"What do you mean, everyone can be hypnotized… Right?" Jay asked, uncertainly.

"Well, to tell you the truth, there is a very small percentage of people that can't be, but very few, it's rare," Zane explained.

"And Amy just happened to be that one out of a million?" Kai asked, "Seems a bit too rare…"

"Kai," Cole said, annoyed a bit, "we don't even know her and already you're making assumptions."

"But look at what she just did! She kicked Zane into the equipment, jumped on the roof, and was probably about to run away! Think about it."

"…it'sss happened before…" I said.

"Well do you know why?" Kai asked, annoyed.

"No; but I have a feeling it ran in my family, especccially since this happensss every time I think about my past. Even the serpentine didn't know what wasss wrong with me." They just stared at me. "Ugh, ok, there was this one time when I was just hanging out with my friendsss… I mean the serpentine, and all of a sudden, I started thinking about a scene from when I was young. I was going to the serpentine elementary and was going really fast on the equipment, hearing that I might just be the, 'best soldier out there.' Then a moment later, I hear my name being called out and I saw that I had Andrew pinned to the ground. I jumped off quickly and apologized, but I could never quite trust myself again…"

"Well, what were you thinking about right now?" Jay asked.

"I… was thinking about a time when I was young and running away from a mob hearing them yell, 'Get out of here, serpentine!' I remembered how scared I was, how they wouldn't stop yelling…how I hid in the tree…"

"Wait, they were chasing you? For how long?"

"Four or five miles."

"Dang, what did the serpentine do to you there?" Cole asked, bewildered.

I thought about it for a while, but I said, "I can't remember, you have to understand, I was only two when they admitted me into their society."

"Two?!" Jay asked. "Heck, I didn't even pick up a block till I was four!"

"Well, the felt that it was necessary to start early, to get rid of the baby fat and all. I think remember… a park, but it wasn't a normal one. This one had many obstacles and you couldn't stop until you reached the end and hit the red button. I remember how I was thrown back a lot and how everyone around me couldn't get past certain obstacles. I had made slow process but I finally made it in the end and pressed the button first, proving my worth as they said."

"Hmm…. You do realize that you didn't change at all right? No reactions…" Kai said.

"Well, that's because I'm speaking, not thinking."

Kai just stared while Zane asked, "That doesn't seem possible, I mean, a child, not even considered a toddler…"

"I know who does that? But who also leaves a child to defend themselves in the woods…" I started to walk back inside.

"Amy! I'm sorry!" Zane said, but I didn't listen. I just kept walking. I wasn't going to run away, but I needed to be alone. Out there, cold feel Kai's resentment… But I've seen him before, and I think he saw me too. He was part of that mob, and I remember the fire in his eyes. It was him whose tiny voice rang out of the crowd, separating him from the rest. In fact, it was his house that I had raided, and his eyes that caught me in the first place.

One…two…three…four…five. I can't take these… humans, they are different…I am different…

I grabbed a paper and a pencil and started to draw. I was drawing the playground, the serpentine playground. In the beginning, there is a cave that has thorns sticking from all sides. You had to be brave and take small pains without crying or any of those useless feelings. I felt the pain run through my hands once more. Next, there was the deathly slide that dropped so feet into a dark abyss if you didn't jump quick enough, leaving you to die. Yes, mothers let their children die there, and then went on with their lives! It was not pleasant to see those snakes die right before I had to jump. Next was he passage of blood, which is known for being the sea of sharks. Not many kids ever made it through this one. I barely made it to the other side before a shark bit off my legs. At that time, I was glad that I was pushed back a lot, it helped me to survive. Then, you had to pass the spinning tops which threatened to drop you off to the side if you didn't get off quick enough. Then there was only one way to push the button: you had to find which spinning disk it is. I had found it on my first try because it was in the most obvious sot and slammed down on it, stopping everything and shutting it down. I remembered the stares that had looked my way, some frightened, others excited. Then I started the elementary.

When I finished, I set it aside and started drawing another picture. I always found drawing a good way to calm down and cool it. I looked down at what I was drawing and literally fell back. I had drawn a picture of the ninjas being…dead. Everyone was dead, and I stood there with the bloody knife, my face crazy and morbid. I tore it up and threw it away. No, that is not me. That can't be me. It can't be…

Someone knocked on the door. "Amy? Are you in there?" Cole asked.

I was tempted not to answer but I said, "Yes…"

"Amy please come out, Zane feels like a jerk and Kai is always resenting people."

I went to the door and opened it slowly. I guess I could forgive them…

As I followed Cole, I felt something was wrong and before I could look behind me, my head collided with a wooden plank aimed straight at my head and I went out.

Andrew's POV

The ninja in black looked back and before he could do anything, I looked into his eyes and said, "You will obey my every command."

He instantly fell under my control and he bowed and said, "Yes master."

"Ssstay here and wait till we are gone and then break out of this tranccce," I commanded.

He obeyed and stayed still. Good. "We got her, lets get out of here, and quick before the other ninja notice," I said.

When we were out, Jenna asked, "What do you think could've happened?"

"They probably trapped her," George said.

"Treated her like a prisoner?" I asked.

"I think they tried to alter her," Mark said quietly. "She was following the ninja with calmness, and she wasn't expecting us at all. What if…"

I stopped and looked at him straight in the eyes. "She hasn't changed, I know it, she couldn't have."