“Hale! Look out!”
My eyes flicked to the side and I held my hand out instantly. The ball landed in the back of my glove easily. I tossed the baseball back, absentminded.
What had that been? A moment from a dream?
“I don’t know how you do that all the time. I swear, if you would’ve been someone normal, you would’ve had a cracked skull a long time ago.” My best friend, Thomas sighed.
I smirked slightly. The ball was tossed perfectly. It would’ve gone directly into a normal persons’ glove, however, Thomas was not normal whatsoever.
He barely managed to walk from day to day.
“What’s on your mind? I’ve known you since we were six and I’ve never known you to be so quiet.” Thomas questioned.
I shook my head. I knew Thomas perfectly well. If I told him about whatever that was, I would never hear the end of it. The mockery would last for an eternity.
“Oh, c’mon!” he exclaimed. I yawned and wiped my eyes. The last few nights had been rough. I couldn’t fall asleep. Flashes of syringes, chemicals, flooded my mind.
I wasn’t ashamed to say that I was terrified because of it. I already had a rough time with getting shots or having blood drawn as it was. It was as though something nagged me at the back of my head.
“Boys! Haven’t you been listening?”
Thomas’s attention flickered to the man standing before us. His fiery eyes never seemed to leave me. He always seemed to have something against me. As though I had done something to him.
“Sorry, Mr. Evans, my mind has been all over the place lately.” I apologized, attempting to avoid his spiel about not paying attention.
“Get out of here, Vagn!” he snapped, pointing to the door behind him. I didn’t need a minute to decide. I was outta there before you could say, ‘three’.

“Adoption can be a long, rough ride, but if you aren’t able to produce a child of your own it is worth it. Does anyone know if their adopted?” the teacher asked, gazing around the room.
Something perked up inside, making me cautiously alert. Adoption. There was that word again. Why did I feel tense around this subject?
“No one? Okay, here’s what your assignment is tonight. Ask your parents about the day you were born and how you came to be. You will present your findings tomorrow, so you’d better record some information.” She said.
How would that work? Mom and Dad always seemed to avoid that situation or topic. Not to mention that they were always gone. It was hard enough to just get them to sit down and talk to me, let alone talk about a rare subject.
I frowned. Maybe I could trap them in a room.
“What’s wrong Mr. Vagn? Cat got your tongue?” the teacher asked, smirking slightly.
I shook my head, sucking in a gust of wind, enriching my lungs. The air coated them once more, slowing my heart.
“No, Mrs. Knute, I’m just thinking.” I mumbled.
She raised a brow, her eyes narrowing in on mine. I wasn’t sure what she was looking for. I’d already told her the truth. I was thinking. I was thinking about how to talk to my parents, which brought me back to the dilemma. What did I do?

“Hale, sweetie, we’re going to be leaving soon. Make this quick!” Mom exclaimed.
I looked between the two, wondering what they’d say. I could already see the conversation going, ‘Oh, look at the time! I’m sorry, Hale. We’ve got to go, maybe next time?’
“Promise me that you’ll answer me. You can’t leave before you answer.” I demanded.
Dad glanced down at his watch, gesturing for me to hurry up. My breath was already wavering. Did they already know?
Mom nodded, promising to answer me. I doubted that would stick.
“Well, for my school project, I need to know about my birth…and…” I started.
Dad dropped his cup on the floor, the cup instantly shattering into tiny pieces on the hard wood floor. Mom plopped onto the couch just seconds after. What were they so afraid of? Why did this happen, every time I asked about my birth?
“Hale, honey, listen it’s getting late and the nanny will be here any second…” Mom started.
“No! You promised you would answer me before you left! Besides, it’s for a school project!” I snapped.
Dad cursed under his breath. I had them trapped. Hopefully.
“What would you like to hear?” he asked, cautiously.
I grinned, finally.
“How about the day you brought me home? Or why you don’t have any pictures of me as a baby? Or why you guys never answer me? Or perhaps, hmm, maybe my actual birth!” I exclaimed.
Mom and Dad glanced at each other, looking very uneasy.
“Do we tell him?” Mom whispered. Dad shrugged. My heart sped up.
“We can’t give you the answer you want, Hale. I can’t tell you that you had a full head of hair or that you were six pounds. I can’t tell you that you slept soundly at a few months old.” Dad sighed.
“You’re adopted, Hale. Your father is infertile.” Mom blurted. My breath was sucked away, my heart stopping. I swallowed hard. That’s why I didn’t have siblings.
My eyes filled with tears instantly. My hands were already shaking. Why was this affecting me so bad? I had anticipated this. I had thought up scenarios of how they had adopted me. I had dreamt of coming from a big family. I dreamt of being surrounded by a big family.
Mom rubbed my back, trying to calm me down.
“Breathe, Hale. Your face is red.” Dad said.
“Do you know my birth parents then? Do you know where I was from?” I asked, a minute later.
Suddenly, anger flushed over me. I clenched my jaw. They had hidden this from me for years and they hadn’t thought about telling me this! They hadn’t thought about telling me so that I could find my parents!
I glared down at the floor. I couldn’t look at them right now.
“We don’t know, Hale. You were left at the nearest police station. Next thing we know, we get a call from the agency, telling us that our child has finally arrived. I’m sorry, Bud.” Dad said.
I scowled. They couldn’t have at least checked it out? Not for me? What would they do when I had questions? Were they even planning to tell me at all?
“Well, we’ve really got to be going now.” Mom said quickly.
I stood up.
“No! You can’t leave now! You can’t leave like you always do! Just cancel the business trip!” I protested.
Mom frowned, rubbing my neck.
“Goodbye, Hale. We’ll see you in a few days.” She said, grabbing her things.
I gritted my teeth.
“Fine! Leave then! Leave when I need you the most!” I shouted, stomping towards my room.
“I feel bad, Tyler. Why can’t we tell him?” I heard Mom whisper.
“You know that they won’t like it. C’mon. Let’s go before he comes back in.” Dad mumbled.
I clenched my fists, my nails digging into the palms of my hands.
 

“They told me that I was left at the police station. That’s all I know.” I sighed.
Mrs. Knute wiped her face, trying to get rid of the smeared mascara. I shook my head. Women.
“Okay, Hale. Can you tell us anything more? Anything at all?” she asked, trying not to sniffle.
“Your name is Hale. You’re Experiment 6,798 created in the labs of NEURON.”
I blinked a few times. Trying to shake that thought out of my head. That couldn’t be real. It was just a dream. So why was it stuck in my head? Why did it keep popping up?
I shook my head.
“Okay, Hale, return to your seat.” She said, forcing a smile.
I clenched my jaw, forcing the pain out that ached in my heart. My parents weren’t here. They weren’t going to be here for me when I needed it the most. They weren’t going to be there when I graduated. They weren’t going to be there for me when I moved out.
I had to face it. My parents were never going to be in my life for long. They weren’t even my real parents! I bet my real parents would be there for me. I bet they would want to be around me.
“Hale? Are you okay, son?”
I shook those thoughts out of my head, gazing up. Our math teacher, Mr. Neil frowned down at me. His brown hair was pushed back into a ponytail, black, rectangular glasses falling down his nose. His blue eyes were maximized in size behind the lenses.
“Uh, y-yeah sir. I’m okay.” I stuttered. He raised a brow, questioning.
“Hale, you’re ghastly pale. I don’t think you’re all right. Not to mention you’ve been here fifteen minutes after schools’ been out, sitting in your seat and staring at the clock.” He sighed.
I gazed around the room. What do ya know, they were gone! The classroom was long deserted except for the two of us.
“Well, I guess I’d better go then, Mr. Neil. I don’t wanna keep the nanny waiting any longer.” I said, standing up.
He shook his head.
“Hale, are you sure you’re alright? I don’t want to send you off by yourself if you’re not feeling well.” He questioned.
Did I tell him that I actually wanted to crawl under the bed and ball my eyes out like a baby?
“I’m sure, Mr. Neil. Thanks for the concern.” I said.
He frowned, shrugging.
“Okay, go ahead and leave then, but please be careful.” He pleaded.
I nodded, tossing my backpack over my shoulder.
“See you tomorrow.” I replied.

“Seventeen…eighteen…nineteen…Hale! There you are!”
I grinned, opening my arms for the hug that always came.
“Hey, Erin! How’s it going?” I asked, wrapping my arms around her shoulder.
She pulled away a few seconds later, studying me with a wide grin.
“You’ve grown since the last time that I saw you! How tall are you now, six foot?” she exclaimed.
I studied her myself. She had changed as well. Her hair was no longer down the middle of her back, but now at her neck. Her blonde hair was now turned dark brown. She also didn’t wear the old sweaters anymore, but tank tops that showed cleavage. Her blue jeans were now leggings. Even her glasses were gone! I could clearly see her almost neon green eyes!
I had to say; (sorry to all those women out there) she was hot! When had this happened to the nineteen year old girl I knew?
“You don’t look too much the same either.” I gaped.
She snorted, “you like it? I thought I needed a change.”
I nodded, my tongue almost slipping out my mouth.
“So what are you doing?” I asked, glancing at the stack of plates.
She sighed and picked the plates up once again.
“Your parents told me to call some people. Apparently they are going to eat with us tonight.” She huffed.
I smirked, “they didn’t tell you about this, did they?”
She shook her head, her face brightening to a red pulp.
“Nope! I wish they would’ve told me this time, though! There are twenty people coming and I don’t even have a t-shirt!” she exclaimed, pushing her behind hair ear.
I chuckled. When had she become this girly? My guess was probably around the same time she started dressing like that.
“Who’s even coming?” I questioned.
She shrugged, “they said something about birth?”
My heart stopped. Were they coming? My heart was speeding up beyond what should’ve been healthy. I could feel the air suffocating me.
“Hale!” she exclaimed. My knees buckled, dropping my airless body to the floor.
“Breathe! Breathe, Hale!”
My eyes snapped open, driving the air through my lungs. I gasped; my back arching.
I felt cold hands against my neck on either side, large hands. Hands that couldn’t be Erin’s.
“Hale, I’m Dr. Warthy. I’m with the agency here today.” A deep, dark voice bellowed above me.
I gazed around, searching for Erin, but I couldn’t see her through all of these strange men and women.
“Where’s Erin? Who are you all?” I gasped.
Dr. Warthy nodded, helping me up. His dark hairy hands tickled my wrist. His almost black eyes and African skin reflected a deep concern he had for me. He rubbed his baldhead and pointed behind a tall, stick woman in the back.
“I assume you’re talking about the twenty-four-year-old crying in the back?” he said.
  I pushed past the group gawking down at me. I didn’t feel like making ‘friends’ right now. I needed Erin.
“Oh, Hale! I thought you were a goner!” Erin shrieked, pulling me into her arms.
I let my head rest against her shoulder, her hand stroking the back of my neck. Her smooth, baby skin went up and down, protecting me from such dangers.
“Mr. Vagn, if you would please divert your attention for a moment.” Dr. Warthy hollered.
Erin let go of me and gazed at the man with a look of defensiveness, as though she thought he was going to hurt me. She shielded me from him, putting her body in front of mine.
“Please, Miss Carter, don’t encourage any violence. We do not want to harm the boy, we just want to study.” He said.
Erin’s arms tightened around my chest. What was she so afraid of? What did he mean ‘study’?
“Um, what are you guys talking about? What are you all doing here?” I questioned, gazing around the room.
Everyone seemed to be on the defensive, as though someone were about to attack. It was very tense.
“You have not told him anything, have you? That is wonderful, that will make it easier.” Dr. Warthy said, looking at Erin.
“Keep your hands off him! He’s just a boy! He doesn’t know anything! You promised!” Erin snapped.
“We did not promise we wouldn’t visit the boy. We just promised we wouldn’t take him away.” He sighed.
My pulse raced. Take me away? I felt my muscles tighten. If Erin didn’t trust these people then I wouldn’t.
“Hale, do tell me, do you remember anything about your birth? Do you know who we are?” Dr. Warthy asked, his eyes locking onto mine.
My guards soon slipped down, something inside of me switching on. I fought the urge to blurt out everything I had been worried about, clenching my jaw.
“Oh, don’t tell me that you don’t trust us now? I’ve only just saved your life.” he frowned.
Sweat poured down the side of my head, slipping down like dripping paint.
“Don’t fight me. It’ll only make it worse. I know there is something that you want to tell me, don’t you?” he continued.
A sound in my ear ruptured, alerting me. I let go of my clenched jaw momentarily, before it snapped like a rubber band.
“Yes!” burst through my mouth.
Why had I done that? What was wrong with me?
“What is it you would like to say? Do say something.” He said, snapping his fingers.
I felt as hands pried me away from Erin, but I couldn’t fight back. I couldn’t shove them away like my brain urged me to do. I couldn’t cry out for Erin as she shrieked at them to let me go. I couldn’t fight him. I dropped down to my knees, my legs locking in place. The arms around me dispersed, allowing for Dr. Warthy to talk one-on-one.
“NEURON, Experiment 6,798!” I shouted, immediately feeling relieved.
Dr. Warthy crouched down to my height and stared into my eyes, searching.
“So you do remember then. I figured as much. Why else would you ask your parents about birth?” he replied.
I exhaled, my body releasing the tension.
“But you don’t understand, do you? You are only twelve though, in a sixteen year olds’ body.” He said.
“What are you talking about? I’m sixteen! I’m…” I started.
He held up his hand, “Hush, child.”
I closed my mouth without a moments’ pause.
“You’re only one of six now, but it seems the most successful. Tell me, how did you remember?” he demanded.
“I don’t know. I remembered during school. It came in a vision.” I sighed.
“Oh, then we gave you more than we realized. Do you wish to know of your origin? Do you want to know how you came to be?” he replied.
Against every bone in my body, I turned my head away from him, relieving my body from his mind games.
“Oh, a feisty one!” he exclaimed, grabbing ahold of my chin.
I closed my eyes, quickly. I didn’t want to fall back under his command.
“Open your eyes Hale. Open them, NOW!” he shouted.
I kept my eyes glued shut, from fear rather than courage. I couldn’t trust myself to do what I wanted with them opened.
“I was hoping that we would get some fight from one of you. He’s the one, guys. He’s the one we’ve been looking for, the leader of the six.” He hollered.
“How would you like to precede, Doctor?”
“Take him to his room, do all standard procedure and log this.” He said, backing away.
My eyes snapped open. I leapt forward and tried forcing my way out of the crowd. However, my struggle did not last long. About a dozen people rushed at me at once, all of which were under Dr. Warthy’s command.
“No! Leave him alone!” Erin screamed.
I kicked out, thrown to the floor. Erin scrambled over to me, pulling me in to her.
I snapped my head up, fear creeping into my chest. What would happen to us? Where were Mom and Dad?
Dr. Warthy stood over us, catching my eye before I could turn away. 
“Sleep, my son.” He commanded.
I closed my eyes. Did he just say son?
“You can’t do anything to him! We have a written contract!” Erin growled.
“We will just…”
 

“Hale, it’s alright, Hun. I’m right here.”
My eyes felt as though they were glued together. I opened them slowly, feeling as though they were ripping apart.
My mom sat next to me, a chair beside my bed. When had this happened? I thought they were gone on a business trip?
“What are you doing here, Mom? Weren’t you going to Boston for a few weeks?” I asked, my voice cracking.
“We were, baby. The flight was canceled.” She said, rubbing my forehead.
I pushed myself up, searching my mind for any sign of what had happened.
“Where’s Erin?” I exclaimed. She raised a brow, her frown deepening.
“Who’s Erin? Not a girl we haven’t met, I hope.” She said.
“You know who Erin is! She’s my nanny when you’re gone! She was just here!” I snapped.
  Her mouth a big ‘o’.
“You mean, Robin! That’s her nickname, isn’t it? I thought you were done with those.” She exclaimed, opening the door.
“Robin, come here for a minute!” she exclaimed.
A young girl, blonde hair and brown eyes shined down on me. She waved with a slight smirk.
“Hey, Hale! How’s it going?” she grinned.
This wasn’t Erin! Why didn’t she remember Erin? Who the hell was this?
“That’s not Erin! Where is she? Tell me now!” I shouted.
Robin frowned.
My mom held her hand out.
“Hale, Robin is the only babysitter you’ve ever had. I don’t know who this ‘Erin’ is, but she’s not your nanny.” She said, softly.
I stood up from the bed, pacing. What had NEURON done to my parents? Where was Erin?
“See look, this is when you were nine.” She said and held a picture up for me to see.
This  “Robin” had her arms wrapped around me around the age of six. Her eyes twinkled down at me, catching the glimmer of hope I had left in my body.
My stomach dropped into my legs. I dropped down to my knees with the weight sinking me further down.
“This was Photo-Shopped! She isn’t my babysitter!” I shouted. My mom’s face spread into a deep-set look of concern.
“You’re really starting to freak me out now, Honey. There has never been an ‘Erin’. Just Robin.” She said.
I gritted my teeth. What did they do to her?
“Mom, what have they done? You loved Erin!” I said, exasperated.
“Kirk!” she yelled.
A few seconds later, my dad ran into the room, almost collapsing as he slid into the bed.
“What? What’s wrong?” he questioned, clearly out of breath. He must’ve run all the way across the house.
“Hale is starting to scare me. Tell him there’s no one called Erin!” she exclaimed.
My dad turned to me, “Hale, quit with this funny business. You’re scaring your mother!”
My mouth dropped open, “But I’m not…”
“Enough! Go back to bed!” he snapped.
I sighed. Maybe my mom was right. Maybe I had just dreamt up the whole thing. Maybe there was no Erin. They had a picture to prove it. Plus, it’d be very hard to PhotoShop something that well.
I gazed up at my parents, “I’m sorry, mom. That dream was so real. I could’ve sworn that all of that had actually happened.”
My mom sighed, relieved. I looked to my dad.
“I believe you also owe an apology to Robin.” He said. I swallowed down my pride and looked the blonde in the eyes.
“I’m sorry for yelling at you. It was wrong.” I said through gritted teeth.
The blonde ran at me, pulling her arms around me, “I could never stay mad at you, Silly!”
A few minutes later, all of them left me alone in the vacant room. A room I hardly recognized. With people, I hardly recognized.
How could I have forgotten about someone like Robin? Was I really that messed up in the head?
I laid down on my bed and shoved those thoughts out my head.

I rubbed the back of my head and slipped out the door. It had to be around four in the morning after I finally decided to quit tossing and turning. I yawned and bumped into the wall. 
“Do you think he bought it?” My mom asked, her voice hushed.
I stopped dead in my tracks and backed into the hallway.
My dad shrugged, “he was dead set on Erin. But Dr. Warthy knew that we’d have trouble convincing him.”
My heart snapped in half. They tricked me! They made me think I was crazy! I felt bad for worrying them and yelling at “Robin”! What kind of parents could do that to their child?
“He’s in their hands now. Our job was only to look after him until his realization.” He said.
Tears filled my eyes. They didn’t even want me! I was just a job to them! My shoulders tensed up. This was so much worse than I initially thought they did to them.
My parents weren’t under some sort of spell. They had me under some sort of spell. I had been in this huge bubble my whole life. The bubble had just now popped.
I wiped my tears. That was enough poor me. I had to get out of there. I didn’t trust these people. They weren’t my parents. Parents wouldn’t put a child through all that.
I bolted to my room before they saw me.

I threw in my last sweatshirt and zipped up the small suitcase. I spun around, my heart instantly dropping.
I swallowed hard and backed up.
“What are you doing, Hale?” Dr. Warthy questioned.
His dark eyes gazed down at the suitcase in my hand. He looked back up again with a smirk.
“Oh, Hale. I thought you knew better than to run off on your parents like that.” He said.
I fell backward, landing on my butt.
“Back off!” I shouted. He shook his head.
“If you are going to leave then you ought to be quieter about it. I could hear you a mile away.” He said.
He kneeled down to my height. I closed my eyes, gluing them shut. I couldn’t fall under his spell again.
My breathing fell heavier. I felt his breath on the back of my neck.
“Open your eyes, Hale. Don’t you want to see Erin again?” Dr. Warthy said. I just about opened my eyes with shock. Erin. That was all I wanted. To see Erin again. She could comfort me. She could tell me it was just all a dream and I would believe it.
“That’s fine, she told me she didn’t like you all that much anyway.” He said.
My eyes snapped open, fury burning my blood, “That’s a lie! We were like siblings!”
Dr. Warthy’s eyes immediately turned dark, locking onto mine.
“You’re right. She never said anything to us. She wouldn’t even make eye contact with us before she died. That was all a trick to get you to open your eyes. And you fell for it.” He said.
My mind was blocked. I tried to produce a single thought, yet, nothing. It was like a brick wall had been built around my brain, blocking out any signals.
“Stand up.” He commanded. With all my might, I couldn’t fight the command. The more I tried to resist, the more the words echoed through my head.
“Now, you will forget all about this. You will carry on to school and talk to Thomas like normal.” He said.
I nodded. He rested his hands on my shoulders.