Inside the truck, Natalie Clove found herself surrounded by other children. Taken by men and women in suits, she had no idea where they were going, only that she had nowhere else to turn.
The truck swerved sharply, nearly tipping over, before screeching to a halt, sending the children tumbling against each other in the back. The suited figures immediately opened the rear doors and tossed in a container of sleep gas to subdue them.
When Natalie awoke, she found herself in a building filled with children ranging in age from ten to eighteen, all seemingly in the same situation as her. The men and women in suits then introduced themselves as a secret government group dedicated to protecting children like them. They explained that powerful creatures from the other side of the veil were hunting them because of the strong psychic energy they possessed.
"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!!" and "Hey, let us go home!!" the children in the hall yelled, interrupting the suited figures' explanation.
Fear gripped Natalie as the children around her shouted in confusion and panic. Tears welled in her eyes. The suited figures swiftly silenced the disruptive children with brutal beatings. This violence was a horrifying sight for Natalie, as her brother had always shielded her from such things, and he was no longer there to protect her.
Natalie and other children her age huddled on the floor, crying. The suited figures then began escorting the children to their assigned rooms and laid out a strict schedule they were to follow.
Natalie was placed in room 136 with three other girls. One was her age, named Cassandra, and the other two were older, around sixteen or seventeen, named Sadie and Jackie. Their room contained two bunk beds on either side.
Later, a woman in a suit informed the girls in Natalie's hall that there would be a mandatory meeting in the library on the first floor in a few hours.
Natalie went downstairs with her roommates and attended the meeting in the downstairs library.
The woman in the suit introduced herself as Vonya, the head of the girls' group. She explained that the base functioned as both a school and a military training camp. The girls would learn practical combat skills alongside regular academic subjects like reading, math, and English.
She then warned the girls that the creatures of the veil were very dangerous and that they needed to be extremely cautious around them. "What are the creatures of the veil?" a girl in the crowd asked. "The creatures of the veil are monsters that exist on a different plane of existence than we do. They usually can't interact with us in any way, but occasionally one becomes strong enough to bend the space between our two planes," Vanya explained.
The meeting continued for a couple more hours, detailing how the girls would soon awaken to their psychic abilities after undergoing a procedure to open their closed energy veins.
Natalie and the other girls then returned to their rooms, got into bed, and prepared to sleep.
Natalie lay in her bed, eyes wide open, staring at the ceiling, wondering if one of these creatures of the veil was responsible for her brother's death…