I turned and could see Melody standing behind her brother in the doorway. She was looking back as what appeared to be smoke was starting to work its way out of the busted back windows. As it reached her, she started coughing and dry heaving.

She pushed her brother out of the back door toward me and quickly moved after him. I ran to them, and after only a few feet, I could tell what the smoke really was. My eyes began to water, and there was a burning tingle in the back of my throat.

"Tear gas," I said. "Get to the woods."

Just as I yelled for her to go, all the other kids started streaming from the house, coughing and spluttering. I directed them to run to the trees as I did the opposite and ran to the house, trying to count the heads I saw running by simultaneously. I refused to let anyone be captured, but I had yet to see John or Sarah. I was sure that they would be the last to leave.

Before I ran into the house, I paused to see if I could make out the color of the gas wafting out the windows. Unexpectedly, it turned to blue sparkles in the air. I did my best to mimic the blue portion with my hand and waved it in front of my face. I didn't expect it to do much, but I was surprised at its effectiveness.

I could still feel the stinging in my eyes and throat, and it was getting worse as I went in deeper, but it was manageable all the way to the front room. There I saw both Sarah and John coughing uncontrollably. Still, the two managed to hold back the soldiers that continued to try and breach the house.

"Everyone is out. Come on," I said and grabbed their arms. As I grabbed them, I couldn't shield myself from the onslaught of gas, but we were already moving to the back. I held my breath as we moved to lessen the effects, but my eyes still burned.

The stinging didn't last long as we quickly escaped the house into the fresh air and sunlight. Sarah and John were a few paces ahead of me. They paused once they exited, probably expecting to see everyone outside.

"To the woods," I yelled.

John and Sarah didn't hesitate further as they started to sprint again. I was right behind them, past the debris-strewn backyard and the bodies of the Sirens. While I ran, coughing uncontrollably and eyes watering wildly from the tear gas, I was struck with an odd feeling, as if I was going to school without my backpack.

It made me slow a little, wondering if I should turn back. Sarah and John entered the tree line, and I knew that whatever it was, I couldn't do it alone. We had to regroup, make another plan, and hopefully, I could find out what it was.

I was about fifteen meters into the tree line when I caught up to them. They were both standing side by side with their backs to me. I could also see everyone else interspersed in the woods, facing the house.

"What are you doing?" I yelled. "Go further back." We had discussed this the night before. I was angry that everyone was just standing there, not following the plan. No one moved as I yelled. As I made it up to Sarah and John, I discovered why.

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The two pivoted to the side like doors opening for me to see a foyer. I stopped my sprint, sliding a little due to the loose ground. I realized my feeling of forgetting was as we ran across the backyard and to the trees. The number of Sirens still lying on the ground didn't match up. My attempt to knock Claire unconscious must have failed, failed spectacularly too.

Claire stood there facing me. Victor was unconscious in her arms, and Melody standing beside her, straight-backed and blank-faced. Behind Claire, in the same hypnotized state as Melody, was a veritable army of Carpenters, ready to do her bidding.

I activated my power, getting ready to move forward and attack, but she must have sensed my change, or she was just planning to attack.

"Stop," she said.

I heard her say the words normally, but right after, everything slowed down. A ring of electric violet hurtled toward me like a smoke ring. I mimicked the color and chopped through it right down the middle. My ability disengaged, and time caught up.

I marveled at what I could only think of as my danger sense. I wouldn't call what Claire did marveling, but she was stunned as her power had no effect on me. She probably didn't even see me strike through her attack.

Claire's lip moved, but I didn't hear her say anything. Just then, everyone else started to walk toward me. It was the steady, in-time march of a possessed army. They didn't try to grab me, didn't look around; they just slowly started walking forward. I moved to free Sarah from Claire's spell.

"Don't," whispered in my ear. I looked at Claire, and I could see her eyes flick down to the unconscious form of Victor in her arms.

I was forced back as the press of bodies moved closer to me. I was quickly cut off from being able to get to Claire before she was able to do something that might hurt Victor. All I could do was slowly march backward and wait for my moment.

"Come on, Claire, don't do this," I said. We made eye contact, but she didn't flinch or even blink as she stared at me. "He's using you too. Look at what he's making you do. Do you like doing this?" That comment made her look away momentarily, but she didn't stop what she was doing.

"Why did you even help me in the colonel's office? You should have just let them kill me. It would have been better than what you're doing now." That was mean but the truth. I was tired and wanted her to understand how horrible her actions were. She frowned slightly, but that was it.

As I exited the canopy of trees and into the sunlight-drenched backyard. I could hear the sound of dozens of rifles being lifted, the unmistakable sound of safety switches being flipped and a low rumbling laugh. Since my back was to him, I could only assume the laugh was that of the colonel. I didn't want to take my eyes off Claire, but the threat of the colonel grew with every step. I thought then that this was a great representation of the saying, caught between a rock and a hard place.

Once everyone was out of the cover of trees, I saw Claire's lips move again with no words audible. I quickly activated my power to see what was happening. Thin wisps of dark violet floated through the air like streams of mist in the morning. The wisps spread out into tendrils. They condensed as they sailed to my friends.

Everyone stopped their march forward and stood stiffly, their faces blank and passive. Part of me was impressed by Claire's level of control, but I was mostly just disgusted that she chose to use her powers in that way. The way she chose to betray us and to betray me.

As they stopped, so did I. I turned to the side to make sure I could see as much of the backyard as possible. It also ensured no one was at my back. Once I could see everything, it was just as I thought. Colonel Baxter and all the soldiers that had come along with him were near the house.

I had nowhere else to go.