The Mind Games

8

Lily now glares at me every time I walk by her and her gaggle of friends.

Now, Grays have never been reported to kill someone with their powers. Wanna know why?

Well, when Grays go through someone's memories, they slowly become a part of them, and when they use their powers to fight or anything, this does the same thing as going through someone's memories, but in a different way.

So since then they have a mental connection, if the Gray were to kill someone, then they would die too.

We all sit together as a whole on a bench beneath the gazebo. I get everyone's attention.

"Guys, we need to get out of here," I say, making eye contact with everyone sitting with me, "ASAP."

Ember scuffs, looking disgusted she says, "Well, duh," She says, "We've known that for ages!"

Cole puts his hand down on the wooden table gently, "Getting a plan that will actually work, is the issue here."

I open my mouth to say something, probably encouragement, but I don't have anything, so I close it.

"Well?" Ember says.

"Well, what?" I ask.

"Don't you have something?"

"No, I didn't really have anything off the top of my head..."

"Why'd you bring it up then?" Ember says in an exasperated voice.

"Sorry, I was just-" Of course they've talked about this before. Why wouldn't they? Hasn't everybody? Nobody's happy here.

Maddie looks off into the distance.

"Why didn't you say that before, Maddie?!" Ember exclaims, Maddie just looks a little agitated now.

"Right, sorry. I forgot. I didn't-" She begins. Ember must've read her mind on accident in the midst of the frustration.

Maddie looks at Ember, "Do you want to explain, or should I?" Gosh. I didn't know Maddie got agitated...

"Um, you can go ahead. You're he one who figured it out," Ember says quietly, looking ashamed.

"Well," Maddie takes a deep breath, and cue the monologue, "When the scientists leave the campus, they leave in cars, right? They do. Trust me. That was a rhetorical question. So when they leave the gates open. The electrical gates. Yes. Those ones. So when they open, if we would either get a ride in the cars, or make a break through the opening of the gate between 5pm and 5:07pm, we're out and into the woods."

Naomi laughs, "Isn't the saying 'Out of the woods,'?"

"Yes, normally. But for us, out of the woods, is into the woods," Maddie says, she's smiling again.

"That's not confusing at all," Chris laughs.

I don't laugh. I'm too busy thinking.

"So, assuming all information is correct," I rephrase, "We would all need to run out of the gates in a seven minute period."

"Correct," Maddie confirms.

Kayla is currently napping on the wooden table with her arms crossed and her head down. I wouldn't blame her. I'm down for a nap right now.

It starts getting colder, and you'd think that they'd take good care of us, but you're wrong. We just get long sleeve shirts instead of short sleeved shirts.

We talk over the gritty details which I won't bore you with. Long story short: One day Naomi (who has been call honing her manipulation powers for a while to use them in secret against the scientists. Sure, just the scientists...) will make them believe that they need me to help them, and then convince them to leave. (Chris suggested getting them to give us a ride out, but shortly after we realized that the other scientists wouldn't believe such an unrealistic request and we changed it to something more believable.)

So after that we would hang out behind the shed, and dance around the watchman as he came. Naomi would slowly work on slowly getting him to not pay attention to us, and at exactly 5:01 we would run for the gates. Then we would be in the clear. We would do this in exactly 2 weeks. We have one shot. It's all or nothing.

• • •

About a week after that, I experience the worst test yet.

They made me touch another person.

They made me report the memory I got, then they wiped my memory clean of that memory... So I couldn't tel you what it was, or who I even had to touch.

Maddie jumps a little when I tell her, "Are you joking?!"

I shake my head.

"That is so unokay," Ember says.

"'Unokay' isn't a word," I inform her.

"Whatever."

"Now who can't speak properly?" I raise an eyebrow and throw her a smirk. I return the insult Ember gave me when we first met.

"Oh no you- If I could touch you, you would've been beat up by now," She snarls. I laugh at her. She can't hurt me.

Naomi steps in, "Cut it out guys," she says, "So.... What can we do about it?"

"Nothing," Maddie says quickly. She's already thought about it.

"Andrew? Can I talk to you alone?" Maddie asks.

"Um..." I answer, I run through a thousand thoughts of what I could've said, done, or heard that could've offended her or anyone else.

Cole nods, while Ember raises an eyebrow, and the younger children poke each other's sides and say 'ooooohhhh!'

Maddie leads me to the green cabin where Kayla and I found her calming down a sobbing Chris that one day. I lean against the old wood.

"So what did you need to talk abou-? STO-" I begin to tell stop as Maddie lurches for my forearm. I can't avoid her touch.

A/N: Haha. Next time my children. :)