When I open my eyes I instantly regret it. The rocky walls swirl together into a mess of dark colors. I lay there sputtering up black bile and gasping for air. Finally the spinning stops and I realize that I’m back in the Haunt. Someone, or several someones, must have dragged me back. The burning sensation is gone, but I am far from feeling normal. My nerves are fried and my body beyond weak. There is a sharp pain running from my chest to my forehead, as if someone took a razor blade and cut a thin line. I try to find the source of the pain and my fingers encounter a raised line. It throbs when I touch it. I trace the entire thing before I realize what it is. My vein.

“How do you feel?” Layla crouches down next to me. Some part of my brain registers that she has been with me for hours, standing over me while the room spun.

“Better. Horrible.” I start to laugh but it comes out as a cough. Layla hands me a cup of water and I sip it slowly. “Thanks.” It’s sweet of her to watch over me. Right now she seems to be taking an inventory of my body. Her eyes run all over me.

“Feeling anything unusual?” She asks. “Anything new?”

Right, the ability. That is why she’s watching me. The pain had all but pushed it from my mind. “No. Nothing unusual. I feel…like myself. Just a beat up, exhausted version of myself.” A panicked thought enters my mind. “What if it didn’t work? How do we know if I worked?”

“Calm down,” Layla says. “It worked. You’re pale. You got that whole freaky blue vein thing. All signs point to mutant.”

I swallow audibly. “What about the rest of it? How do we figure out what my…ability is?” A sudden head rush makes the room spin. I reach out to Layla and grasp her arm. When everything steadies, I feel stronger almost instantaneously. I stand up slowly. Layla helps me. “I think it’s all out of my system.” I stretch my hands out, flexing my fingers. I crack my neck. “I feel better.”

“Good,” Layla says. “Enjoy it while it lasts.”

“What do you mean?”

She grins at me sheepishly. “You’re not going to like this part. There are two ways to figure out your ability. We could wait and see if it presents itself, but that could take weeks.”

“Weeks!” I don’t have anywhere near that much time.

“That’s why we normally go with the second option. Tests. Your ability will be pulled out of you in reaction to certain things. Pain. Fear. Sometimes it’s seeing something specific. Feeling something. Unfortunately it’s not an exact science.”

“Fine, anything. Just do it.” I haven’t come this far to wait. But Layla does make me wait a bit longer. First she has me drink two more glasses of water and waits to see if I can keep them down. Then it’s a bowl of Chief’s stew. He must have made it especially for me because there are actual vegetables in it. I’ve almost forgotten what potatoes taste like. When I’m done Layla brings me over to the communal tub which is filled to the brim. Usually there isn’t enough water for more than splashing yourself with a damp cloth. Being naked isn’t a big deal in the Haunt. Kids walk around in their underwear and less. They strip down to bathe and fight over what little water there is. I’m teased for being way too modest and so I should be grateful to have the tub all to myself with a makeshift curtain drawn around it. When I stand over the water my heartbeat quickens and I can feel a flash of the burning black water over my skin. I force myself to put my feet in and work my way to sitting down. This water doesn’t burn, but my heartbeat doesn’t slow until I’m out of the tub. Once I’m dressed and what remains of my hair is towel-dried, I find Layla sitting around the fire.

“Anything else?” I ask her. “Want to tie a ribbon in my hair? Or give me a massage.”

She shakes her head and stands up. “No. We’ll get started. If your ability is offensive or defensive it will react to pain.” At the word pain Sarsa comes to stand next to Layla. A circle is forming around Sarsa, Layla and I. The kids of the Haunt sit down on the ground or lean against the rock walls. They surround us, talking and joking loudly.

“We don’t want to seriously injure you though,” Layla says. “As soon as it is too much, just tap out.” She lightly slaps Sarsa’s arm to demonstrate.

“As soon as what is too much?” I ask.

In response Sarsa charges towards me. My first instinct is to fight back. I crouch down slightly, the same stance I learned to take when hunting. It does absolutely nothing to protect me as Sarsa closes the gap. She wraps one arm around me, the other grips my arm. Gods is she strong! I knew that the moment I’d met her, but now I see it in a different light. This must be her ability. She starts to squeeze harder and harder. My skin is burning. It takes all my concentration not to fight back. Not that I could. When I feel like my bones will break, I tap her on the shoulder. Instantly she lets go and leaves me to recover for a moment.

My break is quickly over and Sarsa comes at me again. She wraps her arms around my ribs this time, hugging me tightly. All I want to do is push her off, punch her, kick her, something. The pressure slowly builds. I try to call forth some sort of new reaction, some new feeling. There’s nothing but the pain. I can’t breathe anymore. My ribs feel like they are about to crack and I slap my hand on her back. She lets me go. The lack of pressure is pleasurable.

I rub my chest and arms gently. Sarsa has peeled off several layers of skin. In completely contrast to my current condition, the other members of the Haunt are lounging in a loose circle around me. Some are watching me, others are talking, laughing. Some are eating. I try not to take it personally.

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After several more tries Layla tells us to stop. Sarsa goes back to sitting in the crowd and Noah is called forward. At least he apologizes before shocking me. We start off on low levels. That’s what Noah calls them. I would never use the word “low” to describe it. The shocks get stronger and stronger until he tells Layla that he can’t go any higher. Otherwise he might stop my heart.

“Is there another way to go about this?” I ask Layla, my hands on my knees. My skin is twitching and my legs shaking.

“Not really. This is how we do it.”

“What about at the Keep? How do they figure out the abilities there?”

“They…” she pauses, searching for the right words. “They don’t let you tap out.”

“What do they do?” I ask, a sudden tightness in my throat.

“Javin…”

“Tell me.”

“Electric currents mostly,” Layla says. “But not like Noah’s. They strap you down and attach wires to your head. You’re half submerged in water. It’s….bewildering. Then you pass out. They don’t stop until you respond.” After a jagged breath from me, Layla hastily backtracks. “But they don’t kill-”

“Again,” I snap at Noah. “Do it again.” I pull his hands onto my skin. The small shock grows until my skin is dancing. Only the thought of Evan keeps me from crying out.

We soon determine that pain won’t bring out my new ability and move on to guess work. Layla calls it “why the gods not” testing. Bruised and worn out, I sit in the center of the cavern while practically every single member of the Haunt approaches me one by one. Collin is first. He sits across from, crosses his legs and pressed two fingers to my forehead.

“What is he doing?” I ask Layla, who is hovering besides us.

“His power is empathy. He can feel if you’re stressed out or in pain.

“It doesn’t take much to figure that out,” I mummer.

“Other things too,” Layla says. “Sometimes he can even get a sense of your thoughts.”

Collin quickly determines that I am indeed in pain, worried, stressed out and angry. Other than that nothing happens. Zeak is next. He explains that his ability allows him to convince pretty much anyone of pretty much anything. He was always quick with a lie and the serum enhanced it. He uses his slippery tongue to talk circles around me. His words cause my mind to spin. By the end of the conversation, I am completely convinced I have already determined my mutation and know exactly how to use it. It’s only when Layla asks me what it is that I realize I have absolutely no idea.

Nani cups my face in her hands and stares intently into my eyes. As she does, a feeling of complete serenity washes over me. All I know is that I am happy and safe. Waves of calm pleasure surround me. In that state, I am more than willing to answer any questions the giant puffy cloud in front of me asks. But I can’t say what I don’t know.

After hours of failed attempts, Layla pulls out the kids with the most obscure abilities. She tells me that normally we don’t get this far into the reserves.

“What does that mean?” I ask. “Is that bad?”

“No,” she says, but I don’t believe her.

At least the next batch of kids allows me to rest. I watch as April changes her eye color from vivid violet, to black to green. I wonder if she is disappointed with that ability. I know I would be. Ian envelops me with a smell so sweet, it makes my mouth water. I am disturbed though when I realize the smell is coming from his skin. Kyle stares at me blindly while his ears twitch. He asks me to make random sounds. I am too exhausted to protest.

Araya, who has watched all of this from her perch in the wall, jumps down when I start to howl and moo. “What is Kyle going to do?” She asks Layla. “Hear Javin’s ability?”

“You never know, girl.” Layla voice is pricklier than I’ve ever heard it. “I’ve seen mutations triggered by the strangest things.”

“Like having someone listen to you?”

I tune them out as they continue to bicker. Most of the other kids grew tired of watching me hours ago. I can’t blame them. I’m tired of watching me too. They are gathered around a kid that everyone called flapjack. His real name is Jake. I didn’t understand why they called him that until now. He is in the middle of a continuous round of back flips off the wall. The kids around him count how many flips he’s on. When they reach triple digits, they give it up. This must be his ability. They told me that he used to be part of a traveling acrobat troupe. I guess now he can perform feats no one can.

It’s amazing how fast he can move. His back bends just the right amount. His legs supply the perfect amount of power. As I watch, I feel a peculiar sensation. A tingling feeling. It travels from my chest, up my neck and to my temple. It reminds me of the feeling of knowing someone is watching you. I look around, but no one is paying me any attention. Araya and Layla are still bickering. I start to pay attention when I hear my name.

“-and how is Javin supposed to act?” Araya says fiercely. “You didn’t try the most important one.”

“You’re wrong,” Layla says. “We subjected him to Sarsa and Noah for as long as he could take.”

“That was just pain,” Araya says. “Javin knew he could stop it at any moment. Pain may work on some, but not on him.” She jabs a finger at me. “He can take it. You never tried fear.”

I stand up. “What does that mean?”

“Araya thinks she has a solution to our problem,” Layla says. “Your ability may show itself if you’re not allowed to tap out.” She turns back to Araya. “Go ahead if you want.”

“Go ahead with what?” I ask and get my answer when Araya’s palm bust into a glowing light. She raises her palms in front of her. It would almost be a peaceful gesture if it weren’t for the angry light. But how is this any different from Evan or Araya? Her burning will cause me pain until I tap….Layla’s words replay in my mind. No. Araya wouldn’t really hurt me, would she? She lowers herself into a slight crouch, as if ready to pounce and I realize that I have no idea what she is capable of. I suspect that it is much more than I can take. Panic rises in my chest.

When I take a step backwards, she charges. It only takes a moment for her to reach me, but in that time I feel that sensation again. That vibrating in my chest, shooting up into my neck and temple. This time it comes with another feeling. The muscles in my legs pulse and tingle, they strain forward, eager to move. So I let them. My mind isn’t aware of what’s happening as I launch my legs high into the air and flip over Araya. It’s my body that knows exactly what to do. My back curves elegantly as my legs whip through the air. I land softly on the ground and straighten out.

“Whoa,” I breathe. Looking up, I find all eyes on me. Jake has stopped flipping and is watching me with a sort of grimace.

Araya is watching me too. Her gaze fills me with a warmth that has nothing to do with her burning hands. “Well,” she says to Layla. “What do you think?

Layla is grinning too. “I think we’ve got ourselves a copycat.”