{Dominic}

I sat at the head of the table in the briefing room smiling at everyone. I couldn't hide my excitement about what was getting ready to go down if I wanted to and at this very moment, I didn't want to hide it. I could feel the waves of excitement coming not just from me but coming from everyone in the room.

I sat at the head of the table and Sergeant 22 sat next to me. I had three of my Elite Soldiers sitting on the left side of the table and three Elite Soldiers sitting on the right side of the table. I cleared my throat to make sure that I had everyone's attention. Everyone stopped talking and focused on me. I nodded. "Good now that I have your attention let's get started!"

Elite 46 raised his hand. I rolled my eyes. "Yes?"

"So when exactly are we going to bring 32401 and her boyfriend in?" He asked.

"Saturday," I said, "Which is coming up very soon! That's why I called you guys here today. It's to discuss a foolproof plan so that when we go in and capture them everything will go smoothly."

Everyone nodded and I continued, "Alright we pretty much have a blueprint of 32401's apartment and Toby's apartment as well. However, there might be a chance that they might not be at the house that day so that's where you guys come in. I'm going to need you guys to track her in case she decides she's not going to be in the apartment."

"So you're saying maybe she'll go to her gun range or something like that?" Elite 46 asked.

I nodded. "Yeah but to my knowledge 32401 has found out that she's pregnant so I doubt she would be something that stupid."

"I agree," Sergeant 22 said. "32401 can be reckless sometimes but I don't think she'd do anything that could risk not only her safety but her baby's safety!"

"Exactly!" I said. "So after this meeting I'm going to contact Lab Rat 40441 and give him instructions on what to do if 32401 is home so we can move in and capture her."

I brought out a blueprint of 32401's home and Toby's home and pointed at where I wanted each of my Elite Soldiers to be. Little did I know this meeting was being watched by someone. It was the very same someone who helped 32401 escape A- Circle six years ago.

***

{Anna}

I've been protecting Emily as much as I can from A- Circle Labs ever since I helped her escape six years ago, but I had no idea how many eyes and ears Dominic had on her. I've heard of Lab Rat 40441's number before but I can't place it. Although a couple of weeks ago I had a strange dream about Emily's dog Red acting like a human.

At A-Circle Labs part of the testing that's been done is to give humans the ability to shift into animals. The reason why A-Circle does all of this testing is because they've been wanting to create a group of super soldiers who will follow the governments every command with no questions asked and no guilt or remorse from following said commands later. That's the reason why A-Circle Labs prefers to test on children younger than seventeen because the earlier they're molded into what A-Circle Labs wants them to be the easier it is to control them.

Somehow A-Circle Labs was able to convince parents of children who had behavioral issues to drop their children off here and A-Circle pretty much adopts these children so that they could 'fix the issues' and 'mold' the child into an outstanding citizen of society. Little do these gullible parents know that once A-Circle gets ahold of their children it's very difficult to get them back. Mostly because children that come to A-Circle are raised in a cult-like environment and they are emotionally manipulated into thinking that serving them like this is their purpose in life. Once A-Circle manages to convince these children of what their purpose in life is, the children don't want to leave.

Emily on the other hand was different from the very moment I met her. She hated being at A-Circle no matter how hard they tried to convince her that this is where she belonged, she hated her mother for dropping her off at A-Circle and more importantly, she hated Dominic the most!

The moment I laid eyes on her and saw her behavior I knew that I wanted to help her escape. I had to wait until she was eighteen and could get a job enough to support herself while she was away from A-Circle. So when I finally helped her escape I got her situated and she did pretty well for herself surprisingly.

When I overheard what Dominic was saying in that meeting I knew I had to give Emily and Toby a heads up. Ever since Emily escaped from A-Circle I made a resolve to help her stay away from them as long as possible. I managed to slip away from the meeting without being discovered.

I sent Emily a message: We need to talk and you should pack an overnight bag because you're staying at my place for the weekend no if's and's or but's about it!

It wasn't long before Emily replied: Alright, what's going on?

I responded: I can't tell you. I'll tell you when you and Toby come over to my place tonight.

Emily texted: Alright then, I'll see you soon!

She also left a thumbs up emoji at the end of the text and I smiled at it. Emily is such a sweetheart and she deserves a normal life away from A-Circle.

***

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

"Are you serious?" Emily said as she stared at me with wide eyes.

Emily, Toby and I were sitting in my living room and I was telling them the information that I found out.

"Lovely," Emily said, shaking her head in dismay, "I just can't catch a break this year can I?"

"Well at least you had five years of peace away from A-Circle," Toby said with a gloomy look.

My jaw dropped. "Seriously?" I turned my attention to Emily. "What happened to the fearless woman that I met six years ago? The woman who was determined to take on the world no matter how many people were against her?" I turned my attention to Toby. "And you! What the hell did you do with the guy who wanted to protect Emily at all costs knowing the dangers that would be involved in doing so?"

Toby perked up and smiled. "You know what? You're right, I am going to protect my family. I'm going to take my father's advice for once, and I hardly take his advice on anything!"

I snorted. "And what advice would that be?"

"The war isn't over until it's over," Toby explained. "Meaning, even though things look hopeless before they even start, go for it because you won't win unless you try."

"Interesting way of looking at things because we don't really have any allies at the moment," Emily said.

I smiled because Emily had no idea that she had more people in her corner than she thought. I just didn't want to tell her yet because she's worried about facing off against Dominic as it is. Of course her initial plan was to try and convince some people at A-Circle to join her side. But Emily has trust issues and I don't blame her. Even though she has people on her side that she doesn't know about, Dominic has more resources than I do and he would be sure to do his best to get rid of them. That's another reason why I haven't told her about this yet.

I wanted to say something at that moment but I chose not to.

Emily narrowed her eyes at me. I raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"You seem to know a lot more than what you're letting on Anna," She said. "Care to let us know what's going on?"

I shook my head. "I do know some other things but I can't tell you what they are. This is for your own good and you'll know what I'm talking about when the time comes."

"Oh," Emily said. "Anyway, so what's the plan? Because you know we can't stay here forever right?"

I nodded. "Yeah I know and I'm way ahead of you! So, since it's not safe for you two to stay at your place or Toby's you guys can stay here at least for the weekend and then I'll move you guys to a safe house later."

"Ah, a safe house?" Emily questioned.

"Yeah a safe house," I said.

She gave me a skeptical look. "Mhm, sure it's a safe house, whatever you say…"

Toby rolled his eyes. "So how long are we going to stay here and what do we do about Red?"

"Well I say you guys stay here for a couple days and as far as Red goes, do you really think it's a good idea to keep a dog with you when you're on the run?" I said.

Emily sighed, "Good point, I just hate the thought of leaving Red alone. I mean he is just a dog after all. He won't know how to take care of himself or get his own food when the food in his bowl runs out."

I smiled at that thought because Emily is always worried about other people's safety except her own. "Don't worry, I'll check up on him from time to time and when you do move the safe house I'll make sure to bring Red over here so I can take care of him, okay?"

Emily nodded in agreement. Toby put his arm around her shoulder. I kept my smile looking at them. Now that I had a plan set place, I was more than determined to carry it out.

***

{Emily}

I knew Dominic would send people after us once we fled the city. But what worried me the most was Anna. Anna has been like a sister to me. A real sister and not someone who says they're my sister just take advantage of me. She's protected me with every being in her body. I don't know how I can repay her for everything that she's done for me. So I figured the least I could do was help her meet her goal and that goal is to keep me safe and away from A-Circle.

So I decided I was going to follow Anna's plan to the letter although I had a gut feeling that something was going to go VERY wrong and VERY soon. Anna said we were going to stay at her house for a couple of days and then go to wherever this safe house is and stay there for as long as possible. After that, I have no idea where we'll go.

We stayed with Anna throughout the weekend and Monday Toby, Anna and I went grocery shopping and then I noticed them. My heightened senses told me exactly who they were. They were Dominic's Elite soldiers. The very soldiers who carry out all of A-Circles dirty work whether it be capturing certain people or killing them.

They were sitting in a car trying to look like they were just reading a book but I knew what was up. Part of my training to become the next leader of A-Circle was you had to be able to become a part of your environment in order to capture your prey.

"Fuck!" I cursed underneath my breath.

"What? What's wrong?" Toby asked.

"They're here," I said.

Anna nodded. "Yeah they're here alright I can see two of their cars parked in row B. Do they really think they disguise themselves when it comes down to trying to capture you?"

Toby frowned. "Who's here?"

I sighed, "Remember when we fought that Simon Charles guy last year?"

He nodded.

"Well that was one of Dominic's soldiers, they're called the Elites and the Elites are the ones who pretty much do A-Circle's dirty work for them. It mostly involves killing people but sometimes it involves capturing people too," I explained. "I'd tell you more but right now I don't have the time to. We need to get out of here! And fast!"

"I got an idea!" Anna said.

"What is it?" I asked.

"You guys go back inside the store and pretend that you forgot something and I'll do my best to distract them while you slip out the back where the other exit is. We'll meet up at the car which is parked in row D which is very close to the back exit," Anna answered.

I shrugged. "Alright then, I don't think it'll work but it's worth a try."

Right on cue Toby tugged on my arm and said, "Honey I think we forgot to get something!"

I tried not to laugh because he practically shouted when he said that. I raised an eyebrow and pretended to be surprised. "Oh really? And what did we forget darling?"

"We forgot to… Get a present for my nephew's birthday coming up soon!" Toby said.

I nodded. "Okay let's go! I forgot all about that."

Toby grabbed my hand and we walked back into the store as fast as we could without running. I smiled and thought, This is going to be fun!