"Ivan, hurry up." I hissed.

"Hang on, Saundrine! I'm not as fast as you!" he panted.

I flicked his forehead, giving him a small shock. "I told you. Call me Rin."

He winced. "Okay. And you don't have to shock me."

"Yeah, I do." I scoffed.

We crept along the walls of the alley. There police cars around, so we had to be careful.

Bang

We jumped.

Ivan looked at me in fear. "W-what was t-t-that?"

I rubbed my hands together, making them spark. "Stay here."

"What!" he yelped. "N-no! I can't let you-"

I clamped my hand over his mouth. "Shhh! I can't let you come. I don't want you to get hurt, okay? Stay here, and if you don't hear me call for you in two minutes, then run."

He stared at me and then slowly nodded his head.

I went forward slowly, holding my breath. There was a thud, and a yelp.

I froze.

And then I jumped.

"Ahhhh!"

It was a girl. A blonde girl.

And then something, no, someone slammed into me.

Kicking, punching, pulling, pinching.

I couldn't tell if it was a wild cat or a toddler that attacked me.

"Rana! Rana, stop!" the girl screamed. "She's not going to hurt me!"

The girl rushed forward and pulled my attacker away.

It wasn't a wild cat.

Or a toddler.

Instead it was a girl about my age, with messy dark hair and bared teeth.

She stood in front of the blonde girl in a fighting stance. Her eyes were narrowed with suspicion, and fists clenched.

"Rana, it okay! She's not going to hurt me." Blondie said.

"That depends," I scoffed. "You gonna hurt me?"

"Was that a threat?" Rana growled.

"No. Just a fact." I sneered.

Her eyes flashed furiously. She stepped towards me, and every fiber of my body was suddenly on alert.

There was something about her that screamed danger. Maybe her posture, or wild hair.

No.

It was her eyes.

Bright brown, with something more sinister than anger in them. Her eyes were almost glowing.

For the first time in a while, I could feel sharp fear swirling inside of me as well as anger.

I balled my fists and brought them up.

Rana's head snapped to my hands. She paled suddenly, leaping back from the sparks.

Fear shone in her eyes.

I was confused. Most people were stunned and scared of my hands but they weren't, well, as terrified as she was.

I held out my hands. "Hey, calm down. I'm not going to hit you, don't worry."

She leapt back, crashing into the trash cans. Fear was radiating from her.

"Rana!" Blondie gasped.

Blondie raced over and pulled Rana up. Rana looked at me, breathing hard. She was shaking in fear.

"Look, I swear-"

"Rin!"

We all jumped. I slashed my hand out, whipping a rope of electricity at the intruder.

Ivan ducked, dropping to the ground.

"Ivan!" I gasped. "Don't do that! I could kill you!"

He peeked up at me. "But you didn't."

"Yet!" I sputtered.

"Ok, who the hell are you two? And why the hell are you guys even here?" Rana demanded.

I pulled Ivan up. "Well, it's a long story. And one that we won't tell you two."

"Umm, do we have to be so hostile?" Blondie asked. "How about we introduce ourselves?"

"Or how about we don't." Rana snapped. "And we both leave and forget we ever met each other."

"Sounds good." I snorted. "Come on Ivan, let's go."

"Wait!" Ivan yelped.

We frowned at him.

"Why can't we work together? I mean, groups are more successful than just two people. Twice the eyes and ears. Twice the safety." he explained.

I glanced at Rana. Her eyes were narrowed, thinking it over.

Meanwhile, Blondie was almost jumping in excitement at Ivan's suggestion.

"Rana, listen to him!" Blondie gasped. "He's right. Strength comes in numbers."

Rana turned her gaze to me. I looked back at her, and raised my eyebrow. She frowned.

"Look," I sighed. "We don't trust each other, that's obvious. But our friends have a point. There's strength in numbers. If you're willing to cooperate, then I'd like to become a group, even if it's just for a week or so."

I held out my hand to her.

Rana raised her chin. "Trust is important though. Without it, we'll crumble."

I shrugged. "You can leave any time you want."

She hesitated.

A police siren went off in distance, making us all jump.

"Choose quickly." I urged her.

"Fine. But only if you never use your powers against me." she relented. "Or around me, for the matter. Unless we're fighting officials or something."

I sighed. "Of course. That goes without saying."

She hesitated, and then reached out and shook my hand.

I nodded. "I'm Rin."

"Ivan!" Ivan said cheerfully.

"My name is Darcy." Blondie introduced herself, smiling.

"Rana." Rana said.

I gave her a small smile. "Great. Now let's get going before the police come over."

Thud

"Oof!" I yelped.

I shook my head and glared up at my opponent. "What the hell, Lanis?"

She grinned at me. "Sorry, I couldn't hear that!"

I got up and brushed off my pants. "Oh shut up. Don't play the helpless deaf girl, now."

She twirled her baseball bat. "I'm not playing anything. And you must be a damn moron to get beat by the so called helpless deaf girl."

I glared at her. "You caught me off guard and you know it."

Lanis grinned. "Officials aren't going to wait for you to pay attention. I thought you knew this stuff. I mean, you've been on the run for your whole life."

I scoffed. "Sometimes I get distracted."

Lanis's smile dropped. "Rin, you can't get distracted. I'm sorry that you and Rana fought, but if it's bothering you that much, then go talk to her. Come on, it's been three months."

I closed my eyes. "I won't. I don't have anything to apologize for. And anyway, she tends to spend all her time with Jae or Kamira."

Lanis rolled her eyes. "Kamira pretty much sees Rana as her role model, or hell, even an older sister. And Jae and her just click. If you don't like that your girlfriend is spending so much time with Jae, then resolve your argument and then talk about it."

I opened my eyes and groaned. "You say that like it's easy. For one, Rana needs to apologize. I refuse to speak to her until she does. Two, I don't mind her spending time with Jae."

Lanis raised her eyebrow. "Alright, Miss Rin. For one, you're pretty damn arrogant to not even speak to your girlfriend unless she apologizes. I hope you realize that she's just as stubborn and prideful as you are. Two, you sound pretty jealous of her and Jae."

"There is no her and Jae." I snapped.

"And here I thought you weren't jealous." Lanis snorted.

"I'm not. There's nothing to be jealous about, anyway."

"Mmhmm."

"Oh hush. Why don't you go make out with your boyfriend or something?"

Lanis laughed. "Marcus is out in a mission. He should be back later this evening. Then I'll make sure to make out with him."

I picked my staff up. "Yeah, go ahead."

Lanis chuckled. "I'll see you later."

I watched her leave the Arena, her advice rolling around in my head. Lanis gave good advice. And I did miss Rana.

I sighed and tossed my staff up in the air. Maybe I should talk to Rana.

"Hey."

I groaned. "Jae."

She laughed. "Aw, you didn't even have to turn. Have you memorized my voice already?"

"Hard not to memorize it when the damn thing constantly comes out of your mouth." I scoffed.

Jae glared at me. "You ought to wash your mouth out with soap."

"Why," I asked. "Nothing going to change. The truth doesn't get scrubbed out. Too bad I can't scrub out you."

"Why the hell are you so damn aggressive to me?" Jae snapped.

"Oh, haven't I made it clear? I don't trust you. For the few months that I've known you, you've made no attempt to speak to me civilly, you've been going so far as to avoid me, all the while going out of your way to talk to Rana. I don't know what you have against me, forgive me if I don't trust you." I spat.

She scoffed. "You've been aggressive to me from the moment we met."

"No," I sighed. "I was being cautious."

"Just sounds like you're jealous."

I gripped my staff tightly. "No."

She snickered. "Well, you should be."

I froze. "What is that supposed mean?"

"Well, Rana's just been telling me about how awful you make her feel. How you're always showing off, and never being considerate about what she's been through. You always complain about your mother. Not to mention that you're always using your powers, even though you know she was tortured by electrocution. Sounds to me that you're an awful girlfriend."

I glared at her. "You're lying."

She sighed. "Look, Rana didn't tell you any of this because she didn't want to burden you. You know she's like that."

"No, Rana would've told me if it was this bad." I snapped.

Jae folded her arms. "No, she wouldn't have. She bottles everything up until-"

"she explodes!" I yelled. "Yes, I know how she is. I know me girlfriend!"

"Evidently you don't!" Jae yelled back.

I flinched.

Jae groaned. "Look, I just wanted to let you know. I care about Rana. I know that she still loves you, and you love her. I'm not trying to steal her away. I just want what she deserves. And she deserves to be with you."

I narrowed my eyes. Jae stared back at me, her gaze open and honest.

I hesitated. "No, Rana,"

I paused. Jae did have a point. Rana has a tendency to bottle everything up. Then she'd go and rant to someone else about the problem. She did this with Darcy before, multiple times.

I looked up. "She really said that?"

Jae nodded. "Look, I'm going go grab a bite to eat. You decide on what you want to do. Good luck."

I watched her leave, a pot of uneasiness swirling in my stomach. Was she telling the truth? Did Rana really feel that awful around me?

I remembered the terror in her face when we met. And how she used to leap back from me. But that was four years ago.

But then I remembered her nightmares. How she would wake up, screaming and crying. How she physically couldn't sleep, her insomnia keeping her. The lat night talks. The dark circles under her eyes.

And how she still kept a small distance from me when I used my powers.

How she shuddered when I electrocuted an official.

And how she flinched when I accidentally shocked her, even in her sleep.

I looked down at my hands, tears building up. Did I still terrify her?

Maybe Jae was telling the truth.

But, my mother was a separate issue. I rarely spoke about her. Maybe one time for every fifty times that Rana spoke about the Facility.

Anger burned in me as I remembered our argument.

"It's not their fault that your mom was dumb enough to get roasted!"

How dare she. How dare she say that about Amma, and then go and complain to a stranger.

She could've spoke to Ivan or Darcy. Or better yet, me.

Jae...

Maybe she really was telling the truth.

It made sense.

I wiped the tears off of my face. Oh, hell yes I would confront her.

I tossed my staff to the wall and stormed out of the Arena. Oh, she was going to get it.

I walked into the mess hall, and people backed away from me.

I looked around, and spotted Rana sitting with Jae and Kamira. I went over, trying to keep a cool face.

"Rana?" I whispered. "Can we talk?"

Rana stiffened. "Hell no."

I froze. "Excuse me?"

She turned and glared at me. "You heard me. Hell no."

"Leave us alone." Kamira snapped.

I glared at her. "Hush. I wasn't talking to you."

Rana turned to me, standing up. "Don't talk to her like that."

I glared up at her. "We have to talk."

"We have nothing to talk about." she spat. "I've heard enough."

I frowned. "What you are talking about? We haven't talked in months."

She let out a hiss. "Fine. You want to talk? Follow me."

I sprinted after her, half pissed off and half confused. What did she mean by she's heard enough? I barely said two words to her.

We reached an empty corner of the main market. Rana whirled to me, tapping her foot impatiently.

"Well? You've got one minute."

"What's going on?" I asked. "You've never come around and apologized to me. And now you've been spilling everything to Jae? For Allah's sake, you're just spilling everything to Jae like you've known her for years!"

Rana scoffed. "She's easy to talk to. We just click. And anyway, that's no excuse for you to go around and talk about me to your new best friends."

"What?" I yelped. "I never did that."

"Sure you didn't." Rana sneered. "Don't act dumb, Saundrine. Jae told me everything. She told me that you've been complaining about me to Lanis and Marcus. Talking about how I'm so arrogant and dramatic."

"And you believe her!" I cried. "You barely know Jae! Rana, she's manipulating you!"

"Yeah right! Jae is one of my best friends!" Rana snapped. "Of course I believe her. But not like you would know anything about friendship. After all, you've drifted away from Ivan, Darcy and I. Not to mention that you bad mouth me to your new friends!"

"Now hang on," I yelped. "I've never bad mouthed you to anyone. Yeah, I've talked about the fight to Lanis. Sure, I've said that you can be overly aggressive and dramatic, but-"

Rana burst into laughter. "Well obviously you don't know what bad mouthing means! Because that's exactly what you've been doing! Now if you'd excuse me, I'm going to go talk to some people who actually don't think that I'm overly aggressive and dramatic!"

"Rana!" I yelled.

I jumped in front of her, blocking her path. She froze, glaring down at me.

"Look, just listen-"

She clamped her hand over my mouth.

"Hush! You hear that?"

I froze.

And I could hear it.

Yelling. Stomping. Crying.

From the mess hall.

Rana took off. "Come on! They aren't this loud unless something bad happened!"

I ran after her.

When we came into the mess hall, it was chaos. Everyone was screaming, some people were even crying.

I made out some words.

Help
Oh my God
Officials
Attack

I paled. Oh no.

We pushed our way to the front of the crowd. There was Jae and Rocco standing in the front, with a boy.

No, a man.

Bleeding, with his wheat colored hair messed up and clothes ripped.

It was Marcus.

"Marcus!"

Lanis raced past me and grabbed Marcus, her eyes wide. "Oh my God! Are you okay? What happened? Where does it hurt? Why are you bleeding so much? Who did this to you?"

Marcus yelped in pain. "Nothing! Doesn't matter."

"I beg to differ!" Lanis shrieked. "What the hell happened?"

"Wait," I hissed. "Where's Ivan?"

"Rin! Rana!"

Ivan came barreling at us. He scooped me and Rana up in tight hug.

"Can't breathe!" Rana sputtered.

He set us down, his eyes wide with concern.

"Are you two alright? You didn't get hurt, did you?" Ivan demanded.

"We're fine." Rana muttered.

We looked him up and down, checking for any injuries. Luckily, he seemed fine.

I exhaled in relief.

"Darcy!" Rana gasped.

She whirled around, panic suddenly filling her eyes. Her body shook, swiveling her head around, looking for Darcy.

"Get out of my way! Rana!"

Rana sprinted towards Darcy's voice, her eyes wide. Darcy came bursting out of the crowd, gasping loudly. I watched Rana hug her tightly.

"Oh my God! Are you okay?" Darcy gasped. "You aren't hurt, right? I can't lose you now. I refuse to lose another sister!"

"I'm fine, I'm fine." Rana mumbled. "More worried about you? Are you okay? Did anyone hurt you? I'll kill them if they did!"

"I'm okay. Just a couple of bruises, don't worry." Darcy answered.

Rana checked her over again, relief filling her face. She crushed Darcy into another tight hug, and Darcy squeezed her back with even more force.

"Darcy!" Ivan yelled.

He charged forward, and swept her up in a tight hug. She laughed loudly, hugging him back.

"It's okay Ivan. I'm okay." Darcy laughed.

Ivan set her down. "You sure?"

She nodded. "Yeah. Don't worry."

"So you didn't get hurt?" I called out.

Darcy turned to me. "Yeah, I'm fine. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." I sighed.

"Rin was with me." Rana added. "She didn't get hurt."

"As touching as that is," Jae yelled at us. "We need to know what in the fresh hell happened to Marcus!"

We turned to Marcus.

He was breathing heavily, looking like he just ran a marathon. Lanis had her arm wrapped around him, supporting her boyfriend's weight as best as she could. I noticed that most of the bleeding came from cuts on his face, save the blood dripping from his arm and the cuts on his stomach.

At Jae's shout, he looked up. Marcus's eyes were focused, and he pulled himself up to his full height, barely even wincing. I knew he'd be alright.

"The Admin's men were chasing me." he said. "They're coming to the Haven."

"What?" Rana croaked.

Her face lost all of its color at Marcus's statment. I reached out to hold her hand, but she stepped back, terror filling her eyes.

"Rana?" Darcy asked. "Rana, it's going to be okay."

Rana let out a strangled laugh. "Okay? No it won't! They'll come in, guns blazing, and they'll kill us all! Or worse, we'll meet Ricker!"

She took another step back, her body shaking. She was smiling, but it was shaky and painted on. Her eyes were wild with fear. She looked like a rabid animal.

"Rana," I whispered. "Rana, look at me. He won't hurt you."

Her eyes darted me, breathing hard.

She was about to have a breakdown.

"Liar." Rana gasped. "I can't trust you!"

I flinched.

"Somebody calm her down." Lanis whispered.

"Rana, it okay." Darcy breathed out. "It's going to be okay. We evaded him countless of times, remember? And I'm here. Ivan and Rin are here."

She went over to Rana and reached out, putting her arm around Rana cautiously.

Rana looked up. "Really? Are you telling the truth?"

"Yes." Darcy whispered. "Yeah, trust me. We won't let him hurt you."

Rana stared at her, and then slowly relaxed a bit.

"We're here." Ivan reassured her.

Rana's met mine.

I steeped forward and gave her a smile.

She looked away from me, focusing on Darcy, Ivan and Jae.

Her expression melted into calmness.

"You okay?" Marcus asked.

She nodded. "Yeah. Don't worry about me."

Lanis looked at her carefully. "You sure?"

She nodded again, suddenly turning to Marcus.

"Marcus, are you sure that the officials were chasing you?" Rana asked.

"Yes." Marcus answered.

"There you all are!"

We turned.

Rocco came running over, pulling Kamira behind him

Kamira yanked away. "Jae! Lanis! Rana! Are you guys okay?"

"We're fine." Jae chuckled.

"Everyone else?" Kamira asked.

We all nodded.

"I'm more worried about you." Rocco gasped.

Kamira glared at him. "For the hundreth time Rocco! I. Am. Fine!"

Rocco opened his mouth, but Rana spoke.

"We need to everyone out. We have to split up and move everyone out as soon as possible."

"Agreed. Rocco, you get the people in the front half of the mess hall. Move them down one of the paths. Get them on the move to another city, now." Jae ordered.

"Marcus, you get the people in the back half of the mess hall. Move them in a separate direction from Rocco." Rana added. "We have to spread out."

"I'll get the people in the market on the move." Lanis volunteered.

"What!" Marcus yelped. "No, you have to stick with me!"

"No, I don't." Lanis snapped. "I'll be fine, Marcus. Don't worry about me."

"But-"

"I'll be fine. You need to worry about yourself."

Marcus pulled his shirt up and wiped the blood form his face. When he was done, I could see that most of the blood must've come from the cuts around his eyebrows.

"I'll be fine." Marcus sighed. "But Lanis-"

Guys." Rana snapped. "Get the dramatic goodbye over with. We have to go, now."

"I'll be fine." Lanis said.

She kissed his cheek briefly, and then murmured something in his ear. Marcus nodded, and then they both ran off to their posts.

"Alright." Jae sighed. "Rana, you get-"

"The people in the training grounds. You get the people in the arena, Jae. Rin, you get the people in the infirmary, okay?" Rana ordered.

"What about me?!" Kamira demanded.

Rocco grabbed her shoulders. "You're sticking with me, sis. I won't lose you."

"No! I'm going to help. Rana, Jae, tell him!" Kamira cried.

"Rocco, she can lead the people in the houses." Rana said. "I know she's young, but Kamira has made a name for herself. We're out of adults to lead, and Kamira is respected."

"No." Rocco spat. "She's my little sister. She will stick with me."

"No, I won't." Kamira growled. "You can't make me."

Rocco glanced from Kamira to Rana to Jae. Kamira and Rana were both glaring. Jae gave him a sharp nod.

"Fine." Rocco hissed. "But if she gets hurt, I will personally kill you all."

"I will be okay." Kamira scoffed. "I'll see you soon."

She sprinted through the crowd and out of the mess hall.

"Look," I snapped. "I'm going with Rana. Someone else can take the infirmary. I refuse to leave Rana with Jae."

"Saundrine Iago!" Rana yelled. "Now is not the time for your damn rivalry! Get going, innocent people's lives are at stake, for Gods sake!"

"It's not a rivalry! And someone else can handle them. Can't you see what's happening? Jae's mani-"

"All I can see is that people are in danger and you're refusing to help them." Rana spat.

"I-"

"I'll take care of it." Jae volunteered.

"What? No, you're already covering the Arena. Saundrine, get over with your tantrum and cover the infirmary, now. You don't have a choice." Rana spat.

"She shouldn't help if she doesn't feel the need to." Jae scoffed.

"Excuse me? Of course I feel the need to help those people. It's jus-"

"Then act on that need."Rana interrupted. "Do something instead of standing there and throwing a fit."

"We'll go." Darcy volunteered. "Ivan and I can handle it."

"Yeah." Ivan agreed.

"Thank God." Rana exhaled. "Because somebody refuses to."

She glared at me.

"We got it." Ivan nodded.

Darcy gave Rana a tight hug. "Promise me that you'll be okay."

Rana nodded. "I'll be okay. We'll see you guys soon."

"You too, Rin." Ivan demanded.

I smiled. "I'll be fine. You guys take care of each other."

Ivan hugged me and then Rana. Darcy gave me a quick hug. They stepped back and smiled at us both.

And just like that, my friends were gone.

"Come on." Rana told Jae. "We got to go."

They took off.

I ran after Rana. "Wait!"

She didn't answer.

I grabbed her hand. "Rana, hang on!"

She yanked her hand away. "Don't touch me. You've changed, and I don't like it. I don't know what happened, but as of now, I don't really care. I don't know who you are now, and I don't trust you. Touch me again, and I'll make you break your own wrist."

I stared at her in shock.

But it didn't matter.

Rana has already disappeared.