Unique

by Starr Z Davies

  I shake my head. “What do you mean?”

  Lily sucks in a shuddering breath and her reddened eyes meet my insistent gaze. “She came back fighting the first time, so they killed her again. Then they used someone with Telepathic Powers to infiltrate her mind and selectively wipe her memories and insert new ones.”

  A Psionic did this to her? How is that even possible?

  “When she came back again,” Lily continues, “they injected something in her. IVD Veritax.”

  My blood runs cold. The memory of the information I read on Forrest’s tablet surges back. The ad, with its bold red letters. IVD Veritax: Why be ordinary, when you can be extraordinary?

  I glance over at Bianca, my heart sinking. This isn’t the same girl I knew. This is someone else. The Bianca I knew would be up and ready to help us. She would have already told us everything she knew, everything she remembered, and given us as much of an inside track on this whole catastrophe as she could. She would have taken my hand and offered reassurances.

  This girl did none of that. And I can’t help but wonder if she ever would be that way again. I don’t want a Bianca who doesn’t know me. I don’t want to rebuild a lifetime of memories.

  I sink down on the edge of the bed with Bianca. “Do you remember your family, Bianca?”

  “Forrest is the Paragon liaison in the DMA,” she says.

  That’s good to know. “And your parents?”

  “The radicals killed my parents, so I joined the DMA to help them fight back.”

  I scrub my hands over my face to avoid showing my disbelieving amusement. They’ve completely brainwashed her. No one here attacked her family, and Forrest wouldn’t allow anything to happen to his parents…would he? And just what did Forrest tell them about what happened to Bianca? Mom mentioned that they haven’t been the same since her death.

  Her parents! Bianca’s dad runs the news network. If I can get her to him, prove to her they are alive, reunite the family, maybe he will help broadcast the information. Ignite the spark.

  It’s not much of a plan, but it’s a start. “Your parents are alive.”

  I reach toward her but give her the option to reach back and take my hand.

  Bianca hesitates, staring at my hand. “I’ve been to their house on Dysart Lane. A different family lives there now.”

  Maybe I’m wrong. Could they really be dead? Did the Directorate kill them to cover their tracks? “Did you say Dysart Lane?”

  Bianca nods.

  I almost laugh. Paragon changed her parent’s address in her memories to protect their lie! “No. They have always lived on Cante Road, right across from my parents. I can prove it if you let me.”

  Bianca chews her lip again, then her hand shifts, inching closer.

  Her fingers wrap around mine. It doesn’t send sparks through me like it used to, as Enid does. Again, I wonder what we are to each other, what we ever were. I loved Bianca, and for years I crushed hard on her. But now, as I hold her hand, I realize that maybe I felt that way because she was my friend.

  Bianca’s grip tightens on my hand. “I want to see them.”

  “We will,” I say ignoring Enid’s radiating anger. Now isn’t the time. “Soon. Tonight. But first I need to tie you back up, or Willow will be suspicious.” I glance over my shoulder, shooting a warning look at Jayme.

  He’s too stunned by everything he’s learned to respond. Please don’t say anything.

  “I also need you to promise me you won’t leave this room or start a fight with anyone,” I tell Bianca. “I’ll come for you.”

  Bianca nods.

  Enid makes a noise of disgust and I can hear her steps recede down the hallway. I want to follow, but at the moment there’s something else I need to attend to before it’s too late.

  I turn to face Miller. “We need to talk.”

  31

  Time is running out. While I don’t know exactly what the Purification Project is, I do know that the Directorate is about to set the wheels in motion—if they haven’t already. After my outburst in the living room, Willow will send my friends and me back to The Shield as soon as she can. Before that happens, I need to slip away from her—or convince the others not to follow Willow’s orders. We outnumber her. Sho and Lily are the only two I’m uncertain of. Miller will follow me if I can really fix him, and Jayme will follow Miller, hating me all the way. There’s a good chance Jayme will rat me out, but I need their help getting that information to Mr. Pond, to make sure that the people realize the danger they are truly in.

  I shift my feet, uncertain how to broach the subject of potentially giving Miller his Power back. I hope he doesn’t hate me for this.

  Sho escorts Lily out of the bedroom, leaving me alone with Miller, Jayme, and Bianca.

  “I read some of the stuff my dad left in that bundle,” I say.

  Jayme and Miller stare at me expectantly.

  “I…have a theory.”

  “On what?” Miller asks, his brows drawn together.

  Jayme is tense. I’m quite certain he will tell me to jump off a building when I explain.

  “A way we could get your Powers back,” I say, fumbling the sheet of paper out of my pocket.

  Miller appears skeptical as I unfold the paper and show it to him.

  “Your ability was directly linked to electricity, so that makes this sort of unique to your situation.”

  Miller takes the paper, and Jayme looks over his arm at it. Neither gives any indication they recognize what it means.

  “When the Protectorate took us in, they took samples from all of us. I managed to get a hold of yours and analyze it. Your Powers are still there. It’s sort of like…like the connection was just unplugged.” Miller appears both intrigued and uncertain. No. Untrusting. Just say it. “All it needs is a jumpstart. Like a battery. But first, we need the drive so we don’t risk damaging the data.”

  Jayme frowns. “What do you mean by jumpstart?”

  “Finally,” Miller says. “I was thinking you would never ask. Do you have a knife?”

  “Did you just ask for a knife?” Jayme tosses up both hands.

  Giving a suicidal Miller a knife of any kind is not the best plan, but I need that drive out of his arm. I pull out the switchblade I found in the supply closet earlier and hold it out in my palm.

  Miller snatches it, and as he flips it open, Jayme’s eyes widen. “What are you doing?”

  Rosie’s healing made the mark from his original incision nearly unnoticeable. Miller doesn’t hesitate to slice into it—or maybe he doesn’t care about cutting himself open. He barely even flinches as he carves deep into his arm, wincing only a little and using the point of the blade to carefully dig out the drive. Perhaps losing his Power has dulled his senses somehow so he can’t fully feel what must be excruciating pain.

  Jayme fumbles over his words. He reaches out for the blade but hesitates. Stopping Miller at this point would probably do more harm than good and Jayme is smart enough to know it. Bianca shifts on the bed, craning her neck to see what Miller is doing.

  The whole thing is incredibly gross, and I wish I could look at anything else, but my eyes are glued. I can’t lose that drive.

  Jayme finally grabs Miller’s wrist and pulls it away carefully. “Stop. What are you doing?”

  “Getting this.” Miller holds the blood-covered drive between his fingers.

  “How long has that been there?” Jayme asks, dumbfounded.

  “Since we left Paragon,” Miller says.

  I reach for the pillow, which Bianca hands to me, and pull the pillowcase off, tearing off a strip of cloth to wipe the drive clean, careful not to damage it. “Thanks.”

  “And you never told me.” Jayme takes the pillowcase and tears off a couple more strips of cloth, thrusting the bloody knife at me. “Why?”

  “It wasn’t mine.”

  Jayme shoots me a dirty look. I do my best to ignore him as I clean off the switchblade. He doesn’t hate me nearly as much as he soon
will. As the two argue, I slip out of the room to grab the defibrillator. By the time I return, Jayme is wrapping the wound, jaw clenched in frustration, muttering that they will have Rosie heal it soon. Bianca sits with her back against the wall, watching with intense curiosity.

  “Are you ready to jumpstart your Power?” I ask, biting my lip and avoiding Jayme’s deadly glare.

  “Yes.” Miller takes in the device in my hands and comprehension clicks in his widening eyes. “What is that for?”

  “I’ve reviewed the research from Paragon, and I’ve looked at your DNA extensively. I’ve done all the calculations several times to make sure I got it right. This will work.” Or should work but telling Miller that will ensure he doesn’t agree.

  “Go to hell, Ugene!” Jayme snaps.

  I ignore him.

  “Miller, I’m talking about getting your Power back.” I’m not sure he can handle the coming fight against the Directorate without his Power. I’m not sure we can. Miller’s ability to manipulate electronics and wield lightning is a needed skill going forward. “If you want your Powers back, this is the only way.”

  Miller holds the strip of cloth against his bleeding arm, gaping at the defibrillator. “There has to be another way. Those things are meant to jumpstart hearts, not Powers.”

  “You told me you were broken. I’m telling you that you’re right, but this can fix it. The defibrillator’s electric current will give your Power the surge it needs to restart. You can’t really expect to fight the Directorate in your condition. You need to be ready.”

  “Ready for what?” Jayme asks, arms crossed. He takes a step between Miller and me.

  I glance at him. “The Directorate is ready to launch its Purification Project. If we don’t want to stand by while the Directorate forces thousands into the DMA’s arms—and potentially to their deaths—we have to stop them now. The time for falling back to regroup has passed. We need to act.”

  Miller begins pacing the floor.

  “Miller, we need you at full strength.” I don’t flinch when he glares at me. While he’s bigger and probably stronger, Bianca taught me a thing or two about fighting back at Paragon. Besides, I can’t back down now.

  Bianca continues watching the exchange with growing interest, silent in her observations.

  “Do you have any idea how much it hurt losing my Powers?” Miller hisses. It’s the sincerest reaction I’ve heard from him since he lost his Powers. “What do you think it’ll be like having them jumpstarted like this? No.” He shakes his head adamantly.

  I swallow thickly.

  Jayme shifts feet, regarding me for a moment, then steps in front of Miller, putting a hand on Miller’s chest. “Stop. I can’t handle the pacing.”

  “I can’t help it. There must be another way.”

  Jayme flicks his gaze to me momentarily. “Look, I have no love for this guy, but you are the one who called him brilliant. You convinced me that he could fix things if he had the right information. You said if anyone could figure out what to do to stop the Directorate, it’s him. Are you now saying none of that is true?”

  Miller opens his mouth, then snaps it shut and pulls his good hand through his blond hair. Blood seeps through the pillowcase bandage. “No. But this…” He waves at the defibrillator in my hands.

  “I have your back, no matter what.” Jayme takes Miller’s hand, and their eyes meet. Miller’s expression breaks from anger to fear. “You told me to trust him,” Jayme says. “Do you trust him?”

  Miller’s shoulders slump. “Yes.”

  “And anyway,” Jayme says with a smile, “if he kills you, there’ll be nothing stopping me from ripping him apart, limb by limb.”

  The comment, while seemingly made in jest, is a clear warning shot across my bow.

  Miller’s body shakes, and he swallows hard before stepping away from Jayme, staring at me as he sets his jaw and presses one hand over the cloth on the other arm. His free hand tightens into a fist.

  “It’ll be easier for you if you lie on the floor,” I say softly, pointing at the worn-out rug.

  Miller lowers himself down until he lays flat. I kneel beside him and power up the defibrillator, then pull up his shirt to attach the power strips to his chest. Miller’s muscles are tense and twitching as I prepare him. The machine beeps a warning that Miller’s heart rhythm is slightly elevated but not in need of assistance. I ignore the warning. It isn’t his heart we are worried about—though I should be. Hitting him with this many joules when his heart works fine is seriously dangerous. If his Power doesn’t jumpstart, his heart could kill him.

  “On one.” I hold my finger over the button to activate the device. To keep it running through the bypass I connected earlier, I have to hold down the button. “Three…two…one.”

  Miller tenses every muscle in his body the moment I activate the current. I hold my finger down on the button, forcing myself to watch as he convulses, letting out a jolted scream. Tears roll down his temples. Tension knots my chest and throat. Jayme steps forward to help him, or maybe to pull me back.

  “Don’t,” Bianca calls to Jayme. “It won’t work if you stop it now.”

  Surprisingly, Jayme freezes.

  I did the calculations repeatedly. Now, I just need to hold the button and count the seconds it takes to give him the right electric jolt to ensure the disconnected links in his Power DNA have a chance to fully reconnect. One missed connection could make this all pointless.

  Miller’s screams turn to half sobs, then whimpers the longer I hold the button. His body begins to sag with exhaustion despite the arch in his back.

  “You’re killing him!” Jayme screams.

  Five more seconds…

  Willow and Chase reach the doorway with everyone else on their heels. “What—?”

  Four…

  Jayme strides toward me. “Enough, Ugene!”

  Three…

  “Ugene, are you mad?” Willow darts through the narrow doorway, sprinting toward me.

  Two.

  Tears roll down my cheeks. Willow’s hand clamps down on my shoulder.

  One.

  I release the button as Willow yanks me backward. The current stops. I stumble over my own feet.

  Willow rips the power strips from Miller’s chest. Jayme shoves me into the wall so hard my vision blurs on contact.

  Everyone else crowds around the doorway, watching with horrified expressions.

  “You went too far!” Jayme is venomous with anger, and rightfully so. It takes three people to pull Jayme back, and he still struggles wildly against their grip, ready to tear me apart.

  But I don’t fight back. I’m stunned, staring at Miller’s unmoving body, willing him to get up.

  Rosie falls to her knees beside Miller, pressing her fingers to his wrist to check his pulse. The color drains from her face.

  Jayme crumbles into hysterics.

  “What did you do?” Willow barks, rounding on me.

  I’m numb.

  Come on, Miller. I can’t move. I’m nailed in place, dazed into deadlock.

  “He tried giving him his Power back,” Bianca says in my stunned defense.

  “And who gave him the idea it was possible?” Willow snaps, glaring at Bianca.

  Bianca glares back at her. “All his idea.”

  Rosie begins working her Power. The longer she performs her healing, the more her body shakes.

  My knees give out and I sink to the floor. I miscalculated. I killed my best friend.

  Jayme continues to struggle against the three sets of arms holding him. Chase places himself between Jayme and me. I want them to let go. I want him to punish me. I deserve it.

  “Get Jayme out of here,” Willow snaps at the others. “This is exactly why I can’t trust your decisions, Ugene!”

  A rough, loud gasp breaks through Jayme’s manic anguish, bringing silence to the chaos of the small room. No one breathes. Even Jayme stills.

  And we all look to Miller…and his rising ch
est.

  My breath comes back in a massive wave. I break into frantic laughter. He’s alive!

  Jayme shrugs off the stunned hands holding him and skids to his knees in front of Miller, brushing shaggy blond locks out of Miller’s eyes.

  Miller continues coughing and shaking, but he’s breathing.

  Bianca tosses a blanket toward them and Jayme drapes it over Miller.

  All I can do is sit there and laugh with relief.

  After a moment, I manage to get enough control to crawl over to them.

  Jayme shoots me a deadly glare. “Go away, you—”

  “It’s fine,” Miller croaks. He rolls on his side and Jayme helps him sit upright against the far wall.

  “What happened?” Willow demands.

  Miller lifts his hand toward me, pointing as I sit on my knees in front of him. All the hairs on my body prickle and rise. Then a jolt of electricity rips out of me, crackling along the floor. I grind my teeth against the burning pain and shoot him a dirty look, but I had it coming. I laugh.

  “You got it back,” I say, breathlessly. “How much?”

  Miller focuses, and his gaze goes distant. Not just through me, but beyond me. Lily, Sho, and Leo yelp. Some of the lights pop and go out in the hallway.

  “How…?” Willow gapes at me with a newfound sense of awe. For the first time, someone is looking at me as if I have a Power. But it wasn’t a Power. It was science.

  Everyone gawks at Miller, and he rises with a newfound level of confidence and grins at me like he used to grin before he lost his Power.

  “I saw the sample the Protectorate took from Miller,” I explain to Willow. “His Power wasn’t gone. Just disconnected. Since it’s related to energy, I learned how to reconnect it using energy. It won’t work for everyone.”

  Willow plants a fist on her hip. “Where did you get the sample from?”

  Leo licks his lips and raises a nervous hand. “I gave it to him.”

  A few of the others offer me a congratulatory pat on the shoulder or arm as they all crowd into the room, around Miller. Willow has launched herself into a tirade about trust and appropriate use of information, and how she expects a full explanation on how exactly I helped Miller get his Power back once we return to The Shield. I agree, but with no intention of ever returning to The Shield. If she only knew what I haven’t shared with her yet.