“Something wrong?” She wondered, having just swallowed the food she was chewing.
I shook my head. “No, it’s just…I wasn’t sure if I should yet, since we were planning on seeing if I became less durable. Plus, I still don’t feel…hungry, although I am a little less warm than yesterday. But definitely not cold.”
Trinity shrugged. “It’s okay if you want to wait. I can take it back. It hasn’t been out of the fridge that long. It’ll last about forty days before it spoils.”
Zayden made a fake gagging sound when he heard the word ‘spoils’ and finally chimed in. “Well if you are going to eat it, then don’t do it in front of me. I don’t want to see you drink that shit.”
I grinned at him, holding the bag up in front of me. “Oh, I don’t have to drink it.”
Immediately, out of their sight, a small spike of my blood silently punctured the clear bag and rapidly the blood began disappearing right before their eyes.
They all looked at it in shock, but Ava spoke first. “You can absorb it through the bag?”
I laughed. “Nope. See?” I turned my hand over letting the bag fall a couple of inches, being held up with a string of my blood to show them what I’d done. “Not much different than stabbing into a person really, except it’s cold.”
“Oh,” Trinity said in surprise. “Is that bad? That it’s cold?”
I shook my head. “No, I can tell it’s cold to the touch, but when I absorb it I feel warm. It’s not like drinking cold water.” I sighed. “It certainly takes the fun out of eating though.”
“Wow Jake, I didn’t realize you were so evil.” Trinity replied with a small smile.
I stared at her for a second, confused, before I realized what she was implying. “Ha! No, that’s not what I meant. I wasn’t talking about killing people. I was referring to my old way of eating. You guys all look like you’re having fun inhaling all this delicious food and here I am sucking up a bag of blood once a day. Not nearly as exciting.”
“Do you miss it?” She wondered seriously, having stopped eating.
I grinned at her, before grabbing a cherry tomato off her plate and popping it in her mouth. “Maybe you can make it exciting again by letting me feed you.”
She grinned and Zayden groaned. “Dammit you two! Quit the cutesy shit!”
We both smirked at him but decided not to provoke him any further. I set the empty bag of blood on the chair next to me with the puncture hole facing upward. There was a clear fluid still left inside the bag that my body hadn’t absorbed. I assumed it must have been an anticoagulant or something to preserve the blood, but didn’t know for sure.
Just as I was turning back around to watch Trinity eat, suddenly my sixth sense picked up a signal that caused my head to snap towards it. The abrupt motion and my facial expression caught everyone’s attention.
“Jake, what’s wrong?” Trinity asked urgently.
I barley managed to get out, “Liz,” before I burst out of my seat and took off through the door. Trinity was right behind me, hot on my trail. When I got to the edge of the base, I could barely see with my eyes the vehicle that was bringing her back. It was enough time for Trinity to find out more of what was going on.
“Jake what is it? What’s wrong with her?” She asked in a hushed voice.
“I’m not sure,” I answered honestly. “But something is seriously off with her again. I don’t even understand why I can pick it up – I haven’t with anyone else – but my instincts are practically screaming at me right now, demanding my attention.” I looked down at Trinity. “But whatever they did to her, it’s not good. She needs us.”
Trinity nodded in agreement, and we waited patiently for the vehicle to make it back to the base. We weren’t allowed leaving the grounds unless it we were on a mission, so we were stuck at the edge, helpless to do anything until Liz was brought to us.
When the vehicle did arrive, Trinity flagged them down, and popped open the door to reveal Liz curled up in a seat trembling violently like the first day we had met her. Trinity immediately climbed in, despite the objection of the two soldiers inside, and scooped Liz up in her arms.
“You’ve done enough!” Trinity snapped at one of them when they persisted. “Whatever else you need to do can wait!” They finally dropped it. She then leapt back out of the vehicle, Liz still in her arms, and began walking with me back to the barracks. However, on the way, Liz had finally calmed down enough from our presence and asked if she could eat. We brought her to the cafeteria instead and set her down in a seat between us.
The other three were still there waiting, although everyone other than Zayden was done eating. I still couldn’t believe how much food he could stuff in his stomach. Ava finally seemed concerned when she saw Liz for herself, but she didn’t ask about it yet. Everyone just watched and waited. Trinity got her some food, already having an idea of what she liked and brought it to her.
But Liz didn’t touch it right away. Instead, while looking down at the table, she finally spoke to me in a whisper. “Jake, can you wrap me up in your blood please?”
I stared at her in disbelief. “Why?”
“Just…please…” She sounded like she was going to break down any second. I glanced at Trinity and then placed my hand on her thin back, instantly wrapping her up in tentacles of my blood. We all waited patiently, before she finally spoke again. “Please stop,” she whispered. Immediately, I withdrew my blood, and felt the tension leave her shoulders. “Thank you,” she whispered again. “I told them to stop earlier and they wouldn’t.” She abruptly wrapped her arms around herself. “It hurt so bad. I’ve never…I’ve never felt pain before. Certainly not like that.”
Everyone looked at each other suddenly, knowing what that meant. Trinity reached out and pulled Liz into an embrace, but didn’t say anything. What could she say? What could any of us say? Sorry that they tortured you for no reason?
Liz then surprised everyone by speaking up again, her voice barely audible with tears silently slipping out of her eyes. “Trinity…I’m so sorry.”
She looked down at her, confused. “Sorry? Why are you sorry?” She asked in surprise.
Liz was silent for a second before responding. “I…I heard you this morning…say they did that to you for five hours…because of me…”
Trinity immediately shook her head. “Don’t be sorry. I’d do it again if given the chance. You’re worth it Liz. Your life is worth it.”
“Thank you,” she whispered. “But still…I’m sorry…”
“How long?” I finally asked.
Liz glanced at me, and then stared off into space again. “Probably for only five minutes, but it felt like forever…I’ve really never experienced pain before. It felt like she was ripping my nerves right out of my body, or maybe like she was stabbing me with a thousand razor blades…”
“Wait…what?” I exclaimed, feeling like someone had punched me in the stomach. I looked up at Trinity. “Is that how it normally feels?” I asked breathlessly.
Trinity looked at me with a confused expression, glancing at everyone else before meeting my gaze again. “Well, it depends…the girl who does it can localize the pain…but at it’s worse, yes, that’s how it feels.”
“How old is she?” I asked so quiet I barely heard myself.
“Jake, what’s wrong?” Trinity’s tone was full concern.
“How old is she?” I asked louder, ignoring her question.
“Roughly our age. Maybe seventeen or eighteen. Why?”
“What does she look like?” I demanded.
Trinity’s eyes widened in surprise. Liz was the one to respond. “Like me. She has blonde hair and blue eyes. She also has a birthmark underneath her right eye that sort of looks like a star.”
I suddenly felt like I was falling down a tunnel. I had to hold onto the table to ground myself. Everyone was looking at me in utter confusion. Having no idea what was going on.
“Jake…” Trinity whispered.
I
ignored her. “Slightly cleft chin?” I asked. I saw her and Liz both nod in the corner of my eye. “Is her right eye slightly less blue? Like almost on the green side?” When no one responded, I looked up at Trinity. Her eyes were still wide.
“You know her?” She finally whispered.
“Is it?” I asked again, still feeling like I was falling down a dark tunnel. She nodded, and I saw Ava nod too. Unexpectedly, while trying to stabilize myself by gripping the table, part of it snapped underneath the pressure of my grip, causing everyone to jump.
No one moved though, and I tried to gather my thoughts so I could respond. After a minute, I finally looked up and met Trinity’s shocked gaze. “Because Trinity, that’s exactly what my girlfriend looked like, and that’s exactly how I felt right before my blood went out of control at the mall.”
Zane immediately crossed his arms at that revelation. “But that can’t be right. This girl has been in the military for years. There’s no way they would let her run around like that.”
I looked up at him, and then looked down at the table to think for a moment. Finally, I looked up at him again. “I met her about a month ago at the mall – the same mall where I killed everyone. She approached me, and she never took me home to meet her family. I didn’t think much of it, since we hadn’t been dating long, but whenever we were together it was either at my house or at the mall. She was completely opposed to going anywhere different. No movies, no dinner, nothing.” I scoffed then as I reevaluated the situation. “Granted, it’s not like I really cared. I was just happy to do what she wanted.”
I fell silent again for a few seconds, looking back down at the table. No one said anything. Finally, I whispered. “It was her fault. She triggered me. She’s the reason why I killed all those people, and the reason why I’m here.”
Ava finally spoke up. “But that doesn’t make any sense.” She quickly clarified when I looked up at her. “I’m not saying I don’t believe you. It’s just weird that if she was sent to trigger you…why drag it out so long?”
Zane chimed in again. “Maybe because it was her chance to experience a semi-normal life. I mean, it’s not like they can measure her ability. She could say she was trying but not really be. Our perception of her is warped because of our personal experiences with her, but she might be a normal girl.”
I nodded in agreement. “After the first week, I did start having weird pains when I was around her. It would always happen at the mall. I’d have a sudden stabbing pain in my side, or in my head. It was never unbearable, but it was always enough to make me visibly wince for a minute or so. And she had always just run off to the bathroom right before it would happen. Of course, I didn’t think much of it since I’d feel perfectly fine afterwards.”
Zane continued. “It sounds like she dragged it out as long as she could, but the military probably gave her an ultimatum. Either she got the job done, or else they might try more extreme measures.”
I sighed, resting my head in my hands. “I just can’t believe this. I really thought she liked me. I mean, the things we did together – I just can’t believe that was all an act. She was practically infatuated with me.”
Unexpectedly, Trinity abruptly crossed her arms and pouted, slumping in her seat. We all looked at her in surprise, expecting an explanation. She finally huffed in frustration before responding. “I can’t believe you got to third base with the girl who’s been responsible for torturing us whenever we disobey orders.”
I stared at her in disbelief. “Seriously? That’s all you can think about right now?”
Zayden scoffed at her. “Oh, get over it. She probably didn’t really even like him.”
I turned my stare on him, but Ava chimed back in before I could say anything. “This is still really strange though. Whether she liked Jake or not, why would they let her actually spend time with him? Why not just do it behind the scenes? Not to mention the fact that if he gets sent for punishment, then he will end up meeting her again. It just doesn’t make sense.”
I thought about that for a second. “Actually, when I saw the General yesterday, he made it seem like if they ever needed to punish me, they wouldn’t be sending me to the pain metahuman…”
Zane leaned forward, finishing my statement. “Because you might know her.” He then sat up straighter. “But wait…Then how do they plan on punishing you?”
I hesitated again, leaning back in my chair away from them. “I…don’t think I want to share that…”
Zayden seemed a little pissed, speaking up again. “I think we have a right to know. It’s not fair that you get the easy way out for disobeying.”
I just stared at him. “In a way, I think it’s worse for me actually, although you may not be able to understand why.” He scoffed at that, but didn’t retort.
After a few seconds, Trinity finally asked. “Why?”
But I couldn’t look at her yet. After a few more seconds, I slowly turned my head to glance at her, echoing her own words from a day ago. My voice was barely a whisper. “Do you really want to know?”
She nodded.
I lowered my voice even more. “Why do you want to know?”
Her eyes widened as my use of her own words caused it to finally click without me telling her. I suspected she knew what might be worse than being tortured herself, because it was the same reason why she had been glad to do it in my place. Pain was temporary, but the grief that came from causing someone else pain could endure forever.
Barely in a whisper, she confirmed her suspicions. “They’re going to punish you…by torturing me.” It wasn’t a question. And the moment she said it everyone on the other side of the table cursed underneath their breath – even Ava. Liz just gasped.
After a few minutes of silence, Zayden finally pipped up. “Well you’re right. I don’t see how that’s worse. If anything, I think it’s stupid.”
But Trinity and I both ignored him. We were lost staring at each other with intense, solemn expressions, because that realization made it clear that we both cared about each other enough to be willing to take the place of the other. Trinity had already done it, and she knew I wished I could do it. And, we both cared about each other enough that knowing the other was being tortured was worse than being tortured ourselves.
After a while, Liz finally sighed heavily and spoke back up. “I also have some bad news.” We both looked down at her, waiting for her to continue. “The growth plates in my wrists and knees have fused already.” She took a deep breath. “Which means I’m done growing. I’ll never get any bigger than this. I’ll always be just under five feet tall.”
When I saw everyone else’s reactions, I was surprised. “Is that bad?” I wondered seriously.
Zane was the one to answer. “Well, it’s not ideal. Your height can limit how fast you can run to an extent. Taller doesn’t always means faster, but there is sort of an optimal height range and she’s definitely below it. Technically, she barely makes the cutoff for height, but that’s for the normal military. For our group, they might not like the idea of her being this size forever.”
Trinity nodded. “Yes, which means we need to try to figure out ways for her to be useful on the field, so they don’t change their minds about her being on the team. Obviously, I had mentioned to the General she could protect a squad of soldiers – but she has to be able to keep up with them to do that. Even with her shield, they won’t like having to hold back for her.”
I scoffed. “Shoot, with her on my back, or yours for that matter, we could probably go in and accomplish most missions single-handedly.”
“Which,” Zane quickly added, holding up his finger, “is why they probably didn’t want to keep her in the first place. Because that combination makes you a nearly invincible unit. They would essentially have the Weaver problem all over again – he was virtually untouchable when he had Liz. You could easily become the new Weaver…” Zane quickly lowered his voice. “And you wouldn’t even need brainwashing to do it…” He then gestured tow
ards Liz, and I glanced down to see her staring at me intently.
I quickly looked away. “Yeah, but I’m not Weaver, nor do I have any intentions on being a mob boss. I don’t want money or power, I just want to be able to live a semi-peaceful life. Which, given my current circumstances, what I have going on here is about the best I can expect right now.”
Zane leaned back in his seat. “Yeah, maybe so. But they don’t know that. Not for sure. Which means you can’t give them any indication you might defy them, because the moment they suspect it, they’ll try to stop it way before it happens.” He then looked at me meaningfully, as if he already suspected that had been on my mind. He wasn’t wrong. But that was the problem. Because if he suspected it, then of course that meant the General probably suspected it too.
I sighed, looking down to see that Liz still hadn’t touched her food. I spoke gently. “Liz, you need to eat.”
Her face was immediately apologetical, and she started eating as if she had been waiting for my permission all along. I just sighed again and slummed down in my chair. “Let me get this straight,” I finally said. “My ex-girlfriend is the one responsible for torturing everyone here, including my current girlfriend…” I glanced down at Liz again, but she didn’t seem surprised by that revelation. She knew Trinity and I were together. “She’s also the one responsible for me being here in the first place…Well, really the military is the one responsible – they sought me out, probably for the specific reason of taking down Weaver…and the military is set on trying to find any reason they can to undo our disobedience in saving Liz…all because her ability is too powerful in the wrong hands…” I sighed again. “This is really messed up.”
Zayden scoffed. “That’s a very mild way of putting it.”
I gave him a small smirk, but didn’t respond. He was right. That was a very mild way of putting it. Too bad I wasn’t much for cursing.
Chapter 17: Havoc
Once those revelations were out in the open, I decided it would be a good idea to consider what that told us about the General and their capabilities. We sat there for almost thirty minutes as we considered the possibilities. I began first.
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