Escape of the Institute

     Sarah stared out her window, yearning to be there with the trees and the bugs. But she knew she never would. No one who went in here ever comes out, she thought. It was only a matter of time before It happened. When the Institute falls. Then, Sarah and Henry and all of the Members would be free again.
     Sarah shuffled back to the bed. She felt restless again, so she got up and walked to the door. She jiggled the handle, but she knew it would never open. The doors were always locked at the Institute. Sarah felt like the walls were leaning in on her, getting closer and closer until they would crush her. She glanced at the clock. It read 4:00. It was time. She walked to her closet and took out the thing she had been saving for this very moment.
     She lifted the heavy hammer and walked to the door again. She lined up with the handle. Then she reared the hammer back and brought it down with a satisfying Smash!
     She ran as quietly as she could out into the hallway, still holding the hammer. She unlocked all of the handles of every door, and the people started pouring out behind her. As she turned a corner, she saw a dark shape. She shrank back against the wall. When she opened her eyes again, she saw this it was Henry. He had the most of the Members with him.
     "Are you all ready?" Sarah asked them all. They nodded solemnly back. As the sea of children came closer, she was glad to see the rest of the Members concealing themselves in the middle of the crowd. She watched as they dragged six bound and gagged Institutioners with them.
     "Our hostages," Henry said, following her line of sight.
     "Perfect," Sarah waited for the rest to get to them, and they set off towards the Astronomy Tower. They were to wait there with the hostages while the Leader got Mr Crønnbehri.
     Exactly ten minutes later, as planned, the Leader was striding towards them with Cønnbehri's shoulder in her grip.
     "Let us go," She said when she had reached them.
     "No!"
     "Then we shall let them go," The Leader pointed to the hostages that were perched precariously on the edge of the tower. Henry let go of this hostage for a second, watching him wobble on the edge. When he was about to fall off, Henry caught him.
     Sarah observed Crønnbehri's panicked face as he watched Henry's trick.
     "Us, or them?"
     Crønnbehri thought for a moment. "Them," he answered.
     "Them?" The Leader repeated. Crønnbehri wasn't supposed to say 'them.'
     "Yes. I wish to keep you," Crønnbehri strode away, leaving the Members dumbfounded. Henry let go of his hostage, deep in thought.
     When he started to fall off, Henry said, "Oh!" and caught him at the last minute. They all looked to the Leader for what to do next.
     "Let them go, then," She said, a faint smile on her face.
     "Aaah???" A hostage said through her gag.
     "It is Crønnbehri's fault. He wanted us more than you. Do you want to do something about it?"
     Sarah was starting to understand. She grinned and shook her hostage over the edge, but held on. The hostage yelled, and exclaimed, "Yes! Yes! We'll help you!" Or, at least, that is what Sarah thought she said through the gag.
     "Good," The Leader said. "Let them down," The Leader rubbed her pointy ears, as she often did when she was excited.
     "Now," she said, "we begin the Revolution! We will free our kind and bring a good name to our families! Let us be free! In the name of Gremlins, we will be free!"
     "Gremlins!" The Members shouted. Everyone yelled and cheered. Many flapped their wings.
     "But first," she continued, "we need to un-gag the hostages," The Member pulled the gags from the Institutioners' mouths. "And next," she went on, "We will be rid of this place!"
     Everyone cheered again.
     "We will help you!" A hostage yelled. "We will get you out of here!"
     The hostages started walking.
     The Leader waved her hand and fourteen Members rushed forward and seized them.
     "You will kindly escort us out by your guard friends."
     The hostages started walking again, letting the Members hold their shoulders. They led everyone down the steps and into the Hall. They nodded at the guards as they walked past, and soon they were out.
     Sarah felt the cool breeze, and watched the trees swaying. They soon came to a forest. As the Institutioners led them into the forest, the Leader was talking to them.
     "We are so close, my friends!" A cheer went up. "We will soon reclaim our kingdom! After two-thousand years, we will return to power! Gremlins will rule the earth once again!"
     When they came out into the open, Sarah saw something she did not expect. She saw tall buildings, and cars driving around. There was smoke coming up every which way, polluting the air her ancestors had breathed thousands of year ago.
     "Institutioners!" The Leader barked. "You have led us astray! Take us back to the real world!"
     "That is the real world," A hostage explained. "The Institute was trying to protect you from what the world had turned into. You have killed your own race. You will now need to fend for yourself. Good luck."
     The hostages shook off the Members and disappeared into the forest.
     This was definitely not the place that Sarah had dreamed about.