The Hunt: The Oakmont Saga, Book 2

“Melanie,” I heard someone saying in a coaxing way. Someone was holding my hand, too. Afraid of what I’d see, I opened my eyes and saw my parents sitting in chairs beside my bed. Gabriel was holding my hand, and I squeezed his gently as I smiled at him.

“It’s time to wake up, sweetheart,” Mom said, standing up. She’d put on a bit more weight, since I’d seen her last. How long had I been out?

“Are you ready to go?” Dad asked, placing his hand gently on my head and stroking my hair.

“Where am I going?”

“Back home, to Oakmont,” Gabriel said, smiling at me.

“That’s not home,” I said, fear shooting through me.

“Of course it is. You know that. After your attack on General Sartrious, Oakmont won preference, and will be home to all of the telepaths and telekinetics,” Dad said, still smiling. How could he be smiling?

“Sweetheart, they promised to make sure you had all the SHD you want, and they’re already giving all the other kids their doses,” Mom said.

“No!” I screamed, and woke up. I was covered in sweat, and shaking.

“Doctor, she’s awake!” I heard someone yell. Looking around, I saw two nurses, and a moment later a doctor rushed in.

“She shouldn’t be awake. She’s had enough sedative to keep her out for another week,” he said.

“Should we give her another dose?” the closest nurse asked, picking up a syringe.

“The amount she’s received could do damage, if we keep it up,” he told her, then looked at me. “Do it,” he then said, just as she was about to put it down. With the little bit of information I had, I knew I didn’t want that. I was a little surprised when I found my arms strapped down, and then my legs as well. Memories from my past came flooding back.

In that moment, I panicked, and all three of them were picked up and slammed into the wall. Not one of them got back up while I was there.

Using that same power, I ripped the restraints holding me down. Very carefully, I stood up. I was glad I had been slow, as my legs were very rubbery, but they were functional. Looking around, and gaining strength as I did, I looked for my clothes, but they weren’t there. At that point, I was willing to live with it.

Very soon after my failed hunt, I was peeking out of the room, using my ‘other’ senses, not that I’d ever been really good at that. There were two guards outside, and several other people down the hall. The two guards were easy, as they were already sitting. I sent a small amount of energy, knocking them out. As usual, I hoped it only knocked them out.

Thinking about the two men down the hall, along with all of the other people around, I realized I needed to get out unseen, somehow. Then an idea came to me.

I opened the door and simply walked down the hall, no one ever seeing me. I did what I’d been accused of doing, sending very good and complex projections. This time, though, I let them see the corridor the way it was, but without me in it. Getting to the elevator, I knew there was no good way to convince everyone, so I went to the stairwell and headed down. Just as the door closed, I sent a probe into one of the nurses, to find out where I was.

Having gotten what I wanted, I walked down the stairwell, and out of the hospital. I looked around to get my bearings, then walked toward the front gate, having to repeat my earlier feat, but on a much larger scale. There were a lot more people and they were spread out over a much larger area. Sending a spaghetti collection of probes out, I didn’t let anyone see me. Just as I had made my escape, I heard a faint alarm, and the gates shut behind me.

Using the information from the nurse, I made my way across the very busy road, and to the subway station. I didn’t have any money, so I again had to tamper with people’s perception and sneak through. My problem was, I had no idea where I was, other than Washington D.C. and I had no idea where to go. I was running, all over again and I was using a lot of energy very fast.

Running had accomplished nothing, other than pain and death, both times. It was not the answer, but how did I fix the problem? What could I do? Sitting on a bench in the subway station, I put my face in my hands and cried.

“Melanie, we aren’t going to hurt you,” someone said. Looking toward where the voice came from, I saw a woman just getting to the bottom of the stairs. She was wearing one of those white coats, and there were several other medical people with her.

“Yes you will! You all do! You put drugs in me and experiment on me. !I’m tired of it! I want it to end, all of it!” I continued screaming. There were people standing around, waiting for their train that were looking, although they were acting like they weren’t.

“I would just step in front of the train, but I know it won’t kill me. It’d probably just hurt me really bad. I can’t even kill myself,” I said, my voice a lot quieter.

“This is what your experiments have done to me!” I yelled, tired of the lies and constant hiding. I created a large fire in the middle of the platform, not far from several people. The medical people all looked frightened, all but one. She began moving forward.

“Don’t come any closer, or I’ll burn you,” I warned, and created a wall of flame from the station wall to the edge of the platform.

“You wanted me to be your weapon, but I won’t do it. I’ll die first!” I yelled at them, suddenly knowing how to kill myself. “Why can’t you just leave me alone and let me live my life!?” I continued. I knew I sounded insane.

“Melanie, we aren’t going to hurt you, or experiment on you. The President has been reviewing your case, while trying to figure out what to do. He wanted you to stay safe, which is why we sedated you. You unfortunately have a history of not trusting people, especially adults in authority positions, and I know you have good reason. Read my mind to see that what I’m saying is true. I give you permission,” the woman that had seemed unfrightened said.

“I don’t like to,” I replied.

“I know, which is why I gave you permission,” she told me.

Although I didn’t really want to, I entered her mind. In the state I was in, there was no way I could be gentle. She paid for her offer, and I could see pain in her eyes when I finally withdrew. However, she proved to me what she had said. With a wave of my hand, I extinguished the fire and she walked over and sat down beside me.

“I’m doctor Stephanie Bazemore. I’m a child psychologist,” she introduced herself.

“We were really scared of when you woke up, because we had a good hunch how you would react when you did. We’ve talked to people you’ve met and interacted with since you first woke up, trying to understand what you’ve gone through. You’ve been a very strong and brave girl, and incredibly resilient, in spite of the horrible things you’ve seen, and had done to you,” she said.

Through all of the talking, she’d said everything, not asking me a single question. She was also very pointedly not mentioning the things I’d done to others. I knew their tricks. One of the problems with being so stinking intelligent.

“How long was I out?” I asked.

“About a week,” she replied, and I only nodded, expecting something like that.

“When can I go home?” I then asked.

“I didn’t think you wanted to go home?” she asked in reply.

“I want to see my parents,” I told her, getting a smile from her.

“They were in the hospital, when you woke up. Like I said, we were scared of how you’d react, but we didn’t expect you to wake up like you did. You shouldn’t have, to be honest. We were planning on waking you up very slowly, over the next two days, and we wanted your parents with you to help ease you back to wakefulness,” she explained. It made sense, sort of.

“I guess I messed everything up,” I said, indicating the fire with a very obvious look.

“Not as much as you might think. We mostly cleared the platform before we spoke to you. We’ll have to have some conversations with a few people, but not many. Are you ready to go back?” she asked, after letting me think about that a moment. I nodded and let her help me up. She walked with me, her arm wrapped around my shoulders.

“How did you find me so easily?”

“We could see you on the many cameras in the area, and since we own all of them, getting access to them is easy. While you were sitting on the bench, you let your illusion fall, and I saw you when I came down the stairs,” she replied.

“I got sloppy,” I told her, actually smiling as I said it.

“A little,” she agreed, with a smile and a slight squeeze of my shoulders.

“Are the nurses and doctor, and the two men that were outside my room alright?” I asked.

“A few bruises, but they’ll be alright. The guards all have rather vicious headaches, but they’ll be alright, as well,” she assured me.

“Good. I don’t like hurting people,” I said.

“That’s good,” she told me, as we walked across the street. There were military people holding up traffic as we walked, a lot of them.

She led me back into the hospital, but I hadn’t paid attention to anything on my way out, and I was quickly lost. It didn’t take long for her to lead me into a very large room. It was like a game room, kind of, but it had a TV and couches and only a few video games, along with a pool table and a ping pong table.

As I walked in, Mom and Dad were standing waiting for me, looking very worried. I knew I’d done bad, and didn’t want to hear it, so I stayed where I was, letting the door barely miss me as it closed.

“They’re not mad,” the doctor leaned down slightly and whispered. I walked to them and they quickly grabbed me in a hug, holding me tightly.

“I’m sorry,” I cried.

“You have nothing to be sorry for,” Mom said, also crying.

Dad kneeled down, and wrapped his arms around me. “Sweetheart, I love you more than anything, and I was worried about you. I’m still worried about you. I don’t know how to fix the hurt you feel, and the things you’ve gone through. We’re always worried that what we do might trigger one of the bad memories, and make you do something you shouldn’t. I’m not mad, though. I promise you,” he said, and there were tears in his eyes too.

“I’m tired of running, Daddy. I’m tired of being hunted,” I said, breaking down again, right after I’d begun recovering.

“You won’t have to, angel. No one will hunt you anymore,” he said, and I leaned back a little, so I could see him. “The President, along with Senator Jacob and a few other important people have agreed to your suggestion. Even Headmaster Trudeau agrees that it’s the best solution. Not only that, they’ve found an ideal location, although it’ll require some work before it’s ready,” he informed me.

“Where?” I asked.

“There’s a prison near Palmer that the state recently closed down. As I said, it’ll need a good deal of work to make it a school, but it’s big enough, has plenty of land for expansion and has a lot of what’s needed already. As much as I don’t like you living somewhere else, we’ve sent you to two different boarding schools, praying for what this one might finally give you. The wonderful thing is, though, we won’t be that far away,” he said.

“What about all of the kids in the Oakmont program that haven’t seen their parents in a long time?” I asked.

“God, I love you, my golden angel. You always think of others,” he said and gave me a quick and strong hug. “We’re working on a plan to reunite families, with certain restrictions, of course. That’s still being worked out, but it will happen, I promise,” he answered.

“Now, we have something else to discuss. There’s a young man named Gabriel, who goes by Gabe. I’m not sure he’s good enough for my baby girl,” Dad said, but I could tell he was trying to mess with me.

“Daddy!” I exclaimed, and hit him on the chest. He picked me up and began tickling me. Just like when I was a little girl, I squealed with delight. I couldn’t stop myself.