I grabbed my books from my locker. Friday. One more day until I'm out of this place. I shoved past a junior girl in the hallway, who gave me a dirty look. Most of the time, they just ignored me. Not hard to, because I'm only 5'2", and I never really say anything to anyone.
A few minutes later, I shoved my way into English class, and took my seat in the back of the room. Not even my own classmates noticed me. The teacher walked in a few minutes after the bell rang, and told us to start reading Act Two of Macbeth. Great. I hadn't even started it yet. Guess I'd better get cracking.
Blah, blah blah, witches. Look up at the clock, still the same time as it was when I checked thirty seconds ago. Blah, blah, blah death. I have no idea what I'm reading. Why are all of these old books about murder? A glimpse of some of the few thoughts in my head as I dozed off. I wasw only woken up by the noise of the crackling of the loudspeaker.
"Excuse me? Can I have your attention, please?" our principal said. I rolled my eyes. "But can Colton Jackson, Katelyn Jackson..." She keeps going, but I'm stuck on every name that appears on the list. Ronan. Lucy. Ruby. Liam. Alix. Lili. Court.
"...and Xenia Posen please come to the office? Someone is here to see you." The loudspeaker crackles off.
I don't even hesitate. The younger kids probably don't have a clue about what's going on. I have to get to them before they get to the office.
Our school has grades Kindergarten to 12th, but the elementary school is right across the street. Colton, Katelyn, Ronan and Lucy are there. With quick thinking, I oull out my phone, and shoot Court and Lili a text, telling them to grab Ruby, Liam and Alix before the get there.
I burst into the brick building, scanning the hallway. Around the corner, I hear the pitter-patter of feet, and Colton comes into my sight.
"Colton!" I say, with a sigh of relief. "Where's your sister?"
"She's upstairs. But what about Lucy and Ronan?"
"Are they up there, too?"
"Yeah. They had to get hall passes to leave, but I didn't" He grinned a gap-toothed smile at me. A few seconds later, Lucy came bounding down the steps, followed by Ronan and Katelyn.
"Thank God!" I exclaimed.
"What?" asked Katelyn.
"I had to get to you guys." I said. "But now we have to go get Court, Lili, Ruby, Liam and Alix. Okay?"
'We're in danger, aren't we?" asked Lucy. "I can't see who, but there's someone coming to get us. Someone who wants us to use."
"What? You see that?" I ask. "Can't you see who it is, who they're with?"
She shakes her head. "No. I see a few people with suits on, four men and two women. They're going to take us out of school, and..." she trails off. "That's all I can see. It gets too dark after that."
"Okay. Colton, why don't you take my hand, buddy?" He slips his small palm into mine. Although he's ten times stronger than I could ever hope to be, I still feel the need to protect him.
"You three need to stick close to me. When we get there, find Lili or Court. They'll protect you." They nod at me. I start to lead them down the hall, practically dragging Colton behind me. But he keeps up, and I can practically hear Lucy breathing down the back of my neck.
We arrive at the administrator's office. Everyone else is already there, including our principal, and 6 men and women in suits. Just like what Lucy said.
"And this must be Xenia," said a short woman with blonde hair. She had an evil sneer on her face, which she must have meant as a smile.
"Yes, this is Xenia Posen, Colton and Katelyn Jackson, and Lucinda and Ronan MacLaren. This is all you need?" asked my principal.
"Yes, this is satisfactory." Said the short blonde woman. "We're going to need to take them out of school--" I looked at Lucy, "--but probably only for the rest of the day. They have been chosen to undergo certain testing in our department. We have already informed their parents of this."
"Of course." said our principal. "These kids are some of the finest we have and I'm sure that they'll behave to your standards." She gave me a glare. Mrs. Stafford and I have been acquainted a few times before.
"Alright, kids." said the tallest man. "Let's go," he put his hand on my shoulder. It didn't seem like it was a threatening gesture, but I still shook him off.
They led us out of the building, the blonde woman in front. She looked like a person who could be a 1950's housewife, not someone who was most likely kidnapping us to poke needles in our brains.
The parking lot was full of student's cars, but there were three that stood out. Three, large black SUV's with tinted windows. And, of course, that was where they led us.
"Xenia, Lilianna, and Court will ride with Charles and me," said the blonde woman. "Alix, Liam and Ruby will ride with Lisa and John," she said, gesturing to the other woman and the tall man. "And the youngest children will ride with Marcus and Michael."
"No," I said. "The youngest kids will ride with me."
"Now, Xenia," said Lisa. "Let's not make this difficult. Just listen to Eleanor."
Eleanor. So blonde woman had a name.
"Just listen to me, Xenia." said Eleanor. "Everything's going to be fine. You're not going to be hurt."
I huffed. Obviously these people weren't going to give in.
"Whatever," I said.
Court leaned down and whispered something to Colton, but I didn't hear what he said. I nudge hi as we got into the farthest van, but he just shook his head.
The three of us sat in the far back seats, squished in like sardines. We didn't want to be any closer to our "kidnappers". I sat in between Lili and Court, with their elbows hitting my ribs.
Not knowing how far we were going, I pulled out my bag, and from within, I produced the journal. I asked Lili for a pen, and she gave me one. I began to write.
So, the scary government people are coming to take us away..... ooh I know! But these clowns look like they couldn't take us if I had one hand tied behind my back.
Lili, Court and I are stuck in the backseat of their SUV. I think they're taking us back to their headquarteres where they can do "experiments" on us. I'm not sure what they exactly mean by that, but I sure hope to God that they just want us to take some tests to prove to China that we're smarter than them. In Ruby and Liam's cases, we'd pass them by far.
Court tapped my shoulder, and I looked up at him. He pointed out the window at a sign on the side of the interstate. And then pointed at the exit that we appeared to be taking.
"Washington DC?" I mouthed to him. He shrugged his shoulders. Typical. I pointed it out to Lili, who nodded at me, then looked out the back window. Probably looking for the cars the kids were in.
"Are you kids comfortable?" asked Eleanor, aka Blondie. She eyed us through the rearview mirror.
"We're fine," Lili said in her sweetest voice. She smiled up at Blondie. Note to self: let Lili do the talking when you want to appear innocent.
"Good, good," Blondie said. "Just about a half hour left.
I hit my head on Court's shoulder. A half hour in this car? I'd rather step across a field of legos, then dragged through acid, in a fiery pit in hell.
