chapter 24

We stayed in the same position for 5 minutes. My head resting against Trevor's chest, feeling the warmth that he gave off. His hand stroking my soft hair. I took a deep breath, inhaling the rain and leather scent Trevor had. I lifted my head, feeling relaxed, and looked at Trevor's dark eyes while his hand fell to my cheek. His thumb carefully moved across my cheek.

"I should go wake Lydia up," I said in a quiet voice. I took his hand under mine and took it off of my cheek, standing up and walking away from him and out of the room. I walked down the hallway, reaching Lydia's room. I opened the door and saw her walking around to the chair that her bag was in.

"Lydia?" I said. She turned her head around and looked at me.

"What are you doing up?" I asked, walking over to her.

"I heard the gunshots. I figured that we would be leaving and I couldn't go back to sleep so I'm packing up. Isn't that why you came to get me?" She said. I nodded at her.

"There's some clothes and food downstairs in the lobby. Do you want to go get some new clothes and something to eat before we leave?" I asked. She put on a small smile and walked over to me.

"Let's go then," She said, walking past me and out of the room. I turned around and walked right behind her. She walked all the way to the door that led to the stairs and down to the lobby. I stayed quiet behind her, clearing my thoughts.

"What's wrong?" She asked without stopping in her tracks.

"Nothing. Just thinking," I said, reaching the door that entered the lobby. I started walking next to her.

"About what?" She asked, curious.

I shook my head. "Nothing in particular," I said, lying to cover up everything that I learned within the past hour. Trevor has side-effect strength, Jack came to kill Trevor and take me to the labs, He was an L-27, And I have side-effect intelligence. And I almost got killed an hour ago. Of course I was lying. I didn't want to worry her.

"You thinking about your boyfriend?" She said in a teasing voice. I laughed at her implied joke.

"Has anything happened between you two?" She asked in a more serious tone. We kept walking to the store I saw earlier and I opened the door letting her in. I smiled at the thought that popped into my head.

"Earth to Amber," She said. I looked up at her.

"No. Nothing," I lied again. That was something that I wanted to keep to myself. The night Trevor and I spent together, the nights in the gym, and the sunset on the roof. Those were memories that I wanted to store away so that they wouldn't be tainted by anyone or anything.

"Ok. Sure. I totally believe you," She said, wondering to a pair of jeans she saw. I wandered to the other side of the store, looking at a different pair of jeans. 2 of the 3 jeans I have were stained with blood from all the injuries I've gotten.

"What do you want to know then?" I asked. I picked up the jeans that had one rip on one of the knees. I balled it up and placed it on top of the clothing rack.

"Has he hurt you?" She asked, not meeting my eyes.

"Trevor would never hurt me. Why would you ask that?" I asked with surprise in my tone.

"Oh no. I didn't mean like physically. I meant, has he said anything hurtful? Trevor isn't the most cautious with his words but he's careful with what he touches. Probably because he knows he can break things with one hand," She said, finally meeting my surprised eyes.

"Trevor isn't the best at hiding things from me. He never has been," She said shrugging.

"So you know?" I said. She nodded at me.

"How?" I asked. She walked over to me holding a pair of jeans in her hands.

"When he first got his side-effect he was really weird. Like he wouldn't touch me or hug me or do anything. He wouldn't even pick up a can of soda cause he thought he was going to crush it. So me being smart, I figured that something happened to activate his side-effect and pretended not to know anything about it," She said. She gave a smile before walking back to the other side of the store where the candy was. I gave a small laugh and turned back around to get another pair of jeans. I saw a bag on the counter and went over to grab it, carrying the jeans and putting them in there. I saw a small blue sweater and grabbed it, putting it in the bag as well. Lydia walked over to me with her hands full of chocolate and lollipops.

"It's worth the stomach ache," She said.

"Did you see any normal food over there?" I asked, letting her dump the 4 chocolate bars and 3 lollipops inside.

"A few sandwiches and some fruits," She said, turning back around to get more food. She came back with 6 sandwiches and 3 bowls of fruit in her arms.

"I think that's all we need for today right?" I asked.

"We should reach California in 2 days. We can stop in Arizona today," She said, taking the bag from my hands. She walked off in the direction that led to the door. I wandered around the store, looking at what it had to offer. I walked around slowly until I saw a pastel orange color. I walked around to discover it was a sweater like the one I grabbed. I looked at it for a moment before closing my eyes.

I tried my best to imagine myself in this same store but in a mall somewhere in Georgia. Mom and I were walking around until she dragged inside a store that she knew I would love. Jared and Dad were in a video game store because Jared wanted to check what games they had to see if he could find something new to play. I wandered around the store looking at the blue shirts they had and the red roses that were printed on the white ones. The bright yellow daisies that were sewed on the side of the short shirt. There were cute jean shorts that had lace on the bottom of the shorts, giving it a cute summer look. Then the pastel orange sweater. It went down to my waist, perfectly fitting me, and mixed well with my fair skin tone and my dark hair that was longer than I wanted it to be but I started to get used to it. The store smelt like sunscreen and cinnamon and it was cold inside. The marble floors squeaked under my shoes.

I opened my eyes and looked back up at the sweater, giving a small smile at the fake memory I created that contained my whole family in one living a normal life. I stepped back and turned around to see Trevor standing at the door, watching me.

"What were you thinking about?" His deep voice asked. I walked over to him keeping the small smile on my face. He pushed himself off of the door frame and put one hand on each arm, rubbing them up and down in a sweet motion.

"Just imagining something," I said as I put my hands on his arms. He moved his hands up to my cheek and carefully touched the cut that was under my eye. I flinched a little at the pain that his touch caused.

"I don't know what I would have done if you didn't manage to get Jack off of you," He said, taking his eyes off of the cut and bringing them up to meet mine.

"Probably sulk for a few months. Then find another girl and fall in love all over again and live happily ever after," I said in a small voice.

"Never. I will never let you go," He said in a quiet voice.

"Trevor, we've been dating for what? 2 or 3 weeks? And friends for 4 months," I said.

"And I've never felt like this about anyone. 4 months of getting to know you and falling in love every second," He said. I felt my heart race at his words. I smiled and I thought back to the dream I had a few nights ago.

"I hated being away from you in the warehouse. It was like I was numb all over again," I said. He leaned his head down a little and rested his forehead against mine, closing his eyes. He let out a deep breath.

"I wanted to protect you. I couldn't stand on the side and see you get hurt again. But I should've gotten you out sooner," He whispered.

"I love you," I whispered. I felt the smile pop up on his face. He slowly closed the distance between our lips and placed a short kiss on my lips.

"We are going to be the death of each other," I whispered, laughing afterwards. Trevor laughed with me. I lifted my head from his and opened my eyes. His hands fell down to mine and then he let go, turning around to walk out of the hotel.

"Hey Trevor?" I said, walking over to him. He stopped and turned to look at me.

"Yeah?" He asked.

"So you know how you didn't want Lydia to know? Well she's known for a while," I said in a slow and calm voice. I came up to his side and he turned back around shrugging his shoulders.

"As long as she isn't scared of me," He said.

"Yes because you are so terrifying," I said sarcastically.

A small smirk came onto his face. He grabbed my hand as we were walking and my heart started pounding. He laughed a little.

"Not fair!" I said in a teasing voice. He stopped in his tracks and pulled my arm, pulling me towards him and my back against his chest. He took his other hand and placed it on my waist and it started going under my shirt, having contact with my skin and making my heart pound even harder. And when I felt his breath on my neck and his lips on my neck, I felt my heart leap out of my chest.

"This is too easy," He whispered. I focused my hearing on his heartbeat. His heart was beating as fast as mine.

"I'm not the only one that's terrified," I whispered. He let a small laugh out before letting his hand fall to his side and start walking out of the hotel, dragging me alone.

We reached the truck that we stole off of the road and Lydia was already in the back typing on her laptop. Trevor let go of my hand and walked over to the driver's side while I hopped into the passenger seat.

"Oh don't worry Lydia, I'll be back in 5 minutes. God must have extended those 5 minutes into 15 because you took your sweet time Trevor," She said in a sarcastic mood.

"Are you ever in a good mood Lydia?" He asked, looking at her in the rearview mirror.

She looked up at him and responded with an expressionless "No. Not when you're around."

He rolled his eyes before turning the car on and putting it in drive and driving away. It took 10 minutes to get onto the highway and start driving to Arizona. In 7 hours we would be halfway to California. Halfway to my new life.

* * *

3 hours. 3 hours of silence, of sleep, of thoughts. But the best part. 3 hours of dreaming. We were in this underground area. Everything was concrete. The walls, floor, ceiling. We were in a plain room. No posters or lights like the room I had with Lydia in the warehouse. We had our own bathroom in this room. It was nice for what it was. The beds seemed comfortable too. Everything was new. It wasn't abandoned. There were little kids running around in the hallway, playing with toys. Teenage girls walking around and laughing. Boys play fighting. Lydia was with a new friend that she made. His eyes were almond shaped and dark. His hair was curly and black, fair skin like mine. His name was Nick. He was into technology and understood everything that Lydia said. He was a year or two older than her and he was crushing on her. But she didn't even notice. Trevor made some friends too. A girl named Lily who looked like Nick. I assumed that they were siblings. And another girl named Emily. She was way prettier than me. Her hair was like a golden color and her eyes were hazel. She had light purple at the edge of her hair. She didn't like me and honestly, I didn't like her either because I was a bit jealous. If Trevor stopped loving me, it would be because of a girl who looked like a goddess. And a guy. His name was Lucas. His eyes were a rare color of blue. Like they were aqua blue. His dark brown hair made them pop with his mid-tone skin color. He was a little stronger than Trevor. He had the same perfect smile as Trevor. And he was about a year older than him.

I made a few friends too. I was friends with Lucas as well but I had one more friend. Her name was Amy. She was Emily's older sister but she was prettier than her. Lucas was a little closer to me than she was but we still had fun together. Lucas didn't like her though so I would always have to hang out with either him or her. Her hair was the same golden color but her eyes were a brighter hazel. Showing every color of green and brown in her eyes. She was only 17 years old. She was the daredevil. Always did dangerous stunts.

Lydia was happy with her new friends, Trevor didn't really open up much to them. He kind of stayed confined to me and Lydia but he would have some laughs with Lucas and Emily. We would hang out every chance we got. Sometimes, there were days that our friends would drag us away and some days we would just get all to ourselves. We would spend a few hours together and then I would go and hangout with Amy. It was great. The best dream I could have thought, and it all felt real. Something about it was real. Right before I opened my eyes, I saw a flash of Lydia's pale face and her abdomen was bleeding. Someone shot her. I jumped my eyes open and looked around frantically to find Lydia. She was sleeping in the back of the truck, clutching the laptop. I let out a shaky breath and closed my eyes, trying to get my heart to stop beating so fast.

"You ok?" Trevor asked. I opened my eyes to meet his.

"Yeah. I think so," I said in a quiet voice. It felt real. Too real to just be a dream.

"Doesn't seem like it," He said, turning back to the road.

I let out another shaky breath. It was just a dream.

"I'm ok," I said. He gave a small smile and took my hand tangling our fingers together. I gave a small smile.

"Just a few more hours," He said. He brought my hand up to his lips and placed a short and soft kiss in the back of my hand.

"What do you think it will be like? With the L-13's?" I asked. I tried to take my mind off of the dream. It was mainly good but the image that popped into my head with Lydia was bothering me.

"I think that we are going to have to train. They might send us two into the labs to extract kids or to get information. And I think Lydia is going to be working with computers and talking to us telling us what to do. You know. Like usual," He said. I laughed a little.

"Maybe we can make some friends," I said.

"Maybe. But hopefully none that will try to tear us apart," He said.

I looked over at him. "How about this. We make a deal," I said.

He looked over at me. "What is this deal?" He asked. I looked down at our hands and smiled a little.

"Nothing comes between us. We don't let any guys or girls come between us," I said. He smiled.

"That's a deal that I don't have to think twice about," He said, turning back to the road.

And at that, we promised each other that we wouldn't let anyone come between us. Sure, we would have problems. All couples do. But everything that we have been through. The death, the pain, the anger. All of it. And we are still together even though it has been a short time. We could be on the verge of ending but I knew that we wouldn't. It felt right with Trevor. I've had crushes before. And I thought that I was in love before. But when you know someone is right for you, then nothing can kill that connection. Trevor and I have only officially been together for a little but we always had something going on before. We only put a title to it a few weeks ago.

And we both knew that something felt right about us. And I had a strong feeling that it wasn't going to end anytime soon.

* * *

3 more hours passed by. I stared out of the window while Lydia's fingers tapped on the keys on the laptop. We pulled up to an abandoned motel. Lydia jumped out, eager to stretch her legs. I got out of the car, soaking in the sunlight. It was still early so the sun was bright and warm. But there was a storm rolling in. I could hear the thunder from far away. Trevor slammed the driver's side door and walked around the truck to go inside the room. I walked in before him, jumping onto the bed and feeling the cold sheets on my face.

"Did you guys eat one of my chocolate bars while I was asleep?" Lydia asked while she had the bag in her hands.

"No," Trevor said, closing the door behind him. She gave him a glare and then looked back at the bag, reaching in for a chocolate bar and a water bottle. She threw the bag behind her and opened up the laptop. Trevor walked over to me and I sat up. He sat next to me and handed me the chocolate bar, careful to make sure Lydia didn't see it. I gave a small smile at him and took it from him.

"Tomorrow we go to California," He said in a quiet voice. My smile widened.

"5 hours away," I said. He placed a kiss on my forehead before going into the bathroom and closing the door. I walked over to Lydia and sat next to her.

"More surveillance?" I asked.

"No just checking on how many kids they have and who they are mainly looking for," She said. I looked at the screen to see a bunch of numbers.

"Has the number increased?" I asked. She nodded.

"They started sending out L-27's to look for Pures. The number went up by 30,000. It's crazy," She said, searching the screen.

"Anything on new side-effects?" I asked, trying to figure out if my dream could have been something more.

"2 more but it seems ridiculous. They say that these are the last 2 side-effects that could happen. But they haven't found anyone to extract them from so they can't inject them into the subjects," She said. My heart started racing.

"What are they?" I asked.

She looked at me. "Well one thing is that they finally put a name to your side-effect. The one that makes you sense danger," She said. My brows drew together.

"Your sense didn't heighten when you got the vaccine. It gave you hyper awareness. Basically your body can detect anything dangerous and send signals to your body, making it more aware. That's the shiver down your spine. It's your hyper awareness activating. Once it's activated, there is a certain point when you can tell if someone is behind you or around you or holding a gun but you have to know how to control it first," She said.

"Ok. What are the new ones they found?" I asked.

"Well one of them is telekinesis. And the other is controlling other's minds but it's only one or the other. So it's basically 2 side-effects," She said. I looked at her.

"So none of them are being able to see stuff that is to come. Like being able to see the future?" I asked. She looked at me.

"They said that these are the last two. I don't see how that would be a side-effect. Maybe it's just Deja Vu? Why? Did you see something?" She asked, eagerly.

"I was dreaming. It's probably nothing," I said, trying to hope that what I saw with Lydia didn't come true.

"Well if you were dreaming then it was probably Deja Vu. That always happens to me. I go to sleep and then I dream something that actually happens the next day," She explained, turning back to the laptop. I felt my heart slow down. It wouldn't come true. It was just a dream. And nothing more.

"How did they find this out?" I asked.

"There was a person a while back who got this side-effect. They hid the file so nobody would ever find out about it. But I found the file on accident," She said. She was holding something back.

"What is it?" I asked, knowing that she saw something else.

"Do you have a cousin or a hidden sibling?" She asked. I looked at her. I shook my head.

"What do I have anything to do with this?" I asked.

"Whenever we get vaccinated, our genes mutate. So let's say that you and Trevor both had only sight and hearing. Your mutated genes would be the same as his if he ever got vaccinated. I looked at the hidden file and the girl," She paused. She looked down at her hands and took a deep breath before looking back up at me.

"She had the same mutated genes as you. Indicating that you have those 2 powers. And if Jared gets injected, There is a high chance he will too," She said in a quiet voice. I felt my heart race.

I stood up from the bed and crossed my arms over my chest.

"What did they do with her?" I asked in a small voice. Her eyes went sad and soft. I stood there for a moment listening to my heartbeat go faster and faster.

"Lydia, What did they do with her!" I said again louder. This was the first time I yelled at her.

"Amber. I think you know what they did with her. And I think you know what they are going to do to you and Jared after they find the genes for your side-effects," She said.

"How many side-effects are there?" I asked. Hearing, sight, smell, hyper awareness, strength, agility, intelligence, mind control, telekinesis, healing. 10. Only 10.

"12," She said. I looked at her. What was I missing?

"There was another hidden file. A boy. He had pain manipulation combined with image manipulation. He could create an image that could cause fear and pain. But he could use them together or separate. You don't have that mutated gene but they didn't kill him," She said. I felt my heart start to slow down.

"How come?" I asked. She looked down at the laptop.

"They use him. Like a torture device. He can find your deepest fear and just use it against you. They've only used him a few times when they found spies for the L-13's. They tortured them for information. But they don't extract those genes because he's too powerful and they don't want other people to use that as an advantage for crimes," She explained. They kill mind control kids because they are scared of them. Because they don't want the next generation to be powerful. But they keep the image manipulators as guards. As security. As a weapon. They could use them against people in war. They're dangerous. Like telekinesis and mind control.

"I need to take a walk," I said, walking out of the room and onto the road. There was a park just up the road. As I walked up the road, all I could think about was what Lydia told me.

I could die today. Tomorrow. Any day. Because the labs wanted my gene mutation. They wanted Jared's mutation. And once they got it. They were going to kill us.

Oh my god. Jared. He probably doesn't even know that they are looking for him. He isn't safe anywhere for what he is. I'm not safe anywhere for what I am. And I left him. Left him to go to Mexico. He's gone.

This was all I could think about walking to the park and at the park. Jared must have no idea what world we are in. They could kill him at any moment and they wouldn't even know why. I picture his dark brown eyes letting the little sparkle go, his laugh fading into darkness. And his smile turning dim, like my mothers.

I snapped out of my thoughts and realized that I was sitting up on the playground slide, facing the horizon. The blue gray sky was starting to turn orange. I was a little disappointed that it didn't rain but the sunset was still a bit better than a dark and gloomy day to fit my mood. Scared. Terrified.

I could lose Lydia. Jared. Trevor. I could lose the few connections that I have made. I could lose everything to one organization. And that made the rage boil inside me. All I could do was scream. All I wanted was to scream. And so I did. I let the rage out in a simple way but it helped. And it felt good. I let the voice fade and as soon as it left I rested my head against the cold metal bar in front of me.

The one thing my mom wanted was for me to be happy. Lydia makes me smile. She makes me happy. Even her sarcastic comments towards Trevor make me laugh because it reminds me of Jared and I. Jared will always make me happy. With the memories him and I have, he will always make me smile. I will always love and protect him and treasure every moment that I spent with him. He's the only family I had left.

But Trevor was different. He made me smile, laugh. Like everyone could. But he made my heart race like nobody ever has. Like my heart is pumping adrenaline into my system when I'm around him. I can feel my heart race at his touch, his breath on my skin, his scent lingering, his smile, and just the thought of him made me crazy. He had the power to fill my mind with fear. With love. Even though we put a title on us a few weeks ago and we have known each other for such a short time, it felt right. Him and I were the only thing that felt right in this wrong world. And I don't know what I would do if I lost that. If I lost him. To life. To death. Or to the real me.

"You ok?" I heard the high pitched voice ask. I opened my eyes and saw Lydia's dark hair blowing in the wind and her light brown eyes looking at me. Trevor was standing behind her, his dark eyes searching mine with concern. I looked back at Lydia and nodded my head. She gave a faint smile and walked over to me slowly, leaving Trevor behind her.

"I'm sorry you had to find out that way. But you can talk to me if talking to Trevor isn't enough. I know it's hard to find all of this out in one day. Learning about what the labs did and what you are. But you will always have us," She said in a quiet voice. I gave her a small smile and she returned it before walking back and whispering something to Trevor before walking back to the motel. I rested my head against the cold metal bar again, closing my eyes. I heard Trevor walk closer and closer to me.

"I can't stay," I said in a quiet voice. He stayed silent for a second and I felt his hand on my knee. I pulled away from his touch, which hurt me more than him. I opened my eyes and met his surprised and concerned eyes.

"Amber," He said in a low voice. I shook my head.

"I can't. I can't stay with Lydia, I can't stay with you," I said. Implying that maybe it would be best to let me go. To end it here before he got hurt. Or ended up dead.

"I know what you're thinking. You can't leave now. You promised," He said. I could feel my heart pounding and my throat aching, about to bring tears to my eyes.

"Maybe promises were meant to be broken Trevor," I said in an aggravated voice. I felt his hand touch my knee again but this time I didn't flinch. I held back the tears. As much as I wanted to protect him, I didn't want to leave him.

"I'm a freak," I said in a quiet voice. I closed my eyes again, letting my thoughts take me away from everything.

"That doesn't change how I feel about you. Or how Lydia see's you like a sister. Or how Jared loves you," He said. I opened my eyes filled with rage. He wasn't scared of me. But would it make anything easier if he was?

"I'm a dead freak. I could hurt you or Lydia at any moment. And when the labs get a hold of me, they're going to kill me," I said with anger in my voice. He shook his head and looked at me with soft eyes.

"Nothing is going to happen to you Amber. I'm not going to let anything happen to you," He said with a strong voice. I searched his face before getting up from my sitting position and walking down to the ground.

"How can you not be scared of me? I could get you killed Trevor! And I have this rage inside me that scares me! I could be a freak that controls minds. I can see your darkest secrets, carry you with my mind! I can let the rage take over and you're not even scared of that!" I yelled with every word. I don't know why I was angry. Maybe because I wanted to make this easier and disappear from his life. Or maybe because I was scared that he wouldn't see me the same.

"Of course I'm terrified Amber! But not for the reason you think!" He yelled back, walking over to me with anger on his face.

"I don't care if you can see in my head! I don't care if you can move me with your mind or if you could control it. I'm not scared of the rage you have because I have it too! We are both deadly with our side-effects and this monster inside of us! But I'm terrified to lose you. To see your body, on the ground, without that small sparkle in your eyes," He said, angrily.

We were the same. We were both deadly. I knew I couldn't leave him or Lydia. Because even if I was a freak. Even though I am deadly. Trevor was like me. I couldn't hurt him and he couldn't hurt me. The only thing that could hurt us was us being separated. By life or by death. We were damaged. But we were damaged together. And it made me feel relieved to know that he was like me. And that I was like him. We were similar in anger, but different in personality and that's made us stronger. Better. Us being together.

"Listen to me," He said with a quiet and deep voice, putting one hand on one cheek.

"Nothing can change how I see you. I love you. Every part of you. Freak or not. So please don't leave. Because if something happens to you when I'm not there then I don't know what I would do. This morning with Jack should have proved that to you," He said. I let the tears well up in my eyes but I didn't let them fall. He stroked my cheekbone with his thumb.

"What if you get hurt? What if Lydia gets hurt?" I asked in a small voice.

"What happens if you try to save us and you end up getting hurt?" He countered.

I looked at him and his soft eyes found my sad ones.

"I'm not going to let anything or anyone hurt you," He said in a quiet voice.

"Does that list include yourself?" I said in a teasing tone. He gave a small chuckle.

"I guess it does," He said. I felt the tears start to dissipate and go away. I stared at his eyes a little while longer before he whispered "Stay," so that only I could hear it. I let out a deep breath.

I didn't answer. He saw the hesitation on my face. He could tell that I was debating whether I should stay and keep myself safe or leave and keep them safe.

"Please," He said, trying to draw my eyes towards his face instead of away.

I met his eyes and searched his face. I couldn't leave them. I never could have. The option that played into my head so many times was not possible. I could never leave them because they are my friends. They are the people I love. And I wasn't going to let the labs take that away from me. Not now. And sure as hell, not ever.

"Ok," I whispered back. I wrapped my arms around him, burying my face into his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into the same embrace. We stood there, holding each other for what felt like forever. But in reality, it was maybe 5 minutes.

"Want to go back or stay here?" He asked. I looked at his dark eyes. I ran out before Lydia could tell me what else she found. Maybe there was something else that was more important that I needed to hear. Plus, I really wanted a chocolate bar.

"Let's go back," I said. He let go of me and I did the same with him. He gave a small smile before leaning down and whispering something in my ear.

"You're not getting away from me that easily Amber Stevenson," He said, walking past me and holding out his hand for me to take. I took his hand and entwined our fingers together. My hand was maybe half the size of his ripped and bruised and scarred hands from all the nights he was working out. Mine were clean but starting to form the same cuts and bruises that he has on his knuckles. We walked back to the motel room, holding hands but in silence. My mind was clear. No thinking. And I savored those moments when it was.

After a few minutes of walking, we reached the door. When Trevor opened it, he let go of my hand and walked around to the opposite side of Lydia's bed. I sat on the opposite side from where Trevor was standing. He was looking at Lydia's laptop with a curious look, scanning the screen.

"What else did you find before I ran out?" I asked.

"You sure you wanna know?" Lydia asked. I looked up at Trevor. I nodded at both of them. She turned back to the laptop and pulled up a video. A girl. She had dark skin and her hair was in braids with the tips of it dyed turquoise. Her eyes were pitch black but there was a certain beauty to them. She looked angry.

"Are you going to tell us what we need to know?" The man in the cotton white coat asked. She narrowed her eyes at him before saying through gritted teeth, "Go to hell."

He shook his head and signaled to someone that was off the screen. Then, the door opened and there was a young boy. He looked 15. His eyes were emerald green and his hair was jet black. His cheeks were rosy. But his beautiful eyes were angry. Controlled. Unnatural.

"You get one more chance. Tell us where you are located," The scientist said. I couldn't tear my eyes off the screen when the girl stayed silent. I felt uneasy about what was going to happen next. The man turned around and picked up a syringe filled with a blue liquid.

"Jeremy. Go ahead," The man said. The boy slowly turned to the girl and grabbed her hand. She started squirming and he focused on her with an expressionless face. She stopped squirming and her eyes wandered the room. She turned her head and screamed "Mom!"

She kept screaming it over and over again until Jeremy let go of her hand. Then, she started crying.

"Every time you resist, I will inject you with this pain simulator. It will be excruciating for you. And much worse with the visions and pain Jeremy here can create," He said, injecting her neck. He was the one who could simulate pain. Who could create visions of your worst fear and make you feel everything that happens. Like getting shot.

She started screaming in pain. In agony. I turned away from the screen, only hearing the scream coming from the laptop screen. I could feel Trevor's eyes on me. A few seconds later, the screaming stopped and it turned into crying. I looked back at the screen. The boy. Jeremy was holding her hand again.

"You get one more chance. Where are you located?" He asked again.

"Why do you want to know? So you can get more side-effects and create your perfect generation? Or so you can kill the mind control kids we have?" She said.

He looked surprised. He knew what she was talking about. But he also knew that they killed all of them. So it was impossible for the L-13's to have mind control kids.

He walked over to the table and picked up a gun and turned off the safety. He put his finger on the trigger and pulled it. I got up from the bed and turned my back to the laptop. That could be me. Jared.

"She was with the L-13's," Lydia said in a quiet voice. I turned back around to face them. Trevor and Lydia were both looking at me.

"I'm fine. Right now we need to focus on how to get there safely and that's it. After we get there, we can find more stuff on the labs, have Lydia do research and try and figure out what our plan is from there," I said. Lydia looked up at Trevor and he stared at me with an intensity.

"Lydia, do you mind if I borrow the laptop for tonight? I want to see some things on the labs' reports. Can you keep the data open?" I asked, looking away from Trevor.

"Sure. What do you want to search?" She asked in response, closing the laptop and handing it to me.

"Just stuff about Jared. About me," I said, taking the laptop from her hands. I realized that the sun was setting when I saw the orange light on my hand.

"How long was I at the park?" I asked.

"Maybe 2 or 3 hours. Thought it would be best if I let you cool down before checking on you," She responded. I was surprised at how long I was outside. It felt like half an hour. But then again, the walk to the park seemed longer than the one coming back, so my mind must have wandered and lost track of time.

"I'll give this back to you in the morning ok?" I said. She nodded and turned on the TV. I looked at Trevor and he walked over to me.

"I want to see something and I don't want to do it alone," I said. He gave a small smile before opening the door and telling Lydia that we were going to get food. We walked over to the van and I hopped in. So did Trevor.

"What do you want to check?" He asked. I needed to know more about the mind control kids. About what Jared and I could really do.

"I wanted to see if they have any videos of kids who have the same genetic mutation as me. See what they have been able to do," I responded. He started the car and I opened the laptop.

I spent 15 minutes trying to find videos of kids like me. How they activated their side-effects, what they could do, how dangerous I really was. Lydia said that since I have the same genetic mutation, I have the same side-effects. Mine just haven't been activated. And I don't know how to activate them. If I could figure out how to activate them then I could figure them out faster. I could learn to control them. After another 5 minutes, Trevor found a fast food place and bought us a few sandwiches and fruits from the small grocery store across the street.

I finally managed to find a video of a girl who was about 8 or 9. She was in a testing room that had a car at the end of it and her at the other end. There was a scientist inside the car. The car started driving at a fast speed towards her and in reaction, only a few feet away, she managed to put her hands out and push it away without even touching the car. Like it was a force coming out of her hands.

There were more like her. Falling trees, fast cars. It depended on how strong the person was though. The weak ones, like the girl, was a little off balance after the car, like the side-effect drained you every time you use it. With the mind control kids, the same thing happened. They would get drained if they were controlling too many minds at once or if they were inside minds too long. Reading minds were perfectly fine but usually, those kids combined mind control and reading minds and were drained faster. I assumed they were implanting a memory or an action with their reading minds and then it happened with their controlling minds side-effect. It was interesting to watch but also terrifying to think I could do that.

"Can you do me a favor?" Trevor asked. I looked at him with curious eyes.

"Can you check the system for my genetic mutation? I want to know what else I might have or if it just stops at strength," He said. I nodded at him. I turned back to the laptop and typed in, Brown, Trevor, into the computer. His file popped up. Subject 2187. It listed all of his physical traits, his vaccination status, reward money, and side-effects. I tried to look for his genetic mutation and only saw letters.

Mutations: IP, S, SI, T, H.

S for strength, SI for sight, and H for hearing, T for telekinesis. He was like me. The same. But what was IP? I checked the data for files that had the same mutation until I found 3 kids that had IP in their file. One was a girl, 16 years old. Blond hair and black eyes. 15 and 13 year old boys. One with green eyes like Jeremy and the other had hazel eyes. All with one similarity. IP. I scanned over the files again until I recognized one of the files. Subject 3287. Wood, Jeremy. I looked at his photo and he looked younger in this than he does now. He looks like he was 12 when they took this and he probably was. I read his file. Dangerous was at the top of his file. Approach with caution. And then it listed his attributes. I read the genetic mutation.

Mutations: SI, H, HE, IP.

Sight, hearing, healing, and...Image and pain manipulation. I read over the file one more time, making sure that I wasn't going to scare Trevor for nothing. I was right. Jeremy and Trevor have the same mutation. I looked at Trevor, trying to find the words to tell him. At least the car wasn't on so we wouldn't crash when I told him.

"Is it bad?" He asked, looking at me.

I explained to him the mutations that were listed. The abbreviations and how you could activate them. But it never showed anything on how to activate image and pain manipulation. Plus, would Trevor ever want that part to be activated?

"What other mutation do I have? I know your hiding something," He said, looking at the laptop. I pointed at the IP on his file.

"What do you think that stands for?" I asked. He looked at the screen for a moment and then at me.

"You're telling me that I'm like him. That I can torture people with my mind?" He asked in a curious tone.

"That's what they have you listed as. They've only had 4 kids in this whole database that have IP side-effects," I said. He looked at me with curiosity.

"What about telekinesis or reading minds and mind control?" He asked.

I looked at him for a second.

"They have 3 alive. Me, Jared, and this other girl who is in the Dallas lab. They killed the rest," I said in a quiet voice.

"How many?" He asked. I had to wrap my head around the number.

"In the past 10 years. Only 30 kids have shown the TRC side-effect," I said.

"TC?" He questioned. It was my abbreviation for telekinesis, reading, and control of minds. TC side-effect.

"Telekinesis and control," I explained. He gave a small laugh at me. I gave a small smile.

"How many of the IP side-effect have they killed?" He asked. That's where he didn't have to worry. They haven't killed a single IP kid. The side-effect is probably the most rare out of all of them.

"None. They keep the IP kids for torture devices," I said. I didn't look at him, remembering the screams of the girl with the turquoise hair.

"Are you scared of them?" He asked. He wasn't angry or sad but he was curious. Some part of me was scared of what they could do. But I knew there was a reason that they killed TC kids like me and didn't kill IP kids like him. It's because I'm more powerful. I could connect my mind with theirs and then I could torture whoever I wanted without even touching them. I looked back at him.

"No," I said. I didn't lie. If we were monsters. If we were dangerous. We would be dangerous together. Because no matter how scared I could be of a side-effect, I still couldn't, wouldn't, stay away from Trevor.

"Why? Do you want me to be scared of you?" I asked. He gave a sly smile in reaction to my question.

"Maybe I do. Maybe I don't. Guess you'll never know," He said. He turned the car on again and started driving away from the tiny grocery store. We stayed silent for a few seconds before he asked, "How did they activate it in the other kids?"

I searched his face for a second before answering with a "Yes."

I turned back to the computer to search what he was looking for. I looked through videos for 10 minutes until I saw Jeremy on the screen. He looked younger and looked like he wasn't being controlled by the labs. There was a man in a lab coat. He looked maybe 30. And his arm was extended and pointing something at someone that was outside of the camera frame.

"Please don't. She's the only one I have left," Jeremy said, on the verge of tears.

"Do it. We know that you can. If you do it then we will let her go," The man said in a deep voice.

"I can't. I don't know how it's activated," Jeremy said. The man turned his head back to the figure outside of the frame. That's when I heard a safety click off. My eyes scanned the screen, eerie to figure out what happened next.

"I'm sorry," The man said. Then I heard the bang. The figure fell into the frame and I saw her green eyes staring at the camera. Lifeless. I felt my face harden and focus on the screen as Jeremy ran over to what I think was his sister. He started crying and screaming for her to come back. The man walked across the room slowly and Jeremy looked at him with a strong intensity, like he was focusing. The man stopped in his tracks and he looked around before screaming in pain and terror. Eventually his scream faded and it looked like he was being suffocated.

"You deserve to feel what she felt before you killed her," He said through gritted teeth. After a few more seconds, he let his focus go and turned back to his sister and let the tears fall. The man coughed and checked his body to see if anything that happened was actually real. A few seconds later, he stood up and looked at Jeremy before running out of the room.

I searched for the other 3 videos of the other 3 kids and on how they triggered their IP side-effect. They were all the same. The labs killed a loved one in front of them and they wanted to inflict the same pain that they had onto the scientists. With your family being ripped away from you, you just want the people that caused it to know what it feels like. What it feels like to lose everything you had, the memories. The way to trigger it, is to lose the thing you love most. And for Trevor, that was me.

I closed the laptop screen and looked at him.

"I don't think you want to activate it," I said in a small voice. He looked over at me and his eyes were confused.

"What did you find?" He asked. I hesitated for a moment, deciding whether to tell him the truth, or lie. It was better for him to find out from me instead of finding out with a gun pointed at my head.

"The labs. They found the people they love. Sisters, mothers, brothers. Anyone. And..." I paused and looked away for a moment.

"They kill them in front of them. And in reaction, the pain that they felt, they used it against the scientist and made them feel the worst pain that they could imagine," I said. He looked over at me and gave a small smile.

"What if there was another way?" He asked. My face turned into confusion. What else could there be in order to activate it?

"Why do you want to activate it so badly?" I asked. He seemed curious on how it worked.

"I think it can be useful. And maybe there is more to it. Maybe it doesn't only have to be pain and fear. It could be used for something else," He said.

"You think that if you trigger it then you can use it against people that try to hurt us?" I asked.

"Don't you think it would be helpful? Like someone who tries to hurt you or Lydia, maybe I could use the IP side-effect as a distraction and you guys could get away," He said. He was right. It could help. If someone tries to hurt us and Trevor has his side-effect then we could get away while he distracts them or they would be too scared to even come close to us. But we could also use it to an advantage if we figure out other parts of it considering that the labs only use it for one reason.

"So then how would we trigger it?" I asked. He shrugged.

"I'm not the one with enhanced intelligence as a side-effect," He said, looking at me.

"Hey! I said I could put 2 and 2 together not figure out everything in the world," I said in a high pitched voice. He laughed.

I looked at him and let a smile creep up on my face. He turned the car off and I realized that we were at the motel.

"What if we triggered it by breaking a bone?" He asked.

"You do realize that we have almost unbreakable bones, right?" I asked. His jaw clenched and his eyes were focused on one spot, indicating that he was thinking.

"There has to be something better than killing you or Lydia right in front of me," He said. I reached over for his hand and he turned his head to face me.

"We can think about it in the morning. Maybe the L-13's know something that we don't," I said.

"Maybe. What do you want to do about your TC side-effect? Do you want it to stay dormant?" He asked. I didn't think much about what I wanted to do with my dormant side-effect. If I wanted to trigger it or not. Every time I thought about me using the side-effect scares me. My mind gets clouded and I can't think straight.

"It scares me. That if I activate it I might lose control. But I do want to activate it. Because even though it could be my death sentence, it could also be the thing that saves my life," I said. I let out a deep breath and for once, the TC side-effect didn't scare me. I could use it to help. To do something.

"Fear doesn't bring you down. It makes you stronger. And it makes you a fighter Amber. But what do you think happens when you embrace that fear? Embrace the TC side-effect?" He asked, his dark eyes searching mine.

"What happens if I embrace it and I lose control?" I responded with. What if I did embrace that fear? Would it make me stronger? Could I control it?

"You won't. I know you won't. Because even when you're angry, you don't lose control. You're careful with it. Which makes you stronger than anyone I know," He said.

I slowly leaned in and kissed his soft lips. He kissed me back when he felt our lips touch. It was a long and passionate kiss. And I loved every moment of it. This is what I wanted. Moments with Trevor like this. Where neither of us were raging monsters. But just two people who loved each other.

My hands went up his arms and into his hair while his went on my arms and cupped my cheeks. I inhaled his rain and leather scent and it had felt so long since I actually savored the smell. I broke our lips but he didn't accept it. He closed the distance between our lips and kissed me the same, passionate way as before. This kiss was shorter but no matter how short the kiss, I still love the warm feeling my body created when he touched me while creating butterflies in my stomach.

He broke our lips and rested his forehead against mine.

"Let's do it," I whispered.While our lips touched, I thought about what he said. We could use our side-effects for a different purpose. But the first step was to trigger them.

"Are you sure? I don't want you to be scared of them," He whispered back.

"It can help. We can help. And I can control it," I said. He lifted his forehead from mine and looked into my eyes, letting our noses only have a sliver of space.

"We won't trigger them ourselves. We can wait until we get to the L-13's," He said. I nodded at him in response. Maybe the L-13's could help trigger our side-effects. And if not, we could find a way. I let my hands fall and I got out of the car. I looked at Trevor inside the truck and he was staring at me with a small smile.

"Well I know I'm hungry and so is Lydia so either stay in there staring or you can come inside and eat. Your choice Trevor," I said, grabbing the brown bags with grease stains and closing the door. I heard his door open as I walked over to the door that led inside the plain room with 2 beds separated by a nightstand. Like every other hotel or motel room we have stayed in within the past 3 weeks.

I walked in and didn't see Lydia in the room but I saw a yellow-white light coming from the bathroom door. I walked over to the lamp in the corner and turned it on. I walked over to the nightstand and placed the bag there, ready for when Lydia comes out of the shower. I sat down on the edge of the bed opposite of Lydia's and opened the laptop.

"What else are you looking for?" Trevor asked, closing the door behind him.

"I just want to check on the rewards they are offering for Jared and I. I'm worried about him," I said, keeping my eyes on the screen in front of me. I clicked on the database that had the rewards and how many kids have been captured. I searched, Stevenson, Amber, and my name popped up. It was number one on the rewards list. Jared was second and Trevor and Lydia were third and sixth. Lydia was sixth? I understood why Jared and I were first and second. Because they wanted to kill us. And Trevor had the IP side-effect so they wanted to use him for his own gain. But why was Lydia so high in the rewards system?

I searched for her file and after a few minutes, her picture came up. I scanned over her file and saw something that shouldn't have been there.

"Trevor. You might want to come and see this," I said. He walked over to me and sat next to me, looking at the screen.

"Is that Lydia's file?" He asked. I nodded.

Lydia was talking about gene mutation. She was so busy looking at my file, reward system, Trevor's file, and everything else except for her own file. And that's probably why she didn't know. I pointed down to a square that only had a full word and one letter.

Mutations: T

I looked at him. "Lydia said she didn't have side-effects. But what if she didn't get the original side-effects. And hers are just dormant," I said. He looked at me with confused eyes.

"Are you saying that Lydia has a side-effect?" He asked.

"Why do you think she is so high in the rewards system? Top 2 are Jared and I because we have the TC gene. You're third because you have the IP mutation. But if Lydia didn't have some special mutation that they were scared of, she wouldn't be the sixth highest in the system," I said.

"She doesn't know because nothing has happened to her to trigger her telekinesis. She doesn't know because she hasn't checked," I said.

"Should we tell her?" He asked. I looked at him and then I heard something in the bathroom break. I focused my hearing and I could hear Lydia saying my name.

"Amber, I know you can hear me. I already know, I've known for a while. Trevor knows what it's like for telekinetics because he triggered it a few months ago but I triggered it a few days ago and he doesn't know. I don't want to see his reaction when I tell him that I'm a freak. Please tell him yourself. I can't lose my brother," She said. I looked back at Trevor and unfocused my hearing. I got up from the bed and walked over to the bathroom.

"Lydia. He's your brother. What are you scared of?" I said in a low voice that only she could hear. She opened the door and looked at me.

"I don't want him to see me differently. I'm one of the only normal things he has. I don't even use my side-effect because when I don't I feel normal. I don't want that to change," She said in a quiet voice.

"What is normal Lydia? Because with or without side-effects you have almost indestructible bones and a strong immune system. None of us are normal, but you're just more unique than the rest. Plus, it's Trevor. He just cares if you're alive, not if you're normal or a freak," I said. She searched my face.

"You're my sister Lydia. As much as you annoy me, I will always see you as family kiddo," Trevor said from behind me. I turned my head to look at him and walked past him. I saw him pull Lydia into an embrace, like a protective big brother should have when his sister was scared. I smiled and turned my head again, walking over to the bed and spreading myself across the bed.

I stared up at the ceiling, trying to listen to my thoughts. Lydia already triggered her telekinesis. Maybe if I trigger my telekinesis, it can trigger the whole TC side-effect. I heard the door to the bathroom shut and felt Trevor move my arm and sit down next to me.

"What if it's a domino effect?" I said, still staring up at the ceiling.

He looked at me. "What? Our side-effects?" He asked. I wanted to test my theory. But I didn't know how.

I sat up on my elbows and looked at him.

"It has to be connected. Sight, hearing, and smell are all different. Same with healing and strength and all of the side-effects. Except for TC," I said. He looked at me with a confused look on his face.

"What if someone who has the TC mutation can trigger only one of the three. But if they trigger one then it triggers all of them," I explained. His expression turned into focus.

"Because it's all linked with your mind?" He asked. I nodded.

"Think of it as a thought. If someone with mind control tries to put a thought in someone else's head, they have to think that themself and then try and put it in the other person's head, making them do the action. They are all connected to one another. Telekinesis, brain. Mind control, brain. It could trigger each of them if it was only one that's triggered," I said. He questioned my theory.

"What about Lydia? She has telekinesis and so do I," He said. My eyes widened at his confession.

"I know Lydia told you. Sorry I didn't tell you earlier," He said with a genuine apology in his voice and eyes.

I gave a small smile. I understood why he wanted to hide it. Because he was scared of it. Of what he might do to me.

"It's Ok. But it's different for you guys. You two don't have the full TC mutation. You have only one but not the other," I said.

He searched my dark brown, curious eyes. "So what's your idea?"

I looked away from him and thought about it for a moment. All the videos I saw ahd fast cars about to hit the kids, a gun pointed at their head, or a tree falling over their head. I've already had a gun pointed at my head, and I doubt Trevor would nearly almost run over. And where was I going to find a falling tree out of the sky. I mean I could ask. It wouldn't hurt.

I looked back at him. He was staring at me with the same curious eyes.

"When I saw the kids triggering their TC mutation, the labs started up a car and were going almost full speed at them. I've had a gun pointed at my head and I don't think there are going to be trees falling out of the sky," I said.

He shook his head and then after a second, he got up.

"C'mon. Before I change my mind. But if I'm a few feet away from you, you better get out of the way," He said, walking towards the door. I felt my eyes go wide with surprise. That was easier than I thought. He opened the door and looked back at me.

"Don't make me change my mind Amber," He said. I got up quickly and walked out of the door.

"You go at one end of the road and then I go at the other," I said. He nodded and hopped into the truck and I started to run to the other end of the road. As I ran, I was thinking how reckless I was being but this could help us. Help me. Trevor was right. The more dangerous, the more powerful. And we can make a difference. I can help make a world where Jared is safe. Where I can have a family. A life.

Trevor turned the headlights on and started the engine. I closed my eyes for a moment and thought to myself for a second. I took a deep breath and opened my eyes and let it out, putting my hands out. I focused on the energy coursing inside me and nodded at Trevor. He started driving towards me. The black truck sped towards me and nothing happened. The lights started blinding me and were 2 big circles coming towards me. I jumped out of the way when nothing happened and fell into the grass. I felt frustrated. I got up quickly and Trevor came out of the truck.

"Again," I said. He looked at me.

"Are you sure?" He asked.

"We have to try Trevor," I said. He let out a deep breath and walked back to the truck. He closed the door and reversed the truck, going back to the same spot he was in before.

We tried for over half an hour. 8 attempts. And all ended the same. Nothing happened and the anger and frustration built up with every failed attempt. I could help, but only if I had something to use against the labs.

"Maybe we should stop," Trevor said. I shook my head.

"This has to work. I know it can," I said. I walked back over to my stop and Trevor looked at me for a second before turning around and getting back into the truck to reverse it back to his spot. The anger built up with every second. I put my hands in front of me like I was pushing something and decided to put them down. I let the anger build up. I heard the wheels scratch against the road and saw the headlights come at me again. But this time, they were slower, like time slowed down. I put my hands back up and focused on the truck and pushing it back while holding it in it's place. My eyes were angry. Ready. I let out an angry scream when the truck was about to hit me and closed my eyes instead of ducking away.

"Amber!" I heard Trevor scream. I opened my eyes and saw the truck staying in place while the air rippled like an energy was going through. I heard the engine still going and I realized what I did. I triggered it. I felt the energy coursing through me. Through my veins, my hands, all through my body. I unfocused from the truck as soon as I heard the engine shut off. Trevor got out of the car and I tried to walk towards him but I felt weak. I could barely move my legs and my head hurt so bad. One of the worst headaches I've gotten. I tripped and Trevor caught me. I could barely hold myself up at that point.

"You ok?" He asked. This was normal. It happened with all of the TC kids when they used their side-effects. It worked.

"Just a little drained," I said. I managed to stand up straight on my own and ignore the pounding in my head.

"Hey," Trevor said in a quiet voice. I looked up at him.

"You did it," He said with a big smile on his face. I returned his smile. I did it. It worked. And now, I can understand it. Use it.

"We did it," I said. We pulled each other into the same embrace. If I was going to do this, if I was going to understand what I could do with my side-effects, I wasn't going to do it alone.