I dedicate this story to those who didn't have the strength to go on. The lives that were lost will live on in the change, that their unnecessary deaths, must come. I also dedicate this story to the soldiers that are still battling in the war against hate and depression. You are not alone in this fight and, together, we will win this war. There have been too many deaths that did not need to be. I am here for you, and I promise that you are NOT alone.

 

If you ever need someone to talk to I can be reached at novasperenza@yahoo.com

2: Chapter One

Loving him was the hardest, yet most wonderful crime that I have ever committed. I don't regret my choice. Even now, locked up, truly for an eternity; loving him was the best choice of my life.

“Anaya, quiet that music now!”

I roll my eyes and get inside of Dr. Leatic's head.

Turn up the music.

The words “Make a move”, from Icon for Hire, echo into the hallways.

But wait, I think I'm going a bit too fast. After all, this is a story and every story must have a beginning.

*

It all began with the staring. The demonic creature, named my father, would stare at me when he thought I was sleeping. He would approach me sometimes, or start to, and I would move. I wasn't about to let that monster get close to me.

I wasn't aware of my abilities then, and I hadn't even known my father until I was thirteen. But growing up without a father didn't faze me any. Sure, I was a weird girl; not many understood me, but I was so much better off without a father. And that moment, that one single moment; everything changed.

I was up late, video chatting with a friend. I'll be honest, I thought he was pretty cute and I really wanted to go out with him. But he's really a minor character in the oncoming event.

The guy had fallen asleep, but I didn't want to join him. The monster had made me stay in the living room that night, unlike the other nights where I would stay in an unused bedroom and lock the door. But this time, I was in the monster's domain.

The monster began to beg me to go to sleep. I knew something was going to happen. Sleep was the last thing that I wanted to do, but his begging finally got too annoying. So, I spread out in a reclining chair and managed to still my heart and sleep.

I was woken up by a strange feeling on my ass. It was like a pinch...or a lot of pinches, but then they got less pinchy and more like a grab. There was a noise too. One that I had heard plenty of times from boys on the internet.

And that's when my brain woke up. I realized that the monster was squeezing my ass and masturbating. My stomach lurched when I had realized this, but then a flight response kicked in.

I didn't scream, I should've screamed, but I didn't. I was too afraid that he'd hurt me or my sleeping mother, whom was fast asleep on a futon opposite of the chair. So, instead, I rolled around. By rolling, I was keeping the rest of my body wrapped up tight in a blanket.

The moving didn't stop my father though. He continued to touch me. I thought that Hell was never going to end. And then, a miracle; my mother began to wake up.

The monster ran halfway across his apartment to get away from me. My mother, pretty groggy from sleep, didn't seem him running.

“What are you doing?” She just basically moaned.

“I was checking my laptop, baby.” He made an excuse.

I watched him lay down, got up from my chair and sat at the table. I reached out to my friends, begging just anyone to help me. Later that night, I had told my mother what happened. We went to my grandparents and we should have stayed there. But I was in a good school. I had a future and, when I had left my first school, I was a major Christian. There was no way I would return an emo.

After that, my mother had gotten back together with me father. She didn't believe me and I had no proof. He was no longer in my life, but the pain of my own mother's betrayal wouldn't end. My cutting grew worse and so did my anger.

Everyday, all I could do was wish that monster dead. And then one day, just a few weeks after the initial incident, I saw him. The anger exploded within me, making my heart pound.

But then something happened. It was no longer my heart that I heard pounding in my head. Now, I can't really explain how this happened, but it was my father's heart that I heard. Oh, it was his heart and his thoughts.

Yes, he thought that he was clever. He'd gotten away with basically molesting me.

No.

There was no way I'd let him win. I may not have had proof that he'd touched me, but I was going to get revenge.

Just die.

I thought it over and over again. It was like a wish. All I wanted was for his heart to stop. And then, like a dream come true, the monster fell over. His heart had stopped.

*

They came for me the next day. The monster had lived because of those lousy paramedics. He ranted about hearing my voice in his head, while recovering in the hospital. I guess that's how they found out about me.

They don't have a name. Most of us call them the Abductors. They kidnapped me, gagged me and tossed me into the back of a truck. There was another kid there with me. His name was Zac.

The second our eyes met, I was in love. His eyes were a dark blue; the kind of blue that you can see really late at night on a clear sky. That beautiful midnight blue.

Another one...I'm not alone.

I read his thoughts. A headache took control of me. I shut my eyes.

This had happened after I made the monster's heart stop. But this headache wasn't nearly as bad.

I moved my hands close to Zac, trying to touch him. I knew that he was hurting, probably a lot more than me. His beautiful eyes couldn't keep distracted forever...his scars soon became my new focus. He had them all over his face and hands. I could even make out a few of them on his neck.

Crap, she's staring at my scars.

He attempted to hide them, but I shook my head.

“It's okay.” My words muffled the gag.

Oh, please hear me.

I focused on Zac's thoughts.

It's okay. I cut too. My name's Anaya. Know where they're taking us? Or even who they are?

Zac stared at me, eyes wide.

Holy shit, you're telepathic! That's so fucking cool! I'm Zac and they took us because of our powers.

He shifted his shoulder into mine.

But...I just got this...power.

Zac shook his head.

No, you've always had them. It probably just took a while. Trust me, I know.

How do you know?

Zac really did know exactly what he was talking about. But don't let me ruin the story by saying why too quickly.

This is my third time escape. But they always find me. Hey, what'd you do to get found?

I attempted a muffled sigh.

It's...I really don't want to say.

Zac nodded.

I understand. So, how come you cut?

Life at home became shit.

Zac's eyes showed understanding.

Know what can make it better?

I tilted my head. I should've been scared, and I kind of was, but being with Zac kind of made it less stressful. He would always manage to do that for me.

Like magic, Zac's gag became undone.

How'd you do that?

My gag also became undone.

“Anti-gravity.” Zac shrugged, his voice even more perfect than his thoughts had revealed. “I can control the gravity around me.”

I swear my eyes must've nearly popped out of my head. Zac laughed so hard, his smile warmed my very soul.

“That is so fucking cool.” I said. “Now what is this thing that you wanted to give me to make this all better?”

“Oh right.” Zac blushed. “These.”

His pocket began to shake. I found myself staring at it like it was an unopen Christmas gift. But I distinctly remember my excitement turning to disappointment when a bottle of pills flew up in front of our faces. The cap untwisted and pills floated around us.

“Open your mouth.” Zac said, allowing three to find a bed on his tongue.

He swallowed them straight out. But I didn't want to take them. I had no idea what the pills were. They didn't belong to me. They seemed kind of weird looking and I had this irrational fear that I would choke on them.
“No thanks.” I refused.

Zac shook his head.

“Anaya, trust me, you're gonna want to have these in your veins.” He insisted. “Especially when we get back to the Abductor's palace.”

“Abductor's palace?”

Zac nodded.

“It's what I call the people that kidnap us. Abductors. And their palace is their hideout.” He made the pills get closer to my mouth. “Anaya, they're going to run tests on you the second they get you into their hideaway. They will draw endless amounts of your blood, scan you and so many other things. It's fucking torture, Anaya.”

“Then get us out.” My heart raced. “Can't you unbind us? Get us free?”

“I can't. They've drugged me...” he swayed back and forth, “I can only manage the small stuff.”

His swaying frightened me, along with his words. He wasn't making it all disappear or seem any better. At that moment, all I wanted was for someone or something to make the fear go away.

“Zac, do something!” I cried. “Please try! You're fucking scaring me!”

Zac fell into my lap, his coal hair tickled my uncovered legs. How I remember that night. I cursed myself for wearing shorts to bed.

“Zac!” I cried, wiggling to try and get him up.

“Take the pills.” The lid of the pills closed and returned to Zac's pocket.

Only two remained, but I could see them starting to fall. I threw caution aside. Zac looked so peaceful and I was so afraid. I wanted to feel what he felt.

The pills felt foreign to my tongue but that was about it. Swallowing took me a while because I kept thinking that I was going to choke on them. After they went down, nothing really happened. I'm not sure what I expected them to do. Make me instantly high as fuck? I still don't know. Like I said, I'd never done pills prior to that. When they finally did kick in, I could see as to why Zac wanted me to take them.

My body became instantly numb. The walls of the truck had begun to move, it seemed, and everything felt different. Zac no longer felt heavy to me and his breath became a feeling of wetness to my inner thigh. The binds I was in no longer felt like they were there, even though I could still see them.

Zac looked up at me.

“They're some good shit.” He grinned.

I felt my jaw drop. Those pills had gotten me so fucking high that Zac's scars were completely gone. And I must be honest, I fancied him hot prior to the drugs. Post drugs, without those nasty scars, he was hot as Hell.

*

I don't know how much longer I was on that truck. Hell, I was too high to even remember that I was on a truck. No, I was too busy staring at Zac. He had completely passed out a few minutes after I got high. His head bobbed with every bump that the truck hit.

As for me, being high was amazing. I was feeling so good. And then the truck halted to a stop.

I fell onto my side, waking Zac.

“Fuck.” He moaned.

A tall shadow boarded the truck. It pulled me up by my hair and shown a light into my eyes. The shadow then proceeded to kick Zac in the ribs.

“God damn kid.” It was a man. “He got her high!”

More shadows got onto the truck. Two big ones picked Zac up by his shoulders. I watched his feet drag on the ground before the night swallowed him into the black. The shadows took me next. I was pretty sure that it would soon be all over. I don't know why, I just figured that these people were going to kill me.

It was a ridiculous fear of course. After all, Zac had told me that he'd escaped. But these were the people that had kidnapped me, tied me up and gagged me. Plus, Zac had made them out as complete monsters. So of course I was going to be scared.

I tried to walk, but the pills only made me stumble. The people ended up dragging me too. It wasn't too bad. The night air was pretty warm and the ground was like sand, so being dragged was kinda fun.

The shadows brought me toward a light. I closed my eyes once we got close because the light was hurting them. A couple seconds later I realized that the light was a door and my feet were now dragging across a tile floor.

I was tossed into a room, but the impact to the ground didn't even hurt. Partly because of my swirling head and partly because I had landed on something squishy. I rolled off of the person.

“Fuckers.” Zac spat. “Fucking kill me why don't ya?”

“Do not think that is out of the question.” A woman entered the room.

Zac shuttered and glared at her.

Not you...

I read his thoughts. He shifted his body to try and get away from her. His heart pounded in my head.

The woman pulled Zac to a sitting position. She glared into his eyes then proceeded to pat him down. She found the bottle of pills and shook her head. She then slapped him so hard that it knocked him over. I gasped.

“All of that trouble for these damn pills again.” She tsked. She bent down and got right in his face. “If you wanna be numb, I'll make you numb. Take him away, tie him down and make him throw up.”

Two men came in and took Zac away. I could feel myself start to panic, especially when the woman came up to me. She lifted my chin and looked me in the eyes. She got a pissed off look on her face.

“So he shared the pills, Ms. Anaya Twensae. I am Ms. Regina. You will call me Ms. Regina or Ma'am. I prefer Ma'am.” She stepped away from me. “Take her away and get that shit out of her system. This telepath has many tests in her future.”

Two men came in and took me away. From the hallway, there was screaming. I couldn't help but to think that the screaming was coming from Zac. But then I realized that the screaming was too high pitched for a boy.

I began to struggle to get away. Yes, I was high, but fear was already kicking out the pills. It was during this time that I began to think about was going on. Would my mom even look for me? What's gonna happen to me? Who are these people? Why did I trust Zac so quickly? Why did it feel so good to be with him? Why did these abilities just randomly come out?

I was dropped into a room and my thoughts stopped. They were consumed by the images of the scalpels, syringes, people with surgical masks and gloves and a metal table with straps. Of course I was strapped down, then the people in masks had their way with me. They hooked something up to me that induced vomiting. Eventually, the pills wore off and that's when the real shit started.

They drew endless amounts of my blood. They scanned my head, asked me to do shit that turned out completely impossible. For example, they asked me to make a ball move from one side of the room to the other. And then they asked me to do it over and over again. But I couldn't do it and got sick of it and tried to quit. They didn't like that, though, and made me start again by sending volts through my body. When they were finally done with all of their tests, my body was practically wrecked. I was taken to a dark room and placed on a hard bed.

My body shook that first night. My heart kept skipping beats, more than likely because of the electricity that they sent through me. I couldn't sleep that night. Especially when a voice came out of nowhere.

“The shocking's a bitch.” A purple high-lighted haired girl hopped down from the bed above mine. “May I ask why they shocked you?”

“I couldn't move a ball.” I muttered out of breath.

“Ah, figured you were a telepath. Otherwise we might not have been roommates. I'm Mara.” The girl extended her hand to me. “Your heart's beating weird. Skipping...beats...I can hear it. Want me to fix it?”

“Please.” I muttered.

Mara pushed me down on the bed. She pinned me and climbed on top of me. She slowly bent down toward my lips.

Sorry if you're homophobic but I can only control heart rates with physical touch.

She sent into my thoughts. Her lips were soft and sweet. It stirred something deep inside of me. My body tingled and I couldn't help but want more of her. I could feel her calming my heart and her calm thoughts only seemed to make the kiss that much sweeter.

Mara pulled away once my heart was back to normal. Her green eyes sparkled into mine. I noticed that her bottom lip was pierced and that she was very beautiful.

“All better?” She sat up on my stomach.

“Yeah. Thank you.” I said. “I'm Anaya, by the way.”

Mara rolled off of me. We both sat up on my bed.

“Why'd they take us from our families?” I asked.

“You're from the outside?” Mara asked. “What's it like?”

“What do you mean?”

Mara sighed.

“I was born here.” She explained. “My parents were put in the breeding program.”

“Breeding program?”

“Ma'am's bosses make kids with the same abilities fuck to get the same powers.” Mara explained further. “My parents didn't love each other. But they knew one thing for certain, they didn't want to raise a kid. They managed to kill themselves when I was three.”

“I'm so sorry...” I whispered.

“What's the world like?” Mara grabbed my hand. “Please tell me.”

I squeezed her hand. I wish I could've told her that the world was a beautiful place; that everyone was kind and that there was no pain. But after all that had happened to me, I couldn't do it.

“Mara, it's a real shitty place.” I said. “Hell, I didn't even get my powers until I wanted my father dead for molesting me. Outside ain't no better than this place.”

“I'm sorry.” Mara said. “How old are you?”

“Fifteen.”

“Damn, me too.” Mara shed a tear. “We're on the breeding program. They won't start with you right way. But they're already trying to find the perfect mate for me.”

“This can't be happening.” I shook my head. “This is wrong.”

“Welcome to Hell.” Mara said. “We better go to sleep or Ma'am will punish us.”

She pecked my cheek with her lips then returned to her bed. I'll admit, I did come to love her. She was a great kisser, a great friend and a wonderful person. I miss her deeply. What happened to her was wrong, a tragedy, and I will never be able to forgive the Abductors or myself.

3: Chapter Two

 

I don't remember what time they came to get me that morning. I do remember feeling sick, though, and I remember Mara whimpering. A woman had taken Mara away, muttering about beginning the breeding program. A man came and got me a while after Mara left. They weren't the least bit of kind. Though, these people would never be kind.

“Is she ready?” Ma'am approached the man.

“Quite ready.” The man answered.

“Very well.” Ma'am grabbed me. “Come with me.”

She hadn't really given me a choice.

Today she becomes one of us.

I shuttered from her thoughts; even they were cold and harsh. Plus, I didn't want to find out what she meant. How could I ever be like them? I was only there for a day and they tortured me endlessly. I'm not heartless like them.

Ma'am kept a firm grip on my shoulder. Where did she think I would run to? I didn't see a way out.

We didn't walk for very long, when I'd heard what sounded like infants crying. Soon enough, Ma'am took me into a room full of babies.

Many of them looked sickly and weak. I was going to ask Ma'am what was wrong with them, when she picked up one of the pale children.

“I assume you know of the breeding program.” She didn't look at me. “Well, these children are the defective ones. These children have no abilities. They are of no use to this organization and they must be destroyed.”

I swear I must've went into shock. I couldn't believe what Ma'am had said. How could she have wanted babies dead?

“What the fuck?”

Ma'am shoved the baby into my arms.

“Watch that mouth of yours and kill this child.” She growled. “This child is of no use. It is a weakling. Without abilities, it is a liability.”

“Then let it go!” I screamed. “If it is powerless, then it can't do any harm in the world.”

“You stupid child. It carries the gene for abilities. We cannot allow it to go out and breed with anyone. The weak are destroyed and you will destroy that one” Ma'am pushed my arms against my chest to try and smother the child. I fought her and got inside of her head.

Get away!

I took off with the child when Ma'am fell. The infant wailed and kicked, but the tiny thing was too weak to make even a little shove out of place.

Gotta get out. Gotta get out.

I wanted to save that child. I had to get out, go to the police and then come back for the others. But that baby had to be the first to be saved.

There was no real way that I could've saved the baby. I guess some part of me just wanted it to happen. I wanted the baby to live. Yet, that foolish idea was proven wrong.

Something sharp hit me in the back. I was propelled forward and the infant launched from my arms. I didn't want to look up and see the baby dead, but then I heard it crying. I glanced up and saw Ma'am holding the infant with a knife to its throat.

“Get her prepared for breeding.” Ma'am stomped on my hand. “And the next time I tell you to kill something, you will kill it.”

I closed my eyes so I wouldn't have to see the murder of innocence. I was then taken away and placed in a room where I found Mara. I couldn't help myself, when I saw her, I burst into tears.

Why? I hoped Mara wouldn't force me to speak. Why do they kill the babies? How do they know that they have no abilities?

Mara pulled me into a hug. She had my head gently rest on her breast.

“You know the tests they do? Well, those help Ma'am and Dr. Leatic understand the triggers to our powers.” Mara caressed my cheek. “They do them on the children. If powers don't show up, well then Ma'am believes that they have no purpose...”

Who's Dr. Leatic?

“You haven't met him yet? Oh, you will. He works hand and hand with Ma'am. He's in charge of the breeding program.” Mara sighed. “Have they begun your training yet?”

“Training?"

“Yeah, eventually Ma'am will begin to get you trained and help you hone your powers. She does it so that one day she can use us in her own private military.”

“Why?”

“I couldn't get that far in her thoughts. She found out that I was reading her and had me drugged.”

Mara, I just want to get out of this Hell hole.

“Oh I know.” Ma'am kissed the top of my head. “But it's okay. I'll protect you.”

Mara, are you a lesbian?

I was raised that the love of the same sex was immoral and earned you a one way ticket to Hell. I always thought that it was a delusional way to think. I didn't care about what people wanted. It's their lives, but I always had to pretend like I hated same sex couples. My family was so fucked up in their thinking. None of them seemed to have a mind of their own. They always followed whatever the Bible seemed to say.

Mara chuckled.

“I'm bisexual, honey. Does that bother you?”

I shook my head, her breasts shaking from my touch. For some reason, it didn't bother me to be that close to another woman's boobs. It was kind of like how her kiss didn't bother me. Mara had a way of making me feel safe, kind of like Zac.

Mara and I didn't get that much time together, though. I was literally ripped from her arms and taken to a bald man. He wore a lab coat and reeked of alcohol. Everything about him screamed unkind. Even the shade of green in his eyes seemed evil. Automatically, I hated this man. His thoughts completely coincided with the vibe that man gave off.

Another easy prey.

“I am Dr. Leatic. Miss, you will cooperate or I am afraid that you will be punished. And trust me, dear, you do not want that.”

I didn't want to listen to him. He was a cruel man, and his thoughts rang true. I wouldn't risk getting hurt. Watching that baby die was the only pain that I could stand to take that day.

It didn't matter, though. Dr. Leatic had me tied down and injected me with some type of drug. I became so high that everything else Dr. Leatic did just became a foggy dream. I do know that whatever he did had taken hours because, when he was finally done, I was sent to my room to sleep.

“Anaya, can you hear me?” I had barely felt her hand. “Ah shit, what the Hell did they do to you? What did Leatic do to you?!”

I couldn't answer. I barely even knew whom it was that was holding me. At one point I think she put her fingers to my neck.

“Damn it, they overdosed you. Oh Anaya, please say something. Oh, move or something. Please, Anaya, please!”

I remember how different everything began to feel. Even Mara faded far from me. I couldn't even focus on her voice anymore. Oh, but I felt her lips; her soft lips. And something light in my chest was also there. The lightness seemed to be coming from Mara.

A short while after I tasted Mara's lips, someone else had their lips on mine. They seemed forceful yet perfect and they were all that I wanted. Their force turned to something gentle and inviting. All I wanted was those lips. They seemed absolutely perfect. Those lips woke something in me that I had never once known before. And yet, those lips also came with a light feeling.

“Oh God.” I barely heard Mara. “Oh God, oh fuck. Why isn't she breathing? Oh fuck, Zac. They've killed her!”

“No!” The lips left mine. “She still has a pulse. We just gotta get her breathing again. You were right to call me.” Once again, I felt the lightness

“I knew you were an expert on the shit that they pump into us.”

“Same shit that I escape to get, Mara. Don't forget.” The lips left. “Damn it, breathe. Just a little breath Anaya.” I felt the lips and lightness again. I knew whose lips they were and I was so out of it that I wanted to return the 'kiss of life'.

The kiss happened so quickly. Yet, it was still perfect. Neither of us seemed to breathe, not like I was anyway, and we both decided that just lips wasn't going to cut it. Our tongues were eager to taste each other; they must've danced over each other at least a hundred times. I tingled and even shook, but not from cold. I swear my very soul woke from that kiss.

“Zac?” Mara cooed.

“Now breathe.” Zac pulled away.

My body died then. All I wanted was Zac's lips. But instead of another kiss, I ended up with my lungs deciding to work again. Breathing hurts like Hell when you haven't done it for a while, just so you know. I couldn't talk due to my aching lungs, but I did manage to send out thoughts.

Zac...how are you here?

“There's gonna be some very pissed off guards when they wake up flying.” Zac chuckled. “Are you alright? Mara said that you weren't breathing for a long while. It was bad enough that she called out for me. You two were lucky that I wasn't sleeping or high myself.”

“I would've managed to get you up.” Mara smirked. “I'm really good at screaming inside of peoples' heads.”

“Anaya?” Zac gripped my hand. “Anaya, say something. Please speak, or at least send me or Mara a thought. Please, Anaya, I have to make sure that you're alright or that your brain is still working.”

Sorry about the kiss...everything's so blurred and...

Anaya, don't worry about that. I've never been kissed like that before. It felt good, Anaya. You alright?

Dizzy.

Zac crawled into bed with me.

“Mara, those guys still unconscious?”

“Yep.”

“Good. Imma stay a while. Anaya's still pretty out of it.” Zac's firm body had warmed me up. For some reason, I decided to slide my hand down his body. His abs made my heart race. He had such a toned physic. I loved touching him.

“I can watch her, Zac. It'd be no trouble. I was just terrified because she wasn't breathing. You know how sloppy I am at CPR. If her heart would've stopped, she would've been fucked.”

“It wouldn't freak you out if you would actually let me teach you.”

“Yeah, maybe next time.”

Zac slid his arm over my stomach.

“Better not be a next time. Although, we all know that there probably will be. Damn, Mara, come feel this.”

Mara approached us. Zac placed her hand on my stomach.

“Feel her heartbeat?”

“Yeah.” Mara pulled her hand away. “You think your father broke her?”

Zac's body tensed up.

“Leatic is not my fucking father. He makes it abundantly clear that he doesn't want me. And that bastard can die for all I care.”

“Leatic's your father?” I managed to ask in a whisper.

“Unfortunately.” Zac growled.

Mara sighed.

“She obviously wants some fucking answers. You know those pills Zac's addicted to? Well, it's a weak version of the drug that Dr. Leatic pumps into us. Few years back, he was instructed to inject the drug into pregnant women. One such woman was his wife. Back then, the drug could create a child with abilities. Unfortunately, the drug causes any medical problem, that the reciprocate has, to worsen. And overdosing increases that risk even more.”

“My mother was weak, especially her heart.” Zac interrupted Mara. “Drugs killed her. Fucked up my heart. With any luck, I'll die soon.”

That last sentence stung me the worse. I figure it's because I fell hard for him. That, and despite the fact that I was emo and mildly suicidal, the thought of a kid being happy about dying just saddened me.

“They'll get you a new heart.” Mara stated. “Plenty of useless ones in this place.”

Zac shrugged.

I couldn't believe that he was actually going to stay laying in bed with me.

“Won't you get in trouble?” I asked. “Staying here?”

“Did you hear me?” Zac chuckled. “My heart's fucked up. I get to do pretty much whatever I feel like doing.”

“Liar.” Mara sat on her bed. “Zac's power is one of the rarest that they've ever seen. His weak heart gives him the ability to get away with most shit, because they don't want to kill him before they get his offspring. But he don't get away with everything.”

My head began to swirl. I knew I was going to pass out, but I didn't want to. Zac felts amazingly good next to me.

“Eh, whatever.” Zac cuddled close to me. “Let's go to bed, ya'll. Anaya needs her rest.”

*

I'd awoke that morning with a cold chill. I turned over and saw nothing but an empty bed. I hadn't even felt Zac leave. But, then again, I've always been a heavy sleeper. I could sleep through the apocalypse.

Mara was sitting on her bed. She practically hopped onto my bed when she saw me awake. She wrapped her arms around me and kissed my forehead.

“I'm so glad that you're awake.” She sounded relieved. “You scared the shit out of me yesterday.”

“Didn't mean to.” I muttered. “Where's Zac?”

“He left early so that Dr. Leatic wouldn't punish him...” Mara was sad.

“Thought you said he could do just about anything.”

“Not when his father's around.”

“How could anyone poison their wife like that?” I shook my head.

“He didn't have a choice. Ma'am was going to kill his wife and Leatic's two kids, if he hadn't of done it.”

“Zac has siblings?”

“A sister and a brother.” Mara rubbed my arm. “But his brother wishes Zac dead as much as his father does.”

“But why?”

“Because they blame Zac for killing his mother. His powers, combined with his mother's weakened heart, was just too much for his mother to handle.” Mara sighed. “The pills made an unconditioned heart defect deadly.”

I closed my eyes. Now I was beginning to understand Zac. Yet, there was one thing that bothered me...

“If he gets the high here, then why does he escape for pills?” I asked.

Mara got pale.

“Don't talk about that.” She growled. “Ever. I'm serious. Ma'am and Dr. Leatic get completely pissed.”

“Can you at least tell me why he does that?”

“Because he's fucking addicted, and because one of us escaped, okay? He escaped with the drugs and gives them to Zac in exchange for food or weed and such.”

“Someone escaped?” My soul filled with hope.

“Yeah, he was like us except he was so much smarter. He and Zac planned the escape for months. They were gonna leave and never come back.” Mara got quiet. I could tell that remembering was bothering her. I felt bad because I felt as though I pressured her into telling me. Except, I just had to know how that kid escaped. I refused to live in this Hell. “When the time came, Zac couldn't go with him. Ma'am discovered their plan. So Zac distracted her while Julian, was his name, grabbed two boxes of the drugs and get out. They were gonna go to the police, but I know that Ma'am has agents in the police. I was too afraid to go myself. I didn't want to get punished. Zac says that Julian has some connection that's been able to duplicate the pills or some shit. So whenever Zac's cut off he just leaves, gets money from his sister and buys Julian whatever he needs in exchange for the pills.”

“Why doesn't Zac just keep running? Why doesn't he just hide?”

It didn't make sense. I wasn't here for very long, but I could tell that this place was Hell.

“Because he thinks he needs them. Anaya, you don't know yet. You've just started them. Those pills became your life. I should know, because I need them. We all need them.” Mara spoke as if the pills were food or water. Her body shook and her voice trembled. “Soon you'll learn and once you realize that they're your very life, well, that's when you'll understand. You'll just wanna lie there and let them take you to places that you've never seen.”

I didn't want to admit it, but she was kind of right. When I was high, I felt amazing. I felt like I was free. There was no more pain or reminders of what a shitty life I've had in these short fifteen years. I almost wished that high never would've ended.

Yet I knew that it was wrong. I knew that the pills nearly killed me. I knew that they were deadly, and that made them all the more addicting. Maybe it's human nature. We all do things that we know we're not supposed to do. But, then again, what's life without a little danger?

“Anaya, don't mention this to anyone.” Mara grabbed my shoulder. “If Dr. Leatic or Ma'am find out that you know, they'll probably kill you. They don't want another escape. The only reason Zac's still alive is because, if he dies, his sister will probably kill herself. And Dr. Leatic couldn't stand to lose his only daughter too. I'm alive because they don't know that I know.”

“Okay.” Is all that I could think to say.

*

So, I was beginning to understand Zac. Already I knew that he had a hard life, dead mother, horrible father and two siblings. I understood why he wanted to be high and I felt sorrow for him. Some part of me wanted to take all of his pain, put it in a box and burn it. I had an overwhelming desire to fix him and just make him happy. Unfortunately, this feeling to fix someone who was in pain and make them happy would become one of my greatest downfalls.