The rise and fall of Hunter's chest was the only sound in the room, a stark contrast to the turmoil inside Ella. She watched the two men as they slept on the floor next to the couch she lay on. Her protectors, saviors, who sacrificed their lives in order to save her. They deserved better. As quietly as she could, Ella slid off the couch, walked towards Hunter’s workbench, and scribbled down a quick note. When she was done, she laid the note on the bar top, tucked her new jacket under her arm, mouthed a thank you for the two men she was leaving behind, and slipped out the door.

  ***

  “Damn it.”

  Thad jumped to his feet, fists clenched, ready for a fight. “Who…what?”

  Hunter tossed the note down on the table next to Thad. “She’s gone.”

  “Gone? What do you mean, gone?”

  Hunter pointed to the slip of paper. Thad picked it up and slipped on his glasses.

  Hunter and Thad,

  I can not thank you enough for all that you’ve done for me. You’ve risked your entire lives for a stranger. I can’t let you put yourself in danger any more. You will always be in my heart.

  Sincerely,

  Ella

  Thad read the words a second time. “Well, now what?”

  “What do you think?”

  “We find her.”

  “Yup.” Hunter handed Thad a tan duffel bag that was sitting next to the door, threw on his jacket, and slung a bag of his own over his shoulder. “And hopefully we get to her before someone else does.”

  Ella walked down the street, trying to stay invisible in the shadows, hands tucked into her jacket pockets. She missed the warm room and the company she had just walked away from. She longed to turn back, but they had already risked so much for her. If she stayed with them, she would just put them in more danger, and that was something she wouldn’t do. A flash of her parents and brother and what the doctors had done to her passed through Ella’s mind, causing tears to mist her sight. Too many people had suffered around her. Ella swallowed down the feeling of loneliness and continued onward, unsure of where she was going.

  A chill ran down Ella’s spine as she tucked her chin into the collar of her jacket. She puffed out an icy breath and hugged herself tighter as she trudged through the mostly empty streets. If she had learned anything in the short time away from the lab, she couldn’t take any chances. She proceeded slowly, checking every dark alleyway before she moved. Ella studied every person, anything that looked like a surveillance drone, anything at all that seemed out of place. It was something her brother, Michael, had taught her from a young age.

  Michael.

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  The mere thought of his name brought a wave of memory of that creature she had seen under the mask, unconscious on the ground behind the bar. They had turned her brother into a monster. Was the rest of her family okay? How could they be? There was only pain and suffering in that place. Ella choked back a sob as it tried to escape her and focused on the people who had caused so much pain to her family. She remembered each of their faces. The faces of vile creatures, not humans. No human would sit by and allow that level of suffering to happen. A new feeling stirred deep inside her. It spread throughout her body and transformed her loneliness into hate. Hate for the doctors that tortured her, the people who allowed it to happen daily, and most of all, a white-hot, blistering hate for Doctor Stanton. The devil incarnate. Ella didn’t know how, but she knew she would kill him if she got the chance.

  A loud crunch coming from the alleyway just to Ella’s right caused her to freeze. The neon blue strip of light surrounding the mirrored face mask of a Republic Guard glared down at her. Her own terror-filled reflection willed her to move. Remembering Michael's lessons, she noted the slight shift in the Guard's weight, the telltale sign of an impending move. Ella twisted her body, using the momentum to deliver a sharp, angled kick to the Guard's knee, aiming for the joint. A sickening crunch echoed in the alley. She bolted in the opposite direction, cursing herself for letting her guard down for even a second. Michael’s most important lesson: focus first, emotion second. She may have let him down again, but she wouldn’t let that mistake grow into two.

  Ella sprinted across the empty street and into the nearest alley. She had to think quickly. What had Hunter taught her? She scanned her surroundings for a fire escape, but it was no use. Not every building had one, and the ones she saw were missing ladders or severely rusted.

  Up or down?

  If up wasn’t an option, she’d go down. Ella stood above a manhole cover and tried to slide it out of the way, but the heavy metal wouldn’t budge. She tried again, pulling with all of her might, until her hands slipped and she crashed, the back of her head slamming hard against a cold, wet dumpster, just as a buzz of taser prongs zipped past her head. It was too late. They had caught up with her.

  “I found her. She’s in the north quadrant, alley 13.” A mechanical voice hissed from behind her.

  Ella wasn’t sure if the memories had flooded her senses or if it was the ringing in her head, but the voice she heard sounded like her brother. Just slightly distorted by the mask, but the cadence was his. She would know it anywhere. It was in her dreams, in her every waking moment. The way he used to say her name, a soft "El" at the end, echoed in her mind.

  She sat up, pressed her back against a brick wall, and rubbed her head. “Michael?”

  More steps and voices surrounded her as she tried to gain her bearings, but the more she heard, the more unbalanced she became. The voices, all the voices, were her brother’s. A never ending, cascading echo of Michael. Ella clenched her hands over her ears and screamed, a violent, earth-splitting shriek, until everything around her stopped. When she looked up, a line of Guards were circling her, cutting her off from all exits. It was over. She was the prey, being closed in on by hungry lions. Ella steadied herself. If this is how it was going to end, she’d go down fighting.

  Ella sprang to her feet and threw herself on top of a dumpster to her left, just as the first guard tried to grab her. She kicked his face as hard as she could and dug her fingers into the brick, a hopeless attempt to scale the wall until a heavy, shimmering web fell over her, the strands like spun moonlight, tightening with every struggle. In a swift yank, a nearby guard dropped her to the ground with a thud that caused her ears to ring. Ella tried to stand, but before she could move, the sting of a dart dug into her shoulder. It was too late. The green liquid was already working its way through her body. Her legs felt like shredded paper. Ella threw a limp hand at the nearest guard, but all she wanted to do was close her eyes and sleep. She strained to keep her eyelids open.

  Not yet. Please, not yet. Everyone helped you, and this is how far you can go.

  She sank deeper into oblivion, her vision almost completely gone.

  Not like this.

  Then all went black.