Caught

Epilogue

Spencer laid hopelessly on his bed in his pajamas, reaching for another can of beer from the floor. He had no idea why his dad kept so many cans in the house but he was glad of it. All he was planning on doing for the rest of the night was to drink his problems away.

It was an exhausting night, not being at all as what he expected it to be. Yet at the same time, he knew exactly what was going to happen tonight. He knew that some of the Institute's forces were going to crash the party, he didn't know that there would be so many bullet involved.

If only he told Lauren beforehand. Maybe she'd still be here, snoring away in the room next to his, if he told her.

Spencer went in for another sip, only to find Kassandra snatching it away from him. "Hey, what the hell was that for, Kassandra?"

"This isn't healthy, Spencer," She said, crossing her arms. "It's been, what, an hour since you got home and you're a complete mess. You're going to grow addicted if you drink this much."

"My heart," Was all Spencer has said, but Kass got the idea. She sat next to him on the bed, grabbing a hold of his hand.

"Spencer, this wasn't all your fault-"

"Of course, it's all my fault. Everything is all my fault. I still don't know why Lauren and I ran away from home years ago, but I'm sure life wouldn't have been this complicated if we didn't."

"Spencer, you're doing you best to protect her-"

"And I'm failing, aren't I?" He said, sitting up. "I was the one who told Mom when the dance was-"

"Unintentionally."

"But I still talk to her over the phone. She always tells me the Institute's plans and I always tell no one." He turned to look at Kass in the eye. "I'm the bad guy, am I not? Lauren's in this mess because of me."

"Spencer, why are you so hard on yourself?" Kass said. "Lauren's going to be okay, I know she is. She's so strong, she won't let the Institute do whatever they're doing-"

"She went back, Kass. She went back to Mom." Tears were filling his eyes. He wiped them away. "They could have Lauren under their influence. She could be just another puppet on their strings."

Kassandra moved closer, wrapping the hurt boy in her arms. There was a long silence in the air until Kass spoke again. "No one knows the rest of the plan, do they? Aidan and Alyssa and Tyson, they have no clue, right?" Spencer nodded slowly. "When are you going to tell them?"

Spencer pulled away from her arms. "I don't want to be apart of this, Kassandra. I just... I just agreed because of-"

"Because of Lauren, I know. But you have to let them know - let her know - that at the end of the day, the world is resting on your shoulders."

"Kassandra, I could stop it after, right?" He asked. "When they're all gone, I could set Lauren free. She could be... normal."

"But what would be considered normal after all that happens?"

Spencer leaned towards her, his hand moving a lock of brown hair away from Kassandra's face. "I love you, you know. I'm glad I could talk to you about all this."

"I'm glad you have enough trust in me to tell me everything." She continued to lean into the kiss, but was interrupted by a sudden noise and flash of light.

Both young adults turned their heads to Spencer's desk, where his once blank laptop screen now read four words: VIDEO CALL FROM JULIANNA.

"Answer that," Kassandra told Spencer.

He hesitated but walked over to his desk and took a seat in his chair. He pressed 'ACCEPT' and was soon looking at a face that was all too familiar.

"Hey Mom," He said nervously. "It's late, isn't it?" He quickly glanced at the clock in the corner of his screen, which currently read 2:14AM.

"You don't look too well, sweetheart," Julianna Henderson said. She still wore her white lab coat, her hair pulled into a bun. Her indigo eyes held a look of victory even if her expression was slightly neutral. "Someone wanted to say goodnight before you signed off for the day." She immediately walked away, another familiar face filling the screen.

Lauren stood in front of the screen, looking better than when Spencer saw her last. He had to pinch himself twice to believe she was actually on the other side of the video call. Her dirty blonde hair was tied back into a ponytail and a bandage was stuck onto her forehead. She wore an identical black suit to what the other Evolutians now wore, hers slightly different, for it had her name embroidered over her left lung.

"Goodnight, Spencer." Her voice was emotionless, almost robotic. It was as if the words were coming out forced, which wouldn't really be a surprise for Spencer.

He knew that a broken girl lied beneath the act, he wasn't stupid. She just had her heart broken, she was shattered into pieces. She couldn't have recovered so fast, not after what they all saw.

"G-Goodnight Lauren," He stuttered to his sister. He took another good look at her, not sure when he'll see her in person again.

Her green eyes were the last thing Spencer saw when the screen turned black again. They were still freshly painted in his memory.

"You okay?" Kassandra asked, walking over and touching his shoulder.

He shook his head. The look on his sister's face haunted him. It wasn't much more than a neutral expression but her eyes spoke to him the most.

Spencer knew that girl for sixteen years, yet never did Lauren Olsen look more terrified than when he just saw her, moments ago.

THE END