"These anti-paranormal organizations are powerful. We need to stand together. We need to grow our strength, or they will destroy us. We'll be forgotten, wiped from history."
"But isn't that what you're doing to Drake and Sam? You're trying to kill them and erase their memory from our minds."
The Seeker cackled. "I would never kill Sam or Drake. I want only to help them—more than you could possibly understand."
The world toppled and turned once again at the Seeker's words. Lucy tried to rub her headache away, but it persisted, just behind her eyes. "Help them? Seriously? You have a very unfriendly way of helping people. You might want to work on the whole how-to-win-friends-and-influence-people thing. There's even a book on it. You should check it out, and stop getting advice from Hitler's diaries."
Nothing seemed to rile the Seeker. He smiled at her and offered her more water. "You have fire in you. Spunk. I like that. I am glad Sam picked you for her best friend. She is going to need both of us, in the coming months. Her baby's powers will increase. Without my guidance, those powers will drive her mad. That is why I seek her."
"Oh my God, what kind of baby did you put in her?"
"Her baby is the hope for our race. Without her, paranormals will stand no chance in the coming storm."
"I can't tell if you're lying, without my powers, but my instincts say you're being honest. If all you've said is true, then remove the lockdown and get rid of Mr. Black. Stop beating kids and shooting them. Turn this back into the school we loved before you got here."
"Come now, Lucy. After Sam's escape, rebel meetings started occurring. Other students started breaking rules, trying to escape. You didn't know what was best for you. We had to implement a stricter policy to protect the students. We had to keep all of you on campus, away from those who would kill you. But you persisted. The harder you push, the harder the organization has to push back, for the safety of everyone."
"So if we stopped the rebellion, then things would go back to normal?"
"No, not normal."
Lucy scowled. She knew this was all bullshit, but his next words surprised her.
"Better than normal. It's clear to me now we should have been honest with you all along. No more lies, no more cover-ups. I will personally make sure that everyone knows the truth."
"I want to believe you, but you've blocked my powers. If you're being honest with me, why not let me confirm what you've said?"
The Seeker chuckled. "I blocked you so that you would listen to me as a human being. I wanted you to look into my eyes as we talked, and assess at a basic human level if you could trust me. We are still people, you and I, and we deserve the courtesy of simple human interactions. You can feel what is right and wrong without your powers. We tend to rely too much on our extraordinary gifts, and not enough on our most remarkably ordinary talents."
The candle by the bedside flickered out and left them in darkness. Lucy reached over, lit a match, and the candle came to life once again.
The Seeker continued. "I can see that this is hard for you. If it makes you feel better, I will drop my protection and you can test me."
Lucy perked up at this. She'd gotten better at trusting her instincts, but with so many lives on the line, she'd much rather have her power to help her.
"First, I shall lie. Hmm... what shall my lie be? I have only three toes on one foot and one of the toes knows how to sing and dance to Irish limericks."
Lucy smirked. "I didn't expect you to have a sense of humor."
"Yes, people seldom do. I have unexpected depths, you know. All right, I assume you felt the lie in that, as I do not, in fact, have limerick-singing toes."
"Yes, I felt it."
The Seeker then repeated everything he had said about wanting to help her and Luke, about his care for Sam and Drake and his sadness about the recent tragedies.
"I have arranged a memorial for the boy who was killed. I know you dislike Mr. Black, but his job is to keep all of you safe, and he is good at what he does. As for you and your brother, there is no assignment. You are free to go back to your dorm, but I would recommend checking in at the hospital to get some medication. You'll likely need it. I've enjoyed your company, Lucy. I hope you will consider all of this carefully."
Moments later a guard came and escorted Lucy out of the building. The Seeker actually let her go, and gave her a lot to think about in the process. Could it be that Darren was right when he refused to join the Freedom Fighters? Were they safer here than anywhere else?
On her way back to the dorm, the warmth of Lucy's sphere washed over her. Her thoughts spun, conflicted and confused. If there were organizations bent on destroying her kind, would they even be safe if they escaped, or would she be leading these kids from bad to worse? They'd have no money, no identification, no resources, and no way to protect themselves. Then what would they do? Where would they go?