Wronged

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QOC: What's your favorite part of this story so far?

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- Anna's POV -

The remaining days of fun flew by quickly, and the closer it got to rescuing Lily, the more I freaked out over the situation. It is the reality of it all getting to me, I suppose.

We can't just go in and say we're going to adopt Lily. Even if we're eighteen and nineteen, that would be insane. Ms. Sloan, Aiden's mother, doesn't know about this either. And how would she react to this? We hadn't even discussed her opinion.

Anyway, since we can't adopt, we have to steal her. We have to steal a child. From a group home.

That's big jail time.

Committing theft from a government hosted home is one thing. It's another to grab a little girl from one. And I can't get caught by any sort of federal law official whatsoever. Sure, it's not good for any teen to be contained, but I wouldn't be just contained. I would be experimented on again. They'd send me back to the institution, saying I'm corrupt. And in their defense, kidnapping is some pretty strong evidence to support that claim.

So yeah. I'm certifiably screwed. But it's fine. It's all good. I just have to keep a low profile and wear these masks Nico brought. At first Hayley protested, but Nico explained that even though he can hack and bring down the security cameras, there's still a chance that someone could catch us sneaking in. This made her comply. I would've taken one no matter what. Better safe than sorry.

I exhale a deep breath and slip on the Mardi Gras mask, feeling it get a little more heated around my skin. I have breathing holes through the nose, which is comforting. The only other thing that's nice is colors of the mask. Its base color is a charcoal black. And the dark forest green glitter patterns help to calm me down too. It reminds me of Aiden.

"This stinks like butt," Hayley says in a muffled voice through the plaster. I glance at her mask, which is the face of a unicorn.

"Mine smells like weed," Nico says in disgust. His mask is the classic skier. "Yuck."

I chuckle. "Where did you buy these?"

He shrugs. "My Uncle Bern is a hoarder. I just went to his place and found this stuff in his attic."

Hayley sighs in repulsion and I smirk. Mine doesn't smell bad. All I can intake is the scent of the wilderness before us. Haha.

Nico claps his hands together. "Alright," He begins. "Dakota and Aiden have gone down the mountain. They'll be chilling today. Again. And Lyma has gone down to the shack. She said she had to buy some things and she might be awhile. So we're good."

I smile a little. Dakota and Aiden have been doing so much together. And I'm not complaining or anything. I'm glad they have been rekindling a scuffed-out relationship. They've just been spending a lot of time together. And so far I know they've been four wheeling and such. But I can't help but feel like something else is going on.

I shrug off the feeling and focus on the task at hand as Nico tells us to hop in the truck. They lightly banter about some sort of food, but I can't stop the nervous thoughts from invading my mind. I also get these creepy butterflies in the pit of my stomach as we drive off. They only intensify as we near the destination, trees and the rest Colorado has to offer flying by.