Thanks goes to Crystalwolf101, Dankmeme, Slytherin Buttercat and Mimifry for the support. Thanks too for answering my queries, and great minds think alike Crystalwolf101 LY!
When an exhausted Caine had come at 5:30 to collect Diana and Emmy he hadn't awoken the girls. Screams had subdued to crying but that didn't make it better background noise to sleep to. Caine had told them to block out everything as they walked on the lawn up to the dorms. Emmy wished she had done that. Instead, she saw each and every face of those with their hands encased. They had called out to her for help, with tormented cries that would have made Emmy's heart snap if she had allowed it to. But she couldn't let that happen—if they didn't do this then what would happen? The disloyal could start a fight, and that could have a deadly ending. This was for the best, she told herself.
Emmy repeated the lie looking in her bathroom mirror, straightening her hair within an inch of its life. She tried to distract herself from the horrors by taking a vain interest in her looks. Alexa wasn't back from Piper and Shelley's—not surprising, as it was only eight o'clock. All those going with Caine had to be in their assigned car by nine. Emmy searched through her cosmetics for her contact lenses, before realising that would be pointless; her weird eyes would hardly be the talk of the town. She focused on the rest of her face and applied her make-up, before finishing her packing. Caine had insisted everyone wear their uniform when they leave, but aside from an extra school blouse she packed a week's worth of her own clothes into her bag.
Emmy's blinds were closed so she wouldn't glimpse out of them unto the lawn, and she was determined to not see what was out there on her walk to breakfast. However, she was not prepared for those gawking out the window. On each floor there was a large window beside the stairs with a windowsill that comfortably sat two people. Traditionally, the seats were fought over on hot days by girls trying to watch the boys playing sports. But Emmy passed two sixth graders sat on one, staring out at the lawn. They didn't hear or see Emmy, so continued their hushed conversation.
"There's so many of them," one said, in a childish voice.
"I know," the other responded. "They all have powers."
"Caine must have done this," the first girl guessed.
"I wonder why, though."
"Maybe they did something wrong?"
"Will this happen to us?" The second girl's voice broke at the end. Her friend clutched her hand to comfort her.
"No," Emmy whispered, but it was loud enough for the girls to hear something. They immediately looked guilty and their instinct was telling them to run. "Don't worry," Emmy attempted to reassure the. "Caine won't hurt you." The girls didn't seem convinced, but Emmy wasn't staying around to make them.
…
Diana stood beside Emmy as Caine dolled out the instructions: be friendly, don't insult anyone, no stealing or fighting, and do as you're told. Diana inspected every person standing in front of Caine; it seemed by VIP Caine meant Very Important Powers and that was exclusive to himself, Diana and Emmy. All the rest were stationed at the school to look after the prisoners—it would prevent any mishaps with powers. No one was allowed to talk about powers in the town; Bug had reported there was no sign of them there. Caine dismissed the less important who would be collected later, and the rest piled into the cars. Diana was assigned to a black SUV that would be the last one in the four-car convoy.
Teachers at Coates were understandably paid much more than their state-school counterparts so most drove expensive cars. The most ostentatious was a BMW convertible, previously owned by the principal, that Caine had chosen to transport him and Drake. In Diana's car she was sat behind the driver, with Emmy in the middle, and Computer Jack was on the other side, nursing some techie gear. Two goons that were to be part of Caine's police force were in the front. The convoy set off at barely five miles an hour—Diana thought Caine's aim to cover the drive in thirty minutes would be optimistic.
"This is going to be fun," Emmy chirped.
"Wait until you hear your brother's speech," Diana said with dread.
Emmy had a coy grin, "If only we could talk throughout it." Emmy tapped her nose knowingly.
Diana grinned back. That was the pinnacle of conversation in the car.
The highway was strewn with abandoned cars, many having collided when their drivers disappeared. "If there were kids in there…" Computer Jack began.
"Don't." Emmy warned him, not as upbeat as she had previously been. "We couldn't do anything if there were, so why think it? It won't help us, or them?" That was the hard mentality that Emmy knew she needed for this disaster.
It was silent on the road, with no one in sight. The first child they saw was after they had turned off the highway and onto a road with houses. It must have been the nicer part of time, with large houses and pricy cars in the driveways—the type of neighbourhood that both Emmy and Diana had grown up in. Closer to the town centre, the houses became less upmarket and there were more kids. The SUV's windows were tinted, so the kids couldn't see those inside—but Diana could see each of their faces that had hope and confusion across them. They followed the cars down the street until there was a huge crowd around them.
The cars stopped at what appeared as the town's plaza. "Action!" Emmy whispered as they climbed out of the car and lined up in front of it.
The crowd kept their distance; unsure of what to make of the weird people from the posh school full of oddities. Emmy could tell a few were unsettled by them, mainly brutes who were probably the bullies—worried about a coup of sorts. There was one thought of scepticism amongst them—"Quasi-military"— but Emmy couldn't pinpoint whom that was coming from.
Caine stood up in his car and climbed with ease on to the car's trunk. He gave the impression that he was humble—feeling awkward at drawing such attention to himself, with even a small wave to the crowd. He had chosen to stand out and wear a yellow sweater, one he only ever wore to draw attention to himself. The town all thought he was extremely good-looking, and confident. Yes, many were being won over by him. "Hi, everyone," Caine said loudly with a friendly smile. He introduced himself and made a joke to warm the crowd to him. As Caine nauseated Emmy on the necessity to work together, she started a conversation with Diana. "They're buying it."
"Of course," Diana agreed.
"They think he's the Messiah with all the answers," Emmy reported.
Caine was talking directly to a weedy boy who was amongst the bullies. Apparently he was "Captain Orc's" chief lackey. Caine attempted to appease him and Captain Orc with his plan for the future. Then a little boy began to cry, voicing the despair of everyone, including Emmy, felt. Caine shamelessly consoled him, pretending to care about one little boy's fears.
"He believes a lot things, doesn't he?" Diana thought, based on all of his false sentiments.
Emmy restrained a grin and stayed focus on the crowd. Caine inspired everyone—he was the first person who acted as if he knew what to do. Even those from Coates who knew what Caine had done when people displeased him were being taken in with all his hope. He wasn't a scared kid like rest of them. Everyone, that is, except that one person who was far too intelligent. Caine started on his agenda, manipulating the important to his will, and he would do it in a church.
"'In the presence of our Lord'," Emmy mocked to Diana, "Says the boy who feigns illness every Sunday to avoid Church."
The first spokesperson was the aforementioned Captain Orc, a huge pile of fat holding an aluminium baseball bat; he would have done well in Coates. Caine attempted to unsettle him by a courteous handshake, as if they were equals. Orc didn't even know what to do and relied on Howard for advice. When Caine asked for more volunteers, a girl nominated someone called Sam Temple. The crowd readily accepted this—apparently he had tried to rescue a girl. Emmy knew Caine would be glad to have found the true competition; a beloved hero was more dangerous than Orc. Emmy located Sam; he was athletic with brown hair that had lighter tones to it. Yes, he was handsome looking but what was inside his mind was more important. Sam didn't want any of this attention, but Caine forced him into a handshake. Inconveniently, he was the son of Coates' night nurse—the only adult present at Coates when powers were practised and hence the only adult with a clue that something was going on at night.
"Oh dear!" Emmy told Diana, "Nurse Temple kept some diary and she was afraid of 'C'. Sam is connecting the dots. And, there was something that reminded Sam of an incident he had experience."
"I'll have a little chat with him," Diana said.
More names had been nominated and Caine was leading them to the church while Diana broke off to do her thing with Sam. Caine searched for Emmy and looked pointedly at her.
"The bullies are intimidated by you, obviously," Emmy relayed her knowledge. "Everyone else loves you, bar one person who I can't locate. And Sam, he has no interest in being a leader. But he thinks something was happening at Coates, that may involve you."
"He's one to watch then," Caine thought.
The chapel was an old elaborate building with stained-glass windows. The Sorens had taken their children to a dull Protestant church, but only because that's where other wealthy people in their town went on Sunday mornings. Aside from their mother's penchant for gospel music, none of the family really cared about religion. Caine stood at the foot of the altar, and Drake took his pre-assigned place on Caine's left, and Diana stood between Emmy and Caine's right. Computer Jack was there too, but he was allowed to sit in the pews.
Orc, Howard and another follower took the front pews, and the rest of the town's people sat behind them. The bullies were feeling uncomfortable in unfamiliar surroundings. There was a couple there only because the guy was good at football and they were occupied with flirting, and a boy was exchanging stories of running the McDonald's with the girl who was looking after the preschool. Sam sat with a blonde girl looking after a small boy, and a guy Sam had nominated simply because they were friends. The guy had light brown hair and a natural sun-tan, and to Emmy he was more handsome than his friend. He was staring with bewilderment at everyone around him—he should not have been there—when he noticed Emmy. He did a double take, and grinned at her. Emmy reciprocated with a charming smile, and the boy was surprised and pleased at that.
"Sam or his friend?" Emmy mischievously asked Diana.
"Hmm, neither are exceptional. But Sam's cute, I guess. What about you?"
"I'd go with the other one, he's the only guy noticing me."
"Really?"
"Yeah," Emmy assured, "The bullies are more interested in you because you have a better ass, and Sam's confused about your introduction."
"Don't worry sweetheart, someday you'll reach puberty and have a nice ass too?"
Emmy rolled her eyes and got back to her designated job; there was nothing noteworthy other than the sceptic from earlier seeming to be Sam's female friend. "The blonde girl doesn't buy into Caine, and Sam has a thing for her. Could be trouble."
Astrid kept her attention on Little Pete, afraid that he might make a scene. It was something she had a constant fear of. But she wasn't ignoring the two boys and two girls along with Caine. There was a sandy-haired boy that stood like a bodyguard, smirking cruelly at them all. The other boy seemed very wary and fitted all of Astrid's stereotypes of a nerd. The girls were both very beautiful in polar ways. The dark-haired girl with swarthy skin that had spoken to Sam stood about four inches shorter than the other. The second girl had light eyes and blonde hair like Astrid, but much longer and flowing. She also seemed thinner than the first; she must have had a mile-wide thigh gap. They were similar in how they looked coldly with calculation at everyone, and neither seemed warm towards those with them, so they were unlikely to be coupled up.
Caine started to introduce his friends. "This is Drake Merwin." Drake grunted in agreement at his name. He was doing a good job of intimidation as far as Astrid was concerned. The other boy was Computer Jack, and the dark-haired girl was Diana Ladris. "And this is Emmeline Soren, my little sister," Caine said as he gave a warning glance to them all—no, it was just for the boys. That was a clear message.
Emmy kept silent, and monitored the congregation's thoughts. Caine immediately put fear in Orc at the very mention of reading. Everyone liked the sound of Jack's communication system, and Drake was appointed sheriff with Sam as fire chief. The babysitter laid out her demands for caring for the little children, with Caine gave the allusion of caring for what she did, but was truly joyous that he seemed to be a humanitarian. Throughout, the blonde girl and Sam shared their concerns of Caine. They recognised that he was working the room, but weren't certain how pure his motives were. The only problem arose when Orc and his friends realised that they had given away their control. Conveniently 'an earthquake' shook to diffuse the situation, and the large crucifix pinned down on Orc's nameless friends. Caine had kept his cool, not seeming as concerned as he should have.
Overall, an interesting morning.
...
Caine had picked a four-bedroom house in the nice part of town for him, Emmy, Diana, and Computer Jack. He had felt Jack was a weak link and needed an eye kept on him. There was a full pantry and Emmy was placed as chief-cook as she was the only one who wasn't at the town hall that evening.
Diana strolled into the kitchen when she arrived home. "Well today's been entertaining," she smirked.
"What have you been doing all day?" Emmy asked as she chopped peppers.
"Placing the others from Coates in houses. Unfortunate for your friends they were placed in a house in a very rough area, far away."
"Oh dear, that would be a good reason not to visit, wouldn't it?"
"Piper did not take being so separate from Caine well," Diana laughed cruelly.
"Where is my dear brother?"
"Talking to Drake's army of bullies."
"FAYZ's cruellest," Emmy sniggered.
"Yeah, now I am going to get out of this dreadful outfit, and possibly burn it."
"Diana," Emmy stopped her leaving, staring knowingly at her. "So there's two four bars that Caine doesn't know about."
"Yes," Diana confirmed. "Why? Do think he should know about all of them?"
Emmy shrugged off the threat. "No, what Caine doesn't know, he can't hurt."