Ben frowned, inspecting the mask some more, and then gently strapped it on. Even with the mask on, Kate felt his fear and unease.

"Kate-oh! Well, hello!" Kate's heart skipped a beat as she turned to the source of the voice. A middle aged woman stood on the stairway of Katie's house, waving at her enthusiastically. Feeling lightheaded, Kate took Ben's hand and dragged him over to her mum. Kate's mother, with her everlasting smile, gently smoothed over Kate's hair and held out a hand for Ben to shake.

"Are you from a nearby Subdivision?" She asked, her eyes fixated on him. Kate could hear the tone of suspicion, even with the glee her mother masked her voice with. Ben swallowed, taking Josephine's hand briefly. After shaking hands, Josephine turned towards Kate and tilted her head slightly.

"Honey, why don't you go take your pills while I talk to your friend here?" Kate was about to protest but fell silent, head cast down. She wouldn't dare talk back to her mother. That was very impolite and opposite of what she had been taught. Obediently scurrying away, Kate quickly opened the wooden cabinet in the kitchen and snatched the white bottle off the shelf. She set it on the counter and fumbled around for a glass to pour water in. But as she reached for the glass on the rack, her hand started to shake uncontrollably, unable to grasp the glass without dropping it.

Her eyes widening, Kate tried to steady her right hand by grabbing it with her left one, but it was no use. Her hand continued to shake, and so she gently lowered it to her side and tried with her left hand. To her bewilderment, her left hand stopped right before she could reach the glass. No matter how much strength she put into it, her hand wouldn't budge. Astonished by this anomaly, Kate tried moving her hand away from the glass. Her hand moved with ease, and Kate breathed a sigh of relief.

"Nevermind, then." She put the pill bottle back into the cabinet and was making her way towards the doorway when she started to hear shouts. They sounded so utterly familiar that before she knew it she had rushed outside in alarm.

"BEN!" She shouted at the sight of the APB bots and the handymen, handcuffing Ben as they held him in place with their long, terrifying arms. Kate felt arms around her and turned her head to stare at her mother's smiling face. There was something eerie about it this time, something that made Kate uneasy.

"Mum, where are they taking Ben??" Kate did little to conceal the panic in her voice, awaiting the answer impatiently. She could hear the frown in her mother's voice as she spoke:

"To the rest of the Uglies, of course! Did you take your pills, dear?" Kate smiled weakly and nodded, unable to speak in fear that her voice would break. "Kate, dear, are you alright?" Kate began to back away as her mother stalked ever so closer, the eerie feeling getting worse by the second. Think, Kate, THINK! What to do? She is onto you! And just like that, Kate ducked under Josephine's outstretched arms and bolted away from the house and onto the streets.

"KATE! COME BACK HERE YOUNG LADY!" Josephine screamed, but Kate tuned her out, willing her legs to go faster. If the APB or the Handy men noticed, she was dead meat. She had to find Ben, no matter what. She had to go into that tower.

.

.

.

The darkness was agonizing. This wasn't home, but it felt familiar. There was something about the voices, the screams and the ever so fierce breeze that blew. The pain started to sear his flesh, grasp at his heart, blanket his mind and body, burning him until there was nothing left... When he opened his eyes, the fire was everywhere; his home, his life, his town, his family. It burned higher than ever, almost reaching the heavens. Oh, how he wished he could turn back, go back to that time.

And there were the creatures, the nasty things that ruined everything: The 10 foot mechanical creatures with golden eyes, so strangely bizarre that even he couldn't stare without his hair standing on end. The creatures, whatever they were, weren't friendly. There was nothing friendly about the blood splattered on them or their lifeless eyes, or long fingers that grasped helpless children and slaughtered them without a second thought.

He didn't understand. No, he couldn't understand. But he felt as if this had happened before, somehow, someplace else..but how would he know such thing? Oh, why did he feel like such a failure, such a horrible, horrible thing? The only thing that frightened him the most was the dark tower above, casting shadows on the ground and blanketing the fire ridden town with more puzzling terror.

While the creatures were busy raiding the houses, dragging people out, he crawled away as quiet as a mouse. He had to find shelter, someone to help him. Someone to finally stop this never-ending nightmare.

Someone to bring humanity back together again.

And then he was dead.