“Hey kid, feeling any better?” A man in his early twenties said as he walked through the door of the hospital room she was using with two hot drinks in his hands. “I’m still alive so I guess that counts for something.” Tia said with a small smirk as she sat up in the hospital bed and gratefully accepted the Starbucks cup from her brother. A smile crept on her face as she tasted the hot chocolate with an added pump of peppermint, her favorite hot drink from the coffee stand. “However I think the doctors are going to kill me with all the holes they are stabbing me with the IV needle.” Tia said with a sarcastic smirk as she showed her bandaged hand and forearm. “For some reason it keeps malfunctioning or something a few hours after they stab me. They even tried putting the needle in other common places such as my hand but the same thing happens. I think they gave up though since they’ve bandaged me up and haven’t stuck me with an IV or a shot since.” “That is very strange.” Tia’s eldest brother said as he sat down in the chair besides the bed. “Maybe you’re becoming the human magnet or better yet, due to your appearance maybe you’re the human repellent.” Jeff jested as he glanced towards her messy bedhead. “Hey, it’s not my fault that I’ve been stuck in the hospital.” Tia retorted as she mockingly crossed her arms and gave a slight frown. “Oh, where’s mom and everyone else?” “The twins took her home to get some rest. You should have seen her while you were out, she was freaking out the whole time. Tim and dad should be here any minute now. The two of them are finishing up some paperwork while I got you. You’re being discharged today.” Jeff said as he dropped her backpack on the bed besides her. “Mom gave me a set of clothes for you to change into. Once you are ready we can head out.” Although she was sore and still wasn’t feeling her best, knowing that she would be going home gave her the boost of energy and excitement to get ready as fast as she could. Stepping out of the small bathroom, she saw that her youngest brother Tim and her father joined Jeff. “Alright kiddo, let’s get you home. The doctor said you should be feeling better soon and that you shouldn’t worry about what happened to the IV needles.” Her father said as they made their way out of the room. However, before they could make it to the door, there was a knock and two men in a suit opened the door. “Hello Tia?” The man with short black hair said. “I thought we already told you we are not interested?” Jeff said defensively as he took a step between Tia and the two men. “My name is Mr. Emerson. I’ve already spoke to your parents earlier today while you were asleep.” The man continued, ignoring Jeff’s comment. “We’ve been notified about your condition and-“ “My condition? Are you talking about what happened with the needles?” Tia asked interrupting the man. “Yes, that is precisely what I am talking about. This condition with the needles won’t stop or go away. Rather, it will grow until you start effecting more than needles. However, do not fret. We have a place for people such as you that-“ “You mean an institution of some sort or a-“ “No, I would think of it more as a school. Granted, it is much more than just an average school. You will get a good education but you will also get the help that you need for your particular condition.” “Hey didn’t you already hear what my parents said earlier or what Jeff said. We are not interested so why don’t you take the hint and leave.” Tim said with a glare. “I’m afraid that cannot happen. By law and regulations, she needs to come with us.” The second man said as he started to make his way to Tia. “I’d stop and reconsider what you are doing.” Jeff said to the man approaching the girl. Seeing that the man wasn’t going to stop, Jeff made his way towards the man to stop him and aimed a punch towards his face. However before the punch could land, a grunt was heard and Jeff was pinned to the ground before anyone could see what happened. “Jeff!” Tia yelled as she ran towards her brother. Midway in her run, she suddenly felt someone grab from behind. The man in black hair unexplainably was behind her and held her back. “What? How did you get there?” Tia asked, knowing that the man was originally by the door and couldn’t have made it beside her in that short of a time period. “Now you listen here, you better release my daughter right this second.” Tia’s father said as he approached the man holding Tia. “Emerson, can you take the kid to the bus. I think they should be loading the bus up now and could jump back here with someone that could sweep their minds, things became a little messy here.” The second man said as he made his way towards Tia’s father. “Alright, I’ll be back in less than three minutes.” Emerson said. Suddenly, after a quick blink Tia noticed that she wasn’t in the hospital room any longer. Rather, she was outside in front of a parked bus. “Alright kid, off you go.” A man in a suit said as he motioned the young girl to follow the crowd of teens onto the bus. “Wait, how did you do that? What’s going on?” Tia objected as she turned towards the man with a half-filled Starbucks cup in her hand. “You’ll get your answers later, for now follow the rest of the group on the bus.” With a scoffing tone, Tia muttered under her breath as she made her way to the bus. At the front of the line, there seemed to be a girl that seemed to be the same age as her brother Tim that was holding the line up. She seemed just as confused as she was about the situation going on. After a bit of hesitation, the girl went towards the back of the bus and the line continued to move. Climbing up to the top of the steps, Tia looked around at the passengers on the bus. Most, along with the girl the held the line up, were older than her but amongst the crowd there were a few that were younger such as her, if not even younger than she was. With a sigh, Tia started to head towards the back of the bus and sat down in the seat in front of the girl that held the line up. Pulling the hat down so that it sat tighter on her head, she watched the group of teens as they made their way on the bus for a few seconds before turning around in her seat and looked at the girl sitting behind her. “Hey, by any chance do you know where they’re taking us?” --- Josiah looked out the window as he watched the bus pull up with the newest arrivals. After the first year in Darkwood, Josiah lost count on how many buses came since his arrival. Even though he couldn’t remember how many buses came since his arrival, he still remembered his trip to Darkwood. It was just after he got over a being sick, which he thought his mother was exaggerating how sick he was when she brought him to the hospital. Living in a single parent household with a wage that gave the family a little more than the necessities, Josiah knew that wasting money on hospital bills was not a wise decision. However, he never thought the unwise decision would have played out as it did with him being shipped off to school. “Heh, at least there’s one less mouth to feed and pay for.” Josiah said with a slight shrug before looking back out the window. Off to the side, he saw a guy about his age with a dog and assumed it was the blind guy that lived not too far away from him. Although he never really spoke to the guy, nor even remembered his name, the dog was something that distinguished him from the crowd. Josiah was tempted to join the guy by the tree, knowing that one of them might be his new roommate unless the superiors decided to shift things around and give him someone that already lived there since his old roommate graduated. “Eh, why not.” Josiah said as he headed out of his room. “Hey, do you mind if I join you?” Josiah asked as he approached the teen under the tree. “My name’s Josiah, I don’t think we properly met each other before.”