Manipulate

The man looks at me and smiles. “I believe that you Abhaya Lynne Hughes, I assume?” The man says.

“Yes, sir, I’m Abhaya,” I say as steady I can. My hands are shaking. Hopefully, no one notices that I’m super nervous about what’s going on.

“Ms. Hughes, we need to know if you are going to accept our offer. Will you come with us and help us with a mission? If you succeed, then we will help you find your mom. Deal?” The woman asks me.

“Deal. I will help you with the mission. When do I leave and start?” I say.

“Tomorrow at this time we will come and get you here. Same time, same place,” the man says.

Dad nods in agreement, I follow his lead.

The man and woman leave. I walk back into the kitchen and finish washing and drying the plates, cups, and silverware. I put the plates and cups back into their cabinets. Then I put the silverware back into their draws. I dry my hands on my shirt and go upstairs to find that the dirty clothes hamper is an overflowing mountain full of shirts, pants, dresses, skirts, socks, and underwear. I sit down and I start sorting the clothes by material and color.

When I finish, I put the whites into the washing machine and I go back upstairs. I return to my room and pull out my ponytail and shake my hair loose. My long straight brown hair falls past my shoulders and to my mid back. I change out of my blue jeans and into a pair of gray sweatpants. I leave my black long sleeve shirt on. I crawl into bed, and as my head hits the soft pillow, my dream begins.

“I’m sorry, Arik. I have to leave; I have to protect Abhaya. She is in grave danger if I stay. Please don’t be upset with me,” my mom says as I stand outside their bedroom door.

“Chloe, I’m not angry or upset with you. I just don’t understand what is wrong with Abhaya.”

“Arik, I need you to remarry another woman. It will make it look like I got murdered or I got seriously injured. Please, we need to protect Abhaya. She’s being hunted by the government because she possesses a power very few people possess. They will find her, and test her or kill her if she is found.”

“What power does she possess though?” Dad asks.

Mom sighs. “She can manipulate time if she wants to.”

“What’s so dangerous about manipulating time?” Arik questions.

“When Abhaya turns sixteen she’ll start experiencing powers that she never knew she had. Do you remember when I bring home that vial of blue liquid that I make her drink every night before bed? She has to take it until she is sixteen. I need you to protect her. I have to go. I love you, Arik.”

“I love you, too, Chloe.”

I wake up, my heart beating in my throat. This was all an act. Dad didn’t love Donatella, he only married her because he wanted to protect me. I was a stupid little girl and I couldn’t realize that. It’s still dark out, I roll over to check my alarm clock. It’s only four thirty in the morning. I roll back over and sigh. I will soon be leaving Aj and dad behind to help find mom.

“Shit,” I curse under my breath.

Now no one will be there to take care of the house, but I’ll be free tonight. I smile at the thought. I fall back asleep for the next three hours curled up into a ball under my navy blue quilt my grandmother sewed for me when I was little. It’s seven thirty when Donatella comes pounding on my door signaling that I need to wake up. I sit up rubbing the sleep from my eyes. I swing my legs to the side of the bed and grab a black ponytail holder and pull my hair back into a ponytail, gathering all my hair back. I grab my black sneakers and a too-large St. Louis University sweatshirt.

I walk down the long staircase to the kitchen. When I enter the kitchen dad and Aj stand next to the stove looking at me. Aj walks over to me and hugs me. Dad does the same.

“Abhaya, I want you to know that we are very proud of you and that you are brave, selfless and strong. You will do great. We love you, Abhaya,” Dad whispers into my ear.

“I love you, too, Dad,” I say back. “And Aj.”

Aj pulls back, Dad does too. They walk out leaving me alone in the kitchen. I sigh and pull out eggs, pancake mix, a pan and a griddle. I crack the eggs and whisk them together, adding milk and salt and pepper into the mixture. I pour half of the mixture into the pan and start making an omelet out of the eggs. I dump some pre-shredded cheddar cheese into the omelet and flip it. I repeat the steps over until I have six total omelets. I mix the pancake batter together and pour the batter onto the griddle. I flip the pancakes once they turn golden brown. I fill the empty plates with the omelets and pancakes, and then I fill the pitcher with orange juice. I walk into the dining room with two plates balancing on each hand. It takes me three separate trips to and from the kitchen to deliver everyone their breakfast. When I finally get to sit down and eat Donatella starts complaining.

“These pancakes are too brown. And the eggs are too flat, they should be light and fluffy.”

Linda and Lillie nod in agreement. I stand up and scoot my chair into the table making everyone jump at the loud scrape the chair had made against the hardwood floor. She’s done it. Donatella made me snap. I can’t take it. I stand straight up and walk over to her.

“Well, sorry I can’t change that! You were eating it just a few seconds ago. You’ve eaten half the pancake and half the omelet!” I snap.

“Abhaya! That is no way to speak to an adult. Especially in the morning,” Donatella says in an astonished voice.

Dad remains silent. So does Aj. My face heats up from embarrassment. I sit back down and saw at my pancakes. My anger has been let out. But not enough. When everyone finishes, I stack the plates and silverware in the cups.

When I finish washing the dishes, I storm up the stairs to Aj’s room. He opens the door at my knock. I go and sit down on his bed and eye the punching bag over in the corner.

“You want to punch something don’t you Abhaya?” Aj asks me.

“Yes, I want to punch something,” I respond through gritted teeth.

Aj gets up and demonstrates to me how to punch correctly. I hit the bag the first time, it feels satisfying to punch something and to let out all of the built-up anger inside of me. Aj stands there watching me punch the bag he just stands there observing my technique. I throw one last punch. I feel sweat beading on my face and on the back of my neck. I feel better now that I punched something. Aj watches me as I walk out of his room.

I climb the stairs all the way up to my room to grab my own clothes to wash. I run into dad on the stairs. He hands me a note. I run the rest of the way up the stairs. I get to my room. I close my door and open the note.

Dear Ms. Hughes,

Thank you for accepting our offer. Here is a list of things you will need to bring with you tonight. Bring only one bag. A backpack is recommended. You can bring some of your clothes as long as they are black or a deep red. You may bring two books, a personal item (no jewelry if you can) and any personal hygiene items. Thank you again for your help.

Sincerely,

TID

I start searching my room for a backpack. In five minutes, I find a black canvas backpack. I start throwing in my personal hygiene items, a black shirt and black pants. I put mom’s old flower books in there along with a picture token from when I was five. The year she disappeared. The picture is me, mom, dad and Aj. Aj and dad are in black shirts with khakis. Me and mom are dressed in black dresses with tan sweaters. I smile and remember the park it was taken in. I put it in gently between my shirt and pants I packed. I put the bag next to my door.

I walk out of my room and go downstairs to grab the dirty laundry hamper. I pick it up and walk down the stairs hopefully I won’t trip. I make it down stairs with the dirty clothes without tripping over my feet. I throw the clothes into the washing machine smiling.

Today is my last day here.

It’s evening now. I leave in ten minutes. Aj, dad and I are standing outside of the house. It’s the same place that the representatives of TID wanted us to meet at. I see two dark figures come toward us. They are dressed in all black except for a dark maroon armband.

“Ms. Hughes, thank you for helping us with this mission. You may hug your family goodbye,” the woman says to me.

I turn and hug Aj and dad.

“Goodbye. I love you both. I will bring Mom home and complete the mission,” I whisper to both of them.

“We love you too, Abhaya. Be strong,” Aj says.

I nod and pick up my bag. “I’m ready,” I say.

“Then follow us and keep up,” the man says.

The man and woman start running. I follow their lead as they dart through the long, narrow street. They stay within the shadows carefully avoiding the lights in the streets. My bag hits my back as I run along with them. Soon enough we arrive at a building. I can see a short woman with black curly hair and tan skin. She looks like she might be in her late twenties, early thirties maybe. She’s dressed in all black except for a dark red armband on her jacket.

“Abhaya, this is Raelynn. She is the leader of The Independent Day. Or TID,” the man explains to me.

“Welcome Abhaya. We are very grateful that you have accepted our offer,” Raelynn starts. “But you don’t have to call me Raelynn. You can call me Rae. Do you just go by Abhaya? Or do you want us to call you something else?” Rae finishes.

“Uh... I prefer to go by Abhaya,” I say.

“Perfect,” Rae says. “Follow us and keep up.” Rae turns around and she starts to run.

I start running in the line they’ve created. I follow them until we get to another building.

“Here we are,” the man says. He pulls out a card and scans it under a laser scanner.

The doors open and we step into a room where there is nothing but concrete walls. The room is dimly lit with lights.

“Abhaya, this is Alia. She is the dorm manager for your unit. Your unit is consisted of twelve through eighteen-year old,” Rae explains.

She points to the woman who helped me get here.

“And this is Max. He and Alia will be helping you train with the others,” Rae says pointing to the man who also helped me get here. Max nods in my direction.

Alia waves at me and smiles. I try to smile back.

“Alia, show Abhaya where the dorms are. She’ll be sleeping there with all the others. Max, follow me please. I need to speak with you,” Rae says.

Max follows Rae somewhere. I’m alone with Alia

“Yes, ma’am. Right this way, Abhaya,” Alia gestures toward me. “I hope you don’t mind sharing a room filled with literally all boys. I mean there are some girls, me, you, Kayla, Mia and Abigail or Abi as she prefers to be called by,” Alia says.

We get to a room with a black door. Alia opens the door. When Alia opens the door, it sounds like a zoo.

“Hey everyone this Abhaya!” Alia shouts.

Everyone stops what they are doing and turn their heads toward me.

“H-hi,” I stutter.

A boy slides off of the top bunk. He has brown hair. His eyes are a deep blue. Like an ocean. He looks like he might be eighteen.

“Nice to meet you, Abhaya. I’m Theo. Welcome to TID. I’m sure that you’ll enjoy here it one way or another,” Theo says to me.

Alia waves Theo away. “Here’s your bunk,” she says.

I’m on the top bunk above a boy with straight brown hair that covers his forehead just brushing his dark green emerald eyes. The boy looks up at me.

“Hi, I’m Nick. You’re Abhaya, right?” Nick asks me.

“Yes. And nice to meet you,” I say. Nick looks like he might be about fifteen, maybe sixteen.

“So how long have you been here Nick?” I ask.

“About a year,” he says casually.

“What’s the food like here?” I ask.

“It’s actually pretty decent for it being cafeteria food. The hamburgers are delicious. And the soup is pretty good. But the best thing that they serve here is the cheesecake. In the fall they serve the best pumpkin cheesecake ever,” Nick says.

I laugh. Nick looks at me. “What’s so funny?” He asks.

“Your voice was really funny when you started talking about cheesecake. You got super excited about it.”

“Well it’s that good though,” Nick shoots back. I laugh again. “Seriously, Abhaya, it’s like the best dessert you will ever eat in your entire lifetime,” Nick exaggerates the last words so much that I have to grip the bed frame from falling off because I’m laughing so hard.

“Hey everyone dinners in ten minutes, we need to beat the adults or else we’ll be doing their laundry for the rest of the month,” Alia says. Instant groans ripple through the room.

“Come on then!” Alia shouts through the commotion.

Everyone follows Alia through the hallways down to the cafeteria. When we get there, it is practically deserted. A roar of cheers tear through the empty cafeteria. The adults come in and groan.

“Now you have to do our laundry for the rest of the month!” Alia yells over the cheering and yelling.

“Just get in line. And get your food for the love of god. Also, by the way you guys are like what twelve through nineteen? That means you all can stop acting like a bunch of wild kids playing at the park,” A man says sounding annoyed.

“Sorry, we can’t!” A boy yells over the chaos. A series of “Burns!” and “Oh’s!” and even some “You need to go to Antarctica for that burn!” Weave their way through the chaos.

I sit down at a table where some of my roommates sit. Theo sits down to the right of me.[1] I stare down at my hamburger and fries. I start poking at my chocolate cheesecake.

“Are you going to eat that?” Theo asks pointing to my cheesecake.

“Yeah, I’m going to eat it,” I say.

“Okay. Have you tried the hamburger or fries yet?” Theo asks.

“I was but you interrupted me.”

“Oh, sorry.”

“It’s fine,” I say.

I pick up the hamburger and eat it. I try the fries. Like Nick said, not too bad for cafeteria food.

Nick sits on my left. Crap. Boy trapped.

“Do you like the food here?” Nick asks.

“Yeah, it’s pretty good,” I say.

“Hey, Abhaya, want to know something?” Theo asks.

“Sure,” I say. “I’d love to.”

“The cheesecake is actually called Alice Cheesecake, not TID Cheesecake.” Theo says.

“Cool. That’s actually pretty interesting,” I say.

Nick rolls his eyes and stares at his food, shoveling it into his mouth.

Rae stands up on a stage.

“Everyone, everyone, I need your attention please!” Rae says. All the talking and eating stops.

“I hope everyone knows that we have a new person in TID with us. If you don’t know her, her name is Abhaya.” A series of cheers and welcomes go through the air.

Rae continues her speech, “next Friday we will all be going to the St. Louis wheel for the annual paintball game and to test your skills. I’m looking at the younger ones. I hope Alia and Max have been teaching you all the correct techniques and that you all have been paying attention,” Rae concludes her speech.

A wave of cheers goes through the air. Everyone continues to eat, talk and laugh. I finish eating my burger, fries and cheesecake. Alia comes over and sits across from me.

“Do you like it here? I know that you’ve only been here for an hour but I was just wondering,” Alia asks me.

“It’s better than home for a fact,” I state.

“What was so terrible about home?” Theo interjects.

“My dad married a woman named Donatella and she treated me like shit,” I answer.

Alia’s face goes pale, so does Theo’s and Nick’s.

“Wait you’re telling me that your dad married Donatella Louis?” Alia says, her face still pale.

“Yes. Wait is there something wrong with her?” I say, my eyebrows furrowing.

“I’ll tell you after you’re finished with training. There’s something not right about that woman,” Alia says, her eyebrows furrowing and shaking her head.

My mind starts racing. Who is Donatella really and what does she actually do? Does dad know about this or is he as clueless as I am?

Alia leads all of us back to the dorms. We sit on our beds and talk about what we’ll be doing tomorrow. Alia shows me where the showers are. The showers are divided into two sides. One side for girls and the other for boys. The boys and girls share the same locker room. I don’t mind it. It could be worse.

“Tomorrow is training. You have to be in the cafeteria by six thirty. I will come wake you up at six fifteen. You have only fifteen minutes to get ready. Use your time wisely,” Alia says to us.

“Lights out in one hour. We will come and check on you all to make sure that you are in bed and asleep,” Max says.

He eyes the section of bunks I’m in. Uh oh, it seems that my section of bunks is made up of troublemakers.

Everyone heads toward the showers. There is a whiteboard posted outside with everyone’s names on it. There are thirty people on the board and there is a second board posted with another thirty names. I find mine on the first board. I’m shower number twenty-five. I grab my sweatpants and shirt from my bag on my bunk. I shower and pull a towel and dry off. The shower here is much more pleasant than the ones at home. At home I had a small shower with very crappy water control. A bunch of the water always sprayed across the floor and I was the one who had to clean it up. I put my sweatpants and shirt on and walk back out to the dorms to my bunk.

I pull myself up onto the top bunk by standing on Nick’s bed. A girl named Abi that Alia mentioned to me earlier comes over to me.

“Hi, I’m Abi! Do you want me to braid your hair for you?” Abi asks me. I can already tell that she a ray of sunshine.

“Sure. And hi, Abi. Nice to meet you,” I say.

Abi pulls herself up onto my bunk. She has a hairbrush in her hand.

“I have a hair tie,” I say.

“Perfect,” Abi replies.

Abi starts brushing my hair back with the brush. She takes my hair and puts it into three sections. She starts braiding my hair, when Abi finishes, she takes my hair tie and wraps it around the tight damp braid.

“Thank you,” I say.

“No problem. And you’re welcome,” Abi says, giving me a tight bear hug.

Yep, she’s a ray of sunshine.

“Guys, lights out in one minute!” Theo yells from the other side of the room.

Everyone scrambles to their bunks and dives under their blankets. We hear heavy footsteps from outside. Max walks in and goes around checking each bunk to make sure that we are all present and in our beds. I hold my breath. He walks out of the dorm. I let out my breath. Everyone in my section immediately sits up and starts whispering to each other. I lay in bed and fall asleep with thoughts buzzing in my head as I sleep.

Who is Donatella really? Am I in danger or is my whole family in danger too?