That they knew about my powers frightened me, but I held my ground by clenching my fists and gritting my teeth. Unfortunately, I wasn't as stoic as I had assumed. I realized too late that it was a trick. They weren't sure I was different until my reaction.

"You see," Colonel Baxter said excitedly. He leaned forward and rested his arms on the table. "There is so much you don't know. But there is a lot we don't know either. We assumed that you were a Carpenter since you manipulated the tree during your capture. We didn't even know about visual types then."

The mention of my capture reminded me of my father. Visions of him falling to the ground flashed before me.

"You're responsible for killing my parents," was my only response.

"Don't worry, we'll make sure to take those memories. Besides, you're being so dramatic." Colonel Baxter waved my comment away. "Yes, your father died, but we never did find your mother. She could still be out there."

"What?" I exclaimed, my head shooting up.

"Oh, don't worry about it too much. You won't remember what I told you after this anyway." I looked confused because I thought he would just kill me. Colonel Baxter noticed my confusion. "I don't want you to be killed. You are a valuable asset, Cadet Alson. We could branch out our operations with someone of your abilities."

The more he talked, the more time I had to devise a plan. I didn't want to hear anymore, but I still didn't have a good plan. Anger clouded my judgment, and I could only think of releasing my fury on the colonel. The only idea I could think of was to be as close as possible when I attacked.

"What makes you think I can help?" I groused. I wanted him to talk, but I didn't want him to think I was changing my mind, which would have been too suspicious.

"You're obviously smart and resourceful, cadet," Colonel Baxter leaned back in his chair. "Hell, we all but forgot about you until you enrolled in the mission courses and started to fight in the arena. That's when you popped back on our radar, and we had to review all our files to find yours. Good thing Claire didn't forget about you."

My tears started to flow again. Claire still wouldn't look at me. I wanted her to see my pain and feel it.

I thought about attacking her instead of the colonel. Then I thought of what that man had taken from me. He was the one responsible for my parents. If I couldn't think of a way to get out of there alive, I figured I would have to be content with killing him. I continued to creep closer, regardless of my lack of a plan.

"Anyway, in the years you have been here hiding your ability, you have undoubtedly learned a lot. It would be a shame to erase everything. So, I'll give you a choice." The colonel paused for a moment and tapped on the desk. "If you agree to fall in line and support us, I'll let you keep some of your memories." He leaned forward on his desk again. "I think that's a good deal. What about you?"

I didn't respond verbally. I just shifted my weight, pretending to be upset and struggling with all the information. I slowly inched my way closer to him. I needed to be as close as possible before striking so the soldiers or Claire couldn't do anything.

"My power can't help you," I growled. It was the only thing I could say that was the truth and didn't give away my intentions. I could barely control my desire to explode.

"We may not have known about your ability when you arrived, but we've learned some things about it since then," Colonel Baxter said, steepling his fingers. "Very serendipitously, we suspected the scout your team was sent to find might have had those abilities. After finding out what he did to you, we didn't know if they had more, which is why we sent so many troops to attack the encampment. Unfortunately, he was killed, but at least we learned about your power."

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I looked around while pretending to struggle with all the information he gave me. Claire continued to look down. The soldiers to the colonel's sides still pointed their weapons at me, but they weren't as attentive as before. The longer the conversation, the longer it would take them to get back in position.

The room was small, mostly filled with the colonel's desk. It didn't leave anyone a lot of room to maneuver. There was another door to my right, and I absently wondered where it led.

While I looked around, the colonel continued his diatribe. "I must admit, cadet, you did a superb job hiding your powers. But, now that we have you, it seems that it was all for nothing. However, we came out on top. We got you and a couple more cadets out of it when we attacked that insurgent camp you were hiding in, and one of them is a Siren."

"What are you talking about?" I asked with a sinking feeling.

"Oh," he replied nonchalantly. "We captured some girl and her brother. I was told that you were fleeing with them before you were recovered." He smiled, and I nearly lost my composure. "By being the first new cadets we have had in years, they are in for a difficult time here. If someone was around to look out for them, perhaps they could keep anything bad from happening." Colonel Baxter shrugged his shoulders and had the audacity to look sheepish.

Having and threatening Melody and her brother were the final pieces of information I needed. I knew I had to make it out of there, but he had to die even if I didn't.

"I swear, no matter what you do, I am going to kill you," I seethed.

The room lit up with a multitude of colors. Where Claire had been was a roiling mass of reds that varied in shade. The colonel and soldiers at his side glowed with a mustard yellow. The colonel's desk lit up with branching browns and greens.

I focused on it, branches of deeper brown sharpened in contrast. I focused on changing the power in my body to that of the desk. I prepared to kick it into the lot of them.

"Always struggling until the very end, aren't you, Aidren," Sergeant Michel said as he walked in from the door to my right.

My powers sputtered, and my eyes grew wide at his entrance. I hadn't seen him since I got back. I had honestly barely thought of him.

"What do you know about me?" I asked with as much indignation as I could muster.

As he stood by the person who ordered the capture of all the cadets in the facility, I thought back to everything. He was just like Claire, pretending to be a friend amid enemies. He was supposed to be our leader, but he was merely a liar who neglected us. He was the original liar, too, who first told us everything we had come to believe.

"Probably more than you do. I always knew you were a fighter. That's why I wanted you on my team." He didn't look tired anymore, just manic.

"When you were captured all those years ago, and I saw you use the tree to grab all the soldiers and fling them away, I knew that you were special. I just wish I knew how special. After I saw you do that and subdued you with the Taser, I went straight to the colonel and talked him into giving me a team of all wood types. But you were all so disappointing in the end."

Through his speech, I realized he was there the night I was captured. And then I realized it was his boots that I saw. The ones I remembered so vividly after my memories had returned. He was a primary target for all the rage burning inside me. I could feel my face flushed red with that rage, and I could barely keep my voice steady.

"I'm going to kill you too," I said through gritted teeth.

"There's no need to not talk like that," Sergeant Michel tsked. "Don't forget what happened the first and last time you challenged me." Before I could say anything in response, he changed tactics. "If you give yourself up and don't resist, no one needs to get hurt. We can even help you forget all those painful memories." He moved away from the door and to the side of the desk. "Don't you want to forget? Go back to when things were simple?"

I didn't want to forget, though. I refused to forget. To forget would mean forgetting my dad's last words and his fight to save me. To forget meant losing the knowledge of the love I felt in my mother's eyes. I decided to tell them just how I felt.

"I would rather die than live in your world anymore," I said.

As I spoke those words, Sergeant Michel frowned. Claire's eyes grew large, and I reared my leg back to kick the desk.

"Kill him," Colonel Baxter ordered to his guards. They wouldn't let me live if I didn't willingly submit. They probably didn't even know if they could.

"No!" Claire said sharply.

A blast of force slammed into me and everyone else in the room. I flew backward and slammed into the door behind me. The strength of the impact caused my head to snap back, banging against the door. My vision spun for a moment, so I closed my eyes and rested them as I slid to the floor.