The Absolutely Insane Life of a Completely Normal (not really) Girl

It only took 5 minutes...

 ...for Katie to get everyone out of their cells. Eli and Kathryn were in a serious case of denial, but overall they seemed fine. Ash was a little worse for wear. They were covered in bruises from getting into fights with the agents, but their injuries were strictly physical.

"It's good to see you guys again," I said, simply to refrain myself from hugging everyone.

"Same here," Ash said. I noticed that she was walking with a slight limp. I was secretly starting to hope that we would run into the person who caused it.

"Lydia, what's going on?" Kathryn asked. She and Eli looked at me with desperate eyes, silently begging me to give them a straight answer.

"I'm sorry," I replied, "I promise. I'll explain everything once we get out of here. But we have to go."

"ASH," Jane shouted. She ran towards them and tackled them with a hug. I was tempted to tell her to keep her voice down, but I'm careful, not heartless.

"Hey," Ash said, clearing in pain. I can only guess that they were so happy to see Jane that they didn't care.

"Where's Sophia," Maria asked. Everyone else looked around and noticed that she was gone. Apparently nobody knew that she ratted us out. Might as well tell them.

"Probably off in some comfy room, enjoying being a traitor," I started, bitterness rolling off of every word I said, "I don't know how much she told or what she told, but she told them something."

"But... why?" Jane asked. Jane has was just starting to get through her trust issues. It broke my heart to have to tell her.

"She... she never believed in... you-know-what. She thinks this is all some practical joke." Everyone fell silent. Maria, Ash, Jane, and Katie knew what I meant, but even Eli and Kathryn knew it was bad. Suddenly, Ash started storming off.

"Where are you going?" Jane asked.

"To find Sophia. And give her a piece of my mind," they answered.

"Do you forget where we are," Maria shouted, "We have to get out of here before we're discovered." I knew Ash wouldn't see to reason, but maybe a compromise could be made. I ran to catch up with her.

"Ash," I said, grabbing their arm to stop them, "I get it. You're mad. I am too. But our luck won't last much longer. We'll get caught if we stay here too long, and then it's back to square one. I'll make you a deal. We'll get out, get Sophia later, and you can choose the punishment. What do you say?" They were silent for a minute. I was almost afraid that they were going to say no.

"Fine," they finally said. We walked out of the dungeon. Our plan was to use the vents, but because we have the worst luck in the world, an army of agents was blocking our way. The one in front had on a gold badge. I couldn't read what it said, but it probably said something about him being the leader.

"Did you really think it would be that easy?" The obvious leader asked, "The silent alarm went off the second you walked in." (I take back what I said about the entrance not being guarded.) We tried to escape from the other side, but it seems that our little agent friend didn't stay unconscious for long. He was at the head of a group of agents guarding the back.

"Nowhere to run," he said.

"Nowhere to hide," the leader replied, "I suggest that you give up now. It's better than the other option."

"Really?" Jane replied, "The other option is looking really good right now." Maria put a bow in her arrow with lightening quick reflexes.

"Well, if you want to fight, it's your choice," the leader started, "But maybe she can get you to see reason." He moved out of the way, and there was the little she-demon herself. Sophia stood there with a giant smile on her face, like she was seeing us at the amphitheater.

"Hi, guys," she said. It took both me and Jane to restrain Ash. Although I was half tempted to let her go.

"Don't you think you've done enough, Sophia," Maria said, still poised to shoot, "What do you want?"

"Look, I know it looks bad," Sophia started.

"Understatement of the century," I muttered.

"But hear me out," she continued, "What's the big deal if we tell them stuff. None of it's real, right? So what's the harm?" It took all of my willpower to not let go of Ash. "I mean. All they want to do is help figure out how psychologically insane people think up all the things they do."

"That's what they told you," Jane practically screamed, "That this is all some insane idea we thought up!"

"Well what's the other option," Sophia asked, "That this is all real? Please. Ever since the Wolf experiment, you guys have just gotten worse."

"Wolf," Jane whispered, her grip on Ash loosening, "What about Wolf?"

"They wanted to see what happened when the worlds that had been created got changed drastically, so they let out a simple suggestion that "Wolf" was dead."

"You killed Wolf," Jane shouted.

"It was necessary for the sake of our research," the leader explained. Anger was boiling up inside of me. I was just about to let go of Ash when something happened that I never would have expected.

"Sir," Aaron said, "Before we go any further, I think there is something you should know."

"What is it Freis," the leader asked.

"I quit." He pulled out his gun, and pushed us so that we were forced to let go of Ash. At the same time, he fired his gun at the leader, but he missed. Instead it hit Sophia, square in the chest. Every agent in the room came charging up on us. I raised my sword, its flames illuminating the room, and prepared for the battle.