"Riven!" I heard someone call my name in a loud whisper. I didn't answer. "Riven!" They called again. "It's me Aiden! I know you're here."

I stood up, knowing it was no use hiding. "I'm over here."

The hallway was dark, and I could only make out his silhouette until he was a few feet away from me.

"How did you know where I was?" I asked him when he was close enough for me to make out the features of his face.

He pointed to my neck. "The serum I injected your first week here. It has a tracer signal in it that doesn't wear off until about six months. I was still able to get a faint read off yours and saw you were here."

"And the others don't know about it?"

"They know. We've never actually had to resort to using it before; I think most people have forgotten about it. Besides, only me and your roommates know you're missing. You're lucky I'm the one assigned to the recruits."

He paused, just seeming to realize where he was. "What are you doing up here?"

"I was exploring." I tried to keep my tone innocent.

"So, you just decided to go exploring right before the alarm went off for the night?"

Even though I could barely make out his face, I could tell he didn't believe me. But before I could answer, he grabbed my arm.

"You can explain later," he said. "We need to get out of here before we're caught on camera by security. It's a miracle you've managed to go undetected for this long." He took my arm and began guiding me down the stairs. It was so dark, I didn't see how any cameras could possibly see us.

We began going down even more unfamiliar hallways. "Hey, I thought you were taking me back to my room?"

"Can't." Aiden shook his head. "The guards have taken over. And as I told them everyone was in their room, I can't go parading you back there now. I'm taking you to my room. Now stop talking, we're almost there; I don't want anyone to hear us."

We walked a little farther then stopped in front of a door that looked a lot like the one to my room. He put his hand under the scanner and the light beeped green. He opened it and shunted me in first, then shut the door quickly behind him.

"Guess you don't have roommates, then."

"Lucky for you, no."

I looked around the room. It was shaped almost exactly like mine, though the layout was a little different. Instead of two bunkbeds, there was one large bed against the right wall and two nightstands with lamps flanking it. The lights weren't on, so the lamps added a soft light to the room.

Like in my room, there was a door opposite the entrance into what I assumed was a bathroom. There was a desk on the wall opposite the bed with a computer and a few books on it. There wasn't anything on the walls of the floor or on the bed to personalize the space. Everything was neatly organized save for a few shirts thrown over the chair by his desk.

"Very homey," I finally said.

"Thanks," he responded dryly.

I walked over to the desk and glanced at the books laying there. George Orwell's '1984' was on top. I picked it up. "Really?" I said, lifting an eyebrow.

Aiden full out smiled. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"I can't believe they'd even allow this here."

"Are you kidding me? It's like a manifesto for this place."

"Did you know that Ezra is Evelyn's son?"

Aiden looked momentarily surprised by the change of subject, then he pressed his lips together. "How did you find out?"

"She paid a little visit to the lab while I was in the closet. I overheard them talking. Did you know?"

"Yes, I knew." He still looked grim.

"Do the others know?"

"Most of the senior officials know, the high, high up people, because they were around when she brought him in. No one else knows."

"How did you find out?"

"Kind if the same as you. By accident. I overheard him call her 'mom' one time."

"Doesn't that seem strange to you?" I asked.

"I do; but honestly, that's not the question that's highest on my list of strange things around here," Aiden replied. "You never told me why you were wandering around right before final bell."

I sighed. "I's not really anything worth talking about. I got in a fight with my friend and he said some horrible things to me, and so I said some horrible things back. At the end he told me I was probably going to end up alone and dead, and he wasn't sorry about it."

"That's terrible!" Aiden looked appalled. "I can't believe he said that. And you said he was your friend?"

"Believe me, he didn't used to be like that. This place has ruined him."

"This place has a tendency to do that. I'm sorry, regardless."

I shrugged. "It's whatever." My voice broke, much to my embarrassment.

"You didn't deserve that. You aren't alone. Your roommates were worried sick when you didn't show up earlier. They really care about you."

I didn't say anything, wanting desperately to change the topic before I started crying. I looked around, and saw clock on Aiden's night stand.

"Do you know what day it is?" I asked. A thought had just occurred to me.

He was taken aback again by the sudden topic change. "Yeah, it's January 15," he answered. "Why?"

"Wow. My birthday was January 12. I just realized I'm eighteen now."

"Hang on one second." Aiden opened the door to his bathroom and disappeared inside. He came out a minute later holding a candle that had been lit. He came over, shielding the flame with his hand so it wouldn't extinguish before he got to me.

"Here, make a wish."

"This is stupid," I said. "Don't we have more important things to do than blow out a dumb candle?"

"Just do it, Riven," Aiden said. "It'll take five seconds."

I rolled my eyes, but did as he said anyway, even though I thought it was pointless.

"Happy birthday," Aiden said, right as I was about to blow out the candles.

Neither one of us spoke after that, and the silence kept dragging on.

"Thanks for saving my butt-again-earlier," I said finally.

"It's no problem." He shrugged. "Just try not to make it a habit. I might not always be around."

"Do you know anything about an attack that's being planned?"

Aiden's brow furrowed. "No, an attack?"

"Yeah, Ezra mentioned it. Apparently they're trying to develop some sort of weapon, but it's not going well, and Evelyn is afraid the plan is falling apart. She said something about making a 'grave mistake'."

"I have no idea what that is about." He looked troubled. "I found you by the medical laboratory. It's where they develop the drugs and medicines we use here. If they are developing some sort of weapon in that lab, it must be biological in nature."

"What, like a deadly virus or something?"

"I don't know. I wonder who else knows about their plan? And what is the grave mistake? I swear, nothing has ever been mentioned in any of the meetings I've been in."

"Well, Ezra didn't know what she was talking about either," I told him. "Maybe she doesn't want anyone to know she screwed up."

"I'll be on the lookout. I have to restructure your Group anyway. Evelyn is already planning on disposing several people," he said.

"Weeding out the spares," I murmured. He looked surprised. "Another thing she and Ezra discussed while I was in the closet."

"What's going on here Aiden? Who are these people? Where are they getting all their money from?"

I hadn't spoken those words out loud to anyone since my first day here. Part of me realized how crazy I might be for spilling all my deepest questions to Aiden right now. That he could easily be playing me and I could be signing my death warrant by confiding in him.

Aiden looked at me seriously. "Evelyn plays that one pretty close to the chest. I doubt even Ezra knows." Something in his eyes told me I could trust him, and I believed that he was telling me the truth.

Another long silence.

Aiden glanced at the clock. "It's really late. You should get some sleep. Still have to get up at 6 am."

"You don't know how lucky you are to have a clock."

"I had to earn it," he responded. "Here, you can take the bed, I'll sleep on the floor."

I shook my head. "No, it's your room, I don't want to take your bed. You've done enough for me. Besides, I'm pretty much used to sleeping on the floor. The bed in my room is as hard as a rock. Actually, think the floor might be an improvement."

"Then you deserve a comfortable bed for one night," he argued. "I'm not going to change my mind."

He jaw was set, and I could tell there wasn't any point in protesting. "Fine," I answered. "Thanks."

I was about to crawl into the bed, but hesitated. I was filthy from the long day of training, and didn't want to make his bed all gross by sleeping in it wearing dirty clothes.

"Here," Aiden said, tossing a bundle of clothes to me. "You can take a shower then change into these."

I smiled gratefully. "I'm not a clean freak or anything. I just don't want to dirty up your bed." I wasn't sure why I felt the need to explain myself.

"I appreciate the thoughtfulness," he answered as he fixed up a bed on the floor.

"I won't take long." I turned and went into the bathroom.

When I entered, the first thing I noticed was that there was a mirror covering the wall above the sink. It dawned on me that I hadn't seen my reflection since I had gotten here. I approached the mirror and looked at myself for the first time in months.

I almost didn't recognize myself; I had any baby fat I had remaining from puberty. The weight loss in my face emphasized my cheekbones and chin, and my eyes now looked enormous, the green was even more prominent than I remembered. My hair had grown several inches longer but was still as unruly as ever.

I turned away from the mirror quickly. I couldn't decide if I was happy with the changes or not.

I tried to clean up as quickly as possible, but I had always been a sucker for a hot shower, and probably spent more time than necessary under the steaming water. Aiden actually had real shampoo-not the cheap stuff we had in our room-and scented body wash that smelled like clean laundry.

I was feeling significantly better after I got out and toweled myself off. When I was dry, I changed into the clothes Aiden had given me. They were too big in an almost comical way.

My significant amount of weight loss coupled with the fact Aiden was over half a foot taller than me meant I had to roll up the sleeves and cuffs several times just to make my hands and feet visible. Still, it felt good to be in clean clothes. I made sure not to look at myself again. Now I was glad there weren't any mirrors around in my room.

I exited the bathroom, toweling my hair off because it was still dripping a little. I saw Aiden on the floor, propped up against some pillows, reading. He looked up when he saw me.

"All clean?" he asked.

"Yep. Thanks for lending me the clothes."

He laughed when he saw me. "Sorry I didn't have anything in your size."

"It's fine, I only had to roll the sleeves a hundred times." I sat down on the edge of the bed and stared at the wall in silence.

Aiden could tell my mind was somewhere else. "Is something wrong?" he asked. "You look kind of funny."

I looked at him. "I saw myself in the mirror," I answered. "I look so different."

Aiden paused; I could tell he didn't know what to say.

"I mean it's whatever; just kind of a shock I guess." For some weird reason I felt like crying again. I could feel my lower lip beginning to twitch involuntarily, so I quickly climbed into the bed and pulled the covers all the way up to my chin in an attempt to comfort myself. "Ready to turn off the lights?" I asked.

Aiden looked like he wanted to say something, but instead he just nodded and flicked off the light switch, leaving us in total darkness.

It was a long while before I spoke.

"What if my family doesn't recognize me anymore?" I asked into the dark, not even sure if Aiden was still awake.

"They're your family. Family doesn't just recognize each other based on looks. It's a feeling," Aiden finally answered. "Your family could never forget you."

"I feel like I'm forgetting them. It's only been six months and I'm already having trouble remembering what they look like. In a year? Who knows."

Another long pause.

"I remember them best in my dreams," Aiden replied. "Sometimes I'll have a dream, but it's actually a memory, and when I wake up, I can remember them so clearly for a few minutes. My mom's smile, my brother's laugh. Then it fades away."

Aiden cleared his throat. "We really should go to sleep now," he said softly.

I didn't answer right away; I was still in shock from his response; Aiden had never shared anything so personal before. Or really anything at all. "Yeah," was all I said.

Neither one of spoke again, and at some point I must have fallen asleep.

"Riven." I heard a whisper and felt someone shaking my shoulder. Aiden obviously. I opened my eyes slowly.

"It's time to get up," he said, looming over top of me.

I sat up slowly. "You don't have alarms here? That must be nice."

"Well, my clock has an alarm in it." He broke out in a grin. "But you slept right through that."

I was beginning to wake up. I stretched my arms over my head and yawned. "Believe me, if I didn't think I would get killed, I would sleep through the one in my room too. I'm not a morning person." I swung my feet over the bed and stood up.

"Here," Aiden said, handing me a black bundle. "I got some clean clothes for you."

"Thanks," I said, taking the clothes. I went to the bathroom and changed. I emerged a few minutes later, shiny and new, though still exhausted.

"Let's go." Aiden opened the door and peered outside, making sure the coast was clear. He gestured to me with his hand. "Come on."