Here is another chapter! Have a good read and try and review.

A vast blanket of white hung heavy over the hills. It suffocated every building and every tree at their base, swallowing every distant object and vanishing around every corner. It crept around St. Andrew's church, its silent footsteps tiptoeing around each gravestone in the churchyard, passing by Thomson and Rupert and many others, before finally coming to rest at the foot of a freshly covered grave. Another failed test subject, I sit in a room.

No longer is the door open, no bright light comes from the hallway. No handle, no way out. Four concrete walls, a linoleum floor, a toilet with paper and a bed with a plush mattress - this "seclusion room" is a prison cell by another name. There is nothing to hold my mind or attention. Outside this room could be anything, anyone. There is nothing even to mark time. Would someone come in five minutes or five hours? Would I know the difference? The panic is no less, trapped is trapped.

Disembodied eyes peep through the only window, a mean rectangle of glass in the flat iron door. I am stronger my will, will hold.

I snap, "Come in here and talk to me, tell me why you do such vile things to innocent girls," anger, my tone was like a whip tearing into him.

A few have spoken to me, asking if I am hungry, shower or something else along those lines. But this was my day, nothing lucky about it the figure walked in my guesstimate he was nearly 6'7' same cold skin tinged with blue.

I could hear the Caribbean lilt to his voice when he spoke, his body feet from mine in the small reading chair. "Are we so different than what Scientist do?"

I countered, "It is not the dark ages where they kidnapped people to experiment on, now a day's people offer themselves to better science. You do it for another reason,"

I noticed they're just faintly blue, but other than that they are not what they made themselves seen as. "True. Miss. Harper, we wish you no harm. I am Gunner," I gestured to this room, and myself being here.

He smiled, "We try to make every female comfortable. We need to find out why we're like this when you are normal in appearance after drinking the same water we did long ago. Experimental research is the most appropriate way for drawing causal conclusions, regarding interventions or treatments and establishing whether or not one or more factors cause a change in an outcome. This is largely due to the emphasis on controlling extraneous variables. If other variables are controlled, the brotherhood can say with confidence that manipulation independent variable caused a changed in the dependent variable," he was well spoken and educated.

I was too with all my own reading and schooling it was like clockwork knowing some facts to use. I looked him in the eyes, a shade of brownish black, I was no longer afraid of them. "You stated in your own words, the appropriate way for drawing causal conclusions. That is just it casual, not full proof unlike what you want from this," I took another deep breath. "Experimental research can create artificial situations that do not always represent real-life situations. This is largely due to fact that all other variables are tightly controlled which may not create a fully realistic situation. Because the situations are very controlled and do not often represent real life, the reactions of the test subjects may not be true indicators of their behaviors in a non-experimental environment. Human and you're still human, the error also plays a key role in the validity of the project as discussed in previous modules. It may not be really possible to control all extraneous variables. The health, mood, and life experiences of the test subjects may influence their reactions and those variables may not even be known to you lot," keeping my gaze firmly on him, trying not to show the need to look away. They're a puzzle and in understanding also wanting to find out why they turned out a just a tad different than the rest of us.

I finished, "Experimental research is a powerful tool for determining or verifying causation, but it typically cannot specify "why" the outcome occurred. I am very well educated, and I am sure you have watched my Grandmother and myself for years and you know my medical history, I am the least likely to be able to help in your gene research," Their insincerity may be unconscious — actually being blind to their own true but uncomfortable inner reasons or motivations.

He stood now looking on the small window, "You've honestly been the first one to counter my argument, the rest cry and plead. We release you after you bare child, the child is taken care of we love them as our own until they reach a good age seeing as how they're not immortal like their parents or at birth they're not. Seems the waters will not take to them until at least age sixteen and above a wise God created the waters,"

"A wise god?"

A simple head nod was all I was offered in return.

"Yet, you stand to question this God's judgment. Cyanosis can be a factor on the skin colorization. You will never find the answers, it is fruitless. You should go buy an island and live happily on it and just live the life you should,"

"Perhaps you're right," but doubt he thought so as he strode from the room leaving me once again alone in the secluded room.

Days later, or months finally I am next. Now fear, I can feel the sweat drench my skin, the throbbing of my own eyes, the ringing screams vibrating in my ears, and the thumping of my heart against my chest. My fingers are curled into a fist, nails digging into my palm. I can't hear my rapid breathing, but I can feel the oxygen flooding in and out of my lungs. Hesitantly, my eyes look at the dead corpse before me as they walked me to another room. The girl had to have been around my age, but her journey was short.

I stammered, "I thought we couldn't die?"

"She will come back soon enough, she will be cleaned and release to return to her tribe or family. You should worry about yourself, Finley,"

"How can one be so selfish as to only care about themselves when you parade around with some false sense of justice. Not caring who you hurt, kill or destroy. You might not think so but every woman that carry's your offspring bonds with that child and you rip them apart while you play god," the words becoming more firm and hateful as I continued. Gunner was not like the rest he came daily and spoke to me, brought foods that I might like, we talked for hours he hoped by changing my environment making me less stressed it change the outcome of the infant.

Gunner wore a white lab coat, seems he is either the leader or as high as the leader. In this dimly lit laboratory, nothing but the machines meet my first gaze. There is no movement and no odor of any kind. There are lights, but like the stars, in a night sky, they do little to lift the blackness, showing only the activity of the hardware - plasma screens of gigantic proportions with text that's too far away to make sense of. Though I am inside, the feeling is more of being in a high-tech cave the size of a stadium, black metal roof above, the black metallic floor below.

I am placed in a gown and strapped to the table, Gunner spoke. "the process of fertilization by extracting eggs, retrieving a sperm sample, and then manually combining an egg and sperm in a laboratory dish. The embryo is then transferred to the uterus," so caring for his role in hurting me.

Soon it was just he and I alone while the female and male who's names are unknown go to wash up. "Take rest in knowing, this sample was stolen three years ago from one J. Tuck while he was captured in Hydro. Not all of us want the same goal, I might have figured a way to end the blue ones," but soon enough his words are cut off when the others walked in.

"Master is everything ready," she was giddy, she was going to try and take my baby.

Snarling like a rabid pack animal, this new powerful emotion taking over. "It is my child, you will never get your greedy paws on them. I will find a way to kill you," sounding so feral and brave until the gas kicked in and I was gone, but her own angry face was lingering.

When I finally woke, I was in my room.

This was not how Life was supposed to be after another three months had passed it was evident, I was with child. Every day, I planned to escape staying and having my child taken was hurting me. I hurt daily with having Jesse far from me, but now this added to it making it all-encompassing.

I wanted to kill whoever had termed it 'morning sickness. Feeling like I had the most terrible cancer of all the time. I was nauseous and liable to vomit at the slightest provocation. And it lasted all damn day. How could anything so natural feel so bad? It was worse than gastric flu, at least with the flu you knew it would be over in a few days. This could go on for another seven months.

Gunner came daily having chats, he wasn't bad just misguided he needed a friend while I needed to feel not so alone.

I now had a clock, the red laser lights flashed half passed one in the morning when the slight click of my door was heard, no one walked in. My god! Now I could hear wailing as something heavy was tossed onto my bed. "Put it on, you have five minutes to get out the gas will kill you and you will not be coming back. After get far from here since the faculty will blow in less than five minutes. This is my way of making amends," it was Gunner's voice seeing the mist skirting closer, a gas mask covered my face. I wore only shorts and a tee, but if this was my chance in no way was, I turned it down.

I had no way of knowing the way out, I reach the navy double-doors with their plastic band fastened midway and their dull chrome handles. I pull my eyes from the highly polished linoleum floor to catch a glimpse of the hallway that stretches beyond, cut into tiny squares by the thin wire in the window panels. Without pause, I push with my body weight, but I needn't have, it swings open soundlessly and with ease. A draft of air hits my face, warm and with a tincture of bleach. Ahead of me lie magnolia walls, decorated with old black and white photographs. Some are already dead as the shutters are covered with metal preventing any escape.

I worried, was the way out bared from escape as well.

But after stumbling through the dead and long hallway's a door opens, by some invisible person. The air hits me making me shiver but it smells so good. I have no idea where I am, the faculty was built long ago, like the city that surrounds it. Outside the streets were built for horses and carts, they are narrow and twisting.

I don't stop, I know behind me woman, children, and others are dead or dying and I was the only one let out, it was my prayers being answered that we both would survive together. The town is dark but all I need to do is find the name of the town, and maybe a local payphone.

A gust of dry wind winds through the maze of ancient houses where windows have long shattered in the weakness of their structures and rotting boards, some broken, others hanging try to cover the empty eyes of every abandoned home. Doors hang on the few threads of their hinges and groan with pain at every sway. Weeds socialize across the cracking asphalt of every road, gathering and laughing at the lone pedestrian as they try to weave around the catching fingers with every step. I stopped at some random old market seeing an old newspaper so much relief hit me, it was Bicker it was a Ghost town about forty-seven minutes from TreeGap. They were well hidden here, I could see the thick dark smoke billowing into the night sky.

I couldn't call anyone, but I could hike to TreeGap, it was cold but nothing was going to hinder me from reaching Kelly and Gerry.

Tears blind me and I turn, running as quickly as my long legs can carry me, bolting the road was a no go. I took to the woods, feeling the pain in my feet as branches, needles and anything else cut into the soft flesh. Keeping my hands on the small round bump trying to keep the baby safe, the sky changes color telling me sunrise was soon coming.

I wheeze as a feeling is burning my lungs gasping for air. Legs starting to feel numb and unsteady, painfully sore. My throat feels dry, so uncomfortably dry. My worn clothes and long blonde-brown hair clings to my form, no different than if I run through a rain-storm. I was dirty but below me was home, a place that would always be home to me. I knew the way to the manor now, I was in pain but forged on seeing the worth iron gate and with luck the code entered was still right, they never changed it. Kelly and Gerry always said this was my home and was welcomed back.

But by her pale face, she was not thinking it be under these circumstances. "Get in child," her eyes darting around looking for the danger I was running from. The manor was warm as Gerry was wrapping me in a fleece blanket, "What happen?" stammering.

I just collapsed on the leather sofa, my body shaking as Kelly pressed hot chocolate into my hands, giving me such a look. "What did my grandmother tell you?"

Kelly only sighed as Gerry spoke, "You can't die and are in danger, some type of fountain was found and she had you drink, the ramblings of an old lady," his smile was kind.

Kelly, she looked to believe it though, her eyes on me. "It is all true, never just ramblings. I can't die anymore she wanted me to finally live but months ago maybe six I was taken and experimented on. Not by our government but other immortals who never bonded with the water. I am having a baby, right now just need a shower, clothes, food, and cash. All my cards, cash, and everything is at my home the one I was taken from,"

Kelly stood, "Come on, Gerry go pull her some money out. I told you Winnie was not telling tales. Look at little Fin, she is healthy, we both know she would have died so long ago from cancer. I am getting her cleaned and fed up," her tone was firm with her husband who left the house in his sleep clothes, he finally understood.

I was feeling better now after the shower, clean clothes, socks, and boots on. I was resting in the kitchen as she was cooking my belly was grumbling as she laughed. "I knew you, Fin. You were meant for great things, when we die we want to sign the house back to you so keep in touch," playing up some eggs, English muffins, hash browns, and ham.

I answered after taking a bite, "I have no plans on staying away, you and Gerry are the only family that I have left. I just need to get to Jesse, was going to come here and ask if I can get married here in June. But guess we're pushing it back to next June, what day is it," my tone so dead, I was tired but had to go the sooner Jesse and I reunited the faster the pain would leave us both.

"October 21," it had been so long, my heart dropped nine months had gone by without me even knowing. They kept the dates, time, everything away from us to keep us secluded.

I ate, while they watched eating their own meal's but now it was nearly eight in the morning and time for me to leave. Kelly held keys to me, "Take the old Ford, it runs damn good. You just bring it back when you come to see us," her tone so caring as her arms hugged me close, Gerry looked torn when he spoke. "Maybe you should stay we can keep you safe, we don't want to lose ya,"

I hugged him as tight as I could. "I have to let them know, I will be back and will be married here like granny before me,"

I knew the way to the safe house and it was only hours away so with snacks packed from Kelly, a full tank I drove out of TreeGap.