Hey everyone! Thanks for reading this; it means so much to me that we're officially past 100 votes! Woohoo! Also, sorry I'm such a slow updater, but school's kept me pretty busy. But luckily we got an unexpected 4 day weekend thanks to the hurricane blowing past, so yay!!!!! Living on the coast has it's benefits :)

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The next few days passed in that blur where each day seemed to drag on forever, but by the end of the week, it felt like no time had passed at all. Slowly, the trust began to build back up between Jax, Alex, Sofia and I. Or at least, they were now talking to me, even if it was in oddly polite tones.

The rebellion hadn't asked me to do much else, so although I still spent plenty of time everyday searching for the Mystery Room and I still didn't feel good about lying to them, the guilt no longer felt like a solid thing pressing on me. In fact, it wasn't until a week and a half later that anything unusual happened.

After Jessica, Jasper's younger sister, threw a fit that ended with four slaves dead, the siblings had made a deal with another Evo (a slightly older man, I think) in order to replace those slaves cheaply. In return, he was getting some piece of valuable antique furniture that they had sitting in storage, I think.

And that's why I was standing outside with two others I didn't know, freezing half to death in the formal uniform while we waited for the new slaves to arrive so we could show them around. They were already half an hour late.

Did I mention I was freezing?

A moment later, the car pulled up, and four shivering slaves climbed out, looking hopefully at the heavy wooden doors that might offer warmth. I couldn't blame them--that's where my attention was too.

Well, I should actually say three--two guys and a girl were shaking, wrapping their arms around their torsos in a futile attempt to conserve body heat. The other girl... well she was doing something else entirely.

Maybe it was the way she walked, like she was embracing the cold, or the way her eyes swept over the land first thing, looking for threats instead of taking the easy way of assuming everything was safe. Maybe it was just the look in her eyes, like she had seen more than enough suffering and tragedy.

Whatever the reason, she instantly reminded me of myself.

"So, do you guys want a tour of the house?" I asked, forcing myself not to pay special attention to her. The other two nodded frantically, still looking hopefully at the warm house, but the girl just stood there, taking everything in, challenging me with her gaze. Once again, I torn my eyes away after a moment, turning towards the house.

Two hours, several dark wood paneled hallways, and seven chandeliers later, our hour concluded. The wide-eyed slaves had followed me around dutifully, remaining completely silent other than to ask what they would be required to do, while the girl... well, the girl was as different as I had first thought. She remained quiet, too, except for some snarky comments about her new, luxurious accommodations. And while every else I'd seen go through the house had remained quietly skeptical, she made no effort to roll her eyes at the clear excessiveness of the display of wealth.

Finally, after what felt like days, I was able to send the bug-eyed slaves away with the guy who had greeted them with me without much more than a scathing look as they walked away. I stopped her before she began to walk away, saying, "Hey. DO you think we could talk for a minute?"

"Um, yeah, I guess," she said warily, crossing her arms. I almost smiled--I would've done the exact same thing.

"What's your name?"

"Aretha. You?"

"I'm Violet. That's a really cool name."

"Yeah, I get that a lot. Look, is there a point here?" she said cautiously.

"I dunno... you just seem really familiar, you know? I'm trying to figure out where I know you from."

I told the lie easily, but it wasn't until after I had said it out loud that I realized it was the truth. Just not all of it.

Her brow furrowed as she considered my words, saying, "Yeah, I know what you mean. There's something sorta reminiscent about you, too."

We stood there, each lost in our own thoughts for a moment more. Then, as she turned to leave, instinct took over.

"Hey, Aretha! You ever heard of anything called the Wrobel?"

I regretted the words the instant they were out, but seeing her reaction was almost worth it. She stiffened instantly, spinning to face me, and slammed me up against the wall, her arm pressing on my throat.

"You're going to tell me everything you know about that word.

***

"Oh, Violet, nice to-" Maddie stopped instantly, her warm smile turning into an icy glare, directed at Aretha, who was currently shoving me into the attic, looking around with disbelieving eyes.

"What are you doing? Who is she?"

I stepped away, revealing the knife that, up until a moment ago, had been pressing into my lower back.

"Hey!" Maddie snapped, glaring at her. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Are you the one in charge here?"

There was a brief pause, her dark eyes flashing dangerously as she decided to go with whatever the hell was happening, before she answered. "Yeah. And you are?"

Aretha's only answer was laughing, but it was empty. "I was just wondering who was crazy enough to continue this, that's all."

"Continue? What are you talking about?"

"Look, God knows I'm not going to turn you in. But one of these days, someone is going to betray you. I know; I've seen it happen. And honestly, you've got nothing that would work, anyways."

"Who the hell do you think you are?"

"I'm the daughter of two of you predecessors."

There was a silence tense enough that no one dared to move after that. I think a couple of us even held our breath.

And then, the storm came. Dozens of questions, a flurry of people talking and yelling and wondering how this was going to change things. And me? I just stood in the corner, trapped in memories of a whited-out screen and the too-loud gunshots that echoed through my skull for weeks afterward.

I suddenly understood why she reminded me of myself--we were survivors of the same, horrible, terrible fate. We had watched those we loved die, and been left here, trapped in this miserable existence. Mere moments ago I would've given anything to know why we were so alike. Now?

Now I think I would've given just about anything not to.

Somewhere in the chaos, she was pulling out a locket, showing pictures of her dead parents, telling them they would all die at the hands of the Evos, just like her family. I felt myself moving forward, but everything felt so surreal...

And then I saw her picture. I saw the smiling faces, his blonde hair, her red-brown curls, pulled back into a ponytail. Green and brown eyes shone up at us, happiness in them vivid, even though they were long dead and gone.

It took me a while to realize I was the one crying.

"Oh, god," I whispered, terrible realization dawning on me as what this meant crashed over me.

"Violet?" Aretha said, sounding uncertain for the first time all day.

"I know--I mean, I knew them. And... and..." I sucked in another breath, looking up at her, her eyes as wide as mine. "That's why you seemed so familiar! Game night... we used to have you guys over for game night on Fridays."

We stared at each other, the world spinning around us as reality re-assembled itself. I knew without a doubt that she was reliving her nightmare past too.

"Maybe we should all sit down," suggested Maddie, pulling Xander close, as if she could sense the emptiness that surrounded us.

***

"Un--your parents," I began, unable to refer to them as Uncle and Aunt like I once did, "and mine were good friends. We would always argue over who got to be blue, do you remember?"

Aretha nodded, her eyes shining with emotion.

"And then... I don't know everything, but I gather someone sold all of them out. Mine hid me, and the Evos... Well, when I came out, they were dead. I assume the same happened to you?"

She nodded, and I continued. For the first time, I spoke about their deaths, their lives, how I had ended up here. She spoke, too, told us what had happened to her of the course of the years--she was a few years older than me, so she had a better idea of what had happened when everything had gone wrong. Some of it was good. Most of it was bad. Bits and pieces made my stomach turn, made me hate the Evos more than ever.

We spoke that night about life and death, about the love and fear and hope and hate we'd experienced during this phantom they called life. But things didn't really get interesting until late in the night.

"Look, I know you guys want to think any day now, everything's going to turn around and get better, but the fact of the matter is that it won't. Without the Moineau Initiative-"

"What did you just say?" I asked, my heart in my throat, my lungs frozen between breaths.

"The Moineau Initiative. It's this file, made by G42 about--"

"--what to do in case the Evos got out of control. I know," I said, my mind racing.

"How'd you know about--" Maddie started, but I interrupted her.

"It's here."

"It's what?" Aretha gasped, staring at me in some combination of shock and doubt.

"It's here. In the mansion. I found it--right before I ran into you guys, actually," I said, glancing at Maddie, "when I was running from one of them. It's in some forgotten room, in a filing cabinet everyone thought was empty. I didn't know what to do with it, so I just left it there, but I got lost and... look, it doesn't matter. I've been trying to find it ever since, but no luck so far."

"Why didn't you tell us?" Maddie snapped, jumping to her feet.

"Only certain people were ever told how to use it, what you had to do with it. I was looking because it might give us ideas, but I knew it wouldn't really help, not the way it was supposed to."

"I know how to use it," Aretha said, her eyes alight with hope, "My parents were told, and I was there, listening at the door. I know what to do, if I can get it."

"I'll keep looking," I promised.

"Guys... what do you think this means for us?" I asked, excitement burning in my chest. I felt like I could run for miles, like I could lift a car. Anything was possible, so long as we could bring down the Evos.

"It means..." Aretha said, hesitating as if she couldn't quite believe she was saying this, "It means we might just have a shot at this.

"We could take down the Evos."