I expected Neve to be angry as well but she surprised me by giving me a weak smile.

"Come lets go sit down and wait for them to calm down," she suggested before she pulled me towards the living room.

We sat down next to each other on one of the two-seated sofas. My shoulders sagged as I clasped my hands together.

"How are you feeling?" she asked as she look down at my hand.

"Physically I feel fine," I answered and I dropped my gaze to my hands. The blue energy was still going strong. It would be very difficult to hide if I had this over my whole body. I would look like a walking disco.

"They're right, you put us all at risk," she said quietly adding to the guilt I already felt. "But there is no use getting angry over this. It's over and luckily no one saw anything."

I kept quiet, thankful that she was being understanding.

"Next time something happens don't keep it to yourself," she suggested and I nodded.

"I've learned my lesson trust me. I never meant to endanger everyone," I said, holding her gaze.

"I know," she said. Her hand reached out and covered mine. I was starting to feel a little better. I didn't believe that Jared or Tyler would forgive me as easily as she had. I had my doubts on whether they would forgive me.

"How does your hand feel?"

"It feels okay," I said looking down at my hand. It didn't hurt. It felt a tingling sensation on my skin. I wondered if it would be gone by the time Anne got home later. If not that was going to open a whole other can of problems I didn't need at the moment.

Two Archaic that were mad at me was enough but that number was probably going to increase when the other Archaic found out. I wondered if it would be enough for Jennifer to lose her cool and zap me. She'd never liked me and I'd just given her the best excuse to do away with me.

"You stay here. I'm going to check Jared and Tyler. I want to see if they've managed to calm down," she said as she got up and walked out.

I sat there for a while before all three of them walked into the lounge. Jared and Tyler refused to make eye contact with me as they followed in behind Neve. They were clearly still pissed. I couldn't really blame them. It was their job to look after everyone and keep their secret safe. I'd nearly jeopardized everything.

Usually Jared would stand nearby but he was clearly still angry with me because he sat opposite me. Tyler paced up and down between us.

Neve was the only one in the room that wasn't angry with me because she sat down on the sofa beside me.

"Why blue?" Tyler murmured still pacing.

"It makes no sense," Jared added, deep in thought. He still wouldn't look at me. I wondered how long he was going to stay angry with me.

"We have white, why would hers be blue?" Tyler spoke his thoughts out aloud.

He stopped pacing and turned to Jared. They were as clueless as I was.

"Maybe it has something to do with being a synthetic," Tyler continued. He turned to face me. His eyes went straight to my hand.

"But surely if she was becoming one of us she would have white?" Jared asked.

Was he right? Could it be that because I was synthetic the process had changed the colour of my energy?

Tyler swung back to face Jared.

"Could there still be some Hue energy left over in her that is affecting the Archaic energy?' Jared asked Tyler. I also had a fear that a part of me would always hold that Hue like energy that had tainted me first.

"It could."

Everyone was deep in their thoughts while I digested what Jared had just said. Countless questions ran through my mind. I thought all of the Hue energy had been drained from me during the altering. So if Jared was right then some of the Hue energy had remained. If I still had some of the Hue power in me did that mean I would still be linked to Mason like I was linked to Jared?

A flashback from my nightmare reminded me of my connection to Mason. Could it be true?

The problem was the only person that could answer my question was Mason. The Hue would know more about what I was then the Archaic. I wanted to ask Mason all these questions flying through my mind but I knew I wouldn't have the opportunity. And besides even if I did have some sort of link to Mason it was definitely not as strong as it had been before so if he saw me again he would probably try and kill me.

At that point I wanted to let out a hysterical laugh but I stopped myself.

"I know we need to figure out what Ava is turning into but I think we have a bigger problem on our hands," Neve said breaking my thoughts. I followed her gaze to my hand.

Jared and Tyler turned to look at the energy which had spread from just to my hand to further up my forearm. It wasn't a good sign. Would it spread to other parts of my body? An image of my entire body been enveloped my the mysterious symptom sent a shiver of fear though me.

"We need to think of a way to keep it hidden if it doesn't disappear before Anne gets home," Jared finally spoke, breaking the nervous silence. His eyes were fixed on my arm. He'd avoided making eye contact with me.

"I need to be home tonight," I said feeling anxious. "She'll definitely become suspicious if I stay out tonight." I hadn't seen her in a week and I know she was looking forward to seeing me when she got home.

"Okay", said Neve. "You're going to need to keep it covered up."

"The thicker the material the better and stay out of the dark," Tyler suggested as he crossed his arms across his chest. He was right I would look like a lit up Christmas tree in the dark.

The weather was still warm during the day but in the evening it got a little cool so tonight it wouldn't look weird if I wore long sleeved shirt. I hoped my arm cleared by tomorrow.

"I'll go next door with her and help her choose something to hide it," Neve said as she stood up. I didn't want to leave before I managed to sort stuff out with him. I looked over to him hopefully. He kept his eyes firmly on Neve and said, "Okay."

He was still too angry and I needed to give him space.

I got my school bag I'd discarded in the hallway and followed Neve out of Jared's house. Tyler stayed behind with Jared to discuss my situation. It was a relief not be faced with their anger.

I opened my front door door. Neve followed me into my house and up to my room. Once I was inside my bedroom I dropped my school bag next to my bed.

"Let's see what you have," Neve said as she opened my wardrobe. There wasn't a lot of choice but then again this wasn't a fashion show. I just needed something to cover up my disco arm.

It didn't take long. We settled on a blue long sleeved shirt that would hide my arm. I just had to be careful with my hand. I needed to make sure I kept it hidden.

I was sat on the bed holding the shirt we'd chosen. Neve sat beside me

"Don't worry about Jared, he'll come around," she assured me quietly.

She'd picked up on the thoughts that had kept my mind occupied since we'd left Jared's house.

"I'm not so sure," I said. Honestly at this moment it didn't seem like he was ever going to forgive me for putting them all in jeopardy. Could I really blame him? I hadn't realised that my actions had the potential to expose them. Didn't that count for anything?

"Give him some space and he'll get over it." She gave me an encouraging smile. I doubted she believed what she was telling me.

"If Jared and Tyler are so mad at me I can't wait to see the rest of the Archaic once they find out about this," I muttered.

"Like Jared and Tyler they'll get mad but they'll get over it," She assured me, more convincing this time. I almost believed her.

"You've been through so much in such a short space of time. There aren't many people that could have endured and survived what you have. You deserve our respect. So in my book that entitles you making some mistakes along the way. We've lived with this secret our whole lives," she said as she touched my disco hand, "you have only had to try and keep our secret for a couple of weeks."

I knew she was trying to make me feel better but it wasn't working. Guilt was still eating at me and it didn't help that Jared still couldn't even look at me.

"Thanks." I gave her a weak smile.

"Let me go and put this shirt on," I said before I got up and walked into my adjoining bathroom.

I changed into the long sleeved shirt and eyed myself out in my bathroom mirror. The sleeves on this shirt were quite long so I still had enough sleeve to pull over my hand and no one would see the energy on my skin. It would work.

"I can't see a thing," said Neve as she watched me walk of my bathroom.

It was a relief. The more I got pulled into this unknown world the harder it was to keep it from the people I loved. No wonder Jared and the rest of the Archaic had kept to themselves. It was easier to be around people you didn't have to lie to. Being around people who didn't know was becoming exhausting.

"I better get back," she said as she stood up.

"Thanks for helping," I replied.

"You're welcome," she said as she gave me a quick hug and walked out.

Disheartened, I sat down on my bed and studied my disco arm. My thoughts monopolized by Jared. I wondered it he was going to be able to forgive me sometime soon. I felt the anxious feeling begin to stir inside me.