The car is silent. The only thing breaking it, is the screeching of the tires and the horns of other hovercars.

My leg bops up and down. The only thing that stops it is when Emma puts her hand on my knee. But then my other one just starts doing it.

"This is why I warned you. You were all supposed to stay away so she could just get the information without anyone getting hurt."

"If your aunt got the blueprints, more people would be hurt then if my parents didn't try and stop her."

Emma raises an eyebrow.

"You do know what the robot is going to be made for... right?"

She rolls her eyes and laughs. "Of course I do. It's a security robot."

"And you realize what could happen if the blueprints fell into the wrong hands?"

Here, she shifts in her seat. "Well, yes. But that's not what would have-"

"Do you actually have any idea what your organization would have done when they got their hands on it?"

She looks away. "Well... no."

I lean forward to try to see her face better. "Did you... know anything at all?"

She glares at me. "Of course I did!" But after a moment her anger seeps out of her, and she mutters, "No, not really."

"You really were set up for failure... weren't you?"

But she doesn't respond. Not before the driver pulls up to the company. I waste no time unbuckling and jumping out.

Sam calls after me, but I don't stop. I rush up to the doors, which slide up for me. Hopefully by now my parents will have Sam's aunt trapped, and everything will be okay.

I take one step into the building before my foot gets stuck, and the floor flies up to me.

"Sam!" Emma reaches down for my hand, and when I catch sight of my own, it's covered in blood.

My eyes widen before I look down. How had I not noticed the splashing? The blood covers the floor, and now me. My gaze follows the pooling of it to...

I can't stop the vomit that forces it's way out.

"Ew," Emma says. "Remind me to not kiss you for awhile."

I wish I could chuckle. When I lift my gaze, I find more bodies littering the hall. "Are they all dead?" I whisper, as Emma helps me up.

Her gaze sweeps over them before returning to mine. "I don't think so." She looks down at the person I tripped over. "Him though? He's definitely dead."

I cover my mouth with my hands.

When her eyes meet mine again, they're filled with concern. "Are you sure you want to be here? We can still leave, unnoticed, and wait to hear the news."

I shake my head. "I need to make sure my parents are okay."

Emma looks around again before nodding. "Okay. But let me take the lead."

I nod. As she goes to walk away, I grab her hand. She glances at our intertwined fingers than up to my face. It must say something, because she squeezes my hand before leading us down the hallway.

As we continue, I try to not look down, and for the most part, I succeed. But every now and then I'll get glimpses of the people slumped against the walls. My stomach churns just seeing them. Emma never drops my hand.

She glances back at me every now and again, but for the most part she's focused on heading down the hall. Emma will hold up her hand at corners, and peek around them before letting us continue.

"Do you know where this hall leads?" Emma asks at one corner.

"I do." Then I tilt my head. "And you should too."

She spares a glance back at me. "Is it..."

"The room where the robots being programmed and built. The one you tried to follow my mother into."

She ducks her head at the reminder. "I wasn't very subtle, was I?"

"No. But none of us really picked up on it." How did I ignore all the signs? Was it because my feelings got in the way?

"Thanks for giving me some reassurance that I wasn't completely horrible at my job." She rolls her eyes.

When I open my mouth to respond her hand flies up and covers it. Her eyes widen when she turns to peek around the corner.

Straining, I start to hear what she hears, and I reach up to pull her hand away from my face. "Those are my parents' voices." I whisper. "Can you make out what they're saying?"

After a moment she shakes her head.

"Do you hear your aunts voice?"

At the question, she closes her eyes and leans closer to the corner, before shaking her head.

"Do you think that's a good sign?"

"I have no idea."

"Well... if my parents are talking, surely that means they have the upper hand?" I start to round the corner, but Emma's hand grabs my wrist.

"It could also mean they're tied up and have no choice but to spill."

From my new vantage point I can see shadows in the doors light. "There's only one way to find out, right?" One of the shadows move. "If you're aunt was out here I'm sure she'd have someone watching, right?"

Emma bites her lip, her eyes flash between me and the door. After a moment of contemplating, she sighs. "Fine. But I'm going first."

My mind flashes back to the bodies that seemed to litter the hall and my stomach squirms within me again. "That's fine by me."

She steps out from behind the corner and in front of me in one motion. Before she can lead the way down the hall I reach out for her hand. She smiles and squeezes it.

"Ready?"

I nod.

As we get closer to the door the voices get louder and clearer. My racing heart calms as I recognize my parents voices. "It's them, Emma." As we get closer I can see into the room better too. My mother paces in front of a lady tied to a chair while my father leans against the desk.

I drop Emma's hand and run into the room. "You're okay!" I cry, running to my mother. Her eyes widen as my arms wrap around her. After a moment her hands rest on my shoulders, but instead of pulling me close like I want her to, she pulls me away from her.

"What are you doing here?" she hisses, eyeing the lady behind her.

My eyes dart between her and father. "I- I had to know you were okay." My vision blurs.

"Do you realize how risky it would be for you?"

"But-"

"You're all okay, isn't that what matters?" Emma asks. "And you're together now."

When I look over my shoulder at her, her gaze is on the lady in the chair. With a gasp, I realize exactly who is sitting there. "Principle Val?" I exclaim.

She smirks. "Hello Samantha."

My gaze jumps between her and Emma. Slowly, I start to see some resemblance between the two of them. "Principal Val is your aunt?"

"Samantha." I turn and find my father glaring at me. "Now is not that time." His glare turns to Sam. "And what are you doing here? You should be tied up right beside her." He jerks his chin in Principal Val's direction.

I whirl to face him, stepping into his view of Emma. "She's on our side," I tell him.

He raises a brow. "She was spying on us Samantha. She was gathering intel."

"Only because she had to! How do you think I got the information for tonight? Do you really think I just knew or got an anonymous tip? No. Emma told me."

"You little- you turned on us you ungrateful-" Principal Val snarls.

"Shut up," Mother says to her. She reaches up to pinch her nose. "How about this? Me and your Father finish this, and then we'll find you two and have a chat about everything, okay?"

"But-"

"It's for the best," Emma says. Her breath tickles my neck. When did she get so close? "Please."

That's when it sinks in. How painful this must be for her.

I sigh. "Fine." Reaching behind me, I intertwin mine and Emma's fingers. I make sure to give a reassuring squeeze before leading her out of the room.