Mind Over Matter, Chapter 23

Gemma. Wake up.

I roll over and bury my head under my pillow.

You can't get rid of me that way.

I frown.

What do you want? I'm trying to sleep.

You need to wake up.

I roll my eyes and push myself to my elbows. I'm about to tell Jackson off when I hear a quiet knock at my door. It opens and Zee slips in. He shuts it and steps over to my bed.

"Gem? Are you awake?" I scowl in the dark.

"I am now. What's going on?" I feel Zee sit on my bed and lean toward me.

"I don't know. I was down in the kitchen getting something to eat. I came back up to go to bed and Will's door was open. I snuck to the door and stood outside of it. I heard some people in there talking about what to do with him. I didn't stick around long enough to listen, and I came up here."

"That doesn't make any sense." Through the bond I feel Jackson hiding something from me. It's been a week since he took my headache away and this.. bond has gotten stronger. Now I, mostly, know what he's thinking without him having to think it to me. He's learned how to hide stuff from me, but I know when he's doing it, so it kind of defeats the purpose.

What is going on?

"What are they doing taking Will away in the middle of the night?" I take Zee's hand and feel that he's shaking.

"I don't know, but we'll figure it out somehow. Let's just wait until morning to decide what to do, okay? We can't think when we're tired."

"I don't really want to go back down there." I move over and pull him down to lay with me. I feel quiet rage come from Jackson.

Oh, cool it. He's scared and I'm being his friend.

I don't care, I don't like it.

Well you're going to have to.

I feel Jackson retreat from my mind, as much as he's able to, and roll my eyes. Boys.

"You okay, Zee?" He squeezes my arm.

"Yep, thanks." I smile and drift back into sleep.

**

I wake the next morning to snoring in my ear and an arm draped over my shoulder. I wiggle out from under Zee and grab my toothbrush, shutting the alarm off before it goes off on its own. It's a wonder I'm up before it, considering every other morning I have to drag myself out of bed.

I do my morning routine and then head down to the kitchen. Jackson is sitting at the table, reading a book and eating toast. He ignores me as I gather my usual cereal and milk for breakfast and sit down to eat it. "Oh just say it already. I know you're dying to tell me how stupid you think I am." Silence. I glare and throw my spoon at him. It hits his chest and not his head like I was aiming for. He sets it on the table without looking at me. Before I can find something else to throw at him Liz and Tessa walk in the door.

"Oh good, you're mostly all here. I have some more bad news." Jackson keeps staring at his book, but I can tell he's listening to Liz. "Will ran away last night."

"What?" Liz nods and slides into the chair across from me.

"I know. First Samantha, and now Will."

"That seems kind of odd." Liz looks at me sharply. "I mean, that two kids run away in less than a month." Tessa sits beside me, farthest away from Jackson.

What's up with Tessa? She hates you.

I make her nervous.

Why?

Isn't it obvious?

I get a look from Jackson like it's the most obvious thing in the world.

Cause of your record?

Yeah.

I don't catch anything hidden, so that must be all.

But you've been here for a month and haven't even raised your voice.

He shrugs.

Once a murderer, always a murderer. You'd be good to follow her example.

I roll my eyes.

Kind of late for that now, isn't it?

"Gem?"

"Huh - What?"

"I was just telling everyone that testing is being skipped today, due to Will's disappearance." I sigh with relief. I hate the testing they're putting me through.

I sit in one of the rooms with a bunch of electrodes stuck to my forehead. Another person sits in there with me and I try to visualize what the picture is on the card they're holding, by getting into their mind. I walk away with a headache every time from concentrating so hard. I've only broken through four times since I started, but the testing is always the same. Practice makes perfect, and all that. It's really boring.

Liz leaves just as Zee stumbles into the kitchen. I'm told to fill him in on what's going on today. Remembering how scared he was last night, I hesitate before telling him. Jackson solves that problem, because he butts in before I can say a word.

"Will's gone." Zee shoots me a panicked look and sits down across from me, in the chair Liz sat in. I grab another spoon and eat the rest of my cereal. Tessa is long gone, probably upstairs in her room. That makes me worry. That's how Sam and Will were before they "ran away". I don't believe they did either. Will was rude, sure, but he wouldn't just run. I catch Jackson looking at me and can tell he agrees. So what's going on? He looks away and back to his book. I grumble and Zee looks at me.

"So it wasn't actually a dream last night?" I shake my head sadly.

"No. He was taken."

"Why?"

"I dunno, but we'll figure it out." I look at the door as Tessa peeks her head in.

"Can I talk to you, Gemma?" I stand and follow her into the hall. "Come upstairs. I need to show you something." I follow her up to her room. Once there, she shuts the door behind her.

"What's up?" She picks up her sketch book, holds it for a second, and then hands it to me. I'm confused but open it to the first page. It's a picture of a lemon with a small circle beside it. It's dated December 11th. I look up at Tessa, who's standing there nervously. "What's this?"

"I drew it a few nights before Sam left. We had lemonade that night for supper." I look back down at the drawing.

"Okay. So what's this little circle?"

"I think it's a sleeping pill."

"What?"

"I don't know. I knew Sam before coming here. She used to be open and nice. It was only after coming here and starting testing that she started acting like a bitch. Then almost two weeks later she 'runs away'." I flip to the next page. It's a picture of a girl, one half clear and solid, the other translucent and foggy. "That's you."

"Zee did say he could see through me." I flip to the next one. It makes my stomach flip. It's a picture of a guy laying on the floor, face down, blood around his head. Exactly like Jackson looked after he fell down the stairs.

"Look at the next one." I almost don't want to, but I flip the page. This time it's a cow with a small circle beside it. We had milk last night for supper. "I drew that a few nights ago. I couldn't sleep last night either. I felt like I needed to be awake but I didn't know why."

"Did you hear anything?" She shakes her head.

Come outside near the back fence, bring her with you. I have something to tell all of you.