I watch as the colour of the sky shifts from deep blue to dark red to orange to yellow. Sitting right in the centre of the horizon is the bright yellow of the sun, slowly but surely rising above the remains of the charred ruins. The yellow radiating from the sun pans out and blends in with the darkness of the night sky, slowly fading out to a deep orange before finally mixing with the navy blue, the bright yellow disappearing completely. Instead, stripes of dark red swirls in the sky with the white clouds.

Beautiful.

My heavy eyelids keep falling, blocking my view of the world, though as hard as I try, I cannot seem to fall asleep. Perhaps it is because there are too many thoughts running through my mind at once. 

I push myself up into a sitting position, gazing spectacular sunrise. After all, it's not every day one get to see the sunrise, seeing how early the sun rises. Since I can't sleep anyway, might as well just enjoy the magnificence of nature.

I lean back, my arms supporting my weight to prevent myself from falling. The palms of my hands are pressed against the soft grass, feeling the soil beneath my fingers. Ahead of me, stretching past the horizon, lie what used to be a city, buildings towering up so high that they seem to touch the sky.

The skyscrapers  are rundown, clearly not maintained well. The paint on the walls are faded. The roof of the buildings are corroded as a result of standing out in the rain year after year, the metal frame of some of them exposed to the world. The sun casts light onto the buildings, making them seem to give out a soft glow.

"Amazing, isn't it?"

I turn towards the direction of the voice and find myself staring straight into Wil's eyes. He looks at me with such tenderness and warmth that I find myself getting lost in his eyes.A smile tugs on my lips but it doesn't last long. All I manage is a small, sad smile.

"Can't sleep either right?"

I shake my head in reply, not seeing the need to voice my answer. I cross my legs and rest my elbows on my thighs, burying my face in the palms of my hands. My lips quiver as my eyes start to water. It takes all my willpower to stop myself from crying.

I just can't seem to shake off the feeling that something isn't right." He pauses, collecting his thoughts. "What am I talking about? At this point, everything is wrong. I mean, look at me." He gestures towards himself. "I am one of the many wrong things in this world that should not even exist."

I lift my head, adverting my intention from my hands that are placed on my lap to my oldest friend, putting my hand atop his as a symbol of our friendship, attempting to comfort him. Do not say that," I whisper. I hadn't realise we were sitting merely inches apart.

"You know it I true, Miri. I am a clone. It doesn't get any simpler than that, nor does it get any less immoral. No matter how advanced our technology may be, the act of creating a clone is unethical, Miri. It is wrong, even if it is in the name of science. I shouldn't be."

"Oh, Wil," I mutter solemnly, unable to think of a better or a more solacing reply.

I let out an exasperated sigh. Wil moves in closer and wraps his strong arms around my body, bringing me into an embrace. I rest my head against his chest, hearing the strong and steady beat of his heart.

"What do you think we are going to do?" I ask.

"What do you mean?" he asks back, his voice muffled, almost as if he is stifling a yawn.

"Aries, Aristelle and Key can't be helping us run away forever. At some point, they have got to return to their normal lives and we will be left all alone to deal with everything. After all, I honestly don't think the hunt for us will stop any time soon. If anything, they might actually add a price to our capture."

Wil inhales deeply, massaging his temple as he exhales. If it were not for the topic being discussed, I'd think he has a headache. "I don't know, Miri. I-"

"I really, really don't want to go back there," I blurt, cutting him off, though not on purpose, on the verge of crying.

"Neither do I, Miri. Neither do I."

Neither of us continues the conversation; it's just too solemn and depressing to. We just lay on the soft grass in each other's arms, watching as the world around us slowly come to life, even if all I see is black and white.

*

"I know this is not much." Key gestures towards the space around her. "But we will be hiding here for, in the very least, the next couple of weeks. At least, until the chase for you two dies down," she informs us. "Aries, Aristelle and I will be frequenting the city to pick up fresh supplies. We should be safe here. After all, no one would ever think of searching for us here."

I take a step into the abandoned building. My eyes sweep across the room, drinking in my surroundings, wanting to familiarise myself with the place that will soon become my dwelling for a while.

The cream paint is peeling off the walls, revealing the dull grey cement underneath. Dark green moss is growing on the corners of the wall, creeping up onto the walls. Slim, long, white cylinders of glass are fitted in their metal holders on the ceiling. There are two of them, one on each side of the room. I wonder what those are used for. The floor is lined with black stained ceramic tiles, something that has not been in use for a relatively long time.

A dressing table has been pushed against the wall. The mirror is shattered, the drawers all pulled open, its contents spilling out. The brown, wooden bookshelf next to the dressing table is small, only three shelves tall. The books on the shelves seem torn apart, some of them fallen on the floor. A cup half filled with some sort of clear liquid is sitting on the coffee table in the centre of the room, a pale brown plastic bowl filled with biscuit crumbs next to it. It's almost as if the previous residents of this place left in a haste.

Although old and rundown, the entire place is still sturdy enough to make a decent temporary shelter.

I walk across the room and towards the opposite wall. My hands fumble around for the light switch, a small part of me hoping that there is electricity, as unlikely as that may be, but here's to hoping for the best. I flick the switch on.

I gasp in surprise as light floods the room. "But I thought..." I trail off, too stunned to form neither a proper thought nor a coherent sentence.

"It's most probably a generator," Aries explains. "One of the older ones. Those that run on solar energy and are often more substantial than the ones we normally use nowadays, though those are currently obsolete. To be honest, I don't think they should have stopped producing those. They're incredibly useful."

I nod in reply, acknowledging him, not able to find any suitable response.

The shrill sound of the ringing of a phone cuts through the air, making me jump in surprise. Aries, Key and Aristelle exchange eye contact with each other, as if they are trying to send messages to each other with their eyes. Aristelle slides her hand into her front pocket and pulls out her phone, glancing at the screen.

"I'm sorry but I've got to take this. It's urgent," Aristelle says, hurrying out of the room. I wonder who is on the line.

Aries gestures at Key, indicating that he is going to head out. To get some stuff perhaps, I wouldn't know. Key nods and Aries disappears out of sight. I wonder where he's going.

My eyes wander to the doorway, sunlight from the outside pouring in, getting lost in the artificial light that fills the room. I run my fingers through my hair, leaning against the wall, feeling the exhaustion start to take me over. The all-nighter I pulled the night before is starting to take its toll on me.

Aries comes back into my view. He is struggling to pull a large, black plastic bag of items into the building. Wil notices this and, being the kind soul he always is, hurries to help him. Key is leaning against the wall, next to the bookshelf, watching as the boys bring the bag to the middle of the room, a bored expression on her face.

As soon as the two boys set the bag down, she makes a beeline towards it, ripping the bag open with her hands, all the contents spilling onto the floor. She bends down and empties the rest of the bag onto the floor. The things that fall out of the bag range from sleeping bags to torchlights – who uses those nowadays anyway? – to stationery to water canisters.

"What are you doing?" I ask, the wide array of items piquing my interest.

Key rolls her eyes at my question, but answers it anyway. "Categorising these items. It will make it a lot easier to manage."

"Why do we need them?"

"If you want to sleep on the cold, hard and dusty floor, be my guest," she replies, sarcasm thick in her voice.

I let out a tired sigh. "Do you need help?"

"No. I have fun sorting a huge pile of items all by myself."

I wonder what happened to make Key so sarcastic and impatient these few days. The Key I know is someone who is calm and collected all the time and who is very hard to read, which is the opposite of who I see in front of me right now.

The girl I see is still as striking as when I first met her, with her short, jet black hair with dark blue stripes and her light blue eyes. However, instead of the focus and determination I used to see in her eyes, they seem distant, like she is there but not quite there.

The heavy eye bags indicate the lack of sleep she has had, although we all had more than enough time to rest. It's almost as if she could not fall asleep. She seems exhausted in more ways than merely physical. Her lips are always quivering and her shoulders are constantly tensed.

The air of authority that almost always surrounds her is gone. Instead, whenever I look at Key, I see someone who is vulnerable, who is too innocent to have gone what she has. It's almost like she's a little girl again.

The way she carries herself is also different. She used to carry herself with confidence and pride. Now? She seems scared all the time, terrified that something bad is about to happen. Although she still has her cool demeanour on, it's not as thick as before. Either that or I'm learning how to see past all the glamour.

"So, are you going to help me or not?" Key asks, snapping me out of my thoughts.

I nod, heading towards her.

"Utensils are in this pile, sleeping bags, pillows and blankets in this pile, survival gear in this pile, clothes in this pile," Key instructs, pointing towards the respective piles.

I nod once again and slowly but surely, we get through the huge pile of items. When I finally placed the very last item in its stack, I step back and examine everything as a whole, realising that we have enough things, with the exception of food and beverage, to survive for months, perhaps even years, in the wild.

There are, at least, ten sleeping bags, ten pillows – five stuffed with cotton and the other five inflatable – fifteen medium sized containers, five large containers, seven water canisters, three water bags, two spiles, six Swiss army knives, a lot of clothes meant for different situations – ranging from thermal clothes to beachwear – and several other weapons that I can't name.

"These are the non-perishable resources," Key says, as if we could not figure it out for ourselves. "Aries and I will head to town to pick up some fresh supplies. Miri, Wil, the both of you will remain here."

Without awaiting a reply, they leave the building, leaving Wil and I to be. We start to arrange the items in such a way that will make the place more cosy and pleasant to live in. We lay out the sleeping bags, fluff and inflate the pillows and store the other stuff that we have no use of at the moment. Sadly, we cannot clean the room for lack of cleaning supplies.

Just as we were about to relax, Aries comes bursting in the room, out of breath. "Miri. Wil. You have to find a place to hide," he pants.

Wil and I exchange a glance, unanimously agreeing to drop everything and hide due to the urgency in his voice. We scramble into the next room. I nearly trip several times, though Wil manages to catch me each time. I press my back against the wall to the left of the entryway of the room, attempting to make myself as flat as possible, almost as if that will make a significant difference. Wil leans against the wall to the right of the entrance almost casually, like he isn't afraid.

"Wil, I think you should-"I start to whisper, but am cut off by an unfamiliar voice.

"Sir, we have orders," a low voice bellows, clearly addressing Aries.

"I don't-"he stops abruptly, as though something got caught in his throat. "What are you doing here? With them?" he asks, the words sounding so robotic, so forced.

Someone – a girl – chuckles, the laugh sounding so sinister that it sends a shiver up my spine. "Did you really think I would not do this? After all these years that you know me? I thought you knew me better than that? You know, Aries, how much I admire Mother and Father, how I would never betray them. You know I would never become the traitor of the family, not like her," the person hisses the name like it is venom, "I've always admired Aaron for his loyalty to Mother and Father." The voice of that person sounds really familiar, though I don't dare believe my ears. It could be just someone who sounds like her. "Now, hand them over."

Silence.

I gulp, peering into the room out of curiosity. My eyes wander to the entrance of the building, widening in shock. Noticing my surprise, Wil looks as well, sucking in a sharp breath, startled by the person we both see.

Standing there in the midst of all the officers, dressed in their uniform – the ones who have been looking for us since our first escape from the facility – is Aries's twin sister.

Aristelle.

Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed this :) It's not as long as I'd have liked it to be, but that's due to a combination of a lack of time and writer's block. I sincerely hope you enjoyed this chapter though :) Tell me your thoughts in the comments below :) Don't forget to vote as well, and follow me if you haven't already. :)

The song of the chapter (?) is Heartless by IM5. You know, because Aristelle is such a heartless person that she would even go to the extent of betraying her brother for her own selfish desires. :) While you're at it, go follow IM5 on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Tumblr and check out their stuff :) Video is at the side and link is in the comments (for those using the app)

Also, follow me on Twitter for the latest updates and lots more :) The link is both in the external link and the comments. Come follow me, tweet me and I'll follow you too, and we can chill :) My Twitter handle is @angelyntjf

Til next time :)

Lots of love, Angie

PS Anyone wants a dedication?