I got up slowly and silently as I could before sneaking out of the house. I stalked among the tall grasses towards Lizzie's house.

"Hey, could you help me with something?"

"CHLOE, it is six in the morning! This couldn't have possibly waited?"

"Nope," I smirked, "Is your door unlocked?"

"No, and I am going to go back to sleep. Good night!" She concluded, but I had other ideas.

Of course, her bedroom window was open. I smirked as I shifted to an owl, and flew up to the windowsill.

"Time to get up," I hooted, "I have big plans."

Lizzie turned over to face me, and I felt her try to take control of me. Instead, I shifted her into a mouse, and picked her up in my talonts.

"Stop it right now! I want to sleep!"

"Fine... You can sleep on my back." I threw her into the air, and she landed on my back. I continued my flight to our next destination.

"Not what I meant, but fine if you aren't going to bring me back home."

I began to fly in a circle, "Hey, so you know where Nicole lives?"

"Seriously? I want to sleep, and now you are asking for directions?"

"Yes. Also, you can talk out loud, I can still understand you."

"This way uses less energy."

Eventually, Lizzie began to give me directions to Nicole. At a point she fell asleep, and I dropped at high speeds, getting a frightened scream from Lizzie.

"Stop! Stop!" She shouted and I felt her try and control my flight. I shoved her mine to the side, and pulled out of the dive.

"Why did you do that? You could have killed me!"

"Sure... I thought you couldn't die here."

"Well we are starting to think that doesn't apply to your animal forms," She huffed.

I could only guess who we was, I could only guess that she meant Barry, Nicole, and Lizzie.

"There's Nicole's house," Lizzie explained, and I looked to see a treehouse. It was quite large, and looked rather comfortable.

I flew and perched on a railing near her doorway. Lizzie slid off of me and I shifted us back. She shot me an annoyed look which I ignored as I knocked on Nicole's door. In the split second after I stopped, the door opened to a hyper Nicole.

"Hi!" She greeted.

"Hi Nicole, do you want to come..." I began.

"Sure, let's go! Come on!" She blurted, and began walking out the door. I followed, and soon was leading the way.

When we reached the water's edge, I dove down and shifted to the large invisible bear once again. I grabbed my friend's bodies and hauled them out of the water, resting them on the shore.

The two gnomes were dead silent. I took this as an opportunity to go get my body. With a quick 'stay here' I ran to where I needed to be, and dragged it back. The couple were still frozen in place, and I shook them to get some sort of reaction.

When that didn't work, I touched my human counterpart, and picked them up.

"Aagh! Stop it!" Lizzie screeched. I set her down and looked at Nicole.

"You know, it's not that bad. I mean, you told us already. I just, somehow, got a strange shiver up my spine," She commented calmly.

As I set Nicole down, Lizzie walked up to her body. With a light touch, it came to life and she began her coughing fit. Nicole did the same, and soon both were gaining a steady stream of oxygen.

"Not fun..." Nicole rasped.

"Well, your voice will warm up eventually. I'm more interested in trying to walk." I said happily. I brought up stone walls to surround us, and took a deep breath. I pushed myself onto my knees, and finally to my feet. I stuck my arms out to my sides to balance, and once I was ready, took a step forward.

This resulted in an ultimate collapse.

"You okay?" Lizzie quietly asked.

"Totally," I said sarcastically.

I got back to my feet, and began to try and walk again. This time I was able to walk for a while before I got tired. Then I realized just how exhausted I was.

I switched back to my gnome and noticed that my companions had too.

We brought back the bodies to the designated hole, and I brought the rock walls down.

I found myself face to face with an angry Barry.

I turned without a word and ran in the other direction. Making myself invisible, I shifted as I took to the air and went into a nearby tree.

Barry sighed and walked in the direction I had left in, Lizzie and Nicole branching in different directions.

I set back out towards the house, and snuck in through the window. I headed towards the kitchen and set to baking apology cookies.

Once they were in the oven, I went and sat on my bed. I sat in thought before I needed to take the cookies out. I put a generous amount on two plates with two cups of milk, and placed one set on Barry's bed. The other I took to my room and began to snack, the warm chocolate chips oozing in my mouth.

"Chloe?" I heard Barry call out, and he began to approach my door.

After a quick glance, he continued on, looking, quite literally, right through me. I giggled quietly, and heard Barry go into his room, the door slowly swinging behind him.

I crept out of the room and shifted into a small visible bunny, heading towards Barry's room. I nudged the door open, keeping a wary eye on Barry.

He looked down at me, but didn't comment. I slowly hopped up towards his bed, leaping off multiple objects to make it on top.

I approached hesitantly, but Barry encouraged me by lifting up his arm; revealing a comfy spot to fit me. I leaned up against him, and he rested his hand on my back.

"These are really good," He mumbled, "You know, I'm not mad at you."

I looked up at Barry who was slipping another cookie into his mouth.

"I was just worried about you. You really need to leave a note or something," He continued.

I flattened my ears with slight embarrassment. He chuckled at my reaction, and buried his fingers in my fur.

"You always know how to make me happy," He whispered softly, but paused, "Since we are doing this, I have something to say."

I looked up at him expectantly, urging him to continue.

He sighed, "We are what they call 'bonded'. I know that you've heard something about it, but I avoided the topic at the time. It means we are somewhat soul mates, or connected in some way. Some couples gain a certain connections or abilities together, but a lot don't. It really isn't a big deal, but I thought you should know."

I leaned myself closer into his side, and a small smile grew on his face. He set his cookie plate to the side, and picked me up; setting me at the top of his chest, inches away from his face.

I brought myself closer, and put my nose to touch his. It was a small gesture, but it was a peaceful moment.

"I'm glad to be bonded with you," I confided.

I shifted back into myself to wrap my arms around Barry.

I took in his warmth, and his arms slowly enclosed me. We laid in silence, until I rolled over to his left. He draped an arm over me, and turned his head to face me.

I felt a small sensation ripple through me, and Barry vanished.

"Barry?" I voiced.

I felt hands come underneath me, hoisting me up. I carefully reached my arms around Barry's neck, and he held me closer to him.

He began to get up, gingerly holding me in doing so. We began to head out the door, and soon we were outside. Barry continued to walk to an undetermined location, and I was curious as to where.

He set me down in a clearing, and a rocky fence formed around us. He faded back into visibility, a wide grin on his face.

"That wasn't Lizzie," He breathed.

"What do you mean?"

"I think that our bonding ability is sharing some of our Gifts!"

"Seriously? Right after we begin to talk about it you just figure it out?" My face went straight with the stupidity of the situation.

He ducked his head shyly, "I kind of knew for a while. I just didn't know when to bring it up."

I rolled my eyes, "There were plenty of times when you could have told me. I'm sorry but this just seems a little strange. This all seems a little strange. What kind of person just traps children? No one even tries to escape, and everyone just accepts it! There are all these different things about this place ranging from Gifts to soul mates. I just need to get out. I have an idea to escape, I just need the right time."

Barry blinked, "You done?"

"Yes. Now did you actually listen to anything I said?" I scowled.

"Well... sort of."

I let out an exasperated sigh, "But will you help me get out? If it works, you can come too."

He stood in silence for a time before speaking, "Yes."

We began to walk home, and I explained my sad excuse of a plan. It wasn't going to be epic, I could tell you that.

When we reached the house, Lizzie and Nicole were waiting. We set out to prepare for the action when the time came. The plan was set.

Except for two things.

Lizzie got Hannah to show up, and we began to talk. Her part was set, no questions asked. Well, except for one.

"But what is in it for me?" She asked skeptically.

I groaned, "What do you want?"

"Three pies: cherry, apple, and pecan; homemade. Also, I want to try being a hawk. Finally, I also want a pet dog; courtesy of Barry." She blurted nearly too quick to comprehend.

"Okay then. When do you want them?" I moaned internally at having to make those pies, but knew it was going to be worth it.

"Hawk now, puppy should be a golden retriever, also now, and the pies by sunset."

I looked at Barry with a desperate expression, and he pulled out a crumpled piece of paper.

He drew and colored it hastily, but the quality was not hampered.

Soon Hannah was giggling over her new puppy until I shifted her into the hawk she requested.

She slightly glared at me for cutting her time short with her new pet, but eventually she was enjoying stumbling around on the ground. She was no way going to be able to fly with her balancing skills.

"Okay, s-stop it!" She screeched as she fell in her face for the twentieth time.

But once it was done, she and her puppy were gone in an instant.

We headed back to the kitchen so I could start baking, and Nicole got Jessie there in less than ten minutes.

Planning an escape took a lot of work.