Link Six (completed)

Chapter 40 - Bedtime

A few hours after the incident, the lights in the room dim. Only Howie and Leeanna had experienced the chair today; the kids assume that the rest will be brought in tomorrow. When Howie came back, he actually vomited in garbage can in the corner of the room, and looked very green. Colton had found out what had happened, through his arm - which he had put around Howie's shoulders - and surreptitiously transferred the memory to Rhea as she placed a hand on his shoulder. They had put Howie in a town full of sick, dying, and injured people. He may not spend a lot of time with his brother, but he knows him well enough to figure out what his reaction would be. Using that idea, Howie had imagined what it would be like if he could feel the injuries of others, and he eventually got enough of an idea to amplify that. Of course, given that he's not Emma or Leeanna, and he doesn't spend nearly as much time together as they do, he couldn't perfectly replicate his brother's reaction, but he added a bit of exaggeration and it fooled everyone well enough. Upon his return, he actually made himself nauseous enough - by recalling all the most gruesome images - to vomit. He may not be next KCA best actor recipient, but he will pretend to be anyone if his life depends on it, even his pompous brother.

"If this is their way of telling us it's bedtime," Rhea begins in Colton's voice. "Then they need to double check our ages."

Gerald scoffs in agreement.

"We're going to have a problem when we're sleeping," Leeanna says.

"Leeanna's right, what if I have a nightmare?" Colton says pointedly to Rhea. If the real Rhea were to have a nightmare while she's still pretending to be Colton, that would unravel their plan immediately.

"Let's sleep in a costume," Emma suggests.

Emma and Leeanna make eye contact, and they hold it for a few seconds to make it look like they're telepathically communicating, though Leeanna's really just reading Emma's mind to see exactly what she means. With Emma's blank expression of concentration, those watching them won't know the difference.

Leeanna broadcasts Emma's plan to everyone, still making it seem like Emma's doing the work.

Rhea nods approvingly at Emma. "Good plan." She says in Colton's voice.

The kids gather in front of the chest an open it up, being sure to keep the stuff they had hid in there before out of sight. They pick out a couple of clothing articles that seem comfortable enough to sleep in, then they all crowd into the bathroom.

"We have to wake up early tomorrow, before they come in to get us, so we can switch back," Colton says in his own voice as he takes off Rhea's shirt.

Everyone else nods as they change into the costumes, this time as themselves instead of their twin.

Once everyone changes, Colton puts his hand on the door to open it.

"Wait," Howie stops him.

Everyone looks at him.

He looks at Colton, Rhea, Emma and his brother. "Tommorow, when you go into that chair," He drops his voice to a whisper. "It has to be perfect. You can't see them, but they can see you the entire time."

They nod. At first, wondering why he didn't tell him this earlier, then understanding that he didn't because the people watching the security cameras would expect him to be too traumatized to warn the others of anything, as Leeanna had pretended to be.

And, acting won't cut it. Leeanna adds. You have to actually feel it as your twin would. I didn't get a chance to look around the room, but I'm pretty sure they'll be monitoring your brain activity. To pull it off, you have to be your twin while you're in that chair.