Marked

by Stephanie Arehart

  “And this is honestly the first time she’s shown signs of her true identity?”

  “We don’t like to speak of it in that way, but yes. She’s never had any homicidal tendencies, absolutely nothing to reveal that she was born with a murder mark,” Judy firmly stated.

  Jenna slammed her hand over her mouth to cover the gasp she let out. All the air vanished from her lungs, leaving her with a frightening feeling of suffocation. But she somehow managed to summon everything she had inside her to catch her breath. She could hear that the doctor was still in heavy conversation with her parents, mostly her mother, but the words no longer made sense in her brain.

  Jenna ran again. Silently, she bolted down the long hallway and out the back door, once again unsure where she was headed. Once outside the exterior door, she bent over and vomited, which made her feel slightly better. She didn’t know how long she had before they figured out she was gone and came looking for her. Somehow Jenna was now worse off than she’d been the day before, when she’d only had a bag and someone else’s wallet. Now she had nothing, and could never go back to her parents.

  She crept along the side of the building toward the front, ducking under each window as she went. At the corner, she peeked around to do some reconnaissance. Her parents’ car was still there, but the all-glass front made her nervous to try to get to her bag from inside. Even if she could, the car was surely locked.

  Maybe this is a sign from the universe. I should truly leave every little thing behind and start brand new.

  Jenna scanned the immediate area for a rock or something to break the window with, and ended up spotting something moving in the distance. Staring at it for a bit, the object came into vision enough that she could tell it was some kind of vehicle coming her way. Within a split second, Jenna had to decide what to do. Her choices were whether or not to consider the rapidly approaching pick-up a friend or a foe.

  As the large white truck came within a hundred yards or so, she ran toward it, waving her arms frantically. The driver spotted her immediately and slammed on the brakes, screeching to a stop right in front of her. She glanced toward the building, but no one was coming out or visible inside the glass. The driver nodded, and she ran to the passenger door and climbed in, staring straight ahead.

  “Where are we going, little lady?”

  “Anywhere, just away from here.”

  He slowly accelerated down the road in the direction he’d been going when Jenna intercepted him. “I’m headed to Columbus. Want me to drop you in town on my way?”

  “Sure, that’s fine.”

  Jenna wasn’t too excited about going back where she’d just come from, especially with all the police possibly looking for her. But she knew she needed to find some money, and a crowd in a familiar setting was the best place to do that. The driver fiddled with the radio as they drove, settling on some old country song. Jenna was always into music, but she didn’t know much about country.

  “Is it boyfriend problems?”

  “What?” Jenna asked.

  “Are you running from boyfriend problems?” the driver clarified.

  “Oh, yes, that’s what it is,” Jenna lied.

  “Well, you’re young. I’m sure you’ll work it all out.”

  “Yeah, I’m sure it will,” she said.

  Jenna stared out the passenger side window into the side mirror, watching the distance between herself and her parents grow. Her entire life had been one huge lie, bigger than she’d even imagined. Every day it seemed she was discovering something even more shocking, but this point was clearly rock bottom.

  It couldn’t get any worse. She’d just found out her parents didn’t actually love her. They’d stolen her from her real parents, who were possibly still alive out there somewhere, maybe missing her and looking for her. And she wasn’t a medical mark, but a murder mark with an illegal tattoo. Her future was pretty bleak.

  No wonder they paired me with Vivian. Birds of a feather.

  As they got to the business section of downtown, Jenna signaled to be dropped off. The driver obliged, and she thanked him as she got out. As she shut the door, she thought she noticed a medical mark by his ear.

  The Registry is so F-ing clueless.

  Jenna stood in the shadows of the chain of buildings, calculating her next move. Her instincts told her it wasn’t safe to go back toward campus, and she didn’t feel up to trying to steal more money at the moment. She must have appeared homeless or hungry or both to passers-by, as one lady offered her “money to eat,” which she gladly accepted. She stopped in a small convenience store nearby and picked out some chips and candy bars.

  Breakfast of champions.

  Jenna approached the register with her items, trying not to let her nerves show. The clerk was a young woman, a girl, with her hair up in two pigtails. Her hair was dark with hot pink stripes, and she was smacking bubblegum. Jenna couldn’t imagine that she was old enough to legally work, but there was wisdom in her eyes that said she was probably a lot older than she looked.

  The cashier leered at Jenna in a way that made her feel uncomfortable, like she was going to report Jenna the second she left. They stared each other down, with the focus of an old Wild West gunslinger. No one else was in the store with them; the tension was thick. Neither seemed willing to back down.

  The clerk finally acquiesced. “Are you looking for someone?”

  “Excuse me? No, I’m trying to buy some snacks. Hence.” Jenna pointed to the chips and candy.

  “Right. I do understand this transaction. I work here, after all.”

  She rang the items up and took the cash to make change, as Jenna stared in sheer confusion. The clerk looked down at something under the counter, then back up at her customer. “What I’m trying to ask you is, do you want to talk to someone? Someone that might be hard to reach?”

  Jenna recoiled from this direct, extremely odd line of questioning, and again they both stared at each other in uncomfortable silence. It finally clicked.

  “Do you know someone in the Sub?” Jenna asked point-blank.

  “Shhh!”

  The cashier grabbed Jenna by the wrist and yanked hard, pulling her back into the freezer area next to the counter. Jenna looked around, trying to acclimate herself and figure out why they were hiding in there. No one else had entered the store.

  “You can’t go around blabbing like that. You’re going to get us both picked up, or worse,” the cashier snapped.

  “So do you know who I am?” Jenna asked.

  “Do you think I’m stupid or something?”

  “Do you know who I’m looking for?” Jenna inquired, testing the woman’s knowledge.

  “I can connect you to Noah or Chris. Just say the word,” the cashier answered.

  “What do you want from me?” Jenna asked.

  “Nothing. I’m just an ordinary girl, trying to save the world one moron at a time.”

  Jenna felt sincerity from this newcomer that comforted her. Since she couldn’t trust those who pretended to love her, why not gamble on this weird stranger? She still wasn’t ready to face Noah, partly because she didn’t want to experience rejection again, especially from him. “Okay, can you get a message to Chris? I could obviously use some help avoiding people.”

  “Take this. Chris will be there to meet you,” the cashier said as she handed Jenna a folded piece of paper with a time and address on it.

  8:19pm – 1911 Greene Lane

  That’s an oddly specific time. These Sub guys are so weird. Time for me to get weird too, I suppose.

  She slipped out of the convenience store and found a tree to hide under while she ate her snacks. With her belly full, Jenna felt at ease again, and closed her eyes to shut out the real world. When she opened her eyes again, it was already dark. With no way to know what time it was, she jumped up and started walking. Jenna sped up, trying to find a human to help her get the time and perhaps directions to her meeting.

  I really need a watch.

&nb
sp; As she approached a park, Jenna spotted a couple bundled up on a bench, obviously on a date. She asked the female for the time, and found out it was nearly 8:00. She held her finger over the time and showed them the address on her paper, asking if they knew where it was. The woman said she’d been on that street to have her nails done and gave Jenna directions to get to the general vicinity.

  Jenna jogged toward the area and found the street sign matching the address; then she turned right and verified the numbers were going up, so she was in the right direction. The meeting place turned out to be a dry cleaner, which didn’t surprise her in the least. She opened the door and stepped in, panting from the extra burden on her cardio.

  It was dark and industrial inside. The place was dead, but there was a small man at the counter, so she knew they must still be open. He was a balding man of Middle Eastern descent, smoking a cigar while lounging back in his chair. Loud clanking sounds poured in from the back, and chemical smells burned Jenna’s nose.

  “Are you Jenna?” he asked before she could speak.

  She nodded.

  “He’s in the back, right through here,” he said nonchalantly, pointing her to walk through the open space in the counter.

  She squeezed past him, keeping her eyes on the man until he was out of her sight. The area was small, but the ceilings were tall and machinery seemed to fill every inch of the space. Jenna saw piles of fabric and stacks of folded and hung laundry, so she assumed the place wasn’t just a front.

  Jenna kept weaving through the equipment until she saw an actual person. Chris was standing in the back, leaned against the wall, using one foot for balance. When he saw her coming, he turned and walked away through another door. She followed him into a small room that she guessed was someone’s office.

  “Hey, I don’t even want to know how you found me,” she said, voice trembling.

  “You came,” Chris said enthusiastically.

  “Of course I came. Where else can I go?” Jenna said sarcastically.

  He laughed. “Yeah, I guess you’ve got a point there.”

  “So are you gonna help me?” she pleaded.

  “Maybe. What are you looking to do now?”

  “I don’t know. I think I should go underground, hide out in the Sub until I figure out a way out of this.” Jenna had clearly thought through possibilities.

  “What if there isn’t a way out of this?” he asked sadly.

  “I don’t think I have a choice.”

  “So you’re ready to walk away from your life forever, all your family, your friends—?”

  Jenna laughed. “What life? What family? What friends?”

  “Noah?”

  Jenna looked down at her feet and sniffled. “I don’t know who to trust anymore.”

  “You can trust Noah,” Chris said. “I know that for a fact. I’ve known him my whole life. Noah’s a good guy, and he really cares about you.”

  “I know. I’m just really scared,” Jenna said. “Besides, I couldn’t ask him to give everything up to go underground with me. He has an actual future, and I have a horrible past.”

  “Why don’t you let me make that decision?” a voice behind her said.

  Jenna turned to see Noah standing in the center of the open door. The light emitting from behind him gave him an angelic glow. Jenna instinctively ran to him, and they hugged. The butterflies were still there, but deep down she felt something in her gut that said Noah could be trusted. He was there now, proving he was on her side, willing to sacrifice everything for her.

  *****

  Chris took them to an apartment owned by the Sub, located in an area of town Jenna had never been to, didn’t even knew existed. On the way, Jenna told them both everything she remembered about her experiences since they’d last talked. They agreed it was best that Jenna had left her phone and belongings behind, since her parents must have been tracking her in some way. Chris showed them around their temporary housing, fully stocked with food and new clothes.

  “What do we do now?” Jenna asked Noah when they were finally alone.

  “Chris is setting up a meeting with a guy who has access to government information, top secret stuff.”

  “How do we know he’ll find something? That hacker couldn’t find anything,” Jenna said with a tone of desperation.

  “This guy is really good,” he promised.

  “Who is he?”

  Noah sighed. “I’m not sure. He’s some kind of private investigator, but he pays government officials off or something. He has major connections. When you mentioned that your mother talked about the Program, Chris knew exactly who to contact. We’ll have answers soon, so until then, we just hang out here and enjoy each other.”

  “So you don’t think I’m a murderer?”

  “I don’t know if I believe in the Registry at all anymore,” he replied softly.

  “Good, now I don’t have to keep inviting you to my room and getting rejected,” Jenna giggled.

  Noah sat on the bed and smiled, patting the space beside him so she’d sit down. She put down the clothes she was going through and sat next to him. He caressed the side of her face and pulled her closer to him. They kissed, softly at first, then more and more passionately.

  As things started to heat up, Jenna felt a surge of emotion deep inside, but it surprisingly seemed more like rage than desire. She shoved Noah away before she realized what she was doing. He looked confused, even hurt. She smiled, in an effort to downplay her impulsive behavior.

  “I haven’t had a shower in days,” she said as she walked toward the bathroom.

  “Want me to join you?” he called.

  Chapter 19

  That night was the first one that Jenna slept peacefully in as long as she could remember. With Noah cuddled up next to her, things just felt right, so settled and easy. It was less about feeling protected there with him, and more about how he’d left his entire life, his whole future, behind for her. She felt so lucky to have met him when she did.

  The Sub worked to arrange for Jenna to get the information she wanted, while making plans for a more permanent relocation for the pair. In the meantime, they played house together, keeping a low profile. Jenna enjoyed the safe space and time together with Noah, but she was growing more impatient to know what their next move would need to be. He tried to keep her mind off all the bad things she’d learned, which was difficult.

  All she wanted to do was talk about her past, and that inevitably led to her reliving the moment she’d found out the truth. Though the revelation had caused her such pain, pain Jenna wanted desperately to bury, now she was thirsty for more knowledge. She became insatiable but completely helpless, sitting in a hotel room with no access to the outside world. With no other choice, they waited.

  The knock at the door was so muffled that Jenna wasn’t sure if she’d imagined it or wished it into being. Noah jumped up, and motioned for her to stay still and quiet. He looked through the peephole for several seconds before finally unlocking and opening the door. The sunlight poured through, blinding Jenna from identifying their visitor. But he stepped in and quickly shut the door behind him, allowing her eyes to adjust so she could clearly see him.

  He was a tall, muscular man, probably in his mid-thirties. Jenna would never have pegged him for a powerful person, or someone that could obtain information from other powerful people. He looked more like a guy who’d spend all his time at the gym and tanning, maybe on a beach somewhere, or lifting weights. His clothing was fairly nondescript: dark-colored shirt and pants with no images, words, or logos. Other than a stylish pair of sunglasses that he never removed, there was nothing identifiable about him.

  His method was pure business. There were no introductions or small talk. He walked to the small table Jenna and Noah used for meals and set down a small briefcase-shaped bag. Unzipping the bag slowly, like it contained dynamite, he paused halfway through and turned to face them.

  “Guys, I was able to get a ton of evidence for you. There’
s a bunch here on you and others like you. I hope you find the answers you’re looking for.”

  He motioned to Jenna as he spoke. She felt her blood racing, causing her skin to tingle with heat. Noah put his hand on her back gently to steady her as she looked uneasy on her feet.

  “Are you okay?” Noah asked her.

  “Yes, I’m fine. I just felt a little flushed. I’m excited to know the truth.”

  Noah guided her to the bed to sit down. She never took her eyes off the opened bag, which now revealed a large stack of folders containing chunks of papers. The man stood like a statue near the table, not revealing his feelings about the strange situation in the least. Jenna finally summoned the courage to speak.

  “What’s in there?” she asked.

  “Honestly, I don’t know. I’m not an expert in this stuff. But I do believe your name was involved in some deep government stuff, and that you aren’t alone.”

  Jenna stared blankly.

  “My recommendation is that you take some time to think about this decision. You may learn something in here that you’ll wish you never knew. Once you read these files, you can’t just forget and go back to your old life.”

  “Why does everyone keep saying that? I can’t exactly go back to my old life anyway.”

  “I’ll support you, whatever you decide. Maybe we should sleep on it and read it tomorrow,” Noah offered.

  “No, the only way forward is to find out where I came from.” Jenna purposely walked to the table and thumbed through the folders until she found one labeled “READ FIRST.” Noah thanked the delivery man, who slipped back out the door as if he’d never been there. Noah stood a few steps away from Jenna, taking his cue from her reaction. She took the folder and sat back on the bed, gesturing for him to sit down beside her. He complied and put his arm on her shoulder, pulling her close to him.

  “Nothing in these papers is going to change the way I feel about you. You know that, right?”

  “Don’t be so sure,” Jenna said. “What if I used to be a man?”

  Noah froze, unsure how to respond. Jenna burst into laughter and opened the folder.