Chapter 17

Ok guys! Here's the next chapter!! By the way, I wanted to let you know I have a new mermaid story I have been writing that I'm planning on updating soon, and a new advice column. So if you need some advice, send me a pm! :) Love you guys! Please vote and comment if you will! I get so few of those!

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Chapter 17

“How are we going to do that?”  Cheater asked confusedly.  Alexia smiled sweetly at him.

“We’re going to be nice.  We are going to include her in things.  We’re going to ask her questions, but we can’t get too pushy or it will push her away and make her trust us even less.  And we have to do it in about a day and a half.  The less time the better because we need more time to work on the plan once we have everyone on board.  It’s going to be hard, but I’m sure that we can do it.  Besides, I think that Jada already trusts the two of us pretty well.  I don’t think it’ll take too much more to convince her.”  Alexia said with determination and a smile.  They were going to make this happen.

“Why can’t you just spend a little girl time with her and tell her about the plan?  That way she could be thinking about her decision sooner.”  Cheater reasoned.

Alexia thought for a moment, then nodded.  “Ok, but it also depends how it goes.  I’m not going to tell her if we’re not bonding at all.”

Cheater nodded back.  “I understand. Just please let me know ok?”  Alexia smiled.

“Of course I will.  But now we had better go to sleep.  When I get up I’ll go sit in the main room and wait on Jada.  Do I have any experiments or tests tomorrow?”  She asked, her voice growing soft and worried at the end.  She was hoping that she could spend the day getting Jada to warm up to her.  Cheater grimaced, and then Alexia mirrored his emotion.  “I’m assuming that means yes.”

“Yeah, sadly they have a test planned around twelve.  After that, their letting you rest and then you have an experiment at four.”  He said with a deep frown.

Alexia sighed.  “Ok, when I’m gone for tests and experiments, will you spend some time with Jada?”  Cheater nodded.

“Of course, we need to get her on board with the plan.  Besides, I’ve wanted to get her to open up to me for the longest time.  You’re right though, we really do need to go to sleep.  Goodnight, when I wake up I’ll meet you in the main room.”  He said smiling at her and turning towards the door.

“Goodnight Cheater.”  Alexia said, smiling even though he couldn’t see her.

“Goodnight Alexia.”  Cheater said, leaving the apartment.

After he left, Alexia grabbed a quick snack while finding pajamas.  When she finished her snack, she grabbed her clothes and took a ridiculously fast shower.  She did so because she knew she might need her energy for tomorrow’s tests, and who-knows-what kind of experiments.  After she was clean, she dried off and changed.  When she finally got to her bed, she fell into it and went quickly to sleep.

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The next morning, Alexia woke up still feeling kind of tired.  She hoped that she still had enough energy for the tests.  She looked at the clock and saw that it was about nine o’clock.  That meant she had around three hours until the next test.  That is, if they didn’t decide to bring her in for tests early.  She really hoped they didn’t come for her early.  She wanted to be able to talk to Jada for a while at least.

She went into the kitchen to get her breakfast, and after eating, she went out into the common room between the apartments.  Alexia settled down to wait for anyone to show up.  She found the remote and turned the TV to the local news.  None of the kids were from this area, so they wouldn’t be on the local news, and they probably wouldn’t be on the national news either.  They disappearances probably aren’t considered suspicious.  Most of the parents thought that they were at school after all.  ‘But what about phone calls?  My mom was promised phone calls from me.  What happens when she doesn’t get those phone calls?  And what about the people who have been here for years?  Like Cheater?’  Cheater was the first one to come to the school after all.  ‘He never told me how long he’s been here.’  Alexia thought to herself.

“Four years.”  A quiet voice barely held back by emotions sounded behind her.  Alexia whirled around to find Cheater looking at her sadly.  “I’ve been here around four years.  Jada has been here around three and a half.”  He sat quietly on the couch next to her, leaning back into the cushions.

“Oh Cheater…  I didn’t realize…  How did they get you?  Did do the school trick?”  Alexia said, scooting closer to him and putting a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“Well, kind of I guess.  They started out with the whole ‘We want to help you’ blah, blah, blah.  But I told them that I didn’t want to go.  My mom and dad told me that it was my choice and I just didn’t want to go.  By that time I already knew how to keep people’s thoughts out of my head if I really didn’t want them there, so I didn’t see why I should go.  I didn’t see anything else useful they could teach me.  The day they came to my house was a Sunday, so the next day I went to school, I completely forgot about them.  We had a field trip to the museum that day, so I went too.  Again it didn’t even cross my mind that it might be a bad idea for me to go.  I guess I didn’t really have any reason to be suspicious though.”  He trailed off for a moment.  “That day when I left for school was the last time I saw my parents.”  Alexia felt heartbroken.  She was desperate to know if they were alive, but she didn’t want to ask him that.  She remembered too late that he could hear her thoughts.  She had to learn to control that around him.

“They’re still alive.”  He said quietly, bringing her thoughts to a halt.

“They are?  That’s great!  That means you still have a chance to see them again!  Right?”  She questioned herself at the look in Cheater’s eyes.  She could see the emotions swirling around in them.

“Alexia, we can’t go home after getting out of here,” he said in a low voice “that’s exactly what they will expect us to do.  We would have to get rid of them somehow first.” He said even quieter.

“What?  You don’t mean…” She asked quickly, but Cheater cut her off.

“Killing them?”  He whispered.  “No of course not!  None of us could handle killing a person, not that we want to either.  I meant bring their operation to light.  Tell the government what’s going on.”

Alexia couldn’t help but gasp.  “The government?  They would experiment on us too!  Don’t forget that!”  She said softly.

“Yes, they probably would.  But they might actually treat us like human beings.  That’s all that I ask.  I want to be treated like a person, not a lab rat..  I don’t mind being tested on, I always did like science, so benefiting science is good but I just want to be treated like a person.  You can still treat me like a human being even while testing on me.”  Cheater said angrily.

“I agree.  But Cheater, you never finished your story.  How did they end up getting you?”  Alexia asked softly.  Her voice grew even softer at the thought of his answer.

“On that trip, when I went to the bathroom, they were waiting for me.  I walked in and there was a janitor with one of those big carts that have the bin on it for trash.  As I was washing my hands, they guy grabbed me and put a rag over my nose.  I realized later that it must have been chloroform, that thing that knocks you out.  I was conscious long enough for him to throw me in the cart and cover me with trash.  That’s when I blacked out.  That’s how they got me out of the museum without anyone noticing.  My teacher must have been hysterical when she found out I was gone.  I’m assuming that after I was nowhere to be found in the museum, she called the police and my parents.  I’m sure that they filed a report on me, but there was no way they would have found me.  If I had only said that I would go to this stupid place!  Then my parents wouldn’t think that I was dead.  I’m sure they think I’m dead.  I mean, it’s been four years since I went ‘missing.’  I don’t expect them to still have hope for me to be ok after all this time.”  He said, looking down at the floor.

Alexia stood up and stared down at him.  “They better not have, because you will go back to them.”  She said in a quiet yet forceful voice.  “After we get out of here,” She went on in a soft whisper “we will go straight to the government, then we can all go see our families after these scumbags have been found out.”

“What about Jada?”  Cheater said in a voice so soft that Alexia almost didn’t hear him.  She remembered about the school killing poor Jada’s family to get to her.

Alexia’s reply was instant.  “She will come with me and my mom.  I’ve always wanted a little sister and my mom would be happy to have her.  She can come live with us.”  A second later there was a loud high-pitched squeal of delight and a weight landed on Alexia’s lap.  At first it looked like nothing was there but slowly a girl formed, kind of like how the Cheshire cat would appear out of thin air.  It was Jada and she had a huge grin on her face.

“I can live with you!”  She said somewhat loudly.

“Of course Jada!  I can’t wait for you to live with me and my mom!  But how much of that did you hear just now?”  Alexia said, wondering if Jada knew about leaving the school.

“Oh I heard all of it.”  Jada stated matter-of-factly.  “So, what’s this about leaving?  When are we going to do that?”  She said in a much softer voice.  Alexia was amazed, yet happy that they didn’t have to tell Jada.  That meant that they could start telling the other kids and getting a plan ready.

“We’re going to leave as soon as we’re ready to.”  Alexia whispered to her.  “So does that mean you’ll be ready to go?  We want to take everyone.”  She said with a smile.

“Yeah, of course I’ll be ready!  So you’re going to let me live with you and your mom?”  She asked in a soft and hopeful voice, looking up at Alexia with her big brown eyes and her dark hair framing her face.

“Of course Jada!  We’ll be sisters!”  She said happily.  Jada smiled and threw her arms around Alexia in a tight hug.  “Don’t kill me Jada!  That’s a little too hard!”  Jada laughed loudly, and Cheater’s deep chuckle joined in.  After Jada let go, they decided to watch TV until someone else came out.  The entire time, Jada kept up a constant stream of chatter about what she and Alexia would do once they were sisters.

Trixie came out of her apartment around eleven, and Alexia and Cheater decided to tell her about leaving.  They had decided to tell Trixie and Jared when they came out, but Alexia would tell Adam about it when she came back from testing.  Trixie was already really excited about leaving just moments after being told about it.

“I can’t wait to be out in the sunshine!  I control plants for crying out loud, I’m supposed to be outside in nature!  I shouldn’t be locked up inside!” Trixie said angrily, but still enthusiastically.  She was playing with the potted plant by the television, making it change colors, shapes, and sizes.  Right then it had orange and green striped leaves and polka-dot blooms.  Jada kept telling her what to change it to.

Jared came out around eleven-thirty, and the group quickly told him about the escape, afraid that Adam might be out soon.  They were right; Adam came out about five minutes after.  The group stopped talking about the escape and started talking about other things.  Trixie and Jada continued their game with the plants, and Jared used his power to make two foam swords for him and Adam.  Alexia and Cheater just sat and played twenty questions while watching the younger kids play.

“Where’s Damon?”  Alexia asked suddenly, cutting Cheater off from one of his questions.

“Is that your question number thirteen?”  He asked her with a glint of humor in his eyes.

“No!  But I would like to know.  Could you find out for me?” She said, smiling sweetly at him.  They both knew that it was fake though.

“That’s a fake smile, but fine.”  Cheater said grumpily.  He closed his eyes for a few moments and then looked back at Alexia.  “Lazy is still asleep.  Happy?”

“Yes, very.  Thank you.  Now, let’s get back to the game!”  She said grinning.  The game continued back and forth for another twenty minutes before the lab door opened.  Everyone stopped what they were doing and instantly got quiet.

Dillenwater was standing n the doorway.  He sent them all an amused look, especially staring at the foam swords, and turned to Alexia.  “Hello Alexia,” He said with an evil grin, “are you ready for your test?”

“Yeah, I guess I am.  It’s not like I have a choice anyway right?”  She said sarcastically.

“Correct! Come on then.”  Dillenwater motioned her to come towards him.  Alexia nodded and picked her way through the two boys laying on the floor and the girls sitting near the plant to make her way over to him.

“Good luck.  I’ll be listening, and I’ll be right here when you get back.”  Cheater said softly, attempting a smile.  Alexia nodded with a slight smile too.

“Thanks.”  She finally made her way over to Dillenwater.  He help the door open for her and she walked through it hesitantly.  As soon as Dillenwater walked through the door he pulled it shut and someone grabbed her.

“Hey!”  She yelled loudly, trying to get out of their grasps.  One man was holding each of her arms to her side and was slowly pulling her down the hallway.

“Would you rather have us drug you again so we can feel safe?  I thought I was being nice to you.”  Dillenwater said with a smirk.

“No, but you could trust me to get there on my own without being pulled.  That would be great.”  Alexia said rudely back.

“Ok then, Boys?”  He said, snapping his fingers twice.  The guys holding Alexia moved her hands in front of her and Dillenwater produced rope seemingly out of nowhere.  He grabbed her hands and tied them together.  “There, now you can walk on your own.”  He said with a sinister smile.

“This is a little better since I don’t have someone’s hands all over me, but I didn’t want the rope either.”  Alexia said angrily.  She started walking forward with the men still on either side of her, and with Dillenwater walking in front of her showing the way.  They stopped at a plain black door.  Dillenwater pulled out a key and slipped it through the lock.  He walked inside quickly, dragging Alexia with him.  The two other men stayed outside the door, one standing on eat side.  Dillenwater shut the door and Alexia took a moment to look around.

The room looked like the other lab rooms she had been in.  There was a bunch of sprinklers on the ceiling, and a lot of water everywhere.  That took care of her fire.  There were also a lot of needles, glass jars, bottles and medical equipment laying everywhere.  The main thing in the room was an uncomfortably stiff looking hospital bed.  There were cabinets and counters all along the walls.  There wasn’t a single window, and only the door that they came in through.

Alexia turned around to see Dillenwater putting on a fireproof suit, so were two other scientists that she hadn’t noticed before.  Alexia glared at them. Dillenwater finished putting on his suit and grabbed her hands.  He pulled out a knife and cut her bonds.  “Sit.” He ordered, motioning her to the bed.

Alexia nodded silently and sat down.  She wasn’t leaning back or attempting to get comfortably until he made her.  The other two scientists already had their fireproof suits on and were getting supplies out of the cabinets to get ready for whatever they wanted to do to her.  Dillenwater looked at her with a horrible gleam in his eyes.  “So, ready for the drugs to knock you out during this?”

“Um, I’m not really to tell you the truth.  I’d rather be awake so I know what you’re actually doing to me.  That’d be great for once.  Could you do that?  I would love to be awake for my tests…”  Alexia said with a glare.

“Tests?  You’re not here for tests.  You’re here for an experiment.  You can’t be awake for that.  Not that I’d let you anyway.  That’d be too nice for me.”  He said with another smirk.  He looked around in one of the cabinets until he came up with a glass jar with a medicine label on it. ‘The sleep drugs!’  Alexia thought to herself.

“What! I thought I was here for tests!”  Alexia cried, starting to get up from the bed even though she knew it would do her no good. They had total control over her and they knew it. Alexia knew it too.  They had two guys outside the door and four scientists and Dillenwater inside the door.  There was no way she could get away, and she knew it, but she couldn’t just sit there, it wasn’t in her nature. Dillenwater pushed her back down forcefully.

“Lay down now!”  He demanded, shoving her again.  Alexia knew that it would anger him more to disobey him, and she didn’t want him to use the thing in her leg on her already, so she did.  The moment her head hit the pillow, the scientists descended upon her, strapping her efficiently to the bed.  She couldn’t move a muscle if she tried.  “Perfect, now for the tranquilizer.”  He said, bringing the needle he held in his hand towards her.  Alexia was out seconds after the needle was in her skin.