The Girl in the Box 01 - Alone
Page 4
“Erich Winter.”
I laughed. “That explains it.”
“Yeah. He’s a good boss, just…”
“Cold.”
“Right.”
“So how long have you been with the Directorate?” I cast a sidelong glance at him as we walked. Ahead of us loomed a building that matched every other in the complex. Gray concrete walls, squat and blocky with a section that extended well above the rest of the building. Glass doors marked the entryway, but like all the others I had seen, it was unlabeled.
“Couple years. They got me coming out of the U of M.”
“University of Minnesota?”
“Yeah. You gotta be close to college age. Were you thinking about going?”
I laughed. “You know my background, right?” He nodded. “Mom wasn’t big on the idea of me leaving the house. Ever. Said it was dangerous.”
His face turned serious. “She was right, you know. She kept you quiet all these years; now it’s a rush to get ahold of you. Wolfe and whoever he works for – they’re rounding up every meta they can lay hands on – and if Sierra Nealon’s daughter is in play, it was going to be a mad dash to get to you first.”
“What about the guy who saved me from you?” I looked at him as I asked the question, trying to see if he was as bad a liar as Ariadne. “His name was Reed. Do you know him?”
He shook his head with perfect sincerity. “I hadn’t seen him before, but this isn’t just a two-sided game. There’s a lot of factions out there trying to get metas on their side.”
“How did you know where to find me?” I eyed him and gave him a little smile. So this is what it’s like to play a man. Kinda easy.
“I just go where I’m told.” His smile was knowing. Damn. Maybe it’s not so easy. “So, are you going to let Ariadne run her tests?” His voice quavered a little bit and I knew that it wasn’t him asking this question.
I sighed, mostly for effect. Maybe it was because I’d never had the company of a man anytime in memory, but I was enjoying myself so much I almost forgot that I didn’t have any friends, just a suspicious number of desirous and questionable “allies.” “Maybe,” I replied. “I’m still thinking about it.”
“Tough choice, I guess.” He sounded sincere. Maybe he was. “Your whole world gets turned upside down and you’re left without anyone to rely on. Gotta figure out who’s telling the truth.”
I flashed him a tight smile, and I felt my heart beat faster than it should have after such a short walk. “Or figure out if nobody’s telling the truth. You all have fantastic stories of meta-humans with amazing abilities, but so far the closest thing I’ve seen to the truth of that is a grubby mountain of a man that looks like he could have stumbled out of a pack of wolves.”
Zack grinned. “It does sound kind of crazy.”
“You’re all saying that there are people with superpowers, and that I have one but no one can tell me what it is unless you ‘test me.’“ I rolled my eyes. “Forgive me for not jumping to sign up for that medical experiment.”
His smile faded. “But…you realize how strong you are compared to a normal human, right?” He stopped as we neared the entrance to the gymnasium. “You realize how much more powerful you are?”
I started to suppress my instinctive reply but I was a half second too slow. “I don’t know what to think. I don’t know where to go. And I have no idea who to trust.” And I don’t have idea why I told him that.
He kept his distance and his hands slid into his pockets. I almost felt like he was doing it to avoid patting me on the shoulder or something. He took a step back to the concrete bench sitting in the shadow of the entry and did a double take as he looked down at it. “I can’t help you fix all those problems. But maybe I can give you one answer.” He pointed to the bench. “See this?”
“I may be meta-human, but I’m not blind.”
His face twisted with a touch of condescension. “Nobody but Ariadne and Old Man Winter call them meta-humans. M-Squad just says ‘metas’ and it’s kinda stuck for everybody.” He leaned down and tried to push the bench. “It’s a few hundred pounds, easy.” His eyes glimmered with mischief. “Why don’t you try lifting it?”
My stomach made a noise and I hoped only I could hear it. I walked over to him and studied the bench. It was concrete, with a nice pattern around the legs to give it some aesthetics. And Zack was right: it looked like it weighed quite a bit.
I reached down and grabbed hold by the edges. I cringed and counted down from three in my head and lifted with everything I had.
It flew off the ground and swung up, almost popping me in the mouth before I stopped it. I could feel the weight of it, but it wasn’t that significant. I swung it around and hoisted it over my shoulder, holding it with one hand. “Wow.”
“You never lifted anything like this before? Never tested your strength?” Zack kept his distance. I think he saw me lift it a little too aggressively and assumed (rightly) that I may be able to lift it, but I couldn’t necessarily control it.
I shrugged, almost dropping the bench from my shoulder. I caught it and laughed. “What in our house would I have lifted?” I worked to keep a smile plastered on my face in spite of a sudden disquiet within as a memory of my hand pounding against metal, drawing blood, flashed through my mind.
“Odds are that your powers didn’t manifest until recently anyway,” he said with a shrug. “You might not have been able to do this a month ago. Metas I’ve talked to say it onsets over a few weeks or months…you just start getting faster, stronger, more agile than you used to be.” My eyes glazed over for a moment as another memory floated to the top of mind. Zack looked at me with a quizzical expression. “What?”
I blinked. This one wasn’t so bad. “A couple weeks ago, Mom and I were in the basement, sparring like usual. We trained martial arts a couple hours a day, and I’ve never been able to lay a hand on her. She’s super fast, like a blur, and she always dodges. Always encouraging, you know – ‘Keep it up, that’s good, you came close there…’. But that time, a couple weeks ago, I thought she was a little slow and I dodged one of her kicks and tagged her in the ribs.”
Zack nodded. “Ariadne and Old Man Winter said your mother was one of the most powerful metas in her generation. That’s pretty good if you got a hand on her like that.”
“Yeah…” I gazed off into the distance.
“What is it?” His brown eyes were rimmed with concern. Not an act, I think.
My eyes snapped back into focus and landed on him before I flicked my gaze away again. “Nothing…well…after I hit Mom, I was all flushed with victory. I took a step back; point scored, you know…formalities of sparring. I dropped my guard when I went back to my ready stance. She didn’t even hesitate – she planted one on my jaw that knocked me off my feet and blurred my vision.”
Zack physically recoiled and his eyes got wide. “That…that’s horrible.”
I felt the wind run through me and clamp down on my heart, pushing it into my throat. “No, it was good.” I wiped any trace of emotion from my face. “She was trying to teach me not to ever let my guard down because it can cost you.” The pain in my chest swelled as I pictured Mom’s expression after she struck me down – fire blazing in her eyes; that look of spite and revenge all rolled into one as she looked down on me.
My mind raced, trying to think of something to ask Zack to change the subject. “You said my mom was one of the most powerful metas in her generation? So not all metas are the same, power-wise?”
“Yeah, there’s a scale – some metas are stronger than others.” He looked up at the bench still balanced on my shoulder. “That’s why Ariadne wants to test you. Even without knowing what your other powers are, knowing your strength could give some insight into what kind of meta you are.”
“Hm.” I whipped the bench as if to smash it against the ground and noted the panicked look in Zack’s eyes as he flinched and brought his hands in front of his face. I stopped it a few inches fro
m the walk and gingerly placed it back where it had started and shot him a dazzling smile. “Fraidy cat.”
He looked at me, eyes wide. “I couldn’t tell you without testing, but seeing the way you handled that bench, I think you’re right up there with your mom on the meta power scale.”
I looked down. “I don’t know about that. I fought back against Wolfe and he shook off my attacks and grabbed me like I was nothing.”
“Yeah, but Wolfe is a freak of nature. Most metas don’t live for thousands of years. He has.”
“I don’t doubt that, but he manhandled me. His strength was incredible; I couldn’t fight back at all.” I felt the bile rise in my mouth as I said that. Mom had always dominated me, but she’d never completely crushed me the way Wolfe had. It made me sick – and angry.
“He’s THE top of the scale for power and he has millenia of experience fighting. He’d give M-Squad a run for their money, and they’re all way up on the scale, and there’s four of them.” He shook his head. “I want you to promise me something.”
I looked up at him and felt a tremble. “What?”
“You ever run across Wolfe again, do what the rest of us do – run like hell. He’s a beast. And he will kill you.”
Six
Zack showed me around the grounds and after we walked through more buildings and met more people than I could possibly remember, he took me to a four story brick building, a perfect square but with windows spaced every five feet on each floor. There were entrances at each corner. We walked into one of them to find the interior indicated it was a much older building than most of the others.
Yellowed corridors ran around the perimeter. They looked as though they might have been white when the building was built, but they had yellowed through time and use to the color of a boiled egg’s yolk. The center of the structure looked to be one giant chamber and around the edge of the building a variety of labs were open to viewing by glass walls. “It’s the science labs,” Zack said.
“So this is where they cut me open?” I looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
“Not quite.” A voice from behind made me turn. A small man with glasses and a white lab coat covering a shirt and tie came in behind us and stomped his feet. His hand came up to brush some snow off his shoulder and I saw no rings or jewelry on thin, delicate fingers that matched with his gaunt figure. He had zero hair on his head, not so much as an eyebrow, and wore the hipster-chic black rimmed glasses that seemed popular nowadays based on how many people wore them on TV. I think they look stupid, but in his case it might have been a clueless fashion decision.
“This is Dr. Ron Sessions,” Zack said with an introductory wave. “He’s our chief science guru.”
Dr. Sessions took a couple of strides toward me. “Is this Ms. Nealon?”
I looked from Zack to the doctor. “I’m Sienna, yeah.”
His eyes lit up, and it was a calculating stare. “Ariadne sent me to look for you and here you are, in my humble halls.”
“She wanted you to talk to me about the testing?”
He nodded a bit too eagerly. “Wanted me to explain the basics of it. It’s a thorough process, so it could take a little while to go through and answer any questions you might have. Do you have some time now?”
I felt a gravitational pull toward the door I had come in through. “I’m kind of tired. Why don’t we talk about it tomorrow?” I threw a thumb at the darkening skies outside. “It’s close to sundown; been a long day, you know.”
His hairless eyebrow scooted down his face. “It’s four o’clock.”
“Yeah,” I said with an air of excuse-making. “But I nearly got strangled to death yesterday and it took a lot out of me. I’ll stop by and talk with you tomorrow.”
I threw a look at Zack, and I could tell he knew I was lying. “I can show you to the cafeteria if you want. You should probably eat before you sleep.”
“Nah.” I waved him off. “I’m just going to head back to the dorm. Thanks, though.”
He froze next to the doctor, who was still squinting at me. “All right. See you around.”
I gave them both a last wave and pushed my way out the door. I didn’t run across the campus, but I definitely walked faster than normal. I wasn’t used to the cold wind that whipped over the grounds as sundown approached. It felt like it was cutting right through me.
I walked into my dorm room and flipped on the lights. It wasn’t huge, but bigger than I would have expected. It had a full bathroom, a queen sized bed, small refrigerator, a desk and a walk-in closet. Some thoughtful person had even left a pen and paper on the stand next to the bed, in case I wanted to write a letter home to no one.
I checked the fridge and found a half dozen bottled waters. I pulled one out, broke the seal on it and dumped it down the sink in the bathroom. I washed out and refilled the water bottle from the tap. Can’t be too careful.
I took a sip of water as I looked around the room. I didn’t know much about video surveillance, but there were a half-dozen places they could have put a camera. The good news is that it was on the ground floor and there were big windows, so if they came for me in the middle of the night I could send a chair out the glass and follow behind. I had a reasonable amount of confidence that I could run faster than any of them. Hopefully fast enough to escape into the trees if need be.
I sat down on the bed and realized for the first time just how tense I was. My shoulder muscles were crying out for relief; I’d been walking around ready for someone (Wolfe) to come jumping out at me. I rubbed my neck with one hand while I held the bottle with the other.
The bedspread was dark navy, the only splash of color in a room that was a dim beige. It was so generic and stark, totally lacking in décor, it had to have been done by a guy. No woman could abide anything this plain and boring. I thought about how straightforward and businesslike Ariadne’s wardrobe was and conceded that maybe she could have done it. But no one with any taste.
I found it hard to believe how much things had changed for me in the last couple days. My mind went once more to Reed, and I found myself wondering if he was okay. I thought about those brown eyes, and they hung in front of me. I lay back on the bed and they still lingered; and a few moments after I lay my head on the pillow, I fell into a deep sleep.
Seven
I knew I was dreaming. It was weird, but I could feel it, the darkness of the room just fading away as I slipped off to unconsciousness. Streaks of light from outside the window shot through my field of vision and a sensation of falling was replaced with a feeling of weightlessness, like the moment before you step down a stair in a dream and your heart catches and you wake.
Except I didn’t wake. I saw Reed again, those brown eyes staring, searching for me. The haze around me began to lighten. Splashes of color entered the world around me and I realized Reed was coming into focus, details adding in front of my eyes. He looked at me with confusion. “Sienna? Where are we?”
I felt a chill and looked down. There were two figures at my feet. A face stared back at me with dead eyes. “I think we’re in the parking lot of the grocery store where Wolfe found us.”
He looked at me with practiced skepticism. “What’s going on here?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know.”
He looked at the body at my feet. “I remember going to sleep…but this isn’t like any dream I’ve ever had. In a dream, you can’t pick your words, and ridiculous things happen. Like a man with a platter of cheese slices comes wandering through, and it seems totally normal until you wake up.” He eyed me with an air of uncertainty. “Right?”
“I’ve never dreamed about a man with cheese slices.”
“But you know what I mean? This really happened, right?” He looked down at the body. “I remember this guy’s face.”
Remembering the two men who died here – trying to help me – took the thought of laughter away. “What happened to you? I woke up at the headquarters for those two clowns who broke into my house.”
I narrowed my eyes as I looked at him. “Are you a meta too?”
His hands fell to his waist. “Yeah.”
“So what can you do? What’s your…power?”
“The basics. Stronger than most. Nothing compared to that Wolfe guy, but I can tip over a car if I have to. I heal fast, of course. Some other stuff. Nothing major.” He looked down, eyes avoiding mine.
“Uh huh. So why didn’t you square with me when we were talking in the store?”
“It’s your first day out in the world, you’re running to escape from some guys who are shooting at you, and I get to break the news to you that you’re a superhuman. Yeah,” he said with sarcasm, “that wouldn’t have sent you running away from me.”
“It might not have.” I thought about it for a minute. “Yeah, it probably would have before I met Wolfe. Where are you now?”
He shied away from my look again. “You’re at their base?” He hesitated. “With those guys…from…”
“The Directorate. It’s what they call themselves.”
“Yeah. You’re with them?”
“Not ‘with them’ like we’re on the same team, but yeah. They want to run tests on me. Tell me what I am. Where are you?”
“Can’t tell you.” He cringed as he said it. “Sorry. I don’t trust them.”
I looked at him in annoyance. “I’m not staying here forever. I’m trying to decide if I want to let them figure things out for me before I leave. How am I supposed to find you if you won’t tell me where you are?”
He finally looked me in the eye. “Seems like you’ve found a way to contact me. So talk to me again when you’ve escaped.”
I threw my hands in the air. “Where am I supposed to go?”
He started to fade, getting hazy again, like there were gaps in his skin replaced by darkness. “Anywhere. Just get away from them.”