Sanders McCarthy's Story

Sanders awoke to the sound of the shower. So it was already morning. He rolled over in his bed and glanced at his alarm clock. It read 7:44 am, but seconds later, it turned into 7:45. The blasted machine began to chirp loudly. Sanders touched it with a finger, willing the clock to come to life. It shivered once, then hobbled down from the bedside table, landing on the ground with a loud thud. Sanders allowed himself a small smile as the machine scampered out the door, still beeping obnoxiously. He didn't care if he got into trouble. Whenever he caused a ruckus, it was only for his own amusement. The people here probably wouldn't freak out about an alarm clock with a life of its own, but it would still be funny to see their annoyed reactions.

With a slight yawn, Sanders sat up and swung his legs out of bed. He would skip the shower today; he never cared much about personal hygiene. He slipped off the t-shirt he wore while sleeping and replaced it with a large, brown sweater. After rummaging around, he found a pair of sweatpants and yanked those on over his boxers. Satisfied with his attire, Sanders headed out the door, but not before grabbing his tablet from under his pillow.

He walked down to the cafeteria. Along the way, he found the remains of his alarm clock scattered across the ground. Someone had obviously gotten angry at it. Sanders simply shrugged at the sight and continued on his way. His nose wrinkled when he entered the cafeteria. He didn't like the place. There were too many people there. He quickly finished his breakfast, consisting of a bagel, some cream cheese, and a glass of pink lemonade, then hurried out. He returned to his room to pick up his studying materials, then made his way to the library.

Once in the library, Sanders sat down at his favorite table. It was by a window and offered a great view of the outside. He liked mindlessly gazing out across the hills. Outside was a world where all sorts of people did all sorts of things. Sanders didn't care about that. He just wanted to be alone. And he could be alone here in this school. Sure, there were other kids, but they were more concerned about their own troubles to pay much attention to him. He could do what he wanted (within reason, of course) and no one would bother him about it.

Sanders opened his notebook, turning to a fresh page. A blank canvas. He took out four pencils and brought them to life. They began to sketch a scene of wild horses pounding across the grassy plains. Their manes and tails billowed in their wake. Sanders sighed as he watched the picture come to life. What would he do without pencils? Pens were okay, but they just didn't have the same charm as pencils.

Leaving the pencils to do their work, he picked a random book from a shelf and began to read. Checking his tablet, he confirmed he had plenty of time until his next class. He would read until then and hopefully, no one would disturb him.

Amelia was happy to hear Slayer needed her... Amelia liked it when they said that... She felt like there was a use for her in the world. Amelia stood quietly as Slayer finished. "So you need help finding a book?" Amelia asked. Slayer turned to smile at a friend who had just entered the library. Amelia gave the girl a smile too and watched another girl appear and she waved. Guess the library was a popular place this morning?

Amelia then watched as a young boy came in. He looked about 13 and he looked like he was pretty quiet. Visions threatened to appear in her mind, of all the people in the room. Amelia winced at the mind overload and she imagined mentally pushing the thoughts out of her head and it temporarily eased her mind. Amelia watched as the boy sat at the window and she brought her attention back to the girl with red hair. The bell rang and it didn't startle Amelia... She knew it was coming.. One of the perks of Precognition. No surprises. "Oh... I have to go.." Amelia said to the girl.. She'd never even learned her name. "I'll see you around..." Amelia said, leaving without answers. Amelia walked out of the Library and headed to Art Class.

A bell sounded. Sanders snapped his book shut. Art class. Sanders didn't need an art class. He only needed his pencils. But still, it was better than any of the other classes the school offered. The classic academics were all boring. He didn't put much effort into those subjects; he expended only the energy needed to pass the class.

Reluctantly, he shelved his book. His pencils had finished with the drawing quite some time ago and lay still beside the notebook. Sanders took some time to admire the work of art. The horses seemed to move on the page. They were shaded as if the evening sun was setting behind them, the rays slinking away beneath the horizon. It was beautiful and Sanders couldn't help but feel a burst of pride in his pencils. They were always doing the most miraculous things.

He carefully closed the notebook and placed it in his messenger bag, along with the pencils. After checking that he had not forgotten anything, he left the library. The art classroom was not too far away, so the walk was not a long one. As he stepped inside, he noticed a few people were already there. Sanders did not care for other people's names, but he recognized some of the faces. One of them, a small boy around his age, was actually in the same dorm as Sanders.

Sanders decided to take a seat next to the other boy. He avoided eye contact with the people in the room and waited impatiently for class to start, fiddling with a loose thread on his sleeve. He couldn't wait for this to be over with so that he could go back to the library and read. That book had been fairly good and Sanders had wanted to finish it in one setting. Obviously, that wasn't going to happen. He would just have to bear with it and push through the useless class like always.

Art class passed by uneventfully, other than the incident when that girl with the telekinesis powers dropped the sewing machine. Sanders minded his own business, never talking to anyone. He finished projects by the day and was having trouble finding enough of them to keep himself busy. Luckily, a few new options had popped up. Sanders decided on a project that would work with pastels and watercolors to create something Monet-esque. He decided on a still pond populated with pink waterlilies. He pictured it in his head, then brought the brushes and pastels to life. They captured the image perfectly, though Sanders would still have preferred pencils over any other medium.

When his tablet signaled to him that art class was over, he put away his art supplies and left, heading back towards the library. To his disappointment, he found that the book he had been reading had disappeared from the shelf. Out of all the books to take from the library, someone just had to take that one. Sanders hissed under his breath. He ran his fingers along the spines of an entire shelf of books, willing them to life. They quivered, then burst from the shelf. Sanders repeated the process with another bookshelf. Soon, he had an entire army of books awaiting his command.

"Wreak havoc," he whispered.

And the books obeyed. They hobbled along the ground and began pouncing on unsuspecting people. Revenge was a rare thing when it came to Sanders, but he had endured through an entire art class to read that book. He would not let this go quietly. It didn't matter that the person who had taken the book probably had no clue Sanders had been reading it. The only things that mattered to Sanders were himself and his pencils.

He didn't stay to witness the chaos the books would inevitably create, instead darting back to his dorm where he could have his pencils draw in peace and quiet. The identity of the perpetrator would be obvious, but at the moment, Sanders just savored his victory. His pencils began sketching a dragon fighting an armor-clad knight. Sanders watched the progress with his bright blue eyes. The dragon was winning.

I began to hear screaming from around me. I look up quickly from my book to see books walking around.
Sanders, I think. I slip my book under my arm and run over to the boy.
"Sanders, unanimate those! You'll get in trouble. I don't know how long you have been here, but that's a sure way to get punished. They hate when you use your powers for reasons like this..." I pause, and I point to a few black prisms around the corners of room.
"Those are cameras, and they are all watching."

I sat up yawning, I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and gazed around the room. Some thing flashing caught my atention and my eyes widened when I saw that my tablet was telling my i had class.  Struggling to untangle myself from my covers I fall to the ground, but then scramble up to pull on my clothes and force my glasses onto my face.

I looked in the mirror fixing my hair and checking to see if my clothes matched. "I hope I dont get in trouble" I whisper to myself as I fly out of my dorm heading for the library. the halls where pretty barren...most of us are probably in classes or something. I dont know alot of people here very well, I'm feeling kinda lonely... I should try to make some friends today.

I made my way into the library, and gasped watching all the books bouncing around, well somebody obviously made Sanders mad...I made my way in trying to avoid being hit by books...how am I supposed to get this to stop? I don't feel like sitting in my room to study, I let out a squeek as a book hit me in the side of the head.

This is ridiculous... I know Sanders may not like it here and that he wants to be left alone...but doing this? Does he have to act so selfish? I dont want to be here...I would rather be back in my hometown... even with all the bullying, I'd still be with my friends and boyfriend. Being here....does he have to make it all worse?

I started picking up the books and shuving them back onto the shelves, I really didint care if they where in the right way or not...I just wanted to have them stop hiting me. Once I had a space clear of the live books I sat down and pulled out my work...this day...was alredy taking a turn for the worst...

Blake looked at the boy as he entered the room. He seemed to know where he was going, and what he was doing. This is what Blake had doing for a while now, watching as people entered and left, wether they were flustered or determined, it was quite fascinating. This boy however moved off to shelf near edge and started touching the spines of books. Then something intriguing happened, they started moving. Slowly at first, just small vibrations, but within seconds there was a large group of animated and stumbling around. Then they struck, attacking anything near them. Thankfully Blake was on the other side of the room and they weren’t exactly fast. He got up turned himself invisible and jogged outside, making himself visible once again. He waited outside the door, he wasn’t done in there yet, but didn’t feel like getting mobbed by angry books.

Sick of silence and an empty dorm, Slayer left for lunch a few minutes early. She could only stand to be cooped up in a room with nothing to do for so long. Walking down the corridor in the direction of the cafeteria, she passed by the library. Suddenly she heard shrieking coming from behind the closed doors. Curiously she pushed one open and peeked inside.

Books were flying about, hitting people on the head. No one was throwing them, but one boy was rather hastily thrusting them back on the shelves. Strange things went on in this school.

Slayer knew about the girl with the telekinesis, but the books hadn't simply been floating from place to place. They looked as if they had a purpose. Approaching the cafeteria, Slayer went over the list in her head of kids at this school and their powers. Could it have possibly been the quiet little boy who animated objects? What would make him do such a thing as to attack people with books?

I mean, I get mad sometimes, but I never... Slayer suddenly decided she wasn't one to talk.

All tablets and SmartScreens [The screens that the humans from the outside use to communicate with the abnormalities] flash on.

All schedules are now revoked. You may do whatever you like for the next 7 hours, then you are to report for lights off. Dinner will be served at the regular times, and all abnormalities must report to the Main training facility at 10am for an announcement. If you fail to show up, you'll be punished. This is extremely important, and will permanently decide your fate.

Thank you.

And all the screens flash off.