The Pull (The Emanation Saga Book 1)

by R. J. Lloyd

  “We didn’t know how everything would turn out. We especially didn’t know it would work so well. There were some tripping points in the beginning.”

  Ian spoke up. “Tripping points? Like what?”

  The older man laughed, as if thinking back on something humorous. “It seems no matter what we told you two, every time you were near each other in the facility, you seemed to feel each other. Or, at least, that was my theory since you both would become restless. The few times you caught a glimpse of each other, you were drawn to one another. But, back in that stage, you two were going in and out of solid state. And every time you came back, you’d forget anything from before. And no matter what we tried after that, you two seemed to be magnetized to one another.”

  “We were drawn to each other?” Eva asked, glancing over at Ian.

  Marcus patted her hand. “Yes. Which confirms that two souls can be connected. At least it does to me.”

  “Then why not keep us together and see how our souls reacted?” Ian asked.

  Marcus looked at both of them with sorrow. “Stanley felt it jeopardized everything. He worried you two would have closure and move on… if there was something to move on to, that is. But he didn’t want to take that chance.”

  “What were you doing with us? Why were you pretending to be a part of our lives?” Eva went back over next to Ian.

  “Observing,” Stanley stated as he came back in the room.

  “What is with you?” Eva yelled at Stanley. “You have basically been Ian’s father for years now. How can you just stand there and talk to us like you aren't emotionally invested in him?”

  “You mean talk like a scientist?” His expression didn't change. That’s because that’s what I am. I’m a scientist. I can’t afford to get emotionally involved. No matter what.” He shot Marcus a scolding look. “My role in Ian's life was merely nothing more than a needed element to keep tabs on him and observe his progress in society. Nothing more.”

  “You bastard.” Ian jumped up and dove for the man. “We are more than some notes on a page!”

  Ian’s fist connected with the man’s jaw, sending his head snapping backward and the rest of him stumbling into the wall. Stanley regained his footing and grabbed Ian’s shirt. Ian was fast to react. He gripped the man’s hands and wheeled around, dragging him along, tossing him through the window and into the hallway. But Stanley’s grip was tight, and he pulled Ian with him.

  Glass rained down on both men, but that didn’t stop Ian. He leaned over Stanley, pulling him up by his collar and punching him in the face a second time. With Stanley down, Ian stumbled back up and made his way back in the room where Eva rushed toward him.

  Stanley followed him in, covered in cuts. He touched his bleeding lip, a sense of pride in his expression. “You’re stronger.”

  Ian spoke through gritted teeth. “Man, you are full of yourself, aren’t you? What are you going to do? Fight me? Look at you. You're cut up. Obviously, Marcus was right. You probably can’t even hurt me.”

  “No, it seems you can’t.” He moved across the room, picking shards of glass off his arms. Then, without warning, he reached out and grabbed Eva, wrapping his hand around her neck and yanking her against him. “But she can.”

  Marcus jumped up. “No!”

  “Let her go,” Ian warned him.

  Stanley laughed. “Or what? You won’t risk her no matter how much you puff at me. And I’m not letting you two just walk out of here. I’ve invested my entire life on this research, and no matter how many tears are shed, I’m not starting over.” He pulled a knife out of his back pocket and pressed it against her throat.

  Marcus held his hands out. “Don't do this, Stanley. I went along with everything years ago, but I was mistaken. We shouldn’t have done this. But you can’t keep pretending they're not real people!”

  “They’re not, Marcus!” Stanley yanked Eva out in front of him. “They’re dead. Dead. They’re dead, and they’ve evolved and continue to evolve. And we gave them whatever version of life they have. They owe us. And if they won’t help us keep going on our research, then I’m going to take it back.”

  Eva struggled for breath. “Please.”

  “Shut up,” he snapped.

  Ian’s knuckles were white as he gripped the table. “I will kill you. Do you understand me?”

  “You even take a step toward me, and I’ll slit her throat.”

  “What’s your plan? You can’t watch her all day here in the lab. And you can’t think we’re going to just let you do this.” Marcus tried to take a step forward, but stopped when Stanley pulled Eva back against him.

  “If you care about her, you'll back off. When I get all the information I want, I’ll let her go. But this will all go a lot smoother if Ian comes, too.”

  Ian watched Eva struggle under his grip, unsure what to do. “So you can keep us both for as long as you want?”

  “So you can be together,” Stanley suggested. “I make no promises I will ever let her go. I never felt it was right to let you out in public. We didn’t know you couldn’t be harmed. What else don’t we know?”

  “That’s right. What don’t you know?” Ian tried to think of any way to get her from Stanley’s grasp.

  Stanley scoffed. “Don’t pretend, boy. If you knew of any additional abilities, you would have used them already.”

  “Stanley, please.” Marcus begged. “We can arrange something for them to be together, and we can observe and run occasional tests. You don't have to lock her up in the lab.”

  “And risk missing something important? No.” He started pulling her to the door. “Either agree to come or say goodbye now, Ian. Or Brendan Owens. Whatever you want to be called.”

  Both men stood there, watching as Stanley backed out of the room, dragging Eva along with him. Her eyes pleaded at first until they were in the doorway. She closed them and went completely compliant, allowing her footsteps to catch the ground. Just before they disappeared around the corner, she opened them again and looked right at Ian.

  Tears streamed down her cheeks. “Goodbye.”

  “No!” Marcus grabbed one of the pens and ran for them, holding the ballpoint like a knife and raising it in the air. “I won’t let you torture her again!”

  Stanley shoved Eva to the floor, bringing the knife up and into Marcus’s stomach as they connected. The wounded man instantly fell to his knees. Doubling over, he reached for Eva. Blood dripped off his hand as Stanley leaned over him and yanked the blade out, wiping it off on Marcus’s shoulder.

  “Say goodbye, old friend.” Stanley’s words had an overtone of triumph to them.

  Ian had hold of Eva’s arm and pulled her away from the two men. She struggled against him, wanting to run to Marcus, the man she’d been calling her father for as long as she could remember. Wanting to save him. But with the knife still in Stanley’s hand, she also wanted to flee, searching for a way out and around Stanley tot eh door.

  Stanley looked at the scrambling couple. A slight smile played on his lips as he thrust the knife into Marcus’s chest. “So, are we on the same page? I mean, it’s a bit easier now. No Marcus to bother us here in the lab. There’s a couple rooms to choose from. You can room together unless I see it becomes a problem.”

  “Seriously?” Ian wrapped his arms around Eva as she sobbed. “You honestly think we’re going to just cooperate?”

  “You honestly think you have a choice?” Stanley pointed the tip of the blade at Eva. “You want to chance both of you getting past me?”

  Eva’s words hissed through her teeth. “Why are you doing this?”

  “Because dead people have no place in the living world. And I’m not done with my life’s work. Your so-called memories are proof of that.”

  Ian tried to find a way around him, but the hallway was too narrow. He stepped between Eva and him. “We aren’t going to live the rest of our lives in some locked room for you to experiment on.”

  “No. You spent the rest of your lif
e flying over a guardrail. You’re just spending your afterlife being experimented on.” He took a step toward them. “Listen. I’m a little bored with this exchange and done chatting. Start walking and pick one of the rooms at the end of the hall to your left, or I’ll pick two, and you can spend the next several years missing each other from the other side of a wall.”

  Eva gripped his shirt. “Ian…”

  Without knowing anything of the building or anyone else that might be in it, it was almost impossible for Ian to plan an escape without risking Eva’s safety. The only way he could get her out was to go through their captor on his own and testing the theory that he couldn’t be hurt. Then getting her out of there once he couldn't hurt her.

  Ian lunged forward, feeling the edge of the blade skim across his flesh, slicing open his shirt. He knocked it out of Stanley's hand as they both tumbled to the floor. Ian sat on top of the man and pinned his arms down. “Eva! Run!”

  She took off toward the door, jumping over the two men on the floor. But Stanley reached out and caught her leg, sending her crashing to the floor. Her fall distracted Ian, and Stanley took the opening to reach out for the knife, but stopped, frozen.

  “Mitchell?” he gasped.

  Ian threw himself off Stanley and snatched up the blade, scrambling against the wall and pulling Eva with him. Her eyes were focused on the man who appeared in the doorway to the conference room. There, next to the Marcus’s body, was Mitchell. He stood, glaring at the irate older man.

  Stanley tripped over his own feet as he tried to stand. “How did you get in here?”

  “Didn’t he tell you he saw me outside? That I’d been able to get out of here?” Mitchell asked.

  Stanley paused. “You’ve been able to appear outside of your room, and he knew?”

  “There’s a lot you don’t know… Dad.” Mitchell took a step closer to him.

  “Dad?” Eva gasped.

  “It was so hard not to say something back in town.” Mitchell kept his gaze on Stanley. “I mean, we were experimented on together, you know? They even tried to see if they could force us to pair up; you and I, Eva. They wanted to see if they could break your bond with Ian. But they couldn’t. Nothing worked. That’s why they separated you two. They reset your memories back to ground zero and sent you out there, hoping you'd find distraction in the real world. Moving you around each time they had to reset your memories. Twenty years I heard reports of you two and how many close calls they’d avoided as you would almost reunite on your own.”

  “Twenty years? What do you mean?” Ian palmed the knife.

  “That’s how long you two have been outside of this facility. And, I might add, how many years I’ve had to put up with you restarting your life over and over. Not to mention the five years you were here before that.” Stanley spat out blood.

  Ian stepped up to him and kicked him in the side. “You sick bastard!”

  “Son?” Eva’s mouth was open slightly. “You’re his son, Mitchell? You’re Stanley’s son?”

  “Yes,” Mitchell replied with disdain.

  “Did he kill you, too?” she asked.

  He swallowed hard. “Yes and no. I was diagnosed with cancer. Instead of treatment, he needed my life, saying it was best to do it before the disease took all quality of life from me. He promised me a whole new life. But that was before you. I lingered after my death as he planned my funeral, received visitors and pretended to mourn. He didn’t start working on materializing me for over a week. By the time he captured my spirit and started working, I wasn’t able to materialize at all for several months.”

  “How could you?” Eva reeled back like she was going to punch the scientist.

  Ian beat her to it. He bent over the man, his fist connecting with his jaw, sending his head slamming into the floor, knocking him out. He then moved himself and Eva a couple more steps toward the door they came in. “How did you get out to see us yesterday, Mitchell?”

  “I don’t know.” Mitchell finally looked up. “I just thought of Eva and felt that she was in trouble. When I materialized, I was in that parking lot, and I could hear her.”

  “You just thought about her, and you appeared there?” Ian asked, astonished.

  Mitchell nodded. “Yeah. The longer I’m here, the more I seem to be able to do. But that's not the case with every soul they have locked away. Some have never materialized. And some have been heartbreaking. They seem to almost dissolve. I don't know if they pass on or just blink out of existence. But they disappear.”

  “How many?” Eva asked.

  Mitchell cast his eyes down to the floor. “Too many.”

  S

  he let out a quiet whimper.

  Mitchell took in Eva for a moment. The love he had for her was obvious in his eyes. “Go. Ian, get her out of here. Get as far away as you can.”

  “What about you?” Eva asked.

  Mitchell looked down at his father. “I’ll be fine. Just go.”

  “Thank you.” Ian took Eva by the arm, and they ran for the door.

  They were about to get into the car when Mitchell appeared next to Ian, a box in hand. “Take these.”

  “What is it?” Ian took the box, examining the top item. “Files?”

  “They’re yours… and some others. It'll give you some of the answers you are looking for,” Mitchell explained. “But, Eva. Be careful with those memories. I don't know why exactly, but I heard them saying something about the more you allow yourself to remember, the more you become vulnerable. It’s why they were so interested in you. Regardless what they claim to be surprised by, my father knows more than he will ever let on.”

  Eva ran around the car and hugged him. “Thank you, Mitchell.”

  His hands found her waist. “I know you don't remember, but I love you. I will always love you. Please, take care of yourself. Don't let him find you. He only wants to break you.”

  “Break me?” Her eyebrows pulled in.

  He dropped his hands. “You’re the most challenging project he's had.”

  “We need to go.” Ian set the box in the backseat.

  Eva hugged Mitchell once more and went back to the passenger side, waving before getting in.

  Mitchell watched her a moment before disappearing once again.

  Nineteen

  History and the Future

  Ian drove for several miles as fast as he could, eventually pulling over in a field, just outside of town. As soon as he put the car into park, he shoved open the door and stumbled out. Ian fell to his knees and got sick, heaving as the scene from the lab replayed in his head.

  Realizing Eva hadn’t gotten out, he went around to the passenger side and opened the door. She sat in the seat, sobbing uncontrollably.

  Ian knelt down beside her. “I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry, Eva.” He put his hands on her leg.

  She tried to speak, but she was too choked up to get any comprehensible words out.

  “Shhh…” Ian took off his shirt and wiped her face with it. “It's okay. We’re okay.”

  She swallowed hard. “Okay? Okay? How are we okay, Ian? We’re dead!”

  He opened his mouth, but words didn’t come out. She was right. According to those men, they were dead. Not a scenario as in there’s a chance you will survive if a cure is found. But dead. Ghosts walking around in a touchable hologram body.

  It was hard enough to take in the fact they'd just watched the man she knew as her father get killed by the man Ian considered his. It was even more difficult to see Mitchell come and go like… well… like a ghost. But to accept that they, themselves, had lives far different than the ones they’d been told to believe was too much for both of them to bear.

  “Eva…” Ian wiped the tears from her face again.

  She pushed him away. “No. I can’t. I don’t believe any of this. Michelle must be right. I must be losing my mind. This is crazy! I must be crazy. I’m hallucinating all of this. And at some point, I’ll have a moment of clarity and will go check myself in
somewhere.”

  “Eva…” Ian tried to speak again, longing to find the words to calm her down.

  Eva jumped up from her seat. “I’ll show you. This whole thing is crazy.” She yanked open the back door and started rifling through one of the bags. Pulling out a knife, she opened it and held it up.

  Ian threw his hands up in submission. “What are you doing?”

  “Give me your hand,” she demanded.

  He stayed in place. “Eva? Calm down. There’s no need for this.”

  She reached for him. “If you believe in all this craziness, then give me your hand.”

  “You saw what happened earlier. Nothing. How can I not believe something is going on here? I don’t know what, but something is. Now put the knife down.” He took a step forward.

  She took a step back. “No! Fine. You won’t let me prove to you that whatever happened in there was a trick or something, then fine. Maybe this is all another dream. Some crazy dream I'm having. And if I hurt myself, I’ll wake up. I’ll wake up and can go straight over to my father and tell him I need help. I need professional help.”

  She turned the knife to face herself, gripping the blade with both hands.

  Ian cried out. “No! What if it all is real? You were able to get hurt earlier. Don’t risk killing yourself. I can handle losing you. Please!”

  “No! It’s a dream. It has to be a dream. And I need to wake myself up!” Tears were streaming down her face again.

  Ian’s face told of how helpless he felt in that moment. “Please, Eva!”

  She closed her eyes and gripped the handle tighter, took a deep breath and started to pull in. Ian lunged, reaching for her hands, hoping to get it knocked out of her grip before she could plunge it into her stomach. But he was too late. He reached her just as the tip of the blade connected with her flesh. His arm wrapped around her and hand spread out across her back, bracing her up. She hadn’t let go of the blade, and the end of the hilt pushed into his abdomen. The shocked look in both of their eyes carried through to disbelief as she went limp.

  He lowered her down until both of them were on their knees. Looking at each other, neither spoke a word. Neither took a breath. Both too afraid to look.