Staring up at the roof of the van, Beth tried to gather the strength to ask for a drink of water or something. Her throat was parched, which was apparently a side effect of the sedative they had used on her to prevent her from using her powers to escape. Finally, she managed to mumble the request, the effort required for that simple action surprisingly draining. The woman in the passenger's seat of the car, a tall individual with curly blonde hair and pretty blue eyes, squirted some water into her mouth in response before turning back to looking at the map, muttering something about needy kids under her breath. Not that she had needed to say anything for Beth to have heard her. Just because she couldn't touch other minds while drugged didn't mean that she couldn't still read them.
Exhausted from the effort of speaking while under the sedative, Beth felt her eyelids growing heavier. From what thoughts she had heard from the two women, it seemed that they were about two hours out from their destination: the enigmatic academy that had turned out to be rather... persistent in ensuring that the students they accepted attended the academy. At least, that was the impression she got from their willingness to, y'know, kidnap her. Regardless, being about two hours away meant that it should be safe to allow herself to fall asleep, though it wasn't as if she had had much of an option. Her eyelids had already closed by the time she made that decision, and it was within moments that she was soundly asleep.
Approximately an hour and forty-five minutes later, Beth was woken up by the sound of squealing brakes, the jerk of the vehicle going from thirty-five to zero in approximately a second, and the sound of several car horns going off. From the thoughts of the two women, and even some of the people in the other vehicles, Beth was able to conclude that some idiot in a red Corvette went flying through a red light at what seemed like seventy miles per hour. Not that any of that really bothered her as she stretched groggily. Once again, her throat was as dry as a bone in the middle of the desert, so she mumbled another request for water.
Apparently, they had switched drivers sometime while she was asleep, because it was the plumper woman with straight black hair and brown eyes that gave her some water. Unlike the blonde woman, this woman smiled as she squirted some water into Beth's mouth, making it seem like she was sorry that they had to drug her. She also made sure to give Beth more than an ounce, which Beth was certainly grateful for. Needless to say, she definitely liked the second woman better.
Knowing that they would arrive in a little while, Beth struggled to sit up. And it was a struggle. Her fingers kept slipping off the back of the seat, which they barely reached in the first place, or her arms just refused to pull her up. But, eventually she managed it, her body complaining of the effort it had taken. Breathing a little harder than normal, she was ready to sit there for the remainder of the ride when the blonde woman cheerily proclaimed that they had arrived. And then she said it out loud, leading to a stereo effect.
Once the car was parked and turned off, Beth had to wait for one of them to come around and open the door so that she could get out. But the thought of them touching her almost sent her into a panic attack. Sure, the fact that they were women helped a little, but that didn't mean that their touch didn't burn like a white-hot poker. So, she slipped out of the back of the van herself, leaning on the vehicle because she had a feeling that she would have kissed the pavement if she hadn't. Her legs still felt like jelly, but that eased up a little after a few minutes. Not much, but enough that she could stand by herself.
While she was recuperating, the two women went about pulling her luggage out of the back of the van. Not that she had packed, of course. After drugging her and setting her inside the back of the police cruiser, which had eventually been ditched for the van, they had thrown all of her clothing and other personal affects into three bags. She didn't really worry that they had forgotten anything in packing for her because most everything she had fit in three bags. Her clothing probably took up about one and a half bags by itself, while the rest of her stuff would fit in the other one and a half bags. She hadn't made a very extravagant living while she was in Phoenix after all.
Once the bags were out of the van, a tall man with broad shoulders and short brown hair came to take it to the garage. Despite the fact that he wasn't even going to come within distance of touching her, Beth couldn't help but move further away from him. His thoughts let her know that he thought that was strange, but didn't particularly care either. He had a job to do and worrying about the oddities of some little girl wasn't going to help him get them done any faster.
As the van pulled away from them, Beth caught a glimpse of her reflection in the mirror. Having been allowed to change earlier that same day, she was wearing a different set of clothes than she had been when she had been kidnapped: a yellow and white striped shirt with a glittery, silver star on the front and her yellow and white striped skort over her white long-sleeved leotard and matching tights. To top it all off, she had a yellow and white polka-dot bow in her hair as well. She also had a white mood watch and a pink sapphire ring that had belonged to her mother, as well as the matching necklace, on her right wrist and hand. Her shoes broke the mold, however, as they were rainbow-colored.
After the van was gone from sight, however, Beth turned her focus back on the academy, looking up at the massive building of gray stone and dark slate roofs. The thought of what was so important that she had been kidnapped to attend was what kept going through her mind every so often, and she found herself impatient to know what the reason was for all of that. She didn't like not knowing something, especially when that something directly involved her like this academy did.
“What are we waiting for?” Beth said weakly, the muscles in her jaw protesting being used when they were so sluggish. She could tell that the drugs were wearing off, however, as it wasn't nearly as hard to speak as it had been in the van. Hopefully they didn't continue the dosages in the academy. They couldn't very well expect her to learn if she was drugged all of the time. Which meant that it probably wouldn't be too hard for her to escape. Heck, she might even be able to get out by the end of the week.
“We're waiting for the rest of the students to arrive so that the principal doesn't have to repeat himself,” the blonde-haired girl said snootily. She really did think of the whole situation as glorified babysitting, and she resented Beth for making her go through it. The measure of her feelings were demonstrated by the fact that Beth hadn't had to probe her mind for that information. It sat on the surface like oil on water. “They should be here soon, so stand there and shut your trap.”
In response, Beth stuck her tongue out at the woman when she turned to the other lady, though she didn't say anything. Instead, she prepared herself to wait quietly and patiently, which was a lot harder than it seemed. She wasn't used to waiting on anyone, so it was something of a new experience for her. The sound of a vehicle approaching the driveway caused her to look over hopefully, but it only sped by, which elicited a sigh from the tiny girl. Hopefully the others, whomever they may be, wouldn't be too long in coming.
Exhausted from the effort of speaking while under the sedative, Beth felt her eyelids growing heavier. From what thoughts she had heard from the two women, it seemed that they were about two hours out from their destination: the enigmatic academy that had turned out to be rather... persistent in ensuring that the students they accepted attended the academy. At least, that was the impression she got from their willingness to, y'know, kidnap her. Regardless, being about two hours away meant that it should be safe to allow herself to fall asleep, though it wasn't as if she had had much of an option. Her eyelids had already closed by the time she made that decision, and it was within moments that she was soundly asleep.
Approximately an hour and forty-five minutes later, Beth was woken up by the sound of squealing brakes, the jerk of the vehicle going from thirty-five to zero in approximately a second, and the sound of several car horns going off. From the thoughts of the two women, and even some of the people in the other vehicles, Beth was able to conclude that some idiot in a red Corvette went flying through a red light at what seemed like seventy miles per hour. Not that any of that really bothered her as she stretched groggily. Once again, her throat was as dry as a bone in the middle of the desert, so she mumbled another request for water.
Apparently, they had switched drivers sometime while she was asleep, because it was the plumper woman with straight black hair and brown eyes that gave her some water. Unlike the blonde woman, this woman smiled as she squirted some water into Beth's mouth, making it seem like she was sorry that they had to drug her. She also made sure to give Beth more than an ounce, which Beth was certainly grateful for. Needless to say, she definitely liked the second woman better.
Knowing that they would arrive in a little while, Beth struggled to sit up. And it was a struggle. Her fingers kept slipping off the back of the seat, which they barely reached in the first place, or her arms just refused to pull her up. But, eventually she managed it, her body complaining of the effort it had taken. Breathing a little harder than normal, she was ready to sit there for the remainder of the ride when the blonde woman cheerily proclaimed that they had arrived. And then she said it out loud, leading to a stereo effect.
Once the car was parked and turned off, Beth had to wait for one of them to come around and open the door so that she could get out. But the thought of them touching her almost sent her into a panic attack. Sure, the fact that they were women helped a little, but that didn't mean that their touch didn't burn like a white-hot poker. So, she slipped out of the back of the van herself, leaning on the vehicle because she had a feeling that she would have kissed the pavement if she hadn't. Her legs still felt like jelly, but that eased up a little after a few minutes. Not much, but enough that she could stand by herself.
While she was recuperating, the two women went about pulling her luggage out of the back of the van. Not that she had packed, of course. After drugging her and setting her inside the back of the police cruiser, which had eventually been ditched for the van, they had thrown all of her clothing and other personal affects into three bags. She didn't really worry that they had forgotten anything in packing for her because most everything she had fit in three bags. Her clothing probably took up about one and a half bags by itself, while the rest of her stuff would fit in the other one and a half bags. She hadn't made a very extravagant living while she was in Phoenix after all.
Once the bags were out of the van, a tall man with broad shoulders and short brown hair came to take it to the garage. Despite the fact that he wasn't even going to come within distance of touching her, Beth couldn't help but move further away from him. His thoughts let her know that he thought that was strange, but didn't particularly care either. He had a job to do and worrying about the oddities of some little girl wasn't going to help him get them done any faster.
As the van pulled away from them, Beth caught a glimpse of her reflection in the mirror. Having been allowed to change earlier that same day, she was wearing a different set of clothes than she had been when she had been kidnapped: a yellow and white striped shirt with a glittery, silver star on the front and her yellow and white striped skort over her white long-sleeved leotard and matching tights. To top it all off, she had a yellow and white polka-dot bow in her hair as well. She also had a white mood watch and a pink sapphire ring that had belonged to her mother, as well as the matching necklace, on her right wrist and hand. Her shoes broke the mold, however, as they were rainbow-colored.
After the van was gone from sight, however, Beth turned her focus back on the academy, looking up at the massive building of gray stone and dark slate roofs. The thought of what was so important that she had been kidnapped to attend was what kept going through her mind every so often, and she found herself impatient to know what the reason was for all of that. She didn't like not knowing something, especially when that something directly involved her like this academy did.
“What are we waiting for?” Beth said weakly, the muscles in her jaw protesting being used when they were so sluggish. She could tell that the drugs were wearing off, however, as it wasn't nearly as hard to speak as it had been in the van. Hopefully they didn't continue the dosages in the academy. They couldn't very well expect her to learn if she was drugged all of the time. Which meant that it probably wouldn't be too hard for her to escape. Heck, she might even be able to get out by the end of the week.
“We're waiting for the rest of the students to arrive so that the principal doesn't have to repeat himself,” the blonde-haired girl said snootily. She really did think of the whole situation as glorified babysitting, and she resented Beth for making her go through it. The measure of her feelings were demonstrated by the fact that Beth hadn't had to probe her mind for that information. It sat on the surface like oil on water. “They should be here soon, so stand there and shut your trap.”
In response, Beth stuck her tongue out at the woman when she turned to the other lady, though she didn't say anything. Instead, she prepared herself to wait quietly and patiently, which was a lot harder than it seemed. She wasn't used to waiting on anyone, so it was something of a new experience for her. The sound of a vehicle approaching the driveway caused her to look over hopefully, but it only sped by, which elicited a sigh from the tiny girl. Hopefully the others, whomever they may be, wouldn't be too long in coming.