I had been pushed right out the door into a crowd of angry people holding microphones and shouting names. I would never have anticipated being freed today. After all of those dormant days spent in that white room and it was as simple as getting pushed out the door. What had Acade meant when he said that I would find out when the time was right? Maybe he…
    “Excuse me miss? What is your name? Could you please give us your name?” A young reporter probably in her twenties stood in front of me. She wore a tight skirt and a v-neck blouse that showed a little more than I found comforting. When I looked into the screen that was placed behind her I saw myself. A beautiful pale figure with small curves and a set of brown curls that fell around my shoulders. My eyes were the brightest blue I had ever seen and my clothes were lightly draped across my body.
    “No thank you. She doesn’t feel like talking right now. Excuse us. Thank you. Coming through.” A boy of about sixteen was pulling on my arm. His hair hung over his eyes in a wind blown manner. It looked rather extraordinary compared to the perfect brushed back styles of the reporters. He had a green watch attached to his left arm. His clothes were very different from mine. He pushed me through a broken door barely hanging on to the hinges and slammed it behind him. The door almost detached from the hinges due to the impact.
    “What is that all about?” My faint voice embarrassed me in front of the boy.
    “Well, I just saved your butt from ending up right where it just came from. You are extrasensory Cassidy. Some people want you for a lot of messed up reasons.” His voice was as perfect as his face. It was strong and comforting.
    “How do you know my name and where I came from? What is extrasensory?” His eyes held sympathy.
    “You been locked up quite awhile huh? To forget that much takes time. Extrasensory means that you have the ability to receive information in ways that don’t involve the physical senses. I for example can read minds and that is how I knew almost everything about you in minutes.”I found his explanation rather charming. I mean to consider that he took the time to read my mind. “You don’t have that much there. Your memory has been almost completely wiped.”
    “I don’t have any powers and neither do you! This isn’t a fantasy land Homer! Wait is that your name? Homer?” I stared into his eyes. They were full of amazement.
    “No wonder they got a hold of you. You must have more than one dynamism, that’s what we call the powers. You must be one of the only ones out there this is extraordinary! They just let you escape? How did you even survive in that place? I mean the killing of the monsters is a serious chronic hysteria right now.” I hesitated before answering, but I figured I could trust him.
    “They didn’t exactly just let me out. I had been locked up for three years when I noticed a door to my cell, and I just walked out. It was weird. There was a man there named Acade. He injected this needle into my arm and everything went all...different. I saw his future, and then he kicked me out.” I was starting to understand what Homer meant by extrasensory. I could do things that were supposed to be impossible. I wondered what had caused me to receive such dynamisms. I wondered why I had been granted liberty with dynamisms like mine. It seemed that many homicides had taken place due to my conditions, but I had been spared. Why?
    “I have never seen anyone who has been captured ever come back. Do you remember anything about your past? Maybe, where you came from or how old you were?” He was taking notes with a dull pencil that had no eraser on a pad of yellow notebook paper sitting on the three legged table to the left of the small room.
    “Ummmmmm… well, all I know is that I am sixteen years old and my name is Cassidy Carter.” It felt weird to say my name, but it also felt amazing.
    “Cassidy Carter?! I knew your Dad. I used to work with him on the weekends in his genetics lab. He used to do studies on brain patterns and stuff. It all makes sense now. He was trying to figure out you. His name was Brody Carter.” It had never really occurred to me that I had a life before the white room, a life and a family. I had them both and I was determined to get them back.
     “Where did you come from?” When I asked him he quickly looked around the room and whispered to me one thing, “we are being watched.” The doors slammed open and a bunch of men in black suits who seemed to have followed the vocation of police officers stormed in and placed a bag over my head. Then everything went black.

Obviously Homer had created almost a propensity of paying close attention to his surroundings. When he first said that we were being watched I thought it was just a sham to see my reaction, but the minute a bag was over my head I knew otherwise. After the bag had been placed over my head I was severely drugged by the captors. I faded into my world of darkness almost instantly. I remember being dragged across what seemed like a layer of hard gravel before being lifted onto a large object and falling completely victim to darkness.
    I awoke in a very strange place. I was sitting in a chair, no actually I was tied to a chair, in the middle of a giant room. The room consisted of multiple screens projecting people from what seemed like all over the world. Men and a few women were projected on screens surrounding the room with many stacks of paperwork on the desks beside them. Homer was sitting beside me, still out like a light. He must have tried to fight back so they had to drug him more. Before I could finish looking around or thinking up a plan of escape one of the screens began to speak.
    “Well I believe that we can all get started now that our guest has awoken.” Guest? That is what they were calling a girl who was taken from her own home and tied to a chair. A guest? I felt more like a prisoner that was for sure. Homer sat up and opened his eyes just as the man finished blabbering about some M.T.C. program. He quickly looked around and then saw me. He mouthed the words I’m sorry and returned his eyes to the man.
    “Impeccable timing Mr. Hudson, Homer,” the man from the screen whose name I had not cared to listen to spoke once again with a hint of a smile behind every word as he continued, “Today we are going to discuss the reason that the two of you sit here before me. Both of you very well know that we have a strict law that was predisposed to the era of M.T.C. I believe that both of you violated that law today. ” I had no idea what this awful man was talking about. The people from the other screen began furiously writing down notes. It seemed actually like they were not writing, but just thinking as words from their heads flashed across their screens. I interrupt his next sentence, “could you please explain to me what the hell you are talking about?”
    “I am talking Ms. Carter, Cassidy about the little meeting you had today with your boyfriend over here Mr. Hudson, Homer about some topics that are illegal to discuss. Therefore, you have broken the law and will be punished.” The room was beginning to get heated and guards had taken positions in the corners of the room. They became overly solicitous to every word that I said.
    “Punished you say? What are you going to do lock me back up for three years in that awful white room. It’s not like you're going to kill me because that would be too costly right? Because you and everyone else here knows that I am very important to you!” Homer shot me a glance that said to shut up. The screen man quickly equivocated the topic by bringing up the topic of discussion that I had had with Homer earlier.
    “The actions that you have done are reprehensible and will receive harsh criticism. Many don’t take kindly to those of you like Mr. Hudson and yourself. What you have done will not earn you anymore love.” The screen man kept on jabbering about how discussing being extrasensory is not allowed and was wondering why we had not filled out a proper permission form stating that we were in possession of dynamisms. I realized he was stalling for some reason. He kept repeating the same information as if he was trying to confuse his co-workers. I doubted that it was fortuitous that he was doing this. I knew that to him I was some kind of liaison to a world he desperately wanted to get his hands on. I started to daze off when a sudden flash of Homer’s future shot across my eyes. I pushed it back because I was  afraid to see what was in store for him. As much as I had wanted to see an older more handsome version of the boy I willed it away. It made me realize how much solace I was beginning to get from falling victim to these memories. Even though in a way it isn’t exactly a memory, but more of a thought, a prediction of what could happen. I had already began thinking of different plans in my mind and then playing them back through my head to see the end result all of which were unsuccessful. They usually ended with me getting shot in the leg and falling into a deep sleep before I woke up in this exact same chair.
     “Ms. Carter! Ms. Carter! Could you please answer my question?” A woman spoke this time her voice held familiarity. I couldn’t exactly find the exact moment I had heard the voice before. I saw the recognition flash across Homer’s eyes as well.
    “Ah… I see that you recognize me Ms. Carter. For as many years that you spent locked away I am surprised that you can recognize anything at all.” She gave me a warm smile that lit up the room. I wasn’t used to getting a reaction as nice as hers so I felt predisposed to smile back.
    “Yes, well I wouldn’t say I remember much else. Your voice however, does sound familiar.” I studied her face longer she had dark hair pulled into a clip in the back of her head. Her face was pale and her eyes were very small.
    “I am the President of the anti-M.T.C. program. Don’t be fooled by the name however, all that it means is that I am against killing children. Not against removing them from society. I believe that your gift should be used to help run the government. You are prodigies after all. I am here to help fight your case against Mr. Booker.” Ohh that must have been the name of the man from the screen who had spoken earlier. “Oh, excuse me for being rude I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Ms. Emma Carter.” Did she just say Carter? As in my last name Carter? She didn’t look anything like me though. I had brown hair she had black. I had large blue eyes she had small brown eyes. The only characteristic we shared was the paleness of our skin.
    “Excuse me? I am confused. Did you say Carter as in my last name Carter?” I asked her as Homer looked at me in shock.
    “That would be correct Ms. Carter, Cassidy. I am your adopted sister.” If she was my adopted sister then why would she be part of an organization that my Dad, also her Dad, devoted his life to destroying. The fact that she was here today almost jumping with joy to use me for whatever cruel thing she wanted made me want to launch out of my chair and rip her to pieces. Looked like I got my wish after all. Except it wasn’t the good old family reunion I was hoping for. Until someone who would take a thousand years to forget walked through the door.

I knew it was my father the minute he stepped foot inside the room. He was just the way I had remembered him. His face was dark and his eyes had dark circles under them that were hidden well behind a smile that stretched across his entire face. He seemed far from robust, which worried me. I could tell that he wanted more than anything to come give me the biggest hug in the world. His eyes willed me to understand something, but I couldn’t quite make it out. When I tried to read his mind it seemed as if it was blocked by something even more powerful than me.
    “Emma,” he nodded toward the screen that showed Emma’s smiling face. When he turned his focus back to me it seemed as if he had changed completely from fatherly to more of a serious business man. I found myself missing his warm smile which had brought me so much warmth and comfort. Homer seemed oblivious to what was happening. It seemed like he was trying to get to the bottom of the mind reading debacle that I had had.
    “Thank you, Mr. Carter! Now we can continue our meeting that you so kindly interrupted.” Mr. Booker’s voice grew very angry and vociferous.  “I don’t quite know yet if I sanction you being here for you daughter’s case, but since you always seem to circumvent the rules around here I guess I will just have to accept it.” Mr. Booker seemed very jealous of my father. He held the annoyance in his voice every time he spoke to him. I realized that I had just found a weakness of the President. Something that could destroy him with proper thought.
    “Well, Mr. Booker I believe in order for this case to be successful we will need to be cohesive with one another. Do you honestly think that I was honored to have a monster born as my daughter? Why do you think she ended up in your facility in the first place? I hope you didn’t just think she volunteered for something like that.” My father began to inundate Mr. Booker with several other questions that made me want to break down in tears. I thought my father had come to support me; to possibly bring me back home where everything would be perfect and we would be a happy family again. Now, he was basically admitting to have sent me to that awful place and going behind my back to make sure I was “taken care of” whatever that meant. Ever since my father had entered the room there had been a large attrition of those projected on the screens. Only about ten remained open. It surprised me how reticent Homer had been during the hearing.
    “Believe me Mr. Carter I understand how much you despise your daughter, but it doesn’t really matter does it. You are still her father and you are not permitted either way to be in this room! I am going to kindly ask you once to leave now or else I will see to it that you are personally escorted out of here by one of my most generous guards. I am sure that the death of a father would be such a grievous thing for young Emma.” My father glanced at Emma who shot him a look of warning. My father nodded and turned away to walk out the door. He stopped three steps short of the door and spoke once more. “Oh, Promise me one thing Mr. Booker? You will give her the best thing you’ve got.” He winked at me right before stepping the rest of the way into the hallway and letting the door close behind him. And that is exactly what Mr. Booker did.
    “You heard the man! Give her the best thing you’ve got!” Mr Booker smiled at me as I was ripped from my seat. I thought for sure that they were going to kill me in some horrible way, but it was far worse than that. They took Homer from his seat and stood him right in front of me. They put a gun in my hand and told me to do something that no human being on earth should ever have to do. They told me to kill Homer.

I was finally starting to understand the way this facility was run. I had figured out through some mind digging of the guard that handed me the gun that M.T.C. stood for Monster Termination Center. I was what these people considered to be a monster because of the powers I possessed. We used to be the talk of the century until others became jealous of our power and feared we would rule the world. Our popularity soon depreciated internationally and there was nowhere for us to go except here.
I felt the cool gun in my hand. It seemed to be burning a hole right through me. I wanted more than anything to shoot this gun at my Father’s head. He had betrayed me. After I had gotten my hopes up that maybe, just maybe, he had come to bolster my case. The gun was replete with three bullets. Only three chances I had to kill someone I hadn’t known I had become so close to until now. As I looked around the room one last time I made eye contact with Homer.
“Can you hear me?” Homer held my gaze as he seemed to be speaking through his thoughts.
“Yes, but I won’t be able to for much longer.” The thought killed me. How was I going to pull this off? I couldn’t kill him! I wouldn’t be able to live with myself. Then a thought occurred to me. What if I killed myself instead?
“No! You can’t do that!” Homer’s terse response could be heard even through thought.
“Why not? I can’t kill you. What other choice do I have?” I tried to convince him it was the best thing for both of us.
“Excuse me, but we don’t have all day Ms. Cassidy would you please fulfill your duties and then you can be on your way!” Mr. Booker smiled at me with far too much delight at the thought of me killing my best friend. As I stared at him with my most hated look Homer walked up to me and took the gun out of my hand. Was he going to kill me?
“Promise me you will trust me? Just so you know; I like you too.” He smiled a sort of sad smile and then he shot himself.
His blonde curls streaked with red as fell to the floor in a limp manner. I couldn’t believe what he had just done. I let out the most awful cry and fell to the floor. I didn’t know what to do. My only friend had just shot himself right in front of me. I sat on the floor for only a few seconds before guards from all sides of the room stormed around us. I had three trying to pull me out the door as I struggled to get back to Homer. I couldn’t bear to leave him on those terms. I had to trust in his word because I had made a tenet to always keep my promises. That was the least that I could do for the boy who had saved my life. I was being relegated to a makeshift of a dungeon. The air was cool and damp. The walls were etched with names of previous residents. There were so many names that one could not fit anymore. The room was empty except for a cot with a gaping hole in the middle. I didn’t know how long I would be in the room or if anyone would come to save me. I did know however, that my life in this prison was going to be very sedentary.

After a while of sitting Mr. Booker entered my cell. “Hello Cassidy. Are you enjoying your room? It is first class.” He smiled at me. I couldn’t even lift my head to look at him after what he had done to my friend. “You have lost your inquisitive side I see! Not that anyone will be missing it.”
“Looks like you spoke too soon. You should be lucky that I am a better person than you. Why would you let that happen right under your nose?” I was looking at him by now his face changed when I spoke. He looked hurt as if he actually felt bad for letting Homer die.
“You have to understand something Cassidy. If I had known he was going to kill himself I would have never have let him go through with it.” Mr. Booker’s voice shook as he spoke.
“But, you were going to let me kill him?” I didn’t understand how it made a difference he would have died either way.
“Well Ms. Cassidy, the point of that little game was for you to feel betrayed. He was in fact given instructions that you didn’t know about. He was supposed to kill you. He was supposed to take the gun from your hand and kill you!” Mr. Booker broke down in tears. He fell to the floor and sobbed. I had never seen a man cry so much over the death of a young boy they had worked so hard to kill anyway. He started making some nebulous comments through his hard sobbing.
“Mr. Booker! What is wrong with you? Don’t you see this kind of thing every day?” I sat behind him and put my hand on his back. He didn’t even notice I was there.
“Cassidy, I do! I do see this every day, but it is not every day that you watch your own son kill himself.”
“Homer isn’t your son! You don’t even have the same last name.” I was confused. How could this be? How could Homer have known this man as his father and not said a word.
“Yes, it is true that we have different last names because I had his changed. After I found out he was a monster, I had to banish him from my home. As the President of this corporation, I could not be known for having a son with such powers. I still loved him.” I wondered how this man could ever do such a thing to his son. I wondered if my father and sister had done the same to me. “Most people are very indiscriminate to children like Homer, but for me it would never be accepted.”
“Wow! Homer was an amazing person! Mr. Booker I...I don’t even know what to say.”
“You have said enough!” He stood up and wiped his tears away. He shook my hand and turned toward the door. When he reached the exit he spoke to the guard manning the door. “Let her go!”
“But, Sir we have been given-,” the guard started to speak before getting interrupted by a roar from Mr. Booker, “You heard me! Let her go!” and at that I was free, or so I thought.

I had wanted some autonomy for so long. Now that I had it I didn’t know what to do. When I had left my cell I walked and walked until I reached a small bench. I sat down and just cried. That is all I could manage; to cry. I wished that there had been recourse than for Homer to kill himself. I just kept blaming myself for everything that had happened. I loved him and I had let him die for me.
    “Cassidy? What are you doing here?” Emma was standing in front of the bench I had been sitting at for hours. Emma! Of all people, Emma, had to be the one to show up. I didn’t feel like talking to her, or anyone, for that matter after what they had done to me. “Oh, Cassidy what’s wrong? Is it Homer?” How could she bring up his name like it meant nothing? I hated her so much for letting that happen to him.
    “What do you care? You let it happen!” She took a seat beside me on the bench. She tried to put an arm around me, but I pulled away. I wanted nothing to do with her. She had ostracized me for years. Abandoning me was tantamount to putting me in prison.
    “Cassidy I do care! You have to understand the logic behind it all, but you probably never will. How did you manage to escape?” She seemed to be hurt that I would never forgive her, but how could I? How could she expect me too? It didn’t matter because I didn’t feel like thinking.
    “What makes you think I escaped? Do you think I am some sort of trouble maker?  Mr. Booker mandated my release” The expression on her face changed completely. She was shocked beyond belief.
    “Mr. Booker? Mr. Booker mandated your release?” I wanted to scream at her that he was a human too! I couldn’t believe she was going to make me reiterate what had happened I hated thinking about connections to Homer.
    “Yes, he came to my cell to speak with me. When he did I mentioned Homer and he completely broke down. When I comforted him after everything he had done, he let me go.” I left out the fact that Homer was his son. After everything he had done for me I wasn’t going to betray him. To Emma he was the evil man who had established this bureaucratic facility. He couldn’t be seen with someone like Homer.
    “Wow, talk about a changed man.” She looked as if she were trying to make this seem possible at all.
    “What do you want anyway?” I knew her better than she thought. She wasn’t just here for a sweet family reunion.
    She brought her voice down to a whisper, “I came here to show you something. Follow me I’ll show you.” I didn’t know what she was talking about. I wasn’t into surprises after what had happened with Homer; I doubted I ever would be. I could tell she was excited to show me whatever it was, but I wasn’t excited to see it. As we walked down the hallways there were millions of posters about how ridding of the monsters would make the world a utopia. It just disgusted me. I had a tenacious determination to change their views. It didn’t seem that hard, I mean I had changed the President. The people in this building needed to understand the raucous the nation had become outside the facility.
    “Here we are.” Emma opened a small door that seemed out of place from all of the others. When I walked inside it looked like a small living quarters made for two. Two cots were set up in the corner and a small table sat on the opposite side. I noticed that someone was lying in the bed. I made my way over and I immediately recognized the blonde set of curls spilling out from the covers. It was Homer. I didn’t understand. How could this be? I had watched him with my own eyes shoot himself. Emma spoke from the table.
    “It was a decoy bullet full of red dye. Dad had talked to Homer through telepathy and told him how to pull it off. The whole thing was a scam. You didn’t know it, but we were on your side the whole time.” She smiled at me. I should have known that my family hadn’t betrayed me. I felt awful for ever hating them so much.
    “Emma, I...I’m so sorry. I can’t even begin to thank you.”
    “No need. I am your sister and I owed you.” I didn’t know what she meant by owing me, but I believed her. I had no reason not to. I noticed Homer begin to stir. He sat up in the cot and noticed me standing in the room. His eyes grew large and a wide smile lit up his face.
    “Don’t ever do that to me again. Do you understand? I thought you were dead!” I chastised him. I was only kidding. I couldn’t be mad at a time like this.
    “I’m sorry, but I had no choice. You know that.” He looked at the ground as if he really did feel sorry for the scare.
    “I know. Would you mind giving me a second with Homer, Emma?” There were some things I needed to talk about that Homer had forgotten to mention, like his Dad for example.
    “Ya, sure. I’ll give you two a minute.” She winked at me as she walked out of the room.
    “Why didn’t you tell me about your Dad?” I thought I would just jump right into it. We had a lot of things to clear up.
    “What? There was no need to talk about my Dad?” Homer acted like he didn’t know.
    “No need to mention that he was the freaking President of a facility against people like us? No need to mention that he had you banished from your own home? Homer why didn’t you say anything? I love you.” This was the first time I had actually let those words spill out of my mouth.
    “He told you that didn’t he? My Dad? It’s not all true what he said.” He looked into my eyes. He didn’t move away he stepped closer. He grabbed my hands and began to tell me the story of his life.
    “Well, what actually happened was my Dad used to work in a facility dealing with government issues when he was voted into office as President of M.T.C by the people. He didn’t want to take the job since it was against people like us; people that he really cared about. I however, convinced him it was for the best to have an inside man. Someone who could destroy the facility from the inside. He agreed. When he came here I was in constant fear of being caught or endangering my Father so I ran away. I guess he thinks it is his fault.”
    “Wow, I’m sorry. I don’t know what to say.”
    “Don’t say anything.” He pulled me in closer and in the lightest way possible kissed me.

Homer and I had been staying at the facility for over a week when we got our first sign to leave. I had been having clandestine meetings with Mr. Booker to inform him on his son. Homer had not wanted to come to any yet.
On my way to Mr. Booker’s living quarters I overheard a few of the security guards talking.
    “Can you believe they finally locked Carter’s daughter up for good? This is the best news I’ve heard in weeks!” A tall skinny man looked to be about mid-twenties was speaking. He only wore a few metals on his uniform, but the man he was talking to had to have over ten.
    “You didn’t hear? Mr. Booker himself exonerated her. Word is that that Homer fella is his son! Can you believe that? Mr. Booker having a monster as a son?” The guard chuckled.
    “Nah, it can’t be true that man doesn’t even have a heart. There’s no way he has a son. Plus, it’s kinda incongruous if you know what I mean,” the skinny one laughed.
    “Well, it’s too bad because I can’t be awarded officer of the month now that they let that monster loose.” I wondered how this man could be so egocentric when my life was involved. It was to be expected. Almost all of the officers and staff in this building were egocentric. Only caring about what they had to do to be the best.
    Once I had arrived at Mr. Booker’s office, I knew that Homer and I needed to leave. If ordinary officers were beginning to question Mr. Booker about his son, then we needed to remove all suspicion. There was no way we could blend in at the facility. It was obvious that we weren’t indigenous to the work force. Before I could knock on the door Homer came bursting out. He seemed frustrated almost running into me as he turned for the apartment.
    “Homer? What are you doing here? I thought you didn’t want to talk to your Dad. Why do you keep lying to me?” I shouted at him. He told me I was his friend that he trusted me, but he kept all of his dark secrets hidden. As if to protect me from the broken boy he was inside. He had kissed me, and I had let him, yet I knew nothing about him.
    “Uhhh… Cassidy! I didn’t expect to see you here.” Homer didn’t look at me. He kept his eyes trained on the polished wood floor.
    “Answer the question Homer! I just want to know the truth!”
    “Huh,” he sighed, “I thought the only way for me to talk with my father would be alone. I didn’t want to talk to my Dad at first, but I decided that it needed to be done. I haven’t seen him in years. I thought you would understand. Not remembering your Dad and all.” It felt like he had just punched me in the stomach. I didn’t think the comment would have stung as much as it did. I had only wanted him to be truthful with me.
    Homer stared at me for a minute before storming off down the hallway. I noticed that he didn’t turn down the clandestine hallway, but towards the public hall for M.T.C staff. No wonder people were beginning to notice us.
    I waited outside of Mr. Booker’s office for a few minutes before entering to regain my composure. I didn’t want him to know that I had just gotten in a fight with Homer. When I walked in I noticed the usual stack of papers on his desk had been quickly put away. Only a few sheets were left strung across the entire top of his desk. He was a very prolific business man. Always getting to the bottom of Monster issues the day they arrived. There were guards covering the entire perimeter of the room. That many seemed rather superfluous to me. When Mr. Booker noticed that I was standing at the doorway he motioned for me to have a seat in the black leather chair in front of his desk. As I walked over I felt a million eyes staring at me from around the room.
    “How are you Ms. Cassidy?” He asked me without even lifting his eyes from his work.
    “I don’t know? I was going to ask the same of you.”
    “And why is that?” He sat his glasses down on his desk and looked up at me. He seemed perplexed.
    “You had a meeting with...Um…” I didn’t know if I should say Homer’s name aloud with all of the guards surrounding the room.
    “My son? Yes, it was rather lovely. You know how nice it is reuniting with family after so long.” That statement reminded me of what Homer had said earlier. I wondered if there was any correlation in that statement.
    “I think we need to leave,” I blurted out. My anger was rising. I didn’t know how much more I could take.
    “What?” Shock and desperation shot through Mr. Booker’s voice.
    “I think we are putting you and this facility's reputation in danger.” I was trying to sound as calm as possible. I think a hint of my anger still managed to show through.
    “You can’t leave now! I just reinstated Homer to his position as captain of the Guards!” He seemed disappointed. Something about the way he said it almost seemed testy.
    “Homer doesn’t even care about you or his stupid Guard position! Why do you think he ran away in the first place?” I heard a few of the guards gasp. The tension of the conversation rising around the entire room.
    “Remove her! Now! Before I do something I’ll regret!” Guards from all around the room moved toward me. A shorter guard with brown buzz cut hair grabbed my arm. I didn’t resist I let him pull me out of the room, and all the way down the hall to my apartment.
    “You need to be more careful,” the guard looked at me. His voice was soft and not at all angry. It caused the tension in my shoulders to go away.
    “I know. It’s just that I don’t want to stay here anymore. I want to go fix the problems that he created. He ignores everything outside of these walls like they don’t even exist.” I didn’t expect to say that. It was truly the real reason I wanted to leave.
    “Well, maybe you need to stop forcing others into your decision.” He looked into my eyes and grabbed my hand leading me toward the door to my apartment.
    “What do you mean?” I asked as we stopped at the door.
    “I mean maybe Homer doesn’t want to go. Maybe he likes it here. Did you ever consider asking him?” I never thought of the contingency that Homer might not want to leave. I just always thought he would go along with the plan. I hadn’t realized how much of a liability I had become to Homer. I decided I would leave, and as hard as it would be to leave Homer behind it was the right thing to do.

When I walked into the apartment I noticed that some of the furniture had been removed and a few new pieces were added instead. I wondered what had caused such a change in opinion. Homer looked up from the table where he was working on a sketch of the building and smiled at me.
    “Hey,” Homer said as he stood up from his seat to give me a tight hug. I accepted it as it would be the last hug I would give him before I left.
    “I am leaving,” I said. It hurt to say the words out loud to Homer. I had imagined a million ways that he would react, but the way he did I never would have guessed.
    “What? You can’t leave now! Didn’t you hear I just gained jurisdiction of the military! I need you here Cassidy. I can’t make all the decisions on my own.” He didn’t look sad. He seemed worried. As if losing me would cost him his life.
    “Oh, Homer! Don’t do this. I know that it will be hard, but there are things that I need to do. I can’t emancipate people like us if I am inside these walls. Now that your Dad is helping us I may be able to win people over.” I smiled at him. I knew that he would understand.
    “Cassidy, I’m being serious I can’t let you go.” He looked me straight in the eyes and he wasn’t smiling back. I got the message; something was up.
    “Homer I don’t understand. All I do is impede all the work that you do here. You can’t focus with me here.”
    “Cassidy, I really can’t let you leave. My Father needs you in order to be successful. You are the key he has been waiting for.”
    “What are you talking about? That is preposterous!”
    “Don’t you get it? I tried to tell you not to get sucked into this. I told you that you were in a precarious position. People want to use you Cassidy and my Father is one of them.”
    “Well then why can’t I leave? Wouldn’t that be protecting me?”
    “You can’t leave because my Father isn’t really on your side! He doesn’t even care about you Cassidy! He just wants your mind, your power.” I didn’t realize that Mr. Booker showed antipathy towards me.
    “Then help me! Why do you act so hopeless?”
    “Don’t you get it! It’s all a lie! I’m not on your side. I’m on his side. I never loved you Cassidy. I was just manipulating you into giving my Father what he wanted.” His words broke my heart. I never thought that it would be so imminent. How could Homer ever advocate the actions of his Father when he was one of us? It was then, that I realized that everything was a lie. Homer was a lie. Being captured was a lie. Mr. Booker was a lie. Heck, my family was probably a lie. My whole entire life consisted of a lie.
    “Well, I loved you! Not that it makes a difference.” I thought I saw something change in the way he stood. A crack of weakness in the strong shield he had put up around him. I had hit home.
    “Turn around,” he spat. I did as he said and he clasped my hands behind my back with a heavy set of handcuffs. “Looks like you just won an all-inclusive trip to the end of your life.” I hated the sarcasm in his voice. How could he have changed so quickly?
    “What happened to my family? Were they a joke too?”
    “Of course not Cassidy, like you they were stupid enough to fall for our little tricks. Since, they agreed to help us they will be punished for their crimes.”
    “You mean…”
    “Yes, they will be executed, as will you,” he smiled at me as he shoved me out the door.
    I had been waiting for two days in my cell before the first guard arrived to take me to my death. I had thought of ways to fight back, but when the day finally arrived there was nothing I could do. I was hopeless. I wasn’t scared exactly. I was just disappointed. I knew that no one else would finish what I never got to start. I wanted Homer to see me die. To feel the guilt for the rest of his life. I wanted everyone to see it. I longed for the news reporter that was present on the day of my release. I wanted to leave my mark on the world.
    When I arrived at the place of my death it was not what I had expected. I thought it would be done in a quiet and private place, but it was held in a huge arena surrounded by rioting people and a million guards. In the corner of the room I saw Homer standing guard. His face was unreadable. His pain, if he had any, was not there. The guard that held my arm walked me to the center of the room and gave a command to another officer. My hands were held tightly against my back by ropes that were tied to a body-length pole.
    “Officer Kave will you do the honors?” The young boy who had led me to my room stood in front of me. He held a small gun and his hand and mouthed the words, “I’m sorry.” He raised the gun and fired.
    “Nooooo, stop.” I saw Homer lunge for the guard that had shot me, just as I felt a searing pain rip through my chest. I fell to the ground my hands still held up by ropes. I saw them pull him away and handcuff him. He tried to fight back; tried to get to me, to tell me he was sorry, but it was too late. Tears ran down his face as he was pulled away forever and I was left to die.

A shock jolts through me as the glimpse of my future comes to an end. I am still sitting in the large common room at the M.T.C. headquarters with the paper to sign away my life in front of me. Many others are also signing away their lives. Many forced by their parents who thought their children would cause harm. I know better than to believe that. I’m not here because I was forced. I am here because I need to change the future.
Our world can’t survive without people like me. I don’t know how I will make the world understand what I know. I do know the only way I can do it, is if I sign the paper in front of me. If I sign this paper, I will be locked away for many years as my memory slowly fades away and I eventually die. I know that this won’t be the case for me. That I will only remain locked away for three years before being released and meeting the boy who is the key to my success.
A part of me doesn’t want to sign the paper. After seeing my future, I know that it will be hard to bring the kindness back in Homer. I didn’t tell my family goodbye this morning before I left. I didn’t want them to change my mind. It isn’t safe for me outside of these walls anymore. People are beginning to take sides; beginning to riot and attack. That is why I decide to do it. I look up at the man in front of me and in large curved handwriting I sign my name, Cassidy Carter.
I am taken to my cell where I fall into darkness and my journey to change the future for all begins.