Institution Log 4

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Once again the sun rose.

They let them out of the rooms later that day. It wasn't quite punishment, they just unlocked the doors an hour later. It was more of a quiet reminder that the lives of the patients were scheduled at the whim of the institution. If they wanted to lock them in their rooms for a longer amount of time, they would.

But, regardless, the institution did not ground them for the day like naughty children. The doors still clicked open after a long period of quiet reminders...

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Alex rolled over at the sound of his door being unlocked. He'd usually be one to sleep in for a while, but he couldn't sleep last night. Yesterday was just too messed up. He swung his feet off the bed and sat there a while, in his pajama bottoms with no top, still contemplating whether or not he wanted to head outside and face everything yet.

Lucas heard the click of his door and figured that it had been long enough for security to cover up anything that might have been left behind in the semi brawl. Getting up from his bed, Lucas went towards the door and walked out of it. The whole night everyone had been in their rooms, Lucas hadn't slept to much but had been thinking about the current events and about the anger that was rising in him towards the Institution. Seeing no one else outside the hallway yet, he came across the door of Alex's room, and with nothing better to do, Lucas sat down against the opposite wall waiting for Alex to come out. 

Ry had just reposistioned when the doors clicked open. He rolled onto his back and looked at the clock on the desk... Geez... He hadn't had a whole lot of sleep the night before. Ry rolled back on his side, closed his eyes and said a silent prayer for Madison and Zander. He adjusted his blankets and folded his arms under his pillow. Ry said a silent prayer for all the inmates and let himself slowly fall back asleep.

As soon as the door unlocked, Ea's eyes opened. A second later, there was a sucking sound as her holding tank drained of the thick, bluish fluid. The recharging system powered down and the glass door at the front of the tank slid open with a hiss. Ea stepped out, grabbed a towel, and patted herself dry before getting dressed. A bit of excess electricity jumped between her and the wall as she opened her door and peeked outside. There was nobody except Lucas sitting across from Alex's door. She slipped from her room and headed towards the cafeteria.

Sarah floated from her room a few minutes after the doors unlocked. She started moving towards the playroom, but seemed to notice Lucas on her way. She stopped beside him, then plopped down against the wall next to him. "Strange happenings." she said in almost a sigh. Then she held her open palm to him, offering the bright purple candy wrapped within.

Lily knew that if she left the paper in her room, a staff member would find it and she'd be in a world of trouble again. So she carefully folds it up and stuffs it in the back pocket of her jeans. She chooses a cute top for the day, brushes out her hair, and puts on some mascara. Making herself pretty had always been a good way to boost her confidence, and now she was ready to face the other members of the Institution, despite the recent drama. She enters the hallway, and smiles when she sees Lucas. As she passes him and Sarah, she winks at the boy and sends a small static shock to his ass.

Lucas, not to subtly, inched away from Sarah as she offered him candy. Who knows what the heck that purple wrapped sweet could be?, he thought. Trying to ignore Sarah seeing how the two haven't really gotten along well in the past, Lucas directs his attention towards the upcoming Lily. Damn she looks fine today. As Lily smiled at Lucas, he gave her a wink back but as she past he felt a static shock that made him jump up an inch and also made his leg fall asleep. Lucas was about to call out to Lily in a cocky attitude, Is that all you got? but still feeling his scorch mark on his stomach he decided not to go that far today. Looking from the retreating Lily to Sarah, it was an easy enough choice who to chill with. Lucas didn't know when Alex would come from his chambers, he got up and winced each time his left leg supported him until it woke up, Lucas walked after towards Lily.

Hearing people up and about, Lainey took a step out of her room with a toothbrush in her mouth and a bit of toothpaste foam on her lip. She watched Lucas walk after Lily, and nodded a greeting at Sarah. "Go'moming," she mumbled, then ran back in to her bathroom to rinse out her mouth.

Alex sighed and stood up, going over to stand over his sink. He noticed a bit of dried blood, a remnant of yesterday, and the start of a nasty bruise. Alex grimaced and cleaned up the blood, nudging his nose. At least it wasn't broken. He ran a hand through his hair, which did nothing, decided he didn't care about showering today, and left his room. After a split second, he ran back in to tug on a shirt, fingering a few scars subconsciously through the fabric as he walked out again. Alex didn't even know where he wanted to go right now, but staying still wasn't an option. He just wanted action. So once again he went into his room and grabbed his skateboard.

Several doors had been slammed or just fallen shut in near succession. Ry rolled over and looked at the clock again. Six minutes... he had been sleeping for six minutes. Deciding sleeping in probably wasn't going to happen he rolled from his bed and stretched. He walked the short distance to his door and opened it; picking up a shirt to add to his pajama pants at the last minute. Ry walked and dressed at the same time. While his head was still covered he tripped on something he hoped wasn't a person. Tugging the shirt over his head he looked down at the person he had jsut stepped on. "I'm sorry Sarah. You ok sweetie?" Ry was genuinely concerned, Sarah seemed very fragile to him, regardless of what she might be capable of. "Would you like to have breakfast with me? I'll give you a piggy back ride on the way there." Ry smiled, hoping to encourage her. He was sure she was sweet girl, probably just confused and lonely.

Sarah cocked her head to the side as Ry tripped over her. Once he was up, she resumed her leviatating, lifting herself off the floor as if on strings. She held out the candy that she had offered to Lucas, now offering it to Ry. "I'll go." she said softly.

Alex skated past the two, narrowly missing Ry, and sailed into the cafeteria. He was smiling, but not as much as usual, like something was gone from his humor. "Yo, what's the food for today?" he asked, still wound up, absentmindedly wondering if there were any loose wires in the kitchen.

Lily is already sitting down and eating by the time Alex enters the cafeteria. She wonders why Lucas had followed her, since he usually remained distant to people. Maybe he just liked the flirting. That was fine with her, of course. "Sleep well?" she asks him, just to make conversation.

"Thanks sweetie. What is it?" Ry picked up a candy from Sarah's hand. He waited for a reply before he ate it. He turned his back to her and said "If you want a ride hop on." Sarah was a strange girl but he thought he'd give her a chance. She was just a kid. He couldn't imagine being so young, alone and so far from home and family. Ry liked the idea of having some one to look after. It was like being on the ranch again with Sophia and Aggie. Ry sighed...Home...

Lucas scratched his head and replied, "I slept alright, just was thinking about all the drama that happened yesterday, ya know." He walks over to where the food was normally served, grabbed a plate and sat down opposite of Lily. Feeling a little out of his element, seeing how Lucuas rarely talked with anyone else, shifted a little in his seat, trying to think of something to talk about.

"Yeah..." Lily says, not really wanting to talk about the incident with Madison. She eats begins to eat quietly, having already tried to start a conversation.

Alex balanced his tray on his skateboard as he turned around. He bit his lip, regarding Lily and the way she had been acting lately. It's not awkward unless you make it awkward, he thought, more of a prayer than a belief. Thus thought, he strode over to the two. Instead of choosing someone to sit next to, he jumped on the table next to them and sat on it instead, plate in lap and facing the two. "Good morning," he said. "Hey, Lily, hypothetical question, do you think you could short out the power here?" Alex knew he was being blunt and possibly stupid, but something was making him be reckless now.

Amber had dreamed fitfully that night and made up for it by sleeping later than usual. As she grabbed her fuzzy, green slippers, she noticed a paper clip caught in the fur. Must've tracked it in from the hallway. After disentangling the piece of metal, she attempted to get it off her hand by scraping it on a shelf. It fell from her fingertips-- and hovered. Midair. "Damn." Amber's eyes went wide-- she'd never been able to do this before! Her heartbeat quickened and-- the clip dropped to the floor. She couldn't do it again, no matter how hard she tried. The paper clip either stuck to her or stayed on the tile floor.

"The blackout yesterday wasn't my fault," Lily replies, assuming that is what he's really asking about. "And it's just as well, seeing how uppity the staff was yesterday. I still can't believe they took both of them away..."

"Limey candy." Sarah replied to Ry, indicating the peice of candy he now held. She didn't seem to know what to do about the piggy-back ride, and instead was content to float alongside him. There was a faint sound of canaries singing about her as she floated along.

Ea heard Alex's question from across the room as she peacefully sipped a glass of water. "I suppose if she could deliver a hundred amps right to the breaker box..." she thought, then stood up and strode over to the group, to sit next to Alex. "Here you go again, taking about about shorting out circuits and whatnot. Instead of planning a suprise birthday party, why don't you just tell me what you're up to? because I want in. Or...out, rather." she said.

"Birds, huh." Ry smiled at Sarah as she floated next to him. He unwrapped the candy and popped it in his mouth, making a squinched up face while tasting it. "It's sour, but pretty good." They walked into the cafeteria together. "Hey guys." Ry gave a nod to the group forming at two of the tables and continued on to the food bar. "Would you like something to eat?" Ry said as he picked up a plate and handed it towards Sarah.

Sarah didn't seem to know what to do with the plate. She looked from the plate, to Ry, then to the plate again. After several seconds, the plate levitated from Ry's hand and floated above Sarah's head, spinning slowly. Apperantly she didn't eat.

"Right," Alex said, barely looking at Ea as his gaze was still intensely focused on Lily. "Lily, we need you to short out the power." His food sat, untouched, on his lap.

Amber decided to leave the paperclip experiment for later and headed out to breakfast. After grabbing food, she joined the group with Alex, Lily, Lucas, and Ea. She chuckled to herself, watching Ry with Sarah...

"Uh..." Lily looks around, making sure all staff are out of ear-shot. She lowers her voice and says to Alex, "Why do you want a black out? I mean, I'm pretty sure I could do it, but what for?"

"Probably for leaving," Alex said. "In the future, sometime. If we blackout the power, the staff would confuse it with one of the regular blackouts that have been occurring lately. That'd make it easier." He didn't drop his eyes from Lily. His gaze had... changed, somewhat. It hadn't become more desperate, but something had shifted in it. It had almost become more... insistent.

Tom stood in the corner. In hearing Alex finally drop the bomb, he walked over and sat with the group. Not too close, but close enough to show that he had invited himself. The air around them momentarily shimmered as Tom began cutting the noise of the conversation. To anybody else, it would seem like they were talking about how lame the food was here.

"Come on, just move!" Lainey was trying to make her bed, but the doll was simply content lying there, it raised an arm to shoo Lainey away. "Oh, you don't even need sleep." She pushed it closer and closer to the edge until it finally rolled off, not even really caring. It stood itself up and patted its cotton belly. "Goodness sake, Four, don't be so difficult," she huffed, throwing her pillow back in place. 

Lily nods. "I could do it," she says confidently. "But are we gonna do while the power is out? If we're gonna do something, we need to plan out the details with whoever else is involved. We can't afford to make any mistakes, like..." she doesn't say Madison's name, but she's obviously thinking it.

Alex leaned back, frowning. "She wasn't even in on it," Alex said. "I have no idea why they... But yeah, there are some more details to plan out, and a few people to inform. We can get through most of the front security alright... But we'd get caught once past the doors. We have no idea what the halls outside of this place look like at all. It could be a maze and we'd just get trapped."

Lucas' face could show a smile spreading; there was hope that he could finally get out of this prison. Despite Alex's proclaimation of mazes and getting trapped, Lucas spoke up. "I don't know about the rest of you guys, but I would rather try to escape and get caught than to just wait around here and find ourselves in Madison's position. I say we try and go for it."

"And I say I don't wanna get caught prematurely," Alex snapped. "They can't be taking all of us away, not so soon. We've got time."

Lily bites her lower lip, hoping that she's not about to make a huge mistake. She begins cautiously. "Um... I might have a solution to that problem," she says. "I... found something. But I can't show it to you here. Too many... eyes." She indicates a nearby camera with a nod of her head.

Lucas turned his gaze from Alex to Lily and then back to everyone who was apart of the secret meeting the day before. "The safe zone?" Lucas whispered.

Alex hesitated for a long while. "Yeah... okay," he said. "Fifteen minutes. You go get whatever and we'll... roam over to that spot, right at the end of that table." He discretely nodded to the same table the others had met at before.

"Alright then, that's a no on the food. Cute plate trick though." Ry smiled at Sarah and then began helping himself to the food. It wasn't great food, but it was edible. Ry looked over at the group. It had grown since he walked in, though now it looked like people were ready to leave. Ry decided he didn't want to miss what they might or might not be planning. "I'm going to eat and talk to Alex for a bit little one. Maybe you and I can play a game or you can show me how you make your limey candies later?" Ry patted Sarah on her shoulder, grabbed  a fork and headed towards Alex.

Lily nods, glancing at the table. She's still got breakfast in front of her, so obviously she'll have to finish it before she can leave. Maybe if she went to get another slice of toast she could re-seat herself at the other table.

Alex finally stuffed something in his mouth, swinging his legs off of the table and standing with his skateboard and food. He glanced over and saw Ry coming, and nodded his head at him, unable to say anything with his mouth full. He decided that it would be easier to get Ry to the other table first and walked over to him. "We're meeting over there in fifteen minutes, if you wanted to show up," Alex muttered after a bout of swallowing.

Amber was focused on her own thoughts. She'd been half-asleep when she'd been able to float the clip. Maybe that was the key... She had to get into a zone. Like meditating.

Lucas liked the idea of mostly everyoen getting together and thinkign of a way to escape from this place, but a frown started to sprout. It will look very suspicious if everyone heads over to a certain location for no apparent reason all at once. To try and make the meeting seem less conspicuous, Lucas heaed over to the table and pulled out his card deck. "Anyone up for a game of some poker, or blackjack?" Not waiting to hear any responses, Lucas sat down and started to deal out the cards but keeping a wary eye of Sarah.

"Yeah, 'kay, sure," Alex said. "I'm grabbing some more food." He ran over to the aisle, and Tom silently followed him. Tom began once again loading a plate almost to overflowing.

"I'll eat first and then I'll join the game." Ry nodded to Lucas and Alex and then sat down two tables away and began eating.

Lily has now finished her food and returns her tray to the front. She is glad that Lucas has suggested the card game, because she really isn't hungry, and it might look a little strange to the staff if she took food and didn't eat it. "I'm game," she says, joining the table.

Alex had started back when Kelly walked in and walked past Alex to grab an apple. Alex was about to shout out a hello--he wasn't worried about her eavesdropping. Kelly didn't seem the type. Then an eyebrow raised as his gaze went a bit lower. "Kelly... I think your scrubs shrank a little," he said, noting the tops of her scrubs were a good two or three inches above her shoes.

Kelly looked down and turned a bright red. This freaked Alex out a little bit, as he never saw her get that embarrassed. "Er, yeah, I should go change," Kelly said, dropping the apple on the counter and practically sprinting from the cafeteria.

Shaken, Alex walked over to the table, sitting next to Lily. Tom trailed around after him, his eyes still looking to where Kelly had gone. "You see that?" Alex asked the people at the table, referring to Kelly's reaction.

Lucas, shuffling the deck, turned to see Kelly's scrubs and her sprinting from the cafeteria. Seeing how not much laughter was being heard from the Institution all that much, Lucas burst out laughing. His gaze following back to everyone seated down with him at the time, "Well, there's one thing for certain, they don't have any mirrors on the other end of the secuirity door 'cause Kelly looked so funny."

"Wow, yeah, woulda thought you'd notice something like that," Alex muttered. He dropped his skateboard to the floor and grabbed some of his food, trying to juggle that and the cards in one hand. "Lily, what do you have for us?" he asked, his voice low, staring at his cards and hoping they weren't playing a game that meant you couldn't look.

Lily reaches into her pocket and pulls out the paper, then unfolds it and places it in front of Alex. The boys that are near the table are the only ones who can see what is on it. It is pretty obviously a map of the Institution. "This fell during the thing with Madison yesterday," she says. "A pretty detailed map. I doubt it belongs to the staff members, so it must've been Maddy's, which might explain why they were searching her room."

"Oh wow. There...EVERYTHING on that. I can see now why they wanted to find this so bad." Ea said, craning her neck over the table to get a good look at the map.

Lainey walks into the cafeteria with her doll trotting along next to her. She glanced at the large group of people around a couple tables, then turned her around to get her food. With some scrambled eggs and a cup of milk on her tray, she sat down in the middle of the cafeteria, pretty much by herself. The doll sits down on the seat across of her, and crossed its legs.

Amber figured she'd go say hi to Lainey... they hadn't finished their conversation yesterday, and she was curious about the dollthing Lily had been yelling about. She got up and walked over. "Hey Lainey.... who's your... friend?"

Ry chuckled at Skywalker's comment. Guess highwaters weren't back in fashion. Ry took a bite of his sausage and glanced over at the small group two tables away. Lily had just pulled out a piece of paper and was unfolding it. Ry shoved the rest of his sausage in his mouth and chewed quickly, determined not to miss anything else. He then downed his milk and got up to put his plate away.

Lainey almost jumped when Amber came over and talked to her. "Hi, Amber. This is...erm...Seven. They never tell me their names." The doll watched Amber, decided that she was alright, and nodded a greeting. It sat back, legs crossed, and surveyed the situation at the other table with interest.

Alex's eyes widened. "...this..." he started, unable to continue for a while. "This basically solves all of our problems. Shit. It..."

Amber was strangely okay with the creepy doll, but she suddenly wasn't sure who to talk to. It didn't look like Seven could talk back, not having a larynx. Then again, it probably didn't have muscles or a skeleton either, but it was moving. "Is it-- she-- the artist one?"

Ry put down his plate and glass and then walked over to the group. Looks like Ea was in the loop after all. "What are you guys playing?" he said to no one in particular. In a much lower voice he asked "What's that? Alex? Lily?" He pulled out a chair next to Alex and sat down.

"Map of the Institution," Lily says. "Madison dropped it."

Ry's eyes went widened as he stared at the map. He glanced at Alex and noticed his eyes were wide open too. "So this is... this is everything outside of the institution." It wasn't a question, Ry could see what it was. With this, they could get out... if everything went well. "So were do we start?"

Lainey nodded and giggled. "She actually helped a lot with the body." The doll suddenly pushes itself up and wanders over to the large group of people huddled around a piece of paper, and looked over Ry's shoulder.

Alex noticed the doll, for essentially the first time. It wasn't that he was short-sighted, he was just... oblivious to everything else at the moment. In any case, the doll managed to convince him that he had been dreaming the whole thing. "Alright, what the fuck," he said, his voice tinged with more than a little disappointment.

Lucas' wheels in his head were already turning. It just keeps on getting better and better, he thought non sarcastically. Looking up at the rest of the group, tryign to read their faces with this new information at hand, Lucas sees one of Lainey's dolls over Ry's shoulder. "Ok Lainey, no offense, but whats with the dolls?" More than just freaked out, Lucas looked to Alex and everyone else. Turning back to the doll, he said to everyone in attendance, "Anyone have a lighter I can borrow for a few minutes." 

Amber had followed the doll over to the group. It seemed an unsuspicious way to join them. "Hey, hey. Leave her alone, Lucas! She's harmless." Amber was referring to both the doll and Lainey herself. Further convinced that Lucas was kind of a dick, she asked Alex to fill her in on what she missed regarding the exciting little piece of paper.

"Setting it on fire is a little extreme, dude," Alex said to Lucas, before turning to Amber and explaining about the map, Megan's journal, and the sudden need to escape. "I don't wanna end up like Madison," he suddenly blurted out, surprising himself. "Or Zander. And if at all we should try to save them."

Lucas threw up his hands in a pitiful defense, but there was no denying it, the doll creeped Lucas out more than a little. Curling his mouth to a smile, he replied to Alex, "You know I'm just messing around." Alex's sudden burst reminded Lucas of his preachings about escaping a few days ago. We definitely need to get out of here, and if Madison and Zander are along the way to the exit that's chill, but if we try to go deeper into the Institution, any delay would mean certain death or worse, Lucas thought to himself, wisely not sharing his concerns with anyone else due tot he fact they already think not so highly of him today. "Alright, agreed, I don't think anyone of us do. What's the plan then?"

"Plan for what?" With the doll and Amber joining the crowd, there really wasn't a reason for Lainey to stay at a table by herself. The doll, on the other hand, gave Lucas as a dirty a look as it could've managed with no workable facial features. It shuffles back to Lainey, and placed an arm around her shoulder in a motherly way.

"I know the generals," Alex said. He looked at Tom, who gave a lopsided grin, confirming that he was altering the sound. "Basically, we find a place for Lily to short out the system. Then we get the fuck out. Er, hell out," he edited, for the children present. "Study the map, plan a route. One that takes like... fire escapes, back hallways. Somewhere where we don't run into that many people. We'll use our powers to subdue any people we might run into. Er, don't kill anyone. But..." His gaze traveled to the map, distant. "But when should we leave?"

"Not till at least after we've figured where we're gonna go," Lily says. "Like you said, this is gonna have to be quick for it to work, and we don't need to waste time later choosing which hallway to go down. I think our first goal is to have someone, or a group of someones, figure out where we're going and draw it on the map." It's pretty clear that she's been thinking about this sort of thing before. In fact, it's a little difficult for her to hide the excitement in her voice. A few stray hairs are standing up on her head, suspended as though she's just rubbed a balloon on her hair.

Ry edged a little closer to Lily and a little farther from the doll. The doll had moved away a few moments ago, but it still creeped him out. Skywalker was right about it being creepy but he was a little severe in his joking. Ry reached up and stroked back the hairs that were standing on end on Lily's head. "Staticky." Ry smiled and then pulled his hand back. He had gotten shocked, though only a bit. Ry leaned against the table and gazed around the group. "Lily is right, we can't lose time to planning or fighting while were trying to get out. We should also come up with a backup plan in case something goes wrong and were unable to follow the original." Ry thought for a moment, "Plan for the unexpected too. We need to know what were going to do if someone falls behind or is captured."

"How long will all this take?" Alex said. "We can't take too long, or the people will get a generator if the blackouts continue. Or the storms will lessen and a blackout would just be suspicious." Alex glanced at the windows, a light drizzle coating them with droplets. It still looked nasty. "We need to get this done by the next storm. If we wait much longer, we won't get another chance."

"What's outside the institution? The area we're in, I mean," Lainey blurted out. When she was sent here, she feel asleep in the car, with no idea was was going on.

Alex slid the map so he could see it clearer. Alex was not only unconscious, but probably bleeding profusely on the trip over here. "Dunno, map ends at the fence," he said. He stood up slightly and looked at the window. "I can't really tell, but it looks like there may be a town down there. Think we should avoid it? They do think this is an asylum. And we'd obviously be escaping patients."

"Not necessarily," Lily points out. "I mean, if we don't use our powers or anything, we could just say we're from like another town or something. Most of us aren't really insane. And the people in the town might be able to help us, or at least tell us where the next town over is."

Lucas paused and wondered who Lily was referring to when she said that "...most of us aren't really insane..." but shrugged it off. "And from there on out, once we get to the town, we go wherever we want to, back into the real world behind these bars." Lucas' smile wasn't hard to notice when he thought about having his freedom back.

Tom scrunched up his face. At this point, the voices were going wild with suggestions. Some of them obviously thought it was a brilliant idea to sabotage the whole thing, but they were being drowned out by the dozens of others with ideas on what to do with the freedom. Tom was having a more than usually difficult time blocking them all out.

Alex bit his lip, still uncertain about interacting with the town. Anything could go wrong. Hell, the townspeople might even be in on it... Who knew? But he was willing to put aside that problem for later. "So where are some good places to blow out the power?" he asked, hoping he'd get an answer and not just a bunch of blank faces.

"You could do it at any outlet, right?" Amber tried to be helpful. "Haven't you ever blown a fuse or tripped a circuit breaker or whatever when you plug too many things into one place? You know, overload it? The whole house goes dark."

No one really told her exactly was was going on, but the conversation was hard to miss. Something about taking out the electricity and escaping the place with a map they somehow got. Lainey wondered if they'll actually get away with it, since the institution must have some serious precautions knowing how freaky its patients were. She stayed quietly on the side.

Ry nodded in agreement. "It should work. My mother turned on the dryer while too many appliances were going and the house went dark. Same principle right? Is there an electrical room? If there is, we might consider actually damaging or taking something out. Just in case." Ry got up and walked around to Alex and looked over his shoulder at the map.

"Well, if all I need is an outlet, I could do it from my room," Lily replies. "They've only ever punished me by putting me in solitary. They've never taken away my hair dryer or anything." It was actually kind of weird, now that she thought of it. Well, it probably made some sense, considering she'd only abused her power when it came to using it on other people.

Alex frowned, trying desperately to remember stuff from his physics class. It was only a semester ago, but it might as well have been an eternity. Something about parallel and series circuits. Did that even make sense? "Yeah, alright, you do that, Lily," Alex said, deciding to just go with it. He was getting a headache. "Tonight, when we're locked in our rooms. I think they use electricity to lock us in, since the locks on our doors aren't what turn, and they do it from the outside." Alex had spent more than one sleepless night analyzing the locks. "And there won't be a lot of security at that hour. And less expectation that we would escape."

Lucas looked up to Alex, wondering if they could really pull it off. "So, we're going to try to escape tonight? Shouldn't we have a solid plan before we try to smash out of here?"

"Yeah, 'kay," Alex said. "So, tonight. If it storms." The sky was indeed darkening. He took out Megan's notebook and spread out the map. Taking a pen that he had hung on the spine of the notebook, he began poking at the map. "Here are the doors out of here. First three are retina scan, code, and fingerprint recognizers. Without electricity, they should just push open. Third one is voice recognition; guard lets people in and out based on whether they can recognize their voice. The guard's stationed outside, so if we can get through, then we can get him. Ry said he could hypnotize the guard, and-"

"I can do a voice," Tom said. Alex jumped a little; Kelly's voice had come out.

"Alright," Alex said. He turned to the map, frowning. "Elevator's are out, and everybody will be heading up the regular stairs... There," he said, tapping the end of his pen against a part of the map. "Fire escape stairs. Probably never used because they might set off an alarm or something. They go right to the outside and we go down this way... Three lefts and a right." Alex started writing on the map at this point. He didn't know why he was suddenly the planner, but he had the fucking pen, and was getting in the zone. "And... Here. This room is called 'Holding.' It looks like it's on the way, and if it has Megan, Madison, and Zander, we need to get them out."

He capped the pen and slammed it down on the map. "Any questions?" Alex asked.

"What about the others in the institution...?" Lainey asked timidly.

Alex bit his lip. The thought hadn't really crossed his mind. "Well," he slowly started. "I mean, everybody who even goes outside their room marginally is here already, from what I know. I dunno, there might be ten other people? We can tell Hassan or something, but anybody not at this table... I don't really know, and thus don't trust to even tell without them being a huge security risk." He sighed. "Besides, can we even inform them if they keep their doors locked?"

Ry shook his head, this was not right. "We should at least try. No one wants to be here. Everyone should be given the chance to escape if they want to." Ry sighed, not everyone was going to agree with him, but that wasn't new to him. "We can slide an outline of the plan under the door and then wait for a reply. Or, hopefully they just push their doors open after the blackout."

"Ok..." Lainey didn't ask anything further. She hates being in the institution, but can't help but wonder what will happen if they manage to get out. Where will she go? Her doll pulls her closer into it and gave her a side hug, at the same time rolling its imaginary eyes at Ry's idea of sliding the plan under doors. They still have cameras watching you, little boy.

Amber was seriously worried about the idea of trying to get everyone out. She felt like a bitch for being selfish, but if getting someone else out killed her chances.... Besides, once some of them got out, couldn't they tell the world? The institution couldn't hide with the media after them, unless this was a way bigger conspiracy than any of them imagined. But a few of them out would do much more good than all of them getting caught and disappearing. She kept her thoughts to herself, deciding to wait and talk to just Alex about her fears.

Lucas shook his head at Ry' suggestion. "I for one don't want to be a jerk here, but the whole idea of everyone should be given the chance to escape doesn't seem like a good idea. What if we slip the map underneath every door and one of us thinks its a good idea to tell security? Besides, if the path that leads us to freedom isn't the same path to help those other three, I'm sorry but I think it's every man for himself. If you want to be a hero and try to rescue people who you have no idea where they are be my guest. But I'm taking the shortest road out of here." Lucas didn't really care if his speech offended those gathering, but he didn't have to read minds to know that at least some people would agree with him, even if they wouldn't say it. 

Alex felt moderately disturbed with himself that he agreed with Lucas. He didn't really know those people, or their actual mental stability. Trusting them with the plan didn't seem like the smartest. He wanted to take the moral high road here, but it just wasn't feasible. He muttered something akin to "I agree with Lucas" and then stared at what remained of his breakfast.

"At least two people here would turn you guys in," Tom said, his voice cool, stating a fact. "I hear what they say. Don't really know what rooms they're in."

Ry ran his hands over his face, he knew this was going to be a problem. "Ok, we don't tell those who are a danger to our survival, but what about... what, the one other person? Everyone who is not a danger to our plan could be useful and deserves a chance to escape." Ry didn't really care what Skywalker thought, he would help others get out if they weren't a danger and wanted to help. "Do you think you could identify those people who would be a danger to us by their voices, Tom?"

The voices started going crazy at that point, whispered words in his ears. "Lots of voices. Easy to get them confused. I don't want to take that risk," Tom said, his face becoming intense as he stared at his hands. The words were driving all doubt from his mind that there was a possibility that he shouldn't be let out. He wanted his freedom. He was going to get it by any means necessary.

"You ok, Tom?" Ry was concerned. Tom's eyes seemed to glaze over as he spoke, almost like he was speaking to no one and everyone. A cold shiver ran down Ry's spine. Something wasn't right here, aside from leaving others behind.

"Mm," Tom said, more of a noncommittal mumble than anything. He carefully avoided eye contact. This one is trouble, something whispered in Tom's ear as he slowly began to fade from the conversation. He is a threat. Threats are bad. Just take a knife... Tom's eyes really did glaze over at that point. When he was alone in his own mind, Tom knew the voices were false, that he shouldn't listen to them. But when they were actually talking, it was harder to keep things in perspective. "Tonight," Tom muttered, wondering if he could go to his own room soon. With so many people around it was hard to stay focused.

Alex kind of groaned into his hands. "Ry, I'm sorry, okay?" Alex said. "But they are risks. If we get out, we can tell people about this place. They might not believe it, but we can try. And it's not like we're leaving them here for horrible torture... Nobody here seems physically damaged, besides being creeped out a little over being trapped here. If somebody refuses to come out of their room, even, they must not mind being isolate. They could actually be crazy, even, and belong in an asylum." Alex shut his mouth, not even knowing if his words were getting to Ry. He was starting to get a little panicked.

Lily eyes Ry, now overcome with a sense of... respect? No, probably just curiosity. Truth be told, she didn't care about anyone at this place, even those at the table with her now. Sure, they were all nice people, and she got along with some better than others, but... well, it just wasn't wise to get too close to anyone here. She'd learned that her first year in. "We actually have a better chance of escaping with a smaller group," she finally pipes up, hoping to reassure those who want to get all the patients in on the plan. "And if we escape, we have a chance at coming back for the others, which we obviously can't do if we get caught. Alex is right - the rest will be fine for another day or even week here. I mean, look at me - I've been here for seven years now and I'm perfectly well-adjusted. Ooh," she has now noticed the bruise that had been forming around Alex's nose from the incident yesterday. "Was this from yesterday? Can I touch it?" She does so anyways before he can answer, tracing her finger over his bruised face.

"Er," was all Alex could say to that. "Uh," he finally mumbled. "Zander punched me. In the face." Oh god, they're all crazy, he thought, his eyes flicking from Lily, who was feeling up his wound, to Tom, who was in his own little world, to Lainey, who was getting hugged by a life-sized doll. Back to Lily. "Alright, that hurts, you know," he said to the girl, a little annoyed. "Bruises and all."

"So..." Lainey interjected, her arms around her doll. "What can we bring with us?"

Lucas thought to himself, wow, someone actually admitted that my idea was good. He couldn't believe someone actually sided with him in his selfish plan. Looking to Lainey as she asked her question, Lucas answered her. "Well, anything that won't slow you down or help the security catch us. Maybe bring that doll or yours with us and if we get cornered it can take one for the team and sacrifice itself for us."

The doll reached over and smacked him across the face. Of course, being hit by condensed cotton isn't exactly agonizing pain, kind of like being smashed by a pillow. Having the body destroyed wouldn't harm it and the idea wasn't unreasonable, but Lucas comment was still rude.

Ry sighed again and let the previous matter drop. Helping some one out of here might be something only he does, and that was fine by Ry. At the moment, however, he agreed with Skywalker. "We should carry little as possible. Only items that are absolutely necessary. On this we agree." The last of what he said he directed to Skywalker, and not in the friendliest tone either. Ry wasn't seeing an easy friendship in the future... if there would ever be one.

Sarah must have been bored, because she was now walking around....on the ceiling, as though that was where gravity had properly put her. She walked over to the group and looked down (or up, from her perspective) at the map that was laid out.

Ea stared at the map with a thoughtful look on her face while the others discussed what was going on. "Hey Lily, I was just thinking...If you can put out electricty and I can take it in...Then, you and I could arc electricity between us, and use it to weld doors shut behind us as we escape...ya know, to slow the persuit? I dunno, it's just a thought." Ea said quietly, shrugging her shoulders.

Lily seems only more intrigued by Alex's wound when he mentions that it hurts when she touches it. But she stops when Ea asks the question, putting a thoughtful hand to her chin. "I hadn't thought of that. I mean, sure, if it works that would probably help us out a lot. Um... would it work?" The question is put forth to anyone in the group who can answer it. Having spent all of high school in the Institution, she'd never learned anything useful about physics, especially in relation to her power.

Amber didn't know any more than basic high school physics, and even that she kind of slept through. "Electricity follows the path of least resistance. So... well, I don't know how conductive you are, Ea, but you might have to hold hands or something."

"It'll take more time to weld a door shut than it would to just run, so leave it as an emergency tactic," Alex said, having at least taken metal shop. Alex sighed, touching his bruise gingerly, it stinging a little from Lily manhandling it. "Although the arc welding method would work... But can Lily control it enough to shoot it to you?"

Lily grins. "Are you asking me to demonstrate? Because if you're willing..." She raises a hand, and little electric sparks begin popping at her fingertips.

"If that's a yes, that's all I need," Alex said. "I might be covered in scars but I am definitely not into your pain fetish." He wondered wearily if this was too upfront with shooting her down, then decided he didn't care. "Listen," he said, standing up. "I think that just about takes care of it." He spies Kelly walking in out of the corner of his eye, giving the group a suspicious look. At least her pants were better. In any case, he lowered his voice, forgetting that Tom had up a sound barrier. "If there's nothing more, I'm going to my room. Figure if we're running the whole day might as well get a few hours of sleep before that happens." Without waiting for a reply, he snatched up Megan's notebook and left, leaving the map in front of Amber. He just hoped that really did close the argument.

Lily's grin sinks into a disappointed frown. Of course, this wasn't the first time someone had been weirded out by her fixation, but she always held out hope that she would meet someone who wouldn't mind. Apparently Alex wasn't it. "I think I'll go take a shower... who knows how long it will be until we have access to running water again?" She also departs from the table, casual now only because it hasn't really sunk in that they're actually going to try an escape tonight.

Lucas stretched out his hands and folded them behind his head. He always loved to see drama in the Institution, especially between a guy and a girl. To him, it was like watching a sitcom or something. In this dull place, any entertainment was welcome. Just to spice things up, Lucas throws a wink Lily's way as she departs from the group. Actually starting to get pretty happy, knowing that he might actually try and get out of here tonight, he states, "Well children, I think I'm going to get ready." As he leaves, Lucas starts thinking about the plan tonight and wonders if they could actually pull it off. 

Everything was moving very fast for Ry. He had been here for just over a month and already he was planning on getting out. He wasn't entirely sure he understood what kind of place the institution really was. What was he going to do to help some of the others... he didn't know... Ry would take Sarah with him, that much he knew. Perhaps that was all he would do and could do. He knew nothing about the other inmates and didn't know if they were a danger. It would have to be enough, protecting Sarah. She was just a child. Although her power was unknown to him it was obvious she was powerful. Powerful or not, he would help protect her. Sarah reminded him so much of his little sisters he couldn't bear to leave her here. Ry leaned back in his chair and rubbed his hands over his face. When he opened his eyes he saw Sarah above the table. "Hey Sarah! Wait for me tonight, ok?" Ry got up and stretched and pointed to the map on the table and said to Amber "Make sure to take that with you." Ry headed back to rooms. Alex was right, they should probably get some rest before tonight.

Alex flopped back onto his bed, Megan's journal going back under his pillow. He sighed, wondering if they were all going to get caught. He couldn't stop himself from thinking, Well, what's the worst they can do... lock us up? He hadn't been here a while, but he suspected that yes indeed... They could do much worse. Then again, he hadn't heard from his family for the whole time. I mean, goddammit, nothing's stopping them from writing, Alex thought with gritted teeth, rolling so his back was to the door.

Kelly was leaning up against the door frame, right where people were walking past. She was staring them down, wondering what they were up to.

Lainey stayed in the cafeteria and sat down in a chair, and stared out the window. Her doll followed suit and found itself a seat, but rather than staring out the window, it looked at Kelly.

Kelly stared straight back. She had been warned of Lainey's dolls and was also told that they posed no immediate threat, so she wasn't going to be intimidated by some rag toy. It was kind of odd staring something down when you weren't sure if you were making eye contact, though.

Lucas turned to see Kelly staring back at the doll that belonged to Lainey. "The thing is freaky, huh?" He leaned against the wall. Lucas didn't know why he started talking to Kelly, maybe just wanted to see if she would let her gaurd down and see what was going on in her head.

Kelly took off her glasses and rubbed the bridge of her eyes, putting the glasses in her pocket as she regarded first the doll, then Lucas, then the doll again, with a suspicious look. She didn't really need the glasses, she just usually liked to wear them, and now they were giving her a headache. "I know you've been here a year, but I've seen freakier things," she said. Her head turned back to Lucas, just slightly, not looking him in the eyes. "What were you guys talking about," she asked, her voice flat.

Ry paused before going into his room. He had passed the nurse on his way to his room but now he heard her talking to Skywalker. Skywalker could cover for them, Ry wasn't worried. Deciding the conversation was of no consequence he went into his room and shut his door gently behind him. Ry crossed the room to sit on his bed. What to do now? he thought. Ry picked up the only book had been allowed to bring with him... Funny... he thought, it wasn't the bible; though his mother had thought to provide him with a new one. Ry cracked open the book to a random chapter and began reading. He had read it so many times he could begin anywhere in the book and remember everything going on.

Lucas' mind started to run a mile a minute. Looking back to where the majority of the people still were, Lucas wondered how much loyalty was worth to him. Certainly he wanted to get out, Lucas basically preached about it a few days back, but what would be the best way. It's not like any of them are close to me, and if I attempt to escape witht he rest there is a serious chance of getting hurt or worse. Would passing the knowledge on what was going on to Kelly worthy of getting of getting out of here in the Institution's eyes? Lucas dropped out of his monolouge in his head and turned his attention back to Kelly. "Oh, I don't know if I could tell you that," he said coyly, "It is pretty big information." He left it hanging there, implying that Kelly would have to give him something for the news.

At that point, Lainey was growing sleeping from breakfast and the quiet, and saw no point in staying out in the cafeteria. She strolled past Kelly with a unenthusiastic smile towards her room. The doll followed behind Lainey, and turned its head as it walked by at Kelly and Lucas. I will kill you in your sleep if you let slip their plans. It didn't know exactly what Lucas had in mind, but it knew people like him, and what they would do for their own purposes.

"We have a patient's reward program for helping us spot problems," Kelly said, watching Lucas carefully. She didn't like not being able to stare at his eyes, and him being a poker player made her a little annoyed, but she just leaned against the wall, keeping still. "You'd have to talk to upper management, though, if it's a bigger problem than a patient flipping out." Her voice was at a monotone. Today, for her own little reasons, she felt unsure about everything.

Lucas keep looking straight at Kelly, wondering how he might play this situation and if he was actually bluffing or not. "Well, if the price is right, I think we need to talk with upper management." The wheels in Lucas' mind were spinning fast, trying to look for every angle in this situation. Walking a little closer to make sure that absolutely no one else can hear him, Lucas whispered, "Seems like something might happen in two days time." Its not that he wanted to betray everyone, Lucas just wanted to get out of this prison. I'm sure someone else had been thinking about doing this, besides I'm at least leading them down the wrong trail so they still have a chance.

Amber had headed back to her room, too. She felt giddy but a little numb. It was hard to absorb that she might finally get out. Maybe practicing that mediation thing would occupy her for a while... it wasn't like she had anything to pack.

"Upper management would be glad to see you," Kelly said. "Would you like to leave now?" She put her hand on the walkie-talkie at her belt, looking for a response. She looked strangely... depressed.

Lucas smiled at her, "Well that would be lovely." He motioned for them to leave the area so that no one would get suspicious or had any idea of what Lucas was doing. On a second look to Kelly, Lucas wondered why she seemed slightly depressed. "Um...are you...ok?"

"Yeah," Kelly said, pulling out her walkie-talkie as they headed down the side hallway that led to the playroom. "We got a one-four-oh-niner," she said, talking into it. "Wishes to speak to management."

There was a pause, then it crackled. "Marcell agrees, will speak to Lucas," a voice said on the other end. "Meet at the Other End, over."

Kelly opened the door to the Playroom. Nobody was in there at the moment, and she closed it behind the two, heading to the door in the corner that always seemed locked. She began fumbling with her keys.

Lucas couldn't believe that he was actually leaving the room into the door way that he never remembers going through. All the while he wondered who exactly was Marcell. Pulling out his favorite chip, Lucas started to flip it through his fingers mindlessly while he was waiting to get to the other side of the door.

All the while Kelly was fumbling with her keys, Lucas ran the scenario over and over in his head. Ya know, even if I do tell them that the others are planning an escape, they would still put greater restrictions on all of us no matter when I tell them they would try. Not including that they would probably put me in isolation or something until they could verify if I was telling the truth. Crap, why did I open my mouth to Kelly? Thinking fast to try to amend the situation, Lucas thought of a lie to get him out of this. Putting on his poker face, he started to laugh but not to loudly. After a second he told Kelly, "You know I was just messing with ya." To further play the part he flipped over a card in his deck and gave Kelly a joker card. 

Kelly paused, giving him a drawn-out suspicious look. "Aaalright," she said slowly, taking the card from him. "I'll tell them you changed your mind."

Lainey returned to her room, wondering what Lucas was up to, and plopped down on the bed, thinking about the plan and how it was vague. She wondered if the institution people had any clue what they were up to.

Ry put down the book. His thoughts began distracting him too much to continue reading. Were they really going to do this... Ry stood and went to his door, he stopped with his hand on the door knob. What if everything went horribly, horribly wrong? He couldn't confidently say that anyone would come to his rescue if he got trapped. Everyone seemed a little self serving in that respect... Ry, some of them have been here for years. They just want to get out. Great, now he was talking to himself like a madman too. Ry twisted the door knob and stepped into the hall. Better to talk to some one than to yourself. He headed down the hall to Alex's room. He liked Lily and he saw Sarah as a sister who needed protecting but Alex was the nearest thing to a friend here. Ry stopped in front of Alex's door and knocked. Maybe they could... He didn't know. He just wanted to know that some one would have his back if he was risking everything, possibly even his life, for complete strangers.

Alex rolled over, still on his bed. He had been rubbing his finger along the spine of the journal absentmindedly, thinking about all that was going to happen tonight. He tucked the journal under his pillow and sat up. "Come in," Alex said.

Lucas walked back to his room and started to prepare for what was going to happen. Not making it look suspicious for the cameras, he only kept his favorite poker chip, cards and sunglasses. Going for the bed, Lucas layed down and tried to sleep; knowing that he will need all of his strength for tonight.

Kelly stared after Lucas for a moment, then pulled out her walkie-talkie. "Subject was just messing with me, over."

"Roger that," a voice on the other end said. Kelly shivered, staring at her walkie-talkie with an almost scared expression. The voice was male, fluid, relaxed, and all too familiar. She bit her lip and shook her head, putting the device back in its holder on her hip.

"Hey... Can we talk about tonight? Just so everything is clear." Ry now wasn't sure what he needed to talk about. He knew he needed to talk to some one. This whole situation was beginning to take on an ominous feeling and Ry was thinking he needed to talk just to be heard.

"Yeah," Alex replied, quietly, tucking his feet under him and motioning for Ry to take the chair. He was worried Ry would try and convince him to tell everybody else about it, and the consequences of doing so and not doing so were messing with his mind. "What's up?"

Ry took the seat he was offered. He rubbed a sweaty palm across his face, then on his pajama pants and let out a heavy sigh. "I'm just getting a bad feeling about this, you know? I'm probably just nervous. I don't know..." Ry looked up at Alex. "How are you feeling tonight?"

Alex looked down at his hands, picking at a callous. "Nervous as all hell. If I wasn't so eager to get out I'd be pissing myself." He sighed, biting his lip. He'd been thinking about this a lot. "Listen. They call this an asylum, but you really gotta ask yourself if you're the one that's crazy. I've seen the looks I've gotten when I've asked about testing. You can't remember anything... and what you remember is pretty horrible. They just take you away and you... lose time."

Alex got quiet, and serious. "And you didn't meet her, but this one girl, Megan, got taken away without having done anything. Just the doubt on people's faces about whether or not she'll come back, and if she'll survive, is enough to make me want to get out." He finally looked back up at Ry. "I've been here five months and they won't let me talk to my family. I don't know if they know where I am, or that I'm alright, or what I'm doing here. And if getting out by any means necessary is cowardly then yeah, I'm a coward. But I'm getting out." His gaze fixed on Ry's to judge his reaction.

Alone in her room, Amber began undressing for bed. It was early but they would all need their rest. However, she could tell sleep wasn't an option-- she was too keyed up, on edge, jittery. She sat on the edge of her bed in pajama pants and a sports bra, nervously fingering her frayed hair.

There was nothing left to plan. Just wait. But the waiting would drive her insane if she couldn't focus her thoughts... The paper clip! That was the closest thing to meditation Amber had ever experienced (or so she guessed... meditation looked sleepy, right?) so she placed the clip on her bedspread and assumed the lotus position. It seemed appropriate. She closed her eyes and... Escape! Freedom! But what if we get caught? I don't want to disappear. Megan's never coming back... Her eyes snapped open again. There was no way she could focus like this. She reached across the comforter, grabbed a tank top, and in pulling it on managed to get the paper clip stuck to that part of her back she couldn't reach. After a minute of undignified contorting, she gave up and walked out her bedroom door.

Ry nodded a little too quickly while Alex was talking. He was aware of Alex's gaze on him and looked up into his eyes. "I understand that. You might think I don't... you know, wanting help those I can, but I do." Who was he to judge those who had been here as long as Alex... or longer. Lily has been here for years. And, from what Alex said, this place was so much worse than he imagined. Lose time... Had he lost time? "I don't think you're a coward Alex. We'll get out of here, and I'll help in anyway I can." That's all he could do. Ry exhaled deeply, thinking. "So... now what?"

Alex flopped back on the bed. "Dunno," he said. "Sleep. I don't think I can get any sleep but I should at least try, y'know?"

Amber's slippered feet padded down the hallway. She headed toward Alex's quarters.

"Yeah, good idea. I'll see you... later, then." Ry left Alex's room. He wasn't paying close attention to where he was walking and noticed Amber at the last moment. He stepped to the left to avoid bumping into her. Nearly falling over one person was enough for him today. "Hey," he said as he passed by and kept walking.

Alex heard the brief exchange but it happened a lot, so he wasn't expecting anything. He balled his fists into his shirt, considering changing it, deciding against it. No fucking way was he getting any sleep tonight at this point.

"Hey," Amber nodded at Ry as she dodged around him. Everyone was on edge that night. Hoping that Alex was alone after Ry left, she knocked on his bedroom door and leaned through doorway. "Wanna talk?"

Upon seeing Amber again, Alex's mind made a short detour at the memory of them kissing before heading straight into the gutter. "Alright, why not?" he asked, trying to think about anything else.

Lainey sat on bed and looked around the room, wondering if there was anything worth taking with her, besides the doll. She heard people in the hallway. She curled up, quiet, and soon drifted off to sleep.

Amber stepped in. With her hands in her pajama pockets she leaned against the wall. Her eyes were fixed on her slippers, so she missed the very obvious up-and-down look Alex gave her. "I can't sleep. There's gotta be something we're missing. It's too good to be true, you know?" She looked at Alex's face for some hint of assurance.

Alex's first instinct was to confirm her suspicions. But when he saw the look on her face, he bit back his affirmative. "Nah," he said in his usual cocky voice. "I mean, it's natural to be worried, but... It's almost like we're not jumping into this, in a sense. Megan had started planning this a long time ago, kind of. She gave us everything we needed." He flashed her a grin. "It'll work."

Lucas opened his eyes and sighed loudly; slightly annoyed. He seldomly had trouble getting to sleep but tonight was different. Rubbing his temples, Lucas waved away the thoughts of failure and tried to clear his head. Randomly ideas about the man with the impossibly wide grin entered into his head which made Lucas all the more determined to clear his mind. He thought to himself that washing his face with water might help ease the tension of this night. With that he put on a robe over his pj pants; not bothering to put on a shirt because he secretly liked to show off his abs whenever he could without making it to obvious. Lucas opened the door and walked out into the hallway towards the bathroom.

Tom walked out of the bathroom and stopped in front of Lucas, forcing the other guy to stop, almost pushing eye contact onto him. He stared at the shirtless guy, letting Lucas read his thoughts, purposefully remembering standing outside of the playroom as Lucas came within millimeters of giving them all away. The door to the playroom had been locked, but things like physical barriers rarely stopped Tom from eavesdropping. He broke eye contact with Lucas once he was sure Lucas could hear what he heard, along with the voices in his mind, then and now, telling him to not let Lucas get away with this. "I want to get out," was all Tom said before he walked away in silence.

Amber let herself be satisfied with Alex's answer. It was nice to be comforted, even if his confidence was due to naiveté. Optimism was a luxury. "Yeah. Yeah, you're right. She did plan all this. So... when we get out," she said, the words "when" and "we" sounding awkward in her own ears, "what do we do? What's next?"

Alex was glad she bought his lie, even though she didn't seem totally convinced. Neither was he, but he was hoping. "I was gonna head for the hills," he said brightly. "Start a new life somewhere, get in contact with the folks occasionally. Maybe try and figure out this blood-thing on my own."

Lucas hardly cared what Tom thought about him and after realizing what was on his mind, Lucas flipped both middle fingers up so that if Tom turned around Lucas' gesture would be clearly visible. With that done, Lucas continued into the bathroom, rinsing his face with cold water and stood in front of the mirror looking at himself, wondering what the rest of the night will bring. As Lucas was holding on to the counter his vision blurred, and once again he saw the man in the shadows with the impossibly wide grin staring back at him. All of the sudden Lucas was back int he bathroom, fortunately still standing up straight, just a little woozy. Backing up until Lucas was against the opposite wall, he slid down into a sitting position on the floor; not at all int he mood to get back up and walk to his room. That small vision clearly took the breath out of him and before he knew it, Lucas was fast asleep leaning against the bathroom wall in an open robe and long pj pants.

Tom didn't look around at Lucas. He guessed at what the guy's reaction would be: scared, worried, angry, flipping him off. Probably the last one, knowing Lucas. But... Tom went to his room, sitting on the edge of his bed. It wasn't a threat, just a warning. The voices were getting louder lately as Tom was closer to escaping. Plus, he hadn't been taking all of his medication. He knew more than the others how unpredictable he might be. Tom laid back down in bed, staring at the ceiling until Lily shorted out the power, his subconscious chattering away in his head about breaking his mirror to use against Lucas, maybe himself, and that Lily girl was too pretty for her own good. He definitely wasn't going to get any sleep tonight.

Head for the hills?? Amber tried not to laugh. What did that even mean? "You mean that? All alone? And with the blood... thing..." She moved closer to Alex, eyes running over the scars on his body. "Where would you even begin?"

Alex paused before looking away. He hadn't missed her moving closer, but he didn't quite like the attention to his scars. "Well, I had the condition a few years before coming here," he mentioned. "Wasn't really a huge problem before... the incident. I mean, if it's nothing major, I think I can handle it. Just... a lot of baking powder." Alex looked up and caught her gaze, forcing her to look at him. "And you?" he asked, leaning closer without knowing it. "What do you think you'll do?"

"After telling everyone about this place? Go to school and get on with my life. See if I have any friends left. People here... we've stuck together to survive but I'm not sure I'd call many of us friends." Amber broke away from Alex's stare, surprised at his intensity and the color rising in her cheeks. She chuckled self-consciously and glanced back at him. "You'll let me know how you're doing, won't you? Keep in touch?"

Alex gave her his lopsided grin. "Of course," he said, his eyes unconsciously going to her lips, then back up to her eyes. "I don't ever want to be able to forget you." He noticed how close he was before leaning in closer. He didn't want to push anything, but he kind of hoped she'd get the hint.

Amber's hand went to his shoulder. She told herself it was a reassuring gesture, but it left open plenty of other possibilities. She had also run out of small talk. "Me either," she managed.

Alex racked his brain for something else to say. That lasted about a second, and he decided that was too much silence. He made the executive decision to fill it with something more productive. He closed the small distance between them and captured her lips with his. It could be their last night together, much less alive. Might as well. Plus. It felt really good.

Finally. Her hand slid behind Alex's neck and pulled his head closer, deepening the kiss. Amber's fingers ran through his bright red hair and her breath quickened as the rest of her body woke up.

Alex could have cheered that she hadn't stopped him if he hadn't been otherwise occupied. Instead, he responded by angling his head for better access to her mouth, opening it slightly and placed a hand on her knee, his fingers absently, lightly tracing circles as he felt the urge to be able to touch more. She tasted like vanilla, almost, and how ginger smells. He didn't want to get too poetic, but he was just thoroughly enjoying himself.

It had been years since Amber had been close to a boy, but she definitely hadn't forgotten how nice it was. She drank it all in-- his clean scent, the warmth of his body under his shirt as her hands wandered, and the tantalizing pressure of his fingers on her leg. Actually, "nice" was probably too tame a word. Her attention returned to their mouths as the kisses got more exploratory. She broke away from his lips and started trailing kisses from his ear to his neck, noting his angry scars on the way, but not spending any more or less time on them than the rest of him-- she had noticed his discomfort earlier.

Alex tilted his head to allow her better access, enjoying the feel of her lips on his neck. His hands did begin to wander at that, of their own volition. The hand on her knee traveled upwards to upper thigh, to hip, then back again to her legs, another hand going to the small of her back and pressing her closer, slipping under her shirt to feel the soft skin there, wondering if she'd kill him if he went up farther. Also wondering how long it was until curfew. Not that he minded if they got locked in here together.

Curfew was miles from Amber’s thoughts. Closer was the amusing question of what Alex would do if and when he hit the back of her sports bra. If things halted there it was probably for the better because she knew she wouldn’t stop him on her own any time soon. “Mmf!” Amber giggled into Alex’s neck as his fingers strayed. “That tickled.” She smiled, face inches from his. Her fingers intertwined with his and she put her other hand on his chest, pushing him playfully.

Alex chuckled as he rocked back, pretending like the push was more forceful than it really was. He came back and ducked his head for a brief kiss with Amber, then further down along her jawline, paying her back the same favor. He nipped lightly at her skin, pausing at sensitive places to suck gently. His fingers went back under her shirt, in the front this time, trailing across the soft skin again. Unlike last time, his touch soon turned more insistent. Alex got to the edge of her sports bra and trailed his fingers along to her back, slipping under it and massaging the space between her shoulder blades.

Amber very much liked the attention Alex was giving to her neck and ear area, and murmured appreciatively. She let his hands glide under her clothes without protest, and even slid her own hands into his back pockets, firmly drawing him closer. He really did taste good. It occurred to Amber that she wanted him—badly. At some point this had gone from recreational makeout session to an earnest pursuit. When Alex’s fingers searched deliciously up her spine, she gave him a heavy-lidded, moist-lipped half-smile and began to raise her arms above her tousled head.

Ry put down his book. He wondered briefly about what Amber and Alex were discussing. Probably the escape. He stood and stretched; he felt a slight cramping in his abdomen. Can't ignore nature's call, he thought. Ry walked through his still partially opened door and didn't bother to shut it behind him before making his way to the bathrooms. Ry entered the bathroom and as he walked to a nearby stall he noticed a figure out of the corner of his eye; it was Skywalker. The guy was passed out leaning against a wall. Ry crossed over to him and knelt next to him. "Yo, Skywalker!" He didn't move. "Skywalker," Ry said a little louder. "Dude, I would not want to be sleeping on the bathroom floor." Ry shook him several times trying to wake him up.

Lucas awoke to Ry's shaking him and it took Lucas a second to figure out where he was again. "Dude, its okay, I'm awake now." Struggling to his feet, Lucas still felt light headed. "I guess I just fainted, nothing to worry about." Lucas failed to mention why he fainted. Definitely don't want anyone to know why I keep losing my head, they might think I'm unstable or something.

Alex could have danced when Amber gave him the thumbs up to go further. His hands went to the hem of her shirt, curling around it and lifting it up, trailing his fingers along her skin as he drew it out almost wickedly. Then, without warning, he hesitated.

He was getting excited. Like... actually excited. Er, visibly so. It had been a while, and his ability to think rationally might be impaired, and stopping before the main event might be harder than usual, especially if she didn't stop him... Alex was almost getting frustrated with himself. But he hadn't imagined it'd get this far and taking it further might be irresponsible. He didn't have protection was the big thing... And who knows her motivation for getting this into it. For all Alex knew, she was just desperate. Hadn't she been in here since like... high school? So instead of continuing on, he released the shirt, ran his fingers across her stomach lightly, and took her hands, lightly bringing them down and pressing the backs of them to his lips. "We should probably be preparing for the big escape," he said, so low it was almost inaudible. He'd be punching himself right now if he didn't think it was the right thing to do, or at least a little good. "But I would love to continue this later, beautiful." If she doesn't kick me in the face, Alex added to himself.

At his hesitation, Amber resisted the urge to kick Alex in the face. A very paranoid part of her was scared that he would not find her attractive-- but then as he kissed her hands she calmed down. He was right, of course, this was probably not the smartest idea. But dang, he was gorgeous. And he seemed so genuine... it was difficult to hit the brakes so suddenly. She made a mock-sad face at him and drew an invisible tear down her cheek. "But knowing you're responsible and caring makes me want you even more!" She sighed. "But yeah. You're right. Preparing. Like sleep. Honestly I don't think I'll be able to. It's like Disneyland or Christmas is coming in the morning. Only scarier. Also I'm very very awake right now." Amber realized she was word-vomiting and clammed up. She waited for Alex to kick her out of his room and wondered if it made her a creep to hope that the doors would lock before he could.

"Well, I'm off dude. Good night," Lucas said as he walked out of the bathroom after washing his hands. Returning to his room, Lucas wondered if his fainting was going to be the only amount of sleep he would receive this night. In any case, Lucas checked to make sure he had his lucky cards nearby to escape with.

"Yeah, I know, that got me hot for me, too," Alex said with a smirk, also calming down... in more ways than one. A little thought popped into his head and he said the next sentence haltingly, as though testing each word before he said it aloud. "If you want... you know, if you can't sleep alone... You can sleep... here."

"Oh, could I? Thank you so much. I promise to keep my hands to myself." Amber was sincerely glad for the company. "But I should warn you I sleep in the buff," she said, grinning.

After only a very small pause, Alex pumped his fist in victory. "Yes," he said, over-exaggerating his enthusiasm, playing along. He sat up and stripped off his shirt, throwing it across the room before grabbing another one from his drawer, a looser one. He gave her a lopsided smile and crawled into the bed. "Hmm," he said, his voice suddenly a little quieter. "You feel a bit sleepier once you're actually in a bed."

"For real, though... Could I... ah, borrow a shirt? I've been wearing this tank all day." While she did respect his decision to hold off on... things... Amber saw no reason to stop flirting. And a fresh shirt would be more comfortable. Yes. That sounded like good justification.

Alex sat up and crawled back out of bed. He opened up his dresser and pulled out a shirt. Amber would fit into all of them, no doubt. Alex handed it to Amber. "I got some extra pants if you want," he said, wondering if he should leave or something.

"Actually, yeah. That'd be great. As long as they don't have metal in 'em. And turn around if you really meant it about being smart tonight." Amber grabbed the clothes and gave Alex a raised-eyebrow look to emphasize her point.

Alex smirked and turned around after grabbing her some pajama pants. He looked out his window at the rain still beating furiously against the glass. "Looks like it's going to be a big one tonight," he murmured.

Amber chuckled to herself as she tugged her own pants off and the fresh ones on. Did she really need to make a joke about that? Nahh... As she pulled the oversized t-shirt over her head, she realized she could see Alex's face in the window. "Hey! I said no peeking!" The reprimand was in good humor, but still.

Alex whistled innocently before flopping back onto the bed. "Can't blame a guy," he said, his eyes wide. The look was replaced by a relaxed grin. "I'ma turn off the light soon," he murmured. "Go to sleep." He patted the space next to him.

Amber climbed under the covers but left space between her body and Alex's. She laid on her side, facing away from him. His solid, warm presence was surprisingly calming, and she seemed to be experiencing a bit of an adrenaline crash... So maybe she could sleep. The clean-laundry smell of the sheets mixed with the clean-boy smell of her borrowed pajamas, and her eyelids began to droop. "Hey. Thank you. I... you're wonderful."

"Mmm," Alex murmured, his own eyes already closed. "I know."

---

Outside Lily's room, a storm raged. Lightening shot across the sky, lighting up her room for a brief second before fading away, revealing rolling thunder that indicated the storm was right over them.

It was now or never.

Lily quietly moves to her dresser and changes into some comfortable and warm clothes. She also grabs her towel and wraps it around her neck. She doubts it will help much once they're outside, but the thought of not getting to use her power is not appealing. After slipping into some athletic shoes, she stands in front of the door and concentrates. It will take a strong voltage for this to work... something she hasn't been able to try before. She presses her fingers up against the metal door and lets the tingling feeling in her fingers loose against the locks.

The air hummed as it charged up with extra static electricity. The current raced from Lily to the door through the wires.

It was the largest current she'd managed to do yet. The lights of the asylum flickered off once, then once more. There was an audible click as electronics were shut off throughout the asylum as Lily's current finally shut off the power.

The door made a similar loud clicking sound.

They were ready.

---

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