I slept for just a few minutes here and there last night, spending most of my time in the computer room reading Madeline Taylor’s journal entries. Luckily, I didn’t encounter Carl last night—probably because I didn’t really sleep long enough to get into REM sleep. I don’t know how much longer I can keep this up, but I don’t want to risk it because I don’t understand how the gift works.
Can he be alerted or something every time I start to dream? So far, Madeline hasn’t talked about anything like that or about making dreams a reality in her entries. My 24 hour access code expired in the early morning so I went back to the cabin and snatched some brief and fitful minutes of sleep, waking up often.
“Why are you leaving? Just stay here,” Ana Maria whines.
I’m really not in the mood to deal with her early morning nagging. Still, I try to be civil.
“I told you a thousand times already,” I say. “I have to go meet my friend.”
“But aren’t we your friends? Wouldn’t you rather stay here with your many friends over leaving to be with your one friend?”
I sigh. “I’m leaving, okay? Nothing you say can convince me to stay.”
She makes a whining sound like a puppy.
Hunter, who’s sitting up in his bed, says, “Ana Maria, I know you just got here, but after a while, you’ll want to leave too.”
Remington, who I thought was asleep up in his bunk, says in a sleepy voice, “That’s not true. I’ve been here for almost my whole life and I don’t want to leave.”
“That’s because you don’t know anything else,” Hunter says.
“So you want to leave too, Hunter?” Ana Maria says. “But it’s so great here!”
“No one’s stopping you from leaving,” Remington says.
Ana Maria scuttles away from me and I breathe a sigh of relief.
“It’s not like I have anywhere to go though,” Hunter says.
“Why don’t you just go with Chrys and her friend then?” Remington says.
Hunter doesn’t reply.
Everything stuffed in the tote bag, including a couple bottles of water and some burritos I made this morning in the kitchen, I rest it on the desk and sit down on the chair. I blink back sleep.
Maybe once I start walking through the forest, I’ll feel more awake. I hope so, at least. I’ve already eaten one of the burritos, trying to give myself some more energy.
Ana Maria comes back to me, holding her black and white sea bunny, the one with the most wear and tear, but at some point she stitched up the side so the stuffing is no longer spilling out.
She holds it out to me. “Here. This one is my favorite.”
“Shouldn’t you be giving me one you don’t care about?” I say.
“I care about all of them.”
“Then give me one that’s less special.”
She sighs. “You’re such an idiot, Chrys. I’m giving you this one because it’s special. One day, you’re going to give it back to me.”
I take it. “Okay, fine. I’ll give it back to you the next time we meet.”
She smiles and gestures for me to put it in my bag, so I do.
Three knocks on the cabin door echo through the room.
The cabin door opens.
“Hello?” Li says quietly as she enters, looking around. “Ah, you’re all awake. Good.”
She walks to Hunter’s bed. “Hunter, do you mind coming down for a bit?”
He climbs down the ladder and combs through his hair with his fingers as if trying to tame his bed hair but it already looks fine.
“Hunter,” Li says, “I was talking to my friend about you and he is very interested in your gift. He runs a refuge and research lab in New York City. He thinks you may be the next Madeline Taylor.”
“Madeline Taylor?” Hunter asks.
“Yes. My friend manages a website with all of Madeline’s journals. Madeline did extensive research on her own gift, you see. When I told him about your gift, he figured your potential could be equal to hers—or perhaps even greater. He’s wondering if you’d be interested in experimenting with the limits of your gift.”
“I don’t really want to use my gift though,” Hunter says. “It has bad effects.”
“I doubt you would use it for that long. He is mostly interested in testing your range. That only requires a short period of manipulation.”
Hunter rubs the back of his neck. “I don’t know… I’m not really into research.”
I stand up from my chair. “Hunter, you were just saying you want to leave but have nowhere to go. This is somewhere! And I mean, New York? Sounds like a dream. I’ve always wanted to go there.”
“You can go too, Chrys, if you like,” Li says.
I blink quickly a couple times. “Really? But I definitely don’t want to do any research on my gift. And my friend…”
“Like I said, my friend runs a refuge too, sort of like this one, but more in plain sight I guess. He owns a hotel franchise but one of the branches is really just a home for gifted who have nowhere else to go. Your friend is welcome to join you there too. And I know you and your friend are… on the run. That can be fixed too.”
My heart is quickening and I’m starting to feel more alert.
“How?” I say.
“Well, we can arrange a car to New York for you and once you get there, my friend can report that he found you and offer to be your legal guardian instead of putting you back in the foster care system.”
“Would your friend be willing to do that though?”
She shrugs. “He’s done it before so I don’t see why not.”
Hunter turns to me, smiling a little. “We can go together.”
I smile back. “Yeah, that sounds awesome. I’ll have to call my friend and ask her but I’m sure she’ll be okay with it too.”
“Great, I’ll have everything arranged.” Li turns to go but then
