Redefined by Jamie Magee

urged.
    Cashton put his finger to his lips, then made the ‘crazy’ gesture - meaning Madison would think that I had lost it if I told her. My eyes questioned him. Clearly, he had no idea how close Madison and I were.
    “I don’t know who to trust,” he stated in an obvious tone. “Is she marked? Have you seen it? How much like you is she? What emotion does she fight?” he asked me as he looked over her once more. I glared, knowing all too well that he was checking her out for more reasons than curiosity.
    I smirked as I moved my head from side to side. The answer to his question would take me far too long to explain. Madison had an obsessive personality. She would become addicted to a project or cause and not rest until she had conquered it.
    “Where is Draven?” I asked with a gasp.
    “Learning control,” Madison answered.
    “Why do you look mad?” I asked as I scooted up in the bed.
    “Because I don’t like the company he is keeping - though you might.”
    “Drake?”
    She nodded once.
    “He’s with him now?” I asked, bewildered, thinking that was so unlike him just to leave me, not knowing if I was okay or not. But then again, I did ask Drake to help him.
    “Yeah. I’m supposed to get him when you wake up.”
    “How long have I been asleep?”
    “Three days, close to four.”
    “What?!” I asked, glancing to Cashton. He had moved around the room and was now hovering over Draven’s still body.
    “Music,” Cashton muttered. “That gives him a point in the ‘win’ box for me. Hard to tell if he is right for you without his soul in his body, though,” he mused, almost to himself.
    I furrowed my eyes in his direction, letting him know that I couldn’t care less what he thought of Draven.
    “Yeah,” Madison said. “Those little ones gave you one hell of a sleeping drug. Jason, the doctor, Willow’s dad, said that you were shocked but it was mild, like sticking a fork into a socket. The little ones put you down because you had not slept in almost two days at that point. They said, ‘She’s blocking the message. She has to dream,’” Madison said with a raised eyebrow, clearly not fond of six-year-olds running the show. “If it makes you feel any better, they knocked us out, too, but we only slept for like a few hours.”
    “Children?” Cashton said, standing up straight as he looked over his shoulder at me. “Children that had the power to knock you out?”
    I only gave him a weak nod.
    “Aden. Is he okay?” I asked Madison.
    Her expression grew grim. I felt my insides cave. “He’s not here anymore.”
    “What?!” I gasped as grief struck me in my core and I rose to meet her eye-to-eye.
    “Whoa. Stop.” Madison said, clenching her arms to her stomach. “He’s not dead or anything, geez. But I think you’re trying to kill me.”
    Confusion took over my grief. Madison showed instant signs of relief in her demeanor.
    “Madison, what the hell? What happened to you - us?” I asked, careful not to move, think, or feel.
    “A lot,” she breathed out. “Aden is in another dimension. I don’t know the name, but I know it’s a step up from this one. Well, maybe not a step up. Let’s just say it’s a place where the citizens connect with their higher selves often and meditation is a way of life - like seriously meditating.”
    “Why is he there?”
    Sorrowfully, she glanced away. “That bitch knocked the wall down, Charlie. Aden had a flood invade his mind. Not just a glimpse of past lives, but all of them, in detail. He needed to deal with that...get away from Draven’s glare. You know him. He had to go away, analyze it, plan for the worst just so he could have peace of mind.”
    “Worrying to find peace of mind...interesting,” Cashton said with a glance that made me think that phrase should have triggered a memory of something.
    “Draven would never hurt him,” I said in instant defense.
    “No, but he’s a man - and a jealous one at that. Aden woke first, asked to