A Chosen Destiny (The Samantha Project Series #3)

by Karpinske, Stephanie

  “Hey, I was listening to that. Emily just gave me that song. She wrote it and I told her I would—”

  “What you saw just now was nothing. Erik and I were holding hands but it was only because—”

  “I don’t need to know, Sam. We’re not dating. You can do what you want with him.” He put his headphones back on.

  “But we weren’t doing anything! Listen. This is important. It’s about Allie.”

  He pulled his headphones off again. “Allie? You talked to Allie?”

  “Not exactly. I heard her thoughts in my head. She found some GlobalLife files on her mom’s computer. She knows all about me. She knows I can read minds, so she’s been trying to send me her thoughts. And I actually heard her!”

  “You said she was living in New York City. How could you hear her from that far away?”

  “My abilities are getting stronger. And I’ve been practicing making mind connections for two days now. Anyway, at first I could barely hear what she was thinking. I only got a few words. But then, when I touched Erik, I could hear her perfectly.”

  Colin looked at me, not sure if he should believe me.

  “I know it sounds crazy. And I don’t understand it, but when I was connected to Erik I could hear Allie perfectly. Every word. And that’s why Erik and I were holding hands. Nothing else went on.”

  He still seemed skeptical. “And how did you figure this out?”

  “When I heard Allie’s voice, Erik was talking. I grabbed his arm to get him to be quiet. That’s when I started hearing her better. Ask Erik. He’ll tell you the same thing. We had the door open, Colin. Why would we leave the door open if we—”

  “So what did Allie say?”

  “She said she made copies of some files from her mom’s computer. There might be something in there we could use. She copied the files to a flash drive. She wants me to come get it. I know where she lives, Colin. I could see it.”

  “You could see it?”

  “Yeah, it’s like when that cop stopped me on my way to the airport.”

  “Sam! That damaged your brain. You haven’t even learned how to control it.”

  “I know. But when I was connected to Erik, I didn’t have a headache. It was like I was using some of his energy to connect with Allie. I don’t think it was hurting my brain like last time. Maybe not at all.”

  “You don’t know that for sure, Sam.”

  “It doesn’t matter. It’s done now. And I know what to do.”

  “Yeah, so what’s your plan?”

  “You and I are going to get Allie.”

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Manhattan

  “What? Sam, we can’t just drive into the city and pick her up. We’ll get caught. And what if it’s some type of trap? Her mom’s part of GlobalLife.”

  “Her mom is, but Allie’s not. You said so yourself.”

  “I’m not so sure about that anymore. I mean, if Allie knows about GlobalLife and her mom, why is she asking you to come there? She knows you risk getting caught. Maybe it’s all a plot to lure you to GlobalLife. Maybe it wasn’t even Allie you heard. You know how they use their technology to fake voices.”

  “No. I’m sure it was her. I could sense it. And she’s only asking me to go there because she doesn’t know where I am. She said her parents are out of town, so we need to go right away.”

  “And how do you think we’re going to do that?”

  “We’ll take the car tomorrow afternoon. Everyone will think you’re going to the coffee shop, like you do every day. I’ll sneak away and go with you and we’ll drive into the city. Allie’s home from school at 3:30. We’ll meet her at her apartment building. Abigail gave Erik and me the day off tomorrow. It’s perfect timing. And Jack and Dave will be in the basement working. They won’t even hear us leave.”

  “No. It’s too dangerous, Sam. And I have to meet Emily at 3.”

  “You can go one day without seeing her.”

  “But I told her I’d be there. I can’t not show up. She’s just starting to trust me.”

  “Please, Colin. I don’t want to do this alone.” I gave him a hug. “I’m not letting go until you say yes.”

  He considered it. “Fine. But only so you don’t go speeding again and getting stopped by the cops.” He sighed. “I don’t know how you talk me into this stuff, Sam. Are you getting into my head now, too?”

  I wondered if I should tell him about how I actually had been inside his head but decided against it. That could wait.

  “Don’t tell anyone we’re going, Colin. They’d never let us leave.”

  “This is so unlike you, Sam. Sneaking out again. Taking the car.”

  “I know, but I need to see Allie and get those files. If that means breaking the rules, then so be it.”

  “It’s time for dinner. You guys coming?” Brittany stood in the doorway.

  “Yes, we’re coming,” I said. “We’ll talk later,” I whispered to Colin.

  Dave was absent for dinner, but nobody commented on it. We all knew he was on a date. It was weird to imagine Dave dating. I wasn’t sure why. I didn’t have a problem with it. I just wasn’t used to seeing him so preoccupied with a woman.

  “How did the mind exercises go today?” Jack asked Erik during dinner.

  He glanced at me. I gave him a look, begging him to lie about the Allie incident. “Nothing happened. We’re still trying to get it to work.”

  “I read poems all day,” Brittany said.

  Jack seemed surprised. “Really? I used to enjoy poetry. What were you reading?”

  “I think his name was Robert Frost. I kind of liked his poems.”

  “He’s one of my favorite poets.”

  Brittany smiled, pleased that she and Jack had something in common. I could tell that she admired Jack and wanted him to be proud of her. He was the closest thing she’d ever had to a father. And unlike her mother, Jack was very encouraging and supportive of Brittany. I think that’s why she wasn’t afraid to express interest in new things, like poetry. She knew she could say things around him, and all of us, without being put down. In her old life she would have been made fun of for liking poetry. Her mother would have said she was too stupid to understand it.

  Erik got up from the table. “It’s your turn to clean up, Dad. I’m going to watch TV.” Brittany went with him.

  Jack got up to clear the dishes. “Colin, how’s your assignment coming along?”

  “Good. Emily is really easy to talk to. I can ask her about most anything.”

  “She goes to that coffee shop every day?”

  “Pretty much. Except she won’t be there Friday. She has something to do after school. But she invited me to her house Friday night.”

  I didn’t like the sound of that. Being invited over on a Friday night was a date. She was totally asking him out.

  Jack turned back from the sink. “Colin, you can’t go to her house. It’s too dangerous.”

  “I know. I already told her I couldn’t make it. But then she asked me to come over on Saturday, so I’ll have to come up with a better excuse.”

  “Maybe we can find somewhere safe where you can take her on a date. That way she won’t get suspicious when you keep refusing to go to her house.”

  I looked at Jack, annoyed. A date? Why was he calling it a date? It’s an assignment. That’s it. Just to get information. What was wrong with him? Did Erik have his dad trying to break Colin and me apart now?

  Later that night, Colin and I went over our plan to get Allie. We needed a way to let her know we were there. We decided we’d slip the doorman a note and ask him to hand it to her as she walked into the building.

  The next morning, I went to Colin’s room to make sure he wasn’t backing out on the plan. But he was still on board, mainly because he didn’t want me going into the city alone.

  At lunch, Erik cornered me in the kitchen, wanting to talk about what had happened the day before. We hadn’t been able to talk about it since Colin interrupted us.r />
  “Why are you avoiding me, Sam? That was some serious shit that happened yesterday. I’m still freaked out by it.”

  “What’s the big deal, Erik? We got inside her head. You said you were in Brittany’s head. It’s the same thing.”

  “That was different. I was in Brittany’s mind for like a minute, if that. This lasted longer. I could see out that girl’s eyes. I could move for her. Or were you doing that? Which one of us was controlling her?”

  “I’m not sure. But I think I turned her head to look out the window. Or did you do that?”

  “I didn’t do it.”

  “Then maybe I was controlling her and you were just observing. But I needed you, Erik. That was the only way it worked. I needed your energy.”

  “Did you feel sick afterward?”

  “No. And I didn’t get a headache. Did you feel okay?”

  “Yeah, but we should still probably tell my dad. And Dave and Abigail.”

  “Not yet. Dave and Jack are busy working. And if we tell them now, they’ll have Abigail over here testing us. I thought you wanted a day off from all that.”

  “That’s true. Then we’ll tell them tonight.”

  Around 1:45, the house was quiet. Erik was helping Brittany do some math problems on the computer downstairs, where Jack and Dave were working. Colin and I snuck out to the car and left. He drove and I sat in the back seat, not wanting to be seen through the front window.

  Colin had on a baseball cap and hooded sweatshirt, along with his winter coat. I had on the same. They were the only disguises we could come up with. New York City is full of street cameras, so we hoped we wouldn’t have to get out of the car. But if we did, we needed to at least try to hide our identity.

  It took almost an hour and a half to get to Manhattan. Colin had never driven in a city that big before, but you would have never known it. He maneuvered the city streets without any problems. By 3:20 we were parked in front of Allie’s apartment building.

  “Are you sure this is it?” Colin asked.

  “Yes. I can see the red flag with the lion. And I recognize this area. The street looks just like it did in my head.” I handed him a small envelope. “Here, go give this to the doorman.”

  “What if we can’t trust him? Or what if he opens it? What did you write on the note?”

  “It just says to get in the car. I described the car so she’d know which one.”

  “She won’t just get in some strange car because a note tells her to, Sam. She doesn’t even know who it’s from.”

  “I wrote something in it so she’d know it was from us. It’s something only she would know.”

  “What did you write?”

  “Together we can save the world.”

  Colin turned back to me. “The motto for that science club we had when we were kids? You remember that?”

  “Of course I remember. I still have the drawing you did for our club logo. Or I used to. It’s sitting in my bedroom back in Minnesota. I used to look at it all the time.”

  He smiled. “I didn’t know that.”

  “I was showing it to Allie right before all this happened. I was giving her a hard time for not joining our club back then.”

  “Nobody would join our club, Sam. We were the only members.”

  “I can’t believe how many hours we spent on those stupid experiments. We almost blew up your mom’s kitchen that one time.”

  He laughed. “Yeah, she was so mad. My mom stopped funding our experiments after that.” He glanced at the rear view mirror. “Sam, look! Allie’s right behind us, walking on the street. What should we do?”

  “I don’t know. I didn’t think she’d be walking. I thought a car would drop her off. Okay, when she comes by, I’ll open the door and say her name.”

  I waited until she was right next to us, then cracked my door open. Allie was walking fast with her head down, tapping on her phone.

  “Allie!” I said it loudly, but she didn’t hear me with all the street noise. “Allie!” I yelled. She kept walking, now several feet ahead of us. I closed the car door. “Colin, she didn’t hear me! Now what? I can’t run after her.”

  Colin honked the car horn. A short but loud beep. Allie stopped and whipped around. She scanned the street while crowds of people raced past her. I cracked my door again and stuck my hand out the window, waving. She saw it, but turned and started walking back toward her building.

  “Now what are we going to do?” Colin asked. “Should we—” he stopped. “Wait, she’s turning around. She’s coming back this way.”

  I moved closer to the front window to see her better. “Come on, Allie. We’re right here. Come on.”

  When she got close to our car, I opened the door and caught her eye. “Allie. Get in.”

  She ducked down. “Sam? Is that you?”

  “Yes. Now get in.”

  She quickly got into the back seat, tossing her backpack on the floor. “Oh, my God. It’s you! It’s really you!” She hugged me, then sat back to look at me. “Did you hear my thoughts? I was trying every day! I didn’t think it would work.”

  “Yes. I heard you. We can talk later. We need to go. Do you have the files with you?”

  “No. I have to go get the flash drive. I’ll be really quick. You’ll still be here, right?”

  “Yes, now go. Hurry! And leave your cell phone behind. We can’t have it tracking us.”

  She left, not even noticing that Colin was up front. We watched as she walked quickly into the building.

  Colin turned back to me. “Do you think we can trust her? I still don’t feel good about this. What if she’s working with her mom?”

  “I can’t believe you’re saying that about our friend.”

  “I’m just trying to be safe. She’s got connections with GlobalLife.”

  “Her mom is part of GlobalLife. She’s not. And when I was in her head, I could sense that she was trying to help us. I can do that. I don’t know if I told you that before. But I can. I can feel what the person is feeling. I can even do that when I’m just reading minds. I can tell if someone’s sad or happy or angry or whatever.”

  “Maybe we should take the flash drive and leave Allie here. She doesn’t need to come back with us, Sam.”

  “She might be able to help us in other ways. We need time to talk to her. Maybe she knows stuff that’s not in those files. Stuff her mom told her.”

  Colin checked his watch. “What’s taking her so long?”

  “Here, she’s coming. I see her.”

  “Sam, there’s a man with her. You see him?”

  A large, middle-aged man was coming out of the building. He was walking right beside Allie.

  Colin started the car. “We should get out of here. I don’t trust that guy. Something’s up.”

  “Just wait.”

  We watched them both get closer to our car. “Sam, let’s just go. I’m not letting that guy in the car.” Colin began pulling out into the street.

  “No, just hold on.”

  Allie was next to us now, waiting at the curb. The man continued to walk down the street. I opened the door and let Allie in.

  “Why were you pulling away? Were you going to leave without me?”

  “Who was that man you were with?” I asked her.

  “What man?” She looked confused.

  “The guy who walked out of the building with you. Did you know him?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about. This city is so crowded that people are always around me. I’m starting to not even notice anymore. He must live in my building. I didn’t even see him.”

  We were now sitting in traffic. I leaned up front. “Let me know if you need me to check the map, Colin.”

  “Colin?” Allie peered over the seat. “I didn’t even know that was you up there! I can’t believe this! So you guys have been together this whole time? But I thought—”

  “No, not the whole time,” I said. “I can tell you later.”

  Colin glanced
back at her. “Good to see you again, Al.”

  Allie tried to hug him from the back seat. “I’m so happy to see you guys!” The sincerity in her voice convinced me that she wasn’t part of some GlobalLife plot. She looked me over again. “Are you okay, Sam? Did they do anything to you? Or Colin?”

  “No. Well, it’s kind of a long story. I don’t where to start.”

  “Hey, did you two ever get married? Or was that just a story you made up?”

  Colin laughed. “Just a story. Did you really think Sam would get married at 18?”

  “Not really. But I know you guys love each other, so maybe.”

  Colin and I kept quiet. I wasn’t ready to tell Allie about our breakup and apparently he wasn’t either.

  “So what exactly did you read in those files, Allie?” I asked. “How much do you know?”

  “I know that GlobalLife messed with your genes. And I know that you have powers, like mind-reading and really good hearing. And the file I saw had something in it about some guy. I can’t remember his name, but he’s just like you. They did something to his genes.”

  “His name’s Erik. Your mom’s met him.”

  “They held you guys at GlobalLife in Iceland, right? I saw some invitation on my mom’s computer. It was for some event announcing you two. Almost like you were a couple. In fact I think it even said something like the golden couple, whatever that means.”

  Colin cleared his throat and muttered something to himself.

  “Let’s not talk about that,” I said quietly to Allie.

  She gave me a strange look but moved on. “So you escaped from that place?”

  “Yeah. Colin and Dave were in Iceland, too. And Erik’s dad, Jack. And now we’re all here in New York together.”

  “The file I saw mentioned some girl, too. Do you know who she is?”

  “She’s my sister. My twin sister.”

  “No way! Your parents had another kid and didn’t tell you?”

  “They didn’t know about her. It’ll take me hours to catch you up on everything, Allie.”

  “How were you able to get those files?” Colin asked.

  “About a week ago I was at school and I forgot a book that I needed for class. I went home to get it and found my mom there. But she was in the shower. She’d probably been working out at the gym in our building. Anyway, I noticed her laptop sitting there. She always has her computer locked with a password. But that day, she had it sitting there with all the files showing. I saw a folder labeled ‘Samantha,’ so I clicked on it. And there were all these files inside it. Tons of them. They were all locked except for a few that she had open. That’s when I learned all this stuff about Sam.”