The Hunt: The Oakmont Saga, Book 2

The next day, Richard came to me, his face ashen but determined looking. I knew why he was there, and my stomach was in knots. I was pretty sure his was too, seeing his face, along with his ashen pallor.

Let’s do this, I said, before he could argue with me about it again.

“Melanie, I think I can wrap it in a force field, but I can’t remove it from your head, not without someone opening it up,” he told me, which was a new tactic. I was wondering when they were going to think of that, and I was finally ready for it.

I’ll be going in with you, and when you have it ready, I’ll teleport it out, I told him, bringing a new round of shock to him, and Chelsea, who was also there.

“You’ll do what!?” she exclaimed.

I‘ll teleport it out, I told them, as if it was nothing new.

“Next thing you’ll tell me is that you can shoot lasers from your eyes, or somewhere else,” she sarcastically stated.

I deliberately changed my expression to one of deep thought, and earned a shove from her for it. As scared as I was, the humor helped a bit.

“If you start shooting lasers, I’m done,” she said, a very slight smile teasing at the corners of her mouth. It was closer to a smile than she normally came, which was something. Of course, they could almost say the same of me.

Let’s do this, I repeated, to which both of them dropped into a cross-legged position in front of me.

I closed my eyes and went into what seemed like a trance. Richard and Chelsea both joined me. Chelsea was there as an observer, kind of a safety monitor and also in case we needed help. We weren’t sure what help she could give if needed, but she was there anyway.

All three of us joined a probe with each other and Richard dove into my head. It was very tentative and slow, which I was glad of, considering he’d never been inside someone’s head before.

That was terrifying in its own way. He was like a brain surgeon who’d never seen someone’s brain before, but was about to do surgery on mine.

Calm down, Melanie, Chelsea told me, giving me a feeling of strength.

Following her advice, I forced myself to calm down, and returned to paying attention to what Richard was doing. As he was probing, I sent images of what I’d done in the past, which I’d already sent before. It was as if he was stalling, trying to build up confidence to do it.

Just as I was about to try and encourage him, he went to the device in the span of a second, maybe less. I could sense him mentally feeling around it, but staying away from it at the same time. As he was examining, he came too close, and a jolt of pain shot through me. It took awhile for me to recover, both of them frozen while I did.

You alright? Chelsea asked, at the same time, Richard said, I’m sorry.

I’m okay, I assured them.

I know that hurt, but I think it helped me a little, Richard said.

I’m glad it helped you. It didn’t help me much, I said, regretting the jab as soon as I had thought it.

I actually felt him cringe at my caustic remark. I’m sorry, Richard. I know you didn’t mean to do it, and if it will help, then I guess it’s worth it.

Are you ready? I’m pretty sure this is going to hurt, a lot.

I’m as ready as I can be.

I hope you can function when I do this. That little jolt a moment ago was just me barely brushing it. What I’m about to do might be a lot worse. I knew he was scared and stalling as a result.

Let’s do it, Richard, I told him, and mentally nudged him.

Without any further warning, I saw him start a force field as a tiny little point less than a molecules width from one of the wires, then another and another. Once he had a tiny little point on each of the wires, including the thicker one going down into my brain, he started expanding the field outward from those little points.

As the field moved up the wires, a searing pain moved with it. At first, it wasn’t a big deal, but as he continued spreading it toward the center, the pain increased and spread with each molecule he moved. The pain kept building to the point that there was nothing else in my awareness. I couldn’t think of anything else, the pain was so intense.

Melanie, stay with us, I heard a voice say. The voice barely registered in my mind.

The pain was so immense, I was ready to let it take my life. Of all of the headaches and torture I’d been through, this made them look pathetic. I was losing myself in the pain, and I was willing to let it happen. It hurt so much, I truly wished I could die.

Melanie, you need to teleport it out now. It’s completely encased, I heard. What did that mean, though? It was confusing, and I couldn’t understand what it was trying to tell me. Teleport what, and how could I teleport anything anyway?

In my mind, I began screaming, the pain too much to bear. I was about to use my own power to fry my mind. The pain was so bad.

Melanie, we need you. I can’t hold it much longer,” the voice continued. It sounded desperate.

As those words penetrated the pain in my mind, I felt a probe kind of grab one of my probes and lead it someplace. At first I didn’t know where, but then I understood what it was doing. It took my probe to where there was some small thing, and it was pulsing with energy, but that energy felt bad. What really caught my attention was that it was pulsing in the same way that the pain in me was pulsing, which I hadn’t even noticed until that moment.

Melanie, don’t let James win, I heard, but that also meant nothing to me.

The government makes you stronger, I then heard, and that infuriated me. The government was why I was in so much pain, why I was so screwed up. They were after my brother, and Aliyah and Eliana. They had killed my Momma!

The anger that erupted inside me was immense, and although it didn’t get rid of the pain, it gave me a focus, other than the pain. What I knew was, I needed to get rid of the pulsing device, the source of the bad energy.

Not really understanding what I was doing, I reached into that pool of energy and let it freely flow into me, not restricting it in any way. The feeling of pure ecstasy overrode even the pain emanating from the evil little device. Taking that energy, I envisioned the device inside the Oakmont building.

In the moment that happened, the pain stopped, but so did the wonderful energy flow from the pool. Everything stopped, and blackness was all I knew.

Light finally returned to my eyes, and along with it, the feeling of very hot needles sticking into them as well. Again, I screamed.

Again? When had I screamed? I didn’t remember, but I think I had at some point.

“Melanie,” I heard. Who was talking, and who was Melanie?

I felt someone shaking me, very gently, and I turned to look at them. There was a girl, with a very concerned look on her face. She had very black hair, which was looking almost blue with the sun shining through it.

A smile formed on my face as I looked at her, even though I had no idea who she was. Although she didn’t give me a full smile, I saw the corners of her mouth turn up, ever so slightly. I laughed at her, which made her almost smile turn into a frown.

“Richard, something’s wrong,” she said.

“There’s nothing I can do,” an older boy said, coming into my view. He was kind of plain, but he was cute too. His hair was brown, and somewhat short cut. I assumed he was Richard

I started to say something, but nothing came out of my mouth. I couldn’t talk. As that realization came to me, a flood of memories came with it. The reason for my lack of speech slammed home, and a single tear came from each of my eyes.

I attempted to touch my telepathy and was met with an intense, blinding pain. Yet again, I screamed, and found my hands enwrapping my head, when I finally regained some sense.

“Richard, she doesn’t have shields up, but I can’t get into her mind,” Chelsea said.

“She looked happy when I first came over, but now she looks almost like she used to. I’m not sure, but I’d bet she couldn’t remember anything when she first woke up, but then the memories came back. As for the pain, I can only guess, but she probably tried to touch her telepathy, and isn’t ready yet,” Richard said, pretty much summing up what had just happened.

“I remember waking up after the attacks she had, when James was trying to...do what he tried to do. It was a while before I could access my abilities, and the first time was like someone had stuck a white hot nail in my head,” he explained.

Trying to touch my telepathy again, brought more pain, which brought another scream. It didn’t seem as bad though, so I tried again, and again.

“Melanie, just rest,” Richard told me, as I screamed over and over, the screams devolving into grunts and moans the more I pushed myself. He had obviously figured out what I was doing, or at least, trying to do.

Pausing to catch my breath, I shook my head, and then tried again. Again, I was met with that searing pain in my head that emanated into every inch of my body, but I was beginning to feel some small response. That hint of response drove me on, and I kept pushing until finally, I felt the mental muscles respond to my commands. It was very weak, but it was there.

“Where are we?” I asked Richard, finally getting my voice to work. Chelsea had begun wiping blood from my face, as my efforts had been rewarded with a healthy stream of it from the normal places. They both looked at me, thanks to the fact that I’d spoken for the first time, other than screaming or in a nightmare.

“We’re still near the school. We weren’t sure if we could move you yet,” he replied, rather than address my newfound voice.

“You need to leave, before they come for you. You’ve been here too long,” I told him.

“We’re not leaving you,” he said, bringing a sharp look from Chelsea.

“You have to. I have something to do,” I informed him.

“You’ve done enough,” he said.

“Not yet,” I stated, almost whispering. Richard and Chelsea both looked at each other, but didn’t say anything.

Unable to hide my tentacle, as I didn’t have the strength, I sent it flying toward where they had told me the others were. It only took me a moment to find my target. I met an initial resistance, but it yielded as soon as he recognized me.

Mr. Miller, where is James?

Why do you want to know? His scepticism was evident in his reply.

They’re going to terminate him, and I can’t allow that, I told him. There was a long pause, before he responded.

He’s in a gurney not far from here.

Melanie, you feel very weak.

I’m not doing good.

What happened?

I took that thing out of my head, but it hurt me really bad. Again, there was a long pause.

That shouldn’t be possible. But I should know with you, to expect the impossible.

How did you intend for me to escape, then?

You weren’t meant to, he said, which was new.

So, all of that stuff you told me was a lie?

I was tasked with bringing you up to speed as fast as possible, since they had complete control of you.

Why are you telling me this? I asked, then I thought about it. He was stalling. I began removing my probe, as soon as that realization came to me, but I was too vulnerable, and too weak. He had me and he wasn’t going to let me go. He did what I’d done before and closed the hole on my probe, trapping it, and hurting me.

I taught you better than that, he said, a bit of laughter in his voice. I fought and fought, but I was too weak, and in too much pain.

I taught you that strength wasn’t everything, that you could overcome raw strength with finesse. Use that. I attempted to, but it was like running on legs that were rubbery. You simply couldn’t do it, no matter how adept you were.

In a moment of desperation, I used every bit of my remaining strength to form another tentacle and sent it to the person closest to me, which happened to be Chelsea.

Chelsea, run. They’re coming, I mentally yelled, and cut the connection, not very nicely.

Melanie, why aren’t you fighting anymore? he asked.

I used the last of my energy. The only reason this probe is still there is because you won’t let it go, I told him.

You really are that weak, then, he said.

There was one last thing I could think of, but I wasn’t certain I could force the energy to come. I had to try, though. So, I envisioned myself squeezing a rag for that last drop of liquid, in this case, energy. Feeling a tiny trickle, I sent it through the probe, at the speed of thought, hoping to dislodge my probe from him.

As the energy hit him, there was a moment of shock, followed by the faintest words, Good job. I knew you could do it.

I opened my eyes and saw Richard’s back, as he was running with me slung over his shoulder. It wasn’t very comfortable for me, and I was pretty sure it wasn’t for him either. As I was touching him, I was able to put a probe into his mind, in spite of my fatigue.

I need to go back, I pleaded, using my mind, as I didn’t even have the energy to talk.

He actually stopped for a moment, before resuming his run.

“We are not going back,” he stated, rather firmly. That was something new for him.

We have to. They’re going to kill James, I said, which brought him to a stop again. This time, he unloaded me, setting me on the ground so we could look at each other.

“Why would you care about James?”

“Because they shouldn’t be allowed to kill him like that,” I replied, unable to stop a few tears from coming out. This time, I spoke with my mouth, which was a little odd feeling for me, considering how much I’d been speaking with my mind lately.

“You are the weirdest person I’ve ever known!” he exclaimed, followed by a sigh.

“Chels,” he yelled. Chels? That was also new. Since when had he begun calling her that?

“Yeah,” I heard as she bounded up to us.

“She wants to go rescue James,” he informed her, which earned me a rather concerned glare from her. I wasn’t sure, but I suspected she thought I’d completely lost my mind.

“Is this the same James that tried to do bad things to her?” she asked, looking back at him.

“Yeah, that one,” he replied.

Turning back to me, she said, “Why in the hell would you want to do that?”

“She said they’re going to kill him, and she doesn’t think that’s right, no matter what he did,” Richard replied, making it sound a little better than I had. She stared at me intensely for what seemed like forever, until she finally sighed, her shoulders slumped and she looked down.

Adding a probe to her, which was difficult, considering my seriously depleted energy levels, I said, I want you and Richard to get everyone else out of here. I’ll do this by myself.

Both of them looked at me like I was really crazy that time, their faces cocked a little and each with an eyebrow raised. The way they did it, they were mirror images of each other, they’re heads even leaning toward each other.

If I hadn’t been so tired, apprehensive...and scared, I might have laughed at them. But I was all of those things, knowing that the odds were against me succeeding. I had to do it, though. Of all the bad things I’d done in my life, maybe this would start me on the path to redemption.

“You’ve helped rescue 90 kids from this craphole,” Chelsea said. Her statement confused me at first, then shocked me, as I realized why she’d said it. I hadn’t meant to say that to them. My private thoughts were mixing with what I wanted to say.

Getting an iron grip on my mind, I pasted on a command face and stood up. I’m going. You two get those kids to safety, somehow, I ordered them, not that I knew what safety really was.

Chelsea and Richard looked at each other for a few moments, and seemed to come to some kind of wordless agreement, as he headed off toward the group and she stood, staring at me.

“Well,” she asked.

“Well, what,” I asked in reply, using my mouth again.

“Let’s go. You’re leading,” she told me.

“You need to help them.”

“No, I need to help you. You aren’t strong enough for this crazy rescue mission by yourself. They’ll have you before you even get there. With me, I can feed you energy, so you can do what you need to do,” she explained. Unfortunately, I knew she was right. I still wanted to argue though, but I was too tired, and gave in.

“Alright,” I finally said, surrendering before I’d really begun to fight. It made sense for her to go with me anyway, since we’d been training together for the last few weeks, and had become used to each other.

“Melanie, can I ask you a question?” she asked, as I was about to start walking.

“What?” I replied, a little shorter sounding than I meant to be.

“Why don’t you just send a probe? That wouldn’t be as dangerous, I don’t think,” she said. I stared at her for a moment, wondering why I hadn’t come up with that on my own.

Without saying anything, I sat down, feeling stupid. She sat beside me, on my right side. Her shoulder was against mine, although hers was actually a little higher, since I was so small compared to her.

I closed my eyes and felt her power come to me. Using her strength, which although not as strong as Aliyah or me, was pretty good. The big thing though, was that she was well rested, and I wasn’t.

My probe shot across the school, even through the rubble, to the other side of the complex. What shocked me was, I could sense people, and a lot of people at that. Along with her strength, I was tapping into her ability to sense people. That was something new for me.

Did you know we could do this? I asked her, knowing she was tapped into my thoughts, at least my surface thoughts.

No, she replied, sounding just as amazed as I was.

Getting back to the task at hand, I found James easily. Having touched his mind before, even if it was forced, gave me a feel for him.

There was no resistance as I inserted my probe into his mind. There was an initial attempt to put up a shield, but it was already too late. I was in.

What shocked me though, was there was something almost like an alarm going off. I couldn’t describe it any other way. My biggest question was, how could he do that, if he was in a coma?

Ah, Subject 32145. I wondered if you would attempt to infiltrate his mind before you left? a voice said. How was he speaking? I didn’t think that was a known skill.

Although ‘see’ wasn’t the right way to think of it, I saw the Headmaster in my mind’s eye. He had that smile, that looked like he was in complete control, and knew everything that needed to be known. It was arrogance, and hubris. There was no other explanation for how it looked.

My name is Melanie, I spat at him, my anger suddenly jumping to the boiling point in the span of a heartbeat. He shook his head, with a casual smile.

No, your name is Subject 32145, and no other, he countered.

I felt something attach itself to my probe, and sensed that he’d somehow attached a lot of his probes to mine. In that single moment, a lot of things suddenly became obvious to me. Aside from the clear fact that he was a telepath, he’d manipulated people for years, by the simple fact that no one knew he was. What was even more apparent, he was very strong.

The one good thing going for me at that moment was that he hadn’t entered my mind. I was pretty sure he didn’t know Chelsea was with me, feeding me...and watching me.

As he expected, and was natural, I began fighting his probes, trying to dislodge them. Nothing I did made any difference, though. I couldn’t even turn mine off. He had me trapped, and I’d made it possible.

You can’t escape, except by coming to me, along with all of the children that are with you. Otherwise, I will allow you to short your mind, as they pull you further than your ability to maintain. Even you have limits, if the device doesn’t kill you first, he said, his smile really getting irritating to me.

Let me go, I screamed, actually making him laugh...at me.

You are strong, but right now, you’re tired, and that makes you weak...and sloppy. You’re overconfident, because of your strength, just like Mr. Miller tried to teach you, he said. That only made me fight harder, exhausting me further, with no noticeable effect. I could feel the pain in my head building, as I fought.

Then I thought about the fact that Chelsea was still with me, and wondered if this was causing her pain. If she was listening, she didn’t reply, so I had no idea.

In that moment, a thought came to me, and I pounced on the idea. Rather than trying to withdraw my probe, I dove into James’ mind even deeper, searching for the core of his being, who he was.

It was difficult, but the Headmaster hadn’t anticipated that, and I was able to get inside before he could stop me. There was a lot inside James’ mind that wasn’t right, and I could tell it was because of abuses piled on him. Some of those were from before he came to Oakmont, but the worst came after. They’d done horrible things to him to make him who he’d become.

I’m sorry for what they’ve done to you, I mentally whispered.

That’s what they’re doing to you. You’re being made into the next me, but better and stronger. They’re breaking you, a voice said, surprising me. I hadn’t expected a reply, and especially not from James, considering he didn’t know about mentally talking either. Regardless, he was right. I was becoming the monster, and once I fell far enough, they’d control me.

Perfect little Melanie. What the hell are you doing here? he scoffed.

I came because they’re planning to kill you, I replied.

That might not be so bad, but that doesn’t explain why you’re here, he said.

It isn’t right, I told him.

So you came to save me, then? Is that it? he replied, sounding sarcastic.

You don’t deserve that, I told him, and I could tell he was actually thinking about my reply.

I’m not really able to live with people. That wouldn’t be so bad, he said. I thought about what he said, and realized it was how I’d felt many times, some not so long ago. I knew there were tears coming out of my eyes, even though I couldn’t sense my body.

Don’t cry for me. I wasn’t exactly nice to you. If you’d have submitted from the start, I’d have forgotten about you, other than the fact that you’re so pretty, and so strong, he told me, but I was lost in my own world at that moment.

Stop snivelling, you weak, pathetic worm, he yelled, getting my attention again. That’s better, he then said, his voice more normal again.

No one deserves that, though, I told him.

Which is why I’m going to help you, at least as much as I can. I know there are ways to force someone to release your connectors, or probes, as you seem to call them. Once you figure that out, and I’ll help you, tap into my strength. You’ll need it. He’s not as strong as either of us, but he is the best trained that there’s ever been, including Mr. Miller. He can completely control someone once he gets in their mind, if he wants to. You’ll need a new trick, and a lot of strength to break free. By the way, I can talk because you’ve shown me how, James told me. That last bit confused me, but I didn’t think anymore about it.

As I was about to start going into his memories, he pushed it to me, saving me the trouble. His image projection wasn’t as good as mine, but it was enough. He showed me a trick he’d come up with, where I would attempt to fatten my probe very fast and as soon as the attacker adjusted. Then I’d shrink it as small as possible and dissolve it, if they had lost their grip. It was clear that James wasn’t sure it’d work, but he thought it was my best shot. He’d been considering the idea form his own experience with the Headmaster.

What if I send a burst of energy at the same time? I asked.

I always wondered if you were actually able to attack, and those bolts of energy weren’t an anomaly. Guess I was right. Yeah, that’d most likely help, he agreed.

Okay, but what about you, I asked.

Forget about me. I’m gone, and I’m not worth your concern, anyway. Contrary to what you may have been told, I’m not in a coma. They have my body heavily sedated, letting my mind remain active. Yes they can do that to us telepaths. I was a trap for you, which obviously worked, he replied.

So, are you going to do this, or not? he asked, after I waited for a moment, trying to figure out a way to save him. You can’t save me, so give it up.

There’s got to be a way, I argued.

Don’t be weak, or they’ll have you, he said. Unfortunately, he was right, and although he wasn’t being mean about it, he was being a soldier. Leaving him unsaved, was the only strategic move I had, and we both knew it. I just didn’t want to admit it.

That’s better. For what it’s worth, thank you, and I always thought you were very pretty, which made it easier for me to follow my orders, he said, and paused a moment before continuing, Now, let’s get you out of here.

As soon as his words were gone, I started trying to make my probe as fat as possible. Just as he’d planned, the Headmaster adjusted his locking probes to match and he stopped my progress. Then I felt a large amount of energy transferring into me, and I knew James was adding to my effort. Just like with Chelsea, I had access to his abilities as well, and the effort to grow my probe increased. The Headmaster was unable to stop it from expanding just from the raw strength, but he was able to keep his locking probes attached. Knowing it was time, I simultaneously sent a bolt of energy and also shrank my probe as small as I could make it. There was a moment of surprise, followed by obvious panic from the Headmaster as he tried everything he could to regain control. That was all I needed though, and my probe disappeared. I was free!

When I opened my eyes, tears poured out. I wasn’t able to see, there was so much wetness. I felt Chelsea hold me, giving me comfort. She knew what had happened.