I scaled the tree behind the house as quietly as I could. One of the branches lead to one of the windows of my room. We had moved into a new syndicate house in Sector 3 a few weeks ago, and it has been two months since I started the training sessions at the Syndicate Management building. I haven't said a word to the others and I don't intend on telling them either.

I balanced myself on the window sill and placed my thumb down at the bottom left corner of the window. I had installed a program that allows me to activate and deactivate the security system by my window at my own will using my thumb print. This way I could leave the house and come back whenever I want to without alerting the others.

I climbed through the window and reactivated the security. All lights were off and the moon was covered by clouds but I could still see everything clearly. I changed into my pajamas quickly and dove into bed. I'm so tired. I had no trouble falling into a dreamless sleep.

"Wakey, wakey, eggs and bakey!" Vanessa's voice jarred me away from the world of darkness. I felt the warmth around me disappear and she pulled my blanket away from me. I instinctively scrunched into a ball, arms blocking my face from the light. I heard a gasp.

Grumbling, I forced my eyelids open and sat up. I squinted as my eyes focused. "What's wrong?" I yawned, crossing my legs.

Vanessa rushed forwards and grabbed my wrists. "What happened to you?" She asked. Mind still muddled from sleep, I frowned at her and looked down at my arms. I had bandages wrapped around my right forearm and left bicep, with several small bruises scattered. Realization dawned on me that I had pulled on a tank top and not a long-sleeved pajama top. I snuck a look at my legs. I was wearing long pants. I swallowed a sigh of relief.

"Amelia?" Vanessa pressed on.

"Oh, um, I just got in a fight during one of my patrols. Just never mentioned it to you." I said, trying to twist my wrists from her grip. Vanessa narrowed her eyes at me before releasing her hold.

"If you say so." She moved as I swung my legs over the edge of the bed. "Anyways, get ready. It's our day off and we're going to a new amusement park. Breakfast is waiting!" She walked out of my room and closed the door behind her.

I released a breath and made my way to the closet. Since Vanessa had already seen the bandages, she's probably going to tell everyone else. There's no point in hiding them now. I pulled on a comfortable grey t-shirt, my sole pair of jeans and grabbed a hoodie. I fingered the fraying holes in my jeans. I was never that bothered to get a new one or get more jeans in general. Oh well.

The moment I walked to the dining area, Hugh locked me in a playful choke hold and began to ruffle my hair. "Good morning, sunshine!" I delivered a strong elbow to his stomach and continued to walk towards the table.

"What was that for?" I smoothed my hair down and took a seat, shooting Hugh a glare.

"Oh, come on! Can you blame me? I feel like I haven't seen you in forever!" He exclaimed as he bounced towards the table as well.

"We see each other every day. We live in the same house." I deadpanned.

"But still." Hugh said as he took his seat.

"He does have a point though, although he did say it over dramatically." Kyle joined in, ignoring Hugh's exaggerated wails as he began to pat my head. I whacked his hand away from my head in annoyance.

"You're either out or sleeping. It's always one of the two, so we don't spend time together anymore." He continued as he took his seat as well.

"Plus, you seem to have less of an appetite. Not that you ate that much to begin with... which is worrying in itself." Vanessa added as she walked in from the kitchen and set the last plate down. "We've been quite worried about you for some time now. Are you really okay?"

A wave of emotions flooded my mind. I had been way too wrapped up in my training and trying to keep it a secret from them that I didn't take note of their feelings and how my actions were affecting them. I offered a small smile. "Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry."

The three of them smiled back at me. "Well, we trust you on that. But, we are here for you if you ever want to talk about something. After all, we are family." Vanessa said before she began to dig into her breakfast. Kyle and Hugh followed suit.

Guilt washed through my system as I began to eat as well. Once we were done with breakfast, we set out. We decided to take our time and walk to the park since we weren't in a rush.

I heard a crash and then saw a bright flash of light from the corner of my eye. It seemed to have come from one of the alleyways. I frowned and stopped walking. I turned to the alleyway and stepped forward to go see what was going on when Vanessa grabbed hold of my wrist. "Come on! We're almost there!" She pulled me so that I was jogging along with her and ahead of the others.

I took a quick glance back at the place where the light came from. Maybe it was just my imagination.

~*~

"Come on! I want to go on that rollercoaster!" Hugh sprinted towards the long line of people waiting to get on the said rollercoaster. I watched as the current batch of people sped through the tracks, screams of joy – and probably some of fear – rang through the air. Music played from the speakers spread out across the amusement park. Smells from the restaurants and food vendors wafted through the air, and the laughter of the people increased the joyful mood. I chuckled and began to walk towards the line as well only to realize that Vanessa wasn't moving.

I turned to her and tilted my head slightly in question. Vanessa blushed slightly and looked away, "I'm not a big fan of rollercoasters. I think I'll pass on this ride." I frowned at this.

"Go have fun. I'll wait for you guys in that shop over there." Vanessa pointed at a building that was painted in pink. Vanessa waved goodbye before running over to the building. I turned on my heel and headed to where Kyle and Hugh were waiting in line.

The ride was exhilarating. Adrenaline was still pumping through my veins even after I had gotten off the ride. I wasn't sure if I had screamed or not. If I did, it mingled in with the screams of others.

I walked towards the pink shop that Vanessa had went to earlier as the guys went to get something to eat. I spotted her crouching by a shelf of plush toys. I walked over to the shelf and patted her shoulder. She looked up on me and smiled before placing the stuffed bear she was holding back on the shelf.

"Let's go!" She said as she stood up.

"Don't you want to get that?" I asked, pointing at the bear she was holding before.

Vanessa turned back and narrowed her eyes as if scrutinizing the teddy bear. "Hmm... I don't know..." She continued to hum, her eyebrows furrowed as if she was thinking very hard about it. She relaxed and sighed, "I don't know."

"Do you ladies need help with anything?" A male's voice came from the side and the two of us turned to look at who it was. Judging by the outfit he was wearing, he was a worker here.

"No, it's fine. We're just about to leave. Thanks!" Vanessa said as she grabbed my hand and turned to leave the store. The worker was quick to block our path. My eye twitched in annoyance.

"Can I interest you ladies in this?" He asked as he held up a product he took from a nearby shelf. It was a snow globe.

"No, thank you." Vanessa said as she tried to get pass again, only to be blocked. I grinded my teeth.

"Oh, come on. How about this?" He picked another random product of the shelf.

"We really don't want to buy anything." Vanessa said, annoyance evident in her voice as well.

"Wait, what about this?" He asked once again, this time leaning forwards to us as if to make a point.

Something within me snapped and all sounds disappeared around me. The only thing I could hear was my heartbeat and my own breathing. My vision turned red.

"Amelia!" Vanessa's voice broke through and everything returned to normal.

"Huh?" I blinked my eyes as if I just snapped out of a daze. I had grabbed the collar of the worker and my fist was close to hitting his face. I released him immediately and apologized, suddenly feeling dizzy.

"Amelia, are you okay?" Vanessa asked, grabbing onto my forearm.

"Yeah." I breathed out, the world beginning to spin in front of me. "Maybe it was the heat." I muttered before everything turned black completely.

I woke up again a few moments later, on the floor of the store. Vanessa and the worker was beside me and a small circle of people had gathered.

"Amelia! You're awake. You blacked out for a few seconds." Vanessa said as she helped me sit up.

"Alright guys, back up." The worker said, shooing the other people away. I cradled my head as Vanessa helped me up.

"Are you sure you're okay?" She asked me again.

I waited a little moment to clear the cloudiness in my mind. "Yeah." I breathed out and dropped my hand back to my side. "I think I'll feel better after eating some ice cream."

Vanessa giggled, "You and your sweet tooth."

I turned to the worker and apologized again about the earlier incident. He gave a wide smile and apologized for being way too pushy. Vanessa ended up buying the teddy bear she was holding on to earlier.

We met up with Hugh and Kyle by an ice cream vendor. We each got an ice cream cone and continued our day at the amusement park once we were done.

~*~

It was around 8 pm when we decided to go home. As we walked back, I mentioned that I wanted to go on a quiet walk to clear my mind. The three of them shot me worried looks but let me go off in a different direction while they continued to head home. I was supposed to be at the Syndicate Management building at 9 pm so I took my time and walked at a leisurely pace.

Nevertheless, I arrived at the building earlier than I had expected but I went to the lab straight away. Some of the ladies who worked in the lab greeted me and lead me to the room with the scanning machine.

I would always start off with a scan with the capsule machine and ended with the other machine to scan. I wasn't quite sure what the difference between them was but I just did as I was told.

I changed into more comfortable fighting clothes that were offered by the management team. Isabelle walked into the room. "Hello, Amelia!" I nodded at her in return.

"You'll be fighting against two people today. We're going to skip the virtual training for today since your previous one was longer than usual."

I nodded in response and made my way down to the weapons room. For the virtual trainings, I kept seeing the same scenario over and over but each time I would do something different. I would last in the fight for longer and I managed to take down more and more people. Of course, that also meant I had to witness and experience being killed in multiple different ways. I winced as I thought back to the most recent one. Someone had attacked me from behind and sliced through my neck. My hand found itself around my neck.

I shook the thoughts away from my head and grabbed the weapons I normally use. A stun gun baton and a dagger. I walked into the training area and began to stretch. Two people walked in soon and I watched them from the corner of my eye as I continued to stretch.

I turned to face them as I continued. It was a man and a woman, both of whom looked extremely muscular. Soon the familiar beep ran through the room.

The two of them charged at me immediately. I dodged around their kicks and punches and delivered a few of my own which were blocked easily. This continued for a while until the woman disappeared behind me and grabbed hold of my hair.

I took advantage of the force pulling me backwards and swung my legs upwards and kicked her in her face. As I landed again I pulled out the stun gun and stunned her before she could rebalance herself.

I heard metal being unsheathed behind me and I felt the hairs of my neck stand up. I jumped and turned around just as a sword appeared. It was originally aiming for my back but sliced across my stomach instead. I landed and immediately sprung towards him. I grabbed onto his sword wielding hand and used the force and momentum to try to kick him across the head. He stopped my foot with his other hand and threw me onto the floor, knocking the air out of me. The beep signaling the end of the fight sounded and paramedics ran in almost immediately.

I gritted my teeth as the man walked away casually. He was completely unscathed. I kept a hand on the wound across my stomach as I made my way to the medical room. I hissed as I sat down at my usual spot. Christopher came rushing not a moment later.

"Lie down." He said as he took out the things that he needs from the trolley by the bed. I did as he said so with a huff. "It was a good fight."

I hmphed in reply. He sighed, "you really don't like losing, don't you?" He carefully lifted my shirt and folded it upwards so that he could get to the bloody cut. I hmphed again at his statement before hissing as he began to disinfect the wound.

"Well the cut isn't too deep so that's good." He said as he continued to work. Once he was done, he helped me sit up and told me to hold my shirt so he could wrap it with bandages.

As he worked, my heart was beating so hard that I thought it might jump out of my chest. I prayed that he couldn't feel or hear it as he was working. The moment he finished, I scooted away from him and released a breath I didn't realize I had been holding.

"Be careful for a while. And try not to pick at it." He shot me a knowing smile and I huffed in return.

"You're not the boss of me." I snapped back.

"Au contraire," he said, raising a finger as if teaching a lesson to a small child, "I do believe I am in charge of –"

"My injuries." I cut in.

"Either way works." He said, shrugging and shooting me a grin. "But do we really have to go through this conversation every time?"

"We wouldn't have to if you would drop the 'in charge' thing."

"I speak the truth. You just won't accept it." Christopher said, grin widening. I hmphed and stuck my tongue out at him. He chuckled and walked over to someone who had called him over.

Isabelle walked over and I laid back down onto the bed so that they can scan me. "Good job today." She said. I grumbled in response. She laughed and dissembled the machine once she was done.

"Here, something to drink. Thank you for all your hard work." Isabelle offered a soft smile and handed me a cup. I smiled in return and accepted it.

Once I was free to go, I began to head back to the house. Out of nowhere, multiple hands grabbed me and pulled me into a dark alleyway and pinned me against the wall.

It was Syndicate 42, with Dillon in the middle. I snarled at him and struggled to get out of my constraints. One person had a grip on my throat and pinned my neck to the wall and two other people had my arms and legs.

"Hold her still!" Dillon called out as he pulled out something from behind him. I struggled even more, growls coming from my throat.

I'm going to kill him.

My vision turned red again. I kicked my legs free and forced my arms from the wall, overpowering the people holding my arms against the wall. I reached behind me and pulled out a dagger that I kept with me at all time and slashed at the person holding my neck. I let go and stumbled back, trying to avoid being stabbed.

One of them tried to grab hold of me again and I instinctively turned around and thrusted the dagger forwards. Bloodlust clouded my mind.

I spun around and pounced on Dillon, slashing at him. Some of his blood spilled as I managed to slash across his arm.

A punch to my head that knocked me sideways snapped me out of my bloodlust. My vision returned to normal. I noticed that my dagger and my right hand was dripping with blood, and one of them was down on the floor with one hand over his stomach.

Panic built up inside my body as I dropped the dagger and stumbled backwards. Without thinking, I jumped and climbed up onto the roof of the building and escaped.

I landed back on the ground in a different alleyway as I began to feel lightheaded again. I leaned against the wall in an attempt to stabilize myself.

Fear and panic gripped my heart as the world spun and muted out. Then, everything faded to black.