Keeper

by Jessica L. Randall

  Tears stung my eyes and I pressed my fingers against them. This must be killing her.

  It wasn’t like I had any loyalty to the Slimes, as my new friend had called them. If I told Agent Warner everything, would she let me leave?

  Of course she won’t. A voice in my head shouted.

  I wasn’t asking you. And it’s super creepy to read people’s minds.

  I heard you as if you were screaming for help. What are they doing to you?

  Go away.

  “Lexi?” Agent Warner gave me a shrewd look. “Where are you right now?”

  I looked around. “Looks like the nut house.”

  She sighed loudly. “This evening we’re going to have you moved to a better facility.”

  “What?” I spat.

  “One that’s a little more secure, and better equipped to help someone like you.”

  “You mean a government facility with a five million dollar lab?”

  “There, now we’re getting closer. Why do you think a high school student would be moved to a high security government facility?”

  Heat flooded my cheeks. “If you’re just going to pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about, then so am I. You’re getting nothing from me.”

  Her face softened as she shook her head. “Honey, we don’t want your family to lose you like they lost your father.”

  “Get out!” I shouted, standing up. The table Agent Warner was leaning on slid suddenly toward her. A shot of pain exploded through my head again.

  She stumbled back, her eyes wide in shock. Slowly, a satisfied smile crept across her face. “We’ll talk again when you calm down.”

  She left me alone again, and I slumped against the wall and slid to the floor.

  We’re going to get you out of there.

  Why would I go anywhere with you? I answered silently.

  I pressed my hands against my ears, as if that would stop Micah’s voice. There was no telling how long I sat crunched up like that. Eventually I noticed the killer cramps in my legs and crumpled onto my side.

  My headache had nearly gone, but my stomach was growling. I had no idea what time it was. If only I had a window to look out of. Being stuck in a room like this for who knew how long would drive anyone insane, if they weren’t already.

  I lay there dreading and wishing the door might open for so long that when it did, I wasn’t sure if I was imagining things. A female nurse came in with a tray of food. My mouth watered at the sight of it, even though it looked like bland cafeteria fare.

  She set the tray on the table and stepped back, as if she was coaxing me to come to it like some kind of stray cat. I came.

  As I stuffed a dry roll in my mouth I stared at the nurse. She was not what I’d come to expect from this place. Her hair was a dyed jet-black, contrasting with her pale face, and it was pulled up in a kind of fifties do. Her ears were clustered with earrings, and she had a small one in her nose. Her scrub shirt protruded at her middle in a way that didn’t seem in harmony with the rest of her.

  She didn’t seem to mind that I was staring at her. In fact, she stared right back as I tore into my slice of ham and macaroni salad.

  Finally I put down my fork and took a deep breath, since I may have forgotten to breathe while I ate.

  “That better?” she asked.

  I wiped my mouth with my napkin, blushing a little. “I thought they were going to let me starve here.”

  “Maybe they were. I swiped that for you.”

  My eyebrows shot up. “Why?”

  “So you’ll have some energy. I thought you might want to get out of here.”

  Chapter 23

  I stood up, giving her a crusty look. “I’m not going anywhere with you. I don’t even know you.” One thing I’d learned about myself is I was far too trusting.

  “You’d rather stay here, then?”

  I squinted up my eyes. “Who are you?”

  She smiled. “I guess I can see why you wouldn’t recognize me without my foil hat.”

  My jaw dropped, and I stared at her, wondering if I was hallucinating. After all, I hardly knew up from down at the moment. “No way. How—”

  She rolled her eyes. “Easy. Well, which part? Never mind, it was all easy. I run the chat room, so I just tracked your IP address. When you said you were taking off with that government lady I hightailed it out here. My car broke down part way—had to take the bus—or I would have been here sooner. As for your location, I knew they didn’t have a facility here. They usually use institutions like this while they assess the situation. Sure enough, when I hacked into the system, I saw that you’d been checked in as a new patient.”

  “Woah, that does sound ridiculously easy.” I stared at her, my brain trying to catch up. “How on Earth does a girl go from a chat room administrator to a super-sleuth rescuer?”

  She shrugged. “We can get into that later. Let’s just say this isn’t my first extraction, and I have a team at home backing me up. Well, they usually back me up, but—”

  I grinned and flung myself at her, squeezing her so she couldn’t move her arms. “Sorry, all I heard was extraction.”

  “It’s nice to meet you, too.”

  I released her, sighing as if expelling all my fear and anxiety. “It’s just so nice to see someone who doesn’t want something from me or think I’m crazy or awful.”

  “That isolation thing. I warned you it might be that way.”

  “You warned me about a lot of things. They’ve pretty much all been true, by the way.”

  She tipped her head. “It may not be as bad as you think.”

  “What—”

  “You’ll see. Oh—” She pulled a large hairball out of her waistband. That explained the lumpy scrubs. “Put this on,” she said, handing me the wig.

  “I really don’t identify as a brunette anymore.”

  She stared at me blankly.

  I laughed, grabbing the wig and sticking it on my head. “Well, if you really think I can pull it off.”

  I straightened my wig. A swarm of bees made a home in my stomach as I imagined coming face to face with Agent Warner on our way out. I’d be no worse off, but what would happen to Foilhatgirl?

  “Don’t get yourself all worked up,” she said, as if I’d said it all out loud.

  “I’d hate to get you locked up or something,” I said. “You risked a lot for me, and I don’t even know your real name. Foilhatgirl sounds weird out here in the real world.”

  “My team and the guy who brings me take-out all call me Angelica. You ready to get out of here?”

  I was so ready. But I stopped half-way to the door. “I can’t,” I said, backing up and sinking onto the chair.

  “What do you mean you can’t? You have no idea what these people can do. You thought aliens were bad.”

  “I mean, there’s someone I can’t leave.”

  “You’ve made friends in the loony bin already? You real-world people.”

  “He’s one of us. One of me. I mean, he doesn’t belong here either. He was an abductee, and he tried to help me.”

  Angelica sighed. “Okay, what’s his name?”

  “I don’t exactly know.”

  “Well, that’s going to be helpful.”

  “He’s a great big guy, middle age-ish. He has brown hair and a beard.”

  She smirked. “Should I go call out that description and see if he comes?”

  “I know, I’m sorry.”

  “Listen, I’ll go log into the computer. I might be able to hack it from here but that would probably be easier. I’ll see if I can find anyone that fits that description.”

  She left without another word, leaving me alone again.

  I sat down, tapping my foot for what felt like forever. The nerves crept back in, reminding me that I hadn’t made any good choices since this whole thing started. What made me think we could just walk out of here? Even if we did, what then? Agent Warner wasn’t going to just leave me alone. Neither was Micah. And honest
ly, I’d let them take me if they’d just leave Cody alone, but there was no way they would. I was starting to feel more and more like there was no way out.

  It seemed like Angelica had been gone for an hour, but then again I wasn’t sure my concept of time was intact anymore. Just when I was sure they’d taken her and given her a straight-jacket and a room next to mine, the doorknob turned.

  I held my breath, letting it out slowly as Angelica walked in. When she saw my face she crouched down, looking me in the eye. “Whatever’s going through your mind right now you have to let it all go. One step at a time’s the best we can do, you know? Right now we’re going to focus on getting out of here.”

  I nodded. “Okay. Did you find anything out?”

  She bit her lip. “Yes and no. So his name’s Augustus Tremaine the Third.”

  “Are you sure? I just mean, that doesn’t sound right.”

  She shrugged. “Nevertheless. He has to be our guy. You ready for the bad news?”

  I flinched, nodding slightly.

  “I found his room but he’s locked up. I mean the old-fashioned way. This card I swiped and doctored up won’t work on his door. I hate to leave a man behind but ...”

  I shook my head, wrapping my fingers tightly around my chair. It felt like that day at school with the cage full of mice. There was nothing Angelica could say that would entice me to leave without freeing Augustus the Third, even though there was little to no chance it would end well for me.

  “You go,” I said. “I’m really grateful you came, but this isn’t your problem. I don’t want you to get caught and suffer because of me.”

  Angelica cocked her head, narrowing her eyes at me. “Really? You think I came all this way just to scamper off at your say-so? I’m not leaving without you, so you better help me come up with a way to get your friend out, or we’re both toast.”

  I rested my elbows on my knees and smooshed my face into my hands. Relief washed through me, along with fear and guilt. I had to figure something out. But this wasn’t like the mouse cages. Or was it?

  “So it turns out I’m really good at picking locks the old-fashioned way,” I said, peeking up at her.

  “And no one’s going to notice you doing it? Well, maybe, if we wait until night.”

  I shook my head, my excitement leaking away like a balloon with a hole in it. “I don’t know if I’ll be here that long. Agent Warner said something about moving me to another facility.”

  Angelica’s expression darkened. “That doesn’t sound good. But it makes sense. Especially if there’s something they want to learn from you. Is there?”

  “We have to try,” I said, ignoring her question. “You could cover for me while I do it. Do you have hair pins or anything?”

  “As a matter of fact, I do.”

  She pulled one out. “Dang, this thing is massive. How many of these things do you have hidden in there? I need two.”

  She handed me another. “Just because I’m a shut-in doesn’t mean I can’t have great hair.”

  “I didn’t mean—”

  She grinned.

  “I can work with this,” I said, hiding them in the wig.

  “Okay.” Angelica took a deep breath. “Let’s fly out of this cuckoo’s nest. Oh, and don’t forget to act docile.”

  “Right.” I stood and slumped my head down, letting a curtain of fake hair partially cover my face as Angelica opened the door. She looked both ways, then shooed me out of the room and further down the hallway.

  The hallway turned to the right. My chest tightened as my eyes darted around. I imagined any second we would bump right into Agent Warner, but I shuffled slowly, prodded on by Angelica. Finally she stopped at a door marked 214.

  “Okay, do your stuff,” she whispered.

  I reached up and pulled the pin out of my hair, but froze when I saw a nurse moving toward us down the hall. He was the same one who had tased me. I lowered my hand, turning my face away as he approached us.

  “Do you have clearance to be down here?”

  If he’d had an alien device to monitor my heartbeat,stu mine would have inspired him to pull his taser out immediately.

  Angelica twisted her hands together. “Oh, um—”

  “Hah, just joking,” he said. “I’m kind of known for messing with the newbies.”

  She laughed and touched his arm. With as good as she was at flirting, I’d never have guessed she spent most of her time avoiding people.

  The male nurse seemed encouraged. “I’m Lucas,” he said, resting one hand against the wall and leaning into it. It was a stance that said he was going to be there a while. “I didn’t catch your name.”

  Angelica answered, presumably with the name that corresponded with the card that hung on her lanyard. There was a slight edge to her voice as she answered his inane follow-up questions, but she played her part impressively. Still, no amount of distraction on her part would give me the chance to casually stick bobby pins in a locked door and let a patient loose. If Lucas didn’t get out of here we were going to get caught.

  “You’ll want to be careful around here.” Lucas’s voice was loaded with self-importance. “I had to take a patient down yesterday.”

  “Really?” Angelica sounded impressed.

  I pinched the bobby pin between my fingers, resisting the urge to turn around and poke it in his eye.

  “Yep. We’ve had more than our fair share of unruly patients lately. If you want I can show you a really good move that will stop them in their tracks. I don’t like to use a taser unless it’s completely necessary.”

  I rolled my eyes.

  “Here.” He took hold of Angelica’s wrist, placing his other hand on her shoulder.

  I felt bad for Angelica, but she may as well not suffer for nothing. While Lucas began his hands-on demonstration, I took the opportunity to step toward the door. I unbent the pins and stuck one in to use as a lever. Hopefully I could pull it off like I had with the mouse cage lock. This time the stakes were so much higher, and one glance my way would get me caught, so I’d be lucky if I could keep my hand steady.

  “Woah, woah.” Lucas snatched the pins out of my hand. “You can’t let her have things like that. You’d be surprised at the damage that can be done with something that size.”

  “Oh, I’m so glad you caught that,” Angelica said.

  I bit my lip to keep from cussing and lowered my face.

  “Me, too. Who is that patient, anyway?”

  “She just came in today. Hey, can you show me that technique again?”

  “All right, one more time.”

  Lucas seemed to forget about me as he grabbed Angelica’s wrist again. With any luck, her attention might keep him from noticing me for a while, but it wouldn’t get Augustus out of his room. I stared at the lock on the door. Wouldn’t it be awesome if I actually did have super powers? I could open this door without looking suspicious and Angelica could take Augustus out of there like she was just following orders.

  I stared harder, picturing the pins inside the lock. My headache began to pulse again as I imagined I was fishing around in there with the bobby pin, testing which pins resisted. I clenched my jaw to keep from growling in frustration. What had made it work before?

  When the boulders had come crashing down I was afraid. It was self-preservation. The second time I’d tried to save Micah’s life, which I kind-of regretted now. Then I’d moved the table when Agent Warner had threatened me and mentioned my father. They had all been high-emotion moments.

  I remembered my second time on the ship, when Micah had studied my reactions to emotional stimuli. Then there were the disabled inhibitors. Maybe I’d discovered the reason for Micah and Miriam’s interest in studying human emotion.

  This time I thought about Micah, playing with my feelings so he could use me to advance his career. I let angry tears wet my eyes as I thought about Cody, and how I couldn’t even try to protect him if I was locked up in this place.

  I pictured the inside o
f the lock again. My head throbbed. When I’d moved things without thinking all I got was a shot of pain or minimal headache. But it seemed the more I tried the more it hurt.

  Mrs. Martinez had told me to control my passion, not the other way around. This wasn’t a job that would work on emotion alone. I’d need passion and control. I tried to ignore the pain and focus on the lock, testing and pressing the pins inside with all my mental might until CLICK. The lock turned.

  My eyes widened, darting to Lucas, then Angelica, wondering if either of them had heard it. They seemed oblivious.

  I closed my eyes and pressed my hands against my temples. I heaved in and out slowly, feeling like I’d just finished a marathon.

  I’d picked the lock without touching it. Not only did I have a superpower, I was learning to control it. A feeling of power rushed through my body. I was suddenly capable of anything, including moving this “rescue the lab-rats” operation forward.

  The problem was getting rid of Lucas, who didn’t seem to want to leave. I had to let Angelica know it was a go and trust she’d find a way. Keeping my head turned down, I wiped my eyes with my arm and tried to look casual as I leaned forward and turned the door handle. I pulled on Angelica like an impatient child.

  “Weird. I thought that door was locked.” Lucas narrowed his eyes at the door.

  Angelica quickly masked a look of surprise. “It was. But apparently Augustus was given the all-clear today. They want him to interact with the other patients.” She popped her head into the room. “Augustus, time for a little walk-around.”

  I peered in too. Augustus was sitting on the bed with his arms folded tightly, as if he wasn’t planning on budging for her or anyone.

  I cleared my throat, and Augustus noticed me. When I gave him a wink, he hurried to his feet and lumbered toward us. He was about to speak, but I put a finger to my lips.

  “Well, I’d better finish up with these patients,” Angelica said. Lucas didn’t seem to get the hint.

  Augustus started rocking back and forth, making a moaning noise. I wanted to shush him. The last thing we needed was to draw attention to ourselves.