chapter one

─── i infiltrate a psychiatric hospital

          𝔜ou know that moment, just after you wake up, where you don't know where you are and everything feels wrong? I was having that feeling. Every hair on my arms was standing up, like I should be on the lookout for something and my guts were twisting with apprehension.

When I woke up, I was in the backseat of a school bus. A girl was reclining next to me, her legs over the top of mine but I didn't know where I'd seen her before or who she was or how she was familiar with me. 

A few dozen kids were sprawled around in front of me, listening to iPods, talking, sleeping and just being teenagers but I couldn't place any of their faces either. They looked about sixteen, or maybe seventeen and on that note, how old was I? 

Who was I?

The bus was rumbling along a bumpy, dirt track style road and out of the window, a desert rolled along beneath a bright blue sky. Do I live here?

"Hey, Cress," I froze. The legs on mine gave me a kick as I turned to face the other girl who was now watching me. "You alright? You've gone kind of pale."

You know, now that she mentioned it, I felt kind of faint. Where the hell was I and why was I here?

The other girl, the one who called me Cress, wore faded jeans and remarkably clean hiking boots, that were on top of my own legs. She had a fleece snowboarding jacket, her dark hair pulled back into two braids on either side of her head. Baby hairs curled around her ears, some hooking through the hoops of her earrings. Her eyebrow cocked, dark brown eyes seeming to stare straight through my soul as I watched her. Had I met her before?

"Uh, I don't-" I shook my head, but was cut off by a shout from the front of the bus.

"All right, cupcakes, listen up!" I couldn't see who was speaking until I turned and leant out to the left to look past the seats. He was short, a baseball cap pulled low over his hair so that you could only just see his beady eyes. Below that was a wispy goatee, and his face was pulled into a sour expression like he hated kids.

His buff arms and chest pushed against a bright orange polo shirt. His nylon workout pants and Nikes were spotless white. A whistle hung from his neck, and a megaphone was clipped to his belt. When he stood up in the aisle, one of the students called, "Stand up, Coach Hedge!"

"I heard that!" The coach scanned the bus for the offender. Then his eyes fixed his eyes on me and his scowl deepened. I shivered, pushing myself further back into the dusty seat. This guy, Coach Hedge, knew that I wasn't supposed to be here. I feared, for a moment, that I was going to be called out and dragged off the bus.

But Coach Hedge looked away and cleared his throat. "We'll arrive in five minutes! Stay with your partner. Don't lose your worksheet. And if any of you precious little cupcakes causes any trouble on this trip, I will personally send you back to campus the hard way."

He picked up a baseball bat and made like he was hitting a home run.

"Can he talk to us that way?" I asked, more to myself than anything else, but the girl next to me shrugged. She took her legs off of my thighs, sitting up straight and stretching.

"Always does. This is the Wilderness School. 'Where kids are the animals.'" She waited for me to laugh, like this was a joke that we'd had between us but I wasn't so sure. 

I laughed nervously anyway, before scratching my neck as I looked for an exit route. I wasn't supposed to be here, that I knew.

"Look, I think there's been some kind of mix up or mistake," I told her, staring back at the girl. "I don't think I'm supposed to be here."

Someone cackled ahead of us, as a boy turned around.

"Yeah, right, Cress. We've all been framed! I didn't run away six times. Piper didn't crash her father's car."

"I didn't crash the car, Leo!" Piper muttered, blush rushing up her cheeks.

"Oh, I forgot, Piper. What was your story again?" He teased, before raising his eyebrows at me like I was supposed to know what happened. But he was in the wrong. I knew nothing. 

Leo looked like he was about to bounce out of the bus with how much he was fidgeting and it made me wonder how long we'd been on this bus. My legs were starting to ache from not moving as Leo shook his hair out and turned fully in his seat to watch me. 

"Anyway," Leo said, "I hope you've got your worksheet, 'cause I shredded mine. Why are you looking at me like that? Somebody draw on my face again?"

"Do I know you?" I asked, my hands starting to tremble as panic settled in my stomach. I didn't remember any of this or them. Did I have amnesia or something?

Leo sent me a crocodile grin, making his eyes go cross eyed as he watched me. "No, I'm not your best friend. I'm his evil twin."

"Leo Valdez!" Coach Hedge yelled from the front. "Problem back there?"

Leo winked at me as something in my brain clicked. Immediately, my breathing slowed, my back straightened and I was searching for something, answers or an exit. 

"Watch this." He turned to the front. "Sorry, Coach! I was having trouble hearing you. Could you use your megaphone, please?"

Coach Hedge grunted like he was pleased to have an excuse. He unclipped the megaphone from his belt and continued giving directions, but his voice came out like Darth Vader's. The kids cracked up. The coach tried again, but this time the megaphone blared: "The cow says moo!"

The kids howled, and the coach slammed down the megaphone. "Valdez!"

Piper stifled a laugh. "My god, Leo. How did you do that?"

Leo slipped a tiny Phillips head screwdriver from his sleeve, grinning as he shrugged. "I'm a special boy."

"I'm not joking," I turned to them, not finding any of this situation amusing. I wanted to know where I was and who these people were. "What am I doing here? Where are we going and who the are you?"

"Cress, are you joking?" Piper knit her eyebrows together, sharing a look with Leo. Why did the name she was calling me sound like a salad leaf?

"Do I look like I'm joking?" I hissed, shaking my hands out as I felt my palms get sweaty. Was it just me or was this bus getting hotter? I shrugged off my windbreaker, yanking at the collar of the hoodie I was in, trying to make it cooler.

"Yeah, she is totally joking," Leo laughed. "She's trying to get me back for that incident the other day!"

I turned to look at him. Did they think I was joking about this?

"No, I think that she's serious," Piper tried to reach for my forehead, to check my temperature, but I darted away again, catching her wrist quickly. I didn't want someone I didn't know reaching towards my face.

"I'm sorry," I said. "I don't—I can't—"

"That's it!" Coach Hedge yelled from the front. "The back row has just volunteered to clean up after lunch!"

The rest of the kids cheered.

"There's a shocker," Leo muttered.

But Piper kept her eyes on me, watching me like she was trying to work out what had happened. I rubbed my hands on my jeans, trying to get rid of the build up of cold sweat. "Did you hit your head or something? You really don't know who we are?"

"Look, I don't know who I am either, so don't take it too personally." 

∘☽༓☾∘

The bus dropped us in front of a big red complex like a museum, in the middle of nowhere. A cold wind blew across the desert, and I hissed, before looking down at what I was wearing in despair. I had on a pair of jeans and high top sneakers (not really suited for a desert environment or sustained periods of endurance), a purple t-shirt beneath a large, dark hoodie and an oversized windbreaker. 

"So, a crash course for the amnesiac," Leo said, in a helpful tone that promised me a not so helpful answer. I turned my eyes on him, waiting. "We go to the 'Wilderness School' which means we're 'bad kids.' Your family, or the court, decided you were too much trouble, so they shipped you off to this lovely prison in Armpit, Nevada, where you learn valuable nature skills like running ten miles a day through the cacti and weaving daisies into hats! And for a special treat we go on 'educational' field trips with Coach Hedge, who keeps order with a baseball bat. Is it all coming back to you now?"

"Uh, no, it's really not." I looked around at the other kids. None of them really looked like teenage delinquents. In fact, this entire thing sounded like children were kidnapped and forced into child labour. 

Leo rolled his eyes. "You're really gonna play this out, huh? Okay, so the three of us started here together this semester. We're totally tight. You do everything I say and give me your dessert and do my chores—"

"Leo!" Piper snapped, having followed us off the bus with her bag. "Come on..."

"Fine. Ignore that last part. But we are friends. Well, I'd say best friends. What say you, Piper?"

"Look, Leo, she's got amnesia or something. We've got to tell someone."

Leo scoffed. "Who, Coach Hedge? He'd try to fix Cress by whacking him upside the head."

The coach was at the front of the group, barking orders and blowing his whistle to keep the kids in line; but every so often he'd glance back at me and scowl, which was not making me feel any better about this. I needed a way out.

"Leo, she needs help," Piper insisted. "She's got a concussion or—"

"Yo, Piper." One of the other guys dropped back to join them as the group was heading into the museum. The new guy wedged himself between me and Piper and knocked Leo down in the process. His shoulder hit mine, and my temper flared. "Don't talk to these bottom-feeders. You're my partner, remember?"

If there was ever a human personification of a major red flag, then this guy would be it. He had dark hair cut like Superman, a deep tan and teeth so white that I was partly blinded. There was also the fact that he was dressed like he was about to star in a commercial for a really bad Western movie.

Then he smiled and I felt myself being sick in my mouth.

"Go away, Dylan," Piper grumbled. "I didn't ask to work with you."

"Ah, that's no way to be. This is your lucky day!" Dylan hooked his arm through hers and dragged her through the museum entrance. Piper shot one last look over her shoulder like, 911 but I wasn't sure what to do. Leo still lay on the floor, before he looked up and spat some dust to the side.

"I hate that guy," I grabbed the back of his shirt, pulling him upwards and watching as he brushed dust from his jacket and hair. "I'm Dylan, I'm so cool. I want to date myself, but I can't figure out how! You want to date me instead? You're so lucky!"

He pulled a face of disgust before he looked back at me with a manic grin.

"I've just realised something. If you don't remember me, then I can tell you all of my old jokes. Result!" Leo cried, which I'm not sure was the best thing to be taking from this little loss of memory experience.

We walked through the building, stopping here and there for Coach Hedge to lecture at us with his megaphone, which alternately made him sound like a Sith Lord or blared out random farm related comments.

Leo kept pulling out nuts, bolts, and pipe cleaners from the pockets of his army jacket and putting them together, so he paid little attention. I was too busy focussing on my lack of memories and knowledge in general to work out what was going on in the exhibition. The doors had closed behind us and there was a security guard there like they were waiting for us to run so that was out was a no go.

By the time I did zone back in to what was happening, Piper looked like she was about to get into a fight with people. Now, I might not know who she is, but something in my blood made me really want to fight. My anger was already flaring.

Leo caught me before I could start heading over. "Be cool. Piper doesn't like us fighting her battles. Besides, if those girls found out the truth about her dad, they'd be all bowing down to her and screaming, 'We're not worthy!'"

"Why? What about her dad?"

Leo laughed in disbelief. "You're not kidding? You really don't remember that your best friend's dad—"

"Look, I wish I did, but I don't even remember her, much less her dad."

Leo whistled. "Cold. We have to talk when we get back to the dorms."

They reached the far end of the exhibit hall, where some big glass doors led out to a terrace.

"All right, cupcakes," Coach Hedge announced. "You are about to see the Grand Canyon. Try not to break it. The skywalk can hold the weight of seventy jumbo jets, so you featherweights should be safe out there. If possible, try to avoid pushing each other over the edge, as that would cause me extra paperwork."

The coach opened the doors, and we all stepped outside. The Grand Canyon spread before us. Extending over the edge was a horseshoe-shaped walkway made of glass, so you could see right through it.

"Man," Leo said. "That's pretty wicked."

My general lack of knowledge on myself and everything else around me didn't stop me from being in awe of the canyon, which was bigger and wider than you could possibly imagine. We were up so high that birds circled beneath us, and below that a river snaked along the canyon floor. The storm clouds, that had appeared above us, made the entire thing dramatic and it looked like some crazy god had taken a knife to the earth.

A stab of pain hit me, aching behind my eyes, like there was something at the tip of my mind, something important.

"You all right, Cress?" Leo asked. "You're not going to throw up over the side, are you? 'Cause I should've brought my camera."

I hissed in pain, grabbing onto the side of the bridge as it died down.

"I'm alright. I'm fine," I muttered, blinking a few times as I tried my best not to fall over from the cold wind.

"This can't be safe." Leo squinted at the clouds. "Storm's right over us, but it's clear all the way around. Weird, huh?"

Leo was right. There was a dark circle of clouds just above the skywalk, leaving the rest of the sky perfectly clear. My head ached again, but I pushed it down.

"All right, cupcakes!" Coach Hedge yelled. He frowned at the storm like it bothered him too. "We may have to cut this short, so get to work! Remember, complete sentences!"

The storm rumbled as I rubbed my head. A momentary thought struck me, as I hoped and prayed that there was some water or a snack in the pocket of the windbreaker. Maybe that would help.

Shoving my hands into my pocket, I searched before coming into contact with something soft. It was a small, very small toy of a little bird. It looked like you could hang it on something, only about the size of my palm. It was dark green, with electric blue buttons for eyes, the stitching neat. My head pounded again. I knew this bird. This was mine and it was something that I cared for. I zipped that pocket up, keeping it safe.

I patted my jeans pocket, before a grin made it's way on to my face at the feel of something.

I pulled it out, laying it in the palm of my hand as I furrowed my eyebrows. It was a circle of gold the size of a half-dollar, but thicker and more uneven. Stamped on one side was a picture of a battle-axe. On the other was some guy's face wreathed in laurels. The inscription said something like Ivlivs.

"Dang, is that gold?" Leo asked, appearing over my shoulder. "You been holding out on me!"

I slipped it back into my jeans pocket feeling, like I had with the toy, that it was important to me.

"It's nothing," I muttered. "Just a coin."

Leo shrugged. "Come on," he said. "Dare you to spit over the edge."

I did not.

Instead, I tried my best to do the worksheet but I understood none of the terms. What was sedimentary strata and how should I know what examples of erosion were? I had amnesia, did not that give me some leeway on this school work. Leo was no help, too busy building a pipe cleaner helicopter.

"Check it out." He launched the copter. We watched as it made it halfway across the gorge, before plummeting like a brick. 

"How'd you do that?"

"Would have been cooler if I had some rubber bands." Leo shrugged as I turned towards him.

"Seriously," I asked, because this was now confusing my brain. Or maybe that was the geography, "are we friends?"

"Last I checked."

"You sure? What was the first day we met? What did we talk about?"

"It was..." Leo frowned. "I don't recall exactly. I've got ADHD. You can't expect me to remember details."

"But I have no clue who you are. I don't know you or Piper or Dylan or any of the other kids. What if...?"

"You're right and everyone else is wrong?" Leo asked. "You think you just appeared here this morning, and we've all got fake memories of you?"

"Well, when you put it like that it sounds crazy, but yeah," 

It was a crazy theory, because everyone seemed to be somewhat familiar with me. All apart from one person; Coach Hedge.

"Take the worksheet." I shoved the paper into Leo's hands. "I'll be right back."

I took off across the skywalk, which we miraculously had to ourselves. Most of the kids were joking around or talking. Some of the guys were dropping pennies over the side. About fifty feet away, Piper was trying to fill out her worksheet, but the human personification of a red flag kept hitting on her. She sent me an exasperated look and mimed pushing Dylan over the edge. 

I shook my head, mouthing 'bad idea' at her as I walked up to Coach Hedge, who was leaning on his baseball bat and studying the sky.

"Did you do this?"

"Sorry, what?" I asked, wondering if the coach had just asked me if I made a thunderstorm.

Coach Hedge glared at him, his beady eyes glinting under the brim of his cap. "Don't play games with me, kid. What are you doing here, and why are you messing up my job?"

"You mean...you don't know me?" I asked. "I'm not one of your students?"

Hedge snorted. "Never seen you before today."

I breathed a sigh of relief, so glad that I wasn't absolutely batshit crazy. "Look, sir, I don't know how I got here. I just woke up on the school bus. All I know is I'm not supposed to be here."

"Got that right." Hedge's gruff voice dropped to a murmur, like he was sharing a secret. "You got a powerful way with the Mist, kid, if you can make all these people think they know you; but you can't fool me. I've been smelling monster for days now. I knew we had an infiltrator, but you don't smell like a monster. You smell like a half-blood. So—who are you, and where'd you come from?"

I shot him a look as I slowly realised that maybe I wasn't the crazy one. Maybe I'd accidentally infiltrated a psychiatric hospital.

"Look, I don't know who I am, I've got no memories and I need some help,"

Coach Hedge studied me, like he was trying to read my mind, which was disturbing.

"Great," Hedge muttered. "You're being truthful."

"Why would I lie about this? Don't answer that actually," I muttered. "And what was all that about monsters and half-bloods? Are those code words or something?"

"Look, kid," Hedge said, "I don't know who you are. I just know what you are, and it means trouble. Now I got to protect three of you rather than two. Are you the special package? Is that it?"

"Uh, what are you talking about?"

Hedge looked at the storm. The clouds were getting thicker and darker, hovering right over the skywalk.

"This morning," Hedge said, "I got a message from camp. They said an extraction team is on the way. They're coming to pick up a special package, but they wouldn't give me details. I thought to myself, Fine. The two I'm watching are pretty powerful, older than most. I know they're being stalked. I can smell a monster in the group. I figure that's why the camp is suddenly frantic to pick them up. But then you pop up out of nowhere. So, are you the special package?"

I felt another shot of pain behind my eyes, like the type of brain freeze you got after eating an ice cream. Half-bloods. Camp. Monsters. My brain was trying to access information that I couldn't get to and it hurt like a bitch.

I stumbled over my sneakers, as Coach Hedge caught me.

"Whoa, there, cupcake. You say you got no memories, huh? Fine. I'll just have to watch you, too, until the team gets here. We'll let the camp leader figure things out."

"What leader?" I asked, exasperated. "What camp?"

"Just sit tight. Reinforcements should be here soon. Hopefully nothing happens before—"

Lightning crackled overhead. The wind picked up with a vengeance. Worksheets flew into the Grand Canyon, and the entire bridge shuddered. Kids screamed, stumbling and grabbing the rails.

"I had to say something," Hedge grumbled. He bellowed into his megaphone: "Everyone inside! The cow says moo! Off the skywalk!"

"I thought this thing was stable," I called over the wind, spreading my weight out more evenly.

"Under normal circumstances, which these aren't. Come on!"

∘☽༓☾∘

Hiya,

I love that Cressida thinks she's infiltrated a mental institution, which we love for her. Also, there has been a change to ages and looks AKA Piper looks different, Leo and her are the same age and Cress is 18. She's not having a great time, but it's all okay and she'll have fun later on.

Let me know what you think,

Love Li xx