The Project

Always Watching

Hell is empty and all the devils are here.

                                -William Shakespeare-

-Arista's POV-

As I sit in the cafeteria I look around me a little bit, scanning the room. All I see are a bunch of kids, and not one of them could be over eighteen.

Why do they take us so young? Just to get the most use out of us before they kill us off? Why the hell are we here?

In my mind I know the answer to all of these. We are taken young so we don't destroy a "perfect society" by exhibiting our powers or using them. We are simply animals here to be used until we can work no more. We are here, because no one else can do what they want us to do. As children and youth, we are stronger than most adults who have normal genetic structure. We were warped and marred as infants to save a warped and marred world.

My grim thoughts are interupted by a new wave of youth entering the wide door. At the lead is wonder boy himself.

Just great...

He spots me and simply looks away as he steps into line.

Really, we almost kiss and now you ignore me?

Honestly this doesn't surprise me, other guys have done it before. Yeah, thats right I went on a few dates. Never guys I went to school with though, they didn't do it for me. It was the jerks from other schools I've always been drawn to, typically jocks who you just know are screwing some blonde bimbo behind the bleachers when you aren't there. I look back down at my plate to continue eating my tasteless meal

This tastes like cardboard and sawdust had a secret love-child and used it to feed humans...

Cade startles me as he sits down loudly in the seat across from me.

Well I guess he's not ignoring me anymore.

He speaks up before I can.

"You look quite tired without makeup. Not near as pretty I might add."

I try not to blush as to not let him know how deeply those words cut me. I've always felt more confident with makeup, I've been wearing it since I was thirteen. Being stripped of it now makes me want to shrink up in a ball and hide. He isn't helping either.

"Well there wasn't exactly a full makeup store inside my room Cade, I had no options!"

He looks a little befuddled for a moment. "Don't you know that the tube also has hair and makeup options?"

I snap back at him "How would you know about the makeup options in the tube Cade?"

Instead of snarking at me like expected, his ears start to turn bright pink.

"Wait...Cade..?"

He just looks at me, clearly embarrassed.

I shriek with laughter as I say "Oh my God, Cade you didn't!"

This draws the attention of several people nearby making Cade blush even harder to my astonishment. He ducks his head and mumbles "It was only one time..."

My laughter cuts him off. I'm laughing so hard I'm struggling to breathe and the look of indignation on Cade's face just makes my peals of laughter last longer. Finally I manage to wipe the tears from my eyes as I gasp for the oxygen my lungs are crying out for. Suddenly I get the very strange feeling of being watched. I scan the room slowly and see nothing out of the ordinary. Well as ordinary as a room of super human children can be. I try to supress a shudder as the thought of someone watching me like this isn't exactly the most comforting.

I turn back to the table to a puzzled Cade watching me.

"What's wrong?"

I shrug. "I don't know, I'm just getting a funny feeling."

"It's probably the food. Relax."

I breathe a laugh and try to relax. But I can't shake this erie feeling. Someone is watching me.

-Unknown POV-

She almost caught me watching her. Thank God I blend in here, but if she sees me I'm done for. I stand and walk to the door of the dining hall with a group of people, moving at a steady pace so as not to draw attention to myself. All I could see from my time in this dump of a cafeteria was her and Cade laughing and talking. Not too chummy, but I should keep my eye on them. My next stop will have to be quick, I need to check her room in record time before she gets back.

I weave my way through the tangled halls until I get to the room marked 2520. I wave my security card in front of the scanner, causing the door to open wide. The kids think their rooms are private, jokes on them I guess. As I step into the dark cell I instantly pick up on something that makes my heart stop. There is another presence in this blacked-out room, lurking in the shadows.