The Hunt: The Oakmont Saga, Book 2

After I woke up, my head splitting and my throat raw, the reality of what had happened returned like a battering ram. I couldn’t stop the tears that leaked from my eyes. It was an effort not to scream at the terror that I was feeling. I did moan, though. It was a low and long thing, and I sounded like the beast that they thought I was.

I was still in the living room of Mrs. Molly and Mr. Hern’s house. I wasn’t sure why I was still there, but I was. Mrs. Trulin was gone, after that initial conversation. Maybe she wasn’t as bad as them, but she definitely wasn’t good either, not that I had ever seen.

I hadn’t seen Mr. Hern or Mrs. Molly again, and I wasn’t exactly sure when the last time was I had seen them. I had a vague memory of seeing Mrs. Molly screaming when they were drilling into my head, or maybe it was when they were cutting my skull open, but that could have been a dream. I really didn’t know.

As I was thinking about that, any concern I had for them was put to rest when they were brought into the room. They both looked scared, but not terrified like me.

“I’m so sorry, sweetheart,” she was saying, before she was jabbed in the back and pushed further into the room. I couldn’t really be mad at her. She thought she was doing the right thing. No one in their right mind would think our government was capable of something like what they were doing to me.

“It’s okay,” I said, and then my voice failed me as my entire body arched in pain at the electricity flowing into me.

“Subject 32145, you will only speak when directed to. Do you understand?” a male voice demanded.

“Yes, sir,” I replied.

“What is your name?” he then asked.

“Subject 32145,” I replied, sounding and feeling really small, pathetic.

“How much did you tell these two people of your abilities?” he asked.

“Nothing, sir…,” I started and immediately felt the flow of electricity coursing through my body again.

“When you lie, we will know,” he said. I then saw a man in a lab coat inject something into the IV I had forgotten was attached to me. From past experience, I knew this would probably be very bad. Of course, it could also be very good.

Unfortunately, the bad turned out to be the case, as I felt that familiar burning sensation moving up my arm. Every little inch it moved, it felt like I was on fire and my skin was melting off of me. I couldn’t stop myself from screaming. As my mouth opened and the first scream came out, the electricity added to my torment.

“You will only make sound when you are instructed to, and no other time. Do you understand,?” a voice asked me.

“Yes,” I managed to squeak out, struggling not to scream. I was terrified of them making it worse, which I knew they could and would do.

Still, I couldn’t stop the pathetic whimpering coming from me. They attempted to stop me with the electricity, and more of the fire, but I couldn’t, no matter how much pain they gave me. The tears continued flowing, as well.

“Stop it!” I heard someone say. I wasn’t sure, but it almost sounded like they yelled it, but I didn’t really care. All I cared about was doing what the voice told me to.

“How much did you tell them?” the voice asked.

“Tell who?” I asked, confused by the question. My mind was floating, unable to fully grasp what was being asked.

“The man and woman who own this house. You know them as Hern and Molly,” the voice explained.

“Oh, them. I told them...I don’t know what I told them. I think I told them that I was from Alaska, but I’m not sure. I know I told them that I was running. Maybe I was trying to run a race. I can’t remember,” I said and the pain became even more intense. It was so bad, all I knew was the pain. Every inch of me was on fire and felt like there were nails being pushed slowly into my skin, each nail coated with the hottest pepper sauce imaginable.

After a few minutes, the pain suddenly dropped a lot, but it never went away. “Tell me everything you told them,” the voice demanded.

“I told Mrs. Molly that I’m a creation of an evil experiment, but I don’t think she believed me. I told her that I killed a lot of people. I think more than thirty, maybe forty, and a couple of kids. I told her that my parents were arrested to try and get to me. I think that was everything,” I answered.

There was a long pause before the voice said anything else. “You told them nothing else?” the voice asked.

“No,” I replied.

“Why did you not add the sir this time?” the voice asked.

“Because adding sir or ma’am is a sign of respect. I don’t respect you,” I answered.

There was a shot of pain, worse than the previous, but it didn’t last as long. A pathetic sound came from me, as it ended. I couldn’t describe it as a whimper, exactly.

“You will address me with the respect I deserve,” the voice said.

“I have,” I said, once I was able to actually speak again, and was given a longer period of pain, again worse than the time before. By the time it ended, my throat hurt a lot worse than it had, because I knew I screamed again, but that pain was insignificant, compared to the pain the voice was giving me.

Suddenly, the feeling of being on fire and my skin melting faded away. It was very fast, but fade was the right description. The head of the gurney I was on had been lifted up, at some point. At the end of the gurney were Mr. Hern and Mrs. Molly, standing with their arms held behind them and with tears running freely from their eyes.

“I’m sorry…,” I began, but couldn’t get anything else out as the electricity flowed into me again.

“You will only speak when directed to do so,” the voice demanded.

“Since you seem to have issues with respect and also with following directions, you will be given an abject lesson in respect. It is your fault these two people are going to suffer,” the voice said.

I had no idea what the voice was about to do to them, but I knew it’d be bad. Tears started forming in my eyes, on top of what was already there. I’d long since given up trying not to cry.

“It’s alright sweetie,” Mrs. Molly began, and then she was jabbed in the back with the butt of a gun.

“We’ll be okay,” Mr. Hern managed to add, before they hit him, silencing him as well.

They were both strapped to two wooden arm chairs, very securely. Once the doctors were happy, they dismissed the soldiers and began their work.

They did to them what I suspect had been done to me. They were much stronger than me, though. Mr. Hern was like a rock. He never gave in, no matter how much they did to him. The torture went on for hours, as far as I could tell. Finally, my eyes burning, my mind a mess, they injected something into their IVs, which brought them out of the fiery stupor. Mrs. Molly had finally broken, although Mr. Hern never did.

I never remembered what the doctors asked, or what they said in response, but I did remember the screaming and the pain. The suffering they went through was forever burned into my mind.

“Are they fully recovered?” the man that seemed to be in charge asked another doctor.

“Yes, doctor,” the younger doctor replied.

“Subject 32145, this is what happens to people that become aware of your existence. This is your fault and will happen to everyone that you have come into contact with, since leaving our facility. Should you ever actually escape again, anyone you come in contact with will suffer the same,” he said, placing the gun under Mrs. Molly’s chin and pulling the trigger.

I was so stunned, I couldn’t make a sound. Tears clouded my vision, but every other part of me was in complete shock. My mouth was open in the form of some unknown word, or maybe simply a horrible scream. I was never certain. Before I could have even hoped to recover, he repeated it with Mr. Hern.

Then they brought in Mr. John, but he looked drugged. Very carefully, the man with the gun placed it in Mr. John’s hand, put it to his chin and pulled the trigger. It was obvious what he had done. He made it look like Mr. John had killed them and then himself.

“Clean up our presence and let’s go,” he ordered.

“Yes, doctor,” the younger doctor replied.

I was left there for some time, able to see the bodies and unable to do anything. My mind was an absolute mess. I was unable to completely comprehend what had just happened. I couldn’t make sense of it. No sound would come from my mouth, not that I was really trying that hard.

I had no idea how long it took, but I was eventually being taken out of the back of the truck I had been put into, and rolled into a place I knew. I was back at Oakmont, being rolled into the emergency room looking area I was brought into when I first arrived.

“Welcome back to Oakmont, Melanie,” someone said.

“This is subject 32145, and the subject will go by no other name,” the main doctor instructed the woman who had welcomed me. I never responded in any way, not even with a look. I was still numb from what had happened. I was staring into some different place, but the place was escape, my island.

“We are going to do something unusual, with this subject. I want to reintroduce the subject to the school environment. However, the subject will not be placed on the strength chart and the subject will only be known as subject 32145, and by no other name. Let’s see if there is any hope of salvaging this subject,” the doctor said.

“Yes, doctor,” a woman replied. The woman’s voice sounded familiar, but I had retreated inside my mind, and didn’t recognize it, didn’t care to.

“Let the staff know that subject 32145 has a device implanted that records all interaction. If anyone steps out of line, we will know and will address it accordingly,” the doctor added. Although I knew that was a lie, I wasn’t about to correct him. What he had just done, was make sure I was completely isolated, and I knew it. No one would dare say anything to me, or attempt to help me, in any way, but like everything else, I didn’t care.

The straps holding me to the gurney were removed and I was helped up, into a sitting position. After a few moments, with the nurse assisting me by rubbing my legs, I got up and stood for the first time since my capture. They had to direct me, as I was not responsive.

Getting me onto an examination table, the nurse then began a thorough examination. “Would you gentlemen wait outside, please?” she asked the doctor and his assistants. Rather than agree, he simply grabbed a pair of scissors and cut my clothes off from head to toe. Everything was removed. I didn’t even notice, not really.

Apparently understanding the situation, she conducted her examination. When she got to my torso, she closely looked at my wound, then up at me in obvious curiosity.

When I didn’t make any sign of reply, she asked, “What happened?” Somewhat surprisingly to me, I shrugged my shoulders. She pursed her lips, realizing I wasn’t going to say anything, but decided against pushing it.

“Well, it looks like it was well tended to, at least,” she finally said, after an even closer examination of the wound.

“We need to monitor that wound, probably getting a better look at it from the inside. Other than that, she is clear to enter the school,” the nurse said.

“Get her dressed and take her to her room,” the nurse instructed Mrs. Thornton, who had walked in a moment ago.

“She can get dressed when she gets to her room,” the doctor said. Both the nurse and Mrs. Thornton looked shocked at his order, but neither questioned him.

Looking very uncomfortable, she indicated that I needed to follow her, so I did. She led me into the dormitory portion of the school and to a room. Although I didn’t really care at that moment, there were no students walking around as she led me to my new room. Opening the door, she led me in. There were four beds, one unoccupied.

“Girls, this is subject 32145. She will go by that name only,” she said to the three girls, who had all stood up when we entered. All three were shocked to see me standing there without any clothes. “Subject 32145, this is Maddie, Chelsea and Emily,” she said, indicating the three girls in turn.

Maddie had dark brown hair and a pale complexion. She was average build, and wore glasses. Chelsea had black hair, and was skinny, but not overly so. Emily had blonde hair and although a tiny bit heavy, was definitely not fat.

Although I had retreated into the depths of my mind, I recorded everything. Nothing was missed, it just wasn’t reacted to, or acknowledged in any way.

“I will leave you girls to get acquainted. Mel...I mean subject 32145, I will bring your class schedule shortly,” she said. I lowered my head and eyes, not giving her any response. I still wasn’t able to make myself speak, not that I really cared to. She seemed to have at least some understanding, gave a sympathetic smile and left.

“What’s your real name?” Maddie asked. Although she looked a little uncomfortable, she had obviously decided that the ice needed to be broken and had taken it upon herself to do so. Rather than answer, I walked over to my bed, and curled up in the corner.

“What’d they do to your head?” Emily asked.

“Maybe she can’t talk because of what they did,” Chelsea suggested.

I remained in the corner, not moving in any way, not even shaking. They made a couple more attempts to get me to talk, but I didn’t even acknowledge them. Finally, they left. I assumed they went to dinner, but I wasn’t even sure what time it was. I had no desire to eat, if it was dinner time, so I just stayed where I was.

Mrs. Thornton came in a little later and was shocked to see me, just as she had left me, other than I was curled in a ball on my bed. She looked at me for a long moment, then came and sat on the bed.

“I don’t know what’s happened to you, sweetie, but I hope you can find the strength to fight through it,” she urged me. I still didn’t move. Mrs. Thornton wrapped her arm around me. That simple gesture broke through somehow, and tears burst out. I was unable to stop them.

She held me for a long time, letting me cry. I never said a word, or made any sound, other than the quiet sobbing.

“You need to eat, sweetie,” she said, when I finally settled down. “Mel...sweetie, you have to eat, or you’ll waste away and I don’t want to see that,” she said, when I didn’t reply.

“Through all of the crap you went through before, I didn’t think it was possible to break you down. Seems I was wrong. They managed to find a way to beat down the strongest girl I’ve ever seen,” she said, then stood up and looked at me.

I actually looked up at her, another tear forming in my eyes. “Oh God, what did they do to you?” she asked, although it was obvious she didn’t expect an answer, and I didn’t give her one.

After a little while, she went to a dresser, pulled clothes out and layer them on the bed. “Here are some clothes, when you feel up to it,” she told me. I didn’t even acknowledge her with a nod, nothing.

A while later, probably after their free time, my three roommates returned, all smiling and giggling. When they walked in, they stopped dead, looking at me still sitting in the corner, still naked.

“This is going to be a drag,” one of the girls said. I wasn’t sure which one, considering I wasn’t really looking at them, and I hadn’t placed their voices yet.

“We’ve got to get her to learn to have fun,” Maddie said, as I lifted my eyes just enough to see them.

“She needs to eat,” Emily stated.

“If she doesn’t want to eat, then that’s her problem,” Chelsea replied.

“No, if she doesn’t eat, then she gets sick and that’s our problem. Not only that, I think they did something to her to make her like that. God, I can’t imagine what they could’ve done. Look at her head. They shaved it and there’s like a square cut out,” she told them, although they could see it as well.

“Can you talk?” Emily asked me. Not knowing why I did, I shrugged my shoulders.

“At least she’s responding now,” Chelsea said, more than a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

“Be nice,” Emily admonished.

“Why?” she replied.

“Did they do something to your head?” Maddie asked, ignoring Chelsea’s questioning reply and stretching to look at the top of my head. I nodded my head very slightly, the first real response I’d given.

“Those jerks!” Emily exclaimed.

I started to open my mouth to speak, but I couldn’t do it. I wasn’t sure why, but I couldn’t make myself talk. Emily seemed to sense my struggle and grabbed a small notebook and a pen, thrusting them at me.

“They cut a hole in my head so they could put something in there to stop my telepathy and track me,” I wrote. Before I handed it to her, I added, “They told me if it is messed with or I move too far away from them, it will send a shock into my brain. I think they’re scared of me escaping again.” I handed the notebook back.

“God! They’re horrible,” she almost yelled, when she read it. The other two girls read it over her shoulder, and all three looked at me.

“There has only ever been one escape. Are you one of the two girls that escaped?” Emily asked. I nodded my head, very slightly.

I motioned for the notebook back, and began writing before it was fully in my grasp. “They told the people here that they can hear what is said to me, but it’s a lie,” I wrote.

“They would do something like that,” Maddie replied.

“Those people are evil,” Emily agreed. Chelsea wasn’t really participating in the discussion, and although her friends didn’t seem to notice, I did. I just didn’t care.

“You know, you’re a hero to most of the kids here,” Maddie said to me. I looked at her like she was crazy. How could I be a hero? I was pathetic, both now and when I had been here before.

“How did you get caught?” Chelsea asked, an odd look on her face, like she was curious how I could have let myself get caught again. Actually, it may have been more of a thought that there was no escape, and I was finally caught again. She clearly doubted I was the hero the others thought I was. Of course, I didn’t think I was a hero either, so I could understand her lack of faith in me. What I realized, at that moment, was that my mind was beginning to work, at least a little.

“I let myself get caught so my best friend and two other kids could escape,” I wrote, not wanting to look like a hero, but also not wanting them to lose hope at me getting caught.

“You acted as a diversion?” Emily asked, a look of shock on her face. I shrugged my shoulders.

“Oh my God! You are a hero!” Maddie exclaimed, to which I shook my head.

“Even she doesn’t think she’s a hero. You two need to get a grip,” Chelsea said, turned and went to her bed, dropping into it and turning her back to us.

“Don’t listen to her. She’s always been very negative,” Maddie said.

“So am I,” I wrote. Oddly, I was beginning to feel a little more normal, thanks to these two girls, who had accepted me as I was, without hesitation. I wasn’t comfortable with the way they thought of me, but I was sure that would fade in time.

“There’s still time to get some dinner, if you want,” Maddie suggested, to which I gave a very slight nod of agreement. Although I still didn’t feel like eating, I didn’t want them to worry and I knew I needed to eat.

So, quickly getting dressed, we set off for the cafeteria. It was amazing that I still remembered the way. Not only did I remember it, but I took a different route than they were used to, which was faster. The two girls were, yet again, amazed at me. This hero worship was something I wasn’t used to, and didn’t really like.

When we got to the cafeteria, I got a plate with baked chicken and some broccoli. I didn’t really taste it, and didn’t eat a lot of it, but I forced myself to eat enough to make them happy. I washed it all down with a glass of water, which I did want and drank all of.

“Isn’t your name Melanie?” Maddie asked, as I was about to take my tray to the dirty dish belt. I froze for a moment, not sure how I should answer. Instead, I turned and finished my disposal job and headed back to our room.

When we got there, I pulled out the little notebook they had now given me, and wrote. “I am no longer that person. I am Subject 32145,” I wrote in reply, thrusting the notebook at her.

After reading it, both girls stared at me for a little while, not seeming to know what else to say. Finally, Maddie went to her vanity, grabbed a pair of scissors and a hair brush and returned.

“We need to do something about your hair,” she said.

“There is nothing you can do about my hair, except shave the rest off,” I replied in my notebook.

“Well, let’s do that then,” she suggested. I shook my head more animatedly than I should have, as pain pounded throughout, thanks to my actions. I grabbed my head in my hands, holding it for a little while, before finally looking back up at them and shaking my head much more gently.

Aliyah, Gabe, Raphe and the kids were almost to Seattle as Melanie was returning to Oakmont. Their ordeal, although boring, was much more relaxed and a lot less traumatic.

“Aliyah, what do you plan to do?” Raphe asked, as he was navigating the interstate traffic of the Seattle area, as if he was driving a race car, rather than a van. It was past the main rush, but traffic was still heavy.

“I don’t know yet,” she admitted.

“You need to figure it out soon. When do you want the TV people there?” he asked, after a long pause.

“Let’s do it tomorrow morning when there are a lot of people,” she suggested.

“I do not know your plan, but if you want a lot of people to see it, then that is good. I think you do, since you want TV there,” he replied.

“Can you really get TV people to show up,” Aliyah asked, now wondering how he could actually make that happen.

“Trust me, you will have TV people there,” he assured her.

“I don’t have a choice. But I do trust you,” she replied, thinking of the irony that she was trusting a drug dealer with gold teeth. But he had abandoned everything he knew to come help them. She had to trust him.

“When they ask you who did this thing I am going to do, you do not lie. You tell them Raphe did,” he instructed her. Although she was very curious, she nodded agreement and didn’t ask. She had a strong suspicion that she didn’t really want to know.

As they got to Everett, Raphe got off the interstate and drove straight to a motel, as if he knew where he was going. When he finally pulled into a parking spot, Aliyah couldn’t stop herself.

“How did you know where to go?” she asked him.

“Map app,” he replied, holding his phone up.

She stared at him for a moment longer and shrugged her shoulders. It was obvious that even if there was more to the story, she wasn’t going to get it.

A short time later, they were all checked into a room. Aliyah was a little apprehensive at sharing a room, but she’d been with them for a while already, with no problems.

Once they got their limited belongings in the room, they all walked out and down the road, following Raphe as he led them. When they crossed Pacific Avenue, he came to a stop, and looked at Gabe and Aliyah.

“Steak or Chinese?” he asked.

At the same time, Aliyah said “Chinese,” and Gabe said “steak.”

Rahpe then turned to the younger kids and repeated the question, “steak or chinese?”

Both of them said, “Chinese.”

“Chinese it is,” he said, giving Gabe a sad smile.

After eating, they returned to their shared motel room and went to sleep very quickly. The trip had been long and hard. It was growing worse for Aliyah and the kids, since they had been going for over a week. That week seemed much longer, though.