Circe, Lauren, and Josie escorted the four companions back to the lab room where Bailey and Rachel had had their blood drawn. "Just like I predicted," said Circe. "These girls' friends did indeed come to rescue them."

"Of course, the real question is whether this chick has the right kind of DNA," Lauren said, looking down on Olivia like she was a science experiment gone wrong.

Olivia's heart hammered in her chest. Miles had texted Zack, right? That they'd found Bailey and Rachel? But if he had, would Zack and Saige be able to save them? It seemed doubtful. There were three witches here, along with a bunch of armed guards. Two people who weren't that good with guns anyway wouldn't do any good.

Circe turned to Olivia and pointed at one of the hospital beds in the lab. "Lie down on there," she commanded. Olivia reluctantly did as she was told.

"I knew it," Bailey said miserably. "I knew she'd do this."

"What, is Olivia actually a changed boy?" Rachel asked.

Bailey didn't answer, but the look on her face said it all.

"Keep very still," Circe said as she pulled out a syringe. But she was just bending over Olivia when a loud alarm blared.

"Gah!" Miles cried. He covered his ears to drown out the blaring sound of the alarm, as did Bailey and Rachel. "What the hell-"

"It's the fire alarm," said Lauren.

"We've gotta get out of here!" said Josie.

"You go," said Circe. "I'll catch up after I've drawn this girl's blood."

"What about our other captives?" Lauren asked.

"Leave them here," said Circe. She snapped her fingers, and handcuffs suddenly formed around Rachel's, Bailey's, and Miles' wrists. "Let them die in the fire."

"Very well," said Lauren. She, Josie, and the security guards all fled the room.

"Now, back to you," Circe said to Olivia.

"No, please, no!" Olivia protested. She didn't know what Circe was going to do with her blood, but she'd apparently already drawn Rachel's, and it definitely couldn't be for a good cause.

"Trust me," said Circe, "By the time we're done, the whole world will thank me." She inserted the tip of the syringe into the flesh of Olivia's arm.

She'd barely even started drawing the blood when it happened. There was a loud BANG! as the lab room's door was busted open, followed by the sound of a gunshot. Circe yelped in agony and doubled over, dropping the syringe. A quick glance downward told Olivia that Circe had been shot in the leg. And the person who'd shot her was none other than Zack Fletcher.

"Are you okay?" Zack asked.

"Yeah," said Olivia. "Where's Saige?"

"Right here," said Zack. Right on cue, Saige came up beside Zack.

Circe was still lying in a heap on the floor, unable to get back up because of her injured leg, but when she saw Zack and Saige, her face went red with fury. "You!" she accused. "You pulled the fire alarm as a distraction!"

"Yep, we did," said Zack. He aimed his gun at Circe again, but she rolled out of the way.

"We've gotta go," Saige said as she unlocked the handcuffs on Bailey's wrists. "If we stick around any longer, the rest of the witches are gonna figure out there's no fire!"

"I guess you're right," said Zack.

"No!" Circe protested. "You won't escape from here!"

The kids/young adults ignored her. Zack, Saige, Bailey, Olivia, Miles, and Rachel, the latter two of whom were still handcuffed, took off and ran down the hallway. They made it back out to the building's exit where they'd come in and went out onto the compound's back field. But they'd only gone about ten feet when a truck came barreling out in front of them. The truck skidded to a halt, and a half dozen Genetics Engineering security guards came clambering out. Some were male, some were female, but they all had thick police batons and pistols.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Rachel exclaimed.

"You two stay behind us," said Zack. "We'll handle this!" He fired his gun and took out the first of the security guards. Unfortunately, he wasn't prepared for the second one coming in. That guard brought his baton down and whacked Zack in the head. Stars winking before his eyes, Zack doubled over and dropped his gun. The security guard raised his own gun, but then Miles tackled him to the ground. Zack regained his consciousness, got his gun back, and shot the security guard dead.

All around them, Olivia, Bailey, and Saige were locked in combat with the remaining security guards. Olivia managed to shoot down two of them, but another female one was attacking her with her police baton. Olivia ducked to avoid getting hit with the baton, but it wasn't long till the security guard got in a lucky shot on Olivia's arm. Olivia yelped in pain as she felt a bruise forming on her arm. The security guard raised her baton again, but Olivia had other ideas. She balled her right fist and punched the security guard square in the face. The security guard fell backward, hit her head on the side of the truck, and crumpled to the ground unconscious.

Meanwhile, Saige had run out of bullets for her gun and was facing the last security guard unarmed. She dodged the security guard's baton and stepped backward, but then she accidentally tripped over one of the other guards' bodies. Saige fell backward onto the ground with the security guard bearing down on her, pulling out his pistol and aiming it at her face. This is it, Saige thought. This is what it's like to die.

All of a sudden, a ball of blue fire flew in out of nowhere and hit the security guard in the chest. Within seconds, the security guard was incinerated in a torrent of flame and burned to a pile of ashes. Saige looked and saw that her rescuer was a girl about Rachel's age with brown hair and a fiery, angry look in her eyes.

"What the...is that another witch?" Zack asked.

"Yes!" Rachel exclaimed. "She's my friend!"

The anger left the new girl's eyes when she saw Rachel. "Rachel!" she said. The two girls ran at each other and hugged. "Oh, Rachel, I was so worried about you!"

"How'd you get here?" Rachel asked.

"Conner drove me," the new girl answered.

"Conner?"

Right then, everyone noticed another teenage boy standing behind the new girl. "Hey Rachel," he said. "Hey, uh...everyone."

"Oh-this is Lanie," Rachel explained. "And that's her boyfriend Conner. And this is..."

"My name's Olivia," said Olivia. "And that's Saige, and Bailey, and-"

"Hey, wait a minute," Lanie said when she saw Zack. "You're that guy who was on the news. Zack, right?"

"Right. Or Zoe, depending on the situation."

"How on Earth did you get involved in all this?" Lanie asked.

"It's a long story," said Zack.

"We were actually going to Kentucky to meet him," said Bailey, "But then-"

"BAILEY, WATCH OUT!" Miles exclaimed.

Too late. Another security guard, who happened to be the driver of the truck, had jumped out of the truck with a gun in hand. Since Bailey was closest, he targeted her first. Lanie reacted quickly, throwing another fireball at him. It all happened in a blur-Bailey whirling toward the security guard, the sound of a gunshot, and the guard's scream when the fireball hit him and burned him up.

"Got him!" said Lanie. "Now..." She trailed off when she saw Bailey. A hole had appeared in her shirt, and the area around it was quickly soaking with blood. She had been shot.

"Oh no!" Olivia gasped. She ran up to Bailey and caught her as she started to fall. "Bailey, no! No, no, no!"

"Olivia," said Bailey. She was rapidly growing weaker and weaker, but she still managed to look up at her longtime friend. "I...I didn't see him coming..."

"Come on, Bailey," said Olivia. "You've gotta stay with me! We didn't come all this way to lose you!"

"You never lost me," said Bailey. And with that, the light left her eyes.

"Bailey? Bailey!" Olivia shook her friend, but it was no use. She had died.

"I can't believe this," said Saige. She, Zack, Miles, Rachel, and even Lanie and Conner, who didn't know Bailey, were feeling an atmosphere of grief come down on them. "She...she just..."

"She's gone," said Zack.

"Guys, I hate to break it up," said Conner, "But we've got to go. If the witches see us out here, they'll send more guards out."

"You're right," said Saige. "I take it you guys have your own car?"

"Yes, we do," Conner answered.

"Did you bring anyone else with you this time?" Rachel asked.

"No," Conner answered. "Just us."

"Where are you guys going next?" Lanie asked. "Should we follow you?"

Zack and Saige exchanged glances. "Well, clearly we have a common enemy," said Zack. "So yes. Follow us to...wherever we end up going."

"Come on, Olivia," said Saige. "We have to go."

"But Bailey...we can't..."

"We'll come back for her later," Saige said, though she wasn't sure if the witches would leave Bailey's body intact. "Right now, we have to get out of here."

"Fine," said Olivia. She gently laid Bailey's body down on the ground and kissed her forehead. Already, her mind was overflowing with years of memories she'd shared with Bailey. Now it was all over. Bailey had been killed. But there was nothing Olivia could do about it. All she could do was follow her companions as they made a break for the edge of the compound where their cars were waiting.

To be continued...