Chapter Two: What Do You Mean?
Melissa Blaze and Griffin Kyng landed without a sound on the solid turf outside of the building they had just escaped from. They quickly ran into the forest, jumping over icy fallen logs and ducking to avoid snowy low-hanging tree branches and the occasional vine. Melissa could still hear Jacobi screeching at his guards. All of the Experiments had escaped, thanks to Melissa.
"Grif, how long do you think it will be until it's safe to stop?" Melissa whispered.
"I don't know, okay?" He replied coolly.
Whoa, who put the drama queen in your cereal today? Melissa thought, but she didn't dare to say it aloud. The last thing she needed was for Griffin to get mad at her.
She followed him through the dense green paradise until the sun started to cast a multitude of colors across the sky. The air began to grow chilly, and Melissa realized she had no idea where she was, or if Griffin even knew this crucial piece of information. She decided to ask.
"Hey, Grif? Do you know where we are..?"
Griffin turned his head to face her. "I don't know, okay? And stop calling me Grif. It's Griffin to you, Melissa."
He called me Melissa. He never calls me Melissa. Something's wrong with him. But what? Melissa's thoughts swirled around in her head. I have to find out.
Melissa followed Griffin through the forest. Her legs began to grow tired and her chest felt heavy. The air was freezing. Every time Melissa breathed in, the icy air hurt her lungs and made her shiver. Her toes were frozen in her boots and her fingers could barely move. Why couldn't they have waited until summer to escape? The ice-covered ground was getting harder and harder to step on. The bottoms of Melissa's boots were slippery from the hard packed snow that stuck to them. Griffin was still plodding ahead, charging through the snow.
A few hours later, Melissa and Griffin finally stopped. Well, rather, Griffin stopped, and Melissa jumped for joy. They set up camp and rolled out their sleeping bags. Snow was softly falling from the night sky and Melissa sighed as flakes melted on her nose. Griffin was already asleep, snoring quietly. Melissa stood and put out the fire. Taking her flashlight, she turned it on and looked at Griffin. She barely knew him anymore. He was so uptight now and mean as well.
What if..? Melissa shook her head. He can't be a Scientist now. There is no possible way.
Recently, Experiments had been disappearing from their rooms. There was no thought of them escaping; the security alarms where way too high tech. An Experiment by the name of Patricia Geiger had gone missing. Melissa looked for her in all of her available time. She had finally given up hope when she saw Patricia. Pat was dressed in Scientist's garb – Hair pulled back in a tight bun, white lab coat fitted to perfection, black shoes that made no sound when walking. Melissa wondered why Patricia would dress like a Scientist, until she realized – Patricia was a Scientist. Melissa had covered her mouth in horror and silently slipped away back to her room. Patricia was her best friend. Keyword – was. Melissa had sworn she would never befriend a Scientist when she was just 9 years old. Her best friend had become one. Melissa did not know why she had become a Scientist. But their friendship was over.
She was 13 when this had happened. All alone, she turned to the only other Experiment of her kind – Griffin Kyng. But now he had been acting strangely, and Melissa wondered if her suspicions could be true. There's only one way to find out, she thought.
Melissa crept over to where Griffin lay sleeping. She knelt by him and carefully rolled up his pant leg. Taking her knife from her boot, she flipped it open. Cautiously she brought it to his skin and made a long incision on his leg. The wound opened to reveal the last thing Melissa wanted to see. Inside of Griffin's leg were metal poles and wires of assorted colors. Electrical jolts ran from wire to wire, until finally reaching Melissa's hand. She gasped and turned away. Melissa had her answer. She was on her own now. She rolled down his pant leg and stood.
Melissa Blaze knew what she had to do. She deftly gathered her supplies, along with all of the food she had collected before escaping from her prison. Pulling on her jacket, she sighed as Griffin fidgeted. Here she was, losing another friend. It was strange, because he was Griffin inside of The School, but outside, he was just another Scientist. Pushing this thought aside, she laced her boots, and, with difficulty, said goodbye to Griffin for the last time. She first walked the way opposite of that she was going, to make sets of footprints in the snow leading Griffin the other way. They would probably be covered up my morning, for the snow was still falling, but they would at least leave little indentations. Then, carefully retracing her steps, she snapped a branch off of a nearby evergreen tree. Walking the way she first intended to, she brushed away her prints until all that was left was a scattered looking spot in the snow.
Melissa quietly let the branches envelope her as she exited the meadow. All that was left for Griffin to see was her footprints, leading him away from where she was going and most importantly, her.