I can’t.
Ben, what is it?
I haven’t told you everything.
My heart dropped in my chest. Whatever Ben hadn’t told me was a serious matter, something terrible enough for misery to wake him from his sleep.
You’re going to hate me.
Impossible. Ben, you can tell me anything.
He looked down at his hands, wringing them nervously and refusing to make eye contact with me.
I was the only one to leave the facility through the executive tunnel that day.
My tired mind searched for any other person who would have been expected to accompany him. Then, it hit me.
Connor?
He nodded his head, still avoiding even a glance in my direction. Silence filled the room as Ben struggled to find words.
Do you want to tell me what happened?
He looked across the room, gazing into his memories with a distant stare. The room was silent as he swallowed hard and began his story.
When I finally persuaded you to leave, Connor came at me with full force. I took a punch to the ribs blocking you from him; it nearly knocked the wind out of me. He had always been a skilled fighter, but his arrogance and impatience provided a fatal weakness. But…there was no restraint in him that day. I knew we had only a short amount of time before the explosion and he wasn’t giving up.
My hand grew still on his back as the tension of the story began to build more and more. I could feel his muscles tighten as he recounted the fight with Connor.
I knew if I ran after you, he would only follow and hurt more people than just me, so I continued to fight. Even though the executive tunnel was close, I knew if I didn’t join you on the train, I wouldn’t be able to find you again.
Oh, Ben…
So, I fought with every ounce of energy I had to win against him. But no matter how hard I hit him, nothing affected him. He was out of control. Almost inhumanly. Somehow, we ended up on the floor of Margot’s office. He managed to sit on top of me and wrapped his hands around my throat.
I couldn’t help but hold my breath as Ben recounted Connor’s fury. He could have easily strangled Ben right then and there, the debris of the facility burying them both forever.
Then, he took one hand off my neck and reached for something beside him. The gun he had thrown down earlier. I was attempting to pull his hands off my neck when I saw the gun out of the corner of my eye.
In my mind, I could see images of Connor, blood running down his face, with a gun in one hand and Ben’s neck in the other. My stomach churned at the thought of it.
We both struggled for control of the gun, him pushing it closer and closer to my face. I was running out of breath, pushing the gun desperately away. The gun went off and shattered the window to the outside. I remember feeling the heat of the dry desert air against face as my vision started to blur.
Remembering the sound of two gunshots as I ran to the tunnels that day, I waited for Ben to explain the second shot.
Knowing I did not have much longer without air, I twisted Connor’s wrist as hard as I could so the gun pointed toward him. That’s when I pulled the trigger. The bullet went into his chest. He crumpled to the side of me, his blood puddling on the ground beside him. I laid there gasping for breath, blinking past my blurred vision. All the while, he didn’t move, didn’t blink, didn’t breathe. He was gone.
Ben looked down at his hands in disgust as though Connor’s blood still covered them. The guilt he felt for his death was evident. He had spoken as if he were on trial, awaiting punishment for his crime.
I left him there on the floor with Margot and ran to the tunnel. I was barely in the train when I heard the first explosion.
Ben, it’s okay.
I murdered him, Darcy. I am no better than my aunt.
You can’t do this to yourself, Ben. It was self-defense. If it wasn’t him, it would have been…
Me. Yeah, I know. I’ve tried to justify my actions all this time. But I still see his face, still dream of him being on top of me. His lifeless eyes staring at me over the puddle of his blood.
You saved so many people by staying behind that day, Ben.
But at what cost? Murder is murder. I will forever have his blood on my hands and in my dreams.
He continued looking down at the palms of his hands, his nose wrinkled in revulsion. I moved closer to him and wrapped my arms around his abdomen.
I love you, Ben. That hasn’t changed one bit.
His hands rubbed my arms around his waist in appreciation. He seemed somewhat relieved by my reaction to his confession, as if a weight had been lifted from his chest.
***
Countless nights since, Ben and I had taken turns waking one another up in a fit of panic. As time passed, there were fewer sleepless nights. My nightmares were beginning to be replaced by more and more pleasant dreams of Ben.
As for Ben, he avoided talking about Connor again. And I didn’t pressure him. I could tell it was hard for him to admit it at all. Yet, every time he awoke in a cold sweat, I knew the exact image burned so deeply in his mind. It was the same bloody face which haunted so many of my own dreams.
A couple weeks after my arrival, I awoke to Ben’s panic and reached to comfort him as I had done since my arrival. But something about that night was different. There was no calming him down as I had before. He wasn’t accepting any words of reassurance I offered. His chest rose quickly with gasps of air and his eyes were wide in horror.
It’s alright, Ben. It’s over.
Adamantly, he shook his head in refusal and stood from the bed. Sliding to the bed’s edge, I watched as he intentionally slowed his breathing and regained his composure. Then, he slowly turned toward me and his dark, intense eyes met mine in the dead silence.
No, it’s not.
III.
EVASION
Over the last six months, Ben and I had grown quite comfortable with our hideout, the only communication with the outside world being Kate and Noah on the burner phone. On the few occasions I called to reassure them of my safety, Ben made me promise not to mention his presence. To the world he was dead, and he wasn’t willing to let anyone know otherwise.
But it’s Kate and Noah!
It’s not them I don’t trust. You never know who is listening, even on a burner phone.
Fine.
Although it was hard to keep such a massive secret from my two best friends, I could only question his reasoning to a point. Ben was raised in the Society. He was there under the leadership of his parents as well as Margot and the Board. His knowledge of the Influencers was extensive, going deeper than he chose to share.
It was mid-September when I arrived at the cabin. Over the course of the next six months, Ben and I continued to train, never letting our abilities become dull. He was extremely graceful and shrewd in his fighting style, teaching me to think through every move and predict my opponent’s actions.
In the clearing near the cabin, Ben and I would practice our combat with one another. Of course, he never used his full force on me, pulling his punches and teaching me how to prevent them from happening. By the end of autumn, I had become a formidable opponent, agile and strategic.
In a pair of shorts and t-shirt, I dodged and blocked every advance Ben made. Swinging my leg low, he leapt over my attempt to take his legs from beneath him. Before he could regain full balance, I knocked him to the ground with a straight arm to the chest.
With my knees on either side of him, I sat on his torso and looked down at my defeated opponent. He looked up at me in surprise as I bowed my head to plant a kiss right on his nose. His green eyes twinkled as he bared his teeth in a wide grin. Nodding proudly up at me, Ben put his hands up in mock surrender.
Well done, Darcy. I think I’m going to have to stop taking it easy on you.
Oh, you’re taking it easy on me, huh?
He laughed as I stood up, relieving him of his restraint. I offered my hand to help him from the ground and watc
hed as he dusted himself off from the leaves that clung to his shorts. When he looked up from his clothes, I had my hands raised in position, ready for the next round.
Fall turned into winter and our shorts turned into sweats as we continued to train outside. The Idaho winters were quite dry this low in elevation, but the temperature did manage to reach freezing.
Ben stayed fit by keeping our firewood piled high for the cold winter season. On many occasions, we hiked uphill, both perspiring by the time we reached the cabin. One spring morning after an intense hike, I stood drenched in the kitchen, looking in the cabinets as I gulped down water.
We need to go to the market for supplies, Ben.
From the kitchen, I could see dread on Ben’s face as he realized it was time yet again to chance a trip to the outside world. Though we had stocked our supplies for winter, spring came all too quickly and so did our need for food. As with every trip to town, the same ominous night from months before ran through my mind.
***
It’s alright, Ben. It’s over.
No, it’s not.
My heart skipped a beat at the grave tone of Ben’s voice.
What are you talking about? We destroyed the facility, their entire system. They have no way to function.
He shook his head, dismissing any possibility that what I said was true.
Don’t you see why I’ve been hiding all of this time? If it was over, I would have searched the world for you.
I don’t understand.
Darcy, that’s not their only facility. Though it was their training headquarters, the Influencers reach farther than only one location.
How many locations?
We’re talking global. They’re everywhere.
You mean to tell me that all we did with the shutdown was tick them off?
With one nod of his head, the paranoia from the last couple of months came surging back to the surface all at once. All the work Richard and I had done to control it went to the wayside. The Society was very much alive, and I was a known enemy.
***
As he climbed into the driver’s side of the SUV, Ben wore a ball cap, a Henley under his flannel jacket, jeans, and hiking boots. In anticipation of our trek to the closest market, he had gone so far as to grow a noticeable scruff along his jawline.
Is the beard really necessary?
He looked over at me in the passenger seat clearly amused, knowing fully I didn’t care for the scratchy surface it provided. Running his hand along his jaw, he smiled at me.
I think I’m going to keep it.
I rolled my eyes and looked out the window as he pulled away from the thick forest where we kept our vehicle hidden, hearing the low rumble of his chuckle. There were no roads leading to the cabin, only a twenty-minute hike to the car that Ben knew by heart.
As the SUV pulled onto the nearest road, I heard the gravel kick up from under the tires. The farther away we journeyed from the cabin, the more anxious Ben became with white knuckles on the steering wheel and constant glances behind us in the rearview mirror.
Finally, we pulled up to the curb down the street from the market. It was a sizable enough town that the locals didn’t notice any new faces. Ben stayed in the car, waiting behind the steering wheel and watching the outside of the store.
With my hair pulled into a ponytail through the back of a ballcap Ben had loaned me, I walked up to the entrance of the building. My jeans were tucked into a pair of hiking boots with a green utility jacket and tank top to match. To locals, I merely looked like someone who enjoyed the outdoors.
I chanced a look back toward the SUV, Ben’s silhouette barely visible from that distance. As I walked through the market’s doors, I grabbed a small cart and began filling it with essentials: toothpaste, boxes of dried pastas, cans of vegetables and fruit.
Bending down to look at razors, I noticed a man to my right lingering beside me. I was surprised to meet his eye contact as I looked up from the boxes of men’s razor blades.
Yankees fan, huh? Locals must not like that too much.
The confusion must have been obvious on my face because the man pointed toward my hat.
Oh, yeah. Once a Yankee, always a Yankee.
He chuckled before grabbing a pack of razors from in front of me. Though he seemed friendly, I quickly grabbed a random pack of blades and left the aisle. While waiting in the checkout line, I noticed the man was waiting behind me with a few customers between us.
When it was my turn, I hurriedly paid the cashier with the wad of cash Ben had given me and grabbed the bags of supplies. As I walked down the sidewalk toward the SUV, I quickened my pace.
Ben sat up from his slouched position as I opened the door to throw the bags into the back seat. I jumped into the passenger seat and looked over to him. He was studying me for any signs of alarm before driving away.
Everything went well. There was a man who was particularly friendly in the razor aisle.
Ben raised his eyebrows in question before looking back in the direction of the store. When I looked toward the market, my stomach immediately dropped. It was the same man and he seemed to be in a hurry as he looked up and down the road.
Is that him?
Yes. Ben, let’s go.
He put the SUV into drive and carefully pulled into traffic, heading the opposite direction of the cabin.
What are you doing?
Well, I’m not going to lead them back to our home. Let’s just see if he’s really following us or if we’re just paranoid.
Ben continued to drive through the city’s streets as I looked around for any familiar vehicles.
Do you see what I see?
What? I haven’t seen anything.
Ben looked at his left side mirror and turned right onto the next street.
Black sedan, staying two cars back at all times. They’ve been following us for at least four blocks and a couple turns.
We had made it to a quieter part of town as Ben pulled onto the right side of the road, putting the car into park.
Where are you going?
They’re not going to stop following us. Get out of the car and follow me.
He jumped out of the driver’s side and came around the back of the SUV as I stepped onto the curb. His hand was firm as he grabbed mine and pulled me toward a nearby alley.
There were several dumpsters littering the narrow alleyway. Leading me behind one of them, Ben crouched down and looked toward the entrance of the side street. I crouched beside him and listened for any approaching sounds.
From behind the dumpster, we watched as a black sedan parked behind our car. Ben tensed, poised for action. He looked back at me and nodded his head, signaling that I should be prepared as well.
My heart beat loudly in my ears as two men exited the vehicle and began looking up and down the street for our location. As they turned into the alley, we pulled our heads out of view, listening as their footsteps came closer.
When they came around the corner of the dumpster, Ben burst into action. He placed a blow into the first man’s stomach before sending a knockout hit to the temple. The second man was prepared, lunging toward me as Ben disabled his partner.
It was the man from the market, his dark jeans and jacket all too familiar. He attempted multiple times to grab me, but I was quicker, springing out of the way as he lurched forward.
Using the side of the dumpster, I placed my foot on the sturdy metal and leapt onto his back. With one arm around his neck, I used the other to strike the location of his kidney. The air left his lungs and his knees went out from under him as I concurrently pulled him to the ground. He wheezed as the pressure of my grasp around his neck made breathing difficult for him.
What do you want?
He snarled at me, refusing to leak any information. By now, Ben had already pulled the man’s partner out of view behind a dumpster and was making his way back to me. Standing in front of us, Ben looked down at our assailant as the man glared in his direction.
Ben placed his boot firmly on the man’s kneecap and twisted his heel. The man sucked in air and grimaced.
It’s not what I want, it’s who they want.
The shield Ben had used most of his life had returned to his face, never letting the man know the panic he almost certainly felt inside. I squeezed harder and dug my knee into his back.
Who are they?
The man rattled out a laugh, never once breaking eye contact with Ben.
Oh, he knows.
With a nod toward me, I released my hold of the man in time for Ben to knock the man out with a fierce swing of his boot. He looked around the alleyway for any signs of additional visitors before grabbing my arm and guiding me to the car.
We’ve got to go.
Looking over his shoulder as he helped me into the passenger seat, he shut the door carefully behind me and ran over to where the black sedan sat. He pulled a knife from his back pocket and slashed all four tires before returning to the SUV.
Slamming the door shut behind him, he started the engine immediately and pulled away from the curb in the direction of the cabin. He was careful as he drove across town, deliberately making an unnecessary amount of turns and following the speed limit.
As soon as we reached the private country roads outside of city limits, he pressed on the gas and sped through the valleys. We both constantly checked the road behind us as we sped away from our attackers.
Are you alright?
Yes. You were the one doing most of the fighting.
Did he hurt you?
No.
Are you sure?
Ben, I’m fine. You need to learn to trust me. We can’t do this if you’re constantly babysitting me. You’re the one who trained me. You know I can handle myself.
He nodded, still fighting his initial instinct to protect me. As we neared the location of the cabin, Ben veered the car off the road and across the field to our hidden cove. Parking the car behind the thick foliage, Ben jumped out and left the supplies in the car.
The Legacy: The Influencers Book 2 (The Society) Page 2