Chapter Fourteen - Diets

There was a soft hum emanating from the refrigerator, filling every silence filled gap, accompanied by the trill of rhythmic breathing and darting eyes. The five sat against the white painted cabinets, twiddling their thumbs and searching for some kind of answer to their question. The humming continued to grow louder, as if the fridge was threatening to fly away, giving them and their scheming away to the scientists and their monsters.

"So... we can never eat again?" Chandler finally squeaked, startling the rest of the group. Raven pulled her brother closer to her, causing Chandler to look at her instead of the fridge that sat directly in front of him. Raven made no sound, but tried to give Chandler a reassuring smile as she wrapped her arms around him, keeping him near, a protective mother's embrace.

"That would be too suspicious." Jason sighed, crossing his arms and leaning his head back against the cabinet handle. "This is why I have never brought it up before..." He remarked in an agitated and gruff tone. He knew Raven felt negatively toward him, and keeping this secret put another notch in the wanting-to-kill-Jason bucket of feelings she carried around with her. But by now, he realized, as he noted Raven's maternal tendencies, that it was not so much himself that Raven disliked, but the danger constantly surrounded her little brother that put her in a constant nasty mood.

Jason glanced over at Emma, who sat to his left. She was someone he wanted to protect. Yet, even in the midst of this serious conversation, Jason felt Emma's mind fixated on Logan. She was supposed to be the damsel in distress, and yet she is so determined to be the one playing the hero when it comes to the military robot that is her boyfriend.

With the beginning of a headache, Jason reached his arm to his right, punching Travis right in his shoulder. "Ow." Travis said, now looking at Jason instead of his tapping sock-feet. "That was a little rough."

"You said you had ideas."

"Ah..." Travis, now fully aware of what was going on, felt his face grow warm. Even though he had a nearly spotless track record for winning everyone over, and carrying the kind of charisma that would shock the president into a standing ovation, he had changed. In this place, he constantly dreamed and relived the ways he hurt others, sending him into a desperate spiral of self-hate and self-doubt. Something about being number one just was not fun for him anymore, and, as the old song says, one truly is the loneliest number.

"Travis..." Jason snapped his finger in front of Travis' face. "We need something... anything."

Everyone turned their attention to Travis, eyes trained and hopeful. "It's okay, just breathe for a moment." Emma soothed, reaching past Jason to lay a comforting hand on Travis's arm, a reassuring smile playing at her lips. Travis' mind grew gentler, and Emma withdrew her hand. She did not know she had this affect on others, but everyone else could see she was the kind of girl everyone fell in love with, if at least for a moment.

Travis stood up, brushing down his arms as if dust had collected upon his grey, long-sleeved  shirt. "Well, what we first need to do is find a way to switch our food around with their new super-humans', that way they will be the ones who eat the tranquilizers, not us." In a professorial kind of way, Travis pulled open the fridge, and was met with a series of vegetables, fruits, and meats.

"It's not like we can just switch some labels around..." Jason remarked, feeling superior by his knowledge of the refrigerator, even though no one really took note of it.

"That's okay, I have a back-up plan." He said, nosing around in the fridge until there was a short click and Travis turned around, holding a tray full of tubes that held beige colored slime. "We eject this stuff into all of the meat, and at meals we simply won't eat meat."

"Still suspicious." Jason retorted, growing annoyed in his growing exhaustion.

"No, it's not." Emma chimed in. "From now on, we will be on the Daniel diet." To this, no one spoke, and instead gave Emma a strange look. "You know, Daniel from the Bible? Didn't eat meat? Beat everyone who did?" Still no response. "My mother is very religious." She confessed, no longer interested in defending herself.

After a moment of awkward silence, Travis took a deep breath and exclaimed, "Exactly!" Travis looked at the others, his head bobbing up and down ever so slightly. "We are all very religious, aren't we?"

The other three looked amongst each other and slowly nodded their heads, accepting this plan as their last hope.

Chapter Thirteen - Numbers

Jason knew this was his chance to say something. Everyone had been severely beaten down by Mora and Logan. As he had predicted, Mora and Logan were told to go against the five of them, and the five of them were easily outwitted and out-powered. The "doctors" were ushering their non-elite patients to the showers, keeping them all in a single file line. Jason held up the back, while Emma was at the very front holding a hand to her head, no doubt in pain from being kicked in head by Mora, who was able to jump much higher then expected for someone just let out of the surgical process. Glancing back at the white-cloaked doctor behind him, Jason concentrated on the four in front of him, passing along a mental message he hoped they would receive.

"Don't eat dinner." He tried to tell them. "They will think we are just too exhausted to eat after training."

"And why should we?" He felt Raven snap. He knew he had always been offensive to her, but he also knew he had to help her. Personal vendettas can come after they all get out alive.

"They put tranquilizers in our food." Was all he said, fearing to even mentally speak due to the burning stare of the doctor close behind.

Raven, who had been behind Emma, glanced back to Chandler briefly, but no one said anything else. Emma and Raven were then split off into their side of showers, and the rest took their place on the men's side, each door being guarded by two doctors in their lab coats, who usually just wrote in their little booklets that they kept in their breast pocket.

Jason was trying to think of a way to save everyone, while in fact trying to look like he was not thinking at all. He knew already that Emma would plead to take Logan along with them, but she should also notice how he had no reserves at practically trying to kill them all. This truly frustrated Jason. He felt he could never understand her dedication to Logan, especially when he was so brutish and uncaring. Then again, it could also be why up until now Jason had never really had friends. Maybe everyone needs an Emma in their life.

Everyone was allowed a seven minute shower, to the second, and then commanded to dry off and dress. Jason pulled on his assigned sweatpants and a black t-shirt, frustrated that he hardly had anytime to think of a plan, and that when he did he just thought about his frustrations with Emma. If he could punch something and get away with it, Jason felt he would probably do it. Reluctantly, Jason followed behind Travis, who was behind Chandler but seemed to keep a little distance as they were ushered to the cafeteria.

Travis took a deep breath as if he was simply enjoying his walk down the hallway, but at the same time Jason heard him say, "If Logan is an issue, I know how to drug him." Jason stared hard at Travis' head, confused by what he just heard. "When you gave us your warning." He went on, "You opened yourself up to us." He said.

This surprised Jason, but more than anything frightened him. His vulnerability seemed to rush over him just as the pack of dogs that seemed to bring him here.

"It's all right." Travis assured. "Control your breathing or they'll get suspicious. You don't have to let us know everything, I just couldn't help myself. It's the way I am." He explained.

Jason knew this, for even though Jason was not letting others into his mind, he could still see into theirs. Travis' history was always at the tip of his consciousness, and his nosiness and need for people, while he rejects it here, was apparent. "Meet in the kitchen tonight after you're sure the doctors are gone." Jason said to both Chandler and Travis. "And pass it along to the girls."

Chapter Twelve - Colors

There was a day, a long time ago, when Emma had a love for colors, especially the bright ones. Her closet was full of bright shades of hoodies and colored pants. Her mother use to tell her she dressed like she was still five, but Emma would give her a mom a look that said, "you got a divorce, being five makes me happy." And her mother would just shrug and give Emma a small smile of bright red lipstick. Emma never told her mother, but wearing bright colors made her feel closer to her mother, especially after she had gotten remarried, and the distance was furthered with Emma leaving for college.

"I have a surprise." Logan whispered, pulling Emma out of bed.

"What are you doing here? It's against the rules." Emma yawned, rolling out of her dorm room bed and pulling on a jacket over her tank top. Glancing at her clock, Emma noticed it was six in the morning and groaned.

Logan held a finger to his lips, motioned at Emma's still sleeping roommate, and began leading her  down the stairs and out of her dormitory. After walking quickly across the quad, Logan pulled out a piece of paper and punch in some numbers on an old art building that was being renovated this coming spring. The door gave a click, and Logan pulled the door open. Once inside, Logan had Emma close her eyes, and he slowly led her into a room, and, after closing the door, said, "Okay, you can open them now."

Emma opened her eyes and looked about the room. Everything was white, the floor, the walls, the ceiling. "You woke me up early to see a white room?" She asked.

"Nope." Logan smiled, stepping to the side. "I brought you here to paint." Behind Logan were trays filled with bright colors of paint, and no paint brushes.

"What are we painting with?" She asked, hiding a smile behind her hand.

"With our hands of course!" He exclaimed, tossing a blue hand at Emma's face.

Emma squealed, trying to get back at Logan with some green paint, and together in the early hours of the morning, they painted.

~~~

"What are you doing, five?" The blonde woman growled, clutching Emma's wrist, and pulling her away from a small white table.

Emma stared at the woman, not understanding why she was getting in trouble until she noticed her hand was covered in gray paint, and on the table Emma realized she had covered a piece of paper, and part of the table, in black, gray, and white paint without using a paintbrush. "I don't know." Emma said, looking at the woman with a look that said, "I know you think you have power over me, but your grip sucks."

The woman dropped her hand, and squinted her eyes at Emma. "Wash up."

Emma watched the woman go, and then went to wash her hands at the small white sink that sat on the wall adjacent to the row of white folding chairs. As she rinsed her hands, Emma glanced about the room, but everyone was doing their usual thing: Travis sitting in a corner, Raven on the couch, Chandler leaning against the couch by Raven's feet reading a book, and Jason, laying his head on the piano, no doubt tired from lack of sleep. Then there was Logan, sitting on the far end of the row of chairs, his fingers seeming to clutch his knee as his knuckles turned a pale color. For a moment, Emma thought maybe, just maybe, he had remembered the memory too, but only for a moment. Logan stretched, kicked up his feet on another chair, and picked up a copy of martial art demonstrations. Turning the water off, Emma moved to go back to the table and destroy her weird painting, but was interrupted by the beeping and opening of doors. Turning around Emma saw an older man, dressed in the usual white and using one hand to rub his graying hair and a thick beard, the other hand ushering in a small Chinese girl, about maybe thirteen or fourteen.

The man left, and the girl instantly went to shake hands with Logan, allowing Emma to spot the "8" on her hand. After they shook hands, the girl sat next to Logan, glanced at the rest of them, but made no effort to greet them. Emma's brow furrowed as she looked at the girl. She seemed so small, but when looking at her all Emma could get was that her name was Mora, and that Mora knew that she and Logan were of a more superior breed than the five of them.

Emma looked at Jason, who was alert now. With hands still dripping from the water, She looked at Jason with an almost desperate feeling in her stomach. Jason looked back at her, and seemed to battle with himself for a moment before Emma felt him saying to her, "We're not safe here."

Chapter Eleven - Jason

A weight seemed to sit on Jason's chest as he began to lock up the little grocery shop. He couldn't figure out why he felt so sad, twisting the key for that familiar click. The sun had just sunk below the small houses, and had left a chill that frosted Jason's every exhale. Tucking the key away in his pocket, Jason picked up his two bags of groceries and headed down the small slope that held a bunch of tiny apartments that fit snugly against another opposing hill. As he walked, Jason began to wonder if he should stop by Mr. Brown's place to say hello. Mr. Brown had owned the store for fifty years now, and had been like a father to Jason, even giving him a job at the store and bonuses to cover rent.

Another added weight of sadness seemed to pile onto Jason when he thought of his old friend. Why did it make him so sad, he wondered. He couldn't seem to make sense of it, and just when he thought he might be able to a loud snarling seemed to surround him, and a blur of teeth and pain pressed down until he couldn't handle it any longer.

With a hearty gasp for fresh air, Jason bolted up right. After breathing for a few moment, Jason sighed. Reaching under his pillow, he pulled out a small key. He had no idea how he had managed to keep this small trinket, but it was something he would always treasure. Flicking on the small flashlight attached to the key, Jason pulled on a pair of gray sweats and put the comforter back on the bed. Once the bed was made, Jason carefully slid the key back under the pillow and ran his fingers through his hair, careful not to pull any out as he tended to do as a child when frustrated.

The heaviness seemed to always be with Jason. No matter where he was, or who he was with, there was always something. Perhaps he understood Emma in this way, in the sense that he could see the weight on her shoulders. But unlike Emma, Jason could hardly find hope. Emma felt she could without a doubt save Logan after whatever happened at training practice, but Jason didn't fall into those kinds of traps. His experience led him to believe that all life is is miserable. Perhaps if Jason had had a family he would think differently, but he had to raise himself and see the world for what it really was. Mr. Brown had been kind and gracious man, but even he had grown old and sick.

For Jason, there was nothing to hope for. Except, perhaps an unfortunate accident where Logan was concerned. With a sigh Jason laid back down, his hand reaching under the pillow to feel the coolness of the shop's key. He felt an odd pull toward's Emma, but he also knew that to grow close to her, he would have to open up as Raven had kindly ranted the other day, and all he was inside was a sad pit of lonely hopelessness. Jason could never put someone like Emma, with all of her lovely optimism, through such a tragic thing as that.

Chapter Ten - Training

Natalia paced in front of the group, her white coat pushed back as her fingers pressed against her hips. Emma had learned the blonde woman's name when she had arrived earlier that morning to wake Emma for the morning routine of washing, dressing, and eating breakfast. Now everyone was standing along a white wall opposite a glass window that rested against the edge of the ceiling. Emma tugged at her tight outfit; everyone seemed to be wearing the same black latex suite, but it was not ideal for Emma, she'd much prefer to breathe in her outfits.

A chirpy ring emanated from Natalia's pocked, and she quickly pulled out a small, flat, rectangular device the size of her palm, and held it to her ear. "What's taking so long?" She said, the feel of neck-wringing clear in her tone.

There was a mumble from the phone-like device, and Emma strained her hearing to hear a tired sounding man on the other side. "We've finished our diagnostics, and all we can guess is that the spike was from some kind of dream. There have been no other problems, subject six is free for use."

Natalia sighed, "Then why is he not here yet?" She complained, placing the phone back into her giant coat pocket. She looked at the group, taking time to eye each one of them, as if sizing them up and finding each one lacking. Emma couldn't help but miss the fake niceness she experienced from before; everything was beginning to be too real. "Here is what you will be doing today." Natalia announced, hands once again at her hips. "You will take turns fighting subject six, and you will not, under any circumstances, intervene when you are not the one in combat. This is a one-on-one session, and you will take notes as you wait for your turn." Everyone looked amongst each other, giving a little hint that they were confused by this session, but Emma felt that none of them really cared what they had to do except Jason, whose eyebrows were furrowed.

Across from Emma, below the stretched window, a metal door opened, and Logan stepped forward, wearing a tight red latex suit and a cocky grin.

Another sigh escaped from Natalia as her heels clacked on the her way over to Logan. "About time."

Logan looked Natalia in the eyes, giving off a strong sense of power and control. "Everything is as you asked."

"Great. Let's move!" She called, waving everyone to follow Logan back through the door he had opened.

They walked down a short hallway until another door was opened. Once inside Emma was taken back by all the rocks in the room. The ground was covered in a red dirt, and periodically spread throughout the room giant rocks stood out at sharp looking points.

"Subject three, you will go first. The rest of you go to the neutral zone on the left."

Emma looked at Chandler as she followed to others to a spot behind a row of horizontal bars. Chandler looked so small and thin compared to Logan's giant build. Logan smirked at Chandler, who gulped in return.

Natalia appeared in the giant window that sat up and to Emma's right, just along the wall of the door. "The training begins now."

Logan launched himself at Chandler, and before Chandler could blink an eye he was pinned against a boulder with his eyes practically bulging out of his head. Chandler struggled a bit, but to no avail.

"Enough. Subject three may return."

Logan stood up and sighed, as if bored as Chandler moved to safety with his head bowed low. Raven was fuming, and Emma tried to dismiss the rudeness of what she felt Raven thinking.

"Subject five, your turn."

Emma took a deep breath and moved in front of Logan. She looked for any signs that he remembered her, but his eyes were as cold and calculating as ever.

"Begin now."

Logan smirked and moved for Emma, but she anticipated this from watching Chandler, so she dropped to the ground and rolled out of the way. Logan landed on the boulder, wrapping one arm around it and finding Emma pushed himself off of it. Emma, never learning how to fight, was taken by surprise as Logan snatched her wrist and flung her to the ground. Fear began to take over Emma as a sickening grin stretched across Logan's face.

"Please, Logan." She said, knowing it was useless.

Logan grabbed at her again, but she tried to move out of the way this time. Logan still managed to grab her leg, and he swung her across the room, making her land on a bunch of smaller rocks. He launched at her, and deciding to take fight instead of flight, Emma launched right back at him. Logan grabbed hold of Emma's wrists, and her weight pulled him down on top of her as they twisted mid-air. With Emma's wrists pinned above her head, Logan seemed to half-smile, his eyes boring into hers.

Emma was quickly reminded of another time.

~~

It was raining and Logan had just lost a championship game. He had waited until everyone had left, and then found himself alone in the stadium. Emma knew he liked to process losses alone for a while, but she didn't like how sad he would get, so she went out, when everyone had left, to meet him in the middle of the field.

"You're still here." She called out to him.

He looked over at her, feeling the weight of his helmet in his hands and the stains of mud and grass mocking his playing. "You know I like to process things." He said at a normal volume as she stood in front of him.

"I know that, but it's raining." She said, motioning her pink polka-dot umbrella up and down. "You can't be alone when it's raining."

"And why is that?" Logan asked, a smile beginning to pull at the corner of his mouth.

"Because it's a waste of a perfectly good opportunity, of course." Emma closed her umbrella and dropped it on the ground, and before Logan could say a word Emma punched his arm and took of running. "You're it!"

"What are you doing?" Logan cried, feeling exhausted from the game.

Emma stood near the goalpost. "Ah, giving up before you even try. Maybe that's why you lost." She said with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Woah! Too soon!" Logan yelled, taking off towards Emma, who could barely run ten yards before Logan had caught up to her. Emma let out a squeal as Logan grabbed her arm, but with the rain pouring down the two of them slipped in the mud, landing on their backs. Logan let out a small groan. "Of all things, that I will feel tomorrow."

Emma chuckled. "Maybe you're not so bad."

Logan propped himself up so that his head was above Emma's. "Maybe." He sighed.

"Hey." Emma placed a muddy hand to Logan's face. "It was just a game. There will be lots of games, but there's only one you. And... well, you're pretty amazing."

Logan searched Emma's warm eyes and placed his hand over hers. "I love you." He whispered.

"About time." She smiled, placing a soft kiss against his lips.

~~

Emma looked hard at Logan. "Maybe you're not so bad." She said, restraining from clenching her teeth.

Logan's eyes dilated and a feeling of panic and confusion took control of his face. "Maybe..." He said, glancing at the rock he was clenching in his fist just above Emma's head.

Before Emma could respond Logan was pushed off of her, and Jason was grabbing the rock from Logan's hand.

A crackling sound echoed in the room, and Natalia's voice screeched, "Subject four, you have disobeyed command, and will not be receiving lunch!"

Jason stood up and brushed himself off, and Logan's cocky personality returned instantly. Emma got the feeling Jason could care less about missing a meal, but she wished he hadn't interfered. There was something there, maybe Emma could save Logan after all.

Chapter Nine - A Revelation

Emma pulled away from the wall, hardly registering the shallow dent on the wall's white surface. Her eyes were still trained on the closed door across from her. Kneeling on her hands and knees, her lips trembled and her tongue twisted until a weak voice pushed out the word, "Pet."

Never had that word ever come out of Logan's mouth before. They had always addressed each other by their names, thinking they were beyond the typical mush of romantic relationships. They were something real; they were something that was meant to last. The amount of ice that carried the word from Logan's mouth to Emma's ears left her in a constant state of frigid disbelief. "Pet," she muttered, leaning back against her feet and dusting her hands off on her rumpled white dress. 

She stood up slowly, brushing her hair out of her eyes, and attempted to smooth her dress out. Nothing seemed to make sense to Emma, and she wasn't sure she even wanted to make sense of it, so she headed down the hallway, through the double doors, past her room, and into the cafeteria.

The cafeteria looked big and empty with the tables pushed to the side and no guards surrounding the area with their beady little eyes. Emma walked across the cafeteria, her feet slapping against the cold linoleum, and found Jason squatting behind a large metal counter. 

Jason looked up at Emma. He stared at her hard, trying to size up what happened while he stood up with a cutting board. Without saying a word Jason handed Emma a peach before beginning to chop a head of lettuce. 

Emma looked at the peach. It was a simple gesture, and would not have even been a big deal at home. But here, in a place where kindness appeared fake and forced by adults in lab-coats, and everyone else just seemed to have given up, this one act or random kindness brought Emma to tears as she squeezed the peach in her fist.

"We were supposed to get married." Emma cried between choking sobs. "We were different!" Emma dropped the peach and sunk to the floor, the weight of her new world crushing her. 

Jason slid down next to Emma. He didn't say a word to her; he knew all she needed was time, and when you've been disappointed like she has, time drips slowly like a shut off faucet with a leak. 

Emma took deep, shaky breaths until she no longer shook all over. She wrapped her arms around her legs and rested her head on her knees. "He threw me out of his room by just grabbing my arm." She said, staring at a large metal fridge. "He said he didn't love me, then he just threw me out... Just like that. And you know what bugs me more than any of that?" She asked, still not looking at Jason. "He called me Pet." 

A chuckle caught Emma's attention. Jason had a hand over his mouth, but there was no doubt that he had laughed at Emma. "I'm sorry." He said through his hand. "It's just... You'll take an abusive boyfriend over someone who gives you a nickname?" 

A smile crossed Emma's face. "When you put it like that it sounds kind of lame, doesn't it." She said with a sad little smile.

"It's not your fault." He sighed. "They changed him. I think it's safe to say we're supposed to be some kind of weapon, and their techniques for changing us worked a little too well on pet-boy. When I felt his mind, all emotions unnecessary to war seem tied off." Jason explained. "His strategy and reflexes are all super enhanced, and even his physical strength seems to surpass our own." He mused.

"So what does that mean for us?" Emma asked.

"We may become obsolete. Our wills are too strong for them to manipulate, no matter how much drug induced food they feed us."

"So that's why you never eat."

Jason nodded and stood back up. "The others don't know, if we all stopped eating they'd find another way to drug us, which would probably be more effective, so I act like I'm not hungry, and then I make myself food during the evening."

"Won't they notice the foods missing?"

"Nah. Cooks take stuff with them all the time." Jason lent a hand to Emma, helping her up. "Want a salad?"

"Yes please."

Chapter Eight - Logan

Emma quickly brushed past the suave dark figure, eager to search the hall for the door that held Logan behind it. She knew, after the march to the cafeteria, that each door held a number that correlated to the black tattoo that each resident carried. So, with a strong sense of determination, and the flickering lighter light going on and off, on and off, Emma knew she had to confront the boy she loved, and the man he became.

"You don't want to do that." Jason said, stepping away from the wall and trailing behind Emma. "I told you he is not safe."

"No!" Emma cried, turning around to stare at the dark outline of Jason. With a hushed voice Emma stared hard at the shadow, "You don't know him. You can't know him like I do."

Jason shifted his wait to his left foot, and looked down at the lighter. "You're wrong. He's not who he was before, the look in his eyes, and the feel of his mind... it's all wrong in there." Jason drew closer to Emma, speaking in an even quieter and more urgent tone than before. "He's not like the rest of us."

"Us?" Emma scoffed. "I've been around one day and I already know you're not apart of anything but yourself." Turning away, Emma found two metal doors leading down another hallway. Jason's hand grasped her arm as she tried to push through the doors.

"Stop."

Light began to leak in from the next hallway, a soft yellow glow from a headlight hanging in the middle of the hallway just beyond the double doors. Emma looked at Jason, now having enough light to see the bags under his eyes, and the way they squinted at Emma in the newly lit area.

"Never mind." He said, dropping his hand and stepping away. He gave a little shrug and headed for the opposite end of the hallway where the cafeteria was.

The curiosity got to Emma. "Where are you going?"

"I'm hungry." He said, tossing the cafeteria doors open and disappearing behind the doors' swing squeaks.

Whatever, Emma thought, finding herself standing in front of a door with a large six in the top left corner. To keep her mind off of the nervousness, Emma set her mind to opening the door, and quickly found the spot to push. The door made a few clicking sounds, then, slowly, it pulled away from the left side of the wall and slid into the right.

Taking a deep breath, Emma stepped onto a plush red carpeted room, and saw the large figure of Logan under a single white sheet.

"Logan." She whispered, stepping gingerly towards the bed.

Logan's eyes bolted open and he jumped out of the bed, landing on the opposite side of Emma, wearing  a tight white shirt and navy blue sweats. "Get out." He said, eyes wild, and blond hair sticking up from his pillow.

Emma took another step towards him, careful to move slowly. "It's me, Logan. It's Emma."

"Emma?" Logan looked like a frightened animal, his cobalt eyes darting around the room. He looked back at Emma, and the posture she had seen in the cafeteria came back. Logan stood up straight, eyes growing more distant, and arms folded behind his back. "Get out." He said again, his voice harsh and cold.

Emma thought to take another step towards him but faltered back instead, shocked by the coarseness of his voice. "But it's me... Emma. I love you."

Logan placed a hand on his bed and hurdled over the bed, landing right in front of Emma, a mocking smile pulling at the side of his mouth. "Love?" He said, tilting his head to the side. "There is no love here, pet." With a feeling of hurt, Emma reached out to Logan, but he quickly caught her wrist in his hand, the smirk fading into a scowl. "Now get out." He said, tossing Emma out the door and into the opposing wall.

Emma looked up in shock as the door slid back into its place, hiding Logan's smirk once again.