Free The Trial (The Tree House) by Shay Lynam Page A

of my eye but he didn't say anything. I didn't care what he thought. After living off food from a can for the past three days and running for my life, I was starving for something cooked not in a microwave.
    Sy flagged down a waitress and ordered me my food and then more coffee and water for himself and the other two. Once she had disappeared back into the other room, he pulled a folded envelope out of his coat pocket and slid it across to Ben.
    “What's this?” he asked unfolding the envelope carefully.
    Sy brought his coffee cup to his mouth and emptied it. “Answers,” he said setting the mug down on the edge of the table.
    I watched my brother's eyes skim down the page quickly. As he read, his lips moved to silently form the words. Then when he was done, he turned his hand so the piece of paper was facing me. “So what does this have to do with us?” he asked with a little irritation in his voice.
    I had to cock my head to the side to be able to read the small typed words. Finally, I took it from him. It was a letter addressed to Sy.
    “That chip the letter speaks of is in the two of you as well.”
    Certain words jumped out at me. Medical condition…unsterilized…Neonatal Tetanus…electronic chip…implanted…fused…survive…one hundred patient trial… What did this all mean?
    “What do you mean it's in us? We never got a letter like this,” Ben said narrowing his eyes. Then he turned to me. “Did you get a letter?”
    I shook my head and let the paper fall from my fingers. It drifted down onto the table as my brother continued to get more irritated and confused.
    “Of course you didn't,” Sy shook his head. “By the time your group should have gotten yours, things were going wrong with my group.”
    “What group?” I asked. “We're part of a group?”
    The man nodded. “You two were part of the one hundred patient trial.”
    I looked down at my hands which were now quivering. “I'm an experiment?” I whispered.
    Just then, the waitress returned putting a plate down in front of me with a big, delicious looking burger and a mountain of fries on it. None of us said a word as she took drinks off her tray and set them down in front of each of us. She asked if we wanted anything else and Sy responded with a polite “no”. I kept my eyes glued to the table; at the letter sitting in the middle of all of us. My brother did the same and I could feel my seat vibrating as he bounced his leg up and down nervously. When the waitress finally left, I looked down at my burger again. It didn't look very appetizing any more.
    “So why are we being hunted?” I asked after the waitress was out of earshot.
    Ben leaned in. “I thought it had something to do with what I was doing in London.”
    Sy's eyes shifted to him. “What were you doing in London?”
    My brother told Sy and David the whole story. How he'd been blackmailed into hunting people down on this list and working with Aly. The entire time I kept my eyes on the two of them and watched as their faces became more and more pale. Finally, Sy held a hand up like he'd heard enough.
    “Did all these people look like they were around your age?” he asked pushing his palms against his eyes again.
    Ben shifted his eyes to me for just a second. “I guess,” he said. “I didn't really pay attention to what any of them looked like. I was just trying to get the job done.”
    Sy kept his hands on his face and let out a groan. “This isn't happening.”
    My brother and I looked to David. “What's wrong?” Ben asked.
    “Well, besides our situation here,” I muttered and picked a fry up off my plate. My brother glared at me.
    “Looks like Eli was using you to do his dirty work,” David said.
    Ben hit his hands on the table. “Who's this Eli? Would someone just tell me what's going on?”
    It was about time my brother was in the dark just as much as I was. Sy finally took his hands away from his eyes and let them fall on the table in front of him. “It