needed to be activated. Then he had gone on a long tangent about what Elliot's power could do for the country and what his ability could do to other countries and people, but all Elliot could think was how torturous the rest of his life would be if he had to work here. Away from his family, always being used to do something awful and being used by this government. He couldn't do it. He really just couldn't.
So, he had decided to run away from the capitol with the help of his guards that he had somehow convinced to help him. His guards were also very well-liked by the entire security team of the capitol, who all got in on the plan and helped him escape.