Chapter 46: Second Reunion

    Faye and Peter made camp not far from the city as they planned their break-in.  Well, Faye planned, Peter just asked questions and played in the snow.

    Faye finished and laid against a tree.  She looked at Peter and thought, "What a sweet innocent boy.  He didn't deserve to grow up alone and abused.  I wonder if I could find out who his parents were."

    "Peter," she said aloud. "Maybe if I can get into the system I can look for your mother in the files."

    Peter immediately stopped burying his legs and ran over to her.  "Really?  You can do that?"

    "Yeah, I just need to get into the system.  And I'm sure they have all the birth certificates somewhere there."

    "It would be nice to know my mother," Peter said wistfully. "But I'm just scared."

    "Why?"

    "Because, what if she's dead or . . . a bad person?  Maybe she's worse than I've imagined, and I've imagined a lot."

    "Well, I guess we'll find out together.  And I also need to see what happened to my mother."

    "Wait, she's still in the city?"

    "I hope.  I stupidly left her there four years ago and all I've one since is regret that.  Who knows if she's even still alive now."

    "There is still hope."

    "Yeah."

    They rested the rest of the night and early in the morning Faye woke Peter and explained her plan.

    "So this is super risky," Peter said finally.

    "I know, but it's the best chance we have."

    Faye shifted to a falcon and Peter gathered her in his arms.  

    "Make sure you look like your holding me tight," Faye said to him and he jumped.

    "I didn't know you could talk once you were animals."

    "Well, we can, now get to the fence."

    Peter walked quickly down a sloping hill and made his way to one of the 

guard outposts along the fence.

    "FINALLY!!" he yelled and the guards looked up quickly, startled. "I've been looking of rhomse for so long!"

    "Not too loud, you sound suspicious," Faye whispered to Peter and he shut his mouth, smiling.

    A guard got down and approached Peter, his eyes wide. "What in the blazes are you doing out in the woods?  And what is that in your hands?"

    "It's a Beast," Peter said. "I am bringing it to my father."

    "I'm sorry, child, but we will need to take that creature from you," the guard said as he stepped forward to grab Faye.

    "No!" Peter yelled and the guard stepped back. "Father wants me to take it to him!  He sent me out with the armed vehicles so I can capture one

and bring it back!  He said it was all part of my learning experience!"

    "Who is your father, sonny?"

    "My name is Peter Hale and my father is Dr. Hale head scientist in the Tower!"

    "Oh, Dr. Hale?" the guard looked stunned.  He stammered and then took Peter's shoulder. "Well, at least let us put some cuffs of the Beast so it doesn't scratch your eyes out."

    Peter smiled and small chains were clipped onto Faye's wings and legs, and also her beak to keep it shut .

    "Thanks!" said Peter, advancing towards the gate.

    "Wait!" the guard called and Peter stopped. "After you finish examining it then I suggest you take it down to the center of the city.  You know, in the

sewers.  The scientists down there can find . . . other uses for your captured Beast."

    Peter nodded and the guards let him through the gate into New Skielie.

    He breathed a sigh of relief once he was a ways away from the fence and asked, "Was that a good performance, Faye?"

    Faye nodded, for she couldn't speak anymore because of the clip around her beak.

    Peter skipped the rest of the way to the town center, getting a lot of strange glances from the people he passed.

    They finally reached the Tower and Peter walked slowly inside.  he would tell his same story to any guard or Chaser that asked what he was doing.

    Peter, following the plan, quickly slipped into a secluded room and took off faye's bindings.  She shifted back to human and took deep breaths.

    "Those beak clips are tight," she said. "But that was an amazing performance, Peter.  Now we need to see where we gotta go."

    "Didn't you say you wanted to get into the system?" Peter asked.

    "Yeah, I just need a computer."

    "There's one," Peter said. "well, there's actually a lot." They were in an office with multiple desks and computers.

    "Perfect," Faye said, running to the nearest desk. "Peter, lock the door and keep a lookout from the window, please."

    Peter followed orders as Faye sat down to the computer and quickly got into the system.  

    She started by looking up her mother's name.  To her relief, she was still alive, but she was being used to power a certain machine Dr. Hale had made.  

    "Which means she won't be alive much longer unless I save her," Faye said to herself.  Then she remembered her promise to Peter and quickly typed in Peter Salvago.  Only one file popped up.  

    A birth certificate.

    Faye quickly clicked on the parents and she read their names.

    Oscar Salvago . . . Samantha Kile Salvago

    "Samantha Kile!" Faye exclaimed.  The woman who had taken Cameron and her enemy.  She was Peter's mother!

    "What is it?" Peter asked, surprised by her outburst.

    "I . . . Peter, I found your mother."

    "Really?  Wait, does your outburst mean that she wasn't a good person?"

    Faye sighed, but she wasn't going to lie to Peter, "I know her.  She took my best friend captive and she might have killed him.  Her name is Samantha Kile.  She must have changed back to her maiden name once her husband died."

    "She kills people?" Peter asked,  his eyes wide. "That isn't at all what I imagined."

    "I know," said Faye. "It is hard to find out the truth about people, especially once it's ugly."

    "Is she here?"

    "I don't know.  But I have to go down to the basement where the cells are so I can rescue my mother.  There is a good chance she might be down there so I think you need to escape back to the forest."

    "No!  I won't!  I am staying with you and I will not run away."

    "But your moth-"

    "I am not afraid to meet her.  Facing the truth is hard but I need to do it and be a big boy."

    Faye smiled and said, "Very well, but we need weapons."

    "We can use some Rods, cause I know how to use them!  I was taught in school."

    They found some in the room and walked out, making sure nobody saw them.  Faye led Peter to a back staircase that led down to the prison level.

    But once she reached the bottom she realized that she didn't recognize the space.

    It was completely changed into a laboratory with a large machine in the middle.  Faye could see her mother hooked up to a machine in the corner of the room.  Wires ran from it to the center machine and Faye wondered what it was for.  

    Suddenly, someone stepped into the room and Faye heard Peter gasp from behind her.

    "Is that her?  Is that my mother?"

    Samantha walked into the room and smiled approvingly at the scientists.

    "Yes," Faye said. "That is her."

    Then, Samantha turned and motioned with her hand as if someone was 

behind her.

    A man walked out into the room escorted by two guards.  Faye choked with both surprise and joy.  

    Though he had changed, Cameron was alive and he was so close!

                                Chapter 47: A Triple Reunion

    Faye suddenly felt a small breeze past her and was horrified once she realized Peter had run past her.

    "Peter!" Faye whispered. "Get back here!"

    "No," he mouthed back to her. "I need to see her.  You get your mom."

    He ran out straight into the open and one of the scientists noticed him and yelled, "What is a child doing down here?"

    All eyes went to Peter and he yelled, "I came here to talk to my mother!"

    Samantha turned and her eyes widened.

    Cameron just stood there and looked from red-head to red-head.  

    Faye realized that this was her chance, a very good distraction.

    She rushed behind boxes and made her way to her mother.  

    Reaching her she saw she was out and sleeping.  Faye pulled out her Rod and stabbed it directly into the control board on the electric cell.  There were sparks and the cell opened, Faye's mother falling out.

    The noise brought guards coming towards Faye and Samantha exclaimed, "What the heck!  You again?  You and Peter?  What is going on here?"

    Faye saw Cameron tilt his head to get a better view of the intruder.  Faye bent down so he wouldn't see her yet.  She pulled the cords off her mother, not knowing about how the cords kept them alive.  

    Her mother immediately woke up and blinked rapidly.

    "Faye?" she whispered. "How long has it been?"

    "A few years but . . . I'm here now to rescue you."

    "Stop right there!" yelled a voice and faye felt a gun touch her head.

    She turned quickly and grabbed the gun from the guards hand and whacked him in the face with her Rod.

    Mrs. Spring got up and Faye pointed toward the stairs.  Faye then ran into the middle of the room and tackled the nearest guard.  She had trained hard the last four years and was now very good at fighting.

    Meanwhile, Peter was just staring at Samantha as she stared at him.

    "Should I break the tension?" Cameron asked. "Cause I thought you needed to take care of the girl who is taking out your guards."

    Samantha scoffed at his humor and quickly drew out her gun.  She pointed it at Cameron and said loudly, "Faye, I will shoot him if you don't 

stop punching Brady right now!"

    Faye got up and balled up her fists, ready to fight Samantha. "Come on!" she yelled. "Aren't you gonna call in more reinforcements since I beat up your stupid guards and all the scientists are . . . unconscious?"

    Faye looked around at the scientists strewn around the floor, sleeping heavily. "Did you do this?" she asked.

    Samantha nodded and said, "I wanted to talk to you all alone.  I knew you were gonna return, but I didn't count on him being here."

    She looked to Peter again and he stood taller, giving a silly sneer.

    A slight smile appeared on Samantha's face and Faye was very confused. "You aren't going to try and stop me from rescuing my mother and Cameron?"

    "Not unless I am intrigued by what you are going to tell me."

    "What am I going to tell you?"

    "Why is all this happening?  Why would you come back?"

    "Because I never leave people I care about behind and I am not a coward.  In fact, no Beasts are cowards, and they're not dangerous either.  No matter what your silly laws say or what you have read in books and seen on the news."

    "Are you saying that everything I know is false and everything you say is right."

    "It isn't your fault that you have grown up like this," Faye said. "You were deceived."

    "So you're saying Anoteros doesn't care about its people?"

    "Yes.  They want to use them so they feed lies into their heads at very young ages so they grow up with the mindset that Beasts are dangerous aliens."

    "I keeps the peace and no one id complaining," Samantha argued.

    "No!" Peter yelled, causing them both to look at him. "It doesn't!  I grew up under those lies and I hated every single part of it!  No one complains because if they do then they get executed!"

    Samantha looked taken aback.

    "Looks like he takes after you," Cameron said, chuckling.

    Faye looked at Cameron and smiled.  If they could convince Samantha that they were the good guys, then maybe they could all go home and be together again.

    Peter sighed and continued, "And it didn't help that I grew up with no father, and a mother who didn't care about me."

    Faye saw Samantha close her eyes and she bent down.  "Peter . . . I would have never left you if I had known how terrible life would have been for you."

    "Well you still did.  And then you went and killed people!"

    "Beasts."

    "They are people!  Look at Faye, she told me that she was just a regular girl until she found out she had powers to turn into an animal.  She was just considered a regular person until she defied your laws and then you turned her into an enemy!"

    Samantha looked stunned.

    "And you also turned Cameron into an enemy just because he agreed with me," Faye said. "Don't you see how corrupt your government is?"

    Samantha was silent.  It looked like she was fighting a great battle inside her head.  Half of her wanted to believe Anoteros was the best, but the other half believed Peter and Faye's facts.

    "I don't know," Samantha finally said. "This government is all I've ever known."

    "It is hard to get rid of things you have believed since you were a child," Cameron said.  "Believe me, I know."

    "I have an idea," Faye said, extending her hand toward Samantha. "We can escape and then I can show you the truth."

    Samantha stepped back and said, "No, I need to stay here.  But I will