Warning ⚠️: This book contains graphic content. Viewer discretion is advised.

"Name's Oscar. Pleasure to meet you, lovelies." The male gave them a wink before turning to the male in his drivers seat.

"And I'm sure you're all already acquainted with Derek, here." Oscar motioned to the male in the drivers seat, causing everyone to gasp excitedly.

"Derek!?" Joelee peeked into the front, eyes widening as the raven haired male grinned at her and gave the group a cheeky wink.

"Lovely day to escape from a psychopathic Wendy wannabe, ain't it?" Derek teased as everyone stared at him with shocked expressions.

"Probably should explain the plot twist for the audience, shouldn't I?" Oscar tapped his cheek thoughtfully with his French tipped nail, eyeing each teen as he spoke, smirking when they all gave nods in reply.

"Derek here escaped the same time you did. But he escaped with two other kids through the... Catacombs. There's a secret underground tunnel that has a bullet train leading to The Monarch's main facility. Bet you didn't know that." Oscar winked at Kevin and Connor who both looked extremely annoyed at the fact that they had an easier way out that they didn't know about.

"To be fair... If you hadn't been distracting everyone while we hijacked the speed demon, we wouldn't have escaped. So thank you." Derek teased as he glanced at them from the rear view mirror before his hazel eyes flicked back to the road.

"You were taken that day, too?" Joelee spoke up finally, causing Oscar to turn his gaze to the young blonde girl instead as he studied her curiously.

Derek's smirk faded as he lowered his head slightly, eyes distant as he gave a small swallow before his grip tightened on the steering wheel.

"Yeah. I was." Derek replied simply as he pulled into the parking lot of a small diner, parking the van before he turned around to look at everyone.

"Wooow, puberty did almost all of us a favor." Derek's words caused everyone to immediately falter as he released a laugh before he began to dig through a cooler in the van, pulling a few water bottles out before he began to hand them to each person.

"I've arranged for you guys to take my mom's old van back to your home town. You can decide where you go from there. I can give you enough money to make it there but that's the most I can do for right now. I wish I could do more but the less I'm involved with you guys, the safer I'll be." Oscar told the teens who all exchanged awkward glances, almost all thinking the same thing.

"Why? Why are you doing this?" Joelee voiced everyone's thoughts as she crossed her arms over her chest, eyeing Connor and Oscar who glanced at each other with the same look in their eyes.

"I owe him one... Or a few..." Oscar motioned to Connor who gave a gentle smile as he ran a hand through his silver hair.

"Consider it paid in full. You've done more than I could ever ask for." Connor's cheeks tinted red as Oscar patted his arm before he leaned back in the seat.

"Oh, I consider it paid and I consider that you owe me one. I'm putting my life on the line for you, here." Oscar teased which caused Connor to release a small chuckle as he took a sip from the water bottle that Derek had handed him.

"I'll buy ya something to eat since Connor paid me to do this a lot time ago. Not to mention... I'm seriously craving some pancakes." Oscar slid open the door to the van, stepping out into the sun as he gave a large stretch.

"Should we borrow somebody's phone... So we can call and let our parents know we're heading home?" Alyssa piped up as they began to follow the loud male into the diner, Oscar hesitating from where he was holding the door open for them now.

"That's probably not the best idea. The Monarch could use their sources to find out where you're headed if you do call your parents. They'd track us here and we really don't want that. Or... I don't, anyway. I like being alive." Oscar whispered to Alyssa who frowned as they filed into the rather small diner before they all began to pile into a old fashioned red booth, inevitably taking up two booths as they realized there was just too many of them to fit into one section.

"They already know where we are. You probably should leave us after we're done here. Just point us in the direction of the van you're letting us borrow and we'll get out of your hair." Connor murmured as he put a hand on Oscar's arm only for him to immediately remove it after a tall, blonde waitress walked over.

"What can I get started for ya?" The waitress eyed the rather attractive males within the booths, practically drooling over Connor as she stared intently at him.

"Just water for the group, please." Oscar piped up, causing the waitress to turn her attention to him, sneering a bit as she put the notebook away.

"Ordering for everyone is a bit rude, isn't it?" The waitress commented which caused Oscar to give her a large, overly sweet smile as he batted his long eyelashes at her innocently.

"Not when I'm the one paying." Oscar's voice was slightly higher now so that it would match the waitress's tone, causing her to narrow her green eyes at him before turning and stomping away with a huff.

"Anyway, I would say that's fine. Just let me know if you ever come back into town and we'll hang out without the threat of me getting killed." Oscar trailed off after a moment as he gazed at Connor who looked down shyly, giving a slight nod as he suddenly found his hands very interesting.

"Yeah, I'd like that. We haven't hung out in a very long time... Besides that one week where you managed to get me off of their radar and we just hung out and played video games... Well... That was the best day I've ever had." Connor stopped as his cheeks turned a deep red and his brown eyes lifted to look at Oscar but the purple haired male didn't meet his gaze as he instead watched a brunette woman hurry into the diner.

"Yeah, I had a good time that day, too." Oscar smiled after a moment, watching as the blonde greeted the brunette who quickly began to tie her shoulder length hair into a ponytail.

"She's cute. Probably a lot nicer than blondie over there." Oscar said as Blake and Derek nodded in agreement, the three men checking out the brunette who began to tie her apron around her waist as the blonde brought over their drinks.

"Pancakes and waffles for the table, please. It's been awhile since I've had a good pancake." Oscar said as the waitress began to hand out their drinks, a huff escaping her lips as she pulled out her notebook, not finishing her original task as she wrote down what Oscar said instead.

"Anything else?" She snapped out, narrowing her eyes at the male who smirked at her. He seemed amused at how inconvenienced she was acting at doing her job, it was fun to make her mad by simply acting her to do the thing she was getting paid to do.

"Just a side of bacon for the blonde lady in front of me. Thanks, honey. You've been a real peach." Oscar winked which caused the waitress to grit her teeth as she tucked her notebook away again, handing the rest of the drinks out more forcefully as she slammed each drink onto the table which caused some liquid to spill onto the tables.

"Woah, chill out. What did those poor glasses do to you?" Joelee joked which caused the waitress to glare at Joelee who met her gaze with a smirk.

"You don't scare me, lady. We're not trying to be rude, here. Please stop throwing a tantrum and put in our order so we can get out of your hair." Joelee continued, voice a lot lower than before as she held the waitress's glare, the waitress being the first to look away as she scoffed and slammed Joelee's cup onto the table, causing it to tumble over and spill all over Joelee's pants.

"Oops. My bad." The waitress tossed some napkins to Joelee as she turned and stalked away, leaving Joelee to quickly stand up as the water soaked her pants.

"You're kidding me!" Joelee exclaimed as her eyes turned gold, Oscar's eyes widening as he watched the black veins crawl up her neck.

"Come with me." Oscar motioned towards the exit with his head, scooting out of the seat as Nathan allowed Joelee to get out.

"Are you okay?" Nathan asked as Joelee glanced at him, eyes slowly beginning to darken as she shook her head no in response.

"You're very rare, girly." Oscar commented as he led Joelee towards his van, sliding open the teal green door as he ushered her inside.

"This'll help." Oscar handed her a bowl, shutting the door as he climbed in next to her before he opened the lid of the bowl to release a thick smoke into the van.

"It's a special herbal mix. Mostly sage." Oscar watched as Joelee began to try and calm her breathing, clenching her hands into fists as she gripped the bowl tightly.

"What do you mean? I'm very rare?" Joelee questioned after a moment, eyes slowly turning to blue as the veins began to fade from her neck and face.

"You have a spirit animal. Basically. Being able to shapeshift into an animal is a power that I haven't seen in The Monarch... At all. And my informant tells me everything. If there were others, I would know. They tried really hard to hide your existence. Most show more elemental based powers from what I've seen... Not... Complete physical form manipulation. That's a whole new ballpark. Especially when it comes to mimicking another living creatures DNA. Sure, there's people who can turn into minerals and even liquids. But not living things." Oscar exclaimed while Joelee cocked an eyebrow at his confession that he was a spy, trying to process all of what he was saying before she responded.

"Who's your informant? Surely they're wrong. I can't be the only one." Joelee set the bowl down on the ground in front of her, watching as the smoke billowed from the large lavender wrapped bundle.

"Believe me, sweetie. He's not. The ability to change one's shape is super rare due to... A lot of things. He's told me that anyone who even showed slight signs of having shapeshifting died from either the pain of beginning to change, or a weird case of blood poisoning." Oscar told her as he offered her a pair of gray, ripped skinny jeans before he turned to face the opposite way.

"Sorry, ripped is all I have. It's a statement." Oscar continued as Joelee mulled over what he said, slowly shimmying out of her own jeans as she worked on the new, much tighter jeans.

"Curse my Thor Thighs." Joelee murmured as she forced the jeans over her large thighs, quickly securing the button before the jeans could change their mind about fitting.

"So, why did I live?" Joelee asked after a moment to ponder what he had said, the male turning around when he didn't hear any further noises that signified she was changing.

"Luck? I could just tell you that you just so happened to have a strong gene that allowed you to survive such a thing. But while that is a small factor, it's not everything. You yourself are strong... Emotionally and physically. I've monitored your progress and everything that you've been through would cause a normal person to go insane. But you still have a very strong will to live... Even after... Doyle... Well, I don't know what you went through with him but I know what he's gotten in trouble for previously..." Oscar didn't need to explain what he meant, the way she immediately looked down told him she understood what he was saying as she released a low sigh.

"So, you're saying what doesn't kill you makes you stronger?" Joelee's words caused a small giggle to escape Oscar as he nodded, smile remaining on his face as he lightly shook his head.

"See, the fact that you deal with your trauma through turning it into something humorous is exactly why you survived this. People who can laugh off their trauma like it's nothing because it's normal to them at that point are... Admittedly in desperate need of therapy... But they're also strong. You're strong. You didn't let it rule your life... You shrug it off and move on. That's hard to do." Oscar said passionately but Joelee slowly shook her head as she wrapped her arms around herself.

"I'm not strong, Oscar. I laugh it off because I'm too uncomfortable even thinking that it actually happened. I'm kind of in denial about the whole Monarch thing. Strong would be facing it. But I can't. Not yet. It was just dumb luck, I think you were right the first time." Joelee looked down at her scars, tracing a long one that ran along her palm and ended just above her wrist.

"I guess we'll see." Oscar winked at her as he slid the door to the van back open, helping Joelee down before he slid it shut once again.

"Let's get you some bacon, shapeshifter." Oscar teased as the two walked towards the diner, Joelee narrowing her eyes as she watched the waitress get unnecessarily close to Nathan as she wiped up the water that she had spilled.

"So your sister has a dry seat." The waitress winked at Nathan who had his gaze focused on her chest rather than her face.

"That's his girlfriend. And we have our food now so you can go." Connor spoke up which caused Joelee to smirk as the waitress huffed and hurried away.

"Thanks, guys." Joelee smiled at Oscar and Connor before taking a seat next to Nathan who tried to take Joelee's hand but she began to eat her bacon instead.

Nathan frowned as he wrapped his arm around Joelee's shoulder before he began to dig into his food.

_-*-_
June 26th 2017.

Connor walked down the long hallway of The Monarch, nervously running his hands through his hair to try and tame it into a suitable appearance.

"Mister Days." Doctor Rue's voice through the overhead intercom caused Connor to falter as he silently cursed his luck. 

"Miss Rue?" Connor forced the irritation from his voice as he took on a more formal tone to lessen suspicion on himself.

"Smile for the camera." Doctor Rue's words caused him to arch his eyebrows but he quickly brushed off his confusion as he turned his gaze to the security camera he knew was overhead.

He flashed a cheeky smile at the camera before he continued on his way, his casual stance returning as he realized she wasn't going to give him any orders.

His curiosity would have to wait for the time being. He was on a mission and time was of the essence.

"Whatever you think you're doing, don't do it. They'll wipe your memories again if you show emotion." A rather handsome male said as he fell into step next to Connor, grayish/green eyes revealing just how nervous he was for Connor.

The male was rather attractive with a prominent, clean shaven jawline and tanned skin that was unmarked with scars or blemishes. He was quite a bit taller and more muscular than Connor who was on the leaner side while the other male was more athletic in appearance.

"They're my friends. I had no idea this would happen... So... I have to fix this. Now, before they get hurt. I can't have them go through what I have, Theo." Connor told the slightly taller male who ran a hand through his wavy, dark brown hair, licking his full lips nervously as he put a hand on Connor's shoulder.

"I can't talk you out of this, can I?" Theo murmured after a moment, accepting defeat rather quickly as he knew just how stubborn Connor was from his experience working alongside the male previously.

"Not a chance. You should probably go before you get in trouble. I got this." Connor shot Theo a wink as Theo hesitated outside of a laboratory, giving Connor a wave as he watched the male walk away.

"Good luck!" Theo yelled after him before he disappeared into the laboratory, shutting the door behind himself.

"Connor Days." Axle's voice caused Connor to visibly stiffen as he paused before he turned to meet the much taller male's deep brown gaze, his one dead eye always leaving Connor slightly uncomfortable as he knew how Axle had gotten it.

"I need to talk to her." Connor's voice came out a lot less confident than he was intending but he stood tall under Axle's intimidating gaze as the larger male approached.

"You know better than that, Days." Axle hesitated inches away from the shorter male, crossing his muscular arms over his large chest as he spoke.

"Please... They're my family. Don't do this... Have some compassion... You've taken everything else from me-" Axle cut Connor off as he placed an overly large hand on Connor's shoulder, gripping it tightly as he narrowed his eyes dangerously.

"You don't even remember all that we've taken from you... Just like you won't remember this." Axle balled up his free fist before punching Connor in the face, instantly knocking the boy out as Axle shifted to sling the shorter male over his shoulder.

"Sorry, Days." Axle murmured as he walked, not caring that the younger male wouldn't hear him as he headed towards Doyle's lab.

_-*-_

Present.

Esther stood outside her house with her fist inches away from the door, preparing to knock. Her breathing was heavy as she shook where she stood, free hand picking at her pants nervously.

" Go on." Joelee urged from where she stood behind Esther, the group deciding it would be best to hang back and allow Esther to have all of the attention as her family was the closest for them to visit.

Esther took a deep breath before knocking on the door, releasing her breath slowly to try and calm her nerves.

" Hold on!" A males voice called from within the house which caused Esther to immediately straighten her stance at the rather familiar voice.

The sound of the door unlocking was followed by a loud click as the handle was turned, allowing the door to slowly be pulled open.

A male with dark brown hair peeked his head out the door, blue eyes widening at the sight of Esther as they began to fill with tears.

" Esther?" He whispered as he opened the door fully, his stockier form revealed as he stepped through the door towards her.

Esther ran forward as she wrapped her arms around her father, crying against his plaid shirt as he hugged her tight to his chest.

" Rich, who is it- Esther?" A blonde woman dropped her cup from within the house, glass shattering on the floor as she stared at Esther with a shocked expression.

" Mom." Esther lifted her head to gaze at the woman who ran forward, pulling Esther from her father as she hugged her close instead.

"You're alive. We thought..." Esther's mother began to cry, green eyes studying Esther intently as she searched for any signs of Esther being wounded.

"I'm okay, mom. I'll explain as much as I can, I promise." Esther assured them as her father put a hand on her back, smiling down at his daughter for a moment before his eyes went wide.

"Was Rachel with you when you disappeared? She went missing at the same time you did." Esther's father questioned desperately as he turned to search the group for his second daughter.

Esther's face fell immediately as she visibly stiffened in her mother's hold, opening her mouth to reply before she closed it once again.

"I didn't see her. I don't know." Esther's lie shocked the group behind her but Joelee knew exactly why Esther was lying.

If her parents knew that Rachel was sick and probably wouldn't make it for very long, her parents would want to search for their daughter and wouldn't stop until they were killed in the process.

"I want all of you to come in and stay here tonight. It's getting late and I'd feel safer if you all had somewhere close to stay." Esther's mother stepped aside to allow the kids to enter.

"Alyssa. Joelee." Esther's dad patted their shoulders as the two girls entered, giving a nod to Nathan and Connor as they walked passed the older male.

"We'll talk tomorrow, I just want you all to eat dinner with us and get some rest." Esther's mom was visibly worried that if she rushed Esther that her daughter would disappear again, that much was obvious by how much she was avoiding having Esther talk about anything besides what she wanted to do now that she was back.

The Warner's served the group a rather large array of leftovers as Esther's mother had retained the habit of making way too much food despite how long her daughters had been missing.

The group talked about all of the changes in their home town, allowing the Warner's to ramble as much as they wanted.

All they cared about is that they were finally safe.

Everything was calm.

And for the first time in almost four years, Esther was home.