Gaines's POV: 

I was growing quite frustrated, being locked up in the laboratory like this. Earlier this night, the sirens had gone off, and I had gone into the hallway to see what had happened, but I was quickly ushered back into my room. I was getting the sense that there was something they didn't want me seeing, and I didn't like it.

Worst yet, I was getting more and more anxious about the fact that I didn't know anything about myself. Sure, my name was Gaines, but that says nothing. I must have existed before, but why couldn't I remember? I had no idea what I used to be like, or who my friends used to be. Did I have friends? I knew that the people working at the laboratory knew the answers to these questions, but, for some reason, they wouldn't tell me. No matter how many times I asked them, no matter how kindly I asked. They told me I shouldn't know, for my own good, or sometimes even that there were more important things I should focus on. They told me that Galena was a beautiful place to experience for the first time, and that where I had been previously couldn't have matched up to this place at all.

I knew they were all liars.

But what could I do about it?

And then, as I was about to go to sleep, I heard someone yelling my name. They weren't anywhere close to me, though, and they weren't speaking to me. I was sleeping on a small cot in the room I wasn't supposed to leave, but I broke the rules as often as I could. Nobody was in or around my room, so I tiptoed to the door and opened it slightly, listening intently.

"The memories are gone!" someone yelled. "Gaines's memories are gone!"

"Who could've possibly taken them?" another person retorted, sounding furious. "Nobody but a worker could get into the laboratory!"

My heart began to beat a million times a minute as I realized that, not only did they know what my memories contained, but they literally had my memories. 

Well, not anymore.

"I'll tell you who could get in," the other person hissed. "MALACHAI!"

Their voices faded away, but I could tell they were still arguing. I slowly closed the door and sat back down on my cot, letting everything sink in.

I didn't know who Malachai was, but I needed to find him. 

Ambrosia's POV:

It was growing incredibly late, and I was getting very, very desperate. They told me, warned me, to stay off the streets, but I didn't care. I let my shoes slap the pavement of Galena's streets, the buildings around me only lit by the dim, flickering streetlights. I was out of breath, but I didn't stop. My insides churning, my mind filled with worry, I knew I wasn't going to stop until I got what I wanted. 

I wasn't going to stop until I found Cypress. 

I never trusted Galena, and I sure didn't trust them to find my brother. 

I always wore a golden chain around my neck, and so did Cypress. It was a gift from our mother, shortly before she passed away. I clutched it tightly, partly to keep it from making noise, and partly as a source of comfort. My short hair flew in my face, but I didn't bother brushing it out of the way. I was running mostly out of desperation now, even though I knew I'd become lost quickly if I didn't stop. 

That was until I turned a corner, and reached a far end of the laboratory. 

I stopped and stepped back as I realized there were people there. It was much better lit over there, so I crouched in the darkness and squinted at the bright area. There was a small group, maybe four or five people, who were huddled together. I couldn't hear what they were saying, and I couldn't see them clearly. But, when two of them stepped to the side, I had to stop myself from screaming. 

One was wearing a lab coat, a scientist from the laboratory. They were shouting at someone, someone who was on their knees. There was a guard next to them, pointing a gun at the person on their knees. Someone else was standing next to them, with their back turned to me, not moving. 

I dared to creep closer. I slid alongside a wall, keeping myself in an area too dark for them to see, my sweaty fist clamped around my necklace. The closer I got, the more terrified I got, and I watched my worst nightmares unfold before my eyes. 

If only this was a dream. 

Cypress was the man kneeling, blood dripping from his face. He wasn't saying anything, and it was difficult to tell what the hair color was, but I could tell by the long, golden chains that hung from his neck, sweeping the blood-stained road below him. The man standing there, not doing anything, was a man I recognized, but couldn't put a name to. He was old, with large green glasses and black hair. 

"Admit it!" the guard was yelling, holding his gun with shaking hands. "You had something to do with Safire's attack. You helped out, you did something, and now you and this man are running."

Cypress shook his head, and a sob escaped him. "I promise... I was coming to get help..."

"Get help?" the guard laughed, a sharp and awful noise, and kicked my brother with extreme force. "Very likely. And how about you?" He nodded to the old man. "I know this idiot. Who are you?"

"I... I just came to Galena," he answered, his voice incredibly strained from fear. "I wasn't aware that I wasn't supposed to come here, and I don't even know who Safire is. Please understand..."

"You're one of those Ruxomar people?" the guard cried, his eyes flying wide. 

"We can't let him go now," the scientist muttered, as if the old man couldn't hear her. "He's way too valuable. And now he's seen... no."

"I agree," the guard said. "Listen, person from Ruxomar. We're going to do a little operation on you now, alright?"

"I was promised that I wouldn't get 'operated' on," the old man argued, sounding even more desperate than I felt. 

The guard pointed the gun at his face. "There are only two options here." 

The old man began to tremble, but finally gave in. "I'll take him in," the scientist said, grabbing the old man by the top of his shirt and pulling him toward the laboratory. "You can do whatever you want to Cypress. Nobody will care when he disappears."

"He's got a sister, doesn't he? Ambrosia?" the guard asked, and my heart jumped into my throat.

The scientist didn't look back. "She's brainwashed, isn't she? She'll get over it. Just kill the guy. If you really think he helped Safire..."

"He had to have helped her," the guard interrupted, his voice a low growl. 

"Okay, fine. Then, if you think he's a traitor, just kill him. He isn't valuable," the scientist said. She and the old man disappeared into the laboratory. 

It was just Cypress, the guard, and me. 

The guard began to yell at my bleeding brother, and I realized that I couldn't stay here anymore. I was going to scream, or cry, and I couldn't bear to watch him die. If I was found, I would just die too. 

I turned and walked, very slowly and quietly, away from the laboratory. And then, when I was far away enough, I began to run. Ran like I did before, except that I wasn't even bothering to look where I was going. I could've run right off a cliff and die the next instant, and I wouldn't have cared. 

It wasn't until the sound of a gunshot echoed throughout the city that I began to cry, each sob shaking my body and bouncing off the sides of the brick buildings, nobody around to hear them. 

Troye Sivan's new music video (Talk Me Down) has made me literally so upset that I have not only been crying for the past two days, but I got a very strong urge to pour all of the sad feelings into my writing. Blame the music video, not me

But it's a really good video you should watch it if you also want to feel incredibly empty