Mind's Eye (Mind's Eye, #1)

by Rebecca A. Rogers

A metallic odor seared my nostrils, the smell twisting my stomach into a tight coil. My eyelids were heavy, but I managed to open them, noticing I still had my clothes on—the same clothes I wore when Cassandra appeared at my house and decided to kidnap me. Opening my eyes a little wider, I was blinded by the fluorescent lights overhead. To my right were automatic doors, like something I’d see at a hospital. Was that where I was? Why would she bring me to a medical facility? I wasn’t injured; at least, not that I was aware of. I tried to sit up, but cold handcuffs bit into my wrists, reminding me I wasn’t going anywhere.

  “Damn it,” I whispered as I attempted to think of a solution to my current situation. Wiggle my body so the hospital bed would roll across the room? Nope. Try to squeeze my hand through the hole in the cuffs, even if that meant dislocating my thumb? Hell no. Scream for help? Like anybody would be standing by, waiting to get me out of here. As far as I knew, nobody was conscious of where Cassandra took me, or that I was missing.

  So, basically, there wasn’t a way out. And even if there was, I didn’t have time to create a plan, because the automatic doors separated, followed by a sudden sssss of compressed air and keys jingling.

  “Oh, good. You’re awake,” Cassandra said, stopping next to me. Her black hair was pulled up into a ponytail on the crown of her head, and her blue eyes smiled just as much as her face.

  If I wasn’t handcuffed, I’d be tempted to smack her.

  “What the hell do you think you’re doing, kidnapping me?” I hissed through gritted teeth.

  She sighed. “It’s for a good reason. I promise. But I’m not releasing you until I know for sure that you’re not going to disappear.”

  I narrowed my eyes. I could lie, tell her that I wouldn’t dream of doing such a thing, but she seemed like the type of girl who wasn’t easily outwitted. And, let’s be honest, she faked her own death. How smart did a person have to be to do that? Coming back from the dead wasn’t something to be taken lightly.

  Staring up at the fluorescents lights until my retinas burned, I eventually responded, “I’m not guaranteeing anything. I was brought here against my will, and I don’t know you.”

  “You can trust me,” she said.

  This time, I redirected my gaze towards her. “Seriously? You made a deal with my mom, so you could drug and abduct me. No, trusting you is the last thing I’ll be doing.”

  Cassandra was quiet for what felt like minutes. Then, she finally spoke. “Well, I’m going to change your perspective.”

  My body relaxed a little bit, but there was one burning question I wanted to know since she revealed her identity. “How are you still alive? Story goes, you were stuck in the celestial world, never to be seen or heard from again.”

  Her smirk returned, and she snorted. “Yeah, well, those idiots should’ve known better than to try to kill me. Big mistake.”

  “You don’t work for the Ministry anymore?”

  She shook her head. “Of course not. They tried to kill me. Why on earth would I stick around and help them?”

  Good question, but that still didn’t remedy the fact that she kidnapped me. What did she want?

  “So, who do you work for now?”

  “Myself.”

  Fair enough. I’d probably work for myself, too, if the people I thought I could depend on turned their backs on me. But Cassandra still didn’t answer how she survived without dying. So, I attempted to get a response from her again. “How is it you defied death and escaped the celestial world? I thought escaping that place was impossible.”

  Her blue eyes watched me intently for a second, like she was judging whether or not she could trust me. The moment dissipated. “That’s a story for another time.” She waved me off. “Right now, we need to get you fed and caught up on what’s going on.”

  At the mention of food, my stomach grumbled.

  Cassandra’s eyebrows rose. “Well, then.” She removed the key ring from her belt loop and separated one of the keys from the rest. Wavering, her hand stopped in mid-air, halfway to the lock on my cuffs. “Try anything, and I’ll take you down. Understand?”

  I narrowed my eyes. How was she so certain she’d win? If she saw my track record, she’d probably second-guess herself. Whatever. Getting out of these handcuffs was more important than fighting her right now. “Fine.”

  Cassandra inserted the key into the hole, and the cuffs opened with a clink. I rubbed my reddened skin and settled on a “thanks,” although I shouldn’t have thanked her for anything. She did, after all, kidnap and handcuff me to a bed.

  Sitting up, my muscles were stiff, like I had been laying in this bed for too long. I stretched and hopped down. Cassandra proceeded through the automatic doors without waiting on me, so I followed her. She knew where she was going. I didn’t.

  The hallway outside the room I was in reminded me of a hospital: blindingly white and bright. And ice-cold. Every step I took led me farther away from that medical bed and closer to figuring out an escape route. Memorizing these corridors would be like memorizing the ones at the Ministry: damn near impossible.

  But there was hope, because, for the most part, I remembered the underground labyrinth when I tried to escape the M.I.N.D. And I did well, I thought—until I ran straight into Thellius and the other agents, who forced Dom to remove my imagination. Too bad Julian never followed up with removing my memories. Although, none of this meant I’d run into trouble here, too. Hopefully, Cassandra, and whoever worked for her, wouldn’t subject me to various forms of torture, especially if what she said was true about not working for the M.I.N.D.

  One could hope.

  “What is this place?” I asked, breaking the silence between us. My voice echoed off the bare walls.

  Cassandra replied over her shoulder, “You’re safe, for now. That’s all that matters.”

  “You have to give me more than that,” I persisted.

  She stopped mid-stride, and I nearly bumped into her. Turning on her heels, she gave me the same look as earlier, the one that assessed me but wasn’t certain I could be trusted. “This location is a secret. I don’t think you’re ready to learn all that I have to teach you just yet.” With that, she whipped around, her dark hair following suit, and strode down the hallway.

  “Um, okay,” I mumbled to myself. Where were we? What did she have to teach me? Why wasn’t I ready? There were too many questions and not enough answers. My head spun like a whirlpool, and I extended my arm, pressing my hand against the wall to steady myself. Squeezing my eyes closed, I wished for the dizziness to subside.

  Cassandra’s loud sigh ricocheted through the barren hallway, making its way back to me. “It’s probably your blood sugar. We’re headed to the cafeteria, anyway. Keep moving.”

  I opened my eyes and pushed off the wall, steadily trailing behind Cassandra once again. We were almost at the end of the corridor, and when it teed off, she turned right. Ahead was the dining hall, with its double doors propped open. We entered, and I was caught off-guard. I wasn’t the only person here. There were others like me. Kidnappees.

  On the far side of the room, two buffets were set up—one for steaming-hot food, and the other a soup and salad bar. Standard cafeteria tables littered the large, open area, where dozens of people sat.

  “Who are they?” I asked, my eyes scanning the room for a familiar face, someone who could be in the same predicament as me. Someone who knew how to get the hell out of here.

  Sticking to her typical, detached response, Cassandra replied, “Grab a plate and eat, then we’ll talk.”

  She meandered around the room, stopping by various tables and conversing with different people. My first impression was that nobody looked like they were being held against their will. These people appeared rested and well-fed. Healthy. I scanned the room, hoping at least one person would make eye contact with me, give me one of those unspoken signals that they needed to be rescued.

  Oh, yeah? I thought. Then what? What are you going to do?

  Realizin
g I was still standing at the entrance to the cafeteria, looking like an idiot, I forced my feet to comply with my brain…and my grumpy stomach. Ambling toward the food, I grabbed a hot plate from the end of the buffet station and evaluated the meal selections. Hearty, home-styled fare—mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, steamed vegetables, dinner rolls, and even some chicken nuggets and cheese sticks, among other things—filled stainless-steel pans. I worked my way down the line, cramming a little bit of each onto my plate, then piling four dinner rolls on top.

  My stomach churned as I spun around and faced the cafeteria. What did Cassandra want to discuss with me? Why couldn’t she have just told me back in that room? I had a feeling that whatever it was, it wouldn’t sit well on an empty stomach.

  Plopping down on a seat at the end of a half-vacant table, I waited for Cassandra to join me. She was conversing around the cafeteria, so I took the opportunity to stuff my face with delicious food. I surveyed everyone from where I sat. Chatter and laughter filled the room, and these people appeared to be okay. Were they brainwashed? Was this another secret cult like the Ministry? I hoped not.

  Cassandra eventually sat across from me, but she didn’t say a word. Not a single one. I even stopped eating and waited for her to speak. That didn’t do any good, though; she just motioned toward my plate and told me to continue. All of a sudden, the food that was delicious a minute ago turned sour in my stomach, threatening to climb up my esophagus. Why was she dragging out our much-needed, pressing conversation? Didn’t she know the anticipation was killing me?

  As soon as I finished chewing the last bite and swallowed, she said, “Nobody knows you’re here, not even your mother. Her memory was wiped after I took you, so she has no recollection of handing you over to me, which, by the way, was pretty messed up. What mother does that to their child?”

  “A mother who doesn’t give a shit, that’s who,” I responded. “A mother who’s had her mind and imagination wiped too many times to count. It’s ruined her life. But, of course, she doesn’t know that.” I shrugged. “I try not to blame her. I mean, it wasn’t her fault the Ministry destroyed her happiness.”

  Cassandra’s eyes wandered past me, and then on to various individuals in the cafeteria. She wasn’t staring at anyone in particular, really, just avoiding eye contact. “We covered our tracks, and yours,” she continued. “One of my Warriors left a note on your bed for Tabitha to find, which states that you needed to take some time for yourself, and you wanted to locate your father.”

  I cocked my head, brows scrunching together. “My father? I’ve never even met him.”

  “It doesn’t matter,” she said. “You went on a soul-searching journey, so your mom won’t suspect anything. Eventually, you’ll return, empty-handed, and continue living as normally as possible.”

  “There’s nothing normal about being followed by a secret society that’s hell-bent on wiping my imagination and memories, and maybe even killing me when they find out Dom and Julian didn’t actually do either of those things.” I shuddered at what Dom could be going through, if he was still alive. There was no guarantee they’d keep him around. The only person who would have that information was Rafe. Hopefully. I needed to speak with him, but I had to find a way out of here first.

  “Dom and Julian?” Cassandra’s voice was so small and quiet, I thought I misheard her.

  Oh, shit. Being preoccupied with all that was going on, I totally forgot about the history between those three.

  “Yeah,” I replied.

  “Dom…he’s alive?”

  “As far as I know. But if Thellius found out neither of them followed through with erasing my mind, he’d probably kill them.” I fidgeted, gazing around the room, searching for exits. “I need to find Rafe. He’ll know what’s going on.”

  Cassandra snapped out of her glazed-over stare and said, “Not yet. I need to train you, like I’ve trained the others. There’s so much you still have to learn.”

  I refrained from rolling my eyes. “Training? Really? What could you possibly teach me that I don’t already know?”

  She shook her head and grinned. “Plenty.”

  “Like…?” I leaned forward, propping my elbows on the table.

  Cassandra peered around the room. “You’re here for the same reason everyone else is: to prepare for the end battle against the M.I.N.D.” She shrugged. “That’s it. Plain and simple.”

  Straight-faced, I asked, “You kidnapped me for that? Seriously?”

  “Would you have come with me if I asked nicely?”

  Damn. She had a point. “Probably not.”

  “Look, it’s not like I wanted to kidnap you, but it had to be done.”

  That wasn’t exactly an apology for what she did, although it was pretty close. “Fine,” I stated. “It’s obvious you won’t let me leave until I’ve completed my training. So, hurry up and teach me. Just a head’s up, though: I’m not staying here forever.” Gesturing at the cafeteria, I added, “Wherever here is.”

  Cassandra gave me that look again, the one where she was having some sort of mental debate with herself. She bit her lower lip, then said, “There are a couple of people I want you to meet.”

  “Okaaay.” I didn’t recall seeing anyone I knew when I scanned the cafeteria earlier, but I could’ve easily looked past them. I was too tired for all of this mess, anyway.

  Cassandra motioned to one of her Warriors standing nearby, who walked over to another table and tapped a woman on the shoulder. The cluster of people between that person and me temporarily blocked my view, and I couldn’t see who would be so important…until they stood up.

  “Kearly,” Cassandra said, “you remember Mrs. Treadwell and her daughter, don’t you?”

  “Of course I do.”

  How could I forget? They shared a cell with me when we were in one of the Ministry’s dungeons. The middle-aged woman and small child. The ones I wanted to help escape but couldn’t. By the time I returned, they were gone.

  Half-smiling, and totally confused, I shook my head and stated, “I don’t understand.”

  Cassandra motioned towards Mrs. Treadwell and her daughter, and they walked over to us.

  “Kearly, it’s good to see you again,” Mrs. Treadwell said, reaching out and clasping my hand in hers. “Cassandra told us you’d be joining our group.”

  Yeah, but I bet Cassandra didn’t tell them how I’d be joining.

  “It’s good to see you, too,” I replied, still not understanding what the connection was, or why seeing them again was so important. Was Cassandra intentionally reminding me that I couldn’t save them from having their minds wiped? Part of me wanted to apologize for not being able to bring them along when Dom helped me escape.

  Wait a second… Their minds were wiped.

  Gone.

  Erased.

  They shouldn’t remember me.

  They shouldn’t remember.

  But they did.

  I stood up so quickly I nearly tripped over my own two feet. “What the hell is going on?”

  Cassandra’s smirk returned in full force. “I wasn’t sure you were ready, but I knew if Dom trusted you enough to save you, like you said, then I could trust you, too.” She sighed noisily and licked her lips, still cautious, undecided. “Kearly,” she began, pausing briefly, “while the Ministry has the ability to wipe imaginations and memories, I have the ability to bring them back.”

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Rebecca Rogers expressed her creative side at an early age and hasn’t stopped since. She won’t hesitate to tell you that she lives inside her imagination, and it’s better than reality.

  To stay up to date with Rebecca’s latest books, check out her website at www.rebeccaarogers.com, sign up for her mailing list, or find her on social sites such as Goodreads, Facebook, and Twitter.

 
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