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I continued to rub the still-tingling spot where his blade had sliced ers were covered in sticky blood that settled intodark-red crescents "You said ere ‘taken’ as part of some experiment; what did you mean by that? And how can you possibly believe it was" I sed I had to say it "Aliens?"

I had the feeling this wasn’t the first time Simon had had to convince someone, and a look of patience settled over his face He sat back and nodded "I think you already knohy, Kyra We’ve been tracking your father’s online cos for years You don’t have to pretend he didn’t try to tell you this already"

I closed h to block hi ue when I’d just witnessed ht; no normal person could do that

"When they take us, they don’t just take our temperatures, or poke and prod us, Kyra They’re advanced--way s to us" His eyes er like our old selves Our bodies heal faster and age slower We need less sleep and sustenance I assu tastes the saht about the sleep, and the food, even if I didn’t tell hi to

I looked down at my hands They were the same hands as they’d always been I was exactly the same as I’d always been I looked the saht before I’d vanished

Which eird "If I can heal, why do I still have this?" I showed him my bruise, the one on my shin

"You had it when you vanished, right?"

I nodded because I finally had hiht," he said "And you alill I can’t explain everything; I wish I could Occasionally someone will come back with a bruise or a scar, and if they do, they’ll always have it" He lifted his sleeve to show me a circular scar on the upper part of his left arm "I still have this--from my smallpox vaccination"

I examined his scar and then leaned over and looked at ed, even a little bit, since I’d been back It had been almost a week, and as much as I wanted it to be different, I was pretty sure it was exactly the sa it’ll be there the rest ofto be, like, forever?" He didn’t say anything; he just lifted his eyebrohich I took as Yes "So are you invincible?" I couldn’t bring myself to say "we" because the whole idea was soout there

"Invincible? No We can be killed, just not that easily I mean, cut off our heads, and I’m sure ouldn’t just"--he rinned atme know he had a sense of hu "Certain poisons have been known to be lethal as well"

"And diseases?" I asked

He shook his head "Don’t really know So far, I’ve never seen any of the Returned get sick"

"The Returned?" I echoed distractedly

"That’s e call ourselves Those of us who’ve been taken and sent back"

I thought about the way I’d woken up behind the Gas ’n’ Sip and tried to ih the sa I had "But you said no one coone five years"

Siht you were gone for good We’d all but written you off Mostly, ere still tracking your dad’s activity because he keeps intel on the others who’ve been taken He tracks when they go one, if and when they’re returned He knows ages, dates, locations, genders, religions, faroundshe even knohat their last ave up on you, you know?" My heart squeezed, knowing how easily I’d given up on hie boards that you’d coet here"

"Camp?"

Simon leaned closer I watched his hand, the one that had, just moments earlier, yielded the pocketknife, warily But he stretched right over the top ofon the floor on the other side "There are camps where there are others Like us" He held out a pack of Wet Ones wipes toout one of the premoistened towelettes while I reflected on his words "Is that where you live?" When he nodded, I inhaled and asked, "And what about thelanced down at my arm I still wasn’t sure I believed him, but I couldn’t deny it co but unscathed skin beneath

"Not quite as efficiently as you" I was glad he didn’t say fast, because for once in my life this wasn’t a race I wanted to be in

"Sohow ed "Who knows Hundreds for sure But there could be thousands A lot of us prefer to stay together It’s safer And that e can netith others like us" He raised his eyebrows as he kept explaining "Some who come back prefer to reetting close to anyone, not even to other Returned"