The Hunt: The Oakmont Saga, Book 2

I had barely been asleep, when I started hearing voices. Sitting up, I realized that I hadn’t even closed the door to the little house, simply falling down, with my feet still sticking out.

Returning to reality, the voices again became my focus. Panic quickly exerted itself in my mind, as I started shaking and sweating, my thoughts becoming ragged.

With an extreme exercise of my will, I forced myself to calmness. That was only possible because I realized I was hearing kid voices, not adults who were hunting for me. Slowly, I looked outside and saw kids lining up, all carrying backpacks.

My first thought was to stay where I was until they were gone, but then an idea came to my mind. I could catch a ride on the school bus that they were obviously waiting for, if no one noticed me. I’d have to be very careful and wait until the last kids were climbing in and hope that the driver didn’t pay very close attention to all of the kids he drove.

This seemed like a very good idea to me, as I knew the FBI people wouldn’t wait for long to search this area. I had to keep moving, even if I had no clear goal in mind.

As the bus drove up and the kids began climbing on, I worked my way to the end of the line. The kid that had been at the back looked at me when I walked up, obviously curious who I was, but he didn’t say anything.

Luckily, I fit right in, even if my backpack was a little different than theirs. Mine was for hiking and carrying a lot of stuff, whereas theirs were just school backpacks. Not only that, mine was completely packed, making it a bit plump compared to the other kids.

I was still wearing the blue plaid skirt although I didn’t have any leggings on. My stomach wound was still sore and the leggings wouldn’t have been very comfortable. My sweater was enough to keep my torso warm, and thanks to the material, didn’t look wrinkled. I had put on a knit hat that matched my skirt pretty good. I hoped I didn’t smell bad, considering I didn’t think I’d had a bath or shower in a couple of days.

As I surveyed my situation, I saw that the kids were all elementary age, but I looked young enough that I fit in without any problem. For once, looking young was working to my advantage. It might have helped me when I was at Oakmont, but I wasn’t sure about that.

When we climbed into the bus, the driver didn’t even notice me. Thankfully, there weren’t that many kids on the bus yet, so I made my way to the back and got in a seat all to myself. Of course, as everything goes, the bus did fill up, and I ended up sitting with two other kids in the bench with me.

The drive to the school, along with all of the stops, made it a very long trip. That gave me a chance to take a nap, which I took full advantage of. But as with all such trips, it finally came to an end as we pulled up to a weird looking school. The lower third was a light colored brick, with the rest being a beige color, made of what looked like plastic siding. It was two stories, or at least looked that way. It was actually very plain looking.

As all of us kids started unloading, I planned on trying to make an escape by simply walking away. Unfortunately, there were enough adults that they effectively herded us all down the walkway and into the building fairly efficiently. I was still too groggy and weak to think about using my abilities to escape.

I knew I was not long from being noticed, since I had no idea where to go. I stayed with the largest number of kids, though, which took me into the cafeteria, where they were having breakfast. Considering I hadn’t eaten anything, I went through the line and paid for the food with most of what little money I had left.

That almost caused a problem, since they wanted me to have a student ID to get food. The woman smiled at me, “Remember your ID tomorrow, okay?” I smiled and nodded and she took my money. When she gave me my change I found a seat and quickly ate.

As I expected with school food, it wasn’t very good, and also wasn’t very filling. However, it was food and it did put something in my stomach. It also helped replenish my energy...a little. I considered getting another plate, and finally gave in to the thought. Eating the second plate of food, and drinking the second carton of milk, helped me immensely.

When I was finally done, I fastened my pack on my shoulders and on my hips and made my way into the halls, hoping to find an unguarded exit. Unfortunately, there were too many adults watching and walking around, and I didn’t feel threatened enough to use my power...not yet.

I wandered around for a little while before finally going into a bathroom and locking myself in a stall. I was hoping I’d be able to make my way to an exit once school began.

While I was waiting, there were three sharp tones from the intercom system. A moment later, I heard an announcement that put my stomach in my throat. “This is Principle Ayers. The school is on lockdown. All classrooms are to be locked and no one is to be seen in the halls, under any circumstances. All students and faculty need to get into a locked room immediately. We will make an announcement when the lockdown is over,” a man’s voice said.

I considered staying in the bathroom, but it only took a moment to realize they’d check the stalls, if they were looking for me. Gambling, I left the restroom and went into the nearest classroom, following several other kids of various ages. It seemed that they didn’t care where they went, as long as they went into a room. Once we were all in, the teacher locked the door.

“What’s your name?” she asked me.

“Melanie,” I replied.

“Who’s class are you in?” she asked. I had no answer for her.

“I don’t go to this school,” I finally replied. She stared at me a moment, apparently not sure what to do.

“What school do you go to, Melanie?”

“I’m homeschooled. I didn’t mean to come here, but I was herded in with the other kids,” I told her. Although it was true, it wasn’t exactly honest either. She shook her head, apparently thinking I was made to come in when the lockdown began.

“What grade are you in?” she asked.

“I’m not in a grade, ma’am,” I replied.

“How old are you, then?” she asked.

“Almost thirteen, ma’am,” I said, and she looked at me sharply then. I shouldn’t have told the truth, but it was too late. What was done, was done.

“You’re thirteen?” she asked, and it was obvious she didn’t believe me.

“Almost,” I replied.

“What’s your last name, Melanie?” she asked.

“Sturgess,” I said, quickly coming up with a name, finally having enough sense to hide my true identity.

She looked like she was about to ask more questions, but loud voices outside interrupted her. She motioned for me and everyone else to get down, which we all did. A moment later, the door opened, and several FBI agents walked in, looking at everyone. I knew they were FBI because of the jackets they wore, with those three letters clearly written in yellow on top of the blue material.

“Melanie Brager,” a woman said, and I recognized her from the gas station. I tried to hide behind the teacher in front of me, but she had seen me and the teacher seemed to realize that I wasn’t who I had said I was.

Knowing I was caught, I stood up. “I’m not going with you.”

“We’re here to take you to safety,” she said, and I could see that she really believed what she was saying. She thought she was trying to help me.

“They’ll only experiment on me again. I’m not going back.” She stopped moving toward me as I said that.

“No one’s going to experiment on you, honey. Who experimented on you?” the woman asked, clearly trying to process my unexpected response, or maybe she was trying to placate me. I wasn’t sure.

“Those people who want me will do bad things to me if they get me again,” I said, knowing I sounded crazy.

“Sweetheart, no one will experiment on you,” she insisted.

“I’m not going back,” I replied, my voice getting softer, but I could feel the menace behind my words.

I started backing away as she began advancing toward me again. I stopped when I felt a small amount of pressure and saw a small purple flash behind me. Turning, I saw a boy behind me with his arms held like he had tried to grab me, and a very shocked look on his face. Guess that’s what he gets.

With that thought up front in my mind, I very quietly said to him, “You shouldn’t mess with monsters.”

Without any further thought about him, I picked the boy up with my mind and moved him to the other side of the room. That little demonstration brought pandemonium, everyone was trying to get as far away from me as they possibly could.

Returning my attention to the FBI lady, I said, “I told you, I’m an experiment. I was created by scientists and now that you know about me, they’ll lock all of you up.” She stopped again, shocked by what I had done. Maybe it was what I said, along with what I’d done. I didn’t know, and didn’t care.

She began coming toward me again and I put up a forcefield raising my hand in a stopping signal. She hit the force field as soon as I did that. I didn’t need to make the hand motion, but I was feeling particularly dramatic.

“I’m not going back!” I yelled, suddenly feeling desperate. I wasn’t sure what had suddenly come over me, but I knew I needed to get out of there. Reaching into that pool, I let the energy start flowing into me. My logic told me that I’d need it if I had any chance of making it out of this.

The feeling of ecstasy was incredible as I turned toward the outside wall and window, trying to determine my best escape. As I surveyed the area my plan included, I used the energy and pushed it at the wall, making hand motions as I did these things, as if that made any difference. A large section simply blew outward leaving a large, gaping hole and a pile of rubble outside.

Just as I got outside, I turned back toward the FBI lady, “I won’t go back!” I could feel the heat in my voice, and in my cheeks, as I turned back to the open sky and walked away, using my mind to easily sweep away any larger pieces in my path.

Little purple flashes started popping up all around me. I felt the rapid drain of my energy as each of those flashes occurred. Not having any real choice, I reached out to every agent I could see and sent a small trickle of energy into their minds, hopefully just knocking them out. The lady wasn’t in my sight, so she escaped, along with several others most likely. I paused only long enough to pick up a couple of the darts that were meant to knock me out.

There was a chain link fence just outside of the hole I made and I used my mind and flattened a small section of it. I knew the FBI lady was following me again, but it didn’t matter.

Once I was outside the school and the fence, I turned toward her and she stopped. “You say you’re trying to protect me, but you aim guns at me? You people created me. Now you won’t leave me alone! I keep having to protect myself from YOU, and people keep getting hurt,” I said frustrated, and sent the dart speeding toward her. It stopped less than an inch from her face and hovered there for a moment before I let it drop.

As I turned back around, I very clearly said, “I’m done being nice.”

I walked away, heading down a small gravel lane, the smallest inkling of a plan forming in my mind. As the idea was forming, I knew she was following me, but again, I didn’t care. She was about to get a surprise, if I could find the right place and pull enough energy. I was getting very tired and couldn’t keep it up much longer. As for my idea, I knew I’d get only one good shot at making it work, and I also knew they were getting a lot of information about me from what I was doing. Unfortunately, I didn’t have much choice, as far as I could tell.

Finally, I saw something that might work. A long way down the road, I spotted what looked like a barn. Not letting my eyes linger on it, scared they would figure out my intentions, I stopped and turned back toward the FBI lady. There were a lot more FBI people behind her. All of them were just walking along, like it was only a nice afternoon walk. Several had their guns out, but they were lowered.

“I think you need to find another place to work,” I said, when I turned to face her. She was less than four feet away.

“Melanie, I promise I won’t let anyone harm you,” she said.

“You can’t keep that promise,” I replied, looking into her eyes.

She stared at me a moment, looking like she wanted to say more. I began grabbing as much energy as I thought I needed and in the blink of an eye I released it. Just as I did, I felt a dart stick into me. What happened to my shield?

I’m sure the look on her face would have been pure shock, but I was more concerned with the incredible pain that erupted in my head along with the poison that I’d been injected with. As my reality shifted to the new location, I screamed in pain, and dropped to my knees. As my knees slammed onto the concrete floor, I began heaving. This was new, although the pain wasn’t.

I had no idea how long I sat on my knees between several hay bales, my stomach trying to expel everything I’d eaten in the past five years. Drops of blood were mixing with the bile coming out of me. As with all things, it finally ended and I sat back hard on my butt. Although it hurt, I barely noticed, thanks to the pain in my head.

Slowly, I managed to wiggle myself into a back corner of the building I was in. It was dark inside, so I couldn’t make out much. There were little bits of straw scattered around and a good amount of dirt, but the floor was definitely concrete.

At some point, I couldn’t fight the drug anymore and gave into the blackness, which was truly amazing considering the pain I was experiencing. I’d had worse headaches, but how could you truly compare the pain of having a large nail pounded into your skull versus a slightly smaller nail.

When I woke up, there was more light than what I remembered. Then I noticed voices, as I began to come fully awake and my senses began functioning, more slowly than they probably should have.

“Hern, we need to get that tractor over to the north site.”

“John, I’ll get it there as soon as I get it fixed.”

“We need it there now,” the first voice replied, who I believed had been called John.

“You won’t get it anywhere until it’s fixed and there’s nothing I can do about that...other than fix it,” the second man said, the one named Hern.

“Alright, but let’s get it done.”

“What, you going to help?” There was definitely sarcasm in that reply.

“Yeah. I actually know how to get my hands dirty when I need to.”

“How long has it been since you worked on a rig?”

“It’s been a while, but I still know what to do.”

“Well, let’s get to it then. I’m the boss for this, or I’ll walk away.”

“I know.”

Then I heard tools clanking together, with occasional requests from one or the other of the men, as they worked on whatever it was they were working on. This process took a long time, and I went in and out of consciousness during the process. When I finally came completely awake, the drug induced grogginess finally wearing off, I was getting insatiably hungry.

I knew better than to teleport away, or try and get in their minds. I’d pay dearly for it, if I tried. I thought about taking my pack off in the hope that maybe some food was in there, but I was too worried about needing to leave in a hurry. Not only that, I was pretty sure there wasn’t any food anyway.

In the end, I decided to stay in the corner, my chin resting on my knees. I’d been hungrier in my life and I could take it. I didn’t have any choice.

As I was sitting there, I began thinking about Mom and Dad, where they might be, and whether they might be dead or getting tortured. Tears began leaking out of my eyes at those thoughts, and I cried quietly as I sat there.

“Are you alright, little lady?” I heard, shocking me out of my sadness.

Looking up, I saw a very large man wearing a plaid shirt and overalls. He had grease stains in various places, and a long, thick, red beard laced with streaks of white. The thick hair on his head looked much like the beard. He looked concerned, rather than angry or anything like that.

“I’m okay. Just scared,” I replied.

“You don’t have nothing to be scared of, sweetie. I promise, John and I won’t hurt you,” he said.

“Who you talking to, Hern?”

“There’s a pretty little lady back here. She’s been crying, but says she’s alright, just scared,” Hern replied. “Dear Lord, she’s been bleeding,” Hern suddenly exclaimed.

“I’ll call 9-1-1,” John said, as he walked up and heard Hern say that.

“Please don’t!” I instantly yelled, more forcefully than I meant to.

Both men looked at each other for a moment, but didn’t say anything else about it and didn’t ask any questions about it either. It was a little weird, but I couldn’t think of any reason for me to be worried, so I let it go.

“Are you hungry, sweetie?” Hern asked.

“Yes, sir,” I told him. There was no way I could lie about that.

“The rig’s fixed. Have one of your boys come get it. You come with me so we can see about this little lady,” Hern commanded. Although John seemed to be the real boss, it was clear that Hern was in command at the moment.

“Alright,” John replied.

“Let’s get cleaned up first, and we can take her to my place. Ma will see to her better than we can,” Hern suggested.

“Sounds good.”

They both walked toward a sink, not far from where I was balled up in the corner. I still hadn’t moved, other than to look up at them. It didn’t take them too long to clean themselves up.

“Alright. Let’s go, little lady. By the way, what’s your name?” Hern asked.

“Melanie,” I replied, not even thinking to give a different name. What was wrong with me? Why wasn’t I watching what I was saying better than this?

“Hern, I think she actually gave us her real name. She doesn’t look real happy about it either,” John said, seeing my inner turmoil.

“I think you might be right.”

“So you really are Melanie, then?” Hern kind of asked. I nodded my head.

“Well, that’s a pretty name, for a pretty girl,” Hern said, a friendly smile forming between the hair around his mouth. John had a similar smile, but he didn’t have all of the hair. For some reason, I felt comfortable with him, a feeling I wasn’t very used to.

I rarely trusted people, and for me to feel that comfortable with this large man who I only just met, was very odd. I knew my emotions were a little out of sorts, along with my mind, but usually that made me less trusting, not more.

I felt a hand gently lifting me by the elbow, pulling me from my thoughts. Hern was trying to help me up, and I was letting him.

“Come on, sweetie,” he said, gently urging me. I climbed up, with his assistance and stood there, with my hands clasped in front of me. For some reason, I was shaking, but I didn’t know why. I wasn’t frightened, like I probably should have been.

“Don’t let me see any orange liquid,” I said to him, timidly looking up at the large man with red hair.

“Why not?”

“I have problems with orange liquids,” I replied, my shaking getting worse, just thinking about it.

“I’ll let Ma know, although I don’t think we have anything like that,” he said, a gentle smile directed at me. “Let’s go, then,” he said to John, and I guess me.

They helped me into a very large pickup truck, with o