"Two clues down, four to go," I told the three people around me. After Delilah's math earlier, I wasn't taking any chances. "Let's switch sides and see if we can find anything the other group missed."

I crossed paths with Delilah and Dakota, eyeing the other female as if warning her not to try anything. She blinked innocently, though the gesture didn't reach her mouth, which was scowling.

Paying no attention to the girly teenager, I walked with Parker to where the other pair had searched. This side contained the television, the couch, the armchair, and the bookshelves. Parker checked everything other than the bookshelves, which I was searching through. And let me tell you, it was hard work going through every single one of those books one by one. You think that it's hard in the movies where there is one shelf and the kids have to look through thirty books? Try over twenty shelves lining the walls with at least a thousand books to search through. It's not fun.

Ironically enough, the first thing I noticed that seemed significant in the bookshelf was a dark blue book titled "Future" by someone called Michael E. Orlon. Remembering the clue, I looked at the table of contents. My eyes widened as I looked at the page.

Table Of Contents: 1; Fly. 2; Ultra strength. 3; Telekineses. 4; Unconsciousness Control. 5; River. 6; Extraordinary Senses. 7; Past Research and Experiments. 8; Summary of Chapter 1-7.

Immediately I flipped to chapter seven. It had a list of the previous experiments and the clues they had to figure out. One caught my eye. Fathom Skeer- 68- Deceased of Old Age- Electrokinesis. How long had these people been doing this experiment for? And what the heck was electrokinesis?

My shoulders twitched as a current ran down my spine. Something wasn't right here.

I skimmed through the other chapters, which were highly in-depth and long, but had subtitles, which was useful in a quick search.

Fly: Clue refers to the ability to --- And everything after that was scratched out in black pen except the last sentence. Ability is given to the child who finds the clue in the --- of the ---. I suppose the blacked out stuff was "cracks of the roof". But that wasn't what really gave me chills.

Ability.

Well, that definitely confirmed my earlier suspicions about that "electrokinesis" thing. I guess it was controlling electricity..? Whatever it is- or was, in Fathom Skeer's case- it didn't change the fact that I was going to fly. Sure, it didn't mention the specifics, but I found the clue, and it said I'd be given the ability if I found it. It almost sounded too good to be true.

It always is, my rational mind told me, but my irrational mind was freaking out about how cool it would be.

I glanced through all of the other pages and found they were similar to the Fly page. All scratched out in black pen except for the last sentence or two. I began subconsciously planning who would get what ability, before I hit a wall. Someone needed to actually find these clues before we broke out of here.

I looked over at the rest of the crew. ParkerMason was busy looking under the couch cushion, so he didn't see me with the suspiciously large book. Dakota had found a remote for the fireplace and was turning it off and on as if that would make a clue magically appear, and Delilah was stalking Parker, unashamed. No one had seen the book- yet.

Keeping my gaze focused on my side of the search area, I scanned the room for any sort of material I could use to conceal the book until we left The Room With No Doors. Finding nothing, I inconspicuously slid the book under the armchair. We'd already checked that area, so surely no one would think anything of it. I'm not entirely certain why I was so interested in hiding it, either... something about it just seemed like the mastermind of this whole situation didn't want me finding it. Whoever that was.

I went back to searching through the bookcases, and I found something. You know those hollow plastic books they sell at Hobby Lobby and Target? It was one of those, and inside was a black remote. I took the remote from the inside and pressed the red power button. The TV clicked to life and began playing the news. On the screen were pictures of all four of us. Mine showed my most recent school picture. The other two showed them in family pictures. Delilah's picture was one of her standing alone in a park, her face absent of emotion. An odd picture to put on a news channel.

The other three had stopped what they were doing and were watching the screen like I was. "These four children went missing 2 weeks ago. The mother of Carson Moyer was found in critical condition December 8th, one day before her father reported his daughter missing. Similarly, Delilah Destiny's parents were found stabbed, but thankfully not dead, that same night. ParkerMason Kelstof was reported missing December 8th, his family still alive and running Kelstof Groceries like nothing happened. More on that later. Finally, Dakota Offlinton was reported missing December 9th, like Carson Moyer. No news on his parents, who are young and separated. We attempted to contact them for their opinions, and his father, Jacob, was allegedly drunk when he answered the phone, and apparently shouted at our reporters that he 'never should have had kids with Veronica and that he was young and his kids weren't his problem. Veronica Neston, Dakota's mother, could not be reached as she is hospitalized due to overdose."

All of us turned and stared at each other, things revealed about the four of us we could never have imagined. Some of us found out things about our family. Some of us got things about us revealed we never would have shared otherwise. But all of us were hurting. And now it was uncovered.

The newsperson didn't care. "Carson, Delilah, and Parker's parents urge you to call '1-800-IM-FOUND' if you find any information on where these children have gone. Now, onto our next story- who are Dakota Offlinton's parents? I've got-" Dakota had moved over to me while I was distracted. He snatched the phone out of my hands and slammed his hand on the off button.

"That's enough of that," he muttered. We all stared at him, stunned. Sure, we hadn't known each other for that long- or, hadn't been awake for that long- but we still could never have believed that Dakota was born of an affair between a druggie and a drunk.

"You all don't have to stand there and look at me all pitiful and stuff." He sat down in the armchair and cradled his head in his hand. "I've dealt with it for 15 years. I can deal with it for as long as I need to. And I know some of you don't exactly have perfect backstories either." Glancing at the others, I saw Parker blush and Delilah look away, hiding her face. "You're awfully quiet, Carson. What's on your mind?"

I felt my cheeks grow hot as all turned my way. "I..." I didn't honestly know what was on my mind. I couldn't exactly share how much I grieved for my mom to someone who had parents that didn't even want him. "My mom's in critical condition," I said quietly. "That's all that's really going through my mind right now."

Dakota nodded. "Let's get back to work, guys."

I nodded, picking the remote off the floor and opening the batteries. Finally, something was easy. Inside the remote, there was a label taped on. Telekinesis.