Chapter 11: Home "Sweet" Home

~ When the place called home is the last place you want to be, you reach out to the safest place you know of. Whether that be a person, a place, or thing; that is what we truly consider home. ~

Has anyone in my family been here before? How was that possible? Does that mean that Peace Keepers had something to do with my dad's death? Questions kept swirling through my head until I was snapped back to reality by Dr. Hawkins.

"Keep up Thomas, it's easy to get lost around here until you get the hang of the compound."

"My bad. I'll be right there."

"Don't apologize, it's completely fine."

I hurried to walk past her into the doorway she had opened. As I passed to catch up to everyone, she closed the door behind her.

"Alright, let's stop here for a moment. I'll show you guys where you'll be spending most of your free time and then we can go from there. So, the room we are in now is basically the center to get to everything else. This door we just came through will lead you to the testing rooms, as well as my office. You may have noticed another door past my office; that is the sparring room and general gym. Qamar will talk to you about that more later though. Anyway, to our left is the kitchen and general area. Meals are provided, but if you want to make anything else, let us know what we need to get, and we will do our best. For the general area, that has a television, as well as a few other base entertainment things from past teams. If there is anything specific you want to add to that area, please feel free to ask, but we may not be able to fulfill your request. If you go to the general area, or through this door directly behind you, you'll find your rest area hall. Each door is to a different bedroom that is given to each of you. Finally, if you take an immediate right at either end of the rest area hall, or go through this door on the right, you will find the restrooms. There are multiple showers, separated between male and female, as well as separate areas for any other bathroom necessities. I know that was a lot, so do any of you have any questions?"

Akira spoke up first, "Yeah, how are we supposed to get our stuff? You guys kidnapped us if I remember correctly."

"That is a great question, especially since I was going to explain to you all about the next steps. But I will leave that to Qamar, he's always been better at those talks. For now, choose the room you would prefer, and get some rest. I know you all probably feel fine, but you guys have been through a lot, physically, mentally, and emotionally. The rooms all have the basics, so you should be fine. If you guys need anything, I'll be in my office, otherwise have a great night. Oh, and there is some food in the kitchen that I made earlier if you guys want any."

As Dr. Hawkins left, everybody split up. Liam and Evelynn went to the kitchen to grab some food, Akira immediately picked a room, and Beatriz looked like they were going to go take a shower. I made my way to the general area, trying to clear my head. I couldn't stop thinking about the fact that my dad could have been here. I wanted to know what happened, I needed to get answers. Suddenly I heard Liam behind me.

"Thomas, hey come grab a plate man, Dr. Hawkins made some baked ziti."

"I'm alright." At that point Evelynn spoke up.

"Come on Thomas, you need to eat something, or do anything really. You look like you are trying to solve all the world's problems. It's not a good idea to just sit on whatever you're thinking."

"Alright. I'll try."

"Hey, after this wanna try a few rounds of pool?" I could see Liam leaning against a table that, while clean, looked older than all of us. I smiled.

"If you're ready to lose."

"Oh, is that a challenge?"

Liam suddenly posed as if he was from Karate Kid, and I laughed. It felt good. With everything that happened, it was nice that there were people around me that could help pick me up. I knew I would do the same for them, and I could feel that it was going to be needed soon. As the night went on, we laughed and enjoyed playing pool. After a while, Evelynn was the first to call it.

"Alright guys, I'm going to head to bed, you guys should too."

"One more game, after all I have to give Thomas a chance at winning at least one."

I rolled my eyes as I saw Liam leaning with his pool stick. "I got you this time."

"As long as you can avoid hitting the eight-ball into the pocket…again, you might have a chance."

After we finished the game, we both called it, said good night, and went to find our rooms. As I got in my room, I closed the door behind me and took a deep breath. I still had questions about everything, but after today, I felt better with the "team", as Moreau called it, I was with. I got into bed, staring at the ceiling. I knew that it was going to be hard with everything, but with the five of us, I had a feeling we would be okay. I blinked, and the next thing I knew I heard a knock on my door.

"Time to get up! We have a lot to go over today."

I groggily got up and opened my door. Qamar was down the hall knocking on the other doors, repeating the same line. I saw the others slowly walk out of their rooms, some looking more tired than others. Once we were all up and in the hallway, we followed Qamar back to the testing area.

"Alright, so obviously we don't want your family worrying about you. So, all of you will be going back to your home. You'll explain to your guardians that you were selected for a special pre-college program that will help acclimate you to life away from home. You'll have one of our agents come with you with a letter proving this, as well as to field any questions. If you want to grab anything personal, that would be the time to do it. Don't do anything stupid, or else you'll be coming back here like the first time. If you have any questions, ask the agent that is with you, since any questions will probably be on a case-by-case basis."

As he was talking, I saw a group of people in suits seemingly appear out of thin air. They guided us to an exit that seemed to have appeared with them, and we were back out into the normal world. I noticed everyone seemed to have their own car to go into, and I was guided into my own. I looked to the agent across from me in the car.

"So, any tips?" Surprisingly, they spoke.

"Yeah, don't do anything stupid. You are really heavy, and I don't feel like carrying you again."

After that it was a quiet ride to my house. I explained everything to my mom and went to grab anything from my room I thought I should have. I could hear my mom asking questions, but the agent seemed prepared for anything she asked. After I grabbed a bunch of stuff, I came back down. It seemed the answers my mom had gotten had satisfied her. She gave me a hug, kissing me on the cheek. As I walked out, she waved goodbye, making sure to remind me to call her or at least text her as often as I could. I nodded, telling her not to worry. After putting my stuff in the trunk and getting in the car, I let out the breath I didn't realize I had been holding. Now was when it really was going to start, and something in my gut told me that it wasn't going to be easy.