Hello! LOOONNNNGGGG Time no see! (My bad!) Good news is, I come with a peace offering! I have a few chapters already finished, so hopefully that can make up for some of my time spent away!

Thank you for reading, and let me know if you have any questions, comments, or concerns! I love hearing from you all!

Disclaimer: These characters belong to the ever so lovely Kelly Armstrong.

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Waking up, I was expecting to hear the movement of hangers and the quiet but persistent chattering of a young girl getting a new roommate. I was expecting to open my eyes and realize that I was back at the Lyle House, safe and sound, listening to Liz rattle on about how much she dreaded doing the next math assignment.

What I did not expect was complete and utter silence, and opening my eyes to blinding white lights.

Once again, I was was waking up in a strange new place, having no idea where I was or how I even got there. This time, though, there was no one here. There was no Dad or Aunt Lauren like there was in the hospital. No nurses to tell me that the current home I was in was nothing like the horror movies that I had seen.

No, no one was there. Not even a bubbly roommate who had liked going through my things.

The memories came in slow, like water that was slowly pooling around my legs. And although slow and just in my mind, they were no less suffocating.

My mind resurfacing and my eyes adjusting, I crept up off of the thin mattress where the guards must have placed me and rubbed my eyes, trying to wake myself up further and remove the sealant that was apparently placed to make sure I never woke again. Exactly how long had I been out? A day? A week? It felt as if my body had been sleeping for decades. My joints creaked with every movement, and if I was being completely honest, I was smelling more like how someone would imagine a necromancer smelling. Wrinkling my nose and slowly stretching out my arms, I took in everything around me.

Now, this. This was what I had imagined the Lyle House to be like. This was exactly how movies had portrayed asylums.

The room was small and perfectly squared, one bright light shining on the ceiling in the middle. The walls were white, the floors were white, and there was nothing but the bed, a giant mirror gazing back at me from across where I was, and a door sidled next to it. The mirror was double-sided, most likely, and I shuddered slightly at the creepiness of it all.

I guess I wasn't allowed any privacy after the little stunt we pulled.

I was about to stand up, but froze. We.

I stood quickly and looked around again, making sure I didn't miss anything. That I didn't miss the possibility of seeing anyone.

There were two others, besides Liz and I. Where was Simon? He wasn't with us when we were captured. Derek said that he had made it farther than we did.

And Derek. Where was he? He had made it out alright…?

I shook my head, trying to remember.

No… no, he didn't escape, he turned himself in. The gun was pointed at my head…. And then it moved….

I steadied myself on the wall, leaning my head against the cool tile for a moment.

Derek was caught too. Liz was gone. Was Derek gone too? Did they get rid of him while I was out?

A sharp pain spread through my chest. Even though I didn't know him for very long, it still hurt. Liz, too. They were both there for me in ways my own family couldn't even be. Liz had been a good friend, and Derek… well, he probably wouldn't have considered me a friend, but he was there for me too, albeit a bit more grumpily.

I took a deep breath as I pushed myself off of the wall, narrowing my eyes. I needed to focus. As trapped as I was, it didn't mean I was completely useless. There was information I could get while I was here, and now that I was in a desperate place, maybe now was the time I could test how far my gift could actually go. Now was not the time to be some wallowing damsel in distress.

And the friends I've lost.. Well, I guess they weren't totally lost to me.

I stretched out a bit more before sitting myself down, back facing the mirror, and taking a deep breath. Though I had hardly ever done this before, I figured that summoning a ghost was something that didn't really need that much practice. Similar to riding a bike, I guess. The only practice that I had was trying to pull that ghost in the basement closer, but hopefully summoning was a similar process.

I closed my eyes and focused on everything that I could remember about Liz, hoping that I would be able to get through to her easily. There was another part of me, however, that secretly wished it wouldn't work and that she had somehow miraculously survived and was with Simon. But I knew that it was a false hope, and tried my best to squash that part of me.

It had taken only a few seconds of thinking about her and wishing she was here before I heard a small chuckle behind me.

"Ya know, I guess your power really isn't too different from what they show in movies."

My eyes snapped open and I spun, a small smile on my face. She looked… normal. She was wearing what we had left in, and if I didn't know any better, I would say that she was here the entire time.

"Liz." I said in relief. I stood up and was about to give her a hug, but stopped myself before I could. Liz's smile dropped a bit.

"Liz… I'm -I'm so so-orry… th-this should've n-never-" She shook her head, cutting me off.

"No, it's okay. Well, no, it's not okay, but it's not your fault. You gave yourself up for me. Even Derek gave himself up. We didn't know that they were so…. Evil…. I guess." She stopped and looked down at her shoes before looking back up to me and then around the room.

"I guess they caught you. Did they catch the others too?"

"I-I don't know. Derek said that Simon was far from everything, but I don't know if they went back and found him, or if Derek is even still alive…" I sagged a bit, rubbing my eyes. I didn't know anything, but that was going to change.

If LIz was willing to stick around long enough to help.

I looked back up at her.

"Liz, i-is it okay if you stick around with me for a little longer? I-I don't know what's going on, a-and -"

"And you need a helpful poltergeist for a spy?" She said with a small smile. I smiled a little back and nodded.

"Have… Have you been with us the whole time? Did you happen to see anything..?" I asked, not really knowing how long she would've had to do that.

She shook her head. "No. You were all gone by the time I woke up, and I didn't know exactly where to start… I was at my grandma's when you.. called."

"I'm s-sorry. Di-did you want to go back?" I asked, that sharp pain appearing again. She shouldn't have had to visit her family like that. She should've been alive to do so…

She thought for a moment before sitting down across from me and shaking her head. "No. I just wanted to make sure they were okay. It's too depressing being there but not being seen." She thought for a moment before her face lit up. "But! I did find something out that's pretty cool! Hold out your hand!"

I looked at her, curious, before slowly lifting my hand. She lifted her own and scrunched up her face in concentration. It was a few seconds until she lowered hers down onto mine. I jumped at the feeling of something solid on my hand, and looked quickly back up at her.

"Y-you can…"

"Apparently powers can move with you into the afterlife. All that time I thought I had a poltergeist when really I was the poltergeist all along." A small laugh escaped from the both of us.

We both jumped a bit at the sudden sound of someone banging on the door before opening it and entering. I quickly turned, and fought the urge to go crawling into the corner.

There standing was Dr. Davidoff, smiling happily while pushing around an empty wheelchair. I felt a slight touch on my shoulder before I heard a quick "I'm here."

"Well! It looks like our little Chloe is awake! We were getting worried when you didn't wake up the second day, but it seems you're well enough now."

He slowly came into the room, two guards following with their arms hanging loose. I guess I wasn't considered much of a threat.

I shifted and narrowed my eyes back to the doctor. "Where am I? Where are the others?"

He didn't seem the slightest bit phased. I could see Liz standing tall from the corner of my eye, but made no move to acknowledge it. One thing that movies taught me was to always keep your cards close, and never let anyone know of the advantages you may have.

"Now now, Chloe, no need to be frightened! We're here at the main clinic. While I may have only visited Lyle House, here I'm permanently stationed, along with several other nurses. In fact, your Aunt Lauren works here! Just part-time, but she's here now."

My eyes widened. He was lying. He had to be. "You're lying." I wish I could say that my voice came out strong, but it was wavering, confused.

His smile got impossibly wider, and I couldn't help but be reminded of the things that put me in this hellhole to begin with.

"I assure you I'm telling the truth. In fact, after this little tour we're going to give you, you'll be able to meet up with both your Aunt Lauren and Rachelle." He motioned toward the wheelchair. "Now, I'm sure you're feeling better, but this is a precaution we have to take. You were out for a few days."

I hesitated for a moment, but seeing the guards shift a bit let me know that I had little to no choice. I took a quick breath in before moving slowly over to the chair and sitting myself down in it. Liz stuck close, and when the chair began to move, she made sure to move with me.

"I don't think they're going to hurt you here, Chloe. I think you'll be safe. Especially if your Aunt works here."

I gave a small nod in acknowledgment before tuning in back to Dr. Davidoff.

"There we go! Not so hard, now, was it? Now, I know this room is a little small and has little privacy, so once we're sure that you'll be alright, we'll go ahead and move you to a different room."

I nodded slightly as he turned my chair, taking me out the door and into a long white hallway. There were a few doctors walking here and there, but most payed us little attention as we made our way down and through a few other similar hallways. I tried paying close attention, but gave up halfway through. The halls looked too similar, and my head still wasn't as clear as it usually was. Maybe Liz would be able to remember a little bit more than I could.

Dr. Davidoff continued talking through the trip, pointing out rooms that were meant for different types of physicals, blood work, medical experiments, and so on and so forth. He also had pointed out that there were two sets of hallways containing rooms, one for visitors (or detainees, more like) and one for doctors, nurses, or guards who just needed a place to stay for a bit.

About three minutes past our hall was the main room for 'visitors', where we could hang out to watch tv or to play games. Inside was also a kitchen where we could help ourselves to whatever snacks may be available.

"We like to keep this place as kid-friendly as possible, so that visitors like yourself won't find yourself getting too bored. This is where I'll be leaving you for a bit with Rae, while you wait on your Aunt to come and meet you."

He pushed us towards the doors, where a couple of guards stood at attention and moved to open the door for us.

"You never answered my question, Dr. Davidoff." I said quietly, still trying to take everything in.

He stopped my chair near the entrance, and from what I could see, the room looked like a massive living room, with the dining room and kitchen attached. Not a bad place, but I wasn't planning on staying long enough to really enjoy it.

"Hmm? And what was that my dear?"

I looked up at him, frowning a bit. "Where are the others? Are they here too? You just said that Rae was here."

Dr. Davidoff nodded. "Ah yes, Rachelle is here with us. But I'm afraid that we're hoping that you may be able to help us find the others. Your Aunt will be able to fill you in on the rest." He waved his hand dismissively and turned his head to Rae, who had begun walking towards us.

"Ah! Rachelle! I trust that everything is to your liking?"

She nodded, giving him a wide smile. "You're right! This place is way better than Lyle House! Although, is it possible to get a few more games? The ones here are pretty outdated, and I've already played them."

He nodded his head, his fake smile still in place. "Of course! Just make us a list of some ideal games and we'll see what we can do. Chloe here can help! Would you mind keeping an eye on her for a bit? I'm afraid that she's still recovering."

She looked over to me and gave me a kind smile. "Of course! I'll help her out. No worries."

I looked at her, confused. Why was she smiling like that? Towards these people? Did she not know..?

"Good, good. Her Aunt Lauren will be coming in soon, so you won't have long, but you guys will have plenty of time to catch up later."

With that, Dr. Davidoff waved and walked away, taking his two escort guards with him. The doors shut, and I could still hear the click of the lock echoing in my ears.

"Goodness, they said you were still recovering, not making your way back from the dead. You alright, there?"

I turned back toward Rae and gave a small smile. "Ye-yeah, fantastic." I muttered. I quickly looked around the room, and spotted almost immediately a camera in each corner. Expected, but still creepy. I lowered my voice.

"Rae, are you okay? They haven't done anything to you, have they?"

Rae gave me an odd look before shaking her head and laughing a bit. She walked behind me and took the handles of my chair and pushed me toward the couches, where she sat in front of me.

"Done anything? Besides saddle me with lame-ass games? They've been nothing but nice since I've gotten here. Why would they do anything?"

I could feel Liz hover over me. "She doesn't know… they didn't tell her anything." I nodded slightly, agreeing.

"Rae… what have they told you? About us moving here? Did they give a reason?"

"Well, yeah. You and everyone decided to break out for the night - which, I'm still pissed you didn't invite me but still invited Victoria - and the nurses said that they would have to do some work around the House to improve security." She shrugged, leaning back and stretching out. She looked comfortable, content, and the faculty here seemed pretty capable when it came to covering their asses. It only motivated me more to correct their lies.

"Rae, we weren't breaking out for the night, and there was no way we invited Tori." I started. Being reminded of Tori got me thinking... Did Tori try to escape? And was she here as well? How had she known to escape when we did? If she made it out without being caught, where was she?

I shook my head, stopping the lines of questioning that seemed to take over my brain. First things first, Rae was misinformed, and that needed to change. Now.

Fortunately, this grabbed her attention. "You weren't? Then what were you guys doing? Escaping?" Her eyes widened. "You were trying to really break out."

I nodded. "Rae… There's more going on here than what they're letting on. It's not safe with these guys. We escaped because we thought we were in danger."

"If you really thought that, then why not invite me along to your little "Escape Danger" game?" She snapped. I quickly waved my hands in front of me.

"We thought that you were safe there. We thought that Tori was safe there too. There were strange coincidences, and as far as we knew, you both weren't apart of it." But we were wrong… they had called Tori a witch. That meant that there was a necromancer, a witch, a sorcerer, a half-demon, and a werewolf…

I looked more closely at Rae, my eyes widening. "Rae… R-Rae this is going to s-sound… crazy, b-but… what was the real reason you were sent to Lyle House. What do you think happened?"

She gave a half smile at that. "Well, it turns out that what I thought happened and what really happened aren't so different. I guess the doctors informed you, too? That we're not as crazy as they made us out to be?"

I stared at her, wide-eyed, and nodded, waiting for her to continue.

She sighed. "Well, for me, I can have a bit of a temper when the right buttons are pushed. And... Well, I was at home one day when it happened. All I remember is feeling really warm, and feeling like I was literally about to explode. I started throwing things around the room, and before I knew it, everything was on fire. My parents thought that I had a set of matches on me, but I knew that I didn't." She shrugged and looked down at her hand before looking back up at me with a devious smile.

"You want to see something cool?"

I nodded quickly, already fascinated, but also the tiniest bit afraid.

She smiled wider and, going quiet, she focused on her hand for a solid two minutes before snapping her fingers. A small, red flame appeared on her thumb, growing for only a second before completely disappearing, leaving a small trail of smoke behind.

She leaned back, a proud smile adorning her face at the sight of my shocked one.

"I know. It's pretty cool. I'm not really supposed to be doing anything without the doctors, but I think they'll let this one slide. They've been helping me figure out how to control it. At first, I was pretty upset that they let us think we were crazy instead of actually teaching us, but they said that not a lot of teenagers are able to keep their powers when they hit adulthood, so they didn't want us to get our hopes up just in case. When I got here, they said that they had changed their minds, and that I was more likely to keep mine since I hadn't lost it already."

I nodded slowly, trying to process everything. "D-did they tell you what I was? What the others were?"

She nodded. "Yeah, they said that you are able to see dead people and that Tori is a witch. I think it's a perfect fit, honestly. And they said that Simon was a sorcerer and Derek was a werewolf. They laughed when I asked if that was why he was so broody all the time."

There was one person missing. "And Liz… what did they say about Liz?" I asked, looking at her directly. She looked at me, confused.

"They said they sent her home, that her powers ended up fading away."

My eyes widened as I gripped the chair, and I could hear Liz sigh sadly behind me.

"Rae…" My voice came out rough, and I quickly cleared my throat before I continued, sadly. "Rae, they didn't send Liz home."

"They didn't? So she's here?" A small spark of confusion lit her face.

I shook my head, shaking slightly. "Rae, we need to get out of here." My words came out in a harsh whisper, almost too quickly. "It's not safe. Dr. Davidoff.. He's not looking out for us. What he did…"

Rae leaned over and put her hands on my shoulders. "Chloe, Chloe, calm down. Take a deep breath."

I shook my head. "No, Rae, you don't understand. That night they found us, they did something horrible, Rae. They killed her. They killed Liz."

Rae stared at me for a moment before shaking her head, letting out a long, resigned sigh. "No, Chloe, you're still confused. They said that you would be, after being out for so long -"

I stared at her. "N-No! Rae, you have to believe me! We have to get out of here! It's not-"

The sound of the doors opening stopped me, and Rae and I whirled around to see my Aunt Lauren rushing over.

At the sight of her, I couldn't help but feel my blood turn to ice in my veins.