Beyond The Sea Blue Light

I Swear To God I'm Gonna Change The World

Two months have passed and there is still no sign of Vic. It's like he's completely disappeared; there is no trace of him. Dread coils in the pit of my stomach, hanging heavily in the air. No one wants to say it, but I know everyone is thinking it. What if he really is gone, like Alex and Jack thought? What if saving his family did nothing? He might be lost to us forever.

I try to keep myself distracted, focusing on the plan. Andy had the basic outline of one, but we have been fleshing it out, making sure everything will go to plan. We're going to do it right this time. Not to mention all the extra people we have. I keep the small flare of hope burning, hope that we might be able to free some more of us.

Every day, Jack, Frank, and Gerard visit the Facility, scouting out the entire place. They make note of every entrance and every exit, every place where the guards are, where the security cameras are located, everything. They leave early in the morning and return late at night, slipping into and out of the house soundlessly. I barely catch glimpses of them each day. I'm awoken by the sound of the car engine starting and the crunch of tires on gravel, even before the first rays of dawn have breached the horizon.

But Vic's disappearance is not the only thing that worries me. Oli and Craig seem to hang off of Andy's every word. To be honest, he troubles me a bit. He seems to bother both Alex and Jack as well. I can tell Gerard is uncomfortable around him too. It's not like he's done anything, it's just the intensity and extremism of his views.

"They should be punished for what they've done to us," Andy says. "Give them a taste of their own medicine. We're the ones with power. Why are we the ones being killed?"

Oli nods. "They have taken everything away from us," he agrees. "Our families, our lives, everything, the chance to live a normal life."

"We're the powerful ones," Craig echoes.

"We need to teach them we won't be messed with," Andy says. "We attack this Facility, then the next to show we won't surrender this easily."

"That will teach them not to hurt us again," Craig says.

"Not only that," Andy continues. "But what's after that? They love seeing us weak, seeing that they are more powerful than we are. They won't stop, even after we teach them a lesson. No, they'll keep coming, keep trying to prove their superiority and that they are above us, even though they are not and will never be."

"We should kill all the humans." Oli's quiet comment makes me tense. At that point, I realize he's hit a line that I can and will never cross.

I storm into the room, not caring to pretend that I wasn't eavesdropping. I grab Oli's arm, yanking him out of the room, ignoring Andy's curious eyes boring into my back.

"You don't actually mean that, do you?" I hiss.

Oli shrugs. "I don't know," he says. What pains me most of all is that he doesn't even look that guilty. "Yeah, maybe it's an exaggeration, but really, they deserve it, don't they?"

"Not all of them."

"But think of how many of them stood by as we were taken. How many of them called the guards, feeling a sense of relief as we were dragged away. They took Vic from you, Kellin. They took Josh from me. Think of all that we have lost and all they have stolen from us. Don't you want the chance to hit them back?"

I shake my head. "I do, Oli, please believe me," I say softly. "But not like that. Killing won't get us anywhere." It's at this moment that I realize how right Gerard was. He knew what he was doing when he sent Rian and Zack away. He knew exactly what Andy might do, and it's happening.

"It'll make it so no others of our kind have to deal with it. If we teach them a lesson, they'll never mess with us again." Oli's eyes are shining. "We'll hit them once, just to show them we won't roll over in front of them. So they know not to mess with us."

"Then they'll get revenge on us," I say. "And us on them, until everyone is dead. It's not worth it. Peace is what we need, not revenge, not extinction."

"The only peace we will get," Oli snorts, his body trembling with anger. "Is when one race is superior over another. Either peace for them or peace for us. We can't have it both ways. In the end, it's us or them."

"But we can try," I say. "It's better than killing innocent people. If we take them away from their families and their loved ones, are we any better than they are?"

---

The clouds hang heavily in the sky as the truck drives up the narrow dirt road, jolting every time it hits a bump. It's quite a dreary day, the sun hiding behind the layer of clouds. My heart pounds in my ribs as I lean against the wall of the truck. It's cramped in here, the smell of iron and sweat hanging heavily in the air. Metal creaks and rattles as we are jolted again. I grip the edge of the plastic seat to steady myself, my palms sweaty. Alex flashes me a little smile, but he looks nervous as well, his face pallid from where he's illuminated by the pale fluorescent lights.

"We're almost there." Gerard's voice crackles over the intercom. He and Frank are sitting in the front half of the car. It's quite cramped in the back, with me, Jack, Alex, Andy, and Craig trying not to fall over as the truck hits another bump.

"Thank god," Jack mutters. "Don't know if I can take another minute in this truck."

The truck screeches to a halt, throwing all of us forward. I hear voices outside and freeze, my heart pounding. What if we get caught? Then what? Everyone else seems to have the same idea because I see Andy's hands glowing and the gun rising a few inches into the air in front of Alex. Thankfully, the truck starts to move again.

"We're in," Gerard says. I breathe a sigh of relief at his words, sitting back down

It honestly looks exactly the same, gray concrete walls rising in the center of the field. I repress a shiver as we slink nearer to the Facility. We're going to do this right this time.

"Is everyone ready?" Gerard asks.

We all nod silently. I take a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves. "Get in position," Frank instructs. "Wait for my signal." Frank is going to be monitoring from the truck. He's our escape route if anything goes wrong.

The rest of us nod, silently heading toward their teams. I exchange a glance with Jack, who nods, grabbing my hand. We disappear in a flash, turned invisible by his powers. As quickly as we can, we sneak around the side of the building until we're crouched, hidden in the shadows. We're in charge of getting inside and getting whoever is in there out.

"Andy and Craig, you two ready?" Frank asks in my ear.

"Ready," Andy says. I can see the two of them crouched on the opposite side of the building. They're the distraction, to lure the guards away while Gerard and Alex get to the control room and Jack and I get to the subjects.

"Alright," Gerard says. "Knock 'em down, teams."