Control

xviii | aidan

I DID SEE HER CLUTCH HER WRIST, HER FACIAL EXPRESSIONS HINTING HER PAIN, BUT I DIDN'T GO BACK TO HELP HER. I wanted to, I really did, but I had to go back as fast as possible. Lauren was right - the others would be wondering where I went for the last day. I couldn't reveal anything to them. What the Institute was asking me to do wasn't even spread throughout the building.

Upon walking into headquarters for the first time in months - minus the time I was here with Alyssa - I was given weird looks from those working here. A lot were confused to why I was there, knowing I wasn't supposed to. Others were thrilled, thinking that I was finally joining them. I tried to keep a serious face as I walked past, not looking at others too closely.

As I walked away, with that final sight of Lauren in pain in my mind, I looked down at my own wrist, a watch identical to her's. Mom gave it to me. I considered throwing it out. 

When Lauren first wore her's in front of us, I was quick to notice, but didn't ask where she got it. It seemed normal, yet Lauren never wore watches. It had to mean something more. It did.

Before Mr. Miller and Lauren's mom brought in my "team", I played around with it. The device itself was really strange, for the fact that there was no where to actually read the time. But what it actually did; seeing all the powers you have, which ones are deactivated, being able to see other's abilities and deactivating any of them - that's cool. Pretty handy in battle.

It seemed like only Lauren and I had them, I guess since we were the two most important people here, apart from the adults. 

The device was also a way for the Institute to control us, making it easier for them. Lauren's wrist burning was because I was deactivating hers, but clearly the device attached itself to her nerves.

Me, on the other hand: I was fine. My chip was already mind control proof. The watch had no effect on me. I just kept the device, wondering what I could do with it later. We could probably stop a bunch of Evolutians with this, but the other's are going to wonder how I got my hands on this. 

Darn, there are so many secrets in my life. So many ways they can all get out.

I walked out of headquarters and through the halls till I got to the front entrance. Part of me wanted to go visit my little sister upstairs, but I refrained from doing so. She didn't need to think about which side I was on in this whole thing. She didn't need to think about me. She has enough on her mind.

I was able to leave effortlessly, the barrier allowing me out, and the fence that used to go around the place was now gone, credits to Jessica. 

Immediately, I was attacked.

- - -

"What the hell happened to you? And where the hell were you?"

I walked into the palace slowly, my lip swollen and with a black eye. My hands were sore and my body ached, wanting to sit down. Princess Taylor was the one who saw me first, a guard following her close behind. Other than the usual set of guards times two in the main foyer, no one else was there. 

"Was bored... went to fight..." I managed to escape from my mouth. " I'm fine, really." I collapsed to the ground, more dramatically than actually falling. "Everything hurts."

Turns out that the watch could also take away abilities from yourself, if the Institute wanted to. That's what happened. Evolutians started attacking me, for reasons I didn't know, but I couldn't use my powers on them. The Institute took them away.

I knew Mikayla was someone I could beat if I tried hard enough. That wasn't the case today.

Everything is fine now. I stopped bleeding, which was good and my powers returned. I could already feel the swelling of my lip go down. I kind of just lied down on the carpeted ground, staring at the ceiling covered in chandeliers and splashed of paint. Everything just kind of blurred together.