It was early morning and three days since the Holly and Adam incident. After receiving the blood transfusion from Tiffany, and after Mike had removed the needle in my arm and had taken the time to lead me back to B-6, I had spent the majority of my time resting.

The only times I left B-6 was to use the bathroom; Blain had asked for permission to bring me food from the cafeteria in the morning and in the early evening. Breakfast had sausages which I was certain weren't made of actual meat but some kind of vegetarian substitute, as well as hastily made mash potato with a single fried egg to go with it. Dinner had been a tiny cheese pizza made of some kind of barely edible dough, with a side of hash browns which, though oily tasting, weren't so bad. Blain was tired of me thanking him for bringing me the food each day; each time he would mumble ''It's nothin'' and would go lay down on his bunk.

Reece and Christopher talked endlessly in B-6 and sat on the same bunk. None of their conversation could be heard by Blain or I however because they were using the heightened hearing trick to avoid their conversation from being picked up by the Meter devices. I didn't need to heighten my own hearing to know what they were talking about; their hatred of the Pied Piper officers and the facility was becoming nothing short of radicalized. Holly's death, rather than deter them from keeping their fangs instead emboldened them. They were planning something and neither Blain nor I were invited to learn what it was, though it was easy to guess. I couldn't see Reece or Christopher settling for anything short of a revolution at the facility to regain their freedom.

I wanted to warn them against it but I was in no condition to deal with the consequences of riling them up. If either of them transformed into monsters within the confines of B-6 I doubted I would be able to defend myself or get away in my wounded condition. They were hellbent on doing things their way and I simply didn't believe anything I might say would get through to them.

I had my own thoughts on escape. Sophie's revelation of an exit somewhere in the exercise area was the small piece of hope in my mind that an escape might be possible. The thing was, any escape plan from this facility was going to need to be meticulous to have the faintest hope of working. There were simply too many things which could go wrong. If we tried to escape and failed then the odds of us being murdered by the Pied Piper officers was close to certain or, at the very least, had to be treated as certain because in no way did I believe they would be merciful towards us in the event we failed to escape.

The dread of knowing there were poisonous gas canisters hidden in the walls of the facility made it almost impossible for me to sleep. Just knowing that at any moment we could all be murdered was enough for me to stare off into space as if my mind had short-circuited.

This was too much. Way too much for someone like me. I wasn't cut out for life or death scenarios. I wasn't even cut out for regular life; doing well at school, making friends, doing well at sports, being artistic; I wasn't good at anything normal so trying to handle being imprisoned at a facility among superhuman teenagers was so far beyond my capabilities it was a joke.

And yet I had no other option but to persist in the hope things could get better.

On the third morning since the Holly and Adam incident a Pied Piper officer approached the doorway to B-6.

Reece and Christopher had heard the officer coming and had returned their pointed ears to normal. Blain was busy doing push-ups and was continuing to do them. I was sitting on my bunk staring off into space as usual.

"Burgess O'Bannon," said the officer.

"Yes?" I said.

"Come with me," said the officer.

I rose from my bunk and followed the officer, knowing better than to bother asking where he was taking me. It was easier to walk since my wounds had already started to heal at a rate which I knew must be superhuman. I wasn't healing super fast like a superhero from a comic, but I was certain that when I slept (however briefly) my body accelerated the healing process enough for me to notice once I woke up and inspected the wounds. At the current rate of healing, assuming I continued to get only brief instances of sleep, I figured I might be completely healed of my current injuries in a fortnight; though this was only a vague guess with little more than guesswork on my part.

The Pied Piper officer led me through the empty white corridors; all the other teenagers that weren't sent to the exercise area were still under curfew and were tucked away in their blocks like vampires hiding from sunlight. The officer led me to the small room where I had previously had a chance to speak with Mum on the phone. On approach I spotted Abigail sitting inside at the table.

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The officer gestured with his head for me to enter.

Twat, I thought, being sick of being ordered about by Pied Piper officers, and then I entered the small room.

Abigail smiled and greeted me like we were family. She wrapped her arms around me and gave me a firm hug before easing back. It felt strange to be comforted like this by her, but also really nice and very welcome; she smelled nice too, one of those girly perfume-y smells, though exactly what the fragrance was I had no idea.

We both sat down within arm's reach of each other.

"Didn't I say something about staying out of trouble?" she said.

"Yeah," I said, "Sorry."

"How are your injuries?" she said.

"Better," I said, "I think I should be healed up within a fortnight. Maybe."

"It's unbelievable," said Abigail, shaking her head, "They didn't tell us they were giving Holly special permission to hold her classes in the exercise area. Dad and I had other business to attend to so they had done it whilst we were away."

The frustration was clear to see on Abigail's face. She rolled her eyes, shook her head, and fidgeted, tucking a lock of hair behind her left ear.

"Why am I here?" I said.

I didn't want to sound uncaring but I was so far beyond feeling like my normal self I simply said what was on my mind.

"Good news," said Abigail, "I'm sure you remember your last conversation with my Dad?"

I nodded, recalling how angry and appalled Robert Hoffman had been over George's murder, and the things he had revealed to me about the reality of things going on at the facility; in particular how the Meter devices and the whole story of teenagers spontaneously-combusting being a lie. That encounter had ended with Robert hinting at a possible way out of the facility. I hadn't forgotten.

"Tonight," said Abigail, "There's going to be a special dinner and you're invited to attend."

The words 'special dinner' made me all the more aware of how starved I was of so many things. Not just nice tasting food (which to me was fast food and junk food), but also the simple joy of being able to sit back on a comfortable sofa and binge some TV. I missed my creature comforts dearly.

"Why me?" I said, again feeling so mentally exhausted by my own overthinking of everything going on I spoke the first thought which came to mind.

"That will be explained at the dinner," said Abigail, "It won't be here at the facility. It'll be outside. Trust me, Burgess, you'll want to go."

A sudden rage filled me, taking me by surprise. For a moment I wondered where it had come from only for me to remember it was Abigail who had offered me to come to the facility in the first place. She had made it sound like an incredible opportunity not to be missed. And here we were again.

"Burgess?" she said, "What's wrong?"

For a moment I thought I might be able to hide how angry I felt but it must have been clear to see on my face. Abigail, as if reading my mind, pieced together what it was that was making me angry.

"This isn't like last time, Burgess," she said, placing her hands with the nice manicured nails onto the table to emphasize her point, "This dinner is under my father's domain of influence. There won't be any nasty surprises."

I didn't believe her for an instant. What did take me by surprise however was her hand touching mine. I felt a strange sensation like butterflies in my chest followed by the feeling of the ground beneath my seat not feeling quite so firm.

"You don't have to go," she said, "But trust me, Burgess, you don't want to miss this opportunity."

Her large eyes stared deeply into mine.

"And you don't want to stay here," she said, "You really don't."

Her thumb massaged my wrist for a few moments before she saw something over my shoulder and eased her hand away; I didn't look over my shoulder but it seemed likely there was a Pied Piper officer keeping watch outside who must have started to turn around.

"What about after the dinner?" I said.

Abigail's eyes searched her lap as she considered her words carefully.

"Don't worry about that for now," she said.

She checked her watch then looked at me with a sense of urgency.

"What'll it be, Burgess?" she said, "You coming?"

I stared back at her weighing my options. I didn't trust her, I didn't trust Robert Hoffman, and I didn't trust any of the Pied Piper officers or facility staff, including Mike. My thoughts were fixed on finding a way out of the facility; not just for me, but for everyone else too, somehow. What I lacked was information; the more I knew about what was going on at the facility and the outside world the more informed my decisions would be. For that reason, and perhaps because a part of me wanted to hold Abigail's hand again, I gave a slow nod.

"Okay," I said, "I'll go."