Chapter Fifteen

My head ached. It felt like a hundred small people were dancing on top of my skull, each of their steps digging deeper and deeper.

"Make it stop," I mumbled. "Make it stop."

No one answered.

The dancing continued, causing more and more pressure.

"Gah!" I yelled, somehow managing to lift my hand to my head. It felt normal.

Suddenly, memories from the cryopods came back to me. Dr. James had given us something to knock us out. My eyes shot open. I had every intention of finding Dr. James and making her pay for what she did to us.

As I struggled to focus, I could tell someone else was in the room with me.

"Hello?" I whispered. "Who's there?"

"Esa, it's me," a male voice responded. "It's Samuel."

The figure walked toward me and slowly came into focus. I stared into his eyes for what seemed like an eternity. "What did she do to us?"

"I don't know. I woke up a little bit ago. I had several minutes to collect my thoughts before I saw your body move."

"Where are the others?"

Samuel stayed silent and pointed to a dark area behind me. I turned to see if Audrina and Gave were there. It was dark, but I could tell there were more tables with bodies lying atop them.

"Do you think she knows we're awake?" I asked, looking at Samuel.

"I don't know. I'm not sure what she knows."

From behind me, I heard someone coughing. Even in the dim light, I could make out the familiar outline of Audrina's body.

"Audrina!" I whispered loudly.

Audrina let out several more quick coughs. "Esa, where are you?"

"Look to your left."

She turned in my direction. "Your mom is an evil witch! I hate her."

"I know. I agree," I responded, silently wondering what she had done. Had Dr. James drugged us for her scientific research, or was I completely wrong?

"What did she do to us?" Audrina asked, her eyes still closed.

"We don't know."

"Okay," Audrina responded in a voice only slightly louder than a whisper as she turned her head the other way.

"Audrina, try to wake up a little more. We probably need to get out of here."

"I know," she mumbled back. "I'm trying." Her eyes remained closed.

A figure on the other side of Audrina suddenly began to cough.

"Gave! Wake up!" Samuel said from somewhere else in the room.

"I'm trying. Give me a few minutes," he responded.

"We don't have time," Samuel said. "Focus. You've got to focus so we can get out of here."

"I'm trying. I'm trying," Gave mumbled back. "My eyelids feel so heavy. I'm not sure I can wake up."

"You can do it," I whispered loudly.

A series of lights flickered on. The room went from dark to light in the matter of seconds.

"You all need to wake up," a deep female voice boomed from somewhere in the darkness.

I looked over at Samuel. He returned my gaze and rolled his eyes. It was our mother talking to us.

Samuel reached up to his neck. "Dr. James, thank you for having us here. We're leaving. Now."

The Jump Line appeared in front of us, and in the next moment, we were back in our house just before it was destroyed. It was a welcome sight.

"What just happened?" I asked.

"She did something to us," Gave said. "Don't you get it? She did something to us!" His voice said it all: he was upset, angry, terrified.

"I get it. Trust me, we all get it," I said through clenched teeth. "We need to calm down and focus."

"How were we able to make the jump?" Audrina asked. "I thought she said our medallions didn't work down there."

"She did say that, but I had a feeling she was lying," Samuel said.

"Somehow I'm not surprised," Gave said.

Samuel cleared his throat. "I jumped to this time because my lab is still intact. Let's go. I need to look at all of you to see exactly what happened to us while we were asleep."

I held out my hand, palm up. It was still empty. "Do you think she has altered our genetic make-up?"

Samuel's extended his hand. He was quiet as he slowly opened his clenched fist. A tiny line of electricity was clearly visible in his palm.

"Why do you still have electricity?" I asked.

"I don't know." Samuel shook his head.

"I want you to check me first," I said, looking deep into his eyes. "Something is different about me and I want answers."

I had felt it even before Dr. James had drugged us. My body was different and it was changing rapidly. I didn't have any electricity running through my veins, but my other senses seemed ultra-heightened. I could see things I hadn't seen before. I could hear conversations that were taking place on the other side of a room. Most importantly, I could easily read anyone's mind.

"I agree," Audrina said. "You can scan me after Esa. I want to know what's going on."

Samuel looked at us. "We still need to find Theo."

At the sound of his name, my stomach sunk to the floor. Theo hadn't made the jump with us. He was still with Dr. James. Sadness took over my thoughts. "Samuel, please go find Theo. I just need to know that he's okay."

"Esa, Theo can handle himself. You need to focus on the rest of the team. What do we do next?" Samuel asked.

He was asking me for some sort of answer...a command. Direction for the entire team. I could hear Dr. James' voice echo in my head. You are a soldier. A leader. I could hear her say, I had no choice, I had to answer.

"Fine. Go ahead and scan us. I will allow you to do some research and then we will go on a search mission for Theo."

"Okay," Samuel said, patting one of the tables. "Hop up here. You will be the first. I'll check the others in a few minutes."

Gave asked, "What do you think she did to us while we were under?"

"I honestly don't know, but I can definitely tell you that I feel different."

"Me too," Gave said. "Me too, and I don't like it. I'm ready to go back and face her again."

"I agree," Samuel responded.

"We need some Intel on that place," Gave said. "Samuel, let me go. I'll jump back in a little bit."

"No," Samuel said in a serious voice. "I want to scan you first."

"Dude, I can be back before you are even done with Esa, I mean, Captain James," he nodded his head in my direction.

I glared back at him. "Gave, we need to stay together right now. I'm not sure we could find you if we got separated."

A look of defeat crossed Gave's face. "Fine," he mumbled. "I'm just getting a little stir crazy. I want to find Theo, and I want to figure out who's been lying to us."

"We all want answers. Trust me, you're not alone."