The Misfits

Elias

Those same weeks that Cass and Robbie were recuperating, Elias was working on accessing more of the computer systems and getting his message system up and running.

He slowly gave others the information needed to access the message board and allowing them to post. The kids wouldn’t talk about any of it while they were together, except for Elias, Joss, and Halley when they were alone together, and usually only then while in bed whispering.

The other kids tried to be helpful, providing suggestions and information they thought might be useful to Elias in accessing the computer system or in the general operations of the Facility.

After the day the two professed their love for each other, they grew closer, and Jocelyn began to lose some of her aversion to real intimacy that she had. She could disconnect the working part of her mind and go through the motions of any act, including sex, without any feelings or emotions that went with it.

Joss liked Elias, even at first, but when they first began the relationship, even the faked part at Peg’s suggestion, she shut down. They kissed and while Elias might have gotten excited or aroused, Joss felt nothing.

Then as Elias showed her friendship, compassion and caring, she began to feel. At first it was a feeling of wanting self-worth. Then to do something about her self-esteem and self-image.

As these started to manifest themselves, she realized that it was all because of Elias. He got her to want to care about herself, and he helped her accomplish it, wanting nothing in exchange, except maybe her friendship, and even that wasn’t necessary.

Once she cared about herself, she began to care about him. She saw the person he was, not only in what he said, but in what he did. And not just to be with her, but to everyone, including Enya, who they knew wasn’t on their side.

Elias still treated her kindly and honestly wanted her to interact with the others and enjoy what she could while stuck in this place.

Then, even though they might have been kissing or acting out things to make Peg or whoever was watching believe it, she began to actually start liking it.

After all the abuse she suffered, she didn’t think she would ever like any act that involved intimacy, from kissing to sex. Just the thought of those acts brought back the nightmares she lived through, making her almost physically ill.

At the minimum, anxiety, and panic attacks.

But Elias was different. He had a calming and soothing effect on her. He never forced her to do anything, and he would always say or ask her before he did anything to give her the opportunity to say no prior.

Except some of the kisses, but she actually liked those and when she kissed him, she stayed in the moment and enjoyed him, not reliving the past.

She began to like the physical contact with him; the hand holding, the hugs, and the snuggling while laying together.

It began to be something she looked forward to. As time went by, she grew more at ease and could actually envision herself spending her life with him.

One day, she surprised herself when she was laying in her own bed after just waking up, and imagining the two of them older, living together with a pair of kids running around them.

Twins. A boy and a girl. That’s when she first realized that she loved him, and it was real. Never since her whole ordeal had she ever thought about sex or kids. At least not in a positive way

If she did, it was nightmares or torment. Now being away from Elias, she longed for his gentle touch.

She got up, getting her clothes for a shower. Going to the bathroom first, she wanted to shower and be ready for when Peg came to get her.

It was an exercise day with Elias, so she was looking forward to it.

She stepped into the shower and undressed, then reached for the controls but stopped, looking at the arm that was outstretched. Joss twisted it, surprised at the muscle she saw slide under the skin.

Looking down, she realized that the excess weight she had gained while at the Facility was gone, and her stomach was once again flat. She bent forward a little to get a better look and realized that it wasn’t just flat, she had abs. Defined muscle.

It wasn’t a six pack, but it was toned, and lead to hip bones she could actually see. By bending forward, her thighs tightened up and she saw all that running, and rowing really did a job defining her legs and calves.

For the first time she could remember, she had muscles. Not body building muscle, but girly-fit muscles. All because of, and with the help of, Elias.

She showered, kind of giddy. Finishing, she dried off, paying closer attention to her body and the changes, before dressing in the spandex workout outfit, and then the scrubs over those.

Peg came, bringing her the now normal breakfast, which consisted of two hard boiled eggs for after, a small bowl of healthy cereal, milk for it, and a banana. All of her meals were lighter and lacked sweets except for once a week when she would have a treat.

She ate and waited for Peg to come back. Peg did and took her to the rec room. Elias was already there, as was Halley.

This disappointed Jocelyn a little. She had nothing against the younger girl, and in fact had grown to like her a lot once they both seemed to get over their jealousy for each other.

It was simply that Halley seemed to crave attention and took Elias away from her. The girl didn’t do it with the purpose of taking Elias from her, Joss knew it, it was just how Halley was. Around Elias, she was a happy, excitable bundle of energy that wanted to be a part of what they did.

And Joss realized that it wasn’t just Elias. She was always included, and if Elias wasn’t around, she was his substitute.

Halley bounced over to her, hugging her. “Hey, Jocelyn!”

“Hey, yourself,” she said hugging the girl back.

“Sorry,” Halley said.

“For what?”

Halley still had her arms around Joss but looked up at her. “I know it’s your time with Elias. This wasn’t my idea, it was Pegs.”

Joss was aware that Halley had her hands together around her torso. This made her happier.

Joss tightened her grip on Halley and lifted, then spun her around in a circle, both girls laughing. She finally sat her back on her feet and said, “Don’t worry about it. I know how to share.”

“Yeah, but…” She pulled Joss down to whisper to her. “Elias told me he loves you. He loves me too, but not the same way. He thinks I’m jealous, and in a way, I am, but I’m too young and you guys were meant to be together, I think. So, I don’t want to be in the way.

Joss put her head on Halley’s. “Thank you. And just so you know, I love you the same way he does. You aren’t in the way, so don’t worry. And we’ll try to keep the icky stuff to a minimum,” she said, kissing the captive girl who giggled.

Elias watched the exchange, not hearing what they said. Everything seemed okay. He had finally told Halley the night before that he had fallen for Jocelyn. He thought she would take it okay.

Peg had surprised them, bringing Halley her swimsuit, and telling them she would be accompanying Elias and Joss today.

Elias figured something was up, but there was no telling what. There had been no hint that the Facility knew what Elias was up to, but they might not necessarily tip their hand.

He mentally shrugged. Whatever happened, happened. He would adjust accordingly.

Halley let go of Joss, said she was going to ride the bikes, and took off.

Jocelyn smiled shyly at Elias, who came over and took her hand.

“Shall we?” he asked.

She said yes, thinking about her fantasy from earlier in the morning, and answering a question that he really hadn’t asked.

They stretched to warm up, then went for a run around a virtual park. After a quick two miles, they rowed for ten minutes. To cool down some, they moved to the exercise machine and worked on their upper bodies before moving to do sit-ups.

Once again, they did them side-by-side until Joss couldn’t do anymore, but now, she was doing more than three times what she started out doing when they started.

Elias moved to hold her feet and she did several more before she took his hands.

She did more, each one using more arms than stomach, so she called it quits.

Elias let go of her hands and she flopped back, arms spread wide, breathing deeply. He put his hands on her knees, parting them.

This sent little shivers up Joss.

He bent over, putting his hands on her exposed waist, thumbs on her stomach. Bending over further, he ran his hands up her sides to her top.

Her stomach tightened in anticipation, not sure what he would do, but wanting whatever it would be.

Elias bent over and kissed her around her belly button, slowly moving up to her top, then above it. He moved her arms to her sides, and laid on top of her, resting his forearms on the ground to keep himself above her.

Looking into her eyes, he said, “I want you to know how proud I am of you. I see how hard you’ve worked, and if you haven’t seen it, I want you to know all that work has paid off. You’re in shape, and it’s a pretty nice shape if I do say so myself.”

He bent and kissed her.

“Eww,” she said softly. “I’m all sweaty.”

“And I like the taste of you,” he said kissing her again.

She wrapped her legs around him, putting her hands on his bare chest. They kissed more and she pulled him down on top of her.

Elias had his fingers wrapped in her hair, tipping her head as he kissed her face and neck.

She tightened her legs, feeling him against her. “You’re poking me,” she said moving against him.

“Yeah, but this time, you’re poking back,” he said moving his chest against hers.

She had the urge to throw caution to the wind, ignore the cameras, forget her past and tear their clothes off until she heard a little sing-song voice chanting, “Two little love birds, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G…” and it brought her back to where she was, and that Halley, who had been unusually quiet, was there.

Elias pushed himself up onto his elbows again, and said, “Um, if you move your legs, I’ll roll my back towards Halley until we are both fit for nine-year-old eyes.

Reluctantly Joss lowered her legs and Elias moved off her. After a few minutes of listening to Halley whistle the song, Joss said, “Pool. It will cool us off.”

Elias laughed. “It won’t dampen the fire in my heart.”

She looked at him.

“Too corny?” he asked.

She shook her head, holding back tears and sat up. He got up and helped her up, and they went to the pool to join a splashing Halley.

All three played, chasing each other, dunking one another, splashing and horse playing.

Halley got out to cannonball the other two who were swimming past, Elias chasing Joss, when she froze.

“Jocelyn,” Halley said, panicked.

The tone of Halley’s voice caused Joss to stop, letting Elias catch her. Halley dove in, swimming to Joss, grabbing her.

“What’s wrong?” she asked the younger girl.

Halley pointed behind them at a thin trail of pink spreading in the pool.

“You’re hurt,” Halley said, still gripping her.

“Grr,” the girl said. “It’s not working.”

She looked and started slapping at Elias who was holding on to Joss. “Let go of her dummy. You’re stopping me.”

Elias let go right away as Halley grabbed Joss again. A few seconds went by and Halley said, “Oh,” letting Joss go.

“Oh? Oh, what?” Elias asked.

“Um.” She paused and whispered something to Joss.

“What? That can’t be right.”

Halley just nodded.

Jocelyn darted to the side of the pool, pulling herself effortlessly up and out.

Elias saw a small trail of blood in the water, but no injury that he could make out, as she ran to the bathroom.

He turned to Halley. “What’s going on?”

“She’s fine. Girl issues.”

“What do you mean she’s fine? She’s bleeding, how can she be fine? People don’t just… bleed,” he finished weakly, turning red. “Oh.”

“It’s no big deal, but she’s freaked. You should go talk to her.”

Elias shook his head vehemently. “Oh no. That’s a non-guy issue. Girls don’t want to discuss that stuff with guys.”

“But it’s a biological thing. It’s natural.”

“I know that and don’t care, but girls, except maybe you, seem to think it’s a taboo issue. I’ll only talk to her if she brings it up.”

Halley sighed. “Fine. I’ll go talk to her,” she said, swimming to the edge and climbing out.

Elias got out as Halley went to the bathroom and disappeared inside.

Joss was too distraught to have thought about locking the door. The door opened and closed, and she expected to see Elias, which would only further her humiliation, but she saw Halley through the running water of the shower.

Halley walked up to her, into the falling water. Joss had her forehead against the wall, so Halley put her hand on Joss’s back.

“Elias wanted… to come, but he wasn’t sure to say. So, I told him I’d come. But I’m not sure what to say either, because I don’t know why you’re upset. I haven’t got mine yet, but it’s natural. It happens. Yours just started at a bad time, so what? Elias doesn’t care. He cares that you’re okay. So why are you upset?”

Jocelyn turned around, looking at the girl four years younger, and a foot shorter, feeling foolish.

Since Halley was standing in front of the water, she slid down the wall and sat on the floor. “When I was younger, I had some really, really bad things done to me,” she said not wanting to share the horrible details with the younger girl. “And for some reason, it stopped. It could have been the drugs I was given, or that I was malnourished, or, well, who knows, but it did.

“When I was sent here, I was forced off the drugs I had been given, I ate – overate – and all this time, nothing. And now of all the times it could start, my body picked now. To embarrass me to no end in front of someone I like.”

“And me,” Halley added.

Joss grunted. “And you.”

“Why would I care? I know about it; at some point I’ll do it myself – that’s biology. And right now, it’s been paused. I don’t know for how long, but since it’s not something that can really be healed. But for now, it’s stopped.”

“Oh Halley, you didn’t,” Joss said.

“Why not? I thought you were hurt, so I just healed you. Well, sorta.”

“But Elias said if you heal someone, you take the physical part of it on yourself. You get hurt yourself.”

Halley shrugged.

“And I recall you saying you were restricted from doing it unless Peg or Elias said so.”

Halley shrugged again. “You were hurt. You matter to me, so I just did it. I didn’t even think about it.”

“But… Oh no,” Joss said pointing.

Halley looked down, saw her own swimsuit was red tinged and a trickle of blood down her own leg. She bit her lip. “Hmm, didn’t see that coming. I should have though. Oh well,” she said, shrugging again. “I guess I’ve now officially blossomed,” she said using her fingers to air quote.

“So now we’re in this together. Elias should love this,” Halley said.

Joss stood up and turned Halley around into the water, washing her off. Looking at herself, it appeared the bleeding had stopped but her shorts had pinkish stains that probably wouldn’t come out. Good thing their clothing was recycled.

“Wait here,” she told Halley.

Halley didn’t care that she had finally gotten her menses, it was going to happen at some point. Now was a good as time as any.

Joss came out of the bathroom, her hands down in embarrassment, covering herself.

Elias was nearby, but far enough to give them some space.

“Could you please get our clothes?” she asked him.

He immediately got their scrubs and brought them back to her.

“We’ll be a few minutes still,” she told him.

“Okay,” he said, putting his hand on her arm. “Are you okay?”

She kissed his cheek. “We’re fine,” she said and went back to the bathroom.

Halley was still standing under the water, and Joss motioned her to come over.

Joss rolled toilet paper around her hand into a thick wad, then did it again. “One for each of us,” she said. “Now we wipe, then put this in our clothes as a temporary pad. Peg will need to give both of us real ones.”

Joss handed Halley one, then took hers and turned away. She cleaned herself, then stuffed the paper into her shorts.

Halley didn’t shy away from watching the older girl, having no real reference to what to do, then pulled her suit to one side, cleaned herself and stuck the wad and stuck the wad into the bottom before putting it back into place.

“Done,” she said, and Joss turned back.

They put on the scrubs and Halley said, “Thanks. I knew this would happen, but no one really ever explained what to do.”

Jocelyn sat and explained the basics of why it happens, hygiene and the difference between pads and tampons.

Halley wrinkled her nose at why it happens, and her eyes widened at how to use a tampon. “I’ll stick to pads,” she said.

Joss stood and kissed her head. “Yeah, good idea until you’re older. Come on, Elias is probably worried by now.”

They walked out and both Elias and Peg were waiting. Elias noticed Halley walking funny and looked at her but said nothing.

Joss walked up to Peg. “Sorry. There was a bad timing incident. It just happened to be at the same time,” Joss explained.

Peg waived her hand. “It happens, no big deal.”

Peg took Jocelyn first. Elias looked at Halley. “What’s going on? Why are you acting funny?”

“I tried to heal Joss. I didn’t get a bruise because she didn’t have one. I got… well, turned into a young woman.”

Elias paled, swallowing. “You… you…” It was all he could get out.

She nodded.

“Quick, give it to me.”

It was her turn to look at him. “I’m not sure that would work. I bruise, you bruise. I bleed from… well, what would you do?”

Elias ground his teeth, cursing under his breath.

“And don’t yell at me for trying to heal her. She’s a friend and I didn’t think, I just did it. And would do it again, so save it.”

Elias looked at her wide-eyed as she stood there, hands on her small hips.

“Fine. Tell Peg what you need,” he said hugging her.

Peg came back and took Halley, taking a longer time to come back for him. She took him back to his room, not saying anything.

He took a shower and waited for lunch. When she came in, she set the tray down and said, “So, quite a morning.”

“Uh, yeah.” He decided to lay the typical teen boy. “It was one of those things that I really didn’t need to be a part of. Girl issues are, um, not my thing”

“You seem concerned,” she said.

He knew she had either been watching or had watched the video. “I thought Joss was hurt, so yeah, I was concerned. Once I found out she wasn’t and it was only a girl issue, then it really wasn’t my business.”

“And Halley. Starting her… well, it’s just strange.”

“Well, I only partially paid attention in my health class, but I remember something about girls sync’ing or something like that, when they are around each other. Or live together, or something like that. You might want to check on Enya and Bree too.”

“You seem to have found an interest in this all of a sudden.”

He shook his head. “No. Just an observation. But you’re the woman, you’d know all this, so yeah, it’s none of my business. Anyway, the pool…”

“Will be taken care of for tomorrow. The chlorine level tomorrow might be a little higher than normal, but there will be no dangers or concerns by contamination. Everyone has routine tests to ensure their health, remember?”

“Yeah,” he said.

“It might be prudent to limit them both. Your social visits at night with them will be put on hold, and no swimming until it ends. Exercise is fine. It won’t hurt, and it might actually help. I won’t go into detail, but know they will both be looked after, and their needs will be taken care of,” Peg told him.

“Um, okay. Thank you.”

Peg left, taking the tray as he ate while they talked.

He read and played games until dinner. After dinner, he went back to his hacking. He was able to get into the security system again, and he pulled up the floor plan.

Elias tried to memorize the important places and where he was in relation to them. Then he set about trying to gain access to the other parts of the security system.

He found a way to get into the video system finally. It was only a partial victory in that he couldn’t access the video feeds themselves, but he could turn them on and off, and with a little practice, he figured out how to loop a video feed.

This was harder because he couldn’t actually see the video, so it could show a kid walking to the bathroom over and over, or a guard walking the same hall again and again.

It was a risk he had to take.

Well past midnight, he had a breakthrough and gained access to the entire system. It was basically overrides for all the doors in case someone tried to open, or keep a door closed from the local panel.

Elias wanted to give all this a test and without company, tonight was the perfect night. He accessed the camera feeds and began to loop cameras from Jocelyn’s to his. When he got to his corridor, he was surprised to find that those cameras were already turned off.

He had no choice but to leave those as they were, since if they were switched, someone might notice. Next, he accessed the override system and opened his door and then Jocelyn’s door.

Halley’s room was only one corridor away and he wanted to check on her, so he opened her door too, then went back and looped a few more cameras.

If he got caught, he would say his door was open and he went for a walk. It wasn’t like he knew where to go, right?

He looked out his room, scanning both directions for anyone. The corridor ended to his right after a room’s width, but went on a ways to the left, which was clear.

He crept out of his room, going slowly down the corridor pausing where the wall turned clear into Enya’s room.

Being seen by her would be a disaster. Peeking around the corner, he saw it was dark in her room, and he saw a shape in her bed.

Moving slowly, he reached her door, seeing it too was open. Did he do that? Maybe it was an accident or a glitch in his hack.

He wondered if he should go back.

Since it was quiet in the Facility, the sounds from within Enya’s room caught his attention. He realized it was two different sounds.

The first was quieter, and male. It was a grunting. The second his mind recognized from Enya’s little show. It was the little moans she did the night in his room when he turned her down.

Looking closer, he realized now what was going on. She seemed to have found someone else to take care of her needs. Now, Elias really wasn’t sure if he should turn back or not.

He realized the camera’s where off just for this reason. Someone didn’t want to get caught. From the sound of things, he had time, unless the guy was quick.

It looked and sounded like he was taking his time. Elias made a decision to continue and hurried, in case the other guy did too.

Trying not to look like he was sneaking, he walked past Enya’s room and turned left at their corner, and left at the next.

Joss’s room was the first one up that corridor, or so he hoped. She too had a clear wall and the door was open.

He went in, going to the form laying in the bed, hoping he didn’t have the wrong room.

As he got closer, he saw Joss in a tangle of sheets, fast asleep. He squatted down, carefully taking her hand. It closed around his and she murmured something in her sleep.

He brushed some hair from her face and kissed her forehead. Pulling his hand from hers, he pulled the sheets up around her.

Knowing his time was short, he kissed her again, his lips barely touching hers, and left.

Going out, he took three more lefts, which put him in front of Halley’s room, and open door.

He went in and found her small form in her bed. She was restless, moving around. The covers had been kicked off, and she was on her belly, arms twitching like she was fighting or swimming.

Elias put his hand on the small of her back that was exposed and rubbed up her back. After a few seconds, she seemed to calm down and relax into a peaceful sleep.

Even in her sleep she asked, “Elias?”

She was still asleep, so he replied, “Shh. It’s okay. Sleep.”

If she actually heard him or not he didn’t know, but she laid still while he rubbed. Being short on time, he slid his hand out, pulled her top down and pulled the sheets back up over her.

He kissed her head and left, going back the way he came.

Peeking into Enya’s room, the two were still busy, and at the door, it was obvious that his timing was excellent as Enya cried out, wrapping her legs around the man in her bed as he stopped and dropped forward onto her.

Elias hurried past, going back into his room, to his computer. He shut the doors to his room, Joss’s, and Halley’s and set the cameras back to a live feed.

Just to be spiteful, he recorded several minutes in Enya’s room, archived it, and shut the cameras back off.

He went to sleep knowing that he was a step closer to getting them all out of that place.

The next day, both Joss and Halley arrived with workout clothes under their scrubs. Halley still walked a little funny, not used to her new setup. She also wasn’t happy that she couldn’t swim.

“So, go play in the shower,” he joked.

She looked at him like she might attack him and said, “You know, I had the strangest dream last night. It was the beginning of my nightmare – the accident – an you showed up in it. You told me it would be okay, rubbed my back and kissed me.”

“That is strange,” he said.

“Now that you mention it, I had a dream of you too,” Joss said.

“I can’t say more because she’s too young,” she said, pointing at Halley.

“I am not! I’m a woman now,” she said pouting.

“So you want to hear about my dream? It has sex in it.”

“What? Eww, no!”

Elias and Joss laughed at her.

Joss put her arm around Halley and said, “I’m only teasing you. But I did dream Elias came to my room, held my hand and kissed me. Strange, isn’t it.”

“Yeah,” Elias said. “Strange you both somehow remember that.”

He put his arms around them, pulling both of them in closer. “Funny, because while you dreamed it, it was also true. I found a way into their security to shut off the cameras, and open doors. So I paid you both a little visit last night.”

Both looked at him in surprise.

“Yes, I’m just that good.”

Both girls seemed giddy.

“When do we leave?” Halley asked.

“Calm down. It’s just a start. We can’t just walk out. We’re underground and I know we’re in the middle of nowhere. So if we made it up the elevator, we’d be out in the open and have no idea where to go from there. Twelve, no, eleven of us running away would be pretty easy to follow. Some of the younger kids would tire out pretty quick, so we have to have more of a plan before we try.”

“Fine. Let’s build up our strength then,” Joss said.

They spent the next week working out, at which point both the other girls stopped swimming as well. Elias had to laugh at the fact that his quick lie might have been more truth than he expected.

He went on little excursions to try to see if security did more than watch cameras. Never did he run into any security guards, which meant that they thought they were secure and didn’t need to patrol.

The only person he ever saw at night was the one that visited Enya.

Elias went around to all the rooms to make sure it wasn’t one of the other kids, and they were all accounted for.

The person and Enya’s interactions lasted an average of twenty minutes, so he did his scouting quickly and around this night visits once the girls were able to come back. He didn’t want them to get in trouble if he got caught.

Now that he could shut off the cameras and open the doors, he still had to figure out how to access the elevator and figure out were to go and how to get away.

He set himself a timetable to figure it out.

One month.

He sent out another email to his gaming friend Kyle.

It said in part: Have figured some cheat codes for the game Operation: Homebound. They control environment, but still don’t how to ascend to the winner’s circle. Not sure where to go after I win anyway. Hopefully you can come to the rescue on that front. Even with all the content, I don’t think it will take but just a month to finish and get to the end game. I hope someone will be here to see my final victory over the last boss. Take care, EZKill.

He sent it, hoping that any of these actually got out to Kyle.