𝐂𝐀𝐍 𝐈 𝐓𝐑𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐘𝐎𝐔 + sokeefe and horror

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟖: a sophie special

Dear diary,

I can't believe I'm free. The second I was under the water to right now, I was being controlled by her. Watched. Monitored. Manipulated. No, not manipulated. That implies that you have no idea what you're doing. But I do. I know exactly what's happening when I carry out Lunar's orders, and even though my brain is screaming and I'm horrified, my body can't stop. I don't know what happened. I can remember everything, but it's as though I'm watching myself do it. 

The guards feel bad for me. Lunar has not put them under mind control - says they're humans, and humans can be defeated easily if they turn. But anyway, the guards have given me a journal. Now, finally, I am free to write down everything I can. I am not supposed to be released, and the only time I have free will is when Lunar goes to sleep, when she can't concentrate anymore. Then, the guards chain me to the bed and put a device that, to me, looks like a flailing spider on my head. I can't think about anything, never mind devise plans for escape. Then they force-feed me a lilac potion that makes me so woozy and tired, I'm out in seconds. Pity only goes so far. 

But, thankfully, the guards haven't realized I'm not being mind-controlled, and so they haven't taken away the journal and pen. If anybody finds this journal, I'm hoping that somebody will think to check the prison cells. I'll be gone, but maybe Keefe and Biana and Dex and Linh and Fitz and Tam will still be alive. So if you're reading this, please go check Cell 3428, because my friends might still be alive. If you can't get in, the head guard (Gray) always has a key. But he drinks too much at dinner, falls asleep in a drunk haze, and never locks his door. The key is always hidden underneath his bronze Panakes tree statue. 

And here's all of the things I've learned while being mind-controlled: Lunar has her own Collective type-thingy. But, unlike the Collective at the Black Swan, Lunar is obviously in charge and will not stand to be questioned. They call themselves The Watchers.

There's Summer, who is a Pyrokinetic, one of the most powerful of all Pyrokinetics. Maybe stronger than even Fintan. Like Lunar, she is trillions of years old. When her ability was banned, a group of psychotic ogres had kidnapped her and done experiments on her for weeks, testing her and giving her so many surgeries that half of her bloodstream still flowed with the metallic silver-colored substance they used to knock her out beforehand. When she'd finally been rescued and the group had been reported to the Council, they dismissed it, saying it was the ramblings of an obviously deranged girl. Sometime while Summer had been gone, both of her parents had been caught trying to murder her sister, who had died painfully and slowly from many wounds before someone had come to rescue her. It was one of the biggest scandals for years. They put Summer into Exile, saying she was as crazy as her parents. Summer rotted away for years, planning revenge on the Council. One day, hundreds of years ago, Lunar had busted into the prison and rescued her. She'd told Summer all about what had happened to her and asked Summer to join. She'd agreed, and so The Watchers had been born.

The next one was Wisp, a Guster who had banished to Exillium for accidentally summoning a tornado in the midst of Eternalia. But unlike Tam and Linh, no one had come to rescue him. He stayed there for years, until he finally aged out of the program and was forced to wander the Neutral Territories for years, starving and barely surviving. After stealing from yet another marketplace (and getting a huge scratch down his head in the escape) he had accidentally unlocked an entire hive of Newborn Trolls, not knowing he had ventured into the Troll Territories. It was abandoned, but there were still three healthy Newborns who had viciously attacked him. Wisp was almost killed but managed to escape by blasting the Newborns off of a cliff with powerful gusts of wind. At that point, I knew he was powerful, because they were heavy as trucks, extremely muscle-y, and huge. If he was starving and already wounded - and there were THREE of them and one of him - he must've been extraordinarily powerful. Unfortunately, Wisp had gotten another scratch down his head and neck, festering with poison and infections from the Newborns terrible claws. He'd traveled back to the Lost Cities, begged for the Council to help him, but they'd refused. Shortly after, the wound became infected and he almost died. But Lunar rescued him, healed him, and then offered him a deal: join The Watchers and be safe and well fed, or take his chances with the wilderness. He'd agreed to join them.

The fourth and final one was Chance, a Hydrokinetic. He's actually not that older than me - he's still hundreds of years old, but he knows the Heks, which is what tipped him over the edge. Like Dex, his parents were bad matches and he faced scorn and hatred from all. But the fact that the Heks hadn't gotten punished and were treated as appropriate matches made him furious. He began to start a protest against the Matchmaking System. The Council treated this as a rebellion and kidnapped him, his wife - and, in addition - his unborn child. They were kept in solitary confinement for weeks, freezing cold and with barely any food. They didn't do anything to him, knowing  he was powerful enough to stop them, but his wife, who was an Empath, was tortured. Finally, her heart stopped and she and the unborn child died. Furious and miserable, Chance flooded the compound, escaped, and wandered the Neutral Territories. After a couple years, he ran into Wisp. They became good friends, stealing and gathering together. About five years after Wisp had been recruited, he recommended Chance for the final member of The Watchers. Lunar interviewed him, asked him about everything, and finally agreed to let him join. 

Don't you see the connection? The similarities? They are all extremely powerful Elementals with some major beef with the Council. And their reasons may be right. I knew the Elvin world was bad, but it's getting worse by the second. I don't know how these people managed to do these things to the poor people without shattering their own sanity, but it's horrible.

ALSO! The other girl, Erica - she's being mind-controlled as well. I don't know why, but these weird symbols on our back - the crescent moon - THEY are a brand of mind-control. Everyone throughout the Compound who is being mind-controlled has these on their back. When we're not being mind-controlled, they're silver. But when we are, they're blue. When I'm being controlled, it pulses and vibrates like crazy. What I learned about them was that Lunar has to do a special thing with you to make the mark appear. That can only happen when she's with you. But afterwards, she can control you anywhere, anytime.

---

The gentle scratch of the pen made Sophie's heart flip every time she wrote a word.

Usually, the sound - paired with the fresh smell of ink - made her feel relaxed. But now, nothing about it was relaxing. It was the sound of imminent danger. Suddenly, Sophie's mark began to itch and tingle, getting warm.

She barely held in a scream. Knowing her self-control was about to disappear, she buried the journal underneath her mattress. 

Somebody, somebody help. She prayed silently. If anybody's listening, and if anybody's coming, please hurry. I can't hold on much longer. Every time, it's harder and harder to hold onto free thought. My friends, too. Please help us. Please. Please...

And then the mark turned blue and Sophie's brain was snatched by Lunar.