Strange Thoughts

Part Two-Chapter One-Aubrey

I wake up surrounded in darkness. It takes me a couple minutes to realize I'm not in my house.

I feel around with my hands, stopping when stabs of pain arouse from them. I trace the inside of my palms. I feel jagged cuts, blood slowly oozing out. My eyes cloud up. Did my sister do this to me?

I have never underestimated my sister's power. I do know that what Brian was thinking was true. I do know that Brian is working with the other side. I know that because he told me. He knows I'm loyal to him.

My sister would be extremely furious with me if she found out I'm working with the other side. She would feel betrayed, knowing all the secrets that I've told. I don't really care, it's my future I'm worried about. Her future is already set out for her.

She is too self centered, too focused on her power. Her kind of boyfriend Gray, is suffering from his parents fighting constantly after finding out about an affair. Instead of helping him, she ignores him for days and goes out on adventures.

Aleya will be captured, and she'll escape, and then captured, so on. It's exactly what I expect, exactly what happens in any book, in all the books she worships. The good guys win in the end, and the good guys are us.

Aleya's power came from a dangerous source. A tyrant lying in the ground, but unable to die, because of his power. Wasting away so slowly, in the dirt. I don't want my sister to have a fate like that.

I want to do everything I can to get rid of that power. I've been planning this step by step.

Aleya's already fallen for step one. She took the pills, which were basically just mints, but with trackers and sedatives in them. They aren't going to give her any special powers. All they are going to do is make her more vulnerable to us. To the normal people, the people who are really going to make the world a better place, the right way.

Dr. Claire has the journals, the records of the previous readers. Not one of them has had a happy ending. They've all become tyrants, or beggars in the streets. They either get too low on the social ladder or too high. That's not going to happen to my sister. She should be normal.

I get pulled out of my thoughts. The lights in the room have turned on. I cautiously observe my surroundings

I'm in a white room. There is nothing but a gray table, and two chairs. I lift myself up, ignoring the pain in my arms. I limp over to one of the chairs.

I sit down, and see a piece of paper. I read it.

Sorry to keep you waiting, and sorry for cutting your arms. We needed to get you here as fast as possible, and you are very feisty in your sleep.

A rush of warmth goes through me. It's in Brian's handwriting. The boy who I thought would never love me's handwriting.

So like I'm supposed to do, I sit and wait.

I wait for what feels like hours. There is no clock, just blank walls. I start to feel nauseated from the pain on my arms when Brian comes in.

Brian is wearing a nice suit, he probably came from a meeting with Dr. Claire. His hair is swept back in a way that makes me want to put my hands through it. I lean up and give him a kiss on the cheek. He smiles, a genuine smile that someone only gives someone if they love them.

"I'm surprised you didn't find your way out." He leans over above my head, and pushes on the wall. A door opens, leading to a dark hallway. "It's time for you to see where I really work. I think you're ready."

Brian walks down the hallway. I follow, keeping my eyes and ears alert. The hallway is compact, and I begin to feel a little claustrophobic. It's pitch black, but I can move forward by following the quiet noise of Brian's steps. The noise relaxes me.