United Together

Bonus Chapter 2

"I think it's time we explained it all" My mum says standing infront of us all.

It's been a week since we all reunited with our families and the 23 of us are all gathered around in my house where the parents said they'd finally explain everything.

"all of us met during our time at Somerset University together and we instantly became bestfiends. As much as we didn't like to seem big-headed we were the popular ones of the school. Everyone envied us and we all thought that they were just jealous but we ignored it and carried on with our days, enjoying the experience." Mum explains to the room full of people as us kids listen in closely

"it was the day before graduation and we all decided to sneak around the campus at night playing a game of hiding and seek in the dark when suddenly me, Luke, David, Kristie and Judy all heard people talking. We listened to these voices saying to bury something in the grounds and to run so when we heard them leave we all went to see what it was. We dug it back out the ground and texted everyone that we found some kind if drive. We went to the barn near the back of the school since it was big enough and had some lights in there to see, Dan plugged it into his computer and we loaded it up" My mothers says looking around at the other adults nervously

"It was the plans to some kind of the weapon, it said that it could flatten a whole country in seconds and this drive held everything you needed to know about how to make it." mum says making most of us gasp in shock

"Jesus Christ" I mumble not realising the severity of it

"We were a bunch of 22 years olds having fun before we all graduated the next day, we didn't realise the implications of what we had found. So we decide there and then that we'd keep it a secret until after graduation and then we'd decide what to do afterwards but when the next day came around we spotted these men looking in the area we dug the drive up from talking in what sounded like Russian and things just got 10 times more serious" mum says taking a deep breath.

"We didn't wait any longer and as soon as we were all dismissed from the ceremony I brought everyone back to my house and we planned our next move in the attic. We needed to come up with a plan on how to get rid of it. There was no way we could destroy it as none of us really knew anything about it so we decide to split it up, separate it into small section of the entire plan so no one had the whole copy. Everyone got a separate pen drive and soon there was 15 of them." mum says

"After that, we thought everything would be okay, we could carry on with our lives, stay friends, and get jobs as we planned. But that wasn't the case, we soon found ourselves being broken into constantly, feeling like we were being watched all the time. Someone was hunting this drive down and they weren't stopping. That was when we came up with the idea to separate them instead. We were all living in the same town and it wasn't safe anymore so we packed up, moved to wherever we could but it had to be far away from each other. Everyone basically packed up their lives and moved away, not speaking a single word to anyone about it ever again."

"and I think we all thought it would stay that way but then that night happened," Mom says sadly looking down at the floor as dad puts a hand on her shoulder.

"none of us realised it was all connected until a few days later when it was broadcasted on the news about a mass kidnapping that had happened across the US and all your faces showed on the screen. We all contacted each other straight away and everyone booked a plane ticket straight to us." mum explains

"After weeks of researching and travelling, we finally discovered that all of those 15 keys that we had buried and hidden where gone. All except two. They were ours" Mum says looking right at me this time

"Why didn't they find yours," I ask my parents not understanding what was going on.

"because we hid ours in plain sight" Mum answers

"I still don't get it," I say back

"you Skye, you had the keys on you, when we adopted you back in England we took you the dentist remember," dad says to me, I just nod my head.

"We knew that if we wanted them to be truly safe then it had to be somewhere no one would look, so we had the data transferred into tiny capsules that we implanted into the back of your ear," Mum says making my hands instantly fly up to my ears

"you can't see or feel it Skye, it's too small to spot but they are there," mom says as I gape at my parents in shock.

"months went by where we all spent countless hours searching places and finding out anything that could link to where you might all have been held captured. It got to a point when we all did think the worst, that our babies weren't alive anymore and that we wouldn't get to see them one last time. Then we got word on the news about a giant smoke cloud rising directly in the middle of a deserted woodland that had absolutely nothing in it. I think we all knew it wasn't a coincidence so we all drive down there straight away and low and behold, we finally found you guys." mom finishes explaining, crying fully now. I get up from my set a next to Julie and pull my mum into a hug.

"you didn't give up on us mum and we all know that. Yeah we went through some shit but were here now, all finally back together" I say as all the other girls nod their heads in agreement

"I guess it's our turn now," I say building up the courage myself to explain what we went through in those 6 months.

I proceed to spend the next 30 minutes or so explaining what went down trying to explain everything so it never has to be talked about again. By the end of it, there's not a single parent with a dry eye

"I can't believe that it was Lily" Pam, Alex's mother says in shock

All of us kids look at each other and burst out into laughter confusing the parents a lot.

"That is amazing! We called her Lilith" Alex answers making us all laugh at how close we here to her actual name.