One year ago

Elaine Martin pulled on the collar enclosed around her neck as she was led forward by multiple guards. In the cells that she walked past, women were catcalling her, shouting slurs, and doing anything they could to get a rise out of her.

After she had come to and been interrogated, she was tried and then taken to a maximum security prison. There, she would spend who knows how many years rotting away. But she didn't care how long she was there. Okay, that was a lie. She did care. Of course she cared. However, she cared more about Winona getting away.

She hoped that the girl had gotten away.

The guards pulled her to a stop in front of a cell. One used his keycard to unlock the cell and the other practically threw her into it. Elaine turned around and sent the guards a glare as they shut the door. She turned around and looked about the cell. It was small and she was alone.

It wasn't until a few days later that she got herself a cell mate. Rita was a big and tough woman. For the most part, she was a complete bitch. But, she had a small soft spot for Elaine for reasons the girl never understood.

Elaine had always been a stubborn girl. She often did things that she knew that she shouldn't. Things that she knew would not benefit her in the slightest. One of those things was trying to use her ability in that prison. The collar around her neck was a shock collar, one that would send jolts of electricity into her whenever she used her power.

What Sentinel Services and the guards didn't realize is that she fed off of electricity. So every time that she did use her powers and a shock registered through the collar, it would only enhance the strength of her power. It wasn't until she managed to not only break out of her cell, but break the other prisoners out of theres, that they realized their mistake.

Rita had told the girl not to do it. Not to use her power to create and manipulate electricity to fry the keypads that kept the prisoners in their cells. But Elaine Martin didn't listen. She waited for when she felt like it was the right moment. She waited for months until she found it. And so she broke everyone out. That was the easiest thing to do. The hard part was getting out of the prison.

As soon as the cell doors opened, everything was chaos. Elaine was quick to run out of her cell and bolt for the door. Rita had stayed behind in their cell, knowing that it wouldn't end well and not wanting to lengthen her jail time. Elaine was quick to maneuver around the guards, sending bolts of electricity into them, just enough to knock them unconscious.

She had gotten pretty far. Probably would've made it out if some of the prisoners hadn't have tried to fight her. She fought them all off as best as she could, suffering from minor injuries. But before she could escape, a dart pierced through her skin and she began to lose consciousness.

Her body fell to the ground, her eyes beginning to droop. The last thing she saw before being submerged into darkness was the door, a mere two feet away.

Elaine didn't know it then, but she would live to regret her actions. Because she had been removed from that prison and thrown into another one. This time, they had taken the proper precautions for her in order to ensure that she didn't have the opportunity to escape again.

And her little stunt had shined a light on her because not too long after, Dr. Roderick Campbell got wind of her and what she could do with her powers. And so she had been moved to Trask Labs, where she would suffer more than she ever had in prison.

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The five jumped through the portal. Winona barely landed on her feet as they hit the grass. John's arm remained around her until they were safe. She quickly looked him over. "You okay?" She breathed and he nodded. "Yeah, yeah I'm fine," he said as he pulled her after the others who were quickly making their way back to the SUVs.

"Wh-Where is he? Where the hell is Campbell?" Esme asked in an annoying high pitched screech. "We couldn't get to him," John answered. "He shielded himself with a bunch of kids," Marcos added. "So what?" Esme asked incredulously. "So what? So kids," Dominic replied back incredulously. "Do you know how many people are gonna die if the Hound program continues? We are not leaving here without him!" The blonde practically whined.

"They're coming. We have to go," John said, placing his hand on Winona's back and ushering her to the vehicle. "No, we can't!" Esme protested. "They're coming! We have to go!" John repeated, grabbing Esme's arm and pulling her forward. "Damn it!" The blonde complained. They all quickly made their way into the vehicles.

The SUVs sped down the road, two police cars in pursuit. Lorna opened the sunroof and stuck her body out of it. She used her power to bring down a telephone pole, successfully blocking the road and making the police cars stop. Winona breathed out a sigh of relief. They were safe, for now at least.

When they arrived back to the mansion, the Frosts were not too pleased. "How could you just let Campbell get away like that?" Esme asked. "Uh, we didn't let him do anything. What the hell are we supposed to do, attack a bunch of little kids?" Marcos defended. "Oh, you're worried about their kids? Worry about your own!" She retorted and Marcos scoffed.

"No, he is on his way to D.C. with a Senator in his pocket right now," Esme continued. "After today, we just gave them a hell of an excuse to expand the Hound program," Clarice commented. "I'm sorry. And-and this is our fault?" Marcos questioned. "Yes, this is your fault. What we need to figure out is where Campbell is, so we can finish what we started," Esme replied, turning on her heel and marching into the house.

Winona sighed, she knew this plan wouldn't work out. And now, they were back to square one. John touched her arm and gestured to the house. She nodded and followed him inside. The two walked to Winona's temporary bedroom and she sighed. She ran a hand down her face in frustration.

"I don't know what we're gonna do. We had one shot at this and now, now we have nothing," she said. "We'll get another shot," he said. "How do you know that? How do you know that we can even do anything? I mean, nothing ever seems to go our way. We never win," she said. Winona shook her head. John took multiple steps closer to her and placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Hey, we'll figure this out, just like we always do. Campbell isn't going to win because we won't let him. We're gonna stop this. Just, have a little faith," he said. Winona took in a deep breath and released it before nodding. "Okay. But I hope you're right," she muttered.

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Winona knew something was wrong the moment she felt a dull ache in her head. The ache turned into a sharp pain causing her to hiss. It was Renee. She knew it was Renee. What she didn't know was why. She let the girl into her mind, her eyes beginning to glow.

"Renee," she spoke slowly. "Winnie! They found us! Sentinel Services found us!" Renee was frantic and out of breath, as though she were running. Winona shook her head in confusion. "Wh-what do you mean they found you? How?" She asked. "I-I don't know. But they did. We're trying to evacuate everyone now," Renee replied. Winona released a breath.

"Is Elaine okay?" She asked. "Yeah, she's fine. We all are, for now. We won't be able to get everyone evacuated. And they're surrounding the building and we don't know what to do," Renee said. Winona ran her hands through her hair. "When a spotted hyena feels as though their territory is threatened, what do they do?" Winona asked. "Wh-what? Now is not the time for analogies."

Winona sighed, "They defend their territory. So defend yours." There was silence. "Okay," Renee said slowly. "Just don't die," Winona added. Renee laughed nervously, "No promises." Their conversation ended and Winona's eyes returned to their brown color. She briefly rubbed her head before exiting the room.

She quickly made her way to the stairs and ran down them. She walked to the living room to see the group walking out. "Good, you're here. We gotta go," Marcos said as he walked past her. "Where are we going?" She asked, following after her friends. "To find Lorna. She and two of the Frost sisters went to kill Dr. Campbell and Senator Montez. We gotta stop them," Dominic answered.

"Well we have more problems," she told them, causing them all to stop. "I just talked to Renee-" John cut her off, "You were able to get ahold of her?" Winona shook her head, "More like she got ahold of me. But not by phone." Marcos gave her a confused look. "Telepathy," Dominic said. The man was still confused and Winona shook her head. "It doesn't matter. What matters is what she told me. Sentinel Services found the Underground. I don't know how. All I know is that they're trying to evacuate as many people as they can but, they might not get everyone out," Winona said.

"I don't understand, how could this have happened?" Clarice said. "Guys, we have to go. We'll talk about this on the road," Marcos reminded them. Winona nodded and the group exited the mansion. They all got into an SUV and began driving to the airport. Whilst Winona was thinking about what was happening at the Underground, Marcos was blaming himself for what Lorna was about to do.

"Damn it! I should've known. It's my fault. I should've stopped her," he was saying. "Marcos, you couldn't have known," Clarice said. "It's not like her to do this," John added. "It's not? John, ever since we broke her out of that convoy, you know she's been different. And with the baby..." Marcos didn't finish his sentence. "I know she's had issues in the past.
Do you think that maybe this is—" Clarice cut John off.

"No way. I've had friends who were bipolar. Assassination plots are not one of the symptoms," she said. "She's right. Lorna knows what exactly what she's doing," Marcos said. Winona closed her eyes and attempted to telepathically communicate with Renee again. But with each attempt came nothing and she was growing more and more worried. "What are you doing?" Dominic asked, having seen her repeatedly open and close her eyes. "Trying to get in touch with Renee," she replied.

"It's not working?" John asked from the driver's seat. "No,"she sighed. Dominic looked down, "You don't think—" Winona was already shaking her head. "No. If she were dead, I would know," she dismissed. "The connection's still there. She's just, not picking up," she continued. Dominic attempted to smile at her analogy. John looked at her through the rearview mirror. "She's fine. They're all fine," she assured. "They have to be."

When they got to the airport, they quickly spotted Lorna who used her powers to stop the vehicle. They got out of the SUV. "Lorna! Babe, we just want to talk," Marcos said. Lorna lowered her hand as they all walked forward. "There's nothing to talk about. This is just something I have to do. Please stand back," Lorna replied. "We can't do that," Clarice replied.

Lorna raised her hand toward some barbed wire on one of the fences, bringing it forward to block their path. The five stopped in their tracks. Clarice brought her hands together to open a portal but Lorna pushed the wire closer to her. Dominic's arm shot out in front of her. "Whoa. Okay," Clarice said. "You're my friend, Clarice, but don't, don't try to get clever," Lorna said.

"Listen, Lorna. You don't want to do this. There's gotta be another way," Winona said. "There is no other way. I have to do this," Lorna replied. "And I have to do this," Winona muttered. Her eyes began to turn silver as she prepared to enter Lorna's mind. But the green haired girl was quick, using her powers to pull out her knives and launch them toward her. The sharp objects stopping a few inches from her face.

Winona stopped, her body jerking backwards and away from the objects as John gripped her arm and pulled her back slightly. "I figured you'd try something like that. I suggest you don't do that again. I don't, I don't wanna hurt you, Winnie," Lorna said. She turned back to to the air strip and watched as the plane holding Campbell and Montez began to move. "Listen, Lorna, you don't want to do this," Marcos said. "Marcos, I have to. For all of us," the girl replied.

"No. No, you don't. You saw what happened when innocent people died on 7/15. Not everyone on that plane is trying to hurt us.
Innocent people. You take it down, they die!" Marcos tried to reason with her. "There are innocent people on this side, too. If I don't take it down, they die," Lorna responded. "You're wrong!" Marcos exclaimed.

"You're not a killer, Lorna. This isn't why the X-Men chose us," John said. "The X-Men made a mistake. This is who I am," Lorna retorted. She turned back to the moving plane. "Please, just listen to me. Now, we will figure this out. I don't care about the X-Men. I don't care about the Brotherhood. I care about my family," Marcos continued. It was silent for only a moment as Lorna turned back to face them.

"That's what I care about, too. But I'm tired of hiding. We have to take a stand," she said. "Not like this. This changes everything. This will change everything. Our kid has to live in this world," Marcos said. Lorna looked at him and Winona could see the sadness in her eyes. "It's time to make a new world," Lorna said. She lowered her arm as she turned back to the plane that had now taken off.

"No, Lorna, please. Lorna!" Marcos pleaded. But it was no use. Lorna brought her hands together and began to raise them into the air. Grunts left her lips as though she were struggling to do so. Winona could see the green energy emitting from her hands. In the mix of green there was bits of red and yellow. It was then that Winona had noticed the change in the usually green energy.

The plane began to sway in the sky and Winona's heartbeat picked up in her chest. A cry left Lorna's lips as the plane slowly began to spark. She slowly pulled her hands apart and the plane began to catch fire. "Don't do it! No, no, no!" Marcos cried. Winona grabbed onto John's arm and John gripped the wrist of the hand that was holding his arm. Lorna let out a final scream. The plane flew over their heads, bits of it exploding in the sky.

It crashed a little ways behind them. The force of the crash pushed them all forward, knocking them off of their feet. Winona hit the ground with a thud, a grunt escaping her lips. Dirt flew up and swirled around her. She closed her eyes so that none of it entered them. Loud pants came out of her mouth as she gasped for air. Her ears were ringing as she looked up to see that Lorna was nowhere in sight.

"Lorna? Lorna?" Marcos called as he looked around the area. She was gone. Winona sighed and connected eyes with Marcos. The man had tears in his eyes and Winona's heart broke for him.

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In honor of season 2 premiering today, here's chapter thirty three. I'm so excited for the season 2 premiere you have no idea. Unfortunately I won't be able to watch it live tonight but hopefully I'll watch it tomorrow. Anyway, this episode was intense. A lot went down in this chapter. What do you think happened to Renee and why can't Winnie connect with her? There's only one more chapter left of this book. Let me know what you thought of this one. Be sure to leave a vote and a comment. Have a nice day. And don't forget that season 2 of The Gifted premieres tonight in the U.S. (not sure about other countries)!