Emery drove straight to the sector. It was the only place that she could think of. She approached the guard at the front gate. He seemed startled by her appearance.

"Ma'am are you alright?"

Emery spoke in a lifeless voice. "I'm looking for my dad. Ray Whitehill?"

"I'll radio him." He looked down and noticed the blood dripping from Emery's hand. "Ma'am do you need the first aid kit?"

That's when everything went dark.

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Roman heard the sirens from his bedroom and walked into the main room. He looked at his mother.

"What's going on?"

She shrugged and looked out the door. Sophia came out of her room as well. Just then Drake came in behind Maia. Sophia spoke to him curious.

"What's going on out there?"

"Apparently a human passed out at the gate. It looks like a girl who was assaulted."

Maia looked horrified. "By a guard?"

"Don't know. I was on the roof and I didn't see anything."

They heard a knock on the door. Maia opened it and Teri rushed in. She looked terrified. Drake spoke to her quickly.

"What's up?"

"I overheard some of the guards talking about the girl who was attacked. It sounds like she had been stabbed. But get this, she's a teenage girl whose father is a guard in the sector."

Roman froze. "Emery."

Maia put a hand on his shoulder. "You don't know that. There are hundreds of guards. It could be someone else."

Sophia looked at Teri. "Do you think it was Emery?"

She shrugged. "All that the guard said was that the girl is a student at Marshall High."

Drake nodded. "Well then Maia is right it could be a number of people."

Roman shook his head. "How many human kids willingly come to the sector at night when they know that it's against the rules?"

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Emery woke up in a hospital bed. She was hooked up to an iv and about a dozen different monitors. She looked around and saw her dad sitting in the chair next to her. She spoke to him quietly.

"Dad."

He forced a smile and leaned in towards her. "Hey. How do you feel?"

"Tired. What happened?"

"Do you remember coming to the sector looking for me?"

She nodded. "Yeah I got in a fight with mom..." She looked at him nervous. "Did she tell you?"

He nodded and Emery was mortified. He grabbed her hand.

"Sweetie i'm not mad, disappointed but not mad."

"Mom is."

"Yes well she won't be around here for a while."

"What do you mean?"

He sighed. "She wanted you to have an abortion and she wanted to throw Roman in The Crate. I knew that you probably didn't want that. We fought and I told her that if she wanted to hurt Roman or you then she could leave. So she did."

Emery laid there stunned. "You really said that?"

"I did." He spoke to her honestly. "Emery I almost lost you from a disease, I refuse to loose you over a boy."

She nodded. "What about the baby?"

"If you think you can do this then I will help you."

She sat up and hugged him tight. "I love you."

"I love you too Em."

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As soon as Emery was released from the hospital her dad took her home. It was weird walking back into the house after what happened. In the kitchen was the bloody tea towel, knife, and a small blood pool on the floor. Emery's bloody handprint was even on the front door. Ray looked at his daughter.

"I didn't think to come back and clean it."

She nodded. "It's okay."

She noticed her phone on the counter and saw that she had dozens of missed calls and text from her friends. Her dad looked over her shoulder and nodded.

"Julia has called me half a dozen times."

"I don't know if I am ready to talk to everyone just yet."

"Okay. I think it may be good if you stay home from school tomorrow."

Emery nodded and walked upstairs. She curled up in her bed and fell asleep. She woke up a couple hours later when the doorbell rang. Ray Whitehill opened the door and found Julia, Roman, Sophia, and Lukas. Sophia and Roman kept their distance and stood just off the porch. Julia smiled.

"Hey Mr. Whitehill. Is Em home?"

He hesitated. "She doesn't want to see anyone right now Julia."

"Is she okay?"

"She's fine we just have had a rough couple of days. I'll tell her that you stopped by."

Julia nodded. "Okay just tell her we miss her."

"I will."

He shut the door and went back to cleaning.

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Julia turned and looked at Roman and Sophia.

"Well that was a bust."

Sophia shook her head. "Not completely."

She pointed to the second floor where a curtain was moving. Julia looked at them confused.

"That's their guest room."

Lukas shrugged. "Maybe someone is here that Emery's dad doesn't want anyone to see."

Julia rolled her eyes. "Like an affair? No way Em would have told me."

"Well then why is Emery hiding?"

Roman sighed. "I don't know but clearly she doesn't want to see any of us or more her dad doesn't want her too."

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Emery looked out her window at the night sky. Her dad was downstairs watching the news leaving her to her thoughts. She was staring at the stars when she heard something hit her window. She looked down and saw Roman standing in her backyard. She opened the window and looked down.

"What are you doing here?"

He climbed up the tree next to her house and slid into her bedroom. He looked at Emery's hand.

"It was you that the guards were talking about."

She nodded. He continued.

"Were you there for your dad or were you there for me?"

She sighed and sat on the edge of her bed. "You. The Sector was the safest place I could think of."

He looked at her with a mixture of pain and amusement. "Wow that's bad."

He sat down next to her and she cracked a small smile. "I know that I am safe wherever you are."

"What happened?"

"I cut my hand when I was chopping an onion." She looked at the look on his face and smiled. "I swear it's true."

He nodded. "Okay but why is your dad acting so weird?"

"My mom left us."

"Why?"

She hesitated before standing in front of him and pulling up her top, showing him the baby bump that started appearing a couple days ago. Roman's eyes widened as he looked.

"Wha...when did you find out?"

Emery dropped her shirt. "A couple weeks ago."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I tried but it seemed like everytime I would I chickened out."

He put his head in his hands then sighed. "Your mom found out?"

She nodded. "I started crying and she saw that my tears were glowing. She flipped out."

"Because i'm an atrian."

She nodded. "She wanted me to get an abortion but my dad stood up to her. She left."

She started crying. Her glowing tears were falling down her face quickly. Roman gathered her in his arms and kissed her forehead.

"It's going to be okay. You and me we're in this together."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

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Emery woke up the next morning wrapped in Roman's arms. She looked up and found him staring at her. He smiled.

"Morning."

She leaned up and kissed him softly. "You're going to get in trouble."

"Probably."

She snuggled into his chest and sighed. She never wanted him to leave. But when she heard her dad's footsteps on the stairs her eyes widened. She sat up just as he opened the door. He looked at them and sighed.

"SEU was looking for you. They tracked your GPS here and I covered for you. Don't make me do that again."

Roman nodded. "Yes Sir."

He left without another word. Roman kissed Emery's forehead before sliding out of bed. She sighed.

"You have to leave?"

He nodded. "I don't want to get your dad into trouble."

He slipped his shirt on and grabbed his jacket off her floor. He kissed her softly. She wrapped her hands around his neck and kissed him deeply. He pulled back slightly.

"I'll be back."

She nodded. "I love you."

"I love you too."

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