The Shrink Program

Chapter 101

"I know that going unnoticed is my thing..." Jack's velvet voice murmured.
"But I don't appreciate being ignored, Maddison."

The three of us shared a silent look, and my face screwed up with annoyance.

....why is he just picking on me? It's not like he can't hear Nigel and Artemis in here as well...

"Won't you come out and say hello?"

"All in favour of Hell No?" I asked under my breath, and the three of us all promptly raised our hands in silent agreement.

"It has been a long time since you and I have had a chance to have a heart to heart talk." Jack continued, sincere as a kitten.

Too bad for him, I knew all too well what sneaky little liars kittens could be.

Despite the three of us being very badass delinquents, not one of us dared make a sound as the door swung opened, creating a pit in the floor.

"Fair warning, I don't like to be kept waiting."

Yea, well I don't much like being tortured, so we're both in the same unhappy boat here...

"Something tells me we don't have much time..." I said, just as the room convulsed, violently jolting like a bomb had gone off.

Nigel dived forward, arms outstretched to catch me as I was thrown forward off my feet.

I slammed into him, sending as both falling to the floor, me on top of him. Long limbs wrapped around me, cradling my head as we slid across the floor and into the wall.

Artemis kept his balance, dodging flying bedding as he ran across the tilting floor, reaching us a moment after we hit the wall.

He came to a hard stop, crouched in front of us, a hand braced on the wall on either side of Nigel's head.

"Are you alright?!"

"Maddison?" Nigel asked anxiously, sitting up straighter against the wall and pulling me up to look in my face.

"What are you doing, idiot?" I shrieked, fist raise to punch him even as I franticly searched for any sign that he had been injured.

"I'm alright." He reassured, causing me to grab him by the shoulders.

"How the hell would you know that?" I hissed, shoving at him so that I could check the back of his head, shoulders and arms.

My heart dropped to my toes as I spotted blood seeping into the grey material of his pyjama top. Yanking the sleeve up, I inspected the grazed skin at his elbow.

Nasty, but nothing to worry about...

No, what I needed to worry about was the injuries we didn't know were there.

"Crap." I hissed, shoving away from the fretting Nigel and worried Artemis to stand on my feet.

What was I doing?

Hiding in here was only going to make things worse. Pissing Jack off and getting us injured before we could even figure out what was going on.

I spun on my heel, storming the steep climb towards the doorway. I had to get out there before Jack lost his patience again.

"Wait, Maddison! Don't go out there!" Nigel cried Artemis' hushed tone followed as he told the younger boy to stay still.

At this, the room suddenly straightened, Jack obviously hearing and politely making my exit more comfortable.

"You can't go out there to Jack! He'll..."

"He'll what?!" I snapped, spinning on the tall boy. "Hurt me? Torture me? You really think that Jack single-handedly infiltrated the Shrink Program just to play with me?"

I laughed, loudly and mockingly, hands on hips with a superior smirk.

"Yeah right. This is the Shrink Program. The staff here are all super-geniuses with bodies powered up by Nanotech. No one would go against an organisation like this just to torment a grudge! That means that Jack must have a reason for being here. And even more likely..."

My mind trailed back to the conversation I had had with Apollo while he held me hostage. When he was comparing us to the cards of a deck.

Apollo picked up the Jack of Diamonds.

"This here is Jack. Motivated by ambition and a servant, just as much as you." He placed it to the side.

"Only to a third party."

"... Jack is working for someone else." I finished, watching Artemis expression grow grim, and Nigel stares at me with wide eyes.

Though my expression remained smug, it became a little bit paler than before.

"It isn't hard to guess who."

I turned, making my way to the door once more with a nonchalant wave of my hand.

"Who else would have the resources and motivation to infiltrate the Shrink Program?"

I stood on the doorframe, staring down into the empty space to find the giant palm of a hand.

"Who else would bring Jack back to the school to stop the game from being destroyed? It has to be them."

I turned, giving Artemis a look. A look that showed my true feelings and not the bravo that still layered my voice.

"The illegal organisation that created the school created the game to recruit new members. The reason why we became members of the Hill, just to stop other people from being dragged into their organisation."

I smiled.

It was supposed to look triumphant, like a detective revealing the truth behind a crime. But I knew, the smile was nothing but pale and afraid as I revealed exactly who had come for us.

"The Underground is here."

And we are screwed.

Artemis closed his eyes, his expression tortured.

"No." Nigel panicked, getting to his feet and running towards me. "Don't go out there!"

"How mean of you, Maddison." Jack's voice murmured reproachfully.

What-?

I felt the heat of skiing a second before giant fingers wrapped around me from behind.

I stared at the pale fingers, strong and scarred by violin strings.

I was too close to the door.

He didn't have to wait anymore.

He could reach me.

"Stealing all the fun parts."

Shit.

"Maddison!"

The fingers yanked back, dragging me through the doorway.