Shifters

Chapter 19

LUKE

Having fallen asleep in my bedroom, I was surprised and kind of annoyed to find myself waking up in a white room with bright lights and a sharp smell of cleaning supplies. The chair I was in was padded and pretty comfy if I ignored the plastic cuffs digging into my wrists and ankles tying me to it.

I lifted my head as far as I could. Straining my neck, I could see that I was in the middle of a row of five chairs. To my left, James and Ivy were passed out. Thea and the small girl with cat ears were on my right.

There was nothing else in the room, but two metal doors at each end of the room interrupted the otherwise monotonous walls. Little black pin pads were  embedded in the wall to the right of each door. I would have bet that even if we could get out of the chairs, we'd never get through the doors.

Thea stirred and slowly opened her eyes, blinking in the harsh light.

"Hey," I called softly.

She turned her pale blue eyes to me. Her brow creased in worry as she observed the room as I had. "Where? What?" she muttered.

"No idea," I said cheerily.

She glared at me. "Thanks." Then her eyes widened suddenly, staring at a point on the side of my head. "What's that?" she asked, worried.

"What?"

"What is on your head?"

"A gorgeous face and fantastic hair?"

"No. Stop. There's something on your head. Behind your ear."

"I already said my fantastic hair. I know it's there. But I understand it can be disarming when you first realize how perfect it is."

"Luke!"

"Fine. What does it look like?"

"Pretty small? Metal? I can't really see it but it's right behind your ear."

"Okay..."

"It looks like it's embedded in your skin."

"Oh great. Ew. It'll ruin my looks. For good. I'm done for."

"Luke I don't care about your looks. You should be used to them messing around with your body by now."

"You don't care about me? After all we've been through?"

"Your looks, I said. Idiot. Come on. Can you see if I've got one?"

She turned her head and I saw what she was talking about. A small elevated lump of silver right behind her ear. It was completely smooth and barely had any shine. I might not have noticed if the lights hadn't been so bright and if I hadn't been looking for it.

"Yep. You're part of the club."

"Wonderful. I'm betting they put them on all of us. But why?"

"Dunno."

"Thanks. That was so helpful."

"But it was a perfect opportunity to talk and bless you with my words."

"I don't need your blessings."

"I think you do. I think we need any blessings or charms or luck we can get in this place."

"Your words still aren't much of a blessing."

"You don't understand blessings. It certainly is. I assume you don't appreciate any other art forms either."

"Even if that was art, what use is art right now?"

"The emotional benefit of peace and happiness?"

"Seriously?"

"Sure!"

"I give up. How are we going to get out of here?"

I was about to reply when my thoughts were scattered by a sudden sharp crackling sound. But it didn't feel like I was hearing it, but more that I instantly knew it.

I looked over to Thea, who was cringing. The noise stopped.

"Did you hear that too?"

"My soothing voice? Of course. I have the privilege of hearing everything I say every time I speak."

"Luke I am serious I will tape your mouth shut as soon as we get out of here."

"Yeah, yeah, I heard it. Chill."

"Chill? Really? I'm hearing things in my thoughts that are not my own and you're telling me to chill?"

"Maybe chilling isn't the easiest thing to do right now, but we're not going to get anything done if we can't calm down and think straight."

"Can't think straight if you can't think your own thoughts!"

"Wait- they've hijacked our thoughts?"

"Yes. Congrats. You figured it out. You know you didn't hear that noise."

"Well, technically-"

"It was more like you just skipped to processing the sound, like your brain knew the sound without your ears doing anything."

It was true. It was like the sound was a thought. But not my own. I would have expected it if it had been my own. It was more sudden than any thought I'd had before. And frightening.

Was this-

It couldn't be-

Mind control?

A/N: Hey guys! So here's another chapter. I've been really busy lately and finals are coming up really soon for me, so I haven't been able to write much recently and I won't be able to write much more until the summer. Thank you for all your comments and support in the meantime!