4.

A few hours later, Andre was following his two new friends out of the room and down the hall.

"Well, it was nice meeting you," Amanda said, tucking her book under her arm. "It's lights out in an hour. Can't be out after that."

Andre blinked. "They're strict around here, aren't they?" he laughed nervously.

Justin stopped in front of his room door. "Yea. A friend of mine was caught playing in the hall. He was never heard from again." he smiled sadly. "Stay safe."

Amanda and Andre continued down the hall.

"So.. what's your subject number?" Andre asked, breaking the awkward silence.

"567. I can use the water molecules out of the air to make ice." she balled her hand into a fist, forming an ice shard.

"That's neat, actually."

Amanda shrugged. "I guess. But some of the boys say it's a girly power. Whatever that means." she threw the shard, and it shattered against the wall. "If you get the power of electricity, the boys will envy you," she smirked. "I've got a good feeling about you, Andre."

She stopped in front of her door. I wave, and she steps inside her room, closing the door.

Alone, I make my way back to my room and was surprised to see that it was open. It wasn't open all the way, but I was sure that I had closed it when I left.

I flicked on the light and smiled, glad that my room wasn't destroyed and nothing was out of place. I close the door behind me and sit on the cot.

It's easy to get bored here. There's really nothing to do except stare at the blank walls and sleep.

So that's what I did, but as I was adjusting my head on the pillow. I heard something make a crinkling sound. I sit up and lift the pillow over my head, frowning when I see nothing there.

I tilt the pillow to one side to check under the sheet and I notice a thin slash in the middle. I place my pillow down in my lap and reach into it to grab whatever was making that sound.

I pulled out an envelope.

With shaky fingers, I open it, and some papers fell out. I lift one and it was a picture. There was a woman with auburn hair and a man with red hair sitting on a grey couch, sitting between them was a little girl.

In another picture, the mother was posing under an oak tree. Her belly was round.

Was this my mother? I run a trembling finger along the side of her face. Why'd she give me away?

Who was the little girl?

I look through the pictures and I see my mother sitting in a hospital bed holding me in her arms. She was looking at me fondly.

A tear slips down my cheek, and I don't move to wipe it away.

In the last picture, the girl was sitting in front of a dollhouse with her toys scattered around her.

The last item was a letter with cursive writing scrawled on it.

I'm not sure when you'll get this letter. But I want to apologize for giving you away. I didn't want to. It wasn't my choice.

I loved you. And I still do.

Hanna is a close friend of mine. I asked her to watch over you while you're away. I'm not sure why they took you, you weren't sick.

Love you,

Mommy&Victoria

So Victoria must be the little girl.

I drop the papers and reach into the envelope. There were two pictures left.

In one my father was throwing me up in the air, laughing. In the second picture, I was sitting in my mom's lap, trying to reach my sister's toys.

I look through the pictures one more time before tucking them under my pillow and lying down. I pulled the ratty blanket up to my chin and stare up at the ceiling.

I close my eyes and fall into memory.

I'm sitting at a lunch table with kids sitting on either side of me, talking loudly.

In front of me, a boy was sitting there holding a cup of macaroni. He was pointing to a black thing with his spork.

"EW! What is that!"

The girl next to me laughed. "It's probably a fly, Will."

Will?

I turned back toward the other boy, but he had blonde hair and pale skin. He looked nothing like the Will I met earlier.

"It is not!" Will protested. "Maybe it was something the lunch ladies stuck in there!"

The girl rolled her eyes. "Why would the lunch ladies stick something in your food?"

"Because, everyone hates me, Amanda." Will dropped the cup on his tray. "You said so yourself."

Amanda didn't look any different.

"What do you say, Andre? Do you think Will put something in his food?"

I laugh. "Maybe he did. He was probably trying to play a joke on someone and it backfired."

"No, I wasn't!" Will snapped. "Why don't you-"

A scream rang out behind Will and I looked past Will to see a girl laying on the ground.

One of the lunch monitors came racing over. After checking for her pulse, they started CPR.

The children at the table surrounding the girl noticed what was happening and started running toward the doors.

Me and my friends were one of the few who stayed to see what happened to her. I knew she was dead, but later that day, our teacher told us that she passed out from a lack of calories.

I knew it was BS.

The dream changed and I was sitting at a wooden table in a dimly lit kitchen scribbling on a piece of paper.

A woman with brown hair was standing in front of the stove cooking something. A man was sitting on the couch behind me, watching a game. Football? Whatever that is.

The girl Victoria was sitting next to me reading a book with a red cover.

A knock at the door startled the woman and she wiped her hands on a cloth before going to answer.

When she opened the door she gasped and slowly backed away. "No. No. You can't."

I turn from the paper and see the man behind me get up from the couch. He saw who was at the door and whirled around. "Victoria, get your brother. Hide."

I had no idea what was going on. But Victoria picked me up and took her to her room, locking the door behind her.

"What's going on?" I frown. "Why'd papa look scared? Who was at the door?"

Victoria shook her head. "Not now, Andre. You must hide."

She opened her closet and gestured for me to get inside. I take a shaky step back. "I don't like dark, enclosed spaces."

"Andre! Hurry, please! They're coming to take you away." Victoria gestured at the closet again. "We might never see you again. Please, hide."

I hesitated for another moment before stepping into the dark space.

"Don't worry. I'll be back." Victoria kissed my forehead. "Don't make a sound, Andre."

She closed the door, leaving me alone in the dark.