Institution log 3 - log book part the third

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Night once more settled onto the Asylum, although it was uneasy darkness. Sometimes, when the moon rose, not everything in the Asylum was in its rightful place. There were pieces missing and misplaced, leaving a void, not only in the rooms but in the patients themselves.

Unease would rule. Of course, there were those who would say that it had always occupied the throne...

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The door quietly unclicked, once again signaling the end of curfew.

Madison's eyes twitched towards her door. Her sleep had been unrestful. Her senses were going out of control - she could pick up everything. And what she saw...she shut her eyes tightly, only to jerk them back open quickly. Visions of a man...and the strange tools...and the screaming...It was too much. And had she imagined it, or had she seen Megan in her psychic visions, those same strange tools used on her? Madison rolled out of bed and hopped into the shower. She felt the need to scrub the visions off her body, out of her very pores. After spending her usual time on her face and hair, Madison stepped out of her room. She walked past the cafeteria (she felt she could stomach nothing) and straight into the play room. She decided to occupy herself with a nice round of Jenga.

Lucas was staring at pictures of some of those who resided in the Institution, a few had blood on them. Fear was rising up again. Then Lucas was in the long room with the chair with the straps to hold anyone down; there were needles and blades along the wall. Suddenly Lucas turned around and saw a man with the wide smile, the kind that a clown in a horror movie would wear, right behind him. Something pushed Lucas into the chair, the blades started to come off the wall! Lucas woke up from his nightmare in a cold sweat, breathing heavily. Lucas soon realized that he was back in his room. He closed his eyes and slowed his breathing. Just a dream, it was just a dream. The lock on door clicked, signaling the inmates could now go get breakfast. Lucas wasn't to hungry, so he grabbed his robe and towel and headed towards the showers.

Mr. Lizard slithered out of his room to get his food again. Hassan hated that the people here had made him so human. If he was an animal, this routine would be nothing to him, but this higher intelligence, this boredom... He tried not to think.

Lily's eyes flutter open, and for a moment she's forgotten where she is. This isn't her room, after all. The notebook rests on her lap, open to the page that she and Alex had last read. She begins to sit up, and realizes that she'd been leaning against Alex, who is still asleep next to her. This is a little unsettling for her. Lily has been at the Institution for almost half of her life now, and while it wasn't uncommon for patients to form relationships with each other... she'd never slept beside a guy before. She sits all the way up as she hears the lock unclick. "Alex...?"

"Nngh!" Alex said, jolting awake. He wiped a bit of drool that had form at the corner of his mouth away, wondering momentarily where he was and why there was a girl right next to him. Then he got his bearings. "Oh, jeez, I'm sorry," he said, sitting upright. "I said you could have the bed. My bad." He rubbed his face with both hands, trying to wake up. Obviously, waking up in the same bed as Lily isn't as much a problem for him as it is for her.

"It's okay," Lily says, still a little embarrassed. "Um... so everyone's gonna be leaving their rooms now." She doesn't say what's bothering her, but clearly something is making her uncomfortable about this situation.

"You... can stay here until the coast is clear," Alex said slowly, guessing that maybe she was embarrassed to be seen in his room. Hey, a girl's gotta appear picky; nothing had happened, but nobody else knew that. "I could check for you now."

Lily smiles. "Thanks, that would be great." Alex had, in fact, guessed what had been worrying her.

Alex climbed out of the bed, rubbing the back of his head, realizing that he had never changed out of his jeans. He opened the door and looked out. He waited a few minutes, then motioned for Lily to come to the door. "Coast is clear," Alex said, then added with a smirk, "milady."

Lily smiles at him and places the notebook back on his dresser. "Maybe... later I'll come back and we can read more of it?"

"For sure," Alex said, smiling back at her. In reality, he was pretty happy. He got along fine with most of the residents, but none of them were really his... friends, per se. Not yet, at any case. But this was the first time he had really hung out with anyone in nearly five months.

Amber walked out of her room, running her fingers through her damp brunette-and-pink hair. She had taken an extra-long shower that morning, as she wasn't particularly eager to face the day. She never was, really. Not here. Maybe Ry would turn out to be interesting. She was wondering what his "ability" could be as she headed toward breakfast... when she saw Lily leaving Alex's room. And neither he nor Lily looked like they had slept well. Amber's eyes widened, but she quickly composed herself and picked up the pace. No. Way.

Lily tries to act casual as she passes Amber in the hall. She gives her an awkward head nod of acknowledgment, and hopes that the girl doesn't notice she's still wearing the clothes she had on yesterday. She hurries down the hall to her own room, hoping she won't bump into anyone else.

Seeing Amber, Alex just ducked back into his room. He hoped Lily wouldn't be angry with him; the hallway was empty when he looked. He rubbed his face again, still not quite awake, and decided to head off to the showers really quick before grabbing something to eat.

A tall, emaciated looking fellow emerged from one of the rooms that seemed rarely disturbed. Tom didn't keep the hours of the others and had been calling his meals to his room for a while. Headphones covered half of his head as he snaked to the cafeteria, eying Hassan while he got his food and sitting on the other side of the place as he scarfed down the huge plate. Occasionally, Tom would adjust the mp3 player he was listening to, if a song didn't please him, but mostly he kept his eye on Hassan in a paranoid sort of way.

Amber walked through the empty common room and into the cafeteria, grabbing a plateful of whatever the institution was serving that morning. It was instinct by now to sit a good distance from Hassan. She ended up near Tom, who never wanted to be disturbed, so she left a respectful buffer distance between them. Her mind was racing, anyway... Alex and Lily? Seriously? She understood the need for physical attention as well as the next institutionalized freak, but... but... between Lily's actions the day before and Alex's apparent fondness for pain... I guess I don't really know anyone here as well as I thought.

Tom's gaze flitted from Amber to Hassan and decided Hassan was the one to keep an eye on. He finished his plate of food and got up to get more, still feeling pretty hungry. When he holed up in his room like that, they never brought him enough. When the cafeteria worker said something, he blinked at her with eyes ringed with the effects of several sleepless nights. He took off his headphones, music blasting from them at very high levels, just to hear if he wanted some milk with this. Tom made a movement that was somewhere between a shrug, nod, and seizure, then put back on his headphones and ran his hand through his hair, doing nothing to upkeep it, as he stood at the line and waited for the lady to return with a glass.

Alex flitted off to the showers, robe and towel over a shoulder as he carried a small basket with soap and whatnot in it. Ugh, he thought, the millionth time since he's been here. It's like dorms all over again. He got into the shower rooms, noticed one already going, stripped and began his own, generally grumpy by this time.

Lainey was thoroughly grumpy that morning. Skipping breakfast, she grabbed a pencil and a pad of cheap sketch paper and trod off to the play room without speaking to anyone. She started doodling: someone's face, and then his body, and arms. A slightly twitch, and the drawing style suddenly changed. It was much more sophisticated, with crosshatching and a proper light source. She sighed. "I wish I was a good at drawing as you." "Just practice, my dear."

"Hm? Did you say something, honey?" Madison inquired to Lainey, though she never took her eyes off the Jenga tower.

Alex returned from the shower and changed into new clothes in his room. He was so hungry he didn't bother to towel off his hair all the way; instead, it was dripping just a little as he walked to the cafeteria. "Yo! Amber!" he shouted, disturbing the peace of the cafeteria. "Hold a seat for me!" The last was said sarcastically, as there were now a grand total of three people in the cafeteria.

A toilet but no shower, why bother with the toilet? Ry thought to himself. Ry grabbed his discarded boxers and t-shirt after wrapping a towel around his waist and leaving the showers. He heard Alex yelling for Amber and whipped his head around. People were gathering in the cafeteria already. "Hey Alex, save me a seat next to your fine ass!" Ry liked to freak people out once and while. Really, just tease them. Ry hoped Scuba came out for breakfast. Now that looks like an interesting guy to play rugby with, he thought.

Alex jumped in the cafeteria as he heard the newbie yell at him. He looked behind him towards the door, laughing nervously but honestly a little worried. He looked at Amber, even though he was still at the line. "I am just fecking impossible to resist, huh?" Alex asked, adding another nervous laugh and nudging past Tom, who looked up at noticed him for the first time, staring at him with wide eyes. After a second, Alex realized that he hadn't seem Tom around. Alex grabbed his plate and slid in across from Amber, pointing at Tom with a fork already laden with some of breakfast. "Hey," he said. "Is he new?"

Ry went into his room and changed quickly. Strangely... very strangely, he was starting to feel a bit at home. He wasn't alone anymore and the other inmates were fairly friendly and interesting. Ry threw on his shirt from yesterday and ran his fingers through his hair. He left his room and jogged into the cafeteria, "Hey guys, I see you saved me a seat. Thanks, hun," he said light and flirtatiously, hoping Alex would catch the joking in his voice. Directing his attention to Amber he said, "I'm going to get breakfast and then we'll get more acquainted."

Lily enters the cafeteria, wearing fresh clothes and with her hair now brushed. She spies the group forming together at the table and decides to join them, not having much of an appetite for breakfast just yet. "Good morning," she greets the group. She blushes when she sees Ry, and gives Amber a We'll talk later look.

Amber acknowledged Alex through her food, though she kept her eyes on the plate. "Mmph... mornin'." She didn't really know what to say to him. She nodded up at Ry as she chewed her food, and then Lily caught her eye. Amber was morbidly curious about what happened the night before, but it was that car-crash-you-can't-look-away-from curiosity... did she really want to know?

Alex regarded Amber with a curious look. He had noticed that she saw Lily and Alex walk out of Alex's room together, but didn't know if that was the cause of her odd behavior. She was usually a lot more friendly. Nothing had happened, but was it really such a big deal if it did? Alex continued to eat. Huh. Maybe hookups at this place were rarer than he thought. He mentally groaned, hoping he got out of there soon. Alex also noted that Amber hadn't answered his question about Tom. However, there was time to figure out who that guy was.

Amber swallowed her food and looked to see if Tom was paying attention... he wasn't. She was still uncomfortable, but not upset. "That's Tom. He's been here for a couple of years... but we don't see him much. And he's awkward." She grimaced and tried a small chuckle, feeling slightly awkward herself.

Lucas had hopped into the showers before Alex and Lily came out of the room together, so he had no idea what had happened. A refreshing shower took his mind off of his nightmare the night before. Lucas changed into comfortable pj pants, a t-shirt and a robe before he went into the cafeteria. "Morning everyone," Lucas said to the group. He looked at Tom and realized how long it has been since Lucas has seen him. "Wow, long time no see Tom, finally out of your cell of solitude, huh." Lucas grabbed a plate of food and sat two chairs down from Lily, doing so to give himself his personal space. 

Tom had turned off his mp3 player and even though he still wore those huge headphones, he could hear Lucas, and nodded, smiling crookedly. He turned back on his mp3 player but turned it back off a few seconds later, taking off his headphones and frowning at them, as though they had let him down. He could hear them again. Tom looked around, suddenly uncomfortable, his eyes flitting to Hassan as shivers ran down his spine. He grabbed his plate, unwilling to wait any longer for the nurse, and went to go sit next to Alex. All of a sudden, Tom didn't want to be alone, and as far as he knew, Alex was the least threatening member of the group.

Alex just raised an eyebrow as Tom joined their group, not saying anything at first. "So, dude..." he said, holding out his hand. "Name's Alex."

"T-tom," Tom replied, the first word he's spoken in a while. "How long have you been here?"

"About two weeks with you guys," Alex said. Tom nodded. He had been holed up for three now, but it couldn't be helped. The going-ons he had been hearing about, and the rumors inside his head, just insisted that it was too dangerous out here. He would have stayed longer in his room but all of a sudden, everything changed. It was dangerous either way, now.

Lainey looked at Madison quizzically, and shook her head. "I don't think so..." she answered mildly. "Madison, right? How long have you been here?" Her tone treated the woman like an equal, rather than from the perspective of a 13 year old to an adult.

Ry got some food. At least they feed us well, he thought. Ry walked back over to the table. "Well I guess I won't be sitting with my hunny after all," he said as he looked from Alex to Walk-man. He rose one eyebrow at Walk-man, as if to say aren't you going to move. "HAHAHA! I'm just kidding, I like to get a raise out of Alex. I'm Ry." Ry switched his plate to left hand and stuck out his right for Walk-man to take.

Tom looked at Ry incredulously, then stuck out his own hand. It was bony, but then again, the guy was skinny. "My name is Tom," he said. As he spoke, there was a slight disturbance in the air in front of his mouth, and his voice sounded like... Ry's.

Alex's head snapped toward Tom. "Shit, dude, awesome impression," he said. "Do me!"

"I think Ry would object to that, apparently," Tom murmured, his voice back to normal. He began digging into his food as a nurse walked into the cafeteria, glanced uninterested at the group, and went over to go chitchat with the lunchlady, their conversation too low to hear.

"Me? Oh, I've been here...oh...three years?" Madison's gaze fell towards the ceiling. After a pause, she let out an apologetic laugh, "A few months turned into a few years a little too fast. How about you...Lainey?"

"No, man. It's fine. So what's your deal, you're the ultimate ventrilquist? Kidding, what can you do?" Ry asked.

Tom looked up at Ry, his face closed off. "Sound," he said. His gaze flitted from Ry to his plate again. "So, what do you do?" he asked, nervously. His hands were fidgeting with his utensils.

Alex frowned from his position beside Tom. Was it just him, or were there people outside the cafeteria? He looked behind him really quickly, just to check and saw nobody. Which was weird, because he could swear he heard some really faint voices.

Lucas gave out a short laugh.  Sound. Many people study to be ventrilquists, wouldn't really call that a power like the ones the rest of us have. Lucas looked to Tom, Crap this guy is weird. Lucas then looked at his face, mainly his eyes and asked him, "So when did you find out you were gifted with powers?" Lucas asked this mainly just to have eye contact, hoping Tom didn't know of his powers. Lucas saw out of the corner of his eyes Alex turning around and apparently having a confused look on his face. "You doing ok there Al?"

Tom looked Lucas straight in the eyes, knowing full well of Lucas' abilities. "About the time I tried to kill my flatmate," he said, his voice hollow. The eye contact was just enough so Lucas could hear just what Tom was hearing: small voices talking non-stop, not that loud, just... insistent.

"Er, yeah," Alex said, still a little concerned. "But seriously, don't call me Al. Alex isn't that hard to say, don't shorten it." Alex rubbed his ear. "Hey, does anyone else hear...?" The voices suddenly shut off as Tom whipped his head around to regard Alex. "Er... never mind," Alex hesitantly added, going back to his food.

"Uh... yeah..." Ry wasn't sure what was going on but it was certainly weird. What the hell was up with Skywalker? Sure Ry only met him yesterday but he had a superior than thou attitude, and it was already grating on his nerves. Maybe he just didn't know Skywalker well enough. Coming out of his own thoughts, Ry said "Hypnotism. I can hypnotize people." Ry sat down and started eating thinking about what just happened and what happened two years ago that landed him here.

A hypnotist versus a mind reader, that ought to be interesting, Amber thought as she quietly took her settings back to the counter. As she left the cafeteria, she had a thought. She turned back and called from the doorway, "Anyone want to try that game of Clue again?"

"Long enough," Lainey smiled a little, but there was no enthusiasm behind it. "Madison..." She paused a bit, then continued, barely audible. "This place doesn't bother me, but really, it's not really where a thirteen year old girl should be. Or anyone else, for that matter."

"Sure," Alex called out to Amber. "Just gimme a minute to finish up."

Tom giggled, glancing over at the nurses talking by the cafeteria line.

"Oh man, if I was hearing stuff like that in my head, I'd want to kill someone too," Lucas said when he heard the barely audible voices in Tom's head. It didn't really shock him if weird incidents like voices were in someone else's head; very very strange events happen quite often at the Institution. Lucas again looked over to Alex and suprised himself by saying, "Alright, fair enough, no more Al." Lucas had already bugged Tom and Ry was the most likely to get it next, so feeling a little more generous he granted Alex his wish. Lucas wondered if there was any correlation between Alex's apparent hearing problem and Tom's insanity inside his head.  Oh well, we'll cross that bridge when we get there. 

Lily finishes up her food. "I'll pass on Clue for now, but I'll join you guys in the game room and maybe we could get Kelly to bring in the TV or the stereo." She stands and goes to empty her tray.

Ry watched Amber leave. She's pretty cute, he thought. He turned to listen to Lily and watched her leave the table. Ry took another bite of his eggs before getting up and following her to the trash can. "May I join you, my morning bloom?" As he emptied his tray, he reached across her and was bent close to her. Damn she smelled good. I wonder how girls do that, he thought.

So... many... people... Hassan ate and eaves dropped, and finally he couldn't stand it anymore. He got up, without cleaning his trays and left.

"Um..." Lily stammers, becoming fully aware of his closeness and usure of how she feels about it. "Yeah, sure. I mean, I was just going to the play room..."

The smile on Madison's face was faint, but still present. "Everyone that winds up here thinks the same thing. No one wants to think they're 'crazy...'or being 'used' for something..." She pulled a block out of the Jenga tower. "But sometimes...we just...can't...help it."

"What, being in here?" Lainey's attention was on Madison now, drawing temporary forgotten. It was a half finished portrait of a decapitated man with very typical features, except for a faint goatee. "I don't believe your freedoms should be sacrificed like this, no matter...what they're doing. What gives them the right to hold you kids here." She coughed.

"Oh, no...I'm sorry if I was unclear..." Madison set another block on top of the Jenga tower, tapping several others to see which she was going to pull next. "What I meant was...you can't help being here...because they choose who comes here...before you even get here." Madison's slender fingers pried a loose block. "Or, at least that's what I think."

Lucas couldn't help but laugh when he overheard Ry's flirtation to Lily.

Amber headed out and down the hall toward the playroom, footsteps echoing from the vinyl flooring. As she reached the doorway, she heard voices speaking softly, and it sounded like a personal conversation. She knocked on the open door as she stuck her head. "Am I intruding?"

"No," Lainey replied. "Morning, Miss Amber." She returns to her drawing.

Ry slowly shook his head. Whatever, he thought. I don't care what Skywalker thinks. He turned to look at Skywalker and said, "Hey Skywalker, think about who got the kiss before you laugh at me again, 'kay pal?" Ry turned back and started walking with Lily. He liked Lily and was not afraid to show it either. Her reply had a nervous edge to it; the fakey Shakespeare might be a bit too much. Crap, how do you talk to a girl and not flirt... it's been a while, he thought. Well, here goes... "So, uhh... umm... where you from originally and how did you wind up here? If you don't mind me asking?" He asked in his most sincere and interested voice.

"You should hear the nurses," Tom said, still grinning crookedly. He held up his hand and a faint shimmer appeared in the air, like heat rising from concrete. The lady's voices were suddenly clearly audible, although hushed so they couldn't hear their own conversation repeated.

"-yesterday, day before," the nurse was saying. "Gawd, that scream made my skin crawl."

"I heard it was that little one, S-something, in surgery," the cafeteria lady said. "Dunno what they were doing to her in there, but one of the other nurses went crazy and flipped. Stabbed a surgeon and herself before they got... Well, you know, in there."

"First that, and now the extra hours," the nurse complained. "They have us working more shifts due to these rolling blackouts, y'know, just in case anything happens. But I just..."

Tom frowned and closed his hand, cutting the voices off. "It was more interesting before," he murmured, his eyes focusing on his plate, which was empty again.

"I'm from Southern California," Lily replies. "You know, beaches and stuff. I came here when I was... twelve or thirteen, I don't remember. What about you?"

Zander walked into the caf, his arms stretched over his head with a loud yawn. "Morning," he said, not even looking at who was there, then shuffled off to get his food.

"I'm from Pennsylvania origianlly. My family has a ranch there. But since...uh.. sixth grade I've attened a year around boarding school in upstate New York. My mom yanked me out of school in my senior year..." Ry looked down at his feet, he did not like reminiscing too much about the past two years. "Anyway, she home schooled me for the rest of the year, so I got my diploma. Then the next two years were spent in and out of community college and therapy." Ry looked into Lily's face, giving her a sad smile. He was trying to make it a lighter subject and not such a big deal. He was failing, he knew it. Ry was thinking that Lily knew it too. "That's when I was sent here, about a month ago." As a last resort, he thought. His parents just couldn't bare the thought of one of their children being a freak. Let alone a freak in public.

Lily smiles politely. She does sympathize with the boy, but after hearing seven years worth of stories just like his, she was almost numb to the whole thing. "Have any brothers or sisters? I'm an only child... at least, I think I am. If my parents didn't have any kids after I left..."

"I have four brothers and two sisters. I have a very large family. I have an over abundance of cousins too... Wait how would you not know if your parents had more kids? Don't you write or talk to them on the phone?" Ry was confused. Why wouldn't she talk to her parents? Did they disown her or something?

"Mornin'," Alex greeted back at Zander, still focused on the conversation. He wasn't that startled to learn Sarah had almost killed a woman, but... "Uh, Tom... what's this about killing a flatmate?"

Tom sniggered. "Lights out," he sniggered. Tom looked down at his plate. "I'm full," he announced, getting up to leave. Lily had said something about playing music in the playroom. That would be helpful... Music always let him know when the voices were starting up.

"Hello, Amber, dear." Madison looks up from her unstable tower. "And how are you today?"

Lily's brow furrowed. She hated disillusioning the new ones, but it had to be done. "They don't let us call home. We can write letters, but... well, I've never gotten any from my parents, and I doubt they've gotten any from me."

There's no way that can be true, Ry thought. "I wrote my brother Ben. He said he would write me back. But I haven't gotten anything yet..." They cannot stop our mail. Isn't that illegal, he thought. "Isn't this like a hospital? We come here to get better. We're not prisoners they can't just take our rights away...They can't..." Ry shook his head. Slowly, a few more things about his time spent here were starting to make sense. He looked at Lily again, she wouldn't meet his gaze. Shit, he thought. He joked when he called everyone inmates, maybe it wasn't much of a joke after all.

"I'm alright... kinda lonely." Amber approached the two playing Jenga, and leaned against a wall to watch. "How're you guys?"

Shitty, considering I can't stop seeing these--"Oh, fantastic!" Madison exclaimed, "It looks like it's promising to be a good day."

"Like every other day," Lainey continued, neither smiling nor frowning. She wrinkled up her drawing with one hand, and stuck her pencil behind her ear. "But things might get more exciting around here. Soon." As soon as she finished that sentence and looked down, her eye color changed to her normal shade, and she sighed. She smoothed out the drawing in her hand. "It's a good drawing," she mumbled. "Amber, what do you like to do for fun?"

Lily nearly walks into Jared as he walks out of a "staff only" door near the play room. "Watch it," he says.

"Um... is Kelly around?" Lily asks him, slightly nervous. She knows better than to ask this nurse for a favor.

Jared scowls. "Why, what do you need?"

"Just... um, I need to talk to Kelly. It's a girl thing."

His eyes narrow, he doesn't believe her. "I haven't seen her, but if I do I'll let her know you were asking for her." He continues on his way down the hall, toward the patients' rooms.

"Fun? Heh... well, I used to be kinda into photography, but electronics don't do so well around me anymore. Can I see what you drew, Lainey?" Amber raised her eyebrows, genuinely interested.

Lucas looked up at Tom as he was leaving, "what a creeper," he said to everyone else as Tom was out of range. He looked to Alex, and asked, "What kind of an answer is lights out anyway?"

Ry had never seen the murse before. "What's up with the murse? Why is he in such a shitty mood?" Ry asked Lily, not keeping his voice low on purpose. "I mean, he's a murse you'd think he'd have a sense of humor." He smiled. If Ry was inviting trouble, he was okay with it. It has been awhile since he got play a decent game of rugby.

It takes Lily a moment to figure out what a "murse" is, but she gets it. "Uh, Jared is just... like that."

Zander flopped down next to Lucas and Alex, lazily impaling a sausage with his fork. It took him awhile to really get going in the morning.

"Sure," Lainey said, a bit shyly. Hesitating a bit, she added, "But I didn't draw it. I wish I could. Here." She smoothed it out a bit more, and handed it to Amber. The man in the drawing was looking back at them with bloodshot eyes; his detached head was still connected to his body with a few strings of gooey blood drawn fairly convincingly.

"So what do we do if we can't find this Kelly nurse?" They were nearly in the playroom now. From the looks of it, if you were not in the cafeteria, you were in the playroom. Ry could see Amber, but he didn't recognize the two girls she was talking to. Well... one woman and one girl.

Eyes wide, Amber was taken aback. A child shouldn't be drawing things like this, she thought. But then Lainey isn't always really a child. "This is... really nice. Looks like it took a while." Maybe life would be more bearable at the institution if she could find something to do with herself. But wouldn't settling in like that be the same as admitting she wasn't leaving?

"If Kelly can't get us a stereo, then I guess you'll just have to sing for us," Lily replies with a wink. She enters the play room and smiles at everyone in it.

Alex shrugged at Lucas, a little weirded out. "I dunno," he said. "Guess this place can actually function as an asylum." He paused, then leaned forward. "Hey, do you think he thinks he's crazy? Cuz like, crazy people don't know they're actually crazy, right?" Alex's eyes widened. "Dude, what if we're crazy, we just don't know it yet? Oh, hey Zander," Alex added as an afterthought.

Tom stood outside the cafeteria, listening to them all. The voices were starting up again, so he began heading to the playroom. Since he had learned they were actually audible, they had started to quiet down when around people. If the cafeteria hadn't been so quiet, Alex wouldn't have heard... Tom walked into the playroom, giving his usual crooked smile to those already in it and walked over to the corner, waiting for music.

"I love karaoke. I actually joined a quartet in highschool. I wasn't as good as my brother Ben but I loved it." Ry smiled at Lily, "I'd love to sing for you sometime." His smile broadened, and then faded a little as he began to gaze around the room at the inmates who had gathered there.

Lucas leaned towards Alex, thinking about how to go along with what he was saying. "I could check to see if he thinks he's going crazy, you know, through my gift. And dude, just the simple fact that we question we're going crazy should mean that we aren't by your logic, right? Besides, if we were all crazy, how we would be able to see all the same thing at once, like whenever demonstrates a power. If we were all hallucinating, we would all see different things in our heads. And if I just heard whatever I wanted to hear when I have read minds before, all of the girls would want me, but seeing how that isn't what they are thinking, I think we'll be ok." Lucas finishes with a reassuring laugh and slaps Alex's back.  This is actually cool, one of them opened up to me just a little bit. Man, no one has done that except when I just got here and whenever someone new came into the Institution. 

"Well, well!" Madison said with enthusiasm, yet remaining seated, "It looks like we've got some company this morning! And what do we have here...?" She held a hand over her eyes, pretending to be searching for something far away. Madison daintily rose to her feet, approaching the incoming crowd. "Why, this is a fresh face! Hello honey, I'm Madison!" She put a hand on each of Ry's shoulders. "How long have you been here?"

"Yeah, or," Alex said, pointing to Lucas, "you could be a figment of my imagination." He grinned anyway. "Sure seems like I'm sane, though." Alex leaned back again, his smile fading. "Though if I seriously have to spend much longer in here I really will go insane."

Kelly walked into the playroom, stopping just before Ry and Madison to face Lily. Her eyes were a little dark along the rims, like she had either not slept much or like she hadn't had enough time to wipe away smudged mascara. "Lily, Jared said you wanted to talk to me?" Kelly asked seriously, folding her arms.

When Lucas heard Alex's last statement, Lucas added, "ha, you got that right." Lucas had finished eating and was now just reclining in the cafeteria with his hands folded behind his head. He turned back to Alex, "hey dude, want to go see what's happening in the playroom, thats where everyone is right now basically."

"Not really, but thank you," Lainey said to Amber. When Kelly walked in, the girl glanced over at her. The nurse wasn't looking her best this morning. Maybe Lily is going to ask about Megan. There were a lot more people in the playroom now. "Oh! I'm so sorry!" When she had turned to look around, she knocked over Madison's increasingly wobbly stack of Jenga blocks, causing quite the loud noise of scattering wooden pieces.

Kelly jumped, her gaze shooting over to the direction of the noise. She noticed Tom twitch more than usual about it and shot them a warning glance. "Girls," she said, her tone severe. What she was warning them not to do she didn't know, but she felt like she hadn't slept in a while.

Alex stood up. "Yeah, sure," he said. "Zander, catch up with us when ya wake up." He punched the sleepy guy playfully on the shoulder after making sure it was covered with his usual skinsuit, then went to go dump out his food and dump his plate, with much clattering, in the usual pile of dirty dishes.

The punch made Zander's sausage laden fork poke him in the cheek as opposed to landing in his mouth. He blinked a few times and then scowled, reaching for a napkin.

"Um," Lily begins, now starting to regret having to ask the nurse for a favor. "We were just wondering if we could get some music in here. But it's okay, we can wait till later," she adds quickly. She decides that now, in the crowded room, is not the best time to ask Kelly about Megan. Not if she wants to know the truth, anyway.

Kelly pursed her lips. "Maybe," she said. She glanced at Tom again, then back at Lainey. "I'll see what I can do. But don't blame me if all you get is classical CD's, alright?" she warned, leaving the room.

Alex ran out into the hallway, spying Nurse Kelly on his way there. "Oh, hey, nurse!" he called out. "I gotta question." Kelly paused, giving him time to catch up. "Y'know about Sarah?" he asked. Kelly stiffened slightly. "Well, you were in the room when it happened. You know... when she was taken away. What exactly happened? You shoot her with a tranquilizer dart?"

Kelly opened her mouth, an incredulous look on her face. Suddenly she froze, a momentary look of doubt and confusion invading her expression, before she masked it over with her usual look of seriousness. "Go to the playroom, Alex," Kelly scoffed. "And stop asking me questions I cannot answer." She turned on her heel and briskly walked off towards the security door to ask them questions.

"I didn't do it on purpose..." Lainey said, barely audible. She looked like a scolded puppy, as Kelly's reaction and tone was harsher than usual.

"Uh, Zacheriah. Ry, please." Ry gave his full name, thinking this striking, red haired beauty in front of him was some sort authority figure. Damn, though, she was hot! Ry was momentarily distracted by the falling of the Jenga tower and everyone else's conversation. "And may I have the pleasure of knowing your name, m'lady?"

"Oh, no! The tower!" Madison brought her hands to her cheeks, momentarily forgetting her conversation with Ry. She immediately knelt down on her knees and began to pick up the scattered pieces, collecting her thoughts along with the blocks. "My name is Madison LeCoeur..." she dumped the pile she had collected in her arms onto the table. "But you can just call me Madison, honey." She smoothed her skirt quickly and beamed at Ry, holding out her hand for a shake.

Amber saw Lainey's hurt expression as she shrunk from Kelly. "Hey, sweetie, it's okay." Amber knelt next to Lainey and helped pick up the Jenga blocks. "Wanna show me some of your other drawings?"

Lily frowns. She didn't think Ry was exclusively paying attention to her, but... well, openly flirting with another girl why she was still in the room just wasn't classy. She turns her attention to Amber. "Hey, I wanted to talk to you about something real quick."

Amber glanced up at Lily. "Yeah, sure thing. I'll be right back, 'k Lainey?" She stood up and looked around the room. "In here?" Amber asked quietly, indicating the crowd. This sounded like a private conversation.

"It's fine," Lily says, speaking in an equally low voice. She steps with Amber away from the other people in the room. "I just wanted to let you know... me and Alex... we were just talking, and lost track of the time and the curfew locks went off. Nothing happened." She puts a fair amount of emphasis on this last part.

Tom snorted, still staring at his mp3 player. As if to answer what he found so funny, Alex walked into the room, rubbing the back of his head. "Warning, friends: Kelly's PMSing," Alex announced, acting a little subdued. "Oh, dayumn, Jenga. That shit's addicting."

Lucas was right behind Alex when he walked into the playroom. He just laughed at Jenga, what a kid game. Lucas shrugged and walked towards the couch to relax. Lucas was a couple feet away from it when all of the sudden the room left and all Lucas could see was the man half hidden in shadows with the impossibly wide smile, then a split second later hearing the same scream right after Ea had been taken away. The next thing Lucas knew was he had a bloody nose and was lying face flat on the floor.

"Dead zombie Jesus H. Christ on a pogo stick!" Alex yelled as Lucas got this weird look on his face and then fell over. "S-someone get a nurse!" Alex ran over and rolled Lucas over, freaking out a little over the blood before he remembered it was just his problem, and began tapping Lucas' face. "D-dude, wake up," Alex said.

Zander leaned back in his seat to peer through the doorway of the playroom curiously.

Kelly leaned against the window, too far away to hear Alex shouting. "The kids were wondering if..." Kelly trailed off; the guard was on the phone. She waited until the guard hung up, but before she could say anything, he was already talking.

"We have a situation, but you're going to have to stay out of it," the guard said. "You apparently have other duties at the moment. I'm going to let you through." The doors open and another nurse walked swiftly through towards the playroom. Kelly looked over her shoulder, worried, but the guard was ushering her through and she couldn't protest. She just bit her lip and walked through.

Tom raised his head. "Somebody's coming," he said. A minute later, a nurse walked into the room. She sat Lucas up and leaned his head forward, covering his nose with a tissue and trying to check if he was conscious.

"Ohh, blood!" Lainey giggled, completely out of character and out of line in that situation. In the sudden sight of blood Lainey retreated into her mind out of surprise. The girl who now had her body shuffled over to Lucas, bending down and touched him lightly in the neck.

Lucas groaned and barely opened his eyes. He could see a nurse and several people above him while he sat on the floor. Lucas could still see the image of the man hidden in shadows very clearly and knew it was that reason why he fell unconscious. Lucas sat up a little straight and then first felt the pain he had in his nose and face. He knew that if he told the nurse or any Institution official what really made him fall, Lucas would be done for. He was thinking quickly while putting on his best poker face and then said, "I better watch out where I'm walking next time if I don't want to trip again." Lucas added a small chuckle for good measure. He looked around and made eye contact with Alex, not with the intention of reading his mind but due to Alex's incredulous look Lucas silently begged Alex not to tell the nurse what really happened.

Alex furrowed his eyebrows, confused. Lucas had definitely not tripped over anything... Had the guy even been walking? But he didn't say that. "You... clumsy bastard, you," Alex muttered, giving Lucas a look that said that they would talk later.

The nurse shushed Lainey away and helped Lucas to stand. She checked his eyes and nose. "Doesn't appear to be broken," the nurse said. "Keep your head tilted forward and pinch your nose to stop the blood flow." She gave him a handful of Kleenex, one last look-over and nodded, leaving the room. A bloody nose they weren't worried about. At least, anything beyond that wasn't her job.

At the door, the nurse passed Kelly and winced a little. At Kelly's side was a familiar, short child. The nurse hurried her pace and left, only relaxing once the several security doors were shut behind her.

The small girl was shaking slightly and looked a bit pastier than usual. The girl, Sarah, seemed anxious, but at the same time relieved to be in familiar surroundings. The air around her, usually either very tense or very calming, was neither, as though the power that emanated from her had been dimmed somehow. There was also something different....a thin metal band around her head, held in place by what seemed to be four silver rivets in her skull.

"Woah," at the sight of the rivets-in-skull contraption, Lainey completely forgot about Luca's bleeding nose. The girl didn't even mind being shushed away by the nurse, like the 13 year-old would have. She didn't approach Sarah like she had Lucas though; she knows the pale girl can be dangerous. "Welcome back, Sarah!"

Lucas noticed Sarah come back into the playroom after what seemed like ages ago. "Oh great, this day keeps on getting better and better," Lucas whispered to himself. He held the tissue against his nose; the blood flow had stopped quite a bit. Lucas looked back to Alex and again silently told him that he would tell Alex what really happened.

"You'd better," Alex muttered under his breath at Lucas, not quite sure how to put that into a look. He then glanced over at Sarah, more than a little weirded out. Dude... was that headband in her skull?

Kelly faced the group. "Please play nicely with Sarah," she said, her voice steady and controlled. "She's gone through quite a bit. And please, treat her like you always have." Kelly gave them a warning glance before taking her hand off of Sarah's shoulder and glancing at the video camera in the corner of the room. She then walked over to Lily. "They're going to let me have a few old Police CD's and maybe a Beetle's mix. They don't want anything too... Modern." By modern, the people meant loud and uncontrollable--like Tom's usual music. "That going to be okay?"

Lily rolls her eyes. The Beatles were a band her parents used to listen to a lot, and she'd never heard of the Police, but she really wished they could listen to the type of stuff on the radio. It would at least make something about this place seem normal. "Better than nothing, I guess," she finally says.

"I'll take that as a resounding 'yes, thank you Kelly,'" Kelly said, leaving the room. She rubbed her temples as she headed back towards the front for the CD's, taking the keys out of her pocket as she walked. It had been a... rough day.

Ry hadn't moved from his place. He watched Skywalker collapse. Skywalker definitely didn't trip. Though, it was probably a good idea to keep whatever caused him to fall a secret. The staff here, it seemed, caused people to disappear when things got strange with the inmates. He figured his logic was sound with the appearance of Sarah. The poor girl was sickly pale, and he thought she could stand to gain some weight. Ry walked to Lily. "Where was she and what does she have on her head?"

"Uh," Lily starts, a little annoyed with all the interruptions. "She broke a window or something, I think. Using her power in a dangerous way, so they took her... away. My guess is the metal thing is meant to keep her power in control." She shudders at the thought.

Madison watches Kelly leave, picking up on the psychic trail in her wake. After a moment more, her attention drifts back to Sarah. The ex-nurse made her way over to the pale girl, kneeling down next to her. "What metal thing?" she directed towards Lily. "there's nothing here but a beautiful little face." She gently brushes a piece of hair out of Sarah's face. If they were to treat her as normal...and to comfort Sarah, it would be best to ignore the metal contraption. "Sarah, sweetie, would you like to come play a game?"

A lot of stuff had happened very quickly, and Amber had watched dumbly through most of it. She had no medical expertise that could've helped Lucas, and Sarah creeped her out a little. "Lily... hey. It's cool. Don't worry about it." She thought she believed her... Amber didn't think Lily would lie.

Lily nods in response, hoping that will be the end of it. She raises an eyebrow at Madison. She'd known Sarah since the girl had come to the Institution, and knew that no amount of babying really made the girl any less creepy.

At all the commotion, Zander picked up speed in his eating, gulped down his orange juice and then accidentally put his plate in the wrong pile (the non-zander pile). He Eeped and went on to busily correct the situation. Finally he slid into the play room and looked around to see what was up.

Tom just watched as Sarah entered the room. And Alex had thought he was the crazy one... He hadn't noticed Sarah was gone, but that scream she had caused still haunted his dreams. Well, when he was able to get to sleep. Tom didn't want to listen to the Police, in any case, and he was never really up for the Beetles. Instead, he put on his headphones and turned on his music. It's not like he couldn't hear the conversation anyway.

In any case, Kelly came back with the CD's, which she handed to Lily, and walked into the hallway towards the closet, rattling her keys and taking out the small boombox from the closet of supplies, again walking into the room and plugging it into the wall. She just hoped nothing would go wrong--it would be nearly impossible to get a new one at a time like this. "I'm putting you in charge of this, Lily," Kelly said, just once, and left.

Alex raised an eyebrow at Lucas. Now would be as good a time as any, or if he wanted, he could leave the room. But Alex was dying to know what made him collapse.

Zander tried to puzzle out what had happened and gave Sarah a creeped out stare before popping up beside Lily to see the new music selection. "What've we got?" he asked. 

Sarah flinched at Madison's touch and the air around her felt a bit tense for a moment before dying down. "No...nothing." she said in an almost-direct fashion, very out of character for her. She then floated over to the nearest wall and plopped down like a rag doll against it.

Lucas, aware that cameras and microphones were placed all about the Instituition, whispered to Alex, "wait until the music is loud enough, I don't want to chance them overhearing me; I'll tell you everything." Lucas then turned to Lily and Zander, "Why don't we put in some Beatles, haven't heard them in so long." 

"The Beatles are pretty cool. Though my younger brother went on sixties music kick and I was so sick of the whole period for nearly two years." Ry liked talking about his family... well his siblings anyway. "Hey, anyone have a deck of cards? Or are you dying to hear me sing? Maybe a slow serenade?" Ry arched his eyebrows flirtaciously and directed the last two questions to Lily.

Lily was about to put on an album labeled Syncronicity, but pauses at Ry's offer. She giggles flirtatiously. "That sounds interesting. Why don't you show us what you got?"

"You got it babe," Ry winked at Lily. "Whatcha, got? Syncronicity? Tea in the Sahara, k? Or do you have a special request?"

Lily shrugs. "I don't know any of these songs. Surprize me." She folds her arms and smiles.

"Number nine I think. Ladies and Gents, for your entertainment this day, I shall sing for you "Tea in the Sahara." Ry smiled broadly at Lily. "My sisters and I
have this wish before we die. And it may sound strange... Hey Scuba, Skywalker, Alex help me out..." Ry continued, not waiting for their response. "As if our minds are deranged.
Please don't ask us why, beneath the sheltering sky, we have this strange obsession, you have the means in your possession... As Ry sang he felt a strange thickening in his throat. He noticed a slight shift in his voice, almost like a vibration... like... like at school... when he... Ry stopped singing abruptly. He looked around the room and the people present.

"WHOA. Ry... that sounded really good." Amber was shocked. Ry didn't just have a decent voice, he sounded amazing. "You can sing."

"Uh, thanks." Ry looked down for a moment. "Uh, excuse me." Ry turned, and walked quickly toward his room.

Alex felt a little weird when he heard Ry sing, not that he knew the song, and not in a gay way. He reached up to his head and tapped it a bit, as if to get that blurry feeling out. "Hey, Lily, turn up the music," he said, looking at the door where Ry had left.

Tom glared at where Ry had once stood, somehow angry. He had begun to tune out Ry's voice, just like he did the song and other things he didn't feel like hearing, but... Ry's voice hadn't gone away. Tom had total control of sounds and Ry had put a hold on his power somehow. Tom practically fumed, then debated on whether or not to mute the room at this point. However, he wanted to focus on Lucas right now. Lucas didn't want those in Power to hear what he had to say, which meant it was usually interesting.

Lucas rolled his eyes when Ry started to sing, but when he all of the sudden left, those rollings eyes became raised eyebrows.  Yay, we indeed have another freak, Lucas thought sarcastically. Back to Alex, Lucas motioned him to follow himself to the boom box, turning up the volume. When Lucas thought it was loud enough, he told Alex what happened, including the hidden shadow man with the impossibly wide smile. He also mentioned that he accidentally read Dr. Thao's mind, telling him all about the blades on the side of the wall where there is the chair, along with the blood soaked photos of some. Finally ending with the shadow man, explaining that is when Lucas first saw him. Lucas then waited expectantly for Alex to respond to all of that information in such short time.

Lily also stands still for a moment after Ry leaves. Alex's voice breaks her of the trance, and she nods without saying anything, a strange look on her face. Absentmindedly, she presses the volume button, and also changes the song to something less... creepy.

Alex stared at Lucas a minute, his look slowly changing from one of curiosity to one of him being... deeply disturbed. "So you're saying that's what Thao was thinking about when he came here?" Alex said. "Do you think that's part of this Institution? The... weird room?" Alex didn't want to talk about the sharp instruments Lucas mentioned, not with his... ability.

Madison had also felt herself in a trance. She had been frozen in the same kneeling stance. Her head unfroze itself, and her thoughts began to flow once more. Looking down to her hands, Madison remembered that she had, only moments before, been beckoning Sarah to come play. Sarah had never creeped her out before, as Sarah had with the other patients, but now Madison felt uneasy about the little girl. Madison stared at the path Sarah took to the wall. The very psychic mist itself seemed to unveil scenes of Sarah during her time lost. "All this just to behave..." Madison said softly to herself. She had to direct her eyes away from the psychic path...it was too much to bear. Instead, she brought herself to the couch and plopped down, preferring to stare at everyone else as they went about their business.

One of Zander's eyes narrowed. "Did he just call me scuba?" He said to no one in general.

Shit, shit, shit! Ry thought, closing his door. What the hell do I do now? He sat down on his bed. If I can hypnotize people by singing what in God's name else can I do? "Forgive me, Lord," he said almost absentmindedly. Ry bowed his head and began to pray... "Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy Name, thy kingdom come, thy will done, on earth as it is in Heaven..."

"Ya, I'm pretty sure." Lucas paused just for a second so that no one else could overhear before he continued. "When I read Amber's mind, I saw whirling blades, the same kind i saw in the weird room in Dr. Thao's mind. That can't be a coincidence, right? And if you try really hard to think what goes on during testing, I don't know about you but for me it is almost like those blades are on the edge of my consciousness."

Alex shook his head. "Never been," he said to Lucas, reminding him that he's really only been with the main population for two weeks. "And I don't know if they really want to take the risk of cutting me up." Alex shrugged half-heartedly. "But I mean... shit." Suddenly, the Institution was seeming a lot... less friendly. More intimidating. He glanced around and noticed Tom staring at them, and figured the guy might have heard them, even though he was wearing those big-ass headphones. "Who else should we tell?" Alex asked Lucas.

Lily turns back to Amber. "So... Ry's pretty cute."

"Mm-hmm." Amber nodded. She rubbed her eyes, feeling a little mentally blurry. "His thing is mind-control, right? Any clue what that's supposed to feel like?"

"No," Lily says, still a little dazed. "It might not feel like anything, like when Lucas reads your mind. Anyways, I think Ry liked it when I zapped him." She giggles like the gossipy high school girl she never got to be.

"He's a-- wait, seriously?" Amber was understandably surprised. She'd been zapped. It wasn't fun. "Wonder where he went... you should go talk to him. Like now." Amber grinned. Now this was fun: secrets and boys and stuff. Besides, there couldn't be too many guys out there who'd enjoy that kind of attention from Lily.

Filled with confidence from Amber's encouragement, Lily grins. "You think so?" Romance was one of the few normal things that could still happen at the Institution, but it was still pretty rare. She decides to take Amber's advice and head's to Ry's room, sharing a secret smile with the other girl as she leaves.

Lucas thought for a minute then said to Alex, "We don't want to start a panic. The second we panic, or worse, one of us tells officials of the Institution, we are all gone. We should tell only a few to start, ones who we can trust and that won't snitch." Lucas took a moment to organize his thoughts. "We absolutely shouldn't tell Madison, she would snitch on us in a second, though not with bad intentions. Also, not any of the kids like Sarah. Creepy guys like Tom and Hassan probably shouldn't be told, I can't read them and definitely don't trust them. What do you think dude?"

While Lucas and Alex had been talking, Sarah lifted off of her spot near the wall and floated over to them. On her way there, she stopped at Madison, and handed her her daily candy. This one was not pretty like all the others had been before...it was ugly, misshapen, like it had been melted and cooled again before being wrapped. The candy was a mix of dull grey and blood red, and the wrapper was black. If eaten (though it was doubtful anyone would want to put such an ugly thing into their mouth), it would have tasted sharp, bitter, and acidic, like a mix of bitter lemons and bleu cheese. Sarah floated over to Lucas and stared at him, her lavender eyes duller than before. "Not any of the kids like Sarah." she mimicked softly.

Zander watched Lily and Amber with a look of mixed horror and confusion. He found it sad that even though Ry's attempts at flirting were pathetic, the very fact that he was flirting was enough to get Lily's attention. He pondered at the technique, but ended up concluding this was a sad place indeed. Where ever the CDs were left, he picked them up and looked through them, a bored expression on his face.

"Hey, this is a grown-up talk," Alex said to Sarah, not really concerned that she had been listening in. Although Lucas said not to tell Tom, he was pretty sure the guy had heard from the way he was staring anyway, and the creepiness factor was only raised slightly with Sarah knowing what they had been talking about. However, Alex couldn't help but be a little worried about her. The headband looked like it couldn't be taken out, and her attitude wasn't normal... Er, normal for her. "Sarah, what's up?" he asked, wondering what she'd say to any personal questions.

"The jig is up. All hands are down. Cards...no, the...not cards....on the table? A metal table? Like cards, but not, on the metal table. What are they doing? To the east is a dead end, to the west is death and control. Synchronize to the alpha wave pattern of a symbiont, sync it with something less than what they are....I will show you, Alex, I will show you what they mean." she spoke all of this very quickly, with rising intensity and an increasing appearance of self-awareness, though she kept her volume low. But then, before she could show him anything, a little shudder ran through her, and her eyes were glazed over again. She was breathing really fast. Without another word, she turned away and floated over to the window, and proceeded to become engrossed in the birds flitting around outside.

Madison stared down at her misshapen candy. It was a perfect reflection of the things she could see in the psychic trails. She rose to where Alex and Lucas were talking. "Hey boys, what's shaking?"

"My sense of sanity," Alex muttered, leaning back. The fact that she said his name was enough to creep him out for the rest of the day. He fell silent, sulking.

Tom got up and went over to sit next to Sarah. He agreed; the birds were far more interesting than what the others had to say at the moment. He casually held up his hand, drawing the sound through the window and filling the room with a faint, cheerful chirping. Tom didn't think he was crazy, but sometimes he caught himself at moments like this--where he could almost believe the voices when they told him he could understand the chirping.

Madison smiled in an understanding fashion. She put an arm around the young man and patted his shoulder. "It's been a pretty tiring couple days, hasn't it, honey?" She didn't wait for a response, "But trust me, things will get better. They always seem to."

"I don't believe you," Alex said. "But thanks for the advice." He paused a moment and grinned at the arm around his shoulder, then lecherously laid a head on her bosom.

Madison heaved a heavy sigh. She knew what the young man was up to...what most young men were up to. But, she knew he was feeling particularly worn. Instead, she allowed him this fleeting moment of happiness. And truth be told, she missed being so physically close to anyone...she had forgotten the feeling. "I have a feeling things will be changing soon..." She ran a hand through his mess of hair.

Alex paused, then sighed, lifting his head. "You totally ruined the mood," he said, pouting. He had been expecting her to at least hit him or something, and get the room out of the sudden awful funk. "Now I'm just depressed." Alex stood up suddenly, running his hand through his hair, as though that fixed it. "I'll be in my room," he said, leaving before anybody could stop him. He didn't want to say why, but he felt the sudden urge to read Megan's journal some more.

Tom leaned towards Sarah. "The video cameras don't record sound," he said. His voice wasn't quiet, but by his tone, he only really cared if Sarah could hear.

Madison just watched Alex leave. She felt it was best for him to go, anyway. She didn't want to explain her odd moment of closeness anyway. Instead, she sidled up to Zander. "It's an awful feeling, isn't it?"

Zander's head flopped up from looking down at the CD's. Ah yes, attention. "What?" he asked.

"Today," Madison said, "Today sort of feels awful, doesn't it?" She laid a hand on his covered arm.

Lily finds Ry's room, and the door is closed. She knocks on it lightly. "Hello? Ry?"

Ry looked up at his door. It was Lily. What is she doing here? The last time Ry hypnotized a girl on accident he ended up with a law suit against him. So he really hadn't expected her to come see him. Let alone want to talk to him, ever. "It's open, Lily." He did very much want to talk to her and very much did not want to lose her as a friend... or maybe more...

Lily opens the door and peeks her head in. "You alright? I didn't even notice you leave the play room..."

Lucas watched as the drama unfolded.  If only I could get out of here and get back to the real world, where beautiful girls waited on me. Back to where I could actually use my power without anyone knowing it. Lucas looked around the room, it seemed like people were starting to go their own ways. His eyes fell on Tom and Sarah and he shuddered a little bit. The last time Lucas encountered Sarah was when she shot one of his cards into his forehead. Lucas just rolled his eyes towards her direction as he walked past. Seeing how Madison was getting all touchy feely to all of the guys in the room, Lucas decided to give a wink and a smile to Madison as he walked out of the playroom towards the common room. He remembered his little inspirational speach Lucas gave a few days ago, and ever since his vision of the hidden shadow man with presumably Ea's scream after they took her away, his resolve to escape this place became his priority again. When Lucas got to the common room, he started to examine every part of the wall and windows, trying to see if there was any significant clues that would help an escape attempt.

Amber was bored. She decided to go bother Alex now that Lily wasn't with him.

Alex started reading from where he and Lily had left off. In a few minutes, he was suddenly concentrating really hard, sitting up in his bed and staring at the page. He wasn't quite sure if he fully got it, but... Lucas might be interested. Alex looked at the date: only 3 years ago. It had taken her four years to find this out. He flipped through a couple of pages, noticing a similar entry and raising an eyebrow. "Damn, girl," he said. "You were busy."

Zander looked down at her hand and was immediately reanimated. "Most days feel awful in this place. I'm surprised everyday to see you smiling." He didn't mean that shit, obviously. But almost human contact was making him feel nostalgic. 

Madison ignored the last bit. She knew Zander wasn't the sort of guy to say such sentiments and actually believe them. "No, but I mean more than ever. Today...it just feels like a gloom over the day, and it's weighing down on this place." She had also ignored Lucas. "But maybe I'm just talking nonsense. Maybe...maybe I'm just a little off-kilter today, what with Megan gone and Sarah ... different, from usual." She withdrew her touch, looking timid and embarrassed that she had come so close to Zander.

"So she is officially gone? Not passed out, draped over a toilet so you can't see her feet or anything?" asked Zander.

"I say 'gone' in that she isn't here...with us...right now." Madison wrung her hands, "I mean, she's probably still here somewhere, but...not where we are?" Madison did think that Megan was still alive. She was sure of it.

"Yeah..." said Zander looking down at her fidgeting, which was making him unnerved as well. "I got that."

Madison cleared her throat and re-adjusted her stance to a straight back. "But who knows? Maybe Megan'll be back soon, right?" Once more, a smile was on her face, "Maybe things will be a bit more normal around here once everyone's back."

Zander narrowed his eyes and then looked off. What Madison was saying was true, this place had been extra screwy lately and the test was extremely unsettling. He ran his tongue over this front teeth below his lips so they bulged slightly as he pondered things. "Mads, you've been here a while, right?"

"A few years, yes." Madison confirmed with a nod of her head. "Why do you ask?" Her head tilted to the side, a few strands of her bangs falling into her face.

"What's your opinion of this place? I mean honest to God. You used to be a nurse, right? You're not just crazy..." it's not like Zander could screw her. "You're familiar with hospitals. So you should know better than anyone what's normal."

"Yeah... I'm alright." Ry took in a deep breath and released a loud sigh. "Some how I had convinced myself that the last couple of times this happened it was just a fluke. I really can't deny it anymore. This is just part of what..." Ry paused slightly, shaking his head gently. He shrugged his shoulders saying "Or who I am."

You're not just crazy... the words resounded in Madison's mind. Ever since her...incidents, everyone seemed to think that she really was crazy. "This place? It's...better than other alternatives, I suppose." She folded her arms behind her back. "This isn't just like any other hospital. No one here is just like any other patient, you know?"

Lily blinks. Slowly she makes the connection. "You... oh wow. You just hypnotized me, didn't you?"

"HEY EVERYONE! I'm baaaack! They totally didn't kill me and cut me up for dog food! I'd probably give them lead poisoning anyways!" Ea announced as she sauntered back into the playroom, looking ruffled but smiling widely.

Zander was about to respond to Madison when Ea burst in. He blinked dumbfoundedly and then tried to remember what he was going to say. Ea had become to much of a reminder of the past, and as hot as she was, her presence was now a little awkward.

Alex had left his bedroom door just slightly ajar, so Amber knocked as she poked her head in. Reading? Huh... Alex wasn't dumb but he didn't seem like the bookish type.

Ea walked to Zander, still grinning. "What? Am I so beautiful that you've no words left?" she said, quoting from a video game she had once enjoyed playing. She raked her nails across his chest before walking towards Sarah. "Sarah! You're back! I--" she started to say, but stopped when she saw the metal on the little girl's head. Her smile disappeared. Ea stared for a moment, before turning away and walking back over to Zander and Madison. "Hey, Madison...do you know what that...thing....iis that's on her head?" she asked quietly, as though Sarah might be offended by her talking about it.

"It's a device," Madison began, petting her own upper arm, an apologetic smile on her face, "to keep her in line." She looked nervously at her high heeled shoes. She looked Zander in the eyes, "If you ever want to talk, honey, I'm always around." Madison gave both Ea and Zander an exaggerated smile before turning on her heel and click-clacking down the hallway to her room. As she stared at her reflection on the tiled floors, Madison thought about what had just happened. Why did she really want to talk to Zander anyway? Eventhough she had asked the question of herself...she knew the answer already. He reminded her very much of someone in the outside world. Someone very dear to her. She had never realized it before...forget about it...at least try... Madison thought, opening the door to her chamber and sitting down on the bed. She undid the pony tail her hair had been in, shaking it wildly about. Her eyes swept across the room before reaching under her mattress. Out came a scrapbook, full of letters. Each one was of a patient she had before coming to this...place. A record of every last one. She distracted herself by reading the documents.

After Ea had raked his chest he put his hand upon it, not sure whether to be turned on or unnerved considering recent events. He looked up at Ea. "So... what happened?"

Alex looked up from Megan's journal. "Oh, hey, Amber," he said nervously. He still felt like he had gotten caught in the middle of something bad, plus what he was reading was... well, sort of sensitive at the present moment. "What's... up?"

Amber wasn't sure how to react. She felt like she caught Alex in the act of... something. It was just a book. "Umm... not much. Playroom's all kinds of weird right now..."

Alex grinned. "Yeah, I kind of noticed," he said. He paused, then put aside Megan's journal, face-down, and slightly covered by one of his dirty shirts that was on the bed. "So... the music they give us suck that much all the time?" he asked, wanting to make friendly conversation. His room wasn't really much for entertaining people at the moment.

Ry was silent for a moment. "Yeah... I did. Possibly everyone." Ry looked up into Lily's face. She seemed somewhat confused. "Lily, I am really sorry. I did not mean to hypnotize you, or anyone. Forgive me." On his last words, Ry held his hand out towards Lily hoping she would take it.

"Oh, that." Ea said, caught off guard by the appearance of Sarah. She stared sadly at Sarah few moments before turning her attention to Zander. "Not much, really. They just made me wash with caustic chemicals and eat soap, essentially. No biggie. I made a fuss, though, just because I can, and gave one of the nurses a pretty awesome black eye...and I'm talking one of the MALE nurses." she said, her grin returning as she did so. "I got stuck in solitary and had my power ration cut to 950 watt-hours, so I pretty much slept through it."

Amber still felt a little weird standing in the doorway, doing that thing where you hold onto the door frame and lean in, but never actually step in the room. "Hey, classic rock isn't that bad. Actually, it kinda reminds me of home." Honestly, she didn't know what was current... the last album she bought was that Josh Groban one... Closer? That had to be out of style by now. She stood so she could lean against the doorway, rather than hang precariously from it. "So, Mr. DJ, what would you rather listen to?"

Lily is now completely confused. "Uh, yeah. Sure," she answers. She stares for a moment at Ry's hand, not entirely sure what he wants her to do now. The hypnotism wasn't really noticable when it happened, and he was clearly sorry about it, so she wasn't angry or anything. He seemed to be overreacting a little bit. Cautiously, she takes Ry's hand, hoping this is what he wants her to do. 

Ry let out a sigh of relief. The last time he had spoken those words his girlfriend of two years called him a freak of nature and walked out on him. Ry was much relieved not to be rejected in the same manner twice. He wasn't alone anymore. Lily's acceptance made him smile. Ry stood quickly, still holding her hand and twirling her around and dipping her. "We should turn the music back on." Ry said, inches from her face. "I feel like celebrating." He smiled wildly at her and then pulled her back up on her feet.

"My man JT's a silly bitch, but I'm still in for the classics, like Linkin Park, Evanescence, Green Day-those kinds of bands. Rihanna was pretty cool, as well as being pretty hot. And Chris Brown was alright..." Alex shrugged and then grinned at Amber and her current 45-degree-angle. "Wanna, uh, come in? Y'know, all the way."

Lainey was sitting by the window staring out this entire time, only flicking her face towards the others a little Ry started singing and Ea came back. She glanced at Sarah, but by now pretty much gave up at trying to make friends with her, having been ignored too many times. She sighed, scratching at the window pane and eventually at the metal bars. "I wish there's a better way to pass the time. Or if there's actually a reason why I have to stay here.

"Hm. Well that sounds like a blast," Zander said. "Spy anything interesting on the other side of the wall?"

Lily smiles mischieviously. She bites down on her lower lip, and places a hand on Ry's arm, sliding her hand along his skin. "I was thinking of something... more exciting." She gives him a small zap, enough to feel like a static shock.

Lucas was searching throughout the Institution for any clues that would help in an escape attempt. In the end he couldn't find anything specific that would give him an advantage in fleeing. Lucas ended up in the cafeteria; he was starting to get hungry again. He noticed that Hassan was still in the cafeteria so after grabbing a plate to eat Lucas sat at the opposite end of the table from the flesh eating human.

"Oh, um, yeah." Amber ran her fingers through her hair, fiddling with the pink ends. It had air-dried fluffy. She stepped into the room and perched on Alex's chair. "So what were you doing out there before you came... here? I mean here here, not in-this-room here. Institute-here." Crap, I sound like an idiot...

A fleeting look of amusement passed over Alex's face at the awkwardness of the situation before Alex covered it up with a nonchalant smile. "Just getting through college," he said. "Business major, not that I knew what I wanted to do with my life. I was set to graduate this fall." He winced, realizing something finally. "That was a semester's tuition wasted, I guess." He looked down at the floor before looking up at Amber. He figured with a hot girl in the room, acting mopey wasn't the first thing he should be thinking of. "So, what were you doing before coming to the Institution-here?"

Amber continued to fidget on the chair, showing an intense interest in her fingernails. "I just got outta high school. Looking into photography, maybe fashion. Don't have a clue where I was going, either. Didn't see this coming though." She relaxed a little, asking, "What did you find to do?" Amber nodded, indicating the book.

Alex sighed and looked at the notebook. "It's Megan's," Alex said. "Sort of like a diary, except... she disguised it to look like stories. I guess if the people here ever found it, they wouldn't know she was writing down about the Institution. Well, except those who live here, too. Lily was the one who figured it out." He bit his lip, then leaned towards Amber. "Wanna know a secret?" he asked, eyes gleaming just a little.

She looked out a couple more seconds before turning to face Zander. "Fresh air." When she looked back, there were a couple people outside that weren't there before, seemingly talking to one another in haste, looking nervous. "And people?" She couldn't hear them through the glass, but they were clear in view.

"Yes. Totally." Amber leaned forward conspiratorially.

Ry rose in his eyebrows in partial confusion and partial intrigue. His arm was tingling with Lily's light shock. He glanced at his arm where her hand rested and then at her face. Ry's smile changed from a wild grin to an almost seductive curve of lips. "I could use some excitement. What did you have in mind?"

Alex grabbed the notebook, and flipped through the pages until he found the entries he was looking for. "Here," he said. "These pages. They describe... well, they describe practically the entire security system for this wing of the Institution." He pointed to a page. "There are three, apparently. There are also four security checkpoints to get through, and she knows all of them. The first one is the standard one, where the personnel scans their badges. We all know that one, but she figured out what the other four were by eavesdropping or something. Plus, she mapped out where all the video camera's were in our ward and how much they could probably see, and found a few 'safe zones' where a small group of people would be able to just drop off the radar for a while." Alex was almost getting excited. "There's even a bit filled with possible escape suggestions, like maybe cutting off the electricity--most of the security checkpoints we could probably just push open if they weren't powered. I mean, Jesus, the kid was busy." Alex looked down at the pages, eying the maps of the safe zones in the building. "Or... just really, really bored. She didn't seem like she wanted to leave."

Lily lets her excitement get the best of her. She knows how the pattern of relationships works in the Institution: she'll find a decent guy close to her age, and if he's not initially disturbed by her sadistic tendencies, they might date for a while until eventually he'll either be taken away forever or he'll decide that a relationship with her isn't worth the very very literal pain. She knows better than to get her hopes up, but the romantic in her always optimistically tells her that maybe this one is different. Maybe he's the one. She kisses Ry firmly on his lips, holding back the urge to send him another shock.

"Ohmigawd... you don't think we could actually do this, do you?" Amber could was trying to suppress her growing excitement-- after three years, could she really be getting out? She sat next to Alex and leaned over to take a closer look at the journal. "There aren't, like, mics in our rooms are there?" she whispered.

"Er, I dunno," Alex said, flushing a little as he realized that basically the entire conversation could have been recorded. He wasn't exactly shouting it, but... "She doesn't mention the sound. I... I don't really know why." He glanced down ruefully at the page, lowering his voice even more. "But we'd have to figure out how to do these things. I mean, this plan obviously wouldn't work," he said, pointing to one describing possibly flying up to an air vent that was at least fifteen feet off the floor. "We don't have anybody who can fly. And we don't know how to cut off the power."

Lucas finished eating, it had been a quiet meal with Hassan, though he didn't expect a deep convo with the flesh eating monster. Lucas put away his tray and headed towards the hall. He was about to enter his room, but then he remembered that Alex announced he would be in his room, and Lucas had an urge to talk with him about what truly was happening here at the Institution. Lucas arrived outside of Alex's room and gave two knocks; he didn't want to barge into his room and burn a newly created bridge of friendship.

Ry briefly wondered if he was getting his hopes up when Lily kissed him. His eyes fluttered. Ry glanced at Lily before closing them and kissing her back. How much is too much? He wondered for an instant. Deciding he didn't care, Ry hands found Lily's waist, pulling her closer and at the same time forcing her to step backwards and he stepped forwards and pressed her against his bedroom wall.

Alex jumped at the knocking. He let out a sigh, closing the notebook and shoving it under his sheets. "Yeah?" he called out, knowing that if he didn't reply, Amber might just think he was weird. Plus, they might just come in anyway... whoever the hell this was.

Lucas heard Alex's reply and slowly opened the door. "It's Lucas, just wanted to see what you're up..." He stops when he notices that Alex was not alone. Seeing Amber, who Lucas never really thought she got along to well with him especially after the whole mind reading incident, started to back out as soon as Lucas came into the room. "I'm sorry dude, didn't know you had company."

Amber scooted away from Alex on the bed, startled. "Oh. Hi." She also fixed her gaze on Lucas' shoulder. Alex smelled good.

Alex gave Lucas a look that clearly communicated to the guy that he had just been a cock-block. Then something dawned on him. "Actually, you should probably see this," he said, taking out Megan's notebook.

Lucas closed his eyes and sighed regret. He knew the kind of face Alex gave him; Lucas gave it to many guys before the Institution whenever someone cock-blocked him. The mind reader debated leaving even though he had been invited to see some book. After thinking about it for a second, Lucas came into the room and shut the door. With his eye sight inches below Alex's eyes, Lucas shot a quick expression of apology for interrupting whatever was happening. "See what?" he asked after the dust had settled from the interruption.

Lily's heart is racing, and she grips Ry's shoulder harder than she had been. Her free hand finds its way to the sliver of skin between his shirt and his jeans. She traces her finger along his happy trail and gives him a more intense zap, this one strong enough to singe some of his body hair.

Alex flipped open the book, not really one to hold a grudge. "Megan basically mapped out this place," he said, his voice low now as he handed the book to Lucas. "She has the security system down to a T. Thought you might be interested."

Ry eased back to give Lily some room to touch him. He felt her hand glide between his shirt and pants... "HUHHH... WHOA!" Ry inhaled sharply and pulled away from Lily. He pulled up his shirt to see pink warped skin and a bald spot in the middle of his happy trail. Ry lightly touched the pink and tingling skin. "Oww." Ry looked at Lily saying "I think we need... were going to need to...." Ry waved his hands around in small circles, trying to think of the right wording.

Lucas' eyes changed from guilt to wonder as he looks upon Megan's journal. After just a quick skim, Lucas said, "this is exactly what we need!" He quickly sits down on the unoccupied chair and delved into the book. "Man, she has been a busy little bee. What do you guys make of all of this?" 

"Slow down?" Lily finishes his sentence, sighing. She takes her hands away from him and drops them to her sides. Of course, she thinks.

"I think we could get out." Amber said. "But we really shouldn't be caught looking at this. Not all three of us at once. How can we plan anything without looking suspicious?"

"We could plan to meet up later at one of the blind spots," Alex said, pointing at one. He wasn't really all that serious at that point about getting away, but then again, he didn't have anything better to do. "But not right away. I mean, the three of us in my room and looking at this, then disappearing for a while? I dunno, kinda weird."

Lucas nodded his head. "That's a good idea Amber," Lucas stated, looking inches above Amber's head as to not imply that he would want to read her mind without her consent again. "Why don't we meet in one of the blind spots tomorrow? Curfue can't be to far away, or so it seems. Lets go to one, not all together but one at a time." Lucas' hopes were restored. He had been looking around the Institution for any weak spots but couldn't find any and Lucas was beginning to give up hope. 

"No, no. Not at all. I like you and while I don't yet want to practice our skills between the sheets, I, in no way, want to slow this down." Ry took Lily's hands in his, "I think we need to find a more mild voltage to use on me. I don't mind the shock, it's actally exhilarating. Almost like being on a roller coaster. But this time it was a little more pain than I wanted." Ry bent his face close to hers, kissing her lightly on the cheek, then her ear, and then behind her ear where he whispered "We just need to find a medium... for us..." Ry started trailing kisses down Lily's neck.

A shiver goes up Lily's spine, and she's not sure if she likes it or not. "'Us'?" she repeats. "That seems a little sudden." She presses a hand against his chest, pushing him a little away from her. "Um, I think Amber wanted me to help her with something. You know, girl stuff." She starts to move toward the door.

"Is there anywhere in this wing that's safe?" Amber looked back at the notes in the journal. "I really don't want to wait until tomorrow. How about that little corner in the cafeteria? Lucas, you go first. I'll follow in a few." Eventually, she thought to herself.

Lucas didn't have to be a mind reader to figure out the implications if he left first. He grinned mischievously as he got up from the chair, giving Alex a small wink of congratulations that he's about to score. Opening the door Lucas said sarcastically, "I guess I'll see you in a few." Walking through the doorway Lucas' grin didn't diminish, knowing it might be than just a few minutes before they both came out.

Lainey was so short that Lucas probably didn't notice her on the wall to the right when he came out of Alex's room. "What are you grinning about?" She ask with a kind of shy interest.

Alex, however, was pretty oblivious to both the implication of Amber leaving last and Lucas' wink. However, he still leaned back on the bed, angled so his upper torso was closer to Amber. "So," he said, shoving the notebook back under his sheets. "How long do you think you should stay so they don't get suspicious?"

"Mm... I don't know. We don't want to get caught, do we? Let's give it a little while." Amber said this quietly, and very close to Alex's ear. She traced invisible lines on his bedspread with her finger.

Alex just sat there for a few seconds, enjoying how close Amber was. "So how do you think this will all go?" he asked, tilting his head so he could look at Amber, noting the exact distance apart they were.

Kelly walked down the hallway, ignoring Lucas and Lainey, stopping not too far down the hallway from them at Madison's room. She lightly tapped on the door. Her entire expression was worried and tense. "Madison?" she said, her voice subdued. "...you have a visitor."

Madison jumped at the knock. She slammed her secret book shut and stuffed it under the mattress. She hopped up from the bed and straightened out her clothes and adjusted her hair. Madison cleared her throat as she opened the door, "A visitor? Who could it be, I haven't heard from an--" She stopped short, her mouth still open.

"Hello, Madison, it's been a while, hasn't it?" said a tall man wearing a black pin-stripped suit. His features were chiseled, his jaw square and his eyes piercing blue. His wavy blond hair was slicked back. "Thank you, Ms. Jackson. I appreciate your help." His face was ornamented with a wide grin, a twinge of boasting in the corners.

Kelly raised an eyebrow at the guy. "Keep the visit in here, and do not get anybody worked up," she warned the visitor, her eyes wary. There hadn't been a visitor here before, and she was uncomfortable dealing with one. "You know the rules," Kelly had to add before leaving, clicking the door shut behind her and waiting outside.

"Jack...Jack what are you doing here?" Madison took a step back, trying to distance herself a bit to understand the situation.

The other just shook his head as he let out a laugh. "I had to see you...see this...place you're in." Jack stepped towards Madison. "Three years has really been too long." He held his arms open wide, "Can't you tell already? I've missed you."

"Missed me?"

"Of course." Jack embraced Madison, holding her tight. Madison felt his warm embrace, and held just as tightly, not wanting to let go of the man she had loved.

Lainey's eyes followed Kelly and an unfamiliar man. She heard the word "visitor" down the hall and her eyes opened a little bit wider. "No one ever visits here."

"Please do not disturb them," Kelly said, looking at Lainey, a warning glint in her eye. "Ignore it... and stay away." Kelly rubbed her eyes and walked down the hallway towards the playroom, seeing where everybody was. Briefly, before she could stop herself, she checked the hem of her pants. It was such a small motion but it set her even more on edge.

Lucas looked down to Lainey and said, "someone is going to get some action," nodding his head towards Alex's door. Lucas kept grinning until Kelly and a stranger appeared in the hallway. Lucas looked to Lainey in sheer amazement. A visitor? Lucas mouthed silently to the child. After watching Kelly depart, Lucas looked back to Lainey and through body language told her 'we have to check this out!' walking quickly to Madison's door and pressing his ear to try to hear anything he could.

"Oh, Maddie..." Jack said into her crimson hair. "I'm so glad to see you're doing well here. I really hoped you would."

"I didn't think you'd come." Madison nuzzled Jack's shoulder. "I felt like the girl in that nursery rhyme:  
  'Peter Peter pumpkin eater,
  Had a wife but couldn't keep her.
  He put her in a pumpkin shell,
  And there he kept her very well. '"

Jack laughed and stroked her hair. "Well, Jack did have to keep you here, until I could figure something out." He said the last part quietly, into her ear. "But I think the time's come to break open the Pumpkin shell, don't you?"

Lainey had followed Lucas to Madison's door, her bare feet silent on the floor. She didn't keep Alex's situation in mind, this most recent event was more curious. "Can you hear them?" She mouthed to Lucas, who was facing her with one ear still pressed to the door.

Lucas looked down to Lainey while his ear was still to the door. His facial features were clouded with confusion. "Something about a pumpkin being broken, I can barely get anything through these doors." Lucas strained his ears to try to hear anymore. "Here, there is enough room for both of us to try and listen, can you hear anything?"

"Lily, wait." Ry gently caught her hand as she turned to walk away. "I don't mean to scare you. The us can be whatever you want it to be. But there is something, wouldn't you say?"

Amber looked into Alex's eyes and smiled. "Well, this is going pretty well. I mean, we got rid of Lucas." She liked the way Alex's mouth turned up at the corners... and her head tilted toward his, slowly closing the gap between them.

"We did, huh," Alex murmured, noticing an opportunity when one arose, and decided to go for it. He leaned forward as she did, tilting his head just a tad so that their lips softly connected.

Amber's belly tensed, and then she relaxed into the kiss, eyes closed. Her hand wandered from the bedspread to Alex's knee. Ohmygawshohmygawshohmygawsh.

"The cameras don't record sound" Sarah repeated the words spoken by Tom, then slowly turned and looked up at the camera in the playroom. She stared at it for a few moments, before returning her attention outside. As she stared out the window, tiny cracks appeared in the glass along the edges, but nothing more.

Ea shook her head at Zander's question and walked away, not really wanting to answer that question. Though what she had seen was pretty generic, she couldn't help but be reminded of all the times she had disappeared behind those doors and come out without a shred of memory of what happened. Reaching her room, she slit open the steel door and went inside, the door hissing shut behind her.

Lily looks back at Ry, and it's pretty clear that she agrees in general with what he's saying, but is still a bit too scared to continue for now. "I really should go." She frees her hand from his and walks out the door. She raises and eyebrow when she sees Lucas and Lainey pressed up against Madison's door. "Um, hope I'm not interrupting anything... have you guys seen Amber?"

Lucas grinned and gave a small laugh when Lily asked him where Amber was. He looked back to Alex's room and smiled mischievously. "Oh I don't think Amber and Alex would be bothered right now, but if it’s an emergency you can find her in Alex's room." Giving another small laugh Lucas pressed his ear back to the door. After a second had passed an incredulous look appeared on Lucas' face, "and what were you doing in Ry's room?" Lucas asked though he could figure out what it could be easily.

Lily's eyes go wide, and her face flushes. She quickly walks passed Lucas to Alex's room, not bothering to respond to the question. She bangs urgently on Alex's door, and then tries the handle. "Amber?" she calls.

Alex pulled away from the kiss, sighing heavily as he leaned on his elbow, staring at the unlocked door and then Lily as she easily opened the door. "Yes?" he asked, with a look bordering on a glare.

Lily's eyes narrow. "Um... Amber... we were gonna... um..." she's obviously quite flustered.

Sighing again, Alex sat all the way up. The mood was utterly ruined and Lily was obviously worked up over something. "You wanna talk about it? Should I leave?" he asked. The last part was almost sarcastic, as this was his room. And yet, he felt that these two would have no problem kicking him out.

Amber rubbed her forehead, staring at the floor. "No, no. I'll go. Lily..." Amber said, not trying to hide the strain in her voice, "we'll talk." She slid off the bed and stalked out the door, glancing back at Alex apologetically.

Lily rolls her eyes as Amber walks passed. Once the other girl is out of earshot, she turns back to Alex. "Um, I'm probably going to stop by again tonight... you know, to look at the notebook again." She bites her lower lip suggestively before following Amber out.

Alex narrowed his eyes at the closed door, then plopped backwards on his bed. "The chicks here are fucking crazy," he muttered. He glanced at where Megan's notebook was. She was a little messed up, sure, but at least her crazy didn't bother him, and he felt a pang as he realized he missed her. Megan had put up with his annoying habits and was the closest thing he had to a good friend here. Or at least he could bug her and not worry about her kicking him in the shins.

Amber crossed her arms and leaned against the wall in a huff. She glared out at Lily from under her bangs. And waited.

Might as well get on with the rest of the day, Ry thought. Ry emerged from his room in time to see Amber ad Lily walk down the hall a bit from someone's room. Also in the hallway were Skywalker and Lainey pressed up against a door. He wasn't sure whose door, but Ry didn't entirely care. Ry decided to find Alex and see if he knew what was up with the girls here. He went to the door Amber and Lily came from, hoping it was either empty or Alex's.

Alex lifted his head and glared at the now-opened door, angry at not even having five minutes alone to sulk. When he saw who it was, his gaze softened. "Oh, hey, Ry," he mumbled, his head plopping back onto the bed.

"Not much, no," Lainey says quietly. "They make these doors pretty thick, huh." She stood up straight and giggled. This was kind of fun. "Hey, Lucas, look." She took something gingerly out of her pocket and stuffed it in his hand. It was a little cotton doll that was surprisingly detailed in attire and accessories. In fact, it was without a doubt a replica of Lucas. It was probably a little bit creepy, but the craftsmanship was pretty good for a thirteen year old girl. "I made others, too! I like this one, 'cus it's furry!" She took out a doll of Hassan from her skirt pocket.

Lucas looked down in his hand to the cotton doll replica of himself. "Wow, that's pretty good. How long did it take you to make this?" Man, today is turning out to be a pretty good day for me. This has got to be the first day in a long time that people have opened up and talked to me for more than five minutes. Though this doll is a little creepy. Lucas' eyes turned to Hassan's doll and laughed. "You should make another generic doll so Hassan could have something to eat. We couldn't tell which one was the real Hassan." Still laughing, he turned around just to make sure the man eating monster wasn't right behind him to hear his remark. "It looks good though, nice job."

"Thank you," Lainey probably haven't smiled this much in ages. "Not too long, a few hours each once you get the measurements and stuff worked out. You should see the other one No. 7's making. She's amazing. I'm trying to learn from her." She said and she petted the furry fabric of mini-Hassan. 

"You mind if I come in?" Ry stood in Alex's doorway. Ry wondered if maybe he had something with Amber or if they were just friends. Lily went in but she and Amber came out of Alex's room. "So... Are you and Amber good friends?" Ry loved to pry. He leaned against the door jam hoping he would be allowed in and they could talk for a bit. Hopefully about girls.

"Sure, me and her are good friends," Alex said, getting up and closing the door behind Ry. He didn't really want the door open at this point. "I try to make out with all of my good friends. That's just how friendly I am." His voice sounded rather bitter; he was still peeved at being interrupted. ...it was a really good kiss, especially after several months of seeing practically zero girls.

Jared comes down the hallway, which is currently crowded with people. He is pushing a cart with various medical supplies, including syringes, test tubes, and a pitcher of water. He turns the corner where Amber and Lily are abruptly.

Just as Lily approaches Amber and opens her mouth to say something, Jared's cart knocks into her, spilling the contents all over the floor - and all over her. "Shit!" Lily touches her now water-soaked shirt. Her eyes go wide and she rushes passed Jared and Amber, shoving Jared out of her way to get by.

"What the-" Jared finds himself shoved up against a wall by a small blonde girl, and doesn't like it. He curses several times and looks down at the mess, shattered glass and various liquids everywhere. He picks up his walkie talkie and calls for a janitor to come by and clean it up, being very unspecific as to how the mess was caused.

After a few minutes, a janitor strolls down the hallway, pushing his own cart. He takes out a broom and begins to sweep up the glass, not even bothering to ask Jared how the mess came about.

Lily had run away and Ry was in Alex's room, so Amber fumed her way toward the cafeteria where she was supposed to meet Lucas.

Lucas stopped trying to listen to the conversation that was happening in Madison's room, he had more pressing business to worry about. "Alright, see ya later kiddo," Lucas told Lainey and without another word, he departed to the designated safe zone. He caught up with Amber as she was walking. "Wow, I thought you and Alex would want some more time," Lucas said sarcastically. "But it's all good, it's not like we're going anywhere anytime soon...not if we can help it."

Fuckfuckfuckfuck. Lily's shirt flies off of her body long before she gets to her room, but she doesn't care if anyone is there to see. She bursts through her door and throws the wet shirt in her laundry hamper as if it were on fire. Grabbing a hair dryer and towel, she starts furiously drying herself off.

"Ha. Ha. Ha." Amber was not amused and did not look at Lucas as they walked down the hall. Maybe they'd be serving lunch already... and maybe there would be pudding. Pudding always helped.

"That was rude," Lainey stomped back to her room, with a glance towards where Lucas went. "Everyone here sucks." She closed a door without bothering to keep it quiet, and dove into her bed, still holding the Hassan doll in her left hand.

"So, I take it Lily interrupted the two of you." Ry didn't make it a question. Alex was obviously peeved about being interrupted. "Well,seems to be a trend with that girl. Lily. First interrupts us, then you guys." Ry sat on the foot of Alex's bed, thinking it would be fine. "Can you tell me anything about her, Lily I mean? Do you know her well?" She was a fascinating girl. Different from the girls at home or even at school. He might need all the help he could get.

Lucas looked back to Amber and laughed, "You know I'm just messing around with ya. But anyways, to more pressing matters, where exactly is the safe zone in the cafeteria? I couldn't see it long enough to know where it is."

"She has sadistic tendencies," Alex said, drawing up his feet so he was sitting cross-legged, facing Ry. "She shock you? When I first met her, she seemed turned-on by my, er, 'experience' with pain." He motioned to the scars on his face and arms.

Ry's eyebrows rose sharply, "That explains a bit." Ry was beginning to put Lily together a bit. Did using her... particular talent cause her to become aroused? Ry certainly wouldn't mind experimenting with that idea. As long as it didn't burn more of his hair off. Or his skin. "This is from... today, before she left my room." Ry lifted his shirt to show off his newly given scar. "It still tingles a bit."

"Wow," Alex said after a brief pause. He was both shocked at the sight of the burn and curious as to what they were doing that got her so excited. "Crazy. She shocked Lucas, too, I think. She shocked me a little when we first met, but we didn't exactly get carried away... Pain doesn't do anything for me." He grimaced. "Everybody sees the scars and assumes I like pain, apparently. I didn't exactly voluntarily get into this knife fight. I mean, come on. I don't even have a tattoo."

Meanwhile, Lainey had stopped pouting in her room, and was sitting up, looking at her doll collection. She was working on a life-sized doll, but it was taking longer than she thought it would. There were a lot of details, like eyelashes and such on it. "Who needs them..." She muttered.

"This was going a little too far for me." Ry rubbed his stomach where it still tingled. "How or why were you in a knife fight, if you don't mind me asking?"

Amber glanced up at Lucas. "In the back corner, near the far window." Not in a mood to chat, she quickened her pace.

Lily's hairdryer plops down on her desk, and she gives a sigh of relief. Water couldn't actually hurt her unless she used her power, but it always freaked her out a bit. It was much better to not have to worry about anything accidentally happening. She considers the door for a minute, then decides to close it and stay in her room. Too many people out there she doesn't feel like talking to right now. She sets her head down on her pillow, and rubs her neck, remembering now the uncomfortable position she'd slept in the night before.  What a day...

Alex grinned. It was, actually, the first time he had gotten to tell the story of his permanent disfigurement. He thought scars would get more attention. "I was planning a bar-hopping trip for my 21st," he said. "A friend and I were scouting out a few bars and found ourselves in a back alley of one of the less reputable ones. A few gang thugs found us and challenged us. We tried to leave but they pulled knives out. I got cut, they saw what my blood could do, decided I was a freak of nature, and, well..." He shrugged. "Things sort of escalated from there. I think it turned into a huge fiasco since the hospital couldn't clot my blood--I'm not sure, since I was unconscious for most of it. Next thing I know, I woke up here, looking like I got into a fight with a blender." He grinned.

Tom sighed. There were very few things happening in the playroom, and that always made him edgy. He stood up and went over to the door in the corner, trying to open it. It was locked, as usual... He wasn't exactly expecting anything else. In fact, if the door had been open for once, he might have had a heart attack. But he just didn't know what it was for--where it lead, if it was a closet and what it might hold. Tom inched towards it, then decided once more against listening to what was on the other side. He looked at Sarah, the only one still there, and left, walking towards his room to find a few things and maybe recharge his mp3 player.

Lucas' pace didn't match Amber's new resolve to get to the safe spot quicker, walking at the same slow pace Lucas shrugged Amber's rejection for a conversation with a slight smile. He didn't really care if she didn't want to talk, he thought most of these patients were nutjobs anyway. 

Amber walked through the doorway of the cafeteria and made a beeline for the snacks-- no pudding, but lime Jell-O would suffice. She didn't bother with a spoon.

"So... your blood can burn through things? Like acid? Or is it something else?" Ry wasn't quite sure what Alex was talking about. However since the guy could obviously take a beating maybe he would be up for a game of rugby. Wait, what about... "What about your parents? Friends? Your life outside of here? Do they know where you are or did you just disappear? And I know this is a non sequitur but do you like sports?" Ry couldn't help it. It has been a very long time since he got to play a decent game of any kind.

The door to Madison's room opened, revealing both Madison and visitor Jack. He put his hands confidently against the door frame. "Well, am I going to get a tour or what?"

Madison looked up at Jack, raising an eyebrow. "A...tour?" He nodded, "Yes, alright. I can give a tour." She stood a moment, her eyes moving back and forth over the hallway, debating where to take him first. "Okay, if you follow me here, the cafeteria's just through those doors over that way." She led her visitor to the eating area.

"Er, yeah, acid blood," Alex said, clarifying. "It's my mutant thing. Their knives didn't last too long against it, but hey, it was long enough... And I kinda like sports. Never really got into much besides boarding, cement and snow." He nodded to his closet, where inside the open door, a skateboard leaned against the wall. As for his parents, well... It was a sore subject. "I haven't heard anything from the 'rents," he said, his voice hollow as he stared at the wall, an almost angry look coming across his face. "They're the type to make a huge fuss about this, too, so I have no idea what's going on." He sighed. "Listen, I need to go meet some people. You're welcome to come with," he added suddenly.

Amber crossed the large room to the farthest chair in the corner and plopped herself down sullenly. She waited for Lucas to join her.

"Well..." began Madison. "This is where we eat. The food's alright, I suppose." She saw Amber sitting at a table. "Oh, and that's Amber. Amber!"

Tom had followed them from the hallway. This new guy was obviously not an inmate, and this was the most interesting thing that had happened.

Jack had been a little wary of the man following them to the cafeteria. "Madison, who is that gentleman?" his voice was quiet.

Madison turned to see who Jack had been speaking about. She spotted Tom. "Oh! Him! He's..." she could never forget a face, but occasionally it took her a moment to recall the names of inmates who tended to keep to themselves. "That's Tom."

Tom continued to stare. He wasn't the type of guy to realize when his intense gaze was getting to people. At the very least, he acknowledge being acknowledged with a small wave and a smile. His huge headphones were once again adorning his ears, but he could hear them in any case.

"Hello, Tom." Jack said in a voice only a little louder than his usual one. He returned the wave. "It's nice to meet you."

"You too," Tom said, with his usual awkward smile, ignoring that he shouldn't be able to hear Jack with his headphones on and far away from them.

Smiling nervously, Jack nodded his head.

Amber waved at Madison and Company and returned to slurping green Jell-O out of plastic bowl.

"Hello Amber!" Madison brought Jack over to Amber. "This is Jack, he's a lawyer...Jack...this is Amber, she is quite magnetic."

"Uh, sure. Nothing better to do really. Where are we going and who are we meeting?" Ry wondered if this had anything to do with Lily running off to talk to Amber or with Skywalker and Lainey eavesdropping on someone. Maybe it had to do with everyone. Ry briefly thought about Scuba and whether or not he would around. He would eventually like to learn the guy's real name. Though, Scuba suited him pretty well.

As Tom left the playroom and went down the hallway, Sarah watched him leave, then turned her attention back to the window. The cracks along the edges were still there. She sort of sighed, then the cracks closed up, and Sarah wend floating after Tom, following him into the cafeteria.

Tom looked down at Sarah. "There's a bird on the wrong side of the cage," he said to her.

"Er, I think Lucas and Amber," Alex said. "Depends on who's in the cafeteria already." He jumped up, snatching the notebook from the sheets on his bed. "And in any case, I was supposed to be there kind of soon-ish."

Lucas walks into the cafeteria to find Madison, Jack, Amber, and everyone in the room. It took a second for Lucas to realize that a newcomer has entered the Institution. Walking over to Amber, Madison and the newcomer Lucas slowly approached the group. "Hey, who are ya?" He asked cautiously, almost sure that he was another patient because he has never heard of a visitor entering the complex that wasn't a doctor. Lucas looked into his eyes, wondering what he will find in his mind.

Amber rolled her eyes at the pun, but she couldn't stay irritated. Madison was too sweet. "Hi, Jack. Nice to meet you." Amber extended her hand toward the man for a handshake.

"Likewise, Amber." Jack returned the shake firmly. He looked over at the newcomer of the group. Who is this guy, and what can he do?" thought Jack.

Madison interrupted Jack's eye contact. "That's Lucas. He reads minds." She let it sink for a beat, "And this is Jack. He's a lawyer."

"Let's go then." Ry watched as Alex scooped a notebook from under the sheets and bounded towards the door. Ry followed him, closing the door behind them. "My parents sent me here. This was kinda... a last resort for them," Ry said suddenly. He had been thinking about what Alex had said only moments earlier. Ry knew what it was like to lose everything that was once known. Sure the therapy seemed to drag out but everything in the past two years seemed to have happened to fast. Ry also knew what it was like to be angry. Although, he didn't think he and Alex were angry about the same thing necessarily. Shying away from his brief moment of insight to himself Ry asked "What's that?" He pointed to the notebook Alex was holding and hoped he would be included on what was going on.

"Er, let's... wait until we get with the others," Alex said, clutching the notebook against himself. He didn't want too much attention being drawn to it in front of the camera's. He only hoped that they hadn't already noticed the sort of attention it was getting already.

Alex headed into the cafeteria and stopped short, standing next to Tom at the sight of all the people there and... Was that a guy from the outside? Do they allow people to wear suits in here? He peered at him curiously. The guy didn't look crazy.

Lucas smiled, glad to read an unexpecting mind again. "Oh ya? what kind of practice do you do if you don't mind me asking?" Still trying to make eye contact, Lucas wanted desperately to hear anything from the outside world.

"His ability is used through direct eye-contact." Madison interrupted smugly. She just couldn't help but burst Lucas's bubble.

"Is that so?" mused Jack. The man still looked Lucas in the eyes. He wasn't afraid of what the other could see there. "I'm a criminal defense attorney."

Amber continued slurping her Jell-O distractedly. She was anxious for all the others to get out of the super-sekrit meeting spot, but she couldn't very well shoo them away. She'd just have to wait.

Alex headed to the pair. "Hey, what up," he said to the lawyer. He stood next to Amber, putting the notebook down on the table in front of the girl for safekeeping. He thought briefly of snagging a bite of her Jell-O but Amber hadn't even grabbed a spoon.

Ry couldn't wait to see what was in the notebook. Ry was about to ask Alex if it was his but stopped as they approached the group in the cafeteria and Alex greeted the new guy. New Guy looked pretty spiffy wearing his fancy suit. He was hanging pretty close to Madison so he greeted her first, just to see what would happen. "Good afternoon Maddy, my ray of sunshine." Ry gave her a flirtatious smile and then turned to New Guy. "My name is Ry, nice to meet you," Ry put out his hand wondering who he was.

"Hello, Ry." Madison smiled, waving at her friend. "This is Jack-"

"Stephens." Jack finished for Madison, holding his hand out to shake Ry's. "Jack Stephens." He gave Ry a curious eyebrow twitch. "It's nice to meet you as well."

"Go away." said Sarah absentmindedly, who had gradually floated over so that she was right beside Jack, looking up at him, though her eyes were closed this time. "Wrong side of the cage, birdy, side of cage, wrong bird, side bird...cage, cage." she muttered.

A nurse walked into the room. She spied Jack, her eyes going wide. "Just what are you doing out here?" she snapped. "I was told we'd have a visitor but you were strictly advised to not leave her room. For the health of our patients." This nurse was not really known for being coddling; she grabbed Jack by the ear and thusly bodily dragged him back to Madison's room, her hand firmly on Madison's arm and taking her along, too. They got there and the nurse stood there, frowning and crossing her arms. "Say your goodbyes, and make it quick. Mr. Stephen is leaving now."

"Nice to meet you Mr. Stephens. I'll see you later, Maddy." Ry blew Madison a kiss, making sure Jack Stephens was looking in their direction when he did it. Ry smiled to himself, this was turning out to be a pretty interesting day.

"Hey guys," Amber said, her gaze lingering on Alex. Then, when the nurse snagged the visitor by the ear, she almost choked-- she'd never seen a grown man so emasculatingly manhandled. It was funny, but she felt sorry for him. Also, the idea that the institution would allow visitors was new to her. Why had her parents never visited?? And maybe this was unfair to them, but she was equally hurt that her high school BFFs hadn't contacted her either. Even with the relative crowd around her cafeteria table, Amber felt suddenly alone.

Lucas raised his eyes brows when Sarah floated over and said what she did. Man that girl is so creepy, why doesn't someone just lock her up in solitary confinement. The mind reader was just about to say something when the nurse grabbed Jack by the ear and dragged him away. "Wow, that was interesting." Laughing it off, Lucas looked to Alex and Amber, silently giving them the impression Lets get everyone out of here before we start.

Alex was grinning after the lawyer. He had been on the wrong end of that attention a few times himself. He noticed Lucas' expression and shrugged. Nobody stayed in the cafeteria for long, anyway. In avoiding further eye contact with Lucas, he found himself looking back at Amber and wondering what she might be thinking.

A look of shock spread across Madison's face, as if she had been slapped. She hadn't even heard Ry's goodbye.

Jack had a flashback to his school days as the nurse tugged on his ear. When they arrived back in Madison's room, he felt thoroughly irked. "Thank you for your escort. But if you don't mind, I'd appreciate a private farewell with Ms. LeCoeur."

The nurse stared him down. "Fine," she said, making sure he knew that she was doing this out of the goodness of her heart, and that he'd better be thankful. "Two minutes." She held up two fingers. "Two," she repeated, daring them to challenge her before she left the room, closing it behind her.

"Two's all it's going to take." Jack grumbled, watching the nurse close the door. "Now Maddy, listen close. I've got a lot to say, and not enough time to repeat it." He slipped his hands into hers, leaning close to her ears. "Fist off, I've got a map..."

Two minutes later, the nurse opened the door without knocking. "Time to go, Mr. Lawyer," she said, escorting him from the facilities, leaving Madison in her room, alone with her thoughts.

Alex stood and got a cup of Jell-O, deciding for it. He grabbed a spoon, but keeping in mind Amber's special ability, he sat a little further from her than he might have liked. He looked around to see who was still in here and looked back at Lucas. "I think it's safe," he said. "Ry's cool. Or at least he'd better be." He wiggled his eyebrows at Ry.

Lucas looked doubtful, "You sure? No offense though Ry." Turning back to Alex, Lucas asks, "So what are we going to do with this information? Do you guys want to escape as well?"

Sarah looked around as though trying to find something to amuse herself. She looked over at the table where the others were gathering, and started levitating that way. But, she seemed to suddenly change her mind and instead went floating down to Madison's room at a rather zippy pace, stopping in front of her door just as Jack was being escorted away.

Ry was about to say something somewhat flirtatious to Alex just for the hell of it when he heard Skywalker say something about escaping. "Escape? Can we do that?" Ry looked at Lucas, remembering to avoid his eyes. It had only recently occurred to Ry that they were trapped and that no one has had contact with the outside world for months or even years. Well, with the exception of Mr. Stephens. Somehow, Ry began to think his visitation was rather uncharacteristic of the Institution. As much as Ry was angry with his parents and perhaps did not want to go back to them, he sure as hell didn't want to stay caged up here. Ry mouthed a short silent prayer. He flipped a chair around backwards and sat down. "So, do we have anything planned so far and how are we going to do this?"

Lainey was in her room, sewing like it was the end of the world. A sewing machine wouldn't been helpful, but her pace of work had improved enough that it wasn't taking as long as before. She could feel a change in herself as she made these large dolls; they could perhaps help her with her "multiple personality" issue.

"I kind of think we need to figure out if we can escape before we think about if we want to," Alex pointed out. "I mean, I dunno 'bout you guys, but I have no idea how to short out the whole electrical system. I'm not that mechanically inclined." He turned to Ry. "Basically, Megan-dunno, if you met her, she was taken away recently-had figured out this whole place down to a T," he said, his voice lowered. "Surveillance, security-everything. At least this ward. And that's another thing, guys," he added. "Once we get out, we might get stuck. We don't know if it isn't a huge maze out there."

When Madison did not come from her room immediately, Sarah "made" a handful of candies (pale grey candy with a light green wrapper...an improvment) and proceeded to make them tap on her door. It was an odd sight...six or seven candies floating in the air tapping on a door.

Madison emerged from the door, looking very spent. "Oh, hi Sarah." She bent down and patted the girl's head.

Sarah's calming aura had started coming back, though it was much weaker than before. "Now the bird is gone, the caged are wanting to fly" she said softly as Madison patted her head. Madison would know what she meant. The candies that had been tapping on the door zoomed over and moved in a ring in front of Madison. These candies were supposed to be lime-flavored, but still had a bitter bite to them. Apperantly Sarah's shock from having rivets put in her head was starting to wear away.

"I see." Madison smiled weakly. It was only too true. She plucked a candy from mid air and unwrapped it, savoring the bitter taste. "Thank you, Sarah."

Sarah frowned, as though sensing Madison's feelings. The air got a tad colder. Sarah floated up a little higher and rested her head on Madison's shoulder, a sort of Sarah-style hug.

Madison ran her fingers through Sarah's hair, as a mother would do to her child. How she had missed the old Sarah!

Amber had only paid enough attention in Physics to pass with a C, but she knew basic science. "You think I could mess things up? Magnets are never good for electronics. I don't know if I could actually do much... Hey, wouldn't Ea be perfect for this?"

"Probably," Alex said. "At least, she'd have more knowledge of the wiring system than we do. But really, doesn't she seem a little..." Alex made a 'crazy' sign by his head. "Not as bad as some people, but still. As for physics..." Alex thought back to his physics. "Magnets are bad for things like... TV's. For wires, they can mess them up, but I dunno how much."

Speak of the devil, Ea Khold came sauntering into the cafeteria, looking tired. She waved curtly at the others before getting a large cup of water for herself and sitting down a table away from the others. She was apperantly back in her usual mood.

"Ok I agree with you on the figuring out if we can get out before deciding if we want to." Ry was looking at Alex when something occurred to him. "What about Lily?" Ry looked at the rest of the group. "I don't know much about electronics either, but could she... emit enough of an electrical charge to overlaod and short circuit the system?" Ry briefly looked around the cafeteria wondering where Lily was.

Alex's eyebrows shot up. "Hey, that's right," he said. "She could totally..." Then his mood fell. "But if the electricity shut off, they'd be swarming this place in a panic," he said. "They'd totally suspect something."

Amber stared at her empty cup in frustration, but she wasn't ready to give up. "So maybe we can figure out a way to just turn off the cameras or scramble them for a while." She wondered whether there was an escape route that didn't require the security system being turned off. Just then, she had a thought-- but at that point she didn't even want to bring it up. It would be a last resort.

"So what else is in that notebook of... Megan, that was her name?" Maybe they could do this, maybe they could really do this.

"That's it," Alex said. "And if we scramble the cameras, the same thing. They'd swarm the place, at least send hella people in to patrol since they can't see us. I mean-"

The group could suddenly see from the window a light flash on. The weather had been growing continuously worse the last couple of days, but the lightening was new. And it looked close.

It flashed again, almost overlapping with the thunder this time. Then, after that light faded, the lights of the cafeteria flickered once and turned off.

It was a full five minutes later that the lights turned back on.

Lily sits up, startled by the flickering lights. She certainly didn't do that. It sounds like it's storming outside, but just to be sure, she gets up and opens her door, peering out into the hallway for other people.

Alex froze. He had completely forgotten about the blackouts. The nurses had mentioned them, even, when Tom had been amplifying their conversation. And nobody had rushed into the cafeteria, and it sounded like they didn't sound off any alarms. A full five minutes without power. Alex looked down at Megan's notebook. The group might not even need that much just to get past the initial security.

Lainey had just about finished one of the larger dolls when the lights went out. When it came back a few minutes later, she opened her doors in time to see Lily peeking out, too. "Blackout? From the storm coming?"

Lucas was smiling when the power finally came back on. This might actually work, we might actually get out of this prison. "So what would be the next security defense?"

"Er, so if we stage a power outage, we can practically walk though the doors out of this wing," Alex said, still a little dazed. "There are three electronically controlled. The last is usually patrolled by a guard, who unlocks the door from his station when he recognizes a voice of one of the workers, but I was thinking that if I bled on the doorknob we could wiggle it unlocked and knock him out. But... We don't know anything about the rest of the place. Megan didn't know that much. Even if we go through the doors, we could be trapped in a maze of hallways until they fix the power and come scoop us up."

Amber was glad Alex brought up the bleeding idea on his own-- she didn't want to have to ask him to do something like that. "Maybe Tom could fake the voice. Can we get him in on this?"

"That would be helpful. I can take the guard out. You know, hypnotize him. He wouldn't have any memory of us passing," Ry said. If he used his "talent" no one would have to be injured or killed.

"Probably," Lily replies to Lainey. "I didn't do it, anyways. And I better not get blamed for anything I didn't do." She peers down the hall, wondering where everyone else is. The hall is very quiet...

"I'm sure they know it's not you," Lainey turned back into her room and peeked out again a moment later. "Hey, Lily? Can I show you something?" she said shyly.

"Uh, as long as you're Lainey," Lily says. Having lived at the Institution for seven years, she knew about a few of the girl's "personalities." But so far Lainey seemed to be herself. Besides, she was in no hurry to see Alex, Ry or Amber at the moment.

Once the lights had come back on, Ea's face had gone from laid-back to somewhat worried. A blackout would be particularly bad for her, especially if she couldn't have her nightly recharge. She stood and walked towards the group. "What are you guys talking about? There's a lot of lowered voices and shifty eyes going on over here." she said.

"I am," Lainey smiled broadly. "Come on." She waves Lily into her room, and lead her to the girl-sized doll sitting on the bed. It seemed like an ordinary stuffed doll, with a few uneven seams here and there, and buttons for eyes...Until it looked up at Lily, and pushed itself up to standing position.

"Holy fuck!" Lily says, stepping back into a wall. "What the hell is that?" She was pretty sure Lainey's power didn't extend to making inanimate objects animated.

"We're planning your surprise birthday party," Alex said to Ea dryly. "Hope you like cake."

A single nurse came into primary hall, the security doors closing solidly behind her. She looked around at Lainey's open door and the absence of people in the hallway. She grimaced, as if about to do something unpleasant. The nurse raised up one hand, and the security doors opened to show a few larger guys, who headed to Madison's room with the nurse.

The nurse opened Madison's door without knocking. She looked at dresser, then around the room. "Madison, you have to give it to us," she said.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Madison said smoothly, brushing past the nurse, as she was already on her way out. She had to talk to the others...pronto.

Lucas hid a small laugh at Alex's reply to Ea in a cough. Smiling as he turned to Ea, Lucas added, "Ya, what do you want for your birthday, a fresh new pair of batteries?" Hearing doors open in the hallway, Lucas turns his head towards the entrance, wondering what was going on beyond the room he was currently in.

Alex also looked out of the cafeteria doors, peering at what looked like a commotion near Madison's room.

Madison didn't get very far. The taller male nurses behind the one in charge grabbed Madison's arms, forcibly stopping her. "Search her," the nurse said, her voice strained. She obviously didn't like doing this. "She had 5 minutes to hide it. I'll look in her room." She walked into her room and began to professionally search it, starting with the bed as the male nurses looked over Madison at each other, a brief moment of confusion as they tried to coordinate their movements without talking.

Lily continues backing out of the room and ends up back in the hallway. She turns to the body guards and the nurse, a little confused about what's going on. "Um, you guys look kinda busy at the moment, but Lainey's somehow magicked a giant doll to life." She indicates the room she just backed out of.

The nurse paused in lifting up the mattress that she had stripped of its covers. "We know, sweety, thank you dear," she said, leaning the thing against the wall and started to yank out drawers, taking out clothes and dumping them to the floor. The male nurses finally decide that they'll take half a body and reach to pat Madison down.

Lainey though Lily would be more amazed than scared, and hastily got up to explain. "She's not dangerous, I swear!" The doll merely shifted a bit on the bed, then reached up and patted Lainey on the head.

Ea sneered at Alex. "Watch yourself. I heard 'power outage', 'electronically controlled' and 'security'. What're you guys planning?" she said, in a more demanding tone this time.

Sarah looked at Madison as the nurses patted her down and searched her room. Her aura got cold in annoyance, and her phychic impression seemed to say "how can I help"?

It sounded to Amber that between Alex and Ry, nearly all the mechanical and human barriers could be overcome. Sure, past these walls were a lot of unknowns, but with acid blood to burn through locks and mass hypnosis, things were looking pretty good. Ea was getting sort of loud, though... Hopefully she wouldn't give everything away.

"Yeah, whatever, love," Alex muttered, standing up and shoving past Ea, taking the notebook and shoving it in the back waistband of his pants, under his shirt. Apparently, the group's discussion was over. He began walking out of the cafeteria, almost jogging a little as he got closer to Madison. "Er, what's going on?" he asked Lily, nervously watching the male nurses try and decide how to search the patient.

Madison looked down at Sarah, holding back tears. She could see the concern on the little girl's face. Please, make a distraction. Anything! She thought as hard as she could, looking Sarah in the eyes; she wasn't sure if it would do any good. All she needed was a moment...she had to hand off her hidden treasure to the right hands. It was too late for her to use it.

"I have no idea," Lily replies, also a little worried. "I was just in Lainey's room where she was showing me this freaky giant doll that she made come to life or something, and then there were all these nurses and..."

"Suprise party meeting adjourned." Ry got up and headed over to the food bar and scooped a bowl of jell-o. It had looked good while Amber was eating it. Ry decided to see were Alex was going and what he was doing. Maybe they could get another board game, card game or something going. As Ry walked by the table and Skywalker he said "I hope we can work together on baking the cake and set our decorating differences aside." Ry walked from the room, following Alex's direction towards the dorms, jell-o in hand. He didn't know Ea very well. If collectively the other inmates chose to keep her from the loop for the time being he wasn't going to let this particular cat out of the bag.

Lucas walked out into the halway to find the scene unfolding. Seeing Madison's face panic like that, Lucas wanted to see what was going on through her mind. "What's going on here," he asked the guards but trying to see into her eyes.

Lucas shifted away from Sarah, not even making eye contact though he could clearly see that she was trying to. Lucas didn't even want to read Sarah's mind. Still trying to look into Madison's eyes to see what was really going on here.

A guard reached out and shoved Lucas back. Hard. Violently, enough to knock the guy to the floor. He then began to finally pat down Madison, angrily getting down to business. The other guard stood there uncomfortably.

Zander walked out of the room. "What's going on?" he asked, his voice growing panicked as he saw Lucas on the floor and Madison getting man-handled.

"Exactly what it looks like," Alex said, his voice snappish as he advanced on the guards. They glared him, making him stop dead in his tracks. Violence wouldn't help either him or Madison at this point. All this situation was doing, though, was making him angrier about being here. His hand shot to his side to offer Lucas an arm up.

Lucas grabbed hold of Alex, all the while giving the evil eye to the vicious guard who knocked him down. "Thanks dude," Lucas told Alex once he was back up on his feet. Though Madison wasn't Lucas' closest friend in the Institution, if he had any, but she certainly didn't show any hostility towards him either. This putting Lucas in a foul mood, he decided to screw the consequences and give the violent guard the finger. After doing so he looked to the uncomfortable guard. "What's wrong with you, never see injustice before?" When he asked that, Lucas' intention wasn't genuine curiosity, but full of malice.

Madison looked down at the guard as he patted down along her hip, moving towards her legs. Her contempt was growing...how long has she helped these very same people, only to be treated like this? She wasn't sure if these were her own feelings, or if she was picking up the feelings of those around her, but they angered her nonetheless. As the guard crouched down, Madison jammed her knee up and kicked the guard where it really counted, then brought her knee up again to kick him in the chin. Then she quickly turned, giving the by-standing guard a well-aimed palm-strike to the nose. Madison was no fighter, she could only recall these moves from a Self-Defense class she had taken eons ago. But that didn't matter, she was ready - she hadn't been taking her medications for some time now, and was therefore not as woozy as the caretakers would expect. Then, she fled towards more a place of more open-space, towards the commons.

The guy nurse she had face-palmed quickly recovered and grabbed her around her torso after a short chase, lifting her bodily off the ground and taking her back into the hallway. His upper arms were as wide around as her neck. He used his own arms to hold hers back, preventing her from getting away in the struggle.

Zander stepped forward. "This is stupid!" he shouted, although he was more panicked than angry. "Madison, just calm down, okay? It won't..."

The nurse came out of the room at that time. "Backup, we require backup," she said into a walkie-talkie. "Room's clean. Can everybody take a step back for me, thank you."

Zander went forward again. "Dude, you have to chill," Alex said to Zander. The guy looked as though he was having a panic attack. He reached out to put a hand on Zander's shoulder, somehow calm him. Zander spun on him as though Alex would have restrained him, and punched Alex full in the face.

It wasn't long after that guards were swarming the place. A few were trying to shove the patients away from the scene, another couple were attempting to restrain the other patients. Alex was struggling to get to the guy who had just given him a bloody nose, while Zander was freaking out as the blood on his hand burnt through his suit. Madison was still struggling.

In all the commotion, nobody noticed the piece of paper float from Madison's person, sliding through the air and along the floor to bump against Lily's shoe.

Everything was happening so fast. First Madison is being searched and man-handled and then Alex is being punched in the face by Scuba. What the hell was going on? Ry ran over to the guard and Madison. He reached for her hands, "Madison look at me. Calm..." That was all Ry said as he looked into her eyes. Ry turned his attention to the guard. "Put her down, now step away." He concentrated on his words as he spoke them to the guard and gazed into his eyes. Ry was hoping this would be enough to calm everyone else down.

It wasn't. The nurse he had forced eye contact with felt his hands twitch and Madison might have been able to escape until the other nurse jabbed a needle into Madison's thigh. He had been preparing it in the commotion.

Madison immediately went limp. The nurse reached out a large hand and placed it on Ry's chest, pushing Ry effortlessly back into a wall. "Stay," he growled, relying on the force of his words rather than any hypnotism. They promised pain if Ry failed to comply. He then raced towards Zander, already preparing the next needle.

One of the nurse's holding him was having issues with circulation in his arms as he kept having to touch Zander's face. However, once the nurse jabbed a needle into Zander's thigh, as well, Zander's eyes fluttered and he suddenly became complacent. Alex relaxed on seeing that. He couldn't hit a guy who was drugged, even if the sunnuvabitch... A nurse went into a cabinet and took out a jar of base, dumping it on Zander's hand.

Madison and Zander were quickly supported and walked towards the security doors. Alex held a hand over his nose, ignoring where his blood was dripping and dissolving his shirt. He felt numb-everything had happened so quickly, nobody had time to react. The remaining nurses and guards began to shoo people back to their rooms.

Lucas was frusterated with all of this. First he didn't have a chance to read Madison's mind, thus figuring out what was really going on, and second Zander punched Alex in the face for not really a good reason. Careful not to get in contact with any blood, Lucas patted Alex on the back, "Hey dude, are you alright? What the heck was that all about with Zander?" Lucas' adrenaline was pumping through his body, this had been the most exciting incident there has been in a while, though the outcome was surely somber.

"Guy flipped," Alex grumbled. He could almost sympathize with Zander. Right now, at the sight of Madison and Zander being led away, and him helpless to do anything about it, he felt something inside of him wound up almost to the point of breaking. Was this what Zander had felt?

He finally tuned back into what was going on. The nurses were instructing the patients to return to their rooms. Alex gritted his teeth and stomped towards his own room without another word to Lucas.

Sarah was upset. As she floated on her way back to her room, paint chipped off the walls and the tiles cracks in her wake. The door to her room opened automatically as she approached, and she disappeared inside.

Ea also headed back to her room, feeling a little shaken by the sudden change in events and a bit angry at the nurses' reactions. "Will Madison and Zander come back?" she wondered before stepping into her room to mull things over.

Lainey was already in her room when all the commotion happened. She heard a hell lot of banging and cursing. It was all very confusing to her when she peeked out into the hallway, just in time to see Madison and Zander being taken away. Madison of all people? Her doll had also followed her to the door, and was now shaking its head.

Ry rubbed his chest where the nurse had touched him. The only time he's ever had rough physical contact was while playing rugby or wrestling with his brothers. He didn't like. Ry followed the line of people back towards the dorms. Lily was in the hallway. "Hey Lily... you dropped something by your foot." Ry noticed a small piece of paper near her foot and assumed it was hers. "Do you want to hang out and talk for a bit?"

Lucas' eyes followed Alex for a bit, frusteration mounting even more with all of what happened. Leaning against the wall, Lucas slid down to the floor to just sit and think about the recent events. Maybe they found out about the journal. Lucas wouldn't admit it, but he hoped that Madison would be ok, hope that nothign to bad happened to her. Flipping his poker chip through his fingers, Lucas smiled a bit when he recounted that he flipped off one of the guards, and would keep that close to him for a while.

"I didn't..." Lily looked down by her feet, now noticing the paper. She picked it up and put it in her pocket, deciding to look at it later. "Um, I think they want us to go to our rooms," she says weakly. Still not quite comfortable with hanging out with Ry. She heads down the hall to her own room.

Alex sat in the middle of his floor, pressing a powder-covered... cloth-thing to his nose as it slowly decided to stop bleeding. He was getting a headache from the constant hissing of the chemical reaction going on at his nose, and was angry that his current shirt was ruined. He decided it was one of his favorites. Alex couldn't get any more from home, since they apparently didn't want to contact him. His inner temper-tantrum continued until he heard his door lock as they had apparently gotten all the patients in their respective rooms. A soothing voice came on the intercom promising dinner later. Alex got up and kicked his wall, then flopped back on his bed, his bleeding mostly done. He took out Megan's notebook and slid it under his mattress. Suddenly, one word ran through his mind:

Soon.

Amber sat on her bed, shocked. Every once in a while she'd seen a patient treated roughly, but that fight was a a first. She was very, very worried about Madison, and Zander too. But Madison had always been so sweet... and Amber had known her for years now. They'd arrived at the institution around the same time. When I get out of here, everyone's gonna find out about this place... and even if not everyone can escape at once we'll get them out somehow. She hoped Zander and Madison would last that long.

Once Lily gets to her room, she sits down on the bed and examines the paper that had landed by her feet. Weird, she thinks. This isn't something one of the nurses would just leave around...

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