Mauricio sat beside her and skimmed the first paragraphs. He threw his arms around her and planted a kiss right on her lips. "This is incredible, Eve."
"Just think...other faders will read these articles or hear about them. Imagine how many of them might quit SPI once they hear about others quitting, once they learn about what SPI is really doing."
"Yeah," AJ said. "I don't know. Most of the trainees in our group were kind of desperate for a job, to be honest. I know I was. I don't know if this would be enough for them to quit."
"Maybe not all of them but some of them," Mauricio insisted, beaming at Eve. "And then there are the faders that SPI hasn't found yet...and the fact that most people don't know we exist. This story getting out there—"
"Changes everything," said Eve. She looked from AJ to Mauricio. "No matter what, we changed the world! This requires drinks. Should we go down to the hotel bar?"
"No," said AJ, shaking her head. "We can't risk it."
"Okay. Well, I can go grab drinks, and we can celebrate here...?" Eve offered.
"Let's be careful not to celebrate too soon," said AJ. "We don't know what SPI will do, or if this will even make them back off us."
Mauricio rubbed his head as he often did whenever he was dissecting a problem. "AJ's right. We shouldn't get too happy yet."
"And we still haven't found the other trainees...faders. I know Sam is also somewhere here in Philly, but—"
"Why would he be here, too?” asked Eve.
"He was sent here before me, but then something happened and they had to bring him back in. So they sent me to finish his assignment. Before Mauricio showed up at my hotel, Agent Grobeck had called to tell me Sam would be joining me to finish the assignment," said AJ.
Eve looked confused. “I thought they weren’t putting more than one operative on an assignment.”
“Maybe Agent Grobeck made an exception so that Sam could finish the job,” AJ replied, shrugging.
"Well, all right then. Let's celebrate here," said Mauricio. "There's a liquor store a couple of blocks west."
Eve closed the computer. She got up, gathered her coat, and slipped on her sneakers. "I'll get some wine."
As she opened the door, the phone rang on the nightstand. They all turned and stared at it as though they'd never seen a phone ring.
"Who would be calling the room phone?" asked AJ.
Without thinking, Eve shut the door and rushed to answer it.
A fearful look sailed across AJ's face. "No, don't answer it, Eve. What if it's SPI or somebody?"
"Nobody even knows we're here or who I am. It's probably just the front desk. The only person I gave this number to was Zoey," she said and picked up the phone. Before she could say "hello," a woman spoke in a panicked voice. Eve sunk onto the bed and pressed the phone against her ear. "Zoey?"
"Eve, I’m so glad I caught you. I was worried you might’ve checked out," she said, breathlessly.
"What's going on? Are you all right?"
"I'm fine. We're in Philly. Can you come to my mom's house now? This can't wait."
"Why? What can't wait?"
"I can't say over the phone," said Zoey.
"Eve, you're not safe," Gabriel added.
"What's happened—"
"Eve," Zoey shouted. "Stop asking so many goddamn questions. I don’t want to meet you out in the open this time, so I need you to come to my mom’s house. Write down this address now, and get your ass over here as soon as you can."
She reached for the pen and notepad, wrote down the address Zoey rattled off, and hung up. Her mind racing and her heart thudding against her chest, she looked at the worried faces of Mauricio and AJ. "Hand me that backpack," she said to AJ. "We have to go meet Zoey and Gabe."
"What?" asked AJ. "Is something wrong?"
Eve stood. "Yes, and I have a feeling we're not coming back to this room. So get all your shit, and let's go."
***
Gabriel opened the door and surveyed the empty neighborhood street. "Come in," he whispered to the three invisible people standing in front of him. He shut the door and locked it. When he turned around, Eve was looking at him, AJ and Mauricio standing next to her no longer invisible.
"Where's Zoey?" she asked.
He kissed her cheek and gestured past the kitchen. "She's in the den." They followed him, and he cast a dubious glance at Mauricio but said nothing.
As they arrived in the den, they found Zoey standing near the window and rubbing her temples.
Eve rushed to her and pulled her into a tight hug. "You scared me when you called. I've never heard you sound like that. What's going on?"
"We got a visit from a woman claiming to be your colleague at SPI," said Gabriel, standing next to Zoey. “Scared Zoey so much that she insisted we hop a flight back to Philly right away.”
"What woman?" Terror gripped Eve, and she looked at AJ and Mauricio.
"Oh, God," AJ murmured.
Eve turned to Zoey and Gabriel. "Was this woman thin, average height, Asian?"
"Yeah," they said in unison.
"It was Agent Yu."
"Oh, God, Eve. If they're visiting Zoey and Gabe now, my mom—" AJ began.
"Hold on," Mauricio interjected, stepping forward. "What did the woman say?"
Zoey regarded him with caution. "Just that something's about to go down. And that...that she thinks they're particularly interested in you."
Everyone stared at Mauricio's bewildered face. "Me?" he asked.
Zoey nodded. "Yeah."
"But look," said Gabriel, "we might have a way to get you out of the country safely. I have a friend who can get you passports, and we can help out a little with money, between the two of us."
"Get us out of the country?" asked Eve.
Mauricio slumped onto the sofa. "We're not trying to get out of the country."
"Yeah, and what about that lawyer friend of yours? Landrien Moriset? If all else fails, we can call her up and file a lawsuit against SPI. If we have to, we'll call the goddamn ACLU," Eve said.
Zoey clasped her hands together. "We read an article in the Sun-Times, not your article but one that was quoting you. Folks are already talking about it, Eve, about the 'faders', the people who can hide in plain sight. There are at least a dozen articles at this point. It's all anyone's talking about."
"To be fair, a lot of people think you're nuts and that the president would never authorize torture of citizens on US soil," Gabriel added. "But a lot of people believe you, too."
"Why wouldn't they believe me? It's not like this country doesn't have a history of—"
"Eve, you accused a secret federal agency of illegal torture on US soil no less, and raised the possibility of special super-powered people. As bogus as your story might sound to some folks, it's just plausible enough for other folks to believe. Which makes you a threat to some enormously powerful people." She grasped Eve's hand and looked into her eyes. "They'll come for you."
"And they'll kill you when they find you." Panic accented every syllable of Gabriel's words.
Eve shook her head. "No, they won't. They need us."
"Oh, don't be foolish," AJ burst out, stepping forward. "None of us are that important to these people. Don't be naive."
The teapot whistled, and Gabriel hurried to turn off the stove.
"Let's sit," said Zoey, leading Eve to the sofa.
He returned with a tray carrying five teacups and a teapot. He sat it on the coffee table and poured everyone a cup of green tea. "Eve, there's already a lot of fear out there. Imagine how that fear is going to set in over the next few days. We're talking about a hidden group of people, a new type of human. That's what your story has exposed, not just SPI."
"If you all stay," said Zoey, "SPI will find you, and God only knows what they'll do to you."
"They'll find us if we leave, too," Mauricio replied.
Eve slammed down the teacup, spilling some of it. "Mauricio's right. What good will it do us to run if there are other
agencies like this all over the world? I bet you good money there are more like us all over the world, being used the same way. Stopping SPI is the only chance we have to get our lives back. And I want my life back, even if it did suck sometimes. I had you and Gabe. I had us. I miss us," she said, holding in her tears. Why does it have to be like this? "Living in hotels, always wondering how they'll torture me if they find me, or if one day I'll just kill myself to get free from it all—that's not a way to live. I don't want to spend the rest of my life living like this. Hiding."
Mauricio frowned. "I say we call up Landrien Moriset and start a lawsuit. It's time to stop running."
"Fuck that. I'll take the passport and money," said AJ, standing with her eyes fixed on Gabriel.
Eve stared at her, not sure if she was feeling disappointment or empathy for her friend. "AJ..."
"I'm not like you, Eve. I'm not a fighter," she said, briefly looking at her hands. "Gabe?"
"Yeah?" he answered.
"What does your friend need from me to get started on a passport?" asked AJ.
A thud came from the living room. Glass shattered, followed by more thuds that sounded like booted footsteps. Mauricio and Eve sprang up and turned toward the living room. Zoey and Gabriel were on their feet and staring in horror as the noise grew louder.
The lights flickered out.
"What's...what's happening?" Eve whispered, looking at the door leading to the living room. She reached for Zoey's and Gabriel's hands but grasped only air. "Zoey? Gabe...where—?"
Three low cracking sounds came from the room. A moment later, screams from Zoey pierced the eerie quiet.
"Stop right there!" a man yelled.
"Zoey!" Eve screamed, searching the darkness for any sign of her or Gabriel. A moment later, a man brushed by her, and it kicked her into action.
She took off running through the pitch-black house, the sound of several pairs of booted feet against hardwood floors reverberating around the room. She ran as fast as her legs would allow, keeping her arms spread out in front of her to avoid running face-first into a wall. Panting and running with all her strength, she followed the vertical sliver of light ahead. Please be the front door. Please be the front door.
Just as she reached the light, her feet hit something solid, and she stumbled before losing balance. When her face hit the floor, her teeth chattered, and a metallic taste filled her mouth. An object burst into pieces near her, and she instinctively shielded her face.
Spitting out blood and wiping her eyes, she looked around, trying to see through the impenetrable blackness. Get up, you idiot, and run!
As she pulled herself up, a cold hand grabbed her wrist. Kicking like a wild woman in a futile attempt to free herself, she started to scream but another cold hand covered her mouth.
"Quiet," a man whispered. "And be still."
She continued to struggle but to no avail as the man's thick arms encircled her. "Let me go," she shouted into the palm of his hand. "Let go of me!"
Cold air slapped against her face, and when she blinked, she was staring at rowhouses lining an empty street. Before she could register what had happened, there was a sharp, familiar tug inside her stomach. Suddenly, she was standing in the middle of Center City. Staring at the iconic "LOVE" sign, she opened her mouth to scream, but a second sharp tug in her stomach silenced her. This time she found herself in the middle of a cluttered room in a dim apartment and gazing into the eyes of a man she'd never seen before.
The Special Project
11
The man released her and she spun around, backing up against the wall and staring wide-eyed at him. Terror surged through her as she looked around. How had she gotten here? Where was here? Where were her friends? "Zoey, Gabe, where are they?"
The lanky, dark-skinned man with locs stood at a safe distance and watched her. He wore an apologetic expression. "You mean the other people who were with you? I'm sorry, I don't know. I didn't have time to help them. I had to get us out of there."
She pulled out the pocketknife and pointed it at his chest. "Don't come any closer, or I swear to God I'll use it."
"Be cool. I'm not going to hurt you," he said, staring at the knife.
"I'm not going back to that cell. I'll die first." Her free hand dug inside the backpack dangling from her shoulder. She retrieved the GLOCK she hadn't touched since Iowa, dropped the knife, and held the gun in both shaky hands. She raised it until it was level with his face.
He threw his hands up in surrender. "Easy. Easy. My name is Niles Woodard."
"Stay back," she barked, squeezing the trigger.
"Um...the safety's still on."
Fuck. Where is Mauricio when I need him? She kept the gun pointed at the strange man and didn't move. "Where are they? Where did SPI take them?"
"Please put the gun away. I'm not going to hurt you. I’m a fader, too," he pleaded, his voice lowering.
She lowered the gun, and his shoulders drooped as he exhaled.
"I've followed you for a few days. You know the coffeehouse you went to on Tuesday? I saw you disappear when you left. You came out of the coffeehouse, turned down the alleyway next to it, and looked around to make sure nobody else was watching. I wondered if you were running from someone at first. Then, you just disappeared." He stopped and watched the realization hit her. "Yeah, you didn't know I was there because I was invisible, too. I sometimes take that alleyway as a shortcut on my way to work. And that was one of those times.
"To be honest, I didn't believe what I was seeing. I'd never met anybody else like me. But I was curious, so I followed you to your hotel and waited, but you never came down again that day. I came back the next morning and saw you in the hotel cafe getting breakfast by yourself. You looked kind of sad like before. I hung out there and waited to see if you'd do it again, disappear. But you didn't. I even returned a couple more times. I started to wonder if I'd imagined it because I wanted to feel like I wasn't the only one. The only one who could do...things. You know, I considered going up to you and introducing myself and asking you flat out if you had the ability, but then I thought that might be weird.
"Today, I'd promised myself if I didn't see you disappear that I'd drop it. I mean, I'm not some sort of creepy stalker. But when you left the hotel this evening, I noticed you mumbling to yourself, which was weird. Then, you did it. You disappeared again. I really hadn't imagined it! Needless to say, I was obsessed with the idea of meeting you, talking to you. So, yeah, I followed you to that uppity neighborhood." He paused. "And...oh, you can also change how you look, too? I saw you change in that house. It's incredible."
Eve dropped the gun, dizzily surveying the room. The walls seemed to tilt a bit and blur. Her stomach did somersaults that rose up to her chest and throat. In the next moment, she bent over, and her lunch spilled forth in a chunky, pink mess.
Niles ran his hand over the top of his head, standing back and observing her dry heave. "Oh, man. That was my favorite rug."
She pressed herself against the wall, and sunk to the floor. The walls tilted as she struggled to focus her eyes on the man whose voice sounded muffled. The room grew dimmer until there was no light and no sound.
***
Eve rolled over on the hard bed and opened her eyes. Her head throbbed, and a stench of vomit clung to her nose. "Where am I?"
Niles brushed his hair behind his ears. "You're in Germantown. My apartment was the only place I could think of when everything happened."
"You're not with SPI?"
He shook his head.
"You had nothing to do with the attack?" She sat up, rubbing her eyes.
"No. Like I said, I followed you and your friends. I was standing in the kitchen, listening to you all talk when the lights went out, and these men in military fatigues showed up pointing guns. They couldn't see me, obviously."
"Then?"
"Then, you—your skin—started changing colors from brown to white. Like you were trying to change back to the white girl again or s
omething. Your hair kept changing. It was the most amazing thing—"
"What about the others? What about Mauricio?"
"They went one way, and you went the other. I grabbed you before anybody could shoot you. And I brought you here."
"How did you bring me here?"
"I learned how to hop a few months ago."
"Hop?"
"Through space, like teleporting," he clarified. "The first time I did it, it sort of happened by accident. I was thinking about visiting my mom in Virginia, and the next minute I was there in her living room. It was seriously weird."
"You can teleport?"
"Well, I prefer 'hop'. It just sounds less...silly. Can you do it, too?"
Her mouth hung open in disbelief. "Yeah, but I've never met anybody else who could. And I'm not good at it."
"The trick is you have to—"
"Before I fell, I heard shots or something," Eve muttered, her mind running over the events at the house. She recalled the sound of Zoey screaming and Mauricio hollering. "Did the others get away?"
"I don't know. It was dark. I think they were running to the back door the last I saw. All of it happened so fast. Maybe they faded eventually. Why didn't you fade?"
She shook her head, tears streaming as she stared at her hands. "I panicked."
"What did those people want with you and your friends?"
She wiped her eyes. "'Those people' are SPI agents. They track down faders, people like us."
Niles stood, staring at her. "They know about your abilities?"
Eve and the Faders Page 19