Control

xxvi | aidan

UNDERGROUND, UNDERNEATH THE OLSEN'S HOUSE, THAT'S WHERE THE NEW SAFE HOUSE WAS. Though, that wasn't the thing that struck as odd to me when Spencer led me there. The first was the fact that the street was in ruins, but their house managed to stand.

If I was Lauren, with absolutely no memory of when I was a kid, I wouldn't even want this place to stand. This would be the first place that would go down. It would be the memory of a place I couldn't have. Not to mention, this was where Lauren discovered that Dr. Henderson was her mother, and where she was last before she was drugged and brought back to the Institute.

Did she want to keep the house in tact, or was it just some strange coincidence that it's still standing? 

"We don't really know why it's standing, but even if we're attacked, we're going to be underground, in the basement. It'll be fine." I don't know if Spencer was talking to me or himself. The words were loud enough that I could here him, but seemed as if they we're kept to himself. He climbed up the stairs, but then climbed back down when I was about to go up. "We'll take the back."

I have no recollection of the family having a basement, or at least being in it. I'm sure there was a point in time when Lauren tried to break into her own basement, with us in tow. She always did that sort of stuff when we were kids. Tyson, Alyssa and I always tagged along, even if it was a bad plan.

We didn't know she was sick back then, so why did we agree to everything she did? I don't remember a time when we didn't. Well, I did try to get out of everything, but Alyssa and Tyson seemed to agree to everything. 

There was a staircase going down behind the house. Nostalgia floods through me. 

"I think there's a pile of chocolate down there."

"Maybe it's a monster. If you aren't allowed in there, maybe it's for a good reason. Maybe you'll get hurt."

"Come on, Aidan. I'll be an adventure."

"Adventure! Adventure!"

We were just kids, barely able to speak in full sentences. Our friendship went way back, I realised. We never did get the door open. No amount of puppy dog eyes or crying (mostly from Lauren herself) was able to open the door.

There was a fingerprint scanner next to the door. Funny how we never noticed that before, maybe because we weren't even tall enough to reach it at age six. Spencer puts his hand against the scanner, making it flash green, then twisted the handle. The door almost slammed shut before I got in. Luckily, I managed to get the door before it closed.

"Finally!" It was Taylor who greeted us. She wrapped her hands around my waist, giving me a hug, and pulled away before it got too awkward. "Why the hell did it take you so long?"

"Some people have trust issues," I heard Spencer mutter under his breath. 

"Well you can't exactly expect me to trust you after everything you've done," I spat. "I have my reasons, you should just be glad that I actually decided to follow you, because I wouldn't have done that if you were anyone else." Or if my father didn't convince me to go.

"You can't consider yourself innocent either, Davis," he growled. "Everyone in this room is guilty of interacting with the Institute one way or another."

That's it. I launched myself at him, throwing him off guard. We crashed onto the ground, my hands around his neck. Someone let out a scream, though I couldn't put a finger on who it was. 

"You... you hurt her so much, do you realise? This... this entire thing is all you fault. She could've just been... she could've just been dead and wouldn't have had to deal with any of this." The words stung, but they were true. Lauren lived a hard enough life, she didn't have to go through everything she did after getting to the Institute.