“Wait.” She sat up straighter and in confusion. “My father created the disease? Did I hear that right? My father made strands of disease. Not Dermadecatis. That can’t be true.” She paused. So she did know things he could do at least.
I waited. I knew she didn’t want to think that someone used his disease for something bad. “He didn’t create it for evil or to kill people.” She looked sad, so I continued. “Don’t think badly of your father. My father destroyed his dream of curing cancer and all other forms of disease. My father began spreading the disease, and I had no idea how they spread it until now. Until you.”
“Then I won’t die in vain. I helped you discover how it was spread.” She smiled, and I felt my face fall, but she continued. “Where is the cure?” she asked slowly.
“I really don’t know. He never told me. All he ever said to me was ‘Lena has the cure. It is in her control,’” I told her in honesty.
Her face transformed to puzzlement, then quickly to awe. “My father said that to me often too. I don’t know how, though.” She couldn’t focus, and I realized she may have the cure, but she had no clue where to find it. “Will you tell me something?” she asked quietly for my ears only.
“Yes. Anything,” I said.
“How was your father a monster?” she asked curiously, and I immediately wanted to evaporate. I didn’t want to go down that road, but I would tell her.
“Where do I begin?” I hesitated, and she waited thoughtfully. “Your father invented this disease. Not to harm anyone, but to find a cure to end all forms of disease, especially cancer.” I reminded her because I didn’t want her to forget that he was good. “My father told him it wasn’t a good idea, because what would kill us then? We would have to kill each other. Your father said it would be better if everyone died peacefully and in his or her sleep. What a beautiful thought.” She smiled, because she knew her father was noble, and I was glad I could give her that much. “So your father tested the disease along with the cure. He inserted the disease into the brain, the heart or the arm of an animal. He started on squirrels.” She made a face, and I couldn’t help but laugh. “Oh yes. Not the squirrels,” I mocked her, and she nudged me to continue. “Well, my father didn’t think that animal testing was valuable. So he started to try it on humans. He got many people who were dying already from the hospital, and he inserted them with the disease. They died immediately and were not pronounced dead because of Dermadecatis either. He got a sick pleasure of seeing people so sick and dying. Your father hid away the true cure, and he hid it where no one would find it, except for you. You’re meant to find it. But my father invented his own type of cure, and it’s to control all those who are sick. He is going to control the entire world if we don’t find the real cure.”
“And it is ultimately up to me?” She was barely audible, but I nodded.
“It is you who can save us.” She let that sink in, and I remained silent for her to collect her thoughts. I rubbed her head, and she seemed to feel content, because she laid it on my lap. I broke through the silence. “Do you miss him?” She lifted her head to see my face. “Your father? Your mother, too.”
“Of course. All the time.” She smiled. “I have more memories of my mother.” Her face turned into disgust. “My father was too busy, and I was so infuriated with him, but now I know why.” She looked around the room.
“What is your favorite memory?” I asked, trying to distract her.
“My mother took care of me, no matter what. I used to sit on the roof every day at night to watch the sky. I had a telescope at one point, but it fell off one afternoon when I forgot to take it inside. My favorite memory of her is when I was on the rooftop. I had been crying because my father told me that I wouldn’t be able to go outside to my favorite place anymore. He told me that we would get sick. He didn’t tell me why. Isaac was sick a week later, though, so I was thankful, but my memory is of my mother. She came onto the top of the house with me. She never went with me on the roof. She let me cry on her shoulder and told me stories of how she met my father. I had never heard that story before. We talked for three hours. She told me she wanted me to enjoy my last time up there, and I was happy because I got to spend it with her.” She stopped and took a deep breath to remain calm. “You know, even when she was sick, she was still happy. She would make my favorite food and still went out to buy me books to read, and when she couldn’t do things anymore, I made her food like she had my whole life. I watched her cooking, so I knew how. I miss her every day of my life. I want to live for her. I want to make her proud of me.” She gasped as her voice caught. I waited for her to continue and rubbed her head again.
“My father is a little different. He wasn’t cold, but he didn’t love like she did. Or he didn’t make it known as she did. I knew he loved me, though, and I loved him, too. He didn’t have time for me like she did. He was a busy man, and I really see that now. We rarely had good moments. We didn’t fight, but I didn’t get along with him, either. When my mother was dying, and when I needed him the most, he was too busy for me. I feel like an idiot now, because I know he was trying to find a cure for her. He was trying to find a cure for everyone, and I was selfish. I wanted his attention. I just thought whenever my mother died that I would have him. It turns out I didn’t have either.” She didn’t cry, and I didn’t know how she held it in. I looked to her face and found the struggle of holding in her tears.
“Why did he do this?” she asked to me. I shrugged, but she continued. “So many people have died. My mother.” She spoke in broken sobs. “He didn’t even have the cure.”
I cut her off gently. “Just stop and relax,” I told her in a soothing voice. She slowly released another breath and closed her eyes. I wished she knew the cure and how to save the world, but I realized in this moment, she needed someone to save her.
Chapter Eighteen: Isaac
SHE CONTAINED HER composure for what seemed like a long time. I didn’t know what to say so I just rubbed her hands in mine. She seemed a little calmer when she finally spoke up to change the subject. “Tell me what you thought when you saw me then.” I didn’t know if I should talk, but I needed to distract her and make her feel happy.
“First, thank you for telling me things that are personal to you.” She bobbed her head, and I continued. “I thought you were amazing. I didn’t know it was you. I had no clue that you were the one he always talked about. Your father, I mean. I couldn’t even control my feelings when I heard your name in class. I was never in that class for more than a day, so I had no clue that you were in the class. But then your father sent me away, and I came to finish building the rest of this.” I threw my hand up to show I meant the safe house.
She looked at me with wonder. “So, this disease has been building up for years. Why didn’t my father tell me or warn me about what caused the outbreaks? He could have told me where it was going to be coming from,” she said defiantly. Hurt registered all over her face, and I could tell she felt as if he betrayed her.
“Your father never meant for his creation to go amuck. He didn’t want to frighten you, to think he created this to harm others. My father wanted to harm the others, not yours.”
“How do you know all of this?” she probed calmly. “I wish I could have figured it out before I went to the hospital. They were so odd there.”
“I didn’t realize it was done in hospitals. You have to believe me. I honestly believed he was abducting people and giving them the disease. That is how it seemed at the square when there was a missing toll instead of a death toll. I couldn’t have dreamt up that the hospital was in on this. Unless they are being controlled by my father as we speak.” I reached for her face. “I know we can fix this. We’ll do everything we can to help you.” She looked away, and I felt terrible. This was entirely my fault. I should have read the signs instead of letting her go into that hospital.
“I should tell you what happened after your dad told me the truth.” She nodded so I continued. “Gabe, Holla
nd and I had another friend. His name was Isaac. When I say Isaac, I mean the first to die from the disease.”
“Isaac Liams,” she stated confidently, and I felt a twinge of pain in my stomach that I tried to ignore.
“Yes. Well, I didn’t believe your father for a while, but I did eventually, and this only reinforced it. I thought he wanted to get revenge on my dad and get him arrested. Which is ridiculous, but I didn’t know what to make of it. My father had never wronged me personally, and I still didn’t want to believe that he was a corrupt man. So I went on with life and didn’t take your father’s advice. Anyway, one day Isaac was with his mom and got into a car accident. He got banged up pretty badly and had surgery on his leg. When he got home, he was fine. He was in perfect shape. He lived next door, so I checked on him a lot. My father was his doctor and would go to check on him daily. Well, one day he called me over because he felt like something was going wrong with his leg and believed he needed the hospital. So, I went over there and took him to the hospital. My father took off his cast, and he was rotting. I should have realized then that the hospital gave it to him, but I was foolish.” I looked away in disgust, because I had been so oblivious to the truth “His leg was almost completely gone, so the doctor had to take it off. We dealt with that in our own way, and Isaac was still in good spirits, but I wasn’t. Your father warned me of the disease, and I carelessly let one of my best friends get it. I didn’t know how, and I didn’t know where it came from. All I know is the day after his leg was amputated, it spread to his heart, and he was gone. Isaac was dead, and I blamed myself. After Holland and I escaped the library, I went to my dad and asked him what was going on. He only smiled and said it was time for me to open my eyes and choose a side. I tried to warn my brother, but I didn’t get to him in time. He was killed shortly after. I got a phone call while I was building the safe house. I was told many times he died in his sleep, but I knew better.” I felt sick, thinking of my brother. He had decided to be with my father and was killed anyway. I didn’t care to talk about him, though.
She sat a while, processing what I said. She looked afraid. She cowered under my gaze. “I hid like a coward after your parents died.” She winced, but I continued. “Now I know that I have to fight for this to be over and then you came along and got hurt. I came back to town to watch the presentation, because I heard of the cure on the radio with Holland. I saw you in the crowd. I knew I had to talk to you, just one more time before I walked into a death trap. You held me in place, and I knew I should take care of you like I promised before. I wanted to protect you, and I haven’t, but I want to make this better. Not out of guilt, but because I love you.”
She stopped fidgeting. “Wait, what?”
I had said something wrong and my face burned. She should have had time to think about it or say it first before I thrust it on her. She wasn’t ready to say it back, and I knew it.
Then her lips were on mine, not slow, but passionate and fierce. Her hands were in my hair, and I put mine on the small of her back. She was mine, and although she didn’t say she loved me, I felt it through her kiss. We wrapped around each other, and I felt whole for that moment. I didn’t feel empty like I had since my dad betrayed me.
She pulled away while blushing. “I’m sorry,” she said quickly and kissed me again gently. “I love you, too.”
“Always,” I said to her, and I meant it. Even if she didn’t make it, I would always love her and the short time we had together.
Chapter Nineteen: Why Is Everyone Hiding Something?
LENA HAD BEEN missing all day. I didn’t think much of it at first, because she had been feeling drowsy the day before, but I figured she would want to talk or show her face at the very least. She didn’t seem as if she wanted to be around anyone. Holland had been disappearing in and out of my sight all day, too, so it didn’t surprise me when I saw her striding by, giving me a mischievous smile.
“What?” I asked, bored.
“Oh, nothing.” She was hiding something. She was always hiding things. She called them surprises. I just called them lies. She laughed, and Gabe passed with his head buried in his iPad. I greeted him, but he just waved me off. This wasn’t how days normally went. Normally, Holland was cooking or Gabe was watching TV or down in his lab.
I had been watching movies all day, which seemed like an old practice now. There were more important things to do, but I didn’t know how to make Lena feel better. I didn’t know if she wanted to be left alone today, because she felt bad. I let her have her space, because she might need to think about what I said last night.
Holland cleared her throat. “I wanted to ask you something.” She didn’t look past me like she normally did when Gabe was in the room, so it was serious. She often stared at him in annoyance or in awe.
“What’s up?” I asked as she sat beside me. She moved her strawberry-blonde hair to the side and grinned again the same way.
“What was the plan when you left for our hometown?” She looked at me suspiciously, and I didn’t say anything. I turned away, and she slammed her hand down onto my leg.
“What did I tell you? You didn’t have the strength to do it, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Next time, I vote I do it. It’s no big deal.” She looked at me with innocence.
I stared bewildered at her. How could she say I didn’t have the strength? “First of all,” I said defensively and a little annoyed, “I didn’t kill him because how was I supposed to do it in front of everyone who trusts him? He has followers, you know? The newscast was there. I would have been a wanted man. Even more wanted than I am right now. I would have been killed, and that was something we didn’t think of.” She began to speak, but I put my hand up to silence her. “Second, I saw her.” I didn’t continue with this explanation. She shook her head in silence. She got it, and I knew why she got it.
“You knew you would be killed before you left,” she said slowly. “But then you saw her and everything changed. I know. I’m sorry to be so selfish.” She looked ashamed of what she said. It dawned on me that she truly understood where Gabe didn’t.
“It’s okay. Don’t beat yourself up. I’m sure Gabe put this in your head.” All she did was nod, and I couldn’t help but feel the anger build up. Gabe wanted this over, so he could go out into the world unharmed. He was a coward sometimes, though. If he had so much to say, he could have told me already.
“Don’t beat Gabe up about it. He loves you. He’s just cold and indifferent now.” There she went, making excuses for Gabe as she always did.
I didn’t know what happened between Gabe and I, but a wedge had been between us since my return. I wasn’t supposed to return, and they both knew it. It was because I didn’t sacrifice myself for him. The truth is, I didn’t sacrifice myself for anyone, which was selfish. I didn’t sacrifice myself for Gabe, Holland and the rest of the world. But neither Gabe nor Holland wanted to do the deed either.
“I guess I won’t,” I explained calmly. “I would beat you up, but I don’t hit girls.” She smiled gently. After a second, a giggle spilled from her lips. After a moment, I was laughing with her.
Holland stood and reached for my hand. “I want to show you something.” I hesitated but grabbed it. She sprinted while pulling me behind her. We entered the library, and I was in astonishment. The chandelier was lit and its glow made the books look alight with flames. In the center of the room, there was a circular table sat. There were two spaces set up around it. Holland waited for me to say something as I looked around.
“What is this?” I asked her in amazement. And then it hit me. “No, you didn’t,” I said with a chuckle and shook my head.
“Well, I think you’ll agree that you and Lena haven’t had a formal date yet. I would like to blame the disease, but I blame you.” She smirked at me as I flicked her off. “Hey now, I can take this down. I’m doing this for her more than you. She wants a date. I know she does. She wants to see you in action. You have never even dated anyone else. And she was the
girl you always spoke of, so now I’m giving you a date.”
“Thank you,” was all I could manage to say. My throat constricted with emotion.
“You’re welcome.” She smiled. I owed her. It was beautiful, and Lena would love it.
“Is there anything I can do?” I asked.
“Go get dressed. You should look super nice. I’m cooking. Gabe said he would help, but you know how that goes.” She shrugged. “He’s going to watch the food. I’m going to get Lena up. She’s slept all day, bless her heart.”
I looked down. That was why Lena had been avoiding me all day. She had been sleeping, and I was immediately scared. Lena was getting worse, and who knew how long she would have. The thought scared me and a pain spread through my body. I couldn’t handle losing her.
“Go get ready, silly,” she told me, and I walked to my room. What do people wear on dates? I had no clue. I had never gone on a date before in my entire life. Unless you counted the time when Gabe got me a double date, which ended disastrously. Gabe, being Gabe, had offended his date. Lena was the first girl I had ever told that I loved, and I didn’t know where to begin with a date. My palms began to sweat, and I had to sit down. I sat and looked around. I was startled when I heard rustling behind me.
Holland walked into the room with clothes in her hand. “I might be a little too pushy, so I’m sorry,” she said apologetically. “But I brought you some clothes. You don’t have to wear them. Seriously, just a suggestion.” She laid the clothes on the back of my desk chair and backed away. “Just a suggestion,” she reassured me.
She closed the door, and I walked to the desk. She had picked out khaki pants and a nice polo shirt. I smiled, because deciding something decent to wear was out of the question. Now all I had to think about was what to say and what to do.
Antidote Trilogy: The Complete Box Set Page 14