Mind Control

Rooms

"Holy hell, you sleep a lot,"

"It was a long car ride! Leave me alone, Drew," I whine.

"We both know that you'd be devastated if I left you alone," he jokes.

"Nah, I'd throw a party," I say, punching his arm.

We're in a very large house, much bigger than mine. Drew and I are waiting in the living room, while Riley and the guys went inside to 'report their observations'. Apparently, they were required to record everything they observed during their 'missions'. Its about nine and we've been waiting for a while now.

I'm about to change the topic when a bunch of people come into the large and excessively extravagant living room.

"I'm Imo. You've been sent here by Julie and George right? Nice to meet you," says the blonde, shaking my hand. She has long, curly hair and delicate features. With her slim figure and bright smile, she's very attractive.

"Hi, I'm-"

"Imogen! Sit down and shut up," hisses yet another blonde, but this one is male. By their similar features, I can guess they're siblings.

"Everyone, quiet!" yells a man a few feet away. All the talking immediately dies down. It's obvious from everyone's faces that this man has a lot of power and influence.

"Welcome to our home. I know you have a lot of questions, and I will answer them personally later, but let me give you a brief introduction," he starts. "I'm Declan James, the head of the western side of this organization. All these people here are about a third of our entire force. Many people are away on jobs or visiting other safehouses. We have a lot of rules, all strictly enforced for safety, but for now, never go anywhere, even within this building, without one of our people. Understood?"

"Yeah," Drew says softly.

"Good. Now I'd like to introduce you to a few people. This is Clara, my head of security by means of technology. She is in charge of all the tracking chips floating around this place," he says with a smile. "Antonio is in charge of physical security, both around our perimeters, and for teams who go on jobs. And finally, Adelaide and Caleb are the ones who keep this place from burning to the ground,"

Looking around, I can tell that this man, Declan, is not only respected, but loved. I see intense admiration and protectiveness for the brown haired, brown eyed man.

I smile and say, "I'm absolutely horrible with names, as Riley and the others know. See, I only remember Riley and Chad. And apparently there is this guy named Harley, but I've only ever heard his name. I don't know what he looks like. But yeah so-"

I'm cut off when Drew puts a hand over my mouth. I start to blush when I see everyone laughing.

"Sorry, she only rambles when she feels she is being watched," explains Drew. Wait, how does he know?! "Can we um.. sleep now?"

"Yes, of course! And don't be embarrassed Lydia. Err.. Do you guys want one room or..?" asks a pretty redhead. Adelaide? I'm not sure.

"Yes," Drew says before I can object. I turn to look at him and he gives me a look that says shut up, we'll talk later.

"Okay. Julie, Keith, can you go get their stuff from the car? Make sure to run it though security. You two follow me. I'll show you your room," said Caleb.

Drew's arm snaked around my waist and we followed Caleb to our room, which is on the fourth floor. According to the elevator, there are ten floors here! That's insanely big, and I'm used to large houses.

"Alright. This is it. Any questions?" asks Caleb, unlocking the door and handing Drew the key.

"Well, yeah. A ton of them," Drew rolls his eyes.

"Okay, I'll answer a few now. You can get an official tour tomorrow," Caleb laughs.

"Firstly, I'm impressed with the level of security and technology you guys have. How are you funded?" I ask.

"What do you know of our technology?" Caleb eyes me suspiciously. "We are funded by some big businesses, but it's all under the table. The government doesn't know about us,"

"Not much, but Riley mentioned your guys can hack police systems in just a few minutes," I reply.

"Not to mention your creepy tracking devices on people as well as cars," Drew interjects.

"Creepy as it may be, it's done for security. We need to know where our people are at all times, and we need constant status reports coming in as well,"

"Why? What is up with this freakishly high level of security?"

"In case anything happens. Better safe than sorry, as the motto goes. We play a dangerous game, therefore we need to take the appropriate measures to reduce risk as much as possible. We have over four hundred people at this house, but we value every single one of them. Declan is the head of this branch, and he is fierce about not letting anyone die," Caleb explains patiently.

"And what game is it that you're playing? Who is Declan's boss? How far does your influence reach?" says Drew quickly.

"I'll save that for the tour tomorrow. It's rather complicated. If you need anything, there's an intercom in the room. Press one for the kitchen, two for me or Adelaide, and everyone else is listed. The red button is for emergencies only. It takes you directly to Declan," Caleb replies.

He is about to walk away when Drew pulls him back and says, "Okay, just tell us the name of this organization,"

He gives us a weird look and says, "Seven Hands,"

Drew shoves me in the room and we find our bags already here. The room is big, like the rest of this house. It's elegantly furnished,  with a king size bed in the middle.

I reach to slap Drew but he grabs my wrist and twists it behind my back.

"Let go! Why the hell did you ask for one room?" I yell.

"Shut. Up." he says, putting a hand over my mouth. This doesn't allow me to breath very well, so I start hyperventilating. "These people are dangerous, and I just thought it would be safer if we were together,"

"Mmph!" I try to speak through his hand. He lets go of me and I stumble away.

"Julie and George sent us here! Don't you think they know what they're doing?! These people must be safe, since they trusted us with them!" I hiss.

"Just because Julie trusts these people doesn't mean they're safe! They checked our bags, for God's sake! Who knows, maybe there is a tracking device on us now. Hell, this room is probably bugged!" Drew argues, his voice growing louder.

I walk up to him and place my hands on his shoulders. "Drew, calm down. I understand what you're trying to say, but I just don't agree with it,"

"Their group is called the Seven Hands! The name itself is-"

"Drew! Listen to m-"

"No, listen to me first. I have a hunch, Lydia, that this place is a bad place to be," he starts.

I hear footsteps coming and I start to panic. Drew is interrupting me every time I try to say something, and I don't know what to do.

The footsteps stop right outside our door.

"We need to get ou-"

I cut him off by doing the only thing I can think of.

I kiss him.