The Vanishing

Chapter 24

"We should get everyone together." I said, looking at their grave faces.
"Maybe you should call Henry, too." Morghan said.
I gritted my teeth but nodded as we helped Mason out of the tunnels and back to his room. He needs some rest, we'll check on him later.
After I called Henry, we all went to the cafeteria for dinner while we waited for him to get here. Dragging out whatever this news is has everyone on edge. Thankfully, it seemed comfort food was on the menu tonight, there was soup, macaroni and cheese, and roasted chicken and vegetables. No amount of comfort food seemed to calm our nerves, but it was nicer than the bland food we normally have. Everyone ate quietly, lost in their own thoughts. Well, everyone except my favorite vampire, Wyatt. He had his trusty thermos that I preferred not to think about when I was eating. He told me once that it's animal blood, but still. I moved my mac and cheese around my plate, but couldn't bring myself to eat it. Patrick, who had taken to sitting next to me at mealtimes rather than his usual spot, gave me a look of dismay.
"That bad, huh?" He asked quietly.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"Every time we have mac and cheese you basically inhale the stuff. But you've hardly touched it tonight." He pointed out.
Did it really seem like that? I hate it when people watch me eat, it makes me very self-conscious. Regardless, I answered "It's just, on top of everything that happened today, this is the first time I've seen Henry since he told me he's my father. Seeing him just stresses me out." I gave a shrug like it wasn't that big of a deal.
He gave me an apologetic look and squeezed my wrist. "It's going to be okay. If you get stressed and want me to jump in, just tap your wrist, and I'll do what I can to help." He gave my wrist a little tap. I smiled in response before shoving a big bite of Mac and cheese into my mouth. He grinned, looking triumphant.
Normally, I wouldn't want him to fight my battles, but right now I wouldn't mind. I've been feeling really overwhelmed lately, so it's nice to know that he has my back.
Waiting on Henry to arrive seemed to take ages, but his car finally rolled into the parking lot in the visitor space. Visitors are not permitted onto the grounds without an escort, so Patrick and I had waited for him. He said nothing as he walked up to us, and he made a gesture as if to hug me but I stepped back. I couldn't ignore his hurt expression and the twinge sent to my heart when I saw it. I hooked my arm through with his and gave him a tight smile. He visibly relaxed as we made our way to the library. We were met with furrowed brows and worried postures, and I readied myself for the conversation ahead.
When everyone was seated, we all looked at Morghan and Gemma expectantly. Evie was here too, looking grim as ever. Morghan and Gemma shared a look before Gemma explained everything, "We know what Artemis is doing with the powers. I hacked into their main computer system and we found out what they're doing. It's called power mining. They hook you up to a machine and it absorbs your powers until you have nothing left. Unfortunately there are some pretty bad side effects, including and not limited to death" she said quickly, looking at Evie apologetically. Evie rolled her eyes and disappeared. I was glad we could all see Evie now, other than Henry, because I think I would have liked her. I too would roll my eyes and disappear if people gave me pity face every time death was brought up.
I still had so many unanswered questions. The first being, "So what are they doing with the powers after they take them?"
"They're implanting them into human soldiers. They're making super soldiers." Morghan said.
The room erupted into questions.
"Why?" Wyatt asked "How?" Patrick asked "For what?" Nina asked. Henry had been completely silent the entire time.
"We don't know. We didn't get that far before we had to leave so we wouldn't get caught." Gemma said.
One question I had but was scared to know the answer to was why hadn't Nina had any of these side effects? She was completely traumatized, but physically she's fine. Thankfully, someone else spoke up first.
"So, let me get this straight. Your plan is to let my daughter get captured and all of you go in to save her? That's it? That's the plan?" He asked in an authoritative tone I've never heard him take before.
Eyes went wide around the room.
"What about everyone else? You're not going to get them out?" He asked again.
Morghan audibly gulped.
"I think we should get all of the innocent people out and capture all of the Artemis Group members." I said.
He softened a little. "And then what?"
"Call the police. They're kidnapping people and experimenting on them. So they'll go to jail." I said incredulously like he had asked me the simplest question on the planet.
"You're risking your life for a half-baked plan." He said.
"Wouldn't you?" I asked.
He chuckled. "I suppose I would."
"Great, now that we're settled, I have schematics." Gemma grinned, holding up a USB drive.
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This is a short one, but it was fun to write.
As always COMMENT and VOTE and tell me your thoughts!
Jess