"Where's Amanda?" I asked, sitting in the backseat restlessly. Biting my nails, along with the occasional hair play.

John answered. "She's resting at the moment." He sounded amused, you know, like when somebody knows something you don't.

I didn't question further anyway, like most things that involved John, it would reveal itself in time. Maybe too soon for my liking.

I couldn't tell how much longer after, but Mark spoke. "You can relax. We're here now. You'll find out soon enough."

When Mark parked, I was the first out of the vehicle. I darted to the sidewalk, and found myself staring at a large building, six or seven floors, no windows.

Mark, guiding me, walked alongside as John was opening the back door. I followed him inside and into a gated staircase that he disarmed before we went in. He called it a 'precaution trap' and said that we would need it if we wanted our game to go smoothly. I didn't exactly understand then. We went up, stopping at a high level. I stepped out with them into a room, not well lit, but good enough, and furnished with what looked like John's future works. A large storage room. There was a table towards the back, grimly decorated with medical equipment, all set up for John. I helped him over to it, he sat behind the desk and I handed him an oxygen mask, turning the valve on the tank to give him a fresh supply. Looking behind me, I could see Mark turning on the power for the elevator trap again. I opened the cabinets behind John, looking for his pain medications, I found one full, and one half empty. I opened the half empty one and gave him two and a bottle of water. I assisted him with his IV drip.

"Rivielle," Mark called from far off. "I have something to show you."

I looked at John for reassurance. He nodded at me, and I turned, hesitantly, looking back at him. "Go on." He encouraged. I left him, reluctantly.

There were aisles of metal parts, broken computer screens, mannequin limbs and foam heads; I walked down a row of those and through a gated area towards Mark. He stood by a row of computer monitors, staring at one screen.

"I'm here."

He looked up, motioning for me to come closer.

"Look." He said.

I did. I looked into the monitor, the blue screen depicting what was going on elsewhere. I counted eight people all together in a small room. There was a safe in the middle of them.

"Is that..." I pointed to a petite body lying on the floor. The only one still knocked out from the drug I presumed Mark had administered.

"Where's Amanda?"

John answered. "She's resting at the moment."

"Amanda?" I looked closer. It was. I took a deep breath, I had forgotten to breathe. My eyes were glued to the monitor. "...why?" I looked to Mark.

"This is her test, as well as the others." He told me firmly.

"What's going to happen to them? Whats happening in there? Why can't I hear anything?" I pressed.

I would never have admitted it, and this is the first and last time I'll ever mention the fact that I was worried about Amanda Young. It had felt like she was one of us, our little created unit. Not exactly a family, but a connection in a partnership. If her and I shared a common goal, then she was valuable and to lose her would be almost inconceivable. I did not always appreciate her, but I did not want to witness her destruction.

"Get her out of there Mark." I pointed to her on the monitor, her body was inert, some of the others walking about and exploring the room. Not well enough, I had deduced, since none of them had found any tapes yet.

Mark scoffed at me, shaking his head in disbelief. "You're unbelievable."

"Did you hear what I said? This is completely ridiculous!"

"Why do you care?" He questioned.

"Because she's one of us. And if you and John could be so indifferent as to put her in there with those people, then maybe I'm starting to fear for my safety too." I spat.

"Those people?" He smirked, "Look closer, Elle. You might just find you weren't so different from them."

So I did. Glaring at him for a long moment, I finally brought myself to focus on the faces of the people in the room. A large hispanic that I recognized from the picture I had seen. Two white men, one burly, one lanky and unkempt. A white woman and a black man. Then, my eyes caught a slender, tanned, latina with wavy tresses. She wore a pink camisole top and she appeared to be more stressed than I had ever known her. Addison was often paranoid, but this...

This was a far cry from the streets that she secretly feared.

A long way from the corner of 23rd and Hamilton, where I could laugh with her and tell her how much Chris was getting on my nerves lately.

"Oh noo." I groaned, feeling an awful churning in my stomach. I could have vomited, if there was anything of substance in my stomache. "Addie." My eyes gleamed against the light of the screen, welling up bitterly. I could hear Mark's soft, disheartened exhale behind me, but I was clenching my fists and in the zone. Too far gone to react to him exactly the way I wanted.

He must have known, he HAD to have known.

She's my best friend. My confidant, my diary.

He put her there.

My Addie-

He touched me.

"Don't touch me." I shook him off, walking away, not being able to stand it. He didn't go after me and thats how I liked it.

I walked blindly across the room, down the aisles and rows of junk, eyesight blurred and heart pounding too hard. I collapsed into a chair nearby, laying my head down on the table. After a long while, I could hear Mark and John speaking, but I wouldn't listen to what they were saying. All I knew was that Amanda and Addison were in that room, I didn't know what either of them would face. Even if I did, I wouldn't be able to stop it, so I didn't care to find out.

All I could conjure in my mind was a scene that had played out several months ago between Addison and I. I recalled our exact words.

"This isn't for me anymore. My mom's hospital bills are almost paid off...so...I'm going back to school." She stopped, a laugh escaped her lips. "I know it sounds crazy."

I was about to let her know how far away from crazy that really was. How amazing it was, and how excited I was for her. But she continued on before I could tell her.

"I just got this great job at this diner, they said I could start training real soon." She grinned at me, just the thought of it put a spring in her step. All I could do was stare into her brown eyes, awestruck. "I know I'm better than this..." She looked around at the scenery. Then she pointed at me. "You too. But you gotta prove it to yourself. Life isn't gonna change on it's own. I'm gonna make something of myself, and I don't know if I told you Ellie, but I wanna dance..."

My memory faded as I felt my heart sink into my abdomen.

I closed my weary eyes, a bit uncomfortable with my head on the table, but I plunged into slumber anyway.

-

"What time is it..." I murmured groggily, as I lifted my head from the table, a bit of saliva on my lower lip. I wiped my mouth with my sleeve covertly, hoping nobody had noticed. Then, alertly, I scanned the room for somebody, anybody. My eyes focused on John, he was still sitting in the same area as before, so I concluded that I hadn't been out too long. That was good, I hoped I didn't miss the end of the game. Whatever it was.

"I assumed you would have slept longer considering you might dread knowing what is happening on that monitor." said John.

I didn't look his way. I simply crossed the room and came back to the gated area where the monitors were still on. Mark was no where to be found. I felt deeply alone, but I was beginning to welcome the aspect.

I ignored the screen's somewhat painful glare, and I could see Amanda on one screen, she was with a younger boy who I didn't notice the first time. I still had high hopes for her, especially if she was still pushing forward. But she was experienced. And Addison was not.

In fact, at the moment I walked up to the monitor, staring with my mouth hanging open mutely, she had just walked right into a trap.