Animegas (Editing)

Arrival

That night, I had a dream. Max was safe, and Erik was there. We were on the beach, laughing and eating. The sun was beginning to set. The sky looked like it was on fire. It was perfect. No Furies, no Bandits, nothing that was a threat. Everything was calm and safe.

Erik and I went for a swim while Max slept. The water was warm and....perfect. Just like everything else. We swam and splashed each other. We laughed and had contests to see who could stay underwater the longest. The waves crashed against our backs. It seemed like nothing could go wrong.

Then I heard Max scream. The Furie from before smirked at me and held a black knife to Max's throat. "You're out of time." He snarled. Then he slit Max's throat.

I couldn't say anything, my dream wouldn't let me. I looked over to Erik. His eyes were rolled back in his head and turned blood red. His skin became milky white and his teeth were sharp and crooked. He had become one of them.

"Still have hope, Sammy?" He chuckled. "You won't for long."

Erik grabbed my throat and squeezed. I passed out and woke up to Katie shaking me.

I sat up and looked around. Everyone was staring at me in fear. Beads of sweat ran down my face and neck. My throat hurt.

"What happened?" I asked

Thomas felt my forehead. "You were screaming. And you have a nasty fever."

His hand covered itself in ice and cooled my forehead. Greg handed me some Salus berries which I gladly ate. My fever went down.

"What was your dream about?" Asked Katie.

I didn't lie, I couldn't think of one. The entire dream came spilling out. They all hung on to every word I said.Greg curled up to my side.

"Do you think it was real?" He asked.

I shook my head. "It was just a silly dream. Dreams feed off of your hopes and fears. Don't let them fool you."

He nodded and laid down with his head on my lap. It was already past sunrise. About 6 or 7:00 my guess. Katie stood up and started pacing.

"Maybe it meant something." she said. "Animegas sometimes have dreams that have signs in them. Like the Furie saying you ran out of time. Maybe that means that they are close to accomplishing their goal."

She didn't say anything about Max or Erik.

We heard something rustle in the bushes. I drew an arrow and aimed for the undergrowth.

Someone came stumbling out. He had brown hair and eyes the color of dirt.

"Erik?" I called out. The boy looked at me in relief.

"Sam!" He exclaimed. He ran up to me and hugged me. "My automan, he sent me the memories. I remember you. And my sister....Sara..."

"Um, Erik. Where were you?" I asked. "Before..you...I mean your auto man, died...he said you were asleep somewhere."

Erik nodded. "I woke up in an institution. Kind of like the concentration camps in World War II. Except, more high tech.

"The Furies kept me there for about a week. They did experiments, figuring me out I guess. I saw my sister, Sam, I saw her! She was scared. I saw Max too! They had become friends, best friends. The little bugger is a trooper. He's brave, and alive. Same with about 30 different Animegas."

I introduced Erik to everyone. They all seemed happy to see him. I guess Erik has that effect on people. I thought about my dream, about Erik turning into one of them. But I pushed those thoughts away. He couldn't be one of them, I wouldn't believe it.

He told us he escaped yesterday. And despite his fear, he led us to the Concentration camp. Sylva has told me that there is only one area which the guardians couldn't see, I guessed this was it. I hunted and we hiked. We ate and walked some more. Greg whimpered when we got there.

It was just like the camps in WWII, minus all the dark buildings and high tech labs. There were barracks and a giant gate surrounding the place. The kids wore black suits with red numbers stitched on the front. A female voice echoed across the camp.

"Barracks A and B will be in for testing today. Barracks C and D will be doing arts and crafts. And Barrack E will be on labor today. Please report to your stations after breakfast. Anyone that doesn't report to their station will go into the Cage. Have a good day everyone."

The kids raced towards what looked like a mess hall. They all got a slice of toast and some oatmeal.

"What's the Cage?" Asked Katie.

Erik's face was pale. "It's a room where they torture you and if you’ve been really bad, brainwash you. It's the most dangerous place in the entire camp.Testing is where they do experiments and stuff on you. They suck out your power, bit by bit. So you don't notice it. But I noticed, probably because I couldn't control the Earth as easily anymore. Arts and crafts is where they work on weapons. And labor is just where the kids clean up around the camp, check on the garden, stuff like that."

I shook my head. "Do you know which Barrack Max is in?"

"E, so he and Sara are on Labor duty today."

I nodded and looked at the buildings. They were all black and ominous. Not the kind of place for kids. We crept to the back fence. I changed into my Animega and dug a hole big enough for even Thomas to slip through.

We all transformed into our Animega, except for Thomas and Erik, they would stick out too much. They stole some clothes to blend in.

We searched for our siblings, all of them where in Barrack E. Some luck.