Fourth Birth: The Oakmont Saga, Book 1

“What’s on your mind?” Rebecca asked Mike, as he came into the hospital room, looking intently at Melanie’s unconscious form on the bed.

“We need to talk, without anyone else around,” he said.

They walked to an exam room nearby, Mike drawing the curtain closed behind them. “Rebecca, she has shields,” he stated, a very worried look on his face.

“What?” she asked.

“I read James’ mind and saw what happened.”

“James was ordered to do it, like you said. He’s managed to block who ordered it from my scans, but he was definitely ordered. What shocked me though, and shocked him as well, was that she shielded herself. He was going to force images into her mind, like he did during the first attack, and he couldn’t get in. He broke through them, but it took a lot, and she has no training with them. He’s been trained to break through shields, and is very strong, and he had trouble breaking hers. Rebecca, this is incredible!” he exclaimed as he finished.

“I had noticed that the kids weren’t taunting her yesterday, but didn’t realize why since I can’t scan her. Didn’t really think about it, to be honest. She’s managed to create shields. I wonder if she even knows she did it?” he said, like a kid with a new toy.

“When the head docs find out, they’ll take her,” Rebecca said, looking very unhappy with this new development. Mike’s enthusiasm left him in a rush, as he realized she was right.

“We don’t have to let them know,” he suggested.

“They’ll find out, if James knows,” she said.

“We won’t say anything and see how it goes. Easy to allay suspicion, and when James reports it, we can claim plausible deniability,” he suggested.

“We can try, but it’s a dangerous gamble,” she said.

“But, it could save her, or at least buy her some time,” he suggested.

“Time for what?” she asked, but he didn’t answer, and she didn’t push.

After a little thinking, she looked up at him. “Why are you doing this and why are you trusting me to be a part of it?”

“Because she’s exciting, and I feel sympathy for her plight. She’s endured way too much for a child her age. As for you, I think you feel the same, and I trust you. But more importantly, I know I feel this and I believe you do as well. Something’s changed within the program that’s not good. I absolutely believe in the program, but this isn’t what I signed up for. That little girl has made me realize what’s been going on for some time.”

“I agree with you about all of it. Alright, we’ll do this. Hopefully, we won’t find ourselves in prison.”

Neither one of them even thought about the fact that she’d used a telepathic power, when she shouldn’t have been able to. Their minds were too preoccupied with the skill she’d exhibited.

What really began to frighten me was that I was trapped inside my own head. I couldn’t access my telepathy. The thing I always hated and even turned off, but it was always there, my hated friend. Now, I couldn’t seem to get it to work. It simply wasn’t there. My brain wasn’t able to come up with any ideas to try and fix the problem either. I couldn’t think.

I continued to try and find my telepathy, desperate to find that thing I’d hated for so long, but it was my lifeline. With it, I could at least reach out to Aliyah and see what happened, maybe let her know I needed help. I was beginning to panic, screaming inside my head. It was like being locked in a tiny room, trying to pound on the door to be heard, but there was no door and there was no one to hear, anyway.

Suddenly, I felt a shock throughout my body. It was centered in my chest and sent pain shooting everywhere. Light came into my eyes, and I saw several medical people standing over me and the soldier a little past them, looking worried. “We have a pulse,” I heard.

“We have a tension pneumothorax. I’m going to ventilate,” a man said.

“Get her to the OR, now,” that same voice ordered and I felt myself being lifted, or possibly moved. Maybe I was on one of those wheeled hospital beds, maybe. A moment later, blackness took me again, but this time it was different. I could feel my telepathy and I also felt a lot of pain, although it seemed muted somehow.

I felt almost desperate for some reason and wanted my friend. I sent a probe, hoping to find her, lonelier than I thought I’d ever been. I wasn’t sure what time it was, but I knew it was nighttime when I went to the lab, so I sent the probe to our room. Thankfully, she was there. I knocked on her mental door, and she answered without any pause.

“Mel, where are you?”

“I don’t know, but they’re taking me to the hospital, or maybe I’m in the hospital. I don’t know,” I replied, feeling desperate. “James found me and hurt me. He made me take some stuff in a test tube called X6. I think it’s bad. Tell Mrs. Wilde, please. Tell her I’m sorry. I’m very sorry.”

I felt like I needed to make things right with her. She was one of my kidnappers, but she had tried to be nice to me, always treating me good. I didn’t want to die without letting her know that I appreciated what she tried to do for me.

“Mel, why do you sound like you’re getting far away?”

“I think I’m dying,” I told her, kind of feeling like I was losing my grip on my telepathy, which I was fairly certain was why I didn’t have it earlier.

“What do you mean?” she asked, her worry transmitted through the connection.

“I’m hurt really bad and I might be dying. Make sure you tell her. Promise me,” I pushed.

“I promise, but don’t leave, okay,” she said, and I could tell she was crying.

My grip on the connection with her was getting harder to hold. It was kind of like trying to hold a fish with your bare hands, right after you pulled it out of the river. It wasn’t just my connection to her, though. I was losing my telepathy.

“Aliyah, I’m having trouble holding onto you. I don’t think I can much longer,” I told her.

“Don’t leave me!” she yelled in my mind, and I could tell she was running somewhere.

“Aliyah, thanks for being my friend. I’m sorry I’m so screwed up.”

She seemed to stop and I could tell she was waiting for something. “Mrs. Wilde, Melanie’s in trouble. She was given some stuff in a test tube and she thinks she’s dying. She told me she thinks they’re taking her to the hospital, but she really wants me to tell you she’s sorry.”

“Did you tell her?” I barely managed to say, even though I heard her say it.

“Don’t leave me,” she cried. I didn’t have enough strength left to tell her I didn’t want to.

I felt her beginning to walk fast, but I was unable to get enough to know where she was going. The connection was barely there, and I could feel it getting weaker.

“I’m scared,” I mentally whispered, the feeling not of dying, but of being completely alone. “Aliyah, thank you for being my friend,” I said, but realized I’d already said it, as the connection slipped away and I knew my life slipped away with it.

My telepathy was gone again, and I knew my body had died. Oddly, I wasn’t upset about it, other than I knew Momma and Daddy would be upset, and Aliyah too. They must have already told Momma and Daddy that I was dead, or they would soon. How else could they keep me from going home and stop Momma and Daddy from trying to get me back?

As that realization came to me, I felt that shock to my system again and the pain returned with a vengeance. My eyes opened immediately, and I gasped.

“We have a pulse,” someone said.

“Adrenaline,” I heard.

This time, I was definitely in the hospital and it looked like an operating room. “Is she stable?” I heard.

“She’s stabilizing,” someone replied.

“Is she stable,” the question was repeated a little while later, although I had no idea how much later.

“Yes doctor, she’s stable,” a woman replied, but a different one than before.

“Good. Have the scans come online?” aman asked.

“Yes doctor,” the second woman replied. “They’re on screen now.”

“Thank you,” he said.

“We have a traumatic pneumothorax caused by a fracture of the left anterior sixth rib. Let’s get that tube in,” the doctor stated. Although I understood a fractured rib, considering I already had several, I didn’t understand them putting a tube in.

“That doesn’t explain the heart stopping, though. I want a full brain panel and an EEG,” the doctor ordered.

“Yes, doctor,” a female voice replied. I opened my eyes, pain shooting through them when I did. With all kinds of tubes attached to me, I was wheeled to the radiology lab. That was a place I was very familiar with.

“Hey, Melanie,” John said, leaning over so I could see him. Too weak to speak, I used all of my strength to lift my hand a tiny bit and wave.

“Yeah, they’ve got all this crap on you. They’ll have you fixed up in no time,” he said. They might fix my body, but they couldn’t fix my mind, and I knew it. I barely shook my head no, letting him know that and I saw tears form in his eyes.

He was very quick taking my pictures, and they wheeled me back to the room I was in before. “Bring the images up, please,” the doctor said, as they pushed me in. “Bring up the blood panel, as well,” he said, after a minute or so. “She couldn’t have taken it,” he exclaimed a moment later.

There was a man in a doctor gown, with a mask over his face standing over me suddenly. “Melanie, you were given medicine to help your brain, along with the pain medicine. I need you to tell me the truth. This is very important. Have you been taking all of those pills?”

Why was he asking? He already knew I wasn’t. With all of my strength, I managed to shake my head no, feeling like it didn’t move at all. “Dear God, she’s killed herself,” he said, looking up at the ceiling. “Melanie, the damage to your brain is too great now. There’s nothing I can do for it. If you had taken those pills, we could have fixed it,” he said. I shook my head no again. I already knew it wouldn’t have worked, regardless of what he tried. The journal was very clear about that.

He moved out of my view, leaving me alone again. “Let’s try and make her comfortable. I want her on a morphine drip until the pain subsides.” They started working on me, which I could feel but couldn’t see. After a long time, a nurse started changing the bags hanging on the metal hanger thing, which had a tube attached to me. Then I was wheeled out of that room, which I thought was an operating room, to a normal looking hospital room. The entire thing was almost like a dream.

Mrs. Wilde and Aliyah were already there. Aliyah came to me and grabbed my hand, tears staining her cheeks.

Before I could try and say anything, the nurse brought a straw to my mouth. “Drink a little, to wet your throat. It’ll help.” Doing as she said, I sipped a tiny bit, and it really did help my throat feel better.

The doctor came into my view, then. “The scans we just took show that the inflammation has infected the majority of your brain. We’re going to try and find a way to fix this, but at this point I don’t know. Did you take the medicine that we gave you,” he asked again, and I shook my head no. “Why? It would have helped,” he said, truly upset that I didn’t.

“Doct—,” I croaked out. The nurse put the straw back to my lips and I drank some more. “Doctor, I knew that, but I didn’t want to lose my mind to save my life. My life’s not that great, but it wouldn’t have worked anyway,” I said, but didn’t tell him how I knew. He probably didn’t believe me anyway.

“She can’t die,” Aliyah wailed, putting her head on my shoulder, crying. The doctor visibly calmed down, breathed deeply and looked up at Mrs. Wilde.

“At this point, we’re going to make her as comfortable as possible. She’ll be restricted to bed rest for the first couple of days. After that, limited mobility for three weeks, with no exercise. We’ll reevaluate after that and see if we can start some moderate exercise and PT.”

“Doctor, didn’t you just say I wouldn’t live that long?”

“I still hold out hope,” he said, almost angrily. “I never give up a patient without a fight. Besides, you’ve already lived longer than I thought you would, so I might be wrong,” he said, smiling. What he didn’t understand was that I didn’t want to continue living like this. It hurt too much. I was tired of seeing the monsters in my dreams all the time, even when I was awake, and I was tired of Oakmont and everything it provided.

“How long do I have, if you can’t find something to fix me?”

“I don’t know. It could be months still—,” he started.

“Why won’t anyone ever tell me the truth,” I said very softly, frustration almost bringing tears to my eyes.

“Okay,” he said with a sigh, and a sad look, as he sat down in the chair beside my bed. “I would guess maybe two days to a week, considering how fast the inflammation is spreading. It seems to be feeding itself now. If you can avoid any further psychic bursts, you might get a little longer, but to be honest, I’m guessing. I have no experience with this particular situation and I honestly thought you would’ve been dead within two days without the medicine I gave you. Frankly, I’m surprised you’re able to function at all, considering how much pain you’ve been in,” he told me.

“Thank you, doctor,” I replied. “What happened?” I asked, turning to Mrs. Wilde.

“What do you mean?” she asked in reply.

“James,” was all I could say.

She looked at me for a moment, but didn’t seem to know what to say. That told me everything I needed to know, and there was an emptiness that settled on me. I really was dirty now, even if I hadn’t been before.

Even though I fought it, I felt a few tears escape and roll down my cheek before I could wipe them off. Then I clamped down on my emotions with that iron fist. They would never see a tear from me again. They were the reason this happened, even though I made it easier for them. My anger began welling up in me, like a beast unleashed. My mind blanked and there was pain, but none of the other symptoms. I could still completely see and hear what was going on around me.

The machine to my left, which had wires leading to me, started beeping. The doctor and nurse both looked at it and got a worried expression. “Everyone out of the way,” the doctor said, starting to open the top of the hospital gown I was in.

I looked at Aliyah, knowing I needed to talk to her, but suddenly I had no energy left to speak. Maybe this was the time my nightmare would end. I could feel myself slipping again.

“You can’t leave me, Mel. I finally make a friend and God’s going to take you away. It’s not fair!” she exclaimed.

“It’s not His fault,” I whispered, adding “I might not die. You never know.” I was grasping all of the strength I could for her, and I was completely out of breath from those few words. I knew I was dying, regardless of what I told her. One of these times when my heart stopped, they weren’t going to be able to bring me back and that would finally be the end of my suffering.

She seemed to know I wasn’t being honest. I could see it in her face, but more importantly I could almost feel it. She didn’t say anything though, as if she was forced to accept it.

Suddenly, she ran from the room, leaving me alone with Mrs. Wilde, the doctor and the nurse. She was crying as she left, which hurt me inside, because I was the source of her pain. I was the source of a lot of pain. It was probably better, though. She needed to get away from me. Maybe it would ease her pain, when I finally did die.

Looking at the door where she left, my eyes closed and blackness took me. Accepting my fate, it hurt and disappointed me when I felt that shock again. My eyes popped open, pain returning in a rush. The doctor and several nurses were around my bed.

“Melanie, I don’t know how long you have, but you need to make sure you keep your emotions as calm as possible. That might make things better,” he said.

“Okay, doctor,” I replied, feeling like I was dead already. With Aliyah gone now, there was nothing left for me.

“Is she stable now?” he asked a nurse.

“Yes, doctor,” she replied.

“Alright,” he said.

“Melanie, we’re going to let you return to your room. I want you to stay in bed for the next three days and see how you’re doing afterward. If you do alright, I’ll approve you returning to classes, although there will be no exercise. If I do this, I want you to promise me you’ll leave class if anything bothers you or you feel off in any way. I also want your word that you’ll take the medicine that I prescribe for you,” he said, looking at me intently.

“Will it affect my mind?” I asked, reading his thoughts to see if he told the truth.

“No, it’s too late for that,” he said, and I knew he was being honest with me.

“Okay,” I replied.

“I want your word,” he pushed.

“I promise,” I said, knowing this was a promise I could easily keep.

“Good. I’ll send notice to all of your teachers, letting them know about this arrangement. That way there are no questions if you need to leave class for any reason,” he said.

“Help her get ready and arrange for transport,” he said to the nurse.

“Yes, doctor,” she replied with a smile.

“Melanie, if you feel anything not normal, come let me know, regardless what time it is,” he said.

“Okay. Thank you doctor,” I replied.

“I won’t give up on you,” he said, very firmly. He didn’t understand that I’d already given up on me, so his not giving up didn’t matter much.

Maybe half an hour later, I was lying in my bed, propped up with a lot more pillows than I used to have. It was actually pretty comfortable, other than the constant pain in my head and the nagging pain in my chest.

“Melanie, I’ll get you a computer again so you can work in your room if you want. I suspect that you won’t be able to return to your full schedule for a few days, and this will give you some ability to keep your mind occupied,” Mrs. Wilde told me, once the nurses left.

“Thank you, Mrs. Wilde,” I replied, grateful for that.

“Would you tell me about what happened?” she asked.

“I’d like to forget it, if that’s alright,” I told her, but without the anger I usually had.

“If you talk about it, you’ll be able to heal from it,” she said.

“I don’t want to heal, I want to forget,” I replied, very weak sounding, even to myself.

“You need to learn to trust people,” she said.

That was the wrong thing to say to me. Although I thought my anger was gone, it erupted like a volcano going off. “Why would I trust anyone? I’m lied to, kidnapped, beaten and raped and not even allowed to practice my religion!” I exclaimed, my anger removing any thought of stopping myself. “I hate this place and everyone in it!” I yelled, my vision becoming a deeper red than I’d ever seen before. “The only good thing that’s happened to me, my entire life, is I met Aliyah, and I’m going to hurt her too. My life’s a complete waste,” I said, my head suddenly hurting more than anything I’d felt before, including all of the other attacks I’d had. Every attack seemed to be worse than the last. Not sure why I realized that then, considering everything that had happened. Dr. Hammond said they worked that way in his journal or the note. I couldn’t remember which, right then.

The pain erupted so suddenly and with such force I could feel myself scream, but I couldn’t hear it. Light slowly brightened in my vision, to the point that it was painful and I couldn’t see anything else. I could sense that pool of energy again, and it felt a lot closer than it had before.

Knowing my strength wouldn’t last long, I reached for it, wanting to feel it. It was just out of reach, like there was a very thin space separating me from it, almost like a thin veil. I could feel blackness about to overtake me and I might be willing to let it, but I wanted to reach that energy just once before I died. Somehow, I knew this would be the last time. I could feel it inside myself. With every ounce of my remaining strength, I imagined myself reaching through that veil.

I let myself go, pouring all of my strength into reaching the pool, completely surrendering my life in the process. There was the impression of my hand pushing through what seemed like a thin sheet of cobweb and then I felt the brush with it, kind of like the barest tip of my finger touching the surface of a calm pool of water, ripples moving out from my tiny touch. It was like nothing I could have imagined. A warmth began spreading inside every bit of me, from head to toe, and the pain completely went away as the warm feeling infused me. I felt it in every hair on my body, every little pore. The light paled a bit into a tolerable play of color swirling in my vision. It was very pretty now that the pain was gone.

I wondered if I’d finally died, since I felt so good and I was seeing something this beautiful. Sitting down, I breathed deeply, the air infusing my lungs with that same warmth and the pain in my chest went away. Odd that I was sitting, since I was in bed.

As I took stock of my thoughts I knew I wasn’t dead, at least not yet. I still had the emotional pain of my recent past, along with the feeling of dirtiness. God wouldn’t leave that in me unless I truly was an abomination, in which case I wouldn’t have seen something that pretty and wouldn’t have felt that good.

I suddenly felt that shock in my chest, and knew they were trying to bring me back to life. So my body was dying again and I was trapped in my mind. Would they be able to bring me back this time? The good feeling went away and the blackness took me again, though. It didn’t work.

Not wanting to leave Aliyah without at least saying goodbye, I sent a probe to her. “Melanie, what’s wrong?” she asked, as soon as I felt the connection.

“I’m dying again. I didn’t want to leave without saying goodbye,” I told her.

“No!” she screamed. “You can’t leave me alone again!”

“Aliyah, if they can’t bring me back, you need to do something for me.”

“What,” she asked, crying even in our minds.

Not knowing how to explain it, I sent images of how I could see probes, and how I could hide my true thoughts and intentions. I was also afraid of not having the chance to do it, like the last time I tried, but I managed to send it all. When I was done, I felt completely drained. “Can you understand what I sent?”

“Yeah,” she said, panting, even in our minds. “That was intense, and incredible.”

“Make sure you do that, and do everything you can to escape as soon as possible.”

“Okay.”

“Promise me.”

“I promise, but I’ll be leaving with you.”

“I need to leave now, or they’ll shock me again and it might hurt you,” I told her, but I was too late. Just like last time, I felt the shock and the connection was abruptly broken, sending pain through me and I was sure to her.

My eyes popped open just like the other times, but there was something very different this time. My head wasn’t hurting too much and oddly my chest wasn’t either. I noticed that I was in the hospital again, which didn’t really surprise me.

“We have a pulse, doctor,” I heard a woman’s voice say.

“Let me know when she’s stable,” he replied.

“She’s stable, doctor,” she said, without waiting.

“That’s not possible,” he replied.

“Melanie, tell me how you feel,” he said, moving down to look at me.

“I feel good, doctor. Can I go now?”

“Go where?”

“I need to tell Aliyah that I’m alright. She’ll be worried about me?”

“We’ll let her know you’re alright, but we need some things done first,” he said, placing a hand on my shoulder, which I flinched at a tiny bit. “I want a full cranial panel,” he ordered.

They wheeled me back to the radiology lab, where John was waiting and looked worried. “You’ve been here way too much,” he said, when I rolled in.

“I don’t think I’ll be coming much anymore,” I told him, which caused him to start tearing up, confusing me.

As normal, he was very quick getting the pictures done and I was wheeled back to a hospital room. The doctor and a nurse came in as soon as I got there. “We’re going to keep you here in light of that attack.”

“I want to go back to my room, please.”

“Melanie, if you have an attack like that in your room, we may not be able to get you here fast enough the next time,” he said.

“That’s okay. I’d prefer to be in my room. It’s more comfortable,” I told him, bringing about a very compassionate look in him.

“Alright, if that’s what you want,” he replied, placing a hand on the side of my head, making me flinch from his touch, again.

It was obvious he thought the worst, but I was pretty sure I was going to survive now. When I touched that pool of energy, it was incredible and I could tell my head felt a lot better, and the growing thing seemed to get less angry. I was also pretty sure I could touch that pool again, when I needed to. I almost wished I hadn’t touched it, then I’d know this wouldn’t last much longer, but that would’ve been too easy.

“Have her taken back to her room. Give her whatever is needed to make her comfortable,” he told the nurse, who almost looked like she was about to cry.

“Yes, doctor,” she managed to say.

When I got back, it was getting late and Aliyah was ready for bed. She looked up, surprised when the door opened and they wheeled me in. She jumped up, her eyes red rimmed from crying. She looked like she wanted to come hug me, but was scared to do so, maybe scared I might break or something.

I wasn’t much of a touchy feely person, but I knew she needed it, so I stood up and hugged her. “I was so scared. I was sure you had died.”

“Not yet,” I replied, smiling a little, even though I didn’t feel the smile. Although I was feeling a lot better, I still had no energy and my knees buckled. Aliyah barely grabbed me, keeping me from falling before the nurse managed to get me and carry me to my bed.

“She needs to rest,” the nurse said after she put me to bed, her and Aliyah having changed me into night clothes.

“Yes, ma’am,” Aliyah replied, her southern accent a little stronger than usual.

“What’s your name?” the nurse asked her.

“Aliyah, ma’am,” she replied.

“Aliyah, she’s stable right now and we hope she’ll stay that way. If anything happens, press the button on this radio and we’ll be here very quickly,” she instructed Aliyah, handing her a small radio. Aliyah nodded obediently and the nurse smiled at us both and left.

“Mel, I don’t want to lose you,” she said, tears welling up in her eyes.

“You aren’t going to,” I told her, making her look questioningly at me for a moment.

“How do you know? I saw how you looked earlier when you said you might not be dying and I could tell you didn’t believe it.”

“I didn’t believe it then, but I do now,” I said, pretty sure I was right.

“But you still want to,” she said, making me look down, because she was right.

“I’m sorry Aliyah, but I hate my life. The only good thing that’s happened to me since I left home was meeting you and the bad things that have happened are drowning that out,” I explained. Normally, I should’ve been ready to cry, but there was nothing there now.

Done talking, I pulled my covers over my head to drown out life. Unfortunately, it only brought the images that were always in my mind back again.

“Good night, Mel,” I heard her say.

“Good night, Aliyah,” I replied, and we both settled down for a long night. I did sleep, but it was even worse than it had been. In addition to the images of James, with all of the horrible things he did to me in them, the drams of Gary and Daddy, now I had dreams of me doing terrible things to Aliyah. When I woke up in the night, I heard her crying sometimes, but she tried to be quiet, which made it hurt worse for me.

“Rudie, she almost died several times today, but she managed to pull through. She’s a real fighter,” John said, before Rudie could even speak.

“How long do you think she has?” he asked.

“I’m not sure, but she actually looks better now, and although I’m not sure, I think I heard someone mention X6,” John said.

“Dear Lord, could it have actually worked?”

“What,” John asked.

“Nothing. I’m sorry, I was thinking out loud again,” Rudie said.

“The scans I took tonight actually look a little better. It’s not supposed to happen, but I think the inflammation has shrunk just a little.”

“God has answered my prayers, then,” Rudie said.

“Yeah. He’s definitely done that, if she’s really improving,” John agreed.