3rd Person POV

"Is this really a good idea? Capturing a human?"

The rebel leader slammed his hands on the table furiously. The five individuals surrounding him, jumped back slightly, startled by the sudden gesture.

"As the humans say, go big or go home! We will no longer be hiding in the dark. We've been waiting much too long for this. We've watched as their kind destroyed their planet and destroyed one another. It's time for them to see that we're here. Now you can either rejoin the ranks of the Oevolo's who would rather assimilate peacefully or follow me and make a difference. We are the superior species, not them."

"Sir, yes sir," the five men yelled, standing in a form of alien salute.

"Brief the others, we roll out in four hours. We know our target. Now go!"

The five men, all dressed in uniform, walked out to another room where several others were waiting. The rebel group was many things, but small wasn't one of them. They had over two hundred members. Over two hundred Oevolo's had voluntarily joined them, and soon even more would once they saw their success.

"Maddox," the Rebel Leader called to one of his recruits.

"Yes, General," Maddox replied, saluting his leader.

"I will be putting you in charge of guarding the prisoner when she arrives. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir!" Maddox saluted again.

"Then let us get to work."

Eden's POV

"Dee you promised!" Amelia whined. "You always do this!"

"I'm really sorry. I couldn't even reason with my mom, and I mean literally. She flew out the door before I could get a word in. If I miss a dinner I'm going to be in so much trouble."

"But you have one like twice a week!" She whined again.

"What can I do to make it up to you?" I asked.

"I'm glad you asked! You could buy me Starbucks."

I laughed at her and agreed, "alright Starbucks it is. We'll swing by tomorrow, okay?"

I wanted to say "I promise" but I knew that was something I couldn't say truthfully, not with my family.

The bell rang and we left study hall to head to Calculus. The last class of the day made painfully slow by the endless equation solving.

"I wanna go home," Amelia groaned.

"I don't," I whispered, but of course she caught it.

"Why not?"

We continued to walk down the hall, slowly drawing nearer to our classroom.

"Oh you know," I sighed, giving her a look.

"Well it would be better if you'd hang out with me but..."

"I know, I'm really sorry," I apologized again.

"It's okay. I understand. You're really important and all."

"That's just it, I'm really not. I have no idea why my parents always have me attend dinners if they never talk to me. I feel like I'm just a trophy or an ornament."

"I'm sorry Dee. It must be tough. Maybe we can have a sleepover this weekend?"

I half smiled at her and agreed. She was the only best friend I'd ever had. She was the kind of person that didn't befriend someone because their dad was the governor of the state or wealthy, but because she actually liked them. She's been by my side for five years now. I don't know what I would have done without her.

"If you ever need anything you can always call me or text me."

"I know," I smiled again. "Thanks."

"Of course."

We took our seats in the front of the room, closest to the board. Our teacher was seated at his desk, half asleep, half still grading papers from last weeks quiz. We were supposed to get them back today.

The bell rang again, and Mr. Wilson shook himself awake suddenly, flinging papers across his desk. He'd told us once that he had a newborn daughter, so I assumed that was why he was always tired.

"Alright, Alright, everyone take your seats."

He said this everyday even when everyone was already sitting down. Force of habit I suppose.

I took out my calculus notebook, which was already overflowing with solved and unsolved equations from the beginning of the year. Mr. Wilson was walking around the room, half asleep again, handing out our graded test papers.

"What did you get?" Amelia asked, holding up hers with a 100% sticker taped to the side.

"A 93%," I groaned.

"Haha, I win," she cheered.

"Yeah yeah, you win," I laughed.

Amelia and I always compared grades. She was usually better at calculus than I was, but I made up for that in the English department. No offense to Amelia, but she isn't the best essay writer.

"So today we will be focusing on mo–"

Suddenly the fire alarm rang, piercing my ears. The school had insisted on installing new fire alarms last year that were obnoxiously loud and ear piercing. Amelia clasped her hands over her ears, and ran towards the classroom door.

I wasn't aware of a fire drill today. I grabbed the clipboard hanging from the wall near the door, instructing us on what to do during in case of a fire or gas leak. I was the assigned assistant during fires, so it was my job to make sure everyone was out and then check the nearest girls restroom while Mr. Wilson checked the boys.

Everyone had already run out the door, leaving me to check the bathrooms. Thankfully, they were empty so I quickly made my way to the back door.

On my way out I looked at the clipboard list of planned fire drills. There was none listed for today, and not even one for this week. Maybe this was the real deal?

Picking up my pace, I walked around the back of the school, heading to the front lawn where we would all regroup. Only it didn't go quite as planned.

A large black van drove past me suddenly, nearly hitting me in the process. It stopped abruptly, and five men in black combat suits stepped out. They looked like at swat team, only there was no trace of identification on their suits. I stopped in my tracks, looking at them skeptically.

"Umm... can I help you?" I found myself asking.

They said nothing and began approaching me quickly and aggressively. I turned around to run, when one of them grabbed onto me and I fell.

"What the hell? Let go of me!" I yelled, slamming my hard clipboard onto one of their heads. I doubt it did anything with their thick helmets.

"Quickly! Tie her up before she can do something to us!"

I screamed again, this time trying to call for help, but they covered my mouth. I tried kicking and clawing at their hands clasping around me, but it was no use. I even tried using what I'd learned in self defense classes, ramming my fist into their throats, but there were too many of them to fight.

I tried to scream again, but this time they pressed a small cloth against my mouth and nose. Barely able to breathe, I tried to writhe my hands free to remove the hands and cloth from my mouth, but it was no use. My eyes became heavy and the lack of oxygen made me sleepy, until I couldn't stay awake anymore.

In the few seconds before I lost consciousness I tried to make sense of what my kidnappers were saying, but it didn't sound like words I knew at all.