by Castle, W. A
“Alternative research?” I ask. I’m confused and woozy as she helps me to a sitting position.
“They do experiments that should never be done. VIO is split and shit is going down right now. I’m getting you out before you can continue being their guinea pig.” Dr. Halen’s hands shake as she helps me out into the hallway, looking around making sure it’s clear.
She’s helping me escape? Oh my God, I could cry at the rush of relief.
“What about the others? We need to set the others free,” I tell her.
“I wholeheartedly wish we could set everyone here free, but there’s no time. And, there are some experiments here that should never see the light of day… I mean, Maddie you have no idea…”
“Murphy and Olson,” I lean on her heavily. A week of being immobile has atrophied my muscles.
“Van is already getting them out,” Dr. Halen looks down at her watch again, “We need to hurry.”
“What’s happening, why are you helping me?”
“We were contacted by members of our old team. A coop is being set into motion and it seems, that there are people out there trying to get you out.”
People out there trying to get me out? I cry as I think of momma and the others. They must be the ones trying to get me out. Is it possible I’m actually getting out?
“Hey, what are you doing?” a soldier comes up to us from behind.
“I’m talking this subject back to its room, what does it look like I’m doing?” Dr. Halen stops and turns to the soldier.
“A move is not scheduled. Take the subject back,” the soldier commands and moves to talk into his walkie-talkie but before he is able to, he’s shot in the head. I look up at Dr. Halen in surprise.
“We have to run now. Run,” she pulls me as she begins to sprint. I will my weak legs to obey.
We run down a maze of hallways, but Dr. Halen seems to know exactly where she is going. We stop when we get to a pair of steel doors and we wait, we wait for something.
“What are we waiting for?” I ask her. We are so close, at any moment we can get found.
Dr. Halen looks down at her watch again. “Come on, come on,” she mutters.
Moments later running footsteps echo and I about nearly pass out from fear of being captured again and tied down for the torture to continue. I sag with relief when I see Olson and Murphy running towards us with Dr. Clearmont after them.
“Van,” Dr. Halen breathes out in relief, “I thought something’d happened.”
“The others are at the other exits, we need to go before they…” Dr. Clearmont is saying when alarms go off, “… notice what’s happening… fuck.”
Dr. Clearmont types something into the pad next to the doors and then he takes something from his lab coat pocket and it takes me a moment to realize what it is. He holds a severed eyeball to the retinal scan and then holds a severed hand to the hand scanner. Olson and Murphy both gasp and hide behind me when they see the body parts.
“God, where did you get those?” Dr. Halen winces.
“One of the soldiers. It wasn’t pretty.”
“Don’t let them get away!” a soldier yells from a distance away and then they start shooting at us. In shock, I block the kids with my body.
“Let’s go, go!” Dr. Clearmont yells over the blaring sirens.
“I’m scared,” Olson begins to cry. I lift him into my arms and Dr. Halen picks Murphy up and we begin to run. I recognize the hangar we enter, it’s the one that I came in through, the flag still hangs proudly.
Dr. Clearmont runs to a pad next to a door and makes quick work to open the hangar.
“Don’t let them leave!” the soldier hollers and we start to get shot at. I hunch over trying to make myself a small target, I fold over Olson to protect him. “They’re escaping, they’re escaping all over the compound!” I hear from the soldier’s walkie-talkie.
We run outside, and I get a bit disoriented. I keep running even when my legs give out, I stagger back up with Dr. Halen’s help. “Come on, keep running. They’re waiting for us just beyond the tree lines.”
“Georgie don’t stop!” Dr. Clearmont looks back at us.
“Ah!” Dr. Halen topples over when a bullet impacts her shoulder, she lets go of Murphy who screams as he falls to the ground face first.
“No!” I reach for them. But a bullet tags me in the center of the chest before I can reach them. I stop in my tracks and look down at the blood spreading over my gown, a clean shot, through and through. I fall to my knees in shock.
“Maddie?” Olson’s shrill scream barely registers in my roaring ears.
“Maddie,” Dr. Halen gasps as she rushes over to me.
I fall and when I do, Murphy is already turning me over. I barely see him. My heart’s beating so fast I feel like I am floating away. In a haze, I imagine seeing winged creatures flying away from the VIO compound. What?
“Leave her, Georgie, we need to go!”
“We’re not leaving her.”
“Come on!”
Before I black out, I see liberty’s smile shining down on me. All this time I wanted to escape the torture, but I never stopped to consider the price of being set free.
Chapter Fourteen: Mists of the Deep
“Wake up, Maddie. You need to wake up.” Two small hands slap my cheeks.
“Please,” a sob pleads. Something’s pulling me from the mists of the deep darkness that I can’t wake up from. I try so hard to take a deep breath but there’s a boulder on top of me keeping me pinned.
“Olson, we need to go! Come on brother, she’s dead.”
I’m not dead! I try to yell.
After what feels like an eternity I gasp with a deep breath. In my dazing haze I can make out two small boys holding hands, running into the woods, in the opposite direction they were supposed to be running. I want to call them back but I’m still having trouble filling my lungs with air as it is.
“You’re not dead. You’re not dead,” I hear a familiar voice say.
Either I’m floating in a pool or I’m being carried. “No,” I croak, “I’m not dead.” My eyes open into slits and it takes me a moment to recognize Ulises. “Are you an angel?”
The corner of his mouth lifts in a crooked smile, “I’ve been called many things, but I’ve never been called an angel.”
“She’s alive? That’s… not possible, she was shot in the chest.”
My senses start coming back, the sounds around me become clearer and my vision begins to focus. I’m being sat in the seat of a car. Cold hands go under my robe and prod at my chest. “There’s no wound,” Dr. Halen says astonished.
“Where are the boys?” I ask, sitting up on my own now. There’s a soreness deep in my chest and my breath isn’t yet satisfying but I’m alert now. “Where are Murphy and Olson?”
“I don’t know,” Dr. Halen admits.
“You left them behind!” I yell angrily. “We have to go back and search for them.”
“We can’t, they must already have scouts out. What were those things that escaped? Not all of them were human.” A man I’ve never seen before says from the driver’s seat.
“VIO experiments. The others must have set them free,” Dr. Clearmont replies robotically, he seems to be in shock.
I look to Ulises unable to speak the words in my head. He came for me, but where are my mom and the others, where is Diego? “They are just small boys,” is what comes out from my mouth when he catches my eyes.
His eyes soften and wraps an arm around my shoulders.
I look around the cabin and I don’t recognize anyone save for Liam. I frown, not understanding what’s happened since I’ve been locked away. Why is Liam here? How do the doctors, Liam and Ulises fit together?
Instead of asking though, I fall asleep on Ulises’s shoulder.
I wake up with a gasp. I swallow hard as I look around me. Am I back in the VIO compound? No, the compound didn’t have windows. This room I am in has huge windows and history poster
s all over the walls…and there’s a white board?
A snore catches my attention. Momma is sitting on a lounging chair, fast asleep. I smile widely and cry out, “Momma?”
Momma wakes up with another snort and screams when she sees me. “Oh, my baby!” she scrambles to my side and hugs me tightly and covers me in kisses. “Oh, honey.”
“I didn’t think I would see you again, momma,” I cry, holding my mother to me, “Where are we? Where’s Diego?”
“Listen, everything’s fine, everyone’s fine. Diego’s fine, he’s with Trevor. Just lay back down and rest. Before anything else happens, you need to rest.”
I decide to listen to momma and even though I’m not tired, I fall asleep instantly.
When I wake up again sunlight is still filtering in through the windows in the room.
“Good, you’re awake.”
I turn to the voice and nearly pass out again.
“Don’t freak out, it’s just me,” Vince comes to sit next to me on the bed.
“You’re dead. I saw you. How?” I squeak.
Vince chuckles. “I was, and I wasn’t. If you don’t mind, I’m going to check your vitals. They say you got shot in the chest.”
I bring a hand to my chest and feel for any wounds but only come across a small bump. “What?”
“The bullet missed your heart, just barely, it seems. It was a through and through,” Vince mutters as he gives me a check-up. “What did they do to you there?” he asks softly.
“Where are we?” I ignore his question.
Vince looks at me for a moment, settling his hands down on his lap. “When you got taken, your family came here, I believe you’ve met Liam and Erik? Your family asked for our help. Ram, the founder of this town, worked with Van and Georgie up until a few years ago, he got word out to them about you.”
“Okay… that explains how you got me out? And you said, town?”
“A high school actually, it’s sort of a town. And yes, Van and Georgie got you out and some of others that worked with them managed to set other patients free, now they all have a target on their back.”
Everyone has a target on their backs, even me. Even Murphy and Olson. And they are all alone out there.
“How far are we from the facility?” I ask him, trying to keep my tone neutral.
“Four hours away. I know about the boys, Georgie told me about them. And I’m sorry Maddie but those boys will have to find their own way now.”
My stomach sinks, “They’re only children. They have needs, someone has to be there to protect them.”
“And they’ll find someone.”
“What happens if whoever they find figures out what they are?”
“What are they?” Vince asks.
“They’re like you and me,” I say. At my words Vince’s brows shoot up.
“What?” he asks.
“Yes. They’re like us and I don’t know if they know they have to consume flesh eater blood to survive.”
“What are you talking about? Flesh eater blood?”
In that instant I realize I’m not weak and thirsty anymore. When we left the facility, I was on the verge of hulking out because of the thirst, what happened between then and now?
“We got injected with an experimental so-called cure. If we don’t drink flesh eater blood, we deteriorate until we lose our minds.” I confide in him.
“That’s… oh my god,” Vince takes off his glasses and rubs his eyes. “I… would like to study your blood. With your permission.”
A flash back of the cold-hearted scientists’ flashes through my head, but then I look at Vince, the guy that witness what I did with those flesh eater boys, he who was the first one I met that was just like me. “Only because it’s you, I will let you take my blood.”
“I’ve studied mine too, now I will be able to compare both of ours and how that cure changed your genetic makeup.” He begins to say. “Now that Georgie and Van and Ram are here, we might find something out. Get answers.”
Huh, scientists.
“How did you get here?” I whisper at him. “The last time I saw you, you were riddled with bullets.” I reach out and place my hand on top of his. I make No effort to hide my tears.
“I… remember that night. When that girl cut your throat, I just lost my mind. You are the only one like me that I’ve met, and I went after her. But I was too out of it and I guess the others thought I had become a flesh eater because next thing I know I’m waking up alone surrounded by corpses,” he shrugs at the memory, “I came across a group of survivors, they had heard rumors of a safe-zone in South Dakota but we came across this high school on our way there and it turned out Ram was running things here. So, we stayed.”
“Oh Vince, I’m so sorry.” I reach over and give him a hug. “If I had known you weren’t dead, I wouldn’t have left you.”
He awkwardly pats my back, “I know.” He lets go and continues, “Imagine my surprise when I saw your mom here, telling us you’ve been taken.”
I rub my eyes with the back of my hand. The day I got taken seems like a life time ago, I don’t even know how long I was away, I don’t believe it’s only been a week. “They ambushed us, and, they crushed my skull. They tried to take us…” I thrift off as I remember that Clara had been there with me when Sargent Kellan and his soldiers took us by surprise. She left me behind. Resentment brews in my heart, I know, I know I shouldn’t blame her, but maybe if she’d helped me untangle my leg, I wouldn’t have been tortured… but maybe if she had she would have been taken along with me…
“I’m glad you’re here now, that we’ve found our way back to each other,” Vince says, hugging me this time.
“I am so relieved you’re alive, you have no idea,” I hug him back.
There’s so much I want to ask him, a lot of questions, but he says they’ll be time for that later. Right now, there are people who have been waiting to see me. And I’m very curious to see this high school town. So, questions get tabled for now.
“Baby!” Momma exclaims when Vince and I walk into the cafeteria. She rushes to our side and walks us back to her table. “How are you feeling? Should you be up and walking?” Momma asks me but turns to Vince.
“She has my doctor stamp of approval. She’s good,” he grins at momma.
Tableware clanks and a chair scratches the floor as Jax all but jumps over the table. “Mads!” he runs over to me and lifts me up off the floor. “Oh God, I was… you’re back.”
When he sets me down, I pat his cheek, “I’m right here, Jax.”
“I’m sorry for everything,” he hugs me again, “I swear I will never be such an ass again.”
I laugh, “You probably will, but it’s okay. I’ll always love you the same.” I pat his shoulder as he lets me go.
I look at the table and see Clara in the seat next to Jax. She looks at me with a smile, but she has trouble keeping my stare. Still, she walks over to me anyway. “I am so sorry, Maddie. You have no idea. I am so happy you’re back.” Clara throws her arms around me and cries. I stand there stiffly, unable to hug her back. I am still hurt she left me behind. But a part of me knows I should not blame her, so I make the effort to lift a hand and pat her back.
“I’m back.” I tell her and force a smile at her.
“Where are the others? Diego?” I ask them, anxious to hold my baby again.
“Diego’s with Trevor and Eli, they’re taking a stroll in the trading area. Come, I’ll take you.” Jax kisses Clara’s cheek and then takes my arm.
“I still can’t believe this place,” I say in awe, “It’s sort of… normal, isn’t it?”
“A few centuries ago normal, but hey, with electricity!” Jax walks a few steps ahead of me. “I’m thinking we can make something like this place back on my land. We can trade with these people, and…” he trails off when he sees my expression.
“I haven’t seen you this excited over something in a while,” I grin at him.
“I’ve had some time
to think. This could be the start of something new,” Jax runs a hand through his hair sheepishly. “I am so glad you’re back, Mads. Clara’s been a wreck, so has your mom and the others, but Clara, I was beginning to really worry.”
“So, you and Clara are official now? Congratulations are in order?” I ask him, masking my tone with light teasing.
“Oh,” he flusters, “I’ve asked her to go steady with me and she said yes.”
“To go steady with you’?” I snicker, “Okay, grandpa. I’m happy for you though,” I tell him. And I mean it. Jax deserves to be happy even if it’s with her.
As we near a cart of fruit that people are hovering over, trading this and that for some fruit, my stomach sours. A strange woman is holding Diego and has a hand on Trevor’s arm. She’s laughing, her face up towards the sun. And he’s laughing with her. Well.
“Maddie! Maddie!” Eli’s sweet voice pierces through the air. I turn to see him running full speed at me, his mouth is opened wide and his eyes are glimmering.
“Eli!” I outstretch my arms out to him.
He barrels into me, knocking the wind out of me for a second. “You’re awake. They told me you were back, but they didn’t let me see you. Where were you? I was so sad you were gone. But you’re back! Are you leaving again?” he speaks a mile a minute.
I giggle and push some of his hair behind his ear. “I’m here and I don’t plan on going anywhere anytime soon again.”
Eli glues himself to me as Trevor and the other woman walk towards us. Trevor looks to be in shock.
“You’re awake,” he says breathlessly, “I… you’re here.” Trevor eats up the space between us and hugs me hard. When he pulls back there are tears in his beautiful hazel, epicanthic eyes. “I love you. I love you,” he leans down and kisses me, soft and tender at first but when I slide my hands into his hair and pull him closer, our kiss becomes something else. My heart is soaring right now. He’s told me loves me. No one’s ever said that to me before.
I break our kiss and hold his face in my hands, “You love me?”