☼ รץภςє๔ ☾

So she was running, how commendable.

The cloaked figure whistled once, giving a hand signal of sorts to someone unseen. The girl had indeed stepped outside, but she had picked up a sense of someone else there and took off. This was expected.



A second cloaked figure began to run along the shadows, positioning themselves to get a head start on the girl. When the second cloaked figure saw that the girl was coming its way, it waited, taunt and ready. Suddenly, arms sprung out from the alleyway, trying to wrap themselves around the girl to stop her from running and then pulled Abbi close to their body, beginning to try to drag her away from the streets.



Rose hissed and then grunted through clenched teeth when Walter begin to clean her wounds with something that stung like fire and ice thrown in together. She could feel the grains of salt rubbing into her wounds as Walter worked and dug her fingers into her shoulder, shutting her eyes tightly and turned her head away. Soon it was over though, and she felt the cool bandages being wrapped so gently over her wounds. Through misted eyes, she watched as Walter was being careful and almost caring, something she hadn’t seen much the time she had been imprisoned here.

No, it was just some kind of mind game they were trying, something new. They were going to break her, she knew it. They were going to treat her nicely and then turn around tenfold with something she couldn’t even imagine right now. Then he brought up Jex, and she felt her heartstrings tug. She hadn’t talked to anyone in a long time. She kept Jex under safe lock and key, but the way he demanded information was something new. There was no bargain for her release or less pain, just simple casual small talk.

She cried out and then tried to swallow it down when Walter began to work on the other wounds, feeling the tears roll down her cheeks. This was the worse pain she had ever gone through, but she would do anything for the Ingraos. “I owe him,” she said forcefully between gritted teeth “my life.” That’s all that she was going to say about him, she decided. That was it. The man named Jason promised to break every bone in her body the next time he came back. Would she be strong enough then as she was before? Her body quaked and winced every time Walter washed the gashes. She was becoming too weak to stand her ground and felt her knees starting to give out from under her.




Mai’s vision was suddenly changed from the lab room to memories inside of her head. She could see Colton the first day he came, how she cared for him and felt a special connection with him, like she had to be the one to protect him from all the horrors of this dismal place. She felt violated as Shane searched her mind, wanting to push him out but knew that Isabella would probably give her some kind of punishment or even influence Shane in that manner. No, it was best not to fight back, this time anyways. But she had to make it believable that this was all she had to hide. Shane made it easier though by suddenly changing something in her head. She felt hurt as Colton yelled at her and winced when his voice seemed to raise higher and higher. The things that Lyle said next made her heart sink; she was going to die, and so was Colton.

She didn’t even have time to process this much as Shane began to work her mind like clay in his unseen hands. Suddenly, she had a brother, had a life with this unknown sibling, and then it all suddenly violently ended… Again she was yelled at, but this time she fought back. She grabbed a knife and-

“NO!” Mai screamed out, trying as hard as she could to push Shane out of her head. “THIS ISN’T ME!” she cried. “Please, stop it!” But then she realized in that brief instant he couldn’t stop… Or wouldn’t stop. She just encouraged him further to do whatever he wanted to do with her head. She felt so many emotions crashing and piling in on each other. She tried to blink back tears, ignoring the heart monitor going off the charts in the background.

The “memories” stopped, but it wasn’t because of her desperate pleas. It was because he was trying to encourage Isabella to continue on with what he was doing to her. She took in shaky breaths, feeling sick to her stomach as the images were trying to flash before her eyes, gruesome horrible things. She had to focus on them, it was the only way to protect other things. No, she could concentrate on other things. Songs, anything else. She began to whisper song lyrics under her breath that she thought were long forgotten, barely incoherent. “I remember tears streaming down your face when I said, ‘I'll never let you go’… When all those shadows almost killed your light…” She trailed off, making her eyes look at the ceiling as she took in deep breaths of air to calm herself down as the tears began to roll. She didn’t care if she had an audience or that they wouldn’t like the song lyrics. She needed something to hold onto, something to cling to for that moment. “I remember you said, ‘Don’t leave me here alone’. But all that’s dead… and gone… and passed, tonight…”

For a moment, she thought of Colton, and then fought down that thought. No, she couldn’t let Shane know what she was thinking. Not now. She could reflect later. She needed to protect what she could that was not desecrated by this boy almost the same age as her. “Just close your eyes… the sun is going down… You’ll be alright… No one can hurt you now…”


​

Errol had entered into the door, leaving it open partially so that Jean and Nicole could enter in if they chose to follow or not. He then handed Brendan his coffee, looking over what the boy had already found. He patted Brendan on the shoulder, obviously proud of his pupil. “Excellent work. Is there a way you can format this into hard data for reference? I don’t want you to drain yourself now.” Errol then glanced at the screen, seeing that Colton was on the screen, standing next to someone in a white lab coat. He felt his heart grow heavy, seeing the state Colton was in. They were so close to getting him home. Just a bit longer, he thought in his mind. You’ll be home soon. He then noticed a cell within the room, and a tiny figure wrapped up in blankets on the small bed. It was hard to tell what or who it was, but Errol had a feeling inside his gut. He sighed out, pulling out a file he had grabbed before he left his office and handed it to Brendan. “From the security footage, could you do a face recognition scan? These are the profiles of the scientists I have collected. We need to get a better idea what we’re up against…”

​

Nicole nodded to Jean, following after the young man. She was hesitant on what more she was going to see, but she needed to have her wits about her if she was going to get her son back. She needed to have an iron mind, not centering too much on her personal feelings. She saw a room coming into view and took in a deep breath, trying to settle her mind before she followed after Jean inside of the room. She was greeted by a three dimensional map of sorts with Errol standing close by another boy she had never met before sitting in front of a computer screen watching some kind of footage.

Errol glanced up to see the two walk in and smiled tiredly. “Ah, there you are. Brendan, this is Nicole Justice, Carter’s mother. She’s been helping us for the last few weeks.”

Nicole nodded her head in respect to the new boy and looked at what was before her again. These people were doing so much for her… Risking everything they had. Even though they had a friend missing as well, she felt as if she could be on the same level as them right now. Her eyes widened when she peered at the screen closer, seeing a face she knew standing in the room. “Is that Colton?” she asked, stepping over to Brendan and pointed to the younger looking male in the picture.

​

“Hm… plotting, plotting, tra, la, la…” Kytheria’s smile had vanished when Lucas mentioned Isabella. She really hated that little mouse, but there was nothing she could do about it… Not right now anyways. “Use a mouse to catch another mouse… Strange, strange, but it may help catch brains.” She licked her sword once more before she sheathed it again, grinning at Lucas. “I speak in riddles, but you understand. Still working with me, glad I am.” She tipped her hat up just a bit enough to show she gave him respect before snugging it carefully back over her forehead. She could never be too careful around in this place. “Stroll through the lab to check on rats? Or no time for brats. Find the bubbly one, busy maybe.”

​

Carter heard an old voice speaking and picked it out to be Lyle, the creepy robotic guy. Then he heard a new voice, someone he didn’t recognize. Curious, he sat up slowly in his bed, keeping his blanket around his head like a hood. His eyes landed on a skinny, pale, older boy. The teen looked at him with some recognition, but Carter had no idea what. He didn’t remember seeing this guy ever before in his life. He heard Lyle talk about borrowing him for the day and felt a shiver go up his spine. This couldn’t be good. He swallowed hard, then looked at the teen that spoke up. He was trying to get the little eight year old out of here… Carter observed from where he was, wondering why this guy was trying to save him…

​

Kiki watched Ryan as he stood up, smiling big at him before giggling a little. "I guess so. But it might not be goodbye forever, just a goodbye for now. I'll probably swing back here sometime, this place was fun." She then waved to him. "Take care now, okay? Be gentle on yourself!"

 

How interesting, this was the very thought that Walter could only think of as he listened to the girl’s words. “So your life belongs to him…” Walter said calmly, before his eyes widened a bit as the girl begin to shake. Immediately Walter held her, supporting her from falling and retaining a gentle grip. “whoa whoa whoa there, you shouldn’t be standing like this” Walter said. In her weakened state it was very easy for Walter to bring her over and place her upon a seat, gently placing her down on it taking notice of her wounds.

With her upon the chair Walter got on one knee before her and calmly brought his hand up to her face and begun to wipe the tears from her face, taking care to avoid the wounds on her face. “Now then, let not let those fall now shall we?” Walter said closing his eyes with a warm smile before calmly moving on towards the next wound.

“More and more I speak with you, I am impressed by your devotion to your cause…” Walter said calmly “However…if I may ask, what is it that drives a person to offer their very life for another. To endure such punishment just for another…is it worth it? Or perhaps you lack a sense of self…” Walter said before suddenly letting out a small chuckle “ah but of course you do not need to answer such a thing…we can talk about whatever you desire…if you wish of course” Walter said.

 

Joshua listened to Jason's answer. He examined Jason's expressions as he spoke, and went through a long thinking process. His expression left no change, if it did it would be clear he was going through his own internal dilemma. He could tell Jason cared a lot about Cynthia even with this new information revealed. It hurt him to have to think that Cynthia turned out to even have powers at all. He knew that if Cynthia was killed for her powers, it would still hurt Jason. This was a dilemma he had every day with Abi. The difference being people knew Cynthia existed, Abi had never been mentioned. Ever.

Joshua unfolded his hands and replied wholeheartedly, "You know our policy about any telekinetics or telepaths that are causing harm in any way." Joshua's voice lowered so Jason could hear him, "I know this is probably brand new information for you, and you were aware that Cynthia could in fact be psychic. So at the very least you haven't been hiding anything." Joshua put away the papers back in the folder as he continued, "I know how you feel about Cynthia, it's obvious you care about her, or at least I notice it. That's why I am not going to do anything myself, but this should be brought to Benjamin's attention immediately."

Joshua looked Jason straight in the eyes and questioned, "Do you want to be the messenger and have me make sure nothing happens with Cynthia, or would you rather I told Benjamin and you went to watch over Cynthia?"​

 

​

Walking into Brendan's open room, earthy eyes made contact with the Computer expert. A small wave was given to the man before standing by as Errol introduced Nicole to Brendan, and then the floor plan was exposed to everyone. It was indeed an impressive feat to behold as a 3D representation of the building was unveiled by some means only known to Brendan. It was fascinating to watch, and it was probably obvious to everyone how Jean felt as he bid his time walking around the 3D model, attempting to understand the building. If it was indeed a building of great importance, then surely there'd be tight security. The question was, just where exactly would security be most heaviest? Arms found themselves crossed in contemplation.

The building as comprised of two floors above ground, and three floors below ground. His money was on that the captives would be at the lowest point.

"I agree with Errol. We should take a hard copy of the buildings floor plans just for extra measures... Also, what's the schedule for security personnel on duty? Where will they be from hour to hour? Oh, can you find out if the building is using other methods of security? Not just man power, but the techy stuff like Motion sensors and whatnot. I'd like to know if it's possible to use the ventilation system to our advantage." he explained, keeping a watchful eye on the model.

"So we got ourselves two visible floors, and three lower levels underground... Typical covert operations..." he muttered with a small sigh. Eyes squinted as they continued to examine the virtual floor plans. For Jean, guns-blazing was an option, however it was obviously not the smartest thing to do. They needed to find a way into the building without being seen, rescue the captives and make it out unseen. Now, being realistic about all this Jean already knew things were not going to go 100% according to plan, but if they could manage to stay covert long enough to set people free, then the escaping part would be all they would truly have to worry about, even if they were found out by that point. "Are there any sewers close by or better yet, within the area just outside the facility? Like that warehouse 30 feet to the side of the building." Jean pointed out. "Is there a point of entry we can use using the sewers?"

If they could find a means to infiltrate the area of the facility, they could work from there. It would be a matter of either avoiding guards, or taking them out silently. Of course, there'd be the worry of cameras and other potential technological advantages these people may have like heart rate monitors on the security personnel. That would mean they couldn't take out the guards at all without alerting everyone. Although, Jean had hope that Brendan would be protecting them from such things using that tech savvy brain of his. Everything could go according to plan if they all played their parts perfectly. Together, they could save Carter, Colton, and perhaps anyone else these people may have captive. This would be them saving their own. Three weeks had gone by, but finally they were at this point where they could do something.

"What happened that day... we're going to more than make up for it..." he thought, recollecting briefly what Errol had told them about the park incident. If only he had just not invited Christie or Colton to tag along. It was also because that decision that Christie ended up getting hurt trying to save Colton.

"Christie..." the name popped up, no longer teasing it. "Errol... I think Christie should be here. I know this operation of ours will be putting a student at risk, but..." Jean paused briefly, looking up to the head Master. "...she was there when it happened. This is as much her fight as it is ours."

 

Joshua listened to Jason's advice about not going near the cell, but he still made his way to that area regardless. He brought with himself his two handguns, and his special little friend the tranquilizer gun. He only had to pull it out on occasions such as this, when they were dealing with someone who could be deemed hostile.

Joshua got himself into the room and heard Cynthia's yells, but did not respond to her, as he didn't wish to provoke her. He sat himself in a corner so he wasn't in Cynthia's line of sight. He had the tranquilizers placed in and ready, so if Cynthia had broken out of the cell he would be prepared to knock her out. Though he had the other gun out and ready in case she didn't get knocked out immediately.​

 

"I see no harm in going to check on things. If we have to wait for Colton's protectors to come to us, then we should probably make sure everything is in working order and nothing has gone wrong. As for the bubbly one, she's probably messing with someone's head, so I wouldn't bother her right now. No, I think we need to speak with Lyle; let him know what we've been discussing, or at least what he needs to know to get this place ready for a standoff" Lucas stated, slowly beginning to walk towards Lyle. He made sure he was walking slowly enough that Kye could easily keep up. He'd never tell her, but he quite enjoyed talking to her, he just didn't like showing much emotion.


Tobias was still fuming. He'd walked quite a distance away from Raven Sun, eager to create a large distance between him and there in a hurry. He had moments that he wondered why he was still even in Raven Sun, and this was one of them. Sure, he could kill people there, but only ones they picked. If he killed anyone other than the targets, well the meeting he'd had with Benjamin just a short time ago was not the first he'd had, that was for sure. He needed a way to show he knew what he was doing, to prove he should still be on the case. Tobias had never failed an assassination until now, and he wasn't going to let this one escape him. He stopped as an idea hit him. An idea that would surely be entertaining to watch, cause plenty of trouble, and most importantly...if it worked, Benjamin would never be able to question his actions ever again. A grin appearing on his face, Tobias took off for the nearest clothing store.


Shane didn't stop. A part of him was yelling at him to stop alongside Mai's own thoughts, that what he was doing was wrong, but that part was silenced quickly by the darker personality. It was for this reason he had used darkside view; he was incapable of outright attacking people without it. "Of course I'll fix the memories later. Nobody wants a scarred subject, at least not scarred properly. With all this pressure, her brain-waves ought to be off the charts. Makes her easier to study...for science, naturally" he said, flashing a cocky grin towards Isabella as he spoke.

The worst has passed, Mai. I awakened those memories inside of you, they are you, even if you won't acknowledge them. That being said, I still have three more powers to go over. One of them is fun to use, another can be quite painful, and the third...well, I'll let you figure that one out for yourself, Shane sent to Mai. He began using his pushing ability on the girl, creating both a want to stop singing the song lyrics and at the same time he placed a simple craving for coffee; specifically the coffee that Isabella had. He waited for a moment to see the response in her thoughts, before shooting a quick glance at Isabella. "You might not want to read too much into her thoughts, if you get too connected to them you might experience the same thing she does, wouldn't want that" he advised before turning back towards Mai. He began releasing a blast of psionic energy at the girl's mind, using his psionic inundation as he attacked her mind, which would undoubtedly be painful for the girl. Part of him felt bad, and that wasn't good; it meant his darkside view was wearing off. Thankfully, he only had one power to show that was left. It's time to see the monster within you, he sent to Mai.​

 

​

The wait in line was a tedious one. Ken had originally planned this to be a quick trip the he'd get back to the rest of what he had planned today. Growing a bit impatient, Ken peek out the side of the line that he was currently in. He counted two people in front of him, which shouldn't take long. However the person at the very front of the line was taking their sweet time in ordering from the menu. It was times like these that he wished that people knew what they were going to get before getting in line, or at least having a general idea. It didn't matter which it was, so long as the line time was cut short.

It was then that a miracle had happened; the guy in front had finally made his order. Truly a moment to be praised. What made it even better was how despite the amount of time it took to for the man to make his order, getting the actual order done did not take all that long. Thus the man in front was given his order and left the line. However a small feeling of dread washed over Ken as the next person in line stepped up. What if he hadn't taken advantage of the length of time that he was waiting and took an absurd amount of time thinking about what he wanted to each. Ken couldn't deal with that again and would most likely just walk out if that were to happen.

His fears were fortunately not realized as the guy in front had already made his order while Ken was stressing out about the possibility of waiting in line again. Phew, that was a relief. The man's order was made and given to him and thus it was at last his turn. He'd finally reached the promised land. Huzzah!

"Sorry for the wait. May I take your order?"

"1 frappuccino please." There was no way that he would do onto others what was done to him while he was waiting in line. The sounds of the necessary machines to make the order started to whirl and work their magic before finally the deed was done.

"Here you go sir. Enjoy."

Handing him his drink, the clerk waved Ken off as he walked out the door. Now that he had his drink and still some money for the bus ride, it was time to continue on with the his plans for today.

Vincent had been looking at the reading as per usual when Lyle had walked in with Colton. He'd mentioned needing to borrow the boy some some experiments of his own. "Take him, he's all yours. If he dies in the process make sure to bring his body back before you dispose of him, I can still make use of his brain." The man said, not even bothering to look their direction, least not until Colton had offered to help the poor boy in some way.

"Hmm, interesting offer, but I doubt there's anything that you can do." Vincent then turned his head towards him, to get a better look at him. It didn't take long for him to reach a verdict. "Yup, absolutely nothing."

 

Ryan waved back and turned as he walked away.
"Take care and be careful!" he exclaimed to her. Errol wanted to keep her around, but it's up to her to decide what she wants to do. He turned around the corner, and saw Tyson walking up the hallway with his daughter. His chest was bandaged, but he made it out far better than Jex. Part of Ryan felt angry at what he did to Jex. He almost killed him, and he beat him up to a pulp. When Ryan glared, Tyson's daughter jumped and hid behind him.
"Don't hurt my daddy! He's good now!"
Ryan turned away fists clenched. He was glad that he didn't let his rage get the better of him. His daughter had a father, even though he was a jerk.
Tyson spoke up to Ryan's back, "I was wrong. I was clouded by hate, and I accept who you are. We need to work together." The man sighed as Ryan remained with his back turned. "We're all in danger now. You, me, Rebecca, everyone that you're with. The Raven Suns don't take kindly to psychic supporters and psychics themselves. I can help you."
Ryan turned back, looking at the once assassin turned supporter of his cause. "That's not up to me to decide," he said before turning away again to get back to Jex's room.

 

Joshua heard the shout, and Joshua heard the explosion. That wasn't good. That definitely wasn't good. If anything, he thought maybe there was suspicion, but not actual powers. This was most definitely proof if there ever was any. Cynthia seemed to be trying to walk away in a calm fashion based on the way she was breathing and the way her steps were paced, but he knew better.

Joshua aimed the tranquilizer gun and shot it three times at Cynthia's chest. He knew he could at least get one in from his advantage but whether or not he could get more was uncertain. In fact he wasn't sure how she'd do with just one dart. It could work, it could not. He also couldn't see from his spot if they made impact because he was immediately transitioning to the second step. He didn't leave his spot, but he pulled out his gun. If she tried to make a run for it, he'd let her make it a few steps. But not out the door. He intended to shoot her legs.

What would actually happen, he couldn't say.​

 

Tobias was still on his way to a store when he felt his phone vibrating. Pulling it out, he became aware that he didn't recognise the number. Did Benjamin get a new phone or something? Answering it with a roll of his eyes, a chill was sent down his spine as he heard not only the voice on the other end, but the words that were spoken. It was Cynthia, but she wasn't speaking as clearly as she normally would, and she mentioned something about being shot. He listened with both curiousity and mild worry as she spoke, his running slowing down to a jog and then simply came to a halt.

"Help me...."

Well, if he hadn't known she was in trouble before, he would have now. Asking for help wasn't the kind of thing Cynthia would do normally, asking him for help seemed even less likely, and yet there it was. He thought for a moment. Cynthia had been on her way to Raven Sun, he was guessing, after their mission was terminated. That much was easy to tell, especially because of the yelling he had heard outside of Benjamin's office when he'd been in there. Following that mess, it made sense for her to be locked away. Even Tobias hadn't attacked Jason before, to attack someone higher up was a pretty serious offence, so chances were she was in one of those cell things Tobias had thrown a few people in after completing bounty missions.

His assasination would have to wait. Cynthia might have been a real ***** to him, but he couldn't deny there was some interest in her aside from her looks. And if anyone was going to kill her, it would be him, nobody else. He turned around, but then a thought struck him; if he went back, he was going against the one thing Benjamin had told him specifically not to do. If he went back, he would face severe punishment, if not death itself. Not only that, but the chances of him actually getting Cynthia away from Raven Sun without anybody noticing were practically nonexistent. To go there was suicide, he'd be pissing off the most powerful guy in their organization, and he might end up in a worse situation than Cynthia.

But if he did save Cynthia, it would drive Jason nuts.

With a smirk on his face, Jason began sprinting towards Raven Sun. He had a damsel in distress to rescue.​

 

Joshua walked out of his hiding space and reached the side of Cynthia. He wasn't sure if she was out cold yet, but as soon as she said, "Help me." He became concerned who she called. He quickly grabbed the phone out of her hands and shut it off before grabbing Cynthia's arm and lifting her up.

He chose to not say a word and dragged Cynthia towards another cell. He kind of dropped her in the cell without much regard for her as a human being anymore. Then he shut and locked the door behind him.

If Jason and Ben didn't finish up soon he was going to take matters into his own hands.​

 

​

Nicole glanced at Brendan and then smiled kindly to him. “No, no, it’s fine. I understand, believe me. My daughter is a telepathist. I’ll be alright.”

Errol only listened partly to what Brendan and Nicole were talking about before Jean brought him out of his thoughts. “Christie…” The man slapped himself in the forehead and massaged it frustratingly. “That’s right, how could I have forgotten? Idiot…” he muttered the last part to himself before he closed his eyes, reaching out to the girl at the hospital. Christie, I am so sorry, I was caught up in several things here at the academy. We have some new information of where Colton is at. He’s alive. We’re in the process of figuring out how to get him out. Please come back to the academy right away. I’ll let Danni know what is happening. Be careful.

When he was finished sending the next mind message to Danni, he opened his eyes and glanced over Brendan’s shoulder, watching him work. This was all starting to fall into place. Hopefully they could formulate a plan quick enough to save Colton and the others that were in the lab. “We’ll need a clear visual of where they keep the children when they’re not doing… Whatever they do.” He frowned, knowing exactly what he was getting himself into and everyone else for that manner. He saw the tortures that these children had gone through from the Mind Walk in Twilight Sorrow’s head. Realizing that this was getting very complicated, Errol pulled out his notepad and started to write a To Do list of sorts. So far it read:

§ Obtain hard copies of floor plan of Ariel Institute

§ Determine holding locations of each child

§ Find weaknesses and strengths of each scientist in the facility

§ Determine security camera locations and security traps

§ Create three break in plans, and three escape plans​

​

Danni opened her eyes and sat up as soon as she got news from her uncle. She shrugged the blanket off her body and stood up, not even to bother to stretch or rub at her eyes. She saw Christie in the hallway and nodded to her. “Go. I’ll take care of things here.” Internally, she was grateful they found Colton. She wasn’t going to show it or voice it out loud though; she already had shown her more vulnerable side more than once in the last twenty-four hours and she wasn’t about to show it again any time soon.

​

“Close the door,” Benjamin said sternly, letting his comrade know that he was permitted to speak with him. It seemed like it was just one big mess after another, and the old man had a faint feeling that this wasn’t over just yet. His keen senses picked up on a disturbance from where the cells were and he frowned, pressing a button on the telephone on his desk, alerting someone to go investigate the situation as he took care of the matter at hand. “What kind of problem, Jason?”

​

A pair of heels clicked down the hallway toward the cells in a rapid pace. A female appeared around the corner to where Joshua and Cynthia were and stopped short. The female examined the situation before looking at the other man, her identity card clearly visible over the left side of her chest which read ‘Kassandra A. Landen.’ “Long time no see, Joshua,” Kassandra said, finally acknowledging the Raven Sun agent. “… My father called me from the tech room to investigate… I see why. Is she completely unconscious?” she asked, keeping her hand on her gun holster just in case. She wasn’t one to beat around the bush when it came to problems within Raven Sun, especially if she was called from her usual post to take care of things like this. She then peered at the girl in the cell more closely, recognizing her from the reports and photos she had seen. Cynthia, always the whisper among Raven Sun with her brash ways of getting her point across and the threat she carried with her every day she stepped in headquarters. Kassandra glanced at Joshua, noticing he held a cellphone in his hand. “Is that hers?” Furrowing her eyebrows, she asked another question, “Who did she call?”

​

Mai’s quiet whispers were soon stopped as she felt her brain being directed to not have a will of its own any longer. She pressed her head back into the pillow, trying to resist the thoughts or make the connection with Shane’s mind weaker, but she was finding it harder and harder to do so. She felt her mouth water when she smelled coffee and could feel her tongue ache for the want of taste of the hot drink. Wait, she didn’t like coffee! She was suddenly caught off guard when she was suddenly hit with a painful wave of energy. A blood curdling scream echoed from her lips as she saw reds and yellows crisscross under her eyelids, turning her head violently to try to do what she could to block the excruciating waves being sent to her head. She gasped as soon as it was over, barely opening her eyes as she began to sob. “Please… stop…” she pleaded as tears streamed down her face, wheezing for air as her heart monitor paced in a rapid style in the background.

Mai then heard what Shane said and had a feeling this was bad. She could handle all the physical abuse that Lyle had put her under over the last two years, but she couldn’t handle being manipulated like this. She had this happened to her so many times in the past with her parents… No, she couldn’t allow this to happen. “STOP” she shrieked.

A mental defense of sorts materialized in Mai’s mind, trying hard to push against the connection between her and Shane to make it weaker or to break off completely. Mai shut her eyes tightly, struggling with all her might to consciously protect herself and what was left of her sore, aching brain. Without realizing it, she had unlocked something she didn’t know the name of… but it felt like some kind of shield.

​

“You heard what he said,” Lyle said taciturnly. “You are in no shape to bargain like that. Besides, you, he,” Lyle pointed to the boy in the cell, “My subject… all of you subjects will never leave this place until you have completely expired. You would have been let go otherwise if that was the case with my subject’s bartering for better care for you. No matter how hard you say you will be pushed, you will never fulfill the debt for this boy’s freedom.” He looked to Vincent before approaching Carter’s cell, unlocking it for the boy to come out.

Carter let the blanket fall off his head and back onto the bed, standing up to attention as he looked up at Lyle. This guy was so creepy with that one red mechanical optic, always seeming like it was analyzing everything. It looked like the Terminator. Carter stepped out of the cell without much prompting, going next to Colton. He looked up at the teen, noticing the cast on his arm and how tired and sad he looked. The stranger mentioned something about his mother… Was it true? Did he really meet Carter’s mom?

“Come along then.” Strain made the two subjects begin to follow him down the winding hallways, back to the examination room where Mai was the day before. He figured the negotiating between Colton and Vincent were over by now.

“What’s my momma’s name?” Carter asked quietly as he walked along side Colton, keeping his head down.

Lyle then stopped in the hallway when he saw the government agent walking towards him. By the look on Lucas's face, he was on a mission to speak with the scientist. Slightly miffed, but refused to show it, he waited for the man and his partner trailing behind to meet halfway before stopping. "What seems to be the trouble?" Lyle asked, keeping his clipboard handy as he waited for whatever news or insight this man had to offer.

Kye followed along dutifully, silently agreeing with Lucas's plan. When they rounded the corner and found Lyle with some luck, she smirked under her hat and then saw the sick mouse and a squeakier mouse. "Mhmhm, fun, fun..." Kye mused with a soft cackle, licking the corner of her lips as she stared at them like a cat eyeing her prey.

Carter stole a glance up at the two people that were stopped in front of them, just in time to meet Kytheria's haunting yellow eyes. Something about her was frightening and the boy's eyes went wide, seeing a piercing of sorts on the tip of the lady's tongue as she licked her lips. The lady then glanced at him, giving him a wink before making a cutting motion over her neck and tilting her head dramatically to the side. Carter gasped and then eyes fell to the floor, trying to hide his feelings of being afraid of who was before them. There was not one adult he could trust in this place. It was then the little boy heard a scream of a girl who sounded like she was being seriously hurt. He clenched his fists, grinding his teeth as he tried to ignore the noise. He just wanted to get this test over and done with as quick as possible.

Lyle heard the screams and recognize them as his subject. What ever they were doing to her, it sounded like hell. Was he concerned about it though? No. He kept his eyes on Lucas, waiting for him to speak.

​

Rose only winced slightly when Walter began to wipe her tears away, not used to a gentle, caring touch since she had been here. She took in a deep breath, leaning heavily in the chair to rest her weary, burning body. She laughed blearily, closing her eye as she let Walter’s words sink in. “I honestly… Don’t know. You will hurt him though, like your people did to me… I’m sure of it.” She took in slow, raspy breaths, feeling extremely tired from the night of hell she endured, but wanted to speak. She wouldn’t have slept well even if she wanted to anyways in the state she was in. “Jex told me that someone killed his whole family in one night… Grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins… his parents… Tried to kill him too. He… He showed the scars… They're all over his body...” She shook her head, opening her eye halfway to stare at the ceiling. “They were awful… He said… It was probably because people knew what he was, what his family were… They were scared of him…” She forced herself to raise her head up, grunting as she felt the cuts pull and tug at her skin. She then looked at Walter in the eye, keeping the bad one closed. “Are you scared of him…?”

​

The hooded figure held Abi close to its body, lugging her deeper and deeper down the alleyway as a gloved hand with a cloth soaked in chloroform went over her mouth, muffling her screams. A dog suddenly lunged at the attacker, trying to bite through thick leathered boots . The personage grunted and then kicked at the dog, causing her to slam against the stone wall with a yelp. The cloaked person continued on its way, dragging the girl to a windowless van. The backdoors soon opened up and Abi was thrown in. The kidnapper soon hopped in the van, closing the back doors behind it as they began to drive away to their destination with their prize. She was soon tied up with red ropes behind her back and around her ankles and a black hood was placed over her head.

“Gotcha now, psychic swine,” a masculine voice said under the hood, patting the girl’s head. The five other cloaked men in the back of the van chuckled, patting the one who spoke on the back.

“You have done well, my son,” a feminine voice declared from under another hood. “You will make Father proud. Soon you will be welcomed as our brother to the Obsidian Clan, and your journey for eternal power will commence… I am so proud of you.”

 

Tobias had taken off as fast as his legs could take him, which was pretty quick. It hadn't taken him to get back to Raven Sun; about half as long as it'd taken him to get to where he had been before, actually. As he arrived back at Raven Sun, he slowed down to a casual walking pace and wandered inside. He didn't speak to anyone inside; if he didn't talk to them normally, then saying something might arouse suspicion. He checked around in a few of the rooms he would normally hang around in, just to make it seem like something he would generally be doing, before heading towards the cells. As he neared the cells, he noticed Joshua and some other person.

"Hey Joshua, surprised to see you here. And....Kassandra? I don't believe we've met. My name's Tobias, pleased to meet you" the boy said as he read the name tag and held out his hand. Kassandra didn't accept it. Damn, he was going to extend his claws and seriously mess up her hand if she had. Well, there went that advantage. Instead, she stood in a defensive position. Did she know who he was? Did both of them know why he was there? It wouldn't be hard to put two and two together if they both knew Benjamin, which he was pretty sure Joshua did.

Tobias decided to drop the act. There wasn't much point in pretending he was there for a leisurely stroll, Joshua at least would see right through him, and he really didn't have a reason to be there aside from Cynthia. If he didn't find a way to get them out of the way soon, Benjamin would send him a message with his next mission, and then there would be all kinds of trouble. "Okay, subtlety has never been my strongest suit, so I'm going to make this simple for the two of you. That girl in the cell there, Cynthia Enger? Innocent. I pissed off her father, he took out his anger on his daughter, she took the fall for him. If anything, I'm the one that should be in that cell. Unfortunately, that ain't going to happen. Still, can't let injustice be served, right? So, I'm getting her out of there, and you two are getting out of my way. Raven Sun's all about peace and stuff, so there's no need for bloodshed here" Tobias stated. He held his fists up in front of him in an aggressive stance, ready to attack if he needed to. Tobias was an *******, and he loved pissing people off more than most, but he kept his word when it counted. One way or another, Cynthia was getting out.


Lucas approached Lyle, a reasonably serious look on his face as he did so. "Lyle, your security needs to be heightened. Not just yours, this whole government facility, but yours needs it the most. As you're probably aware, Colton is from a group of people, he's not just some kid taken off of the street. We can't say for sure whether or not these people have powers, but it would be safest to assume that they do, so we need to prepare for any attempt they may make to rescue them. If they're not aware of where he is, they shouldn't be too far off. If we are prepared for them when they arrive, we can capture them and gain significant ground on your research of powers, as well as gain more subjects for you to run experiments on. I want you to let me know of any and all other entrances you know to this place. Windows, hidden doors, basements, even sewers if you know of them; any entry point they could use against us. We're going to set a trap. While you do this, I'm going to check the other sections of the facility" Lucas stated.


Errol had gotten no further than mentioning information on Colton before Christie found herself already taking off down the hall. She only got a few steps, however, before she remembered Danni. She couldn't just abandon her. Thankfully, Danni came out shortly after and said she could go. Christie gave a quick nod and began running. The moment she was out of the hospital, she picked up the pace. This was what she had been waiting for, this is what she had been hoping for. A chance to make up for her mistakes. The sooner she got back to the Academy, the sooner she got back to Errol, and the sooner she found out more about this plan.

And the sooner that Colton was saved.​

 

Kassandra seemed to arrive right on cue for someone else to arrive. He looked back at Cynthia and replied, "She appears to be unconscious..." then when Kassandra made comment about the phone he looked down at it and found the contact almost as soon as the one she'd called arrived.

Joshua looked at Tobias and backed closer to the cell after he stated his intentions and Joshua replied, "Kid, don't try to assume you know exactly what's going on. It'll get you killed. And I'm not talking about by me. So why don't you just turn around and go back the way you came." he held up the gun towards Tobias and continued, "Except I know you're probably not gonna listen to me."​

 

His ears perked up as the sound of something occurring had been caught and quite nearby, but in this case, Walter chose merely to remain where he was at moment. Of course there were many ways of interrogation that Walter had always gone through, but this girl was quite unique. At the very least he could say that this girl interested him. Her resolve was actually quite refreshing and new, something that Walter would have quite the amount of fun with.

The girl’s eyes stared at him and he stared back calmly with his gentle smile. “No, I do not fear them…not in the slightest” Walter said simply before closing his eyes with a chuckle “no, it’s quite the opposite my dear” Walter said beginning to work on the wound upon the girl’s face. “Such powers that the brain can produce…they are intriguing” Walter said closing his eyes with a smirk. “The brain has limitless possibilities…the sheer fact that we of the Raven’s Sun can produce technology is proof that this is something natural. I believe in magic and the sorts, but this is definitely not of the sorts” Walter said.

“It’s quite interesting…after all I knew of a man named Errol Ingrao…ah that man was quite the rival…it’s amazing how normal these people can be” Walter said chuckling as he lowered his arm and suddenly began to wrap her wounded eye with a bandage. “But enough of that…I wish to know…are you afraid of death? Are you truly willing to accept it?” Walter suddenly said, his voice calm and serious.

 

​

Now Jean was a bit concerned. Originally, he had thought Brendan was coming with them. However his response led Jean to believe something else. Errol said something about Christie while the scholar placed hands into jacket pockets. A deep sigh escaped the man while thoughts ran their course; aware that Brendan was focused on his computer screens.

"I'm a little confused. You're coming with us, right Brendan? If you are, then it shouldn't be much of a problem since you'd be nearby the facility." he stated, referring to what Brendan had told him. Eyes gazed at the floor in more contemplation. He didn't know much of the computer lingo that was used among computer technicians and whatnot, but he knew enough from watching documentaries, youtube videos, T.V shows and movies. Hopefully, Jean could help paint a picture. "You say your signal can be traced back to you if you go in too deep. What if while we're inside, one of us does a bit of sabotage? Like can you right a line of code or a virus that one of us can inject into their servers via USB or something? Being covert is going to be a lot harder if we don't have you at full capacity in there." he said, referring to the potential technological advantage the security had over the building.

Heart rate monitors on security guards, motion sensors capable of detecting movement in the vents, sewers or in unauthorized areas in the building, pass-codes that they'll need to access said unauthorized areas. If the group couldn't get through these potential walls, then Jean honestly would rather not try to infiltrate at all. It would then be best for them to just go in guns-blazing or something; which he DID NOT want to do. Of course, all this was speculation that Brendan could probably inadvertently be listening to with his teepathy. If so, then GOOD because perhaps it would convince the Tech wizard Brendan to tag along with them IF he was not already going to tag along.

Right foot began to tap on the floor, awaiting a response.

So far it was Errol, Christie, Jean, and maybe Nicole who would be playing the role of infiltrators.