A STRATEGY IS WHAT WE USUALLY STRUGGLED WITH. It didn't ever go as we planned, a basic idea is what we just had before we went out and did our thing. This time, we couldn't risk anything to happen -- we couldn't lose another person. A plan was in the making, but I know it was going to steer off the tracks as soon as it leaves the station.

After a few hours of watching home videos, I pulled out Aidan's laptop and started looking through his stuff. It probably wasn't the right thing to do but the boy had information leaking from the device. It was basically a personal diary, not to mention it had a million firewalls. Jessica entered the room as I struggled to unlock it, giving a hand. I barely saw her around, not that I payed much attention, but she did seem kind of... off. Like there was something else on her mind that picked at her from the inside.

We -- Spencer, Kassandra, Jessica, Tyson and I -- were up in my room brainstorming. Dad and Clayton were out, I'm pretty sure. We needed food, and to see what the Institute was doing outside. Most of the windows were boarded up. There was a single one where the sun was able to still shine through in my room, making me feel slightly less contained in the huge house.

One thing I knew from Aidan's laptop -- he was extremely close to his mother and she was willing to give Aidan any information possible. Blueprints and files from the Institute were found in the heavily protected files. I wonder if she knows about... that. She probably does, the Institute must've found his body. It's can't just be lying on the cold ground back where I left him.

A lot of the files were about me. Procedures, experiments, the plans they had for me. Mom was willing to give me away to all of this. Her daughter. She wanted me to be a weapon, an extension of the Institute's arms, from nearly the day I was born. The day I was told I was sick. There never really was a point that I wasn't apart of this.

"Spencer?" I asked, looking up from my screen. He and Tyson were in the middle of a hushed conversation. Both looked my direction.

"Yeah?"

"Am I still a threat?"

The room stayed silent. 

"What do you mean?" Spencer asked, looking for the right words.

"I mean..." I liked my lips. "They've been using me all this time. What if they still can?"

"Whatever you did to break the bond seems like it was enough. It's been a couple days now, Lauren. If they could, they'd have you back at the Institute right now. Mom definitely would be trying to reach us and scream at us."

"I was the person who controlled all those people? You think they're all free?"

Jessica answers this time. "If you aren't controlling them, then they should be free. Why did the Institute even need you as, like, a beam or something to actually, like, spread the mind control-ness? If they control you, why not the others?"

Spencer bit his lip, unsure of himself. "Because they used Lauren as a subject to test the whole mind control process, if they could find a solution that makes someone obey them. What better than a child?"

"Your mom just did that to her?" Kass asked, disapproval on her face. "That's messed up."

"Yeah, it is." He didn't meet anyone's eye contact, just looked down. "They did the whole experiment around you, Lauren. When they succeeded on you, they tried others, but it failed. You were the only success, but then..." He paused.

"Then what?" Tyson asked, probably more curious than me. 

"Lauren.... you were able to manipulate people to do what you want. Even just on your own, without the Institute on your back--"

"Like when she made Tyson buy her that muffin or something a couple months ago." Jessica brought up, then turned to him. "You didn't know what you were doing. It was a less extreme version than all this."

"Yeah, I guess," Tyson responded, not my enthusiasm in his voice. "So the Institute was using that power, but now since you left the Institute, this should end. Why didn't it?"

"Subconscious."

I turned to face my brother, who was the person who said that. "My subconscious? How can you be sure?"

"It's embedded in your mind, Lauren, whether you like it or not. Its always going to be in the back of your mind since its been in the back of your mind purposefully for months, it's not going to go away easily. Same goes for some dreams, Lauren. Be careful."

I studied his face. Something was off about this. Something about this was too... personal for him. "Spencer?"

"You know how I have access to your dreams, right?" He says out of the blue. "Our minds are linked. More than once, we've dreamed the same thing."

Of course I knew. The one memory I thought I had when I first woke up in the Institute was just a dream my mind conjured as I was about to slip into an eternal sleep. Spencer knew. He helped the Institute make it seem like it actually happened, and it was why I was there in the first place.

"I was ten, you were five, I was dreaming that I was walking towards the lake in the middle of the night. No one was around. Dad grabbed me and I woke up just before I was actually going to jump in."

I opened my mouth, then closed it again. I did what? I almost killed someone before I even lived half a decade. I wanted to scream. This wasn't fair. I couldn't control my dreams, could I? I couldn't let something like that happen again.

"I think it's obvious what we need to do now," Jessica states. My heart skips a beat. She's gonna say I have to go, isn't she. My brain was working faster than what was actually happening. I needed to convince myself to breathe.

Jess continued. "Auston Miller and Aunt Julianna. We need them dead."

It's weird. The first thing that throws me off guard is the fact that Jessica just called my mother Aunt, which is what she is to her, but I've never heard her say those words. I don't even remember if she called her Julianna before. 

But then her words started sinking in. 

Everyone stayed silent.

My heart is thumping my chest, and it was the only thing that filled my ears. Kill the woman that brought me into the world... could I really do that? It took me a couple minutes to realise all eyes were on me, waiting for my reaction. If this ends up being part of the plan, could I really follow through? 

I met eyes with the one person in the room that could possibly feel what I'm feeling. He nudged towards the door. In a matter of seconds, I was up on my feet, following my brother to his room. He locked the door behind him after we were both in.

"She has a point, you know? If mom and Mr. Miller are gone, there's no one to lead the Institute," I say softly. "You aren't doing that anymore, right?"

He shook his head, his eyes focused not on me, but behind me. I turn around, finding that his eyes were focused on a photograph of him, probably not older than eight years old, with Mom's arms wrapped around him. They were at the beach, sand covered Spencer's body. Mom kissed his cheek.

I gulped. "Spencer, I know you had all these good memories with her but she was never a good person. It was always an act, Spence." I hesitate before I continue. "If she really loved us would she make both of us do this."

"She wanted the best for you..."

"I really can't think of a good memory to associate with her... Spencer, are you really going to continue telling me that crap?"

"You really want her dead?"

More than anything. "We can just keep her locked up in jail for the rest of her life..."

His voice came out as barely a whisper. "Don't lie to me, Lauren."

I bit my lip. Of course he heard that.

"Then what do we do?" I asked softly. "Can we really have her alive and running around the place? Spencer, think with your head for once. She's hurt you more than she's helped you." I closed my eyes. "Why are we even having this conversation?"

"What do we do, Lauren?" He asked, his fingers tapping on the table beside him. 

I look down. "You're the only one against what Jessica said, Spencer. Just admit it, we at least have to go for her, make sure she won't do any harm. Do you think we can just shut it down without the risk of it starting back up again?"

His eyes never meet mine for the entire conversation. They look everywhere but at me and I know he's hiding something. It can't be good.

"Spence..."

"We can't stop this, Lauren. It's gone too far. We can reverse most of it but it's never going to be fully gone. There's a freaking virus in the air, slowly killing everyone over the age of, what, twenty-five? That's half the population, Lauren."

"We can find a cure. We have a team. I'm on your team. Spencer, are we really giving up this close to the end?"

"I'm not giving up, Lauren."

I close my eyes again, trying to breathe. "So what do we do?"

He gets up. "We're already at war, now we just have to fight it in."

"And Mom?"

His ocean blue eyes meet mine for the first time during all of this. They've watched me even when I didn't know they are. "Time will tell on that part. We'll see what happens."

- - -

a/n hi, so, um, unless i come up with some major, major plot twist there are about six chapters and maybeeeeeeeee an epilogue till the end of this book which is kinda scary to think about because i've been writing this trilogy for two years now and it's finally nearing the end. i hope i can make the last few chapters as action filled (maybe heartbreaking) as possible and i hope all your questions get answered.

xx prantika