The next morning, or what Thia assumed was morning because there were no windows, the boy came back. Overnight, she had planned to try and gain his trust. She had wanted to include everyone else in the plan, but they were knocked out on the floor and no amount of shaking or noisemaking could make them wake up.

"Hello! Nice day today!" Thia smiled, though all she wanted to do was punch his pretty little face.

She could see him frown under his mask. "You were yelling at me yesterday. What changed?"

Thia fought to keep her emotions under control. Couldn't the guy take a compliment? She took a breath before answering, "I have a positive attitude now. So, what tortures do you have in store today?"

He laughed.

"What's so funny," she practically growled, forgetting to keep her emotions in check.

"What's funny, is that you think we're going to torture you," he replied, still laughing.

"We?" Thia wondered.

His face- the part that was uncovered by the mask- looked scared. "I meant 'I'."

"Sure," she said slowly. "So, what's your name? It's not fair that you know mine and I know yours."

He seemed like he was going to laugh again, but said, "Jen. You can call me Jen."

"Okay, Jen. When are my friends going to wake up?"

"When I tell them to."

"Why do you want us here?"

"Classified."

"When can we leave?"

"Classified."

"How did you find us?"

"Oh, well, you're not exactly the kind of people who go unnoticed, you know. Because of your parents being the ones who overthrew Levana."

Thia narrowed her eyes. "You're not one of those Levana sympathizers, are you?"

He- Jen, laughed. "No, no, and definitely no. We just want to make Earth and Luna little more sympathetic to half-Lunars."

Again, he said 'we' instead of 'I', but she let that slide as she realized something else. "You're a half-Lunar," she realized.

Jen nodded.

"And that's how you were able to glamour us even with the Garan device installed."

He nodded again.

"Then how come I can't do that?"

"Not all half-Lunars can," he explained. "For example, Luc Benoit, Scarlet Benoit-Kesley's dad and grandfather to Michelle, Maha, Logan, and Ruby Benoit-Kesley. His father, Logan Tanner, was a Lunar but he developed no Lunar abilities. It is possible that your case is the same."

"I find that highly unlikely with my mother being a Blackburn and all." Thia felt that he was holding something back.

Jen only shrugged. "That does not matter, because in about thirty seconds, you will be strapped to an operating table, your Garan devise extracted, and your brain modified so that you will become like a useless Earthen, like a Shell."

Thia whipped around but was held in place by a strong arm tightening around her neck. Out of the corner of her eye, she could tell that it was the same man that had been on the Mechanic with Jen when he kidnapped them. She kicked and wriggled but it was no use, he would not let go.

"Would you at least tell me who will have the honor of killing me?" she asked between short breaths.

"This is Grom. And he will not be killing you. Don't worry, though, Dr. Canta is highly qualified to perform the operation."

"Oh, I'm not worried. Not for myself, at least." Thia had learned long ago from her aunt Iko that struggling only makes your bonds tighter. To escape, you must relax and loosen yourself. It was in a time like this that she used this strategy. Tucking her chin in, she slipped from Grom's grasp and hit him firmly in the neck, and between his legs, then the back of his knees so that he slammed onto the ground.

Jen simply smiled as she ran towards him. All of a sudden, she felt her arms and legs tighten up until she stopped just inches away. She gritted her teeth and tried to move, but it was no use. He had taken control of her again. Then she remembered what they had said earlier.

You're a half-Lunar. That's how you were able to glamour us even with the Garan device installed... How come I can't do that?

Not all half-Lunars can.

Maybe not all, but the daughter of a Blackburn could.

She closed her eyes, letting her thoughts fade away into the background and ignoring the hold Jen had on her. She imagined her mind as a weapon, sharp and penetrating. She imagined getting into his mind and gripping hold of it. Squeezing, squeezing. When she thought she had control, she peeked open her eyes and saw Jen clutching his head and gritting his teeth.

Her moment of triumph was short lived, however, when he straightened, the pained look still on his face, and said, "You're going to have to do better than that if you want to beat me."

Thia closed her eyes again and tried a different tactic. This time, she imagined her mind as a blanket. A soft, fluffy cloud that was warm and inviting and welcoming. She extended her thought-cloud into Jen's mind and imagined his thoughts giving away to hers. Almost immediately, she felt her control, but paused when an image was pressed into her mind.

It was her and Jen, sitting on a beach watching the sunset. His arm was around her and her head was on his shoulder.

She snapped her eyes open and found Jen lying on the ground.

"That was not for you to see," he growled.

She realized she had relinquished her hold on him when she felt herself freeze again. She grappled for control of his mind, faster this time. She wrapped his mind in her thought-cloud and let thoughts of sleep and relaxation leak into and blend with his thoughts. She felt the change when she was able to move and he was knocked out, drooling on the stone floor.

Thia heard Grom running at her and did the same thing to him that she did to Jen. It took even less effort to knock him out than it had on Jen. On the outside he may have been stronger, but in terms of mental strength, Jen won.

After she tied them up with discarded ropes that had been used on Michelle, she started to wake her friends. Now that she knew how Jen did it, it was easy to reverse the effects. All she had to do was send thoughts of waking up instead of sleeping. As her friends stirred, Thia paced the length of the cell.

They would wake up, make a plan, and escape this place. After all, there was no one stopping them, and she had this new glamour ability. Hopefully, she could teach the others to use it too, but even if she didn't, they would still make it out.

How hard could it be?

A/N:

Hello again! Did you enjoy the action? What did you think of the image in Jen's mind? What could it mean? *evil laughter*

From here on out, we will be getting the story more from Thia's point of view.

Today, I would like to give a shoutout to another one of my friends . Thank you for being another fan and follower!!

Enjoy the mysteriousness!

~Bookworm 😜