Fourth Birth: The Oakmont Saga, Book 1

The next morning, Momma and Daddy got me up really early and had breakfast waiting. Ben wasn’t up yet, so I ate breakfast with Momma and Daddy and enjoyed our last bit of time together. After breakfast, I went to my room to get ready for the trip.

Momma came in and sat with me. She brushed my hair very slowly. We hugged a lot, Momma cried a lot and told me that she loved me. Of course I told her that I loved her too, but my crying was done and I had cried more than I should have.

Daddy would always be special to me, but Momma showed me how to be a girl. After spending that time together, Momma headed back to the kitchen, probably to sit with Daddy.

A little while later, the doorbell rang while I was still sitting at my vanity, not really doing anything. I guess I still wasn’t completely into the idea of going, but I had made my decision and I would stick to it.

It was like getting up on Christmas morning, anticipating opening that one special package from Santa. Of course, I figured out Santa wasn’t real a while ago, but we still played the game for Ben. I think Momma and Daddy liked it too. It still let them enjoy the “magic” of Christmas. I’d heard many adults complain about the pagan history of the Christmas tree and Santa and all of that, but it hadn’t hurt me and it didn’t hurt Momma or Daddy. Maybe I’d understand it better when I got older and wiser.

Of course, this present was one I had very mixed and confused emotions about. I was excited with the possibility of being able to learn, but I was anxious about going to a boarding school again. After the last several years of therapy, I’d finally accepted that what had happened at All Saints Academy wasn’t good, and now I was going to another boarding school.

Thinking about that, I realized this would be the first year of my life that I wouldn’t get to open gifts on Christmas morning with Momma and Daddy watching my face as I opened them. Even at the other boarding school, I wasn’t there long enough to miss Christmas, even if that Christmas was really weird, thanks to me being so screwed up.

It took a couple of years, and a lot of therapy for me to finally let Momma and Daddy get close to me again. At times, I still wished I’d never told on Mr. Radnick. At those times, I always thought of him as Gary, not Mr. Radnick, and I missed him.

I started to get teary again, and stomped on my emotions before they could get the better of me. I had to keep control, never let anyone see me cry...ever again!

Trying to maintain my composure, I walked as slowly as I could to the front of the house. Daddy was answering the door as I got to the foyer, my emotions finally reigned in,very tightly. Mr. Raughlin and Mrs. Trulin were standing at the door, with smiles on their faces.

“Good afternoon, Headmaster and Mrs. Trulin. Won’t you come in?” Daddy greeted them. I felt a knot in my gut, knowing this was my last chance to back out.

“Thank you. I don’t mean to be blunt, but I trust you have reached a decision,” the Headmaster stated, a calm certainty in his voice.

“We have agreed to let her attend Oakmont,” Daddy said after a long pause.

“Excellent. It really is for the best. Your daughter will excel in life as a result of her time with us. Assuming she does as well as we anticipate, we will likely make a similar offer for your son,” Headmaster Raughlin said.

“Just take care of my little girl. If after the first year, she is unhappy or there are any problems, I will withdraw her regardless of how good the school is. We’ll discuss Ben another time,” Daddy replied.

“We strive to keep their emotional state solid. A student can’t be successful if they’re depressed or in emotional distress,” Mrs. Trulin said.

“That’s good to hear,” Daddy replied.

That mention of Ben added to my anxiety. If Ben was to have a shot at this, I had to do really good so I didn’t screw it up for him. As annoying as he usually was, he was still my brother and I wanted good things for him. I began shaking, both from the idea of going to another boarding school, but now with the added pressure of having to do good, so my brother could have a chance.

Daddy then turned to me but still spoke to them, “How soon does she need to leave?” He pulled me to him and held me, lending me his strength and letting me calm down. It looked like he was simply giving me a nice hug, but we both knew better.

Mr. Raughlin had the smile of a lion that just got its prey lined up for the kill. At least that’s how it looked to me. “We have the flight ready and waiting. As soon as we finish the paperwork, we will need to leave,” Headmaster Raughlin responded.

“I suspected it would be quick,” Daddy said.

“Sweetheart, go get your things, while the headmaster and I sign the papers,” Daddy said with a sad sounding voice. I turned and went to my room to get my suitcase and carry on bag, which was my backpack. Unlike most girls my age, my backpack was not girly, yet another thing I was regularly teased for.

“She wants to be a boy,” they’d say, which was one of the farthest things from the truth imaginable.

In my room, I sat on my bed and looked around at my belongings and memories. I then stood up and walked over to where my Explorer vest was hanging on my bedpost. Running my fingers over the different badges, I thought of all the things I actually learned during my time in AHG. I may not have been learning much in school, but AHG had been teaching me skills that school never would. I was going to miss that. The girls there were much nicer too. They never teased me or tried to make me cry. Actually, they tried to make me a part of the group...they cared.

Knowing that all things must come to an end, I turned around to pick up my suitcase and saw Daddy standing in the doorway. “Sweetheart, I know things have been hard for you,” he said, pausing with a catch in his voice. “I just didn’t know how hard. You will always be my princess. I love you more than life itself,” he said, as he looked at me very tenderly.

I dropped my suitcase and ran the few steps to him, wrapping my arms around him. I didn’t cry this time, although he did. Standing there, holding my Daddy, helped me feel much better and gave me the strength I needed to do what I knew I had to do. As I left for my flight back into the big world, I knew he would be there for me, which I hadn’t understood the last time.

We finally stepped apart, and Daddy wiped his face. He looked down at me, about to wipe mine, but there was nothing to wipe. “My strong princess, who doesn’t cry,” he said, a tiny smile on his face.

“I love you Daddy,” I simply said, not wanting to depress him.

“And I love you, sweetheart,” he replied, smiling at me. His smile suspiciously got a little bigger and he pulled something from behind his back. “I have something for you. Let’s call it a going away present. Maybe it’ll help remind you of home and keep you from being sad when you get homesick, and let you know that we will always love you, no matter what,” he told me, handing me a small box.

I took it in my hands and opened it, seeing the earrings I liked so much at the museum. This time, I couldn’t stop a few tears from leaking out. “Thank you Daddy,” I said flinging my arms around his neck and squeezing as tight as I could.

“You’re welcome, my angel,” he replied, hugging me just as tight.

We again parted and I pulled out the little fake gem studs I was wearing, replacing them with the new Eagle Sleeping earrings. I loved them and I knew they didn’t feel any different, but it seemed that I was a little stronger and my step a little lighter. I could do this.

I picked up my bags and we headed to the living room, depositing my bags in the foyer. “I have the papers all ready now. Sorry about that mix up,” Headmaster Raughlin said, as we entered the living room.

Momma looked up at me and smiled, seeing the new earrings hanging from my ears. I knew I was beaming with delight at the gift, even if I still didn’t smile. I could feel it in my face.

Daddy and Mr. Raughlin began working on the papers, which made quite a stack. “By signing this, I am giving up all parental rights to my child,” Daddy said, stopping Mr. Raughlin as they were going over them.

“That is required as we must have total control over the children while they are in our care. Otherwise, we could potentially have trouble should there be any disaster or major injury. We don’t want there to be any issue with having to contact parents in a situation where timing could be vital, so we get full parental rights to the child while they are in our care. This is standard procedure for most boarding schools,” the Headmaster replied. Daddy looked skeptical, though.

They continued working on the papers, with Daddy asking questions or making comments when they got to a portion that he particularly disliked or had concerns about. It seemed like forever, but when they finally finished going over them, Headmaster Raughlin looked at me with a smile. “Melanie, your parents have put your feet on the first big step of your life. I know you will do wonderfully at Oakmont. Now, say your goodbyes. We need to leave as soon as possible to make the flight.”

Suddenly, my stomach was full of butterflies and that lump that had settled a bit was back, worse than before. I didn’t know why they compared it to butterflies, because it definitely didn’t feel like butterflies. It felt more like I just swallowed a huge glass of something very nasty and my stomach was about to get rid of it. Of course, that might be the lump I also had there. Momma and Daddy quickly stood in front of me, both hugging me very tightly. I almost couldn’t breathe, but I melted into it, knowing I wouldn’t see them for several months. After too short a time, the Headmaster cleared his throat, “We really must go.”

Momma and Daddy gave me another squeeze, both kissing me on the cheek and forehead. “You be good and write to us. Let us know how the school is. And remember what I told you, sweetheart,” Daddy said to me.

“I will Daddy. I love you,” I replied, almost ready to cry.

“I love you so much, angel,” he said.

Then Momma took me in one final hug. “Please write to us and let us know how much you like it there. Be good, sweetheart,” Momma told me.

“I will Momma. I love you,” I told her, beginning to have trouble holding back the tears.

“I love you too, baby. Take care of yourself,” she said.

Daddy picked up my suitcase and carry on bag and we headed outside to the car waiting in front of the house. There was a driver in it, like it was a limousine. The Headmaster, Mrs. Trulin and I all climbed in, me waving to my parents for the last time.

“We might as well begin some very small etiquette lessons. First and foremost, I am always called Headmaster,” the headmaster said as the car pulled off.

“Yes sir, Headmaster,” I responded, getting right into the flow.

“The sir is not necessary, just the title of headmaster. You already have a good showing of respect and manners, so I suspect that these lessons will come very easy for you,” he said, smiling.

He went over similar, silly little things as we travelled. All of them were things that Momma and Daddy had taught as far back as I could remember. The sirs and ma’am’s, thank you’s, pleases and such. They tried to teach me basic manners, which I already knew, so my attention began to drift. At some point they noticed and stopped trying.

It shocked me when we exited the highway heading to the Air Force base. “Headmaster, why are we heading to the base,” I asked, very curious.

“Our plane is there. We are backed by the government and we are allowed certain privileges as a result. This is one of them,” he replied.

“Are we going to get to ride in a military jet, sir,” I blurted out, very excited at the prospect of riding in a military plane.

He suddenly grabbed my hand and popped it really hard. “Your first mistake. As I said, you must always refer to me as Headmaster. As for the plane, it is a small private plane, not a military jet,” he replied.

Absolutely shocked at having been hit, I sat there stunned, not knowing what to say. Even Momma and Daddy didn’t spank me anymore, not that they ever really did, and school people had never been allowed to. I figured they would go to jail if they did. That was something I would have to make sure never happened again.

We drove through the base, which I had been on many times, but the driver went to an area I hadn’t been to and drove right onto the runway. There was a small sleek jet sitting there with the engines already running. The jet was painted a beige color, with no markings other than the letters and numbers they used to identify it. Those even looked smaller than most planes I’d seen.

The driver pulled right up to the plane and stopped. He then went to the trunk and grabbed my suitcase, handing it to another man. The Headmaster, Mrs. Trulin and I walked up a small, metal stair way that was shoved against the side of the plane and into the jet.

This was the nicest plane I had ever been in, not that I’d been in many. I’d seen planes like this in movies and in pictures, but here I was inside one. The seats were all leather, with a big TV against the front wall of the plane. There were two doors in the back of the plane. One had a sign indicating it was the bathroom.

There was a seat on the side of the plane that we entered, where I quickly went to and watched as the car drove away. As soon as the door was shut and locked, the plane began moving. We were in the air within five minutes. Knowing this was a long flight, probably about seven or eight hours, maybe longer, I pulled a book out of my backpack and began reading.

I got another shock when less than three hours later, the plane began descending. Curious, but not wanting to take a chance of another mistake, I simply looked out the window at the ground. As we descended, the ground started becoming clearer. I noticed a small city come into view and then fall away behind us. I also noticed the mountains off to the left, which I thought was west since we circled around a little while ago.

My brain kicked into high gear. It screamed at me that something wasn’t quite right. New York should have taken a lot longer and those mountains looked too tall and rugged to be the Adirondacks in New York. Daddy had always taught me to be observant and question what was going on around me, so I started doing exactly that, though I tried to just appear curious. Maybe I was just being paranoid, and we were picking up another kid or something. I did have a bad experience the last time I went to a school like this, so maybe I was making a problem where there wasn’t one. But I had to see what I could find out, just to be certain.

With my first question, I tried to play on my youth, and I also didn’t want to talk to the headmaster again. “Mrs. Trulin, are we there already?” I asked, trying to act excited.

“We’re about to land at Oakmont. We have our own landing strip,” she replied, sending a tremor of shock and concern through me. I had really hoped that wouldn’t be the answer.

“Those are really cool looking mountains. I didn’t know the Adirondacks were that tall and jagged,” I mused, looking back out the window at the mountains. I could see the headmaster look at me with a frown, giving me the impression that I wasn’t supposed to notice. However, he didn’t seem to realize my intention, which had become fact finding.

“I wonder if we could climb them? I bet there’s one with a cool name that would be fun,” I added, pushing my luck. I didn’t see any more reaction out of him and I hadn’t seen any at all out of Mrs. Trulin.

The ground was really coming much faster now. A small looking town passed under us and a few seconds later we were touching down on an isolated runway, seemingly in the middle of the woods with only one hangar and a couple of small buildings. The trees around the runway weren’t right for New York, either. Of course, I wasn’t an expert on trees and plants. I’d try and see what I could find out about them once I was in the school. When the plane came to a halt, the door was unbolted and then opened.

“Melanie, welcome to the rest of your life. Your time here will be to the greater good. I am now leaving you in the care of Mrs. Trulin and I suggest you be very respectful and obedient, but you don’t seem to have a problem with that. I will see you periodically, but this is where we part,” the headmaster said, stood up and looked at me intently. He walked out of the door, down the stairs pushed up to the plane and into a waiting car.

“Leave your things and follow me,” Mrs. Trulin said, as the Headmaster exited the plane.

“Yes ma’am, but can I bring my project folder with me?” I asked.

“No, you may not. Leave your things and follow me,” she repeated, and looked mildly annoyed. I left my things and did as instructed, not wanting a repeat of earlier, but I hated to leave my folder.

There was a van at the base of the stairway. As soon as we climbed in, the van took off. It wasn’t far before we approached a tall fence with lots of sharp looking wire rolled on the top and around the base, and two guards at the gate. They saluted the van and opened the gate, letting us pass on through. A short distance later, we came to a wall with watchtowers spaced along it at regular intervals. As walls go, I suppose it was a nice wall, made of red brick, but quite a bit taller than the one at my last boarding school. Of course, my last boarding school also didn’t have guard towers, complete with guards.

As a matter of fact, this didn’t look like any school I’d ever heard of and it sure didn’t look like the pictures we were shown of the school. Why did they need guards? It looked more like what I imagined a prison would look like. Something definitely wasn’t right.

Deciding that now was the right time to find out what was going on, I released the block I always kept against the voices. I wanted to hear them, or more specifically, I wanted to hear Mrs. Trulin. So, I opened myself up, which actually took a little effort. I had kept that block in place for a long time, never letting it slip since I left All Saints Academy, and it took an effort to make it go away.

As I opened up to her, I heard her thoughts almost like a conversation. “I wonder if she’s figured it out yet. She seems a little too observant. She’s just a little girl, so I guess she’ll be alright. I don’t think she suspects anything yet, and she’ll learn soon enough, anyway. I can’t wait to start working with her and see what she’s capable of. She should be just before her awakening. Maybe I’ll get to see it. That’d be awesome...,” there was actually a pause in her thoughts then. “Oh my God, she’s listening!”

I slammed my ability off. She could actually tell that I was listening, which was a huge shock. I didn’t know that could be done. That meant she must be able to hear the voices, which made her the first person I’d ever known of, besides me of course, that could do this. However, she was definitely not friendly and she was looking at me with an odd, curious stare.

I wanted to go home very badly, all of a sudden. There had to be a way to get out of here. The whole situation hit me then, and I couldn’t help the tears that started leaking out of my eyes, and I tried to stop them.

I was scared. No, I was terrified. At least Mr. Radnick made me feel good, always telling me good things, always trying to make me happy. These people definitely weren’t making me feel good, and I was not happy!

Mrs. Trulin must have mistook my tears for simple homesickness, which I suppose was partially true. I was homesick, but for much bigger reasons than simply missing home.

The curious, suspicious look she’d had melted away, and she slid over, wrapping an arm around me. She said things that I knew were false, in an attempt to comfort me. They were all lies, but I had to go along with it, at least for a little while. I kept my block on, not wanting to see the lies for what they were, but I was also scared of her detecting me again.

Of course, I also didn’t know what else she was capable of. If she could do that, what other abilities were there? What else might I be able to do?

Another thought intruded on my mind, then. Maybe there were other kids here, besides me. If I had this ability, and they had a school this big, maybe I wasn’t the only weirdo in the world. Surely they wouldn’t have something like this just for me. If there were others, maybe there was a possibility I could work with them to escape. The simple idea of escape had just become the only goal I had.

Luckily, Daddy trained me in case I was ever kidnapped and even reminded me of it the night before I left. He said it was always good to know how to get out of a bad situation. He also told me that it was the job of every person captured to try and escape at every opportunity, even if I failed at first and was punished for it.

I had definitely found myself in a bad situation and I was pretty sure I was captured. Now I had to discover what options I had. It might take time, but I would get out of here. They’d never messed with a Brager before, but they were about to learn all about us.

Mrs. Trulin had shown sympathy because I was crying. That could help me, if I could figure out how to use it, and if it was real. To do this right, I had to be able to make myself cry at the right time. That might be hard for me, since I didn’t like crying and had trained myself not to. I was really surprised that I cried this time, but I was more messed up than normal, which was saying a lot.

Returning my attention to what was around me, we passed through the large gate that split the lower section of the brick wall. Once we entered the compound, there was no other word to describe the place, I saw that the brick was just a façade. The inside was reinforced concrete, which looked several feet thick. This place was fortified, like they expected a military assault.

Our van drove between a series of small buildings that looked like houses, all built out of the same red brick. Then I saw a large building ahead that looked like an Ivy League school building, like at Harvard or something, but a lot bigger than I would have thought. It reminded me of All Saints Academy, but much, much larger. Although I wanted to think I might still be wrong, I knew this was likely for the sanity of the workers, and maybe to continue the lie for a little longer when the new kid coming in was still more gullible.

We drove to what looked like the front of the building, and then around to the side. That’s when I realized that this building was even larger than I first thought. It was huge, way too big for a simple school. It seemed to stretch for a mile. I’m sure it wasn’t actually that long, but it was a long way and it looked maybe four stories tall.

We then went to the side of the building and through a large door, into a small courtyard area. The van pulled in and stopped by a sliding glass door, like the kind at a hospital emergency room. There were two very large men in nurse type clothing standing outside, looking like they were waiting.

“Melanie, those men will take you inside and take some blood and run a few tests while I go get you checked in. This is all normal procedure here. Do as instructed and everything will be alright. Once you’re done, I’ll handle your registration, get you settled in and get your class list for you. You will not make it to any classes today, since we still have to perform your assessment, but you will tomorrow,” Mrs. Trulin said, looking down at me when the van stopped.

I couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if I didn’t do as instructed. Of course, the little example in the car was a clear indicator of what would happen. With that thought and the fact that I was now a prisoner at their mercy and my emotions were already a mess, rage boiled up in me. I got so angry, so fast, I was having trouble focusing, my vision becoming red and hazy. This woman helped kidnap kids like me, knew what these people were doing and was helping to make it happen.

My anger was about to boil over when there was suddenly a strange feeling inside my mind, almost like something clicked in place or maybe some kind of connection was made. That was a poor description of what it felt like, but it was the best I could think of. Mrs. Trulin screamed and blood ran from her nose. At the same time, there was a bolt of pain that shot through me, starting in my head, into my body and down my limbs. It was not unmanageable, but it definitely made it hard for me to focus.

This feeling wasn’t completely new. I’d felt this a few times since I’d started hearing the voices, but only a few times. When it happened, I’d have a headache for a while after, but it was never too horrible and didn’t last too long. This one was a little worse than the past ones, but I didn’t think it’d cause me any major problems and would probably be gone by dinner time.

She threw the door open and ran inside, without looking back. I stepped out of the van, confused and shocked, and a bit disoriented. That was unexpected, and though I hated to admit, I was pleased. I knew it was wrong of me to feel that way, but I couldn’t stop myself from being happy about it.

The men stepped up beside me and walked me into the building. This was exactly what I’d imagine a prisoner would have done to them, only I didn’t have handcuffs on. It felt the same as what I thought it’d be like, though. The memory of Mr. Radnick being led to the police car played in my memory as I walked between these men and into the building.

We went inside to what looked to me like a hospital emergency room, without all the people. Apparently, I was the only patient. The two large men walked me over to an examining table, where a few nurses and doctors were standing around, and it looked like they were waiting for me.

Once I was seated, the two nurses walked over pushing a wheeled table with different things on it. They took my blood pressure and temperature and all of the other things they normally did. So far, this had all been normal. A small part of my mind started saying that I was just paranoid and everything was alright. The problem was, everything I’d seen so far still didn’t agree with that, not to mention what I’d heard in Mrs. Trulin’s mind.

“We’re going to take a sample of blood for some basic tests. Be still and this should only pinch a little,” one of the nurses said, with a smile.

My anger was beginning to rise again. I knew this was a lie, no matter how much I didn’t want it to be, but I couldn’t help feeling some doubt that it could be legit. However, I stepped on my anger, knowing that it might only make things worse. As long as they thought I still believed their lies, they might treat me better and could slip something useful to me without meaning to. If this was fake, at some point they would have to expose themselves. I hoped that I got something useful before then and might be ready to escape.

“This is a really cool, old looking building. Was it always a school?” I asked, curious about the huge building.

“No, this had a different purpose before, but I don’t know what it was. When they converted it for our use, they closed up portions that weren’t needed any more, such as the basement and the northern wings. You could get lost in there, so don’t ever venture into those areas,” the nurse replied without looking up from her work.

“I won’t. Dark creepy places scare me,” I answered in the most innocent little girl voice I could manage. The nurse smiled as she continued her work.

“What grade are you in?” she asked.

“Fifth,” I answered.

“You’re older than I thought, unless you were moved up early,” she replied, with a smile.

“Are there a lot of really smart kids here?” I asked, hoping that I’d still get to learn here, even if it was a prison. I could almost be okay with it, if I could learn.

“I suppose you have the normal mix of kids. Some smart, some not as much,” she answered.

Unfortunately, she just confirmed my suspicion, even though I didn’t think that question would get me anything useful. I asked it really just to talk a little. But now I knew this school was not about being smart. It was about a certain ability they wanted. How’d they know I had it, if they did? But they had to. Why else would I be here? Then there was Mrs. Trulin, who had the same ability. They knew...somehow.

The nurse finished what seemed like the hundredth tube of blood from my arm, but was probably only the fourth or fifth. “You were very good for me. Thank you,” she said, smiling at me.

I smiled my most innocent little girl smile. “You’re welcome.” I started lightly swinging my feet, trying to increase the innocent look.

Once the basic stuff was done, she pulled out an odd looking little device and had me place each of my fingers on it. The device was connected to a small computer. “What was that?” I asked.

“We take every kids finger prints, just in case.”

’Just in case of what,’ I thought, but didn’t ask.

She then led me through a door on the far side of the room. What I saw were a bunch of connected rooms that were all glass on the upper half. In each of those rooms were large machines, one looking like a big white ring, and another looking like it belonged in a spaceship, along with a variety of other weird looking machines.

The man standing there waiting was thin and lanky looking. He smiled broadly as we entered, the smile reaching into his eyes, letting me know he was a nice person. I could actually feel it.

“Welcome to my world, Melanie Brager. I’m John Welter, the radiologist at Oakmont. I’ll be taking some pictures of your brain so we can see how it works. This will let us see your progress during your stay here. Other than being a little boring and cold, you won’t feel anything.”

As I looked more closely at the machines, I realized these were the kinds of machines that hospitals had for seeing inside people. I wasn’t sure, but I’d bet those machines cost millions of dollars. How did a school have all of these, and more importantly, why?

I wasn’t cold, but I remained quiet. It took quite a while for him to take all of the pictures he needed at the different machines. The machines were spaced very far apart and I had to get up and walk to each one. As we went, he told me what they were. Once he’d finished, the nurse escorted me back out and to a door with a stairway beyond. We walked up and she led me to an office, opening the door for me.

“I hope you have a good experience at Oakmont. Good luck,” she said when we entered. Although it might have been foolish, I decided to see what was going on in her head.

It took me a moment to make it work, but wasn’t as bad as the last time. Her thoughts matched what she was saying, though she seemed to have pity for me. She believed there was something wrong with me, which was why I was here. Whoever was behind this school had also lied to the people that worked here, at least some of them. I turned my listening back off and stood where she led me.

There was a woman in business looking clothes behind a desk, busily typing on a computer. I stood there for a few minutes before she stopped and looked up at me.

“And why are you here? What’s your name?” she asked, after looking at me for several seconds.

“I’m Melanie Brager, ma’am. I just arrived and was brought here by the nurse” I replied, continuing my attempt to look innocent.

“Why can’t the escorts do their job? Do they think they’re better than everyone?” she mumbled, but loud enough for me to hear.

“If Mrs. Trulin is my escort, she got a really bad nose bleed when we were about to get out of the van. There was blood everywhere. It was really gross,” I replied, as though she had asked me. The woman gave a faint hint of a smile and then returned to her unemotional state.

She typed on the computer a little more. “Oh, here you are Melanie. You’ll be staying in room C-15. You’re lucky and only have one roommate,” she said, then made a conspiratorial expression, slightly leaning toward me, and said, “Most have four to a room.”

Returning to a normal expression and tone, she continued, “Your roommate’s name is Aliyah Draper and she can help get you settled in. She hasn’t had a roommate in quite a while, so this will be a little of a transition for her too.” I wasn’t sure why, but that last name seemed familiar, even though it was an odd one.

I continued to stand there, waiting for more, not knowing where to go, or that I was even supposed to go. “You need to go to your room,” she said, finally looking back up at me. Still not knowing where to go and also trying to be timid, I just stood there, my hands plastered to my side tightly and my eyes pointed at my feet. I was trying to act shy, not that I needed to act. I was shy.

It was obvious she didn’t like me not moving at her command, and got huffy. “Now, young lady!” Knowing that this was a great opportunity to paint it on thick, I forced myself to start crying, hoping that I could. I was happily surprised how easy it was to turn on the tears. The situation I had found myself in must have had me in enough emotional turmoil that I only had to let my guard down a little to start.

As she saw the tears roll down my cheeks, she got up and walked around to me. “Oh dear. You don’t need to cry. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to yell, but you really do need to go to your room.”

As she spoke to me, I made a visible effort of trying to calm down, sniffling and wiping my face a little with the back of my hands. I was able to act way too easily, and it was only my first attempt. That almost scared me, but I was happy it had actually worked.

“But I don’t know where my room is,” I sniffled out, in the most timid little girl voice I could manage. She almost flinched when I said that, as if I’d slapped her. I really didn’t think it was that good an acting job.

“Oh my, I suppose you don’t. Wait here a moment, and I’ll take you there.”

The woman scurried to an office on the far side of the room and was gone for a couple of minutes. When she returned, there was another woman looking out of the office at me. I stood as meekly as I could with my hands held together in front of me and my head lowered, trying to look lost and sad. Of course, both of those were true, but I wasn’t as pathetic as I apparently looked. I said a little prayer that my acting would be good enough, though.

I wasn’t sure what my purpose for this was yet, but I’d decided to establish an image of helplessness so I needed to do my best. What helped a lot without me trying, was my hair getting tousled by the headrest on the plane and then the probes that were stuck on my head during all of the images they’d taken. It was an absolute mess, hopefully adding to the idea of me being a lost little girl. I’d seen stuff like that on TV and in plays I’d gone to, where helpless looking little girls got a lot of sympathy.

The flip side of that was, I was itching to brush my hair. I had become rather vain about it over the last year or two, since Momma started teaching me how to look presentable. She said I needed to start acting like the young woman that I was becoming. So she started teaching me how to do makeup properly and better manage my hair. That wasn’t too long after I came home from All Saints Academy.

The secretary lady and the other woman were talking, but I couldn’t hear them and didn’t want to listen to their thoughts. I didn’t think it was right and didn’t want to do it, but I was also afraid of being detected again. So I continued standing timidly in front of the desk, exactly where I was when I was first brought in. Finally, the woman from behind the desk returned.

“Alright Melanie, come with me, dear.”

As we left the office area, she put a hand on my shoulder. I guess she was trying to provide comfort, since I was a pathetic little girl, but it made me nervous.

We went through several turns and then up a flight of stairs. At the top of the stairs, the hallway was very white like a hospital would be. There was no decoration of any kind. It was sterile.

We rounded one corner from the flight of stairs and turned at the first door on the right. I had a corner room, apparently. Not sure if it would help with whatever plan I finally came up with, but it might make it easier to find my room. There were brass numbers on the door reading 15. I guess this was the C hall or something.

She turned to me and wiped the tears from my cheeks, since I didn’t do it very good. That was deliberate. She then gave a single knock on the door and opened it, putting a hand on my back and gently leading me in.

“Aliyah, this is your new roommate, Melanie,” she said to the girl sitting at a desk in the room. “Melanie, if you need anything, you can come to me and ask, but only during your free time.” She leaned down a little to talk to me, as if what she was saying was special.

Inside the door, I scanned the room. Like the hall, it also reminded me of a hospital. They had put in some dressers for us to put our clothes in and a couple of desks, but it still looked like a hospital room. This place was not built as a school, regardless what it was now used for. I was amazed the kids in here didn’t go crazy.

“I’ll leave you two to get acquainted. Aliyah, she’ll go with you to your classes, at least until we figure out what classes she’ll be taking,” she announced, and stood back up.

“Yes, Mrs. Thornton,” Aliyah replied, then turned her attention back to me. She then tilted her head a little and looked at me with a curious expression. “Isn’t she too young for my classes?”

“She’s the same age as you, Aliyah,” Mrs. Thornton replied.

“Yes, ma’am,” the girl said, again looking at me, this time with one of her eyebrows raised.

“Thank you, Mrs. Thornton,” I squeaked out, as Mrs. Thornton was about to leave. She smiled at me and then left without saying anything else.

As the door closed, Aliyah got up and walked over to me, as if she was appraising me, even walking around me with an appraising type expression. “You won’t make it here. The other kids are gonna kill you.” That came when she had completed her circuit around me, and was standing in front of me, with her hands on her hips.

She had an accent that I was pretty sure was from the south. It sounded a lot like Grandma and Grandpa Brager’s and they lived in Georgia. Momma and Daddy had it too, but not very much.

I’m not sure what I needed to do to fit in here, so I decided to listen in on her thoughts, hoping she couldn’t sense me doing it. It was a big gamble and I believed it was wrong to invade someone’s mind like this, but I needed to know what to expect if I could manage to get in without her knowing.

When I entered her mind, it hit me immediately that she saw me as weak. It was just like she said out loud and from what I could get from her, the kids were trained to be mean to each other. She also gave off the impression that it was a very hard training program once we advanced to the next level, but why and how did we advance? In that brief contact, I felt that Aliyah might be a good ally, if I could get her sympathetic to me. If not, it’d make anything I did a lot harder.

Not sure how I sensed it, I could feel that she was observant and smart. Feeling someone’s abilities was a new thing for me, but maybe it was just intuition, rather than my ability.

I didn’t want her to know I was, but I scoped her out. She was taller than me, which wasn’t that hard if we were the same age. She was thin, but not as skinny as me, which also wasn’t hard. She had more of a slightly smaller than average build but a little taller than average. Her hair was wavy and black. It was so black, it almost looked blue at times, kind of like Momma’s. Though it was hard to get a good look at them, I was pretty sure her eyes were purple, which is almost as weird as mine. She had a very pretty face, and was clearly the type of girl that would become an incredibly beautiful woman. She was definitely rough around the edges though, like she wanted to be dirty and messy. It almost seemed to me like she was hiding behind it. It was kind of an impression, or maybe I picked it up out of her mind. I wasn’t sure, and it really didn’t matter.

I noticed a few bruises on her arms and legs, but nothing that looked outside of normal for a kid. However, there were more than I was used to seeing. They were concentrated around the front of her shins and on her wrists and hands, almost like she had been hitting things, like in karate.

Normally I was a very shy girl, so acting timid wasn’t really an act. Not exactly sure why, I decided to gamble again, straightening up and wiping my face off. I transformed from the timid little girl, at least a little.

She smiled as I did that. “Wow, that’s good.”

“Thanks. I’m getting better at it, since they brought me here.” There was no hint of crying in my voice. She couldn’t tell how much effort it took for me to be that open and actually speak to her.

She looked me over again for a long time and then put a finger to her lips. “Shh. They’ll hear you. They’re always watching and listening.”

“You mean they watch us when we’re in the bathroom too?” That genuinely worried, and brought thoughts of Mr. Radnick back, but not the nice Mr. Radnick, not Gary. This was the bad Mr. Radnick, the one that hurt little girls, the one I saw that made me tell on him.

“Wouldn’t be surprised,” she said with a sarcastic, but thoughtful look, like she hadn’t thought about that possibility.

“What’s this place like?” I asked, returning to my normal timid manner. It was easier to do that, with my mind again in a bit of upheaval.

“You’re gonna be fun, I can tell,” she said, smiling. After a small little laugh, she said, “It’s not so bad, if you keep a low profile and always follow the rules. The classes are hard and there are a lot of them and they keep us going all day, between classes and exercise. The mind classes are the hardest. I hate those.”

Her right eyebrow lifting like she was curious about something. “Have you started hearing the voices yet.”

That question floored me, but I tried not to let it show. I was pretty sure what this place was now, but for her to ask so openly bothered me.

“What voices?” I responded, as innocently as possible.

“I can’t tell if you’re for real or not,” she said, looking at me long and hard again.

She stopped talking and just looked at me for a minute, seeming to concentrate, even scrunching her face up. A pain suddenly shot through my head again as she did this, but just as quickly it went away.

“Man! I can’t even sense you,” she said after a little while, relaxing her face. “Either I can’t get it to work or you’re blocking me somehow and since you don’t even know about the voices, I guess I can’t get it to work. Man, I hate it when this happens! At least Mr. Miller isn’t seeing it this time.”

“What are you talking about? What voices? Doesn’t that mean you’re crazy, or something?” I asked, trying to look curious and a little worried, which I was.

“No, silly. All us kids have the ability to hear everyone’s thoughts. That’s why we’re here. Didn’t you know that?” Aliyah asked after giggling at my response.

I shook my head that I didn’t. “I guess you wouldn’t. You were probably told it was a boarding school or something. They convinced your parents that you were getting an opportunity to attend one of the best schools in the country. A bunch of bull crap, even though it might actually be a good school, if they weren’t trying to mess with our heads all the time.”

Getting tired of standing, and also feeling very sick, I walked over to the empty bunk and sat down. “Your stuff is already in your drawers and we all have the same stuff. They get rid of all of your personal junk when you get here.” She then looked at me very closely, walked over and lifted my hair a little. She whistled as she saw the earrings.

“They missed those. Your hair must’ve hid them enough that they didn’t see them. Your crying might have softened them too, but I wouldn’t count on it. I won’t tell, at least not until they start brainwashing me.”

I looked up at her, but remained silent. There were so many things going through my mind that my thoughts were getting all mixed up. I was still not sure what to make of her, but she had pretty much confirmed all of my suspicions about this place.

The sick feeling in my gut was getting worse, the more my mind worked on the situation I found myself in. I helped convince my parents to let me go to Oakmont, so I was to blame for my kidnapping. It was my fault.

I knew there was at least one adult that could listen to our thoughts and there were probably more. I should have thought about them monitoring us, but I hadn’t. At least not all of them could sense me in their minds, since Aliyah couldn’t. But the final straw was that they would take the earrings that Daddy gave me, if they saw them.

As that last thought entered my mind, my emotions really did get the better of me and I started truly crying. I couldn’t believe I was actually crying!

I wanted to be strong in front of other kids, even my new roommate, but I couldn’t stop myself. She sat down beside me with a sympathetic look. “Why are you crying now.”

“I don’t know. I guess it’s finally hitting me that I’m a prisoner,” I replied.

“I never thought about it that way,” she said with a very quizzical expression. “Well, stop crying and clean your face up. Don’t ever let them see you like that.” She face became much more serious as she said that.

“I don’t normally cry like this. I’ve gotten really good at not crying.”

With a little effort, I managed to get control back. It was because I could do some school stuff, which I loved. “What class are we going to? I’ve only ever had one class, other than the advanced class they sent me to once a week.”

”You were in one of those transfer advanced class things?”

“Yeah, but it was kind of sad. It was way too easy.”

“You won’t be in many of my classes. I’m just an average student, mainly because I want to be, but also because I’m not a genius. The smarter classes work way harder than I want to. We could be in the same mind classes, if you’re strong enough. They like to put roommates together a little, especially for mind training. I think they think it keeps us from going crazy or something. Anyway, let’s get ready for class.”

We began getting me dressed in my new uniform, which was the private school girl uniform just like at the last boarding school, complete with the plaid skirt. Oddly, it wasn’t a skort like all of the private schools in Anchorage have gone to, and like I wore the last time. There weren’t any hose or leggings either, which bothered me a lot. I wasn’t used to wearing a dress or skirt without something on my legs. Of course, I rarely wore skirts or dresses anyway. Actually, I rarely wore anything that wasn’t jeans, unless I was going to church or doing some outdoor activity.

Once dressed, I sat down in front of the vanity in our room and picked up the hairbrush, brushing my badly tangled hair. By the time I was satisfied, Aliyah was at the door, ready to go. She was carrying a couple books, but they weren’t that big. She’d never told me what class we were headed to, so I looked at her book and sighed when I saw that the book was pre-Algebra. This was going to be a really boring day.

As we were walking to class, I watched her out of the corner of my eyes, which I was pretty sure she was doing too. What really surprised me was that thanks to actually forcing myself to talk to her, I think I actually liked her. Even though I’d just met her, it felt like I could be really good friends with her, not that I knew what a good friend was.

But who was I kidding. I couldn’t make friends, not real ones. I was going to escape and I couldn’t allow myself to get close to anyone. Now my emotions were really getting messed up, because I knew I was already forming an attachment, and I couldn’t stop it.

We got to class, with another nine kids coming in with us. There was almost no talking as we went in, although all of the kids looked at me when they came in. There were four boys and six girls, making me the seventh girl. We all sat down with me sitting beside Aliyah near the back of the class, since she was the only person I kind of knew.

The teacher walked in a minute later, bringing several books with her and setting them on her desk as she looked up at the class. Her eyes instantly popped to me, staring at me with obvious curiosity.

“And who are you, young lady? You look a little young for this class. Shouldn’t you be somewhere else?” she asked when she spotted me, her voice sounding really strict. With the tone of her voice, I wasn’t sure what the best response would be, and this teacher obviously liked quick responses.

“Well, stand up and answer my question,” she said, after harrumphing.

“I’m Melanie Brager, ma’am. I just got here this morning and Mrs. Thornton told me to go with Aliyah today until they decide on my classes,” I replied in a timid voice that wasn’t faked.

“Lovely. I hadn’t been told we were getting a new student, and you look young for this class. Can you do pre-Algebra?” she asked me, with an expression that said she didn’t think I could.

“Yes, ma’am,” I replied, amazingly with a little confidence in my voice. It was math, after all.

The teacher was a lean woman, but not too skinny. She had long dark brown hair that was almost black and a little wavy, and pulled into a very neat ponytail. Her face was serious, but not mean looking. She was wearing a denim skirt and a black sweater. She was actually a very pretty woman, if she dressed a little more stylish, and maybe did something with her hair, besides the ponytail. I couldn’t believe I was thinking about her fashion!

“Well, this isn’t a proper assessment, but come up to the board and let’s see what you can do,” she commanded. “If you actually do know what you’re doing, maybe the rest of the class can learn something,” she said, the tone of her voice letting me know that she didn’t expect much. I still didn’t know her name, as she began to quiz me, and I wasn’t sure if she really wanted to find out how much I knew, or if she was trying to make me look bad.

She started with basic problems and asked a lot of the basic pre-algebra stuff, then went to what she obviously thought were harder pre-Algebra problems. I answered as fast as she could ask, without writing anything on the board. She finally ran out of pre-Algebra questions and stared at me for a moment.

After a long pause, she began asking Algebra questions and then trigonometry, definitely trying to stump me by that point. Although her questions started off very basic, they quickly became trick questions. I was easily able to keep up with her, still not having to do any calculations for the problems, which made her eyebrows raise periodically, when I gave quick answers.

After a while, she started asking Calculus problems, and not just the beginning stuff like with algebra. She went straight into some of the more complex stuff, but that stuff was still easy, and I loved it. I kept up with her, still not doing any obvious calculations, even for what she seemed to think were more difficult problems.

Finally, she sat down heavily at her desk and sighed. “You’re not going to learn anything here so try to not be a nuisance during class. You can get on the computer in the corner, but make sure you’re doing math related work, and not trying to get to restricted websites,” she said, looking at me oddly.

“Yes, ma’am,” I replied, very excited to be able to study on my own, which I hadn’t expected.

I walked over to the computer, with many of the other kids looking at me with undisguised envy and some awe, which was odd to me. I sat down and went to the site that dealt with differential equations, although it was much harder than the classes I’d seen by that name.

Most of my math was taught to me by Daddy, until I started getting above his knowledge, then I started going to web sites to learn more. Daddy said this was some guy’s paper to get a doctor’s degree. I didn’t even know doctors studied math, especially advanced math. Doctors are really smart though, so I guessed they probably should. The paper, which wasn’t a paper since it was on the computer, was actually a bit over my head, but now was the perfect time to get into it again. I said it was over my head, but that was because I was still a little stumped by it. Some of the calculations just didn’t make sense.

I sat at the computer while the teacher, who I discovered was Mrs. Wilde, began teaching the rest of the class pre-Algebra. Tuning her out, I concentrated on what I was reading. As I got to the web site again, I found a piece of paper and a cup of pencils and pens. Unfortunately, I didn’t have my project folder, which had all of my notes. I slid the paper over and pulled a pen out of the cup and began writing things down on my piece of scratch paper, trying to remember everything I’d done so far. I needed to work out the problems I was struggling with, so I could understand the thesis better.

As I worked out some of the more difficult problems, I occasionally found small errors in what he’d done, which was odd to me. Why had he published this if it had errors? As I discovered those errors, they led to problems with the rest of his ideas, because those ideas were based on the incorrect results.