The Hunt: The Oakmont Saga, Book 2

“Where are they?” Raughlin asked.

“We’ve completely lost them, sir. We simply don’t have the manpower to watch them as we have in the past,” John replied.

“You’re incompetent,” Raughlin raged.

“No, sir, I’m not. The Whitefish operation was carried out as you instructed. You commanded every little detail, and ‘your’ plan failed. I would have conducted it much differently, if you had delayed and left it up to me, sir,” John replied, talking back to his boss for the first time in his life, but he’d had enough.

“Further, sir, if not for you, we’d not be having this problem in the first place. It is your mishandling of the Brager case from the beginning that put us in this situation, and also lost us the best security chief this program has ever had or could have. And as I’m sure you’re not pleased with my response, consider this my resignation. One last thing before I go, though. If you attempt to pin any of this on me, I want you to know that I have all of our communications recorded, along with copies of every email you have sent, sir, and it is in a location that you nor any of your telepaths can get to. In other words, you can’t control me to get to it, and you can’t kill me and make it go away, but if I die, it automatically becomes public,” John finished, and hung up.

John Wu let out a long sigh, as he sat back in the chair in his hotel room. He hadn’t seen the Oakmont facility in months, yet he was being blamed for a bumbled operation within a few miles of it. It had finally put him over the top, and forced him to take the initiative. He’d already been wrestling with the direction the Headmaster was going in, but that operation was the end. Killing a large group of kids was too much.

He knew it was a blurry line, considering he’d been involved in the attempt to catch the Brager girl in Alaska, but there had never been an intention to kill her, or the Draper girl. Live bullets were used, against his wishes and without his knowledge. They still had no idea what actually happened there, and likely never would, which was how he had managed to justify staying.

Then there was the South Dakota thing. That still haunted him, and there was no way he could put a positive spin on it, no matter how he tried.

“Easely,” he called out.

Less than 20 seconds passed before the younger man walked in. He was fast, but never seemed rushed.

“Yes, sir,” Easely said, as he came to attention.

“At ease, and you never have to salute me again. I’m no longer chief of security for the Oakmont program. I resigned a moment ago, effective immediately,” John informed him. Easely looked surprised for the first time John could recall.

“Sir,” he began, but John held up a hand.

“I’m no longer your superior. John will do,” he said.

“Alright, John. Frankly, I’m a bit shocked. I took you for…,” Easely said, and paused, searching for the right word.

“A yes man?” John finished.

“Well, I wouldn’t have said it that way, but yes,” Easely replied.

“There’s a limit to how much I can submit to, and turn a blind eye to. Raughlin crossed that line,” John said.

“John, you may not be the best commander, but you are a good man. You care about your people and you get the job done, if it can be done. That is why Chief Stone chose you as his second. It has been an honor working with you, sir,” Easely said, extending his hand.

Taking Easely’s hand, and giving it a firm shake, he felt a weight lifted off his shoulders.

“Do you know where you’re going to go?” Easely asked.

“I think I’m going to see if I can find Stone, and see if he has any job openings, wherever he’s working now,” John replied.

“He’s living in Alaska, but he’s in Seattle, last we knew. If there are multiple openings, put in a good word for me, please,” Easely said.

“You would leave your job?” John asked, a little surprised.

“When Stone left, the only reason I stayed was because you did. I have enjoyed working for both of you, but I never understood why either of you allowed the things to happen that you did,” he said.

“Randy, we never passed them, and it’d be somewhat hard to miss two buses,” Stone said.

“Brian, it’s unconfirmed, but there is a report of two buses heading east on I-90, although it’s not from a reliable source, and it could be any two buses,” Randy told them.

“Randy, do you have any idea of her mental state?” Rebecca asked.

“Not since she left home, other than what Aliyah said, and that wasn’t good,” he replied.

“If she is anything like she was when she was at Oakmont the first time, she’ll try and get as far away from you as possible. She thinks she’s dangerous, and she’s scared of putting you in more danger, and with everything that’s happened, I can see her thinking that way,” Rebecca said.

“But where would she go? At this point, going to family in Georgia is as dangerous as coming home, and if you’re right, and I think you probably are, she wouldn’t do that. Hold on a second. Someone’s just come in with something,” he said, and put the call on hold.

A moment later, “Head to St. Louis. They’ve been spotted at a Catholic church there. I’ll send the address. I’m going to see if I can get someone there before they leave, but I’m not sure we can,” he told them, when he returned.

“Randy, don’t do that. She won’t know them and might attack them. Even if she doesn’t attack them, they’ll scare her away,” Rebecca said.

“Alright, but hurry,” he said.

“Can you get us a plane to St. Louis and a car when we get there?” Stone asked.

“A plane will be waiting in Kalispell, and there will be a car waiting when you get off the plane. I want to join you, but I can’t. Please find my baby girl.”

“You need to stay there, Randy. We’ll find her, and bring her home,” Rebecca assured him, and hung up.

Just under six hours later, they were landing at St. Louis-Lambert international airport. As promised, an SUV was waiting on the tarmac for them. It was the same basic vehicle they’d had before, but this one looked like a police vehicle. It even had a light bar on the top.

“I guess there won’t be any surprises from us,” Stone observed, as they were getting off the plane.

“It doesn’t look that way,” she replied, seeing the SUV.

“See if you can pull up the address of that church on your phone,” he asked her.

“Already got it,” she said, with a little smile.

“Let’s hope they haven’t gotten too far ahead of us. She is difficult to catch, when she wants to get lost,” he said, as they climbed into the SUV. The agent that stood waiting, put their bags in the backseat and then climbed in.

“We didn’t realize you’d be accompanying us,” Stone said, as they pulled away.

“This is my vehicle, so I kind of need to stay with it,” he said.

“Oh,” Stone replied.

“I imagine you didn’t have a choice, but thank you for giving us use of it,” Rebecca said.

And there, the conversation ended. Twenty minutes later, they pulled into the parking lot of a Catholic church, and sitting before them were two school buses.

“Brian, are we really that lucky?” Rebecca asked, shocked.

“It seems we are,” he replied, as he pulled into a parking place.

They both got out of the car and walked to the main entrance, which of course was locked. It was 4:00 in the morning, after all. Unexpectedly, the door opened for them, and standing in front of them was Melanie.

“You shouldn’t have come,” I told them. I’d been told they were outside, by one of the kids that was on watch. We had a rotation, so we weren’t surprised by anything.

“Melanie, we came because your Dad is worried sick about you and wants to get you home,” Mrs. Stone said.

“I’m not going home,” I replied.

“You need to. He’s the only one that can really protect you,” she said, and I actually laughed at her.

“That worked really well,” I told her, when I finally stopped.

“I know things haven’t gone well…” she began, but I interrupted her.

“I remember you saying something similar to me a couple of years ago, and it got worse,” I said, not giving her any slack.

“Melanie…” Mr. Stone began.

“Mr. Stone,” I said, cutting him off, “you’re a soldier. A good soldier knows when he needs to leave the battlefield, and when it’s called for to make a sacrifice for the good of everyone else. That’s what I’m doing, but it might not be so bad,” I told him.

“What do you mean?” Mrs. Stone asked.

“There’s another school in North Carolina. It might be better than Oakmont, and it’s my only chance. I can’t live with...people. None of us can. We’re too dangerous,” I said.

“You aren’t dangerous,” Mrs. Stone started.

“I killed 70 people and did so much damage to around 70 more that they might as well be dead. I’m dangerous!” I yelled, tears pouring down my cheeks. “And I’m mentally unstable too, which makes it worse.”

“We can get help,” she tried.

“No, you can’t. Dad tried and it failed. I need to be locked up, and I know it. Not only that, all of us need to be monitored by people that know how to handle us. That school is our best chance,” I said, repeating my original statement.

“What if it’s just as bad as Oakmont?” Mr. Stone asked.

“Then they’ll have all of us, and we’ll never get away again,” I replied, no emotion in my response.

“Melanie, consider what you’re risking,” Mrs. Stone said, tears in her eyes.

“I have, and Eliana, Ben and Aliyah need to come too. They’re just as dangerous as me, but thankfully, they’re not as screwed up,” I replied.

“Melanie,” she began, and grabbed me in a hug before I could pull away. I allowed it, wanted it. She had always been trying to help me, and I loved her for it.

“Richard’s with us,” I informed her.

“Richard?” she asked.

“Yeah, the one that was with James,” I explained. I felt her tense a moment, but immediately relax.

“He’s actually a good person, and James is probably dead, by now. Richard and Chelsea have taken X6, and if Aliyah did it, Ben and Eliana have too. Ben woke up the night they arrested Mom and Dad,” I said, and mentioning Mom brought on the tears again.

“It’s not so bad that they have it too, and it was expected,” she started.

Either she didn’t know my Mom was dead, or she was avoiding the subject. I knew she was too smart to have simply missed the connection, so I decided to let it go. Getting my emotions under some semblance of control, I decided to see what she knew about the Senator from Alaska.

“Bert Riley has been part of the program for a while, but I don’t know how long. He and another woman, a chairwoman of some House Intelligence Committee, tell the Headmaster what to do. He’s said he thinks certain subjects need to be terminated,” I told her.

“Which subjects?” she asked, and I just looked down. “You?” she asked, and I nodded. “Aliyah?” she asked next, and again I nodded.

“They think we’re damaged and not worth continuing. They want Ben and Eliana, not us,” I told her.

“How do you know this?” she asked.

“I sometimes have visions, kind of like dreams, but they’re always real. I know when I’m having them. I’ve seen the Headmaster have several conversations with him and the Chairwoman,” I told her.

As this conversation was going on, I knew I needed to reach out to Aliyah. They wouldn’t do it, and I knew it. They were going to try their best to stop me from going, not to mention the other kids, but they had control of Aliyah, Ben and Eliana.

“Where is Aliyah right now?” I asked, changing the subject without warning.

“They’re all in Everett, Washington, why?” she asked, a little confused.

“I need to talk to her,” I replied.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, right now,” she replied. She didn’t want me to tell Aliyah my plan, and I knew it.

Opening a link to Richard and Chelsea, I said, “I need energy. I’m going to reach out to Aliyah, and it’s a very long way. Everyone might get a little headache, so it should only be those that are willing to do it.”

“The link is ready,” Chelsea replied, what seemed like only a second later. As she said it, I felt the link, and the energy that came to my mind. With the amount of energy flowing into me, it had to be everyone, although I wasn’t certain.

“I’ll be back in a minute,” I told the Stones, and then closed my eyes, plopping into a cross legged position without waiting. The probe was speeding across the miles at lightning speed. I could feel the strain as I got further and further out, but I kept going, pushing as hard as I could. It wasn’t too much after the initial strain began that the pain followed. It started very subtly, barely there, but steadily increased the further I went. I tried to shield everyone else from the pain, but I knew they were feeling it.

Finally, almost at my limit, even with the strength of the others, I found Aliyah and Ben, and amazingly, Eliana. What surprised me even more was I felt Dad’s mind, too.

Knowing I didn’t have time to think about anything else, I sent a probe into Aliyah’s mind, not bothering to be nice about it. Her shields flared instantly, but it was already too late. I was in, but she dropped them as soon as she realized it was me.

Aliyah, there’s a school in North Carolina that might be better than Oakmont. Dad knows about it, and is planning on visiting it. We’re going there, if we can figure out where it is. I think you, Ben and Eliana need to go too.

Melanie, we’ve always tried to escape, and now you want to go to them, willingly? she asked.

I think we need to. We’re too dangerous to be with regular people. Not only that, if regular people ever figure out we exist, they’ll really lock us up, and I don’t think it’ll be nice when they do. This is our best chance, I think.

But you’re not sure.

No.

What if it’s worse?

I don’t think it is, but if it is, then we’re completely lost. I don’t think we’ll escape again.

Are you sure about this?

No, but I don’t know what else to do. I think I have to go, even if no one else does. I’m too messed up...too dangerous. I need help, and I need it from people that know how to handle me. I could sense her thinking about what I said.

Okay. I’ll see how we can get there, but I think we’ll have trouble, she told me, giving me her trust without hesitation. Questions yes, but hesitation, no.

By that time, the pain in my head was growing beyond my ability to shield it anymore, and I knew it. Aliyah, I have to go. I can’t stop the pain from getting to the others anymore, and it’s getting too bad for me. I wish I could tell you to call me if you need help, but we’ll get moving again in a little while, and this was too hard already. I hope you can make it, I said, and as gently as possible, pulled my probe from her mind.

Be careful, she said, as the connection ended.

“Melanie,” Mrs. Stone was saying, almost yelling.

“I’m back,” I said.

“What did you do?” she demanded to know.

“I talked to Aliyah,” I replied. She stopped wiping my face and stared at me.

“How? That’s at least 1500 miles, if not a lot more,” she noted.

“I had help, but it still hurt a lot,” I replied. Again, she stopped wiping my face and looked at me, rather intently.

“What do you mean you had help?”

“We’ve figured out how to link together, so I can get energy from other telepaths. They probably need rags to clean up too.”

“You’re always full of surprises,” she remarked, with a friendly smile.

“You have no idea,” I said in response, but without any humor. I suspected that I was beginning to come off as arrogant, but I didn’t mean to be. I had nothing to be arrogant about. However, I had been given a curse that made me too powerful for any human being to be. It wasn’t being boastful. It was simply a fact.

Mr. Stone helped me up and gave me support as we walked into the gym. Every kid was awake, which didn’t surprise me. They also all had blood on them, confirming my belief. Of course, none of them had the amount of blood seeping out of their eyes and nose that I did.

Thank you, I sent in a broadcast burst to all of them, which brought a small burst of more pain. Every one of them smiled at me, but didn’t say anything. I could see the pain in their eyes.

“Melanie, since we’re all up anyway, we can get ready to go,” Richard said.

“Let’s get packed, but let them give us breakfast. I think it’d mean a lot to them,” Chelsea suggested, and I nodded agreement.

“Let us go with you, at least,” Mrs. Stone almost pleaded.

I was about to tell her no, but Richard and Chelsea both got my attention, and indicated with a nod that they thought we should. “Alright,” I agreed.

I could see the relief on her face, at my letting them come with us. The entire situation seemed surreal. I was the child, yet she was excited that I’d given her permission.

“They’ll probably attack us again, when they figure out we didn’t go where they expected. They will find us, eventually, and you won’t like it,” I warned her.

“We can take it,” she promised.

“I can’t, but I have to,” I said, lowered my head and walked away, not even sure where I was heading. I found myself walking into a very large sanctuary, and without much real thought, made my way into one of the middle pews. Conveniently, there were little padded rests that folded out for me to kneel on, which I did.

I prayed for a long time, my prayers as rambling and disjointed as my thoughts. God would understand, though. He could make everything right, and as much as I’d not been talking to Him lately, I knew He was still there, and I hoped He loved me. I hadn’t been very lovable for quite a while.

“My child, is there anything I can listen to?” a friendly male voice asked. Opening my eyes, I saw a rather thin old man, with a very grandfatherly appearance. Although I wasn’t sure, I thought it might have been the older man from the night before.

He was wearing a priest’s outfit, which I’d seen on TV shows, or maybe movies, in the past. His voice had what I thought was a Scottish, or maybe Irish, accent. I couldn’t tell. All of his hair was grey.

“I don’t know,” I replied, honestly not knowing what to say.

“Well, tell me what’s bothering you the most,” he said.

“I don’t know if what I’m doing is right,” I told him.

“What is it that you are doing?” he asked.

“I’m leading them to another school that might be as bad as the one we left,” I replied.

“How did you become the leader? I’m certain there are older kids in your group,” he said.

“Because I’m the strongest, and that’s how we determine who the leader is, but I’m not a good leader. I’m too messed up,” I told him, my eyes involuntarily turning down.

“Leadership is a heavy burden. Believe me, I know,” he said, with a hint of humor, but not too much. It was obvious, he was feeling out how much he could get away with, and maybe help me.

“I don’t want to be a leader. I suck at it. I almost got us killed when Aliyah and me escaped the first time, and this time wasn’t much better,” I said.

“But you didn’t get Aliyah, or any of them killed. Did you?” he asked. Looking up at him, I shook my head.

“So, whether you are a good leader or not, you have been successful, regardless,” he added.

“I guess so,” I replied. “But I’ve killed a lot of people and most of them didn’t deserve it, probably all of them. I don’t know. They were just doing their job, and I killed two kids too,” I cried, finally losing control.

“What made you kill these people, and the children?”

“They were coming to capture us, and I attacked them so we could escape,” I replied.

“So, you were defending yourself. Am I correct?”

“I guess so,” I said, realizing that he had led me down a path of logic I’d been told before, but hadn’t been able to accept. Maybe I hadn’t been ready to accept it.

“I have no idea what you have seen and experienced, but I have come to understand that it is rather traumatic, even for an adult, and the people that have told me don’t know all of it. Only you do. If you wish to unload, I have a very good ear,” he said.

“I don’t think I should,” I said.

“I won’t force you. It is totally up to you, but it has been proven that telling someone that you know is able to keep a secret, can help heal,” he explained.

“They’ve told me that before, but it never helped,” I replied.

“Did you really open up to them, and let it all flow out of your heart?” he asked. I shook my head, knowing I could never trust anyone enough to do that.

“I’d bet, probably because of the stuff you’ve had done to you, that you didn’t trust them enough, and because of that, you didn’t really tell them the story you needed to tell,” he continued. He was right, and the more he talked, the more what he said made sense.

“Are you sure you want to hear it? It’s not nice,” I told him, still not sure I really wanted to do this, but I was at a point that I was vulnerable and more open than I’d ever been.

“Angel, and you are an angel, whether you believe it or not, that is one of my primary purposes in this world. God gave me a calling to help people come to terms with the horrors they have faced, and most times, the bad things they have done,” he said.

It started slowly, very tentatively, but as I began, the words started flowing and I couldn’t stop. For the next couple of hours, I unloaded everything, from when the voices first started, until the last battle we’d fought. I didn’t leave out anything, even the stuff that would probably get him in a lot of trouble if anyone ever found out he knew.

When I was finally done, my eyes and cheeks burning from the steady flow of tears, and my head hurting from the constant crying, he wrapped his arm around me and held me. He didn’t say a word for quite a while, and when he did, it wasn’t what I expected.

“In the Catholic faith, we believe in doing penance for our sins. In your case, you are still a child, but you have more maturity than many adults. You feel an incredible burden of guilt for many of the deeds you have done, and so I will give this to you. I do not know if this school you are headed to is good or not, but I charge you with remaining the leader of this group. Guide these children to this promised land, and see to their safety, especially if it turns out to be no better than what you’ve left. That is a tall charge, but a precious one. Will you accept this as penance for your sins?” he asked me. I nodded, not knowing if there was any specific words I was supposed to say. At my acceptance, he bowed his head and I did likewise.

“God, the Father of mercies, through the death and resurrection of his Son has reconciled the world to himself and sent the Holy Spirit among us for the forgiveness of sins; through the ministry of the Church may God give you pardon and peace, and I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,” he said, ending with doing the cross over his chest.

He then bowed his head again. “I would also ask, Father, that you would grant a special dispensation of peace and forgiveness, to this Your daughter. She has suffered greatly, for one so young. Please guide her as she goes forward, and take her to the place You have prepared for her and all of these children. In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, amen,” he then prayed.

“My child, what we just did is called confession, and I gave you absolution for your sins at the end. For many, that is all they need. I suspect that won’t be the case for you, so I give you this. If you truly believe in God, know that He has forgiven you, because you truly want forgiveness. Am I right?” he asked, to which I nodded.

“Then you are forgiven. The penance is not for forgiveness, but rather to help you internalize that which is already freely given. It allows those in a sinful pattern to take the first steps out of that pattern, hopefully changing the course of their life toward a path of righteousness. Do you understand?” he asked, and again, I nodded.

“Then I hope that this will grant you that. It is my fervent prayer. Go forth and be like an angel, as you’re definitely beautiful enough to be an angel,” he said, with a smile, and gently placed a hand on the back of my head, in a comforting way.

“Thank you father,” I told him, got up and walked out. I wasn’t sure if that was going to make any difference for me in the long run, but for that moment, I felt a little...no, a lot, better. Maybe God had put him there to let me know He was with me, in spite of all of the bad things I’d done. It made sense to me, in an odd way.

“You look better,” Alex said, as I walked into the dining hall.

“I think I am better. Not good, but better,” I replied.

“Well, that’s a start,” she said, with a smile, and hugged me.

“Did you tell the priest about me?” I asked.

For a moment, she looked almost scared, but she nodded her head. “I had a talk with him, because I was so worried about you. He was the only one I could talk to, without truly revealing the things you had entrusted to me. I hope you understand how Catholics view talking to a priest,” she explained. I could see the hope in her eyes.

“Thank you,” I said, and hugged her tighter.

“You need to get some food in you, before you leave us,” she said, after letting me soak in her support for a while.

As I walked away, I wiped my eyes, yet again. I’d cried more in the last few days than I thought I had in the past seven years. It was becoming a habit again, one that I’d long since forcibly quit.

“Is everyone packed?” I asked Richard, as I was walking to an open seat.

The table I ended up at had three girls and two boys, me making a fourth girl. One girl and one boy looked about my age, and the other three were definitely younger. One of the girls looked asian, one was of african descent, and the last looked like a standard european descended American, with dirty blonde hair and somewhat pale skin. The boys were both white, both with brown hair. I didn’t look at any of their eyes.

“Yeah. We’re all ready, other than eating. We even got showers and everyone brushed their teeth,” he added, as if that was a major accomplishment. I looked over at him and smiled, earning a similar smile in return.

Since there was enough space, Mr. and Mrs. Stone came to my table to eat breakfast. I didn’t mind, although they seemed a little nervous about it. They weren’t sure about my state of mind, and I actually smiled at them as they sat down.

“God, you have a beautiful smile,” Mr. Stone observed.

“Thank you. I would say the same about you, but I’m not sure I’ve ever seen you smile,” I said, actually keeping my face completely straight. Mrs. Stone was unable to restrain the laugh that burst forth.