I came to a shaky landing on the roof of the house, blood trickling down my leg and Speck still clinging to me. The roof wasn't completely flat, and I couldn't hold onto anything as we tumbled down it and onto the balcony of my room. I made sure to land on my back and risk my wings to avoid Speck getting injured. Once still, I released my grip on her and relaxed my arms, which were numb from loss of blood. My legs were also shaky, and my lips felt chapped as I closed my eyes, trying to dismiss the pain.

"Don't fall asleep," I heard just as I felt hands press against me. I cried out from the sudden wave of pain as Speck pushed against the wound, trying to keep me from bleeding out. I opened my eyes and looked at her blurry figure, arms straight and using her weight against the rushing blood. "Stay awake Amber," her voice shaky as she moved to one hand and the other taking off her shoes. She took her knee-high socks and put them against the gash, the white cloth turning red. She then ripped off her tie and wrapped it around my waist to keep it all together. I winced as she shoved it under me to make sure it stayed before running into the house screaming for Mom. My eyes fluttered as I stared up at the sky. My breaths were short, my body heaving from the agony, that tingling feeling crawling slowly around my skin, leaving nothing to feel.

It felt like forever until Mom came thundering in, gasping and rushing back to call 911 but Speck stopped her. My head turned to watch as Speck yelled at Mom, saying what happened in muffled speech and telling her that they'll find us if she called. Mom started crying, wondering what to do while Speck demanded for a medical kit. I didn't hear Mom say where but Speck took off running, leaving Mom to collapse to her knees and crying into them. Her figure was beginning to become a blob and I tried to reach out to her with my fingers extended, but those also were going numb. I didn't feel my hand fall against the wood, nor did I really feel the pain any more. It was fading. The numbness was crawling towards my neck now, and the only feeling I had left was going away. I didn't hear Speck storming towards me, and I didn't hear her say it was going to hurt, and I didn't feel the instruments she had in her hands working on me. I was already gone.

I peeled my eyes open to see the same ceiling I always woke up to. Blinking, I rubbed my eyes and looked again. No, that's my ceiling all right. I let out a shaky breath. That was some crazy dream. The thought of Erasers causing a huge car accident to just get Speck and me? Insane. I really had to talk to my subconscious about better dream ideas. I rarely had the ones where I was stuck in a fairytale land made of sweets. Hopefully today would help induce better dreams. I gently smiled. First day of school. Speck was ecstatic when Dad told us, and really wanted to get a nice skirt and everything. Hopefully it didn't get wrinkled the way she had it hanging on her dresser, otherwise she'll have a fit. She might even be awake now.

I rolled over to sit up but gasped, pain shooting through me like a wave breaking against rocks. I fell back against the bed and moaned, trying to adjust my position though it didn't help the aching. My door creaked open and I scanned over to see Speck peering in. She was wearing one of her favorite shirts, a black t-shirt with green "Don't Mess With Me" letters on the front. Her face though, was covered in small scars like the rest of her skin. My brows narrowed as she stepped in with mom and dad in tow. Both were struggling to keep back tears, making it quite obvious something happened. I turned my body the best I could to sit up but the pain reminded me I couldn't.

"Don't move," Speck shushed me, putting her hands against my shoulders.

"What-" I winced and glanced down at myself. I wasn't in my pajamas, and neither was I really in bed either. I was on top of several towels and blankets which were pink or red in certain spots. I wore my school clothes that were tattered and spotted in blood, my pants ripped to shreds and wearing only one sock. The other foot was wrapped up in bandages, but it wasn't as heavy as the ones around my waist. They were thick and tight, restricting my movements. A pale pink was forming on top of them, now turning red.

"Please, sweetheart, you have to rest," Dad told me. I tried to relax my muscles but everything was telling me to move, figure out what exactly was hurting and what to do for it. But they were right, not moving was diminishing the pain a lot, but it didn't get rid of it.

"What happened?" I asked, but as soon as I opened my mouth, the thoughts came flooding in. The dream I had wasn't a dream. It was real. The Erasers did cause an accident. The Erasers did attack the bus. The Erasers did shoot me. Water welled on the edge of my eyelid, ready to trickle out but I blinked it away. "No, no no no no," I mumbled, shaking my head. They were back.

Mom choked on her sobs and Dad hung his head. Speck was the only calm one in the room.

"You got shot in the abdomen, and you lost a lot of blood," Speck disclosed to me. She sat next to me.

"How," I inhaled. "How long was I out?"

"A couple of hours," Speck replied.

"And did you," my eyes glazed over the bandages.

"I was able to stop the bleeding, and I did check to make sure it didn't damage anything, so don't worry about that," she began unwrapping the bandages, which turned redder the closer it got to my skin. She revealed the area I got shot. The stitches were scraggly but was already beginning to heal pretty quick. The pain was still there though. "It mainly hit muscle, and I don't think I should take it out either."

"Take it out- it's still in there?" Mom jumped in, concerned. "What about lead poisoning? Are you sure it didn't get to her bone?"

"I'm positive!" Speck piped up. "You're the one who checked!"

I looked up at Mom, "Wait- you helped her?" I knew Speck was trained in both fighting and medical areas, better attuned to medical, but I didn't know Mom had a medical side. All I knew was that she worked on the computer day after day.

"Of course, honey," Mom explained. "I went to medical school."

"You did?"

"Yes, and I was in the surgery program too, then I met your Dad, got pregnant..." her voice trailed off, allowing me to put two and two together. That's why she stopped practicing it. Because of me. Because of my brother. We ruined her career for what has happened to us. My heart sank.

"We're leaving it in there so we don't risk you getting worse. You heal fast, remember?" Speck pointed out.

She was right; of course she couldn't just take it out. It would be like getting shot again but with no bullet. Plus, it would take longer for me to heal than I typically do, even if it's and extra day. Speaking of...

"Right, hopefully it doesn't take a day or two," I stated.

"Still, you should rest until you go back to sc-" Mom paused, realizing I didn't have the expression she was hoping for. I gazed up at her, my face sullen whereas hers was troubled. She still wanted this for us despite what happened, but it wasn't right. I was sure about my thoughts, but she wasn't. She shook her head, trying to keep her motherly tone, "No. No, you're staying here."

"We can't stay," I sighed, feeling a pit in my stomach. An ache came up and I adjusted myself on the bed again.

"No, you are not going anywhere!" Dad jumped in. "You are staying right here missy."

"But we can't!"

"Listen," Mom struggled to keep her voice steady. "We can take care of you until you heal properly, then we can change schools, maybe even move-"

"I can't!" I exclaimed. "I can't risk your lives even more than I am now!"

They stopped talking and gaped at me, shocked that I would try to speak over them. Dad wasn't deterred though, his face hardening, "Young lady, you do not talk that way-"

"I talk the way I want to! You two are being irrational, do you want to get killed?"

That shut them up. Mom covered her mouth with a hand and turned her head away, mimicking what my old mom did when she confronted me in my cage. Something caught in my throat. The way she was acting, it was so similar that I felt like I was back there again. On the fence of obeying or being killed. I couldn't let that happen, not again. I rested my head back on the pillows, trying to scrounge up what to say next.

"She's right."

All our attention turned to Speck, her face causing me to catch my breath. Oh, no. What I just said, what did I just say? And in front of her? But she didn't look upset. The air around her felt like it though. She hung her head a little bit.

"I worked for them, for ITex," she stated. Mom and Dad's expressions changed to concern. "I know their protocol, their tactics, everything. Once they get a lead they won't stop, not until the job is done. We can't put you in their path. We..." Her voice caught, on the verge of crying so she clung to the bedsheets. I moved my hand to console her but she pulled her arms to her chest.

"We have to leave," I completed her sentence. I looked up at Mom and Dad, who both had tears in their eyes. They couldn't stop us, and they couldn't do anything to help us. "We might have the night, maybe even a day before they find us. But we have to go."

Mom threw her arms around me and squeezed my shoulders, her tears dampening my collar. I then felt her heave and begin to sob as Dad dabbed at his eyes with the back of his sleeve. He put a hand on Speck's shoulder before sitting on the bed next to us. His cheeks glistened as Mom continued to cry. I fought back my own sadness, trying to stay strong in this. I loved them, oh so much, and I had to let them go. After all this time being here, I had to leave. For the sake of saving them, I had to leave them for good. Maybe I could come back in a couple years, maybe months, or maybe it was impossible. Would I have to keep on running? Will I ever settle down? I felt water roll down to my chin and tried to think of a better world. A world where everything was perfect and happy and I lived with them and my brother for all eternity.

But of course, no such world existed.