Don't think, just move.

Head lowered, I quickened my pace as if distance could strengthen courage, and as if space could aid my escape from thoughts.

My mind needed to erase images of hospital beds, breathing tubes, of a young palm clutching an aged one. It was vital that I remained indifferent to the fragmented pieces that became my mother after Gran's death, even if they did suddenly fit together. For all decisions had an alternative, and Mom's lack of administering that option was why I was here.

It was simple, black and white. There were no shades of grey.

This wasn't about a damaged relationship, Mom's hidden depths, or even the motivations behind her actions.

This was about what was right and what was wrong.

All around me great minds remained too consumed with their narcissistic thoughts of the invention of the next 'great pill'. No one paid any notice to the hooded girl who sprinted away from her mother's office.

Sneakers squeaked against endless, colorless tile before my body paused to pinpoint the location of the nearest camera. Waiting, its lens' shifted in the opposite direction before I made the mad dash to the spot directly beneath it.

Breathless from fear more than physical exertion, I quickly scanned the open space for curious eyes before my gaze lifted once more. When the camera began to reverse, I hurried forward.

"Embrace enlightenment and enforce change, or cower and be a part of the problem," that quote was a mantra that was quickly morphing into a freaking curse.

Crap!

A lab assistant's sudden movement toward the glass caused my face to meet cold tile.

With my body plastered against the ground, I prayed that his absorption with that microscope would hinder him from discovering me just beneath his nose. We were so close that I could see the formation of brown hairs along his chin, and the tiny mole near his nose. My breath fanned the surface of our barrier, causing the formation of fog. And still, his sole attention remained on his results.

Thankfully, a colleague's voice within the room took him from my side, permitting me the freedom to carry on.

Rounding the corner with eyes still on that room, I nearly found myself directly in front of the owner of heavy footsteps coming in my direction. Panting, I quickly sunk down on legs that felt like jelly with the cold glass sandwiched against my back.

In that instant, my internal wish was for anything that offered concealment other than BioGene's sterile white passageways. My plan would have collapsed if one person had entered the corridor, if one employee had turned away from their research.

Peering around the edge of the wall, I silently willed Dean not to come in this direction. The out-of-tune whistle of the opening of Law and Order filled the silence while he casually inspected empty labs around him.

Go the other way. Please, go the other way.

Tragically, misfortune came in the form of the vibration of my pocket.

Struggling, hurried fingers crammed into a frayed jeans before my ringtone could get louder. Dean paused, even though I had hit the ignore button as fast as humanly possible. My legs shook painfully from my attempt to remain in my awkward position while labored gasps released in spurts that I couldn't control. Sweat trickled down my forehead, slithering painfully into an already tearful gaze, and still I refused to budge.

His head swiveled in my direction.

Stupid Ashley, stupid Ashley. Why would she call me now?

Blessedly, the sudden noise within the laboratory in front him captured his attention. I sighed in relief at the swipe of his badge before he ducked into darkness. The lab's light spilled out into the hall before, on the tip's of my toes, I crept through the intersecting corridor.

Never had a hallway seemed so long.

My legs moved with a speed I didn't know I was capable of. I only stopped at the sight of the sporadic camera. The hall transformed from darkened glass to plain white plaster until; at last, I could see the windowless room labeled 'inhabitants' before me.

From behind what little concealment the corner offered, my eyes took in my last obstacle above the door as it swiveled from left to right. Indecision glued my hands to my side before my sight focused in on that key-less entry pad.

If timed correctly, I knew that I could elude the camera's zoom, and yet my feet wouldn't move. My mind, the traitorous bastard, replayed the image of Mother's expression, her plea...

Stop it.

Remember why you're doing this. If Mom has taught me anything, its compartmentalizing emotions.

Then, why couldn't I  move forward?

Gran's face loomed before me, and although I squeezed of my lids shut to rid me of the sight, it was still there.

Mom's experimentation couldn't have saved her. It wouldn't have saved her.

"Are you, or aren't you the girl who is constantly spouting that fucking chant?"

A tear flung from my cheek with the speed in which I whipped my neck to check for the source of that voice. "Ash?"

Straightening, I felt a sudden renewal of energy with the emergence of this memory.

In my mind, the hallway dismantled until solid white walls altered into blue skies and naked bark. The coldness from the air conditioning transformed into arctic temperatures, as tile became slush covered cement, and before me stood not a room but a building.

Groaning, my past self barely managed to dodge the influx of students as they retreated from the school building. "It's not a chant, and this is different."

"How?" Ashley's brown eyes practically bulged from her skull, those freckles appeared even more prominent along the bridge of her nose. "They go against everything we believe in."

"I know that, but-"

"But what?" Ashley exclaimed in outrage. Her book bag met dirt before she stripped off her coat, even though the dead of winter raged all around us. "What does this shirt represent to us?"

I rolled my eyes in frustration. "I am the one who begged the principal to allow us to form this version of the club on school ground-"

"Well, you've obviously forgotten the organization's mission." She started to pace before me, her arms a whirlwind of movement. "The whole point of The Humane Society is, 'seeking a humane world–' "

"For people and animals alike, I know," I insisted. The need to calm her down intensified with every new set of eyes we attracted. "I know the reasoning behind the cause, and I know our beliefs."

Ashley's hands rose to rest on her hips before she countered, "Then, what's the problem?"

The problem is, you aren't the one who would be risking everything.

She snorted in disbelief, red hair smacked frostbitten cheeks as her head shook in denial. "It's her, isn't it? You're scared of your mom."

"I- I'm not scared of anything," my stuttered response certainly sounded weak; however, my willpower was not.

"Good," Ashley proclaimed as she struggled back into her coat, "because you are the divisions' leader, and I'd hate for the others to learn that their elected official, who talked us into creating the petition for healthier food choices, was now punking out."

"I'm not punking-"

She grinned in the face of my denial. "That the person who almost got us suspended for the liberation of the school's frogs was losing her nerve."

"My nerves are just fin-"

"Why they might even seek another leader if they knew. After all, you are the girl who staged the sit-in to protest the pep rally. You remember the pep rally, don't you? The one that would have consisted of burning the opposing team's mascot, Porky. The one that you deemed inappropriate because you claimed it was a representation of harming a pig."

"I know what I've done," I stated through clenched teeth. Ashley's jealousy wasn't a surprise to me; however, her threat to dethrone me was a new low that I hadn't seen coming.

"Then, you also know that you almost got us expelled that time," she retorted as she took a step closer. Her finger rose, its tip almost touched my nose as our eyes met and held. "We have all taken risks for the cause. But now, you have the ability to initiate some serious change. To not do so, Kara, would be a slap in the face to us all."

"Ash, I'm not saying that I don't want to initiate change. But is this really how you want to go about it?" I attempted to argue; however, it was like she couldn't hear anything but the plight we fought to prevent.

"Embrace enlightenment and enforce change, or cower and be a part of the problem," Ashley reiterated as she moved to gather her things. With eyes that shot fire she hissed over her shoulder these last words of bitchy wisdom, "Just know that if you choose the latter, stay the fuck out of my way! We don't have time for posers."

I am not a fucking poser!

Memories dissipated, and along with it was the dispersal of any trances of sadness. It left behind this burning determination that reaffirmed my faith in the cause.

I needed to do this, but not because of Ashley's empty threats.

My ponytail swung over my shoulder as I surveyed the empty hall again; searched for any other impediments.

Not because of Mom's displayed callousness.

The camera tilted slowly to the right as I crouched down into a runner's position.

 But because every action that I take protects another animal from abuse. Because every action saves another life.

Technology was halfway into its shift to the left when I ran along the wall's edge toward the entrance.

My mother's identification card sliced through the keypad's slot, but unlike others, this door didn't slide back. Its weight slammed open rather harshly against the surrounding plaster. And with its release, fate seemed to welcome me into darkness.

No, this was no longer a task.

I glanced back to see if it's sound had alerted someone to my presence; then, up to detect the camera's rotation. But at the continued silence, I surged forward just as the lens' would have alerted security to my presence.

This was a calling.