The irangels were ecstatic. All except Cole, who sat at the kitchen table staring at Tori in absolute astonishment as she announced her engagement with Justin. Camdren danced around while Elisa jumped giddily and Keith let out cheers and Velo looked surprised but acceptive of what was going on. Eamon brightened, putting everyone in a good mood as he began planning things for the wedding.

All that, however, came to an abrupt halt when Tori went in her office to browse through wedding dresses. After selecting an off-the-shoulder long sleeved lace mermaid-style dress with a train, she looked at Pinterest ideas on how to plan an outdoor wedding; Tori and Justin decided to have their wedding outdoors. Tori picked white flowers for the floral arrangements. She loved white and the color red.

The flowers were the exact same kind she always kept on her bedside table. As she admired them, memories began to appear in her mind: of warm sunny afternoons, of the most amazing mornings, of breezy days and cozy nights.

She looked through men's suits next, enjoying the prospect of picking out a suit for her fiancé. She picked out a nice black suit with a dark grey tie, thinking of how handsome Justin would look in it. She visualized him wearing it, pictured herself slow dancing with him with white flowers and gold lights in the background, imagined how it would feel like to finally wear a wedding dress, to be surrounded by the irangels she created, to live out the dream she always wanted.

There was only one person missing from the picture: Nate.

He was her mate, the person she wanted to marry.

Not Justin.

Tori's tears started to mist as she began to think of Nate, her imaginings of Justin wearing a suit turning into her old fantasies of Nate, the ones she secretly wanted to fulfill deep down but never got the chance to. She wanted to marry him and have children, to build a new generation of alternative humans. To start a legacy she would forever hold to.

Nate simply wanted to be with the woman he loved, ironically mirroring Justin's wants. Though Tori wouldn't admit to herself that she cared deeply for Justin and maybe felt some sort of love towards him too, it was Nate she wanted more than anything. She couldn't let go of him. She wanted him back, and she would do everything in her power to do so.

Her eyes flashed with resolve as she suddenly stood, firmly pushing her chair back as her heels slid on the floor in backward motion, landing to an abrupt stop.

Millian came in the room just then, about to ask her something, when he saw the look on Tori's face. She eyed him evenly, the sun shining down on her cream oatmeal short sleeve cardigan with a ruffled dark purple camisole underneath and olive green pencil skirt, giving her a schoolteacher kind of look. Her hair was pulled back in a bun, not neat and perfect, sorta messy but also elegant at the same time. She looked stunning. No wonder Justin calls her beautiful, Millian thought, taking a few seconds to collect himself before saying, "Uh, Tori – "

"I'm calling off the engagement," Tori announced, her voice cold as she interrupted him. She started to head out of the room, boldly walking past Millian, who followed her wide-eyed, saying, "What! Why?!"

Tori didn't respond, ignoring him as she continued to walk down the hallway. Her entrance brought the irangels' attention, who turned at the sound of Tori's confident heels on the smooth glass-like floor.

"I apologize, Justin," said Tori, her eyes resting on him first. "I've got priorities that take precedence."

"Meaning?" Cole asked, raising an eyebrow in question.

Eamon noticed Tori didn't sound like herself; she sounded cold, somewhat detached. There was a certain eagerness in her tone, one quickly followed by a hint of desperation. He sensed loss and fear stemmed from tragedy and heartbreak she couldn't get away from.

Tori got directly to the point. "I'm calling off the engagement," she said, shocking everyone. "I need to find a way to prevent death. I decided I don't ever want to know what it feels like to die. I'm going to find a way to live forever and bring back the ones I lost. Nate, my father, your sister," she said, directing the last statement towards Keith, who'd lost a sister to drowning sometime during his childhood. He gave her a startled look, but Tori went on, not breaking pace as she continued to say, "I was happy with Nate, but now I need to start my legacy. I need to break the mysteries of science and discover great things. I let go of the very things that have been holding me back all this time."

She turned back to Justin, saying, "I'm sorry, Justin, but I've always pictured myself marrying Nate. I don't think I can marry someone else."

"You definitely can," Eamon muttered, glowering at her. "You just don't want to." He shook his head, severely disappointed. "You're ignoring what's in front of you. What's truly important."

"What's truly important is finding a way to – "

"ENOUGH!" Eamon suddenly shouted, yelling at Tori. "The true reason you want to find immortality or whatever is because you're scared of dying. Ever since you watched Nate die, you've been so terrified of death that you're obsessed with trying to become immortal. Even if you did find immortality and brought your precious Nate back, he would be horrified to learn of what you've done to achieve it. In all honesty, I think Nate would've accepted his own death. He wouldn't try to change himself into something he wasn't. He would want you to be happy. Tori, you've got to move on from this. Justin loves you more than Nate ever would, so marry him. Live your life. Death is just a natural thing we all go through in life. Quit worrying about it and just live. Please."

Tori stared at Eamon, her eyes a little wide. After a long silence, she finally said, "Yes, I am afraid of dying. Death is something I never want to experience. Regardless, I strongly feel like this is something I need to do. It isn't just about becoming famous or rich; I've already reached that. It's more to prove to myself what I am capable of and then sharing it with the world."

"What about our freedom?" Eamon asked, getting to the heart of what he considered to be his most important issue. "Will you ever let us go or are we trapped here forever?"

Cole noticed Justin still hadn't said a word. The others were silent as well, carefully listening. Camdren, Elisa, Keith, and Millian held their breaths when Eamon mentioned the word 'freedom', hoping it would resonate with Tori somehow.

But Tori's next words discouraged any hope of freedom. "I plan to reveal our kind to the world after I discover immortality and bring the dead to life," she said, truly intending it.

A surprise outburst from Keith had everyone staring at him as he suddenly yelled, "No! That's impossible! We'll be stuck here forever!"

Millian looked horrified. Camdren looked worried, and Elisa was about to cry. Cole was depressed and silent. Velo's face was blank and confused. Eamon's look of absolute devastation shocked Justin, making him momentarily focus away from his own hurt.

Tori looked at Justin, but he didn't bother to look at her. Sensing her eyes on him, Justin ignored Tori, abruptly turning and leaving the room. What does she want, my approval? Why is she looking at me for when she knows precisely how I feel about all this? he thought heatedly, anger taking over the initial disbelief. He stormed into the bed room, not surprised to hear Cole's soft footsteps behind him.

"Justin, I'm so sorry," he said, surprising Justin with the amount of sincerity in his tone. It was so genuine it made him stop for a moment. Justin turned to Cole, gazing at him in what seemed like thanks before saying, "Yeah, me too."

Seizing Cole's iPod and earbuds from the bed beside him, Justin got on his own bed and threw the covers over himself, putting the earbuds on as he pressed the power button on the iPod. He lay on his side and turned the volume up, trying to drown out his sorrows with music.

Cole allowed him to use his iPod, figuring he already shared it with Justin. He got on his own bed and lay facing away from Justin, tears brimming his eyes as he thought about their situation.

From the other room, Keith and Camdren were getting worked up, starting to argue with Tori, when Eamon broke in, saying, "Shut up, guys. Go check up on Justin and Cole."

"No," Camdren said rebelliously, grabbing onto the back of a metal chair. "I'm done being trapped here. I'm tired of being unable to fly and do whatever I want. It isn't fair that Elisa and I are somewhat happy while most of the rest of you are miserable. None of this is right, and it's time to set the bar straight."

"Camdren – " Millian said with a tone of caution, but Camdren proceeded to grip the chair tightly, his knuckles turning white. His intense concentration suddenly made the chair fall apart, literally. He stepped back, looking in astonishment at his own hands with burnt marks on them, as if he'd just touched hot iron.

The irangels stared at the chair, gaping. The part of the chair where Camdren gripped it was burnt, molten metal melting and dripping off it while the rest of the chair remained somewhat intact. The metal back part had caved in, breaking the chair soon as the back part of it was no longer supporting the rest of the chair, thereby turning it into a stool with drips of melted metal on it.

Eamon stared at Camdren, feeling a shred of fear tear into himself as he realized Camdren had an ability nobody knew about, not even Camdren. Keith backed away from him, clearly terrified. Elisa, Velo, Millian, and Tori just stared at Camdren, who was looking at his own hands in astonishment. After a few beats of silence, Camdren ran from the room.

"Dude, did he just melt a chair?" Velo asked, prompting Tori to answer, "Yes, he did. This means he has an ability none of us knew about. Which means...."

Tori studied each of them, as if seeing them with new eyes. Eamon found her look unsettling and started to back out of the room, but just then Tori pressed a button on the side of the wall, releasing an intercom system that allowed everyone in the building to hear her as she said firmly, "Everyone, go back into the living room this instant. Anyone who isn't here in the next five minutes will meet dire consequences, those dire consequences being death by gunshot."

Tori whipped out a handgun from behind a picture frame, aiming it at the irangels already in the room. "Now!" she said, urging them to stay close together. As Camdren, Cole, and Justin came into the room, confused by what was going on, Tori pointed the loaded gun at them and said, "You too! Get over there where the others are."

"Tori, what the hell is going on?" Justin asked her, clearly concerned. Camdren and Cole moved over towards Eamon, who was staring at Tori like she'd gone nuts.

The irangels watched in astonishment as Tori stepped back and pulled out her phone. She kept the gun steady as she used her phone to activate a system directly connected with the glass building. The irangels gasped when a clear glass wall raised up from the ground, dividing it between Tori and the irangels. Cole observed closely, seeing the wall was cleverly hidden within the floorboards. The living room was the only part of the glass building without a smooth, glass-like floor. It had a nice, white marble hardwood flooring that perfectly matched the plush sofas and décor.

Justin looked hard at Tori, unable to believe what was happening. "Why are you doing this?" he asked, knowing she was still able to hear him crystal clear through the glass. "Tori, let us go! There's no reason for you to threaten us."

Tori lowered the gun, making Camdren sigh in relief. Pointing the gun down at the ground, she circled for a moment, pacing in front of the glass wall that separated her from the irangels. From their vantage point, the irangels heard her say, "Watch me. I'll be the one to change the world. I won't be just another cloud in the sky; I'll be the sky."

"She's gone off the rails," Cole murmured.

Eamon took another chance at their hope of freedom, saying, "Tori, seriously. Think very carefully about what you're thinking of doing. You're gonna do more harm than good if you keep going down this path. This isn't even about greatness; it's about your morals and how you just shelve them away, becoming emotionally driven by this pursuit for something impossible. Locking us up isn't going to accomplish anything but misery and death. You're gonna do worse than all of us combined if you keep this up. You gave us wings; please give us our freedom."

Tori's face was expressionless, but her eyes showed much emotion from underneath the dark corner of her heart where she felt all the pain, heartbreak, loss, desperation, and fear. Her voice was formal, with a twinge of apology and a hidden fear she tried so hard to suppress, but the irangels heard it even as she spoke the words, "I'm sorry. I have to do this."

"Tori – " Justin started to say.

Tori didn't answer, her heels hurrying away as she headed for her lab room. Her heels echoed loudly in the hallway with each step, as if crushing all of Eamon's hopes and the irangels' dreams.

And with it, Justin's heart.

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Music:

"alt_Human"
by Circle of Dust

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