【Ｄｏｎ＇ｔ Ｂｌａｍｅ ｉｔ ｏｎ ｔｈｅ Ｋｉｄｓ】

River

I was woken up rather early that morning. Before the usual men took me out, they sat me on my bed and strapped something to my face. This mask is put over my mouth for the sole purpose of shutting me up. They know that I can get them to do what I want by simply saying a few words, so they don't want to risk it. They pick me up and placed me on the ground, holding onto my shoulders. They began to walk me down the hall towards my usual place of testing. Once we arrived they pushed me inside and locked the doors. I immediately knew what to look for. 

        A young, scrawny boy is standing in the corner, a look of terror on his face. As soon as he locks eyes with me, he starts towards me, most likely relieved to see another child there with him. "H..Hello?" He says to me, his voice hushed and scared. "Who are you? And where am I?" I sigh, running a hand through my hair. "I.." I start to say something, but I'm cut off by a booming voice over the intercom. "Come on, River, is it? We don't have all day! Just.. Just do the only thing your good at! And soon!" The intercom shuts off with a click and I'm once again alone, speaking to the boy. "W-What was that person talking about? What did she mean?" I mutter something under my breath and prepare myself. I hate when they make me do this. I don't want to hurt this boy, but if I don't they're going to hurt me.. 

     I take a deep breath and take a step towards the boy. I put a fake smile on my face to make myself look friendlier and begin to speak. "What's the matter my dear? There's nothing to be afraid of here." I place a hand under his chin and tilt his head up to look at me, smiling sweetly. "Don't be afraid of me.. I only want to help you.." I could feel him tense up for a moment before taking a deep breath. After only a few seconds my powers started to work their magic. I have this boy wrapped around my finger, I thought to myself. I always feel bad doing this. This kid was probably just living on the streets, just trying to make a living. I shake my head. I can't focus on that right now. It's only going to make things harder. This boy is in a trance.. If I told him to kill someone, himself even, he wouldn't bat an eye. He would just nod and happily do it. I decide to just get this done as quickly and as cleanly as possible. I close my eyes and press my lips against his for a moment. 

      When I opened my eyes, my lips still on the boys, I could see his eyes start to dull. All of the life started to drain out of his face. Once I could see that there was nothing left, I let go of him. He fell to the floor with a loud "Thud" I backed up against the wall and slid down, pulling my knees up to my chest. I could feel the hot tears begin to stream down my face. He didn't do anything, yet.. This happened to him. He was kind to me.. Even if I only knew him for a few minutes, he was kind.. He was just a scared little boy.. I heard the door open and the men started to come towards me. I don't want to go back.. No, I can't go back. I won't go back. I rose from the floor, the whites of my eyes starting to darken into a deep inky color. I began to speak, trying to get the men entranced. I could see that it was working when they started to get out of my way so I could leave. I managed to grab one of their key cards and ran down the hallway. 

       There are others here, others that will suffer just as much as I have. I grin to myself as I reached out my arms, holding the key card to the doors that I pass. One by one they all start to open and the children inside peeked out. "Come on, we're getting outta here!" I yelled, laughing as I speak. After some time I reached the main exit and grinned. I'm finally going to get to leave.. I can finally go home. I swiped the card and the door leading outside opened. I ran out and started to laugh, tears rolling down my face. Some of the other children who exited the building reacted exactly the same as I did. I was free.. We were free..