A/N: I want to thank Briixzyanaa for my first review :D also thank you for catching my spelling errors. Also thanks Jiggy for being my second review. Both of you guys rock :]

Chapter 2

During the months that followed, Dr. Stevens and my foster-parents tried to convince me that a week away from home was going to finally put my problem behind me. No one was calling the opportunity by its true name; instead they used the gentle hook of camp, as in summer camp, with a bunch of pals riding in canoes and shooting arrows. The arrows and the canoes and the pals, I knew, were not to be. I understood what I was really being asked to do and what they all thought of me. They imagined I was incurable. They were pulling out the stops, going for broke.

"We're looking for a breakthrough," my dad said, his eyes pleading for a yes and the tone in his voice suggesting that I was ten and the two of us were chums. "Dr. Stevens thinks it will work, and we believe him. Just give it a shot."

"Tell Rinny what she told us," my mom added, touching my dad's hand. "About this Lawrence fellow."

" He's some sort of genius. There's a program he offers right outside of the Capital, its very exclusive, very expensive. And Dr. Stevens' getting you in for practically nothing."

"You see? We only want the best for you," my mother added.

"Why can't I go alone?" I asked.

"Because it's a bunch of people working on this stuff together," my dad insisted. "It's not like seeing Dr. Stevens. It's different is all."

"You mean group therapy, like for crazy people."

My dad threw his hands up and walked into the kitchen, but then he turned back and put his palms on the dining-room table where my mom and I sat.

"Just think about it, okay? We think it's the best thing for you."

Weeks went by in which I pleaded with my foster parents, but there came a moment five days before my departure when I realized they weren't going to let me stay home. I knew this primarily because of Dingo Berserker, who was startlingly accurate about predicting my parent's intentions.

"You're going; it's already decided," he told me. We were sitting on the floor in my room playing monopoly. He was wearing the same red Pokemon hat, I gave to him when we met. He had it pulled down low so his hair spiked up around the sides of his ears.

"You're sure?" I asked. "They've got that look. It's over."

Berserker was about ten. He was quiet and mysterious like me, but a much better athlete. One day I remember I was killing him at a simple race—a meaningless achievement—and the next thing I know, he's wiping the floor with my face, which really mattered.

"Just go," he said, standing up to leave but hanging back to observe a little longer, "It's not going to kill you."

When I turned to look at him he was gone, like a ghost who'd delivered a crummy message only to disappear when I needed him the most. Sometimes I felt as if berserker was like the younger brother, I never wanted. I sat at my desk and stared out the window at the street below as my laptop whirled to life.

For the next three hours I listened to the voices of the seven—including my own— from the files I took from Dr. Stevens…Soon came the day of my departure. I was sitting on the far end of the carriage, with my Dingo. We were sitting alone in the corner since everyone seemed afraid of Berserker. It made me sad how the they would judge the little guy before getting to know him…

"Can you believe were force to go to some stupid place?" Zazie asked. Before I could answer, someone else broke in.

"It might be fun, like camp." Lag Seeing said, whose aunt had clearly sold the week to him in the same way it had been sold to me. Knowing what I knew about Lag, coupled with the fact that we were heading into the wilderness, I thought it was a miracle that he hadn't thrown open the carriage door and hurled himself onto the pavement.

A conversation ensued in the rows ahead of me, and my attention drifted back to Zazie. He had black hair and hazel/brown eyes, with pupils that looked nearly slits, much like a cat's pupils. He was noticeably short compared to the others, after a while I notice he was waiting for a reply. What had he asked me again?

Can you believe were force to go to some stupid place?

I shook my head no, I couldn't believe it. But the question had been around too long, and the answer didn't connect. I looked like an idiot.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Yeah," I managed. "I'm fine. How are you?"

Oh my God, what a moron. My face was burning up. My tongue felt like sandpaper.

"I don't know," he said, "You're sure you're okay?" he asked again, leaning away from me as if I might throw up on his black t-shirt at any moment. And then it happened, the thing I'd feared would happen. My mind seized on a thought: I couldn't be the only one in this van who knew at least something about what was going down. Was everyone looking at me while I struggled to catch my breath? Everyone in this van was sick, sick with fear or something worse.

What's wrong with Rinny Besting? Hey, everyone, look at her. No, seriously. Look at her!

I kept telling myself to calm down, I knew better, everything was fine. These people had never met me, and I'd never met them. They'd never even met each other, so they weren't a clique I couldn't be a part of. I knew them better than they knew themselves. I knew their secrets and their fears. I knew they were just as messed up as I was.

If Dr. Stevens or my foster parents thought for one second I was going anywhere with any of them, they were sorely mistaken. I'd rather have my heart eaten by guichuu's… I stared out the window of the van after that awkward moment.

The van turned off the main highway onto a country road, and Dr. Stevens started talking. he told us we were heading into the mountains now and began reeling off instructions. This had the effect of shutting up everyone as he droned on about how we were all going to get to know each other, how great it was all going to be.

"I want each of you to think about this week as the beginning of the end," he instructed, turning onto a gravel road. "The end of the weight you've carried around for too long. Lean on each other, get to know one another. And let the process take its course."

I was getting my first look at these people after having heard their voices for weeks on end. There was Connor Kluff, a big guy with a crew cut, His hair black. His eyes were black but they seem closed. Lag Seeing, he had white hair and a single purple eye, the other eye is a piece of red Spirit Amber containing a Spirit Insect. From what I got from the sessions I listen into he has a very admirable and lovable personality. But he often loses his self control and tends to start crying a lot. Sylvette Suede had pale skin, white/silver hair, and blue eyes. She was in a wheelchair due to the fact her legs were paralyzed from birth. Sunny had orange reddish hair and freckles on her cheeks and from what I hear she makes really good cookies. Jiggy Pepper had dark haired, he was handsome and quiet.

There was a stillness in the group until we reached a locked gate across the road and Dr. Stevens got out of the van and opened it. After that we stayed in the carriage for another half mile, descending steeply into a thick forest of trees. The road was a washboard, jarring me so violently that my teeth chattered. I glanced at Lag, who was staring out the window like everyone else. I wanted to reach out and touch his shoulder and tell him this was all going to be okay, but I knew better. he'd lost interest in me like all the rest. I was a ghost to these people.

The road came to an end, and Dr. Stevens turned the carriage around, pointing it back up the steep road. The carriage doors were thrown open and everyone got out, strapping on backpacks bursting with provisions.

"Stay to the right, it's less than a mile," Dr. Stevens said. he was standing before us, one hand still on the door handle as if it was a life preserver.

Sunny, who was a head shorter than I was, turned ashen.

"You're not coming with us?"

I expected the rest of the group to laugh. Under different circumstances I'm sure they would have; but they were just as attached to Dr. Stevens as Sunny was, and we were standing in the middle of nowhere. None of us wanted to forge the path alone.

"This is the beginning of the end of your problems. Right here, right now," Dr. Stevens said. He looked at the ground and drew in a sharp breath, then his eyes were on me, pooling with tears. "You'll have to learn to trust one another." Dr. Stevens opened the van door and got in, staring at us through the open window.

"I can't fix you, but he can. A cure is waiting for each of you down that path."

And then, just like that, he was gone and we were alone…