The Mind Games by Lori Brighton

their features and their words, but it was as if my brain was working through mud, crawling…sloshing… I couldn’t make it work.
    “…near the fence…” Maddox said to someone as he trudged beside me. He wore a black vest, black pants, thick black boots that crushed tree branches and weeds with no thought. With a rifle slung over his shoulder, he looked every bit the secret agent sent to kill and destroy.
    “Why is she here?” someone else asked.
    I didn’t hear the answer; I must have blacked out because somehow I’d made it through the woods, the fence and into the compound when I managed to open my eyes once more. But where exactly was I? A tunnel, a white corridor of some kind. I might have thought I’d died if it weren’t for the pain. Desperate, I reached out with my energy—nothing happened. I felt empty inside.
    My powers were gone. I couldn’t even use my physical body, let alone my energy. So much for being a carrier of the source. Panic swept bitterly cold through my veins. I tried to curl my hands; nothing happened. I tried to lift my head; nothing. I couldn’t even grit my teeth in frustration.
    This is what I’d wanted.
    This is what I’d wanted.
    We turned left. The movement of the stretcher, back and forth, made my stomach clench. I wanted to moan and curl up on my side; I couldn’t do a damn thing.
    “How far did she get?” someone asked.
    “Not far…”
    I needed to focus on something, anything, other than the roiling of my stomach. Desperately I tried to remember the layout of the compound. There were three buildings. The first had offices. The second held rooms for torture, or questioning, as my dad liked to call it. The third building held the prisoners. I’d never been inside the third building; my father had said it was too dangerous. I knew now he was just trying to prevent me from uncovering the truth.
    Considering I didn’t recognize this place, I assumed I was in building three. Hooray for small victories. I forced my eyes to stay open. Watched the fluorescent lights on the ceiling, counting each one we passed. When I grew tired of counting, I focused on the faces hovering over me, attempting to appeal to their humanity. Would any of them help me when the time came? But they were faces of stone, features with no sympathy. Even Maddox stared straight ahead, as if I was just another prisoner, no one special.
    Exhausted, I gave into temptation and allowed my lashes to drift down. The darkness called to me. How badly I wanted to sink into oblivion. Forget where I was. Pretend to be elsewhere. But I was in that third building, the place where the prisoners were kept; a place I’d never been before. I had to pay attention…
    Lewis was here…somewhere.
    I swore, even through the darkness swallowing me whole, I could feel him. It wasn’t the electric sensation of my powers, but a knowing deep within. I heard hinges squeak as a door was opened. I managed to crack my eyelids and realized they were taking me into a cell, barred door and all. Firm hands gripped my ankles and under my arms. For a brief moment I was lifted and then settled on a cot near a cement wall. The motion stopped, but my mind kept spinning. Bile rose in my throat and I feared I’d choke on my own vomit.
    “You’re sure she’ll be okay?” I heard Maddox ask someone as he hovered over me.
    Was that an actual crease of worry between his dark brows? Was he joking? He’d caught me, the bastard, and now he was acting as if he cared. I wanted to hit him. I wanted to curse at him. I wanted to use my powers and knock him on his ass. I could do nothing but glare.
    “Yes,” a voice replied. A voice that sounded so familiar…so very familiar. “Cameron, look at me.”
    Unwillingly, I shifted my gaze left. The face before me was blurry through my exhausted eyes, but I recognized that brown hair, that slim body. The queasy feeling I’d been trying so hard to keep at bay, struggled up my throat.
    “You remember