Cai laughs and puts his arm around my waist, his lips finding mine in the dark. The gentle kiss sends waves of warmth through me.

“If you two don’t mind, you’re now fugitives from the governor, and he will be hunting you down,” Carpenter says, folding his arms. Cai pulls away from me, and I flush. 

“Thanks for getting her out, Isaiah,” Cai says to Carpenter, who nods. 

“Well, I owed you that favor anyway,” He says offhandedly, then pulls a plastic bag out of his pocket and throws it to me. “Her jewelry.” I open the bag quickly, almost crying of joy when I see my earrings. Cai puts the birthday pearl necklace back on me while I put the earrings back in their rightful place. It feels nice and natural.

“Why are you soaking wet?” Cai asks, helping me to stand up. The other guard walks over, and he’s a blonde boy with brown eyes, just shorter than Isaiah. 

“She thought it would be clever to fall in a puddle to try to escape,” Isaiah answers for me. Cai pulls off his coat and wraps it around me. “I can get you two to somewhere safe, but that’s all I can really do before they need me back with a report that I killed her. This is Austin, by the way,” Isaiah says to me, pointing to the guard. 

“Hello.” Austin says, waving. 

“He and I are Caden’s friends.” Isaiah adds. 

“Thank you for saving me,” I mumble to him. He nods and leads us to the train station, where I first entered this place filled with corrupted people. Cai keeps his arm around me protectively. 

“So I take it you don’t want to be engaged to Angel?” I ask Cai. 

“You’re much better,” He says, squeezing my hand, and we keep walking, my face warmer than the rest of me. 

“How’s Julia?” I ask, as we reach the ticket office. 

“She was still in tears when I left,” He answers. Isaiah looks at the list of trains leaving soon. 

“Alright, if you don’t want to change railways, which you don’t, trust me, your options are Stone, Life, Metal, or Light,” Isaiah explains. 

“They’ll be looking for us everywhere but Stone. It’s remote,” Cai explains, and I nod. 

“For once you aren’t being dumb,” Isaiah says to Cai, then buys three tickets, one for Cai, one for Austin, and one for me. I look up at the screen to my left, and see my face, Cai’s, Austin’s, and Isaiah’s. “Actually, I am going to come with you, now that I’m in trouble too.” Isaiah says, then buys a fourth ticket. 

We get into a crowded compartment, and sit down near the back, hiding our faces. The train starts moving slowly, but screeches to a halt after a few seconds, not even away from the station. 

“Emergency search!” Someone yells. “We are looking for four fugitives. They committed treason against the governor!” 

Isaiah curses under his breath and stands up, pushing the compartment door at the back open. He shoves Cai, Austin, and I through, then closes it after he comes through. 

We are balancing on a thin metal strip that connects two train cars. I follow them onto the back one, the luggage car. Isaiah kicks the door down and pushes us into it. I trip over a suitcase, and hear voices coming from the other compartment. 

“They went out the back!” A woman yells. Isaiah curses again, and looks for a way out of the baggage car. I stare at the door to the other compartment, and feel the train moving backwards again. 

“What happened?” Isaiah asks, as our car separates from the other and moves backwards, slowly accelerating. 

I rush to the door, look down at the metal strip that’s meant to connect the cars, and see that it’s melted away. 

The car stops suddenly, and I am flung forwards, almost out of the hole. Isaiah grabs me around the waist, and throws me to Cai. 

“What is it doing?” Cai shrugs, helping me up. The train starts again, going forward, but goes down a different track than the other train, slowly picking up speed. 

“There’s no engine on this car. How is it moving uphill?” Isaiah asks, then glances at me. “Is she controlling it?” 

“I don’t know,” Cai says, sitting me down on a suitcase. Was that me, controlling things back in the dining room? 

“What’s happening to me?” I ask, crying into Cai’s dress shirt. 

“I don’t know, Ivvy,” He whispers, patting my back. “But I’m going to find out, and I’m going to help you.” I nod. 

“They called me a magnet,” I say, sniffling, and sitting up a bit. “Back where I woke up.” 

“Magnet,” Cai says under his breath. “I still don’t know what that means.” Isaiah laughs. Austin, gladly, also looks confused. 

“Finally, something the great Caden Imperos doesn’t know.” He says, chuckling. He turns to me. “Back after the war, Magnets were superpowered individuals with the ability to control metal. But when the first governor was assassinated by Metals, the normal relatives of Magnets, they decided to destroy any memory of Magnets having special abilities, as punishment,” He explains. I nod slowly. 

“Okay.” 

“He erased their memories, made a bunch of propaganda history books, and stuck all the Metals on the island, telling them that they were worthless,” Isaiah explains. 

“Why would they do that?” Cai asks. Isaiah sighs. 

“You convince people that they're powerless, and they start to believe it. It’s one way to keep the Metals in line.” I nod, still clinging tightly to Cai. “Magnets are what Irons were called before the memory erase.” 

“Well, their plan worked. I grew up worthless,” I say, wiping my eyes. Isaiah smiles softly. “Why haven’t I had abilities until now?” I ask. 

“The clouds surrounding the Island are filled with a chemical released into the air that basically turns off the abilities.” I nod. “I’m guessing the effects wore off today, for you. That’s why the governor got mad when Mayor Mountbatten brought you.” 

“Is that why all the Metals die mysterious deaths, or is that actually a ghost?” Cai squeezes my hand. Isaiah chuckles.

“The governor usually sees to it that the Metal dies, in case they’ve got Iron blood.” 

“Would I be able to control it?” I ask, watching the buckles on all of the suitcases melt into a puddle on the floor. It surrounds me, making a suit of armor that fits me perfectly, over the gray sweats “I mean, this is pretty cool, and comfortable, but I want to control it.”

“It might take a while, since you’re the first Magnet in years to get abilities back.” I nod, and lean against Cai, almost falling asleep. The armor is surprisingly very comfy. Cai brushes my hair out of my face and kisses me again, his wavy hair tickling my face. Isaiah groans. 

“Do you two have to do that? It’s ridiculous,” Isaiah groans. I laugh, and lean against the compartment wall, closing my eyes. 

The baggage car stops at Metal Station, not heading to Stone after all. The station is deserted, and silent. Shipments of metal that are supposed to surround this place in crates are gone. 

The entire Iron neighborhood is destroyed. I let go of Cai’s hand, and run through it, looking for my old house. I step on some broken glass, and pick up what I stepped on. 

It’s some of Mrs. Sterling’s framed embroidery. I drop it, putting my hand over my mouth, quivering. Cai appears at my side, and I sob into his chest. 

“They’re gone,” I sob. He pats my back, and I remember I’m still wearing my armor. I pull away from the hug, and wipe my eyes as I stare down at it. Somehow, it’s not heavy. Not bad. 

“I’m glad you think that. I did enjoy making it,” A voice says. I pull away from Cai, and look around. 

“Did you hear that?” I ask. Cai shakes his head. “I swear I heard a voice.” 

“I didn’t hear anything,” He says. I stand up and walk through the neighborhood. The voice returns, as if it’s coming directly from inside my head. It has the same strange accent from before, the same man from earlier. 

“Olive, you’re the only one who can hear me,” It says dryly. “I’ve been waiting to meet you for a while.” I rub my eyes, my head starting to ache. 

Who are you? I think. 

“I’m the person who reactivated your powers,” It says.  

Do you have a name? 

“I can’t tell you that,” He says. “I’m not supposed to be alive,” He chuckles. 

What? 

“You wouldn’t understand. Now, I’d like to start teaching you how to control these abilities of yours.” 

I don’t want them. Because of them I was sentenced to death. I think, walking over to where my house used to stand. I find the bricks in the backyard Casey made into a castle when we were younger. They are crushed into powder. 

The walls of the house have fallen down, flat on the ground like the rest of the houses. 

What happened here? 

“I can tell you what happened here.” 

Go away. 

“Fine. I’ll tell you anyway,” The voice says. “Yesterday, the revolution revealed itself to the Metal government, and stormed the town hall. In retaliation, the Platinums bulldozed all the Iron neighborhoods in the early afternoon. But the Irons and their possessions had already moved to a safer place in the Gold neighborhood, because they were warned by a Platinum traitor.” 

Gold neighborhood. Dad hid them, didn’t he? And Mountbatten’s the traitor?

“Bingo. So you’re not an idiot. I can tell these conversations will be worthwhile now that I know you’re competent,” The voice says arrogantly. “Anyway, last night, the Platinums got evicted from their homes and thrown onto the streets, to the merciless hands of the revolution. So if you see dead Platinum bodies in the square, don’t be surprised.” I gasp. Cai glances at me. 

“Everything okay?” He asks. I nod, and keep walking around. I hope Jackson and his family are okay. They’re not the bad kind of Platinums. 

“Of course the mayor is safe. Your parents are keeping him safe at their house, along with his family. The rest of the revolution is at the town hall.” I turn back to Cai.