Free Nine's Legacy by Pittacus Lore

bathroom to get cleaned up.
    I linger in the shower. The water is hot and feels good on my sore muscles. For a while I let myself imagine that I’m just another teenager grabbing a shower after sneaking over to his girlfriend’s house while her parents are out of town. Not that Maddy is my girlfriend, but she could be.
    It’s strange to be in a house like this. Obviously it doesn’t match the John Hancock penthouse in opulence, but it makes up for that in coziness. Unlike where Sandor and I have been staying, Maddy’s house actually feels lived in. The furniture is broken in. There are pictures of Maddy and her parents everywhere. Knickknacks and trinkets clutter bookshelves, mementos from trips taken as a family. There is an entire history here. I’m envious.
    Maddy is waiting for me in her bedroom when I get out of the shower. I realize it’s the first time I’ve ever been in a normal kid’s bedroom. There are pictures of Maddy and her friends, school trophies, posters of movie stars on the walls. It’s so different from my utilitarian room, filled with just video game systems and dirty laundry.
    She pats the bed and I sit down next to her. I can tell she’s been trying to work out what I’m doing here, why I arrived in such a state.
    “Tell me the truth,” she begins. “Did you run away from home?”
    “Kind of,” I reply, a little embarrassed. I lay back on the bed, draping an arm over my face. Maddy lies down next to me, trying to look at me.
    “Do you want to talk about it?”
    I do. But how much can I tell her?
    “I got in a fight with my uncle.”
    “Because of the car?”
    “Yeah. Well, not really. That was like the straw that broke the camel’s back. It’s been building up for a while.”
    Maddy makes an encouraging noise, and I realize that she’s holding my hand.
    Then it all comes pouring out of me.
    “I feel like my uncle has my entire life mapped out. Like every decision that affects me I just have no control over. And then when I do try to act on my own, something horrible happens. Like last night.”
    I think about the bruises on Maddy’s shoulder. As if sensing my guilt, she gives my hand an encouraging squeeze.
    “I want to get away from everything. From my entire life. But I feel like any decision I make, I’ll just end up regretting.”
    I lift my arm from my face and squint at her in the darkness.
    “Does that make any sense at all?”
    I think I see tears in Maddy’s eyes. She nods her head.
    “Yes,” she says quietly.
    We lie on her bed, holding hands. Eventually, just like it did in the Lecture Hall, my mind shuts off. I don’t want anything more than this. I have to figure things out with Sandor tomorrow, but for tonight, this is perfect. Normal.
    We fall asleep.

Chapter Nineteen
    At some point, I feel Maddy get out of bed and leave the room.
    I linger in that space between being asleep and awake, vaguely aware that it is morning. Maddy’s bed is insanely comfortable and I don’t want to get up. In my dreamy state, I let myself wonder how many days Maddy’s parents will be out of town. Maybe I can stretch this vacation from responsibility out a little further.
    There is a shuffling next to the bed. Probably Maddy returning.
    A set of fingers touch my arm. They are strangely cold.
    My eyes snap open. Two thin, pale men stand over me, both of them with their jet-black hair shorn close to their skulls.
    The Mogadorians have found me.
    Almost more frightening than the pair of ugly faces glaring down at me is the empty spot in the bed next to me.
    Maddy. What have they done to her?
    A surge of fear breaks over me. These Mogs might be able to capture me, but they can’t actually hurt me. Not when I’m protected by the Loric charm. Maddy, on the other hand—they could do whatever they want to her. For a moment, I hope this is some really intense nightmare. When they make a grab for my arms and legs, working in tandem to pin me down, I know it’s real. I squirm away