Project Integrate Series Boxed Set

by Campbell, Jamie

  We were halfway across when Lola stumbled. I used both hands to grab her but it wasn’t enough. She fell to the floor, tripping over her own feet. The noise was enough to make every set of eyes in the room turn to us.

  “She’s one of them, get her!” The man standing at the front yelled out. It took only a second for every one of them to act. They stood, pushing their chairs back and running at us. Lochie moved too – quicker than all of them. He grabbed Lola by the arm and helped me get her to her feet before picking her up. He bolted for the door.

  I followed, bursting through into the night and stumbling down the few steps. The members of the Originals were right behind me, I was only two steps in front. Lochie looked back, slowing down to see where I was.

  “Just get Lola out of here,” I yelled, I couldn’t be responsible for them being caught.

  “You’re coming with us, come on,” he urged. I rallied all my energy and tried to hurry up. A stitch was shooting through my side, I couldn’t keep up with him. He started to gain ground on me, at least he had the sense not to wait for me any longer.

  We ran toward the end of the street, I wasn’t sure what was down there. The car was in the opposite direction but blocked by the people chasing us. I could feel them gaining ground, expecting to be grabbed and tumbled to the floor at any moment. It was the only thing keeping me going because my energy was quickly being sapped.

  At the intersection of the next block, I followed Lochie around the corner. We needed to stick together or we would never find each other again. In the darkness of the night, it would be impossible.

  Unfortunately, we chose the wrong street. The one we were running down was a dead end. There was nowhere to go and nowhere to hide. We were trapped, utterly and completely.

  I caught up with Lochie, Lola still only half-conscious in his arms. We stood with our backs to the wall, unable to go anywhere. The members of the Originals reached us and stared, approaching slowly like a cat stalking a bird. Except we didn’t have wings to fly away, we would be caught no matter what we did.

  There was no way I could bear both Lochie and Lola being at the mercy of those people. They had nothing to do with my mess, I was the one they wanted. I knew what I had to do.

  I stepped forward, taking a deep breath. “I’m the one you want. Let them go and you can keep me.”

  “Amery, no,” Lochie blurted out. He took a step forward to stand beside me but I put my arm out to stop him.

  “Lochie, it’s our only choice,” I whispered back, hoping he would just do as he was told. He was getting quite good at it, now was not the time to revert back to the old Lochie who only did the opposite of what I wanted him to.

  “Amery, I’m not-”

  He was cut off as the man who had answered the door made his way to the front. He was obviously the leader of the group. “We accept your terms. The boy and girl can go if you surrender yourself to us.”

  “I will, I’ll do whatever you want. Just let them go.”

  The man nodded to his members and they made a pathway. Lochie didn’t move. I got the feeling he wasn’t going to without some coaxing either. I turned to him, ignoring all the others for a few quick moments. “Lochie, I really need you to get Lola out of here. Make sure she’s okay and that a doctor sees her. She needs to go home. Please do this for me.”

  “I’m not leaving you here,” he insisted. I didn’t know what I could say to convince him. All I could do was to keep on trying.

  “Lochie, please, just do this for me. My parents will find me, they’ll rescue me. I’ll be okay.”

  “They’re crazy, I’m not going without you.”

  “Just do it, please. I’m begging you to go before they change their mind,” I urged. I looked at him desperately, pleading him to go. He kept looking between the others and me, and then finally to Lola in his arms.

  “I’m not leaving you here,” he repeated. I took a breath, ready to fire up with another round of pleading but I didn’t need to. Lochie started walking, hurrying through the crowd. The moment he got past them, he started sprinting, running down the street as fast as he could.

  I was relieved he would get Lola home and trusted him to make sure she was okay. He would handle things, I just knew it. I faced the group, feeling only two inches tall in front of them. They all glared at me like I was the enemy. If they knew what I was, then I guessed I was the enemy. I represented the race that was apparently intent on bringing down all humans. I was evil and had to be destroyed so they could save the world. I was doomed.

  CHAPTER 24

  All the running I had done over the past two days was for nothing. There I was, standing in front of the people who wanted to kill me and there wasn’t anything I could do about it. Any organization that condoned murdering a seventeen year old was not okay in my books – even if they did think I was an alien. Unfortunately, none of the others present shared in my belief.

  “Come then,” the leader ordered, holding out his hands. One of his members passed him some rope and he held it up.

  There was no way out, I had nowhere to run. I held up my wrists and let him bind them together. My feet would have to wait until I was inside, I guessed they wouldn’t want to carry me along the streets. Better I exert myself than any of them.

  “You’re making a huge mistake,” I said. I was going to try to talk them around right up until the moment they bound my mouth closed. It was the only weapon I had against them. “I’m not what you think I am.”

  “So you’re not an alien then?” The leader said snarkily, a hint of amusement in his voice. He turned to the others, raising his voice. “Apparently she’s not an alien, we can all go home. The world is safe once again.” He garnered a few laughs from his lackeys. It was so humiliating being there at their mercy.

  He grabbed at my wrist, all the amusement gone. “So I guess this triangle mark is just a fashionable tattoo then? You can’t hide what you are from us.”

  It was time to stop pretending, obviously I wasn’t going to change their minds. “What makes you think we are trying to deplete the human race anyway? Have you ever considered that we want to integrate and live harmoniously with humans? We don’t want to take over the world.”

  “Oh, she doesn’t want to take over the world, my bad.” His sarcasm was really starting to grate on me. I felt like clocking him over the head – several times. “We can all go home and sleep easy now.”

  With the group around me, they started leading me back toward the building. I shut up, refusing to let them use me as a source of amusement any longer.

  Instead, I chose a different line of questioning. “What are you going to do to me?”

  This time, the leader was more discreet. “We’re going to destroy you and everyone like you. You’ll be nothing but a pile of ashes before morning.”

  By morning? That wouldn’t leave much time for my parents to rescue me – providing Lochie even managed to get to them in time. They might not believe him, the Originals might move me to another location, the Department might stop my parents from doing anything. All the odds were severely stacked against me and I felt every one of them.

  We walked in silence, I had run out of questions. It had been nice living on Earth for so many years, I just wished I had been able to succeed in the project for those left behind. I guessed I would never know if they managed to leave Trucon behind before it was destroyed.

  A loud crash deafened me, I had no idea what it was. It was quickly followed by squealing and metal crunching. Everyone around me sprung into action, people moved everywhere. I frantically looked around, trying to work out what was going on. Besides bodies running in every direction, there was just a cloud of dust.

  Then the cloud started to move. Emerging from the dust and rubble from what was once a wall, was Lochie’s borrowed car. He skidded to a halt, debris falling off the bonnet.

  “Get in!” He shouted through the chaos. He leant over and opened the door from the inside, revving the engine to keep it g
oing the entire time.

  The leader made a lunge for me, almost knocking me off my feet. I knew I had to stay upright, if I went down I wouldn’t be able to get up again with my hands so awkwardly bound together. I swiped at his arms, trying to put him on the back foot instead of me. He scratched at my hands, desperately trying to grip on.

  I leapt for the door, shaking the leader away. I fought off the hands of his followers trying to make a last ditch attempt to grab me and jumped into the car. I barely had the door closed before Lochie reversed and barreled down the street. His tires screeched with the effort, sliding around the corner way too fast. I was smashed against the door, praying it didn’t give way so I wouldn’t go spilling onto the road.

  “Sorry,” Lochie apologized as he straightened the car. He didn’t slow down, just continued on down the street like there was no tomorrow.

  I looked around to the backseat, trying to hold on and keep my balance with my hands tied together. Lola was sitting straight up, gripping the seat with all her fingers. “Are you okay?”

  She nodded slowly. “I’ll survive.”

  “Lola, I’m really sorry. I didn’t want you being involved in any of this. I really can’t-”

  “Don’t worry about it,” she interrupted my ramblings. “I’m fine and everything is going to be fine.” She winced as Lochie turned another corner. She certainly didn’t look as fine as she claimed to be.

  “Can you pull over when we’re at a safe distance?” I directed Lochie, turning around to face the front. A seatbelt would have been nice, if I could have maneuvered it with my hands twisted together. “We need to check she’s okay.”

  He nodded and we drove for a while longer. Lochie eventually started to slow down to the speed limit and found a side street to park in. It was dark but at least we were unlikely to be randomly spotted if the Originals decided to pursue us.

  I opened the door and got out, sliding into the back next to Lola. I tried to study her in the dim streetlights. “Did they do anything to you?”

  “They drugged me… a lot,” Lola replied quietly. “But they didn’t hit me or anything. They kept me tied up mainly, I couldn’t move and it was so cold.”

  I desperately wanted to hug her but I couldn’t. “I’m so sorry. Do you want to go to the hospital?”

  Tears started to well in her eyes. “No, I just want to go home.”

  “Okay, we’ll take you straight there. Your parents called the police and reported you missing. Do you want to tell them what really happened?”

  “I can’t,” Lola protested quickly, knowing if she told the entire story my secret would be exposed. She was my best friend to the end, that was for sure. “They’ll tell the police why I was taken.”

  “I don’t think they will,” I replied, holding her hand between mine. “But you can tell the police you didn’t see who took you. You could say they kept a bag over your head the whole time. You don’t need to mention us, you could say you ran when they left you alone.”

  She sniffled, the tears starting to run down her cheeks. “I can do that. I’m good at being vague.”

  “If you’re sure you want to?”

  “I do. I promised you I wouldn’t tell anyone about your situation and I won’t.”

  I wished Lochie hadn’t heard that last part. Now he knew Lola was privy to more than he was. He was being awfully quiet in the front seat.

  “Thank you,” I replied. “Let’s get you home.” She smiled through the tears. “Lochie, can you please take these off?” I held up my wrists and leaned my arms on the back of the front seats.

  Lochie grinned. “I think I prefer you tied up, it’s much easier to control you.”

  I rolled my eyes, the effect was probably lost in the darkness. “Will you just do it? Please?”

  “No sense of humor,” he grumbled under his breath, loud enough to make sure I still heard. His fingers fumbled around the ropes, digging in to work the knot out. Every time his fingers touched my skin, little tingles emanated from the spot. I tried not to notice but they were affecting my heart rate more than I wanted to admit. Now wasn’t a time to be thinking about Lochie, now was a time to fix the mess I had created around myself.

  He finally worked the rope loose and my hands were freed. I stayed in the backseat with Lola for the journey to her house. I didn’t even want to leave her then. It felt like I could have spent the rest of my life making up for the pain I had caused her and it still wouldn’t have been enough.

  I walked her to the door and waited until her parents enveloped her in hugs. I explained she had called me when she was free because I was the only number she could remember in her dazed state. I handed her over to her parents and promised I would see her again soon. The last thing Lola said to me was “Stay safe”. I didn’t make her any promises I knew I wouldn’t be able to keep.

  Lochie took us back to his house, smuggling me in before his mother could work out what was going on. If only she knew what her son was really up to. Having a girl in her son’s bedroom would be the least of her worries then.

  I practically fell into bed, thinking I would be asleep before my head hit the pillow. Unfortunately, I was wrong. As tired as I was, and as relieved about Lola being safe as I was, I couldn’t switch my mind onto silent mode. It buzzed with everything, replaying the day’s events like it was a horror movie.

  The only good thing that had happened all day was Lochie. In the quiet of the night, and lying in the bed that smelt just like his cologne, my mind couldn’t help but drift to him. His confession about loving me since the fourth grade seemed genuine. It was probably the most real I had ever seen him.

  But it was difficult to believe. I had literally known Lochie since we could walk. Our parents took us to the same playground where some of my earliest memories were born. We would sit on the swings and spin on the roundabout for hours while our mothers chatted away over a coffee. We used to argue then too. Lochie always wanted to go faster and I would scream that I was scared. He would do it anyway and I would eventually either fall off or call out to my mom for some intervention.

  Through every school year, we would find ourselves in the same classes. We battled it out in Debate lessons and he tripped me over when I ran for home base in Saturday baseball. For every event in my life, he was there somewhere.

  When I thought about it, it was probably only the last few years where he had really started to grate on me. Everything he said bugged me and got on my nerves. We couldn’t say two words to each other without having an argument about it. It probably started when I began noticing boys.

  Yet even though I was noticing boys, and not being repulsed by them, I couldn’t do anything about it. I was conditioned to follow the rules and I wasn’t allowed to date any guy until I was eighteen years old. I’d always known that rule. So I started getting frustrated and lashing out because I couldn’t have them. Or one in particular. Oh my God, I loved him too.

  The realization hit me as hard as the ground had in that baseball game. Lochie represented everything I couldn’t have and I hated him for it. But if I didn’t love him, then it wouldn’t have even been an issue.

  Now I definitely couldn’t sleep. I still wasn’t allowed to have a boyfriend so I still couldn’t do anything about it. The Department would forbid me and my parents would enforce the rule. Going out with Havi had proven that. There was still eight months before my eighteenth birthday but that seemed like forever. With the Originals out there hunting me down, it may as well have been a lifetime.

  I rolled over to look at Lochie, making out his shadow in the dark room. He was sleeping on his back, the blanket had fallen down to his waist. He was sleeping without a shirt again, inadvertently making me want him even more. I had to be crazy.

  “Lochie, are you awake?” I whispered.

  He arms fiddled with the edge of his blanket. “Yeah. What’s wrong?”

  There were so many answers to that question but I didn’t want to discuss them right now. I needed to get
something off my chest and I didn’t want to wait any longer. If I did, I would lose my courage and never say it.

  CHAPTER 25

  “I love you too,” I said so quietly I wasn’t sure if Lochie would be able to hear me across the room.

  He didn’t move and I was certain he hadn’t heard. I considered telling him to go back to sleep and forget I said anything in the first place. It was tempting, I wasn’t entirely sure I wanted to open that can of worms after all. It wasn’t like I would be able to turn around and say I was only joking. I couldn’t and wouldn’t do that to Lochie.

  I was just about to tell him to forget about it when he started moving. He sat up, peeled back the blanket and stood. Before I could even blink, he had crossed the room and was sitting on the edge of the bed. In the next moment, he was leaning down and his lips found mine.

  The weight of him against me forced me to lie on the bed – but I went gladly. Not even the tenderness from my shoulder wound could distract me. His kissed me deeply, hungrily, and passionately. I didn’t care that I needed air, all I cared about was keeping him there.

  My entire body tingling with his touch, warmth flooded through me. I hadn’t felt that safe in weeks and it was all because of being in his arms. Lola was right, my second kiss was definitely the winner of all kisses.

  He finally released my lips, moving his mouth to my cheek and travelling down to my neck. It igniting feelings I never even knew I had. I wanted him more than I had wanted anything in my entire life. It was like nothing mattered except us and I couldn’t live without his touch.

  “Amery,” Lochie moaned against my skin. I cupped his cheeks with my hands, pulling his head back to my own. His lips on mine were my new favorite thing.

  “Lochie, I love you,” I whispered, staring into his beautiful eyes. The moonlight was hitting him in the perfect place, illuminating his face and bringing him out of the shadows.