Ordinary
Page 31
Every part of me wants to resist. This feels an awful lot like being used again. Same problem, different devil. But do I really have a choice?
I nod.
“How did you escape?” Willow asks.
“If you talked to the others, you already know,” I answer, but Willow crosses her arms and I wonder if the others did tell her anything. “Didn’t anyone else explain it?”
“Sort of,” Willow says. “Most of them couldn’t really explain what happened. Just that they followed your lead. Impressive, since half of them couldn’t even tell me your name, and the half who could wouldn’t tell me anything else about you.”
I bite the inside of my cheek to keep from grinning. Good to know I’m not the only one who doesn’t trust these people.
“So? How did you do it?”
“You don’t need Powers to have brains,” I say, quoting my old biology teacher, Mr. Springer.
Willow raises her brows impatiently.
I huff out a sigh. “We found a weak spot in the system. A window that allowed us to get out of the simulation into one of their PSECT rooms. From there it was just a matter of getting out of the building. We lost a lot of people to their guards on the way out.”
“Do you know how we can access one of these PSECT rooms?”
I shake my head. “Not exactly. I could probably show you where it is on a map of the building, but…” Grief clenches my throat. “But Bianca was the one who accessed it.”
Willow glances at Doc, who consults the computer, then shakes his head. Willow turns her attention back to me. “Where is she now?”
My jaw twitches and I struggle to pull the word to the surface. It comes out as a croak. “Dead.”
“Are you sure?”
Is she serious? Anger burns through my veins, and every muscle in my body tenses almost painfully. I clench my hands into fists. My voice takes on a dangerous edge. “I held her in my arms when she took her last breath. So yeah. I’m sure.”
“I’m sorry,” Willow says, but the apology feels stale to me. “Do you know why Paragon was interested in you?”
My back stiffens. “Yes.”
Willow doesn’t say anything else. Her blue eyes pierce me, waiting for me to say more.
Will they use me as Paragon did? Why do they want to know? “I know exactly why Paragon is interested in me.” I want to flee, but there’s nowhere to go. I’m just as trapped as I was in Paragon. Instead, I pace the rug. “I’m…unique.” God, I hate that word. “I have no Powers. None at all. And they used my test results and blood and spinal fluid as a base against other subjects so they could find a way to enhance Powers. They used other subjects; expendables they could inject with a serum that killed them.”
Willow blocks my path. Is that excitement in her eyes? “Do you have proof of this?”
“Do you think I’m an idiot? I wouldn’t have left without something. But it’s encrypted.”
Willow closes her eyes and actually smiles. When she opens them, her blues bore into my soul. “Where is it?”
I shake my head and step back. “Lock me back up. I’m not handing it over.” Not that I could. Miller has it. Where is he? “I know what that information is worth, and I won’t give it up. Paragon needs to be exposed.”
“What do you think we’re trying to do?” Willow asks. Her hand falls on my arm, but I jerk away. “Paragon is only a piece in a much larger puzzle. Ugene, the Protectorate is dedicated to exposing the truth and balancing things out in Elpis. Directorate Chief Seaduss has a plan, and we are trying to figure out what it is. Those in control need to be removed, and we need information like yours to make it a reality.”
I have met this woman before. And I remember exactly where.
Career Day feels like so long ago, years. So much has happened since I stepped off the bus, but I definitely remember Willow being there. She was part of the group of protesters outside the Convention Center. She was the one who put that flyer in my hands. Maybe she’s telling me the truth now. Maybe she does want to help, but after everything I’ve been through, I find it hard to trust anyone.
“Ugene, please.” The tone she uses sounds patient, but her demeanor reflects the opposite. “Your information could help us link Paragon to the Directorate, and if we do that, we can tear down the entire broken system.”
I cross my arms over my chest and stand as straight as I can.
Willow huffs, turning to Doc, hands on her hips.
I follow her gaze to him, and he’s staring straight at me like he can see through me. Or into me. The penetrating gaze makes me uncomfortable. I lift my chin, even though he makes me want to squirm.
“Fine,” Willow says, at last, drawing my attention back to her. She drops her hands to her sides and starts toward the door. “Let’s get you to your quarters then. This way.”
Once again, Doc’s gaze draws me in, locked in place. When I break free, I have to sprint to catch up to Willow.
“You’re a Telepath,” I say when I match pace with her.
“Sort of,” she says.
The big Somatic—Chase, I think she called him—follows us a few paces behind. Where Willow’s steps are silent, Chase makes up for it with the loud thump of his boots against the smooth stone floor.
“What do you mean, sort of?” I ask as we descend a metal staircase.
“I mean sort of,” she says tersely.
Willow stares at me, weighing me, sizing me up.
“So what is the Protectorate, anyway?” I ask when we reach a floor marked out as Level VII. “I’ve never heard of it before.”
“Well, you wouldn’t have, would you?” Willow says. “The Directorate wouldn’t want the citizens of Elpis knowing we exist. Plus, if we’re doing our jobs right, you would only hear of us when you need us.”
People in ordinary street clothes move along the halls with purpose as I follow Willow down a tunnel. I don’t recognize anyone, but that doesn’t mean any of them aren’t from our group.
“So where were you when I needed you after Career Day?” I ask. “Where were you when the Directorate started kicking down doors and forcing people like Leo into Paragon’s program?”
Willow’s expression shifts from stoic to sad. The slope of her shoulders swings downward ever so slightly. When she speaks, her voice is more tender than it has been so far. “We did our best to fight the Proposition, and when it passed, we struggled to keep up with the speed of the Directorate. They mobilized the Department of Military Affairs faster than we anticipated.” Willow shakes her head, and the ponytail whips behind her. Then she stops abruptly, staring at the ground. “We lost good people during the waves of arrests.”
Chase rests a large hand on her narrow shoulder. I jump, forgetting that he still lumbers behind us. Willow looks up at him, forcing a smile, and her blue eyes shimmer with unshed tears.
I know that look. I’ve worn it myself before. She blames herself for failing them.
Willow blinks, and the tears disappear, her expression stoic once again. We resume the march as Willow guides the way through a steel door that leads into a rounded tunnel lined with rusting steel walls. Reinforcement rings support the weight of the walls around them. For some reason, this tunnel fills me with anxiety.
“What about my friends?” I ask, trying to ignore the knots forming in my stomach. “When will they be released? What about Enid?”
Willow grimaces and nods. “She hasn’t left her quarters since her release. She refuses to say anything more until she sees you.”
“And Miller?” I ask. Last time I saw him, he was barely conscious, suffering from a shot he took for me. “He was shot. Is he okay?”
Chase speaks behind us. “I remember him. The John Doe. He’s in medical. Dr. Lydia has taken care of him.”
“But is he okay?” I ask again. What if they scan him and find the drive? I can’t give anything away. Not yet.
Willow stops and turns to me. “He will be okay, but his injuries are…serious.”
/> “But it was just a shot,” I say.
Willow rubs at her arm, uncertain. “Somehow, he lost his Power.”
“Can I see him?”
Willow and Chase exchange unreadable glances, then Willow nods at me and turns up a tunnel. I rush to catch up on her heels. If that drive in his arm falls into the wrong hands, we could lose whatever leverage we might have.
About the author
STARR Z. DAVIES,
a Midwesterner at heart, resides in Wisconsin with her husband and kids. She currently divides her time between writing and taking care of her family. ORDINARY is her debut novel, soon to be followed by the sequel, UNIQUE.
Visit her online at
www.starrzdavies.com
and
www.facebook.com/szdavies
or follow her on Twitter
@SZDavies.