Well, I was back. We stood on the slope, side by side, looking down at the tall white building. I didn’t feel as horrific as I thought I’d feel. I felt a tiny bit dizzy, and terrified of course. But I wasn’t on the verge of a panic attack or anything like that. To my surprise, Tyla seemed very ill at ease. It made sense of course; she had been through a lot here too. She paced back and forth with her head down, taking deep sharp breaths. I just wasn’t used to seeing her like that. Even when Tyla was scared, she always found a way to turn her fear into anger.

  “Hey, it’s alright. You’ll stay out here, remember. You won’t have to go in,” I reminded her gently.

  “R-right.” Poor thing. I still didn’t fully understand what exactly had happened to her here. But being isolated and in constant fear of losing your life was sure to have an effect on anyone. Not to mention, Tyla was the one who had a life to lose. I put my hand on her shoulder. I needed to take better care of her.

  “You be careful, alright,” I whispered.

  “Alright. You too! Please don’t get caught!”

  “I’ll try my best. Do you have everything you need?” Tyla nodded. I glanced down at my watch.“Okay, good. There will probably be more people working out and about if there are more prisoners. But at least while we were here, this was the time when we would be locked up. I’m just going to hope that means fewer guards patrolling during this time.” But it was also possible the time had been changed after our escape. Oh well, here goes nothing. I gave Tyla’s hand one last squeeze. I needed to hurry. There wasn't much time!The walk down the slope to the building was still steep and slippery, but much easier now that I knew where I was going. I still slipped and fell several times down the hill, but I arrived at the bottom safely, if a little beat up. The area around me was becoming more and more familiar with every single step that I took. I passed the fallen tree I had stumbled over and cut my knee on when I had first escaped.

  Then I passed the large group of rocks where I had hidden from the rain, the night I had gone back to rescue Tyla. It was all coming back to me now. I reached the wall as all my fear and hesitation melted away. There was that feeling again, or rather the lack of feeling. I was aware of nothing, nothing at all, save for my own power. There wasn't anything in the whole world that could control me. I began to climb.

  My will pushed me higher and higher. Soon I was staring down at the courtyard below. A hint of dizziness came over me. Memories clawed at my mind, but I shut them out. I began to slip over the wire fences. I had to stay in the shadows. There could be guards watching me right now for all I knew. It was only a matter of time before I got spotted by someone.Yet I found myself running, sprinting across the yard. I was focused on the goal, my friends. I was going to get them out of here and nothing was going to stop me. At first, I didn't hear the shot ring out. I was just too focused. Then I looked down and saw blood gushing from my neck, staining my clothes. Huh? For a split second I felt that same rush of panic.

  Then I noticed the one who had shot me, only a few feet away from me. A man in a uniform, with a gun in his hand. He was looking right at me, with a look in his eyes that I couldn't describe. His eyes had a kind of glazed, distant look. It reminded me of the eyes of my dolls that I had had as a young child. So empty, so lost. But before I could understand the pity that was filling my heart, my hands were reaching for my gun. Pity and fear vanished as I fired shot after shot. No, said the little voice in the back of my mind, why are you doing this? Don't kill him! But he had already fallen to the ground, and I was pushing past him, making my way to the door. Locked. I began to search his pockets, feeling shocked at the lack of remorse I felt in doing so. Keys, need keys, my mind screamed. I couldn't stop to think about what I was doing. This wasn't like me at all! It was as if something had taken over me and was pushing me to do things I didn't want to do. Why? Was it just something about this place? I needed to know, but first things first, I needed to find the others. I entered the lab.

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  There they were, those dark, long, cruelly empty hallways. They were the kind of place you’d see in a nightmare. They never seemed to end. They never really seemed to go anywhere; they just watched and waited as you became more lost, more desperate, more hopeless. Yet they had now lost all their power over me. I knew where I was; memories filled me. This place was no longer a nightmarish maze. I started heading toward where Tyla and I had been kept. I hurried down the hall, waiting to run into another guard. I found nobody, but I was prepared to shoot again if I needed to. It had been so, so easy to take that man's life. So sickeningly easy. Did my power, which I was just learning to love, turn me into a being with no remorse?

  I didn't want this! Couldn't I be strong, powerful, able to protect myself and my friends without being cruel or cold hearted? I was almost there now. I didn't know why I was heading back to my own room. It was possible that I would find someone there, but I really didn't know what I was doing. It didn't really matter; I was ready to tear this place apart to find my friends. I rounded the corner, and I was there. No danger, but to my surprise the door to my old cell was ajar, just a little bit. My heart froze in my chest. What? Why? Slowly, I crept toward the door. No matter how much I strained my ears, I couldn’t make out a single sound. How strange.

  I didn’t like the feeling that was rising up in my chest. I peered around the corner, looking into the room. But I couldn’t make anything out in the shadows and darkness.“Hello?” I whispered tentatively. No answer, no sound whatsoever. I pushed the door open and crept inside. As the light from the hallway flooded the cell, I felt a scream leave my mouth. I sank to the ground in shock. There, still pale and stagnant, lay Ross. His eyes were open but blank, distant and unblinking.

  “R-Ross? Ross, please wake up!” Nothing. I fought back my dizziness as I stepped forward. I reached out with shaking hands and put a finger to his lips. Rough, dry, chapped, and colder than ice. Just the way Connie’s had been on that awful night. But it was the look of fear in his eyes that made my heart freeze. He looked for all the world like a frightened child. I had been too late. He was gone. The ground seemed to melt away from me and I found myself on my hands and knees. Tears distorted my vision, making the world around me look still more nightmarish.

  Why? Why had he been killed? Was this just some kind of cruel punishment? My stomach twisted. I closed my eyes and lurched forward. Soon the floor was covered with that morning’s waffles. “No! Please! Wake up!” I couldn’t lose another friend. Why? What was the point in doing this? Ross was useful, wasn’t he? Why! I started shaking his corpse, begging him to wake up. I checked his pulse. Nothing. No, I couldn’t lose him so quickly.

  Not when we were just starting to know each other, not when he had just started to teach me. I should have known; this was all just too perfect. I couldn’t just find people like me, people who shared my experiences and I cared about. At least not without something awful happening to my friends. Sometimes I wondered if I was just being given things so that they could be taken away from me. I was so focused, so desperate that I didn't hear the footsteps as they are closer and closer to me. Suddenly I felt a hand grab my shoulder.

  “Welcome… home…” a voice hissed in my ear. It grew faint as I was pulled into a red sea. I had failed. That was the only thought in my mind as everything vanished into thin, cold air.