A tense whisper echoed in the dimly lit alley. “We need to get out of here, now!”

The speaker was Jessica Aynes, a sixteen year old girl who was sick and tired of being prodded and poked at, studied for ten years of her life. She was one of the rare people who had magical powers— chikamago, if she remembered the term right. She recalled the day she was taken away quite well. She was sitting in the front yard in front of her and her parents’ little cottage. Her father was doing repairs in the backyard, where she usually played. Her mother was keeping a slight eye on her through the window in the kitchen. No one was worried about her. It was a safe neighborhood. No one would hurt a little six-year-old girl playing with her dolls.

She vaguely recalled her young self levitating a doll up, pretending she was a queen, when a carriage carrying a royal minister rode past. He gawped at her through the window and alerted the gaurds. Her mother had ran out the door, crying, to ask in horror why they were taking her daughter. She remembered the minister responding in a gruff voice: “She’s Magic, a Rare One. We need to study people like that. This is a rare opportunity. She won’t be lonely, there’s about five others her age in the lab.” Jessica remembered wondering what Rare Ones were as she was hoisted up into the carriage. She didn’t know why her mother was crying, but she felt excited.

Jessica shook the memory off. It wouldn’t help now. She looked around at her friends, all the same kids the minister had mentioned. There was Josie, the sweet younger girl who had arrived just recently at the labs, scaredy cat Avery who only agreed to try to escape the labs because he didn’t want to be the only one left, brainy Benjamin, who was the one who had devised the plan for escaping, hair-obsessed Penelope who just couldn’t bear having one more day without a good hair spray and lipstick, and mischievous Jonas who was the one let the skunk out (where he’d got it from, Jessica had no idea) to get rid of the guards.

But now the guards were catching up, and they had to leave.

“Why don’t we get to the woods?” Benjamin suggested. “The guards are afraid of it. They say there are rabid monsters in there.”

“There is?” Penelope gulped. Avery’s eyes grew as big as golf balls and only managed to peep, “I hope not!”

“Nah,” said Jonas. “Once, when I had been in trouble, a few nights before now, they put a collar on me and sent me out into the woods in the middle of the night. The collar kept me from going past the fence. There was nothing out there but some skunks and the usual rabbits and deer and fox. It really wasn’t that bad! The guards are all scardy cats.”

_Guess that explains the skunk_, Jessica thought. “Well, I guess we should go now, whatever we do.” The guard boots were drawing ever closer.

“You’re right,” said Benjamin. He tapped along the wall, humming.

“What are you doing?”

“Checking for a loose board. It would take to long to get over the traditional way, even with rope.” He pushed lightly at a board, and it wobbled. Carefully, he pulled it back. Old nails creaked and popped free. Ushering them all through the hole, he went in last and pulled the board back into place as the guards rounded the corner.

They looked around. All was black, except for the night sky and the small illumination coming from beyond the fence from the lab. They were alone in the woods.