Perfection

by J. L. Spelbring

  “Like what?”

  “Hatred and anger have been approved for survival and soldiering purposes. But, I also have felt the pleasure of doing a job well done, and sorrow or shock at things I have seen.”

  “What’d your father think?”

  “Nothing, because I masked them.”

  “And he never suspected?”

  “I would not be here if he had.” Ignoring shock on their faces, she continued, “You witnessed my ability to heal. You have seen how fast I can move. I have other talents, as well.”

  Ellyssa stopped, unsure how to proceed. The time had come for her to reveal her deepest secret, and she feared their responses.

  She looked down at her hands twisting in the folds of the blanket. “After years of research, my father found the genetic sequence for extrasensory skills. The oldest of us can know about people through the objects they have touched. One of my brothers is a phaser. He can blink in and out of existence. The other can form an energy shield. If you throw something at him, it will bounce off without harming him.”

  Stopping, she gauged the reactions of her audience. Mathew’s face pulled into something she would consider horror. His rounded eyes and clenched jaw were hard to decipher. Jordan’s face read disbelief. She fought a mounting urge to place her hand under his whiskered chin and close his mouth. Rein’s expression, she didn’t understand. No mistaking his composed countenance. Arms folded, jowl set. His trademark stance. Closed to everything, and angry. Not quite the response she’d expected, after he had showed her kindness.

  Ellyssa looked back to Jordan. She took in a deep breath and continued. “The youngest, my sister, can move things with her mind.”

  She stopped again and chewed on her lower lip. How could she tell them about her talent without alienating herself from her newfound family?

  Family? A strange concept, but one she realized she didn’t want to lose. Especially now, since she’d had a sample of true companionship.

  Of course, not everyone considered her part of their community. But Jordan? Mathew? Rein?

  “And you?” Rein probed.

  She had to tell them. “I can read minds.”

  Silence blanketed the room. She studied the minute flits of twitching mouths and eyebrows, and muscles working along jaw lines. She wanted to jump into their heads, but she refused. Trust was a two-way street.

  Rein broke the silence. “Are you doing it now?” he whispered.

  “No,” Ellyssa answered indignantly.

  “What does it all mean?” asked Mathew.

  “You’re a prototype?” said Jordan.

  Nodding, she said, “Yes. We all are. After my encounter with Jeremy, I ran across the records when I was erasing mine from the mainframe. With our genes locatable, he can isolate the coding sequence.”

  Realization dawned within the older man. The whites of his eyes grew more pronounced. “He can bring them together into one.”

  “Yes. A super-human able to seek you all out and destroy every pocket of resistance—hidden or not. My father’s goal has always been to accomplish Hitler’s dream.”

  Jordan slouched back in the chair. The rusted springs squeaked in protest. “Human genocide.”

  “Precisely.”

  Looking off, Mathew pulled at his chin, his eyebrows leveled in thought. After a moment, his gaze settled back on her. “If you could read minds, why didn’t you know about this sooner?”

  “It was strictly prohibited for any of us to use our gifts against Father or any of his assistants. To do so never even occurred to me.” Ellyssa flicked her eyes at Rein’s scowling face. “I am sorry I did not inform you sooner. But…” What could she say? She waved her hand in defeat. “I did not know how. I did not know who to trust.”

  Jordan stood with Mathew’s help. His knees cracked. “We understand. We were as much an enemy to you as you were to us.” He started to turn, but stopped. “What made you run?”

  Staring off, Ellyssa chewed on her lip before replying, “As The Center’s children, we went through rigorous programming to eradicate all emotions except anger and self-preservation. When I saw my father’s plans, not only did my self-preservation kick in, but I experienced a feeling of…wrongness, if he were to succeed.”

  “How strange for you,” said Mathew, his voice barely above a whisper. “I can’t imagine how that must have felt like.”

  Jordan held up his hand. “Thank you for answering our questions.”

  “She hasn’t answered an important one,” Rein said, his tone clipped and seething with fury. “When, exactly, were you going to tell us?” Jordan placed a hand on his arm, but he jerked away. “No. Don’t. You just don’t get it. This confirms everything.” His eyes narrowed and fell on her. “Who’d you lead here?” he demanded, reaching for her.

  Ellyssa’s quick response had her on her feet on the other side of the cot. “I did not bring others.” Although her muscles tensed, ready to defend, her voice quivered in desperation. She was suddenly afraid to lose him. A feeling of impending loneliness surfaced. “I told you they would come for me.”

  “Liar,” Rein roared. “You’ve endangered us all.” Red colored his cheeks, and his fists clenched and unclenched, as if he wished his fingers were curled around her neck. He pushed past the doctor.

  Unable to contain her curiosity, Ellyssa peeked inside Rein’s head. Fury, betrayal, and confusion swirled in incomprehensible images.

  Somehow, Rein knew. He flipped around, the tendons in his neck standing out. “Stay the hell out of my head.” He stormed out.

  Mathew and Jordan turned toward her, her hand caught in the proverbial cookie jar. Beaten, she collapsed onto her cot.

  Jordan stroked Ellyssa’s hair. It felt nice, and more tears formed in her eyes. An emotional betrayal. Her father was right; emotions weakened her. Ellyssa inhaled and closed down, her face becoming an empty canvas, a veneer to cover her true sentiments. Inside her chest, though, misery twisted and seethed and clawed.

  Jordan wavered for a moment, then his hand fell to his side. He looked askance at the doctor, who cocked a brow. “Don’t worry, hon. I’ll talk to him.”

  Lowering her head, Ellyssa nodded. After all, she had deceived them. Even without looking into their heads, she knew they believed that. She wished she’d said something sooner.

  “I am sorry,” she muttered, her voice monotone, unfeeling.

  “Tsk, tsk. We’ll have none of that.”

  Ellyssa looked at Jordan, and surprisingly, a toothy grin, minus the top front teeth, flashed across his dark face, deepening his wrinkles. She couldn’t understand him at all.

  “Rein is right. Whether I intended to or not, I have endangered you all.”

  “We were never out of danger.” Jordan’s lids lowered, not in anger, but in slyness. “You know why he is so angry, don’t you?”

  “Yes. He feels betrayed.”

  Laughing, Jordan shook his head. His dreadlocks swung like pendulums. “For someone who is supposedly smarter than the rest of us, you really don’t know much about this world at all.”

  Not really sure if he meant that as an insult, she stared at him. Her defenses fell and confusion tightened her mouth.

  Humor glinted in the old man’s eyes. He laughed even harder as he walked from the room, his thin shoulders shaking all the way.

  When they were alone, Mathew hopped over and sat next to her. “Rein’ll come around, don’t worry.”

  “Worried? I do not feel worry.”

  The doctor, the first person who had ever showed her kindness, the first person she had ever considered a friend, placed a finger under her chin. Ellyssa met his light brown eyes, and her stoic barricade melted.

  “I’m not blind. I can see how you feel,” Mathew said.

  “And how is that?”

  The corners of his lips tugged into a small smile. “You like him.”

  “I do not deny that. I like you, too.”

  “I know, but your feelings for him are more
than friendship.”

  What an alien notion. She’d never liked anyone before, but to like them as more than a friend was incomprehensible. To form bonds brought disadvantage, her father would say.

  Ellyssa thought about what the doctor had said. Was that why she had felt electricity at Rein’s touch? Why he had warmed her? Maybe she did like him as more than a friend, but he didn’t hold the same feelings for her.

  “I might not be very familiar with emotions, but I know hatred. I thrived on it for years. He holds hatred for me.”

  Mathew brushed a piece of her hair back behind her ear. The gesture was reassuring.

  “He doesn’t hate you, dear. Far from it.”

  “I disagree.”

  “If you must, but you’re wrong. Anyway, Rein and I have some business to attend to for the next couple of days. Jordan will be in to check on you, and different guards will be posted at the door.”

  Ellyssa held no doubt Jason would be amongst them.

  Mathew frowned. “I don’t see why we still have to go through the formalities. I’m guessing if you intended to hurt people, you would have no problem doing so.”

  No problem, whatsoever. She nodded.

  “As I thought.” He picked up the book. “What do you think?”

  “I am not so sure about this one. Like I said earlier, the story strikes close to home.”

  “You know, the thing about Frankenstein is that many people portrayed the creature as the monster. But the creature isn’t the monster at all.” He stood and handed the book back to her. “It is his creator.”

  Anger carried Rein all the way back to his holey. He climbed into the cramped space with the scratchy blankets, lantern, and one of Mathew’s beloved books, and lay across the pallet. His home.

  He was annoyed at how Ellyssa dominated his thoughts, no matter how hard he tried to push her out. He wondered if she could read his thoughts, right now. If she could, she’d see how much she’d hurt him by her betrayal. But why should he be hurt?

  An aggravated sigh escaped his lips.

  Against his judgment, he’d trusted her. And she’d withheld information.

  What would the community do? Where would they go?

  It was entirely his fault. He should’ve left her there to die, like Candy and Woody had wanted.

  Rein couldn’t, though. Ellyssa’s body had lain among the decaying rags, her breath ragged and uneven, her skin a sickly color, and the dirt-covered, sweaty hair clumped around her face. She seemed so frail, even after she’d attacked them in her feverish state.

  Even then she’d been the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.

  What bothered Rein the most was that, if he had to do it all over again, he still would’ve saved her. No matter the evidence stacked against her, a deep, nagging sensation pulled at his heart, an unnatural draw he couldn’t shake.

  It was irritating.

  Better to think of her lying, conniving ways, squelching his attraction, or whatever it was.

  Better not to think of her at all.

  Rein flipped to his knees and grabbed the knapsack he used on short excursions. He rummaged around his little space, arranging things to take—an extra shirt, a box of ammunition, a flashlight, and a first aid kit.

  He was shoving the items into his bag when he heard Jordan’s soft, shuffling footsteps. He’d heard them for so long, there was no mistaking the brush of the worn leather of the leader’s shoes against the rocky floor. Jordan stopped outside his drape and a wrinkled hand appeared at the edge of his tattered curtain.

  “Rein,” said Jordan, his voice staggering breathlessly.

  The way the old man’s age had seemed to sneak up on him within the last couple of months worried Rein. He’d tried to ask Jordan about it on several occasions, but the old man had always led the conversation away in different directions.

  Rein pulled the curtain back and popped out, so his elder wouldn’t have to exert the energy to crawl into the hole. Jordan sighed with gratitude, his full lips stretching apart in relief. The old man’s face looked haggard and sunken.

  “I’m just about ready to go.”

  “Good. I believe Doc is waiting for you.”

  Rein yanked his bag out and draped it over his shoulder. “We should be back in less than two days.” He paused for a moment, leaning closer to Jordan’s ear. “I’m really sorry for bringing her here. It was a mistake. I think it’s best if we remove her from the cave as soon as I return. I’ll blindfold her or something. Take her far away.”

  “You didn’t make a mistake, son,” the old man replied, patting Rein’s upper arm. “I believe Jeremy sent her.”

  Rein blinked. “What?”

  “He must have seen inside her, like she can see inside us. Maybe he saw good.”

  “You didn’t see her that day in town. She’s dangerous.”

  Jordan’s gaze settled on Rein, life and amusement still dancing within the dark depths of his eyes, even as tiredness pulled the edges of his lids and sagged his cheeks. “I’ve seen her strength, her will. She’s a great addition to the family.”

  Rein couldn’t believe it. “Her…special abilities put us all at risk. Even if her intentions are harmless, she is too valuable to them.”

  Jordan cast a look over his shoulder before he whispered, “That might be true. And maybe they’ll find her.”

  “Then we’re done.”

  Jordan shrugged his frail shoulders. “With everything that had happened in the past. The war. Our struggle to survive. I never was sure if there was a higher power or not, delegating the randomness of life on delicate strings. But I believe—believe without a doubt—Jeremy sent her to us. Maybe, to let us know what was cooking in the labs of The Center, to give us a heads-up.

  “There are very few things I know in this world, Rein. Very few. But I know a good person when I see them. And she is good. Jeremy saw it. And I think you see it, too.”

  The older man staggered and Rein clutched his upper arm, holding him steady.

  “Are you okay?”

  Jordan patted the hand grasping his shoulder. “Fine, son. Just fine. Nothing a nap won’t take care of. Help me to my holey.”

  Rein stepped to Jordan’s side and steadied him as they walked down the tunnel. Much to Rein’s relief, they passed no one on the trek. The last thing they needed was gossip and panic. When they reached Jordan’s holey, Rein helped him inside.

  “You mind what I said, Rein,” said Jordan as he lay down. “I know you’re thinking she was dishonest. Take into consideration how her truth might have come out in bits and pieces, but she got around to it. How much have we shared with her? How can we expect something we haven’t freely given?”

  The corner of Rein’s mouth drew back. “I’ll talk to her when I get back,” he said.

  “That’s a good boy. Now go. Doc is waiting.” Jordan rolled to his side, ending any further conversation.

  22

  Detective Angela Petersen sneered at Micah through the filthy window of the drug store in Deepwater. He looked a little different since the last time she’d seen him, taller and broader. His perfectly cut platinum hair framed chiseled features that had sharpened into those of a man. Occasionally, his azure eyes would cut sideways at her, accusingly, as if her less-than-perfect intelligence was to blame for Ellyssa’s disappearance.

  She hated him. After a month of having no contact with the little creatures, she’d almost forgotten how much she hated them all.

  The detective stepped back when Micah squared off to her, letting Angela know he was watching. She would have to be very careful of everything she did, every call she made.

  Certainly, Dr. Hirch had sent him to spy on her and report back all her failures. The whole operation the doctor had entrusted to her had turned into nothing more than a fiasco. Captain Jones hadn’t helped matters, either, with his constant distractions.

  Micah cast Angela another look before shifting through the pile of rags with the toe of his shoe. If she did
n’t know better, she’d swear the look was smug.

  All The Center’s children felt they were so superior. Their egos towered over that of the doctor. For creatures supposedly lacking emotions, they had no problem showing arrogance.

  Anglea lifted her foot. The handgun weighed against her ankle. What she wouldn’t give to shoot the condescending look right off his face, mess up his flawless features. That’d knock him down a peg or two.

  Although unlikely, maybe she’d have a chance. If only she could get him alone. The cartridge could never be traced back to her. Renegades would be blamed.

  Angela sighed. That’d never happen. And with Micah there, she’d never get a chance to even the score with Ellyssa. He would return home safe, and so would his sister. And she would return a failure.

  “What’re you thinking about?”

  Angela gave Dyllon a once-over. An anxious energy swirled around the young captain. His cream-colored hair was combed perfectly, except for a small piece that flipped out disobediently behind his ear. He wore civilian clothes, a green T-shirt which brought out his eyes, and faded jeans that formed nicely around his hips and legs.

  He was standing too close.

  Angela’s gaze darted through the cloudy glass and, sure enough, the boy watched them. Her lip curled as she looked away. The absolute last thing she needed was Micah to report that she was being chummy with the local police. The doctor wouldn’t understand how differently things worked here.

  “Why are you dressed like that?” Angela asked.

  Dyllon’s perpetual grin faltered a bit. “It’s my day off. What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing,” Angela snarled while she stepped away from the window, her strides long and quick.

  Dyllon jogged to catch up with her. “Something’s wrong.”

  Stopping on the other side of the street, Angela glanced at the drug store to make certain prying eyes were not following them. The doorway was clear, but the glass was too filthy to see through. Although the hairs on her neck didn’t tingle, she couldn’t be sure. She started to walk again, her pace slower.

  She paused at the end of the broken walkway. The only way the boy could see them now was if he stepped outside. “Have you found out anything about Davis?” she asked.