Mind Games.

chapter 2: Princeton.

The lights were different than I remembered them. They seemed more...eery. Like the area underneath them was beakoning to something dark, and strange...
"Alice!" Clark waved a hand in front of my face. I snapped out of my trance and turned to look at him.
"Yes? What?"
"Our ride is here." He gestured to the sleek, black spy-looking car that slid through the night and pulled towards us. I smiled at the thought of who was in the car.
They pulled up along side us, popping the trunk for our luggage. We set our things in the trunk and hopped in the back. I was greeted with a huge smile and a warm hug.
"Alice! You're all grown up!" Oliver Perez was one of the initial agents to study me. He was also one of the best people I've ever met. He and his partner, Terence, would always play games with me. We have kept in touch over the years, but missions have kept them busy. The last time I saw them was when I was 11. I hugged Oliver and sat back, smiling at Terence.
"You're looking well, Terence." He grunted in response and nodded. Terence looks a lot like John Coffey from the green mile, except he isn't an imbecile. And he isn't very happy looking. But despite appearances, he's one of the biggest softies. One time when I was little, I thought the boogeyman was in my room. He looked under the bed and in the closet. And when I couldn't go to sleep, he finally just slept on the floor to make me feel better. Clark patted my hand.
"Buckle up." I nodded and strapped myself in. Oliver smiled at Clark.
"So, how are you? How's Jean?"
"Oh, she's doing fine. How's Paisley?" That's Oliver's 5 year old daughter. Oliver adjusted himself in his seat.
"Oh, rambunctious and adventurous." Clark nodded and wiped his face.
"Well, I can imagine, but please tell me; just how pissed is Kendall?" That's his boss.
"Oh, to the fifth level of hell and beyond. But luckily for you, the press doesn't suspect him."
"Well that's a plus," he smiled at me. I sighed.
"Might I ask what Kendall plans to do with me?" I asked Oliver. Terence spoke up in his deep voice,
"As far as he's concerned, your training for NASA must maintain top priority. He's sending you to one of the best colleges in the US to study chemistry and such." He took a drink of what looked to be water and sat back. I frowned.
"Which one? There are many good universities." Oliver smiled.
"You're going to Princeton. As long as you pass the aptitude test, which I'm almost positive you will, then you'll be admitted, all expenses paid." We pulled into the parking lot of the national security building. We all got out and headed inside to the Orange office.
As we entered, I saw Kendall talking on the phone. The hair line was starting to recede and he was plumper, but he had remained virtually unchanged. He gestured all of us to sit down while he finished the call. I sat down in between Terence and Clark. Once his call was finished, he sat down and glared at Clark.
"Answer me this; how the fuck did someone find her?"
"It's nice to see you too, Kendall. Have you lost weight?" I stated, crossing my arms. He glared at me.
"Cut the crap, dolly. How could you be so careless?"
"Twas the slip of the tongue, and it's Alice, by the way." I retorted, smirking to the side. He gave me a sour look.
"You think you're real smart, don't you?"
"You seem to agree, Kendall."
"Well, smartly pants, now we have to take extra precautions. The whole world now has the chance to see who you really are."
"That's not necessarily a bad thing." Clark defended me. Kendall looked at him and said,
"No? If someone wanted to kidnap her and use her against us, what makes you think she wouldn't cooperate?" I took that one,
"Because no one makes cookies like you guys." Oliver chuckled quietly while Terence smiled. Kendall sighed.
"She will have to have someone watching her at all times. From a reasonable distance, of course, but it has to happen." Oliver and Terence nodded.
"Well, sir, Terence and I volunteer for the job."
"No." He stated in a firm tone. Terence frowned,
"Why not, sir?"
"Because you know her. You have a close bond to her. We need someone who won't give her the slightest bit of slack."
"But sir, that's exactly why you should choose us. Who would be more anxious to protect her than us?" Oliver explained. Kendall stroked his beard and thought. When he did so, the skin on his forehead scrunched up and he looked funny. I closed my eyes and crossed my legs on the spinning chair I sat on. I can't remember the last time I felt this tired.
He finally nodded.
"Fine, you can. But I swear to god, one screw up...and you're done."
"Thank you, sir." Oliver stated. I yawned,
"Where is our hotel room, might I inquire?"
"No sleep yet. You have to take your SAT's. An advisor is waiting in the next office over. Once you've completed that, you can sleep. You'll leave for Princeton on Friday. Classes start on Monday." He dismissed Clark and I to meet the advisor in the office. Clark rubbed my shoulder.
"I'm sorry I can't be there with you."
"Dont apologize, Clark. You've done so much for me." We both stopped in front of the office. He smiled down at me.
"I wish I could've done more." He kissed my forehead and disappeared down the hallway. The voice of a small woman came through the door,
"Please come in." I obliged and opened the door, reavealing a woman in a business suit and red hair standing in front of a table. She nodded to the seat in front of the table.
"Please sit down." I nodded and sat down. She handed me a packet and a number two pencil.
"My name is Melissa Moore. You will have 60 minutes to complete the packet in front of you. If you have to use the bathroom, please raise your hand. I will stop the timer and you may go. You may not use any digital devices. Your time starts...now." she hit the button of a stop watch. I opened the packet and began to work.
Several of the questions were about mathematics, about a third was on science, and the rest consisted of English and language arts. When I had finished, I checked my time. I still had twelve minutes to go. I raised my hand and cleared my throat.
"I'm finished, ma'am."
"Please look over your answers."
"No, that's quite alright. I'm tired and ready to be done with this." I replied. She frowned and stared at me like I just ate a puppy.
"Well, I'd strongly suggest looking over it-"
"Thank you for the suggestion, miss, but I am done with this, good day." I got up from my chair and started outside to find Clark.
When I reached the parking lot, I saw him leaning against the black car from earlier.
"How far away is the hotel?" I asked, getting in the back. He got in next to me and sighed.
"About five minutes, give me your arm." He held out a hand.
"Why?"
"The boss insists on knowing exactly where you are at all times. He's having me insert this tracker in your arm." He took my arm in one swift movement and stuck a large needle in it. I winced in pain, but kept my arm as relaxed as I could. If you tighten your muscles too much, then the needle has to be forced in and ripped out. But, if you just relax, it's over a lot more quickly. When he pulled it out, I shivered. He took out a bandaid and started taking off the papers
"I got you Dora the explorer."
"Oh, how thoughtful." I replied, giggling. He smiled and pressed the bandaid against my skin.
"Exactly how is this tracking me?" I questioned. He smiled,
"Satellite." He stated as an explanation.
We entered a big hotel with a chandelier in the middle of the lobby. We approached a woman in a black suit and black hair who sat behind the desk.
"Hello, how may I help you?"
"We're here for a room."
"Alright, two beds?" He nodded and took out his debut card. Clark and Jean did not believe in using credit cards. They thought it was stupid to spend money they didn't have. She clicked onto the keyboard and said,
"Ok, here are your keys, enjoy your stay." He thanked her and we walked up the stairs to our room.
"246....246....found it!" Clark slipped the card into its slot and pulled out, making the little green light flash. We entered the room and set our bags aside. I yawned and stated,
"I'm tired. Goodnight Clark."
"Dont you want a shower?" He asked.
"No, I'll take one in the morning." I laid down on the bed and stared at the ceiling. Clark smiled and sighed.
"I'm going down to have a drink. Call me if you need anything."
"Ok." I yawned, rolling over onto my side so my back was facing him. He opened the door and slipped out, heading downstairs to the lobby. For a while I contemplated my life up to this point. That's what all humans do in the dark, right? When you're left alone with nothing but your thoughts, you can scare yourself. But I was not accustomed to being afraid. I never had any reason to be, until now.
My whole life has been spent in Clark's basement. I've never had birthday parties or sleepovers, or anything normal children enjoy. And yet, they were sending me off to a real college. A place where normal people were.
Although I must remind myself that it is my own fault. My life, at least to this point, has been full of 'if only's.' If only I hadn't talked to that little girl. If only she didn't want to play with that ball. If only they had played somewhere else. If only they didn't move into that house. If only I wasn't so damn smart...
If only I wasn't born. None of this would've happened if my parents didn't want a child. If they had never met, I wouldn't be the reason why they were in some uncharted island. I wouldn't be a threat to everyone if I was never given life.
'Snap out of it, Alice,' I told myself. 'What would Clark say if he knew you thought like this?' I could never let him know about the things that go on inside my head. He would think I was bat shit crazy.
Whatever, it's time to sleep. I think there's been too much exitment today. All the flights and the facts swimming in my head are making me sleepy beyond reason.
As I laid my head down on the pillow, I thought about how many hundreds of other people had laid their heads on it. I wondered what they had thought in the darkness, where human nature shows its true colors. The last words that flew through my mind before my eyelids slipped shut were,
'If only...'

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Thanks, I hope you will enjoy the next one of my chapters, bye! :)