The door opens, and white suits grab me by both arms. I let them. I keep a steady pace with them instead of trying to drag behind like I normally do. I study the mask of the one to my left and notice how shielded it is. Holy shit. It’s blocking mind control. It has to be.

I continue to keep a steady pace with them because the more we walk, the closer I am to Felix and Mom. We stop in front of a door that is labeled “Holding Room.” I take a deep breath when the door opens.

I see Kyle sitting at a large table alone. I’m seated beside him; then the white suits stand by the door and guard it.

“What are you doing in here?” I whisper.

“To make sure you do your job and to do it for you if you fail,” he whispers back. He grabs my hand underneath the table and squeezes it. I’m not sure how to react so I just let him.

“Do you trust me?” He asks quieter than a whisper.

I shake my head. “I have no idea how to do this. I haven’t been shown how.”

“It’s as easy as thinking.”

I raise a brow. “That’s all? I just think it, and it happens?”

He nods. “And you have to make eye contact.”

The doors open, and Felix is brought in. I wait for Mom to come in next, but she never does. The door shuts loudly; then Felix is escorted by one of the white suits while the other remains by the door. When Felix sees me his eyes widen. I let go of Kyle’s hand and grip my knees with both hands. I have a plan, but by the look on Kyle’s face, he does too.

Felix sits down across from me. My whole body starts to tremble.

“Orion?” he says in shock.

I stare blankly at him. Okay… If I have mind control and I’m supposed to make him forget, then I could also make him do whatever I want. He starts to open his mouth, but I stare into his eyes and demand in my mind that he remains silent. He closes his mouth. It shocks him so badly that he stands to his feet and goes to pound his fist on the table, but I lock my eyes on his again and tell him to sit with my mind. He sits, and his body starts shaking. I try to get over the shock that I’m actually doing this and concentrate.

Keep your eyes on mine. Pretend like you don’t know me. I’m going to get out of here, Felix. I swear to you I am. When I tell you, you can speak; you only ask where you are and who we are. Don’t act scared or angry. No crying. I love you. Now, speak.

He swallows hard then looks at Kyle and me. “W-where am I? Who are you? What am I doing here?” He stands up and looks around in confusion.

Kyle looks at him. “Felix, we need you to sit.”

I look at Kyle, and he motions with his eyes to the white suits by the door. I furrow my eyebrows as I try to figure out what he’s referring to. He does it one more time then turns his attention to Felix. Sage and I could communicate like this. One look and I knew what she was saying. But I don’t have that same connection with Kyle. We have no connection at all. So, how the hell am I supposed to know what he’s trying to tell me?

I watch the white suits as Kyle asks Felix questions. It’s so hard to concentrate when my brother is inches from me. I study them and rack my brain, but nothing comes to mind until one lifts up his mask a little to scratch his nose. If I could get the masks off I could compel them. But how?

Suddenly, Felix starts yelling at the top of his lungs. He starts flipping chairs and tries to turn the table over. The white suits run over and tackle him to the ground. Kyle looks at me, and we both immediately jump on the white suits and remove their masks. I grab the dark shaggy hair of the man beneath me and pry his eyes open as he fights me. I lose my grip on him when he shoves me off then jumps on top of me. I still hold his mask in my hand and grip it tightly as he tries to get a hold of it.

I watch his eyes as I fight against him, and the moment he looks into mine, I react.

Look at my eyes. He stares at me. Let go of me. He releases me. If you have a weapon, give it to me. He reaches in his pocket and hands me a syringe full of green liquid. I take it and put it in my pocket. You won’t tell anyone about this, and you won’t leave this room until Kyle, Felix, and I do. He sits on the floor by the other guy in the white suit.

“Orion, their clothes!” Kyle yells in a hurry. He starts undressing the guy he tackled. I sit frozen, watching him. “Orion!”

Shit, he’s serious. I scramble to my knees and start undressing the other. Kyle starts taking off his clothes, and I take off mine. We both hurry into the white suits and put the masks over our faces. I remember the syringe and take it from the pocket of my pants I took off and stick it in my new pocket. He instructs Felix to walk with us, and we hurry to the door.

“Walk slow. I know a way out,” Kyle says quietly as he opens the door.

We walk slowly with Felix behind us. I feel like I can’t breathe. I make every turn Kyle does, and soon we make it to double doors. He opens them, and we walk down another long hallway. We walk up to another set of double doors that require a key. My heart sinks to my feet. We’re screwed.

To my surprise, Kyle pulls a key from his pocket and opens it. There’s no time for questions so I just follow. I look over my shoulder to make sure Felix is still behind us, and he is. We keep walking until we make it to a single door. I look at Kyle.

“Run.”

He slings the door open, and I run. I have no idea where I’m going except straight. I hear footsteps keeping up with me and pray that it’s Felix and Kyle. I’m not looking back. I have to focus on getting away from here. I stop when I come to a fence. I turn and see Felix breathing heavily, waiting for me to do something. I don’t see Kyle, but I can’t let that distract me.

I pull the mask from my face and start climbing the fence. “Felix! Hurry!”

He starts to climb, and my heart pounds in my ears as I crave the other side of the fence. Once we make it to the top of the fence, I swing my leg over and try to find support but fall the whole way down instead. I look up and groan as I hold my side that’s piercing with pain and watch Felix climb the rest of the way down.

He holds out a hand and helps me up. My side is burning, but I have no time to concentrate on that. We have to go. I take Felix’s hand, and we run like hell.