The town had been almost silent as she’d dropped from the window of her bedroom, the lack of lights in the neighbours’ houses assuring Kelly that no-one was awake to notice her sneaking out. The couple that was looking after her was nice enough, but she didn’t think that they would take kindly to finding what she was doing.
It didn’t take more than a few minutes to reach the woods just outside of town, and the girl breathed a soft sigh of relief as the weight of all of those minds was lifted, whispers of dreams and thoughts no longer penning her in on all sides. It was...nice.
Finding the tree didn’t take too long, and it was even less time before she was shuffling her way out across one of the sturdier branches, about fifteen feet off the ground; a couple of feet below that was a plastic bag hanging from a much thinner branch, mostly hidden by leaves and only just within arms reach as she carefully let herself swing backwards.
It was in the middle of untying the back that she heard it- no. Felt it. A presence, a mind that she hadn’t felt in...months...since the lab...
Eyes straining to try and make out any kind of shape in the darkness below, voice soft so as not to startle, she called out.