“How much did Evan tell you?” I asked.
“Not much. He asked me to bring in some clothes and food for an unusual young woman who had been attacked tonight.” She narrowed her eyes slightly. “Is this a relative of yours, Lucy?”
Wouldn’t that be something? Impossible, but I couldn’t help feel a twinge of hope. After all, I had so little information about who I was that any link to my father’s side might answer at least some of my questions. However, I fully expected that Cynda’s just as unlikely existence would bring about more questions than answers.
“Not likely, but you’ve obviously noticed we share a rather unusual ability. It goes beyond that. She’s got the enzyme, and I mean my version.” I didn’t know if that was classified information or not, but Lona was one of the few people who had known the truth about me from the beginning, so I figured it was okay to tell her.
“And you’re practically identical. That’s rather striking, don’t you think?”
“What?” That was a rather strange observation, even from Lona. Admittedly, I am rather pale considering my mother had been a dark skinned Italian, but compared to Cynda I almost looked suntanned. Not to mention that my hair was thick and dark brown with a natural wave, whereas Cynda’s colorless locks were baby fine and straighter than mine could ever be, even with the world’s best flat iron.
“Look, hold still for a second.” Lona fished her phone out of her pocket and snapped what was probably a highly unflattering picture of me. “Okay, this is you, got it?” I peeked. Yep, unflattering was the nicest thing I could say about it. “Now let me change a few things.” She pulled up an editing program and started messing with the picture, before turning the screen back to me. “Do you see it now?”
I did. The quick edits were a bit cartoonish, but Lona was absolutely right. Aside from our hair, eyes and age, Cynda and I could have passed for identical twins. I suddenly remembered the ominous words of the vampire we had run into earlier: Lucinda and the lost one. I was really in no position to rule out any possibility, considering how little I actually knew, but I was beginning to question what I thought I knew.
“That's...I don't even know what. Cynda,” I turned to the girl who was reaching for another sandwich. “Where was the lab you escaped from? Was it here in town?”
“Not here,” Cynda mumbled around a mouthful of potato chips. “The farm is out in the woods.”
“The Farm?” I asked. That was an odd name for a lab.
“Yeah,” Cynda replied, nodding slowly. “It's not a lab though. They have labs, but it’s mostly woods for hunting.”
“Hunting what?” I regretted the question as soon as I asked it.
“Us,” Cynda answered quietly. Lona and I both winced at the flat, emotionless way Cynda said that. We were uncomfortably familiar with the atrocities committed by modified vampires and her lack of emotion was a clear indicator of emotional and physical abuse, but neither of us had been prepared for her answer.
When we reached Evan’s 17th floor office, Dara Ramos was waiting. While I was grateful for the immediate reception, I couldn't help but feel a little miffed, remembering how Evan had put me off and made me wait in the lobby for over an hour on the night I was attacked.
“Hello Lucy, it's good to see you again,” Dara said simply, but her narrowed eyes and pursed lips were a less-than-subtle reminder of the conversation Holly and I had earlier. “This must be Cynda.”
To my surprise, Cynda didn't shy away as she had with everyone else. She accepted Dara's outstretched hand with a murmured “hello” and a demure nod. If Dara noticed our similarity, she didn't let on. As soon as she led us into the office, Cynda was back on the defensive.
Evan was leaning against his desk chatting with Abe Glassman, a medical doctor and the third co-founder of the Eclipse project. Now, I can see where Evan, with his many scars and imposing stature, might be intimidating, but Abe was about as threatening as Santa Clause. Nevertheless, Cynda shrank from both men. When Abe started toward her with obvious curiosity, she again hid behind me and began to tremble violently.
Evan started to say something, but Dara cut him off with a brief look. “I believe this has been something of an overwhelming night for everyone. Cynda,” she said and turned to the girl with a kind smile. “I'm guessing you have had to endure unspeakable atrocities and for that, I am deeply sorry. Evan and Abe are good men who can be trusted, but they will understand if you're not comfortable. Would you like them to leave?
Cynda nodded slightly. Abe was obviously unhappy with the turn of events, but Evan just nodded. “Let me know if you need anything,” he added as he shuffled the doctor towards the door. Not that they were actually going to miss any of the conversation. If I knew Evan, this office was rigged with more cameras and microphones than a KGB interrogation cell.
Cynda looked down at her shoes and mumbled something.
“What was that?” Dara asked.
“They can stay,” Cynda said quietly and looked up at me. “If you say they are okay, I’ll believe you. But if they attack me, will you use those things on them?”
It took me a second to realize ‘those things’ were my weapons, compact pneumatic auto-injectors or CPAs for short. Each carried a toxic mixture that killed instantly. I was happy to see that Cynda seemed to trust me, but I was also deeply disturbed by the emotionless plea for me to kill anyone she considered a threat.
“I’ll protect you from anyone who wants to hurt you, but my weapons are deadly and you have to believe me that Evan and Abe are both good men. Evan is the head of this organization and he leads a team of hunters who keep vampires from attacking people every night. Abe is a doctor,” I started to explain, but Cynda’s eyes went wide in horror at the word doctor. “Now wait,” I went on, “I’m pretty sure you’ve had some terrible experiences with people who called themselves doctors in the past, but Abe is not like that. He’s a medical doctor and a genetic specialist who helps people. He may even be able to help us figure out what makes vampires react so strongly to you.”
“It’s not going to change,” Cynda said softly. “That’s my talent. I’m supposed to kill. That’s why I made it to my ceremony age.”
I didn’t like the ominous sound of that, especially after the bomb she had dropped on Lona and I about being hunted. By the looks on everyone else’s faces, I wasn’t alone in my concern.
“Why don’t we all have a seat over here and we can start from the beginning,” Dara said, taking the lead. “Lucy and I will sit over here with you and Abe will join Evan on the other side of his desk. If they get out of line, Lucy has my permission to restrain them by force.” Cynda seemed to be okay with this arrangement. Evan was clearly amused by the thought and put his hands up as if I was attacking him as I walked past.
“Lucy, have you had a chance to talk to Cynda a little more about your shared abilities?” Dara asked.
“Not really,” I shook my head. “I let her shower and eat in peace. I figured there was no point in getting into anything we’d just have to bring up again. Though I did ask her where she came from and she told me something disturbing. I want to hear more about this farm business.”
All eyes went to Cynda, whose colorless cheeks suddenly flushed to a deeply embarrassed pink. “The farm is where I was born. There are lots of us there, but I’m one of the oldest. Most of the kids don’t live much past twelve before they’re caught. If they live to be sixteen, then there’s a ceremony and they’re given their freedom. They have this big celebration, and the next day they’re gone. But…It’s a lie. They’re not freed, they’re…”
Cynda’s voice broke and she made a gagging sound before putting her hand over her mouth. I looked around the room, noting that I wasn’t the only one confused.
“Cynda,” Dara spoke with the soft, measured tone of a professional. “What did you mean by being caught?”
“Somebody, or something, hunts them,” I explained.
“We’re trophies,” Cynda spat with obvi
ous disgust. “All of us on the farm are born with some kind of ability. Some of them run really fast, some can hide really well, but we can’t escape. There are women who take care of us and they can’t leave either, only the men.”
That explained her distrust of Evan and Abe, but not Dara. I should have realized it was something like that, based on what I’d learned through the outreach.
“These men, they are the ones hunting you?” Evan asked. Cynda nodded.
“For the most part they leave us alone, but once a week, the guy who runs the place invites a group of vampires from the city to a hunt us. They have a huge party and get drunk. Then at sundown, the hunt begins. All of us who are over the age of six are locked out of our compound and hunted. If we live until the sun rises, we’re let back into the compound. Then it starts over the next week.”
I wasn’t prepared for that. I had seen and heard of vampires, especially the ES, doing horrible things, but this made me sick to my stomach. “Where is this place, and who is this guy in charge, is he a vampire?” I asked. The sooner I could get out there the better.
“We only know him as Bluebeard,” Cynda explained. “That’s what the women call him when he’s not around. But we’re only to call him Father.”
“Bluebeard…” I searched my memory. The name was familiar, but I couldn’t place it. “Wasn’t he a pirate?”
“You’re thinking of Blackbeard. Bluebeard was a folktale,” Evan supplied. “You know, the guy who killed all his wives, then marries a young girl and gives her access to the entire castle except for one room. Of course, she goes into the room and discovers the bodies of all of his previous wives.”
“I don’t think that’s it,” Abe said with a nervous glance at Cynda. “Some theorize that Perrault’s inspiration for Bluebeard was a far more gruesome character than even that. Dara, this may be a conversation you want to have in private with Cynda.”
I did a quick internet search for Bluebeard and after following a few wiki links, I understood what Abe was not saying. According to some theories, the character was based on a fifteenth century child murderer and rapist. I handed my phone over to Dara, who read the entry with a frown. “Cynda,” she said gently, “those who make it to sixteen aren’t given their freedom, are they?”
“No,” Cynda said in a shuddered whisper.
“It’s okay, I know this is upsetting and you don’t have to tell us what happened right now, but is it safe to assume they are killed?” Dara asked.
“Eventually.” Cynda took a deep breath. When she spoke again, keeping her eyes fixed on the floor, her voice was barely more than a whisper. “I overheard Liza, one of the mothers, planning an escape with Anthony, the last kid to turn sixteen. She was telling him he had to leave before his ceremony. It’s impossible to leave. We have an implant, right here.” Cynda indicated the soft spot at the base of her throat. “They can track where we are with it. If we get too close to the boundaries of the farm, it starts to burn. If we cross the boundary, it chokes us. She was telling Anthony she would cut out the implant. But Anthony didn’t want to. He said that he was going to be given his freedom and threatened to tell on her if she screwed it up.
“Anthony went to his ceremony the next night. While they were having the party, they took him away, just like they did to all of the kids. Since I was going to be sixteen in a week, I wanted to know what would actually happen. I snuck out and followed them. No one even noticed me. They just took him up to the house. I saw…through the window.” Cynda looked like she was trying to speak, but couldn’t. Her breathing became shallow and she squeezed her eyes shut as if trying to block out the memory. Dara placed a soothing hand on her back, but Cynda flinched.
“It’s okay, you’re safe now,” Dara said softly. At that, Cynda burst into tears, the first real show of emotion I had seen from her all night. She allowed Dara to hold her while she sobbed uncontrollably. When she was calm enough to speak again, it was with a raspy, haunted voice that she told us the most horrifying events I had ever heard.
“They cut him up, but made sure he was alive the whole time. Bluebeard…he…they did things to Anthony, horrible things.” Cynda made a retching noise. “I could hear his screams through the window…and they were laughing!” Cynda broke off with a strangled sob. Dara continued to hold her while the rest of us sat in stunned silence. I immediately began making a mental list of everything I would need to find and destroy this Bluebeard. My reluctance to kill did not extend to monsters.
When Cynda was calm again, Dara asked, “How did you manage to escape?”
“I ran,” Cynda whispered. “I couldn’t watch anymore. I was terrified and I took off. I didn’t stop until I realized I couldn’t breathe. I made it past the barrier and the chip was choking me.”
“How did you get rid of the implant?” Evan asked. Although his tone was even, I knew what he was thinking. If Cynda was still being tracked, then the security of the Eclipse project was being compromised.
“I cut it out, with this.” Cynda held out her small pocketknife with a shrug. “I sliced open my neck and poked around until I got it. It hurt and I couldn’t talk for a while, but I healed up fast. I threw it into the river. Hopefully they’ll track me all the way out to the gulf and drown.”
“Impressive,” Evan said with an appreciative nod.
“Luck,” Cynda said with cynicism beyond her years. I flinched at this. No child should ever have to live through what Cynda had.
“So where is this farm?” I asked.
“In the woods,” Cynda replied. “I don’t know, except it was by a lot of swamps.”
Half the state was woods and swamps. I bit back my frustrations, but Evan caught me. “Slow down, Lucy. If you think I’m letting you take off in the middle of the night without a plan, then you have conveniently forgotten who I am.”
“I know,” I sighed, “but can you blame me for wanting to do something? No child should ever have to endure that.”
“I’ll meet with the team when they get in and I’ll have security work on satellite images to see if we can pinpoint where this place may be. But right now, we need to deal with a few other issues. Abe’s going to need to take a look at Cynda, make sure she’s healthy, and uh, see if there’s anything he can do about her um, smell.”
“Also,” Abe cut in, “I’m guessing you can’t see very well, can you, Cynda?”
Cynda shrugged. “Well enough.”
“Mm hm.” Abe didn’t look convinced. “How many fingers am I holding up?”
“Four?” Cynda guessed, not even looking in the right direction.
Dara frowned. “Abe can probably do something about her eyes as well, but right now, what Cynda needs is sleep. Lucy, can Cynda stay with you until she’s comfortable enough to have her own room?”
“Sure,” I said with a smile, but I wasn’t actually happy with the idea. I wasn’t tired yet, but I knew that I’d need to sleep sooner or later. The last thing I needed was to traumatize Cynda further with my own nightmares. At least Ida had left me coffee.
Chapter 4
Dara accompanied Cynda and I down to residential and offered to pick up some items we might need from the kitchen before going back to bed.
“Hey Dara, is she not affecting you at all?” I realized that unlike the other vampires, Dara didn’t seem to have a problem being around Cynda. Of course, neither did I, but I assumed like everything else, my case was special.
“No, not really. I do admit, she has a pleasant scent, but to me it’s more like a nice perfume.”
“Huh?” Cynda jerked her arm out from under Dara’s hand. “You’re a vampire?”
Dara smiled, showing an even row of rather flat teeth. “I’m a natural vampire, not modified. So no, I have no desire to attack you. I’m also immune to the enzyme that hunters carry in their blood. Though I suspect that like Lucy, you may carry a higher concentration of that enzyme, so I may not be immune. We’ll talk more about the difference tomorrow.”
Cynda
seemed to accept this, which I found surprising considering everything she had just told us. But I realized it was likely that the women who looked after them on the farm were probably vampires as well. How anyone survived that environment was truly something I couldn’t figure out.
Cynda had only been asleep for about an hour when I started getting drowsy. Falling asleep wasn’t an option and I had run out of coffee. I considered sneaking out for more supplies, but I didn’t dare run the grinder for fear of waking her. As quietly as I could, I tiptoed out to the kitchen. Ida had brought up some soft drinks, and although normally I wasn’t a fan, I was desperate. The last thing Cynda needed was to witness my nightly mental collapse.
“Lucy?”
I hadn’t heard her get out of bed, so when Cynda appeared in the kitchen behind me I jumped, dropping the can of soda, which started spraying carbonated foam all over the floor.
“Sorry!” Cynda yelped, hopping up onto the counter to avoid the pooling cola.
“It’s okay, you just startled me. I’m the one who should be sorry. I was trying not to wake you.” I tossed the still spewing can into the sink and reached for a handful of paper towels. “Did any of this get on you?”
Cynda shook her head. “No. I wasn’t asleep though. I just wanted to let you know, you don’t have to stay up and babysit me.”
I shrugged. “It’s not a big deal. I’m not tired anyway, and I didn’t want to leave, in case you needed anything.”
Cynda eyed me warily. “You look tired, and I heard you yawning. I don’t…I mean,” she sighed, clearly trying to put her thoughts together. I understood what she was trying to say, though.
“Look, Cynda.” I tossed the towels in the trash and hopped up on the counter. “From everything you’ve told us tonight, I don’t blame you for being distrustful of anyone, but you truly are safe here. I don’t want you to think for a minute that you are being a burden to anyone, least of all me. You’re right, I am tired, but you aren’t keeping me from sleeping, I am.”
The Eyes of the Sun: The Complete Trilogy Page 35