Kaia felt a nervous fluttering in her stomach when she walked into the building. What she was planning on doing was risky for both her and Chris. She just hoped that the vampire hadn't been caught and would still be in his cell when she arrived. She took a deep breath, swiping her access card and walking into the sector. Relief filled her as she saw that Chris was indeed still where he always was, this time laying on the floor with his puzzle book.

"Do you have it?" Kaia asked quickly.

"Oh, hi, Chris, how are you today?" He said, imitating her light, feminine voice. "Oh well, just fine, considering the fact that I'm in what I'm starting to believe is the 10th circle of Hell."

Kaia rolled her eyes. "Come on, did you get it or not?"

"Don't underestimate me," He said.

He crawled forward, opening the slot and tossing a metallic blue access card through. Kaia sighed as it slid across the floor, bumping into janie's cell. She picked it up, pausing to look inside the small room. Still empty. She bit her lip, standing up to her full height which granted wasn't that tall.

"Thanks, jackass."

"You're welcome. Now, I believe there was a discussion of payment the other day..."

Kaia took a chocolate bar out of her pocket, tossing it in through the slot not much unlike he had done with the card. Chris laughed as it slid across the floor, stopping under his bed.

"Touché," he said.

He grabbed the candy quickly, and Kaia couldn't help but feel a smile tug at her lips as she eagerly ripped through the packaging.

"It might be a bit melted, it's been in my pocket for awhile."

"That's okay girlie, chocolate is chocolate."

"Oh, and here.. and don't get chocolate on them now!"

She passed an extra pair of wireless earphones through the slot. Chris's eyebrows shot up, and he licked the melted chocolate off of his fingers before scooping them up.

"Well fuck, you must really like me."

"Don't push it that far," Kaia said. "I just wanted to show my appreciation for what you did."

"Appreciation noted."

He put the earphones in, looking at Kaia expectantly. She took out her Music pod, shuffling to a random song. Chris's eyes widened.

"Shit, you weren't kidding when you said you like it old. I haven't heard this song since college.. gotta say, I was thinking shit like Potential Breakup Song, not Don't Trust Me."

"I know, it's a bit vulgar... so was everything in the 200s though. I've heard some lyrics I'll never be able to unhear."

Chris laughed. "Is it bad that I still know this song by heart?"

Kaia shrugged. "It was pretty popular, I'm sure. Do you really remember it that well?"

She couldn't help but laugh as Chris stood up and started to dance and sing along, not being able to help but join in. For a few minutes, she forgot about the "infirmary", and Janie, and her mother's strange response to her simple question. Once the song ended, Helena came on right after.

Chris shook his head. Man, this is a trip. The first time I heard this song I was at Sadie Martin's house with my girlfriend at the time, and we were all baking cookies, and Sadie was like, wanna hear an awesome Song? And that was basically the first day of the rest of my life... this isn't pop, by the way, this is alt rock. Which I know because it sent me down that rabbit hole and lord knows I never returned from Wonderland after that."

"It's so cool how you lived through all of this," Kaia said. "It's all so new to me, but you're so..."

"Old?"

"I was gonna say experienced, but Yeah, old works too."

"God, you're a little shit," Chris chuckled.

They bantered back and forth for the rest of Kaia's shift, listening to music the entire time. It was almost fascinating how Chris had a story for every single song that came on. He has a memory of his mom dancing intensely in the kitchen to Hey Ya! While making dinner, and he cried during Don't Look Back In Anger because of a terrorist attack in Manchester that happened before the war. When it came time for her to switch, however, she regained the feeling of dread in her stomach. She couldn't pretend anymore, she had to figure out what was going on. Chris handed the earphones back almost reluctantly, going back to his bed and laying down with his back to the glass. She didn't blame him. The guard who had the shift afterwards was nasty to him, so he was better off ignoring the bastard.

She left her sector, going to the kiosk in the lobby and plugging in for her overtime hours. She needed to stay later, she didn't want to risk getting caught by one of the doctors again. She waited for about an hour, dawdling in the break room, sipping on coffee and reading through magazines that were older than she was. Finally, a group of staff wearing lab coats entered the room. It was time. She left, fast walking through the different sectors, the path Janie was dragged along embedded in her memory already. Finally, she made it to the so called "infirmary". The air caught in throat as she pulled out the stolen card, slowly sliding it through.

Access granted.

She slipped in through the doors, her eyes scanning for any staff just in case, but thankfully she'd indeed caught them on their break. Now she needed to work quickly. She wasted no time in examining the table she'd seen before. The room she had glimpsed just seemed to be a front area, where they kept records and samples. She reached over to a counter next to her, picking up a vial of blood. Well, she knew that blood could be used to diagnose illness, so it wasn't to worrisome to see some in tubes. She took a deep breath in and out, trying to relax. This was okay so far. She was still drawn to the next part of the room, though. It was behind another set of doors, this time not requiring special access. She just had to push open the doors.

She started to stumble when the smell hit her, metallic and sharp. Blood. Her while body seemed to start shaking. She slowly looked up, her eyes widening and nearly tearing at the images in front of her. Vampires, werewolves, goblins, and other creatures from the prison were laying on the steel tables, hooked up to machines. But they weren't patients. They were experiments. She saw one with an eye missing, another that had a large patch of skin that wasn't it's own seen onto it, and one that seemed to have straight up been filleted open, the layers of skin and muscle still peeled back to reveal it's organs. Overtaken by nausea, Kaia stumbled into a counter, swallowing hard when she noticed a table directly adjacent to her.

There was a black plastic tarp covering it, an image too familiar to her. That was what they used to cover bodies. She dared herself to pull it off. She stepped forward, grabbing onto a corner with two fingers and peeling it back. She screamed the moment she realized the body was human. It was a young woman, limbs that were a drastically different shade than her natural skin tone sewed onto her. There was a moan in response to her sudden noise, and every hair on her body stood on end. She pulled the tarp back over the body and turned around. The long blonde hair gave away who it was before she even saw their face.

"Janie," she gasped.

She fast walked over to the vampire, pausing in revulsion when she got a good look at her. All four of her limbs had been removed from her body. She was just laying there helplessly, only able to move her head.

"Oh my god," Kaia said, tears forming in her eyes.

"Happy... now...?" Janie asked, her head rolling towards Kaia. "There is an infirmary after all."

As if she were in a horror movie, she screamed again, nearly slamming into the double doors as she left. She managed to pull them open, getting herself together just enough to be able to swipe out of the first set of doors. She sat back against the wall, sitting and hugging her knees. The smell of blood was still stuck in her nose. She needed to get out of there.

She stood up and fast walked out of the building, not even bothering to sign out. She didn't even care anymore. She just had to go home. She climbed in her car, managing to drive the fifteen minutes back to her house without crashing. She ran inside, knowing that her mom was asleep, but not really caring. She didn't know if she could even trust her mom at this point. Why would she hide something so horrific? How could she let something like that happen?

She slipped into her room, looking in the mirror. Her guard uniform, all black and curve hugging, seemed meaningless now. How could she protect her people if they were doing this kind of thing to each other right under her nose? She stripped out of her clothes, her bronze skin dim and ashen in the lamplight. She stared at herself in her underwear for a moment before slamming her palm against the mirror in a lapse of pure rage. All that managed to do was make her hand hurt. Defeated, she pulled on a tank top and sweatpants, crawling into bed. The moment her face hit the pillow, she began to openly sob.

"K?"

Her mother's voice cut through her anguish. Kaia lifted her head, her puffy eyes narrowing.

"How could you?" She asked, her voice strained.

"How could I what?" Dr. Hall asked, concerned. "Kaia, what's wrong? Why are you crying?"

"I saw what was in there." Kaia said. "In what's supposed to be the infirmary. You knew about it. You helped them! Mom, what they're doing in there is- it's evil!"

"Oh, honey you don't understand-!"

"I think I do understand," Kaia spat, sitting up. "You're being the exact same way we used to be, in was before this one. Experimenting o the people you see as the enemy. Sure, in this case they aren't innocent, but that doesn't give you the right. And it definitely doesn't give you the right to hurt humans in the process!"

Kaia's mother walked over to her, placing her hands firmly on her daughter's shoulders.

"Listen to me, Kaia. We're doing these experiments for a reason. We didn't win the war, we survived it. We have the weapons and strategy, but these creatures... they have power beyond our wildest imaginations. Which is why we have them here, Kaia. We're learning more about them, and about ourselves - naturally produced hybrids aren't possible, but we have been trying... gene splicing, blood transfusions, organ transplants. One day, well be able to have their eyes, their ears, their healing ability, their strength. One day well actually be able to fight back, honey. Don't you see? This is all for the greater good!"

"Stay away from me!" Kaia cried, shoving her mother backwards.

Dr. Hall stumbled, hurt lining her features. "...I... shouldn't expect you to get it, I suppose. But K, please. I know you don't like it, but it's our reality. It's the way thing are in this compound. Just... if it hurts you so much, why don't you just pretend it's not happening? I know you love your job, I don't want something like this getting in the way of it! Let's just pretend nothing happened, okay?"

Kaia stared at her mother blankly, not being able to believe what she was hearing. Then she realized, this is the way she'd been her whole life. She'd notice something off about her society, and end up ignoring it. Pretending she'd never seen it.

"...Okay," Kaia said softly.

"That's my girl," Dr. Hall replied.

She walked over, kissing the top of Kaia's head.

"Oh, honey, we need to get your highlights done again! They're getting all bronzy."

Kaia had to give it to her Mom, the woman sure as hell practiced what she preached. She picked up one of the locks of her long, dark hair that had been dyed lighter. It was starting to fade. But that was the last thing she cared about in that moment.

"We can go to the hair place next week," Kaia said, playing along.

Dr. Hall nodded. "I'll make the appointment in the morning. Now please, go to sleep honey. You have work tomorrow night."

"I'm not going to work tomorrow night."

Her mother paused but didn't protest. She simply left the room, shutting the door behind her. Kaia laid down on the bed, her head sinking against the pillow. Above her, painted on the ceiling, was a mural of the sun setting over the ocean. Her eyes trailed the oranges, yellows, and blues, getting lost in the image. Why did she have to live in a world like this? Chris's stories of the way the world was long before she was born made her long for a time she hadn't even lived in. He had grown up in a world of color, despite its flaws. Her world, her reality, were black and white with nothing but flaws. This was the time and place she was born in. There was an injustice going on, and she knew about it. Just Pretend.

No.

Kaia got out of bed, changing into a pair of jeans and pulling a sweatshirt over her tank top, slipping a pair of combat boots on her small feet. She grabbed the stolen card, looking over the details. Level seven. Damn, Chris did good. And she was going to use his present to save him. She ran out of her house, getting back into her car and driving straight back to the prison. She stormed in, quickly making the excuse that she'd forgotten something. A blatant lie. She walked into sector B, where the blond guard was standing. He raised an eyebrow at Kaia's attire.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

"I just came back here before heading out to pass on that your wife called, it's pretty urgent. She needs you to come home right away."

"The baby's coming!" The guard gasped.

He ran out of the room, and Kaia sighed with relief. Now that he was out of the way, she could move on with the rest of the plan. She looked over into Chris's cell, where he was fast asleep. She didn't stop there, however. She walked through the corridors, following the winding path of hallways and signs on the walls until she made it to her destination: the freezer. The place where the staff kept all the meat and blood they would feed in small portions to their prisoners to at least keep them functioning... if only barely. She swiped her card through, and the door swung open. She squinted through the fog that appeared as the warm air mixed with the freezing cold. She stepped in, quickly grabbing a few blood bags and shoving them inside her sweatshirt.

She made sure the door was closed properly, looking around before making her way back to Chris's cell. She paused in front of the red metal door, staring at the black box she was meant to slid her card through. Taking a deep breath, she swiped the Level 7 card. The door unlocked, and she stepped inside, her heart in her throat. She was taking a huge risk. However, it was not much crazier compared to what she had already done that night. Chris's head snapped up, and his eyebrows nearly reaching his hairline once he saw Kaia standing inside.

"What the fuck are you doing?" He asked.

"I'm breaking you out of here," Kaia answered.

"Damn, what the hell did you see in that place?" He asked softly.

"They're doing experiments on you," she said, pulling the bags out of her sweatshirt. "Humans too. Trying To splice our genes together. It's killing both our kinds. I won't even describe to you what I saw, it was the worst thing I've ever seen in my life. Here, drink this."

Chris stared at her in shock, taking the blood. "...What about you?"

"What do you mean, what about me? You're the one in danger! I need to stay here and stop this!"

"Girlie, I appreciate the concern, but you're kidding yourself if you think you can single handedly march in there and tell them to stop. They will put a bullet through your fucking skull. You're disposable to them, moptop, so whatever crazy plan you have in your head, for-fucking-get-it."

"But you can't stay!" Kaia argued.

"Oh, no, I never said I was going to," Chris replied, squishing one of the blood bags in his hands, as if he was trying to warm it up. "I'm getting the fuck out of here. Torture is basically one of my number one fears, and the fact that it's experimental makes it ten time worse. We do need to stop it, you're right about that. But we're not gonna do it alone. I'm gonna break out of here and go back to the Outlands to get some help. And sister, your coming with me."

------------------------------------

Don't Trust Me-

Helena-

Hey Ya!-

Don't look back In Anger-