CHAPTER TWO:HUNGER GAMES

The memory hit IZ like a physical blow, taking her back to October 28, 1985. MK Ultra stood in a cold, mirrored room surrounded by seven children, their ages ranging from seven to ten. Each child’s head was shaved. There were four boys and three girls, but IZ was nowhere to be seen.

"Good morning, kids," MK Ultra announced.

"Good morning, Master!" the children replied in chilling unison.

"It is almost time to finish our biggest experiment," he said. "After breakfast, we begin."

"Yes, Master."

"Subject Two, follow me."

A young boy stepped forward and followed MK Ultra through the facility. They passed row after row of rooms until they reached the door marked "Subject One"—IZ’s room. They continued past it into MK Ultra’s private office.

"Now, Subject Two, I want to test you," MK Ultra said. "Find me the nurses."

The boy nodded and closed his eyes. Moments later, the high-pitched wail of an emergency alarm tore through the building.

"Subject Two, what is going on out there?"

The boy opened his eyes, wide with terror. "She is killing them, Master."

Before MK Ultra could react, the office door was ripped from its hinges. The force knocked him unconscious. When he finally came to, he gasped. Subject Two lay nearby, his neck twisted at an impossible angle.

MK Ultra stumbled back to the mirror room. It was a slaughterhouse. The guards and the other six children were all dead, their necks snapped just like Subject Two's. In the center of the room stood Subject One. The ten-year-old IZ stood fuming with rage, her hands raised toward a final guard. With a flick of her wrists, the guard’s neck twisted, and he fell limp.

"What have you done?" MK Ultra groaned in horror. "What have you done?!"

IZ collapsed to the floor, and the vision ended.

Night had fallen by the time Apollo, Kevin, Owen, and Rose arrived at the Hugos' residence. As they dropped their bicycles, Rose’s eyes suddenly went vacant. She saw Jacob standing before her, a knife buried in his chest.

"You think you can protect somebody?" Jacob’s voice was a demonic growl. "When you couldn't even protect your own stepbrother?"

"No, Jacob, I’m sorry!" Rose sobbed. "I want to stop it!"

"If you want to stop it, then let me kill you," Jacob sneered. "Oh, wait—you want to save him because you love the boy, right?"

Rose’s skin began to pulse with a sickly green hue.

"I don't love him! No, please, Jacob! He’s my friend!"

"Admit you love Charles, you bitch!" Jacob screamed.

"I DON'T LOVE CHARLES!" Rose shrieked at the top of her lungs.

The vision snapped. She was back in the driveway, shaking and crying. Owen, Apollo, and Kevin stared at her, paralyzed by shock.

In the woods, Fabio checked his surroundings nervously. "Where is John? He needs to see this."

"He went to Russia," Sarah replied, her voice trembling. "Fabio, report this to the police."

"They aren't listening to me, Sarah! When will John be back?"

Suddenly, the burnt man stepped from behind a tree, staring at them with glazed eyes.

"Sarah," Fabio whispered. "That’s the guy who bit my friends."

"Run!" Sarah screamed.

They bolted through the undergrowth, the humanoid creature hot on their heels.

At the Hamlet Department of Energy, IZ sat across from MK Ultra. Her memories were still fractured; the only thing she could grasp was the horrific vision of the laboratory massacre.

"Why did I kill them?" IZ asked through tears. "Am I a bad person? Is that why I can't remember who I was?"

"We all have memories, Isabella—bad and good," MK Ultra said smoothly. "What you saw was a buried memory. A bad one. Now, get some rest. We will help you recover the rest starting tomorrow."

IZ nodded slowly, though her heart remained heavy.

At the Thompson home, the tension between mother and daughter had reached a breaking point.

"I told you to stop pushing people away and start accepting who you are," Mrs. Thompson said firmly.

"Who I am?" Norah shouted. "Who I am is someone with a disease!"

"Stop it. You don't have that. Now, sleep."

Mrs. Thompson walked out, leaving Norah to collapse onto her bed in a fit of heavy sobbing.

Back in the woods, Fabio had become separated from Sarah during the chase. He stumbled through the dark, frantic. "Sarah! Sarah, are you okay? Where are you?"

At the Hugos', the group was gathered around David.

"Just come clean with me," David insisted. "Tell me what’s going on."

"The Swamp Knight," Rose whispered. "I think it’s back."

"And we're expecting the worst," Owen added. "It cursed Rose."

David listened in stunned silence as they detailed Rose’s terrifying episodes.

"That is why we need to see Charles," Apollo said.

"We’ve fought this evil before," Kevin added. "It’s back. We need to know why."

In his bedroom, Charles lay fast asleep. He began to dream of Sarah, hearing her screams as she tried to escape the humanoid creature in the woods. In the dream, he saw Fabio arrive, firing his gun at the creature until it fled into the darkness.

Charles bolted upright in bed, drenched in sweat and gasping for air.

Miles away in the woods, the dream was a reality. Fabio had found Sarah just in time, driving the creature off with his weapon. Exhausted and terrified, they climbed into the car and drove away into the night.

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