Free Deception by Kelly Carrero

towards Aiden.
    The camera moved to my side of the bed, stopping just inches from my face. We could hear heavy breathing as a gloved hand reached out and brushed my hair away from my face. It then stroked my cheek before pulling back out of the camera’s view. The camera receded slowly.
    Then, keeping the camera trained on us, the cameraman went around to Aiden’s side of the bed and zoomed in on his face. A second later, the shiny blade of a hunter’s knife appeared. He slowly swiped the tip of the blade from one side of Aiden’s neck to the other.
    I nearly emptied my stomach contents while watching the display of how easy it would be for him to gut Aiden like a fish. But the blade always stopped just short of slicing his skin.
    Instinctively, I reached out and patted his stomach, making sure he was still in one piece. Aiden grabbed my hand and squeezed tightly. Neither of us was able to speak. The screen suddenly went blank, then a message appeared.
     
    It would be wise for you to remember who is in control.
    How easy it would be to end the lives of those you care about the most… DD
     
    A woman’s scream blasted through the speakers, then the TV screen went blank.
    Neither of us moved straightaway. The implications of what we had just seen rendered us speechless. I was sure it was him. I was sure the cameraman had been my father. He had been right beside us, and we hadn’t even known. Vulnerability consumed me completely. He had touched us, not just physically, but mentally, as well. How were we supposed to ever sleep again?
    Anna and Dave burst into the room. “What’s happened?” Dave asked as they both rushed to our bed.
    Anna phased out and reappeared in the middle of the bed, her legs bent under her as she faced Aiden and me. She reached out and placed one hand on each of us, trying to drain the fear we were both so clearly feeling. She had to be worried if Aiden wasn’t able to do it himself.
    Once we were both breathing at a regular pace, she placed her hands in her lap. “Now, can one of you tell us what happened?”
    Dave continued to look around the room, trying to find the source of our fear.
    I slowly turned to Aiden. His face was still pale, and I could only imagine that mine was, too. I didn’t think either of us would be able to tell them, so I opened my mind up to let them see for themselves.
    Aiden put his arm around my waist. “Put it back up. I’ve already let them into my mind. They know what happened.”
    I quickly put up my mind shields. The expressions on Anna’s and Dave’s faces confirmed they had definitely seen everything. Anna looked as though she were going to puke, and Dave paced the room, looking as if he wanted to smash something.
    “That’s it, we’re going back to round-the-clock watching over them two.” He pointed at Aiden and me.
    I didn’t like the idea of being babysat again, but I preferred it to the alternative—allowing him access to us while we were at our most vulnerable.
    “Or we can just go somewhere nobody knows about,” Aiden said, giving us another choice. “A place nobody but the two of us knows about.”
    “That could work,” Anna said, sounding hopeful.
    “I don’t know,” Dave said, crossing his arms across his chest. “I still like the idea of one of us watching them around the clock.”
    “But if we found somewhere nobody knows about, then wouldn’t we be safe?”
    Dave looked like he was going to protest, but Aiden added, “How could he find out when we don’t even know about the place ourselves, and when we do figure it out, then there would be no way he could find out now that Jade has figured out how to block her thoughts.”
    But Chelsea couldn’t block her thoughts. “Chelsea,” I said, letting them know where I was going before disappearing. I phased into her room, where I found her lying in bed, breathing steadily as she slept.
    A moment later, Aiden appeared in the room. “You can’t just wait for one of us to come