Myra's POV
I can't get a read on whoever it is, Jason said.
I didn't know how to take that. Jason was powerful, but I knew it was easier for him to read Unknowns that humans. So that meant that whoever it was could be a human. Or it meant that person was a very powerful Unknown. For someone to overtake Jason's power so that he couldn't read his or her mind it meant that he or she had to be at least as powerful.
My throat went dry at the thought. There were very few Unknowns that were a nine, but if Enforcers were coming they knew how powerful he was. They'd send their strongest fighters to take us out.
I wouldn't call what I felt fear exactly. It was more like apprehension. It was hard to take someone who could read your mind and hold your body against your will, no matter how many people you sent. That didn't mean we wouldn't get badly injured even if we did win in a fight.
Knock knock knock
Jason and I looked at each other. In a situation like this nobody would be knocking on our door. They would be knocking it down.
Knock knock knock
Against my better judgment, I went over and opened the door.
I was beyond shocked to see Hunter standing on the other side.
"Hunter?" I asked confused. Why was he here? How did he even know where we lived?
His blue eyes had a faint glow as they trained on me. I felt a blast of energy from him and could feel the full force of his power envelop me. Before I could even fully comprehend what that meant I was being dragged backward. Jason moved me until I was directly behind him.
I peeked behind Jason's shoulder to get a better look at Hunter. Hunter was still looking at me. It made me feel like I was prey being stalked. I felt Jason stiffen in front of me. I wasn't sure if it was from my thoughts or from something Hunter thought.
There was a tense silence building. Hunter was an Unknown. This explained so much during my time working with him. He was very good at hiding his abilities from others, but because he was an Unknown his energy levels were always slighter higher than a human. It was just enough to make me curious at times, but not so much that I constantly questioned it.
"Why are you here?" I demanded, my voice sounded harsher than I really felt.
I was afraid now, but I wouldn't show it. Anger was always my default emotion whenever I felt fear.
"Something's happened to her," Hunter said and relief flooded through me. He was here to help, but I felt a little warry
Jason was a litte more vocal about his distrust.
"I don't know what stunt you're trying to pull, but you need to get out. You won't be of any help to us," Jason said.
"I can't sense her anymore," Hunter said.
Jason let out a huff of air. He knew what that meant, but I didn't.
"Hunter's name reflects his power. He's a tracker - a very powerful one at that. Whoever he wants to track is his prey and he hunts them down like a predator. It's how he's been able to get and stay in contact with Daisy Lynn," Jason said.
Hunter nodded. His eyes were still glowing, but I didn't feel like he was tracking me anymore. I guessed that my fear and Jason dragging me away made me look like prey to him. It must have stimulated his predatory instincts.
"So you're here because you can't sense Daisy Lynn anymore," I said, simply stating the obvious. He nodded again.
"The only time I've ever not been able to sense someone is if they've died," he said.
I felt my heart sink. Daisy Lynn was my friend. She was like a little sister to me. Now, here Hunter was saying that she was dead. Within hours of graduating high school she'd been abducted and killed.
I closed my eyes for a moment and when I opened them I saw a golden haze surrounding my vision. If I didn't calm down my power would overtake me. That's not what I wanted or needed.
"But I should add that it feels much different when someone dies. It doesn't feel like she's dead, but at the same time I have no idea how to track her. Maybe something about her has changed so that she's not exactly how she was before. If she's having tests run on her it could possibly distort some of the markers I use to track people. Still, I wouldn't take her being dead off of the table," he said.
If she was having tests done on her then I knew that experience would be torturous. The haze faded, but the anger remained. I'd kill her father for doing this. He deserved every bit of pain that he'd inflicted on that girl and then some.
"Let's say she is alive. How are we going to find her if you can't track her?" I asked.
"Track her father," he said with a shrug. His tone suggested that it should have been obvious. How was I supposed to know?
"We'll have to find Daisy Lynn's old house first. I only met the man once and it was very brief. I'll need something to go off of," Hunter continued.
I shook my head. This whole thing was crazy. It made me angry. I felt a surge run through me, involuntarily. I knew I needed to keep myself in check, but it was hard.
Hunter's eyes fell on me.
"That could be useful," he said. I squinted at him.
"You're a little more hostile that I thought you were."
"Well, you're a little bit less honest that I thought you were," I retorted.
He rose his eyebrow at that.
"And how's that?"
"You had Daisy Lynn believing that you're a human. You conceal your power from other Unknowns. You're running around pretending to be something that you're not. Why should I trust you?" I snapped.
"I've never done anything to hurt your friend. There's a reason why I keep my abilities hidden. The only reason I'm here now is because Daisy Lynn is in trouble. Why I choose to keep the fact that I am an Unknown a secret is irrelevant."
"Like hell. You're dodging me," I said.
Hunter shrugged.
Jason put his hand on my shoulder. I didn't need his comfort. I needed to get out of here. I needed to find my friend. We all knew that she was being hurt. Or she was dead.
I shook off Jason's hand and roughly shoved past Hunters before slamming through the door.
Static filled my ears as sparks began to light up on my hands. The first tree I passed I knocked right out of the ground with a power packed punch. If they knew what was good for them they'd leave me alone, otherwise I'd make them the fight I was looking for.
***
Daisy Lynn's POV
I didn't know exactly how much time had passed, but I knew it had at least been a few days. A week had probably passed. Myra and Jason hadn't found me yet. I doubted they would be able to.
The testing they were doing was gruesome. Everyday I ran. Somedays I only did five or six miles. Other days I got close to twenty. I was beyond exhausted.
They injected me with a wide array of chemicals. Sometimes it made me ill. Sometimes it knocked me right out. Other times it made my powers surge forward. They recorded everything both on paper and on video. I didn't want to hate them, but I could feel it growing in my heart. With each test, with each passing second I began to despise Pa and Dr. Decimato.
Maybe I was going insane.
I forced myself to push those thoughts back. I had to hold on to the hope that I'd get out of here eventually, either by my own accord or by rescue. I wouldn't let any other option enter my mind. If I thought about how much death was a reality for me, then I'd lose it.
The door creaked open. I cringed involuntarily.
Dr. Decimato came it with Pa trailing him like usual. They took me to the room they always used for whatever plans they have today.
Confusion filled me when I saw that the treadmill was missing. My eyebrows furrowed and I blinked to make sure that my eyes weren't deceiving me. I heard Dr. Decimato chuckle and I looked over. He was grinning.
"Today is going to be a little bit different," he said.
Before I could even respond my face was covered and I was shoved onto the ground. I thrashed and struggled but there was no use. I assumed it was Pa, that had the bear tight vice around me.
"If you cooperate then this will be very easy. But it you resist then I will ensure that the pain and discomfort you feel increase tenfold," Dr. Decimato said.
I stopped, struggling against Pa, but panic was shooting through me like never before. This was new. There was no telling what these sick men had in store. There were a few snaps and clicks next to me and I realized I'd been strapped onto something.
"Question one: how do you control your power?" he asked.
I knew Dr. Decimato was trying to find a way to make my power his. Telling him how I controlled my abilities would put him that much closer to reaching his goal. I stayed silent.
"Tsk tsk tsk. And here I was hoping that you'd make this easy on everyone."
I heard the sound of running water. Then there a sloshing sound mixed with heavy footsteps. The gasp that tried to escape my lips came out as a gargling choke as ice cold water was poured onto my face. I thrashed against it.
My power surged forward against my will and the water stopped pouring on my face. There was a pinch in my arm a moment later. It immediately started burning. I knew whatever this particular injection was, hindered my ability to focus in on my power like normal. I only had a few more moments to fight back. So that's exactly what I did.
It felt like it'd been forever since I used my power to locate water sources around me, but it came back even stronger than before. There was a faucet on the other side of the room. Someone was holding a bucket, that was probably halfway filled now with water.
I turned it all into ice and broke them into large chunks. I could locate people, but I could make those chunks fly in a million directions.
Pa's curse filled my ears and I knew I hit at least one target.
I knew I'd suffer for this, but part of me refused to go down without a fight. I'd suffered my entire life at the hands of my father. He deserved every inch of pain he received.
A sharp pain in my ribs interrupted my concentration, but I didn't let off. A few moments later, I felt my power begin to slip. I couldn't focus anymore. To my surprise, the room was silent. Maybe it had actually worked.
I shook my head violently to get whatever cloth they had around me off of my face. It took a few minutes but eventually I was able to do it. I looked down and saw the straps that Pa had put around me.
There was no way I'd get out of this.
I shut my eyes tightly to keep the tears from escaping, but they betrayed me and squeezed out anyway. My body was beginning to burn. Dread, fear and panic seemed to be the only emotions that I could feel.
My breathing became labored as I struggled against the straps. I wouldn't let those men wake up with me here. I could not let that happen.
I could feel my heart pounding rapidly in my chest as I began to panic. A loud, shrill, scream filled the air. It was followed by another, and another and another. I didn't even realize it was me. I didn't even care if it roused the two men laying close to me.
The sound of something cracking couldn't break my concentration. There was a voice in the back of my head that told me I was on to something, but I couldn't focus on that. I was in a full blast panic attack and there was no one here to stop it.
Without warning water flooded in from the ceiling and drenched me. My mind so too cloudy for me to put two and two together, but somehow that straps broke.
I slid around as I got up, but I managed to get my footing. As I headed toward door, I saw on of the cameras that they used to record everything. I could see my reflection in the lens. I could barely recognize myself.
My hair was rough, going in all direct. My eyes were pitch black and looked wild as they widened in panic. My face was covered in bruises and scratches from the violence those two men put on me.
I scowled as I snatched the camera from wall and threw it to the ground. The damn thing didn't even break and shatter into a million pieces like I thought it would.
Dizziness overcame me as I tried to run away. I tried to fight it off, but I couldn't. Food was scarce here. Physical exertion was common. I didn't have enough energy to continue, but I kept going anyway. I only made it halfway down the hallway before I collapsed into the wall.
Slowly, I got on my hands and knees and crawled. I didn't know where I was going, but as long as it was away from this hell hole that was all I needed it.
Soon, even crawling became to much. My arms buckled beneath me and I fell face first onto the ground. I didn't pass out immediately like I thought I would though. Instead I lay on the ground as if I were paralyzed. Maybe it was more than malnourishment that was effecting me. Maybe that injection was doing this.
I used everything I had to resist, but I just couldn't. Eventually, my eyes closed against my will and I fell asleep on the cold, hard ground.