The Seven Read Online Free Page A

turned and left, headed up the spiral stairs to his room. He was always the first to leave the table. He also was the only one who remembered to thank Vera each night, no matter how weak the meal.
    "I'm going to go, too," said Andy. He'd wolfed four times as much as anyone else. He dropped his fork on the empty plate and was gone before Cormair could say anything.
    "Me too," said Holly. She gave Cormair a withering smile and left the table, her plate still half-full. The other four quickly found reasons to excuse themselves and disappeared, leaving the three adults alone at the table. None of them wanted to be around Cormair when they didn't have to be.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    The atmosphere in the dining room became heavy and sullen. Cormair was silent, but his face showed frustration and hidden rage. He drummed his long, thin fingers against the table top. "They are lying."
    Sebbins frowned. "Is that hypothesis, Doctor?"
    "That is fact, Doctor Sebbins. Look at the scans, the blood work, the X-rays! Those children have changed dramatically in the last few years according to their internal workings, and I refuse to believe that none of them have experienced manifestations of their abilities. According to my data, they should be going through dramatic shifts of power by now."
    "Perhaps they are, and they are unaware of it. It is happening at a genetic level, correct? If you take a child who was meant to be brunette and alter their DNA so they are blonde, will that child even know unless she looks in a mirror? These kids don't have a mirror to look into for what they're becoming."
    "But I haven't altered a hair color. I've altered brain chemistry, physical structure, musculature--"
    "Look at Posey though, Doctor Cormair," interjected Sebbins. "She has nearly unbreakable bones and those bones have less than a tenth of what a normal bone mass should be in a girl her age. Ten years' of change in those bones and all she's complained about is acne and her height. Those bone structure changes aren't changes that she's aware of, Doctor. She's oblivious to her physical alteration because her DNA has been altered and spliced so that she's growing without knowing that she's different. That's a success, Doctor."
    "Doctor Sebbins, I am not one who celebrates the completion of the first mile of a marathon. If I do not finish it, it is not worth celebrating. My research, this program, was meant to create the next evolution of man. I am doing nothing short of playing God and if I am not successful, it is not worth celebrating because I will have committed far too many sins to repent."
    "Then give them some more time. You know as well as I do that the teenage brain is not fully developed. Their higher thought processes are still arranging themselves, their frontal lobes are still adjusting to the treatments. I've been seeing a lot of positive steps lately. Indigo's hypothalamic activity is increasing every day, Kenny's brain patterns are unlike anything we've ever seen before. I'll bet we'll begin to see change any day now."
    "Doctor Sebbins, you are young. You are in that rare age where you are too old to remember teenagers, but too young to be a true adult," Cormair's voice wasn't condescending, only cold and rational. "Teenagers have made a living throughout the centuries by knowing more than they let on and effectively evading the prying of adults. It's a contest to them. They are constantly hiding information from us. It's how they survive. They are lying. They have begun to notice the changes. They may not have fully completed their genetic shifts, but at the very least some of them have noticed. Mark my words, Doctor. Some of them already know."
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Kenny's room was more spartan than those of the other six. His bed was plain, without extra pillows or thick comforters. He kept it adorned with the same simple, gray, military-issue blanket that was on the bed the day he