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Author's Note: I had a lot of free time on my hands...so I was able to get 11 done awfully quick. This is the chapter that will finally end the speculation...the traitor will be revealed. I'd like to thank djkauf for the editing and my few select people once again for helping me brainstorm.

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Chapter Eleven:

The smug jackass smirked. “You of all people should have figured that out by now.”

Declan St. James. I groaned. The two of us were semi-friends, back before all of this stuff happened. Back then, I idolized him when he was pretending to be someone else, a guy named Frankie. I met him at a foster home and he was the coolest kid that I knew. Then some crazy shit happened and I ended up at the Syndicate. I transformed from tiny Rick into what I am now and as far as I knew, Frankie was a traitor, someone who sold me out to the authorities. I thought that for the longest time but the truth was even worse. He was a traitor as far as I was concerned, but to our own kind. He actually worked for the Syndicate; he was their twisted Front Man, the guy they sent in when they found possible Emergents. He used his Dominator powers to get them to trust him, then he set them up.

But Declan was even more twisted than that. Sometime before I went to Section Four, he’d actually taken over. The man in charge, Mr. Zero---the badass facility administrator---was actually Declan, using another Dominator to create an illusion. The real Mr. Zero, aka Peter Zarkov, had been dead for weeks. Declan was trying to convert us into his own personal, punishment squad, against the wishes of Jason Carson, his father. It failed miserably. The last time I saw the bastard was tied to a chair in one of the rooms on the second floor. But of course, he escaped. I ran into him again about a month later at Section One. He sniped the facility administrator there, Grayson Phillips, while my team and I were interrogating him.

Declan got away again and now here he was in all his smug glory.

“I’m not going to play twenty questions with you,” I snapped.

“Don’t talk to him like that, you bitch” snapped Jasmine angrily, fumbling with her flashlight, ready to give me a blast.

She snapped it on, the beam lancing through the darkness and hitting me in the arm. I screamed out in pain, rolling to the back of the cot. Declan growled and backhanded Jasmine, sending her backwards off the crates. The flashlight fell to the ground and rolled into the corner. Jasmine recovered, clutching her face. Declan ignored her, walked over and picked up the maglite. He clicked it off then smashed it against the wall, scattering the front end of it. He tossed the useless thing at Jasmine’s feet. The blue haired bitch glared at him as she rubbed her bruised cheek.

“I’m sorry about her” he said, “She’s not properly house trained.”

Jasmine gave both of us a look. Then she jumped off the crates. “I’m going to see if Tobias needs any help.”

She didn’t wait for any acknowledgment as she opened the door and stormed out, allowing it to bang loudly as she did so.

Declan sighed. “She’s a bit difficult but you’ll get used to her.”

I scoffed. “I don’t think I’m going to be here for that long.”

He walked over to the crates and sat on the edge of them. When he sat down, he crossed his legs over one another, sorta like a woman would do. I guess you can take the girl out of the boy but. He smiled sweetly at me. “I don’t think you’ve fully come to terms with the situation here. You see, I set this whole thing up so that you’d come back to me.”

“Come back to you” I said, shocked. “You never had me.”

He smirked again. “Maybe not in your sense of the word but surely you must have known that there was no way I’d let you wander around in this world without me. You had your fun, you made your new friends but know it’s time to return home, to your real family.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

This time he looked shocked. But it only lasted for a second. Then he sighed. “Clearly you have been in the dark for far too long.” He reached out for me, in an attempt to pat my knee or something. I pulled back, keeping to the wall. There was no way I was going to let that scum touch me. He sighed again. “It’s kinda cliché but I guess I can tell you the truth of it all.”

“What truth?”

“You never got away from me.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

He smiled. “Everything. It was all a part of the plan.” He took a nail file out of his pocket and started filing his nails. I looked at them, they were on the girlish side and if I wasn’t mistaken, they were a light shade of pink. What the hell is wrong with this guy? “You and your friends actually thought you stopped me and escaped the Syndicate and I let you think that. But in truth, I let you escape. I needed you to get to the Center; I needed you inside for me.”

I laughed. “You’re crazy. You didn’t help us, we escaped on our own.”

He smiled. “All the doors were unlocked, yes?”

“Barry did that.”

“The security was running around in chaos?”

“The Deviants were the cause of that.”

“The Chips were deactivated and the Deviants were creating a great deal of chaos.”

I wavered when I spoke. “Barry deactivated the Chips.”

Declan smiled. “Barry deactivated yours and Holly’s. The others were never chipped in the first place. It was all a part of the plan. I needed to let my father think the chips were faulty so he’d cancel the project and stop the experimentations. We don’t need to be controlled and locked in cages. We’re Gods among men, far superior to humans. He wanted to stem all that, he wanted to make us into puppets then when we were done he was going to cure us.”

He said that last bit with a sneer. He got to his feet and started pacing. “Can you imagine it, going back to a world without these glorious gifts of ours? Mind you, this male form is hideous but that’s only cosmetic…easily changeable. But my powers, I can’t live without those. You see I had to do it. The chips were working…you were proof of that…and the cure, his precious cure, they were days away from perfecting it.”

I was floored. They had a cure, something that could have changed us back. I’m not sure how to respond to that. Declan seemed to notice the look on my face and he smiled.

“You see, you don’t want to give it up either. You like being a God, you like being better than everyone else. Who wouldn’t; right? Don’t you see, they’re jealous of us; they crave what they can’t have. Do you know what my father is doing at that Facility X of his?”

I shook my head. “He’s taking us and he’s trying to see what makes us tick. Then he drags us into laboratories, slices us open and takes out our glorious gifts. He calls it Project Hercules; he’s trying to create a super soldier. He’s trying to combine the best of the best into one being, a Super Emergent. He’s got an island somewhere, a secluded little place where he’s dragging the best of the best and pitting them against one another. The winner gets to become a part of his little experiment and the losers; well you don’t want to know.”

I bit my lip. So that’s what he was up to. I had to admit it was kind of sick and crazy. “Why are you telling me all this?”

Declan snapped around, tears in his eyes. “We have to stop him, you and I. I’ve started to gather others, people like Jasmine and Tobias. We’re small right now but I’m finding more, every day we’re growing stronger. When I have enough of us, I’m going to take Facility X and burn it to the ground. Then I’m going to march on my father and make him pay for what he’s been doing to our kind.”

I nodded. It was a sound plan but it was crazy. Declan was crazy. It would never work. We weren’t meant for this kind of thing. We might be great and some of us very powerful but Carson had an army, there were probably hundreds of Syndicate facilities all over the country, possibly the world. There was no way to fight something like that. Declan must have known that. At least he should have known that. The old Declan would have. This guy before me---this shell of his former self---was clearly a little unhinged.

“That’s a great plan” I finally confessed “but we can’t do it without help. Why don’t you let me go and I’ll contact my people, The Center has resources, they can help.”

“No” he snapped. “I’m not getting in bed with the government. Your precious Center is just like the rest. They’re using you too, turning you into good little soldiers to fight Uncle Sam’s battles for them. They’re just going about it differently. Once I’m done with my father and his Syndicate, I’m going after them next. No one should control Gods.”

I nodded. He was definitely gone now. The Declan I knew was history. I bit my lip. I had to get out of here, this guy was too unstable. The others followed him but they were just as nuts as he was. I looked around the room, trying to see if there was anything I could use. Besides the boxes and the cot I was sitting on there was nothing? I looked at the broken flashlight on the floor. I suppose I could use it as a club and smack him when he wasn’t looking but to what end. If he touched me then I was a goner, a slave to his power. Even if I managed to avoid that there was a little problem of getting through a very badly lit place with other E’s out there, probably as crazy as he was.

I sighed, defeated. For the moment, there was nothing to do but sit here and wait. Surely someone must have noticed I was gone by now. It would only be a matter of time that is if they had a way of tracking me. But maybe there was still a chance. Maybe if I kept him talking. There were some things that I still wanted answers too after all.

“Why all this?” I asked, he stopped pacing and turned to face me. “Why drag me out here? Why the whole Dekker thing?”

He smiled. He looked calmer now. He walked back over to the boxes and sat down, crossing his legs again. Yeah, this guy isn’t nuts or anything.

“You’ve been having dreams about him. You’ve been obsessing about him. I knew I needed to get you away from those people so I set this little venture up to get you out in the open.”

How did he know? Realization dawned; it was the traitor. I glared at him. “Who is it? Who’s the bastard that’s been selling us out to you?”

He smirked. “Surely you’re not that stupid. It’s been right under your nose the whole time.” He laughed at my cluelessness. “You see back in Section Four, I needed to see if you were ok, I needed to make sure that my little foster brother was adjusting to life as my new little sister so I sent someone to make sure you were all right.”

The color drained from my face. No, it can’t be.

“He was reluctant at first but I was able to persuade him it was for the good of the mission. So our mutual friend made his move…it was kind of cute, inviting you to the movie like that.”

Tears were streaming down my face. It couldn’t be; it wasn’t possible. “You’re lying” I sobbed, shaking my head.
He smirked. He pulled a phone out of his pocket. “You can come in now.”

I snapped to the door, anger and sorrow molding into one. When the door opened up and Barry stepped through, there was a fire inside of me. He looked right at me but his eyes couldn’t meet mine. He looked guilty but I didn’t care.

“Becca, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for…”

I never let him finish. I snapped up and flew at him. My punch hit him square in the face, I think I heard bone crack. My next blow went into his gut. He stumbled backwards, falling into the door. I screamed at the top of my lungs and started kicking, tears streaming down my face. Barry fell to the ground, groaning but he made no move to fight back.

“YOU SON OF A BITCH” I screamed. “I’M GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU!”

There was a sharp biting pain in the back of my neck. I’m not sure how I felt it but suddenly I felt really woozy. I snapped around and saw Declan standing behind me, holding a syringe. He smiled sadly. I stumbled, falling into his arms.

“It took me a while to figure out a dose large enough to take you down. After all those darts that my men fired at you when you escaped Section Four were worthless. I’m glad to say that I think I found the perfect ratio” I glared up at him, my vision starting to blur. “Don’t give me that look. You were far too irrational and emotional to talk to, it was necessary. When you get a little rest, you and I can talk again.”

I reached up, trying to grab for his neck but my arms felt like dead weights. “You bastard” I slurred then slumped unconscious in his arms.

______________________________

When I woke up again the first thing I noticed were that my hands were securely fastened to something. I opened my eyes and groaned, tugging a bit. The room was dark but it definitely wasn’t the same one. I blinked my eyes, trying to work off the fogginess of whatever drug Declan nailed me with. My vision was still a bit blurry and my head felt like someone had just smacked me with a brick. I had cottonmouth too, and my whole body seemed to ache, most likely the pain I’d been suppressing from earlier. I think I severely bruised my hand when I punched Barry in the face. Which given the circumstances I could definitely live with.

I struggled some more. The bed I was on was much more comfortable than the cot though. It looked like one of those hospital beds; it has the bars on the side and everything. Through the darkness, my vision was able to make out the room as a whole. It was much bigger and seemed to be an actual room, modified to keep someone in, though. There were bars on the only window, no knob on this side of the door and the only vent seemed to be securely bolted, from the other side. It had minimal furniture too: a dresser in the corner and a chair by the bed, both of which looked bolted to the floor too. Clearly, someone had gone to great lengths to keep me in here.

In a way it was kinda flattering, it made me think that they were that worried I’d run away. But it also pissed me off too; it meant that they weren’t that serious, either. All that talk about wanting me to join them and help them take down both the Syndicate and the Center. Declan had a lot of talk but in the end he still handcuffed me to the bed. Which meant he wasn’t as trusting of me as he pretended to be. But then again he wasn’t all that great with trust either. Neither were his cronies for that matter, especially Barry. How many months had I been with him…too many to count and this whole time….

Tears started to well in my eyes. I struggled again, the cuffs cutting into my wrists. But of course, I didn’t feel it. When I got out of this, I was going to kill them all.

A knock on the door interrupted my thoughts. Why someone bothered to knock was beyond me. I listened as the person behind it fumbled with the lock on the other side. It was a smaller person, a girl I think. I caught a whiff of perfume. I caught something else too; her heart was beating a mile a minute, indicating she was either really excited or really scared. I perked up as the door opened and a person slipped into the room. She was about five foot max with long dark hair and olive colored skin. She was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, carrying a pile of clothes. She tried not to look at me but curious got the better of her. When she looked over, I noticed a pair of sparkling blue eyes.

“I brought you some clothes,” she said in a soft voice, blushing at the fact that I was still in my underwear.

I nodded. “You don’t seem the type to be one of Declan’s cronies?”

It was true. This girl was meek and shy; she didn’t belong in this place. Compared to Declan and jasmine, this girl belonged with a loving family.

The girl bobbed her head. “They’re good to me. They took me in when my family…”

Tears welled in her eyes. She dropped the clothes at the foot of my bed then turned quickly and made for the door. She stopped before leaving and turned to face me. I could tell there was something she wanted to ask me, something important. She opened her mouth to do so when a hand landed on her shoulder from behind. She flinched and then all the emotion drained from her face. The shy, meek girl was gone, replaced by a stone-faced automaton. The girl nodded to me, her eyes glassed over. Then she turned and walked out of the room. Declan strode into the room, smirking.

“You have to forgive Diana, she sometimes loses herself.”

I was spitting mad. “You son of a bitch, you didn’t have to do that to her.”

I pulled and tugged on my cuffs. He ignored me, walking over and grabbing the chair. He dragged it across the floor and over to my bedside. He sat down, crossing his legs again. “You and I got off on the wrong foot earlier. Here I was trying to make you feel welcome and I went and upset you.” He sighed. “You will be happy to know that I’ve ordered Barry to stay away from you for the remainder of your time here.”

I scoffed. “Ordered or controlled?”

He ignored me with a wave of his hand. Then he smiled. “That’s what I’ve always loved about you; you go right for the throat. That’s why I need you so badly around here. The others are great and all but they’re not throat grabbers like you. You’ve got balls---figuratively of course. You’re not afraid to kick someone when they’re down and you’ll keep us honest.”

“I’m not joining your militia or whatever the hell this is.”

He ignored me again. “I’ve been reading Barry’s reports, Staff Sergeant. They’re quite impressive. This team of yours is most impressive as well. I’d really like to meet the other members given the chance, especially this Stella friend of yours. Her abilities would be most appreciated around here.”

My anger flared again and lunged for him, the cuffs keeping me restrained. “You leave her alone you son of a bitch.”

He smirked. “You and I don’t have to be enemies. You will find that working for me, cooperatively, is a lot better than the alternative.”

This time I smirked. “Is that the only way you can get friends now, Declan? By making them obey you.”

I saw a tinge of anger flare across his face. But it disappeared quickly to be replaced by that smug smile of his again. Instead of responding, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone again. “Send her in please.”

He clicked the phone shut, slipping it back into his pocket. I heard footfalls coming toward the room; it was two people. I snapped toward the door and watched as two people entered. One was a kid with red spiked hair; the other was a blonde girl. At first, I didn’t recognize the girl, because she was looking down. But as soon as she raised her head, I gasped. It was Emma. She was dressed in a black tank top and a pair of tight leather black pants. When she looked at me, there was this moment where our eyes locked. I could see it in her eyes, the real her, screaming to get out. But the rest of her, the girl standing before me was a puppet for her master.

I snapped around to Declan, sneering. “What the fuck have you done to her?”

He smiled. “Emma here is a great asset. Someone with her raw power was wasted being a lackey of the Center. So I liberated her and now she’s joined the good fight. Isn’t that right, sweetheart?”

Emma walked over to Declan, swaying her hips like a slut. She sat on his knee, wrapping her arms around his neck. Then she gave him an affectionate kiss on the cheek. “That’s right, Deckie baby.” Her voice came out sounding like a bimbo.

I stared at her, trying to figure out when he’d gotten her. Then my mind flashed back to the nightclub. Emma was jealous of Samson and Kit and she went off to the dance floor. I groaned. She’d been dancing with a blonde guy, one who had his back to me. Declan had been in the club. My fists clenched in anger. He was in the club and I never saw him. I’d been so pissed at Barry that I completely ignored what was right in front of me. What’s worse, Declan took her right from under my nose. Brad’s face came into my head, too. He’d stopped me, asking me if I’d seen his sister. Oh God, Declan probably had her by then. Damn it, why had I been such a bitch to him.

“Emma, can you hear me?”

Emma giggled, playing with a strand of her hair, completely oblivious to me. I glared at Declan. He smiled. “Emma, sweetie, why don’t you tell Becca here how happy you are now.”

She turned to me and smiled. “I’m wonderful Becky. I love living here and working with Deckie. He’s the nicest guy and guess what; he says I can help him. We’re going to take down some really bad people and I’m integral to his plan.”

This personality change was too good, even for Declan. For a second I thought maybe she’d been chipped, except her eyes gave it away. She was still in there, still struggling for control. This was something else, something different.

“What did you do to her?”

He smiled. “Me I didn’t do anything.” He sighed. “After you and your cohorts left me to rot tied to that chair, I had some time to think. As the building was burning all around me, I came to an epiphany. I’m a really powerful Dominator but there are probably a whole lot more out there just like me, some even more powerful, perhaps. So after I managed to tip the chair over and burn off the cord you fools tied me up with, I slipped out in all the chaos. I disappeared for a while, bidding my time. Then I contacted Barry. The two of us had this system, sending fake spam mail, it was quite creative actually. He was the guy responsible for helping the Syndicate find Emerged or Potentials before you two escaped. He was supposed to be doing the same for the Center but he also fed some to me. So I went and investigated”

He took a breath. “I found a girl named Veronica. She had great potential, already exhibiting her wonderful gift. She was like me, a Dominator. When the change happened, she became even more powerful. You see, Miles, as he likes to be called now, is a super Dominator. With just one little thought, he can make you do anything he wants. It’s quite impressive really. He was happy to join the cause. After that it wasn’t too hard, especially after we hooked up with that bitch Strickland.”

Strickland, I groaned. She was the woman who kidnaped Emma.

“You were involved in that?”

He shrugged. “Behind the scenes. She thought she was working for the Syndicate but it was actually for me. I convinced her that by gathering her Emerged that she was actually making a difference, helping to fight the good fight.” He laughed. “She actually thought she was working for my father.” Then she groaned. “Who would have thought she’d get a backbone and call him? He sent his pet psychiatrist to investigate and then your team showed up. I suppose it was only a matter of time before the Center got involved. When you guys shut that place down it set me back a few months though, I had to recruit some new faces as well, except for Tobias of course. It was then though that I realized you were too much of a threat on the opposite side of things. So that’s when I put Operation Dekker into play. After Barry told me you were having nightmares about him, he was only too happy to help create a false paper trail.”

I groaned. It made sense, I suppose. Barry was the one who found the information on the school and Dekker’s supposed involvement in it. But I still felt like an ass falling for it. I guess he had us all fooled. But there was still one thing I wanted to know. “Where’s the real Dekker?”

Declan smiled. “Still after revenge, I see?” He leaned over and gently stroked my cheek; I pulled my face away. “Don’t worry. As soon as we get over this little bump, I’ll help you find him; I’ll even let you pull the trigger. It’s the least I can do, if it makes you loyal to me.”

I scoffed. I don’t care if the bastard gave me Dekker’s head on a platter there was no way I was ever going to join his merry band of nut jobs. I think he noticed my smirk. His eyes narrowed and he sighed. He patted Emma on the butt and she slipped off his lap, giggling. I couldn’t look at her; it pained me to see what this bastard had done to my friend. He was already going to pay for that. He’d pay for the rest of it too as soon as I got out of here.

“I’ll give you some time to think it” He stood up and stretched. “Why don’t I let you get dressed? I’ll send someone with food and after you’ve had some time to think, I’ll come back and see if you’re willing to cooperate with us.”

He reached into his pocket and took out the key. He was about to hand it to me but stopped. Instead, he turned and placed it in Emma’s hands. “Sweetie, undo her handcuffs but watch out. She’s a wily one.”

He turned to the spike headed kid and nodded. He looked around the room once more, then the two of them left, leaving me alone with the brainwashed Emma. She walked over to me and undid my cuffs. I didn’t waste any time. I snapped to my feet and ran for the door. She was on me pretty quick. She put her hand on my shoulder and yanked me back. I flew back through the room, crashing into the bed. I didn’t feel a thing but I knew I would later. I slowly got to my feet and made another go at it. It was futile because like I’ve said before Emma is a powerhouse, but I had to try. Unfortunately, for me, she was quick and put herself between me and the door.

“Emma” I said, trying to see if I could get to her. “I’m Becca, you remember me, don’t you?” She shook her head, I sighed. “We’re really good friends. I helped bring you and your brother in; I rescued you from a place just like this one. There was a woman there, nasty one named Dr. Strickland. She was going to do horrible experiments on you.”

She continued to stare. “Deckie said you’d say stupid things to me,” She giggled. “I don’t have a brother, the only family I have is right here.”

I groaned. What the hell did they do to her? I could see the real her, hiding behind those bright beautiful eyes. But there was no way to get to her. Damn it. “You’re being controlled, you idiot.”

“I’m not an idiot.”

I groaned. This was pointless. Even if I managed to defeat her, there were at least six people on the other side of that door. Who knows how many more? Plus I’m sure it was light out there, too light for me. I groaned. But I couldn’t just sit here and continue to deny him. Eventually he’d send that Miles kid in for me too and then I was really screwed. I’d probably end up like Malibu Rock Head here or worse. I shuddered at the thought. Then bit my lip. It would only be a matter of time before someone would come looking for me. So the way I saw it was either escape or play along. Escaping sounded like a crazy thing to do at the moment so that left only one thing to do.

I smiled sweetly at her. “You’re right, you’re not an idiot” Her smile spread wide and she giggled. I sighed. “I need to get dressed and I’m really hungry.”

She giggled and I rolled my eyes. “I’ll have some food brought.” She walked over and wrapped me in a big hug. “You and I are going to be the best of friends, I know it.”

I pushed away but not before slipping the handcuff key out of the dummy’s pocket.

She didn’t notice. She gave a little wave and then slipped out of the room, locking the door behind her. As soon as the door was shut, I searched the room. I was sure there was a hidden camera somewhere so it didn’t matter if I was caught doing this or not. I pulled the blankets off the bed and flipped the mattress. Then I ran over to the dresser, pulling out all the drawers. If I fell into line right away, Declan would know I was fucking with him. So I needed to make it look like I was still defiant. After pulling out all the drawers one by one, I grabbed one and threw it at the barred window. The drawer shattered on the bars. I picked up another and threw it at the door, screaming for good measure.

I broke the other drawers too, stomping on one and throwing the last few at the walls. I needed to work myself up to make it look like I was pissed off. I thrashed about for a good twenty minutes, feeling like a complete idiot. Finally, I collapsed to the ground, huffing and puffing. That wasn’t an act; I was exhausted. After that, I slowly crawled over to the clothes that were now all over the floor and slowly put them on. The pants were tight and black, like Emma’s but not leather. The shirt was a tank top but purple. I think someone was trying to make me feel right at home. There were no shoes though so I got the impression I wasn’t going to be leaving this room anytime soon.

When I got dressed, I stood up and stuck my hands in my pockets. In the left pocket, there was something small and metal. I wrapped my hand around it and pulled it out. It was my Dekker bullet, I had it in my little clutch purse at the club. Barry---the Rat---must have told Declan about it. He probably thought it would help me feel more secure or something. Anger flared inside of me and I thought about tossing it away. But something stopped me. My revenge had been boiling and festering for a long time now but right now, it didn’t seem to matter. Yes, I still wanted to kill the bastard but now was hardly the time to think about it.

After getting dressed, I took a breather and slowly put the room back together. The drawers were trashed but everything else was ok. I sat on the bed and sighed. I lay down, the pain from earlier slowly coming to me. I winced as it crawled up my back, sending jolts of discomfort. God, she was really strong. I made a mental note not to piss Emma off in the future. That’s right the future. I had every intention of getting her and me out of this crazy nut house.

There was a knock on the door again. I listened and heard the same beating heart and smelled the same perfume. It was the girl from before, Diana. I sat up and the door opened. Diana came into the room, carrying a tray with some food on it. She looked about, seeing the splintered wood all over the place. Then she quickly set the tray on the end of the bed and made it for the door again. Out of all of the people here, she might be the only one I could get through too.

“Wait” I said, stopping her. “What’s your name?”

“We’re not supposed to talk to you’ she said softly.

I nodded. “Telling me your name isn’t really talking to me.”

She nodded. “I’m Diana. I used to be Charles, before all of this.”

I nodded. “What are you doing here?”

Tears started to well in her eyes. “They came for me at school. They told me that they were different from other people and that I was like them. I’m not sure how they knew but I could tell they were different. That’s my thing. Once I Changed, I can sense it. That’s how I know you have Enhanced senses. It’s like this switch gets clicked on when I look at you.”

“That’s an awesome gift”

It was, too. It scared me to think that Declan had someone like her on his side.

She smiled. “I can sense it before people change too. That’s how we found Jasmine and Katrina.”

“How many are there of you here?”

She shook her head. “I can’t tell you. They’ll do horrible things to me if I help you.” She started crying.

I got up off the bed, making my way over to hug her. But she jumped back, moving toward the door. I saw it then. This girl was being abused by them. I could see it in her eyes and the way she was trembling. I saw no visible marks on her but there many different kinds of abuse. Looking at her, my anger started to flare again. How could they do this? I thought Declan was all about his kind and not harming them. Clearly, this girl was being used, probably against her will. It pissed me off to no end.

“If you help me,” I said, taking a chance. “If you help me get out of here, I can take you with me. I come from a place, a place not like this one. There’s a lot of us there, hundreds of us now. We call it the Center and there they don’t treat us like crap.”

She was still crying but her eyes widened. “Really?” I nodded. “Do you think they’d hurt me there?”

“No sweetie” I said, walking over and putting my hands on her shoulders. “They’d treat you the way you were meant to be treated, like a human being.”

She smiled. She opened her mouth to say something else when I heard someone coming. He was fast and quiet. I didn’t even hear him until he was in the doorway. His hand snapped around, hitting Diana across the face. She fell into the room, landing on her side. The guy belonging to the hand was huge; probably six foot four at the most. He filled the doorway. He had slicked back red hair and a tattoo of a dragon on his face. He was one serious looking son of a bitch.

“That was unnecessary,” I said, standing and glaring at him.

He looked me up and down. “You don’t look like much.”

“Looks can be deceiving.”

He smirked, raised his hands. Both his forearms burst into flames. Pyrokinetics, I hate these guys. “You want to dance, little girl?”
Diana got to her feet. “Brock, don’t. She was just asking me about her food.”

The big guy, Brock, glared down at her. “We saw it all on the camera.”

The color drained from Diana’s face. Brock smirked. He reached for her but I batted his hand away.

“Leave her alone, it’s my fault. If you want to deal out the pain, give it to me.”

“You’ll get the pain soon enough, bitch” He put one of his flaming hands on my forearm.

I didn’t feel a thing but I saw the flesh begin to burn. He gave me a shove, pushing me into the room. I tripped over my own feet because the floor was too slippery without any shoes on. I landed on my side. Brock deflamed his arms and grabbed Diana by the hair, pulling her from the room. She screamed at the top of her lungs, kicking and crawling at him. I jumped to my feet and charged him. He was already out the door by the time I got there, slamming it in my face.
I slammed my fists on the door, tears in my eyes as I heard Diana screaming down the hall and way. I slumped to the floor.

A few seconds later, there was a cackle and voice filled the room. “I had such high hopes for you, Becca. I actually thought you and I could come to some kind of agreement but it looks like you’d rather escape than play along.” He sighed; I looked around the room and found the intercom speaker. “I guess there’s no helping it, now. As soon as we’re done with our little insubordinate, I think it’s time you meet my friend Miles.”

Photo Credit: Model AJ Stewart