The Forgotten

Ray POV

“Raaayyy... Raaayyy...”

The sound of my name echoed inside my head, drawn out in a playful, sing-song voice.

I woke with a start.

Oh no.

That meant they were close.

Really close.

I quickly shook the sleeping Logan awake beside me.

“Logan, come on. Get up. I think they’re here.” I whispered urgently. “We gotta go.”

Logan’s eyes snapped open. He immediately sat up.

“Shit. How did they find us so fast?”

Before I could answer, a loud bang echoed through the abandoned building.

The bedroom door shook violently in its frame.

“Fuck,” Logan muttered.

We were both on our feet now.

“What are we going to do?” I asked, my heart pounding.

Logan didn’t answer.

He simply flicked his wrist.

Every piece of furniture in the room suddenly lifted off the ground and flew toward the door. A dresser slammed against it, followed by a table, chairs, and anything else Logan could move.

The door shook again.

Harder this time.

Logan clenched his jaw, using his power to keep the furniture pressed firmly against it.

For a moment, everything went still.

Then another violent bang rattled the room.

I stared at the barricaded door.

“That’s not going to hold forever.”

I swallowed hard.

“There’s no doubt he brought Noah with him.”

“Ray, why must you make this harder than it has to be?” I heard Zac’s voice through the door.

“Why can’t you just leave us alone? Let us be!” Logan yelled, struggling to keep his powers focused on the barricade.

“Noah, I’m tired of these games. End this now. I’d like to go home,” Zac said like he was bored.

“Hurry. Go through the fire escape. I’ll hold them off,” Logan said.

“What about you?” I asked.

“It doesn’t matter what happens to me. You’re the one Father really wants.” Logan glanced at me. “As long as they don’t catch you, it’ll be worth it. I’ll escape again, and we’ll meet up.”

I knew he was lying just to get me to leave him behind.

“You know damn well that if you get caught and I’m still out there running around, Father will punish you.”

Logan just gave me a lopsided smile.

“Go.”

Before I could say anything else, the doors finally gave in.

They burst open with a deafening crash.

Noah and Zac stepped through the doorway.

Zac had a smile on his face.

Noah didn’t.

He looked like he didn’t even want to be there. He probably didn’t. He’d been forced to do this yet again, just like always.

I took my chance and made a run for the fire escape.

Logan immediately sent pieces of furniture flying toward them, forcing them to duck and back away.

I was almost there.

“Oh, no, you don’t.”

Zac’s voice stopped me cold.

I felt his power invade my mind.

My body suddenly froze.

I tried to move.

Nothing.

I couldn’t even lift a finger.

“Zac, you don’t have to do this!” Logan shouted. “Take me back. Just let her go!”

Zac barely looked at him.

“Now, you know very well that if none of us come back with her, there will be punishment for all of us.”

His eyes turned toward me.

“Come here, Ray.”

I obeyed and walked toward him.

I couldn’t control myself. Zac was using his power against me again, all so he could please Father.

As I got closer, his smile grew.

“Honestly, I don’t know why you keep trying to escape.” Zac tilted his head, almost amused. “You know how this always ends—with you walking straight into my arms.”

He chuckled.

“What number is this? Your twentieth attempt?”

“I hate you,” I whispered, a tear slipping down my cheek.

“Shh.” Zac reached up and gently wiped the tear from my cheek. “I only do this to protect you.”

“Get your filthy hands off her!” Logan shouted. “You call this protecting her? You’re giving her back to that monster! How is that protecting her?”

Zac slowly turned his attention toward Logan.

“That’s enough out of you.”

His expression hardened.

“Sleep.”

He used his power on Logan.

Logan’s eyes fluttered before his body went limp, collapsing onto the floor.

“Logan!” I cried, but I couldn’t move toward him.

Zac sighed.

“Noah, do me a favor and pick him up.”

Noah hesitated for a moment, glancing down at Logan.

“Let’s go,” Zac continued. “I don’t want to be in this filthy place any longer. I don’t know how you two manage to sleep somewhere like this.”

He shivered, looking around the abandoned building as though the very sight of it disgusted him.

“Come on,” Zac said.

He grabbed my shoulder and guided me through the house, still using his powers to make sure I did exactly what he wanted.

Behind us, Noah picked up Logan and hauled him over his shoulders before following after us.

When we stepped outside the abandoned building, a black limousine was parked right out front, waiting for us.

Of course it was.

Zac opened the door for me.

I climbed inside, and he took the seat beside me. Noah placed Logan carefully on the floor of the limo. He was still unconscious, completely unaware of what was happening.

Noah then sat across from us.

Zac lounged lazily in his seat, one arm draped over the back of mine as though this were nothing more than a casual ride home.

Once everyone was settled, the limo pulled away from the abandoned building and headed back toward home.

Only then did Zac release his hold over my mind.

I immediately felt control return to my body.

But it didn’t feel like freedom.

Not when I knew exactly where we were going.

“Don’t you think you could release Logan?” I asked.

“And have him use that annoying power of his on me?” Zac scoffed. “No, thank you.”

“The only annoying power here is yours,” I muttered, crossing my arms and turning away from him.

He laughed at my insult.

“Aww, don’t be mad at me, sunshine.” He leaned back in his seat, completely relaxed. “We’ve done this time and time again. You and Logan escape, and I chase you. I rather enjoy our little game.”

“It’s not a game, Zac.”

My voice came out sharper than I intended.

“I don’t want to be there. You have no idea what it’s like when he does his tests on me.”

I looked down at my hands, remembering every time I’d been strapped to that table.

“How I die and come back over and over again.”

My voice cracked.

“I can’t escape... even in death.”

“If anyone knows, it’s me. I’m right there beside you, calming you down,” he says.

“Why do you always do as he says?” I ask.

He falls silent.

I reach out and grab Zac’s arm, desperation taking over as I try to find some way out of the situation we’re in.

“Come with us,” I beg. “Next time we make a run for it, come with us. I know with your powers, we can succeed. All of us could.”

I look toward Noah, silently hoping he’ll agree.

“He works for powerful people, Ray,” Noah says. “They’d just end up killing us all and getting replacements. Not all of us are death-proof.”

He pauses, his expression hardening.

“You know you’re risking Logan’s life every time he goes with you. The easier thing to do is just stay put.”

I look back at Zac, silently pleading with him to agree.

He just laughs and grabs my chin, tilting my face toward his.

“I may have some affection for you, my little ray of light, but I’m not stupid enough to follow you wherever you go,” he says, letting go of my chin. “Unlike Logan here, I don’t follow you around like a lost puppy. I’m the one in control—not the other way around.”

I huff in frustration. “You’re just as much of a prisoner as I am.”

“And we accept it,” Noah says from across the limo.

I glance out the window. The mansion is already coming into view, and dread begins to creep in as I think about what Father might do when he sees me—especially knowing I tried to run away yet again.

“Don’t be scared, Sunshine. I told him to go easy on you this time,” Zac says.

“But I can’t say the same for him.” He gestures toward Logan.

“Why not?” I ask.

“Because maybe watching him suffer is exactly what you need to remind yourself not to run away again,” Zac says coldly.

The limo stops right in front of the house. Zac opens the door and steps out. I stay where I am until he leans back inside and looks at me.

“You can either get out by yourself, or I can make you. Your choice.”

I sigh and climb out of the limo.

“There. That wasn’t so hard, was it?” he says.

We start toward the mansion, a place filled with nothing but bad memories for me.

I feel the same dread I did when I first arrived here. Only now, things are different. Back then, I had no idea what awaited me beyond those doors. I didn’t know the true nature of the man we called Father.

Now I do.

We step through the doors, and Lumi and Chloe are already waiting in the living room. Both of them have wide smiles on their faces, clearly amused that I managed to get caught.

“Wow, that was quick, Zac. I think you beat your record this time,” Lumi says.

“Yes, well, they’re becoming rather predictable,” he replies.

“Or you’re a cheater who can find us by going through our minds,” I say glaring at him.

“Well, if you have the means, why not use them?” he says with a shrug.

“Pay up,” Chloe says to Lumi. “I believe I said it would take about a day for him to find them.”

“Well, they left yesterday, so I win,” Lumi argues.

“It’s been within twenty-four hours,” Chloe points out.

Lumi huffs before pulling out twenty dollars and handing it to her.

This was all just a big joke to them.

“Honestly, Ray, I don’t know why you keep running. You have it good here. Father makes sure you get whatever you want. He pays more attention to you than the rest of us.” Lumi says.

“I don’t want any of that,” I say. “And we both know he only does that to make up for all the tests he still runs on me.”

“We all have tests run on us and we still stay.” Lumi says.

“Come on.” Zac grips my arm and pulls me along with him.

Noah follows silently behind us, still carrying an unconscious Logan over his shoulder.

We head down to the basement, to Father’s lab—a place all of us know far too well.

We descend the stairs, the familiar smell of antiseptic and chemicals growing stronger with every step. Father is standing at one of the workstations, completely absorbed in whatever experiment he’s working on. He doesn’t turn around when we enter.

He already knows we’re there.

“Good job, Zac. I can always count on you,” Father says, his voice calm and almost approving.

Then he finally looks over.

His eyes land on me.

The warmth disappears from his expression.

“Rachael.”

Just hearing my name in that tone makes my stomach twist.

He studies me for several long seconds before slowly shaking his head.

“When are these games going to end?”

I say nothing.

Father waits.

When I still refuse to answer, he lets out a quiet sigh.

“I’ve given you more freedom than you deserve,” he says. “I’ve given you everything you’ve ever asked for. And this is how you repay me?”

I keep my eyes down.

He walks toward us, his footsteps echoing through the lab.

“You know what disappoints me most, Rachael?” he asks.

I don’t answer.

“You knew exactly what would happen if you were caught.”

His gaze shifts toward Logan.

“And yet you did it anyway.”

My heart drops.

“Set him down over there.”

Noah carries Logan to the table and carefully lays him down.

“Strap him in.”

Noah hesitates.

Father’s eyes move to him.

“Now.”

Noah immediately obeys, securing Logan to the table.

I watch helplessly as Father approaches him.

“What are you going to do to him?” I ask.

Father stops.

For a moment, there is silence.

Then he looks at me.

“I’m going to teach him a lesson.”

My breathing quickens.

“He took something that belongs to me,” Father continues, his voice eerily calm. “And I need him to understand that there are consequences for taking what is mine.”

“No, please.”

Father doesn’t even flinch.

“It was my idea,” I rush out. “Not his. I forced him into it.”

His eyes remain fixed on mine.

“I know.”

Those two words make my blood run cold.

“I knew exactly what you were doing the moment you left.”

He turns back toward Logan.

“But that doesn’t change what he did.”

“Please, Father. Don’t hurt him.”

Father pauses beside the table.

“You should have thought about that before you ran.”