I woke up to a clang, my heart beginning to pound. The Time Watchers were literally in a dog-pile, curled up together as they slept. Razz was the foundation, Evelyn's head on her stomach. Madeline was leaning her head on Evelyn's back. Charitie was on the other side of Razz, head resting on her legs. Connor was curled up by Charitie's side. All of them had blankets over them, keeping them warm. Their watches glowed a warm, blue light, keeping them safe from the dark. It was kinda cute, honestly.

As for me, I decided to be a few feet away from them. I sat up, looking outside of the small tent. "... Lorita? Do you know what that was?"

"Scanning area..." She went quiet for a long time.

I sighed, rolling my eyes and getting out of the tent. I peered out into the dark, my breath white clouds. There was no one outside; all of the campfires had gone out a long time ago. I glanced around in the dark, not sure what I should be on the lookout for. I pulled back into the tent and grabbed one of the Watcher's knives, going back outside and looking about again. 

"Sorry for the wait, Amelia. The person who created the noise had a field of code that prevented me from seeing them. I had to hack into the system. The creator of the noise was Maxwell Shrutt, a government assassin on a mission to bring back a Time Watcher."

"Wait, back up, wh--" Before I could finish my sentence, someone yanked me out of the tent and dragged me into the woods, covering my mouth. I squealed and kicked, yanking as hard as I could to get away. Nevertheless, the man kept a hold on me.

"You're lucky I'm not doing anything more to you." He growled once we were away from the camp. "If it were up to me, ha! All of you would be dead in the blink of an eye."

I glared, then bit his callused hand.

He scoffed. "You think that hurts me, girl?" Pulling out a strange device I couldn't see, he blasted a portal into the air. The portal was bright, giving me the ability to see the man's features. He had a scar on his jaw, along with a jagged scar on his forehead. With black hair and dark brown eyes, along with a deep set frown, he seemed lethal and deadly.

I wiggled and struggled in his grasp continuously, but he didn't let go. He walked through the portal, and we entered a strange lab, white and bright.

"I got one!" Exclaimed Maxwell, yanking me in front of him. I yelped and tried to pry his fingers loose from my clothes, which were the same clothes I had worn before I left. I was still dirty, though.

"Excellent! We only need this one for now." Said a man.

I looked at who spoke, staring at a man with red hair. His grin was venomous, yet somewhat contagious. He had brown eyes, and smelled a bit like alcohol. He put his hands behind his back and looked me up and down, his smile spreading. "So, you must be Amelia. Am I correct?"

"How the hell do you know my name?" I snarled, still squirming and grasping Maxwell's fingers.

"I have my ways, kid." Grinned the man. "I'm Eric. Nice to meet you."

"Well it's not nice to meet you!" I bit Maxwell's hand, and I swear I heard him chuckle as if it tickled.

"You know, you kids are pretty slippery." He ignored what I said. "We could only get one of you down here, and that little girl got out of our grasp pretty fast."

Evelyn! I thought, then growled. "And I'll do the same thing!"

"Oh, we know you will. That's why we're keeping a close eye on you at all times. Letting Evelyn have her privacy was a mistake. We won't make the same mistake with you. Iris?" He turned to a woman behind him.

"Yes?" She asked.

"Could you please take this girl to her room?"

"Certainly." She replied, walking over to me. Maxwell finally let go of me, and Iris took my arm and gently dragged me. I literally screeched and yanked my arm, trying to make her let go. She had a firm grip locked on me, but I did make her stop a few times to hold me. "You kids are going to be the death of me," she sighed when I tugged more. We were in a hallway now, all alone.

"Let go!" I cried, pulling.

"Let go of her!" Lorita exclaimed, her weird arm things coming out of the side of her face, electric sparks jumping off of them. "Or else I'll be forced to electrocute you!"

"Okay, no electrocuting, please! I've had enough of that. Look," she stopped and turned to face me, "I'm just doing my job here. I don't want to do this, but I'm kinda forced to. Again, I don't want to do this to you. You're just a flipping kid! But, please, make this easier on my part. It's hard enough knowing I'm doing something wrong, I don't want to watch you suffer in my hands."

I glared at her. "I'm not gonna stop! I'm gonna keep fighting! You guys don't understand us! We help people in freaking time! You guys are stopping us from letting us lead the world to what it is now, and hopefully make it better! If you know you're doing something wrong, then let me go and make up an excuse on how I got away or something!"

She had a straight face. "You kids are so head-strong, aren't you? Maybe that's one of the reasons why you're qualified for this insane job..." She frowned, pausing. "Alright, I'll let you go."

"Wait, really?" Lorita was stunned. I was too, and we looked at her with shock and surprise.

"... Yes, I'll let you go."

"Iris!" Shouted someone as they entered the hall.

The lady jumped and grabbed me again, keeping a tight grip that would most likely leave me bruised. "What is it, Ethan?"

The man that had attacked us at Friday's house came up to her, hands in his pockets. He was wearing all black, like the others. "I was just seeing if you needed any help, that's all. These Time Watchers are pretty sneaky."

"Right, right." She nodded and put on a smile.

I watched the two of them, unsure where this was going. Lorita remained silent.

"Do you mind if I walk with you?" He asked.

"Uh..." she glanced down at me, and I looked back up at her. "No, not at all."

He nodded, and they began walking, Iris dragging me with her as if I were a little kid with their parents. Which, obviously, ticked me off. Iris and Ethan twisted around a few hallways before someone finally said something.

"So what were you two talking about?" Questioned Ethan, although we both knew he already knew.

"Nothing." Snapped Iris, then regained her composure quickly. "It was nothing, no need to worry." She added a smile and a soft giggle.

Could you be any more fake? I taunted in my head, rolling my eyes. Lorita would have been doing the same if she had eyes herself.

"Oh, come now, Iris. You know that's a lie." Ethan smirked.

They stopped, making me stop too. I patted my foot against the ground impatiently, wanting Iris to let go of my wrist so I could run out of here. Ethan stared Iris down, glaring at her with so much disrespect, it radiated off of him, and became thick enough to cut through in the air.

"You were going to let them go, weren't you?" He spat.

"I would never." She replied coolly.

He slapped her hard, making her gasp and leaving a red mark on her left cheek. I winced at the sound that echoed off the walls. Ow...

"Stop lying, you bitch! Tell me the truth: were you or were you not about to let them go?"

"No, I wasn't going to le--"

Smack!

I shrank as another mark appeared on her face, this time on the other cheek.

"Tell me!"

"I wasn't going to!"

Smack!

"Ah!"

We have to do something! Lorita wrote on her face. I agreed with her-- a rare occurance-- and screamed, "HEY!"

Ethan turned and snarled at me. "What?"

I kicked him in the crotch, making him yelp and crumple a bit, before yanking out of Iris's weak grip and running. I brandished a finger at him once he saw me, sticking out my tongue and dashing as fast as I could away from him.

"H-Hey! You get back here, kid!" He whimpered, beginning to jog after me.

"Catch me if you can, ass-hat!"

"AMELIA!" Roared Lorita. "Enough of this inappropriate behavior! I let you stick up your middle finger, but that was already crossing the line. Now that?! Madam, you are in so much trouble! What would your parents think of their daughter swearing such fowl, colorful language? Goodness, if Friday hears about this, he'd be so shocked he'd have a heart attack!"

Lorita continued to nag me as I typed out a location in America, not sure when or where it was exactly, but as long as it was in America, I thought I'd be fine. Once I was done, I slammed my hand against Lorita's face, making us time travel. I enjoyed the colors of the wormhole, the comfortable ride relaxing my heart a bit. It would have been nicer if Lorita wasn't still scolding me.

"Yeah, yeah, I get it. I'm sorry, it won't happen again. Now could you stop?" I hissed, bringing her to my face.

"If you apologize politely, then yes, I'll stop."

I sighed and rolled my eyes. "I'm sorry, ma'am. It won't happen ever again. I promise."

"Thank you, and I forgive you."

We entered the timeline, on a sidewalk. It was a bright, warm day, and I kept running, avoiding eye contact. I looked down at Lorita. "Where and when are we?"

"Springfield, Illinois, 2016."

"Okay." I looked forward and kept running, determined. I heard a quiet zap behind me, and I knew Ethan was now chasing after me again. However, that only determined me more. As I ran, I saw a boy about my age, maybe slightly older, holding a sleeping falcon in his arms. He had a dirty tunic and ripped up blue jeans, with brown hair and eyes. He had slightly pointy ears, along with a strong build that almost looked elegant and mythical. An old back pack was resting on his back, the straps holding on to his shoulders. I bumped into him and apologized, watching his confusion. I ran in an alley, hoping it would throw Ethan off, but mislead me to a deadend. I stared with defeat at the walls, my breathing the only thing I could hear other than the drumming of my heart.

I heard someone stop behind me, and I turned, seeing Ethan looming over me. His eyes held so much rage, making me feel weak. I backed up into the wall a bit. "No where to run, Time Watcher!" He barked slyly.

I backed away more as he held out a hand, indicating for me to give him Lorita.

"Hand the watch over." He growled.

"Never!" I shouted, holding my right wrist and pulling Lorita close to my chest. "She's mine!"

Ethan began to walk towards me, but someone shouted, "Hey!"

Ethan jumped and turned, and I looked past him to find the person I had bumped into standing there, holding his falcon. The falcon had woken up, looking around in confusion.

"Get away from her!" Shouted the boy.

"This is none of your business." Ethan growled, his attention on the boy entirely. I watched, knowing I couldn't leave just yet.

"Well now it is!" He challenged, dropping his back pack. I noticed he had a slight accent, similar to the Zandarians... Is he a Zandarian?

Ethan laughed coldly. "You have no idea what your getting yourself into, kid."

"Neither do you," he snapped, accent becoming thick.

Yeah, that was Zandarian. But I thought... how is he here? They're still in the medieval stage. They couldn't have gotten far with their ships, especially because of the weather around their island. So how?

The falcon climbed up to the boy's shoulder, and Ethan lunged at the Zandarian. The boy dodged him and kicked him hard in the side. I heard a crack from Ethan's ribs, and he fell and held his side, grimacing. The boy did something weird with his hands, and to my shock, ice formed at Ethan's feet, encasing him in a freezing trap. The boy's falcon jumped off his shoulder and attacked Ethan's face, and to my horror, scratched out one of his eyes. 

The boy turned to me as Ethan screamed, looking a bit perturbed himself. "Go! Hurry!" He shouted at me.

I nodded and rushed out of the alley, terrified. I knew Ethan wouldn't return, so I dared stopping and typed out Zandaria's coordinates, then returned to the army. It was night, and the air was freezing. My breath showed in puffy white clouds, and I sighed, seeing the tent. The Time Watchers were still curled up in a dog-pile.

Smiling, I crawled up to them and grabbed my blanket, curling up next to them. I sighed at the warmth, finding it easier to fall asleep. Tomorrow's a big day, I reminded myself, flooding everything else out of my head as I fell asleep in the dark.