SHE DIDN'T JUST DO THAT, RIGHT?

Please tell me she didn't just do that.

Spencer body slammed the force field for the fifth time. This time, he winced in pain after the attempt. He didn't try again after, clutching his arm in pain instead.

Ana was in a blubbering state, and I couldn't blame her. Lauren just took her little sister, probably back to the Institute. Just over a month ago, she was trying to stop a group of Evolutians from taking Laura from her family, and now Lauren takes her there herself.

"How the hell are we supposed to get out of here," Tyson asked. He had a hand pressed on the force field, then started sliding it across the screen. It really just looked like a glass dome around us, but there were little lines in the force field that appeared every now and then. "Is there any power or something that can undo this?"

"Jessica probably could've broke us out of this," I muttered. It didn't seem like anyone heard me.

"Try using your Agnikinesis against the barrier," Jake suggested. He looked at me and Tyson. "The heat should be able to short circuit the force field, depending on how strong Lauren made this."

"Agnikinesis?" Tyson questioned.

"Heat. Fire manipulation," I explained as I lit the tips of my fingers on fire and pressed it on the barrier.

The action was followed by a small yelp.

Everyone turned around, realizing that there was another man, who had no clue what was going on, in this cage. The funeral director. A mix of fright and shock painted his face as he pointed his shaky finger at me. I quickly extinguished the flame, tucking my hand in my pocket.

"You... and the girl... and apparently you too." The man's finger pointed towards Tyson. "You're all freaks. You all have powers. The human body isn't supposed to do that."

"Uh... well..." I look to Tyson for help. He looked frightened out of his mind. He spent years trying to keep his powers from the public, and this is how it get revealed - when we forgot there was someone else with us.

"Mr. Johnson, we can explain-" Lauren's dad started, but the man could not calm down.

"Get me out of here." He started banging on the force field. "Get me... out. These people are freaks. I thought we were done with them after the Queen died."

My sight turns back to Tyson at the mention of his mother. Another flash of fear appeared on his face. Instantly, he lit up his fingers, tiny sparks at the end on his fingertips, and pressed it against the barrier.

He didn't want to be here much longer.

I returned to help him, lighting up my fingers, and tried to ignore the man's screams. They seemed to be louder and echoed in the force field.

Sparks then appeared on the screen and seconds later, it all disappeared. The man made no hesitation and quickly ran off, not looking back. The rest of us just looked at each other, not sure what to do.

Kassandra helped Ana to her feet. "Come on, I'll walk you home."

"Why?" She replied, though it wasn't in response to what Kass said. "Why did she have to take her away? Why? I know I was going to put her up for adoption, but it'd be for the better. For her."

"Alyssa, you wanna come along and help?" Kass asked. She agreed instantly, putting an arm around the crying young woman. They started walking towards the Garcia household, which also was apparently listed for selling.

Once they were out of sight, Tyson spoke. "I'm going to take a walk." He started turning around. "Don't follow me," He added.

"Tyler, bro, wait." I started to walk after him, but something grabbed my shirt collar.

"We need to talk," Spencer said in a low voice. "It's about the Institute."

- - -

Twenty minutes later, we're in my living room. I'm now dressed in a black hoodie, a towel draped over my shoulders. Spencer, his dad and my dad didn't look too happy when I came down the stairs.

"You said you were going to change and you come back after taking a shower?" Spencer asked. His blazer was tossed over one of the arms of the couch he was sitting on, his phone in his lap.

"I needed to wake myself up," I stated, having a seat. "I'm tired."

"It's only nine," Spencer responded.

"Still."

"Boys," Dad cut in, probably wanting us to get on track.

"I'm not a boy anymore, Clay," Spencer corrected.

Dad took a seat next to me, a cup of coffee in his hands. "Yeah, I know, but "young men" does not sound the same, you know."

The two of us let out a small laugh.

"Alright, so what's all this about?" I asked. I already had a feeling what this was going to be about. Lauren. She appeared right in front of us only thirty minutes ago.

Jake put his mug down. "The Institute, obviously. Aidan, you're a smart boy. We thought you would've caught up by now."

"I figured so. But what about it?" I clarified.

"She's obviously under some sort of mind control, right?" Dad said. "Like Lilly when she was her age. There's no way she'd just turn on you without some influence from Auston and Julianna. Do you know anything about what's happening to her?" He asked me.

Lilly? Who was Lilly? Did he mean Tyson's mom, Queen Lillian? Questions continued to fill my mind. I almost forgot to answer him. "No, I don't really know what's going on with her. Why would you think I did."

"She probably would be," Spencer said. "If her eyes were green, then she'd be under mind control."

"How would you know that?" I asked him.

He looks to his dad nervously, then responded. "Mom told me."

"You still talk to her?"

"She doesn't really give me a choice."

"Were her eyes green, Aidan?" Jake asked me.

I licked my lips as I thought. I held her so close to me, I should know what colour her eyes were.

Lauren looked so scared as I held her.

"They were normal. Indigo blue-ish. Blended into the night." I hesitated as I spoke those words.

The room stayed silent. We knew what it meant. Lauren was doing everything under her own will. That, or she isn't trying to fight the Institute anymore. Not after everything that she's done to disobey them. Or maybe her mom and Alyssa's dad really convinced her that the Institute was on the side of good.

"Jake, what are the chances that your daughter will end up repeating history?" Dad asked Lauren's dad, breaking the silence.

"History? Come on, Clay, we aren't that old."

"Julianna isn't that stupid."

"You keep telling yourself that."

Spencer and I look at each other, and I could tell that he was feeling uncomfortable. I knew that Jake and Lauren's mom had a divorce shortly before the dance. I also knew that Jake wasn't taking this very well.

"Dad, do you need space?" Spencer asked, wanting to get away.

"Yeah, this seems like... grown up stuff. You can talk with each other and we could just..." Before I could finish my sentence, we both got up from the couch and headed up the stairs. Our fathers didn't call us back.

We headed into my room, where clothes scattered the floor and my laptop sat on my bed, turned on. 

"What do they think Lauren's going to do?" I asked Spencer, not being able to hold it in any longer. "I know that the whole Institute thing started because of Tyson's mom, but was there anything else..."

He sat down, kicking his legs up on my desk. "Um... there was that one time she kind of took over the kingdom by force."

I raised an eyebrow. "What? But she ended up being queen... did she not?"

"I don't know too much of the details about it," Spencer explained. "There must be something up online or something. It was pretty big."

"Lauren wouldn't do that, right? She wouldn't hurt Tyson or his family; he's her friend, right? We'd have to stop her if that's the case. What am I saying - we have to stop her right now." I went on rambling, playing with my fingers. I was worried for her. I didn't want anything bad to happen to her.

Spencer cut me off, looking annoyed at me. "Look. To end this all, we wouldn't just have to stop her. There are hundreds of Institutes around the world."

"You're kidding, right?"

"No. And Lauren wouldn't do anything like that. If she was forced to, she's fight back. That's the Lauren we both know."

Spencer rubbed his hands uncomfortably, like they were sweating too much. He actually did look uncomfortable.

He was lying.

Spencer was lying.

I'm sure of it.