*Luna*

As I strolled down the almost vacant corridor with Nurse Smith, not knowing where she was taking me, the only thing I could think about is what was I stepping into now. The two tall guards stayed within three feet behind me with their chins up and hands at their sides. All she did was open my door with her key card and tell me to follow her. Luckily, she couldn't see Haley standing next to my bed, or could see her now walking quietly to wherever I was headed to.

Haley explained that she wanted to be near my side, so she could report back to our people if anything happened to me. I am grateful to have her at my side. Whatever power Enya possessed, I sure wished I could get ahold of it. I couldn't wait until she and I met. I kept my eyes peeled and glanced around at the signs on the walls; all written in Swedish. 

After making two right turns and going through a few glass-platted security doors, I think we've arrived at our destination. The faint smell of grilled meat and lasagna was oozing out into the1 hallway, and a memory of the canteen at St. Matthew's flowed through my mind. I remembered sitting with Cami and enjoying a nice conversation with her, and shortly later we were met with Amir and Faisal outside in the courtyard. I will never forget feeling his anxiety for me being in that hospital, or the urgency he had to fly out to America to save me. That feeling had my nerves shaking. I miss everyone.

The nurse turned around as we got near the door, and she let the two men open the doors in front of us. Her gaze met mine. 

"Mrs. Khan..." At least you got my name right this time. "We're at the cafeteria. You can stand in the back of the line as you wish and choose whatever you feel like eating. I will sit at the nurse's table until you complete your meal, and then we will go to Dr. Kim for an assessment." 

"Assessment?" I squeaked.

"Yes. Assessment. I don't know anything else." 

"To hell she doesn't," murmured Haley. 

I snorted as I watched her glare the lady up and down and throw her the bird. She loathed her just as much as I did. 

"You have roughly thirty minutes," Nurse Smith said, stepping to the side. I exchanged a pleasant smile and walked passed her, wishing I could step on her big toe. 

And I did it anyway. 

I acted like I slipped backward and ended up smashing my foot down hard on to her open-toe heels; she shouldn't have worn those. Haley cracked up and stood on the side of the wall, laughing her guts out. It was funny watching the pain I caused the Smith. I would murmur a lot of mean slurs to the lady, but my precious cargo shouldn't hear their mothers' choice of words. 

"Sorry, nurse," I said, getting the evil eye from her. "I guess I lost my balance."

Nurse Smith limped to a table as she gained help from two of the staff members. My cheeks flushed as I gazed up to notice half the hospital was staring right at me, staying quiet and still. What a way to make an entrance.

I kept wondering if I've been in here before. But my thoughts were interrupted as Haley ushered me with her chin toward a thin girl with brown hair who sat next to a tall boy with spiky blond hair. Both of them turned my way and smiled at me, waving me to their table. 

As I walked around the many patients and staff members who continued to eat and stopped paying attention to my fiasco, I slowly made my way to the table the two fresh faces were at.

"Hi, Luna. It's so good to see you," the brunette said, gazing up at me. I stayed mute, unsure how she knew me and my name. We have never met before. 
Or . . . maybe we have?

Haley turned toward me and whispered into my ear, "You're good here. I'm going to go back and inform the group that you're with our allies. Okay?" 

My eyebrows raised. Allies? 

I turned my attention back to the two strangers. "Hi."

"You look great," said the blond-haired boy, smiling my way with an Aussie accent. Definitely Australian and seemed cool. I gave a soft smile back. "I tried to keep a look-out for your room as long as I could, but Nurse Smith came down the hall quickly. I knew you wanted more time with your family. I'm sorry if you had to leave everybody so soon." That was nice of him, and he didn't have to apologize. "Do you want me to grab you a plate?" 

I blinked a few times, not saying anything, until I realized how parched I was. I was more thirsty than anything. "Just some water," I mumbled back, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. 

"Oh, Luna," murmured the brunette. "You have to eat. They'll make you eat. It's frowned upon when patients don't eat." Her eyes stared hard into mine, and then I realised what she was hinting to me.

I cranked my neck back to the wall and saw the line growing longer. I looked around to notice most people having a variety of different food selections on their trays, but I just wasn't in the mood to eat right now. Considering I need to eat for three, I might as well eat something. "Um, maybe a salad and some pasta? If you don't mind," I tell the boy as I looked over to meet his gaze. 

"Sure thing," he said, giving me a wink. "You probably don't remember me. I'm Dylan."

I gave him a strange look. 

My mind had been wiped so many times that I barely remembered anything anymore. "We've met..." 

Both of them snickered. "We figured they would alter your head again," said the woman. "I'm Sloan. The three of us have eaten in here a few times together. Well, that was before you were taken to Russia." 

"What? Why was I taken there?" I asked, my heart throbbing. What was I doing in Russia, and what happened to me?

Dylan leaned down and whispered that he'll be right back with my tray and nodded to Sloan for her to continue explaining what's happening. "I'm confused." 

"I know. It's a lot to process." She reached for my hand and squeezed it. "This place is one of three facilities who conduct the Tethered Trials." Sloan quickly sipped more of her juice box that was sitting in front of her.

"I'm not sure what that means." I took a seat slowly and looked around, sensing the energy from all the tethered souls who were around me. It was strange being in a building that was so full of people being connected like this. Most of them had a dark aura surrounding them. Darkness.

"You probably don't remember anything we've spoken about, right?" Sloan asked, inhaling a deep breath, then exhaling. "Do you remember how we met?" 

I shook my head. "No. I don't. I didn't even know two months had flown by and everyone was out searching for me." 

She frowned. "Wow. I didn't think they would take everything away from you. That isn't something they normally do. You're supposed to have your memories for the trials." 

There were so many people sitting around us, talking amongst themselves, and none of them were paying any attention to us. "It's okay. We'll help fill you in." Sloan glanced down and took a bite of her lasagna. "I can't fill you in on what happened after you disappeared, because I wasn't with you, but I can help you out with this facility." 

"Please," I said, slightly tipping my chin up. "I feel lost not knowing what happened to me during those eight weeks." 

"I know. I will begin at the beginning then." She quickly ate more of her food and wiped her face, turning her frame my way, then began explaining to me about this place.

My eyes scattered and wouldn't slow down as I listened to every detail of how we became friends and what the trials were about. She and I met while standing in the lunch line together as we were deciding on the same thing to eat: peach cobbler. She was from Texas and loved to eat it here. It reminded her of home, and the memories of her childhood. 

She'd heard about my arrival from Dylan, who then heard about it from Enya. Both of them were eager to meet me once Dylan was assigned to a room across from mine. Every afternoon, seven days a week, the three of us sat at the same table where we are now, and normally chose the same food to eat. Whatever I felt like eating just a moment ago, which was a salad and pasta, I was stuck with for the rest of my days here. Even though each person had different selections of food on their plates, they grab the same thing each time. Like robots.

The Tethered Trials is a program that kept the patients in line, heavily monitored, and in sync. If we grabbed something different, then the staff will know that their program was wearing off. Then they would restart the program by giving us a drug that was susceptible to mind-control. 

My mind was altered several times because I wasn't getting my normal salad and pasta during each meal. Somehow, I was becoming resistant. One day I got a pizza and a breadstick, so then the guard rushed over to bring me to Dr. Kim, who then phoned Chase about my choices. He came in, altered my decisions for me and got me back on-track with what I ate on the first time coming into the cafeteria, hoping that he can break through my mind this way, waiting for one of my lost memories of us together to resurface. He'd played with my head to make him out to be a good guy and wanted to keep it that way; it was the same trick he had used on me for years. 

That wasn't all that the trials were about.

Russia's facility was the worse of all five facilities in the world. They not only housed obedient tethered souls, the ones who cooperate and abide by the rules, but they also housed the ones who have been in prison and didn't have a conscience. This group of people wanted to start a world War and kill whoever they wanted to, no matter who it was. They didn't want justice for what was happening to our species, but they wanted to rule with their powers. They were ready for destruction, and in the worse kind of way.

I was sent there and placed in an underground room that had lead and concrete walls inside it. Chase could have made me do anything he wanted me to, or had run tests on me, and he knew no one could reach me, despite believing my powers were eliminated. Ibrahim—my sweet little boy in my womb—has been giving me flashes of my time in Russia. But he'd stop when he felt mommy's heart thump. He could sense how painful those memories were, so he'd flashed me happy memories with his father instead. I held my stomach and whispered to him a quiet thank you. Aluna's little body fluttered as she felt my hand run over my skin. 

Dylan came back to the table and passed me a tray of food, then began chewing on his as he plopped down. I glanced around and noticed some staff members making their rounds at each table, making sure everyone was eating the same thing. Sloan and Dylan stated they broke out of the mind control drug a few weeks ago when they stopped taking the medication they were given. They pretended to swallow them.

But for me, I have to comply, although I couldn't recall taking anything today. Maybe I haven't. Or I could have. I can't keep up with my mind most of the time. 

"Sloan?" I said, interrupting her as she was in the middle of talking about her plans for escaping. "When... when was the last time we all sat here... together?"

"Four days ago," she replied, gulping down her juice.

"Oh. But how was I able to break out of it—the mind control drug?" 

"Because of Ana," said Dylan with a mouthful of lettuce. "She's one of us and on our side." 

"She is part of the staff?" 

"Yep! She's an implant." He adjusted his frame, sitting up straighter. "Her name is Nurse Ana Coleman, and she helps everyone here, and spies for Max."

"What did she do to me?" I asked, my stomach growing icky learning about this.

"Well, she..." Sloan murmured, looking down. "You might not like this, but she gave you a drug that prevents the mind control continuing inside your head." 

"That doesn't sound so bad. It's sounds like it's a good thing," I said, wondering why she made it sound like it was something horrible. "Why would I hate that? Is it hurting my babies?" 

"Oh, no. Nothing like that," she replied, shaking her head as a few strands of brown hair fell over her eyebrows. "None of the drugs here will hurt them. The staff doesn't know about your pregnancy either," she reassured me. "It's just that... well, Faisal told us about your experience at St. Matthew's. We know how you felt about being given medication." 

"Oh." I smiled a little and glanced between the two of them. "If it's something that helps me rather than harms me, I'm all for it." 

"Well, just so you know, you can't break out of your routine no matter. They'll send you back to Russia," Dylan said, pushing his tray to the side and folding his arms over the table. "But at least we have an ally in there." 

"Really? Who are they?" I asked, feeling calmer now, knowing how many people were coming together to take these horrible facilities down. 

"A man named Demitri. They use him because of his powers," said Sloan, glancing around. "He can transfer our powers to one another. But it doesn't stick for long." 

"What do you mean?" 

"It's a temporary transfer," she said, moving an inch closer to my side. "St. Matthew's facility is designed for testing tethered souls' limits. That's why they shock people all the time and monitor their subjects. And not to mention, they have most of the defectives there. Brazil's facility houses the good souls. Those are the ones who have goodness in them, and experiments are conducted to see what they can do. That's where Chase wants to send you and Amir if he can get ahold of him, too. They have mostly pure souls there, and they try to figure out what the pairs can do as a combined unit. It started when he lost Silvia. He'd been hunting for any human anomaly he can get his hands on. That's why he's known as the hunter."

"Wow. I never realized how often our species were hunted." 

"Oh, that's not. In China's facility where my sister is, it houses the violent ones. They differ from Russia's facility. But, there is a bright side to that. Each tethered soul in that building is ready for war and has joined our alliance in helping to bring down every facility in the world. We have a whole community of people who saw what you and Amir did in Texas. You kind of took a stand, you know, for our kind. A beacon of hope, if you will."

I smiled a little, but also frowned when the memory of us getting caught flashed through my mind. I cranked my neck back to see the nurses stand, then brought my gaze back to Sloan and Dylan. 

"How do you think we can get out of here?" I whispered quietly.

"There is one person in this whole building who is more powerful than of all of us," Dylan said, smiling softly. "Nurse Coleman. You'll meet her soon. Just stay with your routine. You won't get caught." 

"But how is she not detected?" I asked, feeling my stomach do a somersault.

Dylan chuckled slightly as he finished the last bite of his meal. "One word: Enya."

Right... 

She could cloak tethered souls' abilities. That was what these facilities did. Sweden... We were tested while our mind had been altered. I just sat like a sitting duck while Chase continued to mess with my mind. He'd then put me through mind-control simulations to monitor every activity I did in my head. And if I changed one thing, then he's alter my mind even more. He wanted something from me I hadn't told him, and my unborn daughter covered for me, for us. She had shielded whatever he wanted.

The three of us sat for fifteen more minutes until the alarm sounded, signaling that it was time to go to our next location. Nurse Smith came to my side. I stood up and walked with her. Sloan and Dylan mentioned before being escorted away that since I didn't break my routine, I'll be ushered back into my room. I ate what I was controlled to eat, and I sat where I was controlled to sit. 

As soon as I stepped through the threshold, I immediately walked to the window and gazed outside, watching the trees blow softly from the wind. Several seconds went by when I felt a hand touch my shoulder. 

I spun around. 

A huge smile came across my face when my eyes locked upon my best friend, my Cami. I wished she were here with me, always. 

***