The Misfits

Elias

Elias woke up early the next morning and took a shower before Peg arrived with his breakfast. He put on his shorts under his scrubs and waited for Peg.

The night before, he hacked further into the Facilities computer system. He created a program that dumped keystrokes into a text file that was encrypted on the fly so if anyone found it, they wouldn’t know exactly what it was.

Picking a random user who seemed to be a tech of some sort by the programs they were using, he ran his program as a system app so it wouldn’t show up unless someone looked closely.

He also sent out a second email with a little more information that would identify it as coming from him, to his friend.

The tech in charge of email probably wouldn’t have enough to trace it back to him unless they had more information that would identify his life than they led on.

So far, his first email had sounded no alarms and had no repercussions, although Elias didn’t know if it even went out or not.

Peg came with his breakfast, which he changed to something light, so to not get sick while working out. He forgot to tell Joss, so he hoped she went easy.

Setting aside a few things for after the workout, he waited for Peg or a guard to come get him.

A guard came shortly after, and motioned him to go, not actually saying anything. Elias walked, following his memory of the prior walk.

The guard didn’t correct him, so he knew he was going the right way.

The door to the room opened.

“…Are we clear?” Peg asked Joss, who was standing in front of her.

The girl slowly nodded, seeing Elias.

Peg turned and motioned for him to enter. Elias came forward.

“You have two hours, three times a week. Use it wisely. Drinks and some healthy snacks are provided. I’ve acquired a few things for you to use, and to use in the groups,” she said, pointing.

Two stationary bikes with elaborate setups attached sat off to one side, as well as an exercise machine that had all kinds of options, and used elastic bands instead of weights.

“I’ll leave you two to get started,” Peg said and left.

“Okay,” Elias said. “Before we start, did you eat a big breakfast?”

Jocelyn shook her head. “I was… too nervous.”

“Did you eat anything?”

Again, she shook her head.

He sighed. “I don’t want you starving yourself. That isn’t healthy either.

He walked to the small table and saw that it had some sports drinks in ice, some protein and granola bars, and some small bags of trail mix.

Elias picked up a granola bar and handed it to Joss. “Eat. Your body needs fuel to workout. Today we’ll do a light workout and a swim – wait, did you bring your suit?”

He didn’t see it under her top like before.

“No, but Peg gave me something to work out in. I can just use it.”

“Okay. Anyway, we’ll start with some stretches, run a few laps, do a few sit-ups, maybe check out the new equipment, and cool down with a swim. Ready?”

She had eaten the bar as he talked, and nodded.

They took their scrubs off and Joss had lycra workout clothes like Enya.

Elias started with some stretching, loosening up muscles that they weren’t using much anymore.

Joss was surprisingly more limber than he gave her credit for, and more flexible than Elias.

After they stretched, Elias had them jog the room five laps. It probably wasn’t more than a half mile, but he didn’t want to overdo their first day and have Joss not want to continue.

Next he moved on to sit-ups. Elias started out next to her, doing them slowly with her. She got to thirty-five and stopped, lying back, breathing heavy.

Elias moved to her feet. “Take my hands,” he said and she did. “Now see how many you can do using your stomach as much as you can, using your arms only if you have to.”

She managed fifteen more, but by then she was mostly using her arms.

“Come on, let’s take a dip to cool down, then check out the bikes,” he said, helping her up.

They walked to the pool and got in, just cooling off and floating. After five minutes, Elias said, Okay, too much cool off and we’ll get cramps. You ride bikes?”

“Yeah,” she replied.

They got out and dried off a bit, then went to the bikes. Looking them over, Elias realized the were more advanced than anything he had seen. They were high end with a VR system built in.

Starting them up, they got on the bikes, putting on the VR goggles and soon they were out riding the beaches and hills of Hawaii.

The ride ended and they were both tired.

“Lets swim a few laps and then call it a day,” Elias suggested.

Joss agreed and they swam ten laps. Getting out, Joss said, “We should rinse off before we leave.”

Elias was just going to take a shower when he got to his room, but shrugged and went along. He followed her to the bathroom and waited outside.

She left the door open and when he didn’t follow her, she returned and pulled him in.

“We’re rinsing off, not getting naked. We can both fit.”

She pulled him into the running shower and turned around under the water, rinsing.

Elias just stood, watching her enjoy the water. She turned to him and put her arms around him, hugging him.

“Thank you for this. It means a lot to me.”

She put her head on his shoulder, turning her face to his. “They might be watching or listening , even in the bathroom,” she whispered.

She moved her arms from around his torso to around his neck, and moved back enough to look into his eyes. “I mean it,” she said and surprised him by leaning in and kissing him.

Caught off guard, it took him several seconds to return the kiss. He lost track of time, but at some point, Joss broke it off and put her head on his shoulder again.

“Peg told me I had to watch you and report to her the stuff you do. I’ll get punished if I don’t,” she whispered.

“So do it. Don’t get in trouble,” he whispered back.

“But I don’t want to spy on you for her.”

“It’s okay. We’ll figure out something,” he told her.

She looked at him, said, “Just in case,” and kissed him again.

He felt the passion in this one.

She was a good actress, Elias thought, if she was acting.

Joss stepped back and giggled before leaving and grabbing a towel on her way out.

He turned off the water and grabbed a towel, not getting far drying off before he realized why Joss was giggling at him.

It took him a bit longer to come out of the bathroom, as he had to wait until he was back to normal. He was drying off still as he left the bathroom and saw Peg was there waiting for him. Jocelyn was already gone.

He walked to the table and grabbed a sports drink and protein bar before they disappeared and then put his scrubs back on.

“Hopefully Joss knows to hydrate after working out. I didn’t get a chance to tell her. And a protein bar would be good for her,” he added.

“I’ll make sure to tell her and bring her a few of each,” Peg said.

As you debrief her, Elias added silently. ”Thanks.”

“So how was everything?” she asked.

“Joss has a little extra weight, but she really is pretty fit. Those VR bikes are pretty sweet. Really high tech. we didn’t get to the all-in-one machine. Next time.”

Peg nodded. “So she’s happy?”

“I think so, but we’ll see tomorrow. More new people and Halley, so a mix of new and old,” he said.

“Enya will be there too,” Peg informed him.

“I think she’ll feel much happier once a little weight comes off. Her self-esteem will improve and she’ll feel better about herself overall.”

“Okay. She’s counting on you. In fact, a lot of kids are going to be counting on you. So make sure tomorrow goes well. And… other possible interactions,” she said cryptically.

Elias shrugged. “I’ll do my best, but don’t forget I’m fourteen, and a fellow inmate here. If things get out of hand, I can only do so much. So to pin all your hopes on me, well, might not be the wisest thing for any of us.”

Peg seemed to examine Elias critically before she said, “I have faith in you.”

“Glad someone does,” he said under his breath.

“We should get going. It’s almost lunch time,” Peg said.

Elias picked up the drinks and protein bars he had set aside and left once Peg opened the door. He got back to his room and played some games until lunch arrived.

When it arrived and he ate, still exploring the computer system, seeing what he could access without his hacking.

He was still playing when Peg came back for his tray and looked to see what he was doing.

“I was bored and am coding a web page from memory,” he said answering the unasked question.

“And how do you check it?” she asked.

“It’s easy. The interface you use automatically recognizes html so if I enter the directory and page into your system, it views it in its native format – html. See?” he said pulling it up, showing her a page that said Webpage for Hostages, which had gibberish filler content, tables, lines, and non-working menus.

“If I can remember how to do it, I’ll add some JavaScript and cascading style sheets just for looks. It’s just something to keep my mind busy.”

And it was, at least to anyone who bothered to look at it. He purposely left in some errors in the coding to make it look like he was trying to remember and having trouble, but in reality, he knew exactly what he was doing. This would simply be a template for a real page he would setup later, hopefully giving other kids he trusted access so they could communicate secretly to maybe coordinate things to get out of this prison.

Peg said, “I see. I don’t know much about that stuff, so I’ll have to take your word. Well, I’ll leave you to it and be back for dinner.”

Peg left his room trying to figure out his game. She lied of couse, knowing way more about technology than she let on. Not only would she check it herself, but just in cae, she would have a computer tech check it as well in case she misses anything.

Meanwhile, Elias kept coding, adding both seen and hidden comments n the page, just to irritate whoever viewed it.

He made a custom 404 error page so when someone tried a link it would come up and say, ‘Page not found because there is no internet, stupid.’

Elias put in framework for what he would later add somewhere deep inside the system, all but hidden from anyone, including the system admins.

Knowing where it was provided easy access to it. He decided to write a trojan game for others to be able to access it. A basic game with a level or two to play before a link to the page came up if you pressed certain keys. Something that will pass a cursory inspection and not be suspect. He would do that later.

Dinner came and he saved what he was doing after showing Peg, and closed things up to eat.

“I’ve arranged for something a little different tonight. I hope you enjoy it, but not too much,” Peg said.

What game is she playing? Elias thought. It’s like she provides clued to him about things he should understand but didn’t. He mostly stopped responding so as to not feed into her games.

“So how many people now?” he asked in between bites.

“There will be you, Halley, Enya, Jocelyn, and four others. One girl and three boys, for a total of eight. There are currently twelve of you here in the Facility. So, it will be split up into three groups of four, with the core group of you and the three girls.

“The other two groups might be rearranged, or possibly even all twelve of you at once. We’ll see.”

“The more the merrier,” he told her, meaning it.

The bigger the group, the harder it is to keep track of everyone, and the easier to pass information around. Once he knew who he could trust, of course.

It was possible Peg tried to turn them all against each other. He would have to be careful and talk to each kid before giving them anything vital. It would all take time.

Peg stayed while he ate, making small talk to pass the time. After he finished, Peg took the tray, saying she would be back shortly.

For lack of anything better to do, he went back to playing with the webpage. Ten minutes passed and Peg came back with her typical movie bag in hand.

She stepped aside, revealing Jocelyn standing behind her, looking down shyly.

“Joss,” Elias said, surprised. He looked at Peg, wondering what was going on. “I thought you’d like to have a movie night to relax. Tomorrow will be a busy day again, so as they say, team building is a good thing. Keep the moral high and workers happy.”

Now Elias knew Peg, or someone at this place, was up to something. Maybe that was why Joss acted the way she did in the bathroom earlier in the day.

“I’m glad,” he said with a smile. Although someone had an ulterior motive, he was happy she was there.

He did like Jocelyn.

How much, he wondered. He liked Enya too. This was going to confuse things, and for all he knew, he was reading too much into things with Joss. It could be that Peg had forced the girl to act this way, just like she was forced to spy on him.

Peg set the bag down and walked out, passing Joss and giving her a small nod before walking out the door. She paused, doing something at the panel near the door, and the couch-bed rose from the floor, then she walked away.

Joss walked over to where Elias was, now picking up the bag Peg had left, and followed him to the table.

He started unpacking the bag and Joss said quietly, “I’m sorry. This wasn’t my idea.”

Elias took her hand in his and gave it a squeeze. “Don’t worry. No matter the motive, I’m glad you are here. So, relax and enjoy the night,” he replied just as quiet.

Louder he said, “Peg didn’t say if you were staying until morning or not. Do you know?”

“I’m pretty sure. She told me she’d bring me a change of clothes in the morning, so I can only assume I’ll be here.”

“Okay,” he said, squeezing her hand again before letting go.

“So, the rule here is lady’s choice,” Elias told her bringing up the movies on the computer.

While she was going through the movies, he took the popcorn and drinks to the couch-bed and got things setup.

Joss picked a movie that had to do with a romance between two teens with cancer. Joss sat close to Elias, but not too close, as they watched the movie, sharing the popcorn.

The movie ended and it was still early so Elias asked, “Another?”

“Sure,” she said getting up to choose another movie.

The next one started and Elias lowered the lights as Joss hopped back into bed. This time, she put the popcorn in her lap and scooted closer to him while they watched the movie.

There seemed to be a sad movie theme going on, as the next one involved a teen musician who was in a car accident and had to decide to stay or go to heaven.

When the popcorn was gone, Joss set the bag aside and took Elias’s hand, holding it in her lap.

The girl in the movie stayed and the movie ended, making the room darker.

“So,” Joss said.

“So,” Elias responded. “I guess we should maybe get some sleep.”

“Maybe we could talk some for a little while?” Joss asked.

“Sure. Tell me about life before prison.”

“How about anything but that?” she countered.

“Okay. How long have you been here?”

“Best I can tell, about a year,” she said. “It’s not so bad, I guess. They are nice for the most part. We get fed and there’s a roof.”

He didn’t know how to respond to that. Maybe she was suffering from Stockholm syndrome. Now he had to be careful since he wasn’t sure if he could trust her. The talking lapsed and they sat in silence for a little while until she asked, “Elias, do you like me?”

“Of course, I like you. What would make you think otherwise?”

“That’s… not exactly what I meant.” She turned to look at him in the semi-dark. “I mean, do you like me?”

“Oh. I don’t know. I mean, I do but… crap. This is all kind of new to me. I’m sorry for being confusing.”

She slowly leaned forward, stopping a whisper’s breath away from his lips and said, “They are expecting me to do this. What you do it up to you.”

Closing the distance, she kissed him. They kissed for several minutes when she put her hand in his hair, running her fingers through it. Breaking the kiss, she kissed up his cheek to his ear, where she whispered, “They told me I was allowed to go as far as you were willing to go, so do whatever you want.”

He kissed her cheek and ran his teeth across her earlobe, whispering, “They are forcing you to do this, aren’t they? I won’t be a part of this, I’m sorry. Are you a part of his?”

She put his hand under her top, but no further than her belly. “No,” she whispered. “But they will use what or whoever they can. If you reject me, they will just try with someone else.”

Elias was stuck in a bad position. Making up his mind, he turned his head back, kissing her, letting her know he meant it. Tongues met and breathing became harder.

He also felt tears on her face. Pulling back, he took her face in his hands, using his thumbs to unobtrusively wipe the tears from her face and said, “I really like you, but we’re going a little too fast. Let’s take our time. We seem to have plenty here.”

She smiled and said, “Okay.

Still holding her head, he kissed her one last time, trying to let her know that he meant what he said. Backing away, he said, “Goodnight,” and got up and moved to his bed.

Elias could see she had put her head into a pillow, and he could swear he could hear her crying into it. He fell asleep worrying that he had hurt her in some way and swearing that he’d get his revenge on this damn place.

----------

Something caused Elias to wake up. It was still dark, but with no clock, he had no idea what time it was, or how long he’d been asleep.

Laying there, he listened to see if he could figure out what was the cause of him waking up. It was quiet for several seconds, then he could make out what vaguely sounded like someone talking.

The sound was indistinct and quiet, and only sounded like one voice. It went quiet, then started up, louder this time.

“No! No, don’t!” it said. The volume increased. “Get away from me. Don’t touch me. Please. I don’t want to do this.”

Then the yelling started. “Stop! No, please! Noooo…” followed by sobbing.

Elias jumped up and ran around the bed holding Joss, who was thrashing around, still asleep, caught up in her nightmare.

He took her by the shoulders, and gently shook her, calling her name. “Joss. Jocelyn. Wake up. It’s just a dream. Wake up.”

She screamed and sat up, almost colliding with Elias. Jocelyn grabbed Elias, one hand on his shoulder, the other on his side.

“It’s okay… urgh,” Elias started to say, but was cut off when her hands sunk into his body. This wasn’t the tickle that she displayed earlier, this was like his body was cramping up, muscles bunching to the point of ripping apart.

Gritting his teeth to stop himself from screaming, he put his hands around Joss’s face and said, “Joss. Bad. Dream. Hurting… me,” before almost passing out. The room spun and white dots floated in his vision before Jocelyn seemed to snap out of it.

“Elias?” she asked. She saw her hands and pulled them back, saying, “Oh my God.”

Elias slumped into her finally able to take a breath that didn’t feel like he was inhaling fire.

She scooted away some and laid him back on the bed.

“How did –” she started but he managed to get out, “Shhh.”

Joss raised his top enough to see where her hand had been, and she could easily see where the bruise that was already there.”

“You need help. I’ll get –”

“No!”

“But –”

“No. Lay down.”

She did as he asked. It took him several minutes to get past the pain and breath at least semi-normally, and he carefully rolled onto his side to look at Joss, who was lying on her back. He took a pillow and jammed it under his head to relieve the pain from his shoulder he was now lying on and tried to settle in a pain-free manor.

Once he could breathe again, he pushed some sweaty hair from Joss’s face, wiping her forehead. “You were having a bad dream. No. It definitely was a nightmare. The problem is, I think whatever it was, was not so much a dream but something that happened. Do you remember it?”

She nodded slightly.

“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked.

She shook her head violently.

“Come on then, he said, making her turn away from him, before pulling her into him and wrapping his arms around her.

Talking very quietly and into her ear, he said, “I don’t want you to say a word about what you did tonight. They don’t need to know. You can tell them about everything else, but this is our secret. They can try to use you, and I’ll go along with it, to a point, but I’m not going to use you. We can play along, maybe do things under the sheet that look like other things, but I care about you too much to do that to you. And I don’t want to hurt you like that. So, tell Peg or whoever everything we do, but what we agree not to. I’ll do what I can to get us – all of us – out of this place. Okay?”

“Okay,” she said quietly.

“And whatever you dreamed, or relived, that’s your head telling you you need to deal with it, not ignore it. So, I wish you would tell me, but if not, I won’t try to force you. Just know that if you ever do want to talk, I’ll always listen.”

Using his chin, he moved hair aside and kissed the side of her neck.

She wrapped her arms around his and said, “I’m so sorry I hurt you.”

“Don’t be. I’m not invincible. This is the second time that powers worked on me. But if this place wants me invincible, I will be. Our secret. And I want you to promise me, no lies. I’ll always tell you the truth and I want you to do the same. No matter what.”

“I promise” she said.

“Good. Go to sleep. No bad dreams this time. I’ve got you,” he said and started humming a quiet tune.

She backed into him, pressing up against him and lightly rubbed his arms. She fell asleep before he did, and the pain finally settled enough for him to fall asleep.

----------

The lights coming on woke Elias up. He opened his eyes to find himself practically nose-to-nose with Jocelyn, looking into her hazel eyes.

At this distance he could see all the little colors that made up her irises.

She used a finger to move some hair out of his face, letting her finger trace down his cheek. “Morning,” she said, stretching just enough to peck him on the lips.

“Morning,” he replied. “What are you doing?”

“Watching you sleep. You’re cute when you sleep.”

“And I’m not when I’m awake?”

“You are. It’s just sometimes you’re so serious. When you sleep, it all goes away.”

“Oh.”

“Anyway, I’m glad you’re up. I want to talk about last night,” she said.

“It’s okay.”

“No. I mean…” she took a deep breath and began. “My mother was – is – a junkie. I – I don’t know who my dad is. I don’t think my mom does either to be honest. But starting when I was about eight, mom started using heavy and sold everything for drugs. We moved around a lot, living with friends, with other junkies, at flop houses, even on the streets.

“At ten I was… I was forced to do things. I ran away from home, well, whatever place happened to be home at that time, and had no place to go. I ended up on the streets. At first, I was with a group of kids who were mostly in the same predicament. I managed to stay with them for a few years.

“At twelve I was picked up by police and placed into a group home. The people who were running it were only worried about getting paid and unless someone died, they pretty much didn’t care. While I was there, the older kids preyed on the younger kids and did…”

She paused a tear that ran across her nose. “They did horrible things to us. They abused us and didn’t care how they hurt us. So, it continued until I was able to run away from there. I ended up back on the streets where, someone tried to prostitute me. They beat me up, injected me with drugs and I think sold me when I wouldn’t cooperate. Once my head cleared some, I tried to escape but was drugged again. When I woke up the next time, I was here. This place somehow knew the things I went through, so that’s why Peg told me to use sex to use you. Since… since it wouldn’t be my first time.”

By this time, the tears were falling freely. This time, Elias stretched forward to kiss her gently. He wiped tears from her face and put his hand across the side of her face, from forehead to chin.

“What we do it up to you. I won’t force myself on you, even to kiss you. I’d rather tell Peg you’re not my type and not get to see you that much, than for her to force you into being used by the, and basically abused by me. If this were ever to grow into a relationship, I want it to be because both of us want it. I don’t care what they want. I couldn’t live with myself if know that we might to something that would give you nightmares like the one you had last night. So, the choice is yours. Pretend and go slow or do I be not interested?”

She looked into his eyes, then said, “Could we go slow, and only pretend to do more than what we really do?”

Elias looked confused.

“I really do like you Elias. I don’t have to pretend that part. Unless… unless you don’t feel the same.”

“At first, I wasn’t sure, but now, now I’m pretty sure I feel the same,” he said leaning forward to properly kiss her.

They kissed for a few minutes before Elias said, “We should get up. Peg should be here soon.”

“Okay, I gotta pee anyways.”

They both got up and Elias was stiff. His right shoulder and left side were still sore.

Peg came in as they were still cleaning up. She brought in two trays and a small bag, setting it all down on the table.

“A change of clothes for Jocelyn. I included several options so you can use your time today as you wish. Swim, exercise, or neither. I’ll be back in an hour, so please be ready.”

Peg left them to eat. Both were brought light meals – lunch would be more than enough to make up for it.

Joss looked in the bag, pulling out scrubs, a lycra top, and shorts and a swimsuit. A pair of panties were at the bottom, which she pulled out and stuffed into the stack of clothes, blushing.

Elias pretended not to notice.

“I should shower, do you mind?” she asked.

“Go for it. I’ll take one after you,” she said.

“So, what should I put on?”

“That is up to you. If you want to work out some, you know you can swim in the workout clothes also, but then again, you can work out in the swimsuit too. Or neither.”

“Go naked?” she joked.

“No,” he said laughing. “You can just relax and no other things and wear scrubs. I kind of have to participate, so I’ll wear shorts.”

She picked up the bundle of clothes, nearly dropping the panties and blushed again. Walking to the shower, she said, “Care to join me?” over her shoulder, teasing him.

“I would, but we’d never be ready in an hour. And don’t worry, I won’t peek.”

“You could you know,” she said as she went into the shower, closing the door most of the way.

From where he was, he could sort of make out her shape as she took her top off, so he decided to move over to his bed pulling out stuff for his own shower.

While Joss finished her shower, Elias waited patiently, trying to figure out the game Peg was playing. She was trying to use his attachments with Halley, and now Joss – and probably Enya – to what end? What do they think he was hiding?

He hadn’t known he had any power, and to him, he really didn’t. His so-called power was to remove powers. And anti-power power. Which sometimes didn’t work.

Why was that? Maybe they knew something he didn’t and wanted to see if he would come forward and tell them.

Damn. He had to gamble. If other kids were told to watch him, he didn’t know for what exactly, then he had to take the chance they didn’t know, so he had to keep it quiet.

Halley had a secret power, so did he in a sense. Maybe Joss did too. He would have to ask when he had the chance.

Joss finished her shower and stepped out, pulling her top over the workout top. She saw him watching and said, “I can do both.”

Elias smiled and went over to her. “Yes, you can. I’m proud of you. Now come here a second.”

He pulled her to the shower door, kissed her, then stepped inside and pulled off his shirt.

Joss gasped, covering her mouth. “That bad?” he asked.

“Elias, I think I might have hurt you bad. Half of your side is dark purple, and your shoulder is the same.”

“Well, I guess no swimming for me for a few days,” he joked.

“It’ll take weeks for that to go away,” she said, her eyes tearing up.

“Don’t you dare cry. I don’t like making girls cry damnit.”

“It has to hurt, how can you stand the pain?”

“I guess it looks worse than it feels, but the pain is manageable. Stop crying and give me a hug.”

She looked at him like he was crazy. He held out his arms and she decided to go for safe, so she put an arm over his left shoulder, and around his right middle, giving him a hug.

He rubbed her wet hair, and told her, “It was an accident. Accidents happen. Plus, you covered up another bruise I had. So it all works out,” he said cheerfully.

She laughed and let out a last sob at the same time.

“Alright, gotta shower, so unless you plan on staying, scoot.”

She stood there with a grin, so he pulled off his pants. He looked back to see she was walking away.

Elias showered and dressed, putting on shorts under his pants, but his top would stay on if he went swimming.

He had just finished when Peg came back. She handed him Halley’s med pack, and they followed her to the rec room.

Halley and Enya were already there, and Halley looked at him with something just shy of a glare, but she quickly lost it and came over to hug him.

Peg explained she would be back with the others, and the rules were the same as last time.

Joss went to a corner, pulled off her scrubs and started stretching, while Enya came over to Elias.

“Give us a minute squirt,” she said to Halley, who glared daggers at the older girl and huffed off.

“So I saw chubby go to your room last night. You feeding her your hot dog?” Enya asked.

“That’s mean Enya, and no, nothing happened. Just like nothing happened when you came over and watched movies.”

“It could have if you made a move on me,” she said, kissing his cheek. “Maybe next time we spend less time watching the movies and more time doing other things. That way you don’t have to find your way thought the dimples and rolls.

Elias didn’t appreciate how Enya was talking about Joss, but before he could say anything, Peg walked in with the first person. He looked over, but Enya took his head and pulled it back her direction, kissed him, then walked off.

Elias was confused. It was hard to tell what kind of game Enya was playing.

He shook his head. Now was not the time to worry.

He walked over to

Peg, who introduced him to Mitch Burrows, then left to get the next person.

Elias would explain to each upon entering the basic rules: have fun, no trouble, and show and tell after lunch.

Now that Enya had gone to the pool, Halley had joined Elias and took his hand.

“Hello, kiddo. Sorry about that,” he said, apologizing for Enya’s behavior.

“It’s okay. I told you she was mean.”

He was beginning to agree.

The next to come in was Bree Eden. She listened to Elias, then headed for Joss, who was doing sit-ups in her corner. He watched as they talked, and he figured they knew each other.

Halley followed his look and asked, “You like her, don’t you?”

“Bree? She seemed nice enough.”

She jerked his arm, causing him to hiss in pain. She noticed but didn’t say anything. Instead, she said, “Not Bree. Jocelyn.”

He looked at the young girl, looking at the older girl. Still holding her hand, he moved behind her, wrapping her arm and his around her, then put his other arm around her, and put his chin on her shoulder.

“Between you and me, sweet pea, I’m beginning to. Peg asked her to spy as well. Should I trust her?”

Halley was quiet for a minute, and then said, “I think so.”

“Good. I’ glad you approve. You can be the flower girl at our wedding.”

“What!” Halley yelled.

“Calm down, I’m joking. Maybe I’ll wait for you and marry you instead.”

“Elias,” she said, drawing his name out and turning red.

He turned her head a bit and kissed her cheek. “We’ll have to play it by ear,” he said letting her go as Peg came in with the next person.

This time it was a dark skinned, black boy named Devon James. He went off to the pool after introductions.

Elias waited with Halley by his side for the last person. Peg returned with another teen named Bradly Ash. Bradly was a little overweight as well and looked shy, but didn’t hesitate to go join the others in the pool.

Halley tried to pull Elias to the pool. “No pool for me today,” he told her. “But you go ahead and have fun.”

She looked at him suspiciously, then joined the others in the pool.

Elias wandered around from kid to kid as they explored and played. He walked over to Joss, who was finishing sit-ups with Bree helping and encouraging her. Before he got there, Bree said something to Joss, who replied, causing Bree to giggle and clap.

When he got there he said, “So, I take it you two know each other?”

“We’ve met before in testing. She can control emotions,” Joss said.

“Really?” Elias replied.

“Yes. And she’s such a nice girl. She’s sweet and so beautiful. And I just love her. And you, you are so good looking and yummy, I just want to lick you like an ice cream,” Joss said, gushing.

“Wait, what?”

“I said… Wait, Bree, knock it off!” Joss looked mortified. “That wasn’t me, I swear,” she said and started crying.

Elias squatted down and grabbed Bree’s arm.

Joss stopped crying right away.

Bree looked up at him wide-eyed.

“First, I hate girls crying. Second, that was mean, especially if she really is your friend. Please don’t abuse your ability around here. It’s us against them, we don’t need to fight against each other.”

He let go of Bree, who turned to Joss. “I’m so sorry. I was just showing him my ability, I didn’t mean anything by it, Jocelyn. Don’t be mad at me,” she said giving Joss a hug.

“So, what do you have planned Joss?” he asked.

“Bikes next,” she said.

“And you?” he asked Bree.

“I – I’ll help Joss out… if she’ll let me.”

Joss nodded.

“Okay. You two be nice and don’t work out too hard.”

He left them and went back to the pool. He took off his pants and sat on the edge, putting his feet and legs in.

Halley was going to join him until Enya swam up and hopped out of the water, sitting beside him. She put her hand on his thigh and said, “Coming in?”

“Not today. I want to keep an eye on things.”

She moved her hand up a bit and said, “You sure? We can play tag.”

“Yeah, maybe next time.”

She got close to him, kissed his cheek and whispered, “I’ll let you tag the good parts.”

“As good as that sounds, next time. I’m just not into swimming right now,” he told her.

“Should I go give your tubbie friend some of my workout pointers? She could have a body like mine… with a lot of effort.”

“It’s nice of you to offer, but I don’t think she’s ready for that. Doing what she’s doing will work, even if it takes longer.”

She shrugged, already dismissing the idea, not that she was serious anyways. “Okay Mr. Spoilsport. Have it your way.

Enya jumped back into the pool after giving his thigh another suggestive squeeze.

Halley came over after Enya left and grabbed his legs. He put his knees together and she rested her chin between his knees. “She looked friendly.”

“Jealous much?” he teased, and she stuck her tongue out.

“Lunch,” a voice over the speaker announced.

He helped Halley out of the pool, telling her to get a towel and her med bag for her shot, while he got things settled.

The kids gathered around and Elias sat them down, telling them to help themselves and he would be right back. He asked Jocelyn to make a plate for Halley while they were gone, and she happily agreed.

Elias met Halley at the bathroom, going in and closing the door. “Alright, tell me we’re not going to have to do the striptease act again,” he said.

“No. Right now it’s thigh.”

He sat her down, got everything ready and knelt. Halley put her hand on his shoulder and he grunted, wincing. She let him inject her and then said, “Now, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“You said you wouldn’t lie to me.”

He sighed. “You’re too smart for your own good.” He got up and turned on the shower and sink, then pointed to his ear and the ceiling. Then he pulled off his top.

Halley’s eyes bugged out and she put a hand over her mouth. She pointed and mouthed, What’s that?

He leaned over and whispered in her ear. “It seems that Jocelyn can hurt me too. She didn’t mean to and we don’t know how she did it, just like you were able to.”

She put her hands on him, trying to heal him.

He didn’t stop her, knowing it wouldn’t work.

She looked up at him helplessly.

“It’s okay. Thank you for trying,” the kissed her forehead.

He turned off the shower and sink, and said, “All done, let’s go eat.”

When he opened the door, he could hear yelling from the table.

Halley took his hand and they walked back.

“That was mine! You took it,” yelled Bradly.

“Did you see me take it? No,” replied Devon.

“It’s on your plate. How can you deny it!”

Elias took his hand back from Halley and let out a loud, shrill whistle causing her to put her hands over her ears.

“Enough!” he said forcefully. “What part of get along didn’t you understand? Once incident is all it will take for you, or all of us, not to do this again. As it is, we’ll be able to do this like twice a week. Would you rather sit in your rooms alone, or have fun with others? Say the word and I can have Peg come take you back to your room, and we’ll continue to enjoy this.

“So, what shall it be?”

“Sorry,” they both mumbled, and the cupcake reappeared on Bradly’s plate.

Elias led Halley to her spot, where a plate with some of everything was waiting. A plate was also waiting at his spot too.

Joss smiled at him, and he thanked her.

He noticed that she had food on her plate, but small portions and no junk food. Under the table, he took her hand and squeezed it.

Halley noticed that, and he could have sworn she smiled.

After lunch was finished, Elias had each person stand and display their ability. Bree started, telling them that she was thirteen an she could control emotions.

Devon scoffed, so Elias had her demonstrate on him. Before he could stand up, he was laughing uncontrollably.

Elias got up and touched her arm, and Devon got control of himself, the anger in his eyes evident.

“Why you –”

“I’m going to guess that you were about to say, ’you have an awesome ability,’” Elias interrupted. “Otherwise, I’d have to think that you naturally have a bad attitude and won’t really work out well here because you don’t play well with others.”

Devon glared at him but said nothing.

“Thank you, Bree. Devon, since you’re standing, you can be next.”

Devon got out that he was sixteen and that he could do short range physical displacement of things.

Bradly was about to take a bite of a cookie and it disappeared from his hand, into Devon’s.

“Hey!” Bradly complained.

“Easy, fat boy,” Devon said, sending it back into his hand.

“Cool. Teleportation,” Mitch said.

“It’s not teleportation,” growled Devon.

“Can you teleport? Can you do me?” Mitch asked.

“No. You’re too big. It has to be smaller. No more than like, ten pounds.”

“Oh,” Mitch said sadly.

Elias came over and touched Devon’s arm, causing Devon to look at him with anger. “Easy. Now try.”

Devon did, but nothing happened. “Hey, what’s up?”

Elias removed his hand. “I can cancel out your ability. Mitch? You’re up.”

Mitch stood up, said he was fifteen and he could produce a time displacement bubble.

“A what?” Halley asked.

“A sphere around me where time inside seems normal, but outside, it seems speeded up. Watch.”

He grabbed a bag he had and cleared a spot at the end of the table, before dumping it out. It contained plastic building blocks. “See, just a pile of blocks,” he said, then all of a sudden, they were built into a square, house like object.

Then back to separate blocks.

“I didn’t see anything,” Bree said.

“Come on. You try,” he said.

She looked at Elias, who nodded. Bree got up and went to where Mitch was. “Now what?”

“When I say, build something,” he told her.

To everyone watching, it seemed like Bree had jumped a few inches to one said, and a block tower appeared, but nothing else.

“That was cool,” she said.

“You guys looked like you were in some super slow motion while I built it.”

“You didn’t even move,” Joss said.

“It was hard to see, but you can make out a blur if you look close,” Bradly said.

“Does it move with you?” Elias asked/

“No. Once it’s up, it doesn’t move, and if I move out of it, it goes down. It lasts about a minute.”

“My turn,” Elias said. He touched Mitch and once again nothing happened.

Last up was Bradly, who was fourteen. He could sense someone’s powers by touch. Since all the new kids had demonstrated their powers, he went to Halley, touched her and announced she could heal people. He went to Jocelyn, touching her and said she could phase through living matter. Bradly moved towards Enya, but she declined, so he moved to Elias.

He touched Elias and scrunched up his round face. “I can’t tell what power you have. It’s like something is blocking it.”

“Yeah, that would be me. Okay, so, we’re done. Everyone go have fun until just before dinner.”

As the kids started to go back to playing, Elias pulled Devon aside. “Hey, look. I’m not sure what your problem is, but I keep telling you it’s not us. I’m pretty sure you’re just like everyone else here and were taken and don’t want to be here. The only way I see getting out of here is by working together. If we can do that, then we just might make it. If we fight each other, then they win. And if they win, we never leave. So, it’s up to you, but I’d rather get the hell out of here.”

“Your right man, but this place usually pits us against one another. So, I don’t trust anyone,” Devon told him.

“I respect that, and I agree, but I think that, most of us would rather leave than stay, and that means acting in our best interests. We know when someone is trying to manipulate us, usually and we can use that to our advantage. Tell them just enough to keep them thinking we’re doing what they ask, but not what we’re really doing.”

“And what are we really doing?” Devon asked, skeptically.

Elias waggled his eyebrows and said, “I trust you. We’re gonna break the hell out of here.”

Devon grinned. “Maybe I’ll tell and get rewarded.”

“Naw. You go along and get free I’m betting,” Elias told him with his own grin.

Devon held out a fist, and Elias gave him a fist bump. “Now, go have fun,” Elias said.

Devon walked away and Halley came running up. “I wanna ride the bikes!” she exclaimed.

He looked over and saw Joss and Bree riding, pumping hard. “Right now, it looks like they are occupied. And I’m not sure your chicken legs could do it,” he said.

“Tell Bree to do something else. And.I.Don’t.Have.Chicken.Legs,” she said stomping.

He laughed and hugged her. “When they are done, I’ll ride with you. Providing we can adjust it for you.”

He noticed that she wanted Bree gone so she could ride with Joss. It appeared the jealousy was finally ebbing and maybe a friendship might finally develop.

“Fine,” she said leaving, and walked over to watch the other two girls. Once the girls finished, they went for a swim and Halley got Elias, who kept his word.

He was able to adjust the bike so she could fit and set it for a pretty straight ride so it wouldn’t be too hard for her.

The VR was able to join the two bikes, so he loaded the same scenario so he could join her. Even though it was for exercise, she had fun, mainly because the VR got her out of that place and back out into freedom.

After a couple of miles, even on flat land, Halley got tired, so they quit the ride and went back to the pool.

At her urging, Elias did his best to toss her as high and far as he could into the pool. It took it’s toll on his shoulder, but he did his best for her.

Joss and Bree were out of the pool and running laps.

Elias watched the others have fun playing around.

Devon got into the action, and played with everyone, except for Enyastasia, who kept to the side, watching the others.

Bree and Joss finished running and sat down behind Elias. Joss put her back to his and leaned on him.

“Eww, sweaty,” he said, getting her to laugh.

“You might like that in the right circumstance,” she told him, which earned her gagging sounds from Bree, which caused all of them to laugh.

Peg came and started taking kids back, starting with Enya, then Bradly, and Mitch. Bree said goodbye to Joss, giving her a hug, before giving one to Halley, then Elias. ’

“You be good to her,” Bree said to him quietly. “Her emotions are all over the place. I’ve had to even her out all day. She does it herself when she’s around you though. You’re good for her.”

Peg came and took Bree back, leaving Halley and Joss. Halley was holding a hand of each, swinging her arms happily.

When Peg came back, she took Halley next. Elias looked at Joss. “You had a good workout today. Are you going to be okay tomorrow?” he asked.

“I think so.”

“Okay.”

She put her arms around his neck, careful of his shoulder and looked into his eyes. “For the cameras,” she said, giving him a long kiss. It finally ended and he leaned back some.

“You sure that was only for the cameras, and not for you?”

“Mostly, at least,” she said, giving him a wink. This one is purely for me,” she said leaning in again.

Without thinking, he put his hand on her hip and pulled her closer. The kiss finally broke, right before Peg returned to get Jocelyn.

Elias marked the board and waited for Peg, who returned a few minutes later.

“Any problems?” she asked.

“Nothing of note,” he replied.

“I think all of the kids will get along no matter who’s in the group. Or in one big group.”

Peg nodded in agreement.

“One thing though. Over time, maybe other things could be added. A TV and games, some other activities. I dunno, pool, foosball, whatever. Things like that.”

“Already planned, except for pool. Sorry. The balls are potential weapons. But I’m seeing what else I can get.”

“Thanks.”

Peg took Elias back to his room and he took a shower. Thankfully he was used to getting dressed in the shower, because when he got out, he was surprised to see Enya standing not far away, watching him.

“You have an interesting silhouette,” she said to him.

He was worried that she might have seen the bruising, but he didn’t show it, turning to the mirror to brush his hair. “Glad you enjoyed the show. What are you doing here?”

“I talked Peg into letting me spend some time with you.”

“Oh. Okay, cool. Have anything in mind?” he asked, not sure he wanted to know the answer.

She got a smile on her face that almost looked evil, and said, “Several, but right now, dinner.” She pointed to the table, which had two trays on it.

He finished brushing his hair and joined her at the table. The dinner seemed a touch extravagant and all they needed were candles for a nice, romantic dinner.

A completely setup one that was. This had to have been planned, which was probably why Enya left first, he thought.

She was flirty through dinner and after, until Peg came for the trays. She brought a bag with popcorn, sodas, and clothes for Enya, which Elias thought strange considering it looked as if she had already showered.

Peg came and went without comment, leaving them alone again.

Elias let Enya pick a movie, and she picked one that was scary.

An older woman could see spirits, and one had taken over a girl who she had to save before she was completely taken over. At the parts that were scary, Enya hid her face at first, then started jumping and clutching on to Elias.

She would put her head into his neck and shoulder.

The movie ended and she put on another one, which was part comedy and part scary movie. A girl kept reliving the same day, dying various ways each day.

With the popcorn gone, she moved closer to Elias and held his hand. The movie wasn’t real scary, so instead of hiding in him, she got bored and started kissing his cheek, neck, and ear.

Elias was stuck because on one hand, he did kind of like her, but he realized that was mostly the superficial things. He didn’t really like what was inside. But if he shut her out now, she and Peg might get suspicious.

He allowed her to kiss on him, and then turn his head so they could kiss. It started out basic enough but Enya turned more aggressive, almost pawing at him.

Coming up for air, she said, “I won’t bite… much,” and put his hand on her breast. She went back to kissing him and he simply left his hand there, as if it was still in his lap.

The movie ended and the room went darker, and Enya scooted down, pulling him on top of her. She kissed him, then began kissing around his face and neck.

Elias realized that this wasn’t what he wanted, at least not with her, but just stopping would look foolish. So instead, he did the same. Kissing her earlobes, her neck and collarbone, visualizing Jocelyn instead of Enya.

Elias wasn’t experienced, so he thought if he practiced on Enya, when – if – he got this far with Joss, he wouldn’t look so foolish. He nearly froze when she took off her top, tossing it to the floor.

She pulled him back down to kiss, and took his hand, running it from her throat, down over her bra, down to her stomach, where she left it.

His thoughts were jumbled, not knowing if she expected him to go up or down. Choosing the safer of the two routes, he ran his hand over her toned stomach, and up between her breasts to her neck.

Still kissing, she shimmied out of her pants, tossing them to the floor. She took his hand and headed down again, but at her stomach he stopped her.

Partially sitting up, he said, “Too much, too fast. We should stop.”

He got up and went to his bed and said, “Goodnight.”

Enya pulled the sheet over her and took off her bra, making sure he saw before tossing it with her other clothes. She pulled off her panties next, holding them up. “I’m naked over here, Elias. Come back and have some fun. I need a hand over here.”

“Goodnight,” he repeated.

Her knees went up and she began moaning and soon panting before finally finishing in a gasp. She threw back the sheet and walked naked t the shower, giving him a view from behind.

Enya hadn’t taken any clothes with her, so Elias rolled over the other way and tried to sleep. The shower shut off and Enya returned and left him alone.

He finally fell asleep dreaming of Jocelyn.