The Program

Chapter One

I've grown to hate the night time. Mainly because that's when I dream. The dreams from the test had always consisted of the same things, memories that were taken from me. But now, well, they're very different. Every night, I go to bed. Every night, it's the same horrible dream. But it's more like a nightmare. 

It always starts off with me sitting in a white room, it seeming to have no walls but still frames are hanging there. There are exactly three pictures on the nonexistent walls. The first is of my family that also hangs in our living room, taken before the divorce, smiling and laughing until the image slowly fades and i'm the only one left in the picture, a frown on my face. Next, the frame drops to the floor and shatters, glass flying everywhere and hitting my ankle causing little drops of blood to flow.

The next picture is Jack. It was from the picture I drew the day I first met Riley. The dirt with the little picture of the tree house and me and Marcus standing there. And there's Jack's drawing on it, of him beside me. It makes me remember his promise of us still being friends outside and then the picture changes to the last picture I drew, the one where my disrupting was involved and it went from lines in the dirt to an actual picture. His green eyes always stare at me, seeming to be searching my mind for something but that frame too ends up falling and causing just a crack to form, running over his features and his eyes changing to Reid's. 

And finally, the part I fear most, a single phrase. The last frame has it, sometimes fear becomes a reality, the final words I heard in the dream before I woke up. Reid's evil tone filling the room and making my skin crawl. The words are written neatly in black ink on a white background. My body always forces me to move, reaching for it even if I have resisted, which i've tried. My hands burn at its touch and then flames appear where the words were, making me lose my grip as the fire takes over the whole thing. It hits the floor and they go toward the other frames, catching them on fire too and soon the whole place is covered in flames. All I ever do is sit down and let them burn me and the blood on my leg continues to flow, suddenly growing larger and pouring faster, until I pass out.

"Natalie says that it will get better, Lexi." John said to me. I had woken up, breathing heavy and needing to talk to someone. This time was worse than others, I could still feel the burns on my skin but when I went to look I knew they wouldn't be there. I couldn't call Jack, he still didn't remember the test. I didn't know where my other friends lived yet, all I know is they live in this state, maybe mere hours away or even minutes. John and Natalie, or Elody as she told me to call her when there were nosy ears around, were the only two people I could talk to. Mainly because we all were having dreams, but both of them agreed mine sounded much worse than theirs.

"I know. It's just the way the fire felt....." I trailed off, instead running my fingers through the grass in my front yard. I called John and he came. I went outside as quietly as possible and we just sat there and he listened to me. It wasn't like Jack but then again, I knew it wouldn't be. "It doesn't really matter anyway. But thanks for coming, John. I know you probably didn't want to."

"You got that right. I could think of better things to be doing at three o'clock in the morning." He replied. But the thing was he was here, beside me. I know Jack would be too, if he remembered everything we went through, but it was just nice to have a friend. Okay, maybe not a friend, we didn't really see each other as friends yet, but John, it was nice to have John even if he called me a freak in the test and we both still don't like each other.

I guess what i'm saying is it's nice to not be alone.

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"Sweetheart, it's great to see you up and about." My dad said, patting me on the shoulder. Mary was behind him, offering me a smile but thankfully not pushing it with a hug. Apparently while I was in a coma, dad thought it would be a good idea to move closer. About ten minutes away actually, in a two story house with paint peeling in places and a smashed mailbox, but that I had only seen from pictures, I haven't really been there yet. But he wasn't that far to begin with, only a few hours away, but he felt he needed to. So, now I see him like everyday along with Mary, my step mother.

"Of course, dad. It's been two weeks since I left the hospital. I'm strong enough to stand. It's not like i'm just going to randomly fall over." But given the fact that apparently I was filled with much more grace and elegance in the test, I turned around to smack right into my brother and fall flat on my butt. Alright, fine, maybe I wasn't so graceful in the test either but come on, i'm pretty sure the only time I fell was when I was being freaking attacked my something Reid brought into the test.

"Crap." Marcus muttered, helping me up. "Are you okay, Lexi? I didn't mean to make you fall, I didn't see you-" I stopped him.

"I'm fine. I've bumped into you plenty of times in the past and you didn't freak out this much." I grumbled, smacking him on the head.

"That was before though." He said, walking to the kitchen. I was right behind him the whole way.

"Before what? Are you talking about the coma?" He only looked at me and that was all the answer I needed. "I'm not going to break, you know. Believe it or not, i'm stronger than I look."

"He was only being considerate, Lexi." I heard Mary pipe in, taking a place next to Marcus as he grabbed a chair nearby and sat down. Dad was with her.

"We are only worried about you, Lexi." He said, placing a hand on Marcus's shoulder. "You're our family and we only want to protect you."

"We have to save him. He's my family. We have to help him."

Of all the things that could have entered my mind at this moment it had to be the last conversation I had with John before I shut down the test.

"Yeah. Well, now he's my family too. Closest thing to it I got in here, I don't intend on letting him die."

My words had been just as true as John's, Jack became my family in there, along with all my other friends. I knew the sacrifices I would make for them, family. I knew my dad was right, they're only trying to protect me, but if only they knew what I had done with my time inside that freaking dream filled computer program of torture, maybe they would realize that falling was literally nothing. 

"Fine. Okay, whatever, I get it. Thank you for caring, I just don't see it as that big of a deal is all." I said, turning to walk away and head to my room. But I, again being an uncoordinated mess, hit the counter and fell yet again. But the only thing I was worried about was the sharp pain pulsing through my side, not the fact that I had hit my head on the way down too. "Holy freaking penguin juice, that hurt." 

"Okay, not sure what that's supposed to mean." Marcus said, now next to me and helping me to my room. I could hear Mary's and dad's footsteps not far behind. 

"It's just a little saying thing I picked up on." I told him, remembering the only time I heard Annie use it. Then it had been because I had a pixel mark but I felt it fit quite nicely here. We began walking up the stairs.

"Is this another one of those book references I don't understand?" He asked, opening the door to my room and letting me sit on my bed. When I turned to look, Mary and dad weren't near the door but I could hear them talking not to far away. 

"No, it's from, uh, just never mind." I said, laying back on my bed. Marcus brought a hand to my head.

"Looks like it might bruise." He told me, referring to the bump I just gained.

"I'll be fine." I reached over and grabbed my phone. "Worse has happened." I added, mumbling the words. I started playing a silly little game on my phone. But what I was thinking about was that the graphics in this game were nothing compared to the realness of a freaking mind game known as the test.

"What was that?" He asked.

"Nothing, Marcus." 

"Whatever, listen, i'm going to head out. If dad or Mary leaves-"

"I lock the door and don't let strangers, criminals, or murderers of any kind in the house." I finished. My mom has kinda been this overprotective mess since I woke up. "I'm not a little kid, you know."

"Sure, but you are the youngest." He replied.

"By twelve freaking minutes."

"But i'm still older." He smirked.

"And more stupid." I shot back. "So, where are you going anyway?"

"That is my business, little sister." He said, leaving the room before I could say anymore, a smile plastered on his face. And not long after, my father announced that he was leaving, making me alone. Eventually, I set my phone down and went to the livingroom to watch a movie.

It was just me and some entertainment. I should have known, what with my life the way it is, that it wouldn't last for long. 

I heard a knock at the door, followed by John rushing in as I got up to open it.

Well, at least he's not a stranger. A murderer, well.....i'll keep my distance. You can never be to sure.

"What are you doing here?" I asked him.

"Oh, I don't know, I was casually strolling and then bumped into your house and just hoped you would open the door." He said, smirking.

"If you're going to act like that, leave my house. Don't bump into it again on the way out." I pushed him toward the door.

"Okay, okay. Lexi, stop. I need your help." His words made me freeze in my place. Then, he grabbed me before I could question what was going on. In less than a minute, we were in his truck, him starting to drive off before I even got the door closed.

"You know, it probably wasn't the best idea to come into my home, kidnap me and not give me an explanation. Where are we going?" I asked, hitting him across his head.

"It's not important. And shouldn't you sound more worried about me kidnapping you, Lexi?"

"For the love of god, no, I shouldn't. And I deserve to know where we're going. Come on, tell me." I begged. "I mean, my mom or brother could go back to my house any moment now and I need a good excuse for not being there and not having my cell phone with me."

"And who says my reason for taking you is a good one? It could be the crappiest reason known to man."

"But I still want to hear it." I told him. He tried to ignore me, continuing to drive. Eventually, though, I heard a sigh come from him as he began talking.

"I'm taking you to my house." He said, running his hand over the back of his neck. "And a little warning, Jack's there. But that's not the reason i'm bringing you." I raised an eyebrow, silently questioning him. "Let's just say, you're going to have a long talk with my parents."

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Sorry for the kinda long wait everyone. It will probably be a sorta long wait again for the next chapter, I will be extremely busy this month. But I hope you like it. It's just the beginning and more will be explained in the chapters to come. Oh, and you'll hear more about what happened with Jack and his father(Reid) next chapter so I guess that kind of gives you something to look forward to. Something to remember, they are outside now so not much action and stuff will be happening extremely quickly, I would like to keep it somewhat realistic. Before they were in a computer program so basically anything could happen. Now, well, not so much. And I just hate rushing straight into things while writing so yeah. Just trust me guys, I have many ideas, I know what i'm doing......I think. Vote and comment if you like it. As always, suggestions or any ways to improve are very helpful. And I have the short stories for The Test posted if you want to read one. I mean, there is only one so far but if you want to read it it's there. :) Just click the external link or go to my page to find it :)