Minds: Book One

Chapter Fifteen

        The room erupted into conversation.
        “Everyone quiet!” Richard’s voice boomed. The conversations came to a halt. “I know it’s sudden, but we are prepared. Kayla informed me that ROIM has discovered the Safe House’s location and are planning to attack us in three days. So we are going to beat them to it.” A cheer erupted in the room.
        “Hell yeah we are!” Piper shouted.
        “Everything is still going to go as planned, everyone will play out their role.” Richard said.
        “When is River’s treatment supposed to be done?” Kayla asked me from across the table. Richard looked down at me.
        “What treatment is River getting?” Richard asked. Everyone in the room was looking at me, waiting for an answer.
        “Doc’s treatment, and just after dinner.” I said. Everyone nodded. Kayla stood up.
        “Richard and I have prepared backpacks for everyone. It has everything that you need. Water, some food, a gun, extra ammo, and a knife.” Kayla said in a slightly more confident voice. Nick passed a backpack out to everyone. He threw me an extra one to me of River.
        “Alright everyone, we are leaving at seven o’clock in the morning tomorrow.” Kayla said looking around at everyone.
        “We are going to be taking two vehicles. I will be driving the first one and Nick will be driving the second one. We are going to park in the woods a mile away from ROIM. We will be entering through the back door. Once we are inside, split up and do your jobs as quickly as possible.” Richard said with his strong and confident voice. I looked around at everyone and noticed Piper give Nick the slightest nod. I looked back at Alice who was looking Kayla.
        Piper and Nick are planning something. She looked over at me a gave me a confused look.
What do you mean? I could feel Nick’s eyes locked on me so I leaned in and kissed Alice. I winked at her and she gave me a small smile.
        “This meeting is over, I’ll see everyone tomorrow.” Richard said and everyone but Alice, Kayla, Richard, and I left the room.
        If Nick and Piper are planning something I should probably tell Richard. But if they aren’t then I’ll look like an idiot that cried wolf because he just assumed. But then again if they are planning something and it turns out to be something really bad and people found out that I thought they were planning something then people will question my judgment. I needed to talk to Alice about this.
        “Isaac?” Kayla asked. I didn’t realize I was staring at her. “Are you okay?” She added in a concerned voice.
        “Yeah, just nervous about tomorrow I guess.” I said. She gave me a small smile.
        “Don’t worry, you guys will be fine. Everyone is going to be fine.” She reassured me. But I couldn’t tell if she was reassuring me, or herself. Alice stood up from her seat.
        “Well we will see you guys tomorrow.” Alice said. Richard and Kayla smiled at both of us. I stood up and followed Alice out of the room. We walked back to our bunks in silence. Alice sat down on my bed, her hands were shaking. I sat down next to her and put my arm around her shoulders.
        “Hey don‘t worry everything it going to be fine.” I said rubbing her back.
        “Do you really believe that?” She asked looking up at me.
        “Of course.” I lied. I leaned down and kissed her before she could say anything else. When I pulled away I saw Adam leaning against the bunk frame with a large stack of books in his arms.
        “I didn’t want to interrupt but do you guys know where Milo is?” He asked.
        "I’m not sure why?” Alice answered.
        “He borrowed a few of my books and I want to put them back in my trunk in case anything happens to me tomorrow, I just want to make sure all of my stuff is in my trunk.” He said. What he said kind of got to me a little bit. Some us could possibly die tomorrow. I could die tomorrow. I shrugged off that thought.
        “Yeah, I’ll get them for you.” Alice said. She got up and pulled out a key from under Milo’s pillow and unlocked his trunk. She pulled out eight to ten books and set them on the bottom bed.
        “Are all of these yours?” She asked. He nodded.
        “Will one of you help me bring them back to my trunk.” He asked. I got up and gathered up all of his books that were in Milo’s trunk and followed him back to his bunk. There were two trunks underneath his bed.
        “Do you have a bunk mate?” I asked. He set down the books he was holding onto the bottom bed and pulled out one of the trunks.
        “No, the second trunk holds all of my books.” He said as he pulled a key out of his pocket.
        “How many books do you own?” I asked. He opened his trunk and it was filled to the rim with books. There had to be a hundred plus books in that trunk.
        “Geez, why do you have so many books?” I asked a little shocked. He looked up at me and smiled a little.
        “Because the world sucks, so I fell in love with fiction.” He said with a little smirk on his face. Both of us laughed. I handed him the rest of his books but hesitated on leaving right away.
        “Can I, ask you a question?” I asked a little nervously. He continued to reorganize his books.
        “You just did dude.” He said and smirked at me. I cleared my throat.
        “Yeah sure.” He said returning to his books. I cautiously sat down on the end of the bed.
        “Are you scared about tomorrow?” I asked after a few seconds.
        “Not really, my ability keeps me safe for the most part.” He said without looking up. That didn’t calm my nerves at all. He looked up and realized that wasn’t the best thing to say.
        “Hey, you don’t have anything to worry about. You and everyone else will be fine.” He said. I wonder if he actually believed that.

        When I got back to Alice and I’s bunk she was passed out so I walked over to the hospital to see River. I pulled away the privacy curtain to see him still asleep with that tube in his mouth. I put a chair up next to his bed and sat down. River wasn’t a small guy, sure he was shorter than me but he wasn’t small by any means. He was only a few inches shorter than me and had a decent amount of muscle behind him. But seeing him in the state that he is in right now, he looks small. He looks small and fragile. He doesn’t look like my best friend. I started crying and laid my head down on his bed. I sat there for a while and ended up falling asleep.

        I had a dream about the first time that I met River.
        It was the first day of kindergarten and my mom walked me into my classroom. I clung to her leg and would not let go. My mom kneeled down and put her hands on my waist.
        “Now baby, mommy has to go.” She said with her sweet voice. She kissed me on the forehead and gave me a little push towards the other kids. I turned around and looked at her. She smiled at me and gave me a little nod. That smile gave me enough confidence to go sit next to a little boy that was playing with blocks. He looked up at me and said,
        “Hi I’m  River, like the water.” he made little gestures with his hands that reminded me of water.
        “Hi I’m Isaac, like the boy.” I said in a quiet voice.
        “Cool, wanna be my friend?” He asked as he held some blocks in his hands.
“        Sure.” I said as I took the blocks and started building. I looked back to see if my mom was still there but she wasn’t. I looked back at my new friend who was building a house with his blocks. He looked up at me and gave me a goofy smile.
        “We are going to be the bestest of friends for the rest of our lives.” He said.

        When I woke up it was a little after lunch time. River was still asleep so started to walk back to the bunk.
        Isaac. A voice said in my head that scared me so much I visible jumped causing some people to laugh. I didn’t know who the voice was, but it was definitely a girl. I started shaking my head as if I had imagined it.
        Please. The voice said again. Whoever the voice belonged to I could tell was extremely weak. Since I didn’t know who the voice belonged to I did not know how to respond. I saw Alice sitting on her bed talking to Milo who was sitting in his bed. I sprinted over to her.
        “Alice!” I said trying to catch my breath. She looked down at me with wide eyes.
        “Isaac, why are you so out of breath?” She asked as she climbed down from her bed.
        “This going to sound crazy, but someone is trying to talk to me in my head.” Just as I said that the voice spoke to me again.
        Isaac… I need… your help… The voice was strained. Alice stared at me with a strange look on her face.
        “What do you mean someone is trying to talk to you in your head?” She asked raising her eyebrows at me.
        “I don’t know, it sounds insane but this voice knows my name and just told me that she needs my help.” I said in a quiet voice so the people around us didn’t hear.
        “A girl is talking to you in your head?” She said with a hint of jealously in her own voice. I pulled her over to my bed. I sat down and she sat down in front of me.
        “Okay I want to try something. Read my mind and see if you can hear this voice as well.” I said. She raised her eyebrows at me but did what I said. She started to read my mind but she wasn’t searching for anything. It felt as if she was just sitting there in my head. After a five excruciatingly long minutes the voice finally spoke to me again.
        Isaac… please… help me… the girls voice was started to sound scratchy as if these are the first words that she has spoken in years. Alice’s eyes widened.
        “Have you ever heard this voice before?” She asked. I shook my head. She looked down and then her eyes shot back up to mine.
        “Wait Isaac, you don’t think this voice belongs to…” She voice trailed off. My eyes widened.
        “Do you think this voice belongs to Grace?” She finished her sentence.
        “Maybe, but I don’t know what she looks like, or where she is so I don’t know how to respond to her.” I said.
        “Do you think we should tell River?” She asked cautiously. I shook my head.
        “Let’s wait until after the take down of ROIM. He needs a clear mind going into this.” I said.
        “You’re probably right.” She said. I leaned over and kissed her.
        “I’m always right.” I said winking at her. She rolled her eyes and smiled at me. Milo jumped down from his bed, making me jump a little. He punched me twice in my arm.
        “Two for flinching.” He said as he laughed. I rolled my eyes and chuckled.
        “Alice can we go to the lake?” He asked. She looked over at me and raised her eyebrows.
        “Do you want to go to the lake?” She asked. I nodded my head vigorously.
        “Yes! Let’s go!” Milo shouted with an excited voice. The three of us walked out to the lake.