It's getting late as my roomate and I try to decide to either go to bed now or listen to another episode of the show we are binge watching. I don't really want the night to end since it's one of the last one we have alone together. Her girlfriend is moving in in a few weeks and I'm moving to my new place in two months. But we both can't keep our eyes open so it's best if we call it a night. We stand up from the couch the best we can and we freeze on the spot when we hear a loud and scary scream coming from outside. We both look at each other, confused and a bit worried. We carefully walk to the window, cracking open the curtains just enough for us to see. One by one, the houses on the street go dark. Our house is next. As more screams echoes and all the lights turn off, we run away from the windows and go straight to the kitchen to hide under the table ''Why are we hiding under the table exactly?'' my roomate asks in a whisper.

''I don't know, they always do that in movies...''

We wait for something to happen. And we hear another scream. And another. And another. They are getting louder, closer. It's coming for us. All of us. the whole neighboor. We hear the front door swinging open even if I know that I locked it after I came in earlier. We hold our breath and hug each other out of fear. An etheral smoke slowly float towards us.For some reason it seems to know where we are. It stops a few inches from us and I can swear that I can hear it smell us. Feel us. It stays still for a few seconds and leave without a sound. Leaving us both under the table frozen in place but alive. After what seems like an eternity, the lights goes back on. I take a quick look at my phone. Only 5 minutes passed since we closed the tv. We slowly crawl out of under the table and take a quick look outside. All our neighboors are doing the same. We all gather together. We all experienced the same thing. But for four of them, the smoke surrounded them for a few seconds before leaving. We all look at them, not knowing what to say or do. They still look 'normal' after all. A few police cars and ambulances finally come with all lights flashing loud and clear. They go through the questionning and checking, bringing some people that are in shock to the hospital to make sure they are going to be fine. They don't really know what to do with the four 'victims' of the smoke. They all agree to spend atleast the night at the hospital, to make sure they are going to be fine and the few neighbours remaining go back to their respective houses. Let's say nobody slept well that night.

The next morning, when I get to work, I am more than surprised to see my four neighbours. I work in a research lab and seeing people here is not uncommon for clinical tests and all but... all four of them? I get closer and give them a quick wave ''Hey, are you all okay?''

''We don't know... Something happened last night.'' Samuel tells me. I'm about to ask more questions but one of the main scientist asks them to follow him. We wave each other goodbye and I go to my locker to get ready. I can't wait for the morning meet up to understand what is happening to my neighbours. And soon enough, my boss calls a meeting. An urgent one. I look at the few coworkers that are in the locker room with me and they all look as puzzled as I am. We all gather in the small conference room, like every morning, but this time I can see that my boss and the leader scientists are nervous. Something bad happened to my neighbours and I really want to know if we can help them. I hope we can. They are explaining that they put them in the rooms meant for the long studies, the ones that look like small studios since they didn't know how much time they would stay. They look nervous, but I don't think it's because they are worried about them, more like they are scared of them. I can't take it any longer ''I know them. They are my neighbours. What happened to them? Are they okay?''

''They are... healthy if that's what you want to know, Mister Lafleur, and you will be able to see for yourself since you are in this study.''

Study. I always hated that word. We always work with other human beings, why do they always have to call it a 'study'. I shake that thought out of my head, I don't have time to worry about words right now. Atleast I will be able to see them. As soon as the meeting end, I rush to the section of the lab where my neighbours are and as I'm about to step in the first room, the lead scientist stops me ''Don't forget your forms Lafleur. I don't like the idea that you are here. You know those people, your feelings will most likely get in the way... But they said it would help them feel more confortable seeing a familiar face. So do your job or I put you aside. Familiar face or not!'' I only nod and take the small writing pad he is handing me. I neved liked this guy. He is so stuck in the scientific method that he forget that he is working with people.

I look at the pad and the first person I have to see is Nina. She lives three houses away from me. This is so weird. I know those people. But I don't want him to be right about my-feelings-getting-in-the-way so I take a deep breath and step in ''Hi Nina. How are you feeling?'' A big wave of stress rushes over me as I close the door behind me. I shake my head a bit and take another deep breath. I can do this. She looks at me and I can see that she is atleast as anxious as I am ''I don't know. My head hurts like it never did before.''

And I can see in her lab report that they did a SCAN on her already. Nothing came out of it. Blood tests are also fine ''I hate this place! White people doing experiment on the indigenous girl looks way too familiar to me.''

''Hey, we are only trying to figure out what happened to all of you. I promise you are going to be fine. We are trying to help as best as we can. So can you tell me what happened? I can see here that ''an accident'' happened at the hospital?''

She stares at me right in the eyes for a few seconds and seems mad,but at the same time I feel like she trusts me enough to speak. She explains to me that when one of the nurse tried to take some blood she panicked a bit since she is afraid of needles and when she asked the nurse to wait before pulling out the needle so she could brace herself, she didn't listen and just pulled everything out in full view. Nina got so mad at the nurse and then, just like that, the nurse collapsed on the floor, screaming while holding her head in her hands. Nina freaked out and her anger faded away as fast as it came and the nurse stopped screaming. I look at her in shock ''And you think you did this?''

''You don't believe me.'' Nina scoffs while crossing her arms.

''No! No no no! I just don't want to make assumptions here. I'm sorry it came out as rude. How do you think you did this?''

''I was so mad at her for what she did. They never listen to me you know. I can see the hate and disdain in their eyes when they look at me. I wanted to make her feel what they all do to us. How much we suffer because of them! And then I felt this energy building inside my head. So I pushed it toward that white nurse and she collapsed on the floor in pain. It was so scary but at the same time it felt so good... Am I a bad person?''

''No, of course not. We did so many horrible things to all of you. You are completly right to be mad at us. And I know you, you are one of the best neighbours I ever had! We will figure out what is happening to you so you don't hurt someone else by accident.''

''It wasn't an accident.''

''I know... But let's just call it this way for now so you don't get in more trouble...'' She looks at me with an annoyed look ''I am acting like the White Savior that knows best right now, am I?''

''Yes but I understand your point.''

''Thank you. Oh and do you need anything so you can feel less like in a small jail?''

''Some snacks and books would be nice.'' I write everything down and tell her that I will ask her girlfriend to bring them to her. We say our goodbye and I step in the next room.

I get the next little pad and step inside ''Hi Patrick.''

''You can still call me Pat, please.'' Pat is living right in front of me. We leave for work at the same time so we always say hi to each other. He is really nervous too and he can't stop scatching his arms and neck. I see in his report that he has been since last night. His skin is getting all red because of that. I ask him to tell me what happened last night. He stands up from the small bed and start pacing in the room while explaining ''My skin started to itch for some reason. Like everywhere. And I needed to scratch my whole body at the same time so I was scratching and scratching until I... I saw... my right arm, scratching my other right arm.''

''Oh...''

''Yeah... I freaked out and the arm just... sucked back inside of me!'' an awkward silence follows his sentence. I feel like he wants to say more, but he is scared. I put my hand on his shoulder in a conforting way ''You can talk to me. Not only am I one of the scientist here to help you, I'm your friend. I won't judge.''

He nods and I can feel his shoulders relaxing a bit ''I feel like I can split myself. That this is why my body is itching. It wants to split in two.''

''Like full on Naruto Shadow clone Jutsu?''

''Yes!''

I gesture him to try and he does the small hand gesture Naruto does before doing is Justu. We can't help but burst out laughing. It looks a bit ridiculous, but at the same time, it makes some of the stress go away. I then look at him and give him an encouraging nod. He closes his eyes and concentrate. And for a whole second I can clearly see two Patrick in front of me. But as soon as Pat-two is fully formed, he morphs back into Pat-one. Patrick opens his eyes again ''For a second it stopped itching... Did it work?''

''Yeah...it did.'' We both look at each other with a mix of fascination and fear. I promise him that we will figure out what is happening to him and I let him rest for a while. This whole shadow clone thing exausted him. I make a mental note to ask him if he wants me to bring him something since he lives alone. I make sure someone watch over him and go to the third room.

The third one is Brienne. Well not exactly, her name is Anna but she looks exactly like Brienne in Game of Thrones. She is such an amazing neighbour, she lives all the way down the street but she always takes time to bring everyone cookies or cupcakes every month and they are so delicious! And we also always have this little stupid greeting ritual ''Hi sugar!'' I say a bit to joy fully.

''Hello two cups of flour.'' she responds in a monotonous voice but with a little smile. Well atleast I mad her not so worried anymore. Same thing again, I ask her what happened ''You won't believe it. A few hours after we settle in the hospital, I needed to use the bathroom and the nurse tell me to pull hard on the door since it always stays stuck. They asked for a repair months ago but nothing changed. Anyway, I reach for the door and pull hard and... I threw the door all the way to the other side of the room. I almost knocked out the nurse with it!''

''That's so cool!... I mean not... not cool. At all... Sorry.''

''I mean, when you think about it, I guess it is but... Why? Why me?'' She asks while rubbing her hans together.

''I don't know yet, but we will figure everything out soon. Do you need anything? I can call your husband so he can bring them to you.''

''I'm fine for now, I have my music with me so I'm fine.Thanks.''

Last but not least, Samuel. I don't really know how to act around him. In the neighbour, he is the leader of the Neighbourhood group. I always listened to him and did what he told us to do. But now I am the one in charge. That feels a bit weird. I step in the room and I see him pacing back and forth, he then stares at the bed but decide to keep walking ''Hi Sam. How are you feeling?''

''Not so great. I never felt so stressed to sit on something.''

''Why?''

''Oh well, last night I couldn't sleep so I decided to sit on one of the chair in my hospital room to read for a while and I fell on the floor. Like litterally, I got through the whole chair, I dropped my book and it stayed stuck half way in the chair! It was my favorite book! Now it's stuck in a hospital chair.''

I try my best to calm him. It is so weird to see him out of it. He is always so calm and... leading, almost royal. I always admired that about him. I also ask him if I want to tell his wife to bring him something, but he is fine for now. I wave him goodbye and get ready to give my report to my boss. I will also get something ready for their family to visit them. I will have to get some authorisations, but since nobody knows for how long they are going to stay here, it's better to prepare the visites now.

It's is now two days since the incident and the families of my neighbours are leaving the lab. I got the authorisations really fast and I couldn't be happier. The few health tests we did on them also all came back normal. Annoyingly normal. I am about to go on my break but my boss calls me over. I am needed in the study. He seems particularly nervous for some reason. Something in the back of my head is telling me that something is about to go wrong. Really wrong. And the closer I get, the more nervous I get. Soldiers. Everywhere. Why is the army here? Someone that looks like the sergeant is standing tall in the middle of the common room. Nina, Patrick, Anna and Samuel are also there, each in front of their door. There is a soldier right next to them too. I am about to ask what is going on, but the sergeant make a hand gesture to stop me from talking. He then stares at each person present in the room and explains that they are here to help us with our problems.I really don't like how he said problems while looking at my friends ''They are not problems!'' I shout out. He gives me a look that can kill and slowly walks towards me ''You don't know anything about what is going on here. We do. This is not the first incident and we had plenty of time to research the others.''

I look around and realise that everyone except the militaries are as surprised as I am ''How come don't we know about this? This is something out of the ordinary, people should have talked about an event like that before!''

''It happened in a small tribe far away, it doesn't matter.'' He responds with a dismissive gesture.

''And what 'Tribe' did you enslave and colonized this time?'' Samuel ask with venom in is voice. He is from Haiti, so this hit close from home for him. I can see how Nina is getting angry too. This could go horribly wrong.

''I said it doesn't matter.'' and he snaps his fingers. The fours soldiers standing beside my friends move quickly and put a weird looking necklace around their neck and lock it. Everything goes really fast then, my coworkers freeze out of fear and confusion. My friends and I shout out a million questions about what is going on. They are not going to imprison my friends in my work place!

All the soldiers then raise their guns and point them at us. Unfortunatly, it is a really convincing way to shut people up. My friends and I all raise our hands in front of us in a defensing way. While they are pushing them back in their room and locking the doors with brand new locks, the sergeant stops only a few inches from my face ''You either shut up and listen or you're are never stepping a foot in this place again. Understood?''

I shallow my pride and say a small ''yes sir.'' I am not leaving them alone here. I have to find a way to help them. And I won't be able to do so if I'm stuck outside.

A few weeks pass and I can't believe what they are doing to them. So much tests and experiments and trainings. I tried to get informations on the necklaces. How it works. But the only thing I was able to gather is that it stops their powers. I don't know why or what it is made of. But I did notice that it is the same key that opens all the necklace and another card key opens all the door... If only I could get my hand on a pair of those. I thought I was being a good spy ,but this morning, the sergeant pushed me in a corner and told me ''Stop pretending that you can save them. You are only a little lab assist. You are not a hero. You. are. nothing!''

''Yes sir.'' I couldn't help but sulk in the corner for a bit until a thought emerged in my head. He is right. I am not a hero... But there is four super heroes right there. They can save themselves. They only need a little bit of help. Through the day my whole plan is getting together. This could work. And I have to do this quick before I change my mind because this is crazy stupid.

The next morning I show up early at work. At about 5h50 in the morning. That is when the soldiers are switching shifts. I show up in their headquarters, they are all here as I expected ''Good morning! Don't be mad, I only wanted to apologies for being a dick so... I brought donuts!'' They all gather around the boxes of sweets while making fun of me. They open the boxes and they starts to argue about who is going to get the tastiest ones. I noticed that about them. They are not the most disciplined soldiers. They are quite the opposites to speak the truth. Maybe they thought they didn't need the elites to watch over some weak scientists. I also took the opportunity while they were all distracted to pickpocket a pair of keys. I always thought this skill was only to impress other people. I never thought it would be so save my friend's life someday. I walk as fast I as can without getting attention toward me and I finally reach Samuel's door. I take adeep breath, unlock the door and step in. I thought I was ready for his angry stare, but I wasn't. I take the small pad beside the door and pretend to do the morning check up. He looks at me like I am some strangers. It hurts but I understand. As I look around I whisper ''You said that everything you were holding was going through things with you right? Does that include people?''

''Isn't it written in my little file?''

I try to ignore the pain in his voice. It is written, but I want to be sure. My plan can't work if he can't ''Once I open your necklace, the alarms will go off so you will have to move quick.''

''What?''

''You are in the last room. The three other are this way. Once you are out, you follow the hallway all the way until the end and then you turn right and you should see a gigantic window. You should be able to escape from there.''

''Jonathan, what are you talking about?''

Without another word, I pull out the key and unlock the necklace. As expected, an incredibly loud alarm goes off and red lights are flashing everywhere ''The door is locked, just go!'' I shout over the sound while pushing the keys in his hand. He stare at me for a split second and he pushes me. I close my eyes and am scared for a moment that he is going to fight me but I feel something cold rushing through me and when I open my eyes again, I am in front of the door, on the other side ''Stay here!'' Samuel tells me and he goes through the second door. Anna escape a few seconds later, he points at me but I can't hear what he is saying. I only understood ''protect'' and''saved''. She gets closer to me while Samuel goes into the next room. Patrick is out next and come closer to us too. As Samuel goes in the last room, the soldiers begin to rush in. Anna grabs the first thing she sees a throws it at them. A table. It was a whole metallic table. It does the trick and they all fall to the ground. Some are even knocked unconscious. Nina and Samuel finally get out of the last room. I can see how exhausted he is. But he still stand tall and gesture us to follow him. The leader is back!

We make our escape. Anna throwing stuffs while Nina make the few that duck under the stuffs feel the worst pain they ever felt. We are almost there, only one last door to go through and we are out. We can all step in my car and we can run away from here. But Nina stumbles and fall, holding her head ''I pushed too much I think!'' Patrick makes a clone of himself and helps her to walk. The only good thing that came out of this experiments is that they are now really good with their powers. I pull out my card key to open the front door of the lab but I freeze in place when I hear ''STOP!''

We turn around and a soldier is pointing her gun at us. I look at her and say ''Please. They are humans like us. We can't let that happen. This is not right!''

She seems to hesitate for a second. She then scream in pain and fall to the ground while holding her head. That is all we need to hear to rush outside and jump in my car. thankfully I was in the first ones to arrive and I am close to the door. Once we are in, Patrick gives a small tap on Nina's shoulder ''good job with the last one, I thought you couldn't use your power anymore.''

''And I can't, I didn't do anything.'' We all look at each other in amazement. Someone helped us! We are not alone after all. I turn on the car and drive to the exit. And that is when I see the gate. that is locked. The gatekeeper has to open it so we can leave. I forgot about that part! I can see her holding her walkie talkie. They are telling her to not let us leave. That we are criminals and dangerous or something. Our eyes lock together for a second. She drops her walkie talkie and rush in her small both. The gate open and I can see her doing the Three Finger Salute of Hunger Games at us while we pass through. I feel so happy and relieved and horrible at the same time. Yes we are out and I know a way to avoid any polices or securities now that we are on the road. But she is going to get in trouble because of that. And we can't do anything!

the silence is heavy in the car. Anna is the first to break it ''We will get her out. I don't know how yet, but we will.'' We all nods in agreement. We all thought the same thing. Those two incredible women that helped us out there will get in lots of trouble and we are going to find a way to save them. But for now, we have to save ourselves.