Eight

The next day, Ash was up before her. Leigh woke to an empty bed. Oliver was gone too. The only one still soundly asleep was Madelaine. Leigh got up groggily, walking downstairs to the bathroom. Ash and Oliver were sitting at the breakfast table with her dad. Leigh ducked into the bathroom, washing her face and rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. Her head still reeled from last nights adventure, and she could see on her two friends faces that they couldn't quite process it either.

"Morning, Leigh." Her father said, handing her a plate with a steaming Eggo on it. Leigh stared at it, then pushed her meagre breakfast away.

"I'm not really hungry." Leigh tried for a smile, but it came out forced and awkward. It probably made her look like a feral dog. Her dad stared at her like she was a horse wearing boots.

"What's with the face?" He asked, clearly startled.

Leigh just shook her head, turning to the window. She had paralyzing anxiety that the people from last night would come charging up her driveway like little ants. She could see dark figures. Leigh blinked, and they were gone.

"Leigh?" Asked her dad concerned. "Are you ok?" Leigh just nodded dumbly in response. Madelaine stumbled into the kitchen groggily.

"Mornin'." She mumbled incoherently, making a beeline for the coffee.

After they ate, or somewhat ate, the four collected in Leigh's room.

"Ok, what are we going to do?" Asked Madelaine, looking at Leigh.

"I don't know. What can we do?" She asked, hoping someone else could tell her.

"We have to find Sky, that's unquestionable," Ash said, taking charge. "I say we carefully make our way back to the stream. With Leigh's newfound powers, we should be ok, right?" Ash looked at Leigh expectantly, and she could feel herself turn red.

"Can you try to lift something? Or set something on fire? Or whatever you did last night?" Asked Oliver excitedly. Leigh took a deep breath and nodded.

She tried to lift a paper off her desk since the telkenises had come easily to her last night. Nothing happened. She dropped her arm in confusion. Leigh picked up the paper and stared at it, trying to set it on fire. Nothing. She looked up at her friend's expectant faces. This felt stupid. She shook her head.

"You don't feel anything?" Asked Madelaine.

"No. Last night it came so easily, I didn't think about it. But now, it's like there's a block around it. Like there is this iron wall that I need opened, but I need a particular key to open it. Just the key isn't like a physical key, it's more like..." She looked around her room, trying to find a way to explain it.

"Like a power, or invisible force of some kind?" Offered Ash.

"Yes, exactly!" Leigh exclaimed, snapping her fingers.

"Maybe it only works when you're in danger?" Madelaine suggested. Oliver nodded in agreement.

"You've never been in danger like that before, so maybe fear or big risks trigger it?" He speculated. Leigh nodded.

"That sounds about right. I guess that's why I never discovered my powers before. Anyway, if we're in danger again, I can use them. So we should go to the stream and find clues!" Leigh spurted excitedly, squirming a little on her bed.

The four kids walked out the door, not bothering to tell Rob they were leaving. Cautiously, they wandered the same path, everyone feeling nerves ebb away at their confidence. They made it to the stream without casualties, aside from a rabbit that scared Oliver half to death. He hated small rodents.

Flashes of last night clouded Leigh's vision until it seemed like she was there again. Madelaine put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. They nodded at each other.

"I think I found something!" Cried Oliver from somewhere in the bushes.

The girls exchanged glances, then bolted towards his voice. Oliver was crouched on the dirt floor, holding a little wooden box in his hands. Skylar's name was engraved on top. It was her old jewelry box. A sick roiling feeling came over Leigh's stomach, and she turned away. She could remember Sky playing with that thing, constantly turning the knob so the little ballerina on top spun around and around.

"Leigh? You ok?" Asked Madelaine gently. Leigh nodded, blinking away the tears in her eyes.

"Open it." She told Oliver. He nodded, carefully cracking the yellow lid.

Inside was a piece of paper, Skylar's old plastic ring that she got from a cereal box, and some sort of piece of plastic that looked like a credit card. Oliver handed the paper to Leigh. She took it gingerly. It was old and weathered, worn and soft at the edges. It was a little yellowed too. Leigh's fingers shook as she carefully unfolded it.

Sis. I'm sorry I broke your radio. There are two strangers here looking for me. I'm hiding, but I think they will find me. I'm leaving this behind in my jewelry box in case I get taken away. I need you to know this, to understand and hopefully find me. There was another woman. She tried to grab me, but I blasted her backwards somehow, with golden light. I think I killed her. They are looking for her. I stole her access card and will leave it here. I think they are going to take me to some facility, because of my powers. If you find this, I will give you directions as best as I can. The facility is somewhere north, in an unpopulated area. It's cold. I don't know where it is exactly. You will find information on the access card. Please help me!

Leigh's eyes burned. Her legs buckled like someone had hit the backs of her knees. An iron weight settled in her stomach, making her want to throw up. She sat down, handing the piece of paper to Madelaine. When all three had read it, nobody said anything. Oliver studied the access card, but Leigh didn't want to see it.

"Nunavut," he said. "It says right here. The facility is disguising itself as a military training area. We can go there." Ollie said. Leigh looked up. Oliver's eyes were wide and crazy.

"Are you insane?" Madelaine demanded. "We need to call the police! What are we going to do? We're nothing more than four teenagers. We're barley even teenagers! Oliver still plays with dolls, for crying out loud!" Madelaine looked terrified.

"They are action figures, and I don't still play with them. You're the one who still sleeps with a stuffie!" He bickered. Madelaine brushed his comment off.

"It doesn't matter. We're talking big warehouse crawling with bad people. Sky described it as a 'facility' meaning it's probably teeming with kids! How would we get them all back?" She demanded.

"This isn't a movie. We need help," she stated.

Leigh thought about that. Madelaine had a point. If this really was filled with kids with powers, the guards would obviously be armed to the masses. For all they knew, the guards had powers, too. How could the four of them really do anything? Leigh didn't feel good about leaving all those kids behind. But how would they get them all out?

"What if..." Oliver started, tapping his chin like he always did when he was thinking. "What if we find a way to get Sky out first? She would know everything about the place, and she has powers. She probably learned how to use and control them in this 'facility.' If we get her out, we could also broadcast a huge news thing. People don't want their kids taken away to that place, do they? Of course not. They'll storm it. Police will get involved. We just need to give the first domino a push, by getting Skylar out. If we tell the adults or the cops now, they won't belive us, no matter what evidence we shove up their nose." He growled. Oliver had gotten in trouble with the police once. They had arrested him, thinking he had shoplifted. Well, technically he had.

Leigh nodded her head, and she could see the other girls doing the same. It was a perfect plan. They just needed to get to Nunavut...