The Mismunandi

Chapter 13

A/N- finally am I right?
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I wake up to the surprise of a bucket of freezing cold water soaking my upper half in my once-warm bunk bed. It's still dark outside so the party must have stopped not to long ago.

I sit up and breathe heavily to catch my breath. What the hell is going on? My wet hair is all in my eyes as I turn my head rapidly trying to find out why and who was surrounding my bed laughing. Before I can move my hair to see, my arms are seized and I am yanked off the bed and a bag is shoved over my head.

My kidnappers pull me along. I hear the door open and I know they are taking me outside. My head is not clear and I can't even think. I want to know if my sisters are safe, but all I can think about is not tripping. After walking for a long time, the bag is pulled from my head and I am pushed to the ground. I look up to see that I am in what seems to be some kind of small watering hole in the middle of the jungle. People stand in a circle around me, some holding torches and they are all chanting. More people have been thrown in the water along with me. I see Rich right away, splashing through the knee-deep water and falling a few times as he makes his way towards me.

"What's going on?" I ask.

He opens his mouth to say something but before he can speak, another boy pushes him out of the way trying to escape, only to be pushed back down by a torch-holder. Rich scrambles to get back to his feet and I help him up.

"I don't know, but all the people that were taken are new here. Not all the new-comers are here though. There would be a lot more if they were. These guys must have just taken what they could carry," he shouts over all the noise.

Suddenly the chanting stops and a short girl steps forward. As soon as I recognize her, my jaw drops. Meg! She's the leader of Precarious. Isn't this against the rules? Especially for her to take part in it?

"Thought you'd get a good night's rest, huh?" She says with a fierce look on her face. "For years Precarious has held our own little welcoming ritual. You lucky kids have been randomly selected to take part! Here's what you have to do: find your way back to camp! Sounds easy, right? Think again! You see we want to keep our tradition going so we can't let any snitches get by! That's where I come in. I have the ability to control minds. Many at once. All of you at once. So I will find my way into all of your brains to make sure you do t tell anybody about this ever. Oh and while I'm there, I might as well mess around with a few things!"

The group surrounding us bursts into laughter as they begin to blow out their flames one at a time until it is completely dark. I hear footsteps running away, but the group in the water all stays put, chattering to one another. All of a sudden a girl starts screaming and I hear water splashing. I hold up my hand and squeeze my eyes shut. When I open them, a yellow light bursts from my palm like a flashlight. A few other people have the same idea and we point our hands to the shrieking girl who is covering her eyes with her hands and shaking her head.

"That smell," she cries. I sniff the air, but smell nothing. "Mommy!" She screams, even thought she looks like she's my age. "It's the perfume my mom used to wear!" She starts crying again. "It wasn't my fault! She was the one driving! It wasn't my fault! Please stop!"

Then somebody else falls into the water. I turn to see what's happening and two guys pull a third out of the water. The one that fell seems to be in a state of unconsciousness, but is crying anyway.

"What's happening to them?" A younger girl cries. I turn to Rich.

"Can you read their minds? What's going on?" I ask.

He nods and closes his eyes to concentrate. Only a few seconds later his eyes open wide and he stumbles back again.

"She's in their heads!" He shouts for everyone to hear. "Meg is making them remember tragic events that they think happened to them, but never actually did. That's how she's going to control us all!"