When I knock on the door, I'm met with silence. I've just turned myself visible, and I'm sure I look like a mess. My hair feels knotted when I run my fingers through it, and my eyes feel blotchy from the angry tears i just shed.

A young girl with lighter hair than Eva opens the door. She blinks up at me, squinting her eyes. "Are you Autumn?"

I nod.

She crosses her arms. "What do you want?"

"Is Eva home?" I ask what must be her younger sister. I believe her name is Lily.

"No, she's not," Lily says. "I haven't seen her for a while. You really upset her. She had defended you when the government said you're bad, but now I think she was just trying to believe it herself."

She slams the door in my face, and my blood boils. I didn't know her sister was so rude.

I try to think of where she's run off to. While I stare at the closed door, my mind spins out of control. Jeremy. Leane. The scene in the salon. Everything seems like too much. I wish I could shut off my brain so the intrusive thoughts would leave me alone; so the memories would stop haunting me. My hands shake again, and I shove them in my pockets before turning away from Eva's house.

I walk through the neighborhood. I pass dilapidated houses. Some have overgrown grass, and some seem to be inhabited. This street is so different than it used to be when it was labelled the 'poor' neighborhood and the less fortunate where made fun of.

After walking for a while, I reach my neighborhood. I stop by Molly's house. I ring the doorbell and she answers, per usual. She has a slight smile on her face, and her hair has been slicked back.

"Is Eva here training?' I ask.

She shakes her head, frowningly slightly. "No. I thought you both would come together. Is everything okay?"

I shake my head. "She's still thinking of Jared. She's disappeared and I can't find her."

She bites her lip and glances back inside. "Why don't you come in? There's something on the news that's quite concerning."

"Concerning?" I echo.

Molly doesn't respond. She just walks further into the house. I follow after closing the door behind me. We walk straight to the living room where her parents sit next to each other. Mrs. Jenny clutches James' hand as they stare intently at the screen.

"Hi Mrs. Jenny, hi James," I say.

Mrs. Jenny's eyes flick to me, but James' never leave the screen.

"Autumn, dear, it's so nice to see you," her watch says. My stomach drops as I remember what the government cost her.

I sit next to her and gather her in a hug. She squeezes me back. I look up and notice Molly has left the room.

"Molly's busy with her work. She's in the kitchen," Mrs. Jenny explains. "Why don't you stay here with us? I don't think it's a good idea to be out right now."

"Why?"

She points to the screen. "Because I fear things will never be okay."

My heart dropped to my toes. I dared to look at the two faces on the screen. Wrapping my arms around myself, I stared at Jared standing next to Harold. His father stands next to him, a proud smirk on his face.

"Citizens," Harold says, "You should not be frightened by the message you received today. Starting now, security measures will be doubled. No, tripled. That includes Chips. That includes a new curfew. You never know who your enemy will be. You never know what will happen in this city, especially with pests running around and ruining things."

"He can't be serious," I whisper. It feels like my throat is closing shut. It feels like fire is coursing through my veins and boiling my blood. "He's going to revert things to how they used to be."

"And I thought he was reasonable," James says. "I really thought he would help."

"He can't do this!" I exclaim. "He's going to be the same as Jeremy, and Jared is going to let him! This whole city is going to let him!"

"I won't let them," James says simply. "I know you won't let them." He turns to me and smiles ever so slightly. "I have a hope that you never give up, even when everyone else does."

"I won't," I promise. I stand up and prepare to leave. However, another face on the television catches my eye, and my breath hitches.

"Isn't that your friend?" Mrs. Jenny asks.

"No," I cry. A tear runs down my cheek as Eva's hand joins Jared's. His lips twitch into a smile, and Eva looks truly happy, albeit slightly uncomfortable.

This is my fault. I never should've pushed her away. I should've tried to work with her more. I shouldn't have let her out of my sight for so long. I knew she was damaged. I knew she missed him.

I mutter a goodbye and rush from the room.

"Autumn?" Molly asks.

I don't bother to wipe away my tears as I stop in front of the kitchen table she's settled at.

"Can Harold mess with these Chips?" I query.

She stares at me for a moment. "Wirelessly? Possibly, if he can figure it out. Or if he gets his hands on the right technology. Is this because of the tv broadcast?"

I nod. "He had Eva and Jared."

Her eyes widen. "I knew that girl couldn't let him go."

"It's not fair," I say. "After everything, it's like the government is winning. I thought we had them defeated, but I was wrong."

"Hey," she says gently, looking at me over her laptop, "it's going to be okay. You've dealt with so much. You can stop them."

I shake my head. "Bye, Molly."

I rush out before she can say anymore. I'm sick and tired of crying, so I wipe away my tears as I walk. Breathing feels difficult and all I want to do is surrender. I want to curl up in my bed and wake up in a different place at a different time. I'm tired of dealing with so many problems. That's all this society has; problems. I can't fix them all myself. I'm one person that almost everyone hates.

My house appears in front of me. I walk up and disable the alarm, my vision blurred by my remaining tears. After walking inside, I rush up to my room. I take off my watch and toss it across the room. I know I have notifications from Cody and the others, but I don't want to deal with them right now. I don't want to deal with anything right now.

I flop onto my bed and grab my journal. I flip through the smooth pages to find a clean one. Grabbing my pen, I begin to write. It feels like my soul is transferring from my hand to the pen to the paper. Hiccuping sobs escape me and I can't help it. My hand shakes, and there's nothing I can do to stop it.

Finally, I set my journal aside and curl into a ball. I wrap myself in the blankets for comfort rather than warmth. They smell fresh and clean. I hug them closer and squeeze my eyes shut. I want the blankets to chase away my demons, but they can't. Most are in my head, and the few that aren't won't come to me. I have to go to them to end all of this.

My eyes snap open and I sit up. That's it; I have to go to them.

--------

Thoughts? On what Eva did? On Jared? On what Autumn will do? ON this series in general?

-Sarah