Midtown

Twelve

KP

Day by day KP wondered more and more of what's to come. Will he take Nathen out, will Nathen take him out, or will they take each other out?

Nathen's group is small but persistent. KP's group has a lot of people and find new ways of progressing their experiments and prototypes into real weapons each day.

He shouldn't even be there. And neither should Nathen. But for reasons, he was still trying to understand, they were the ones going head to head instead of the people their altercations really effected.

Even though KP had those thoughts, every time he watches Nathen and Carly walking in to school together, he knows he has to get her on his side before Nathen gets her on his.

The three of them come to school the same time every time. And every time Carly sees KP, she leaves them and comes to him.

"KP!" He heard her call. He looked over as if he didn't already see them walking in.

"You haven't been here the past few days. Were you sick or something?" Carly asked.

"It seems through unfortunate circumstances I had to move due to a fire in my house. I had to get everything that I could out."

"Wow, are you alright? Were you in there when it happened?"

"No, I wasn't in there when it started. But I did get a little burned." He showed her his arm where a little patch above his elbow was discolored. That little burn was nothing to KP knowing what could have happened if he didn't get home in time to save his belongings.

"That looks bad!" Carly said. She suddenly grabbed his arm taking a closer look. He wasn't sure if he should let her get this close to him, but she stopped as if she realized what she was doing.

"You should get this checked out." She said and let go. Then she looked at her hands.

"This is nothing. I'll be fine. Other than my misadventures, how have things been for you?" KP wanted to change the subject. He looked closer to her arm and saw that she still wore the bracelet he gave her. Not only that, she seemed to have activated it.

Once the band has been turned on, it gives off a soft green glow only certain people can see. That only made him wonder if it really worked as described. She stood with Nathen as she normally would, and this is infused with a component he nor Tom should be able to walk away from unharmed.

"Honestly, it's been kind of weird lately." Carly told him.

"Weird? In what way?"

"Well, ever since I've been here, something just hasn't felt right. I've been trying to tell myself it's nothing and I'm just letting it all get to me. Still, everything and kind of everyone is strange. Then my dad brought home some necklace and it made my mom act really weird."

"Necklace?" KP repeated.

"Yeah. Said some kid was selling it super cheap and bought it for my mom. Ever since she laid eyes on it, she started acting differently, yet no one believes me when I say something around here seems weird."

"Did this necklace have diamonds on it?"

"Yeah, it was a diamond necklace. Did you hear about the sale?" Carly asked. She looked desperate for him to know what she was talking about.

Unfortunately, he did know. But now wasn't the time to talk about the possible crazy plan Nathen is thinking of doing with the people of Midtown and further exploring the mind control he has in place.

"Do you think you would be able to get me that necklace?"

"Um, I don't know. Even if my mom would part with it, I can't touch it."

"What do you mean you can't touch it?"

"I mean, every time I tried to reach for it, it like, moved and my hands couldn't get close to it." Carly said sounding anxious. KP looked down to the band again and thought maybe it did work. That would be the only reason she wouldn't be able to touch a creation made by Nathen.

"Has Nathen or Tom been acting differently?" KP asked. He needed confirmation if it was working to alert the base if it still needs improvements or not.

"Um, well, Nathen has always been a bit weird and different to me. On our way here, he had a scar on his arm I was trying to point out to him, but the same thing that happened with me and the diamond happened when I tried to point it out to him. Something happened where I couldn't touch him. Then after that, he got all funny and kept a distance from me. Do you suspect them of something?"

"I think you should just stay on alert." KP simply told her.

"So, you do think that something is off with them?" Carly asked. She hasn't even been there a month and she's close to discovering the secrets of Midtown KP has tried so hard to keep secret.

There was something definitely different about her compared to the others that have come from Uptown. She was very intuitive in some ways. Always instinctively watching their behavior and movements. KP wouldn't be surprised if she figured out what was really going on. But he couldn't risk telling her everything and being wrong and she ended up like everyone else.

Dead.

KP was saved by the warning bell from answering her question. The usual late students were filling in around them.

"We'll finish this later. I still need to go to my locker." Carly took off. He tried to breathe a sigh of relief when he suddenly got a call.

"What is it Julie?"

"New sources show another resident in Midtown. But they're not register and we're not sure where they're from."

"If they're not registered or have no living information, how do you know it's someone here?" He looked around anyway checking to make sure he didn't see any new faces.

"We got the alert after it was confirmed of them being there over twenty four hours. We're just letting you know. I'll call when we get more information on who it is." She told him.

"Have our systems been acting up at all?"

"No. There have been no interferences with our connections to you there."

"Alright. I'll keep a look out." KP hung up. People occasionally pass through town every day. But if they've been there a full day, they aren't just passing through. If their communications hasn't gone offline yet, then Nathen either doesn't know, or they're not important to know.