I didn't have time to talk to Zero that morning.

I was swept away by Jack, who was excited to see me. He told me of the long boat ride, and everything I already knew about Zero while Shy just stood off to the side. When I finally managed to escape the clingy albeit funny man, it was time for Zero's fitness hour, which sent Jack into another excited frenzy.

"What do you think about Sylvia?" I ask we walk down the hall, Zero escorted by guards up ahead and Jack a few steps behind with Shy right beside me.

"What do you mean?" Jack asks, scratching his chin which is dotted with ginger stubble.

"Sylvia's purpose here is to keep Zero in line, using any means necessary." I say, my words dark. Shy's eyes widen and Jack takes a big step to catch up.

"What? That's horrible! We promise we aren't here to lay a finger on, Zero. We were told Mrs. Clark wanted the team back together, and the pay is high, so we thought Sylvia was back for the same reason." Jack says, his eyes wide.

I sigh, shaking my head. "I know neither of you are here to hurt Zero, it just frustrates me that Sylvia is back and free to run lose."

Shy smiles at me in sympathy, and the rest of the walk is filled with silence as we all get lost in our thoughts. I'm almost relieved when the doors open to reveal the arena. Jack and Shy gasp, and I remember it's their first time seeing the arena and track.

I lead them over to the bleachers, waving at Coach Jackson, who smiles warmly back.

"Okay Zero, you know the drill. Run."

Zero goes over to the track, getting in a starting position as Coach Jackson pulls out a stop watch.

"Wait, Zero!" I call out, standing up. His eyes flash up to meet mine. I smirk at him, nodding my head slightly towards Jack and Shy. "Don't be afraid to show off."

He gives me his best confused look, and I resist the urge to roll my eyes. I know Zero understands what I said, and now that I know he speaks English, I realize how terrible his acting is. How did he ever fool everyone before?

I sit down, Shy and Jack giving me a puzzled look. The whistle blows, and I don't even realize Zero is gone until I see a blur more than halfway through. Shy and Jack gasp, and I smile wide, my eyes trying and failing to track Zero.

Finally, the blur slowly forms into a figure, and Zero appears standing right back at the start, breathing only slightly heavier. Jack stands up and hollers, while Coach Jackson claps. Shy sits on the bench, utterly still, and when Zero looks at me I give him a thumbs up.

"That was.......I don't know what that was!" Jack shouts, clutching his head in his hands with a wide smile on his face.

"How is that even possible?" Shy finally gasps out, watching Zero drink a cup of water Coach Jackson gave him. I shrug. "I wish I knew, but I'm not a scientist. They actually probably think of me as an experiment more than an employee."

I stop talking, wincing when I realize how that was too much information. I stand up when Coach Jackson and a slightly sweaty Zero walk over, Zero sending me a huge grin.

"That was extraordinary, Zero! It's a good thing you're going to that party, because you deserve it!" Coach Jackson exclaims, clapping Zero on the back. This time, real confusion crosses Zero's face, and I almost slap my forehead.

I forgot to tell Zero about the party! I'll have to find a way to do it secretly. I look nervously at Jack, who's rambling off questions to Coach Jackson. I have a feeling I won't be able to inconspicuously pull him aside any time soon.

Zero suddenly freezes, tensing as his back turns ram-rod straight. I stiffen too, realizing it could be one of two things.

One, Mrs. Clark. I know Zero hates her just as much as I do. Being the one to conduct most of the experiments on him that's to be expected.

Two, Sylvia.

I slowly turn to find the latter, standing at the entrance of the arena.

Her again?

This time, she has two guards flanking her, a hand on her hip as she surveys the track. She doesn't acknowledge me as she walks up, her eyes solely on Zero, which causes me to nearly go red in anger. I distantly feel Shy place a comforting hand on my arm, and see Jack roll his eyes.

"Hello, Zero! Guess what? We're going to the beach!" Sylvia exclaims excitedly once she walks up.

Zero just stares at her blankly while Jack, Shy, and I gape. I had to beg Mrs. Clark to let him to to a party, and yet Sylvia instantly gets permission to go to the beach?

"We're coming too." I say before even thinking, stepping forward.

Sylvia finally looks at me, her smile drying up like a puddle in the desert. "Hope you're wearing a swimsuit," Is all she says with a a disinterested face.

I look her over and notice since the first time she walked into the area that she's changed her outfit.

Now wearing a sun dress with sun-glasses on top of her head, most likely a swim suit on underneath the dress already. I am in fact not wearing a swim suit, and doubt I could pull my undies off as a bikini.

Still I'm stubborn though.

I don't have to swim at the beach. I could just build sand castles, preferably with Sylvia buried under them.

"I'm up for the beach. Ready to get my tan on!" Jack shouts, and I roll my eyes. Please. Jack most likely doesn't tan, but burns. Shy nods slightly, and it's settled. We're all going, much to Sylvia's annoyance.

She sighs but doesn't refute and walks away, the guards now flanking Zero as he catches my eyes, a worried expression on his face.

I give an encouraging nod, trying not to show that I'm worried too. Sylvia wouldn't take Zero to the beach just for the fun of it. She has something planned, and the suspense of that fact is slowly starting to get to me.

We are escorted out of the arena, although not before saying goodbye to Coach Jackson.

When we enter the lobby, two more guards flank us, and I'm relieved to see one of them is the familiar face of Peter.

Everyone grows more tense when we exit the lab, Zero getting his first taste of freedom outside the lab since he first got here.

I stiffen too, waiting for Zero to take off and possibly swim across the entire ocean all the way home, but to my surprise, he doesn't. He just follows the guards, looking back every now and then to check on me.

A spot is already set up on the beach, a huge blanket and tent laid out, with coolers and beach chairs. Mrs. Clark sure knows how to set the perfect beach day up.

Shy immediately goes to one of the chairs, sitting and observing the waves. Jack strips off his shirt, whooping and hollering as he runs towards the ocean, not caring that his pants are still on. I squint down the beach, making out my house probably half a mile away.

I turn to ask Shy if she wants to look for sea shells, but stop when I see Sylvia taking off her Sun dress. She does it slowly, stretching and arching, her eyes fluttering closed as she reveals her white, nearly nonexistent two-piece suit.

She's doing it for Zero, and for some reason that's really starting to upset me.

Could I possibly be jealous?

No, no, no, I immediately shake the thought away. Zero's just a friend...besides he formed the bond with me out of necessity, it's not like he thinks I'm anything special.

I'm snapped out of my thoughts when Sylvia walks over to Zero, touching his bicep where his body suit covers.

"Want to go in the water? I think it'll help cool you down." She nearly purrs, making me want to throw up, but then I catch Zero's eye and see he's only looking at me.

Why do I feel satisfied by that?

"Would you want to swim, Shy?" I ask, deciding to ignore Sylvia for now and turning to face Shy. "I'm sure it'll be fine if we get our clothes wet. We can always change."

"Thanks, but I don't think I want to swim." She responds, and I watch her eyes flicker to one of the guards. He has corn colored hair with dark blue eyes. For a solider, he's really lean, almost stick like.

Ah, I see. Go get him, Shy!

I smile before turning to face Peter, who is suddenly by my side.

"I'd go swimming with you." He says, rubbing the back of his neck almost awkwardly.

"Don't you have a bunch of electronic devices on you at the moment?" I ask with a raised eyebrow as I look at his guard uniform, decorated with a walkie-talkie and stun-gun and every possible thing you would absolutely not want to get wet.

He looks down at himself before walking back to his post, mumbling curses under his breath as he goes which almost makes me chuckle.

I glance to the ocean, where Jack is bobbing among the waves, and then back to Zero and Sylvia.

Without a word, I run for the water, but not before shooting a mischievous grin at Zero. It has the effect I had hoped it would, because I hear his feet pounding behind me. I laugh, managing to make it knee deep into the water, before I'm tackled from behind by Zero.

There goes my nice outfit today.

I resurface, shoving playfully against Zero as he pulls me in close against his overheated body.

"Get off me you oaf!" I shout when he wraps his arms around my waist, carrying me out deeper. Jack waves at us and swims over, smirking as he looks behind us.

"Looks like the queen is too good for the ocean." He says jokingly, his red hair glinting in the sunlight.

I turn to see Sylvia as the edge of the water, looking out towards the horizon with an almost longing expression on her face. I wonder if she's longing for the main land. Maybe even a witch like her can feel home sick too.

For a second I pity her, then our eyes connect, she sneers, and the pity is gone.

"Hey, Ashley! Want to race?" Jack asks, a cocky grin on his face like he knows he's already going to win.

"You're on!" I shout, not one to back down from a challenge. Bring it, jack.

"Swim all the way to that palm tree." He says, pointing, and I squint, making out the tree in the distance. It looks a bit on the far side, but I think I can handle it.....probably. Okay, maybe I'm overestimating myself just a bit.

"Ready? Set!" But before I can shout "Go", Jack takes off, causing me to lunge into the water after him. No fair, the little cheater.

I swim wildly, forcing my already aching bones into motion. I start slowly catching up to Jack, my eyes squinted to keep out as much salt water as I can. Before I know it, the palm tree right on the shore is a few yards away.

I grunt in effort, passing Jack and running up and out of the water, pumping my legs to go faster. I slap my hand onto the tree's bark, jumping and laughing, but when I turn back around, Jack is on the beach, a distance away, jogging towards the tent. What? Why is he just leaving?

And then I look towards the tent and see the figure of a guard, waving his arms around in the air towards us. I feel the blood drain from my face. Forgetting my exhaustion, I run towards the tent, catching up with Jack. Peter jogs to meet us, his eyes darting around.

"What is it? What's wrong?" I ask, looking past Peter to the tent. Shy with the three other guards are there, but no Zero.......and no Sylvia.

"We can't find Subject Zero." He says. Without needing anymore words I run up to the tent, turning in circles. Peter is right, I don't spot Zero anywhere on the beach or even in the water.

"How did this happen?" I exclaim, turning to Shy.

"Oh, um, the guards were....distracted." She says, looking sheepish.

"With what?' I growl, glaring at the guards who stare at their feet.

"Your race." Shy says, wincing. I clench my hands into fists, fighting the urge to punch something. The guards were distracted by our race? What were they doing? Betting on who would win.

Right at that moment I catch one of the guards slipping a roll of cash to the other, and feel like yelling in frustration.

"Spread out, we need to look for him" I order, already turning on my heel and heading for the jungle forest up along the shore.

I know Zero's more than capable of protecting himself, but the fact that Sylvia's most likely with him at the moment sets me on edge. What if this was the plan all along, and she's off tasering him somewhere?

I walk through the trees, looking around wildly. The air hums with bugs, and I immediately start to sweat, my wet clothes dragging me down. I shove away a couple of leaves, watching my step since I'm barefoot.

"Zero!" I call out, stumbling over a root and nearly cursing. Before I can stop myself, I start tilting forward to the point where I'm falling.

I hit the Earth with a thud, my hands taking most of the hit.

I kneel on the ground for a moment, staring at my mud covered hands. My mind has suddenly gone blank, and all I can do is stare off into space, zoned out for a moment and panting heavily. My heart beat thundering, I think the whole race and run is finally catching up to me, along with the shock of Zero's sudden disappearance.

Out of the corner of my eye, something moves.

My eyes snap back into focus, and I stare in horror as a huge snake moves into view. I swallow, but my throat is dry as I watch the thing slither across the jungle floor, its tongue flicking out.

I'm not good with snakes, so I don't know what type it is, but something about its huge, lithe body just screams deadly.

I let a relieved breath out when I realize it's slowly moving on its way, not even looking at me, but then suddenly, it changes its course, sliding across the ground in my direction.

I freeze, watching its tongue flicker out frequently, its head floating above the ground.

When it's about yard away, I seem to regain my senses, and crab crawl backward, fighting back the scream building in my lungs. I stagger to my feet, not giving a second thought as I sprint off, crashing through the jungle as I take in huge breaths of air.

I throw myself through a wall of leaves, stumbling out into a small open space of the jungle. What I see makes me want the snake more than facing this.

Because leaning up against a tree, bodies so close their nearly melded together, are Sylvia and Zero.



Hello, readers! Looks like Zero's been officially caught duh duh duhhhh Sylvia-handed. Get it? Instead of red-handed? Cause he's with her? Ahhh I crack myself up and also hate myself for being so cringey lol. What do you guys think about Sylvia and Zero? Someone's in for some trouble. As always I hope you enjoyed. Please make sure to vote, comment, and never everrrr get near a snake. Especially the big ones, yikes. Lots of love,

Dangeroustoken.