Ethan's POV:

'Again. This is happening again. Why is this happening again!'  I blink and rub my eyes, taking a second look across the room and seeing that nothing changed. I am indeed not dreaming. I am standing in an exact replica of the Rowville Secondary College/Ream Secondary College gym. I quite legitimately would rather jump out a window then have to deal with this bullshit again. I sigh.

I guess I don't really have a choice anyway.

There are a lot of new faces in this room, some seem familiar but I shrug it off. There seems to be multiple activities going on. Some are playing sports, some are playing games, some are reading and some are just sitting down and chatting. I walk around to see what I want to do. There was sports. Definite no. Plus, a brunette in what looks like a loose battle armor of sorts seems to be crushing everyone anyway. I can't help but notice she's leaving a particular wavy haired blonde alone though, also seeming to give her heart eyes whenever they pass each other. 'I totally ship it...... Ethan you don't even know who those two are, calm down.'  I walk away from the terrifying warrior and her cute companion to check on the people playing games, but as I walk away I can't help but think I had seen the pair somewhere before.

It's a small group of people, but there is one person seems to be crushing everyone, just like the girl from the sports. She is wearing what looks like a hand sown blanket but she is wearing it like a coat. She has her long brunette hair in dreadlocks and her glasses are square. As she cheers in triumph and the boys around the table groan while they hang their heads, a blond woman sits behind her and kisses her cheek for a congratulations. 'Oh would you look at that, I ship them too!' They then continue on with the game, everyone but the brunette seeming determined for victory. I decide against playing with them and walk towards the group of readers, once again thinking that the women I just saw were awfully familiar.

Reading, there is somewhere I can absolutely see myself fitting in with the crowd. I continue to walk forward, spotting a table with a wide range of books covering it, and the books sitting so easily in the hands of the small group. They all have a book or two sitting next to them along with the book sitting in their hands, but there is one girl sitting there with a stack of no less than ten books sitting next to her, seeming to speed through the pages of the book she is reading. I scan her face and my eyes widened. Long raven hair falls past the woman's shoulders and bangs rest along her forehead, her skin is deathly pale. A girl who looks no younger than her sits behind her with her chin resting on her shoulder, seeming slightly grumpy that the raven haired woman isn't giving her any attention . 'Oh you have got to be shitting me. Nope, I am hallucinating, that's all. Just walk away and they'll go away.'

I walk away from what has to be the creepiest yet coolest hallucination ever, and walk passed the corner where people are chatting. I would not choose to go there anyway, I am the most awkward person when talking to new people and I do not feel like dealing with getting laughed at while already feeling creeped out. I find a corner that no one is in and sit there, pulling my legs up to my chest and hugging them closer.

There's no real words to describe how it is to just sit with only my mind as a companion. There's no real words to describe the mind numbing confusion that clouds my head as everything I see around me settles. The world pauses for a second while I gather my bearings, but then continues as if nothing happened the next. The familiar faces, the replica gym, the separated worlds in which the gym seems to hold. Not one group is bothered by the others. It's strange, yet oddly comforting how not one person is affected by the others. No one is bothered by difference, whether it be interests, looks, sexuality, race, beliefs, anything really. The thought makes a small smile creep up from the corners of my lips as I watch everyone go about their business. Suddenly I am not worried about what a mystery this is and what I've seen. I just sit, admire, and settle down in my not-so-new surroundings. I close my eyes, sigh in contentment and finally relax for the first time in ages.

"You seem comfortable." Before I even realise I've fallen asleep, I am awoken by a gravely and confident deep voice. My eyes shoot open and I'm about to attack the person when they hold up their hands in surrender with wide eyes. "Woah! Hey, I come in piece. I didn't realise you were asleep, I'm sorry." I get out of my fighting stance and let out a breath I didn't realise I was holding. The person has short, shaggy, dirty blonde hair. Their shirt is black and baggy, their jeans are those ripped designed ones and their runners match their shirt. Once I calm down I extend a hand with an apologetic smile. "Sorry about that, I'm just a bit on edge whenever I wake up. My name's Ethan by the way. He/him pronouns are what I identify with" The person I just tried to attack sends back a friendly smile and takes my hand for the shake. "Don't worry about it, everyone is edgy in here. I'm Daniel, nice to meet you. And thanks for asking for pronouns, basically no one does. He/him for me as well" His smile broadens, which causes my apologetic smile to turn into an easy grin as I sit down. I didn't notice when I was busy about to attack him, but his eyes were blue. A blue that were comforting and friendly and.....warm. Almost like home.  "Please sit. No use standing there like an idiot, you didn't just come over here to disrupt my sleep did you?" I tease lightly as he chuckles. He nods and sits down next to me with an over dramatic huff. "I guess I can sit here, I've got nothing else to do." He nudges my shoulder and laughs a little. I laugh back.

We talk for ages and even after knowing him for such a short time, he makes it easy to be comfortable here. He's friendly, and already nice to be around.

It'll be nice to have a friend in here.

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D's POV:

'I am so fucking over this shit already.' I huff as the thought floats through my mind. My eyes scan the room, there aren't many people here. Here in this room that looks EXACTLY like the art rooms at Ream, a place that I really don't need reminders of.

I shake my head and sigh. "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em." I mumble under my breath and find a table with no one on it.

I randomly sketch on a scrap piece of paper and look around every now and then. One time when I looked up I noticed two guys being extremely affectionate and sitting way too close to be straight. One guy stands there wearing a leather jacket and jeans while drawing a pentagram, the other is wearing a suit and trench coat while trying to convince the other that he can't spend the rest of his life drawing pentagrams for protection. 'Those two look awfully familiar...'

I go back to sketching in order to shake the feeling of familiarity off. Getting so focused on my drawing that I don't notice somebody take a seat next to me.

"You're quiet." Comes the amused call of the human next to me. I roll my eyes to myself and continue to draw in silence. "Really quiet." They continue, I huff and continue to ignore them in the hopes they would leave me alone. "Why are you so quiet, man?" They ask, at that I sigh deeply. "I'm not a man..." I murmur quietly, still hoping that they would leave me alone.

"Uhhh, okay then. Why are you so quiet lady?" They ask with a confused, questioning tone. I close my eyes tightly and breathe deeply. "Not a lady either." I reply a little bit louder. The person next to me sighs. "Okay. Why are you so quiet?" They say with finality. I now realise that they are not going to leave me alone and I give up. "Because I was alone like I wanted to be. Besides, have you ever tried to listen to a person yell in a room so quiet? It's painful. You don't listen to people who yell. You yell and people lose interest. You whisper and people lean closer, they get intrigued. They suddenly want to listen." I look up and find a slim bodied person with semi short red hair - and I mean honest to god blood red hair - and a kind of I-don't-give-a-fuck  attitude about them. They are wearing a loose band shirt, baggy ripped black jeans and white converse.

"Wow. You seem like a wise broody human. You're just my kind of person. Name's Taylor, I'm assuming that you identify with gender neutral pronouns?" I blink at the question, pleasantly surprised by the fact someone would care enough to ask. "Uh, yeah? Yes. Yes, thank you! Uh, how about you?" I ask, smiling politely at them. They return my smile. "She/her are fine, thanks mate. So, do you sketch people getting their brains shot out often?" She asks as she points to my drawings on the piece of paper. I roll my eyes and shake my head. "Not until now, evidently." Taylor nods with a 'fair enough' look on her face. "You have some sort of messed up murder rampage fantasy going on in that wise noggin of yours?" She asks, a blatant tone of amusement in her voice.

The question gives me pause, flashes of Ethan's terrified teary eyes peering into mine as I feel the barrel of the gun pushing against my head. I shake my head lightly, ridding me of the images and feelings of that fateful night. 'But I've been told it didn't happen...did it happen? Nightmares can't be that vivid..' I blink a few times, the room looked as if it had stood still for a split second and it threw me off. I ignore it and look up to Taylor. "Uh, no. I don't." I lower my gaze to my drawing, looking closely at the face of who I drew getting their face blown off. 'Shit, I drew myself getting shot. Why? I never used to draw like this..' I take a deep breath. 'Fuck it.' I think, looking back up to Taylor. "The messed up shit that's going on in my mind is the fact that it's intact. I don't fantasise about shooting people, I just remember getting shot." I shrug, but isn't it strange that I can say all of that without pause or emotion?

Taylor's jaw hits the floor, her eyes widening in what seems like a mixture of alarm and understanding. She stands back, her left hand flying to cover her mouth as the other grips her baggy jeans. She squeezes her cheeks and rubs her chin with the same hand that was previously covering her mouth. "You died too?" She whispers, suddenly coming into close proximity. I nod as I crease my eyebrows. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure I did. A bullet to the brain from zero paces away will do that."

'Sarcasm probably isn't appropriate right now, smart-ass.'

Taylor rolls her eyes and swats my arm. "I know that dumbass, it's just that...I died too. I think. I remember it but...they told me I didn't." She doesn't seem like she's shocked or annoyed anymore. She seems confused, like she's trying to figure something out. "Do you think everyone here has died too?" She sharply whispers, her eyes darting around the room. I shrug again. "I don't know. But the school I used to go to had a knack for coincidences."

Taylor nods in understanding. "Right. Weird. What are the chances of that happening again right?" She seems to be apprehensive still. "Knowing my luck, pretty high." I mumble, putting my head in my hands. "Right, well if that's the case mate, it's time to do some investigating!" She hits the table with her fist as if it makes her statement binding.

I groan and hit my head against the table. 'Not this again.'

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Claire's POV

"I don't care if they're just kids Nate, we are not here to treat them as such!" I yell, trying to get my confused brother to understand how dire our situation is.

Nate sputters. "But...Claire they're sick? Aren't they? You said that all these kids are mentally ill and that you needed help with them! You're acting as if this is some sort of custodial prison! I just want to help the kids sis. They need help, you said so yourself." He sighs, exasperated and confused. 'I believe the words I used were they need to help, but okay Nate.' I huff and put a hand on my hip, the other rubs at my forehead. "Yes Nate, they're sick. I'm just saying they are here to help us cure them, not here to receive love and parenting. To us they are kids Nate, but the majority of them here are teenagers about to turn into an age of adulthood. They're not babies Nate. They are barely even kids, don't treat them as such." I try to gently, but sternly explain. 'According to the world they don't even exist, so treating them as anything other than test subjects is damn blessing for them at this point...'

Nate nods in silent understanding. "So you want me to treat them as adults then?" He asks, I just give a nod as clarification. "Right. Okay...I can do that!" He finishes off happily with a grin. 'There's no doubt that he isn't going to change his attitude towards any of this.' I give him a small forced smile and a pat on the back. "Good. That's all I wanted to talk about, you can go have lunch now." I dismiss him, walking over to my desk to get ready organising the steps needed in order to begin stage Grey. I reach for the button in my desk that allows me to alert Lillian that I need to speak with her and lean back in my chair, waiting for her to walk into me office.

It takes her thirty seconds longer to get here than usual.

"I apologise for being late Claire, but I was phoning Lena." She explains dryly. I can see an undertone of irritation in her impassive eyes. "That was actually what I wanted to talk to you about. Lillian, we are ready to start preparing for stage Grey. We need the best scientists we can get, and your daughter is a genius that has a mind that betters Stephen Hawking. Betters Einstein! Any scientist that came before her would be dumbfounded by the knowledge she holds. We need her Lillian, how have you been coming along with that?"

She stands even more rigid than she was originally, which is saying a lot. "Most of the conversation was spent with her yelling at me for only being a parent when I want her for something and when she wasn't doing that she was accusing me of being a psychopathic child murderer and manipulator...so, in other words, she wants nothing to do with me or this project." She explains, the poorly hidden frustration making itself known by the end of the explanation.

I once again huff. This situation with Lena was getting no where. Granted, she was right about Lillian not being a mother to her. The first time I heard those two speak was when Lillian was trying to explain what we needed her to do.

Without Lena this entire project is doomed.

"Well, her continued resistance is nothing short of inconvenient. Fix it. We can't have this entire project get crushed to pieces because the one person we need is acting like some stupid version of Nathaniel." I finish my mini rant and run a hand through my hair. "Get this done Lillian, we don't have much time before we need to begin." With a wave of my hand I mark her dismissal. She nods - though it looks reluctant - and proceeds to stiffly stride out the door. 'All of these problems are kicking my ass...' I run my hands along my face and sigh heavily. Lillian may be my co-head but I feel like I'm bossing her around all the time. For once I would like her to just take up more responsibility. There are things I want to do other than sit at this desk and plan all day!

Like go to the spa. Or play a few good violent video games on my couch to unleash my anger on something.

I sigh again. 'No matter..' It is lunch time and I will enjoy the piece and quiet while I can. I take some lasagna out from my desk and go to warm it up in my microwave. I close my eyes and breath in the scent of the delicious Italian waiting for me to devour once it's ready. It's calm moments like this that enjoy the most. Moments like this that I'm sure there'll be plenty more of once my stage has been completed.

I must keep up my attitude about what these kids are to the project. Subjects, not children. Attachments mean weakness. I wouldn't want to end up like that poor woman from stage White, Chelsea. It's been said that she never got over killing her favourite students. They even say that Irene is traumatised from the events. Dr Arkins got fired and stripped of his degree... I should probably start calling him Mr Arkins now then. 

My team will not end up like them. When we get Lena on our side, we will get through these experiments ten times faster than the last.

I hope that I get a promotion!

I am pulled out of my thoughts by the beeping of the microwave. 'Lunch! Come to me meat, sauce, cheese and pasta!'

I promise myself as I eat my lunch that no matter what happens, I will succeed.

Even if I have to kill someone to do it.

[A/N: Aaaaaaaaand BAM! Done! I know this took a while and I AM SO SORRY but like. Life and stuff. Oh, and I have another couple of books. One-shots are fun. They are gay and also there are tons of mistakes in those too! So if you enjoy this you'll love the one-shots XD anyway, I'll try to get more inspiration to write this more often! I'm aware that some things have changed since the ending first book, but I like having Nate as Claire's brother rather than just him being some random friendly employee. It adds something to the plot that allows me to play around with you all and make you question EVERYTHING! Mwahaha. Hope you enjoyed guys! Until next time...SEE YOU LATER MY COMPANIONS!!]