[UNEDITED]

I kept thinking about Dylan all night, well most of the night.

I couldn't shake the feeling when his hands were on me, and I couldn't help but miss the rush while undressing with him in the same room. My heart ached for his presence, which seemed next to impossible at this hour of the night.

I wished he had gotten invisibility from those viruses, so that he could sneak here and tuck me in. I could look at his face, bathe in the warmth he provided, and fall asleep in his arms.

The next morning was a challenge for me. I could barely keep my eyes open.

"What have you been doing all night?" mom asked as I put my head on the table and was dozing, "Didn't you sleep at all?"

"I was studying," I picked the first lie that crossed my tongue, "I have a really important test today."

"Okay," mom bought it.

Uncle Benjamin was absent on to table. But dad was there, munching on his toast. I wondered if uncle was in his lab right now. I wondered if dad knew about the lab at all.

I wanted to give them some hint and elicit their reaction, but didn't dare to do it. If dad knew anything about it and had to keep in confidential, he would try to get more information from me. I did not want to take that risk.

I guessed that no one except for Uncle Benjamin knew anything about the lab, precisely why he never bothered installing any security measures in there. Well, for one, I would give him full credit. All of our members used to visit his study, but he never acted suspiciously or did not act as if to keep any secret, which is why no one ever suspected that such a huge thing was lying just underneath our house.

"Hey dad," I finally found words to ask him, "What happened to the people who came here yesterday?"

Dad looked up from his toast, "Those people? They disbanded after a while. I tried to convince them that they had misunderstood something, and that their people must have joined the rebels or something, but they simply wouldn't listen. I do think that I had finally managed to convince them, though."

"Disappearing, hmm," I tried to sound intellectual, "Hey mom, wasn't there a girl called Olivia who worked for us, and then she had suddenly disappeared?"

Mom barely looked at me as she plopped extra jam on her toast, "She was properly dismissed by your uncle. She did not disappear."

Uncle. Okay. There was obviously something fishy with this whole thing.

Dad went to drop me off to my school, and I couldn't keep my excitement down for going on a small tour with Dylan.

"I'll pick you up after school?" dad asked. I nodded and said goodbye to him.

I hovered at that place, and as soon as dad's car was gone from the spot, Dylan appeared out of the woods.

"Sometimes you really creep me out, do you know that?" I asked him, and then looked beyond him to find Daniel matching his strides.

"What's he doing here?" I asked, irritated.

"Sorry to break the party kids," Daniel spat, mostly at me, "But I will be joining you guys for the picnic today."

All I wanted to do was fling my bag and hit him in the head.

"I heard about your little adventure yesterday, and I was upset," Daniel kept babbling, "That was very unfair of you, barging into the Devil's lair without taking me with you all!"

Dylan only sighed, "Can we go now? We don't want to be late."

"Sure. Follow us," Daniel barked the last order at me, and then started to walk towards the woods.

"Aren't we traveling on the streets?" I asked, taken aback.

"And what, get caught by the regulators? No thank you," Daniel scoffed. I hated how he always heard everything and had to comment or reply unnecessarily.

"Sorry about my brother," Dylan touched my arm, "He's just--"

"A douche," I completed the sentence for him.

We walked for god knows how many hours. The weather being whimsical, the sun was up today, and I started to sweat profusely. I pulled out my water bottle and took some large swigs. Dylan and Daniel had their own bottles, and they drank from those.

The hike was finally over after about three hours, and the trees started to thin around us.

"We're almost there," Dylan assured with a smile. I must have been looking terrible.

Finally we arrived at the Rank Three colony.

The place was not at all like I had expected. Whenever someone would speak of it, I would imagine huts and small establishments that were collapsing. But I found sturdy huts conjoined together just like I had found back at Dylan's place. The rooms at Dylan's place were much larger though. I saw children and women walking in and out of those huts. Some men were also there, but they were preparing themselves to go out for work.

I saw woods huddled on the floor, and taps situated at random places, wherever the water flow was better. A fire, died-out, was emitting smoke into the air, and it made the entire place appear hazy.

Many of the people looked at us, and I felt slightly out of place. Most of them had flimsy and worn out dresses, but I had a shiny outfit on. Obviously I would be a misfit here. The twins too, had nice clothes on, but because they lived out in the wilderness, their attires were not as nice as mine.

"Cover your head with the hood," Dylan whispered when I started to get too much attention, "We must not be recognized."

I understood what he meant. Even if he was remembered by anyone, it would barely cause him a problem. He was nonexistent to the government here. But if they recognized us, I would be in a lot of trouble.

"What are we looking for?" I asked him as I pulled the fabric over my hair and hid my face properly.

Daniel was in action before Dylan could answer me.

"Excuse me," he said, "Could you please tell me where the Monroe household is?" he fired off to a stranger.

The old man looked at the three of us, his gaze lingering a second too long on me, and then he turned to Daniel.

"You don't seem to be from here. What are you? Rank Two?" he looked at him, as though trying to see more than what was showing.

"Oh, yes you are correct. I am from the southern Rank Three colony. I happened to work with a member of the Monroe family. Just came to visit," Daniel tried his best.

I was impressed. But the old man was not. He kept on looking at him.

"Terrible, what happened to the girl, Olivia?" Daniel played his last card, "She was such a beautiful girl! Sad what the oppressing Government did to her!"

The man now looked at Daniel with a renewed impression.

"Yes, yes, I remember Olivia! She was such a vibrant young lady! Helped me plenty of times with my joint pain!" his eyes glazed as he looked into his memories, "Such a great loss!"

"So, can you please tell me where they live?" Daniel probed, "This is my first visit."

The old man looked at the three of us once again, and then gave us the direction.

"Go straight, and then take two lefts. Their house is the first one from the left. Number 86."

"Thank you," Daniel said, and then he hurried away with us.

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