The Hunt: The Oakmont Saga, Book 2

“What the hell happened?” the man I’d come to recognize as Mr. Riley asked. He sounded very angry, for some reason, which made me very happy.

“We had no warning about this, Senator. The FBI was shocked by it as well,” Headmaster Raughlin replied.

“Why do you not have control of the subjects yet?” the woman asked. I still had no idea who she was.

“The FBI has control of them and has moved them to one of their safehouses. Although we could take them by force, it would be bloody and possibly very public. I suspect you wouldn’t like that,” the Headmaster told them.

“I understand proceedings have begun to transfer control,” Mr. Riley asked, sounding a lot less angry.

“That is correct, Senator. I have little doubt that our national security position will grant us priority, and thus control,” the Headmaster said.

“And if it does not?” the woman asked.

“We’ll do what we must to obtain the subjects and insure the success of this program,” he replied.

“And what about her little publicity stunt?” the woman asked.

“Most don’t believe her, and when the subjects disappear, the rest will forget. For any that remain, they’ll be like the UFO nuts that you read about,” he assured the woman.

“What is the status of Subject 32145?” Mr. Riley asked.

“There’s an ongoing emotional issue, rendering her non-verbal, but I believe you’re already aware of that. As to her academics, she’s above anything that can be taught to her at Oakmont, but we’re keeping her in classes to establish a routine. She’s unable to train in martial arts, thanks to her outstanding injuries and surgery. She seems to have been punctured through the abdomen during her recent attempt to flee. Finally, her mental proficiencies are incredible and along what we had suspected. Mr. Miller had her send a projection to her class, explaining how to send mental projections. The reports indicate that the class was rather in awe of her ability in that regard, including Mr. Miller. They had a combat exercise, in which she showed a lot of weakness in her attack and her shielding. Mike thinks that should she ever decide to attack another telepath, this weakness can be used against her. He is prepared to illustrate it to all telepaths that could be used to help suppress her, should the need arise,” he informed them.

“Very good, Headmaster. Continue to keep us informed, and make sure you gain control of the other subjects,” Mr. Riley said.

“And make sure there are no more publicity stunts, like this recent episode. If this program becomes public, life will get very difficult for you,” the woman said.

“Understood,” he replied.

I woke up in a cold sweat and shaking, yet again. I usually did wake up like that when I had the visions, or dreams, or whatever they were. My bed was now soaked with my sweat, as were my clothes, and I was getting cold very fast.

Knowing I wasn’t going to sleep anymore, I very quietly got up, grabbed a change of clothes and my personal items, and headed to the shower. Although I didn’t do it like I had so long ago, I sat in the corner of the shower stall, with the water very warm, although not as hot as it could go. I’d recently been allowed to gently wash my hair, and get my head wet. My abdomen was sealed enough that there was no concern there any longer, either. I still had to be extremely careful, though, so no exercise or martial arts.

When I was finally done with all of my morning ritual, I went to my old room and started working on my force field again. I so wished I was as good at force fields as Aliyah was. She’d probably have had it figured out by this point, if she had been there with me.

As tears seeped from my eyes, I knew I needed to put those thoughts aside. They weren’t doing me any good. I missed her though, and my brother and parents, and Eliana...all of them.

Refocusing my thoughts, I stamped on my emotions. I returned to concentrating on the force field and making it smaller around the new pencil I’d found. Just like the day before, at my best, I could see the distance between the pencil and the force field. And just like the day before, after a lot of concentration, and an awful lot of pain, I got incredibly frustrated and forced the field in tighter, crushing the pencil.

In a final explosion of anger, I brought the field in as tight as I could. It was kind of like wringing a wet rag or sponge, but harder, the effort being fueled by my boiling anger. I felt a blast of energy surge through me as I unleashed that anger and all of my emotion into the field around the pencil. It was as if there was also a surge of fire inside the field, but I hadn’t realized I’d tapped that power. When I was completely spent, I looked at the incredibly compressed lump that fell on my bed.

There was an odd twinkle in places, making me look closely at what I’d done. What I saw was was a clear looking crystal type stuff embedded within the lump. I couldn’t call it wood anymore, as the only things left were a black substance and the crystalline stuff.

As I walked away from my mini disastrous attempt to control my force field, I suddenly realized that I had actually succeeded, but hadn’t maintained control. How else could I have done what I just did?

What I needed was to truly control it, throughout the process. I needed something to help me manage to keep the force field a molecular distance from the edge of the pencil, and no closer, but also no further.

I turned around and went back to the room. I was exhausted, and shouldn’t have even thought of trying it, but I was too excited.

Sitting back on the bed, I searched in my old desk and found another pencil. It had been used, almost to its end, but it was good enough. As a matter of fact, considering its small size, it might be better for my attempt.

Sitting down, I closed my eyes, letting my mental senses feel the object for me. That thought almost made me laugh, since all of our senses were mental.

It took a moment, but I shook off the distracting thoughts so I could return to the task at hand. Refocused, I enclosed the pencil with my force field. It was much more difficult this time, since I was already tired, but I pushed myself.

I started as tightly as I ever had, not that I’d been doing this for that long. The force field was as close as it had ever been while under complete control, and maybe a little closer. It still wasn’t close enough, though.

Stretching my mental muscles, the field tightened. Very slowly, and using a massive amount of energy, I felt the force field get closer...and closer. It was a very slow process, taking what seemed like an incredibly long time, but it was happening.

Finally, I opened my eyes and when I looked at the pencil, I couldn’t see any separation between the force field and the pencil. Of course, my eyes weren’t good enough. I started examining it with my mind, and was amazed to find it was incredibly close. I had no way of knowing how close, but I knew this was probably as good as I’d ever get it. It had to be, because this took way more energy than I could use for very long.

I almost collapsed when I released the energy and the pencil. It fell to the floor, and I fell on the bed, unable to move.

When I finally woke back up, I lifted myself up, very slowly, with a lot of pain and effort. My muscles were all rubbery and my mind was even worse.

I managed my way back to my room, and was shocked when my roommates weren’t there. Then I looked at my clock and knew why. I also knew I was likely going to be in trouble. It was already lunch time, which meant I’d missed morning exercise and all of my morning classes. Before I could lift myself back off my bed, there was a knock followed by the door opening.

“Subject 32145, why aren’t you in class?” Mrs.Trulin asked as she walked in.

Before I was able to answer, she looked me over and then placed a hand on my forehead. “Have you been working with your telepathy without supervision again?”

I very lightly shook my head. Since I hadn’t been working with telepathy, it wasn’t technically a lie. It was a fine point, and a little deceptive, but I figured this was an acceptable deception. I knew better than to let them know what I was truly doing, including Mr. Miller.

With the possibility that I could actually disable the device inside my head, I thought of a problem I’d have to deal with when that happened. Anyone with telepathy would realize my mind was open, and that of course meant almost everyone here. I could get away with it for a little while, them thinking they’d simply not turned me back off, but that’d only last for a little while. That illusion would be shattered as soon as they tried to turn the block back on and nothing happened.

Then it dawned on me. Mr. Miller had paved the way for a deception with the block. He was leaving it open almost all the time, so he could randomly attack me. However, that also meant that my mind being open wouldn’t be a shock, or be a give away to my work. That is, if I ever succeeded, and if they didn’t start turning it back on again.

Regardless, it’d be a little while before I could do anything anyway, so I had some time to figure it out. One option was to simply leave as soon as I disabled the stupid thing. That was my best option, the more I thought about it. Finally, I nodded my head, knowing that was the path to take, and my goal anyway. What I needed was to improve all of my other skills, which Mr. Miller was going to help me with.

Laying on my bed, I’d kind of come up with a plan, at least a short term plan. What I didn’t really have was a longer term plan, or a reason for the plan, other than to escape. There needed to be more, though. Simply escaping had proven to be a big fail.

It occurred to me that Mrs. Trulin had left. I didn’t remember the conversation with Mrs. Trulin, my head hurt so bad. I did remember her coming to my room, though. My memory returned when I found myself in the cafeteria with a meal in front of me and Chelsea sitting across from me.

“Are you going to eat, or what?” she asked, not sounding very happy to be with me.

“Yeah, I guess,” I scribbled in my notebook, somewhat dreamily.

She returned to her meal, ignoring me, or so it seemed. I looked down and saw a plate with a brown gravy covered piece of meat, I had no idea what kind. It might have been salisbury steak. There was a helping of mashed potatoes and some green beans on the side. Overall, it was a rather generic meal, but it was one I liked a lot.

My food was eaten amazingly fast. My lack of energy was demanding it of me, and I gladly complied.

“Can you bowl?” she asked, when I was finally done.

“It’s been a while, but yeah,” I wrote, curious why she’d asked me.

“Let’s go, then,” she all but commanded.

I wasn’t sure what to make of her. Why was she with me and why had she demanded that I bowl with her? It was obvious she didn’t like me.

We went to the game room and bowled several games before she seemed to have had enough. Without any words, she took her shoes off and returned them, standing there waiting for me.

With the less than subtle hint understood, I took the bowling shoes off, replacing my regular shoes and returned the bowling shoes to the counter. I then followed her out of the game room, heading to the dormitory section of the building.

As my mind was working on other things, I didn’t even notice that we went a different way. She lead me into a corridor I wasn’t very familiar with, although I knew where it went. I’d long ago memorized the entire map of the building, and could recall it at any time. That was one of those odd quirks of my mind.

Before I opened my mouth, she stopped, turned around and stood within inches of me, with a leering expression. She was a bit taller than me, not that that was very difficult, so her current position was very intimidating.

“Why are you here?” she asked, not in a friendly way.

“Because they caught me,” I quickly wrote, not understanding the question. She already knew that.

“No, why did you let them catch you? You’re supposed to be too good to get caught,” she said, saying every word very clearly, as if I didn’t understand her or something.

I was shocked by her statement. Aside from it not being true, it was rather interesting coming from her, considering her obvious dislike of me.

“We were in a small town in South Dakota and I knew they were coming. So, I told Aliyah to take the kids and run. I was already injured and knew I couldn’t run anymore, so she left and I went the other way. The people followed me, which is what I hoped for. I ended up at some couples house and the woman turned me in and they killed her and her husband because they’d seen me. That’s what happened. I don’t understand the question,” I replied in my notebook, my fingers aching after writing so much, so fast.

“So you’re some kind of hero, or something?” she asked.

“I’m no hero,” I wrote with emphasis, a little shocked by the thought.

“Yeah, I guess not,” she said, looking her usually sarcastic self, if not even more so.

She then turned back around, and continued to our room, me tagging along behind her. I thought about our discussion, over and over, as we walked. I knew there was something I needed from it, but it just wasn’t coming to me. Nothing of any value came to me by the time I closed my eyes that night.

Although I knew time had passed since my eyes had closed, it seemed like it was instant. I could see the Headmaster sitting in front of his computer. His facial expression looked as if it had been sculpted on.

“Senator, Madam Chairwoman, this is an unexpected pleasure,” he said.

“Dispense with the false pleasantries, Raughlin. It has come to our attention that there is another program, similar to yours. Were you aware of this?” Mr. Riley asked.

Even I could see the shock on his face. Mr. Riley and the woman obviously could too.

“I see that this is news to you, as well. This previously unknown program is not under our control, as of yet. However, being that they are not under any Congressional oversight, that will soon be remedied. In the meantime, you should be aware that there are discussions within the Congressional intelligence committees of merging the two programs. That, of course, is partially dependent on the President, the Secretary of Defense and the Director of the CIA and maybe the Director of National Intelligence, but I think we can sway opinion there,” the woman said, and I could hear the snide tone of her voice.

“Can you give me any information about this other program?” the Headmaster asked.

“All we know is that the Werdlmyre school and research facility are located in the western part of North Carolina, and we’ve been told that they have done some rather interesting work. We know nothing of their methods, their goals or their successes. What we are certain of is that they have done genetic research and have children in a school there,” Mr. Riley replied.

“In other words, they’re a mystery, but seem very similar to the Oakmont program,” Mr. Raughlin stated.

“Yes, that would be accurate,” Mr. Riley agreed.

“Should we send an agent there to determine what exactly they are, and what potential threat they pose?” the Headmaster asked.

“This is not a competition, Headmaster Raughlin, and their goals are the same as yours,” the woman said, making his title sound like an insult. His face actually got red at her apparent lack of respect for him, but he kept it to himself. She kept on going, though, ignorant of his flash of anger, or maybe not caring, “They are tasked with trying to make the United States secure from threats, both foreign and domestic.”

“I understand that, madam Chairwoman, but if they are redundant, then they are taking away valuable funding from this program,” he quipped.

“Or maybe, the Oakmont program is taking away valuable funding from their program,” she rebutted.

“Should the programs be merged, do you have any plan for the logistics of it?” he asked.

“It is much too early to know,” she replied, seeming to have won their little word war. Although I couldn’t see her face, and in fact had never seen her face, I imagined there was a smug smile plastered on it.

“Now, Mr. Raughlin, we want you to push Subject 32145. Subject 32023 has created a bit of a problem for us and we need the subject broken before the others are recovered. We’ll be issuing the order to terminate the liabilities. We must limit the collateral damage, and also remove any holds the subjects have with the outside world,” she continued.

“In other words, remove any reason they have to leave,” he mused, actually rubbing his chin in thought.

“Exactly,” she replied.

I woke up with a start, sitting upright instantly, as my eyes opened. There was another way school out there, and they might be like us, which meant that other kids were being experimented on. How could I ever beat these people, if there were even more of them? Actually, I never really wanted to beat them. I just wanted to get away from them and live my life, but they wouldn’t let me.

Did this information really change anything for me? Right at that moment, no, it did not. The future was still in the future and I needed to worry about what was right in front of me to survive.

Carefully and quietly I got my things and went to the shower. Further returning to my old ways, I turned the water as hot as it’d go, and sat under it for a very long time. I only knew I needed to leave when I heard other girls coming in.

I finished cleaning, brushing my teeth and hair and getting dressed quickly. With those tasks done, I went to my room, where I was met by two nurses. Thanks to the vision, their presence wasn’t a surprise.

“Subject 32145, follow us,” they commanded, although it was somewhat pleasantly delivered.

They led me to the hospital, where they drew blood samples and then injected something into me. The feeling reminded me of how the second injections felt the last time I was at Oakmont. They had given me two different injections back then, supposedly to make my telepathy wake up faster. Those injections made me incredibly angry, or at least I was pretty sure they did.

“You will now follow Dr. Hyrm, please,” the nurse stated, as a man walked up. He was dressed in a hospital outfit, as if he was about to go into an operating room.

I followed the doctor into what I knew as the old section of the school. I had some bad memories from that area, and was quite nervous going there with him.

We entered a room that looked a lot like an operating room combined with a torture chamber. With the wave of a hand, he motioned me to lay on the bed, which I did. He then strapped my arms and legs down. I couldn’t help but get scared, thanks to past experience, but I submitted without question. I was well trained.

He then inserted a syringe into my arm and injected something else in me. It only took a moment for me to realize how sucky my life could get. This wasn’t physical pain, but I began seeing things and the walls and room began moving in very unnatural ways. I screamed and screamed, but it wouldn’t end.

At some point, the room began to steady, but I had a constant feeling of terror. It simply wouldn’t go away.

“Subject 32145, is there any more of the serum that you took?” a voice asked.

Of course, I couldn’t reply, since I still wasn’t talking. The voice apparently didn’t like that, and the images returned. After awhile, they went away again.

“You will tell us what we want to know, or this will continue.”

No sir, I replied, fighting with all of my will not to tell the truth. There was a long pause, the voice remaining silent.

“Are you sure?” the voice finally asked. With that question, I was pretty sure it knew I was lying. Why was I lying, anyway? It didn’t make since, and telling the truth made so much sense.

Yes, sir, I replied, maintaining the lie, even though it was pointless. Although I was having trouble lying, I continued, but I also knew I was in no condition to embellish. The urge to tell everything was incredible.

“Where did you find the serum?”

The old lab I used to go to.

“Dr. Hammond’s lab?”

I think so, I replied.

“Was there anything else in there?”

Before I thought about what I’d said, I replied, Yes, sir.

“What was in there?”

A notebook.

“What was in the notebook?”

I don’t know. A lot of science stuff about different serums he worked on. I didn’t understand it, I told him, only slightly lying. I didn’t completely understand it, but I knew with a little time, I could.

“Can you remember the names of the different serums?”

X2, X3, X4, X5 and X6. With each one there was an I or a D added to the end, except for X3. It only had the D.

“Which version did you take?”

I didn’t take it. James poured it down my throat before he raped me! I yelled, unable to control my emotions, which were going crazy. I was balling like a baby, and I couldn’t stop it.

“What version was it?”

I think he gave me X6.

“Which version?”

I don’t know, but I think it was I. No, maybe it was D...it was I. Definitely I. Somehow, I had managed to pull myself together enough to say something that wasn’t exactly true.

“You will go through this every day until you submit to the program. Do you understand?” I began crying again, knowing what I was about to go through. I’d never submit to them, though.

Suddenly, the horrors began again. They were the things of nightmares, and I screamed, often and very loud. My throat was sore in no time, but my mind was absolute mush.

At some point, I’d been carried back to my room. I knew that because I woke up in my bed, covered in sweat and cringing in the corner, curled into a ball. It was very reminiscent of my ordeal with James.

“She’s awake,” I heard. It took me a minute to realize it was Emily talking. I felt someone sit on the bed and I cringed further into the corner, curling up tighter, drawing my legs and arms in as close to my body as I could.

“They’re messing her up bad,” another voice stated. Just like with Emily, it took me a moment to recognize the voice as Maddie.

“Why do you care?” I heard Chelsea ask, her voice sounding cold and menacing. Oddly, I recognized her voice as soon as I heard it. Maybe I was coming out of this fog I was in, but it was weird that I recognized her voice and didn’t the other girls.

“Because it’s wrong. Look at her. She’s a mess,” Maddie exclaimed. There was something in her tone that was off, though. I couldn’t put my finger on what it was, considering how messed up I was at that moment, but it was there. It went along with the funny feeling I had been getting with her and Emily lately.

Without any thought about what I was doing, my shields went up. As I realized it, I was a little surprised until I felt a probe hit them. Instinctively, I retaliated. There was no real control. It was all reflex.

As all of this was being processed by my foggy mind, I knew that first injection was similar to what I’d been given my first time at Oakmont. My anger surged so fast and with such force, I was already seeing red, but oddly, I knew I wasn’t about to have one of the psychic bursts. I wasn’t sure how I knew, but I did.

I was even more surprised when my attack, following the probe of my attacker, hit Maddie instead of Chelsea. The day not being complete, without even more shock, Emily joined Maddie in the attack. But the shock wasn’t over, as Chelsea joined the fight. However, to add yet another shock on top of the growing pile of them, she was attacking our roommates, helping me.

Following the few lessons I’d had from Mr. Miller, I probed for those little pores in her shield. Although it looked like she’d been trained to try and cover them, her training was incomplete and I found what I was looking for.

My probe went in with relative ease, once I found the holes in her shield. Sending a small burst of energy, she collapsed in a heap. It had been an exercise of pure will not to completely fry her mind.

Turning toward Chelsea, it was obvious that she was having a harder time. My assumption was that all of them were at the same level of training, which I should have been far behind. I was ahead of them, though, which made no sense.

Not wanting to interfere with Chelsea, but wanting to help her, I wondered if I could bolster her energy. Mr. Miller had mentioned it to me, but hadn’t taught me how to do it. I sent a probe to her, getting through her shields easily. I could feel the shock on her face as she realized what I’d done. She thought I was attacking her.

“I’m helping you, you idiot!” she screamed, to which Emily started smiling, and her smile was very big. She was ready to take advantage of the opening.

Hoping this was right, I sent a small trickle of energy into Chelsea’s probe, the one that was probing Emily. I also began assisting her in finding a hole. Emily was much better than Maddie, and I realized that almost immediately. Her shield was very strong, and nearly flawless. Every time I found a hole, it’d close up.

I could feel understanding blossom in Chelsea as she realized what I was doing. Her shock turned to approval immediately, and she even did something I didn’t understand. She began pulling energy from me, rather than me sending it to her.

With the incredible amount of energy I was able to give her, she simply battered Emily’s shields until they collapsed, as did Emily. There was the typical blood coming from Emily’s nose and eyes, but it looked a little more than normal. Something was wrong.

I immediately withdrew from Chelsea and sent a probe through the building, hunting for Mr. Miller. I knew roughly where the faculty apartments were, and that’s where I went. He wasn’t anywhere to be found though. Of course, I wasn’t the best at finding specific people, or people in general, for that matter.

My second thought was that maybe he went to class early. I was rewarded when I felt his presence in the room. I sent my probe to him without waiting. His shields flared momentarily, but yielded when he realized who it was.

Mr. Miller, we need you! I mentally shouted.

I could tell he was struggling with replying. We’re in my room, I told him, not wanting to take the time to explain how to talk this way.

A few minutes later, Mr. Miller was examining the two girls, especially Emily. Without disturbing it, he closely examined the blood on her. Once he seemed to have discovered whatever it was he wanted, he turned toward us, still kneeling.

“What happened?” he asked, as he stood up. Until that question, he hadn’t said a word.

“Maddie and Emily attacked her, but I don’t know why,” Chelsea replied, her words coming out in a rush. Although I’d been tortured several times, I was terrified of what had been done to me earlier, and I was sure it was about to happen again.

“Melanie, calm down. You are not in trouble, at least not from me,” he assured me. Then I realized he called me by my name...my real name. Of course, he always had been, and I started remembering that.

But they’ll put that stuff in me again, when they find out, I couldn’t help from saying.

“What stuff?” he asked, but with an odd expression.

They put stuff in me that made me see things, horrible things, I said, beginning to weep and shake again. I felt his hand on my shoulder, trying to comfort me. It didn’t though. The terror was too real.

“Considering what I know of what you’ve gone through, it must have been pretty bad. I’m not going to tell anyone about this, but I need your help with them,” he said.

I didn’t tell them anything they didn’t already know, but I know I will, I admitted.

“Listen Melanie, they’ve tortured you before and you didn’t break. You won’t this time. You’re strong,” he tried to assure me.

But I did break. They beat me and it didn’t take very long, either!, I told him, yelling in my mind.

I was totally crying by that point and he surprised me when he wrapped his arms around me, holding me tightly. Although I began to fight, I didn’t fight much.

He held me until I finally calmed down, then gently pushed me back, so he could look at me. “I need to know something, Melanie. How did you talk to me?” he asked.

I open my mouth and…, I said.

“You’re not talking to me with your mouth,” he said, cutting me off. That simple statement shocked me, and I knew I’d let one of my secrets out. Everything I’d said was with my mind, not with my mouth, and I hadn’t paid attention to that fact.

I just can, I finally replied, having no way to avoid it.

“How long have you been able to do that?” he asked.

I don’t know. Me and Aliyah did it before we escaped, once I knew I could trust her. That was when I started doing it, but I don’t know when I was able to do it, I told him.

“You’re always full of surprises,” he remarked, a smile playing at his lips. Chelsea was looking at us with a very curious expression.

You have no idea, I blurted out, knowing that it was stupid once it was said.

“Tell me,” he said. Before I could reply, he added, “But I know you won’t, so don’t bother trying to worm your way out of it. I’ll let it pass, but someday, you are going to have to trust someone...other than Aliyah. To get trained, and I mean really trained, you need someone that knows what they’re doing, and that someone is me. Whether you know it or not, I’m on your side, even if I do believe in what this program stands for.”

Again I started to speak, but he stopped me. “Melanie, these two were trained, at least somewhat. You took out the two most trained telepaths at this level, and it appears you did it rather easily. I’ve only given you two lessons, I think, not to mention the random attacks, and you are already that good. Your victory is likely due to raw strength, rather than ability. As a matter of fact, looking at Emily’s condition, I’d bet my life on it, at least with her. But that raw strength won’t win every battle. You must open up to me, willingly. If you don’t, you’ll eventually find an opponent that can outmaneuver you. Your strength won’t help if they’re already in your mind before you can bring it to bear,” he said.

“Chelsea, I know you’ve been antagonistic to Melanie, and I know why. I also know why you don’t trust me, and don’t bother denying it. Your shields are easy to subvert, and my job, aside from teaching all of you kids, is to monitor your thoughts and activities. That’s how we control you, and don’t think I’m the only one. I’m not and I don’t know who all of them are. If you want to be truly protected, like Melanie is, then you also need to train. She needs a trustworthy partner, so join Melanie each afternoon, and I’ll teach you things you won’t learn in class,” he told her.

“Melanie, I can’t tell you when the right time is, but when that time arrives, I would suggest giving Chelsea that added benefit that you and Aliyah have. You can trust her, I think,” he added, turning back toward me.

That conversation was clearly ended, as he knelt beside Maddie, closed his eyes and sent a probe into her mind. He remained like that for quite a while, before repeating the process with Emily. Once done, he picked up Maddie’s limp body. I knew she wasn’t dead, but she looked it at that moment. Following his prompt, Chelsea and I picked up Emily and followed him out of our room. Mr. Miller led us to his lab behind his classroom, where the girls were placed on a couch.

“Melanie, there is a new directive to push you extremely hard. These two were given orders to assist in that process, but they approached their task very wrong, and encountered something they weren’t prepared for, you. You’re going to find things much more difficult going forward, including with me. With me, it’ll be to try and prepare you for what lies ahead, and make it so you can handle it,” he said, and then looked over at our unconscious roommates.

“Don’t worry about any of this. I’ll take care of them,” he told us.

I had no idea how he was going to take care of it. They were messed up, and even if they recovered, they’d remember. There wasn’t any way I knew of to ‘take care of it.’

“Listen, I’m sorry I haven’t been real nice to you, but as you now know the other girls are plants and I don’t like them. I thought you were with them. Your story seemed too weird, but I’ve heard it from other people now, so I guess there’s some truth to it,” she told me as we walked out, saying more than I thought she’d ever said at one time.

How did you know they were plants? I mean, before what just happened? I asked, speaking to her mind for the first time. The look on her face was priceless. Aside from the shock of it, she looked like a kid that had just gotten the best toy possible for Christmas.

This conversation, now that I was aware of what I’d been doing, was weird. They were talking normally, and I was speaking without moving my mouth.

“They don’t know it, but I can read them, sort of. I have one of those weird talents that I can tell someone’s intent, even if I can’t read their thoughts. You’re different though. I can’t get anything from you, so I figured they had figured out how to beat me. What’s your talent? We all have one, even though they tell us that most don’t,” she asked, once she’d finished her explanation.

I haven’t thought about it. I’ve barely used my abilities in the last two years, and when I was here before, I wasn’t here long enough to find out. Not only that, when I was here, I wouldn’t let them see me use it, I informed her.

“Really?” she asked, sounding just like a normal girl, finally.

Yeah. I don’t trust them and never did, I told her. Why was I telling her all of this? I had no idea that she wasn’t the real plant. Of course, Mr. Miller had told me I could trust her, but I already knew I couldn’t trust him.

“What have you been doing in the old section? I see you go there. I don’t sleep a lot, and I know you don’t either,” she told me. Crap! I’d been seen going out in the morning, and by the one I trusted the least.

I just need to get away, I told her, hoping she’d believe me.

“I wouldn’t trust me either,” she said, letting me know she saw through my lie. “If I let you read my mind, would that help you trust me?” she asked.

Why would you let me read your mind? You don’t trust me, either.

“I do, but I don’t know why. There’s something about you that makes me want to trust you, and I can’t explain it, other than that. It feels like my talent, but it’s different at the same time.”

Now that I was talking to her, I really looked at her. She was a bit taller than me, but not greatly so, like Aliyah was. Her hair seemed blacker than Aliyah’s, if that was even possible. Her eyes were blue, with odd looking color around the iris that I couldn’t figure out in the poor lighting. Although I hadn’t seen but one other telepath, it seemed that all of us had these strange two toned eye colors.

I needed to remember to look at Ben and Eliana, if I ever saw them again. As much as I missed them, I hoped that didn’t happen. If I did, it would probably mean they’d been captured.

“Why did you suddenly start looking so sad?”

Sorry. I started thinking about my brother and my cousins and them getting captured.

“Are they telepaths too?”

If one in a family is, all of their siblings are too.

“Really? I’m an only child.”

I have a little brother, but Aliyah’s my cousin and she has two sisters. One is already here and the other is still free, for now.

Before she could say anything else, I asked, Are you sure about letting me read your mind?

“Yeah, I guess so,” she replied, although she was clearly nervous about it. I waited for her to lower her shields and then sent a probe in. I was careful to avoid anything that seemed too personal, but I had to dig for anything that might seem even a tiny bit suspicious. She monitored me as I probed, but never tried to stop me from ‘seeing’ anything. There was nothing, though. Unless she was really good at hiding her thoughts, she was honest about what she’d said.

I can’t let you in too much, but I’ll let you in enough to prove I’m not a plant, I told her, offering her the same token of trust she’d given me.

“I already trust you.”

It’s only fair, though.

I lowered my layered shields, which was a new trick, and her probe entered my mind. I’d had Aliyah enter my mind so many times it was nothing to me, but I’d very rarely had anyone else in my mind, including the invasions by James. Her probe was so gentle and smooth, I wouldn’t have known, if I hadn’t seen the probe.

“Your strength is incredible!” she told me, when we were done.

How do you know that? I asked, shocked that she could tell. I’d been very deliberate about hiding my strength, and always had. This was no exception.

“I don’t know. I can just tell, somehow. Not to mention, you gave me energy during the attack.”

Please don’t tell them. I said, to which she nodded agreement.

“They’ll know if they read me.”

I know, but don’t tell them anyway. They already know, but it’s a game I play with them. I don’t give them anything easy, I said, with a small smile. She smiled back.

“How do you hide your strength?”

I can show you, but I think there’s something else I can show you, that will keep them from reading you, unless you want them to. Mr. Miller is planning on teaching you, but I think my way is faster. Not only that, he probably won’t teach you this, I said, my smile getting bigger, but more sinister.

There was an odd look on her face, as she saw my altered smile. “I don’t think I want to ever be on your bad side.”

Lower your shields again and I’ll show you. This won’t hurt, but it will be a lot, I warned her. She lowered her shields without thinking about it and I entered her mind. As soon as my probe made contact, I sent the images, impressions and instructions across the link. Unlike with the class, I gave complete impressions, emotions and my voice. When I was done, I gently removed my link and she almost fell. I instinctively caught her with my mind, unable to even come close with my hands. Of course, if I’d been able to catch her with my hands, we’d have both fallen. I was almost certain I wasn’t strong enough to catch her, even without my stomach injury.

“How’d you do that?” she asked, the shock on her face telling me I’d made a huge blunder. Hopefully, it wasn’t one I’d regret.

I have some abilities they don’t know about, I admitted, knowing there was no way around it.

“I know who most of the plants are, but I don’t know who they’re reporting to or what they’re reporting. If you’re really the girl that escaped, then it makes sense that they’re watching you, but they’ve been with me for a long time,” she informed me.

I guess when they don’t have anyone to watch, they have to be somewhere, I suggested.

“Yeah, but I can tell they’re intention, not necessarily why, and they’re definitely watching me.”

So they’ve been watching you already, and they get a two for one by putting me in the same room.”

“Yeah, what a bargain,” she agreed.