Open Minds

"Yep, that's me", I say when the small old-fashioned computer shouts out my name and status after I give my blood sample. There was a long line of people waiting to do the same prick of the finger every single day and I was ready to head out.

Once I reached past all the different types of security from computers to actual people, I hopped on my bike and started pedaling as fast as I could towards Armani's house. I was exhausted, but I always had some extra energy to go and see her. Armani's sessions always happened to be earlier in the day while mine was always in the afternoon. When I arrived, her Dad greeted me at the door, "Naomi-Leigh Patton", he said, sticking out his hand. "Hey Paul", I extended my hand, just to please him. I snuck past and ran up towards Armani's room. She was sitting on her bed with Nemo, her three-year-old Australian Shepherd that was her second-best friend. Second to me of course. I plopped down on the bed and laid my head back. "How was it", she said, "What was it this time?". " The same old Federal Advisory Committee Meetings or whatever they´re called", I responded.

It had been about sixteen years since the explosion back in 2085 that changed exactly one hundred and one pregnant mother's lives within a forty-mile radius, in the small town of Citadel, Arizona. The nuclear blast had given off a strange effect to the mother's children only and nobody else. Mind reading. Ever since then, those one hundred and one children, which are now all the age of sixteen and three months old haven't been treated the same. Because of our power to manipulate, we have been invited, more like forced to, to attend some of the town's most powerful and life-changing meetings. From military operations to court rulings, it is all we have ever done since the day we were about six years old.

Armani and I have been friends ever since we were appointed to that same position one day at the Citadel's main government building, the Oval. Every day when we enter the building they remind us of confidentiality this and that, but Armani and I always discuss. We swore to one another that we would never use the mind-reading on one another, but every once in awhile I'll make sure she isn't lying to me. "Wanna go mess with Kai?", she asks. Kai is the kid that lives down the street from her house that Armani and I love to mess with. He doesn't have mind-reading powers, but his mother was pregnant with his older sister, Mara, during the explosion. About a year ago, Mara went missing along with about twenty other kids our age. Kai doesn't like to talk about it much but we all used to be close, the four of us. We aren't sure where those kids went, but it was a sad, rainy day and no one in the town likes to talk about it. Disappearances still happen to this day, but we don't stress it. Our moms are always telling us to be careful and watch who approaches you, but we don't really pay attention and just rub it off. Kai on the other hand is the exact opposite, ever since that day, he hasn't come out of the house for anything other than when he is "invited" to board meetings and stuff like that. That's why we like to mess with him. Even though we have completely lost his trust because of it, we do it anyway, just for fun.

After fooling around with Kai, and doing all the mind-reading tricks on him, I received a call from my Mom telling me I had to come home immediately. Usually, when mom says it is an emergency, it's an emergency, but every once in a while it'll be something like "Naomi-Leigh Patton, you did NOT make your bed this morning". I hurried over to across the street, said goodbye to Armani and Kai, then biked home. I wasn't stressed out about it, but whatever chore it was I wanted to just get over with it.

When I arrived home, Mom rushed me inside and grabbed my hand. At that point, I knew something was wrong. She rushed me over to the basement stairs and we ran down together. Our basement was yet to be finished, so there were bugs and dust everywhere. My heart was pumping and I was starting to sweat bullets. I was the only child, so I had no one to accompany me. The walls and ceiling were so thin I could hear anything going on upstairs. "Do you think they are going to take her?", I heard Mom say to Dad. All Dad could do was reassure her that everything was going to be fine, but I knew it wasn't. The government was on their way to pickup up the rest of us. Each and every one.

Half an hour later, I heard a loud bang on our front door. " Miss, please calm down, we are just here to take your daughter, I promise we will bring her back", a voice said. I was starting to worry that they would come down to the basement. I tried my best to hide, but there weren't many places to squeeze through. I could hear my Mom trying to explain that I wasn't here and that I was out at a late-night session, but they wouldn't listen. I could hear them rummaging around the house, searching every little bit. I wish Armani was with me.

It took them another half hour to realize that we had a basement and that I could be hiding down there. I braced myself for anything that might happen. Were they to kill me for lying about where I was? Or were they never to find me? I could hear the footsteps start to descend the basement stairs.

"Naomi-Leigh Patton, are you down here?", I could see the man's oversized helmet, dangling on his head. It was so that I couldn't read his mind of course. I tensed up my body to keep me from shaking. He was getting closer and closer by each step,/; and I couldn't help myself from shivering. He looked around but it seemed as though he couldn't find me. I didn't want to get my hopes up but maybe I was safe. Just maybe.

Finally, the man stopped searching, and I stopped shivering. He went back up the stairs and walked out the door without a word. Mom gave it another twenty minutes until she decided to come and tell me that it was safe. I could see the dry tears on her face and Dad's eyes dropping low. As I was walking back up towards my room, it took me a minute to realize. "Armani!"

I ran back down the stairs, and out the front door. I hear Mom yelling for me to come back, but that wasn't going to happen. How could I be so selfish, I forgot about her. I was pedaling faster than I ever had before. My heart was pumping but all that I could think about was her safety. When I was close enough to her house, I jumped off my bike and ran towards the front door. It was wide open, and I could hear Paul and Lena. Screaming. I knew what it meant immediately, Armani was taken. She was gone.

I couldn't help but cry. I sobbed actually. Lena, Armani's mom, reached over to give me a hug, and I let her. I cried for a little longer until I realized that I was going to find her. I was going to find her and bring her back home.

I circled around the little cul de sac at the end of the street to help me figure out what I was going to do. I knew I needed help, but who was I to ask. It was going to have to be another mind reader. Someone who knows about the government taking away the mind readers. Was I the only one who hid, and didn't get found? Was I the only one left? I kept on circling until one name popped in my head. kai.

I made one last circle around the cul de sac, then rode over to Kai's house. I knocked on the door until his Mom finally answered. She was trembling all over. She looked as though she was relieved it was just me, but still a little shaken up. I didn't want to bother her, so I slid past her and told her that I was here for Kai. I ran up the stairs and opened the door to his room. He was sitting on his bed, reading a book, as if nothing happened.

"Did they come to your house too?", he asked. I told him everything that happened and all he did was nod. I was reluctant to ask him for help, but who else was I supposed to ask. I looked at Kai dead and the eye, I was reading his mind. He knew what I was here for, and he wasn't going to help.

"Please Kai, I need to bring her back home, you know how much she means to me", I don't like begging, especially to Kai, but it was urgent.

" What makes you think I'm going to help you after everything you guys have done to me?", Kai mentioned. It was true, why should he help us after everything we've done.

" You're right, but what if we could find your sister too?", I know that it was a sensitive topic, but he wasn't listening to me. Kai thought for a second then nodded his head slightly. He was in.

The next day, at around seven in the morning, I grabbed a muffin then ran out the front door. I pedaled towards Kai's, hoping that he would have a plan ready. I ran up the stairs to his room, opened his door, and sat on his bed. He had laid out a few sheets of paper, I assumed was the plan, and started to explain.

"Last night, after you left, I took my bike around about five blocks knocking on people's doors to see if their children have been taken also", he mentioned. I prayed he wouldn��t say what I knew he would say. "We´re the last ones left".

Kai explained the rest of the plan. The next morning we were to turn ourselves in, almost. Kai said that when the men from the government came to take his sister, they injected her with something that took away her powers. We were to turn ourselves into the Oval, as though we had been injected also. All we had to do was act a bit sleepy and drained. Next, once we were taken in by guards, we were to be taken in where the rest of the mind readers were and break them out. Not much of a plan. Kai seemed confident about it, but I already knew I wasn't going to be doing any of this. I had a plan of my own.

The next morning I put on some of my old clothes and walked out through the back door. I'm pretty sure no one was nearby, especially after everyone's children had just been taken, but I just wanted to make sure they weren't coming for a second round. Kai was waiting for me on the steps of his back door.

"You ready?", he asked. I nodded and we got going.

As we continued our journey to the Oval, I started feeling a little light-headed. I didn't want to tell Kai because he would think I was scared. I tried to ignore it but it was getting stronger and stronger each step. Naomi, are you there? I stopped dead. Kai looked back at me and asked what was wrong. Armani is that you? Kai gave me a confused look. I held up my pointer finger to him, indicating that he should wait. We´re in the ba-. Kai grabbed my hand before I could fall. The migraine stopped, and I was able to gain balance. I explained to Kai what happened, but he didn't seem to believe me. I felt some sort of connection to her, I know I did. I walked my ungainly walk, and Kai kept his hand under my elbows. He didn't trust that I could keep my balance. When we were within the eye-sight of the Oval, no one was around. Kai dropped his body low and put his arm around my shoulder. I did the same and we walked towards the building. My heart rate increased all of a sudden, and I could feel Kaiś do the same. We opened the doorś together, and about forty-five security guards heads turned towards us. Kai let out a moan. Four of the guards headed towards us, we were prepared.

They bought the ¨already been injected¨ act surprisingly. I was sure that part of the plan was going to fail. They held us under our arms to a room with the door wide open. All of a sudden, I started feeling light-headed again. How could this be happening? Mind-reading only worked when a person could be seen. Come now please Naomi, we need to get out of here. The guards left us in the room then closed the doors behind them. I could see Kai inspecting the room, checking for cameras. I did the same and noticed that there was a single vent above us. I pointed and Kai nodded, putting his hands in a cup to give me a boost.

I grasped the sides of the rim and pulled down, dropping the vent on the ground. I moved my hands around and pulled myself upwards, then I helped Kai up. We moved around from place to place, trying to find the room she was in. I felt something brush along my neck. I turned around and realized it was just the fan. Then I turned back around again, realizing that Kai was gone.

I called out his name for a good seven minutes until It was useless. We must´ve gotten separated. I continued on, hoping that this dusty journey would come to an end. I was feeling it again, the lightheadedness. I feel you, youŕe close. The next vent opening had to be it. I quietly knocked on the rims, hoping it wouldn't create an echo. No response. I pushed carefully until it came loose enough for me to pull out. I lowered my body in the room and hopped down. I couldn't believe my eyes.

Exactly ninety-nine teens were seated on the cold, dusty floor. They had a leather strap tied around their mouths, wrists, and ankles with a tube piercing through their arms, injecting them with a green fluid. I maneuvered my way through them until I found Armani. Her long black curly hair had been cut into a bob, she had bags under her eyes and just looked plain exhausted. I untied everything and lifter her over Kai´s shoulders. I felt so bad for all of them, but we didn't have enough time to save them. We took Armani and lifter her up towards the vent system. Kai dragged her through until we made it out. It seemed as though the guards must have been on break, for there were none around which provided us with an easy escape.

We walked back to Armani´s house and delivered her to her thankful parents. We reminded them to keep her out of sight and not to tell anyone what happened. We headed back towards Kai´s house because we both knew this wasn´t the end. The rest of those poor teens were in need of rescue and we weren't going to give up on them.

Kai made a plan to expose the government and what they were doing. Tomorrow at noon, I was going to hack the town´s radio broadcasting system using my handy dandy coding skills. I guess mother was right after all when she told me those classes would come in useful one day. He wrote out what I was going to say and when. This is a plan I could go along with.

¨People of Citadel, I want you to listen very carefully for what you are about to hear is very important. As you know, some of your children have been taken away from you. You are sad and worried about them, and you have no contact with them whatsoever. My name is Naomi-Leigh Patton and I am one of the two mind readers that we're able to hide from those who took you kids away. Yesterday, a friend and ¨ I glanced at Kai and he smiled, ¨went on a daring journey to rescue my best friend, who was also taken. We have the strongest connection that without being in the eyesight of one another, we were still able to communicate. All of your children are being held captive in the Oval´s main headquarters. They are being tied with leather straps around their mouths, ankles, and wrists. Sadly I was not able to rescue all but one, my best friend. We have to fight back against those who have harmed our loved ones, and we need to do it now¨, I turned off the mic, and nodded at Kai.

At first, we hear nothing. Not even the sounds of the guards coming my way. I looked at Kai for a response, but he seemed to be looking at something else. I looked out the window and saw about two dozen people walking along the street with their fists up. They were protesting. My broadcast had worked and people listened. I even saw Armani amongst them, leading them. This couldn't be happening. I saw a few security guards trying to slow them down and put them to a halt, but they couldn't. I ran outside with Kai and joined them. I stood next to Armani, hand in hand, and we shouted. We made our way all the way to the Oval where we were able to surpass all the guards and parents were able to rescue their kids. Some conscious some not.

The government eventually had to surrender themselves. We were free, no more classes or meetings, none. Armani and I were able to hang out every day, even with Kyle and his sister, Mara, who was rescued also. Armani and I´s connection had gotten stronger and stronger, and migraines got weaker and weaker. We eventually found out that we had the power to mind-read from any distance. We became leaders of the new mind reader clan which consisted of all the kids that could mind reading. I guess a nuke is all we needed to bring this town a little closer together.