Kate laid her hand on the smooth silver handle of the exam room door. Her back was to her companions, and she was shaking. She took a deep breath and held it.

“Just go ahead Kate. You know you’ll feel better if you do it,” Sadie told her.

Kate’s hand trembled as she slowly pushed the handle down just a little, her breath released in a loud sigh. She stopped. Without turning around or taking  her hand off of the door handle Kate said, “No. I don’t want to. I don’t need to suppress my feelings here. I shouldn't need to do this.”

Kate stood still and let the anxiety build within her, let it wash over her body in waves. Her body ached, longing to open and shut that door, to hear the satisfying banging noises one after the other. If she gave in, like she always did, then Sadie was right, she would feel better. These stupid obsessive traits they all had, ultimately helped them keep their emotions suppressed. Splintering their personalities from their scientifically conscious beings allowed them to leap forward in technological advancement. It also kept the peace.

A soft drumming sound started behind her and Kate glanced over her shoulder. Cole was looking down at his own fingers tapping one after the other in quick succession against the hospital bed. Kate envied people like Cole, who’s flaws were so slight they could simply go unnoticed. Her anxiety started to melt away, and she realized she was watching Cole the way she had back at the police station the first time she saw him. His dark hair hung over his eyes, his lips slightly parted, as he continued to look downwards. She imagined going to him, comforting him. It made her sad and she didn’t understand why.

Suddenly his head shot up and turned in Kate’s direction. Kate quickly turned away. “I wasn’t watching you,” she blurted out. Damn, why did she say that?

But Cole wasn’t concerned about being watched. His attention was on the door. “Some one’s coming.”

Kate backed away from the door quickly, but not quick enough. The door opened suddenly, forcefully, and Kate jumped out of its way. she stumbled backwards but Cole was there behind her in an instant, and steadied her. Kate tried to ignore the heat rising in her face when she felt his hands on her waist.

“Ginny!” Kate was surprised and more than a little relieved to see Ginny at the door. So far Ginny had been nice to them all, and as far as she knew had not yet betrayed anything she might have seen in Troy’s room earlier. That made her an ally.

Ginny walked into the room, looked back at the hallway to make sure she hadn’t been followed, and closed the door. “If you want me to help you, then I need to know everything. Everything.” She was talking directly to Kate, as if the others were not in the room at all.

“Everything would take a very long time to tell,” said Cole, cutting in.

Ginny took a step towards Cole, getting right in his face. “Then let me tell you something instead.”

Kate and Sadie exchanged their thoughts silently. Both girls were impressed by Ginny’s confidence. She was absolutely taking the right approach with Cole.

Ginny continued, “The hospital has been evacuated, except for us, and the place has been locked down. The men in black are here and they are not going to leave until they get what they want.”

Cole raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. “Yea, I see your point lady.”

“So you know they are . . . not who they say they are, right?” Kate lead Ginny away from Cole as she spoke, over to the hard plastic chairs near the wall.

“The men in black pose as FBI or CIA, no one really knows who they work for. In fact, most people are content just to believe their lies. I know what they really are though, what they really do.”

“Find out what she knows first, before you tell her anything,” Cole thought to the girls.

“So what are they then, besides creepy,” asked Sadie. It was important they they choose their words and questions carefully, to only reveal what needed to be revealed, and nothing more.

“They’re alien hunters, and they’re ruthless.” Ginny’s hands shook as she unconsciously twisted the gold watch on her arm.

“Alien hunters.” Kate repeated, looking at Cole and then at Sadie.

“I know it sounds ridiculous,” Ginny laughed at herself, “but that’s what they are. They show up when ever they suspect some kind of phenomenon has occurred, interrogate witnesses, and make sure that everything stays a big secret. Aliens . . . “ Ginny shook her head.. “They probably think that your disappearance was part of an alien abduction, which is why you need to start telling people where you’ve been all this time. Trust me, you do not want to be interrogated by these men, their methods are . . . brutal.”

Cole winced and doubled over in pain as Sadie started shrieking in his head again. Screaming was her flaw, uncontrollable screaming that erupted from her lungs when ever her emotions got the best of her. Something Ginny said triggered it, the word interrogation. At least this time she knew better than to scream out loud. That would have surly drawn unwanted attention to their room.

“Is he OK?” Ginny looked nervously at Cole but did not make a move to get up from her chair.

“It’s not him I’m worried about,” Kate answered as she rushed over to where Sadie stood stiff and unmoving in the corner of the room. Her eyes were full of panic. Kate took care of her like she had down in the basement, rocking her and stroking her hair like a mother would do to a scared child.

Cole stood up straight again and tried to play off the sering pain in his head. He rolled his eyes at the girls and flopped down in the empty chair next to Ginny.

“Our friend Sadie already knows all about the men in black and their interrogation techniques. What we need is a plan for getting out of here so they don’t meet again.”

Kate had finished calming Sadie down but she stayed near her. She looked at Ginny, taking stock of her. Slender build, small, female and completely fragile in every way. She was going to get hurt, eventually. Of course, what she lacked in strength she was making up for in sheer determination, and that was something.

“You’re right. Several months ago, sixteen young people from your town were abducted by aliens.” Kate choked a bit on the word “alien” but she supposed that is what they were here. “They were abducted by us, Ginny.”