Mindsiege (2 page)

“What happened?” I doctored a cup of coffee with creamer and two yellow packets.

Both boys looked up. The lines between Jack’s brows deepened.

Kyle shrugged. “Clumsy, I guess. I… I fell last night while putting a log on the fire.” He chuckled uncomfortably and gave his head a jerk to flip his brown, unkempt hair off his eyebrows.

“You fell,” I repeated, leaning into the counter. Kyle wasn’t known for his clumsiness. My eyes met Jack’s.

He fell and his arm landed in the flames,
Jack thought to me. I could hear his sarcasm.

I walked closer and examined the blisters.
You don’t think that’s what happened?

Let’s just say I’m skeptical.

Noticing how quiet the house was, I asked, “Where’s everyone else?”

Jack tilted his head toward the back door. I followed the motion to the back patio, where the rest of the group, the owners of this house—Georgia, Jonas, and Fred—were standing in a circle. I walked over to the door. Bringing the warm coffee to my lips, I peered through the blinds. Georgia crossed both arms. Fred waved his hands in front of him in an apparent debate with the others. Neither wore the thick makeup like they had the night I’d first met them. Jonas hugged his body with one arm, and with the opposite hand, brought a cigarette to his mouth. I zeroed in on the tip that brightened when he inhaled. Something about the vision of him smoking caused me to lose my train of thought for a few seconds. There was something familiar about the movement and the cigarette, but my mind was a little fuzzy.

I gave my head a little shake and turned back to Kyle and Jack.
“
What are they talking about?”

Jack glanced uneasily at me before meeting Kyle’s stare.

“What? Has something happened?” I demanded. We had found refuge in this house after escaping Wellington Boarding School on Friday night. Of course, I had slept through nearly two days. Now, the owners—cloned humans like Jack, Kyle and me—appeared uneasy. But they’d been the only people we could turn to.

When Jack didn’t respond, Kyle brought the focus back to himself. “Can you heal it or not?”

I squinted my eyes, glaring at the two of them.

Jack ran a hand through his hair before nodding.

“I don’t mean to sound insensitive, but is that the smartest choice? Won’t it make you sick to heal that?”

Before I could protest any further, Jack pressed his hands around the red, blistery wound and closed his eyes.

Kyle winced again. His eyes rolled back into his head from the pain.

Jack, we can bandage the wound. He’ll be fine. He doesn’t need to be healed completely.
When Jack didn’t stop, I did what I could to get deeper inside his head.
I’m right here with you. Simply heal the wound, but try to suppress the nausea. Our minds are strong, Jack.
I continued to send him positive energy while he did what he could for Kyle’s injury.

Several minutes passed. I remained inside his head, attempting to be a soothing force.

Jack’s eyes opened. Kyle slouched in his chair while we studied his arm. His skin was no longer red and blistered: it was new again. Healed completely.

“How do you feel?” I asked Jack, hesitation in my voice. Setting my coffee down, I pulled some napkins from a wrought-iron dispenser on the kitchen table and blotted the blood dripping from my nose.

Jack pressed his lips together in a thin line. “How’d you do that?" he asked. “You were inside my head. More than just the mindspeaking.” He pushed back from the table and stood. “I’m not dizzy or light-headed. And I’m not nauseous.”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. I just couldn’t stand the thought of you getting sick right now. I need you well while we decide what’s next.”

“Your nosebleed. It seems worse than when you simply control someone’s actions.”

“It’s nothing.” I waved him off, then tilted my head back slightly while pinching the bridge of my nose. Blood slid down the back of my throat. The metallic taste mixed with the taste of sweet coffee.

Jack leaned into me. “I’m sorry. I should have thought about what that might do to you.”

Kyle held his arm up. “I don’t know what you did or how you did it, but thanks, man. It feels one hundred percent normal.”

The door squeaked behind me. Georgia, Fred, and Jonas filed in.

“Oh, good. Look who’s up,” Georgia said, a little bit of irritation in her voice. Even without dramatic eye makeup, Georgia’s exotic facial features stood out. She wore a deep shade of red gloss on her lips, which enhanced her dark skin.

Jonas passed by me. I crinkled my nose at the smell of cigarette smoke on his clothes. His hand brushed the small of my back as he whispered close to my head. “Don’t mind her, sweetheart.” My entire body tensed. “She’s just cranky from lack of sleep.” He continued past me.

Georgia shot icicles from her eyes at Jonas. The temperature of the room seemed to drop dramatically. “I’m not the one who suffered a colossal panic attack before dawn this morning.”

“What is she talking about?” Jack asked. “What brought that on?”

Jonas shrugged. He got a mug out of the cabinet and poured a cup of coffee—black, very close to the color of his dark brown eyes. “I don’t know. It just happened.”

Jack took three steps closer to Jonas. “Yeah, Jonas? Is that your story?”

Jonas took a sip, crossing one leg in front of the other, and leaned against the counter. “Yeah. What’s with you?”

“I’ll tell you what’s with me, Jonas. Your panic attacks don’t ‘just happen.’ So, what brought this one on?”

Jack’s voice boomed, and a shiver moved down my spine. I had a lot to learn about Fred, Jonas, and Georgia. Jack had known them before he found me at Wellington. The three of them lived in this house and, according to Jack, were enrolled in courses at the University of Kentucky. After watching them interact only a few times, I surmised that they trusted each other well enough. They had already been a part of The Program together, so they understood that each of them was cloned from another human.

“Back off, Jack,” Fred stepped between them.

Jack backed up and leaned against the opposite counter, his arms crossed. Kyle’s eyebrows shot up as he and I made eye contact.

Georgia finally spoke up, cutting the tension that was growing like algae. “So, what are we going to do? Do we move? Do we stay?”

“What do you mean, move?” I asked. And was I included in her plans to move? “Why would you move?” Of course, I didn’t even know where we were. I hadn’t ventured outside since we’d arrived here more than two days ago.

“Well, thanks to you, our covers could be blown,” Jonas said, his mouth hidden by the edge of his coffee mug. The way his eyes drilled into me unnerved me.

“Jonas, I’m warning you…” Jack straightened, his shoulders back. A vein on the side of his neck quivered.

“What is all of this really about?” I asked.
What’s going on here? Why are you yelling at Jonas?

Jack shook his head at me.

“Friday night was a disaster.” Leave it to Georgia to be the honest voice in this lot.

I agreed with her, but… “What do you mean?”

“You were supposed to run, not end up here. Jack said you would run.”

Jack shook his head. “Stop it, Georgia.”

“Stop what, Jack? You’ve protected her long enough. I don’t see a fragile girl about to crumble before us.”

Jack crossed the room. He slid his hand into mine. “This is all new to her. And we all still have a lot to learn.”

“No, she’s right,” I said. “You’ve protected me. We got away from Wellington and bought ourselves some time to figure out what’s truly happening.”

Jonas let out an under-his-breath chuckle. Jack gripped my hand tighter.

What’s with you?
I asked.

Later
.

“So, what have you decided?” Georgia asked me. “Jack must return to Wellington. What will
you
do?”

I glanced at Jack. I knew he intended to return to Wellington. He wouldn’t have left if it hadn’t been for me. He needed to return and watch over Addison, who was like a sister to him. I shuddered just thinking about the story of a horse crushing her skull when she was seven years old.

If Addison were to wake, Cathy and Dr. Wellington would know that I healed Addison’s brain injuries Friday night—that I did exactly what they suspected I could do. And if they were to discover my abilities, everyone in this room was convinced that they’d stop at nothing to find me again. They’d force me to join their cause, whatever that cause was.

Cathy had pretended to be Jack’s caring and loving mom one minute, then imprisoned us with an electric fence around our school the next. And Dr. Wellington, president of Wellington Boarding School and brother to Cathy DeWeese, had allowed her to interfere without ever explaining their ultimate intentions.

What I feared most was that they could force me to use my unnatural abilities—abilities I knew little about—against my will.

Someone was definitely inside my head this morning, controlling my actions and forcing me to hurt the one person in my life I would die to protect.

I studied the people in the room, each of them waiting for me to answer Georgia’s question. My heart tightened. I knew what I had to do. I dropped Jack’s hand and massaged the bridge of my nose.

A presence entered my head. A presence that was not Jack.

“Lexi?” Jack said. “You okay?”

My head jerked toward him. “Fine. Why?” Could the presence inside my head hear my thoughts? My knees began to shake. I was unsteady on my feet.

You’re a good actress, Lexi. Don’t let them suspect that someone’s inside your head.

Georgia stared at me, still waiting for me to answer. Fred and Kyle whispered to each other in the corner. Jonas had turned away and was rinsing his coffee mug in the sink.

What do you want from me?
I thought to the presence.

Tell them you’ll return to Wellington.

No. I can’t go back there.
I wanted to go back to Wellington, to my friends, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t allow Cathy DeWeese, or anyone else, to control me.

You can. And you will. Do I need to remind you what I can make you do?

Why do you want me to go back there?
I tucked my clammy hands into my armpits, hugging myself.

I need you to do something at Wellington. You’ll find out what when the time is right.

My eyes found Jack’s. A line formed between his brows. “What is it?” He pulled one of my hands free and wrapped his fingers around mine, brought me closer to him, and slid his other arm around my waist.

“Nothing. I’m fine.” I dared a smile as I told a flat-out lie. I hated lying to him after everything we’d been through. “Georgia, I will not put you and your friends in danger. I won’t be staying here, so you don’t have to worry.”

“Where will you go?” Fred asked.

“I think it’s probably better you didn’t know.” Mainly because
I
didn’t know where I would go. But it wouldn’t be Wellington.

Jack slid inside my head and poked around. I felt his familiarity. The other presence had gone silent, but I assumed he hadn’t gone far.
What are you thinking?
Jack asked.

I shrugged and swallowed hard.
That our lives are a mess.

“I thought we always planned to stick together if and when we found others like us.” Fred was obviously the more naïve of the bunch. His voice and face screamed fear.

“That would have been true if someone weren’t trying to kill one of us.” Georgia was the cynical one. But she was right. I’d put her and everyone in the room in danger if it was my ability someone was after. More likely, we each endangered the others just by being together.

“What changed, Georgia?” Jack asked. “You welcomed us Friday.”

“I’m not a monster, Jack. You needed our help, and I know you would do the same for any of us. But we’re going to be safer if we split up. I hate to think what would happen if the wrong people found us all in one place. We know how to get in touch with each other.”

That stung. I didn’t know how to get in touch with the three that lived here. Then it dawned on me. “You guys don’t trust me.” Georgia stood tall, shoulders squared. Fred refused to make eye contact with me. Jonas smirked.

Kyle looked offended and ready to fight. At least I had one friend besides Jack.

I pulled my hand from Jack’s grip, turned, and exited the kitchen without another word. I didn’t have to explain myself to my fellow freak club. They didn’t want me around? Well, the feeling was mutual.

In the bedroom where I had slept, I searched for the very few things I had managed to bring from Wellington.

“They hoped you would heal Sandra.” Jack’s voice startled me from the doorway. “Seth led them to believe that she’d figured out a way to cure the side effects they all suffer from after using their abilities.”

“They would trust her?”

“No,” Jack laughed. “They were hoping Seth would restrain her and make her do what they wanted.”

Seth, neurosurgeon and brother to Sandra Whitmeyer, seemed to be the one person everyone trusted to be honest about the history of our origin. He helped me tap into my ability to assess brain disease and injury, and ultimately heal. But I’d only done that once. And I still wasn’t so sure about Seth.

“Don't they know how ridiculous that sounds? It’s his sister we’re talking about.”

Jack shrugged. “Maybe. Cathy had intended to subdue her Friday night. Remember the syringe she filled?”

“What? I thought that was meant for me.” Cathy had ordered me to use my healing abilities to bring Sandra out of the coma. She had held a filled syringe like a weapon the entire time. But rather than follow her wishes, I flushed some sort of drug from Jack’s body and healed Addison’s brain injury instead.

“No, the sedation was meant for Sandra, not you. She would have drugged Sandra if you had pulled her out of the coma.”

“When I didn’t bring Sandra out, Cathy tried to use it on me.”

“Yes, but I was faster and turned it on her. I don’t think she meant to harm you.”