I stare at my father as he presses a knife to Mom's throat. Her eyes are wide, panicked as a single tear trails down her cheek. She opens her mouth as if to tell me to run, but it's too late. Besides, I can't let him hurt her. Not after all this man has done to my family, to this city.

"Let her go!" I exclaim, clutching my watch against my palm.

My father shakes his head, eyes so similar to mine sparkling. "Cody, you should be happy! We can all be a family again! Wouldn't you like that?"

I shake my head, anger causing my blood to boil. "No! You're no longer a part of this family! Get out."

Mom squeezes her eyes shut, all but going limp. "Jeremy, please."

She's my mom, and I know she'll do whatever she can to save me. But, I can't lose her. Not after everything. I can't let him win, and I can't let him hurt my mom more than he already has.

"Quiet!" He snaps, his knuckles turning white against the hilt of the knife. "You're coming with me. And, if you don't want to see your mother get hurt, you'll come along, boy."

I want to hit him. Punch him. Hurt him, just like he's hurt the people in my life. But, I can't. Not while he presses a knife to my mom's throat. Not now. But, one day, he'll pay. I'm not going to go down without a fight.

"Let her go! We can- work something out!" If I can get my mom away from him, maybe I can save us. I gulp in a deep breath of air, trying to steady my nerves.

He shakes his head, lips quirking upwards. "You think you can outsmart me?"

I bite my tongue. I can't snap at him. I have to try and think clearly.

"Don't think we haven't figured out your plan, or about your traitorous uncle. It's over, for you and for your little girlfriend," he sneers.

Autumn. My heart clenches. "What have you done with her?"

Mom's eyes fly open, and even she seems scared for Autumn.

"Leane's taking care of her." The knife seems to inch closer to my mother's exposed flesh. "It's over. Give it up."

I can feel my heart beating against my ribcage. What about Jared, Eva, and Teresa? Are they okay? Can they help me? No, it's just me. I take a menacing step forward, slipping my watch into my pocket. Both of my hands form fists, and even breathing becomes increasingly difficult. "Leave everyone alone! You're just a power hungry jerk who will hurt anyone to get what he wants. No matter what, you can't have all the power. You can't have everything your way. Chips are gone. No more crazy control. It's over for you."

He laughs, shaking his head. "You underestimate Leane and I. You're just a teenager. You don't understand anything. Now, out the door or I kill her."

Red fills my vision. How dare he. "You wouldn't kill your own wife. Not even you can be that sick."

The knife ever so slowly draws blood. My mom and I's screams mingle into one and I lunge for her. My father steps back as a slight flow of blood trickles onto my mom's white shirt. I'm closer to them now, so close that I can stretch out my fingers and touch the wound on her neck. All of us are breathing heavily and tears stream freely down Mom's face. It breaks my heart.

"Jeremy, why?" Mom croaks, her fingers digging into the arm holding the knife inches from her fresh wound. "Remember what we used to have?" Her voice is no more than a whisper, and it cracks by the time she utters the last word. "How could you do this to us? To me? To your own son?"

"Shut up!" He hisses, "Or next time, I won't stop the knife from going all the way through."

Tears cloud my own vision. I feel frantic, angry, sad, and just- tired. "Please. I'll do anything if you let her go. Let Autumn go. Let everyone go. Whatever you want with me-"

His laughter cuts me off. "Silly boy, I'm not about to jeopardize my plans for your stupid emotions. That's enough talking, enough tears. Either you come with me and so does your mom, or I drag you away while you stare at your mother's dead body."

Mom lets out a breath, her dim eyes connecting with my own. Luckily, her wound has clotted. Her eyes seem to say "Do what you have to, son. Be safe." But, I can't do what she wants me to do. I can't run. I won't. I stare at her, trying to convey just that with my eyes.

Suddenly, the knife is yanked from my father's hand. My mom falls to the floor and I protectively stand in front of her. In a swish of brunette hair, Autumn appears. She attempts to thrust the knife into my father's heart, but his reflexes are faster than her own. I don't even have time to feel relief that she's alright, or that she saved my mother and I. All I can do is watch her fight with all she has. Dodging, using her enhanced skills and senses she told me about. She manages to scratch my dad a few times, then she is invisible once again, including the knife in her hand. Before she can reappear or harm my dad anymore, my dad is also invisible.

Autumn reappears, as does my father. He has another knife in his hand, and I shout at Autumn to be careful. My dad slices her arm as she dodges left, but she doesn't even blink. Three of her friends come running in. My dad realizes he's outnumbered, so he pulls out a gun similar to the one at Autumn's side. He turns around fast as lightning and stuns the three girls to the floor before they can react. I can tell they're all good, but my father is better. Autumn shoots a ball of electricity at him. He dodges, then does the same. Autumn ducks just in time, but I can see her eyes widen. My father has the same Chip she has, I realize.

Before I can blink, my father has vanished once again. Autumn does the same, and I see her reappear in front of her friends with her gun pointed in front of her. I kneel down in front of my sobbing mother, holding her close. Autumn knows what she's doing. But, before she can attack him again, he reappears far away.

"Ah, so I'm not the only one with the ability of invisibility," he smirks.

Autumn scowls. "Go to hell."

My father shakes his head. "You think you're going to get away with this?"

Autumn's friends are no longer paralyzed. The one that looks similar to her jumps to her feet, gun pointed at my father. Before he can react, he's on the floor, paralyzed himself. Her other friends jump up. I recognize the one who stunned my father as her cousin from the holochat, and the others must be her friends. One has long blonde hair and blue eyes as well as light skin. The other has dark skin and tight curls, and she seems more fragile than the other girls.

The blonde walks towards my father with a scoff. She smirks, poking at him with the toe of her shoe. "Not so tough now, are you?"

No response from my father, obviously.

The curly-haired one looks shaken up. Her and Autumn's cousin also walk towards my father, but Autumn walks towards my mother and I. She puts her gun back in it's hiding place and sighs, her emerald eyes swirling with so many emotions I can't make out a single one. I move away from my mom as she stands up, swiping a hand against her damp eyes.

"Ingrid, are you- oh my gosh, you're injured!" Autumn exclaims. She gulps, then looks to me. "I got here as fast as I could. I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault," I sigh as the reality of the situation really comes crashing down on me. "But- are you okay?"

She nods. "We've been found out."

"I know."

"Leane tried to hold us at gunpoint. Hailee, her sister and my friend, saved us and gave us guns." She points at the blonde getting ready to tie my father's limbs together.

"Aubrey, the curly-haired one, had someone that she was starting to trust. That person somehow found out about our plans and told Leane." Then, she swats my arm. "And you scared the heck out of me when you hung up the holochat after all that shouting."

"I- had it handled."

"No you didn't."

She turns back to my mom. "Got anything to patch her up?"

I nod, then pull her into my arms. We just stay like that for a bit, her head resting against my shoulder until shouting ensues. Autumn seems on high alert, and we both realize that my father has escaped. A very angry Hailee mutters under her breath, then walks over to us.

"Call the others," Autumn whispers. "We have a lot that we need to discuss."

I nod, then turn to my mom.

"I'll patch her up," Hailee offers. "Do you have a first aid kit?"

I nod, then hold up a finger and walk to the nearest bathroom. It's an emergency kit my mom once bought when I was younger. Just in case. And, it came in handy for scraped knees and such, but never for something like this. Then again, we never thought something like this would happen.

Once I return, the small box clutched to my chest, I see that all of the girls are circled around my mother. I wordlessly hand Hailee the box and she gets to work. Aubrey has tears in her eyes and walks towards the bathroom I just exited. We all hear the door slam, and I can see the sympathy in Autumn's eyes. Autumn's cousin- Ashley, that's her name. Anyways, she pats Autumn on the shoulder, then sits down at the table in the middle of the kitchen.

I forgot to call the others. "Let me call the others."

"I'll do it." She's unusually quiet, and my heart cracks a bit for her. But, I take my watch out of my pocket and hand it to her nonetheless, and she goes to a corner of the kitchen to holochat them. While she does that, I stare at her back. She's thinner, and her hair is a lot longer, I realize. It's not as shiny as it used to be, and it seems like her hair has been the least of her priorities. Which, it probably has with all that's been going on.

I glance at my mom, who has moved to a chair at the round dining table. Her neck is now fully bandaged and disinfected. She offers me a timid smile, and Hailee leaves the box on the table. I can hear Autumn's urgent tone from here, and then she's handing me back my watch. A take it and secure it to my wrist. As I open my mouth to talk to her, she walks towards the bathroom door, probably to comfort her friend.

"How did he get away?" I ask Hailee. I wanted him to pay, not to run away like a coward just to come again on an unexpected day.

"He turned invisible and ran."

I sigh, running a hand down my face. Nothing is turning out like I need it to. Like we all need it to. Now, it's just a matter of waiting for everyone else to arrive and to discuss what the heck we're going to do now.