The Hijinks War

30. One Team, One Scheme

"Morning everyone." Kellen emerged from his room, fully dressed in a warm looking pullover and a pair of fitted jeans. "It seems we have something to discuss."

Once again, I went through what I'd learned the previous night, for the benefit of those who had not witnessed my dramatics.

"Personally, I think Katia is right," Hadley droned when I finished. "We should all pretend we've been drugged and stay in our rooms."

"And what are we going to gain by that?" She was going to test my patience, that was for sure.

"Well, you know, if we don't go to class, we can't get detention, and if we don't get detention, then we can't get drugged."

"Oh wow, Hadley, that's so smart!"

"Thanks!" She flushed at my words, until she caught the sardonic sneer on my face.

"Think about it, Hadley, if they're drugging us in detention through water bottles, then they can drug us with anything else consumable. If we stop going to classes altogether, they will find new ways to drug us."

They were silent for some time, the severity of what I'd said not lost on any of them.

"What did you say this guy's name was again?"

"Tannen."

Vivienne pondered my answer, and we all waited for her to say why she'd asked. "I remember that name... My Dad was talking about a bio-something scientist a while ago who wanted to make some kind of bio-something-something that was supposed to be really bad. I mean in theory it was good, but it was unethical, I guess? And could be twisted for bad? But Dad said he died when his lab was destroyed in a fire."

"The lives of their vacuous children for my prodigy brother..." I said, slowly adding what Vivienne had said to what I already knew. "So our Tannen is that Tannen's brother! And I think he intends to test that stuff on us." 

She paled, then slumped in her seat. "Well, what can we do? If it's really that bad, then we're already screwed," Vivienne said with such finality that I wanted to kick her in the face for it.

As if Kellen could see that very thought forming in my head, he suddenly shifted, putting himself in the middle of the room, blocking me from lunging at any of them.

"Cole, you're right." He sighed, "They'll just find another way to drug everyone. But, as weird as this is going to sound, I'm kind of with the girls on this... At this point, there isn't anything we can do."

It was as if my brain just died right then and there from an overdose of anger. I willed myself to move, yell, call them stupid, lazy hypocrites, but I was so dumbfounded by all of them that the only thing I could focus on for some time was the rush of water that was pressing on the backs of my eyes. 

"Do you know what he said?" I raved, finally finding my voice, as quavering as it was with the weighty build up of tears I was attempting to dam. "Do you want to know what that psycho fuck thinks of us all? Why he targeted us? Why he thought he wouldn't even need to drug us to take us all hostage?"

I had no success with stonewalling my tears, and they were trickling down my face as my voice rode the annoying high, squeaky-squawk roller coaster it always did when I got emotional. I'm sure if this had been any other situation, any other reason for getting so emotionally worked up, I might have felt embarrassment.

As it was, I didn't care how it made me look, and I swiped a hand across my face as I continued in a mocking tone, "These kids don't know that they're trapped on campus or that we've blocked all communication outside of the grounds. The ones smart enough to figure out something's going on have decided that this is time off to party. They don't even notice the increased security."