I teleport Brit and I to the cafeteria in the morning, avoiding Janine. Sasuke has only one arrow sticking out of him when he enters the cafeteria. Either he's getting faster, or Janine's getting bored.
"Eat quickly and we'll go to the field before Janine gets here." I suggest to Briti, piling up my tray and hustling over to the table. She places a few items on her own tray and joins me.
We're on the field before Janine shows up just as I have been doing for the last month.
"How long have you been here?" Brit asks.
"Six weeks." I reply.
"How long are people usually here?" She asks.
"Mmhmm-mm, varies. Kali, my old roommate was here a little over two months, Thomas has been here nearly two and a half months. Miguel was here almost a year, I think. Ambien has been here for years. Varies." I answer.
"Hey, ladies." Sasuke greets, walking up to the field. He's been following my example recently in an effort to avoid being Janine's soul victim. He opted out of me teleporting him after he hurled his guts up that one time. It's only a matter of time before Janine catches on and changes up her tactics at this rate.
"Hey." Briti replies, enthusiastically.
"In celebration of Thomas leaving us tomorrow I have an easy task for you all today. Once you all dig a hole as tall as you, you are free for the rest of the day." Janine announces, unlocking the shed.
"Really?" Thomas confirms, a large grin on his face. "Yes. Yes. Yes." He celebrates, excited energy radiating off him.
Janine tosses a shovel at him that he catches just in time.
"You'll be heading back to Idaho. Twin Falls." My ears perk up at the mention of my hometown.
"Idaho." He considers, probably torn between being close to his family and being a state away from Kali.
Janine hands out shovels to the rest of us and waves us off.
I push on the rim of the shovel with my foot, expecting it to slide into the soft dirt of the field with ease. I should have known; nothing can be easy with Janine. The tip of the shovel doesn't penetrate past the grass. I look around to find everyone facing the same frustration.
Thomas lifts the shovel over his head, stabbing it into the earth with all his strength. It appears to go in a few inches. Sasuke jumps on the shovel like a pogo with no success. Ambien lays the shovel and herself on the ground. Briti looks at me and I shrug. I try Thomas's tactic with similar results, but at least it's something. Hours pass and I have a hole barely big enough to fit my foot in.
My frustration level is at a thousand. I proceed to beat the ground with the shovel, not caring about the hole anymore and merely seeking the suffering of the confounding earth. I toss the shovel aside and punch the ground furiously. Large divots form where my fists land. I freeze, tilting my head in confusion. I scoop the dirt out handfuls at a time. Suddenly the dirt is as soft and yielding as you would expect in your standard grass covered field. It's the shovel.
I pull out large handfuls of dirt. In minutes, my hole has doubled in size. Digging the hole by hand will take hours more, but at least it's progress. This is a good opportunity for Briti to impress, so she can get out of here. I glance at Janine, but she is already looking at me waiting to see what I'll do next. So much for that idea. I look around for alternative shovel ideas but see nothing.
I consider telling everyone but then I remember Dr. Hemsworth's threat after I warned Briti about the cupcakes.
"How are you digging with your hands?" Thomas asks, noticing me. I can't be held responsible if they notice what I'm doing. I just keep scooping handfuls out. Thomas does the same and soon Sasuke and Briti catch on as well. Ambien continues to lay there, disinterested in playing Janine's games today.
"Lunch time." Janine announces. We haven't made much progress in the hour since we made the discovery about the shovels. I stand up, slumping off to the lunchroom, feeling discouraged and filthy.
Briti screams behind me. Oh shit! How could I forget. A moment later a bolt sticks in my shoulder. How could I have let my guard down so bad? I grab Briti and teleport to the lunchroom. Once we are safely in the cafeteria, I help Briti remove her bolt and then remove my own.
"That fucking hurts." She asserts.
"Yeah. Sorry about that." I apologize, heading to wash my hands. I don't know how I'm going to find the will to return to that field and continue this pointless exercise. I scream out in pain as a bolt, sticks into my back and then another. I whip around and am rewarded with another bolt, in the belly. Janine turns her crossbow on Briti who looks on horrified, like a deer in headlights.
"This is your fault, Sara." Janine informs as she lets lose another bolt. The bolt sinks home into Briti's throat, finally stopping its progression once the end sticks out the back of her neck. Blood runs out of her mouth as she hesitantly pulls at the bolt lodged in her neck. The next bolt goes through her hand pinning it to her neck. Briti coughs up more blood as a third bolt is shot through her other hand, again pinning it to her neck.
Janine lets lose another bolt that sinks into the wall as Briti has vanished. She has finally teleported. Janine returns her cross bow to its holster with a satisfied expression on her face.
I pull out my bolts, wiping away the tears I hadn't noticed fall. Janine's words ring in my head. It's all my fault. I cause those around me to suffer. It's just like Mia. I hadn't realized it, but Briti does remind me of Mia, in some ways. I think that is why I have felt so protective of her. But it's no use. I can't protect anyone. All I do is get people hurt.
"I'm going to go find her." Sasuke announces, leaving the cafeteria. Janine lets him.
Janine wanders off through the mystery door to make more sinister plots no doubt.
I take a heavy seat at the table.
"Do you believe bad things happen for a reason?" Ambien asks from across the table. I look up at her from the spot on the table I have been staring at. She has a tray full of juice boxes she has stacked into a pyramid.
"No." I reply, looking back at the table.
"But you believe you're the reason bad things happen?" She asks. Why is she suddenly so talkative?
"Yes." I reply.
"You can't have it both ways. Either bad things just happen, or bad things happen for a reason. Which is it?" Ambien persists.
"People get hurt because of me but there's no greater purpose for it." I assert, glaring at her.
"Perhaps suffering is the greater purpose." She continues.
I look at her blankly and she looks back.
"Janine is wrong." Thomas chimes in. "Remember the exercise she had us do yesterday. She had us write what we can and cannot control. You can't control other people. Janine is the only one responsible for Janine's actions." He insists angrily, his fists balled where they rest on the table.
When I first got here Thomas had so much faith in Janine and her training. Over the last month I have seen that faith wilt. Somehow, he doesn't even seem like the same person as the young man who was content flirting with Kali and training to be a bodyguard. Is that my fault too? Maybe I'm giving myself to much credit on this one.
Sasuke escorts Briti back into the cafeteria, an arm securely wrapped around her shoulders, though they are the same height. He assists her into the seat beside me. She seems in shock, just staring. Sasuke brings her a juice and she sips on it while looking around the table with eyes too wide.
"I'm sorry, Briti." I apologize lamely, staring at the table again.
"Why are you sorry?" She asks, sounding surprised and confused.
I look up at her and somehow her eyes have gotten wider.
"Because..." I hesitate. "I should have known." I answer.
"You can't see the future... Right?" She replies.
I smile a little, shaking my head. "No." I answer.
"I teleported. That is a step in the right direction." Briti says optimistically.
"Yeah." I smile up at her. It is this optimism that reminds me of Mia, I think.
"No group today. Back on the field." Janine announces, poking her head out of the mystery door.
Briti looks over at her in horror, likely anticipating another attack. Relief spreads across her face when Janine disappears behind the door again. Then a peculiar expression comes over her and she grins at me. A pit forms in my stomach as I see the gears churning behind Briti's glinting grey eyes.
"I am going to teleport to the field." Briti announces. She closes her eyes and scrunches her nose, presumably imagining the field in her mind's eye. Nothing happens. "Why didn't it work? That's what I did earlier. I just imagined the recreation area and I was there." Briti pouts. I am not sure what she is missing. That is all I do.
"It is the stress. Or urgency." Thomas explains. "I just imagine that one of Janine's bolts are about to hit me..." He hesitates. "In a not so pleasant place while picturing where I want to go. That usually does the trick." I didn't know this. Maybe I am just always on edge, so I never had to try?
Briti tries again. Whatever stressful thing she imagines does the trick because suddenly she is gone. I join her and my heart sinks at the site of our pitiful holes. Sasuke is already digging, having taken off the moment Janine announced no group. Janine is nowhere to be seen.
I kneel down across from Sasuke. "I'll help you. Maybe at least one of us can get part of the day free." I say, as I scoop some dirt from his hole.
"Maybe if we all dig the same hole, if we make it big enough, we can all fit in it and all get some free time." Briti suggests, optimistically.
"Maybe." Sasuke smiles up at her.
"Worth a shot." Thomas agrees. We all work on the hole together. Even Ambien assists, bored with lying around, I guess. When the sun starts to set, we have a hole big enough for us all to stand in, but it only goes up to my chest. It is almost deep enough for Ambien, but no one else. I drag myself out of the hole, feeling filthy and hungry.
"Where is Janine?" Thomas asks.
"Right here." Janine answers, suddenly appearing like she does. "Nice hole." She comments. "You all better shower for dinner." She suggests, snapping her finger. The hole is suddenly filled and my heart plummets into my stomach, my eyes stinging. How could she? She walks off, toward the building, not sparing us another glance.
We trudge off toward the showers. I let others go first, planning on taking a long one. I sit at the table in the recreation area, keeping an eye on the showers. Sasuke sits down beside me, taking my filthy hand in his. I smile over at him as he intertwines our fingers.
"I have changed my mind about wanting to be a prison guard in Hell." He announces.
"Oh really?" I reply. He seemed certain when we talked about it so many weeks ago.
"Yeah. Because of you." He grins at me. "I wouldn't want you to throw away your life going to be a prison guard in Hell. I figure if I don't want it for my friend, I probably shouldn't want it for myself." He reasons.
I smile at him, his words making me inexplicably happy. I guess I'm still not certain what I want to do. Neither option feels like an option in all reality.
"I don't want you to throw away your life, either." I answer.
Thomas comes out, drying his hair. "You can go first." Sasuke offers and I take him up on it gleefully entering the shower.
"Thanks." I say as I close the door.
I scarf down an obscene amount of pasta, ravenous from digging all day and skipping lunch. I'm contently leaning back in my chair when Janine sets the tub of crayons in front of me. I jump a meter high, before recovering.
"We'll be hunting the good stuff today. A key characteristic of resiliency is the ability to recognize the good things in your life. With that in mind, I would like you to right down three good things that happened today." Janine says, passing around paper. Three good things that happened, today? That is a tall order. I ponder and consider. Three good things. Hmmm.
1. Briti teleported.
2. Thomas learned he is being released
3. Sasuke held my hand
That wasn't as hard as I thought it would be.
I manage to get a good amount of school done before dragging my exhausted body to my room. I snuggle down in my covers, ready to fall asleep.
"I have an idea." Briti says from her side of the room. I hadn't noticed she was awake. I stifle a groan and turn over to look at her. "That door Janine is always going through. Do you know where it leads?" She asks.
"No." I answer, fighting to keep my eyes open.
"I think there's something that could help us, behind that door. Likely there is a door that leads out of here." She reasons. "We need to get in there." She asserts.
"But like you said, Janine is in there all the time. How would we get in there without her noticing?" I reason drowsily.
"You could distract her, and I could check it out." She suggests.
"If I tried, she would know something was up. Plus, she has magic. She is a witch, you know. She uses her witchery to lock doors and whatever." I say yawning. "It just isn't possible." I insist, turning back over.
"Anything is possible." Briti asserts.
"Mhmm" I murmur, unable to keep my eyes open.
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Thank you for reading(:
What do you think of Briti's plan?
Are you excited for Thomas? (:
Would you have still tried to dig the hole?