~~~Please remember to review the works that you read. This is how we grow as writers and as a community! Thanks and I hope you enjoy!~~~

Edited by AuthorSwimmerPoet


"Come on son. We'll go get some ice cream!"

"Okay, Mommy!" The little boy said excitedly to his mother as she opened the door to the car. The boy's eyes were swollen shut and his face and body were bruised and broken, but the idea of ice cream made all the pain go away for the moment. He could only think about his favorite flavor of ice cream and how delicious it would taste. He quickly climbed into his car seat as if he had his heels had been on fire, and his mother strapped him in good and tight before they were off to get some ice cream!

After the car finally came to a stop the young boy unbuckled his car seat and opened the door with enthusiasm that only a child could display. He may have just gone through a life changing beating, but he was utterly excited about his ice cream. He couldn't wait to walk around the park eating his cone and spending the rest of the day with his mommy. When the boy leapt out of the car he landed on the soft grass and after looking up he saw his father and two more men in black suits standing there, waiting for him and his mother.

"Who are you? Who are these men, mommy?" The boy asked of his mother with a quizzical look on his face. When the boy turned towards his mother he could see nothing but a face completely full of tears that couldn't bear to look him in the eyes. He was a child and had no idea what was really happening, but in that moment he knew that something was very wrong. He turned back around and saw his father's back towards him and the two faceless men walking towards him with outstretched arms.

In that moment Camis bolted up right, breathing heavily, covered in sweat. He had been having the nightmare every night since they had escaped the Hazekillers in the previous hideout. The events of that night, all the stress and emotions, had made the long suppressed memory surface. Camis figured it was the look he saw in the children's eyes when he arrived to get them that night. He had seen the same confusion and fear he had felt. He had Soothed them, of course, so that they would stay calm and he could evacuate them unharmed. Those emotions he had to soothe, the same emotions he had felt as a child, still haunted his dreams.

He saw the light peeking in through the slits of his pitch-black curtains and knew that it was time to get up. Ai had asked him for his help in talking to Dek time and time again and after his talk with Sev a couple of days ago he was finally ready to start contributing to helping Ai with Dekard.


Dekard had finally started moving about the house, though he didn't really talk to anyone. He had met a few more people, especially now that everyone knew he was a Mistborn. This morning he saw Camis and Ailyie talking to Terrin about something. What? He didn't know. Dek had met Terrin a couple of days before. She was a Twinborn like Cam and Ai. He could tell by the way she moved and reacted to stimuli that she was a Tineye, meaning that she burned tin and received a boost to all of her senses while she burned it. He hadn't caught that she was a Twinborn at first, but when he overheard someone talking about her sleeping habits and how she would sleep for hours and hours longer than anyone else he immediately concluded that she was a sentry ferring. This meant that her Feruchemical metal was bronze and that she stored wakefulness in her metalminds. This allowed her to stay awake for a very long period of time when tapping them.

Dekard, after a short battle with himself finally started to move towards the group. The presence of Cam and Terrin made him a little apprehensive because Camis still couldn't stand for him to be around, and Terrin seemed, well, kind of cold. As he closed the distance between the group and himself he saw Ailyie turn towards him and smile. He could tell that she felt like she had finally won their battle. Maybe she had, but Dek still didn't feel comfortable with his situation or with the people in the house. He couldn't just sit around in his room forever though. Ai was right about him having nowhere else to go and no one else to go to. Though he felt that he wanted to die his natural human nature made him fight to survive, and that meant that he needed some form of social interaction, even if it was with metal users.

"Hi, Dek! I'm glad that you finally decided to approach us instead of the other way around!" Ai said in her unfailingly cheerful tone. She is always so happy. Dek thought. Then Dek turned to look at the other two. Terrin just stared at him with a look that was hard to distinguish between dislike and apathy. Dekard assumed that she didn't like him considering that most everyone here knew who he was and felt that way about him. He didn't really care. Cam, as always, glared at him with that disapproving, hating scowl. Then Cam said,"Darbringer, if you try anything don't think that this whole place won't come down on you in a second. You may be a Mistborn, but not even that could give you the chance against all of us. I'm watching you."

"Cam! Dekard is one of us now. He is starting to try to acclimatize himself and you are making it harder by always being so mean!"

"Ai, just because he finally came out of his room doesn't mean that he has accepted that. It just means that he has grown bored of the same four walls." At that Camis turned and walked off, headed back towards his room. Terrin gave Dek one more, long, hard stare that made him feel like his bones were melting and then she nodded towards Ai and walked off in the other direction. Terrin's height, dark black hair, dark brown eyes, and light, olive-brown skin made her cold stares a little intimidating and against his will Dek shivered a little under the weight of that stare. He was glad that she was gone for now.

"Wow, kid. You clear a group faster than a wet dog just back from the dump." Sev's voice had become something that Dek could easily pick out among crowds now.

"Well, I'm not that popular of a guy in this circle of society, Severith."

"That is probably a massive understatement." Sev said with a bellow of a laugh.

"Sev! Leave him alone!" Ai was always sticking up for Dek, in every situation. He still didn't get it. He was never very nice to her, but she always stood up for him and tried to protect him.

"It's okay, Ailyie. It's better than him running away when I approach, like everyone else." Dek said to the girl smiling at him, "I don't really know what I'm doing out here. I just felt that I needed to get out, and you are the only person who can stand my presence at all."

"Well I'm glad you are out and about. A few of us have a meeting in a little bit. I don't think that the others would let you come, but if Sev doesn't mind he is about to go out to his lab on another metal run. Maybe you can go with him!"

At that Sev chimed in. "I guess that'd be okay, but I don't completely trust you yet, Dek. If you don't mind I would like to blindfold you. You can understand my apprehension, right? I mean a lifetime of indoctrination doesn't just go away in a few days."

"Yeah, I understand. I couldn't guarantee that I wouldn't go running back if they would take me."

"Well it's settled then! Dek will go with you Sev while Camis, Terrin, and I finish planning. I'll see the two of you later!" Ai then turned around and headed in the direction that Camis had gone.


Cam and Ai hadn't been waiting for very long when Terrin finally arrived at the conference room. Cam and Ai were, of course, arguing about something. If they didn't look completely different, then Terrin would have thought they were related. It probably had something to do with the mission they were planning on undertaking. Terrin thought that Cam had some good points, but she did understand Ai's view on how dangerous the operation would be. Terrin was ready for it though. That's why she was here. She was tired of doing nothing but running.

"Cam, I just don't know if this is a good idea. A lot of people could get hurt, or worse."

"We can't keep running all of the time. We have to stand up. We have to let the public know that we still exist, that the government isn't as powerful as they say. That Darbringer Media Incorporated isn't as powerful as they proclaim!"

"But you are talking about risking the lives of all of our friends. We can't take that kind of a risk! It isn't worth it."

"Everyone here is here because they are tired of just running, Ai. This is what we are all here for. Besides we will only take volunteers. Everyone involved will know what the risks are."

"I'm sorry for interrupting, but can I say something?" Terrin had just been sitting to the side taking in the conversation that Cam and Ai were having. "I agree with Cam. We can't keep running. If we continue to run then they will never let us stop running until we are completely extinct. Ai, I know you fear for the lives of everyone here, but they should be able to make the choice for themselves."

"Then we'll ask for volunteers. If we get the amount of people we need to pull this off then I guess we will go forward with the plan to break into the DMI building. I still think that we need to do it at night, when there are less people there. Not everyone out there hates us and I don't want us to become monsters."

"Fine. If we go through with this then we will do it on your time schedule, Ai."

"Thank you for that, Cam. I guess we should make this idea known to everyone so we can start taking volunteers."

"We may not want to make it known to everyone."

"Are you implying that we shouldn't tell Dek, Terrin?"

"Yes, yes I am."

"I think that he has the right to know over anyone else. It is his family's building."

"You make a great point, Ai. Sorry, Terrin, but I agree with Ai. I still don't trust Dekard, but we may be able to use his knowledge of the building."

"Do you actually think that he will cooperate?" Terrin asked.

"We won't give him a choice."

After that last statement Ai looked at Cam with despair and a twinge of regret in her eyes. She knew this would be dangerous, and she also knew that when they told Dek that it would probably destroy everything she had been working towards.


Dekard had been blindfolded, but he could tell that it didn't take Sev and him long to get to the lab in Sev's vehicle. The lab was a simple place, though it was only lit artificially. Dek didn't know if that had to do with the alloying process or if it was just for safety from outside eyes. He guessed it was probably the latter. He was amazed at how easy Sev made the process look. From what he did know about the alloying process it was very complicated, especially when it came to Allomantic metals. If the percentages of metals in the alloy were off then they could make the person who burned them very sick. Sev just went from station to station setting up his computers and algorithms to do most of the grunt work while he went around and did some fine tuning during the process. Dek had never seen such a sophisticated system before, and the fact that Sev had built it from scratch virtually by himself was amazing.

"Do you need me to do anything, Sev? I feel a little weird just sitting here watching you work."

"What? You aren't used to doing nothing while others work? I would think being a Darbringer that you hardly ever did any manual labor."

"My family takes physical strength very seriously. That's why we all learn the ways of the Hazekillers. My father drilled a very strict work ethic into me and though I hated it at times I see the value in working with your hands. Don't think that just because I come from a rich family that I sit around and do nothing but party all of the time. 'Responsibility is a gift' is something my father used to always say."

"Really? That seems odd since your family's media company never owns up to the responsibility they have as the most influential family in the world."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"The Darbringer's, as you obviously know, are the most powerful family in the entire world. They have a public responsibility to work their influence for the betterment of the world as a whole, but they only work on bettering themselves and lining their own pockets. That's how this whole extermination process was started in the first place."

Dekard thought about what Sev said for a second and though he, deep down, knew he was right but his pride was offended and he couldn't help but grow angry. "How dare you talk about my family like that! They have done tons for this world!"

"Like what, Dekard! Tell me one thing that your family has done that has been for the good of all!"

"For one, they rid the world of most of the filthy metal users that flaunted and misused their abilities to manipulate those around them!"

"You disappoint me, Dek. After all you have seen around you, living on the other side of this conflict. You still don't get it do you? You are the bad guy, you are the manipulator. How can you not see that your family is the most powerful family because they manipulated the fears of the people around them? You continue to just be a selfish little child even in the face of what is happening."

Dekard hadn't really ever seen this side of Sev. He was usually so laidback compared to everyone else, so upbeat, always making jokes. Dek saw how much Sev repressed his hatred of him when Ai was around. Sev cared a lot for Ai, which was evident now. Dek didn't know what else to say. Sev was wrong though, Dek had begun to see it. He just didn't want to face the truth. He was still fighting to get his former life back. Why can't things just go back to the way they are supposed to be?


The news about the plan to break into DMI had caught Dek off guard and he was still trying to decide if he was going to go with the group or not. He had been thinking about what Sev had said to him at the lab since he got back to his room. He was torn about seeing his father, who he knew would be at the building. He was always at the building. Would my father take me back? Does he know that I'm an Allomancer? Maybe I could hide it and get back to my old life. At that moment Dek decided that he would volunteer to go on the mission to his family's business building. He would wait for the right time to slip away and make it to his father's office.

Dek stood up and walked to his door to go tell Ai that he had decided to go. He knew that she would be happy that he was going. She would assume that he had finally come to terms with his situation. As always Ai perplexed him, even when they were going to the DMI building she still told him even though most of the others probably disagreed with that idea. She was the only person he had ever met that just trusted wholeheartedly. Though he thought she was naïve for trusting that easily, part of him envied her because of the same reason.

When Dek opened his door she was already standing there waiting for him. Her vibrancy made him feel a little guilty about his plan, but he was growing desperate to return things to normal. Life wasn't supposed to be like it was at that moment, and he wanted to get back to the way things were. "Hello, Ai. I've decided to go with you guys, so you can count me in."

Ai wore her smile that she always had on, the smile that said everything was going to be okay. She was obviously happy that Dek hadn't completely retired back into his room. "Good! I'm glad you are coming with us! I really think that you being there will help keep people from getting hurt. Thank you, Dek!"

Terrin walked up and spoke to the two of them. "We will be leaving a few hours after the sun has gone down. I suggest that you get your metals from Sev and get some rest. Not everyone can stay up at will."

Dek and Ai looked at Terrin and took her advice. It wasn't very hard to find Sev. They just had to follow the sound of laughing children. Sev liked to leave all the kids that stayed with them on a high note before they did anything dangerous. From the sound of it he was accomplishing that task. After they got to Sev he told them were they could find the vials of metal. He also mentioned that he had put together a few special vials with multiple metals for Dek. Dek and Ai went and picked up their resources and went their separate ways to take Terrin's advice. They were all in for a very long night.