"I need to talk," Dakota says, and quickly walks into the room.

"Dakota, actually I—"

"This is important," she says firmly, "more important than Avelyn's infatuation with you."

He shuts up almost immediately, and if I didn't know better I'd say something I'd regret.

Turning to me, she asks, "you remember Blake?" She anticipates my reaction, eyes alight with urgency.

Blake. Somewhere in the back on my mind I think I've heard that name before, but with everything that has been going on, I simply can't recall who he is exactly.

"The guy with the spectacles?" Dakota waves her hands around frantically to emphasize her point.

Oh.

The one who passed around snacks when we first got into the room. The one who helped us with the video. The one who wore spectacles and supposedly liked Athena.

Right.

Upon seeing that my expression has changed, Dakota closes her eyes in relief.

"Okay, look, we need to go. I'll explain as we walk." She starts to head for the door, but Xavier grabs her arm.

"What's wrong?" He asks.

Dakota shakes her head. "No time."

Xavier nods, and looks over at me from over his shoulder, before tilting his head towards the door and following Dakota, who is now walking at an accelerated speed.

I follow them both, and once I step out the door slides shut automatically. And then I walk straight into Dakota's back.

Standing in front of us is Blake, his brown hair unkempt and wild, his eyes fixed on Dakota, all traces of emotion gone from his face.

The tension and urgency is buzzing through the air; making my heart anxious with worry.

"Dakota," Blake says, his voice low and deep. Xavier takes a step in front of Dakota, blocking her from his sight.

"Listen, it's not what you think. I'm on your side—"

"If you were on our side, you wouldn't have sent them our information. If you were on our side, you wouldn't have hurt Athena. If you were on our side—"

My heart pangs. Our information? Does Edit know where we are now? Do they...

"I get it," Blake runs his hands through his hair, visibly frustrated. "I didn't mean to hurt Athena, okay?"

"And the information?" Dakota crosses her arms over her chest, having moved from her spot behind Xavier.

Blake lets out a frustrated growl. "Yeah, I messed up. I wanted to send it to the people on the pod, but it got intercepted and—"

"I don't want to know. Let us pass," Dakota says, her voice laced with anger and bitterness. It's so un-Dakota like that even Xavier reaches over and touches her arm to keep her in check.

"No."

"Let. Us. Pass." Dakota forces out through gritted teeth.

"Dakota, don't do this."

"You betrayed me. You betrayed us. You even betrayed Athena, for goodness' sake! And here you are, telling me not to run?" Dakota lets out a bitter laugh.

"Kota, I really didn't mean it. Listen, I..." Blake trails off, and everyone stiffens. Xavier moves towards Dakota, and something clicks together in my mind.

Blake called Dakota Kota. Even Xavier doesn't call her that, but her sister did.

How is Blake related to Dakota?

My thoughts are cut off when I see who's approaching us.

It's none other than Xavier's father.

"Hello, Blake," he says, withdrawing a gun from his pocket. "I see that you have completed your task."

My whole body freezes. I hate the sound of his voice. I hate him. I hate him.

His eyes roam from Blake, to Xavier, to Dakota, and they come to rest on me.

"Hello, Avelyn," his voice is crisp and cold.

I ignore him.

"I said hello," he repeats.

I feel like replying with some sarcastic remark, but I bite it back and reply with a curt "what do you want" instead.

He doesn't reply, smiling amusedly. Blake stands stiffly, his face white with shock and fear.

"Since the four of you are here, I might as well tell you a story."

I want him to shut up.

"Once there lived a man, who had a wife and a daughter. They were very happy, and the man worked as a servant in a rich man's house. He did not earn much, but as long as his family was safe and sound and had food to eat, nothing mattered anymore.

"But one day this rich man told our hero that he was going to pay him more, as long as he inherited this project."

Dakota looks away. Xavier's eyes never leave her.

"This man refused. He did anything he could to say no, but the rich man was cunning and evil and killed this man's family."

I bite the inside of my cheek, horrified. He's talking about himself.

"Therefore, our dear hero had to take on the project. It was tough at first, but soon this man learnt to steel his heart. The rich man gave him money and power, and even let his daughters be under his control."

Xavier's eyes flicker to him, desperate to know what on earth his father had done to hurt his Dakota.

"So naturally, to start a proper project, you need proper people. The rich man had three children, two girls and one boy. However, the rich man's youngest daughter wasn't a good girl. She was very terrible, in fact."

That boy is Blake, isn't it?

"Our dear hero had no choice but to make sure she listened to him. And how? One wound for one word she uttered against him. Our hero broke the rich man's daughter as a form of punishment, as a form of retribution to the rich man. He couldn't care less."

Xavier's eyes fix on Dakota, who is now hiding her face behind a curtain of hair. I can still see tears falling. He killed her sister. And I know, no matter how hard she hated her sister, they were still friends once.

"But this man felt very lonely, so he went to look for his own children to help out with this project. He adopted two lovely children from the Black Hole itself, and renamed the girl in honor of his deceased daughter."

Disgust creeps over my skin, filling me to the very brim. Avelyn was the name of his previous daughter, and not me. I'm his dead daughter.

"Also, the same treatment applied to his son—his pride and glory. He installed a tracker both in his son and the rich man's daughter as a form of discipline. They remained frozen at eighteen and if they dare do anything silly, of course he would know what to do."

Xavier's father holds up a small contraption, a shiny red sphere.
He lowers his voice to a whisper.

"One press of this and both of them would be in Heaven."

A strangled sob escapes Dakota.

"The best part is, now, they can't save each other. They've been doing that for years, taking punishments for each other, covering for each other, but this time, both of them will go at once."

A creepy grin spreads over his face. I want to throw up right here, right now.

"And then I'll be left with my precious Avelyn, and I'll have her all to myself."

I need to leave. I need to run. I need to escape before it's too late.

But my feet won't budge, and my body won't cooperate with my mind.

Help. Help, please.

I'll never get to tell Chance goodbye.

And then Blake kicks Xavier's father. Sharp and quick. He doesn't see that coming, and falls backwards, the red sphere slipping between his fingers. It skids along the ground to come to rest at Dakota's feet. She stares blankly at it. It's counting down.

Xavier's father climbs to his feet immediately, and I realise that Blake has vanished.

Betrayer. Stupid, stupid Blake.

"Give the sphere to me," Xavier's father sticks out his hand, as if he expects Dakota to be a good girl and drop it in his palm.

Xavier gently takes Dakota's hand, lacing his fingers with hers. She swallows, and bends down.

"Why should I give it to you?" She asks, her voice broken and cracking.

"If you give it to me, I'll make sure both of you live."

"Dakota," Xavier whispers, softly running his thumb over her knuckles.

"And if I don't?"

"It's going to explode."

My throat goes dry. They don't have any choice. My feet remain glued to the ground.

Dakota looks over at Xavier.

The numbers flash.

3.

2.

And just as it hits one, Dakota says, "I always win."

1.

"Go, Amber, run!" Xavier yells, and as if a flip has been switched, my feet spring to life and I bound down the hallway. I do not look back. I don't want to witness their death.

I keep increasing my speed; I'm afraid that if I slow down Xavier's father will catch up with me.

I keep going, my feet slapping loudly on the floor. My breath comes in irregular and shallow pants, but the adrelin pumping through my veins tells me not to stop.

I am going to make it. I run towards the stairs, and take a leap of faith, deciding to run upstairs. I throw open the door.

Bad choice.

I'm on the rooftop, and there are already people pointing their guns at me.

I stand completely still, my breaths still ragged and uneven.

What do I do now?

I look around for some signs of help, but find none. Sweat is pouring down my temples, and fall into my eyes, burning them. Tears start to fill my vision. Quickly, I swipe at my eyes, determined not to cry, even though I'm stuck in this hopelessness.

Sometimes, we get too deep in trouble, or in bleak situations, and we're completely helpless, but we want to make things better. In these times, we are struggling, fighting, reaching for whatever we can, determined to fix the situation.

That's what a fighter is. That's what someone brave and strong is.

I need to be like that to survive.

"Raise your hands in the air!" A soldier calls.

Focus, Amber, don't let them get to you, or else in the end you'll lose. Turn around. Run while you can. Find an escape route. You can do this.

"You have three seconds."

I waste no more time, running towards the door and grabbing the handle. Bullets pelt the areas around me, but I don't stop.

I yank the door open and start to charge down the stairs.

And standing there is Xavier's father. I don't care; I don't stop running. I push him to the ground before he can harm me, and push through the door. I can hear the soldiers' footsteps behind me.

Don't stop.

They chase me towards the end of the corridor, and I'm cornered. Behind me is a balcony that looks out to a vast, empty space.

And then the humming of a pod reaches my eardrums and I decide to do the most reckless thing I could ever do.

I run onto the balcony and cross my fingers, hoping that the people in the pod can see me, and hopefully it's Samantha and the others.

Then I stand on top of the railing, and launch myself off. And then I'm falling, falling, falling...

Hi guys!

So it's been two weeks (hehe sorry) and thank you guys so much for your patience with me. Edit is almost at 1K already 0o0 so thank you guys a billion times over.

This chapter is dedicated to betuelng for fangirling over my characters and just being there.

Also dedicated to every single person who has added Edit to their reading list. You guys are awesomesauce <3

And also to Projectselfesteem and @WriteLoveOnTheirArms for their follows that made me too excited for my own good.

Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!

-NeverEverGiveUp-